of his Person 'T is not therefore any uncharitableness in his Church to declare plainly this miserable unhappystate of all such who wilfully oppose and seperate from the Doctrine of Christ deliver'd by the Apostles and continued in the Catholick Church and of such who disobey and seperate from the Government of the same Church which Christ has Commanded all to hear and obey But 't is her Zeal so to do and the same solicitude for the salvation of Souls which mov'd the Apostles heretofore to Preach the like Doctrine to their Flock as also the Primitive Christians to expel their Communion and Anathematize all such who by broaching erroneous Tenets contrary to any point of Receiv'd Doctrine or by disobedience did wilfully divide themselves from the Belief or Discipline of the Catholick Church Such as were Marcion Basilides and Bardesanes who were Condemn'd in the First Age for opposing that Article of our Faith in which we believe the Resurrection of the Dead such the Archonticks Condemn'd likewise for denying the necessity of Baptism Such Tatianus c. for Preaching Marriage to be unlawful Such the Millenarians for maintaining a thousand Years Reign of Christ upon Earth with his Saints in sensual pleasures And so in all Ages others were condemn'd upon the like account It having been always a received Custom even in the purest time of the Gospel for the Elders and Prelates to whose charge Christ committed the care of his Flock to oppose all those that by new Doctrin or by making Schisms and Divisions did disturb its peace and not to permit any that by such like means did endeavour to destroy his Unity so much desired and recommended by the Apostles So that they were equally declar'd Enemies of Christianity who denyed Christ and they who confessing Christ did yet contradict and reject any part of his Doctrin And this upon the Principle that Christian Faith ought to be entire For that every Article Mystery and Point of it being deliver'd by the same hands and recommended by the same Authority whosoever did oppose any one Point of it was immediately judg'd guilty of all in discrediting the Authority on which the whole stood equally grounded And this is that great Truth proclaimed above thirteen hundred years ago and now every where read in St. Athanasius's Creed Whosoever will be saved before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholick Faith Which Faith except every one do keep Whole and undefiled without doubt he shall perish everlastingly By which words was made known to the Christian World the Sense and Doctrine of the then pure and unspotted Church as receiv'd from Christ and his Apostles That it is in vain for any one to hope for Salvation unless he first believe the Catholick Faith and that whosoever does not believe it Whole and Undefiled shall certainly perish everlastingly Which is a Doctrin like that deliver'd by the Apostle concerning the observance of the Laws of God that as whosoever fails in one is made guilty of all so also whosoever disbelieves one Article of the Catholick Faith does in a manner disbelieve all There being no more hopes of Salvation for one that denies obstinately any one Point of the Catholick Faith tho' he believes all the rest than there is for one who keeps Nine of the Commandments with the Breach of the Tenth An obstinate opposition against one Point of Faith and a sin against one Commandment being as certainly damnable as if 't were against all There being the same reason and an equal necessity that the Observance of God's Law and the Assent to the Catholick Faith be alike entire and Whole And now being convinc'd that none can believe to Salvation but he that embraces the Catholick Faith thus wholly and entirely by an equal submission to all the Mysteries contain'd in it without opposition to any And being likewise convinc'd that no one can arrive to the true knowledg of this Faith with an assurance of its Integrity but by receiving it as propos'd and believ'd by the Church of Christ Which Church was founded by the Son of God watred with his Bloud and by an infallible assistance of the Holy Ghost by which it was to be taught all Truth to the end of the World was secur'd from the danger of being deceiv'd or deceiving others to the consummation of things he does not doubt but as in the Apostles time so also ever since and at present God addeth to this Church daily such as shall be saved Acts 2. 47. there being no entire faith necessary to Salvation to be found out of this Church and no possibility as St. Cyprian says that God shall be a Father to any who own not this Church for his Mother But now where and which this Church is and what Society of Men are Members of it among such variety of Pretenders though it may seem a great difficulty to some to distinguish yet to him it is none at all for since there is no other Church besides the Roman Catholick which has had a continued and visible Succession of Bishops and Pastors in all Ages since the Apostles no other that has converted Infidel Nations to Christianity no other that has always preserv'd Peace and Unity amongst its Members all of them speaking the same thing and being perfectly join'd together in the same mind and the same judgment no other that by assembling the Elders and Prelates has oppos'd in all ages Heresies and Schisms and condemn'd all those who not sparing the Flock have spoken perverse things endeavouring to draw away disciples after them no other that has in obedience to the command of Christ send Apostles amongst Infidels and Unbelievers for the preaching to them the Gospel and instructing them in Christianity and by this way without Arms or blood have spread their Faith throughout the World No other that by evident and undeniable Miracles have prov'd the truth of her Doctrin No other but what has begun by seperation whose first Preachers have gone out from this the time of their first Preaching and shewing themselves to the World being upon Record and their new Doctrine censur'd and condemn'd by that Church from whence they separated Since I say there 's no other Society or Christian Congregation in the World to which these certain Marks of the Church of Christ does agree 't is evident to him that this is the only true Church that whosoever denies any Article of her Faith denies so much of Christ's Doctrin that whosoever hears her hears Christ and whosoever obstinately and wilfully is separated from her is in the same distance sparated from Christ himself and finally that God addeth to this Church daily such as shall be saved Acts 2. 47. 36. Of Ceremonies and Ordinances HIs Church upon the presumption of being Apostolical and Commissioned by Christ has brought in such an infinite number of unnecessary superstitions Ceremonies that the whole exercise of her Religion consists in nothing but a vain
