confirmed by succeeding generall Councils by Popes and other Bishops in the following ages of the Church By the sixt Councill which professeth t Act. 15. pa. 80. a. of it selfe that in omnibus consonuit it in all points agreeth with the fifth By the second Nicene which they account for the seaventh which reckneth v Act. 6. pa. 357. a this fift for one of the golden Councils which are glorious by the words of the holy Spirit and which all being inlightned by the same spirit decreed those things which are profitable professing that themselves did condemne all whom those Councils and among them whom this fift did condemne By other following Councils in every one of which the 2 Nicene and by consequent this fift Councill is approved as by the acts is cleare and Baronius confesseth x An. 553. nu 229. that this fift in alijs Oecumenicis Synodis postea celebratis cognita est atque probata was acknowledged and approved by the other generall Councils which were held after it 27. It was likewise approved by succeeding Popes and Bishops By Pelagius the second who writ an whole Epistle y Epist 7. Pelag. 2. to perswade the Bishops of Istria to condemne the Three Chapters telling z Pa. 687. them that though Pope Vigilius resisted the condemnation of them yet others his predecessours which followed Vigilius did consent thereunto By Gregory who professing a Lib. 1. Epist 24. to embrace reverence the 4 first Councils as the 4 Euangelists addeth of this fift Quintū quoque cōcilium pariter veneror I do in like manner reverence the fift Councill wherin the impious Epistle of Ibas is rejected the writings of Theodoret with Theodorus his writings And then of them all he saith Cunctas personas whatsoever persons the foresaid five venerable Councils doe condemne those also doe I condemne whom they reverence I embrace because seeing they are decreed by an universall consent whosoever presumeth to loose whom they bind or bind whom they loose se et non illa destruit he destroyeth himselfe but not those Councils and whosoever thinketh otherwise let him be accursed Thus Pope Gregory the great ratifying all the former anathemaes of the Councill and accursing all that labour to unty those bands By Agatho b In Cont. 6. Act. 4. pa. 16. a. by Leo c Epist ad Constan Imp. the second who both call this an holy Synod and not to stay in particulars All d Bar. an 869. nu 58 59. their Popes after the the time of Gregorie were accustomed at their election to make profession of this fift as of the former Councils and that in such solemne and exact manner after the time of Hadrian the second that they professed as their forme it selfe set downe by Anton. Augustinus e In manuscripto codice ex quo eum citat Bar. loco citate doth witnesse to embrace the eight generall Councils whereof this was one to hold them pari honore et veneratione in equal honor and esteeme to keepe them intirely usque ad unum apicem to the least iôta to follow and teach whatsoever they decreed and whatsoever they condemned to condemne both with their mouth and heart A like forme of profession is set downe in the Councill at Constance f Ses 39. pa. 1644. where the Councill having first decreed g Ses 4. pa. 1560. the power and authoritie of the Pope to be inferiour and subject to the Councill and that he ought to be obedient to them both in matters of faith and orders of reformation by this their superior authoritie ordaineth That every Pope at the time of his election shall professe that corde et ore both in words and in his heart hee doth embrace and firmely beleeve the doctrines delivered by the holy Fathers and by the eleven generall Councils this fift being reckned for one and that he will keepe defend and teach the same faith with them usque ad unum apicem even to the least syllable To goe no further Baronius confesseth h An. 553. nu 229. that not onely Gregory and his predecessors unto Vigilius sed successores omnes but all the successors of Gregory are knowne to have received and confirmed this fift Councill 28. Neither onely did the Popes approve it but all orthodoxal Bishops in the world it being a custome as Baronius sheweth i An. 869. nu 58. that they did professe to embrace the seven generall Councills which forme of faith Orthodoxi omnes ex more profiteri deberent all orthodoxall Bishops by custome were bound to professe And this as it seemeth they did in those Literae Formatae or Communicatoriae or Pacificae so they were called k Cum quo totus orbis commercio formatarum concordat Opt. lib. 2. p. 40. Quaerebam utrum epistolas communicatorias quas Formatas dicimus possent quo vellent dare Aug. Epist 163. Sub probatione Epistolij sine Pacificis quae dicuntur Ecclesiastica Conc. Chalc. can 11. which from ancient time they used to give and receive For by that forme of letters they testified their communion in faith and peaceable agreemēt with the whole Catholike Church Such an Vniforme consent there was in approving this fift Council in all succeeding Councills Popes and Bishops almost to these dayes 29. From whence it evidently and unavoidably ensueth that as this fift Synod so all succeeding Councils Popes and Bishops to the time of the Councill of Constance l Celebratum est an 1414. that is for more then fourteene hundred yeares together after Christ doe all with this fift Councill condemne and accurse as hereticall the judiciall and definitive sentence of Pope Vigilius delivered by his Apostolical authority for instruction of the whole Church in this cause of faith therfore they al with an uniforme consent did in heart beleeve and in words professe and teach that the Popes Cathedrall sentence in causes of faith may be and de facto hath been hereticall that is they all did beleeve and teach that doctrine which the reformed Churches maintaine to be truly ancient orthodoxall and catholike such as the whole Church of Christ for more then 14 hundred yeares beleeved and taught but the doctrine even the Fundamentall position whereon all their doctrines doe relie and which is vertually included in them all which the present Church of Rome maintaineth to be new hereticall and accursed such as the whole Church for so many hundred yeares together with one consent beleeved and taught to be accursed and hereticall It hence further ensueth that as this fift Councill did so all the fore-mentioned generall Councils Popes and Bishops doe with it condemne and accurse for heretikes not onely Vigilius but all who either have or doe hereafter defend him and his Constitution even all who either by word or writing have or shall maintaine that the Popes Cathedrall judgement in causes of faith is infallible that is
heart I pray you when looked your Cardinalship into the heart of Vigilius how know you that he was not an heretike in heart when he was so hereticall in profession or how know you of S. Hildebrand of Boniface 8. or of any of all the Popes that lived since their times that they were not heretikes and plaine Infidels in heart when their words were Catholike I would gladly for my learning be informed how Bellarmine or the most acute Lynceus of them all do or can know otherwise than by their outward professions what any of all the Popes beleeved and thought in their heart What Innocent the third when he decreed the doctrine of Transubstantiation what Leo the tenth when he condemned Luther or what Paul Iulius and Pius the fourth when they confirmed their Trent Councell How know you that in their hearts they beleeved those doctrines or that they did not dissemble and faine as you say Vigilius did What can you say for Pius the fourth which may not be sayd for Vigilius also Doth Pius say he did before and now doth thinke as the Trent masters doe Pope Vigilius sayth the like and most plainly Eam fidem quam tenetis that faith which you Anthimus Severus and Theodosius doe hold I signifie unto you that I have held and that I doe now hold the same Doth Pius call the Trent Fathers his beloved brethren in Christ so doth Vigilius call those hereticall Bishops his beloved brethren in Christ nay in Liberatus he calls them even Christs Doth Pope Pius professe an unity betwixt himselfe and them all making one body of the Church Pope Vigilius doth the like and he doth it more significantly We sayth he preach this same doctrine that you doe Vt anima una sit cor unum in Deo so that there is in you and mee but one soule and one heart in God How can any speech be cordiall if this testifying himselfe to be one soule and one heart with them doe not come à fibris but onely à labris Doth Pope Pius approve the doctrine of the Trent conspirators So doth Pope Vigilius the doctrine of those Eutychean heretikes Doth Pius condemne and anathematize Lutherans Calvinists and all who thinke or teach otherwise than himselfe and his Trent Conventicle taught or beleeved so doth Pope Vigilius condemne and anathematize all who deny two natures in Christ all who beleeve otherwise than himselfe and his Eutychean fellow heretikes did In all these there is as much to be sayd for Pope Vigilius as for Pope Pius and if you please to adde that one other