procidamus ploremus ante Dominum qui fecit nos O come let us worship and fall down and weep before the Lord our maker because we have worshipped and falen down and kneeled before those who have not made us do not convert or call us cannot save us 14. For it is the part of Religion to order a man rightly in regard of his God as of Temperance and of Justice to order him rightly in regard of himself and of his neighbour so saith Saint Augustine Tract 23. in Johan Haec est religio Christiana ut colatur unus Deus quia non facit animam beatam nisi unus Deus This is the true Christian Religion that we worship one God because none can make the soul blessed but one God None can make the soul saith holy David None can make the soul blessed saith holy Augustine but one God therefore we may worship none but him Idem principium creationis beatificationis The same God is the author of our Being and of our well-being and claims our worship as his homage for both The same is our maker and our Saviour The same Lord which giveth nature giveth also Grace and Glory and therefore to ascribe unto others the honour which is due only to him is to put others in his place as if they were Lords with him and were the givers of Nature of Grace of Glory Yet this is the Divinity you teach your people this is the Duty you bind them to do by the first Commandement Sacrosanctam Eucharistiam adoratione latriae venerari jubemur Virginem autem Mariam honore hyperduâ—…iae Cruâ—…em etiam adorare venerari Angelos vero maxime Angelum nostrae custodiae designatum sanctos sanctas eorum reliquias Templa honore duliae honorare jubemur methodus Confessionis in expositione primi praecepti We are here commanded to worship the holy Eucharist the blessed Virgin the holy Cross the Angelâ—… especially him that is our Guardian The Saints their reliques and Temples And it is to small purpose that you would be thought to give a lesser kind of worship to these then to God for all kinds of Religious worship are alike forbidden to any creature by this Commandement as all kinds of uncleanness by the seventh of slander by the ninth So that in truth you have taught your people to worship many Gods instead of worshipping one God for you cannot multiply acts specifically distinct without multiplying the objects therefore you must make many Gods by making many several distinct acts of Religious worship This is such a Babel as reacheth up to heaven a very great and horrid confusion which confounds the Creator with the creature and staies not there but cometh down again and also confoundeth the Communion of Saints and the Commandements of God and consequently not only the work but also the whole rule of Religion For seeing our blessed Saviour hath said On theâ—…e two hang all the Law and the Prophets Mat. 22. 40. by confounding the two Tables of the Commandements you must also confound the whole Book of God So then this false worship may only belong to Babel not to Jerusalem For in confounding the Creator with the creature it strikes at God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth In confounding the Communion of Saints it strikes at God the Son who is the Head of that Communion In confounding the Commandements and the whole Book of God it strikes at God the Holy Ghost the Pen-man of those Commandements and of that Book And we ought not to think that Jerusalem the City of God will either teach or practice a worship against God the Father Son and Holy Ghost For such a worship is not a Religion but a Confusion and is accordingly punished with confusion Psalm 97. 7. Confounded be all they that worship carved Images and that delight in vain Gods worship him all ye Gods A Text that exactly follows the method of the second Commandement proceeding by Command and by Commination only here the commination is put in the first place because the command had hitherto been so much transgressed and so little regarded God thereby intimating That if his Command doth not restrain us his commination shall ruine us which in this sin is more terrible then in any other for here he threatens to visit the sins of the Fathers upon their Children which in the language of this Text is To confound both them and theirs Confundantur omnes qui adorant sculptilia saith your own Latine for that 's to delight in vain gods who are all commanded to worship the true God as well as we for so it follows Worship him all ye Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Seventy worship him all ye his Angels Here 's yet another confusion This Idolatry makes them Idols whom God made Angels it makes them vain Gods whom he made Gods It unmakes Angels and what is that but to make Devils I mean in regard of those that worship them For though the holy Angels in themselves are blessed Spirits yet by those that Religiously worship them they are after some sort made wicked Spirits because to them they are the occasion of sin and wickedness So far is man from righting Angels by wronging God from honouring the servants by dishonouring their Lord and yet the best pretence that is usually made in this kind is least the Angels for sooth should lose their right whereas by doing them this right we do them the greatest wrong See thou do it not for I am thy fellow-servant Thou wrongest no less then three by doing it Thy self and me and our common Master A prohibition twice urged Rev. 19. 10. 22. 