proceed SECT II. A further Declaration of the Sanctity taught and practis'd in the Roman Church OUr Creed assures us that Holiness is a badge of the true Church that being one Article of the twelve I believe the Holy Catholick Church The Psalmist tells us That Holiness Beautifies the House of Ps l. 92. God for ever We learn from our Blessed Saviour That a tree is known Mat. 7. 16 17 18. by its fruit and therefore as a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit so a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit The great Apostle of the Gentiles informs us That Christ gave himself Eph 5. 26 27. for his Church cleansing her by the laver of Baptism in his word that he might present her to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle but that she might be holy and unspotted And beside Precepts the Evangelical Law doth councel us to walk in a way of sublime perfection by following Christ our Master with no ordinary Cross on our shoulders which Protestants think insupportable yea impossible and 't is so indeed to flesh and blood But he who invites us to it hath born the burden of it himself that it might become not only tolerable but easie and delightful to willing Souls Else we had never heard from his Sacred Lips Qui potest capere capiat He Mat. 19. â—2 that can receive it let him receive it After he had told us of those who make themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven And afterwards If thou wilt be perfect go and ver 21. sell all that thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven and come and follow me And to make this Heavenly Counsel more operative assures us That whosoever forsakes House or Brethren ver 29. or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for his Name sake shall receive a hundred fold and also inherit everlasting life Now the rayes of this sublime Holiness do not only shine forth gloriously in the Lives of Catholicks among whom multitudes of Souls enflamed with the fire of Divine Love by forsaking whatsoever is near and dear to flesh and blood by a generous and wonderful contempt of the World the Honours Riches and Glory of it by Crucifying even the Lawful Pleasures of the Flesh by a perfect abnegation of their Wills in exact obedience to Spiritual Directors by wholly devoting themselves to a Life of Spirituality in the continual exercises of Prayer and Mortification Do perfect Holiness in the fear of God These are those Angels on earth who make themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven who breathing after perfection and panting after Glory make God their only Treasure who with Mary chusing the better part which shall never be taken from them do forsake all things whatsoever to follow Christ These are those Virgin-Souls Who cleansing 2 Cor. 7. 1. themselves from all defilements of Flesh and Spirit or as St. Paul elsewhere Phrases it Sollicitous to be holy in Body and Spirit are altogether 1 Cor. 7. 32 c. busied about the things of our Lord how they may please him Who spend their lives in voluntary Afflictions in wonderful Austerities in much Patience in admired Chastity in Love unfeigned in profound Humility in Watchings and Fastings in Solitude and Silence in Prayer and Contemplation in abstraction from Temporal Affairs that no ordinary pollutions of sin contracted by conversing with the World may sully the purity of their hearts which only makes them precious in the Eyes of their Spiritual Bridegroom and in a most inexpressible manner united to him And indeed by these means vigorously prosecuted with perseverance they at length arrive to such a transcendency and forgetfulness of all created things to such a contempt and annihilation of themselves to such a Heavenly-mindedness and attention to God only to such glorious manifestations of him to such a gustful knowledge of his infinite perfections to such an experimental apprehension of the Divine presence within them to such an unspeakable fruition and repose in him with the full extent of their wills that in a manner they become deify'd and enjoy as much of Heaven as Souls are capable of in mortal Bodies Which most intime union and communion with God so sublime and ravishing none either are not can be partakers of who walk not in the use of the same means whereby it only is attainable For purity of heart is a necessary and the immediate disposition to divine union and according to the degrees of Holiness in the Soul this glorious union is more or less participated Now the nature of Sanctity consisting in a separation as well of persons as things and places from profane and common uses with a special reference to God or as some explain it importing principally two things First Purity in being wash'd from the filth of sin and drain'd from the polluting commixture of terene dregs which the Greeks had an eye to in expressing a Saint by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is one without Earth Secondly Firmness and Stability in the wayes of God it necessarily follows that those Happy Souls more especially attain to this transcendent union with God who become perfect Nazarites in separating themselves from the World and the things of it that they may the better love and please and serve God with all their Heart with all their Mind and with all their Strength And to confirm their Wills in these endeavours after the perfecting of Holiness do by Religious vows offer themselves to God that he may be wholly theirs and they wholly his for Time and for Eternity Now I appeal to Protestants themselves whether these means of Sanctity are to be found among them who not only practice not but deride and Scoff at this sublime way to perfection in the Church of Rome making themselves merry with our Devotions But as Wisdom so Holiness is manifested by effects in her Children And there needs no more to testify who is their Father And if any doubt whether such earnest endeavours after Holiness and this sublime way of walking with God by having our Conversation in a manner continually in Heaven while we are on earth be the constant Doctrine of the Roman Church if they will be pleased to consult Catholick Authors they may receive abundant satisfaction from that incomparable Book of the imitation of Christ the Heavenly Writings of St. Francis de Sales Bishop of Geneva the excellent Works of Ludovicus Granatensis so famous for practical Divinity that sublime Piece of Spirituality the Scale of Perfection and to name no more Sancta Sophia for Books of this nature are infinite And if they desire to see the best Commentaries of such Heavenly Doctrines in those happy Countries where Catholick Religion is publickly profess'd they may waving the failures of some who like as in the Colledge of the Apostles such is humane weakness deviate from