the observance of any in particular they teach that it is the Duty of the Flock to Obey Things indifferent after such Commands being no longer of choice but necessary and no less obliging than the Commands of a Father to his Child where in case the thing be not apparently sinful 't is no perswasion of the thing being superfluous can excuse an obstinate denyal from Disobedience It being more safe and Christian-like for all that are under any Government whether Natural Ecclesiastical or Civil to perform and comply with such things as they judge in their own private Sentiments Vnnecessary meerly upon the account of being Commanded than upon such considerations to disturb the order of Government and fly in the Face of Lawful Authority than which nothing is more opposite to the Principles of Christianity and destructive of all Humane Society And upon these grounds it is that the Papists founding themselves upon the sure foundation of Humility and Obedience have in all Ages acknowledged Overseers and Rulers over them to watch and feed the Flock to whom God hath given Power there being no power but of God and that whosoever resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation Rom. 13. 1 2. XXXVII Of Innovations in Matters of Faith HIS Church has made several Innovations in Matters of Faith and howsoever she lays claim to Antiquity with a pretence of having preserv'd the Doctrine of the Apostles inviolable and entire Yet 't is evident to any serious Observer that the greatest part of the Belief is meer Novelties that bearing date from Christ or his Apostles but only from some of her own more modern Synods There scarce having pass'd any Age yet wherein there has not in these Ecclesiastical Mints been coyn'd New Articles which with the counterfeit stamp of Christ and his Apostles are made to pass for Good and Currant amongst his credulous and undiscerning retainers And besides these what a great number of Errours have been introduc'd at other times how many did Pope Gregory bring in and how many the Ignorance of the Tenth Age So that if we compare the Church of Rome now with the Primitive times of the first three or four hundred years there are no two things so unlike she is a Garden now but quite overgrown with Weeds she is a Field but where the Tares have perfectly choak'd up the Wheat and has little in her of Apostolical besides the Name HIS Church has never made any Innovation in Matters of Faith what she believes and teaches now being the same that the Catholick Church believ'd and taught in the first three or four Centuries after the Apostles And tho' in most of her General Councils there has been several Decisions touching Points of Faith Yet can no one without an injury to truth say that in any of these has been coin'd new Articles or Christians forced to the acceptance of Novelties contrary to the Scripture or antient Tradition These have only trodden in the Apostles steps as often as they have been in the like circumstances with them doing exactly according to the Form and Example left to the Church by those perfect Masters of Christianity And therefore as the Apostles in their Assembly Acts 15. determin'd the Cortroversie concerning the Circumcision and proposed to the Faithful what was the Doctrine of Christ in that point of necessity to be believ'd of which till that decision there had been rais'd several Questions and Doubts but now no longer to be questioned without the Shipwrack of Faith So in all succeeding ages the Elders of the Church to whom the Apostles left their Commission of watching over the Flock in their Councils have never scrupled to determine all such Points which had been controverted amongst the Brethren and to propose to them what of necessity they were to believe for the future with Anathema pronounced against all such as should presume to preach the contrary Thus in the year 325. the first Nicene Council declar'd the Son of God to be Consubstantial to his Father against the Arians with an obligation on all to assent to this Doctrine though never till then propos'd or declar'd in that Form Thus in the year 381. the Holy Ghost was declar'd to be God against Macedonius and his Followers in the first Constantinopolital Council And in the first Ephesin Anno 431. Nestorius was condemned who maintain'd two Persons in Christ and that the blessed Virgin was not Mother of God with a Declaration that both these Tenets were contrary to the Catholick Faith In the second Nicene Council Anno 787. Image-breakers were Anathematiz'd And so others at other times and at last in the Council of Trent was declar'd the Real Presence Transubstantiation Purgatory the lawfulness of the Invocation of Saints of keeping Holy Images c. against Luther Calvin Beza c. And now though in all these and the other General Councils the persons condemned took occasion from these New Declarations to cry out Novelties Novelties to fright the people with the noise of new coin'd Articles and that the inventions of Men were impos'd on them for Faith Yet 't is evident that these New Declarations contain'd nothing but the Antient Faith and that there had never been any such Declarations made had not the Doctrine propos'd in them being oppos'd and contradicted by some seducing Spirits who going out from the Flock endeavour'd by making Divisions to draw numbers after them So that the new Proposal of a Tenet is but a fallacious proof of the Doctrine being lately invented but a good Argument of its being lately oppos'd 'T is certain from Scripture Act. 15. that the Apostles had never declar'd the non-necessity of Circumcision had not certain men come down from Judea and taught the Brethren the contrary And that Consubstantiality of the Son had never been defin'd by the Nicene Fathers had not Arius with his Followers oppos'd this Catholick Doctrine And as certain it is that the Council of Trent had been altogether silent as to Transubstantiation Praying to Saints Purgatory c. had not Luther Calvin and their Disciples once professors of this Doctrine gone out from the Flock and upon the presumption of a New Light endeavour'd to perswade the Faithful that these Tenets then believ'd by the whole Christian World were no longer to be own'd but to be quite thrown by as Antichristian and Diabolical 'T was this oblig'd the Pastors to watch and take care of their Flock and therefore not flying away as the Hireling does when the Wolf catcheth and scattereth the Sheep they assembled together in a Body and declar'd to all under their charge that they ought not to follow strangers that howsoever these came pretending to the Shepherd's voice yet since they came not by the dore into the Sheepfold but climbing up some other way they were no Shepherds but Thieves and Robbers such whose business was not to feed but to steal kill and
Dead the Vse of Holy Images Relicks the Sign of the Cross Processions c. were a receiv'd Doctrine and common Practice of Christian in those Primitive times Then shall the Papists remain as they are as being of the sinne Faith and Religion with those Antient Believers without any Additions and Alterations and all their Adversaries ought in justice to return again to their Communion and making up one Quire cry out with them Blessed are they who believes as our Forefathers believ'd who receiv'd their Faith from the Apostles and their Successors and Accursed be they who separate from this Faith and upon the Noise of Novelty and Errour make Divisions in the Church and fall from her Communion believing Lies rather than Truth In order to this I intended in this place to have given the Reader a fair prospect of the Doctrine and Belief of the Fathers at the first five hundred years after Christ but finding the Matter to increase so much beyond expectation upon my hands I have reserv'd them for another occasion But however upon confidence of what I am able to produce in that point I cannot omit to assure the Reader that the chief and most material Points charg'd upon the Church of Rome for Novelty the Primitive Fathers do so plainly own to have been the Faith and Profession of the Church in their days and to have been deliver'd down and taught as the Doctrine of the Apostles that an impartial Considerer need not take much time to conclude whether are the greater Innovators