in either place we know there is no coming out as Saint Luke saith Luke 16. v. 26. speaking of Dives and the other Lazarus so that we must conclude his soul to be in that temporal Hell spoken of in our Creed or no where at all and Holy David cryes out to God saying Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell for Lord thou lovest me c. Now this may be objected two wayes against Protestants First that if it meant the Grave what should his soul do to be left there And secondly if it means that temporall Hell as undoubtedly it doth then it plainly shows that his soul was there because it saith Thou wilt not leave it in Hell We may gather much to our present purpose from the last Text mentioned in Saint Luke where Dives being in Hell lift up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off ver 23. and Lazarus in his bosom which plainly proves Abraham and Lazarus not to be in Heaven for could the damned in Hell see the Saints in Heaven it would be no Hell to them since the sight of Heaven is so glorious it would take away the sense of Hell and so make them happy in that unhappy place Again if Abraham had been in Heaven according to Protestants opinion they could not hear one the other speak being at that vast distance as Heaven and Hell is for they say how can the Saints hear our prayers on earth much less if not so could they hear them in Hell We may again observe that the place where Abraham and the Fathers were was not far from the local Hell of the damned but as St. Augustine saith The upper part or over it some distance where holy Abraham saith ver 26. there was a gulf that separated the passage one to the other because they could both see and speak one to the other And thus having made it so manifestly appear I hope none that professes the truth of the Bible will now any more defile their souls with envy to the holy Catholick Church which teacheth all truth and nothing but the truth if you had but as right an understanding of all that is there taught as you have of this but be rather induced to the practice of it and with Saint Augustin to conclude Who is there but an Infidel August 99. Ep. in prin will deny that Christ was in this temporal Hell Chap. 5. Proving that Angels and Saints in Heaven do know what passeth here on Earth and so consequently may be prayed to by us for their mediation to God in our behalf THe mindes of men being naturally inclined to search and know the nature of hidden things doth oftentimes take indirect wayes to accomplish the knowledge of them and yet come short in their designs too This thing as it was the sin of our first Parents so is it a great corruption in this present age amongst many thousands which would make us believe they know on earth what power and happiness the Blessed Angels and Saints have in heaven and will grant them no more priviledge then what their shallow brains can comprehend they have quite contrary to that saying of Saint Paul 1 Cor. 2. ver 9. Eye hath not seen nor ear hath not heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love him so infinitely out of our understanding are the qualities of glorified souls which Angels and Saints are But to let those people know how much they deceive themselves in fostering such pernicious opinions I will prove both by Scripture and Reason that they do know all our actions here on earth and that it is agreeable to the nature of Angels to know them my first place is from Saint Lukes Gospel Luke 2. ver 13. where so soon as our Saviour was born on earth the Angels came from heaven to the Shepheards to anounce it to them and singing with great joy a little before one in particular told them ver 10. that he preached to them great joy for a Saviour was born to them by which it is plain that the Angel knew when he was in heaven that he was born so likewise our Saviour when he was in the Wilderness after his temptation the Text saith Mat. 4. ver 11. The Angels came and ministred unto him by which you may see how ready those blessed Spirits are in all things and occasions to assist in our salvation Again when our Blessed Saviour was in his direful Agony in the Garden sweating drops of Blood for us Saint Luke saith Luke 22. ver 43. There appeared an Angel to him from heaven and strengthned him from which words we may gather 1. That if Angels lent their assistance to strengthen Christ who is the God of strength much more will they to us by Gods permission who are of our selves nothing but weakness 2. That if they knew not what passeth on earth how could they so readily assist us as we read in many places of the Bible they have done and as I shall prove hereafter Our Saviour saith likewise by the same Evangelist Luke 15. ver 13. That there is joy in heaven of the Angels at the conversion of a sinner by which it is clear that they must know when every sinner is converted or how should they know when to rejoyce So likewise in the tran figuration of our Saviour Christ Moses and Elias appeared to him and talked with him so that if they being out of this world had not known of his being on Mount Thabor Mark 9. ver 4. how should they have waited upon him And again our Saviour saith That his Apostles shall sit with him in judgement Mat. 19. ver 28. and judge the twelve Tribes of Israel and Saint Paul saith The Saints shall judge the world 1 Cor. 6. ver 1.2 which could not be if they did not know what passeth in the world for in reason no Judge can or will pass Sentence upon any man before he knows what he is guilty of by all which it is as manifest and clear as to see the Sun when it shines in the Firmament that Angels and Saints know what passeth here on earth Again it is very much to our purpose to consider what passed at the Death of Saint Stephen where the Text saith He looked into heaven Acts 7. ver 54 55 56. and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God and said Behold I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God from whence it is evident and plain that if Saint Stephen could upon earth see into heaven where God himself was that he can now being glorified in heaven see and know what passeth upon earth in a far larger measure and so may be prayed unto for his assistance Ver. 60. for if he at his Death had so much charity to pray