Salvation Is therefore Faith excluded No doubtless For without Heb. 11. 6 Faith 't is impossible to please God Or because The Just shall live by Rom. 1. 17. Faith are not good works necessary What means then St. Paul to tell us That though we have all Faith 1 Cor 13. 1 2 c. without Charity tt profiteth us nothing He also teaches us That whosoever Rom. 10. 9 c. calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved Is it therefore enough of it self to bring a man to Heaven The Truth is Prayer saves us good Works save us Faith saves us Hope saves us and therefore properly enough they are said to do it severally though only conjointly they are sufficient And when St. John tells us He writ the Life and Death of Jesus Christ that thorough Faith in his Name we might be saved He little dream'd that in after Ages a Generation of men would arise that should affirm he taught That his Gospel did comprise in particular all fundamental points of Faith sufficient for the Salvation of mankind To that in Timothy I answer First 't is evident by the Gontext that the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament being such as Timothy had learn'd from his Childhood when little if any of the New could be written and divulg'd out of which I am confident our Adversaries will not pretend to determine all points of Catholick Doctrine acknowledg'd by themselves necessary to Salvation which quite overthrows their Argument from this place Secondly suppose we should grant it to be understood of the Scriptures of the New Covenant yet it will not follow from hence that therefore they are a compleat and perfect Rule of Faith whereby to judge all Doctrines whether they be revealed verities or not when from the 4th Verse 't is clear to any understanding eye that St. Paul exhorts Timothy to hold constant to the Faith received principally upon the tenure of Tradition Which is our Catholick Rule and to which we must stick close as he elsewhere teaches us Though an Angel Gal. 1. from Heaven should preach the contrary This Timothy was to do this Traditionary Depositum he was to keep whether ne had been ver'd or no in the Old Scriptures or any New written and deposited in the Church Yet withall he puts in mind of a peculiar advantage to confirm his Faith received by Oral Tradition And make him a perfect man of God or Bishop throughly furnish'd unto all good works proper to his Pastoral Office in that from his Infancy he had been brought up in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures which are able to make men wise unto Salvation through Faith in Jesus Christ and are profitable for Teaching for Arguing for Reproving for Instructing in Righteousness the Flock committed to his Charge And thus indeed it makes against themselves and for us highly who makes use of Scripture for a Rule of Faith as regulated and expounded by Tradition But to force the words to speak what they would prove from hence cannot be without manifest absurdity and contradiction As if the Apostle should say Timothy continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them And yet do not trust Oral Tradition though from the mouth of an Apostle but the Scriptures only for your Religion Thirdly weigh well the words themselves in the ballance of right Reason and they will easily be found too light to carry the cause on their side All Scripture divinely inspired is profitable for teaching for arguing for reproving for instructing in Righteousness c. True 't is so taken collectively yea distributively every verse of Scripture is profitable for some such end and purpose as is here specified And what then Therefore it is sufficient to regulate our Faith in all points necessary to Salvation and to determine all Controversies in Religion Good God! As if what is profitable for our Salvation must presently be sufficient for all things required to it Speak ingenuously is there such a word as sufficient or compleat Rule of Faith or sole Judge of Controversies or words equivalent contained in this Text Or doth St. Paul say that Scripture is all-sufficient of it self to perform these Offices without the Churches Interpretation Because 't is profitable in the hand of a Learned Bishop to Teach to Dispute to Correct to Instruct the Souls for whom he must give an account to God Is it therefore a sufficient Rule for every learner and ignorant Christian to square and cut out his own Faith by to interpret and judge of according to his own private Reason and to compose himself a Creed though contrary to Fathers Councils and the whole Christian World Does St. Paul say this Will this Text justify such an inference Yet this he must say or this place concludes nothing against Catholicks To the last out of the Apocalypse and not the least they rely upon in this Controversy I shall give a brief answer as seeming to me of all other most impertinent and non-concluding For the true meaning thereof is plainly this Whosoever shall presume to add to these Divine Revelations any other than what I have already described in this Book and endeavour to obtrude them upon the Church with the stamp of my Authority to gain credit to them or shall deny any Prophesies herein contain'd to be written by me let such a wretch expect the Vials of Gods Vengeance to be pour'd on his accursed head for so wicked an Imposture and Infidelity Which being evident thus must run their Argument God will severely punish those who shall add deceitfully or substract maliciously from St. John ' s Prophesies therefore the Bible ' s a compleat Rule of Faith and the sole Judge of Controversies about Religion An inference too gross to be confuted Yet from particular premises they draw an universal conclusion and on such weak and absurd reasonings from Scripture build their Church But how English Protostants will defend their Brethren the Lutherans from the wrath of God I say not for diminishing but even taking away this whole Book of St. John's Revelations from Sacred Canon I know not Thus therefore it appears there is nothing here produced by our Adversaries that proves evidently the all-sufficiency of Scripture for a Rule and Judge to decide all Controversies in Religion that the above-cited Texts but being throughly examin'd either conclude not for them or for us So much we are beholding to our Antagonists To conclude after an impartial and full examination to the best of my Abilities I finding the foundation of Protestanism to be really groundless and built upon meer uncertainties I forsook it and my own self to rely on the Catholick Church for my Salvation I renounced my own deceitful and weak reasonings upon Scripture to believe what the Fathers have plainly and unanimously taught what hath been declared in approved Oeneral Councils and what hath
