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A20950
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A learned treatise of traditions, lately set forth in French by Peter Du Moulin, and faithfully done into English by G.C.; Des traditions et de la perfection et suffisance de l'Escriture Saincte. English
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Du Moulin, Pierre, 1568-1658.; G. C.
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1631
(1631)
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STC 7329; ESTC S111075
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138,687
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440
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hee shall call the heauen from aboue and the earth that hee may judge his people saying Gather my Saints together vnto me c. At the 102. Psal 26. The heauens shall perish but thou shalt enaure The Prophet Daniel at the 12. 2 Many of them that sleepe in the dust of the earth shall awake some to euerlasting life some to shame and euerlasting contempt At the 26. of Esay 19. Thy dead men shall liue together with my dead body shall they arise awake and fing yee that dwell in the dust At the 65. chap. verse 17. Behold I create new heauens and new earth and the former shall not be remembred nor come into minde Iob aâ— the 19. the 25. 26. 27. Speaketh amply of the comming of his redeemer vpon the earth and of his resurrection after his body shall bâ— deuoured with wormes and of thâ— assurance hee hath to see God one day with his eyes The Prophet Esay at the 66. pronounceth this of reprobates Their worme neuer dieth and their fire shall neuer bee extinguished Baalam desiring to dye the death of the iust At the 23 of Num. 10. Accompreth the death of the wicked to bee wretched and wofull These passages as I conceiue are expresse and punctuall concerning Paradise the resurrection the torment of the damned and the eternall judgement They offer yet more that in the Booke of the old Testament no mention is made of the Creation nor of degrees of Angels nor of the Creation and essence or being of deuils which neuerthelesse are points clearely found to bee therein as in Iob the 2. the 1. And at the 38. 7. The Angels are called the sonnes of God whereupon it followeth that God is their Father that he hath formed them and when the Scripture saith Let the Angels doe worship to him Psalme the 97. 7. And let them execute his commandement and obey his word Psa the 103. 20. It presupposeth that God created them for if God had not created them injustice would have beene layd to his charge for vsurping an Imperiall Dominion ouer the workemanship of another power Yea this alone where in the Scripture affirmeth that there are Angels is sufficient to proue that God created them for it is impossible that they should create themselues As for the degrees of Angels it is a meere vanity for any man to distill and consume the braine therein It concerneth neither faith nor morallitie And for the essence of deuils the olde Testament sufficiently doth determine it in saying that there are deuils Hee that confesseth there is a Sunne presupposeth that the Sunne hath a beeing and there is no necessiity that wee should bee skilled in the knowledge of their nature As for their fall seeing God hath made nothing but what is very good the 1. of Genes 31. It followeth that these evill spirits in the beginning were good and consequently that they are lapsed from their integrity how and by what occasions or by what degrees they are fallen are matters which God hath not reuealed for they are not reputed necessary to saluation Du Perron an livre cótre le Roy de la grand ' Bretagne pag. 776. 2. Tim. 3. 8. They also report many Histories which they say are not found written in the old testament As for that The Magicians which withstood Moses were called Iannes and Iam. Hebr. 12. 21 bres That Moses being at the foot of the mountaine spake I exceedingly feare and tremble The placing Hebr 9. 4. of the Censer in the Arke of the Covenant and the combat of Michael the Archangell with Satan for Iude 9. the body of Moses Which are not rules either of good beliefe or good life but only histories of things happened wherein consiâ—teth not the substance of our salvation As much may be sayd of some Ceremonies practised in Israel once or oftner but not ordinary or indifferent customes in their nature as washing of the feete before they went to eate of the Paschal-Lambe which was a custome that the Iewes ordinarily observed before the repast And the mixture of water with blood for the purification of the People as the Apostle intimateth to the Hebrews at the 10. chap. which was not a law in the ancient Church but a Ceremony practised once by Moses They also object unto us some depraved and lewd customes as the pardon of a capitall malefactour at the feast of Easter though he be a murtherer a custome contrary to the law of God Nu. 35 31. and some other scrupulous and vaine observations as was that custome of not journeying above two miles on the Sabboth grounded Iosh 3. 4. upon an act of Ioshua passing over Iordane when hee kept the people at distance from the Arke of the Covenant being remooved from thence about two thousand cubits by measure Wee are well contented that our adversaries uphold their Traditions with such poore and vnworthy examples Some of them thinking to bee more subâ—ile object unto us that in the bookes of the old Testament three things are wanting which are necessary to salvation There is not found say they a remedy in the old Testament that God hath provided to purge and clense the feminine sexe from originall sinne for none are circumcised but the Males I answere that Vide Thomam par 3. q 70. in eaÌ„ Vasquez de Valentia our adversaries themselves doe not beleeve that originall sinne was taken away by vertue of circumcision but by the faith of the Parents applyed to the children by forme of impetration and by the merit of him that circumciseth For they hold that circumcision did not justifie nor conferre grace but only that it was a signe of grace and not necessary to salvation The Iesuite Vasques speaking of Children that under the law of Moses dyed without being circumcised Vasquez in Thom. partem 3. Disp 163. cap. 2. Nequâ— incoÌ„moduâ—â—liquod â—rat pueruÌ„ fine Sacramento decâ—aerâ— cuâ— iâ—â—ud ad â—alutem non â—sset necessarâ—um saith If a Child died without any Sacrament there was no hurt therin for it was not conducible and necessary to salvation It is certaine that remission of originall siâ—ne is necessary to salvation Wherefore I say that origiâ—all sinne was remitted and forgiven aswell to the Male as to the Female people of Israel by vertue of the alliance which God had contracted with Abraham saying I shall be thy God and to thy posterity after thee Ge. 17. 7. for women were also fo the posterity of Abraham The Circumcision of the Males was sufficient to signifie that all the people were taken into confederation with God to discerne Gods people from the other nations And for this there needed no such particular signe or token in the Women The Iewes writing of their Traditions speake nothing of such a signe or Sacrament nor have our adversaries produced any They say in the second place that the Israelites to be saved were to beleeve that the sacrifices