9. and with the same reason shewing that God made Angels our fellow-servants and Brethren and that we may not by our Religious worship make them God Therefore Confounded be they that make them Idols saith David since God made them Angels and yet your Position makes them twice idols once in themselves whiles it bestows Religious worship on them a second time in their images whiles it bestows that worship on them through their Pictures And that 's your fourth and last Position which concerns the Religious worship of Gods glorious Servants Saints and Angels through their pictures 15. In which case if you are not to be convinced of idolatry sure t is for want of will not of means of conviction for the Commandement expresly forbiddeth to make the likeness of any thing in heaven or in earth with intent to worship it and I believe you will not deny the Saints and Angels to be in heaven or if so because for ought you know who believe the Purging of souls after death some Saints may be in Purgatory to be tormented some good Angels there to torment them yet you cannot deny God to be in heaven unless you will discard your Pater Noster which teacheth you to say Our Father which art in heaven But it is a sufficient proof
of God And he gave them that liberty will you call that a hearing of Prayer Then say That hearing of Prayer is not an Act of Grace but of Vengeance for a liberty of doing mischief doth of it self tend to nothing but to the increase of damnation He that seriously considers Prayer to be an elevation of the soul to God will not easily allow it to be an engagement of the soul to the Devil 3. As for Gods hearing the good desires of naturall men that is also in my weak apprehension another exception against this generall Rule God heareth not sinners rather then an exposition of it So far am I from thinking that Aquinas intended to expound this rule by turning it into a question and much further was I from saying That he made a sufficient exposition of it For I must look upon all naturall men as God looks upon them that is as sinners so saith the Text most expresly God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand that did seek God Every one of them is gone back they are altogether become filthy there is none that doth good no not one Psalm 53. 2 3. which is alledged by Saint Paul as a proof that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin Rom. 3. 9 10 11 12. That is They are all under sin as they are in themselves or as naturall men And therefore as such that is As naturall men or as sinners God heareth them not Hitherto I think the generall Rule is not expounded but excepted and though naturall men may in some respects have good desires yet as such I do not see how they can have good prayers Good desires may be from nature but good prayers are only from grace 4. You may take to your self what liberty you please in some other opinions but scarce in this because it may easily be made destructive of true Christianity For every Christian Divine is bound not only to believe but also to profess That none can properly be said to Pray but only a Christian. And that no Christians prayers whatsoever he be are heard by vertue of his own but only by vertue of Christs intercession The Catholick Church having taught us the belief of both these doctrines by her constant obsecration in all her prayers Through Jesus Christ our Lord And the Holy Ghost having taught it his For no man can say that Jesus is the Lord much less our Lord but by the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 12. 3. And he must not only say Our Lord but also Our Father that will truly pray that is he must draw near to God in the acknowledgement of Christs Communion and through the Faith of Christs intercession Our Father which art in heaven teacheth us both these Truths In that we call God Father we profess that we pray through his eternall Sons intercession for till he reconciled us we were enemies not children In that we call him Our Father we profess that we pray in his eternall Sons Communion who did graciously teach us to call him Ours because he had made him so Nor can any man say to God Our Father who knows not Christ nor any man that knows Christ truly say it but in that Communion whereof Christ is the Head If nature doth teach men to pray in faith of Christs intercession and in the acknowledgement of Christs Communion saying Through Jesus Christ our Lord then without doubt God may hear the Prayers which proceed from naturall men But if nature doth so indeed then am not I so much bound as I think and willingly acknowledge to Christ and his Church for teaching me to pray so And I had rather disown that is not embrace any mans opinion then disown the least part of my obligation to Christs Catholick Church which doth by me as Saint Paul did by the Galathians travaileth in birth of me till Christ be formed in me that I may offer to God such Prayers as proceed not from my nature but from his Grace and that not through my self but through Jesus Christ our Lord. And much more am I bound not to disown my obligation to my blessed Saviour by whose Grace I am enabled to pray and for whose sake God doth hear my Prayers In the merit of whose unspotted righteousness I offer and present my impure person in the righteousness of whose all-sufficient intercession I offer and present my imperfect prayers before the throne of the heavenly Grace as often as with my heart and not only with my lips I say unto my God Our Father which art in heaven For though men may number their prayers by their repetitions and by their beads yet surely God numbereth them by their sighs and by their grâ—…ans And it were to be wished that all men did likewise so number them having such an heavenly attention in their prayers as to be with Christ and such an heavenly affection as to be in Christ since it is requisite they should have their hearts in and with him in praying whose mediation they desire to have with their