but they offer up their prayers to God not in their own name but by the hands of their great High Priest and in the merits of his Sacrifice which is subordinate to the mediation of Christ and as consistent with it as the prayers of the people under the Law were with the Atonement and Expiation made by the Priest who offered the Blood of the Sacrifice and the Incense to God. The work of a Mediator is to present our Prayers and Petitions and to give value and efficacy to them and therefore we must pray our selves we must put up our Petitions to God or our Advocate and Mediator cannot present them but is it injurious to the Office of an Advocate that we draw up a Petition which he is to present to our King So that the prayers of good Men for each other is no encroachment upon the Office of a Mediator for our prayers for others as well as for our selves must be offered to God by the hands of our Mediator And this shows also that to desire the prayers of good Men on Earth is no derogation from the Intercession of Christ for we only desire them to joyn with us in our Petition just as if we should procure some persons of worth and note to subscribe our Petition to our Prince which is no injury to our Advocate who presents it For they are two different things to subscribe a Petition and to present it to our Prince And besides this a prayer though it be the prayer of the best Man in the World is but a prayer still and may be answered or rejected as God sees fit but whatever prayer is presented by our Mediator is always granted For he mediates with authority and power he is able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Under the Law the atonement and expiation of the Priest was always valid to all the intents and purposes of the Law that is to an external and legal purity much more is the mediation of Christ effectual for if it ever miscarried he could not be the object of our Faith and hope A supplicant may heartily desire our good but our Mediator by vertue of his office obtains all the petitions and prayers he presents and every body sees that these two are very consistent But though to desire the prayers of good Men for us on Earth do not derogate from the Intercession of Christ yet to flie to the aid of Saints in Heaven does For that makes them our Advocates and Intercessors not our fellow Supplicants whereas there is but one Mediator in Heaven who appears in the presence of God for us as under the Law only the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies which was a Type of Heaven and did prefigure that great High Priest who was to ascend into Heaven with his own Blood. I am sure the Church of Rome does not look upon the Saints in Heaven to be our fellow supplicants as good Men on Earth are but to be our Advocates and Intercessors and then they are Intercessors in Heaven where none but the High Priest was to intercede and they are Intercessors without a Sacrifice which is contrary to the Analogy both of the Old and New Testament For we have no more Intercessors than Priests and we have but one High Priest who is ascended into Heaven and appears in the presence of God for us And if intercession be annexed to the Priesthood I desire to know how the Virgin Mary comes to be so powerful a Mediatrix and Advocatress for we never heard of any she-High Priest before This is answer enough to what he intimates that desiring the Intercessions of the blessed is not more superstitious and derogatory to our Lord's Mediatorship than intreating the Prayers of holy Men Militant For to pray for one another in this World is as consistent with the mediation of Christ as to pray for our selves but the Intercessions of Saints for us in Heaven is inconsistent with the only Mediatorship of Christ. But praying to Saints in Heaven which he modestly calls Desiring the Intercessions of the blessed is of a different consideration and more injurious to God than to a Mediator considered only as our Mediator For prayer is an act of worship peculiar and appropriate to God and therefore not due to our Mediator himself if he were not God. We must pray to God in the name of our Mediator and present our Petitions to God by him but if our Mediator were not God we must not pray to him and thus they are injurious to our only Mediator when they pray to God in any other name and expect to be heard for the sake and merits of any other Mediator but only Christ as they always do on the Festivals of their Saints but to pray to Saints also is an additional crime it is giving the peculiar worship of God to creatures which I told him was expresly forbid by our Saviour Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve But says our Author I see not how he can deduce from it this last Text any thing to his purpose till it appear that all Prayer is Divine worship or that we pray to Saints just as we do to God. But now methinks till he make the contrary appear it is very much to the purpose For prayer is appropriated to God in Scripture and all Mankind have thought prayer an act of religious worship and have been able to distinguish between a religious prayer and begging an Alms or making any request to our earthly Prince or Parents or Friends and if our Author does not understand this I have directed him in the Margin where he may be better informed XII Honouring the Cross the Reliques and Representations of our Lord and his Saints with that degree of Reverence as we do the Gospels commonly kissed and sworn by Altar and other sacred Utensils is Idolatry This I told him was ill represented for those who charge them with Idolatry in worshipping the Cross and Reliques and Images charge them also with giving more religious Honours and Worship to them than that external respect which we allow to the Gospels and religious Utensils as both the Decrees of their Councils and the visible practice of their Church proves To this our Author replies Our general Councils tell Protestants we pay no other honour to any creature than what than such an external respect as is due to the Bible I never heard before that they made the Bible the object of their worship but I am sure some which they call general Councils have defined the Worship of Images and Reliques witness the second Council of Nice and the Council of Trent It is strange to me that at this time of day he can think to impose upon Protestants with such shams Surely he has never read the Doctrines and Practices of
submit for nothing can be essential to the Unity of the Church but what Christ himself has made so and what is not absolutely essential may be changed and altered when there is absolute necessity for it without a sinful breach of Unity and therefore though they cannot make good their claim to this Universal Supremacy not so much as by Ecclesiastical Canons and Constitutions and ancient Customs as has been often proved by Learned Protestants yet to shorten that Dispute which to be sure none but Learned Men can be judges of whatever Jurisdiction or Primacy they pretend to have been formerly granted by Ancient Councils to the Bishop of Rome may be retrenched or denied without the Guilt of Schism when it proves a manifest Oppression of the Christian Church and serves only to justifie and perpetuate the most Notorious and Intolerable Corruptions of the Christian Religion And the Reason is very plain because all human Constitutions are alterable and what is alterable ought to be altered when the indispensable Necessities of the Church and of Religion require it Catholick Unity requires no Superiority or Jurisdiction of one Bishop or one Church over