the Apostle of the Saxons and his Converts in some few External Rites which afterward in tract of time they generally receiv'd and in the interim acknowledg'd to be worthy of acceptation while the fresh wounds of deeply-resented injuries were the greatest cause of non-conformity One more I cannot pass over in silence because I conceive it such as may much conduce to the conviction and conversion of our Adversaries 'T is to be found in the Life of St. Bernard to this effect In the part of France about Thoulouze L. 3. c. 5. one Henry an Apostate Monk by deceitful words perverting the Souls of many with Heretical Doctrines prevail'd so far that every where thereabouts the Grace of Baptism was denyed Prayers and Oblations for the dead were mock'd at Invocation of Saints derided Excommunications of Priests Pilgrimages of the Faithful building of Churches Consecration of Oyl and Chrisme and all Ecclesiastical Constitutions were despis'd Our cause in England St. Bernard being intreated by the Catholicks sadly lamenting to see so many poor Souls seduced to follow an Apostate as if he had been an Apostle was conquer'd by their Prayers and came thither to hinder the further spreading of so contagious an evil and to try his skill on the infected Where Preaching with wonderful demonstration of Spirit as well as admirable Eloquence he in a short time instructed the Ignorant strengthned the Weak recall'd the Wanderers restored the Subverted put to sil nce the Perverters God confirming his Doctrine with signs following I shall relate but one so home and evident that Cap. 6. l. 3. praed 't is enough to convert and confound all Contradictors During these his travails in the work of an Evangelist being come to the City of Sarlet the Sermon ended they brought to the Servant of God Bread to be blest and distributed among the Faithful as is the custom in Catholick Churches Which he blessing in the Name of God with his hand elevated making the sign of the Cross said By this ye shall know that the Doctrine which we Preach is true and the things which Hereticks would perswade you to are false if your Sick tasting this Bread shall be recover'd A venerable Bishop present fearing the tryal said They shall be healed if they take it believing To whom the Holy man replyed in a full belief of the event I say not so but such as tast it shall be healed and thereby know us to be truly sent of God Whereupon a great company of Diseased persons tasting of the said Bread forthwith recover'd Praying God for such singular manifestations of his Truth and Goodness And the Fame thereof spread round about Now what more express Testimony by Deeds can be given from Heaven for Prayer for the Dead and Mosses for them Invocation of Saints Consecration of Chrisme c. which were then opposed by those Hereticks and now denyed by the Protestants their Successors in false Doctrine against the conviction of Miracles from Heaven And now I have done with this Motive only give me leave to say that if Protestants could produce the like Miracles to attest their Faith and practice they would make the World ring with the noise of them in every place and crying Victory set up their triumphant Banners with this or some such like Inscription or Motto God with us against the Roman Church And then add some such Invective as this in their Popular Sermons See what hard-hearted Wretches the Papists are who wholly given over to a reprobate sense will not acknowledge our Doctrines to be glorious and revealed Truths of Jesus Christ which he hath witnessed for such to the whole World by the thundring voice of Divine Miracles The fifth Motive That the eminent Sanctity taught and practis'd in the Roman Catholick Church not to be found in any Heretical Communions divided from her is a manifest mark that she only is the true Church of Christ SECT I. An Introduction FRom works of Wonder we pass to works of Piety to point out to us the true Church of God which though less admired yet are far more precious as being that Divine Seed the Fruit whereof is eternal Glory For we Spiritual Travellers cannot come to rest our selves in the Heavenly Jerusalem but by walking perseverantly in the path of Holiness Now this Holiness is not to be had but in the true Church whose attribute is not only Catholick but also Holy as we profess in the Creed and distinguishable by it in the Effects from all different Communions whatsoever who though they may cloak their deformity with Angelical appearances yet in reality are Synagogues of Satan having a form of Godliness and denying the power thereof And the truth is though by sad experience I found that the Protestant Church especially that part of it which I judg'd more pure in Doctrine could not lay claim to much Sanctity still crying down the Puritans for meer Hypocrites whose zeal in their way did shine far brighter to dazle vulgar eyes yet such prejudice I had conceiv'd against the Church of Rome by my education in a contrary Religion that I thought her really Antichristian and Holiness to have no more agreement with Her then light with darkness or Christ with Belial So that after the Divine Goodness by strowing Thorns in my indirect ways had made me sensible what a bitter thing it is to forsake Him the Fountain of living Waters for broken Cisterns and had put me upon a serious Inquisition to find out Truth and Holiness to follow Them it was no less wonder then satisfaction to me to meet with such heavenly Doctrine and such holiness of Life in the Roman Catholick Church and no other Communion divided from Her And I plainly discover'd that Protestant Leaders could not detain their followers in Schism and Heresie but by keeping them in ignorance of the right Faith and Worship of the Roman Church and laying to her charge such Doctrines and Practices which are not justly imputable unto Her Yet this Motive was set more home to my heart when my eyes were made happy spectators of some of that innumerable Company of her Members who in the continual exercise of most sublime Spirituality live more like Angels then men though in mortal Bodies But most of all when our Lord was pleased so to shine upon me with the extraordinary light of his countenance as to bless my weak endeavours in following though afar off those Stars of the first Magnitude beautisying his Heaven on Earth in their glorious courses And truly I have from hence such a strong persuasion of Truth to be in the Church of Rome wrought in my Soul that was there no other Motive to confirm me in the Catholick Religion my heart very much deceives me if I should not upon this score rather forgo my life then forsake my present Faith to become a Protestant Thus by the grace of God this wrought on me and that it may work on others I thus