those that now Believe and Profess these Tenets and Practices or they that disown or reject them 'T is evident that every Point of that Doctrine which is now decry'd for Popery and basely stigmatiz'd with the note of Errours introduc'd of late and of a modern invention is by many Ages older than those who are reputed to be the Authors that every particular Article laid to the Ignorance of the Tenth Century and to the contrivance of Pope Gregory are as expresly and clearly own'd and taught some Ages before as it is now at this day That those Great Men were as down-right Papists in these Points as we are now And that any disturber of Christianity might have as well defam'd them for believers of Novelties and Errours as we are now at this present The Faith that they profess'd then we profess now and if any of our Doctrine be Novelty 't is a Novelty of above twelve hundred years standing And who can question it not to be of an older date If it was the publick belief of the Christian World in the fourth Century who can be better Witnesses of what was believ'd before them even in the third Age than They They tell us that the Doctrine they maintain and deliver is the Faith of the Catholick Church receiv'd from their Fore-fathers and as it was taught by the Apostles and we don't find that in any of these Points they were challeng'd by any Authority or opposed by the Pastors of the Church or any Writers either then living or succeeding them but received always with great veneration And upon what grounds can any callenge them now Is it possible that any living now can give a better account of what was believ'd and practis'd in the third Age than They that immediately follow'd them Which will be more credible Witnesses of what was done in Forty Eight those that shall be alive fifty years hence or they that are not yet to come these thousand years If therefore these Holy Men declare to us the Doctrine they believ'd with an assurance that it was the Faith of the Catholick Church so believ'd by their Ancestors and as they had receiv'd it from the Apostles and their Successors do not they deserve better credit than others who coming a thousand years after cry out against all these several Points that they are nothing but Novelty and Errour 'T is evident therefore to him that this noise of Novelty was nothing but a stratagem for the introducing of Novelties and that those that brought an Infamy upon these Points by this aspersion might with as great applause every and as easily have laid a scandal upon other Article of the Christian Faith which they thought fit to retain and have had them all exploded for Novelty And this has been so far done already that even three parts of that Doctrine pick'd out by the first Reformers for Apostolical and conform to the Word of God we have seen in our days clamour'd against for Novelty and thrown by with as general Approbation and as clear Evidence of the charge as ever they laid by Transubstantiation and the Primacy The first Reformers cast off the Authority of the first Bishop as being a Novelty Others soon after cry'd down the Authority of all Bishops for a Novelty The First disown'd a great part of the Priestly Function as being lately crept in the Others disown'd all the rest and even Ordination it self as having all crept in together The First threw out a great number of Ceremonies as being not Apostolical but of a modern Institution The Others threw out even what they had retain'd for being no more an Ordination of the Apostles than the former The First laid by five of the Sacraments the Others laid by the other two And thus Novelty was the Word whensoever any receiv'd Doctrine of Christianity was to be outed and may to be made for a Novelty And he does dot doubt but that if the noise of Novelty continue long so unhappily successful as of late and the liberty be permitted to every presuming Spirit to fix this scandal upon whatsoever Doctrine or Institution they shall think fit that all Christianity is in a fair way of being thrown out of doors and the Bible Preaching Catechising Christ's Incarnation and Passion c. is as likely to be cast off for a Novelty as all the rest have been Those that will but shew to the People that even these things have been all receiv'd from Rome and that the Papists by their Missonaries spread these Doctrines over the World may soon perswade them they are nothing but Popish Inventions meer Novelties that those that began the Reformation did their business by halves and that the World will never be throughly Reform'd till all these Romish Superstitions are laid by with the rest they being of the same date He takes no notice thereof of all the clamours rais'd against several points of the receiv'd Doctrine of his Church his Faith is founded on better Principles than to be shaken with such a Vulgar Engine Novelty Novelty is a cry that may fright unthinking Men from their Religion but every serious Man will require better Motives than a Noise before he forsake any point of his Faith and 't is impossible he should joyn with any in condemning such things for Novelties which he finds the Profession of all Antiquity The Conclusion THese are the Characters of the Papist as he is Mis-represented
Or that can forgive him his sins for a sum of Money â„Ÿ Amen VII Cursed is he that believes that Independent of the Merits and Passion of Christ he can Merit Salvation by his own good Works or make condign satisfaction for the guilt of his sins or the pains Eternal due to them â„Ÿ Amen VIII Cursed is he that contemns the Word of God or hides it from the people on design to keep them from the knowledge of their Duty and to preserve them in Ignorance and Errour â„Ÿ Amen IX Cursed is he that undervalues the Word of God or that forsaking Scripture chuses rather to follow Humane Traditions than it â„Ÿ Amen X. Cursed is he that leaves the Commandments of God to observe the constitutions of Men. â„Ÿ Amen XI Cursed it he that omit any of the Ten Commandments or keeps the people from the knowledge of any one of them to the end they may not have occasion of discovering the Truth â„Ÿ Amen XII Cursed is he that Preaches to the People in unknown Tongues such as they understand not or uses any other means to keep them in Ignorance â„Ÿ Amen XIII Cursed is he that believes that the Pope can give to any upon any account whatsoever Dispensations to Lie or Swear falsly Or that 't is Lawful for any at the last hour to protest himself Innocent in case he be Guilty â„Ÿ Amen XIV Cursed is he that encourages sins or teaches Men to defer the amendmeut of their lives or presumption of their Death-Bed-repentance â„Ÿ Amen XV. Cursed is he that teaches Men that they may be Lawfully drunk on a Friday or any other Easting-day tho' they must not taste the least bit of Flesh â„Ÿ Amen XVI Cursed is he who places Religion in nothing but a pompous shew consisting only in Ceremonies and which teaches not the People to serve God in Spirit and Truth â„Ÿ Amen XVII Cursed is he who loves or promotes cruelty that teaches People to be Bloody-minded and to lay aside the meekness of Jesus Christ â„Ÿ Amen XVIII Cursed is he who teaches it Lawful to do any wicked thing tho' it be for the Interest and Good of Mother-Church or that any Evil action may be done that Good may come of it â„Ÿ Amen XIX Cursed are we if amongst all those wicked Principles and Damnable Doctrine commonly laid at our Dores any one of them be the Faith of our Church And Cursed are we if we do not as heartily detest all those Hellish Practices at they that so vehemently