To the Right Worshipful Sir Edward Denny, Knight

THere is no one doctrine reuealed in the word of God, or dispensed by the Prophets and Apostles, of greater use and consequence in the life of man, then is that, which prescribes a forme of relieving and rectifying the conscience. The benefit, which from hence issueth unto the Church of God, is unspeakable. For first, it serueth to discouer the cure of the dangerousest sore that can be, the wound of the Spirit. Which how great a crosse it is, the wise man reports out of true experience, when he says, that the Spirit of a manwill sustaine his infirmity, but a wounded Spirit who can beare it? And his meaning is, that no outward grief, can fall into the nature of man, which will not be with patience indured, to the vtmost, so long as the minde is not troubled, or dismayed. But when once the Spirit is touched, and the heart, (which, being well apaed, is the very fountain of peace to the whole man,) smitten with feare of the wrath of God for sin; the grief is so great, the burden intolerable, that it will not by any outward meanes, be eased or asswaged. Secondly, it gives for all particular Cases, special and sound direction; whether man be to walke with God, in the immediate performance of the duties of his seruice, or to conuerse with man according to the state and condition of his life, in the family, in the Church, or in the Commonwealth. The want of which direction, of what force it is, to turne the actions of men, which are good in themselues, to sins in regard of the agents, S. Paul affirms in that general conclusion, Whatever is not of faith, is sin. Wherein he would teach vs, that whatever is done, or undertaken by men in this life, whether it concerne the knowledge and worship of God, or any particular dutie to be performed, by vertue of their callings, for the common good; whereof they have not sufficient warrant, and assurance in conscience, grounded upon the word, that it is to be don, or not to be done; to them it is a sin. Thirdly, it is of all other doctrines, (if it be rightly used) the most comfortable. For it is not founded in the opinions, & variable conceits of men, neither does it consist, of conclusions and positions, that are onely probable and coniecturall: (for the conscience of the doubting or distressed partie, cannot be established and rectified by them:) but it resteth upon most sufficient and certaine grounds, collected & drawne out of the very word of god, which, as it is mightie in operation, earcing the heart, and discerning the thoughtsand intents thereof, so is it alone auaileable and effectuall to pacific the minde, and to give full satisfaction to the conscience. And as the benefit is great; so the want of this doctrine, together with the true manner of applying the same, is, and has beene the cause, of many and great inconueniences. For even of those that feare God, and have received to believe, there be many, who in the time of their distresses, when they have considered, the waight and desert of their sins, and withall apprehended the wrath of God, due unto them; have beene brought unto hard exigents, mourning, and wayling, and crying out, as if God had forsaken them, untill they have beene relieved by the Spirit of Christ, in the meditation of the word, and promise of God. But those especially, who have not beene instructed in the knowledge of the truth, nor beene acquainted with the course of Gods dealing, with his distressed children, by reason of ignorance and blindnes, in matters of religion and piety, when the Lord has let loose the cord of their consciences, and set before their eyes, both the number of their sins committed, and the just anger of God purchased thereby, what have they done? surely despairing of their own estates, and of the mercy of God, they have either growne to phrensie, and madnes, or els sorted unto themselues fearefull ends, some by hanging, some by drowning, others by murthering their own selues. And if not in regard of grief and trouble of minde; yet for want of better resolution in particular cases, within the compasse of their general or personal callings, though otherwise, men indued with some measure of knowledge and obedience, herein they have failed, that they have either abused, or els quite relinquished & forsaken their callings, and thereby have become scandalous, & offensiue unto others.