Prayers CAP. II. Of Priests Marriage 1. POpe Siricius blamed for speaking dishonourably of marriage and some Papists after him 2. To say that Priests marriage hath been forbidden by the Apostles or the Catholick Church is to accuse both of approving the doctrine of Devils 3. Christ allows of Priests marriage 4. The Popes of Rome did not attempt to forbid it till Siricius his daies 5. The Apostles neither taught nor decreed against it 6 For Priests to marry is not contrary to the Churches precept 7. Nine Popes of Rome the sons of married Bishops Priests and Deacons some in Europe some in Africa some in Asia shew that marriage was lawfull for all those orders of Clergy men in the Catholick Church till near nine hundred years after Christ. That the Prohibition thereof in the Church of Rome was not till the year 1074. by Pope Gregory the seventh 8. The second Canon of the second Council of Carthage rightly interpreted forbids Priests only the use of their marriage at some special feasts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being rendred secundum priora propria statuta speaks for the truth of the Greek Copies before the Latine The Pope in need of a Provinciall Councill to support his Decree 9. Abrahams being married a good instance for Priests marriage who need look for no better then his righteousness 10. God saying of all It is better to marry then to burn the Church may not gainsay it of Priests 11. The Trullane Fathers blame the Romanists aboout Priests Marriage yet their Canons confirmed by Pope Adrian who in this thwarts Siricius 12. Saint Paul allowed marriage to prevent the danger and not only the guilt of fornication The Church bound to follow his doctrine 13. Saint Pauls thorn in the flesh his poenall afflictions not his sinfull motions or his tribulations not his temptations in the flesh 14. Marriage better allowed
the authority of a particular Church to defend his Decrees notwithstanding that some others of your profession would fain perswade the world That the Popes Decrees ought to be received and embraced as the infallible rules of the whole Catholick Church 9. Having done my weak endeavour to vindicate the Church I now come to vindicate my self and to make good my decarded instances As for that of Abraham if it reach not Siricius it must content me For if my salvation shall go no further then to be in Abrahams bosom my Religion may seek no further then for Abrahams righteousness And he must be to me a bold Dogmatist who would make me more righteous then my Father who am not righteous but for being his Son And if Saint Paul hath thought fit to argue from Abrahams faith to our faith sure I am not mistaken in my Topicks for arguing from Abrahams righteousness to our righteousness And yet I will give you a better precedent then Saint Paul for I find our blessed Saviour himself so arguing This did not Abraham John 8. 40. 10. As for my instance out of Saint Paul It is better to marry then to burn I think it doth prove Siricius a false Dogmatist for he saith It is not better to marry then to burn and I am sure that both parts of the contradiction cannot be true and dare not imagine That Siricius hath taken the true Saint Paul the false part For if for Priests to marry is to be in the flesh Then clearly it is better for Priests to burn then to marry notwithstanding Saint Paul hath said generally concerning all men It is better to marry then to burn And neither good Reason nor good Religion nor good Manners will allow any man to give an exception upon Gods general Rule or to distinguish where his Law doth not distinguish or to set up an Hypothesis against his Thesis by saying That is unlawfull for some particular men which he hath declared to be lawful for All men or to say That puts a man in the state of sin which God hath said is consistent with the state of righteousness For this is to give earth a Dominion over heaven to allow men a legislative power over God for he that in this manner judgeth the Law doth indeed condemn the Law-giver according to that assertion of the irrefragable Doctor Si enim aliquis effecit aliquid quod non sit determinatum in sacra Scriptura mortaliter peccat quia se constituit supra Deum Halensis Par. 1. qu. 68. num 1. art 2. Therefore I dare not say The Church hath determined that to be unlawful in Any which God hath determined to be lawfull in All For I am in love with that Rule in the Angelical Doctor which he hath improved out of Aristotle as he hath indeed all other Ethicks In his quae arbitrio Judicis relinquuntur viri boni est ut sit Diminitivus Poenarum 22. qu. 67. art 4. ad 1. In those things which the Law hath left to the Judges arbitrement it is the part of a good man to Diminish Punishments and if so Then much more to diminish not to encrease sins What an Heathen hath allowed to be the part of a good man pray let a Christian allow to be the part of his best Mother and not suppose the Church 10 cruel as to be willing to encrease sins when he may not suppose a good man so cruel as to be willing to encrease Punishment 11. This makes me follow the Trullane Fathers who thought it fitter Can. 13. to tax the Roman Church for making a Canon to keep married Priests from cohabiting with their wives then by consenting to such a Canon to bring themselves under the suspition of disparaging or disgracing marriage which God had instituted by his Law and both honoured and blessed by his presence For the whole Gospel say they cryeth aloud What God hath joyned let not man put asunder but if Priests that are married be in the state of damnation let us say not God but the Devil hath joyned them and their wives together and therefore man ought to put them asunder and so call marriage in them not Gods but the Devils institution The same Fathers urge further that of Saint Paul Heb. 13. 