for the pardon of his enemies that did not desire it we need not question but his charity is much more now and will be infinitely more ready to pray to God for those that are his friends and Members of the same Church which do heartily beg it of him and as we see his prayer then took effect with God for the conversion of his chiefest enemy Saul which was presently after so we may justly hope that God will bestow his graces upon us by his holy Intercession But for your further instruction consider what knowledge God gave to all the Prophets of old time to foretell all those great things that happened in the world in our Saviours time and since which we know were all true and if God gave such power to men when they were upon earth do we think that God deprives Angels or those Prophets that are now in heavenly glory of that power or that Christs blessed Mother which prophesied that all generations should call her blessed Luke 1. ver 48. doth not know that she is so called by all generations it were a madness beyond compare to imagine such a foolish thing which is so contrary to the express word of God I shall now conclude my discourse of this subject with one example which I think had there been no Scripture to have proved what I have said would be of force enough with any reasonable person to induce them to the belief of it We all know by our faith that the Devil was once an Angel of heaven and since his fall from that happy place it is all his design to make us miserable and we all by sad experience know that he knows all our actions as when we would do good he strives to hinder us and when we intend to do evil he sets us forward in the performance of it Nay when we do not intend evil he puts it into our mindes to do it and all the sins we commit is from the Devil and I pray how came he by this power but only as he was once an Angel of heaven let us not think God gave him this power since he was a Devil of Hell or that God which dearly loves our salvation as is plainly shown by him in the Death of his Son for us would give more power to the Devil to work our destruction then he doth to the good Angels which desire and assist us in our salvation we know too well that he leads thousands to sin at one time and do we not think the holy Angels endeavour the same to lead us to vertue we know or may know to our costs that he is watchful and diligent to bring us to ruine and do we not think the Angels are as careful to guard us from it so that for any one to deny this truth must certainly be possest with an heathenish spirit which will shut its eyes against all Christian verities Now what hath been said chiefly of the Angels is the same of the Saints in heaven which are in the same place and glory and esteem with God according to that of our blessed Saviour speaking to the Sadduces about the Resurrection Luke 20. ver 36. That they which should be worthy to obtain heaven should dye no more but should be equal to the Angels Thus having as I think shown sufficiently the truth of this point I shall next proceed to shew you how we may lawfully without derogation to Christs Intercession desire them to pray to God for us and with this conclude that certainly God will never permit those the society of Angels that live and dye in so poor and beggarly esteem of those glorious spirits Chap. 6. Proving that since it is evident that Angels and Saints can hear our prayers we may lawfully pray to them as Intercessours for us to God IT is a thing not a little to be admired when we consider that man which by nature loveth those things which may make him happy should yet himself be the onely obstacle of his not being truly so we all naturally desire heaven but through the corruption of that nature in us we take the wrong course to obtain it for what wise man can think that they which hate society with Angels and Saints whilst they are on earth can ever attain that happiness in heaven since those that touch at the honour of them touches the apple of Gods eye as our Blessed Saviour said to his Disciples when they were upon earth He that hateth you hateth me and he that loveth you loveth me Mat. 10. v. 42. And if any one give but a cup of cold water in the name of a Disciple he should not lose his reward so dear are all his servants to him and if so while they are on this dunghill earth sure they are much more dear to him in his Palace of Heaven and we can no wayes bonour God more next to the Worship of himself then by respecting and having communion with his heavenly Citizens whilst we are on earth and besides it is an Article of our Faith in the Creed I believe the Communion of Saints which we that are on earth can no wayes do but by our praying to them and their praying for us and this is the true Communion of Saints Gen. 48. v. 16. Agreeable to this shall you finde in Holy Scripture how Jacob after he blessed his Son Joseph he invokes an Angel to bless Josephs Sons saying The Angel which redeemed me from all evil bless these lads so here you see it was the practice of this holy man by which we may have the less reason to scruple it but observe what he saith more And let my name and the names of my Fathers Abaham and Isaac be named by them which infers that they should invoke their names in the behalf of their obtaining any thing from God and it is frequently mentioned in Scripture of desiring mercy from God for Abraham Isaac and Jacobs sake and for thy servant Davids sake all this we know to be true and will it think you displease God to desire mercy from him for the Blessed Virgin Maries sake or St. Peter or St. Pauls sake Job 5. v. 1. who were as holy persons as ever the other were so we may see in holy Jobs time it was practised for Eliphaz upbraiding of him saith Call now Zach. 1. ver 1. if there be any that will answer thee and to which of the Saints wilt thou turn so in the Prophet Zachariah we finde an Angel praying for Jerusalem Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said O Lord of Hosts how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the Cities of Judah against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years now what can be desired more plain then these places are if we are not wilfully blinde It will cause every one both to the belief and practice of this sacred Communion with those blessed spirits
in Scripture then are we bound to believe it for this is a general crime in this Age that men think nothing can be true if their narrow capacities cannot comprehend it as if all the mysteries of our Faith were so open for every ones understanding to enter the knowledge of them which if they were so then there were no need of Faith because Faith is onely required in those things our natures cannot comprehend and so might every Turk and Pagan be as good a Believer as a Christian therefore for the redress of this evil we are to understand whether Christ gave this power to his Apostles or no for if they had the power to pardon sins as being the Heads of his Church the same power must remain to their Successours in that Church because otherwise all succeeding Ages would receive no benefit by that gift which our Saviour gave for the good of us all that lay hold of it And to prove that they had this power is plain and easie enough first from Saint Matthews Gospel where our Saviour telling Saint Peter he would build his Church on him he saith Mat. 16. v. 18 19. And I will