Now as this is a matter of great waight & importance, so is it most meete, that the best and fittest course should be taken, in the teaching and inforcing of the same. In which regard we have just cause, to challenge the Popish Church, who in their Case-writings have erred, both in the substance and circumstances of this doctrine, as shall appeare in the sequele. First, because the dutie of relieving the Conscience, is by them commended to the sacrificing Priest, which, though according to their own Canons he should be a man of knowledge, and free from imputation of wickednes, yet oft times it falls out that he is either unlearned, or els wicked and leud of conuersation, and consequently unfit for such a purpose. Secondly, they teach that their Priests appointed to be comforters & relievers of the distressed, are made by Christ himselfe judges of the cases of conscience, hauing in their own hands a iudiciarie power and authority, truly and properly to binde or to loose, to remit or to retaine sins, to open or to shut the kingdome of heaven. A blasphemous doctrine. Considering that Christ onely has the keyes of David, which properly and truly openeth, and no man shutteth, and properly and truly shutteth, & no man openeth. And the Ministers of God, are not called to be absolute Judges of the Conscience, but only Messengers & Embassadors of reconciliation; wherupon it follows, that they cannot be the authors and giuers of remission of sins, but onely the Ministers and Dispensers of ie same. Thirdly, the Papists in their writings have scattered here and there, sundrie false and erronious grounds of doctrine, much preiudiciall to the direction or resolution of the Conscience in time of neede, as namely, I. That a man in the course of his life, may build himselfe upon the faith of his teachers, and for his saluation rest contented with an implicite & vn-expressed faith. Which doctrine, as it is an onely meane, to keepe men in perpetuall blindnes and ignorance, so it serueth to no other purpose in the time of temptation, but to plunge the heart of man into the pitte of despaire, it being uncapable of comfort, for want of knowledge and understanding of the word and promise of God. II. That euery man ought to stand in feare and doubt of the pardon of his sins, and that no man can be assured by the certainty of faith, either of the present favor of God, or of his own saluation. True it is, that in respect of our own unworthines and indisposition, we have just cause, not onely to doubt and feare, but to despaire and be confounded before the judgment seat of God. Yet that a man should not be certainely resolued by faith of the mercy of God, in and for the merit of Christ, is a comfortlesse doctrine to a distressed soul, and contrarie unto the saving word of the Gospel, which teaches, that certainty floweth from the nature of faith, and not doubting. III. That everyman is bound in conscience upon paine ofdamnation, to make special confession of his mortall sins, with all the particular circumstances thereof, once euery yeare to his Priest. This doctrine and practise, besides that it has no warrant of sacred writte, nor yet any ground of Orthodoxe antiquitie, for 800 yeares more or lesse after Christ i makes notably to the disturbing of the peace of conscience in time of extremitie, considering that it is impossible either to understand or remember all, many being unknowne, and hidden and the minde being informed that forgiuenesse depends upon such an enumeration may thus be brought into doubt and distrust, and will not be able to rest by faith in the sole mercy of God, the onely sovereigne medicine of the soul. Againe, the grief of the minde, does not alwaies arise from all the sins that a man has committed, neither does the Lord se before the sinners eies, whatever euill has bin done by him but some one or more particulars; and these are they, that doe lie heavy upon the heart and to be eased of them, will be work enough though e does not exhibite unto the Confessour a Catalogue of all the rest. IV. That some sins are veniall, because they are only besides the lawe of God not against it and because they inuer the sinner onely to temporal, and not to eternal punishments. This conclusion, first is false; For though it be graunted that some offenses are greater, some lesser some in an higher degree, others in a lower: againe, that sins in regard of the euent, being repented of, or in respect of the person sinning, being in Christ, and therfore accounted just, are pardonable, because they are not imputed to condemnation; yet there is no sin of what degree soeuer, which is not simply, and of it selfe mortall, whether we respect the nature of the sin, or the measure & proportion of divine justice. For in nature it is an anomie, that is to say, an aberration from the perfect rule of righteousnesse, and therefore is subiect to the curse, both of temporary and eternal death. It is an offense against the highest Maiestie, and consequently, man stands by it ingaged to euerlasting torment. Secondly, it is a weake and insufficient ground of resolution, unto a troubled conscience. For whereas true and saving joy is the daughter of sorrowe, and the heart of man cannot be lifted vp, in assurance of Gods favor, to the apprehension and conceipt of heavenly comforts, unlesse it be first abased, & by true humiliation, brought to nothing in it self. The remembrance of this, that the offense committed is veniall, may in some cases too much inlarge the heart, and give occasion to presume, when haply there will be reason to the contrary. And if not that yet in the case of falling by infirmity, after grace received, the mind being forestalled with this erronious conceipt, that the sin is lesse, then it is indeede, because veniall, may in the issue be lesse quieted, and more perplexed. V. That a man may satisfie the justice of the God, for the temporal punishment of his sins committed. To omit the untrueth of this position, howe it makes to the easing of the heart, or the asswaging of the grief of minde in temptation, I appeale to common experience. For when a man, being assured of the pardon of his sins, shall yet consider, that there is something more behind to be done on his part, how can he in probability, rely himselfe wholly upon Christs satisfaction? How can he reape unto himselfe fron thence any assurance of reconciliation to God, whome he formerly offended? If we may and must doe something in our own persons, whereby to appease the wrath of God, why has our Savior taught vs for our hearts relief, wholly and onely to make the plea of pardon for our sins? True it is indeede, that Popish Confessors doe teach their Penitents, when they feele the wrath of god upon them for sin, to stop the mouth of Conscience, by performance of a formal humiliation and repentance, yea to offer unto God some ceremoniall duties in way of satisfaction. But when sorrow seazeth upon the soul, and the man falls into temptation, then it will appeare that these directions were not currant; for notwithstanding them, he may want sound comfort in Gods mercy, and run into despaire without recouerie. And for this cause, upon experience it has bin proved, that even Papists themselues, in the houre of death, have bin content to renounce their own works, yea the whole body of humane satifactions, and to cleaue onely to the mercy of God in Christ for their saluation.