urge them against us â„Ÿ Amen XX. Cursed are we if in an answering and saying Amen to any of these Curses we use any Equivocations Mental Reservations or do not assent to them in the common and obvious Sense of the Words â„Ÿ Amen And can the Papists then thus seriously and without check of Conscience say Amen to all these curses Yes they can and are ready to it whensoever and as often as it shall be requir'd of them And what then is to be said of those who either by Word or Writing charge these Doctrines upon the Faith of the Church of Rome Is a lying spirit in the mouth of all the Prophets Are they all gone aside Do they back-bite with their tongue do evil to their Neighbour and take up reproach against their Neighbour I 'le say no such thing but leave the impartial Considerer to judge One thing I can safely affirm that the Papists are foully Mis-represented and shew in publick as much unlike what they are as the Christians were of old by the Gentiles that they lie under a great Calumny and severely smart in good Name Persons and Estates for such things which They as much and as heartily detest as those who accuse them But the comfort is Christ has said to his Followers Ye shall be hated of all men Matt. 10. 22. and St. Paul we are made a spectacle unto the World and we don't doubt that who bears this with patience shall for every loss here and content receive a hundred fold in Heaven For base things of the World and things which are despised hath God chosen 1 Cor. 1. 28. FINIS The CONTENTS 1. OF Images Page 1 2. Of Praying to Saints 2 3. Of Praying to the Virgin Mary 4 4. Of Relicks 5 5. Of the Eucharist 6 6. Of Merits and Good Works 8 7. Of Confession 9 8. Of Indulgences 10 9. Of Satisfaction 11 10. Of Reading the Holy Scripture 12 11. Of Apocryphal Books 13 12. Of the Vulgar Edition of the Bible 15 13. Of the Scripture as a Rule of Faith 17 14. Of the Interpretation of Scripture 18 15. Of Tradition 19 16. Of Councils 20 17. Of infallibility in the Church 22 18. Of the Pope 25 19. Of Dispensations 27 20. Of the Deposing Power 29 21. Of Communion in one kind 31 22. Of the Mass 32 23. Of Purgatory 34 24. Of Praying in an Vnknown Tongue 37 25. Of the Second Commandment 39 26. Of Mental Reservations 41 27. Of Death-bed Repentance 42 28. Of Fasting 43 29. Of Division and Schisms in the Church 45 30. Of Fryars and Nuns 46 31. Of Wicked Principles and Practices 48 32. Of Miracles 52 33. Of Holy Water 53 34. Of Breeding up People in Ignorance 55 35. Of the Vncharitableness of the Papists 57 36. Of Ceremonies and Ordinances 61 37. Of Innovations in Matters of Faith 67 Roman-Catholick PRINCIPLES In Reference to GOD and the KING PARAGRAPH I. Of the Catholick Faith and Church in General I. THE Fruition of God and Remission of Sin is not attainable by Man otherwise then in and by the Merits of Jesus Christ who gratis Purchas'd it for Us. II. These Merits of Christ are not apply'd to Us otherwise than by a Right Faith in Christ III. This Faith is but One Entire and Conformable to its Object being Divine Revelations to all which Faith gives an undoubted assent IV. These Revelations contain many Mysteries transcending the Natural Reach of Humane Wit or Industry Wherefore V. It became the Divine Wisdom and Goodness to provide Man of some Way or Means whereby he might Arrive to the Knowledge of these Mystrries Means Visible and Apparent to all Means propotionable to the Capacities of all Means Sure and Certain to all VI. This Way or Means is not the Reading of Scripture Interpreted according to the Private Reason or Spirit of every Disjunctive Person or Nation in Particular But VII It is an Attention and Submission to the Doctrine of the Catholick or Vniversal Church established by Christ for the Instruction of all Spread for that end throughout all Nations and visibly continu'd in the Succession of Pastors and People throughout all Ages From which Church Guided in Truth and secur'd from Errour in Matters of Faith by the promiss'd Assistance of the Holy Ghost every one may and ought to Learn both the Right Sence of the
Scripture and all other Christian Mysteries and Duties respectively necessary to Salvation VIII This Church thus Spread thus Guided thus visibly continu'd in One Vniform Faith and Subordination to Government is that Self-same which is term'd the Romau Catholick Church the Qualifications above-mentioned viz. Vnity Indeficiency Visibility Succession and Vniversality being applicable to no other Church or Assembly whatsoever IX From the Testimony and Authority of this Church it is that we Receive and Believe the Scriptures to be God's Word And as She can assuredly tell Us This or That Book is God's Word so can she with the like Assurance tell us also the True Sense and Meaning of it in Controverted Points of Faith The same Spirit that Writ the Scripture Enlightening Her to understand both It and all matters necessary to Salvation From these Grounds it follows X. All and only Divine Revelations deliver'd by God unto the Church and propos'd by her to be believ'd as such are and ought to be esteem'd Articles of Faith and the contrary Opinions Heresie And XI As an Obstinate Separation from the Vnity of the Church in known declar'd Matters of Faith is Formal Heresie So a wilful Separation from the Visible Vnity of the same Church in matters of Subordination and Government is Formal Schism XII The Church proposes unto us matters of Faith First and chiefly by the Holy Scripture in Points plain and intelligible in it Secondly By Definitions of General Councils in poins not sufficiently Explain'd in Scripture Thirdly By Apostolical Traditions deriv'd from Christ and his Apostles to all Succeeding Ages Fourthly By her Practice Worship and Ceremonies confirming her Doctrine SECT II. Of Spiritual and Temporal Authority I. General Councils which are the Church of God Representative have no Commission from Christ to Frame New Matters of Faith these being sole Divine Revelations but only to Explain and Assertain unto Us what anciently was and is Receiv'd and Retain'd as of Faith in the Church upon arising Debates and Controversies about them The Definitions of which General Councils in Matters of Faith only and propos'd as such oblige under pain of Heresie all the Faithful to a Submission of Judgement But II. It is no Article of Faith to believe That General Councils cannot Err either in matters of Fact or Discipline alterable by circumstances of Time and Place or in matters of Speculation or Civil Policy depending on meer Humane Judgement or Testimony Neither of these being Divine Revelations deposited in the Catholick Church in regard to which alone she hath the promiss'd Assistance of the Holy Ghost Hence it is deduc'd III. If a General Council much less a Papal Consistory should undertake to depose a King and absolve his Subjects from their Allegiance no Catholick as Catholick is bound to submit to such a Decree Hence also it follows IV. The Subjects of the King of England lawfully may without the least breach of any Catholick Principle Renounce even upon Oath the Teaching or Practising the Doctrine of deposing Kings Excommunicated for Heresie by any Authority whatsoever as repugnant to the fundamental Laws of the Nation Injurious to Sovereign Power Destructive to the Peace and Government and by consequence in His Majesties Subjects Impious and Damnable Yet not properly Heretical taking the Word Heretical in that connatural genuine sense as it is usually understood in the Catholick Church on account of which and other Expressions no-wise appertaining