agreement also as of Vigilius it is sayd that they knew crudelitatem fidei so may it in like manner bee truly sayd of Pope Pius that this did manifest unto all men crudelitatem fidei the cruelty of his and his Trent Councels faith If by these outward acts the Cardinall can know Pius the fourth to have ex animo condemned their Trent heresies why can he not by the like outward acts know Vigilius to have ex animo condemned the Catholike faith If Vigilius for all these outward acts and so many testimonies and evidences of a willing minde did dissemble and thinke in his heart otherwise than he writ how will or can the Cardinall prove unto us that Pius the 4. and the whole Councell of Trent did not dissemble and both write and speake otherwise than they thought in heart Hath the Cardinall some windowes to pry into the secrets of the heart of Pius the fourth and the Trent Councell which are dammed up that he cannot see into the brest of Vigilius If Pope Pius upon his word and writing be to be credited much more is Pope Vigilius seeing he did not only by words and writing teach this hereticall doctrine but which Pius did not he bound himselfe by a sacred oath that hee would teach the same And which is yet a farre greater evidence Vigilius after this did teach the like hereticall doctrine to overthrow the same Councell of Chalcedon in the cause of the Three Chapters which hee did so unfainedly and so cordially that for teaching the same he incurred the just indignation of the Emperour the curse of the holy generall Councell the publike hatred of all Catholikes and if wee may beleeve Baronius even exile and persecution also Why might not the same Vigilius from his heart teach Eutycheanisme as well as Nestorianisme The faces of those two heresies looke contrary wayes indeed but their tayles like Sampsons Foxes are joyned together to undermine the Catholike faith and the holy Councell of Chalcedon Hee who once is proved to be treacherous in this sort and to doe this once from his heart semper praesumitur is alwayes to bee presumed treacherous in the same kinde Hee who did this in the Three Chapters would have done it in Eutycheanisme his heart his desire his purpose at both times was the same the odds was accidental in the oportunity which served better in the one than in the other what need they excuse his teaching Eutycheanisme to have been only labiall when it is cleare his teaching of Nestorianisme was cordiall If they cannot excuse Pope Vigilius for teaching Nestorianisme from his heart which cannot possibly be done what need they be so nice in denying his teaching of Eutycheanisme to have come from the same heart his fault in them both being alike one answer will alike serve for them both 44. But what thinke you meant the Cardinall so to busie himselfe and bee so curious about the heart and secret minde of Vigilius what though hee did not in heart yet exteriori professione by his hereticall writing by his outward confession by that Vigilius condemned the Catholike faith as the Cardinall d Dico Vigilium scripsisse illam Epistolam et damnasse Catholicam fidem saltem exteriori professione Bell. lib. 4. de Pont. ca. 10. §. Respondeo multi acknowledgeth it is the Popes outward profession not his inward cogitation by which wee prove his Chayre to bee fallible what have wee nay what hath the Cardinall or any of them all to doe with Vigilius intent or inward thoughts leave those to his Tribunall who onely e Reg. 8.39 knoweth and seeth the hearts of all the sonnes of men let men who cannot see the heart looke to his words to his writings to that profession by which hee teacheth others If that be hereticall what boots it them though his heart bee orthodoxall Confirma fratres pasce oves are outward acts they looke abroad and outwardly not to the inward and hidden man in the Popes breast If he think as Simon Peter and teach as Simō Magus as Arius Nestorius or Eutyches did is he not an hereticall teacher an hereticall Pope a confirmer of his brethrē in heresie a feeder nay a very prisoner of the sheepe with worse weeds than the Socraticall Cicuta If the Pope onely thinke and beleeve heresie why thought is free to wit from
whence it doth clearly ensue that as the former who were ready to embrace the truth had it beene manifested unto them erred not of pertinacy but as Austen saith of humane infirmitie so the latter who reject the truth being manifested unto them and withstand the knowne judgement of the whole catholike Church even that judgement which is testified by all those witnesses to be consonant to the Scriptures and Apostolicall doctrine can no way be excused from most wilfull and pertinacious obstinacy seeing they adhere to that opinion which themselves or their particular church hath chosen though they see and know the same to be repugnant to Scripture the consenting judgement of all generall and holy Councels that is of the whole catholike Church So the errour of the former though it was in a point of faith yet was but materially to be called heresie as being a doctrine repugnant to faith yet being not joyned in them with pertinacie which is essentially as Canus p Quod haeresis esse sine pertinacia nequeat non est difficile ostendere cōmuni omnium Theologorum sententia c. Canus lib. 12. Loc. Theol. ca. 9. § Quod. sheweth required in an heretike could neither make nor denominate them to be heretikes The errour of the latter is not onely an errour in a point of faith but is formally to bee called heresie such as being both a doctrine repugnant to faith and being in them joyned with pertinacy doth both make and truly denominate them who so erre to be heretikes and shew them to hold it heretically not onely as an errour but as a most proper heresie 9. The second difference is in the manner of their errour The former held their opinions as probable collections not as undoubted doctrines of faith and so long as those errours were so held the Church suspended q Sancta Ecclesia aliquandiu de ea re supersedit judiciumque suspendit Bar. notis in Martyr in Febr. 22. voce Papiae her judgement both concerning the doctrines and the persons And this was at least untill the time of Ierome touching the millenary opinion for he mentioning the same saith r Hier. in cap. 19. Ieremia thus Haec licet non sequantur tamen damnare non possumus quia multi Ecclesiasticorum virorum martyrum ista dixerunt These things concerning the raigne of Christ for one thousand yeares upon earth in a terrestriall but yet a golden Ierusalem although we doe not our selves follow yet wee cannot condemne them because many of the Ecclesiasticall writers and Martyrs have said the same whereby it is evident that in Ieromes s Hieronimi tempore nihil adhuc ab Ecclesia de eâ re fuit definitum Bar. notis in Martyr loc cit time nothing was defined herein by the Church for then Ierome might and would constantly have condemned that errour by the warrant of the Churches authoritie which then hee held to bee a probable and disputable matter In which regard also Austen calleth it a tolerable t Quae opinio esset utcunque tolerabilis si c. Aug lib. 20. de Civit. Dei. ca 7. opinion and such as himselfe had sometimes held if the delights of the Saints in that time be supposed to be spirituall Baronius tels u Bar. an 118. nu 2. et an 373. nu 14 us how rightly I will not now examine that when Apollinarius renewed this opinion and urged it ut dogma Catholicum no longer as a matter of probabilitie but as a Catholike doctrine of faith It was then condemned by Pope Damasus about the time of Ierome and so being condemned by the Church it was ever after that held for an heresie and the defenders of it for heretikes 10. Did Baronius and the rest of the Romane Church in like sort as those millenary Fathers commend their Popes infallibility no otherwise then as a probable a topicall or disputable matter the like favourable censure would not be denyed unto them but that they also notwithstanding that error in faith might die in the communion of the Church But when Pope Vigilius published his Apostolicall Constitution as a doctrine with such x Statuimus nulli licere quicquam contrarium his conscribere vel proferre Vig. Const in fine necessitie to be received of all that none either by word or writing might contradict the same when the chiefe Pillers of their Church urge the Popes Cathedrall definitions in causes of faith for such as wherein nullo y Bell. lib. 4. de Pōt ca. 3. et Gretz def ca. 2. lib. 1. de Pont. pa. 652. et alij casu errare potest he can by no possibilitie bee deceived or teach amisse when they urge this not onely as Apollinarius did the other ut dogma Catholicum as a doctrine of faith but as the foundation of all the doctrines of faith It was high time for the Catholike Church as soone as they espied this to creepe into the hearts of men to give some soveraigne antidote against such poyson and to prevent that deluge of heresies which they knew if this Cataract were set open would at once rush in and overwhelme the Church of God And therefore the fift generall and holy Councell to preserve for ever