3. Marriage is honourable in all to prove it honourable in Priests for that was the whole matter then in debate And I desire you to shew me How in this enuntiation marriage is honourable in All the universal particle All doth signifie All but Priests And yet in another enuntiation Drink ye All of this the same particle All doth signifie none but Priests me thinks by this extraordinary kind of subtilty All is come to signifie None For All is none of the Clergy in one place and none of the Laity in another and in my dull sense the whole company of Christians are either Clergy or Laity I will yet further add the testimony of Adrian that I may oppose a Pope against a Pope both for the credit of this Council and for the truth of this cause For I find him in Gratian speaking these words Sextam Sanctam Synodum recipio cum omnibus Canonibus suis I receive the sixt holy Synod with all her Canons Gr. de consec dist 3. c. 29. He saith I receive the sixt holy Synod so the Council is good as to you who are so zealous for the Pope whatever it be to others He saith with all her Canons so the cause is good against you for this Canon is received among the rest And he that said all this lived above 800. years after Christ so your assertion is not good That the Apostles themselves were the first that taught and decreed that Priests ought to abstain from wives For if Pope Adrian could have alledged the least particle of an Apostolical decree against Priests marriage no doubt he would not have said He received all the Canons meerly for this one Canons sake which had been made of purpose to confute his own Church and Chair of both which he was not a little zealous meerly for following Siricius in being addicted to the contrary opinion chuse you which of the two Popes to follow Siricius or Adrian for both you cannot 12. But you say To burn doth not here signifie to be tempted but to fornicate I cannot think Saint Paul was so zealous to determine that which no man was yet so impudent as to doubt viz. It is better to marry then to fornicate for that is no more in effect then this It is better to be a man then to be a beast which surely was not the doubt concerning which the Corinthians had desired to be resolved Therefore I think this cannot be Saint Pauls meaning It is better to marry then to fornicate and I suppose you will think so too when you shall consider that from this interpretation I can justly make this inference That if Priests do fornicate first they may marry afterwards
Purgatory into doubts and his doubts into nothing Nay in truth his last doubt in this 11. Chapter is a meer nothing of it self An per se agant istae poenae Whether those pnnishments do act upon the souls by and of themselves For to think accidents can act of themselves is to think them substances and to think they can act upon immaterial souls is to think them above the best substances And to think they can act upon blessed souls is to think them above the substance of substances above God himself For the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God neither doth any grief hurt them Wisdom 3. 1. or rather and there shall no torment touch them The Latine translation Et non tanget illos tormentum mortis And the torment of death shall not touch them is too short by being too long hath taken from the Text by add ng to it for putting in mortis and saying the Torment of death shall not touch them seems to allow that Torment after death may touch them But the Greek Original is plain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Et non tanget illos tormentum And no torment at all shall touch them sc. after once they may be truly said to be in the hands of God as resigned unto him according to that most comfortable Resignation sanctified unto us by the Spirit of God which made it and by the Son of God which used it In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum Into thy hands Lord I commend my spirit It was alwaies in thy hands by thy dominion and Tuition But now it is more peculiarly in thy hands by my own resignation The souls of the Righteous are alwaies in Gods hands as their Governor but more peculiarly at the hour of death as their Receiver and Possessor For they no sooner go from their own bodies but they go into his hands and being there no grief can hurt them no more then it can hurt him or take them out of his hands And sure we are he will not hurt them for he doth not receive them with one hand that he may torment them with the other so saith the voice from heaven and it is both shame and sin for any voice from earth to say otherwise Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their works do follow them Apoc. 14. 13. That is their good works to procure their reward not their evil works to procure their punishment such as you teach to be in Purgatory for that 's not agreeable with their rest nor consistent with their blessedness And I desire to know how he can say to God at his death Into thy hands I commend my spirit who believes the Torments of Purgatory by which for ought you dare avow to the contrary he may be in the hands of the Devil Again Cap. 12. Sciri non posse in hac vita quomodo ignis corporeus Animas urat It cannot be known in this life how material fire can burn immaterial souls let me add much less how it can purge them or expiate the reliques of their sins for though we read that fire is an instrument of Gods Justice and so may punish immaterial spirits yet we do not read that it is an instrument of Gods Grace that it should purge or expiate