Purgatory into doubts and his doubts into nothing Nay in truth his last doubt in this 11. Chapter is a meer nothing of it self An per se agant istae poenae Whether those pnnishments do act upon the souls by and of themselves For to think accidents can act of themselves is to think them substances and to think they can act upon immaterial souls is to think them above the best substances And to think they can act upon blessed souls is to think them above the substance of substances above God himself For the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God neither doth any grief hurt them Wisdom 3. 1. or rather and there shall no torment touch them The Latine translation Et non tanget illos tormentum mortis And the torment of death shall not touch them is too short by being too long hath taken from the Text by add ng to it for putting in mortis and saying the Torment of death shall not touch them seems to allow that Torment after death may touch them But the Greek Original is plain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Et non tanget illos tormentum And no torment at all shall touch them sc. after once they may be truly said to be in the hands of God as resigned unto him according to that most comfortable Resignation sanctified unto us by the Spirit of God which made it and by the Son of God which used it In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum Into thy hands Lord I commend my spirit It was alwaies in thy hands by thy dominion and Tuition But now it is more peculiarly in thy hands by my own resignation The souls of the Righteous are alwaies in Gods hands as their Governor but more peculiarly at the hour of death as their Receiver and Possessor For they no sooner go from their own bodies but they go into his hands and being there no grief can hurt them no more then it can hurt him or take them out of his hands And sure we are he will not hurt them for he doth not receive them with one hand that he may torment them with the other so saith the voice from heaven and it is both shame and sin for any voice from earth to say otherwise Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their works do follow them Apoc. 14. 13. That is their good works to procure their reward not their evil works to procure their punishment such as you teach to be in Purgatory for that 's not agreeable with their rest nor consistent with their blessedness And I desire to know how he can say to God at his death Into thy hands I commend my spirit who believes the Torments of Purgatory by which for ought you dare avow to the contrary he may be in the hands of the Devil Again Cap. 12. Sciri non posse in hac vita quomodo ignis corporeus Animas urat It cannot be known in this life how material fire can burn immaterial souls let me add much less how it can purge them or expiate the reliques of their sins for though we read that fire is an instrument of Gods Justice and so may punish immaterial spirits yet we do not read that it is an instrument of Gods Grace that it should purge or expiate them Cap. 13. An in purgatorio torquentur Animae à daemonibus Whether or no in Purgatory the souls are tormented by the Devils Concerning which he answers Res est omnino incerta It is a a thing altogether uncertain This is the second time he hath answered us with that very word so we see he could be confident where he could not be certain But in this case we have reason to believe him For there are divers several opinions concerning it so the doctrine is uncertain as to the Believers and not one of those opinions but hath an objection stronger then its proof so the doctrine is uncertain as to the belief For some say the souls in Purgatory are tormented by the good Angels but how come they from being their friends and Guardians to be their enemies and tormentors Others say That they are tormented by the Devils and to this Bellarmine inclines because forsooth the pretended Revelations have avowed it But how comes the Devil from being conquered by them whiles they were in the infirmities of the flesh to be a Conquerour over them when they are nothing but pure spirits Doth God say Resist the Devil and he will fly from you James 4. 7. and shall men say The Devil comes as a Conquerour upon them who have most resisted him Doth the Church pray That God would beat down Satan under our feet and have we no better benefit of that prayer Then that God should permit Satan to get up even over our Head Others say they are tormented by the fire meaning I suppose as it is directed and assisted by the hand of God But how comes God so low in their esteem as to do that which they do not think fit to be done by his meanest good Angel Why must that office of an Executioner become him which is unbecoming his most inferiour Minister Besides how can his Justice which hath been satisfied by Christ require a second satisfaction Or where hath God declared that he will allow his Justice to be thus satisfied We dare not deny That Gods Justice is fully satisfied in Christ for penitent Sinners because himself hath said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3. which were nothing to us if he were not well pleased with all that flie to Christ or rather that are in Christ for Christs sake yet sure not well pleased if his Justice be not fully satisfied since Justice first and then Charity is a rule not to be violated or broken on earth much less in heaven Again our blessed Saviours fore-runner thus proclaimed concerning him Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world John 1. 29. If he hath taken them away they cannot be left behind either for our guilt or for our punishment since guilt is nothing else but an obligation to punishment for that were to say He hath taken them away so as to leave them behind for us to take them away which is in effect to deny him to be the Propitiation for our sins against the express word of God John 2. 2. and consequently not only against the benefits but also against the belief of our own souls wherefore we dare not deny That Gods justice is fully satisfied in Christ and if we dare we shall not know where to find him any other satisfaction for he hath not allowed or appointed any other and sure no satisfaction can give him content but such as himself hath allowed and appointed And indeed that is the only satisfaction which is adequate to his offended Justice the satisfaction made by his Son not by the sinner either
procidamus ploremus ante Dominum qui fecit nos O come let us worship and fall down and weep before the Lord our maker because we have worshipped and falen down and kneeled before those who have not made us do not convert or call us cannot save us 14. For it is the part of Religion to order a man rightly in regard of his God as of Temperance and of Justice to order him rightly in regard of himself and of his neighbour so saith Saint Augustine Tract 23. in Johan Haec est religio Christiana ut colatur unus Deus quia non facit animam beatam nisi unus Deus This is the true Christian Religion that we worship one God because none can make the soul blessed but one God None can make the soul saith holy David None can make the soul blessed saith holy Augustine but one God therefore we may worship none but him Idem principium creationis beatificationis The same God is the author of our Being and of our well-being and claims our worship as his homage for both The same is our maker and our Saviour The same Lord which giveth nature giveth also Grace and Glory and therefore to ascribe unto others the honour which is due only to him is to put others in his place as if they were Lords with him and were the givers of Nature of Grace of Glory Yet this is the Divinity you teach your people this is the Duty you bind them to do by the first Commandement Sacrosanctam Eucharistiam adoratione latriae venerari jubemur Virginem autem Mariam honore hyperduâ—…iae Cruâ—…em etiam adorare venerari Angelos vero maxime Angelum nostrae custodiae designatum sanctos sanctas eorum reliquias Templa honore duliae honorare jubemur methodus Confessionis in expositione primi praecepti We are here commanded to worship the holy Eucharist the blessed Virgin the holy Cross the Angelâ—… especially him that is our Guardian The Saints their reliques and Temples And it is to small purpose that you would be thought to give a lesser kind of worship to these then to God for all kinds of Religious worship are alike forbidden to any creature by this Commandement as all kinds of uncleanness by the seventh of slander by the ninth So that in truth you have taught your people to worship many Gods instead of worshipping one God for you cannot multiply acts specifically distinct without multiplying the objects therefore you must make many Gods by making many several distinct acts of Religious worship This is such a Babel as reacheth up to heaven a very great and horrid confusion which confounds the Creator with the creature and staies not there but cometh down again and also confoundeth the Communion of Saints and the Commandements of God and consequently not only the work but also the whole rule of Religion For seeing our blessed Saviour hath said On theâ—…e two hang all the Law and the Prophets Mat. 22. 40. by confounding the two Tables of the Commandements you must also confound the whole Book of God So then this false worship may only belong to Babel not to Jerusalem For in confounding the Creator with the creature it strikes at God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth In confounding the Communion of Saints it strikes at God the Son who is the Head of that Communion In confounding the Commandements and the whole Book of God it strikes at God the Holy Ghost the Pen-man of those Commandements and of that Book And we ought not to think that Jerusalem the City of God will either teach or practice a worship against God the Father Son and Holy Ghost For such a worship is not a Religion but a Confusion and is accordingly punished with confusion Psalm 97. 7. Confounded be all they that worship carved Images and that delight in vain Gods worship him all ye Gods A Text that exactly follows the method of the second Commandement proceeding by Command and by Commination only here the commination is put in the first place because the command had hitherto been so much transgressed and so little regarded God thereby intimating That if his Command doth not restrain us his commination shall ruine us which in this sin is more terrible then in any other for here he threatens to visit the sins of the Fathers upon their Children which in the language of this Text is To confound both them and theirs Confundantur omnes qui adorant sculptilia saith your own Latine for that 's to delight in vain gods who are all commanded to worship the true God as well as we for so it follows Worship him all ye Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Seventy worship him all ye his Angels Here 's yet another confusion This Idolatry makes them Idols whom God made Angels it makes them vain Gods whom he made Gods It unmakes Angels and what is that but to make Devils I mean in regard of those that worship them For though the holy Angels in themselves are blessed Spirits yet by those that Religiously worship them they are after some sort made wicked Spirits because to them they are the occasion of sin and wickedness So far is man from righting Angels by wronging God from honouring the servants by dishonouring their Lord and yet the best pretence that is usually made in this kind is least the Angels for sooth should lose their right whereas by doing them this right we do them the greatest wrong See thou do it not for I am thy fellow-servant Thou wrongest no less then three by doing it Thy self and me and our common Master A prohibition twice urged Rev. 19. 10. 22. 9. and with the same reason shewing that God made Angels our fellow-servants and Brethren and that we may not by our Religious worship make them God Therefore Confounded be they that make them Idols saith David since God made them Angels and yet your Position makes them twice idols once in themselves whiles it bestows Religious worship on them a second time in their images whiles it bestows that worship on them through their Pictures And that 's your fourth and last Position which concerns the Religious worship of Gods glorious Servants Saints and Angels through their pictures 15. In which case if you are not to be convinced of idolatry sure t is for want of will not of means of conviction for the Commandement expresly forbiddeth to make the likeness of any thing in heaven or in earth with intent to worship it and I believe you will not deny the Saints and Angels to be in heaven or if so because for ought you know who believe the Purging of souls after death some Saints may be in Purgatory to be tormented some good Angels there to torment them yet you cannot deny God to be in heaven unless you will discard your Pater Noster which teacheth you to say Our Father which art in heaven But it is a sufficient proof