Tradition to make a way for Error or Heresy to creep in at Does it not shine bright in the visible Practice and Profession of the Church scatter'd over the whole World so continually expos'd to all mens Eyes and Ears that it cannot be conceiv'd how Doctrines so deliver'd should be innovated without discovery and opposition or perish unless with the ruin of Christianity If Protestants considered this aright they could not deny the presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Blessed Eucharist by a real change of the Consecrated Elements subjection to the Bishop of Rome as Supreme Head of the Church under Christ Invocation of Saints and Angels the Sacred use of Images Veneration of Reliques private Confession to a Priest Indulgences Extream Unction Purgatory Prayer for the Dead to be Apostolical Doctrines being handed Traditionally to us from Age to Age by an Universal and more Visible Practice than the Scriptures themselves which yet they receive as the Word of God upon the same Authority Neither could they demand of us a farther proof of what carryes along with it in its very face an Evidence of Credibility beyond all Exception Nor ask of us in what secret Repositaries of the Church these Traditions of the Church are preserved when they might in a manner as rationally demand whether it be day when the Sun is in the Meridian of our Horizon In vain therefore do Protestants pretend Innovation in Faith to justify their Separation from the Catholick Church for let them chuse what Age they will this Principle is equally sure rationally evident alike in all And as firmly establish'd now in the attestation of the present Church or in the days of King Henry the Eighth when the Fatal Defection from the Church of Rome in England first began or in the Sixth or Fifth or Fourth Century for they cannot agree about the time aâ— in the very next Age succeeding the Apostles and consequently all Traditionary Doctrines of Faith Taught and Attested by the voice of the presenâ— Church of any Age the self same foâ— substance which were at first deliver'â— to the Saints without Encrease or Diâ—minution Universal Tradition and Innovation in Faith being in a manne◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Incompatible And whaâ— Arguments soever the Protestants produce to the contrary in their Controversal Skirmishes is meerly the playing of Wit against Pure Evidence If any one should seriously endeavour by Elaborate Arguments to perswade us really that there was neveâ— such a man as King Henry the 8th King of England would we not think him Fool or mad-man for his pains Seing that if it were not true millions of persons not only in our own three Kingdoms but in other Nations of Credit and Reputation without any causes sufficient to produce such an effect must conspire to be notorious Lyers And natural reason tells us if the first Reporters had not related it of their own knowledge with undeniable evidence it would never have obtain'd to pass so constantly and uncontroulably as it doth without the least doubt or question And yet thus have Protestants lost the immemorial Possession of their Ancient Faith and misled with meer Sophisms will not believe those points to have been handed to us by Tradition from the Apostles which are attested for such by infinite multitudes of People of several Nations in their respective Ages to this present with a far more transcendent evidence of Credibility than the former instances Notwithstanding such is the blindness of some mens understanding or rather the hardness of their hearts that as the Scripture saith Matth. 13. v. 14. Seeing they will not perceive and hearing they will not understand that they may be healed Though it be a Rule plain certain and expos'd to all mens view in such visible Characters of publick practice that who runs may read as well the Unlearned as the greatest Schollar and upon which the Pope and Peasant depend alike for their Salvation Wherefore to contract this Argument seeing such vast multitudes of several Nations cannot mistake in what hath been a thousand times over and over inculcated unto them clear'd to their Judgments and rooted in their Hearts by continual practice seeing that a World of Believers cannot conspire together to Damn themselves and Cosen their Posterity in matters of the highest moment whereof men are most tender and tenacious seeing mankind cannot give credit and entertainment to any Doctrine to which their daily Religious Worship gives the Lye and cannot be accepted without the destruction of some evident Principle of which they are in present Possession as Divine and Apostolical unless such a Doctrine bring with it a manifest demonstration of Truth which is impossible to be done in any point of Faith controverted between Protestants and Catholicks Seing these are the safe and sure Grounds of Universal Tradition truly methinks whosoever will not acknowledge it for a Rule or Evidence sufficient in points of Faith but desires a more certain or manifest conduct to bring him to the knowledge of what Doctrines Christ and his Apostles taught the World Or who is satisfi'd with less that is with a Rule which may easily deceive him in a business of Eternal Interest seriously such persons seem to me not Impartial Searchers and if ever it please God to clear up their understanding in Divine matters they will confess it SECT IV. Universal Tradition the Churches Rule of Faith in all Ages DId not Protestants of the Church of England pretend to Antiquity as on their side against the Catholicks in this Controversy about the Rule of Faith any farther Discourse of this Subject for the present had not been necessary but because such is their claim I shall take some pains to shew the Injustice of it and let the Reader see that as well in this as other points they who are our Enemies have no Friends of the Fathers to maintain them in their opposition but are equally Contradictors of Them and Us Yet before I shall urge Authority I shall press them with Reason The Apostles having among other necessary points of Christian Faith rooted this Doctrine in their Disciples hearts To believe only what was delivered to them and also guarded it with the thunder and Lightning of Excommunication Gal. 1. 8 9. even against an Angel from Heaven that should presume to teach otherwise because of points necessary what was to be the Rule and ground of all the rest was most carefully to be preserv'd one would think understanding heads could not doubt that the Fathful were to receive and hold their Faith upon the same tenure of Tradition to the Worlds end as attèsted to them by the publick voice of the present Church Yet question'd it is and contradicted also by English Protestants but doubtless they do not consider as they ought First That the Church being in the possession of this Belief upon the tenure of Universal Tradition unless they can demonstrate such a tenure actually