another but only Mutual Concord and Brotherly Correspondence and therefore a Church which rejects any Foreign Jurisdiction may yet maintain Catholick Unity as the African Churches did in St. Cyprians days The Combination indeed of Neighbour Churches and Bishops for the more convenient Exercise of Ecclesiastical Discipline and Government we grant was very Ancient and is of great use to this day but if such Combinations as these degenerate from their first Institution and by the Tyranny and Encroachments of some usurping Bishops is improved into a Temporal Monarchy and invasion upon the inherent Rights and Liberties of all other Bishops and Churches I would desire to know why these Oppressed Bishops and Churches may not vindicate their own Rights and Liberties and cast off such an intolerable Yoak No you 'l say when such a Superiority and Subordination of Churches is Ordered and Decreed by general Councils which is the Supream Authority in the Church no change nor alteration can be made but by an equal Authority and therefore no particular Bishops or Churches can reject any such Jurisdiction unless it be revoked by a general Council without the guilt of Schism Now in Answer to this Let us consider 1. Suppose such an aspiring Bishop has usurped such an Authority as was never Orginally granted him by any Council that he has improved a Primacy of order which yet is more than the Nicene Canons granted to the Bishop of Rome into a Supremacy of Jurisdiction and has enlarged his Patriarchate beyond its original Bounds may not that be taken away without a general Council which was usurped indeed but never given 2ly Suppose a general Council had granted what it had no right to give as it must have done if ever any general Council had granted or confirmed the Popes Pretensions of being the Universal Bishop and visible Head of the Church and the Fountain of all Ecclesiastical Authority and granted away these Rights and Powers which are inherent in every Church and inseparable from the Episcopal Office. For it is not in Ecclesiastical as it is in Civil Rights Men may irrevocably grant away their own Civil Rights and Liberties but all the Authority in the Church cannot give away it self nor grant the whole intire Episcopacy with all the Rights and Powers of it to any one Bishop If Bishops will not exercise that Power which Christ has given them they are accountable to their Lord for it but they cannot give it away neither from themselves nor from their Successors for it is theirs only to use not to part with and therefore every Bishop may reassume such Rights though a general Council should give them away because the grant is void in it self 3ly Especially when the Regular means of Redress is made impossible by such Usurpations when the Christian Church is so inslaved to the Will and Pleasure of one Domineering Bishop that there can be no general Council unless he call it and preside in it and confirm it by his own Authority and how impossible it is this way to cast off such an usurping Power when the Usurper must be the Judg in his own Cause I need not prove especially when Christian Princes and Bishops are so devoted to the See of Rome either linked to it by secular Interests or over-awed by Superstition that it is in vain to expect that such a Council should Redress such Abuses as they themselves are fond of or if they would have them Redressed if they could yet dare not venture to attempt it must all Bishops now and Churches quietly submit to such Usurpations because the greatest number of them will not or dare not vindicate their own Rights Is it then unlawful for Christian Bishops to Exercise that Authority which Christ has given them and of which they must give an Account if they happen to be out-voted by other Bishops I grant the less number of Bishops cannot make Laws for the Universal Church in opposition to the greater numbers whatever Constitutions owe their Authority to mutual Consent must in all reason be confirmed and over-ruled by the greater numbers but the less number nay any single Bishop may observe the Institutions of our Saviour and exercise that Authority which he has given him without asking leave of general Councils nay in opposition to them for the Authority and Institution of our Saviour is beyond all the general Councils in the World. 4. Especially when we have the consent of much the greater number of Bishops without their meeting in a general Council All the Eastern Bishops which are much more numerous than the Western I cannot say have cast off the Authority of the Bishop of Rome because they never owned it but yet they oppose and reject his Authority as much as the Bishops of England do and therefore our Reformers in casting off the Pope did nothing but what they had the Authority of the whole Eastern Church to justifie which I take to be as good as a Council of Western Bishops though they may call it General For the Business of a Council in such cases is not to consent to some new Laws but to declare ancient and original Rights and if we have their authentick Declarations in this matter we need no more For we do not so much want their Authority as their Judgment in this Point It is a very daring thing to oppose the universal Consent of the whole Christian Church and no private Bishops nor National Combination of Bishops would be able to bear up against such a Prejudice but when we have the concurrent Opinions of the greatest number of Christian Bishops we need not much concern our selves for want of the Formality of a Western Council who are interested Parties yes you 'l say at least the Church of England was subject to the Jurisdiction of the
Western Patriarch and therefore ought not to have innovated without the Patriarchal Authority and a Patriarchal Council nor to have rejected the Patriarchal Authority which was confirmed by ancient Councils Now not to dispute this at present Whether England were subject to the Bishop of Rome as the Western Patriarch which it is certain our Brittish Bishops when Austin the Monk came into England would not own and which was never granted by any ancient General Council and the Submission of the English Bishops afterwards by Fear or Flattery could never give such a Right as should oblige all their Successours for future Ages yet I say this Patriarchal Authority is not the Dispute between the Church of England and the Church of Rome Our Reformers took no notice of the Patriarchal Authority but the Universal Headship and Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome as is evident from the Articles of our Church in which there is no mention of it And this was such an Usurpation as might be renounced without the Authority of any Council as I have already shown Indeed his Patriarchal Authority if he had any necessarily fell with it For when he challenges such an exorbitant Power so far exceeding the Bounds and Limits of a Patriarchal Authority and will exercise all if he exercise any and will hold Communion with none upon any other terms and will not be confined to a meer Patriarchal Jurisdiction we must necessarily renounce all Subjection to him to deliver our selves from his Usurpations when his pretended Patriarchate is swallowed up in his Universal Headship he may thank himself if he forfeits what he might with a better Appearance make some Pretence to by challenging so much more than ever was his right And the Patriarchal Authority it self could he have made any pretences to it which he never could over the Church of England which was originally a free and independent Church being but a human