with what Head Heart and Hand I can answer it for all will be little enough to vindicate Gods glory which you have taken from him to give unto his servants so little cause have you to be troubled that we will not joyn with you in the same theft and agree altogether to rob God For you say Against praying to Saints I alledge Job 4. 18. It seems I might have alledged twenty texts more impertinently for praying to Saints and no exception would have been taken at my allegations For so your late Dogmatist hath done most unconscionably because to the abuse of Christian Religion most uncharitably because to the breach of Christian Communion and yet neither you nor any of your party have sought to reclaim his errour or to repair Gods truth But you have laid a task upon me That I must â—…rit vindicate mine own before I may oppose his Allegations Mine own allegation was this Behold he put no trust in his servants and his Angels he charged with â—…olly This 〈◊〉 used as an argument to confute that strange I might have said that blasphemous Invocation which you are pleased to teach poor mis-believing souls though its rythm being above its reason shews in what unhappy age it stole into your prayers O Thoma Didyme succurre nobis miseris ne damnemur cum impiâ—…s in adventu Judicis Help us O good Saint Thomas that we be not condemned with the wiâ—…ked in the last Iudgement For said I those mighty helpers the blessed Saints will not in that day be able to help themselves much less will they be able to help others Therefore all of us had reed rely upon that helper which alone is able to stand himself and to support us in the Judgement and he is no other but only the eternal Son of God For saying this two great sins are laid to my châ—…ge by the consâ—…quence of your exception which concerns Divines though not by the words of it which concern Grammarians The first is That I look upon the day of Judgement with too fearful an eye and seek to get my self an helper or a supporter against that day The second is That I look upon my Saviour with too faithful an eye and seek to get him for my helper and supporter Come Sir let us not triste away our souls though we do our words but acknowledge the terrour and the scrutinie of that day will be both alike unsupportable That the Justice of God will shew it self indispensable That our conviction will be made indisputable and why not our condemnation undenyable That all flesh must then keep silence and no flesh will be able to keep station before him but such as have the eternal Iustice to satisfie for their sins and the eternal Word to plead on their behalf that satisfaction Therefore in this unimaginable unexpreâ—… inextricable exigency and diâ—…tress of â—…ouls there can be but one common Sanctuary for all mankind to she unâ—…o and consequently in vain do any of us â—…lie to other Sanctuaries before it For if we must chang our other Sanctuaries then why should we choose them now If the Saints then cannot be our Helpers why should we now pray unto them for help since all our Prayers tend to this That we may be acquitted in the last Judgement and not so gain the world as to lose our own souls My help cometh from the Lord saith holy David which made heaven and earth Psalm 121. 2. not saying what help because he meant all help not saying ae what time because he meant at all times not saying in what exigencies because he meant in all exigencies so then this is his meaning All my help at all times and in all exgencies cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth As no Saint helped him to make them so no Saint can help me when he will destroy them Therefore if I would not be helpless in that day when I shall most want help even in the day of Destruction I must beseech him to be my Helper which made heaven and earth For only he that made them out of nothing is able to keep me from being worâ—…e then nothing â—…or though the Heavens shall then pass away with a great noise and the earth shall be burned up 2 Pet. 3. 10. yet his help shall not pass away but shall preserve me and all those that heartily Pray unto him from the everlasting Burnings which is more then he hath promised to do for those who pray to Saints and t is to be feared that such prayers will make him do less Therefore give me such an Helper as will not leave me nor forsake me till he hath saved me and sure that can be no other but the God of my salvation so saith the same holy Supplicant Thou hast been my help leave me not neither forsake me O God of my salvation Psal. 27. 9. May I say to any Saint in the Day of thanks giving when I shall be in heaven Thou hast been my help 2. And how then shall I say to any Saint in the day of supplication whiles I am on earth Make speed to save me make haste to help me since what is Prayer on earth will be Prayer in Heaven for we shall not there learn unthankfulness How can I leave out O Lord and say O Mother of God save me and help me For in this case your learned Cardinal supplies me with a reason to the contrary Nam ea quibus indigenâ—…us superant vires creaturae ac proinde etiam Sanctorum Bell de â—…anct Beat. lib. 1. c. 17. Those things which we 〈◊〉 are above the power of the Saints to give us And if our wants be above their Power how are our Prayers for the supply of those wants not above their Glory for we are taught to say at the end of our Prayers For thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory nor can we pray in faith to any to whom we cannot say so at the end of our Prayers therefore not to any but to God the Father Son and holy Ghost And it is the great scandal and greater sin of your Prayers to the blessed Virgin and other Saints That you ask those blessings and that protection from them which he alone can give whose is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory But to return to your Cardinals Reason which alone is enough to keep me from turning to his Religion If those things which we want be not in the power of the Saints to give us why should they be in our Prayers to the Saints as if they could give them â—…or be that hath said Ask and it shall be given you Mat. 7. 7. hath in effect said Ask not of those who cannot give For that is either to ask in vain or to ask in sin t is to ask vain if without the Gift t is to ask in sin if against the Precept So then I asking not that help of the Saints which they cannot
tanta varietas orta est ex faecunditate radicis Halal c. He finding the positive or proper sense so diverse and repugnant according to Grammatical construction took that for the most proper which was most agreeable with the comparative and with the illative sence and that was this He put no trust in his servants and his Angels he charged with folly For this is his exposition Melius in communi accipitur pro Sanctis sive Angelis sive hominibus nam nemo fit tà m inconcussae constantisque naturae qui mutari non possit This place is best taken of the Saints in general whether they be Angels or men for none of them all is of so unshaken a temper but he may be changed Comparing both places together and sinding in the fourth Chapter first servants then Angels in the fifteenth first Saints then heavens which Targum expounds Angels and weighing the intent and purpose of both places was to beat Job from an opinion of his own rightousness and to make him humble himself before his Maker He gives this for the most proper Grammatical or positive sense oâ—… the words He put no trust in his servants and his Angels he charged with folly because this interpretation was most agreeable to the comparative sense of the words as they were compared with themselves or with their parallel place according to the connexion of the thing spoken And also because it was most agreeable to the illative sense of the words according to rational deduction from the intent of the Speaker So that the comparative and the illative senses did here shew which among so many was to be taken for the true positive sense A thing much to be observed to keep illiterate men from turning Interpreters of the Text who have not Grammer enough to understand the literal or positive sense of any one place of Scripture in the language it was written much less Logick enough to find out the comparative or the illative sense from other places yet more to be observed to keep learned men from quarreling with such interpretations which though seemingly different in words yet do really agree in all these three senses as doth our new English Translation though you are pleased to say It is contrary to it self and to all divine Scripture For Pineda had observed a greater difference in your old Latine translation both from it self saying in one place Non sunt stabiles in another Nemo immutabilis and from the new which said in both places Non credet yet finding the Difference to be verbal not real in words only not in â—…rse joyns all together in his Exposition because all this varitie did unanimously tend to one and the same Truth even to shew the instability and unsteadâ—…ness of Gods best Saints and Servants whether Angels or men whether in heaven or in earth 5. For saith he Job 15. 