for Catholicks Did not Tertullian depend upon Tradition for his Faith when he professeth * Lib. de Praesc c. 21 What I believe I received from the present Church the present Church from the Primitive That from the Apostles the Apostles from Christ. The Arrians indeed as the Protestants now appeal'd to Scripture for a sole Rule and Judge of their Faith seeing their condemnation as Protestants do likewise inevitably and evident by the practice and Tradition of the present Church But what did St. Athanasius that great Bullwark of Catholick belief reply to this Even the very same which the Church of Rome now takes up against her Adversaries * Lib. de Decr. Sym. Nic. cont Arianos Behold we have prov'd the Succession of our Doctrine deliver'd from hand to hand by Fathers to Sons but as for you new Jews and Children of Caiphas but as for you Protestants what Progenitors can you show of your Speeches Had he not held Tradition for the Rule of Christian belief could he have produced this as a satisfactory answer to their appeal to a Scripture-Tryal and a sufficient demonstration of Catholick Faith They who hear St Austin saying * Cont. Ep. Fund c. 5. I would not believe the Gospel were it not that the Authority of the Church mov'd me to it What think they Was he for Protestants or us for sole Scripture or for Tradition too in his Controversy More ample satisfaction may be had if desired from Vincentius Lyrinensis in whose words we may tell a Protestant * Faith is that which thou hast Cont. haer ca. 27. received not that which thou hast devis'd a thing not of private usurpation as their Exposition of Scripture are but of publick Tradition Quotations might be infinite but these may suffice to let the World see that Antiquity was of the same belief with the present Church of Rome in this point And Protestants by contradicting Her contradict the Fathers also SECT V. Tradition asserted against Protestants by Scripture and the notable Advantages that way of delivery hath above Writing IF the Testimony of the Fathers will not suffice we shall bring Scripture it self in defence of Tradition And truly to me it seems wonderful that Protestants professing to believe all things contained in the Scriptures should deny Tradition to have any thing to do with their Faith to which those Sacred Oracles bear so great witness The places are not few and full some of them I shall produce as translated in their own Bibles The first is that famous Anathema of St. Paul's upon the occasion of some false Teachers troubling the Church of Galatia with Doctrines contrary to 1 Ch. ver 3 9. Tradition * If we or an Angel from Heaven Preach any other Gospel unto you then what ye have received let him be accursed Would they have one more express Let them mind well his exhortation to the Thessalonians * Therefore Brethren stand fast and Eph. cap. 2. v. 15. hold the Traditions ye have been taught whether by word or our Epistle The same point he presses home to the first Bishop of Ephesus writing in his first Epistle to him * O Chap. 6. v. 20 21. Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust avoiding prophane and vain bablings and oppositions of Science falsely so called which some professing have erred concerning the Faith Which Deposition of Faith he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his second Epistle renewing the same charge Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me Chap. 1. v. 13. in Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus Inculcated also in the Verse following That good thing v. 14. which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us And again in the 3d. Chapter he presses it as the only Antidote against the Infection of new-poisonous Doctrines scatter'd by Seducers Chap 3. v. 13 14. Continue in the things that thou hast learned and hast been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them And with no less care and charge recommendeth it to Posterity in the 2d Chapter of the same Epistle The things that thou hast heard of me among many Witnesses commit thou to Faithful men who shall be able to teach others also From which Texts and such like the Fathers collect three things First That there are Traditions unwritten Rom. 16. Phillip 4. 12. Judes Ep. 3d. ver 1 Tim. 3. 15. as well as the written Word deposited in the Church which is the Pillar and ground of Truth Secondly That such Traditions belong equally to Christian Doctrine and alike to be credited aad observed Written and unwritten being but accidental differences of the word of God substracting or adding nothing essential to the formal Object of Faith which is Divine Revelation Thirdly That Traditionary Doctrines being termed a Depositum by St. Basil ut habetur Hist Trip l. 7. c. 39. Vinc. Ler. c. 26. c. the Apostle and so from him frequently call'd Depositum Fidei and the Governours of the Church in Timothy constituted the sacred Depositarii and Keepers of it makes it uncapable of any adition or diminution and consequently excluding the expectation of any other points necessary to be revealed the nature of a Depositum requiring it should be kept unalterable in the hands of those to whom it is committed And therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 applyed to false Teachers by the same Apostle is directly opposed to this Depositum And the Church collected in General Councils when truth and peace requires it makes no new Articles of Faith but all her endeavours are that revealed Truths whether written or unwritten deliver'd from the beginning may be defended conserved illustrated and explicated against arising Heresies that would pervert them To which a fourth may be added That the Apostle writing to Churches fully constituted still refers them in his Epistles to Tradition for the trial of all Doctrines those sacred lines delivering no new point of Faith but only in as much as Doctrinal in things necessary explicating according t◠present circumstances and confirming what had been taught by word and practice Protestants indeed will owne no such things from these Texts but In 2 Epist ad Thess c. 2. 15. St. Chrysostom tells us * Hinc perspicuum est c. From hence it is apparent that the Apostles have not deliver'd all things by Epistle but also many things without writing Now both those and these deserve equally to be believ'd 'T is a Tradition what would you more Thus he and Theophilact comments thereupon almost in the same words And from the 2d ver of the 11th chap. of the 1st Epist. to the Corinthians * Now I praise you Brethren that you remember me in all things and keep the Ordinances ficut tradidi vobis as I delivered them unto you Not only inferrs the same Doctrine but likewise uses the self-same phrase Ex hoc loco