Constitution may be renounced without Schism when necessity requires it and certainly if ever there can be any necessity for such a Rupture it becomes necessary then when it swells into a boundless and unlimited Authority to the Oppression of the whole Christian Church in her essential Rights and Liberties 5ly There is one thing more I would have observed for the right stating of this Dispute about Schism viz. the difference between Schism from the Catholick Church and the Breach of Ecclesiastical Communion between different Churches In the first Sense Schism cuts us off from the Body of Christ and consequently puts us out of a state of Salvation and therefore it can be nothing less than a Separation from the Communion of the Church in things essential to Faith or Worship or Government for in this sense no man can be a Schismatick without in some Degree or other forfeiting his Christianity and his essential Right to Christian Communion Ecclesiastical Communion is the Union of several distinct Churches into one Ecclesiastical Body for mutual Advice and Counsel and the more pure Administration of Discipline When several Bishops who have originally all the same Authority in the Government of their several Churches bestow different Powers on some Bishops whom they advance above others with the Title and Authority of Metropolitans or Patriarchs with a Power of calling Synods and receiving Appeals and the principal Authority of Ordinations and govern their several Churches by such Ecclesiastical Laws as are agreed on by common Consent or the major Vote This is a very useful Constitution and of great Antiquity in the Church if it had not its beginning in the Apostles times and for any Bishop or Church causelessly to break such a Confederacy as this is a very great Evil and has the Guilt and Crime of Schism but yet it does not seem to be such a Schism as divides the intrinsick Unity of the Catholick Church and cuts off such a Church from the Body of Christ. For the Unity of the Catholick Church consists in one Faith and Worship and Charity and such an external Communion when occasion offers shows that we are all the Disciples of the same common Lord and Saviour and own each other for Brethren but the Church may be the one Body of Christ without being one Ecclesiastical Body under one governing Head which it is impossible the whole Christian Church should be and therefore a Church which divides it self from that Ecclesiastical Body to which it did once belong if it have just and necessary Reasons for what it does is wholly blameless nay commendable for it if it have not it sins according to the nature and aggravation of the Crime but still may be a Member of the Catholick Church and still enjoy all the Priviledges of a true Catholick Church the Communion of Saints the Forgiveness of Sins and the Promises of everlasting Life Which shows us how the holy Catholick Church in the Creed may be One notwithstanding all those Divisions of Christendom which are occasioned by the Quarrels of Bishops and the Disputes about Ecclesiastical Canons and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Those who are the Beginners or Fomentors of such Divisions shall answer it to their Lord and Judge as they shall all their other personal Miscarriages but it would be very hard if such a Church which in its Faith and Worship is truly Catholick should be cut off from the Body of Christ and all the Members of it put out of a State of Salvation because the Bishops and Pastors of such Churches think fit to divide themselves from that Ecclesiastical Body to which they were united by Custom or ancient Canons Now this is the most they can make of our forsaking the Ecclesiastical Communion of the Church of Rome That we have divided our selves from the Bishop of Rome to whom by Custom or some pretended Canons we owed Obedience and Subjection which I have proved to be very innocent in us because it was necessary But suppose it were a causeless and criminal Separation yet it is only an Ecclesiastical Schism which does not separate us from the Catholick Church though it does from that Ecclesiastical Body of which the Bishop of Rome makes himself the Head. This I think is a sufficient Justification of the Church of England in rejecting the Authority of the Church of Rome and her reforming the Errors and Corruptions of Faith and Worship needs no defence at all though there were never a pure and reformed Church in the World besides her self For I would desire our Author to tell me whether it be a fault to reform the Corruptions of Faith and Worship Can it be a fault then to believe as Christ has taught and to worship God as he has prescribed Is it possible that the true Catholick Faith and Worship should ever be a Crime if it be not then it can be no fault to make the Doctrines and Institutions of our Saviour the Rule of our Faith and Worship and that is all that we mean by reforming not
of their own sending and instruction In Answer to this I told him that if by this he meant that the whole Clergy of the Christian World did at the time of the Reformation maintain the Doctrines of the Church of Rome which were rejected and condemned only by a Major Vote of a Parliament of Lay-men in England all the World knew how false it is For 1. There were many other Churches and better parts of the Catholick Church than the Church of Rome which did not own those Doctrines and Corruptions which we reject 2. Nay the whole Clergy of the Roman Church did not for many of our English Bishops and Clergy were as Zealous for the Reformation as any Lay-men so were the German Reformers who were Originally Popish Monks and Priests and yet did not follow the Laity but lead them way to the Reformation In reply to this he says I manifest my self meanly versed in the Story of my own Party or no friend to Ingenuity and Truth For it is certainly true and attested by Protestant Historians and Records that all the Bishops and the whole Convocation declared against Lay-supremacy and other Protestant Points and for Non-compliance therewith were almost all deprived the Queen and her Lay-Parliament enacting Supremacy whereby she imposed new Doctrines displaced the Catholick Clergy and created Prelatick Ministers And whether he or I be most in the right let the Reader Judg. For 1. It is plain I did not speak only of the Clergy of England but of the whole Clergy of the Catholick Church as he himself stated the Question and he answers only to the Clergy of England and with what Truth shall be examined presently For if the whole Clergy of the Catholick Church have not Apostatized whatever the Clergy of the Church of Rome has done he loses the very Foundation of his Request to us to prove that the whole Clergy of the Catholick Church have Apostatized from Fundamental Truth and Holiness for we are not bound to prove that which is false but he who allows no Catholick Church but the Church of Rome must consequently allow no Clergy of the Catholick Church but the Roman Clergy but we grant neither one nor t'other and yet as I showed the Roman Clergy themselves were the first Reformers and therefore what he insinuates cannot be true that the whole Roman Clergy opposed the Roman Laity in the Reformation 2. As for the English Reformation he confines it in his Answer only to the Story of Queen Elizabeth and what was done in her Reign but the Article he would have proved and the Answer I gave to it has no such limitation and I must still repeat that all the World knows and the Histories and Records of our Church assure us that the Popish Bishops and Convocation