them Cap. 13. An in purgatorio torquentur Animae à daemonibus Whether or no in Purgatory the souls are tormented by the Devils Concerning which he answers Res est omnino incerta It is a a thing altogether uncertain This is the second time he hath answered us with that very word so we see he could be confident where he could not be certain But in this case we have reason to believe him For there are divers several opinions concerning it so the doctrine is uncertain as to the Believers and not one of those opinions but hath an objection stronger then its proof so the doctrine is uncertain as to the belief For some say the souls in Purgatory are tormented by the good Angels but how come they from being their friends and Guardians to be their enemies and tormentors Others say That they are tormented by the Devils and to this Bellarmine inclines because forsooth the pretended Revelations have avowed it But how comes the Devil from being conquered by them whiles they were in the infirmities of the flesh to be a Conquerour over them when they are nothing but pure spirits Doth God say Resist the Devil and he will fly from you James 4. 7. and shall men say The Devil comes as a Conquerour upon them who have most resisted him Doth the Church pray That God would beat down Satan under our feet and have we no better benefit of that prayer Then that God should permit Satan to get up even over our Head Others say they are tormented by the fire meaning I suppose as it is directed and assisted by the hand of God But how comes God so low in their esteem as to do that which they do not think fit to be done by his meanest good Angel Why must that office of an Executioner become him which is unbecoming his most inferiour Minister Besides how can his Justice which hath been satisfied by Christ require a second satisfaction Or where hath God declared that he will allow his Justice to be thus satisfied We dare not deny That Gods Justice is fully satisfied in Christ for penitent Sinners because himself hath said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3. which were nothing to us if he were not well pleased with all that flie to Christ or rather that are in Christ for Christs sake yet sure not well pleased if his Justice be not fully satisfied since Justice first and then Charity is a rule not to be violated or broken on earth much less in heaven Again our blessed Saviours fore-runner thus proclaimed concerning him Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world John 1. 29. If he hath taken them away they cannot be left behind either for our guilt or for our punishment since guilt is nothing else but an obligation to punishment for that were to say He hath taken them away so as to leave them behind for us to take them away which is in effect to deny him to be the Propitiation for our sins against the express word of God John 2. 2. and consequently not only against the benefits but also against the belief of our own souls wherefore we dare not deny That Gods justice is fully satisfied in Christ and if we dare we shall not know where to find him any other satisfaction for he hath not allowed or appointed any other and sure no satisfaction can give him content but such as himself hath allowed and appointed And indeed that is the only satisfaction which is adequate to his offended Justice the satisfaction made by his Son not by the sinner either
he that telleth the number of the stars will not learn of man how to number his own Commandements Wherefore if our number disagree from his we shall not only have a false piece of Arithmetick in the numerus numerans in the number numbering but we shall also have a false piece of Divinity in the numerus numeratus in the number numbered For we shall call that First which God calls Second there is the false Arithmitick and we shall make that nothing which God hath made a Commandement or make that two which God hath made but one there is the false Divinity Therefore as we may not leave Gods own hand-writing to consult with the Church about the number of the Commandements whether there be Ten or no so neither may we leave it to consult about the number of the Commandements in each Table whether three or four in the first for God hath said four whether six or seven in the second Table for God hath said six And what God hath made his Determination the Church of God may not make her Consultation It is the doctrine of your own Casuist Reginald in praxi fori Poenit. lib. 13. c. 15. Ut omnia rerum genera ad decem summa reducuntur sic omnia praecepta moralia ad decem praecipua quae Decalogum constituunt ex quorum etiam distinctione sicut res ex distinctione summorum generum inter se distinguuntur As all things which have a natural being are reduced to the Ten Predicaments So all things that have a moral being are reduced to the Ten Commandements And as natural entities are distinguished by the Ten Predicaments so moral entities are distinguished by the Ten Commandements So that the Ten Commandements are as it were the Ten Predicaments or general heads in Divinity to which all moral Duties are to be reduced by which they are to be examined from which they are to be Practised And therefore as he would shew himself no good Logician who should expunge or confound any one of the ten Predicaments because that were to disturb the order of nature so he would shew himself no good Divine who should either expunge or confound any one of the Ten Commandements because that were to disturb the order of Grace The one would bring Babel upon our natural the other upon our spiritual inheritance The one would confound us in regard of earth the other in regard of heaven The one