the faith of the Church against this heresie did not onely condemne it decreeing the Apostolicall and cathedrall sentence of Pope Vigilius to be hereticall but decreed all the defenders of it to be accursed and separated from God and Gods Church so that whosoever after this sentence and decree of the holy Synod approved by the whole Catholike Church shall defend the Popes Cathedrall judgements as infallible and dye in that opinion they are so farre from dying as Papias and Irene did in the peace of the Church that by the whole catholike Church they are declared and decreed to dye out of the peace and communion of the whole catholike Church 11. A third dissimilitude ariseth from the persons who erre The former for all their errour held z Cyprianus ita dixit quid ei videretur ut in pace unitatis esse volucrit etiam cum eis qui de hac re diversa sentirent Aug. lib. 2. de baptis ca. 1 fast the unity with the Church even with those who contradicted and cōdemned their errours and we doubt not but that was verified of very many of them which Austen a Lib. 1. de baptis ca. 18. affirmeth of Cyprian that they kept this unitie of the Church humiliter fideliter fortiter ad martyrij usque coronam kept it with humility with fidelitie with constancy even to the crowne of martyrdome By reason of which their charity they were not onely fast linked and as I may say glued to the communion of the Church both in their life and death but all their other errours as Austen b Charitate praesenti quaedam veritates venialiter non habentur Aug. ibid. saith became veniall unto them for
being Antichristian is hereticall in the highest and worst degree that may be razing the true foundation of faith in regard whereof the mystery of Antichristianisme farre surpasseth all the heresies that ever went before or shall ever follow after it An heretike secondly in many particular doctrines depending on that Foundation among which are the heresies and blasphemies of the Nestorians all which by the Cathedrall constitution of Vigilius are decreed to be truths and by all men to be defended Lastly an heretike vertually and quoad radicem in every doctrine of faith which hee holdeth or professeth and so hereticall therein that the very holding of Catholike truths becomes unto him hereticall seeing he holds them upon that Foundation which is not only contrary to faith but which overthroweth the whole faith Reward o Rev. 18 6. Babylon O ye servants of the Lord as she hath rewarded you give her double according to her workes and in the cup that she hath filled to you fill her the double 32. From hence there ensueth one other conclusion which being worthy observing I may not well omit And this it is That in none at all of their Church or of the same faith with it there neither is nor can be so long as they remaine such any piety or holinesse either in their life or in any of their actions nor any act which is truly good and acceptable unto God is or can be performed by any of them For true faith is the Foundation and fountaine of all true pietie and good actions it being impossible as the Apostle teacheth without p Heb. 11.6 faith to please God and to the q Tit. 1.15 unbeleevers all things are impure even their mindes and consciences are defiled How much more their outward actions speeches writings and thoughts which all spring from the heart To this purpose is that in the Prophet Haggai r Ca. 2.14.15 who demandeth of the Priests If a polluted person such are all whose hearts are not purified ſ Act. 15.9 by faith touch any of these things either holy bread or holy wine or any holy thing shall it be uncleane And the Priests answered and said It shall be unclean The pollution of him that toucheth it pollutes all even the most holy things that are Then answered Haggai and said So is this people and so is this Nation before me saith the Lord. So are all the workes of their hands and that which they offer is uncleane The same agreeth to those of whom we intreat The infidelity of their hearts pollutes all their actions seeme they never so holy their almes-deedes and workes of charity their righteousnesse and workes of justice their fastings continency and workes of temperance their prayers sacraments sacrifices and workes of pietie the fountaine being poysoned with infidelity and want of true faith all the waters every river and little brooke derived from it carieth the same infection in it which it tooke at the spring Saint Austen is plentifull in this point Where the faith saith he t Lib. 5. cont Faust ca. 11. is fained or unsound non potest ex ea bona vita existere there can no good life be or arise from it In another place u Lib. 1. de Nup. Conc. ca. 3. hee sheweth that even to keepe ones selfe chast or continent and yet to doe this without faith is a sinne and that thereby non peccata coercentur sed alijs peccatis alia peccata vincuntur sinnes are not expelled but one sinne of intemperancy is overcome by another sinne of continency wanting faith To omit many the like heare what he saith to the Manichees boasting as they x Potest homo facere plus quā Deus praecipit igitur multo magis potest implere praeceptum Bell. lib. 4. de Iustif ca. 13. §. Accedant Catholici omnes docent legem dei justis hominibus esse absolutè possibilem lib. eod ca. 10 §. Porr◠of the Romane Church doe that they fulfilled the Law Why y Aust lib. 5. contra Faust ca. 5. doe ye boast so much of fulfilling the Law and commandements of God Quid illa prodessent omnia ubi non est fides vera etiamsi vere implerentur à vobis what could all the commandements profit you who have not a true faith though ye did truly fulfill them all Thus and much more Saint Austen Seeing then we have proved their faith to be not onely unsound but hereticall and Antichristian worse then which the faith of the Manichees could not be impossible it is that from such a faith either true vertue or any godly act should ever arise The best that can be said of those which they call good workes is that which Lactantius saith z In lib. Inst divin ca. 6 of the works of the Ethnikes which like theirs quoad substantiam operis were good Vmbra est imago justitiae quam illi justitiam putaverunt It is but a shadow and shew of justice which they thinke to be justice Omnis a Lib. eod ca. 9. doctrina virtus eorum sine capite est all the knowledge and vertue which they have wanteth the head of true knowledge and vertue It wanteth true faith in Christ which is the head of all knowledge and vertue This head whosoever wanteth Non dubium est quin impius sit omnesque virtutes ejus in illa mortifera via reperiantur quae est tota tenebrarum there 's no doub◠to be made but such an one is impious and all the vertues which hee thinkes he hath are mortiferous and deadly 33. Where againe I cannot but observe to the comfort of all true beleevers another exceeding difference betwixt us and them even in these matters concerning life and good workes whatsoever things are either in themselves good or being of themselves indifferent are by the lawfull authority either of civill or ecclesiasticall governours commanded we in doing any of those things and shewing our willing obedience thereunto performe an act not onely lawfull but laudable and acceptable unto God For in doing any of these we doe vertually performe obedience unto Christ who by them commandeth the doing of all such things and in our religious performing of them we hold firme that holy foundation not onely of faith but of good workes which the scriptures teach Neither onely are such workes acceptable unto God but even those acts also which are wicked and ungodly being committed by such as doe truly beleeve though they be as heinous as was the crime of David or the abjuration of Peter even those I say by the strength and vertue of that foundation if one doe rightly hold and beleeve it are so covered b Peccatum tectum est Psal 32.1 put c Isa 43.25 away and forgotten that God d Numb 23.21 seeth none iniquity in Iacob nor transgression in Israel Such so infinite is the goodnesse and so soveraigne is the vertue