in Henry the Eight's days did acknowledg the Kings Supremacy and in higher Terms than Queen Elizabeth would challenge it Indeed the late Oxford Writer or rather Publisher of Books charges this upon that force they were under that is that the Clergy was taken in a Praemunire and the King would not compound the Business with them unless they acknowledged him to be the Head of the Church But does this prove that they did not make this Recognition if force or flattery can corrupt the whole Clergy then it seems the whole Clergy of the Roman Catholick Church may Apostatize from Fundamental Truth and Holiness if they fall first into a Praemunire and meet with a King who will take the Advantage of it and are not the Clergy then admirable Guides to follow especially if they can be so over-awed as not only to make such a Profession but to Write and Dispute for it and use all variety of Arguments to perswade People to believe it The Institution for the necessary Erudition of a Christian man was agreed on in Convocation and published by Authority Bishop Gardiner wrote a Book de vera Obedientia to which Bonner prefixed a Preface upon the same Argument Stokesly Bishop of London and Tonstal Bishop of Duresm wrote in defence of the Kings Proceedings to Cardinal Pool and many Sermons were preached by several Bishops to the same purpose out of which Dr. Burnet has collected the Arguments used by them both against the Power of the Pope and for the Supremacy of the King And during that Session of Parliament which took away the Power of the Pope in the year 1534. A Bishop preached every Sunday at St. Paul's Cross and taught the People that the Pope had no Authority in England Was all this matter of force too and fear of the Praemunire which was pardoned in Parliament Anno 1531. three years before Let us now consider what passed under Queen Elizabeth And methinks what was good Doctrine in King Henry's time should be good Doctrine still and yet it is true that many Bishops then did protest against the Act for Supremacy and refused the Oath when it was offered them and that many of those Bishops who had wrote or preached for it before such as Bonner Bishop of London and Tonstal of Duresm which seems to lessen their Authority in this matter and when the Nation had so lately had the sense of the whole English Roman Clergy in this Point their present obstinacy to confirm their former Opinions without answering their former Reasons was no sufficient cause why a Lay-Parliament should not renew such Laws without the consent of the Clergy which were at first made with it not a Bishop dissenting excepting Fisher Bishop of Rochester And whereas he talks in such a strain as if this were opposed by the whole Clergy and that they were almost all deprived for it the account which the Visiters gave the Queen is very different that of 9400 beneficed Men in England there were no more but fourteen Bishops six Abbots twelve Deans twelve Archdeacons fifteen Heads of Colledges fifty Prebendaries and eighty Rectors of Parishes that had left their Benefices upon account of Religion which is a very inconsiderable number to the whole 3. I answered farther That we do not say that the Roman Church her self has apostatized from fundamental Truth and Holiness We do grant that they have retained the true Faith and Worship of Christ though they have fatally corrupted both by Additions of their own And therefore we are not bound to prove that the whole Clergy of the Catholick Church may apostatize from fundamental Truth and Holiness for we do not say they did All that he replies to this is That this Apostacy at the least is taught in the 19 and 21 Articles and Homilies against the Peril of Idolatry That is to say for I suppose that is his meaning that the Church of England charges the Church of Rome with Idolatry and Idolatry is an Apostacy from fundamental Truth and Holiness But if men may be guilty of some kinds of Idolatry and of very great corruptions in Faith and Worship without denying any
more than what we give to the Bible ibid. The reasons why some Protestants have charged the worship of Images with Idolatry 88 No alterations made in the Law against worshipping Images in the New Testament 92 The reasons of the Second Commandment Moral and Eternal 93 No material Temple much less an Image allowed under the Gospel 95 The Primitive Church always understood the Worship of Images to be forbid under the Gospel 99 XIII Whether the Pope be Antichrist and whether this be taught in the Homilies of the Church of England ibid. XIV Concerning Prayers and Divine Offices in the Vulgar tongue 101 The self-contradictions of this Author 102 Whether S. Paul in 1 Cor. 14. only forbid inspired and extempore prayers in an unknown tongue not the setled forms of Divine Offices 104 All the Apostles arguments in that place against speaking in an unknown tongue concern our ordinary devotions 105 As 1. That it is contrary to the edification of the Church ib. 2. That it contradicts the natural end and use of speech 106 3. That it is contrary to the nature of Prayer and religious worship which must be a reasonable Service 107 Whether the people are bound to joyn in all the offices of publick worship 108 Whether the people understand their prayers though they are in Latin which they do not understand 112 XV. Concerning Schism and Separation 114 Separation from the Errors of the Church of Rome is not a Separation from the Catholick Church 116 Renouncing the Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome no Schism ibid. Such a supremacy not essential to Catholick Unity 117 Concerning the Ecclesiastical combinations of neighbour Churches and Bishops into one body ibid. In what cases a particular Church may break off from such a body 118 The Popes Supremacy such an usurpation as may be renounced without the authority of a general Council ibid. The Church of England not originally subject to the Bishop of Rome as the Western Patriarch 121 The difference between Schism from the Catholick Church and the breach of Ecclesiastical Communion 122 To reform errors and corruptions in Faith and Worship can never be a fault 125 That the Church of England does not separate from all other Christian Societies 126 Concerning Communion in the Eucharist and other religious Assemblies 129 What Church we joyned in Communion with when we forsook the Communion of the Church of Rome 130 What Church we made the pattern of our Reformation 131 In what sense the Church of Rome her self was the pattern of our Reformation 132 XVI Concerning the defection and apostasie of the Clergy of the Catholick Church and the Reformation of the Laity 134 Whether the whole Clergy were against the Reformation 135 The Popish Clergy in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth did own the King's Supremacy and wrote for it 136 c. We do not assert That the Church of Rome has apostatized from fundamental Truth and Holiness 138 Whether all kind of Idolatry be an Apostasie from fundamental Truth and Holiness 139 The nature of that argument to prove That a thing is not because it cannot be when there is all other possible evidence to prove That it is 140 As that the Church of Rome has not erred because she cannot err 141 c. If the Reformation be good there can want no authority to reform 147 The Supreme Authority of any Nation has a regular Authority to declare what shall be the established Religion of that Nation which is all that we attribute to Kings and Parliaments in such matters 250 ERRATA PAG. 53. l. 4. for now r. non p. 123. l. 33. r. as shows p. 14â— l. 14. dele