to Loyalty it is that Catholicks of tender consciences refuse the Oath commonly call'd the Oath of Allegiance V. Catholicks believe That the Bishop of Rome is the Successor of S. Peter Vicar of Jesus Christ upon Earth and the Head of the whole Catholick Church which Church is therefore fitly stil'd Roman Catholick being an universal Body united under one visible Head Nevertheless VI. It is no matter of Faith to believe That the Pope is in himself Infallible separated from a General Council even in Expounding the Faith By consequence Papal Definitions or Decrees though ex Cathedra as they term them take exclusively from a General Council or Vniversal Acceptance of the Church oblige none under Pain of Heresie to an interior Assent VII Nor do Catholicks as Catholicks believe that the Pope hath any direct or indirect Authority over the Temporal Power and Jurisdiction of Princes Hence if the Pope should pretend to Absolve or Dispence with His Majesties Subjects from their Allegiance upon account of Heresie or Schism such Dispensation would be vain and null and all Catholick Subjects notwithstanding such Dispensation or Absolution wouldbe still bound in Conscience to defend their King and Countrey at the hazard of their Lives and Fortunes even against the Pope himself in case he should invade the Nation VIII And as for the Problematical Disputes or Errors of particular Divines in this or any other matter whatsoever the Catholick Church is no wise responsible for them Nor are Catholicks as Catholicks justly punishable on their account But IX As for the King-killing Doctrine or Murder of Princes Excommunicated for Heresie It is an Article of Faith in the Catholick Church and expresly declar'd in the General Council of Constance that such Doctrine is Damnable and Heretical being contrary to the known Laws of God and Nature X. Personal Misdemeanors of what Nature soever ought not to be Imputed to the Catholick Church when not Justifiable by the Tenents of her Faith and Doctrine For which Reason though the Stories of the Paris Massacre the Irish Cruelties or Powder-Plot had been exactly true which yet for the most part are notoriously mis-related nevertheless Catholicks as Catholicks ought not to suffer for such Offences any more than the Eleven Apostles ought to have suffer'd for Judas's Treachery XII It is an Article of the Catholick Faith to believe that no Power on Earth can License Men to Lie to forswear and Perjure themselves to Massacre their Neighbours or Destroy their Native Countrey on pretence of promoting the Catholick Cause or Religion Furthermore all pardons and Dispensations granted or pretended to be granted in order to any such Ends or Designs have no other Validity or Effect than to add sacriledge and blasphemy to the above-mention'd Crimes XII The Doctrine of Equivocation or Mental Reservation however wrongfully Impos'd upon the Catholick Religion is notwithstanding neither taught nor approv'd by the Church as any part of her Belief On the contrary simplicity and Godly sincerity are constantly recommended by her as truly Christian Virtues necessary to the conservation of Justice Truth and Common-security SECT III. Of some Particular controverted Points of Faith I. EVery Catholick is oblig'd to believe that when a Sinner Repents him of his Sins from the bottom of his Heart and Acknowledges his Transgressions to God and his Ministers
and jovial was that Man 'T is pity they should be Christians So they impute the amendment of their lives to the Profession of Christianity Some of them also purchase the aversion they carry against the name Christian which we bear with the price of what is most precious to them rather desiring to lose the sweetness of life tranquility of mind and all sorts of Commodities than to see in their Houses That which they hate A Man who heretofore had his mind full of Jealousie can no longer endure the company of his Wife what assurance soever he has of her Chastity after once he perceives her to be turn'd Christian and parts from her now when her actions full of Modesty have extinguish'd all suspicions wherewith he was heretofore mov'd A Father who of a long time endur'd the disobedience of his Heathenish Son resolves to take from him the hope of succeeding him in his Inheritance for turning Christian when at the same time executing his Commands without murmuring A Master that used his Slave gently when his Carriage gave him some cause of distrust now puts him far from him for being a Christian when he hath most assurance of his Fidelity 'T is committing a Crime to correct the disorders of a Man's Life by the motions of a Holy Conversion to the Christian Faith and the good which is produc'd by so happy a Change works not so powerfully in the minds of Men as the hatred they have conceiv'd against us Indeed this hatred is strange and when I consider that the Name of Christian only makes it be so I would willingly know how a name can be Criminal and how a simple word can be Accused Thus was Christianity wholly Infamous amongst the Heathens contemn'd and detested by all and where Lies were in credit Calumnies and Slanders confirm'd and back'd by Authority there was no other Crime but Truth And 't was these Calumnies these false Accusations invented to cry down the Christian Religion oblig'd Tertullian to write his Apology wherein he declar'd to the World that Christianity was nothing like that which the Heathens imagin'd it to be That Idolatry Superstition Impiety Cruelty Treachery Conspiracies c. was none of their Doctrine but Condemn'd and Detested by them that these Crimes were only the malicious inventions of the Heathenish Priests who finding themselves unable to withstand the force of Christianity had no other way to preserve themselves in Repute and the People in their Errour than by forming an ugly odious and most horrid Visor a damnable Scheme of Religion then holding this forth to the World and crying out This is the Religion of the Christians these are their Principles Behold their ignorance their Stupidity their Prophaneness Behold their Insolence their Villanies a People unsufferable in a Common-wealth Enemies to their Country and their Prince And thus Representing it as Monstrous as they pleas'd they brought an odium upon as many as own'd that name and condemn'd them for Follies and Crimes that were no where but in their own Imagination And 't was not only in Tertullian's time that Christianity lay under this scandal but also in after Ages And therefore as for the Vindication of the Christian Profession he was forc'd to Apologize for his time so did after him St. Cyprian Arnobius and many other Ecclesiastical Writers nay and under Christian Emperors the Calumnies of the Heathens yet being urg'd with much vigour and confidence Orosius was oblig'd to write his History and St. Augustine his City of God in defence of the Faith and Doctrine of Christ And now when by the propagation of Christianity and the laborious endeavours of her Professors Heathenism was pretty well extinct yet was not the Mouth of Malice stop'd the same Calumnies which had been invented by the Infidels being taken up by evil Christians No one going out from the Communion of the Church of Christ but what did by reviving old Scandals and the addition of fresh ones endeavour to make her Infamous and blacken her with such Crimes as could be thought most convenient for rendring her Odious to all It being look'd upon by as many as ever went out of her the best means to justifie their Separation and to gain to themselves the credit