been delivered by Vniversal Tradition from the Apostles to us for the Infallible and undoubted Word of God The third Motive That the Protestant Church of England is involv'd in the guilt of Schism and Heresie which crimes are inconsistent with Salvation SECT I. The nature of Schism and Heresie declared from Scripture and the ancient Fathers TO make good this Motive of my Conversion my first task shall be to lay open the nature of Heresie and Schism from Sacred Scripture and the ancient Fathers of the Church Secondly I shall make it appear that the English Church is highly guilty of those sins by its seperation from the Doctrine and Discipline of the Roman Church its Catholick Mother Thirdly I shall discover the weakness and insufficiency of those Allegations which are commonly produced to maintain the Protestants Separation to be lawful The Church of Christ is the highest Tribunal on earth a Judicature of Eternal life and death from whose living voice we receive our Faith and the grounds of it as is said and proved before Whom whosoever will not hear in her definitive Sentence in Spiritual matters Is to be accounted as a Heathen Mat. 18. 18. or a Publican by the judgment and determination of our Blessed Saviour Hence arises an indispensable necessity to Believe as the Church Believes Explicitly or Implicitly so that the Faith of the Cardinal and Collier there being no difference in men as Believers but all equally ignorant as such must be the same as to the substance under pain of damnation And as to seperate from her life-giving Communion is formal Schism so to recede from her Doctrine in points of Faith with obstinacy is flat Heresie Let therefore Schismaticks never so much pretend Sanctity or Hereticks Truth from hence they may easily be discover'd to be those false Prophets whom our Blessed Saviour forewarns us of coming to us in Mat. 7. 15. sheeps-clothing but inwardly are ravenous Wolves To be those whom St. Paul describes to his Auditors telling them Among your selves shall be men speaking perverse things to draw Act. 20. 29 30. away Disciples after them not sparing the flock To be those whom St. Peter deciphers There shall be lying 1 Pet. 2. 1. Masters who shall bring in Sects of perdition and denying the Lord that bought them pulling upon themselves speedy destruction To be those Antichrists St. John speaks of They 1 Joh. 2. 18 19. went out from us because they were not of us for if they had been of us they had remained with us but by this they are manifest not to be of us To be those whom St. Jude calls Raging waves of the Sea foaming ver 13 â—â— 19. out their own shame wandring Stars for whom the storm of darkness is reserved for ever These are they who seperate themselves sensual not having the Spirit Or as elsewhere 2 Tim. 3. 5. Having indeed a form of godliness t denying the power thereof And therefore St. Paul earnestly desires the Faithful to be of one heart and of one mind and that in most moving and soul-melting expressions I beseech you Brethren 1 Cor. 1. 10. says he by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same things that there be no Schisms amongst you but ye be perfectly of the same mind and of the same judgment Neither is he less pathetical in this point to the Ephesians I the prisoner Ephes 4. 2 3 c. of the Lord beseech you to be careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace One Body one Spirit one Hope one Lord one Faith one Baptism And that this unity might be preserved in the Church He gave some Apostles some Prophets â—er 11 12. others to be Evangelists others Pastors and Doctors for the perfecting the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edification of the body of Christ 'till we all meet in the unity of Faith and be not toss'd and carried about with the wind of every Doctrine And no less earnestly does he desire the Romans to stand upon their guard against all Separatists and false Christians I beseech Rom. 16. you Brethren says he observe them who make dissentions and scandals amongst you contrary to the Doctrine which you have received and void them for such men serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own lusts and by kind Speeches and fair words seduce the hearts of the simple And being an important point tells also the Thessalonians If any one obey not our word accompany not with such a one that he may be confounded And in his Instructions to Titus Bishop of 2 Thess 3. 14 Crete A man that is an Heretick after the first and second admonition avoid knowing that such a one is subverted and finneth being condemned by his own judgment Yea St. Paul thunders out excommunication against the very Angels themselves if they should offer to pervert the Tradition of Faith by that famous place so much urged against Hereticks If we or an Angel from Heaven Gallat 1. 8 9. preach unto you any other Gospel then what ye have received let him be accursed Upon which words Vincentius Lyrinensis thus descants Ne forsitan perfunctorie c. Lest it should seem to be the superficial effusion Commo ca. 12 13. of humane passion and not the decree of Divine reason he doth inculcate and strike it home with the pondrous force of a reiterated insinuation as we have pronounced so I say again If any preach unto you but what ye have received let him be accursed This indeed is a sure Rule of Faith amongst Catholicks viz. Oral Tradition of the Church upon which grounding our selves for what is revealed our Faith is one and the same throughout the whole World without any change or alteration which Hereticks forsaking are tost about as the Apostle saith with the wind of every Doctrine deceiving and being deceived ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the Truth From all which appears First That Church-Communion consists in unity of Faith and Worship under the same Rule and Government of Divine Institution there being no other way to bring many into the Integrity of a mystical Body Secondly That when Schisms arise in this body by men of perverse minds to break Church-unity or Heresies to pervert Church doctrine the Apostles to prevent such contagious evils have instructed true Believers to know Schismaticks who become such by separating themselves from the Communion of the Church whereof formerly they were Members and erecting new Churches or Congregations and to discern Hereticks who become such in teaching Doctrines contrary to the Faith delivered to the Saints by Apostolical Tradition of which that Church being the only Preserver of necessity must be the sole Judge of the other And thirdly when such were obstinately contumaceous in breaking unity and corrupting Faith they did cast them out of the Church by Excommunication That