upon Some faults there are in Pointing which I must leave to the Reader to correct A VINDICATION OF SEVERAL Protestant Doctrines BEING AN ANSWER TO A LATE PAMPHLET ENTITULED Protestancy destitute of Scripture-Proofs THAT I have taken so little an occasion to write so big a Book I hope the Reader upon his perusal will pardon There is indeed a remarkable difference between us and our Roman Adversaries in this matter they can answer great Books in two or three Sheets if they vouchsafe to give any answer at all which they begin to be weary of we answer two or three Sheets in large Books but then we have very different ends in writing too they to make a show of saying somewhat to put by the blow by some few insignificant cavils we not only to answer our Adversaries which might be done in very few words but to instruct our people which requires a more particular Explication of the reasons of things But I shall make no Apology for my Book till I hear that it wants it for it may be some may think it as much too little as others too big He begins very regularly with the state of the Controversie between us to prove sixteen Protestant Tenets as he calls them by plain Scripture Scriptures but so plain to us for their Doctrines as they require to be yielded them by the Catholique Church for hers What will be thought plain by them is a very hard matter to guess when it seems the second Commandment it self is not thought by them a plain Scripture-proof against Image-worship and I despair of ever finding a plainer proof in Scripture for or against any thing But I told him in Answer to his request p. 17. that we desire no other proofs from them but what we are ready to give either the express words of Scripture or plain and evident consequence or the silence of Scripture to prove that any Doctrine is not in it And though they may reasonably demand of us what we demand of them yet they cannot reasonably demand more and whether I have not done him justice in this way shall be examined again under the several Articles of his request In the next Paragraph he mightily despises the Answer and concluded the pamphlet unworthy a publick or special notice and expected if not more pertinent yet at least more plausible replies to follow and I can assure him that he was very ill advised that he did not despise and expect on for his reply has given some credit and authority to that Answer and has now produced a Book which if he be wise he will despise too though I hope it will convince him that Protestants do not mean to expose their profession by silence which I do not find them much inclined to at present But let us consider the state of the question In answer to the Request to prove some Protestant Tenets by plain Scripture I told him this was a false representation of our Doctrine for though we do make the Scripture the rule of our Faith yet we do not pretend to own no Doctrine but what is contained in the express words of Scripture Our Church teaches us Art. 6. that Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved
Gold that must be burnt and dissolved before we can pass through this Fire into Heaven now though this be very unintelligible also how a material Fire can purge and refine a Soul yet it shows how much this differs from the Popish Purgatory which burns and torments indeed but does not purge and refine and therefore is very improperly called a Purgatory Fire Origen indeed whom Cardinal Bellarmine and others quote for this Purgatory Fire as they do also Plato and Virgil did believe a Purgatory Fire in a true and proper sense for he believed all punishments whether in this World or in the next were only Purgatory that is not meerly for punishment but for the correction and amendment of those who suffered And therefore he did also believe that the very worst of Men nay the Devils themselves should at last be purged and cleansed by Fire and restored to a state of happiness The summ of his Opinion in short was this That at the Day of Judgment Christ will destroy this World with Fire as he is said to come in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God. And this Fire which shall burn the World at the last Day seems to be that Purgatory Fire of which Origen and some other Fathers speak Though I know some thought this Fire to be in the upper Regions so as to intercept our ascent into Heaven without passing through it This will try all Men for all must pass through this Fire as the Ancients believed and those who had Hay or Stubble or any combustible matter about them who had any remains of corruption to be purged away must stay in it a longer or shorter time till they were thoroughly purged from their sins this as you have heard was the general opinion of the Fathers as well as of Origen and therefore Origen's Purgatory Fire is not the Popish Purgatory because that is not kindled till the Day of Judgment But then Origen thought that this purgation extended to the worst of Men and to Devils themselves that though they might lie many Ages in this Fire before they are perfectly purged yet they should be purged at last and restored to the favour and enjoyment of God. For which he was generally condemned by the Ancient Christians and principally by the Fifth general Council And yet there were other Fathers who were in some degree tainted with this opinion For there are plain marks of it in Gregory Nyssen if his works were not corrupted by the Origenists as some suspect and in S. Hierome himself For though some would not allow of the final Salvation of Devils yet they believed this of all Mankind though never so wicked others thought this must be confined to all Christians others to all those Christians who were not guilty of Heresie or Schism how wicked soever they were otherwise These opinions are rejected and condemned by the Romanists as well as by us and therefore they ought not to alledge such Authorities as these which are nothing to their purpose For that there will be such a fire at the day of Judgment does not prove that there is one already kindled and a Purgatory fire which cleanses and purges our sins does not prove that there is such a Purgatory Fire as is only to punish those whose sins are already pardoned and cleansed Fourthly There is another considerable difference between this Popish Purgatory and the fire at the day of Judgment that there is no redemption out of this by the Prayers and Alms and Masses of the living which is the most considerable thing in the Popish Purgatory and that for which I fear the Church of Rome does principally value it For this sets a good price upon Indulgences gives great Authority to their Priests inriches their Monasteries and is the great support of the Roman Hierarchy But as the Fathers say not one word about this so the account I have already given of their opinions is a demonstration that they could not think of any such thing because this fire is not till the day of Judgment and then I suppose when we all come to be judged you will grant it is too late to offer Prayers and Alms and Masses for the Redemption of our selves or others from these Purgatory flames The Fathers thought that we must all undergo this purgation by fire which would be longer or shorter as we had more or fewer sins to be purged away and therefore here can be no place for the suffrages and intercessions of the living According to the Popish Doctrine those Souls who are redeemed out of Purgatory must be redeemed before the day of Judgment and those who are not redeemed before are on course redeemed then for the Roman Purgatory must end at the day of