would confound us as men the other would confound us as Christians which is infinitely the more dreadful and the more damnable confusion Therefore we must needs say and believe That there is a much greater necessity of distinct entities in morals then in naturals because there is a much greater necessity that we should exactly know our Duties then that we should exactly know our estates or habilements That we should know our God then that we should know the world And consequently any true Christian Church which teacheth us in morals must much more abhor to confound a â—…ommandement for fear she should perplex us in our Religion then the most careful Tutor that teacheth us in naturals canabhor to confound a Predicament for fear he should perplex us in our learning For there is no such desperate perplexity as that of Conscience and no such damnable confusion as that of Religion and God hath ordained and commanded his Church to prevent and to redress not to create or to continue either such perplexities or such confusions And a late faction in your Church by either expunging or abridging the second Commandement for in some Catechisms it is expunged in others it is abridged for fear if it were read out all at length it should either stagger the people by the plainness of its Prohibition or else awake and frighten them by the terribleness of its commination have brought two great absurdities upon the outward Profession of your Religion which I may not be ashamed to name whiles you are not afraid to practise First that in this point it is less certain then was the Religion of the Jews for they had no confusion in their principles concerning the outward worship of God as you have and where is confusion there must be uncertainty Secondly that in this respect it is more scandalous and offensive then was sometime the Religion of the Heathen For Numa would not allow any image to be made of God saith Plutarch in his life because he was a mind invisible and therefore neither to be represented nor worshipped by any image But you will needs both represent and worship him by images Why should any Christians do that against the Law of God which some Heathen would not do against the Law of nature For if the Gentiles which had not the Law doing by nature the things contained in the Law were a Law unto themselves and shewed the work of the Law written in their hearts by abstaining from so gross Idolatry what can be said in excuse of those Christians who have the same Law of nature as fully written in their hearts and more fully written in the Holy Scriptures yet will not do by Grace the things contained in the Law nor shew the work of the Law written in their hearts and in their Bibles but will needs be a Law unto themselves against the Law of God and nature that they may be and continue most gross Idolaters I could wish with all my soul that the question were impertinently asked because I fear it cannot be substantially answered and if it may stand good without an answer it will not only be a most harsh question but also a most heavy accusation Secondly this reckoning the First and Second but as one Commandement is also against accidental Catholicism that is to say against the Profession of a Divine Truth universally taught in the Church of God by the Jews and by the Christians both before and after Saint Augustines daies For the Jews Church we have the testimony of Josephus who lib. 3. Antiq. cap. 4. hath these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The first Commandement teacheth us There is but one God and that we must worship him alone The second commandeth us not to worship him by any image For the Christian Church we have generally the Testimony of all the Fathers before Saint Augustine and of all the writers after him till the Schoolmen and we have his too as to the force and vertue of the second Commandement though not as to the place and order of it I will cite but some few 1. Origene in his 8. homily upon Exodus speaking of the first and second Commandements saith That some would have them both go but for one but he altogether dislikes their opinion and thus confutes it Quod si ita putetur non complebitur decem numerus mandatorum ubi jam erit Decalogi veritas If we reckon so we shall not have the full number of Ten Commandements and where then will be the truth
with what Head Heart and Hand I can answer it for all will be little enough to vindicate Gods glory which you have taken from him to give unto his servants so little cause have you to be troubled that we will not joyn with you in the same theft and agree altogether to rob God For you say Against praying to Saints I alledge Job 4. 18. It seems I might have alledged twenty texts more impertinently for praying to Saints and no exception would have been taken at my allegations For so your late Dogmatist hath done most unconscionably because to the abuse of Christian Religion most uncharitably because to the breach of Christian Communion and yet neither you nor any of your party have sought to reclaim his errour or to repair Gods truth But you have laid a task upon me That I must â—…rit vindicate mine own before I may oppose his Allegations Mine own allegation was this Behold he put no trust in his servants and his Angels he charged with â—…olly This 〈◊〉 used as an argument to confute that strange I might have said that blasphemous Invocation which you are pleased to teach poor mis-believing souls though its rythm being above its reason shews in what unhappy age it stole into your prayers O Thoma Didyme succurre nobis miseris ne damnemur cum impiâ—…s in adventu Judicis Help us O good Saint Thomas that we be not condemned with