favourer of the Eutychean heresie Vigilius saith the Cardinall d Bell. lib. 4. de Pontif. ca. 10. § Sciendum was here in a great straite for if hee openly professed heresie hee feared the Romanes who would never indure an heretike to sit in Peters Chaire if hee should on the other side professe himselfe a Catholike he feared Theodora the hereticall Empresse that she would not indure him Itaque rationem illam excogitavit therfore he devised this policy and I pray you note it well that e Vt Romae Catholicum ageret et interim per literas apud Jmperatricem haereticum simularet Bell. ibid. at Rome or openly hee would play the Catholike but secretly in his private letters to the Empresse and to Anthimus he would faine himselfe an heretike Thus Bellarmine who fully expresseth the nature and disposition of Pope Vigilius as if hee had not onely felt his pulse but beene in his bosome Hee was indeed another Catiline Simulare ac dissimulare hee could semble and dissemble conceale what indeed hee was seeme to bee what hee was not At Rome and in shew of the world a Catholike at Constantinople and in his secret and close actions an heretike Thus farre the Cardinall saith well but hee is extremely mistaken in one circumstance in that hee saith that his open or Catholike profession was mentall and ex animo and his private and secret detestation of the Catholike faith was verball and fained It was quite contrary his heart and Intrals were all hereticall nothing but his face and outward shew was Catholike for proofe whereof I will not urge that the Pope in this Epistle accurseth and f Qui dicit in Christo duas formas i. naturas et non confitetur unam personá unam essentiam anathema sit Vigil in Epist apud Liber loc cit anathematizeth all who hold the Catholike faith or who beleeve otherwise than Eutyches did for so hee doth also in his other Epistle to the Emperour and Mennas condemne Eutycheanisme and yet it is no commendation for his Holinesse either to curse the Catholike faith or to curse that faith which in his heart hee beleeveth But this I would have considered that Vigilius promised g Adimple nobis quae pronâ voluntate promisisti Anast in vita Vigil under his hand-writing yea hee swore h Conscriptaque jurataque haereticorum defensio Bar. an 540. nu 4. also that he would abolish the Councell of Chalcedon and restore Anthimus for performance whereof hee writ i Vigilius implens promissionē suam quam Augustae fecerat talē scripsit Epistolam Liber ca. 22 that private Epistle which was all that as yet hee could doe Let Bellarmine now say if their Popes doe use to promise and that under their hands yea to sweare also to doe that which they meane not to doe Who may bee beleeved upon their words upon their oathes if not the Popes Holinesse if hee not onely in words and writing but in his solemne oathes equivocate whose oath among all that generation can bee thought simple and without fraud 34. Againe to what end should Pope Vigilius dissemble secretly and among his intire friends such as were Anthimus Theodosius and Severus where or to whom should he truly open himselfe and his inward heart if not to such The first lesson that men of Vigilius metall learne is that of Lucilius k Ex quo citat Lactant. lib. 6. divin Jnst ca. 18. Homini amico ac familiari non est mentiri meum The Priscilians who as S. Austen l Exhortantur suos ad mendacium tanquam exemplis Prophetarum Apostolorum Angelorum et ipsius Christi Aug. lib. contr Mend. ca. 2. shewes were the very teachers of lying and dissembling and who perswaded their fellow heretikes unto that base art and trade yet even they taught that Lucilian lesson and most impiously pretended m Aug. ibid. to collect it out of the words of the Apostle Speake the truth every man to his neighbour for we are members one of another To his neighbour and fellow member sayd they we must speake the truth but to such as are not joyned n Cum eis qui nobis in societate veritatis proximi non sunt neque ut ita dicam commembres nostri sunt Ibid. to us in the neighbourhood or fellowship of the same Religion and who are not of the same body with us to them loqui licet oportetque mendacium to them you may lye nay you must not speake the truth to such Anthimus Severus and Theodosius they were the next neighbours to Vigilius all conjoyned o Grati◠qua nos Deo nostro conjungimur eam fidem quam tenetis et tenuisse me tenere significo ut et anima una sit et cor unum Vig. Epist ad Anth. apud Lib. loc cit and concorporated into Eutycheanisme Had he dissembled with them he had beene worse than the Priscilianists nay worse than the devils themselves for they though they lye to all others yet speake truth among themselves and to Beelzebub otherwise his kingdome could not endure It was Iustinian and the Catholikes who were of a contrary religion to Vigilius there was little or no neighbourhood at all betwixt them they were not concorporall not members of one body with him to them not being his neighbors commembres with him by the rules of that blacke Art he might he ought to lye but to Anthimus and Severus being of one body with him he must speake the truth 35. Further yet looke to that old Cassian rule Cui bono where and with whom was Pope Vigilius to gaine more by his cogging and counterfeiting He had now rightfull possession of the See of Rome which was the onely marke he aymed at What hurt could three deposed Bishops or the Empresse her selfe doe now unto him being backt by the Emperor by all Catholikes and which is best by a good cause what needed he for pleasing them to faine himselfe an heretike Could they thrust Vigilius from his See who could not hold their owne or could the Empresse deprive Vigilius who could not restore Anthimus There was nothing that could move Vigilius to faine himselfe an heretike or to write that hereticall Epistle if he had been in heart a Catholike But being in heart hereticall there was many most urgent and necessary inducements why he should faine himselfe a Catholike Had hee shewed his inside unto the Emperour and the Church had he opened to them the heresie lurking in his brest had he made it knowne that he would abolish the Councell of Chalcedon and the Catholike faith hee had instantly incensed all against him both the Emperour and the Romanes as Bellarmine p Metuebat Romanos qui haereticum sedere nunquam passuri videbantur Bell. loc cit sayth yea the whole Catholike Church would have joyned in the expulsing and deposing of such a wolfe and wretched heretike out of
at Chalcedon The other that by this Epistle they judged Ibas to be a Catholike to which purpose Vigilius writeth thus Iuvenalis would never have said that Ibas was a Catholike nisi ex verbis epistolae ejus confessionem fidei orthodoxam comprobaret Vnles by the words of his Epistle he had proved his faith to be orthodoxall which words evidently shew that Vigilius thought in like sort all the Bishops at Chalcedon to have judged the same by the words of that Epistle for it is certaine that they all embraced Ibas himselfe for a Catholike 13. Hereupon now ensueth the Definitive sentence of Vigilius touching this Chapter in this manner m Ibid. nu 196. We following the judgement of the holy Fathers in all things seeing it is a most cleare and shining truth ex verbis Epistolae venerabilis Ibae by the words of the Epistle of the reverend B. Ibas being taken in their most right and godly sense and by the acts of Photius and Eustathius and by the meaning of Ibas being present that the Fathers at Chalcedon did most justly pronounce the faith of this most reverend Bishop Ibas to be orthodoxall we decree by the authoritie of this our present sentence that the Iudgement of the Fathers at Chalcedon ought to remaine inviolable both in all other things and in this Epistle of Ibas so often mentioned Thus Vigilius decreeing both that this Epistle of Ibas is Catholike that by it by the words thereof Ibas ought to be judged a Catholike both which he decreeth upon this ground that the Councill of Chalcedon as he supposeth had judged the same 14. In the end to ratifie and confirme all that concernes any of these Three Chapters in the Popes Decree he addeth this very remarkable conclusion n Ibid. nu 208. His igitur à nobis cum omni undique cautela atque diligentia dispositis These things being now with all diligence care and circumspection disposed Statuimus et decernimus we ordaine and decree that it shall be lawfull for none pertaining to Orders and ecclesiasticall dignities either to write or speake or teach any thing touching these three Chapters contrary to these things which by this our present Constitution we have taught and decreed aut aliquam post praesentem definitionem movere ulterius quaestionē neither shall it be lawfull for any after this our present definition to move any question touching these Three Chapters But if any thing concerning these Chapters be either done said or written or shall hereafter be done said or written contrary to that which we have here taught and decreed hoc modis omnibus ex authoritate sedis Apostolicae refutamus we by all meanes do reject it by the Authority of the Apostolike See whereof by Gods grace we have now the government So Vigilius 15. Thinke ye not now that any Papist considering this so advised elaborate and Apostolicall decree of Pope Vigilius will be of opinion that there was now a finall end of this matter and that all doubt concerning these Three Chapters was for ever now removed seeing the supreme Iudge had published for a direction to the whole Church his definitive Apostolicall and infallible sentence in this cause what needeth the Councill either to judge or so much as debate this matter after this Decree To define the same was needlesse more then to light a candle when the Sunne shineth in his strength To define the contrary were Hereticall yea after such an authenticall decision and determination to be doubtfull o Dubius in fide infidelis est lib. 5. Dec. tit 7. de haereticis onely what to beleeve hath the censure of an Infidell But thrice happy was it for the Church of God that this doctrine of the Popes supreme authoritie