of Orthodox Christians to paint her out in all the Antichristian Colours and represent her as Hellish as wickedness could make her 'T is strange how much she suffer'd in this Point from the Manichees and from the Donatists and how much pains it cost Saint Augustine to prove their Accusations to be meer Calumnies principally intended to raise prejudices in the minds of the People against her that so being convinc'd by these Hellish Artifices of her teaching unsound and prophane Doctrine wicked Principles and humane Inventions instead of Faith might never think of going to her to learn the Truth nor even so much as suspect her to be the Church of Christ This Saint Augustine complains was the chief cause of his continuing in the Errour of the Manichees so long and that he impugn'd with so much violence this Church And therefore after he was come to the knowledge of the Truth he discover'd this to the World for the undeceiving others who were caught in the same snare making it part of his Confessions Confess l. 6. c. 3. p. 1. When I came to discover says he that I mingled joy and blushes and was asham'd that I had now for so many years been barking and railing not against the Catholick Faith but only against the fictions of my carnal conceits For so temerarious and impious was I that those things which I ought first to have learned from them by enquiry I first charg'd upon them by Accusation readier to impose Falshoods than to be inform'd of the Truth And thus I so blindly accused the Catholick Church now sufficiently clear'd to me that she taught not the Opinion I so vehemently persecuted And this he did deluded and deceiv'd by the Manichees And now since 't is certain that this has not been the case of Saint Augustine alone but of as many almost as have given ear to the Deserters of this Church nay is at this day the case of infinite Numbers who following that Great Father when as yet in his Errors do not enquire how this thing is believ'd or understood by her but insultingly oppose all as if so understood as they imagine not making any difference betwixt that which the Catholick Church teaches and what they think she teaches and so believing her to be guilty of as many Absurdities Follies Impieties c. as the Heathens did of Old 'T is evident there 's as much need now of Apologies as ever there was in Tertullian's or Saint Augustin's time Not Apologies to vindicate what is really her Faith and Doctrine but rather to clear her from such Supersitions Prophaneness and Wicked Principles as are maliciously or ignorantly charg'd upon her And tho' the number of Calumnies the in-sincerity of
Adversaries the obstinacy of a byas'd Education render a performance in this kind a just Task for a Tertullian's or St. Augustin's hand yet because I find no such eminent Pen engag'd in this design at present and the shewing the true Religion in its own Colours seems a Duty incumbent on every one that 's a lover of Truth I 'le endeavour to pull off the Vizor from suffering Christianity and Apologize for the Catholick Faith that Faith I mean maintained by those Primitive Fathers with so much Vigour and Zeal which being first planted in the Head City of the World by St. Peter hath been propagated throughout the Universe and derived down to us by many Christian Nations in Communion with that See under the Protection of the Holy Ghost and the charge of A Chief Pastor which beginning in that great Apostle has continued in a Visible Succession to these our days This Faith it is for which at present I design to make an Apology which having been in all ages violently oppos'd does at this time most wrongfully suffer under Calumnies and false Imputations I 'le endeavour therefore to separate these Calumnies and Scandals from what is really and Faith and Doctrine of that Church I 'le take off the Black and Dirt which has been thrown upon her and setting her forth in her genuine complexion let the World see how much fairer she is than she 's painted and how much she 's unlike that Monster which is shewn for her And because the Members of this Church are commonly known by the name of Papists I think I cannot take a more sincere open and compendious way in order to the compleating this design than by drawing forth a double Character of a Papist The one expressing a Papist in those very colours as he is painted in the imagination of the Vulgar Foul Black and Antichristian with the chief Aâ—ticles of his imagined Belief and reputed Principles of his Profession The other representing a Papist whose Faith and exercise of his Religion is according to the Direction and Command of his Church That so these two being thus set together their difference and disproportion may be clearly discerned and a discovery made how unlike Calumny is from Truth and how different a Papist really is from what he 's said to be The former Character is of a Papist Mis-represented the other of a Papist Represented The former is a Papist so deform'd and monstrous that it justly deserves the hatred of as many as own Christianity 'T is a Papist that has disturb'd this Nation now above an hundred years with Fears and Jealousies threatning it continually with Fire and Massacres and whose whole design has been to rob the Sovereign of his Crown and the Subject of his Liberty and Property 'T is a Papist that is so abominable so malicious so unsufferable in any Civil Government that for my part I detest him from my heart I conceiv'd an hatred against him and all his from my Education when as yet a Protestant and now being a Roman Catholick I am not in the least reconcil'd to him nor his Principles but hate him yet worse I am so far from thinking the Laws too severe against such Popish Recusants that I could wish a far greater severity were executed against them their Favourers and all such as make men so sottishly Religious And if to be a Protestant nothing more be requisite than to protest against such Popery to hate and detest it I think my self and all Roman Catholicks as good Protestants as any whatsoever throughout his Majesties Dominions And I dare engage that not only as many Roman Catholicks as under the name of Papists have severely smarted in this Nation for being the Professors of such kind of Popery but also that all Roman Catholick Nations in the World shall subscribe to the condemnation of all such Popish Principles and Doctrines shall joyn with all good Protestants for the extinguishing it with all that Profess or Practice it and utter rooting it out from his Majesties three Kingdoms and the whole Universe The other Papist is one that lives and believes according to what is prescrib'd in the Council of Trent in Catechisms set forth by Catholicks and other Spiritual Books for the Direction and Instruction of all in their Communion whose Faith and Doctrine I have here set down with some Grounds and Reasons of it and will so leave it to Apologize for it self In drawing out the Character of the former I have quoted no Authors but have describ'd him exactly according to the Apprehension I had of a Papist fram'd by Me when I was a Protestant with the addition only of some few points which have been violently charg'd against Me by some intimate Friends of late to shew the unreasonableness of my choice after the quitting of that Communion The latter is wholly copied out from the Papist that I am now being the Sum of what I was taught when reconcil'd to the Church of Rome and which after sixteen years conversation with Men of that Communion in hearing their Sermons in being present at their Catechising