15. Pagninus ex Hebraeo Septuaginta Sanctis suis non credet i. Nemo est qui fidelis servus ex naturae suae merito ratione haberi usquequaque possit A verbo Aman quod est credere tanquam rei fideli constantâ—… aut fidele esse constans cui credi debeat Pagnine from the Hebâ—…ew and the Septuagint renders the place thus He putteth no trust in his Saints that is He hath none that of himself or by the merit of his nature ought to be accounted in all respects his true and faithful servant from the word Aman which is to put trust as to a thing faithful and constant or to be faithful and constant such as ought to be trusted And again Yea the heavens are not clean in his sight In re igitur clarissimâ perfectissimâ videt Deus maculas quae nos praetereunt Sic igitur de nostri aniâ—…i maculis existimare oportet Therefore God seeâ—… some 〈◊〉 and blemishes which we cannot see in the most clear and perfect substances And so ought we to think of the spots and bâ—…emishes of our souls Surely the Saints cannot be more quick-sighted to see further into our souls then we our selves and as sure that we shall be judged for those blemishes of our souls which neither they nor we our selves do see For God seeth them and will condemn them and us for them unless his Son exempt us from the condemnation How then can we reasonably much less Religiously pray to Saints to prepare us for Judgement by discovering to us our sins which they cannot see and much less to support us in Judgement by taking from us those sins which they cannot expiate So fully convincing is this Text against praying to Saints as it is expounded by a great Author of your own 6. And now Sir I hope our new translation He put no trust in his servants though in outward appearance it recede from our old and from your vulgar Latine may pass for current since it is avowed and attested not only by the Hebrew and the Greek but also by your own Pineda But your exposition of the old may not pass for current He found no steafastness in his servants that is in the bad Angels For how were they his servants after they had disclaimed and renounced his service and were become his enemies How were they his Saints when they were in actual Rebellion against their King How were they his Saints as the parallel place calls them after they were become obstinate sinners But I suppose you will little regard my arguments for you generally have a deaf ear for us Protestants though you will not have a dumb mouth Therefore again I produce your own Pineda against you who will either find acceptance with you as a Divine or force it from you as a Jesuite And he telling us that some understand this Text in particular of good others of bad Angels concludes in effect it is best understood in general of All Angels for so are his words Sensus uterque ad rem facit nam quicquid lucis laudis gloriationis in Angelis reperiri potest à Deo datum constitutum inditum est ex se nihil habent nisi insaniam negative i. nullam ex se sapientiam nullam virtutem bonitatem nullam Both interpretations make to one and the same purpose for whatsoever light or praise or exultation is in the good Angels it is all from God there 's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in its primary signification Laudare gloriari vocem attollere From themselves they have nothing but madness negatively that is no wisdom no vertue no goodness there 's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in its secundarie signification by way of Antiphrasis Nequam pravum esse gloriâ nominis splendore indignum Here is then very much though you say here is nothing agaâ—…nst praying to Angels and Saints confirmed in grace and glory For what is their confirmation to my Religion or how comes my Religion which is the homage I owe to my Creator made communicable to a creature Be
their prudent shall be hid v. 14. There is a spiritual as well as a carnal drunkenness and God keep all Christians especially the Ministers of Christ from them both for either is enough to make them scandalous Ministers in Gods if not in mans account But of the two the spiritual drunkenness is the more sinful though the carnal drunkenness be the more shameful The carnal drunkard is a beast but the spiritual drunkard is a Devil Noah repented and recovered of his carnal but Ham that mocked his Father never repented nor recovered of his spiritual drunkenness I would to God our proud malitious self-justitiaries but others Censors would seriously consider this undeniable though perhaps unwelcome Truth who in this particular follow the example as in other the doctrine of the Jesuites and deal with sober grave learned Religious Divines their Brethren at least if not their Fathers as Bellarmine did with Chemnitius reproaching their persons instead of answering their Arguments or reverencing their Functions That by perswading the common rout they are scandalons Ministers they may deprive Gods Church of the office Gods people of the benefit and God himself of the glory of their ministry This is such a kind of spiritual intoxication as besotteth not only the Head but also the Heart destroying all true temperance and sobriety which is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it guards and preserves and keeps entire the very mind the Heart and the Soul For I pray was that Synagogue of the Libertins to be reputed a company of sober Ecclesiasticks who not being able to resist the wisedome and the Spirit by which St. Stephen spake suborned men stirred up the people and set up false witnessess which said This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words Act. 7. as if they had said in our new stile for it is sharp and cuts deep He is a common swearer Or were not those Jews worse then drunk who because St. John Baptist observed a secure course of life said He had a Divil and because our blessed Saviour came eating and drinking said He was a man gluttonous and a wine-bibber a friend of publicans and sinners l. Matt. 11. That is say our new Merchants for they maâ—… sale of Gods glory mens innocency and their own consciences He is a Papist or He is a common drunkard They who thus unjustly and unconscionably asperse Orthodox Ministers that by taking away their Innocency they may also take away not only their Patrimony but also their Authority and their Ministry are spiritual drunkards besotted either with pride or with malice or with coveteousness And the Holy Ghost speaks against them as drunkards saying of them Behold they Belch out with their mouth Swords are in their lips for who say they doth hear Psal. 59. 7. Behold they Belch out with their mouth what can drunkards do more and they say Who doth hear what do such arrant sots say less But thou O Lord shall laugh at them though they laugh at all the World besides Thou shall have all the Heathen in derision thou accountest them no better them Heathen though they account themselves the only good Christians or if you please the only true Jesuites as if no other but themselves did truly know or love or Preach Jesus Christ he that is of this proud perswasion or rather of this perverse and poysonsome disposition may be called a Jesuite whether he pretend to be a Papist or a Protestant But 't is not bad language can make any man a bad Divine save him that speaks it Bene facere malè audire Regium est To do well and to hear ill is the part of a good King And by the same reason To say well that is boldly to rebuke vice and constantly to preach the truth and to hear ill is the part of a good Divine Black-mouthed calumnies stick a very little while upon their names that patiently bear them but a long time nay for ever unless they be washed away by the tears of repentance upon their souls that malitiously use them such arguments suddenly confute themselves but eternally condemne their Authors 10. Therefore Bellarmine relyes not upon this argument but findeth out another saying Nam apertissimè Hebraea sic se habent Voca nunc si est respondens tibi ad aliquem de sanctis respice sanè si quaeritur verbum expressum hic expressissimum est Bell. lib. 2. de Verbo Dei cap. 12. The sense of the Hebrew is plainly this Call now if any will answer thee and look to some one among the Saints If we would have an express Text to prove the Invocation of Saints this is most express There 's no calumny in this assertion concerning the Person but sure there is concerning the cause For if this Text in the Hebrew be so express for the Invocation of Saints how comes it to pass that 〈◊〉 of the Hebrew Doctors did so understand it for Ezra and Jarchi explain it of Holy men here on earth and none of the Hebrew nation did so practise it For all the world cannot prove that the Jews did Invocate Saints or Angels so that either the Jews were inexcusable for not performing this express duty of the Text or Bellarmine is inexcusable for calling it so And indeed himselves gives us two strong presumptions to say that though he did call yet he did not believe it to be an express duty of the Text The one is taken from him as a Critick for in his Hebrew Grammar Par. 2. cap. 4. He reckons the pronoune 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used in this place among the Interrogatives and consequently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot here be rightly interpreted ad aliquem by way of command or concession but ad quem by way of question or of Interrogation not to one of the Saints but to which of the Saints The other is taken from him as a Divine For in his first book de Beat. Sanct. c. 19. v. 2. he saith plainly there was no invocation of Saints before Christs ascension into Heaven Quia ante id tempus sancti non videbant Deum non fuit consuetum in veteri Testamento ut diceretuâ—… 〈◊〉 Abraham ora pro me Because before that time the Saints did not see God it was not usual under the Old Testament for any to say O Saint Abraham pray for me As a Critick he tells us the Hebrew words were properly to be interpreted by way of Interrogation As a Divine he tells us the Jews did not take them for a command or injunction for then whether the Saints did see God or not they must have been invocated Therefore 't is only as a Disputant that he tells This was a most express Text for the Invocation of Saints sure Pineda his fellow-Jesuit thought it not so for he saith these words had as many several interpretations as thy had several interpreters Tot interpretationes quot interpretum capita and by cleaving to
Aquinas his exposition of them which was for praying to Saints He falls into this absurdity to say that at that time this Invocation was both in the custome and in the faith of the Church Tum in consuetudine tum in fide fuisse receptam which though Bellarmine be zealous to affirm concerning the Invocation of Angels yet he is not so hardy as to affirm concerning the Invocation of Saints A Tenent that creates their contradictions cannot invite our assent may not have our belief And the rather because Hieronymus Osorius a Bishop but not a Jesuit of their own Religion if at least the Religion of Jesuits may be called the same with the Religion of the Bishops in the Church of Rome in his Paraphrase upon Job gives us a quite contrary exposition of these words saying Denuntia quaeso alicui praestanti viro testimonium animadverte an sit aliquis qui tecum sentiat Ad quem enim ex Sanctis hominibus adibis qui tuae sententiae suffragari audeat Declare now to some excellent men your testimony and observe if there be any that hath the same thoughts with you For unto whom amongst all the Holy men can you go that will dare to be of your opinion This man was trained up in the Invocation of Saints as well as Bellarmine yet could not see how to ground it upon this Text For he expounds it not of Saints in Heaven but of Saints on Earth as Abenezra had expounded it before him Ex cujus ore sanctorum qui in terrâ sunt talia unquam audisti 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Saints which are on earth out of whose mouth among all the Saints which are on the Earth did you ever hear such things But we may very well grant the words are rather to be understood of Holy Angels then of Holy men because he had spoken of the Angels a little before yet even so Bellarmines inference will not be made good that it was then the custome to call upon the Holy Angels for their Patronage tunc fuisse consuetudinem invocandi patrocinium Sanctorum Angelorum For the context will then require this sense as it is delivered by the most judicious and learned Mercerus Voca Angelorum aliquem eum inclama an vero eorum vel minimus tibi respondebit te suo sermone alloquio dignabitur Nullum sanè reperies Vides quantum à Deo distes quum ne Angeli quidem longè Deo inferiores te sint allocuturi si ad eos clames ob distantiam quae inter te est illos Call any one of the Angels and cry unto him and see if the meanest of them will answer thee or vouchsafe thee one word of discourse Thou will find none Thou seest then how far thou art distant from God when not so much as his Angels who are so far below him will answer thee if thou call to them because of the distance which is betwixt them and thee This is most probably the meaning of the words from the context for Eliphaz had a little before debased the excellencies of the Angels in regard of God and now comes to debase the excellencies of men in regard of the Angels all the scope and intent of his discourse tending to shew the emptiness and vanity of the Creature that so he might make Job humble himself before his Creator as hath been shewed a little before sc. Paragraph 3. 