un-interrupted Succession of lawful Pastors and true Doctrine Scripture is very copious I shall name a few A City seated on a Hill cannot be hid The Mat. 5. 14. Is 2. 2. Psal 18. mountain of the house of our Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains In sole posuit tabernaculum suum Isa 59. 21. My Spirit which is thee and my words which I have put into thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy Seed for ever All Dan. 7. 13 14. Nations Tribes and Tongues shall serve him his power is an eternal power that shall not be taken away and his kingdom shall not be corrupted Thou art Peter and upon this Mat. 16. Rock will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Christ gave some Apostles some Eph. 4. 11 c. Prophets some Evangelists some Pastors some Doctors for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edification of the Body of Christ c. 'Till we all meet in the unity of Faith and be not as Children toss'd about with the wind of every Doctrine See more in Esa 62 Ezek. 37. Matt. 5. 15. c. From which and such like places this Major Proposition is evident As also from Antiquity We must seek for Truth among whom the Succession L. 4. de hae c. 45. of the Church from the Apostles and the Purity of Doctrine is maintain'd in its Integrity So St. Iraeneus What I believe says Tertullian I received L. de praesc c. 37. from the present Church the present Church from the Primitive that from the Apostles the Apostles from Christ. And St. Austin tells us That the succession of Priests from the Contr. Ep. Fund c. 4. very seat of Peter to the present Bishop held him in the Church Which if it shall not continue here on earth to the end of the World to whom did our Lord say Behold I am with you alwayes to the Worlds end It is easier L. 3. de Bapt. cont Donat. saith St. Chrysost that the Sun should be extingush'd then the Church should be obscured Concerning which St. De utilit cred c. 7. Austin assures us The Prophets have spoken more plainly and manifestly then of Christ himself And therefore 't is no wonder the same Saint affirms That the Church hath this most certain mark that it cannot be hid Cont. Petil. c. 104. And certainly it is not hid except to those that are lost the Children of perdition who seeing will not see and hearing will not understand Who shut their eyes against a light set upon a Candlestick and are so blind as not to see so great a mountani as the Catholick Church As the same Father complains of the Hereticks of his days From which premisses thus prov'd it invincibly follows that the Protestant L. 3. cont Parm. and all other Heretical and Schismatical Churches being wholly destitute of these inseparable badges or marks of the true Church viz. Universality perpetual visibility by an uninterrupted Succession of Pastors and People from Christ and his Apostles to this time cannot possibly be the true Church Whose builder and preserver is God All which manifestly belonging to the Church of Rome and those in Communion with her by most undoubted Records of all Ages it likewise as inevitably follows that this Church of Rome only is the true Catholick Church and all other Communions but false Worshippers Thus briefly of these indubitable marks of the true Church from Sacred Scripture so much made use of by the Ancient Fathers to reduce the Hereticks and Schismaticks of their times to the Catholick unity that I may not too long detain you from beholding Miracles wrought by God in his Holy Church for the confirmation of our Faith SECT II. That Miracles were vouchsafed always to the True Church SUch is the Sublimity and Purity of Christian Doctrine so sublime in respect of knowledge so pure in respect of practice that if there was nothing else to witness that it came from Heaven they of themselves are sufficient evidences that the Author of it can be no less then of incomprehensible Wisdom and infinite Holiness Notwithstanding as God was pleas'd by wonderful Signs and frequent Miracles to set his Seaâ— to attest the truth of it that it might find entertainment from contradictors so in after Ages in opposition not only to all false Religions who deny Christ and maintain their Worship to be right but also to many seduced Christians who pretend to have among them the Purity of this Doctrine the same infinite Goodness hath more or less continued Miracles in his Church that we may see with our eyes what we ought to believe with our hearts and not be deceived by false Teachers This Heavenly Testimony God vouchsafed to the Jewish Worship whilst it was in force and therefore cannot in reason be denyed to the Christian Church being in every respect a Ministration much more Divine and Glorious and no less standing in need of such a Priviledge Moses brought forth the Children of Exod. Israel from the house of bondage in signs and wonders and mighty deeds The Sun stood still at the Prayer of Jos 10. Joshua and went back 15 degrees Isa 38. at the earnest request of Hezekiah The bones of Elizeus the Prophet rais'd a dead man to life The constant cure Joh. 5. 3 c. of Lame and Diseased persons in the Pool of Bethesda immediately after the motion of the water by an Angel was a standing Miracle c. All which with many more were evident Testimonies of the Divine presence among them that the Creator and Governour of Heaven and Earth was their God in a special manner and they his peculiar Church and People To which might be added their many Prophets of extraordinary Power and Sanctity not only miraculous in their predictions but sometimes mighty in signs and deeds Though 't is observable that St. John the Baptist though more then a Prophet then whom none greater was born of women yet did no Miracle to attest his Mission Doubtless not without some singular cause perhaps because the Jewish Synagogue was then expiring and giving place to the Christian Church as a Handmaid to her Mistress or glimmering twi-light to the Sun arising in beams of Glory The most remarkable Miracles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ are left unto his Church by the Evangelists in the History of his Life and Death That we might believe and believing have Life Eternal by him After the Holy Apostles had received Power from above by descent of the Holy Ghost upon them to fit them for the great work of converting all Nations to Christianity what wonders and signs were frequently wrought by them in the first planting of the Gospel are made famous and wellknown to us Acts. in their Acts related by St. Luke