give thee the Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt binde on earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven by which it is clear that he had a great power given him to pardon or not to pardon and that those which he did not pardon on earth should not be pardoned in heaven which is the same in Gods Church to this day and therefore let every one consider what reason they have to be members of it by which consists our eternal salvation Again our Saviour tells his Disciples in general saying Whatsoever ye shall binde on earth shall be bound in heaven Mat. 18. v. 18. and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven by which it is plain that they had this power of remission of sins and to deny the same power to their Successours in Gods Church would in my esteem be very unreasonable And as in all other points of Faith the contempt of them proceeds from a want of a right understanding of them as I have shown elsewhere so is it the same in this for it is buzzed in poor peoples ears Can man pardon sins or can Priests forgive us or the Pope absolve us without any consideration of the nature of it at all for if we rightly understood our selves or did but consult with reason we should soon be undeceived in this mystery For in the first place know that it is the gift of Christ himself and therefore not to be questioned by any man Secondly Priests cannot pardon sins by any natural power they have more then other men but by a supernatural grace from God we know and confess that it appertains to God onely by nature to pardon sins and so doth many other things as working of Miracles and casting out of Devils and healing the sick and the like which power we know God hath given unto men as well as the other proved by Christ himself where he speaking of all that truly believed in him saith he These signes shall follow Mark 16. v. 17 18. in my name shall they cast out Devils they shall speak with new tongues they shall take up Serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover now it is certain all these excellencies appertains to God by nature but if he is pleased to give this power to men what reason have we to question or be offended with it which power is equal to that of remission of sins and we see are both given to men by God Thirdly we are to consider that Priests do not pardon our sinnes immediately from themselves but Ministerially as when they apply the words of Absolution on us God hath promised to pardon us otherwayes he will not John 20. v. 23. as Christ saith Whose sins ye remit they are remitted and whose sins ye retain they are retained so that you see this is plainly true if you dare believe Christ himself Now that this may not seem strange to you do but consider that great vertue that is in Baptisme where by the application of water and a few words by the Priest or Minister the childe is pardoned of all its original sin now it is not the Minister nor Water nor words that pardons the Childe but God himself who is pleased by them and that means to do it and yet it is so far from dishonouring God that he is honoured by it because it is his holy will it should be so and this all Protestants believe which is as great a gift of God to mankinde as is the other and by all people thus plainly understood will not appear so strange and monstrous as they are made believe it is now we may plainly see how far those kinde of men are from being in Gods Church that do not onely not practise this truth but rail against and contemn it though it be published by our Blessed Saviour himself for the good of the whole world Again consider if God had not ordained this in his Church how should we know that our sins are pardoned by God at all or when they are so pardoned but that he hath promised when they do it on earth he will do it in heaven and this is our onely assurance and as it were a mark by which we know our sins are pardoned that we may thank his Divine Name for it which otherwise we should be very uncertain when to do I shall conclude this Chapter with that wholesome Counsel of St. Augustine who desireth That none make doubt of the Priests right in Remission of Sins Aug. No. Test q. 53 seeing the Holy Ghost is purposely given them to do the same in which case if any be yet contentious he must deny the Holy Ghost to be God and not to have power to pardon sins And onely adde that of St. Ambrose who saith St. Amb. lib. 1. c 7. de peuitent Why should it be more dishonour to God or more impossible or inconvenient for men to forgive sins by Pennance then by Baptisme seeing that it is the Holy Ghost that doth it by the Priests Office and Ministery in both Chap. 13. Proving the Churches Vniversality and that no Church is or can be Catholick but the Roman against the Opinion of Protestants OF all the great actions that God hath openly done for mankinde there is none that he hath declared more apparently then that his Church should be spread in all parts and corners of the whole world to the intent that all Nations hearing the sound of the Gospel there could be none that might plead any ignorance in the not hearing of it Now as this shall be proved by the words of Christ himself
of the Israelites and of King David who mourned and wept 2 Sam. 1. v. 12. and fasted until evening and of Nehemiah that mourned and fasted certain dayes Nehem. 1. v. 4. and prayed before the God of heaven and in another place the Jews fasted and prayed with earth upon their heads Ch. 9. v. 1. and as it was a practise by all our fore-fathers so it is and ever will be in Gods Church Again we read that all the City of Nineveh at the preaching of Jonas put on sack-cloth Jonah 3. v. 7. and fasted both man and beast now in my opinion these proofs might have been omitted for the proof of this point since reason and Christianity might induce us to practice that which in it self is the occasion of much good both for soul and body It hath been so general a practice in all ages by Gods Church that Saint Augustine said They were guilty of a mortal sin that did not saft the holy time of Lent and certainly there is none that is thus sick of that disease but those that relye wholly upon kitching physick and so take so much care to preserve and feed the body that they totally neglect the medicines and food for the soul And besides what hath been said as to the example of Christ and the good it procures to our souls let us consider what holy intents the Catholick Church hath in the keepign of some particular dayes of fasting and as for the time of Lent she hath ordained the keeping of it forty dayes before the Passion and Resurrection of our Saviour first to imitate to the utmost of our power his holy example Secondly that we should by Fasting and Praying then more then ordinary have a dolorous resentment of his bitter Passion which he