4 5 6. out of your own Pineda 11. But we must take to us the whole Armour of God that we may be able to withstand the assaults of men so furiously assaulting us and so watchfully besetting us To the Law and to the Testimony if others speak not according to that word 't is because there is no light no truth in them I ask then Doth this Invocation of Saints agree with the analogie of Faith in the Apostles Creed or with the analogie of righteousness in Moses his Decalogue I trow not For the one teacheth me to believe in one God the other not to call upon him in whom I have not believed and cannot believe And 't is clear that Invocation of Saints is against the whole current of devotions derived to us by the Spirit of God through the channel either of the Old or of the New Testament For there is scarce any prayer in either which our Saviour Christ who hath taught it us doth not pray with us for if he do not 't is in vain for us to pray since God heareth not our prayers but for his Intercession And therefore the Invocations that are used in the Psalms a peculiar Book of Prayers and Praises made by Gods own Holy Spirit for the use of his Church and constantly used by it in all ages are generally first spoken in the Person of Christ as appears in that he applied to himself very many of them as my God my God why hast thou for saken me Psal. 22. 1. and Into thy hands I commit my spirit Psal. 31. 6. and being first spoken in the Person of Christ are the more strongly recommended to all good Christians as composed by his Spirit sanctified by his lips and impowered and strengthned by his Intercession For Christus realis and Christus mysticus Christ personally and Christ mystically considered do constitute but one Communion of Saints He is the Head they are his Body and therefore they must pray in sin for in Schisme if they pray not to him as their Head for that is not to pray in Christs Communion as also in vain because in sin if they pray without their Head for that is not to pray in Christs Intercession Wherefore it being an undoubted truth that Christ was made obedient to the whole Law for man it necessarily follows that praying to Saints cannot be a duty of the Law but we must say That Christ the eternal Son of God prayd to Saints that is the Creator to the Creature And if it be not a duty of the Law how can it be command in the Prophets since they are but expounders not enlargers of the Law How in this Prophet Job whose book was penned in Hebrew by the Law-giver himself and only in Arabick by Job as saith your own Bellarmine de Script Eccl. cap. de Job because it is the judgement of the Catholick Church that Moses was the first Ecclesiastical Writer or the first Amanuensis and penneman of the Holy Ghost which by the way is another argument to prove that Bellarmine did not could not believe this Text of Holy Job was to be interpreted as a command Ad aliquem Sanctorū respice Look to one of the Saints but as a question or expostulation Ad quem sanctorum respicies To which of the Saints wilt thou look for without doubt so great a Scholar could not believe That Moses did bid us to do that in Job which he did forbid us to do in Exodus For the Commandement which saith Thou shall have no other Gods
the whole But take heed whiles you say so that they who are against you and deny Purgatory tax you not of blasphemy for saying that which is not in being is a part of Christs Kingdom for to make Christ a King in Utopia in a place which is not is to make him no King And that they who are with you and affect purgatory tax you not of infidelity for believing that Christ hath taken possession of his whole Kingdom upon no better grounds then upon a meer uncertainty 6. For even your own Bellarmine though in his first Book de Purgatorio he writ so confidently as if all men were bound to believe Purgatory that will be saved yet in his second Book de circumstantiis Purgatorii He writes so ambiguously as to enfeeble any unprejudicate mans belief I will give you some few instances and then leave you to judge what small reason he had for his so great confidence Cap. 6. de loco Purgatorii He saith The Church hath not defined in what place Purgatory is for that the purgation of souls may be in many places and some are purged where they sinned but after several other opinions he seems to like that best which placeth Purgatory in the bowels of the earth because of several eruptions of fire out of the earth in several parts of the world Be it so if we must needs have a Purgatory that they may have the greatest share in it and terrour from it who were once the first inventers and now are the chiefest maintainers of it even the Italian Monks and Fryers for the most notorious eruptions of fire in these parts of the world are either in Italy as at Mount Vesuvius or not far from it as at Mount Aetna in Sicily Cap. 9. De tempore quo durat Purgatorium Of the time that Purgatory lasteth which is as uncertain as the place Quando ab hoc loco in coelum avolant res est incertissima How long the souls must stay in Purgatory before they can get to heaven is a matter of the greatest uncertainty Cap. 10. 11. Qualis sit purgatorii poena The quality of the Torment in Purgatory is as uncertain as either the time or place De poenâ Purgatorii quaedam sunt certa quaedam dubia As concerning the punishment of Purgatory some things are certain some are doubtfull Certa sunt Carentia visionis poena sensus poena ignis T is certain saith he the souls in Purgatory are under the punishment of loss for want of the beatifical vision and are under the punishment of sense by torment of fire Do they want the beatificall vision say then God hath thus sentenced them at their particular Judgement Depart from me ye cursed and let them hereafter be accounted not blessed but cursed souls not in a Communion with God but in a separation from him yet in saying so remember you bid your best Champion recall even the very subject of this whole Controversie which indeed is the best if not the only way to end it De Ecclesiâ quae est in Purgatorio of the Church which is in Purgatory for that cannot be a part of Gods Church which is in a separation from God And sure I am your Cardinal is beholding to the latter part of this same sentence to prove that souls in Purgatory are under the punishment of sense by fire for he proveth it by these words Ite in ignem aeternum Go into everlasting fire Mat. 25. And why not also prove their punishment of loss in the want of the beatifical vision from the first part of the same sentence Depart from me ye cursed For the same sentence denounceth the judgement of loss and of sense of loss in Depart from me ye cursed and of sense in Go into everlasting fire And we may fancy the one to be Temporarie as well as the other and to belong to righteous souls as much as the other but surely the Text saith both are eternal and belong only to the cursed And indeed t is a strange proof which brings Hell to prove Purgatory yet this is the best he can find in all the Scripture For here he proves that material fire can punish immaterial souls because it was provided to punish the Devil and his Angels which are immaterial spirits But still the proof concerneth only Hell fire so that in plain truth He alledgeth hell to prove Purgatory All the doubt is how he can make it so This proof is yet further enlarged in the next Chapter where he answers some chief doubts concerning Purgatory as whether it be a true real fire and how it can act upon separated souls and both are answered from these words Go ye cursed into everlasting fire Ignem Purgatorii esse corporeum quia in Scripturis passim poena impiorum vocatur Ignis Et regula Theologorum est ut verba Scripturarum accipiantur propriè quando nihil absurdi sequitur The fire of Purgatory is corporeal for commonly in the Scripture the punishment of the wicked is called fire what is the punishment of the wicked to the righteous or must men turn wicked that they may go to Purgatory and it is a rule of Divines That the words of Scripture are to be taken properly if there follow no absurdity and a little after Corpora damnatorum puniuntur igne Mat. 25. Ite in ignem aeternum est autem idem ignis corporum damnatorum spirituum corpore vacantium nam ibidem dicitur qui paratus est diabolo Angelis ejus The bodies of the damned are punished with fire Go into everlasting fire Mat. 25. but it is the same fire which punisheth their bodies and other souls or spirits without bodies as it is said Which is prepared for the Devil and his Angels Pray Sir why should any Christian be taught to desire to go to that fire which was prepared for the Devil and his Angels and if he do once go thither how shall he ever return from thence And yet your Cardinal would have us believe Purgatory that we may have the happiness to go thither and saith if we do not we shall burn for ever in Hell-fire A new Apostle sure he speaks not only so resolutely but likewise so authentically yet not dropt down as the rest from Mount Sion bùt from Mount Sina as we may guess by his Thunder and Lightning Seriously it is a sad thought for all good Christians that any Divine should after Nadab and Abihu dare offer strange fire for God is not well pleased with such an offering But it is a joyful thought for us poor Protestants that this fire of Purgatory is not only a strange but also a false fire for so we are sure it cannot burn us Else it seems after it hath been your Purgatory it should be our Hell However it is palpable That your Cardinals talk only is of Purgatory but his proof is of Hell Thus himself hath brought his certainties concerning