By these instances, and many more that might be alleadged to this purpose, it is apparent, upon how weake and unstable grounds the Case-diuinitie of the Popish Church stands; and how indirect a course they take, for the resolution and direction of the troubled Conscience.

Now by the benefit & abuse of this Doctrine, we see how necessary it is, that in Churches which profess Christian religion, it should be more taught, & further inlarged then it is. And to this purpose it were to be wished, that men of knowledge in the Ministry, that have by the grace of God attained unto the Tongue of the learned, would imploy their paines this way: not onely in searching into the depth of such points as stand in bare speculation, but in annexing thereunto the grounds and conclusions of practise, whereby they might both informe the judgment, and rectifie the conscience of the hearers. By this meanes it would come to passe, that the poore distressed soul might be relieved, piety and devotion more practized, the kingdome of Sin, Satan, and Antichrist weakened, & impayred, & the contrarie kingdome of Christ Jesus more & more established.

What the Author & contriuer of the discourse ensuing has done in this behalfe, it is euident by the whole course of his writings, that he has left behinde him: all which, as they doe openly show unto the world, howe great a measure of knowledge & understanding, with other endowments both of nature and grace, the Lord had inriched him withall, so doe they carrie with then the sweet sauour of piety and sanctification, wherewith he approved his heart unto god, & his life unto men. Wherin also upon occasion he has propounded, and explained sundrie notable rules of direction & resolution of the conscience, as wil appeare to the view of the learned and well-aduised reader.

To let passe all the rest: this present work does affoard very sufficient testimonie, of his knowledge and dexteritie in that kind, attained unto, not without great paines, much obseruation, and long experience. A labor which commends it selfe unto the Church of God in two respects principally. One, because his grounds and principles, whereupon he giues direction, are drawne either directly, or by just consequence out of the written word, & so are of greater force, to give satisfaction to the mind, either doubting, or distressed. The other, for that it is deliuered with such perspicuitie, and disposed in such order and Methode, as fitteth best for the understanding and memorie, of him that shall peruse it.