Judgment though the Purgatory fire the Fathers speak of does but begin then Thirdly This gives occasion to another observation That the ancient practice of Praying for Souls departed does not prove that there is a Popish Purgatory or that those ancient Christians did believe that there was That this was a very ancient practice I readily grant as all Men must do who know any thing of these matters and yet from what I have discoursed it is evident that they never dreamt of such a Purgatory as the Church of Rome has now made an Article of Faith of and therefore they could have no regard to the Redemption of Souls out of Purgatory in their Prayers for the dead because they did not know of any such place But to what original then shall we attribute this custom of praying for the Dead Truly that is hard to say there is not the least footsteps of it in the Canonical Scripture neither of the Old nor New Testament as Tertullian and others acknowledge and when it first came into the Church we cannot tell that tender concern Men have for the memory of their dead Friends which the Heathens themselves showed in their Oblations and Sacrifices and funeral Rites for the Dead seem to have given occasion to it and those who were converted from Paganism to Christianity might still believe that the Dead challenged some part of our care and regard which at first was tempered with a due respect to the Laws of Christianity but soon encreased into greater excesses as it is the Nature of all Superstitions to do Prayers for the Dead seem at first to be used only at their Funerals in time grew Anniversary and were celebrated by their own Friends and Relations not with Propitiatory Sacrifices but with some offerings for the relief of the Poor and thus by degrees it crept into the service of the Church and at the Celebration of the Eucharist the Bishop or Priest made mention of the names of Martyrs and Confessors and Bishops and those who had deserved well of the Church and particular Christians in their private Devotions remembred their own Relations and Friends and thus it became a Custom without inquiring into the reasons of
for the office of a Mediator considered as a Mediator consists wholly in Intercession whence his authority and interest to intercede arises is of another consideration and therefore S. Iohn distinguishes between Christ's being an Advocate for us and a Propitiation for our sins 1 John 2. 1 2. if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous And he is the Propitiation for our sins Christ is our only Redeemer who has bought us with his own Blood but to be our Redeemer and to be our Mediator and Advocate are two things by the Constitution and Appointment of God both these are united in one person that he who is our only Redemer is our only Advocate also but yet to redeem with his Blood and to intercede with his Father for us differ as the death of the Sacrifice doth from the intercession of the Priest. To Redeem and make Atonement for our sins by shedding his Blood upon the Cross is not his Intercession for us and to intercede for us in Heaven is not to redeem us by shedding his Blood though he intercedes in vertue of his Blood. So that though Christ be our Redeemer yet considered as our Mediator and Advocate his mediation consists wholly in his Intercession for us And therefore to say that there is one Mediator and one Intercessor is the very same thing Suppose then the Apostle had said there is one God and one Intercessor between God and Men the man Christ Iesus would this have proved that there are no Mediators of Intercession but only Christ Or would they still say that there is an Intercessor of Redemption and Intercessors of Intercession and yet that there is but one Intercessor But besides this this very distinction between a Mediator of Redemption and a Mediator of pure Intercession that is such a Mediator as mediates in vertue of his Blood and Sacrifice and a Mediator who intercedes only by prayers and personal interest and Merits is contrary to the Analogy both of the Old and New Testament For as there is no Remission or Expiation so there is no mediation without Blood. For to mediate and intercede is not merely to pray for another but it signifies a Ministerial authority to apply the vertues and merits of a Sacrifice Thus it was under the Law of Moses The High Priest was the Mediator or as the Apostle speaks every High Priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both gifts and Sacrifices for sins Heb. 5 1. Thus he mediates by offering Gifts and Sacrifices by making Atonement and Expiation of sin And no Man has authority to do this but by God's Appointment No man taketh this honour to himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron v. 4. Since there is no remission of sins without shedding Blood without the Atonement and Expiation of Sacrifice there can be no mediation but in vertue of the Sacrifice and therefore there can be no Mediator but he who offers the Sacrifice which confines mediation to the Sacerdotal Office. And therefore if we have but one High Priest there can be but one Mediator also between God and Man. But that we may rightly apprehend this matter and be able to distinguish betwen the prayers of good Men for themselves and for each other and the intercessions of a Mediator we must distinctly consider the vertue of the Sacrifice the prayers of the people and the Intercession of the Priest all which must concur to an effectual Prayer to obtain our requests and desires of God. Thus it was in the Mosaical Law. The Sacrifice was slain instead of the sinner and to bear the punishment of sin and without shedding of blood there was no remission Prayers could not expiate sin without a Sacrifice and therefore even in the time of the Patriarchs an Altar which is for Sacrifice was the place of their Devotions Thus Noah as soon as he came out of the Ark built an Altar and offered Sacrifice to God. Thus we frequently read how Abraham in his Travels whereever he made any stay built an Altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord that is he offered Sacrifices and Prayers to God. The like we read of Isaac and Iacob So that an Altar was the place of their solemn Devotions that is they offered up their prayers to God in vertue of a Sacrifice For sinners must not go directly to God without the Atonement and Expiation of a Sacrifice Hence under the Law while the Priest offered the Sacrifice the people offered up their prayers to God to ascend together with the Sacrifice and therefore those who lived in places remote from Ierusalem which was the only place of Sacrifices or those who could not attend the daily Sacrifices in the Temple yet were to observe the time of offering their Sacrifices for the time of their Prayers Whence it is that the time of offering the Sacrifice is called also the hour of Prayer Thus the people were to offer a Sacrifice for sin and to offer up their prayers in vertue of the Sacrifice but then neither their prayers nor their Sacrifice were acceptable to God unless they were offered by the Priest who sprinkled the blood of the Sacrifice upon the Altar to make Atonement and offered Incense as an emblem of their prayers To which the Psalmist alludes Let my prayer be set before thee as Incense and the lifting up of my hands as the evening Sacrifice And therefore the Evangelist observes that the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of Incense that their prayers might ascend as Incense Thus we expresly read in the Book of the Revelations of An Angel who stood at the Altar having a golden Censer and there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar which was before the Throne and the smoke of the Incense which came with the prayers of the Saints ascended before God out of the Angels hand Which expresly applys these legal Types to the state of the Gospel that great Sacrifice and great High Priest who presents our prayers to God. The death of Christ upon the Cross was the Sacrifice for all our sins in vertue of this Sacrifice we pray to God but Christ our great High Priest is now ascended into Heaven to present himself before his Father to offer his own blood and in vertue of that to offer our prayers to him This is the work of a Mediator and High Priest not so much to pray for us as to offer up our prayers to God in the vertue and efficacy of his own Sacrifice and with the authority of a heavenly Mediator and High Priest. Now this plainly shows the difference between the prayers of good Men for themselves and one another and the Intercession of a Mediator Good men are humble supplicants