nor all-sufficient Do not you think he may be worshipped through a picture which himself hath so expresly forbidden for that is in effect to deny him to be your Soveraign Lord. For if he be the Lord ascribe unto him that worship and honour which himself hath commanded not that which himself hath forbidden because you cannot ascribe unto the Lord the honour due unto his Name whiles you do not ascribe unto him the honour due unto his Nature that is the honour of being the Lord For this is to say unto him Lord Lord according to the letter of the first Commandement whiles by your breaches of the second you force him to say unto you I know you not depart from me ye workers of iniquity so far is it from Truth That Christians well instructed in the first cannot through ignotance offend against the second Commandement yet I will strive to make it true for truths sake by annexing to it this supposition if they exactly follow the instructions given them in the first Commandement for then clearly they will know God too well either to worship him by an image or to worship any image instead of him But now this your own assertion like a rebellious subject will take up arms against you for by the Rule of Logick which proceeds from the eversion of the Consequent to the eversion of the Antecedent it may be proved that notwithstanding all your great boasts of being so well instructed in the first Commandement you have not well received or not well followed those instructions because you have not rightly received and followed the prohibition of the second For if the first Commandement were in truth rightly understood and obeyed amongst you according to your own negative Thou shalt not have strange Gods before me and according to your own affirmative Thou shalt have me only for thy true God you would not be so zealous as you are to bestow religious worship upon your petty Deities for that is to have strange Gods not him only for your God nor would you be so ready to represent or worship the eternal Deitie through a picture for that is not to have him for the true God since undenyable is that of the Apostle God that made the world and all things therein seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth dwelleth not in Temples made with hands Acts 17. 24. And if not in Temples then sure not in Images made with hands yet take away this crude and carnal thought that the Creator is like the creature to be confined or comprehended in his dwelling which is against the very light of nature and much more against the light of grace and you will not easily be Idolators either in worshipping him by an Image or in worshipping an image instead of him So that from your not honoring God rightly according to the Prohibition of the second we have reason to fear you do not honour him rightly according to the instruction of the first Commandement For even Damascene himself though a great admirer of other Images yet allows not any to make the Image of God but saith lib. 4. de Orthod fide c. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who can make a representation of the invisible incorporeal God which can neither be described nor defined it is then the height of madness and of wickedness to make any form or picture of the Deity Therefore Christ as God is not to be represented much less worshipped by a picture and consequently your application of divine worship through his pictures unto him may easily be convinced of Idolatry 12. I next come to your third position which concerns the worshipping of Saints and Angels for they are to be Religiously worshipped before their pictures and if not they then not their pictures since therefore all moral duties that are performed without us are reduced by our blessed Saviour to these two Heads Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self Saint Mat. 22. I ask To which of these two you will reduce your Religious worshipping of Saints and Angels If to the first say there is more then one God and you can love more then one God with all your heart If to the second do not talk of a Religious worship for no man yet ever worshipped himself with a Religious worship and you are to love your neighbour but as your self not as your God For since God hath called All but himself your neighbour how can you call Any but himself your God whiles you worship him as your God by a Religious worship Can you think that Job did not intend that of every other creature whatsoever which he spake of the Sun Moon because the Heathen bestowed their Religious worship on them as not knowing any creature more glorious then them for they knew nothing of the Angels or glorified Saints If mine heart hath been secretly enticed or my mouth hath kissed my hand This also were an iniquity to be punished by the Judge Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iniquitas judicans vel judicialis digna quae à Judice puniatur an iniquity to be punished by the Judge of quick and dead since it is a Judged Case in his own Court since he himself hath judged it to be an iniquity For I should have denyed the God that is above Here is the Religious worship which calleth the creature the Creator for so saith Jarchi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If I have worshipped the Sun or Moon saying they are Gods And here is the iniquity that cannot escape Judgement for this calling the creature the Creator is to deny the God that is above so saith 〈◊〉 I should have denyed the 〈◊〉 â—…at is above The meaning is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The God that is above these two great lights The Hebrew words will yet bear another interpretation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For I should have lyed against the God above Hence Idolatry is called mendacium perniciosum a pernicious lye by your own Reginaldus Scandalous to men injurious to God directly against the honour due unto him which is not communicable to any but to himself Regin lib. 16. cap. 14. sec. 3. Idolatry is therefore called a Lye in Job a pernicious lye in Reginaldus because it communicates that honour to the creature which is due only to the Creator And according to this Principle The Religious worship of Saints and Angels must be called Idolatry For to worship them Religiously is to Communicate to them the honour of God it is to say they are Gods And to say they are Gods is to lye both to God and man for it is to deny the God that is above them and to deceive the men that are amongst us For it is vam here to talk of inferiour degrees of worship since Magis minus non variat speciâ—… if it be Religious worship properly so called the least degree of it is Religious
worship and the gâ—…eatest degree of it is no more Therefore we say That Religious worship in what degree soever is to be given only to God because he alone is the object of Religion For Religion though it command and govern such acts as pass from man to man or from man to God yet it doth not of it self produce or excite any act but only such as hath God for its immediate object And therefore all the elicite and proper acts of Religion such as flow from its own nature are reducible to some of the four Commandements in the first Table which concern God only as appears in that his name alone is used in every one of them And therefore to bestow any act of Religion upon any other then upon God alone is to set up both a God and a Religion neither revealed nor commanded in the first Table and consequently not of Goa's but of our own making Nay it is to fetch a God out of the second Table to bestow upon him the Duties enjoined in the first It is to borrow an Object from the second Table to exercise the Acts of the first For the whole Decalogue knows no other object but only God or neighbour and these are so distinct That what is neighbour cannot be God what is God cannot be neighbour And the Acts concerning these are as distinct as the Objects for all the Acts commanded or forbidden in the first Table concern our God All the Acts commanded or forbidden in the second Table concern our neighbour and t is equally absurd to apply to neighbour the Duties belonging to God as Glory or Worship and to apply to God the Duties belonging to neighbour as relief or maintenance This is the Divinity God himself hath taught for it is the plain undoubted sense of his Commandements and this is the Divinity Gods Church hath learned and professed for thus she understood his sense as saith Lactantius lib. 6. cap. 10. Primum Justitiae officium est conjungi cum Deo secundum cum homine sed illud primum Religio dicitur Hoc secundum misericordia vel humanitas nominatur The first office of Justice is to unite man to God The second to unite man to man or to his neighbour The first office is called Religion the second is called Humanity And therefore it is against the very order of Justice to confound these offices For as Humanity cannot extend to God so Religion cannot extend to neighbour Wherefore since all Communion is founded in Justice those who most confound the offices of Justice are the greatest enemies and opposers of true Christian Communion and consequently They who worship Saints and Angels are the greatest Schismaticks because they most confound the Offices of Justice doing to neighbour those offices which belong to God and not doing to God those offices which belong to him For he that renders to Caesar Gods due doth for that cause not render to God his own due And accordingly these two are disjoyned and divided as two distinct offices of Justice by Gods own eternal Wisdom and Truth and therefore may not be confounded without mans unsufferable folly and mistake for so saith our blessed Saviour Mat. 22. 21. Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesars there 's the Debt of Justice belonging to Humanity And unto God the things that are Gods there 's the Debt of Justice belonging to Religion Cesar must have his own but he may not have Gods Tribute The noblest creature that is either in Heaven or in Earth may not have the Creators due Since therefore Religion is the Creators due as Humanity is the creatures according to Lactantius Gods most glorious Servants Saints and Angels may not be sharers with their Master in his due that is to say in the offices of Religion though in never so inferiour a degree because they cannot be Gods though in never so inferiour a degree But they may only be sharers with their fellow-servants or creatures in the offices of Humanity whether double or treble or if you will centuple sharers it matters not according to their several degrees of glory and of excellency And this was so clear a Truth in our Saviours daies that it is said concerning the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians when they heard these words they marvelled and left him and went their way v. 22. And it is still so clear notwithstanding the many sophistical distinctions whereby some of late have clouded it that if any man now will needs reply against it he must be more refractory then those Pharisees or Herodians and fall under Saint Pauls reproof Nay but O man who art thou that replyest against God Rom. 9. 20. For God the Father in his Law God the Son in his Gospel and God the Holy Ghost the Pen man both of Law and Gospel hath so determined That the offices of Justice may not be confounded but those which belong to Religion must be reserved by themselves for God alone none of them all bestowed upon our neighbour he is capable only of those offices which belong to Humanity but of none of those which belong to Religion Therefore your words And the same I say proportionably though in an infinitely inferiour degree of our Religious worship of his glorious Servants Saints and Angels are not to be justified though you should say them to the worlds end For there is no proportion betwixt the creature and the Creator and consequently you may not say the same thing or talk of the same worship proportionably concerning them 13. The Honour of Humanity or of the second Table due from the fifth Commandement though in the highest degree of proportion being infinitely below the Creator and the honour of Religion or of the first Table due from the four first Commandements though in the lowest degree being infinitely above the creature For that honour is internally in the understanding an apprehension or belief of an infinite excellency in the will a subjection or submission to it there 's the duty of the first Commandement The same honour is externally in the gesture an adoration in the speech a profession in the deed a publick and solemn Homage made to the same infinite excellency there 's the duty of the three other Commandements in the first Table Wherefore you must place your degrees of proportion not in religious worship to make an inferiour degree of that but in civil worship to make a superiour degree of that for Gods glorious servants unless you will serve them instead of God to the dishonour of their Lord and to the despight of his Commandements I would not speak so positively were this Divinity of yesterday but you see Lactantius shews it was of old in the Catholick Church And the Angelical Doctor shews the same for notwithstanding the Practice of the Church was corrupted in his daies yet this Doctrine this Divinity was not corrupted For this we find was his determination 12º qu. 100. art 5.