Now this whole treatise of the Questions, I have made bold to present unto your Worship, and to publish abroad under your patronage and protection, as one to whome they doe justly belong. First, because God, who honors those that honor him, has adorned you, not onely with ciuill authority and dignitie in the Commonwealth, but with the honorable name of a Friend to the Church of God; a thing directly confirmed by your unfained loue of the truth, and your continuall fauours to the teachers of the same, the Ministers and dispensers of the Gospel. Secondly, because as the Author of these Cases, was himself in many respects, bound unto you, while he lived; so his wife and children for his sake, have received much kindnes at your hands, since his death; a manifest proofe of the truth and sinceritie of your affection towardes him in the Lord. And in the last place, it was my desire, by setting forth this and the other two parts that shall follow, under your name, to give some testimonie of dutie to your Worship, presuming that as you loved the Author, so you wil be pleased to patronize the work, and favorably to interpret, of the paines and good intention of the publisher. And so ceasing your further trouble, I humbly take my leave, and commend your Worship to the grace and favor of God in Christ. From Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge. Iun. 28. 1604.

Your W. in all dutie to command, Tho. Pickering.

There is no doctrine revealed in the word of God, or taught by the prophets and apostles, more useful and important for human life than the one that shows how to relieve and correct the conscience. The benefit this brings to the church of God is beyond description. First, it helps diagnose the cure for the most dangerous wound possible: a wounded spirit. Solomon speaks from experience about how great a burden this is, saying that a person's spirit can sustain physical suffering, but who can bear a wounded spirit? His meaning is that no outward grief can fall upon a person that will not be endured with patience, as long as the mind is not troubled or dismayed. But once the spirit is touched, and the heart — which, when sound, is the very fountain of peace for the whole person — is struck with fear of God's wrath because of sin, the grief becomes so great and the burden so unbearable that no outward remedy can ease or soothe it. Second, this doctrine gives specific and sound direction for every particular case, whether a person is walking with God in the immediate duties of worship, or living among others in family, church, or commonwealth. Paul makes clear how powerfully the lack of this direction can turn otherwise good actions into sins on the part of those who do them, in his general conclusion: Whatever is not of faith is sin. By this he teaches that whatever a person does or undertakes in life — whether it concerns the knowledge and worship of God, or any particular duty to be performed through their calling for the common good — if they lack sufficient warrant and assurance of conscience, grounded in God's word, that it ought or ought not to be done, then to them it is sin. Third, when rightly used, this doctrine is the most comforting of all. It is not built on human opinions and shifting ideas, nor does it consist of conclusions that are only probable and speculative — for a doubting or distressed conscience cannot be settled and corrected by such things. Instead, it rests on the most sufficient and certain foundations drawn from the very word of God, which is powerful in its working, piercing the heart and discerning its thoughts and intentions. The word alone is able to quiet the mind and give full satisfaction to the conscience. And as great as the benefit is, the absence of this doctrine — along with the true manner of applying it — has been and continues to be the cause of many serious problems. Even among those who fear God and have come to believe, there are many who in times of distress, having considered the weight and desert of their sins and felt the wrath of God they deserved, were brought to desperate straits — mourning, wailing, and crying out as if God had forsaken them — until they were relieved by the Spirit of Christ through meditation on God's word and promises. But especially those who were not instructed in the knowledge of truth, nor acquainted with how God deals with His distressed children — when through ignorance and blindness in matters of religion, God loosed the cord of their consciences and set before their eyes both the number of their sins and the just anger of God they had incurred — what did they do? Despairing of their own condition and of God's mercy, they either fell into frenzy and madness, or chose terrible ends for themselves: some by hanging, some by drowning, others by killing themselves. And even apart from grief and anguish of mind, many who had some measure of knowledge and obedience still failed, for want of proper resolution in particular cases within their callings. They either abused or entirely abandoned their callings and so became a stumbling block and offense to others.