in reading their Books and discoursing with them I have found to be their Doctrine I have done both I hope with Sincerity and Truth and without Passion For as my endeavours have been that my Religion should lose nothing by Lies so neither do I desire it should gain by them And did I but know of any thing in the following Papers that has any relation to that unchristian Artifice I would strike it out immediately And do here oblige my self upon information either from Friend or Adversary to acknowledge the mistake as it shall be made appear and make a publick Recantation But it is time we should see what these Papists are A PAPIST Mis-represented and Represented I. Of Praying to Images A Papist Mis-represented Worships Stocks and Stones for Gods He takes no notice of the Second Commandment but setting up Pictures and Images of Christ the Virgin Mary and other his Saints He Prays to Them and puts his Trust Confidence in them much like as the Heathens did in their Wooden Gods Jupiter Mars Venus c. And for this reason He erects stately Monuments to Them in his Churches adorns them sumptuously burns Candles offers Incense and frequently falls down prostrate before them and with his Eyes fix'd on them cries out Help me Mary assist me Anthony remember me Ignatius A Papist Represented believes it damnable to Worship Stocks Stones for Gods to Pray to Pictures or Images of Christ the Virgin Mary or any other Saints as also to put any Trust or Confidence in them He keeps them by him indeed to preserve in his mind the memory of the things Represented by them as People are wont to preserve the memory of their deceased Friends by keeping their Picture He is taught to use them by casting his eye upon the Pictures or Images and thence to raise his heart to the Prototypes
Mark 6. 13. And tho' there be no express Command in Scripture for Blessing Water Bread c. yet there is this assurance that every Creature is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer 1 Tim. 4. 5. and frequent Promises That God would hear the Prayers of the Faiâ—hful Why therefore should he doubt but that these Creatures on which the Blessing of God is solemnly implor'd by the Word of God and the Prayers of the Priest and People for their sanctification are really sanctified according to the assurance of the Apostle and the Promises of God St. Cyril of Jerusalem who liv'd in the Third Century made no question but that as those things which are offer'd to Idols tho' pure in their own nature are made impure by the Invocation of Devils So on the contrary simple Water is made Holy and gets a Sanctity by virtue receiv'd from the Invocation of the Holy Ghost Christ our Lord and his eternal Father Cyr. Catech. 3. St. Augustine was of the same Judgment touching the Benediction of Bread affirming that the Bread which the Catechumens did take tho' it was not Christ's Body yet it was holy yes and more holy than the Meat wherewith we are nourish'd Aug. Tom. 7. l. 2. de Pecc Mer. Remis c. 26. The like is to be seen in the Epistle of St. Alexander who govern'd the Church but fifty years after St. Peter where he declares the Custom even at that time of blessing Water and confirms the Practice of it by his Command And that Water thus bless'd was capable by virtue receiv'd from Heaven of working effects above its own Nature was the Sentiment of Christians in the Primitive times Epiphanius makes early mention Tom. 2. l. 1. cont haer 30. where he relates a passage at length how that Water being blessed in the Name of Jesus and sprinkled upon Fire which by witchcraft was made unactive and hindred from burning immediately the Enchantment ceas'd and the Fire burn'd As also that a Possess'd person being besprinkled with bless'd Water the Party was immediately cured Theodoret has the like Narration of the Devil hindring fire from burning and how that he was chaced away and the Charm dissolv'd by blessed Water being thrown on it lib. 5. Eccleshist c. 21. And does not St. Hierom in vit Hilarion p. 323. Paris print make this relation how that Italicus took Water from blessed Hilarion and cast it on his bewitched Horses on his Chariot and the Barriers from whence he us'd to run and that the Charm or Witchery did cease upon the sprinkling this Water so that all cryed out Marnas victis est a Christo Christ hath conquered Marnas the Idol And now there 's no jeering and Ridiculing these things will ever make them look like idle Superstitions to one that considers seriously how much they are grounded upon Reason the Word of God Antiquity and the Authority and Practice of the Catholick Church which though it approves the use of them yet it teaches plainly that there is no Confidence to be put in any thing but only in Jesus Christ and what power these things have they have not of themselves but only from Heaven and by the invocation of the Name of Jesus who as by his heavenly Blessing he enables us to do things above the power of Nature so also by the Prayers of his Church he blesses these things in order to the working effects above their own natural qualities that by them his Fatherly Benefits may be applied to us and that so the Faithful may more particularly honour and bless him in all his Creatures XXIV Of Breeding up People in Ignorance HE is train'd up in Ignorance and 't is the chief means made use of by his Church for preserving Men in that Communion to hide from them her manifold Mysteries of Iniquity her sottish Superstitions her un-christian Doctrines by performing all in un-known Tongues and not permitting the poor missed People to look into or understand any thing that they Believe or Profess And by this blindness they are perswaded to embrace such infinite numbers of gross Errors that were but the vail taken from their eyes but for one half hour and they but permitted to have one fair prospect of their Religion thousands and thousands would daily desert her and come over to the Truth HE has all the liberty encouragement and convenience of becoming learned of any People or Perswasion whatsoever And none that has ever look'd over any Library and found that the greatest numbers and choicest Books of all Sciences have men of his Communion for their Authors None that in his Travels has taken a thorough view of the Vniversâ—â—ies in Popish Countries of the Sorbon Louvain Salamanca Boloign c. and consider'd their laborious studies in Philosophy Divinity History the Fathers Councils Scripture c. and besides the Students here has seen how many thousands there are in Religious Houses who free from the disturbances of the Word make Virtue and Learning the business of their whole Life will ever lay Ignorâ—nce to the charge of the Papists but must in justice confess that amongst them are to be found as many and as great Scholars as amongst any People or Societies in the World And tho' the Vulgar and common sort of that Profession understand not Latine yet are not they train'd up in ignorance of their Religion nor led along in blindness but are so provided of Books in their own Mother-tongue of Instruction and Devotion wherein is explicated the whole Duty of a Christian every Mystery of their Faith and all the Offices and Ceremonies perform'd in the Chruch that they must be very negligent or else very meanly parted who do not arrive to a sufficient knowledge of their Obligation in every respect And whosoever has seen the great pains and care some Good Men take abroad in Explicating on Sondays and Holy-days in their Churches and on Week-days in the Streets the Christian Doctrine to the crowds of the ignorant and meaner sort of people not omitting to reward such as answer well with some small gifts to encourage Youth and provoke them to a commendable emulation will never say that the Papists keep the poor people in Ignorance and hide from them their Religion but rather that they use all means for instructing the Ignorant and omit nothing that can any ways conduce to the breeding up of Youth in the knowledge of their Faith and letting them see into the Religion they are to profess Neither does it seem to him even so much as probable that if the Church-Offices and Service c. were perform'd in the Vulgar-Tongue that upon this the now-Ignorant and blindled people would immediately discover so many idle Superstitions sensless Devotions and gross errors that they would in great numbers upon the sight become deserters of that Communion in which now they are profess'd Members For since there is nothing done but in a Language which the Learned Judicious and Leading Men