suffered for us And thirdly that we might with true prepared hearts celebrate the happy time of the Resurrection of his glorious body and with reverence approach to the holy Sacraments of Gods Church and for our Fasting on Friday every week it is that we may all cease from the pleasures of our taste that day our Saviour tasted Gall and Vinegar and a little to punish our bodies by fasting when our Saviour suffered so many dolorous wounds for us in his tender and delicate Body for the salvation of the world Now if any one can finde any evil in these intents and practices of the Church let them quarrel with them still but if not as I am sure justly they cannot then are they bound in conscience to follow the practice of so holy an Institution I will a little digress from my first purpose by quoting an ancient Father or two for confirmation of this point and so conclude this Chapter as first St. Jerome Elias and Moses saith he by fasting forty dayes were filled with a familiarity with God In c. 58. Isa and our Lord himself fasted as many in the Wilderness to leave unto us the solemn dayes of Fast that is Lent And again saith he We fast forty dayes Ep. 54. ad Marcel or make one Lent in a year according to the Traditions of the Apostles in time convenient And grave St. Ambrose saith plainly That it was not ordained by men but consecrated by God nor invented by any earthly cogitation but commanded by the Heavenly Majesty thus is it plainly proved that this practice is no new invention but what hath been generally practised by all holy men who have been Members of the Roman Catholick Church and so will it continue as long as God hath a Church upon earth which we are sure will be until the consummation of the world Chap. 15. Proving that Scripture is very hard to be understood and that we cannot rightly know the meaning of it but by relying upon the Church of God which is infallible contrary to Protestants Opinion IT would not seem a little strange did we but consider the folly of many men who have such low thoughts of Angels and Saints as that they know nothing and yet are so grosly arrogant of their own knowledge that none of the grand Mysteries of the Bible as they think are unknown to them and that the whole Church of God is less to be trusted in then they and so by this demy Devil self-conceit they wrong themselves and strive to deprive Gods Church of that priviledge which Christ hath given to her alone with commands to us to hear and obey her in all things concerning our Salvation but had these men been acquainted with St. Augustine he would have told them another story who cryes out concerning Scripture O wonderful profoundness of thy words wonderful profoundness my God wonderful profoundness it maketh a man quake to look on it to quake for reverence and to tremble for the love of it and those places saith he which I know not are many more then those that I know by which every considerate man may judge with himself that if this great Doctor and light of Gods Church had this opinion of Scripture and of his weakness in expounding it what little reason every particular man hath to think it easie for him to do that never was so learned and inspired of God as he was as all the Christian world knoweth and that his opinion then is agreeable to the Catholick Church now and that to Gods holy word shall be made most manifest and first from St. Peters own testimony who though he was an Apostle of Christ yet apprehended Saint Pauls Epistles to be very hard in the understanding of them as also in all his Epistles saith he are many things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures unto their own destruction And if there be so many places hard to be understood how many may be justly conclude there is in the Revelations where as St. Jerome saith every sentence is a Mystery and how many in the Canticles and in the Prophesies of Daniel and many other places and I would know how any particular man can tell what Christ meant in many Mysteries he spake and how he knows what the Angel meant when he revealed those high Mysteries to St. John and what Solomon meant when he declared these excellent simiditudes of Gods Church and what St. Paul meant when he writ those hard places spoken of if they answer me Gods Spirit tells them the meaning and that they are perswaded 't is so let every one judge how poor this answer is which is common amongst them for cannot every Sectary plead the same a Cobler may alledge that as well as a Doctor and a Tinker as well as a Divine and this presumption of interpreting the Bible by private spirits hath been the cause of all these Sects and Opinions that are now in the world which would rend the seamless Coat of Christ which is his Church in pieces if they could If God had ordered every one to be his own
third place wherein the Fathers of the New Testament were which could not obtain Heaven till Christ had shed his Blood for them according to that of Saint Paul speaking of the Faith of those holy men yet he saith Heb. 11. v. 39.40 All these having obtained a good report by faith received not the promise which was Heaven God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect But the common objection and deceit against this which takes so much is that Christ hath satisfied Gods Justice for our sins what need we do any thing at all and this is the usuall juggle of those that teach against this point of satisfaction but we are to consider how far Christs satisfaction extends to us that is he dyed for the pardon of our original sins and not for our actual transgressions though they be the easier pardoned by the merits of his Death too for if all our actual sins were pardoned and satisfied for by the Death of Christ why then all Heathens and Turks and Whoremongers and Murderers and Blasphemers should be saved which Saint Paul saith Shall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven so that this is but a trick of our Adversaries making the people believe that they attribute all to Christ when indeed if justly considered they load his shoulders with their actual sins that hath suffered enough already for our original ones and so they would fain free themselves from all kinde of sufferings here and hereafter when our Saviour saith We cannot enter into life eternal without much tribulation but as I said God is merciful to save so he is just to punish and it is not good for us to presume too much upon hhis mercy lest we fall into a provocation of his Justice and so perish everlastingly And since it is so plain both by holy Scripture and Reason that there is a purging place or temporal punishments in the life to come proportionable to every ones sins let every man consider what obligation he hath first to believe it to be so secondly to live so holily in this life that God may be pleased to spare