Since this is a matter of great weight and importance, it is fitting that the best and most effective approach be taken in teaching and applying it. In this regard, we have good reason to challenge the Roman Catholic Church, which has erred in both the substance and the circumstances of this doctrine in its case writings, as will become clear in what follows. First, they assign the duty of relieving the conscience to the sacrificial priest — who, though by their own canons he is supposed to be a man of knowledge and free from reproach, is often in practice either unlearned, or wicked and corrupt in his conduct, and therefore unfit for such a purpose. Second, they teach that priests appointed as comforters and relievers of the distressed are made by Christ Himself to be judges of cases of conscience, holding in their own hands a judicial power and authority to truly and properly bind or loose, to remit or retain sins, to open or shut the kingdom of heaven. This is a blasphemous doctrine. Christ alone holds the keys of David, which truly and properly opens and no man shuts, and truly and properly shuts and no man opens. The ministers of God are not called to be absolute judges of the conscience, but only messengers and ambassadors of reconciliation. It follows, therefore, that they cannot be the authors and givers of the forgiveness of sins, but only ministers and dispensers of the same. Third, the Roman Catholics have scattered throughout their writings various false and erroneous doctrines that are deeply harmful to directing and resolving the conscience in time of need. These are as follows. First: that a person, in the course of his life, may build himself on the faith of his teachers, and for his salvation rest content with an implicit and unexpressed faith. This doctrine, while serving only to keep people in perpetual blindness and ignorance, is also utterly useless in times of temptation — it only plunges the heart of the person into the pit of despair, since the person is incapable of receiving comfort for lack of knowledge and understanding of God's word and promises. Second: that every person ought to live in fear and doubt about the forgiveness of his sins, and that no one can be assured by the certainty of faith either of God's present favor or of his own salvation. It is true that, in regard to our own unworthiness and inadequacy, we have every reason not only to doubt and fear, but to despair and be ashamed before the judgment seat of God. Yet the idea that a person cannot be certainly resolved by faith in God's mercy through and for the merit of Christ is a comfortless doctrine for a distressed soul — and it is contrary to the saving word of the Gospel, which teaches that certainty flows from the nature of faith, not from doubting. Third: that every person is bound in conscience, on pain of damnation, to make special confession of all mortal sins with all their particular circumstances to his priest, once every year. This doctrine and practice, beyond having no warrant from Scripture or any basis in orthodox antiquity for eight hundred years or more after Christ, greatly disturbs the peace of conscience in times of crisis. It is impossible to understand or remember all one's sins — many are unknown and hidden — and when the mind is told that forgiveness depends on such an enumeration, it is thrown into doubt and distrust, and cannot rest by faith in the sole mercy of God, which is the only sovereign medicine for the soul. Moreover, the distress of the mind does not always arise from all the sins a person has committed, nor does God always set before the sinner's eyes every evil he has done — but rather some one or more particular sins. These are the ones that weigh heavily on the heart, and to be eased of them is work enough, even without presenting the confessor with a catalogue of all the rest. Fourth: that some sins are venial, because they are only beside the law of God and not against it, and because they subject the sinner only to temporal and not to eternal punishment. This conclusion is, first, false. Even if it be granted that some offenses are greater and some lesser, some in a higher degree and others in a lower — and again, that sins which are repented of, or which belong to a person who is in Christ and therefore accounted righteous, are pardonable because they are not imputed to condemnation — yet there is no sin of any degree that is not in itself, and by its own nature, mortal, whether we consider the nature of the sin or the measure and proportion of divine justice. By nature, sin is a departure from the perfect rule of righteousness, and is therefore subject to the curse of both temporal and eternal death. It is an offense against the highest majesty, and consequently, the person who commits it stands liable to everlasting punishment. Second, this is a weak and insufficient foundation for resolving a troubled conscience. True and saving joy is born of sorrow, and the heart of a person cannot be lifted up in assurance of God's favor — into the apprehension and experience of heavenly comforts — unless it is first humbled and brought to nothing in itself through true humiliation. The thought that the offense committed is venial may in some cases enlarge the heart too much and give occasion for presumption, when the situation actually calls for the opposite. And even where that is not the case, in a situation of falling through weakness after grace has been received, the mind that has been led astray by the erroneous idea that the sin is less serious than it really is — because it is venial — may in the end be less quieted, and more troubled. Fifth: that a person may satisfy the justice of God for the temporal punishment of his sins. Setting aside the falsehood of this position, I appeal to common experience to show how it actually affects the easing of the heart or the soothing of distress of mind in times of temptation. For when a person who is assured of the forgiveness of his sins still believes that something more remains to be done on his part, how can he in any likelihood rely entirely on Christ's satisfaction? How can he receive from it any assurance of reconciliation with God, whom he formerly offended? If we can and must do something on our own to appease the wrath of God, why has our Savior taught us, for the relief of our hearts, to rest wholly and only on the plea of pardon for our sins? It is true that Roman Catholic confessors teach their penitents, when they feel the wrath of God upon them for sin, to stop the mouth of conscience by performing a formal humiliation and repentance — in effect, to offer God certain ceremonial duties by way of satisfaction. But when sorrow seizes the soul and a person falls into temptation, it will become clear that these directions were insufficient. Despite them, a person may still lack true comfort in God's mercy and fall into despair without recovery. And for this very reason, experience has shown that even Roman Catholics themselves, in the hour of death, have been willing to renounce their own works — indeed the entire system of human satisfactions — and to cling only to the mercy of God in Christ for their salvation.