and infallible Iudgement was not then either knowne or beleeved Had it beene the Nestorians and their heresie had for ever prevailed the Catholike faith had beene utterly extinguished and that without all hope or possibility ever after this to have beene revived seeing Vigilius by his Apostolicall authoritie had stopt all mens mouthes from speaking tyed their hands from writing yea and their very hearts from beleeving or thinking ought contrary to his Constitution made in defence of the Three Chapters wherein he hath confirmed all the Blasphemies of Nestorius and that by a Decree more irrevocable then those of the Medes and Persians Had the holy Council at that time assembled beleeved or knowne that doctrine of the Popes supremacie and infallible Iudgement they would not have proceeded one inch further in that businesse but shaking hands with Heretickes they and the whole Church with them had beene led in triumph by the Nestorians at that time under the conduct of Pope Vigilius 16. And by this you may conjecture that Binius had great reason to conceale the later part of the Popes decree for he might well thinke as any papist will that it were a foule incongruitie to set downe three intire Sessions of an holy and generall Council not onely debating this controversie of faith about the Three Chapters but directly also contradicting the Popes definitive sentence in them all notwithstanding they knew the Pope by his Apostolicall authoritie to have delivered his Iudgement and by the same authoritie to have forbidden all men either to write or speak or to move any doubt to the contrary of that which he had now decreed But let us see by a view of the particulars and of their following Sessions how this Cathedrall sentence of the Pope was entertained by the holy generall Councill CAP. 4. That the holy generall Councill in their Synodall Iudgement contradicted the Popes Apostolicall Constitution and definitive sentence in that cause of faith made knowne unto them 1. IN the sixt which was the very next Sessions after they had knowne the Popes will and pleasure contrary to the Apostolicall authoritie and command of Vigilius the Holy Synod began to examine the Epistle of Ibas for the causes of Theodorus and of Theodoret were sufficiently discussed in their former Collations And first of all alledging a saying of the Emperour to which themselves doe assent they thus say which being well observed gives light to the whole cause and openeth both the error of Vigilius and the ground thereof Because a Col. 6. pa. 561. a. the most holy Emperor added among those things which he writ unto us that some indevouring to defend the Epistle of Ibas presume to say that it was approved by the holy Councill of Chalcedon using the words of one or two most religious Bishops who were in that Councill as spoken for that Epistle cum alij omne◠whereas all the rest were of another minde we thinke it needfull this question being proposed to recite the Epistle of Ibas Thus said the Synod even at the first calling the Popes judgement Presumption and checking him both for pretending the Councill of Chalcedon and for alledging the Interlocutions of one or two
of all ages speaking by the mouthes of al general Councels of Fathers of Popes of al Catholikes this holy Church condemneth and accurseth the assertion of Pope Vigilius The Cardinall was too diminutive in his extenuations when he spake so faintly The holy Church doth not so generally receive it 11. Let us beare with the Cardinals tendernesse of heart the Popes sores must not be touched but with soft and tender hands Seeing the Cardinall hath brought the Pope and the holy Church to be at ods and at an unreconciliable contradiction the Pope denying the Church affirming that a man after his death may noviter be condemned it is well worth the labour to examine whether part the Cardinall himselfe will take in this quarrell you may be sure the choyce on either part was very hard for him he hath here a worse matter than a wolfe by the eares This is dignus vindice nodus a point which will trie the Cardinals art wisdome piety constancy and faire dealing And in very deed he hath herein plaid Sir Politike would be above the degree of commendation The Cardinall is a man of peace hee loves not to displease either the Pope or the Church he knew that to provoke either of them would bring an armie of waspes about his eares and therfore very gravely wisely and discreetly he takes part with them both and though their assertions bee directly contradictory he holds them both to be true and takes up an hymne of Omnia bene to them both 12. First he sheweth that the Church saith right in this manner Although h Bar. an 553. nu 185. it be proved that one dyed in the peace of the Church and yet it doe afterwards appeare that in his writings he defended a condemned heresie and continuing in that heresie died therein and but dissemblingly cōmunicate with the Church the holy Church useth to condemne such a man jure even by right Having said as much as can bee wished on the Churches part the Cardinall will now teach that the Pope also saith right in this manner Pope Vigilius i Bar. an 553. nu 233. had many worthy reasons for his defence of the Three Chapters by his Constitution and among those worthy reasons this is one for if this were once admitted that a man who dyeth in the communion of the Church might after his death be condemned pateret ostium this would open such a gap that every ecclesiasticall writer though hee dyed in the Catholike Communion may yet after his death out of his writings be condemned for an heretike Thus Baronius 13. O what a golden and blessed age was this that brought forth such a Cardinall The Church decreeth that a man after his death may noviter be condemned for an heretike and it decreeth aright The Pope decreeth the quite contrary that no man after his death may noviter be condemned for an heretike and hee also decreeth aright and with good reason So both the Church saith well the Pope saith well you can say no lesse then Et vitula tu dignus hic or because the Cardinall saith better than they both and what Iupiter himselfe could never doe makes two contradictory sayings to be both true and both said well hee best deserveth let him have all the prize Vitula tu dignus utrâque 14. I told you before and this ensuing treatise will make it as cleare as the Sunne that Baronius having once lost the path forsaken that truth where only sure footing was to be found wandreth up and downe in and out in this cause as in a wildernesse treading on nothing but thornes wherewith feeling himselfe prickt he skips hither and thither for succour but still lights on briars and brambles which doe not onely gall but so intangle him that by no meanes he can ever extricate or unwinde himselfe for if one listed to make sport with the Cardinall it clearly and certainly followeth that if the Church say true then the Pope saying the contrary doth say untrue Againe if the Pope say true then the Church saying the contrary doth say untrue and then upon the Cardinals saying that they both say true it certainly followeth that neither of them both say true and yet further that both of them say both true and untrue and yet that neither of them both saith either truth or untruth 15. But leaving the Cardinall in these bryars seeing by the upright and unpartiall judgement of the whole Catholike Church of all ages we have proved the Popes decree herein to be erroneous and because it is in a cause of faith heretical let us a little examine the two reasons on which Vigilius groundeth this his assertion The former is taken from those words of our Saviour k Matth. 18.18 whatsoever ye binde on earth whence as you have seene Vigilius and as he saith Gelasius also collecteth that such as are not on earth or alive cannot be judged by the Church 16. The answer is not hard our Saviours words being well considered are so farre from concluding what Vigilius or Gelasius or both doe thence collect that they clearly and certainly doe enforce the quite contrary for he said not Whatsoever yee binde or loose concerning those that are on earth or living in which sense Vigilius tooke them but Whatsoever concerning either the living or dead ye my Apostles and your successors being upon earth or during your life time shall binde or loose the same according to your censure here passed upon earth shall by my authority bee ratified in heaven The restrictive termes upon earth are referred to the parties who doe binde or loose not to the parties who are bound or loosed The generall terme whatsoever is referred to the parties who are bound or loosed whether they be dead or alive not to the parties who binde or loose who are onely alive and upon earth Nor doth our Saviour say Whatsoever yee seeme to binde or loose here upon earth shall bee bound or loosed in heaven for ecclesiae clave errante no censure doth or can either binde or loose either the quicke or the dead but he saith Whatsoever ye doe binde or loose if the party be once truly and really bound or loosed by you that are upon earth it shall stand firme and bee ratified by my selfe in heaven So the parties who doe binde or loose are the Apostles and their successors onely while they are upon earth the parties who are bound or loosed are any whosoever whether alive or dead the partie who ratifieth their act in binding and loosing is Christ himselfe in heaven For I say unto you whatsoever ye binde on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever yee loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven 17. This exposition is clearly warranted by the judgement of the whole catholike Church which as we have before declared both beleeved taught and practised this authority of binding and loosing not onely upon the living but upon the