us by extenuating our sufferings in those purifying flames agreeable to that of B. St. Bernard Serm. 6. tribulat in fine Oh would to God some man would now before-hand provide for my head abundance of water and to mine eyes a fountain of tears for so haply the burning fire should take no hold where running tears had cleansed before Chap. 4. Proving that none of the Holy Fathers of the Old Law enjoyed Heaven till Christ came and that there was a distinct place where they waited for their Redemption by his coming REason doth tell us and experience will justifie the same that all the glorious and splendid things of this world are obtained with much difficulty and travel so that scarce the tythepart of men have the fruition of them and is it not to be lamented that we have so poor and beggerly apprehensions of heavenly glory as to think it requires no difficulty no patience nor no suffering to obtain that Kingdom the contrary will plainly appear when I shall prove by Scripture that no soul from Adam till Christ dyed enjoyed heavenly Glory but suffered with long patience and expectation till they were redeemed by the precious Blood of our Saviour and so freed from their long captivity conformable to Saint Paul who writing of our Saviour Christ Ephes 4. v. 8.9 saith When he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men And again Now that he ascended what is it but that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth Now I would from these words have every Protestant consider these two things First to what place Christ descended after his Death and secondly who they were that he led with him captive at his ascension from that place It is clear to all Christians that Christ did not descend to the Hell of the damned to release them from any captivity for as I said before there is no redemption for them what other thing can be concluded but that he went to release them which could not be saved till then for is it not madness to think that any people went to Heaven before Christ had redeemed them with his precious blood next you shall see what St. Peter saith concerning this point 1 Pet. 3. Ver. 18. Ver. 19. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the Flesh but quickned by the Spirit by which also he went and preacht unto the spirits in prison Now what can be desired more plain then this showing so plainly that when Christs flesh lay dead his spirit preacht to those that were long in expecting of him in a prison to them that sighed so long for his coming the same did the Prophet Zachariah foretel where speaking to Sion Behold Zach. 9. ver 9. saith he thy King cometh he is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an Ass and upon a Colt the foal of an Ass here he speaks of Christs coming and in the other verse Ver. 11. As for thee also by the blood of thy Covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein was no water Now what pit can this be imagined to be but this place where these holy men were in which he prophesies that Christ at his coming to Sion would deliver them out and if we consider this point as we ought to do we shall finde it to be an Article of our Creed Article 4. of our Creed which saith He descended into Hell the third day he rose again Now some object by this Hell is meant the grave but how absurdly let every one judge that considers how ridiculous it is to think Christs soul should remain in the Grave his Body we grant did so but his glorious Spirit went to perform what before had been said of him according to his own most blessed words when he said That as Jonas was three dayes and three nights in the belly of the whale so shall the Son of man be three dayes and three nights in the heart of the earth so his body as I said was in the Grave and his Soul in the other place which is commonly called Hell because it is believed to be under the earth as the Hell of the damned is Now this place may suffice to any reasonable Christian yet I shall propose one or two things more to your considerations as first concerning Lazarus John 11. v. 42 43. who was dead and buried four dayes and was raised to life by our Saviour I hope none will say he was in Hell with the damned and had he been in Heaven you may be sure his Sisters had a better sense of that Glory then to wish him upon earth again and if he had been
holy Apostle Saint Paul was comforted by an Angel when he was in his Shipwrack as he himself witnesseth Acts 27. v. 23.24 And there stood by me this night the Angel of God whose I am and whom I serve saying Fear not Paul c. by all which so plain and innumerable places of Scripture it is made so manifest that I think no person that reads this Book can for shame any longer resist so infallible a truth for if he do he must lye under the heavy censure of an unbeliever who as St. Paul saith is judged already I hope that the consciences of those which say they will believe nothing but the Bible will now fly in their faces and blush for shame and confusion when they consider how little of it they practice and pretend to the Bible barely for a show of Religion to deceive themselves and others But further to prosecute this point to the intent none but Heathens may deny it we will consider how Christs beloved Disciple Saint John demeaned himself to the Angel that came to him so often in his Revelations Rev. 19. v. 10. And I fell at his feet to worship him and he said unto me Do it not I am thy fellow servant which words of the Angel Do it not is the main Argument against this practice which Protestants have but how poor an one it is shall be seen for I hope no man will think that Saint John which was so great a Divine and so eminent with Christ could be so ignorant as not to know what Worship was due to an Angel but rather conclude that the Angel said Do it not because he knew that St. John was in as high esteem with God as himself was and besides St. John did do it again to the Angel Rev. 22. v. 8. that is fell down and worshipped him which we may be sure he never would have done being told of it before if it had not been lawful for then he would have been guilty of obstinacy which I hope no good Christian will tax him with But this business between the Angel and Saint John is just as when two special friends meet for they strive who shall give the greatest respect to each other yet will not seem to admit of any worship extraordinary from each other so we see by the first Text that the Angel would not admit of Saint John to worship him because his humility thought him his equal and as he saith his fellow servant and b the second Text we see St. John would not forbear worshipping him because his humility thought him superiour So hoping that I have sufficiently satisfied the Christian Reader in this point I will now briefly show thee how vast a difference there is in the