From these examples, and many more that could be added, it is clear on how weak and unstable foundations the case-divinity of the Roman Catholic Church stands, and how indirect a course they take for resolving and directing the troubled conscience.

Given both the value and the misuse of this doctrine, we can see how necessary it is that in churches professing the Christian religion, it should be taught more fully and developed further than it currently is. To this end, it would be desirable for knowledgeable men in the ministry — those whom God's grace has equipped with the tongue of the learned — to devote their efforts in this direction: not only exploring the depths of speculative doctrinal questions, but also attaching to them the practical grounds and conclusions by which they might both inform the judgment and correct the conscience of their hearers. By this means, distressed souls would be relieved, piety and devotion would be more widely practiced, the kingdom of sin, Satan, and Antichrist would be weakened and diminished, and the kingdom of Christ Jesus would be more and more established in its place.

What the author and compiler of the following discourse has done toward this end is evident throughout his other writings, which he has left behind. These works openly display the great measure of knowledge and understanding, and the other gifts both natural and spiritual, with which God had enriched him — and they carry with them the sweet savor of piety and sanctification, by which he proved his heart to God and his life to others. In these writings, he has also on occasion set forth and explained many notable rules for directing and resolving the conscience, as will be apparent to any careful and learned reader.

To say nothing of the rest: the present work itself is ample testimony of his knowledge and skill in this area, attained through great labor, much careful observation, and long experience. It is a work that commends itself to the church of God especially in two respects. First, because the principles and foundations from which he gives direction are drawn either directly, or by sound inference, from the written word — and are therefore more able to satisfy the doubting or distressed mind. Second, because it is set forth with such clarity and arranged in such order and method as best serves the understanding and memory of the reader.

I have taken the liberty of presenting this entire treatise of questions to your Worship, and of publishing it under your patronage and protection, as one to whom it rightly belongs. First, because God, who honors those who honor Him, has blessed you not only with civil authority and dignity in the commonwealth, but with the honorable name of a Friend to the church of God — something directly confirmed by your sincere love of the truth and your continued support for its teachers, the ministers and dispensers of the Gospel. Second, because just as the author of these cases was himself in many ways bound to you during his lifetime, so his wife and children have, for his sake, received much kindness from you since his death — a clear proof of the truth and sincerity of your affection toward him in the Lord. And finally, it was my desire, by publishing this work and the other two parts that will follow under your name, to give some expression of my duty to your Worship — trusting that as you loved the author, you will be pleased to patronize the work and to interpret favorably both the labor and the good intentions of the publisher. And so, troubling you no further, I humbly take my leave, and commend your Worship to the grace and favor of God in Christ. From Emmanuel College in Cambridge. June 28, 1604.

Your Worship's in all dutiful service, Thomas Pickering.