in c. Sicut praecepta Legis humanae ordinant hominem ad quandam communitatem humanam Ita praecepta legis divinae ordinant hominem ad quandam communitatem seu rempublicam hominum sub Deo Ad hoc autem quod aliquis in aliquâ communitate beâ—…è commoratur duo requiruntur Quorum primum est ut benè se habeat ad eum qui praeest communitati aliud autem est ut benè se habeat ad alios communitatis consocios comparticipes oportet igitur quòd in lege divinâ primò ferantur quaedam praecepta ordinantia hominem ad Deum inde alia quaedam praecepta ordinantia hominem ad alios proximos simul convenientes sub Deo As the praecepts of humane Laws do order men to a Communion or Common wealth amongst themselves so the Precepts of divine laws do order men to a Communion or Common-wealth under God Now that a man may be fit to live in any Communion two things are required The first is that he behave himself well towards the Head of that Communion the next that he behave himself well towards his fellow-members and co-partners in it Accordingly in the Divine Law first we meet with precepts teaching a man his duty towards his God after these we meet with other precepts teaching him his duty towards his neighbours who together with himself do live under the government of that same God Nothing can be spoken either more plainly or more punctually to shew that the Decalogue as the Rule of Justice is the gâ—…ound of Christian Communion That whosoever desires to be of that Communion must first learn his Duty towards his God the Head of it then his duty towards his neighbours his fellow-members in it That these Duties are as distinct as their objects taught in two several distinct orders of precepts some concerning God others concerning his neighbours And that all save God alone are to be accounted as his neighbours in this Communion as all living with himself under one and the same Head which is God From which premises we may well inferr this conclusion That what Duty belongs to the Head only may not be practised towards any of the members without a confusion of Gods Order a violation of Gods Law and an invasion of Gods Right which must needs be highly displeasing to all the true members of this Communion whether in heaven or in earth who all agree in nothing more then in honouring their Head and therefore cannot but detest whatsoever shall tend to his dishonour for since himself hath said I am the Lord that is my name and my glory will I not give to another Isa. 42. 8. we may be ashamed must be afraid of giving that Glory to Saints and Angels which God will not part withall for if he deny the gift how dare we give that 's to give in sin there 's reason for our fear If he will not give it they will not take it that 's to give in vain there 's reason for our shame For as in mens natural so in Christs mystical Body all the members alike are made to serve the Head and in order to the Head it is that they serve one another So that there is not one member which will not neglect to serve it self and much more its fellow-member when it should serve its Head Let God but have the same priviledge among Christians as without doubt he hath the same right for they are that body whereof he is the Head and no man will hereafter so misplace his devotion so mispend his time so mistake himself as to be worshipping of an Angel or a Saint whiles he should be worshipping of God I will not ask With what faith I can say I believe in an Angel instead of I believe in God or to which Article of the Creed this Religious worship as you call it is reducible that it may be done in faith though what is not of faith is sin more then exceeding sinful in our Prayers for in that I have proved this worship cannot be without fâ—…lly I have sufficiently proved it cannot bâ—… with faith Nor will I ask how it is agreeable with our Lords most holy Prayer the pattern of all sound prayers for me to say Our Brother instead of Our Father which art in heaven though if I pray out of Christs Communion who will not cannot joyn with me in saying Our Brother but will and doth joyn with me in saying Our Father I cannot pray in hope because I must also pray without Christs Intercession through which alone God heareth my prayers for having proved that this worship cannot be with faith I need not prove it must be without hope I only ask How this worship can be with Charity I mean that Charity which hath God only for its immediate object since Faith Hope and Charity are three Theological vertues no less inseparable from themselves then they ought to be inseparable from our souls And if this worship may not be with Gods Charity why should my Charity be with this worship If it love not God why should I love it and if it love another instead of God how doth it love God Sure I am God himself hath determined in a case very like this That They who embrace a false worship do hate the true God Exod. 20. 5. Visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me And how can good Christians with any conscience do that which may come under the least temptation or suspition of hateing God Wherefore this false worship must needs so trouble and startle true Believers as to be the cause of division and dis-union for ever in the Church of Christ dividing man from man to the worlds end because it divides man from God for whose sake and in whose name and love we ought to follow and embrace the Christian Communion For the same Voice which calls us to Communion in worshipping first calls us to Religion in the worship nor is it possible for any man to shew a Text which saith O come let us worship there 's the Communion which doth not likewise say worship God there 's the Religion Thus saith the man after Gods own heart and therefore nearest his mind O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our maker Psal. 95. 6. So establishing publick as also establishing true and forbidding false worship For Rectum index sui obliqui he which saith O come let us worship and fall aown and kneel before the Lord our maker doth by the rule of contraries likewise say Let us not worship nor fall down nor kneel before any that is not our maker Wherefore since you have most shamefully violated this command you were best to let your repentance follow yout shame that your shame may not fore-run your confusion Put then your own translation into your practice come with your Venite adoremus
he never so glorious yet he is as far from God as my self for betwixt finite and infinite the distance is infinite whether the finite be glorious or inglorious for be he never so glorious yet he and his glory both are nothing in comparison of him to whom Cherubins and Seraphins continually do cry Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy Glory 7. Having vindicated mine own allegation against praying to Saints I come to oppose your Cardinals allegations for it which though they savour much more of learning authority yet not one jot less of impertinency And yet you and all yours swallow them as glib as once you swallowed the holy league and Covenant or as still you are desirous to swallow up all other Churches into your own pretended mother Church that is as that Behemoth swalloweth waters of whom it is said Behold he drinketh up a river and hasteth not he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth Job 4. 23. A large swallow you have to let down your own Camels whiles you strain at our gnats not considering the advice of the first Bishop of Hierusalem to his Clergy My Brethren have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory with respect of persons Jam. 2. 1. If you had not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect of persons more then of causes you would rather be exceptious against your own writers for most shamefully misapplying the holy Scriptures to set up your false worship then with ours for rightly applying them to pull it down since it is so much to the dishonour of Christ our Redeemer and to the danger of those Christian souls which he hath redeemed And yet your late writers seeing the unwritten word so unequal a match to grapple with the written word for the Protestants have opened their eyes though God alone can open their hearts and we pray him to open them do labour to prove all your false adorations and false invocations out of the holy Scriptures notwithstanding they are so plainly and so directly against the express letter of the Law of Moses and therefore cannot be according to the letter of the Prophets which are no other then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…aw But I will confine my self to your moâ—…â—…ed Dogmatist and desire you with me to consider the strange impertinency and if wilful the stranger imprety of his allegations out of the Text to maintain your invocation of Saints And amongst them all two only shall serve my turn 8. The first is that of Gen. 48. 16. The Angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the lads Hic apertè sanctus Jacob Aâ—…gelum invocavit saith Bellarm. Here holy Jacob did manifestly invocate an Angel If he did 't is manifest he took that Angel for the God of his Fathers Abraham and Isaac for the God which fed him all his life long and redeemed him from all evil for he invocateth none other to bless the lads but only that God so saith the Text God before whom my Fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk the God which â—…ed me all my life long to this day The Angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the â—…ads 'T is palpable all these particulars do concern but one and him Jacob desireth to bless the children If that one were an Angel he did not pray for Gods blessing upon them so the lads were little beholding to him If that one were God he did not pray to an Angel to blesâ—… them so 〈◊〉 â—…olding to your Carâ—… Nay indeed all that are concerned in this Text for the Angel though named yet is not concerned in it are litâ—…le beholding to him for all are losers by this interpretation 1º God loseth his honour of accepting feeding redeeming and blessing his servants 2º Abraham and Isaac lose their God For it was the Almighty God not an Angel that said to Abraham Walk before me and be thou perfect Gen. 17. 1. and God before whom my Fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk saith this Text. 3º The poor infants lose their blessing for t is clear an Angel could not bless them but only ministerially from God 4º Jacob loseth his Religion for he calleth upon a false God if upon an Angel instead of God All these cannot lose by this interpretation the Interpreter himself be no loser therefore though I will not say he lost his honesty by seeking to wrest a text yet I must say he hath lost his authority by seeking to oppose it For it is not an exposition but an opposition of the Text when words are taken Grammatically in their own sense that should be taken Theologically in Gods sense The Grammatical sense of a word is according to its own signification But the Theological sense of a word is according to Gods use of it or Gods application As Genesis 18. 