The true Protestant Religion set forth BY WAY OF DIALOGUE Discovering the Idolatries and abominations PROFESSED and taught in the Church OF ROME By a PRESBYTER of the Church of ENGLAND LONDON Printed for Langly Curtiss c. 1683 THE PREFACE To all Protestant Parents and Masters of Families I Need not tell you how deeply you stand ingaged to provide for the Spiritual as well as Temporal good of your Children and Families The Command of God by Moses is plain These words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart And thou shalt teach them diligently to thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house when thou walkest by the way when thou liest down and when thou risest up Deut. 6.6 7. The Apostle likewise is as plain Eph. 6.4 And you Fathers provoke not your Children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. If ever you intend to perform this Duty be careful of it now The Priests and Jesuits of Rome swarm amongst us They compass Sea and Land to gain Proselytes and endeavour by all the wayes and Arts imaginable to root out the true Christian Protestant Religion which hath so long flourished amongst us It concerns therefore now most especially all that fear the Lord to consider one another to teach and exhort one another to edifie and build up one another in our most holy Faith and Duties of the Gospel Now to the end you may know the true Christian Faith and the Differences between us and Rome I have composed this little Book which when your Children have learned the Church Catechism and in some measure begin to understand it I conceive will be very useful for them Accept it as candidly as 't is charitably offered to you by one whose onely aim and Design is to do good in his Generation that he may make his Accounts with comfort at the coming of Jesus Christ A PROTESTANT CATECHISM Child SIR By the Grace of God and your help and care I have learned the Church Catechism and have been able to answer the Minister in the Publick Congregation to such Questions as he thought fit to propose to me I have heard him likewise expound the Catechism and shew the usefulness of it from that of Solomon Prov. 22.6 Train up a Child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it And yet for all this I must confess I understand but little of Religion I hear sometimes a great deal of Discourse about it but I see little Practice of it I pray therefore as you have been careful to provide for my Outward man so make some provision for my Inward man also that I may not be always as a Child tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive as the Apostle speaks Eph. 4.14 Father My good Child I am very glad to see such signs and symptomes of Grace in you to hear you inquire after God and the Gospel of Christ God forbid that I should sin against God in ceasing to instruct you and to bring you up in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord I will to the utmost of my Power teach you the good and the right way Child I heartily thank you for your Love to my poor Soul and I praise the Name of the Lord who hath given me so good a Father and I hope he will give me Grace to honour and obey you and to remember your words all the dayes of my life And first I pray you tell me what Religion I must profess Father You must profess Child the Christian Religion for we read the Disciples were called Christians first at Antioch Acts 11.26 Child But Sir I meet with some men that call themselves Catholicks are not they Christians Father Yes They are Christians but the worst Christians in the World for they are Idolatrous Christians and have almost destroyed the Christian Religion by their Inventions Child I pray Sir what do you call these men Father The Law calls them Popish Recusants but we usually call them Papists because they believe the Pope of Rome to be the Head of the Church and obey his Commands though contrary to the Commands of God Child And what do these men call us Father When they may speak their mind freely they call us Hereticks And this we confess with St. Paul Acts 24.14 that after the way which they call Heresie so worship we the God of our Fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets Child But do they not sometimes call us by the Name of Protestants Father Yes and we do not disown the Name for we do protest against the Errours of the Church of Rome Child Do they call us by any other Names Father Yes They call us Lutherans and Calvinists and what else they please though it be a known truth that the Church of England loves no Nisms We pin not our Faith upon any man's sleeve We honour Luther and Calvin and many others whom God raised up in the darkest times to preach the Gospel and to discover the Errours and Abominations of Rome but we profess no Lutheranism nor Calvinism nor indeed any thing of Mens invention but what we find in the Word of God Neither dare we turn the Faith of our Lord in respect of Persons or cry up one man in opposition to another For while one saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollo are ye not carnal 1 Cor. 3.4 Is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you were you baptized in the name of Paul chap. 1.13 Child But Sir I have heard some Papists say that the Protestant Religion is a new Religion and therefore not true is it so indeed Father No. The Religion we profess was taught by Jesus Christ and preached by the Apostles to all the World Go teach all Nations and baptize them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you Matth. 28.19.20 Whatsoever Jesus Christ and his Apostles taught we believe if they taught the true Christian Religion we believe and profess it Child But I have heard some Papists put this Question to some Protestants Where was your Religion to be found before Luther what Answer may be given to that Question Father Our Religion was and is now to be found where their 's never was nor will be found in the Word of God Child Is the Scripture then the Rule of Faith and Obedience Father Yes All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works 2 Tim. 3.16 17. Child But besides the Scriptures have we not a Profession of Faith