Worship that is due to God and in that which is due to Angels and Saints And first we are to consider that there is a Divine Adoration and Worship due to God which if it be given to either Angels or any thing created it is flat Idolatry for since God is the Creator of us all it is fit that he should have a Worship given to him above all that he hath created and therefore it is a most strange abuse that is put upon the holy Catholick Church by those that say by our Worshipping Saints and Angels Christ is robbed of his honour when indeed Christ is honoured by it as is before plainly proved since we acknowledge and give to him a far higher Worship then to all the Angels and Saints in Heaven for what Worship we give to them is as they are glorious spirits and have so near relation to God which would plainly appear to every ones experience if once this subtill juggle of Satan were laid open to our eyes which is the bare pretence onely of giving all to God which takes much with common understandings without considering that God is worshipped by us in a far higher manner and that Gods Worship is exalted in our respect and reverence to them as for example this now is plain to every ones experience that we reverence the Kings Chaires of State his Chambers where they are and the like now these do not receive this worship because they are Chairs or because they be Chambers but onely as they have so near relation to the King and what we do to them is done to the King and he that doth not so is accounted a villain and turned out of Court as a contemner of the King and if this will happen for the contempt of insensible things which have relation to the King what may we think will happen to those that live and dye in the contempt of those glorious Creatures which are so near God praising of him to eternity So not questioning but this that hath been said will sufficiently satisfie every impartial Reader and induce him both to the Faith and Practice of so holy and reasonable a thing that so at last he may enjoy the blessed Society of the Principalities Powers Vertues Dominations Thrones Angels Arch-Angels Cherubins and Seraphins with the holy Apostles and Disciples of Christ and all the Saints in heaven with whom we had society here on earth Chap 8. Proving that the Images of Christ and his Saints may be lawfully made and reverenced as they have relation to the first Figure contrary to the Opinion of Protestants AMongst all the bundles of errours that tumbles up and down in the mindes of men and strives to stifle truth there is none more maliciously and publickly published then is this against holy Images whose bad Authors make too many believe that it is no less then Superstition to look upon them much more to show any respect to them but to the intent that their eyes may be illuminated that are blinde for want of seeing them I shall prove the quite contrary as that it is a holy and good custom and very profitable to our souls but first I will clear that main objection by which they say we are breakers of the Law and so Idolaters which is indeed so buzzed in the ears of the common people that they have nothing more to say but Doth not the Lord say thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image I could tell them and truly enough that he never did say so for though their Bibles do say Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image the Translator did but cobble it for the meaning is plain Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Idol or painted or any way at all to adore it as God for that were plain Idolatry and Heathenish for do we think that in the twentieth Chapter of Exodus God would forbid Images and in the five and twentieth Chapter command them again to be made as is plain to be seen where in the command that God gave to Moses he saith Ver. 18 19 20. And thou shalt make two Cherubims of Gold of beaten work shalt thou make them in the two
Council Nice We do not offer worship to the matter as Wood or Stone or painting in colours but through these being brought to the person represented by them we give due honour to him knowing accordingly that the respect to the Image passes to him who is represented by it Chap. 9. Proving that Man hath Free Will to do Good or not to do it contrary to the Opinion of Protestants DId those men which deny this point of Faith but admit in the height of their passions either of reason or consideration they would blush for shame when they shewed them what Traytors they are to themselves in robbing their natures of one prime quality which God hath given them for an ornament to the same for take from man his free-will and you may turn him like a Nebuchadnezzar amongst the beasts for God by Miracle can make him do good actions in that form and nature but for the want of prudent considering the actions of their lives they run into as many disorders as their giddy fancies pleases to suggest to them but this is the misery of most men that when the Devil tempts them to these evils they will not resist but entertain all and amongst al his hellish deceits he hath none that takes more with weak understandings then this sly trick of his seeming to attribute all to God as he tempts Hereticks to believe that Angels must not be reverenced nor Saints respected nor prayed too but all to God which is his devillish slight to hinder that service to God as I proved before and that all mens good works done by Gods holy Grace are sinful and merit nothing onely to hinder and make men carefuless to do such good works and that man hath no free-will onely to make man idle and not strive to imploy those graces that God hath been pleased to bestow upon us so that did all men but once discover these tricks of Satan we should easily see that God is honoured by these things because they are his gifts and benefits which he hath been pleased to bestow on us to enrich our souls and make us more capable of serving him The truth of this shall be as plainly proved by Scripture and Reason as any thing before treated of that so we may lay open the shameful hypocrisie of those that work their self-ends from ignorant people meerly through the blinde pretence of Scripture which being so done you will finde hem rotten at the very heat And first of all concerning Cain where God tells him Gen. 4. v. 7. If thou do well shalt thou not be accepted and if thou dost not well sin lyeth at thy door so here it is plain that God left it to his choice to do well or not to do it Again God said unto Moses Behold I will rain bread from Heaven Exod. 16. v. 4. and the people shall go out and gather it every day that I may prove them whether they will walk in my way or no now if they had not had a free-will why should God say he owuld try them so that you see God left them to their free-will to see whether they would serve him