the Dispensers of the Mysteries of Christ resolving to turn from his evil ways and bring forth Fruits worthy of Penance there is then and no otherwise an Authority left by Christ to Absolve such a Penitent Sinner from his Sins which Authority Christ gave his Apostles and their Successors the Bâ—shops and Priests of the Catholick Church in those words when he said Receive ye the Holy Ghost whose Sins you shall forgive they are forgiven unto them c. II. Though no Creatare whatsoever can make condign satisfaction either for the Guilt of Sin or the pain Eternal due to it This satisfaction being proper to Christ our Saviour only Yet penitent Sinners Redeemed by Christ may as Members of Christ in some measure satisfie by Prayer Fasting Alms-Deeds and other Works of Piety for the Temporal Pain which by order of Divine Justice sometimes remains due after the Guilt of Sin and Pains Eternal are gratis remitted These Penitential Works are notwithstanding satisfactory no otherwise than as joyned and apply'd to that satisfaction which Jesus made upon the Cross in virtue of which alone all our good Works find a gateful acceptance in God's sight III. The Guilt of Sin or Pain Eternal due to it is never remitted by Indulgences but only such Temporal punishments as remain due after the Guilt is remitted These Indulgences being nothing else than a Mitigation or Relaxation upon just causes of Canonical Penances enjoyn'd by the Pastors of the Church on Penitent Sinners according to their several Degrees of Demerit And if any abuses or mistakes be sometimes committed in point either of granting or gaining Indulgences through the Remisness or Ignorance of particular Persons contrary to the ancient Custom and Discipline of the Church such abuses or mistakes cannot rationally be charg'd on the Church nor rendred matter of Derision in prejudice to her Faith and Doctrine IV. Catholicks hold there is a Purgatory that is to say a place or State where Souls departing this Life with Remission of their Sins as to the Eternal Guilt or pain or yet Obnoxious to some Temporal Punishment still remaining due or not perfectly freed from the Blemish of some Venial Defects or Deordinations as idle Words c. not liable to Damnation are purg'd before their Admitance into Heaven where nothing that is defil'd can enter Furthermore V. Catholicks also hold That such Souls so detain'd in Purgatory being the Living Members of Christ Jesus are Reliev'd by the Prayers and suffrages of their Fellow-members here on Earth But where this place is Of what Nature or Quality the Pains are How long each Soul is detained there After what manner the suffrages made in their behalf are apply'd Whether by way of satisfaction or Intercession c. are Questions superfluous and impertinent as to Faith VI. No Man though just can Merit either an Increase of Sanctity or Happiness in this Life or Eternal Glory in the next independent on the Merits and Passion of Christ Jesus the Good Works of a just Man proceeding from Grace and Charity are acceptable to God so far forth as to be through his Goodness and Sacred Promise truly meritorious of Eternal Life VII It is an Article of the Catholick Faith That in the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly and really contain'd the Body of Christ which was deliver'd for us and his Blood which was shed for the Remission of sins the substance of Bread and Wine being by the powerful Words of Christ charg'd into the substance of his Blessed Body and Blood the Species or Accidents of Bread and Wine still remaining Thus VIII Christ is not present in this Sacrament according to his Natural way of Existence that is with extention of parts in order to place c. but after a supernatural manner one and the same in many places and whole in every part of the Symbols This therefore is a real substantial yet Sacramental presence of Christ's Body and Blood not expos'd to the External Senses or obnoxious to Corporal Contingences IX Neither is the Body of Christ in this Holy Sacrament seperated from his Blood or his Blood from his Body or either of both disjoyn'd from his Soul and Divinity but all and whole living Jesus is entirely contain'd under either Species so that whosoever receives under one kind is truly partaker of the whole Sacrament and no wise depriv'd either of the Body or Blood of Christ True it is X. Our Saviour Jesus Christ left unto us his Body and Blood under two distinct Species or Kinds in doing of which he instituted not only a Sacrament but also a Sacrifice a Commemorative Sacrifice distinctly shewing his Death or Bloody Passion until he come For as the Sacrifice of the Cross was perform'd by a distinct Effusion of Blood so is the same Sacrifice commemorated in that of the Altar by a distinction of the Symbols Jesus therefore is here given not only to us but for us and the Church thereby enrich'd with a true proper and propitiatory Sacrifice usually term'd Mass XI Catholicks renounce all Divine Worship and Adoration of Images or Pictures God alone we Worship and Adore Nevertheless we make use of Pictures and place them in Churches and Oratories to reduce our wandring thoughts and enliven our memories towards Heavenly things And further we allow a certain Honour and Veneration to the Picture of Christ of the Virgin Mary c. beyond what is due to every prophane Figure not that we believe any Divinity of virtue in the Pictures themselves for which they ought to be Honour'd but because the Honour given to Pictures is refer'd to the Prototype or things represented In like manner XII There is a kind of Honour and Veneration respectively due to the Bible to the Cross to the Name of Jesus to Churches to the Sacraments c. as things peculiarly appertaining to God also to the glorify'd Saints in Heaven as Domestick Friends of God yea to Kings Magistrates and Superiours on Earth as the Vicegerents of God to whom Honouâ— is due Honour may be given without any Derogation to the Majesty of God or that Divine Worship appropriate to him Furthermore XIII Catholicks believe That the Blessed Saints in Heaven replenish'd with Charity pray for us their fellow-members here on Earth that they Rejoyce at our conversion that seeing God they see and know in him all things suitable to their happy state but God is inclinable to hear their Requests made in our behalf and for their sakes grants us many favours That therefore it is good and profitable to Desire their Juteocession And that this manner of Invocation is no more injurious to Christ our Mediator or superabundant in it self than it is for one Christian to beg the