any Pope either by word or writing either hath already or shall at any time hereafter define to be a doctrine of faith Because I will not stay on particulars if any please seriously to consider this matter hee shall perceive that which now I intend to prove such venome of infidelity to lye in that one fundamentall position of the Popes Cathedrall infallibility that by reason of holding it they neither doe nor can beleeve or hold with certaintie of faith any one point or doctrine which they professe to beleeve and hold upon that Foundation 20. For the clearing of which point being very materiall it is to be observed that unto certainty of faith two things are of necessity required The one ex parte objecti on the part of thing beleeved which must be so true and certaine in it selfe that it cannot possibly bee or have beene otherwise then it is beleeved to be to have beene or to be hereafter And therefore none can truly beleeve any untruth for nothing which is untrue is or can be the object of faith The other thing is required ex parte subjecti on the part of him who beleeveth Now faith being onely of such things as are inevident that is which neither by sense can be perceived nor by naturall reason collected or found out but which are onely by the testimonie of such as first knew them made knowne unto us and none doth or can know that which is supernaturall unlesse God himselfe reveale the same unto him it hence followeth that whatsoever is by any beleeved the same is revealed and testified to him by God himselfe who is infallible and further that it is certainly knowne unto him who beleeveth that it is God himselfe who doth reveale and testifie that thing unto him For otherwise though the doctrine proposed be in it selfe never so certaine and divine yet unto thee or me it cannot be certaine nor held by certainty of faith unlesse first we be sure and infallibly certaine that he who testifieth it unto us is himselfe infallible that is that he is God Let us for perspicuity call the former of these two materiale fidei the materiall in faith or the thing beleeved and the later formale fidei that which is formall in faith seeing as the former is the thing beleeved so the later containes the reason the ground or foundation upon which and for which it is beleeved 21. Consider now first the materials in their faith In them there is a great difference for some of them are in themselves credible as being divine truths and true objects of faith Such are all those Catholike truths common to us and them as that there is a Trinity that Christ was borne of a Virgin dyed rose againe and the like Others are in themselves untrue such as cannot be the object of faith Of this sort are all those doctrines wherin they dissent from us Transubstantiation reall and proper sacrifice worshipping of Images Purgatory Iustification by the merit or dignity of our works and the like which may rightly bee called popish doctrines The later sort of these they neither doe nor can beleeve The former they might but they doe not beleeve The reason whereof will appeare by considering that which is formall or the fundamentall ground of their faith where it is first to be observed that a man may hold many yea all the doctrines professed by the present Church except that one of the Popes Cathedrall infallibility and yet bee no Papist or member of their present Church For although the things professed or the Materialls be the selfe same yet the formalitie or diverse reason of holding them causeth a maine difference in the parties that hold them And for our present purpose it may suffice to note three divers wayes whereby their doctrines are or may be held 22. The first is of them who build all those doctrines upon the Scripture as the Foundation thereof upon that ground holding not onely many Catholike truths which they most firmly beleeve the Church inducing the Scriptures outwardly teaching and the holy Spirit inwardly sealing the same unto them but together with those truths hold some errors also of the Romane Church take for example Transubstantiation which although for the inducement of that present Church wherein they live they thinke to be taught in the Scriptures and therefore hold and professe them and thinke they beleeve them yet because they are neither in truth taught in the Scriptures nor sealed by Gods Spirit unto their hearts therefore they hold not these nor in truth can they hold them with that firmnesse and certainty of faith as they doe the former truths but they have a faintnes and feare in their assent unto these and so a readines and willing preparation of heart to disclaime these and to hold or professe the contrary if ever it may be fully cleared manifested out of the Scriptures unto them Of this sort we doubt not but many thousands of our fathers were who living in the darknesse thicke mists of their Antichristian superstition upon the Scriptures word of God which they held for the foundation of their saith builded indeed much gold precious stones but with a mixture of much hay stubble drosse thinking but very erroneously the later as well as the former to be contained in that foundation The state of all these is very like to S. Cyprians and those other Africane Bishops which were so earnest for Rebaptizatiō supposing it to be taught in the Scriptures though the foundation of it of those catholike truths that Christ was God or the like was one and the same unto them yet they held not both with like firmnes certainty of faith The doctrine of Christs deity manhood they so beleeved that they would not cōmunicate with any that denied this nay they would rather die then deny it But Rebaptization they so held as not thinking their opposites to be heretikes nor refusing p Haecre scripsimus nemini praescribentes aut praejudicantes quo minus unusquisque quod putaverit faciat habent liberam arbitrij sui facultatē Nos autem cum Collegis nostris non contendimus cum quibus divinam dominicam pacem tenemus Cyp. Epist ad Iubaian in fine vid. August lib. 5. de Baptis ca. 17. to cōmunicate with thē that denyed it so they held this with a certaine faintnes of faith or rather as indeed it was of opinion and not of faith having a preparation in heart to beleeve and professe the contrary if it might at any time be made manifest unto them This S. Austen often witnesseth of Cyprian Satis q Lib. 2. de Baptis ca. 4. ostendit se facillime correcturum he sufficiently declareth that hee would most easily have altered his opinion if any would have demonstrated the truth unto him Againe r Lib. 4 ca. 5. That holy man Cyprian being non solum doctus sed docilis not onely
those subsequent confirmations whether by succeeding Councels or absent Bishops and that was that every one should thereby either testifie his orthodoxy in the faith or else manifest himselfe to bee an heretike For as the approving of the six generall Councels and their decrees of faith did witnesse one to be a Catholike in those doctrines so the very refusing to approve or confirme any one of those Councels or their decrees of faith was ipso facto without any further examination of the cause an evident conviction that he was a condemned heretike such an one as in the pride and pertinacie of his heart rejected that holy synodall judgement which all the whole catholike Church and every member thereof even himselfe also had implicitè before confirmed and approved In which respect an heretike may truly bee called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being convicted and condemned not onely by the evidence of truth and by synodall sentence but even by that judgment which his owne selfe had given implicitè in the decree of the Councell The summe is this The former confirmation by the Bishops present in the Synod is Iudiciall the later confirmation by the Bishops who are absent is Pacificall The former is authoritativè such as gives the whole authority to any decree the later whether by succeeding Councels or absent Bishops is Testificativè such as witnesseth them to be orthodoxall in that decree The former joyned to the Imperiall confirmation is Essentiall which essentially makes both the Councell an approved Councel all the decrees therof approved synodal and Oecumenicall decrees the later is accidentall which being granted by a Bishop doth much grace himselfe but little or nothing the