the wiâ—…ked in the last Iudgement For said I those mighty helpers the blessed Saints will not in that day be able to help themselves much less will they be able to help others Therefore all of us had reed rely upon that helper which alone is able to stand himself and to support us in the Judgement and he is no other but only the eternal Son of God For saying this two great sins are laid to my châ—…ge by the consâ—…quence of your exception which concerns Divines though not by the words of it which concern Grammarians The first is That I look upon the day of Judgement with too fearful an eye and seek to get my self an helper or a supporter against that day The second is That I look upon my Saviour with too faithful an eye and seek to get him for my helper and supporter Come Sir let us not triste away our souls though we do our words but acknowledge the terrour and the scrutinie of that day will be both alike unsupportable That the Justice of God will shew it self indispensable That our conviction will be made indisputable and why not our condemnation undenyable That all flesh must then keep silence and no flesh will be able to keep station before him but such as have the eternal Iustice to satisfie for their sins and the eternal Word to plead on their behalf that satisfaction Therefore in this unimaginable unexpreâ—… inextricable exigency and diâ—…tress of â—…ouls there can be but one common Sanctuary for all mankind to she unâ—…o and consequently in vain do any of us â—…lie to other Sanctuaries before it For if we must chang our other Sanctuaries then why should we choose them now If the Saints then cannot be our Helpers why should we now pray unto them for help since all our Prayers tend to this That we may be acquitted in the last Judgement and not so gain the world as to lose our own souls My help cometh from the Lord saith holy David which made heaven and earth Psalm 121. 2. not saying what help because he meant all help not saying ae what time because he meant at all times not saying in what exigencies because he meant in all exigencies so then this is his meaning All my help at all times and in all exgencies cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth As no Saint helped him to make them so no Saint can help me when he will destroy them Therefore if I would not be helpless in that day when I shall most want help even in the day of Destruction I must beseech him to be my Helper which made heaven and earth For only he that made them out of nothing is able to keep me from being worâ—…e then nothing â—…or though the Heavens shall then pass away with a great noise and the earth shall be burned up 2 Pet. 3. 10. yet his help shall not pass away but shall preserve me and all those that heartily Pray unto him from the everlasting Burnings which is more then he hath promised to do for those who pray to Saints and t is to be feared that such prayers will make him do less Therefore give me such an Helper as will not leave me nor forsake me till he hath saved me and sure that can be no other but the God of my salvation so saith the same holy Supplicant Thou hast been my help leave me not neither forsake me O God of my salvation Psal. 27. 9. May I say to any Saint in the Day of thanks giving when I shall be in heaven Thou hast been my help 2. And how then shall I say to any Saint in the day of supplication whiles I am on earth Make speed to save me make haste to help me since what is Prayer on earth will be Prayer in Heaven for we shall not there learn unthankfulness How can I leave out O Lord and say O Mother of God save me and help me For in this case your learned Cardinal supplies me with a reason to the contrary Nam ea quibus indigenâ—…us superant vires creaturae ac proinde etiam Sanctorum Bell de â—…anct Beat. lib. 1. c. 17. Those things which we 〈◊〉 are above the power of the Saints to give us And if our wants be above their Power how are our Prayers for the supply of those wants not above their Glory for we are taught to say at the end of our Prayers For thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory nor can we pray in faith to any to whom we cannot say so at the end of our Prayers therefore not to any but to God the Father Son and holy Ghost And it is the great scandal and greater sin of your Prayers to the blessed Virgin and other Saints That you ask those blessings and that protection from them which he alone can give whose is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory But to return to your Cardinals Reason which alone is enough to keep me from turning to his Religion If those things which we want be not in the power of the Saints to give us why should they be in our Prayers to the Saints as if they could give them â—…or be that hath said Ask and it shall be given you Mat. 7. 7. hath in effect said Ask not of those who cannot give For that is either to ask in vain or to ask in sin t is to ask vain if without the Gift t is to ask in sin if against the Precept So then I asking not that help of the Saints which they cannot
