Selected quad for the lemma: england_n
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A67555
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The proselyte of Rome called back to the communion of the Church of England in a private letter thought very fit and seasonable to be made publick.
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L. W.
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1679
(1679)
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Wing W81; ESTC R24582
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21,305
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34
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that none of them intend any desertion of the Articles established Where we see his Majesty took notice that men of all sorts took these Articles to be for them and he declares that he took comfort therein Which argues that the imposition was not strict and rigid as to the sense and meaning of the Articles And though in the Synod 1640. Can. 6. an Oath was enjoyned yet it was with as much modesty and tenderness as any sober and peaceable Subject can desire for thus it runs I A. B. do swear that I do approve the Doctrine and Discipline or Government in the Church of England as containing all things necessary to salvation Where two things are very observable 1 The assertion is only this That I do approve the Doctrine c. the 2 Only as containing all things necessary to salvation for which we are referred to the authority of the Holy Scripture by the Sixth Article as was observed before 3. As to the end of these respective Articles Those of Pope Pius are declared to be necessary to salvation not only Necessitate praecepti sed Medii necessary as well upon the account of a Means as of a Precept for the Pope declares Hanc esse veram Catholicam fidem Extra quam nemo salvus esse potest That this is the true Catholick Faith without which no man can be saved But the Articles of the Church of England generally are intended for a decorum and order matters of necessary Faith being herein restrained to the Holy Scriptures to keep out disputes and vain jangling and to preserve peace and concord in her Communion Thus much is intimated in the very Title prefix'd to those Articles but much more clearly in his Majesties Declaration before mentioned where he saith We hold it most agreeable to our Kingly Office and our own Religious Zeal to conserve and maintain the Church committed to our charge in the unity of the true Religion and in the bond of peace and not to suffer unnecessary Disputations Alterations or Questions to be raised which may nourish Faction both in the Church and Commonwealth We have therefore thought fit to make this Declaration That the Articles c. do contain the true Doctrine of the Church of England agreeable to Gods word which we do therefore ratifie and confirm c. But this is more clear in a Book set forth 1571. called Liber quorundam Canonum Disciplinae Ecclesiae Anglicanae SS de Concionatoribus Where it is ordered thus Imprimis vero videbunt c. Let the Preachers take care that they teach nothing in their Sermons which they would have the People hold and believe as a matter of Religion but what is consonant to the Doctrine of the Old or New Testament and what the Catholick Fathers and Ancient Bishops have gathered out of the same And because those Articles of Christian Religion which were agreed upon by the Bishops c. are without doubt collected out of the Sacred Books of the Old and New Testament and do in all things agree with the heavenly Doctrine contained therein Also because the Book of Common Prayers and the Book of the Inauguration of Archbishops Bishops Priests and Deacons do contain nothing that is contrary to that Doctrine whosoever shall be sent out to teach the People shall confirm the authority and belief of those Articles as well by their subscription as in their Sermons Qui secus fecerit contrariâ doctrinâ Populum turbaverit excommunicabitur Whosoever shall do otherwise and disturb the People with any contrary Doctrine shall be excommunicated Here indeed the Clergy are implicitly enjoyned to preach up the belief and authority of these Articles But withal 1 The belief and authority of them is required not as grounded upon the Declaration and Sanction of the Ecclesiastical Governours though a hearty submission and obedience is due thereto in matters of Religion Discipline and Order upon the account of a Divine precept but upon their Congruity with the Holy Scriptures according to the sense of the Ancient Fathers 2 That such as transgress these Articles are punish'd for want of good manners as disturbers of the publick Peace Wherefore though the Author of the Guide in Controversies* * Disc 3. cap. 7. hath made it his business to strain every Sentence Phrase and word in the Canons as well as the Articles of the Church of England to make those Articles seem to run parallel in the Charge of a new Imposition of Faith with those in the Creed of Pope Pius the Fourth aforementioned yet by what hath been observed it is evident that the Articles of the Church of England were not intended as those of that Pope clearly were for an Addition to the Faith declared by the Fathers at Nice which with all Christian Churches we profess as Catholicks but for information to direct our publick discourses generally as occasion serves in matters of Religion as we are united in the Communion of the particular Church of England after a deliberate and sober Reformation which to attempt and perform as far as in them lies no doubt all Bishops are as well obliged in duty by Christ's Command Apoc. 2 3 Cap. as prescribed to do it orderly by the 34. of the Apostles Canons †Episcopos uniuscujusque gentis nosse oportet eum qui in eis est primus existimare eum ut caput nihil facere magni momenti praeter illius sententiam illa autem sola facere unumquemque quae ad suam paroeciam pertinent pagos qui ei subfunt To leave this long though not unnecessary digression This Infallibility in the latitude the Roman party pleads for is so very improbable that Mr. Cressey in his Neophytism was not able to swallow it till he had shrunk it up into an Indefectibility wherein we can heartily close with him And for all that great priviledge which make so much noise in the world I do very well observe that in many cases they are glad to rest satisfied with a probable Conscience And in spight of that Infallibility They must stand to the courtesie or hazard of a probable Opinion to secure themselves according to their practice from the peril of Idolatry And this is acknowledged by the Jesuite Ant. Terill our Countryman in his Tractate de Conscientia Probabili Edit Leodii 1668. p. 387 c. His words are these Quid magis ad mores c. What does more concern manners and the strictness of the Law of Nature than that the worship due to God be not bestowed upon a Creature and yet it is lawful many times out of a probable Opinion only to bestow Divine worship upon the Eucharist and to adore God when he is but probably latent there For there is no true certainty but only a Probability that this numerical Host is rightly consecrated First It is not certain that he who did consecrate was a Priest both because it is not certain that