2. The Lord appeared unto Abraham but v 2. Lo three men stood by him And again v. 16. The men rose up from thence yet v. 17. And the Lord said and 't is evident by all Abrahams prayer that it was the Lord appeared unto him for he calleth him the Judge of all the earth v. 25. and v. 33. 't is said The Lord went his way as soon as he had left communing with Abraham If you take this word men Grammatically as 't is in its own signification you must say Abraham prayed to a man But if you take it Theologically as 't is in Gods use or application 't is no less then the Lord appearing in the likeness of a Man and you must say That Abraham prayed only to the Lord So in this Text mis-interpreted by your great Doctor if you take the word Angel Grammatically as it signifies in it self 't is plain Iacob invocated an Angel but if you take it Theologically as God useth it 't is no less then the Lord in the likeness of an Angel and so 't is plain Iacob invocated none but God And truly the one Text might as well have been urged to prove that Abraham invocated a man as the other to prove that Iacob invocated an Angel Both good proofs Grammatically but neither a good proof Theologically For Grammarians look upon words as they signifie in themselves but Divines look upon words as they signifie in their use the reason is because the work of the one is to understand the Thing but the work of the other is to understand the Truth therefore as doubtful Propositions in the New Testament are to be expounded according to the Analogie of Faith in the Apostles Creed that we may have Truth in our Belief So doubtful Propositions in the Old Testament are to be expounded according to the analogie of righteousness in Moses his Decalogue that we may have Truth in our Obedience And as that Proposition This is my body must be taken Theologically that is in the sense of the speaker because taken Grammatically that is in the bare sense of the words it
are there joyned in one but also to the third Commandement and we think it very unjust that a few Italian Bishops and Priests should endeavour to lay those sins upon the Catholick Church which they ought to lay to and upon their own consciences because they have not only suffered but also maintained them in their own Churches For it is not crying out Templum Domini Templum Domini the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord that can acquit us from any act of sin against the Lord 'T is not the noise of Gods Church in our ears can expell the knowledge or fear of Gods Commandements out of our hearts God hath entrusted his Church with the Keeping not with the Making of Religion she is the Guide to it and in it not the Author of it That Power and Trust he communicated only to his Son and to his Holy Spirit because indeed it was incommunicable to any other For who can know the mind of God but God who can declare the council of his heart â—…ut only he that came out of his bâ—…m Shall not God have that privileâ—…e over his servants which men have ovâ—…r theirs to prescribe the way and 〈◊〉 of his own service or â—…all we alâ—…ow that disorder in Gods Family which we will not admit into our own There was no King in Israel when every man did that which was right in his own eyes Jud. 17. 6. If the Church may do what she pleaseth in matters of Religion 't is either because there is no King in Gods Israel or because Truth and Righteousness are not the establishment of his Kingdom For Truth and Righteousness come not from man but from God and therefore none can be the author of Religion but only God since that is nothing else but Truth and Righteousness Truth in Articles of Faith Righteousness in duties of life Truth in what we are bound to believe Righteousness in what we are bound to practise Therefore 't is vain to set up the Church which is only the Judge against the Law which is the Rule of Righteousness For we can go to the Church only for the Practice but we 〈◊〉 go to the Law for the Purity of Religion The question is here concerning the Purity of Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Saints be not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Law of God but the 〈◊〉 is made only concerning the Practice 〈◊〉 Religion for they tell us it was alwayes used in the Catholick Church We look upon this answer as faulty for its impertinency because the question is matter of Right but the answer is matter of Fact and much more faulty for its Calumny because the Romanists thereby so labour to excuse their own as to accuse the Catholick Church For 't is plain that Christ and his Apostles never used it and we must look upon him as the Head upon them as the chief members of the Catholick Church since we can have no Catholick Church without them that is which doth not persist in their doctrine nor continue in their Communion And 't is as plain that no particular Church since them can justify the using it and consequently t is unjust as well as untrue to ascribe the use of it to the Catholick Church although it hath of late years been used in some particular Churches For even Nicephorus himself saith expresly Hest. Eccl. lib. 15. cap. 28. ad finem That Petrus Crapheus who lived neer 500 years after Christ was the first that brought the Invocation of the blessed Virgin into the prayers of the Church and doubtless she was invocated before the other Saints who is now and hath been for some ages so much invocated above them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ut in precatione omni Dei genitrix nominaretur divinum ejus nomen invocaretur That this Invocation was not till then in any Church is a clear proof it was not of the Apostolick and therefore though it hath been since in some Churches cannot be a proof that it is of the Catholick Church For the Apostolick the Catholick are not two Churches But let us suppose which we may not grant that the Catholick Church as far as 't is visible hath of late years used it yet that is not a sufficient ground for us still to continue the use of it For we are to serve God not out of Custome but out of Conscience and therefore in vain do any pretend Custome in Gods service against Conscience in vain do any alledge the Churches usage which calls for Custome against Gods Law which calls for Conscience If an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel then what ye have received let him be accursed saith St. Paul Gal. 1. 8. The same reason is for the Law received in the Old as for the Gospel received in the New Testament Gods truth and righteousness are above the Church Triumphant in heaven much more above the Church militant on Earth not that either Church hath opposed or will oppose them for the Church of the living God is the pillar and ground of the Truth 1 Tim. 3. 15. but that they are above the Churches opposition For no creature can be to it â—…eli the rule of working no more then the cause of being and therefore its work of righteousness cannot depend upon its own but upon its makers will And Religion being the principal work of Righteousness cannot depend upon the will of the Church but upon the will of God This sublime truth is admirably delivered by the master of subtilties and sublimites Scotus in 1. lib. sent dist 44. in these words In omni liberè agente quod potest agere secundum praeter vel contra dictamen legis rectae est distinguere potentiam ordinatam absolutam Ordinata quidem conformiter agendo legi rectae absoluta verò agendo praeter illam legem vel contra eam sic dicunt Juristae aliquis potest facere de facto hoc est de poten tiâ suà tabsolutâ vel de jure hoc est de potenia ordinatâ secundum jura Quando autem lex ista secundum quam recte agendum est non est in potestate agentis tunc agendo secundum potentiam absolutam inordinaâ—…è agit non rectè Qâ—…ùm enim subsit tali legi tenetur agere 〈◊〉 legem sed quando in poteâ—…ate ageâ—…s est lex rectitudo legis poâ—…est tale agens ordinatè rectè agere aliter quà m lex illa dictat quia non subest illi legi sic ejus poâ—…entia absoluta non est inordinata In every free agent which can act according besides or against the dictate of law and righteousness we must distinguish betwixt his orderly and his absolute power his orderly power is shewed in acting conformably to the Law his absolute power inacting either besides it or against it so the Civilians tell us a man may do a thing as a matter of fact that is by his absolute power according to his will or as
practice have divâ—…rted the principal streams of affiance and love from Him who had the only right unto them and turned them upon those unto whom neither so great honour is due nor so undue honour can be acceptable Sands Survey of Religion cap. 4. Jesu God heal their Tongues that preach such Blaphemy instead of Divinity heal their Hands that write it heal their Ears that hear it and much more heal their Hearts that believe it and their Lifes that practise it that though thy Truth hath been outfaced by their Lyes yet their miracles may be outvied by thy Power and their Souls saved by thy Grace and Mercy For all the miracles they can falsly attribute to thy Saints as if by their own power and holiness they could heal the Body to make us go to thy Servants for help when we should go only to Thy self are nothing in comparison of that great miracle of thy power and greater miracle of thy mercy whereby thou art pleased to heal the Soul I have been the longer upon this Argument as I was upon the former because the false Invocations and Adorations used by you have given others just occasion to depart from you even those who were under your own jurisdiction and much more those who were not For as he that kicks against Heaven stricks up his own Heels so a faction in your Church of late years kicking against Gods authority could not stand so fast as to keep their own nor is it any reason you should expect others to be dutiful to you according to the fift contrary to that duty which they ow to God according to the four first Commandements 16. But though others of your party argue much in this case from Authority yet you think fit to argue from reason saying Now since God puts this great Trust in them with us ought not we to put them in Trust by reverently commending our selves unto them no saith Reason to which you have appealed much more no saith Religion from which you have started First no saith Reason For that teacheth us to invocate none that is not All-present to hear our request All-merciful to receive it All-sufficient to grant it and Almighty to fullfil it and therefore to Invocate no creature which hath none much less all of these Secondly no saith Religion And first the Religion that is in Heaven I heard the voyce of many Angels round about the Throne and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voyce Worthy is the Lamb which was slain to receive power and riches and wisedome and strength and honour and glory and blessing Revel 5. 