Synod and being denyed by any doth no whit at all either disgrace the Synod or impare the dignity and authority thereof but doth extreamely disgrace the partie himselfe who denyeth it and puls downe upon him both the just censures of the Church and those civill punishments which are due to heretikes or contumacious persons 38. My conclusion now is this Seeing this fift Councell was both for the calling generall and for the proceeding therin lawfull and orderly and seeing although it wanted the Popes consent yet it had the concurrence of those two confirmations before mentioned Episcopall and Imperiall in which is included the Oecumenicall approbation of the whole catholike Church it hence therefore ensueth that as from the first assembling of the Bishops it was an holy a lawfull and Oecumenicall Councell so from the first pronouncing of their synodall sentence and the Imperiall assent added thereunto it was an approved generall Councell approved by the whole catholike Church and so approved that without any expresse consent of the Pope added unto it it was of as great worth dignity and authoritie as if all the Popes since S. Peters time had with their owne hands subscribed unto it And this may suffice to satisfie the fourth and last exception which Baronius devised to excuse Vigilius from heresie CAP. XIX The true notes to know which are generall and lawfull and which either are not generall or being generall are no lawfull Councels with divers examples of both kindes 1. THAT which hath beene said in the former Chapter is sufficient to refute that cavill of Baronius against the fift Councell whereby he pretends it to have neither been a general nor a lawfull Synod because the Pope resisted the assembling and contradicted the decree and sentence thereof but for as much as it is not victory but truth which I seeke and the full satisfaction of the reader in this cause and seeing this point about the lawfulnesse of generall Councels is frequent and very obvious and such as being rightly conceived will give great light to this whole controversie about Councels I will crave liberty to lanch somewhat further into this deepe and explane with what convenient brevity I can what it is which maketh any Synod to bee or rightly to be esteemed a generall and lawfull Councell 2. As the name of Synod doth in his primary and large acception agree to every assembly so doth the name of Councell to every assembly of consultation The former being derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is all one with Coetus and imports the assembly of any multitude which meeteth and commeth together The later being derived of Cilia a Concilium dictuÌ„ à communi intentione â—o quod in unum omnes dirigant mentis obtutuÌ„ Cilia enim oculorum sunt Isiod Mer. in suam Canon collect whence also supercilium imports the common or joynt intending or bending their eyes both of body and minde to the investigation of the truth in that matter which is proposed in their assembly But both of those words being now drawne from those their large and primitive significations are by Ecclesiasticall writers and use of speech penes quem jus est norma loquendi restrained and appropriated onely to those assemblies of Bishops and Ecclesiasticall persons wherein they come together to consult of such matters as concernes either the faith or discipline of the Church Of these because some are lawfull others unlawfull Synods if we can finde what it is which maketh a generall and lawfull Councell it will bee easie therby to discerne which are unlawfull Synods seeing it is vulgarly and truly said that Rectum is index sui obliqui 3. That a Synod be generall and lawfull there are three things necessarily and even essentially required the want of any one of which is a just barre and exception why that Synod is either not generall or not lawfull The first which concernes the generalitie is that the calling and summons to the Councell be generall and Oecumenicall so that all Bishops be called and when they are come have free accesse to the same Councell unlesse for some fault of their owne or some just reason they ought to bee debarred For if the calling to any Synod bee out of some parts onely of the Church and not out of the whole the judgement also of such a Councell is but partiall not generall and the Councell is but particular not Oecumenicall seeing some of those who have judicatory power are either omitted or unjustly excluded from the Synod The want of this was a just exception taken by the Pope Iulius against that Councell of Antioch b Extat tom 1. Conc. pa. 420. wherein Athanasius was deposed by the Arian faction and Gregory of Cappadocia intruded into his See why it neither was nor could be esteemed generall or such as should binde the whole Church by the decrees made by it for said Iulius c Apud Socr. l. 2 ca. 13. et Zozom lib. 3. ca. 9. they did against the Canons of the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they did not so much as call him to that Synod whereas the Canons of the Church forbid that any decree which should have power to binde the whole Church should bee made without the sentence judgement and
to be a testimony of the Resurrection belike because that Saint Iames shall then reade this holy Apostolicall Epistle n Hac epistola potius ad Simeonem qui etiam frater Domini dicitur scripta est in titulum epistolae mendose vox Iacobum irrepsit Bin. notis in epist 1. Clem. and see what t Ita certè est ut isti dicunt non potuisse ignorare Petrum fuisse jam ante annos 8. Iacobum mortuum ibid. pa. 208. godly exhortation and advice for government of the Church Clement gives unto him and such like in the end he concludes p Catholici vero si qui sint c. pa. 215. that such as are Catholikes must not doubt q Etiamsi unde aut quomodo ad nos profecta sint nesciamus tamē propter antiquorum authoritatem ita tenemus ut de eis dubitare nefas esse existimemus Ibid. of the truth of this Epistle though they know not the reason why it was written to a dead man and withall that with men who have reason and judgement certum esse debet such must assure themselves that both S. Peter and Clement had and knew reasons why the one commanded to write and the other did write unto a dead man Whereas now the Cardinals worthy demonstration Had hee and Binius beene men of reason and judgement and considered as no doubt but they read that tract of Turrian seeing unto it they referre us they might have seene therein divers reasons why Theodoret might write to Iohn though he were dead for every one of Turrians reasons is as forcible to defend this Epistle of Theodoret as they are to excuse Clement for writing to Iames who was dead long before But the case is now altered the Cardinals demonstration holds onely in those writings that distaste him or make for us and against their cause But si in rem sint if any such writing bring as all the decretals doe either honour to the Romane See or gaine to the Romane Court though they were writ to one that was dead I say not seven but seven times seven yeares before they shall bee honoured as the true and undoubted writings of the authors 3. Let mee adde but one other example but that is such an one as doth cut all the sinewes yea the very heart-strings of the Cardinals demonstration The translation of Chrysostomes body or reliques by Theodosius the younger more than thirty yeares after his death from Comana where hee dyed in banishment to Constantinople is a matter so testified by Socrates r Lib. 7. ca. 44. Theodoret ſ Lib. 5. ca. 36. Marcellimus t in suo Chron. an 438. the great Menology u Die 27. Ianu. their Romane Martyrology x Die 27. Ian. and others that we doe not doubt of the truth therof But since it is y Inde postea Romam translatum est Martyr Rom. Ibid. retranslated as they say from Constantinople to Rome the onely shop indeed to utter all such ware and make the people goe a whoring after them That those his supposed reliques may be have in reverence it is worthy the considering how miraculously they had made the manner of his Translation Nicephorus z Lib. 14. ca. 43. relates the summe of it but as by Baronius a Recitat idem Cosmas literas à quibus puto Nicephorum exscripsisse Bar. an 438. nu 8. it seemes he borrowed it out of the luculent Oration of one Cosmas Vestiarius whether one of the Vaticane b Habimus eum Cosma sermonem in nostrâ Bibliotheca discriptū Bar. an not in Martyr Ro◠Jan. 27. et an 438. nu 7. or a Baronian author I know not but so ignoble and so unworthy an author that Possevine judged him not worthy to bee named in his Bibliotheca or reckoned among his testes veritatis Out of this Tailors Oration hath the Cardinall c An. 438. stitcht a very pretty Anile the summe whereof is this Proclus on a time making a panegyricall Oration in the praise of Chrysostome the people were so flamed with the love and longing desire after him that they interrupted the Bishop and would not suffer him to make an end of his Sermon crying out with many loud vociferations they would have Chrysostome Chrysostome and his reliques they would have Proclus