better or no. Again God saith to them in Deuteronomy Deut. 11. v. 26. Behold I set before you a blessing and a curse a blessing if you will obey the Commandments of your God and a curse if you will not obey Now consider that as this is plainly and truly Gods word so plainly and truly doth it show free-will to be in man Again God saith to them in the same Book Chap. 28. v. 1.2 If you will hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord thy God to keep all his Commandments I will set thee on high above all the Nations and so tells them how many sorts of blessing he will bestow upon them if they will keep his Commandments but if they would no Ver. 15. he tells them how many curses should light upon them And in the same Book again he saith to them in a very strange manner I call heaven and earth to record this day against you Chap. 30. v. 19. that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that thou and thy seed may live I might justly stand amazed here at these Texts of Gods word and admire with what face men can say they believe the Bible and not tremble when they say so considering how they deny this free-will in man which God hath given him and other principles of Christian Religion proved before for here we see God himself layes it before us and leaves it to us and what would we have God do more unless he should work Miracles daily and we lye like beasts or stones and do nothing The same did God offer to David by his Prophet Gad saying 2 sam 24. v. 12. God and say unto David thus saith the Lord I offer thee three things choose the one of them that I might do it unto thee Now here God would not execute his Justice on David till he had chosen what punishment he would himself that might be most for his good And to his Son Solomon God saith likewise 1 King 6. v. 12. If thou wilt walk in my Statutes and execute my Judgements and keep all my Commandments then will I perform my word with thee by all which is still more plain that Solomon had a free-will Now though this that hath been said might serve sufficiently to convince those that have held the contrary and desire to imbrace the truth of Gods word in reality yet I will proceed for their further satisfaction and knowledg of the truth in this point and first out of the Gospel of Saint Matthew where our Saviour cryes out Mat. 23. v. 37. O Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would I have gathered you together as a hen doth her Chickens but you would not see here how Christ complains of them because they would not imploy their wills in his holy service as he would have had them done for saith he I would but you would not and in another place he saith I thou wilt enter into life keep the Commandments so that in every place it is referred to our free-will to do and not to do any good action as is plain by all these places of Scripture by which you may see what folly they are guilty of that say we have none or that it takes away the honour from God which can no wayes be for since we say that free-will in us is a gift from God and the good actions we do by that will is inspired into us by God then is God the Original of all and we onely the instruments of doing it or not doing it for we all know that God often inspires us to good actions which we never do to our shame we may say it and that he would have us to do them is clear or else he would not inspire us
so I will first show it you by the Infallible Prophesies of the Prophets of God Isa 2. v. 2. and first of Isaiah And it shall come to pass in the last dayes that the Mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the Mountains Christs Church and shall be exalted above the hills and all Nations shall flow unto it so here is one true testimony that the Catholick Church shall be spread in all parts and all Nations shall partake of her holy Doctrine and not to lye hid in a corner as in one Kingdome or City or Congregation or this mans Church or that mans Church as all Sectaries do by which I shall plainly prove they cannot be any thing like Gods Church And again the same Prophet saith speaking of the many benefits that we shall enjoy under Christs Church That the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord Chap. 11 v. 9 10. as the waters cover the Sea Now as we know they are spread in all parts of the world so is the knowledge of Gods truth spread by his Church in the same manner which quality agreeth to no other Church but the Roman Catholick The same Prophet declares further Chap. 49. v. 22 23. That Kings shall be thy nursing Fathers and Queens thy nursing Mothers and to show the great reverence they should bear to this Church of God saith he They shall bow down to thee with their faces toward the earth and lick up the dust of thy feet Now I would demand what Church or Sect in the Christian world that hath Kings and Queens for their nursing Fathers and Mothers but the Roman Catholick and so by consequence cannot be the Church of God but are as wandering sheep having no true shepherd and so are daily exposed to the rage and fury of that ravening wolf John 10. v. 12. the Devil Again the same Prophet speaking how largely Gods Church should be stretched forth under the Gospel Isa 54. v. 2 3. saith Enlarge the place of thy Tent let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitation spare not lengthen thy Cords and strengthen thy stakes for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate Cities to be inhabited Now let the understanding Reader judge where this Prophesie is fulfilled in Protestants and Sectaties or in the Roman Church which is thus stretched out and hath her Members in the West-Indies and East-Indies in China in Tartary in Egypt in Assyria in Africa and Asia in Turky and all parts of Europe as the Empire of Germany the Kingdoms of Spain France Poland England Dominions of Italy and every Land in Christendom is either all or a considerable part of this Church which none in the world can say besides and so are very far off from fulfilling this Prophesie And in another place he saith Chap. 66. v. 18. And it shall come to pass that I will gather all Nations and Tongues and they shall come and see my glory Thus hath this holy Prophet by Gods inspiration foretold clearly the Universal or Catholick State of the Church of God in the time of the Gospel and Jeremiah the Prophet hath not been silent in Prophesying the fame for saith he Jer. 31. v 37. If heaven above can be measured and the foundation of the earth searched out beneath then will I cast off the seed of Israel and the measuring line shall go forth from Gareb to compass about Goath all which do declare the large extent of Christs Church And for confirmation of these Prophesies and what else hath been said I shall produce now the words of our Blessed Saviour himself who telling his Disciples of