oâ— Ecclesiasticall policy Now thâ— Traditions of our adversaries arâ— of another nature They put fore most the Popes succession in thâ— Apostleship and supremacy of Sâ— Peter over the universall Church vpon which Tradition they make all religion to depend Yea they maintaine that the Church is founded not only vpon Saint Peter but also vpon the Popes that are his pretended successors They stuffe our eares with Invocation of Saints with religious service to Images and with adoration of Reliques which are Traditions that shake and totter the service and religious adoration due to God alone and doe establish articles of the Christian faith to weet that the Saints doe know our hearts and that wee must imploy them for mediators and that they can heare our prayers effectually So likewise doth the Church of Rome tell us of superaboundant satisfactions of the Saints which the Pope gathereth into the Treasure of the Church and distributeth them amongst others by his Indulgences This Tradition ushereth in three new articles of faith The first is that man by his punishments and afflictions can satisfie God more then his sinnes doe merite The second is that God receiveth the satisfactions of another for payment of our sinnes The third is that God hath established the Pope to bee distributor of the satisfactions of another and commandeth him to gather them together into the treasure of the Church What is all this but a new Gospell Certainely if these Traditions be true the holy Scripture is a booke very imperfect in the principall materialls of Christian faith For what is there more important then the remission of sinnes Also the Tradition of Monasticke vowes layeth downe this Doctrine which is a new article of faith to weet that man can performe workes of supererrogation that is to say more good workes and more perfect then those which God hath commanded in his Word I say as much of the Communion under one kind wherein is impleaded the abridgment of the moity of the Sacrament instituted by the Sonne of God Not to speake of so many other Traditions which are not only additions to the Scripture but meerely diametrall contradictions to it This also is worthy of consideration that when the Fathers doe rehearse some examples of unwritten Traditions they doe not mention those of the Romish Church at this time but others that the Church of Rome hath disestemed and observeth not as prayer towards the East The prohibition of fasting on the Lords day The custome to pray standing on the same day and from the Paschall to Pentecost The custome of tasting the milke and hony after Baptisme and not to bee washed seven dayes after The prayer for the deceased Saints to the end they may be raysed at a happyer houre and in their sleep of rest they may find refreshment with such like matters which the Church of Rome hath pretermitted because they served not the Popes turne but hath invented others that are more gainefull and better accommodated to the profit and exaltation of the Pope and all the Roman Clergy CHAP. XXVIII of the multitude of Traditions in the Church of Rome THe saying of Cornelius Tacitus Ann lib. 3. In corruptissima republtca plurima leges is very true that the worst and most corrupted Republiques are those which have most lawes For in the same proportion that vices waxe strong the lawes also are multiplyed especially when the Lawes themselves become vices and mischieses are applyed for remedies If this bee true in humane affaires much more in Divine and in the Doctrine of salvation It is certaine that in civill affaires posterity instructed by experience hath often redressed the occurrences changing them into better and hath cured old evills with new lawes But as for the Doctrine of salvation delivered by God himselfe this will admit of no alteration without infinite impiety It is not for Subjects to adde to the lawes of their Soveraigne nor for Men to presume to bee wiser then God It will be found that all the Traditions which men have added to the Scripture are so many infringements of the Law of God which under the colour of adding thereunto doe overturne that which God hath established and are so many artificiall meanes through a glorious pompe to dazell the eyes of the People and to amuse them whilst they are seduced and lastly to enrich and exalt the Clergie For the Prelates of the Church of Rome carnestly bent to their profit have taken sufficient notice that the Gospell in its simplicity could not serve to build up their Empire And although this numberlesse rhapsody of Traditions should not bee woven by a fraudeulent workemanship yet the confounding multitude of new ordinances smothereth the old and causeth that things necessary cannot bee discerned from superfluous and that Iesus Christ is scarce knowne among the Saints and the absurdity of many new inventions by their addition doe call the ancient Doctrines into suspicion and weaken their certainety Especially when they make the true knowledge of Divine doctrine to depend upon the authority of humane Tradition and God to bee beleeved because men have so ordained it as it is now practised in the Church of Rome Adde to this the inclination of man to worship his owne proper inventions and to till and improve that most industriously which hee himselfe hath planted For as the earth nourisheth nettles which her selfe hath produced much better then good plants that are strange and brought from farre so the spirit of man is restlesse in taking care that the lawes be observed which he of himselfe hath invented much more then those which Iesus Christ hath brought from heaven especially when these new Doctrines are gainefull to the projectors and a prop to their dominion Hence it commeth to passe that in the Church of Rome the doctrine of the Gospel which consisteth of rules few easie is a clasped book to the people and the commandements of God are of little moment but the Traditions though toilesome and almost innumerable are most religiously observed and with marvellous obedience Amongst all the Religions that ever were in the world the Romish in multitude of Lawes and Traditions beareth the Bell away the number of them being so great as scarce an age will suffice to learne them And it had beene very requisite that when the Councell of Trent did establish Commissaries to attend the censure of prohibited bookes it should have established other Officers immediatly to collect together the unwritten Traditions and to put them in order for seeing that by the authority of this Councell the Romish Traditions were declared to be of equall authority with the Scripture it was convenient that these Traditions being digested into a body should have beene annexed to the Scripture to the end to have the body of Christian Religion entirely together But they gave their minds to be neglectfull in this point for feare of affrighting the people with many myriads of Traditions of prodigious