implies Contradictions very many to the Belief of which no Faith can oblige us and which no reason can endure Child I pray Sir what do they teach concerning the Cup Father That you shall see in the Article which runs thus I confess also that whole and entire Christ and the true Sacrament is received under one only Species of Bread Child By this Article I am apt to think they do not give the Cup to the People and indeed so I have heard but do they dare to do so Father Yes Notwithstanding we read in the Gospel Matth. 26.26.27 That Jesus took the Bread and blessed it and break it and gave it to his Disciples And he took the Cup and gave it to them saying drink ye all of it Child I wonder at this very much I pray Sir what do the Christians of the Church of England say to this Father We say 't is Sacriledge and tell them plainly that they do dismember the Institution of Christ and prevaricate his express Law and Creed from the practice of the Apostles Child What do the Papists say to this Father They take Liberty to say and do what they please for tho they confess it was the Institution of Christ and the Practice of the Primitive Church yet they lay it aside and curse all them that say they do amiss in it that is they curse them that follow Christ and his Apostles and his Church while themselves deny to follow them Child The Lord deliver me from Communion with such a Church Have they any more such Articles of Faith Father Yes The eighth Article is I constantly hold that there is a Purgatory and that Souls there detained are holpen by the Suffrages of the faithful Child I have heard indeed that the Papists talk much of Purgatory but is there any such place Father As I said of Transubstantiation so I say of Purgatory neither name nor thing is to be found in Scripture nor the primitive Fathers of the Church for above a thousand years nay the Scripture is express against it He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath eternal Life and cometh not into Judgment but passeth from Death unto Life John 5.24 Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord from henceforth even so saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours Rev. 14.13 If the dead in Christ be at Rest then the doctrine of the horrible pains of Purgatory is as false as 't is uncomfortable Child One would wonder why the Church of Rome should invent and defend such an idle thing as Purgatory is Father You are Child much deceived in this 't is no such idle thing as you imagine the Fire of Purgatory maintains the Fire in the Pope's Kitchin for though it be said that the Souls in Purgatory are holpen by the Suffrages of the faithful yet certain it is the Pope lays claim to a greater Power in that infernal Territory and boasteth to possess the Keys thereof and to open and shut at his Pleasure especially to such as are rich and liberal and the Priests for saying Masses and Dirges get more money than you can imagine Child Nay if it be so gainful 't is no wonder for I have heard 't is a Proverb with them No Penny no Pater noster But I pray proceed what is the ninth Article Father Likewise that the Saints reigning with Christ are to be worshipped and invocated and that they offer Prayers for us to God and that their Relicks are to be worshipped Child Do the Papists worship the Saints Father Yes They worship the Virgin Mary and all the Saints though Christ says plainly Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Mat. 4.10 They worship likewise the Angels and particularly their Guardian Angel though the Angels abhor it I fell down to worship before the Feet of the Angel which shewed me these things Then said he unto me see thou do it not for I am thy Fellow-Servant and of thy Brethren the Prophets and of them which keep the Sayings of this Book worship God Revel 22.8 9. Child What Worship do they give to the Saints Father They pray to them they worship and invocate them more than God like the Heathen who changed the Truth of God into a Lye and worshipped and served the Creature more than the Creator who is blessed for ever Amen Rom. 1.25 Child Have they any guide for this Father No They have neither Precept nor Promise nor Example for it in the Word of God Child But are they sure the Saints hear them Father No neither Doubtless thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel know us not Isa 63.16 so David Psal 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Child But do they worship not only the Saints themselves but their Relicks also Father Yes They put them in Glasses and Gauderies above the Altar and that to have them adored They have this day the Milk of the Virgin which they say is as precious as the Blood of Christ and her Slippers and her Work-basket and Joseph's Breeches and the Navel-string of Christ and a thousand other things which they keep and shew to be worshipped And yet St. Paul says Act. 14.15 Sirs Why do you these things We also are men of like Passions with you and preach unto you that you should turn from these Vanities unto the Living God Child Is there any thing else that they worship Father Yes The tenth Article is I most firmly assert that the Images of Christ the Virgin Mary and of the other Saints are to be had and kept and duty of Honour and worship to be given them Child Is not this point-blanck contrary to the Word of God Father Yes The Commandment is plain Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the Likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath or that is in the Water under the Earth Thou shalt not bow down thy self to them nor serve them Exod. 20.4.5 Notwithstanding they make Images of God the Father in the likeness of an old man of God the Son hanging on the Cross and of God the Holy Ghost in the likeness of a Dove They make also the Image of the Virgin Mary and cloth her like a Lady and call her Queen of Heaven and also of the Apostles and other Saints and they put off their Hats they kneel and fall down and pray before them Child If this be not Idolatry I know not what is I pray Sir what is the next Article Father The eleventh Article is I also affirm that the Power of Indulgences was left in the Church by Christ and that the use of them is most conducive to Salvation of the Christian people Child Do they give Indulgence or Pardon for Sin Father Yes The Pope giveth Indulgence or Pardon for Sin sometimes for
day it troubles them not and they look upon it as a certain Cure therefore in their Carnavals they give themselves all liberty and licence to do the vilest things because they are to be so soon eased of their Crimes by Confession and the never-failing hand of the Priest Child But I have heard some say that they are enjoyn'd Penance Is not that troublesome to them Father Alas Child their Penances and Satisfactions as they are handled are nothing but words and ineffective sounds for if some Confessors happen to be severe they may go to a gentler or they may have them commuted to Money or they may get some body else to do them for them or they may get all supplied by an Indulgence of which there are such store in the Lateran at Rome that as P. Boniface said no man is able to number them In the Church of Sancta Maria de populo there are for every day in the year 2800 years of Pardon In the Church of St. Vitus and Modestus there are for every day in the year 7000 years of Pardon and a third part of all our sins besides and the price of all this is but praying before an Altar in that Church In a Book of theirs called The Hours of the most Blessed Virgin Mary according to the use of Sarum for the saying three short Prayers are promised 90000 years of Pardon of deadly sin If this should be neglected a little Alms to a Priest a Pilgrimage to the Image or Relicks of a Saint wearing St. Francis cord saying over the Beads with an hallowed Appendant praying at a priviledged Altar leaving a Legacy for a Soul Mass and twenty other Devices will secure the Sinner from suffering Punishment here or hereafter And if a man fail in all these things 't is but going to the Tax of the Apostolick Chamber where there is a price set down for his Absolution that hath kill'd his Father or his Mother Brother Sister or Wife or that hath lain with his Sister or Mother or committed such sins as are not fit to be named These Observations I hope Child are sufficient to keep you and every well-meaning Christian from running into or abiding in such temptations Child I beartily thank you for the Advice you have given me hoping in the Lord that I shall be stedfast and immoveable alwayes abounding in the Work of the Lord. I shall detain you no longer but only intreat you to give me the sum of what you have said in few words that I may the better remember it Father I shall readily comply with your Desires The Religion of a Christian consists in Faith and Hope Repentance and Charity Divine Worship and celebration of the Sacraments and finally in keeping the Commandments of God Now in all these both in Doctrines and Practices the Church of Rome does dangerously err and teach men so to do They do Injury to Faith by creating new Articles and enjoyning them as of Necessity to Salvation they spoil their Hope by placing it upon Creatures and devices of their own they greatly sin against Charity by damning all that are not of their Opinions in things false or uncertain right or wrong they break in pieces the salutary doctrine of Repentance making it to be consistent with a wicked Life and little or no Amendment They worship they know not what and pray to them that hear them not they not only eat what they worship but adore those things with divine Worship which are not God And as for the Commandments they leave one of them out of their Catechisms and add six new ones of their own and while they contend for the possibility of keeping them all they do not insist upon the necessity of keeping any till the danger or Article of their Death And concerning the Sacraments they take one half of the principal away from the Laity and they institute little Sacraments of their own and annex spiritual Graces to them without a Divine warrant or Institution if these things can consist with the Duty of Christians certainly we have lost the true measures of Christianity Let all therefore that desire to be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus give no heed to their seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils teaching Lies in Hypocrisie having their Conscience seared with a hot Iron forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with Thansgivings 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3 4. And let them give God Praise that they were born and bred up in the Church of England where the word of God is constantly read and preached in the Vulgar Tongue and the Sacraments duely and fully administred according to Christ's Institution where Repentance is preached according to the Measures of the Gospel Faith in Christ propounded according to the Rule of the Apostles the Commandments expounded with just Severity Holiness of Life urged upon all men as indespensibly necessary to Salvation and every thing practised therein which is useful to the saving of our Souls Consider what I say and the Lord give you understanding in all things 2 Tim. 2.7 FINIS