he comforting said Fear not for I am truly risen from Death and permitted to live again among Mortals But from henceforth in a far other manner then I have been accustomed And presently rising went to the Chapel of the Village and continuing in Prayer 'till day then divided his Estate into three Portions one for his Wife another for his Children and the third which he reserved for himself he without delay distributed to the Poor that he might have Treasure in Heaven And not long after being now freed from the cares of the World he came to the Monastery of Mailros which is almost surrounded with the River Tweed And taking the Tonsure liv'd in a private Cell which the Abbot had provided and there continued to the day of his death in such Contrition and Austerity that though his Tongue were silent his Life did speak what wonders he had seen above others Now the Vision was this My guide said he had a shining countenance and bright apparel we walk'd in silence and as I thought towards the Solstitial rising of the Sun At last we came into a Valley of vast breadth and deepness but of infinite length which being scituate on our left hand did present unto us one side very terrible with enraged flames the other not less intolerable with storms of Snow and Hail overturning all things Both were filled with Souls of men which seem'd now and again to be toss'd hither and thither as with the horrible violence of an impetuous tempest For not being able to endure the fury of the excessive heat poor Souls they threw themselves into the midst of the insufferable cold And when they could find no rest neither in those Winter quarters again betook themselves to the torrid Zone c. Knowest thou said my Guide all these things which thou hast seen I answered no he replyed that Valley which you behold so terrible with intolerable heat and cold is that place wherein the Souls of those are to be pacified and chastis'd who deferring to confess and amend their wickednesses fly at last to repentance on their death-beds and so leave their Bodies who yet because they confessed and repented though but before their departure shall at the day of Judgment be all received into Heaven But the Prayers of the Living and Alms and Fasts and especially the saying Masses do help many that they may be freed before the day of judgment c. And this I had says S. Bede from one Genegils a Monk and Priest of a very holy and rigid life who often convers'd about these things with this miraculous Liver so famous for his wonderful Austerities and Visions that both by word and deed he wrought powerfully on many to repent and spend their time well on which depends everlasting bliss or eternal misery And yet Protestants are never the better refusing to believe that there is never a Purgatory for penitent Souls thoroughly purg'd at their departure from their Bodies though this man and others have been sent from the dead to testify to the World the truth thereof Which I confess I cease to wonder at when I consider that they are deaf to the living voice of the Catholick Church If I should proceed in relating what wonderful Miracles God hath been pleased to work for the Approbation of a Monastical Life from Heavenly by men famous in that Angelical Profession both in former and later Ages as St. Benedict St. Bernard St. Dominick St. Francis St. Teresia St. Ignatius I should utterly destroy my intended brevity and therefore refer you to their Lives faithfully transmitted to Posterity But especially to the wonderful Life of that great Saint and Patriarch of Monastical Profession in the West S. Benedict which the Church owes to that famous Light and Doctor St. Gregory deservedcalled Englands Apostle For he was embarqued and on his way to bring the glad tydings of the Gospel to our Nation though recall'd to Rome against his will and inclination And afterwards when advanc'd to the Popedom he sent St. Austin and his fellow Monks to perform what he intended Who Ann. Ch. 596. succeeding in the Holy attempt and converting Edilbert King of Kent with his People and from thence diffusing the Christian Faith by degrees into other parts did Preach and establish all those doctrines rites and Ceremonies practis'd at this day by the Church of Rome as Protestants confess being fore'd to it by the evidence of unquestionable Records And yet now esteem'd by them but as Superstitious Innovations though God has been pleased to own them for his and confirm the word and practice of the said Teachers with following Miracles which were wrought so frequently by the Holy Monk St. Austin that B. Gregory exhorts him him to Humility in these words I know most dear L. 1. Hist S. Bedae c. 31. Brother that Omnipotent God hath shown great Miracles by you to the Nation whom he would have elect Wherefore 't is necessary that concerning this Heavenly gift you rejoyce with trembling and tremble with joy You may rejoyce in that the English Nation is brought to inward Grace by these outward Miracles But fear least by reason thereof the infirm mind should exalt it self in presumption and while 't is extoll'd with honour abroad be depressed at home with the levity of vain Glory c. And why these Miracles wrought by the said Saint in his Apostleship should not be evidences as well of his Mission and Doctrine as those accompanying the first Promulgators of the Gospel to the World no reason sufficient can be given This I am sure of as they converted Infidels so they stop'd the mouths also of the Britains who long before had received the Christian Faith and in some few external Observance differ'd from him About which the British Bishops and the said Apostle meeting to make up a persect unity between them when neither Arguments nor advice nor entreaty nor reproof could prevail to perswade them to the Catholick customs in the observation of Easter Tonsure and some other Ceremonial Rites in Baptism A blind man was brought in and they upon tryal not obtaining of God a Miracle for the confirmation of their practice Tandem Augustinus just a necessitate compulsus c. they are St. Bedes words At length Austin Hist l. 2. ca. 2. forced with just necessity bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ beseeching him that he would restore to the blind man his lost sight and by the corporal illumination of one Spiritual Grace might enlighten many Faithful hearts Hereupon immediately the blind man receives his sight and Austin is extolled by all for a true Preacher of the Supreme Light Then the Britains confess indeed that they perceived it was the true way of righteousness which Austin Preached This I had not specifyed but that I know some English Protestants against all History and common sense derive their Religion from the Ancient Britains Who differ'd only from