11 12. This is the Religion you must practise in Heaven and why should you practise any other in Earth since you are taught to pray Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven you may safely take the crowns of the Saints and Angels and cast them before the Throne giving glory and honour and thanks to Him who was dead but now liveth for ever and ever for so they do themselves Revel 4. 9 10. But never was it seen in Heaven That any Saint or Angel did make so bold as to take the Crown off from our Saviours Head to place it upon his own There this is the only dialect Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created v. 11. And the dialect should be here as 't is there so saith the Psalmist O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker as if he had said before no other but only Him to whom we can truly say For thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Therefore secondly no saith the Religion that is in Earth that likewise answers no to your quaere Ought we not to put them in trust by reverently commending our selves into them And surely we ought not For that very Apostle who hath written most concerning the benefit and the assistance which the heirs of Salvation have by the Angels Hebr. 1. 14. forbids them to worship Angels for fear of endangering their inheritance Col. 2. 18 19. Let no man beguil you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels intruding into those things which he hath not seen vainly puft up by his fleshly mind and not holding the Head c. where the Apostles full intent and scope is to dehort the Colossians from the worshipping of Angels first from the dangerous effect of it no less then the loss of eternal life Let no man beguil you of your reward 2. from the vain pretences for it viz. the obedience or submission we owe to them as to our Patrons and the need we have of their Patronage the first hath a shew of humility but 't is such as God never commended in a voluntary humility The second hath a real guilt of curiosity for 't is such as God never taught intruding into those things which he hath not seen 3. From the wicked and ungodly causes of it and they are two Pride of heart vainly puft up by his fleshly mind and Ignorance of Christ as Head of the Church And not holding the Head from which all the Body by joynts and bands having nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God Angels are a part of this Body as well as men and this Head gives life to them as to us As all is Neighbour that is not God in the Law so all is Body that is not Head in the Gospel The question is as unanswerable if asked of St. Michael or St. Gabriel as of St. Peter or St. Paul Is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you or were ye baptized in the name of Paul 1 Cor. 1. 13. Is Christ divided from himself that He should not be the Head of Angels as well as of men or is Christ divided from his Body on Earth more then from his Body in Heaven Hath he put that part of his Body to convey life and motion and nourishment to this or doth he not convey life and motion and nourishment to both parts immediately by Himself Was any Angel crucified for us or were we baptized in the name of any Angel Was St. Paul a lover of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Chrys. in denying this honour to the Apostles and can we be lovers of Christ in giving this honour to the Angels Is it more lawful for us then it was for him to give the honour of the Head to any part of the Body or can we look for a reward of our service if we serve any of the Body instead of the Head Let no men beguil you saith He of your reward 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let no man make you so run as not to receive the Prize or so run that you may not obtain you may lose the Prize by running out of the race as well
as by not running it And you most needs run out of the race if you cannot see the mark or scope to which you run This mark or scope in it self is more visible then the Sun in the Firmament for it is the Sun of righteousness why should you allow the interposition of any Body betwixt Him and you to remove him out of your sight who cannot be removed out of his own Sphaere your sins as a cloud will obscure him more then enough Oh let not even your Righteousness obscure him more If you will needs put in a solid body betwixt him and you when you pray how can the eye of your Faith look upon him in your Prayer You will here by Eclipse his light from your selves and bring darkeness upon your Souls For will you look with the Eye of your Faith upon Angels then say they were delivered for your offences and rose again for your justification and now sit at the right hand of God making intercession for you will you look with the eye of your Faith upon your blessed Saviour then let not the Angels in betwixt Him and you for they will but hinder your sight and keep you from seeing Him Or if you could with the eye of Faith look on Christ through the Angels yet were it a piece of Infidelity so to do because it is but intruding into those things which you have not seen sc. in the Law and the Gospel and so being matter of Religion cannot be Divine either in the evidence or in the assurance of Faith Your own Angelical Doctor speaks of this kind of Infidelity Infidelis non ut habens malam voluntatem circa finem sc. Christum sed ut habens malam electionem circa media quia non eligit quae sunt à Christo tradita And from thence say I such a Worshipper is an Infidel if not as having a bad will or affection towards the end of his worship which is Christ yet sure as having a bad choice or election of the means tending to that end because he choseth such means to worship Christ as Christ hath not appointed him Nay indeed St. Chrysostome in effect said so long agoe in his Comment upon this Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There were some that saidâ—… we ought not to come to God immediately by Christ but mediately by the Angels for the other address was too high for us Here 's the choice of such means in Gods worship as God hath not appointed for Saint Peter saith expresly that we are to offer up spiritual Sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 2. 5. If the Sacrifice of Prayer may be Spiritual yet it cannot be acceptable but by Christ And it follows 〈◊〉 little after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 why do you let go the Head to lay hold on the members that is let go Christ to lay hold on the Angels If you fall from the Head you are utterly lost Here 's the reproof of such a choice as befitting Infidels who know not Christ to be the Head nor the dangers and miseries of those men who fall from this Head rather then Christians who do know him to be the Head as well of Angels as of men and that both would alike perish were it not for the influence of life and motion derived to them by being immediatly joyned unto him The like is the Judgement of Photius as indeed he generally follows St. Chrysostome But Theodoret not only condemns the Heresy but also declares the Hereticks after this manner Those who stood for the Law stood for the worshipping of Angels saying The Law was given by them And this mistake remained a long time in Phrygia and Pisidia which made the Fathers in the Council of Laodicea the chief City of Phrygia forbid the worshipping of Angels And saith he to this day we may see amonst them and their Neighbours the Oratories of St. Michael And this they pretended to do out of Humility For that the great God of Heaven and Earth was invisible incomprehensible inaccessible by men and therefore they ought to go to Him by the mediation of Angels Thus far Theodoret and this held for unquestionable Truth above a thousand years amongst all Greek and Latine Divines till your great Annalist thought fiâ—… to question it and therefore I crave youâ—… pardon if I make bold to question him For I had much rather say with Theodoret. That they were hereticks then with Baronius That they were Catholicks who worshipped Angels since next the holiness of the Holy Ghost I believe the holiness of the Holy Catholick Church and sure I am such a grievous sin as this is inconsistent with true Holiness For it is 〈◊〉 rule of common reason approved both iâ—… the Ecclesiastical and in the Civil Law Paria esse aliquid omnino non facere non rectè facere They are both equal sinâ—… not to do a thing at all and not to do it righâ—…ly not to worship God at all and not to worship him rightly or as he hath commanded and consequently 't is in effeâ—… as great a Calumny to say the Catholicâ—… Church hath had no Religion as to say she hath had a false Religion Since therefore the worshipping of Angels is convinceâ—… to be false Religion we may safely infeâ—… it hath not been it cannot be the Religion of the Catholick Church And Sâ—… Paul here proves it to be false Religion Per omnia genera causarum in regard of all four causes that is to say 1. False originally or efficiently because it came not from God but from men presumptuously intruding into things not seen and vainly puffed up in their fleshly mind 2. False formally because it is not with God it holds not the Head and therefore withdraws us from God instead of uniting us to him whereas the very formal cause of devotion is the Union of the Soul with God 3. False materially for it is a Voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels instead of God 4. False finally because it ends not in God tends not to salvation but to damnation or to the beguiling us of our reward whereas what is formally Religion in the Union with God is of it self finally salvation in the fruition of God Yet saith Baronius Theodoretum haud foeliciter assequutum esse Pauli verborum sensum quùm in Commentariis dicit haec à Paulo esse scripta qùod tùm grassarentur Haeretici qui Angelos adorandos esse jactarent Theodoret was mistaken in St. Pauls meaning when he said that St. Paul writ this against those Hereticks who then worshipped Angels He might as well have said that St. Chrysostome and Photius were also mistaken for they agree with Theodoret in the same sense of St. Pauls words And he might moreover to these have added St. Aâ—…brose to shew that the mistake was no only in the Greek but also in the Latiâ—… Church For though his Gloss name star instead of Angels yet the reason of 〈◊〉 condemns