moved herewith intreates the Emperour the Emperour at this their earnest sute sent divers Senators some d Misit exercitum militum una cum clericis Georg. Patriar Alex. in vita Chrysostomi fol. 77. say an army together with Clerks and Monkes to bring with all pompe the body of Chrysostome from Comana thither they goe and come to the place where Chrysostomes body was kept in a silver Coffin Once againe b Jn thecâ argentea sacra Iohannis pignora asservabantur inde ea auferre et deferre conantibus nemine resistente minimè concessum fuit ressaepe frustra tentata Bar. an 438. nu 8 and very often they assay yea labor strive with all their strength w th all their skil to lift up the Coffin all was in vaine the sacred body c Sacro corpore instar silicis loco inhaerescente et immobili permanente Jbid. was more immoveabl than a rock they certifie this news to the Emperor who called Proclus other holy men to advise further about that matter in the end the resolution of them all d Imperatoris sententia ab omnibus aequae pro bata atque laudata fuit Jbid. was that the Emperour Theodosius should write a Letter to Chrysostome Supplicis instar libelli in forme of a supplication asking him forgivenesse for the sinnes which Arcadius his father had committed against him humilibus praecibus to beseech him with most lowly prayers that hee would returne to Constantinople and take his old See againe praying him that hee would no longer by his absence afflict them being so desirous of his body yea of his ashes yea of his shadow The Emperour did so the forme of whose letter of supplication out of the Tailor Cosmas first Nicephorus and then Baronius expresse though the Cardinall for good cause was loath to give Chrysostome the title of a Patriarke and Pater Patrum which Nicephorus c Johanni aurei oris Patriarchiae Nic. lo. cit et At tu pater patrum c. Ib. sets downe those either the Tailor or the Cardinall concealeth or altereth The Emperours letters were sent and brought to the dead corps and with great reverence laid upon the brest and heart of Chrysostome and the next day the Priests with great ease took up the body and brought it to Constantinople into the Church of the holy Apostles There first as out of Nicephorus the Cardinal relateth the Emperour with the people supplex communem precationem pro Parentibus fecit made an humble prayer for his Parents and more specially entreated for his Mother that her grave f
persevering therein eternally shuts against them the gates of Gods mercy and the kingdome of heaven Both which because they are hid from mans eyes the Church leaving the judgement of certainty and verity onely to God passeth her sentence which is the judgement of charity by the outward and apparent acts which are open unto them whomsoever shee seeth not nor findes by certaine and evident proofe to have manifested the detestation and revocation of their hereticall and impious writings which before they published and maintained all those though dead ten an hundred or a thousand years before she by her censure doth and doth most justly condemne accurse and anathematize as by her sentence against Theodorus of Mopsvestia dead an hundred yeares before is most evident whose condemnation and anathema pronounced by the fift Councell is approved by all succeeding generall Councels by all Catholikes and even by the whole Catholike Church Nor will I here dispute whether such a sentence doth not sometimes passe errante clave the party having repented whom they not having proofe of his repentance thought to dye impenitent but howsoever that fall out none may justly complaine of the Churches judgement as unjust or unequall herein for besides that it is presumed that those who so notoriously and publikely by their hereticall writings doe scandalize the Church and people of God if they had seriously repented would have expressed some publike and outward testimony of the same the Church would by this severity of her censure teach all men a lesson which is very hard to learne first that they should not have such an itch and ambitious desire to write or utter those detestable heresies which lurk within their breasts or if they cannot observe that yet at least to learne to be so lowly and humble in heart as to revoke their impieties and blasphemies although to some blemish and disgrace of themselves yet to the great honour of Gods truth and the satisfaction and edification of the holy Church which they had scandalized If in ambition they will first oppugne the truth and then in a worse pride of heart not be reclamed to the truth nor shew their love unto it why should not the Church by her most charitable judgement shew her open detestation of their persons who in the insolency of their hearts will not shew any open detestation of their heresies That Vigilius writ a papall Constitution in defence of heresie it is apparent and undenyable that he at any time revoked that writing I wish it were but it is not yet evident The like may be sayd of Baronius of Pighius of Eccius of the Laterane Florentine and Trent conspirators of all who have whet their tongues against other truth and specially to uphold that fundamentall heresie of the Popes infallibility Their writings for heresie are evident that they ever reclamed those writings it is inevident and if ever they and their cause come to bee tryed in such a free lawfull and oecumenicall Councell as was this fift under Iustinian they may justly feare and certainly expect from the Church unlesse the disclaming of their writings may by certaine proofe be made knowne the very like sentence though a hundred yeares after theirs as passed upon Theodorus of Mopsvestia an hundred yeares after his death And because the houre-glasse for repentance is runne out to the former all that we can doe is which I seriously now doe from my heart to cry amaine unto others to admonish exhort yea even pray and entreat them by the mercies of God and by the love of their owne soules first that they keepe their tongues and pennes from once uttering any heresie or if they have not done that with the same hands to give the medicine wherewith they gave the wound and as openly nay much more openly to disclame than they have ever proclamed their impious and hereticall doctrines 53. You have now some view both of the life and death of Vigilius The exact pourtraiture of the Popes lives Baronius had beene able to set forth if he had listed but he addeth such fucos and so many sophisticall colours that indeed scarce you shall see any one of them in his Annals set out in his native and naturall habit If ought be amisse in this our description and not set forth according to the lively lineaments of Vigilius and his impieties the equall reader will not too rigorously censure the same I acknowledge that I can but dolare in this kinde to polish and set forth the lively image of their Popes I have not learned That is an Art which may not bee too vulgar lest their Romane policies be too farre divulged But by this it is easie to perceive what a silly excuse it is which Baronius useth in this cause blaming Vigilius for coming to Constantinople as if not the Popes owne hereticall minde but the ayre of Constantinople had wrought such effects as to produce that hereticall and yet as they count it Apostolicall Constitution in defence of the Three Chapters FINIS Laus Deo sine fine Errata haec corrigat benevolus Lector In Textu Pag. 48. lin 2. read Theodorus ibid. lin 9. diptisis p. 509. l. 14. eos p. 99. l. 3. John B. p. 125. l. 38. Catholikes p. 141 l. 35. Binius he was p. 145. l. 39. Son of God p. 163. prope finem substances p. 164. l. 5. explanation p. 172. l. 20. of the Pope p. 182. l. 45. their present p. 199. prope finem Catholicae p. 216. l. 17. it p. 224. l. 25. Popes p. 227. l. 5. yeeld p. 289. l. 33. the. p. 350. l. 30. aequiparare p. 425. l. 8. where is ibid. l. 27. Commana ibid. Marcellinus l. 42. inflamed p. 442. in fine Euphemia p. 462. l. 11. quarrels with Pope p. 465. l. 35. all this time p. 478. l. 23. it was written p. 495. l. 37. poysoner of p. 500. l. 35. right hand In Margine Pa. 9. lit c lege Marsorum p. 67. lit e Antioâ—henum p. 233. lit s emissam ibid. lit c corruptè p. 409. lit c commentitias supposititias p. 410. lit q Consilij 5. p. 437. lit l Concil 5. Coll. 5. AN ALPHABETICALL TABLE OF THE CHIEFE THINGS CONTAINED IN THIS TREATISE A. ACts in Councels not so intire but there may be faults from the exscriber pag. 433. Sect. 17 18. Acts of the fift Councell unjustly excepted against by Baronius pa. 379. sect 3 4. Agnoites and other sectaries called Acephali p. 3. sect 6. Agapetus lost nothing by the Emperours presence p. 464. sect 5. Antichrist the Pope first Antichrist nascent secondly crescent thirdly regnant fourthly in their Laterane Councell he was Antichrist triumphant pa. 186. sect 24. Anthimus a Catholike in shew and outward profession p. 157. sect 4. Anastasius narration not helped by Binius p. 458. sect 23. Anastasius a fabler p. 256. sect 23. and pa. 447. sect 12. c. The Author of that Apologicall Epistle published Anno 1601. a vaunting