Licensed 〈◊〉 19. 78. W. JANE THE Proselyte of Rome CALL'D BACK TO THE COMMUNION OF THE Church of England IN A PRIVATE LETTER THOUGHT Very fit and seasonable to be made Publick To the ROMANS Cap. XI v. 20.22 Be not high minded but fear Otherwise Thou also shalt be cut off Apoc. II. 5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do thy first works LONDON Printed for R. Clavell at the Peacock in St. Pauls Church-yard 1679. To the Reverend and Learned Author SIR SInce I had the honour and satisfaction of seeing your Papers I have blamed your delay in the publication of them especially being designed to recall a Romish Proselyte that was gone from the Communion of our Church they might in this unhappy and distracted Juncture have seasonably help'd towards the recovery of others whose temporal as well as eternal Interests make them as eager and desirous of satisfaction I know that Modesty is a vertue and Caution a very commendable thing but Charity and Love to the Souls of men is much more so You have lived to see the Church forlorn and desolate persecuted and seemingly forsaken and after a little respite and the hopes of settlement to be again threatned and menac'd with a final overthrow Psal 137.7 Down with it down with it even to the ground cry our Modern Edomites And when the Church did need the Aids of those who loved her we know she found your Zeal and Resolution and Courage in her service And that now you should flag when you are so well arm'd and prepar'd for Combat or be backward when her Adversaries are pecking at the very foundations with Axes and Hammers and striving to undermine her by Artifice or Violence And you a Champion so try'd and experienc'd and furnish'd to defend her I cannot imagine unless you are more tender than formerly and fear taking of harm by being exposed to the open Air. I think I have heard that the time has been Neh. 4.1 when like Nehemiah's Builders you wrought with one hand in the Churches service and with the other you hold a weapon for her defence and succour You know the Arguments that mov'd you then and what hinders but they should now prevail I am you see warm in the Churches cause nor do I believe that you are less concern'd But if I seem to reproach or lament your remissness in these seasonable Circumstances to send abroad your useful preparations let me not be thought rude or unmannerly because I hereby not only vindicate you from the common fault of being forward to print but likewise shew the high value I have for your Person and Papers and that I believe them to he very useful for the Publick benefit As to the Gentleman you design to reduce I only know him upon this occasion and therefore can say little of his Learning or Ingenuity or the Motives that made him depart from us But if after all your endeavours to convict him he still remains hard and untractable and refuseth to hear the voice of the charmer charm he never so wisely he must be let alone in the obstinacy of the deaf Adder and to our Prayers to soften him when your Arguments cannot alter him but when the World have seen your Papers and know that he has done so They 'l strain their Charity to suspect that something else besides the pretended advantage of Infallibility perswaded him to revolt and till he can answer your Arguments they 'l be apt to think that the exchange of Opinion was not for Faith but Fancy and that while he dreamed that he left uncertainty it was to be secure of nothing But if you should have that Friendly influence upon him by your pains and endeavours to call him back hee 'l by that Charity that is more Catholick than the Religion he leaves be glad that by his fall so great an advantage has been offer'd to the world and that others may be reduc'd thereby to the sober enquiry upon what bottom they trust their Salvation and see upon what slender and fickle grounds their Faith has been fixed And what those Grounds are all men will see when they peruse your Tractate Besides we have reason to thank such men as you for asserting the Churches cause in these Controversies For who now that is most freakish in folly and Enthusiasm has a front to say That the Sons of our Church are warp'd from what is Primitive and truly Orthodox or Factors for the Romish Interest or wish well to the promoting that Cause amongst us c Let us hear no more such outcries against the Church of England nor against those who are exact and punctual in the decent performance of Gods publick Worship and the circumstances of Order and Discipline For the gaudy Superstitions of Rome and Italy are more contemned by such men than the looser and more careless dress of Amsterdam and Geneva And you amongst many others have freed our Church from this whining unjust imputation in that you have not only shaken but everted that fundamental Principle upon the fall of which all the superstructure tumbles As to your Quotations they are so proper and peculiarly adapted to every period that you had very great luck to happen on the choice of them And for the Translations which your Charity suffer'd to be made of them for the use of your meaner and more unlearned Reader they I perceive were done by one whose skill in Grammar did exceed his sense in Theologie and Divine Controversies which may excuse them to the Criticks and men of brisker fancy However Translating is a very tedious task and so long as they are true and literal they are justifiable enough against the keenest and most snarling Censurers I am loth the Messenger should stay and therefore only wish your Reader may be impartial and considerative unprejudic'd and serious and that your Papers may convince and confirm him that they may have their design on the Gentleman you 'd recall and advance the interest of Truth and Goodness amongst all men that they may help to allay that bitterness and heal those Animosities and wild Conceits that trouble the Christian World and that all that see them may endeavour after the things that make for Peace Which is the Prayer of Sir Your faithful Servant Dec. 2. 1678. THE RELIGION OF THE Church of England c. IN A PRIVATE LETTER Sir SInce I have known you so long I am sorry I knew you no better I assure you I intended to treat you as an entire Friend but you wrest my words to a harsh construction For Mr. S he was so far from giving any partial account that he did not so much as positively say you had left our Communion I confess upon a vehement suspicion for which we had other grounds I took the freedom to tell you what would fall under every ordinary apprehension that your departure would unavoidably expose you unto censure That