confirmed and we no more want new Miracles to confirm our Reformation than to confirm the Authority of the Christian Religion for Reformed Christianity is nothing else but the old Primitive Apostolick Christianity and therefore we have the same Authority to reform now which the Apostles at first had to preach the Gospel for their Authority to preach the Gospel is and will be to the end of the World a sufficient Authority to all Men to believe it and consequently to renounce all Errors and Corruptions in Faith and Worship which are contrary to it 2. As for the Authority of the Clergy whatever it be it is certain Christ gave them no Authority to preach any other Gospel than what he had taught them which is the express Commission which he gave to the Apostles themselves and therefore whatever Decrees and Definitions they have made contrary to the true Faith and Worship of Christ are void of themselves and want no Authority to repeal them As for that distinction between making and declaring new Articles of Faith it is a meer piece of Sophistry for if they have the power of declaring and no body must oppose them nor judg of their Declarations under the pretence of declaring they may make as many new Articles of Faith as they please as we see the Council of Trent has done This Extravagant Authority they give to the Clergy of making Decrees and Canons concerning Faith and Worship which shall oblige the Laity to a blind Obedience and implicit Faith is a most ridiculous pretence unless it be supported with Infallibility and yet you have already heard that the pretence of Infallibility it self though it may silence those Mens objections and stop their farther inquiries who do really believe it yet it is no defence against the charge of Errors nor a sufficient Answer to that charge and how vain the pretence it self is has been abundantly proved in some late Treatises This is enough to show how insignificant that charge is against the Reformation that those Bishops and Priests who were at that time in Power and were zealously addicted to the Interests of Rome would not concur in it though afterwards much the greater numbers submitted to it and thereby gave it an after confirmation which is as much as they can pretend for the confirmation of some of their General Councils I grant nothing can be looked on as the Act of the Clergy which is not done by a regular Authority according to the Rules of that Church nor do we pretend that the Reformation was perfected or finished by the regular Authority of the Popish Clergy though several of them were Zealous in it but we say it is never the worse for that if they can prove that what we call a Reformation is faulty upon other Accounts then we will grant that to reform against the consent of the Clergy did greatly aggravate the Crime but if the Reformation were just and necessary and a true Reformation of the Errors and Corruptions of Christianity the dissent of the Clergy could not and ought not to hinder it for they had no such Authority from Christ either to corrupt Religion or to hinder the Reformation of it 3. The Supreme Authority of any Nation has a regular Authority to declare what shall be the Established Religion of that Nation and therefore the Queen and the Parliament could make the Reformed Religion the National Religion Established by Law and this is all that we Attribute to Kings and Parliaments We do not justifie our Reformation because it was confirmed by the Authority of Parliament but because it is agreeable to Scripture But we Thank God that he then inclined the heart of the Queen and Parliament to Establish the Reformation and heartily pray that he would still continue it to us and to our Posterity for ever Amen The End. Books lately printed for Richard Chiswell THE History of the Reformation of the Church of England By GILBERT BURNET D. D. in two Volumes Folio The Moderation of the Church of England in her Reformation in avoiding all undue Compliances with Popery and other sorts of Phanaticism c. by TIMOTHY PULLER D. D. Octavo A Dissertation concerning the Government of the Ancient Church more particularly of the Encroachments of the Bishops of Rome upon other Sees By WILLIAM CAVE D. D. Octavo An Answer to Mr. Serjeant's Sure Footing in Christianity concerning the Rule of Faith With some other Discourses By WILLIAM FALKNER D. D. 4 o. A Vindication of the Ordinations of the Church of England in Answer to a Paper written by one of the Church of Rome to prove the Nullity of our Orders By GILBERT BURNET D. D. Octavo An Abridgment of the History of the Reformation of the Church of England By GILB BURNET D. D. Octavo A Collection of several Tracts and Discourses written in the years 1678 1679. c. by Gilbert Burnet D. D. To which are added 1 A Letter written to Dr. Burnet giving an Account of Cardinal Pool's secret Powers 2 The History of the Powder-Treason with a Vindication of the Proceedings thereupon 3. An Impartial Consideration of the Five Jesuits dying Speeches who were Executed for the Plot 1679. In Quarto The APOLOGY of the Church of England and an Epistle to one Signior Scipio a Venetian Gentleman concerning the Council of Trent Written both in Latin by the Right Reverend Father in God IOHN IEWEL Lord Bishop of Salisbury Made English by a Person of Quality To which is added The Life of the said Bishop Collected and written by the same Hand Octavo A LETTER writ by the last Assembly General of the Clergy of France to the Protestants inviting them to return to their Communion Together with the Methods proposed by them for their Conviction Translated into English and Examined by GILB BURNET D. D. Octavo The Life of WILLIAM BEDEL D. D. Bishop of Kilmore in Ireland Together with Certain Letters which passed betwixt him and Iames Waddesworth a late Pensioner of the Holy Inquisition of Sevil in Matter of Religion concerning the General Motives to the Roman Obedience Octavo The Decree made at ROME the Second of March 1679. condemning some Opinions of the Iesuits and other Casuists Quarto A Discourse concerning the Necessity of Reformation with respect to the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome Quarto First and Second Parts A Discourse concerning the Celebration of Divine Service in an Unknown Tongue Quarto A Papist not Misrepresented by Protestants Being a Reply to the Reflections upon the Answer to A Papist Misrepresented and Represented Quarto An Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England in the several Articles proposed by the late BISHOP of CONDOM in his Exposition of the Doctrine of the Catholick Church Quarto A Defence of the Exposition of the Doctrine of the CHURCH of ENGLAND against the EXCEPTIONS of Monsieur de MEAUX late Bishop of Condom and his VINDICATOR Quarto An Answer to THREE