all the troubles they were to suffer for his name before Kings and Judges Ma k 13. v. 10. but saith he The Gospel must first be published among all Nations which plainly shows that Gods Church must be Catholick or Universal and I would fain learn from our Adversaries what Church hath taken the pains to publish the Gospel to all Nations and so fulfil these Prophesies but the Pastors of the Church of Rome for this may be urged to the shame of all Sects that if none took more pains in converting of Heathens Jews and Infidels then they do many millions of souls might perish for want of the knowledge of the living God but they instead of labouring to convert forreign Nations and so make the Church Universal lie at home in a corner of the world jangling one with another and sleeping on beds of Doun in Ladies bosoms and yet by all means theirs is the true Church and they the onely Pastors sent to convert the world and yet never intend to go about any such matter It is a wonderful thing to consider that men that read the Bible and all these Prophesies can be so ignorant to think that Gods Church should be pinn'd up in so narrow limits as any one Sect or Congregation did Christ himself preach for that and command his Apostles to publish the Gospel to all Nations who did so and lost their lives in that work was all this done I say to have his Church thrust up in a corner and to be no where else how then shall all Nations come to know God how shall they be Baptized in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost how shall they partake of any Sacraments how shall the Church hear their differences Mat. 18. v. 17. and decide them as our Saviour saith it shall how I say shall all this be done if it were so straitned but since she is a Catholick Church she is every where and so all persons inspired by God in all places may receive if they will the foresaid benefits which otherwise can never be done And thus is plainly shown you that there is an Universal Church and that it is the Roman Catholick is as plain in its agreement with Gods Word according to Saint Paul who highly commends the same Faith Rom. 1. v. 7 8. in these words To all that be in Rome beloved of God called to be Saints grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ First I thank my God for you all that your Faith is spoken of throughout the whole world from which words we may gather that if the Faith of the Romans was so inlarged in the world sixteen hundred years ago that now it is much more for then Gods Church was but in her Infancy and now she is in her flourishing State she was then under most cruel persecutions by Tyrants and now praised be God she is at rest with her friends so that now we may clearly see that all those that are shut up in such narrow Corners are meerly Sects and Heresies and are clean shut out from the bosom of the Spouse of Christ which is his Holy Catholick Church
great Benefice to another not at all considering that if they were true Pastours they should feed Gods Sheep that is go preach in remote places of the world amongst Pagans that know not God as the Apostles did and as Catholick Priests do to this day and as all must do that follow the examples and commands left by Christ or else they cannot be of his sending by which we have very great reason to suspect all these new teachers that lie at home at ease and pleasure and are so far from taking the toil and pains of converting Pagans This is too truly proved by many that dye and never have either Sacraments nor any other comfort from them in their agony of Death that many of them will not stir to a poor person that lies a dying because they cannot receive a golden Recompence Again in the Catholick Church there be many thousands of her Members that are Royally and Nobly Born to great Possessions that quit them all to serve God in strict courses of Religion as Fasting Watching Praying giving Almes and many other bodily Mortifications in Religious Houses where nothing but the Service of God is exalted The vast difference of the two Churches practice Now I would fain know from whence the doing of so much good doth proceed but from the inspiration of God and for to finde one now of any other Religion nobly born or of mean quality to forsake an Estate for the Service of God in their way would be such a miracle as was yet never heard of amongst them nor never will be but on the contrary all people of all conditions take their full career in doing what they please themselves for they will not hear the Church nor Fast nor Pray nor receive the Sacrament but when their fancy pleases and so are let run in a negligent state never to give an account for their sinful actions to the Church at all as God commands we should and so by tis means the flood-gate of all evil is opened for all manner of people to plunge themselves over head ad ears in misery and utter calamity I could enlarge my self in showing the vast difference in many other practices as the beauty and ornaments of Catholick Churches when others are like Barnes in comparison of them the Reverence and Devotion of the Catholick people in them who on their knees adore God whilst others sit at ease some gazing and some asleep with many other practices of the like kinde but this may and will suffice for all those that desire to entertain truth and to minde the salvation of their souls to show clearly which is Gods Church and which is not so that which the Prophet Isaiah foretold is here made good that the Church of God should be a plain way and a direct way so that fools could not erre therein so that all those that itnend at the last day to be separated from the goats must now in this life graze with Gods Sheep that is they must enter into communion with his Catholick Church whereof Christ Jesus is the Head The Conents of the Chapters Chapter 1. Proving the Blessed Sacrament page 1 Chap. 2. Proving Confession to a Priest page 11 Chap. 3. Proving Purgatory page 16 Chap. 4. Proving that none went to Heaven before Christ dyed page 25 Chap. 5. Proving that Angels and Saints know our actions on earth page 31 Chap. 6. Proving it lawful to pray to them page 39 Chap. 7. Proving it lawful to worship them page 52 Chap. 8. Proving the lawfulness of Images page 59 Chap. 9. Proving Free-will in Man to do good page 67 Chap. 10. Proving Good Works to be Meritorious page 76 Chap. 11. Proving that Gods Church cannot Erre page 84 Chap. 12. Proving the Churches Authority in Remission of Sins page 91 Chap. 13. Proving the Churches Vniversality page 98 Chap. 14. Proving the lawfulnesse of Fasting page 108 Chap. 15. Proving the difficulty of understanding Scripture page 114 Chap. 16. Proving the necessity of the Churches Service in one Tongue in all Kingdoms page 126 Chap. 17. Shewing in general the vast difference of both Churches page 137 FINIS