practice have divâ—…rted the principal streams of affiance and love from Him who had the only right unto them and turned them upon those unto whom neither so great honour is due nor so undue honour can be acceptable Sands Survey of Religion cap. 4. Jesu God heal their Tongues that preach such Blaphemy instead of Divinity heal their Hands that write it heal their Ears that hear it and much more heal their Hearts that believe it and their Lifes that practise it that though thy Truth hath been outfaced by their Lyes yet their miracles may be outvied by thy Power and their Souls saved by thy Grace and Mercy For all the miracles they can falsly attribute to thy Saints as if by their own power and holiness they could heal the Body to make us go to thy Servants for help when we should go only to Thy self are nothing in comparison of that great miracle of thy power and greater miracle of thy mercy whereby thou art pleased to heal the Soul I have been the longer upon this Argument as I was upon the former because the false Invocations and Adorations used by you have given others just occasion to depart from you even those who were under your own jurisdiction and much more those who were not For as he that kicks against Heaven stricks up his own Heels so a faction in your Church of late years kicking against Gods authority could not stand so fast as to keep their own nor is it any reason you should expect others to be dutiful to you according to the fift contrary to that duty which they ow to God according to the four first Commandements 16. But though others of your party argue much in this case from Authority yet you think fit to argue from reason saying Now since God puts this great Trust in them with us ought not we to put them in Trust by reverently commending our selves unto them no saith Reason to which you have appealed much more no saith Religion from which you have started First no saith Reason For that teacheth us to invocate none that is not All-present to hear our request All-merciful to receive it All-sufficient to grant it and Almighty to fullfil it and therefore to Invocate no creature which hath none much less all of these Secondly no saith Religion And first the Religion that is in Heaven I heard the voyce of many Angels round about the Throne and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voyce Worthy is the Lamb which was slain to receive power and riches and wisedome and strength and honour and glory and blessing Revel 5. 11 12. This is the Religion you must practise in Heaven and why should you practise any other in Earth since you are taught to pray Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven you may safely take the crowns of the Saints and Angels and cast them before the Throne giving glory and honour and thanks to Him who was dead but now liveth for ever and ever for so they do themselves Revel 4. 9 10. But never was it seen in Heaven That any Saint or Angel did make so bold as to take the Crown off from our Saviours Head to place it upon his own There this is the only dialect Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created v. 11. And the dialect should be here as 't is there so saith the Psalmist O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker as if he had said before no other but only Him to whom we can truly say For thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Therefore secondly no saith the Religion that is in Earth that likewise answers no to your quaere Ought we not to put them in trust by reverently commending our selves into them And surely we ought not For that very Apostle who hath written most concerning the benefit and the assistance which the heirs of Salvation have by the Angels Hebr. 1. 14. forbids them to worship Angels for fear of endangering their inheritance Col. 2. 18 19. Let no man beguil you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels intruding into those things which he hath not seen vainly puft up by his fleshly mind and not holding the Head c. where the Apostles full intent and scope is to dehort the Colossians from the worshipping of Angels first from the dangerous effect of it no less then the loss of eternal life Let no man beguil you of your reward 2. from the vain pretences for it viz. the obedience or submission we owe to them as to our Patrons and the need we have of their Patronage the first hath a shew of humility but 't is such as God never commended in a voluntary humility The second hath a real guilt of curiosity for 't is such as God never taught intruding into those things which he hath not seen 3. From the wicked and ungodly causes of it and they are two Pride of heart vainly puft up by his fleshly mind and Ignorance of Christ as Head of the Church And not holding the Head from which all the Body by joynts and bands having nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God Angels are a part of this Body as well as men and this Head gives life to them as to us As all is Neighbour that is not God in the Law so all is Body that is not Head in the Gospel The question is as unanswerable if asked of St. Michael or St. Gabriel as of St. Peter or St. Paul Is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you or were ye baptized in the name of Paul 1 Cor. 1. 13. Is Christ divided from himself that He should not be the Head of Angels as well as of men or is Christ divided from his Body on Earth more then from his Body in Heaven Hath he put that part of his Body to convey life and motion and nourishment to this or doth he not convey life and motion and nourishment to both parts immediately by Himself Was any Angel crucified for us or were we baptized in the name of any Angel Was St. Paul a lover of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Chrys. in denying this honour to the Apostles and can we be lovers of Christ in giving this honour to the Angels Is it more lawful for us then it was for him to give the honour of the Head to any part of the Body or can we look for a reward of our service if we serve any of the Body instead of the Head Let no men beguil you saith He of your reward 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let no man make you so run as not to receive the Prize or so run that you may not obtain you may lose the Prize by running out of the race as well