PAPERS lately printed concerning the Authority of the Catholick Church in Matters of Faith and the Reformation of the Church of England Quarto A Vindication of the Answer to SOME LATE PAPERS concerning the Unity and Authority of the Catholick Church and Reformation of the Church of England Quarto An Historical Treatise written by an AUTHOR of the Communion of the CHURCH of ROME touching TRANSUBSTANTIATION Wherein is made appear That according to the Principles of THAT CHURCH This Doctrine cannot be an Article of Faith. Quarto A CATECHISM explaining the Doctrine and Practices of the Church of Rome with an Answer thereunto By a Protestant of the Church of England Octavo A Papist Represented and not Misrepresented Being an Answer to the First Second Fifth and Sixth Sheets of the Second Part of the Popish Representer and for a further Vindication of the CATECHISM truly representing the Doctrine and Practices of the Church of Rome Quarto In 3. Discourses The Lay-Christian's Obligations to read the Holy Scriptures Quarto The Plain Man's Reply to the Catholick Missionaries 24 o. The Protestant's Companion Or an Impartial Survey and Comparison of the Protestant Religion as by Law established with the main Doctrines of Popery Wherein is shewn that Popery is contrary to Scripture Primitive Fathers and Councils and that proved from Holy Writ the Writings of the Ancient Fathers for several hundred Years and the Confession of the most Learned Papists themselves Quarto Mr. Chillingworth's Book called The Religion of Protestants a safe way to Salvation made more generally useful by omitting Personal Contest but inserting whatsoever concerns the Common Cause of Protestants or defends the Church of England With an Addition of an Useful Table and also of some genuine Pieces of the same Author never before Printed viz. about Traditions against the Catholicism and Infallibility of the Roman Church And an Account of the Arguments which moved him to turn Papist with his Confutation of the said Arguments Quarto A Discourse of the Holy Eucharist in the two great points of the Real Presence and the Adoration of the Host. In Answer to the Two Discourses lately printed at Oxford on this Subject To which is prefixed a large Historical Preface relating to the same Argument Quarto The Pillar and Ground of Truth A Treatise shewing that the Roman Church falsly claims to be That Church and the Pillar of That Truth mentioned by S. Paul in his First Epistle to Timothy Chap. III. Vers. 15. Quarto A Brief Discourse concerning the Notes of the Church with some reflections on Cardinal Bellarmin's Fifteen Notes Quarto An Examination of the Cardinal's First Note concerning The Name of Catholick His Second Note Antiquity His Third Note Duration His Fourth Note Amplitude or Multitude and variety of Believers His Fifth Note The Succession of Bishops His Sixth Note Agreement in Doctrine with the Primitive Church His Seventh Note Union of the Members among themselves and with the Head His Eighth Note Sanctity of Doctrine The rest will be published Weekly in their Order A Defence of the Confuter of Bellarmin's Second Note of the Church Antiquitr against the Cavills of the Adviser Quarto The Peoples Right to read the Holy Scriptures asserted In Answer to the 6th 7th 8th 9th and 10th Chapters of the Popish Representer Second Part Two Discourses Of Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead Quarte A Short Summary of the Principal Controversies between the Church of England and the Church of Rome Being a Vindication of several Protestant Doctrines in Answer to a late Pamphlet intituled Protestancy destitute of Scripture-Proofs FINIS Ans. to request p. 1. Answer to Request p. 2. F Prot. Answer to Request p. 3. Answer to Request p. 5. Council Trid. Sess. 7. de Eucharistia cap. 5. Answer to Request p. 7. Concil Corstant Sess. 13. Purgatorium esse animasque ibi detentas fidelium suffragiis potissimum vero acceptabili altataris sacrificio juvari praecipit Sancta Synodus Episcopis ut sanam de purgatorio Doctrinam à sanctis patribâ—s sacris conciliis traditam Christi fidelibus credi teneri doceri ubique predicari diligenter studeant Concil Trid. Sess. 25. decret de purgat De purgat l. 1. cap. 5. cap. 10. l. 2. cap. 10 11 12. Cap. 11. Idem l. 2. cap. 3 4. Ibid. c. 14. Cap. 16. Irenaeus l. 5. contr haeres c. 31. Tert. de anima cap. 55. * Supergrediuntur ordinem promotionis justorum modos al. motus meditationis ad incorruptelam ignorant Ir. ibid. Qui ergo universam reprobant resurrectionem quantum in ipsis est auferunt eam de medio quid mirum est si nec ordinem resurrectionis sciunt Ibid. Quidam ex his qui putantur recâ—e credidisse baereticos sensus in se habentes Ibid. Dall de poenis satisf l. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Locum divinae amoenitatis recipiendis sanctorum spiritibus destinatâ—m Tert. Apol. cap. 47. Iustin Martyr l. resp ad Orth. quaest 75. Hilar. in Psal. 2. in Psal. 120. Ergo dum expectatur plenitudo temporis expectant animae Resurrectionem debitam Alias manet poena alias gloria Et tamen nec illae interim sine inâ—â—iâ nec istae sine fructu Ambr. de bono mortis cap. 10. Nulli patet coelum terra adhuc salva ne dixerim clausa cum transactione enim mundi reserabuntur regna coelorum Tert. Apol. cap. 47. Chrys. Hom. 29. in Matth. Aug. l. 16. de C. D. c. 24. Tale aliquid etiam post hanc vitam fieri incredibile non est utrum ita sit quaeri potest aut inveniri aut latere nonnullos fideles per ignem quendam Purgatorium quanto magis minusve bona pereuntia dilexerunt tanto tardius eitiusve salvari Aug. Enchirid. c. 69. Cum iis quae descripsimus ita nostra vel aliorum exerceatur vel erudiatur infirmitas ut tamen in eis nulla velut canonica constituatur authoritas Aug. de octo Quaest. Dulcilii Quaest. 3. Aug. Enchiridion ad Laurent cap. 67 68 69. Ambros. Serm 20. in Psal. 118. Cyrilli Hierosol liturgia Syr. orationes Bibl. patrum T. 6. Tertull. contra Marcion c. 24. Dall de poenis satisf l. 5. c. 9. Tert. de monog c. 10. Ambr. de obitu Val. Bibl. Patr. T. 6. Enchirid. ad Laurent De civit Dei l. 12. c. 9. Idem Tract 10. in Ep. Ioan. Chrys. Serm. 3. in Philip. ed. Savil. Tom 4. p. 20. in Hebr. Ser. 4. p. 453. Chrys. Homil. 21 in Act. T. 4. p. 734. Aug. Enchirid. ad Laurent Answer to Request p. 10 11. Genes 8. 20. Genes 12 7 8. Ch. 26. 25. 35. Act. 3. 1. Psal. 141. 1. Luke 1. 10. Revel 8. 3 4. Hebr. 7. 25. See Answer to Papists protesting against Protestant Popery See the Object of Religious worship Part 1. and the Answer to Papists Protesting against Protestant Popery Sect. 4. Protestancy destitute of Scripture-Proofs p. 8. 1 Kings 12. 28. 1 Kings 16 31. 32. 2 Kings 10. 16. Maximus Tyrius Dissert 38. Answer to Request p. 12. Prot. dest p. 9. 1 Cor. 14. 6. 19. Vers. 7 8 9 10 11. Vers. 14 15 16. Answer to Request p. 13. Protestancy destitute of Scripture Proofs p. 10. See Dr. Barrows Treatise of SuPremacy See Dr. Stilling fl Origines Britan. p. 106. c. Answer to Request Protestancy destitute of Scripture Proofs Church Government Part. 5. English Reformation ch 2. p. 21. Burnets History of the Reformation part 1. book 2. p. 137. Burnets Histo ry of the Reform part 2. l. 3. p. 401. Church Government Part. 5. concerning the English Reformation See the Authority of Councils with the Appendix in Answer to the eight Theses of the Oxford Writer And the Judge of Controversies