Angels or Saints departed said God at any time Sit thou on my right hand to make intercession for Men Of which of them has he at any time affirmed as he has done of Christ He is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him seeing he ever lives to make Intercession for Men That if any Man Sin he is an Advocate with the Father for him Or whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in his name it shall be given you Certainly they who will have Angels and Saints Mediatours betwixt God and Men ought to produce a Commission signed by God or his Son Jesus to constitute them such but this they are no more able to do then they are to make a grant of such Power and Honour themselves to them It 's true the Blessed Spirits above are said to stand about the Throne of God and the Holy Angels to behold his Face and as the Honour of a Prince is encreased by the number of his Attendants so is our Lords exaltation rendered the more Glorious by those ten thousand times ten thousand that Minister unto him but yet it 's never said They sit at Gods right Hand or live for ever to make Intercession for us and having no such delegation of Power from God for this office the Honour and Worship that belongs to it can't be given to them without manifest Wrong and Sacriledge to Christ who has The Holy Angels are Gods ministring Spirits and the Spirits of Just-Men departed his Glorified Saints but God hath made Jesus the Lord and Christ and put all things in Heaven and Earth in Subjection under his feet of him only hath he said Let all the Angels Honour him and all the Saints fall down before him and all Men Honour the Son even as they Honour the John 5. 23 Father Amen To Conclude WEre we certain that the Saints departed do now reign in Heaven and enjoy the Beatifick Vision and that it was lawful to Invocate such as are undoubtely Saints as the Blessed Virgin and the Holy Apostles Yet methinks a wary Man should be shy and not over-forward to exhibit that honour to all whom the Pope hath Cannoniz'd I cannot for my heart but think that the Prelates and Bishops in King Henry the Eighth's time had as much reason to Unsaint Thomas Becket for being a Rebel against his Prince as Pope Alexander the Third had to Canonize him for being a Biggot for the Church What can a sober Christian think of the Saintship of some who never had any being in the World and of others who never had any goodness many of their Saints are meer Names without Persons and many meer Persons without Holiness nay I am very confident that the greatest Incendiaries and Disturbers of the Peace of the World do as well deserve it as that famous Pope Hildebrand or Gregory the seventh Inumerable might be instanc'd in whose Saintship justly falls under great Suspicion but 't is enough that some Romanists themselves and those of no little Authority in their Church have granted that the Popes canonizations are doubtful and subject to error If then at any Billar de beat sanct l. 1. c. 7. 8. time his Infallibility should chance to mistake as I am pretty sure he has more then once done the Members of that Church are in a sweet case and are not only in danger of Invocating Saints but Devils also which is Idolatry with a witness and by their own Confession FINIS A DISCOURSE AGAINST TRANSUBSTANTIATION EDINBVRGH Re-printed by John Reid Anno DOM 1686. A DISCOURSE AGAINST TRANSUBSTANTIATION COncerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper one of the two great positive Institutions of the Christian Religion there are two main Points of difference between Vs and the Church of Rome One about the Doctrine of Transubstantiation in which they think but are not certain that they have the Scripture and the words of our Saviour on their side The other about the administration of this Sacrament to the People in both kinds in which we are sure that we have the Scripture and our Saviour's Institution on our side and that so plainly that our Adversaries themselves do not deny it Of the first of these I shall now treat and endeavour to shew against the Church of Rome That in this Sacrament there is no substantial change made of the Elements of Bread and Wine into the natural Body and Bloud of Christ that Body which was born of the Virgin Mary and suffered upon the Cross for so they explain that hard word Transubstantiation Before I engage in this Argument I cannot but observe what an unreasonable task we are put upon by the bold confidence of our Adversaries to dispute a matter of Sense which is one of those things about which Aristotle hath long since pronounc'd there ought to be no dispute It might well seem strange if any man should write a Book to prove that an Egg is not an Elephant and that a Musket-Bullet is not a Pike It is every whit as hard a case to be put to maintain by a long Discourse that what we see and handle and taste to be Bread is Bread and not the Body of a Man and what we see and taste to be Wine is Wine and not Bloud And if this evidence may not pass for sufficient without any farther proof I do see why any man that hath confidence enough to do so may not deny any thing to be what all the world sees it is or affirm any thing to be what all the world sees it is not and this without all possibility of being farther confuted So that the business of Transubstantiation is not a controversie of scripture against scripture or of Reason against Reason but of downright Impudence against the plain meaning of scripture and all the sense and Reason of Mankind It is a most self-evident Falshood and there is no Doctrine or Proposition in the world that is of it self more evidently true then Transubstantiation is evidently false And yet if it were possible to be true it would be the most ill-natur'd and pernicious truth in the World because it would suffer nothing else to be true it is like the Roman-catholick Church which will needs be the whole Christian Church and will allow no other society of Christians to be any part of it so Transubstantiation if it be true at all it is all truth for it cannot be true unless our senses and the senses of all mankind be deceived about their proper objects and if this be true and certain then nothing else can be so for if we be not certain of what we see we can be certain of nothing And yet notwithstanding all this there is a Company of men in the World so abandon'd and given up by God to the efficacy of delusion as in good earnest to believe this gross and palpable Errour and to impose the belief of it upon the Christian World under no less
that all do read and silence being made that all hear This is also agreeable to the former Opinion of the Church of Rome it self and for proof of which what can we desire more then the Declarations of Popes and Councils and this we have For we read of a permission given by the Pope to the Moravians at the instance of Cyril who had Aeneas Sylvius Hist Bohem. l. 1. c. 13. Aunâ— 260. converted them and other Nations of the Sclavâ—nians to have Divine Service in their own Tongue and that he and the Conclave were induced to it when not a few did oppose it by a voice from Heaven that said Let every Spirit praise the LORD and every Tongue confess to him as Aeneas Sylvius afterward Pope relates And Pope John the VIII not long after in Anno 880. writes thus to S fento opulcer a Prince Coneil Tom. 24. Epist 217. Paris 1644. of the Sclavonians We command that the Praises and Works of our Lord Christ be declared in the same Sclavonian Tongue For we are admonished by sacred Writ to praise the Lord not only in three but in all Tongues saying Praise the Lord all ye Nations praise him all the people And the Apostles filled with the Holy Ghost spake in all Tongues And S. Paul admonisheth Let every Tongue confess and in the first to the Corinthians he doth sufficiently and plainly admonish us that in speaking we should edifie the Church of God Neither doth it hinder the Faith or Doctrine to have the Mass sung or the Gospel and Lessons well translated read or other divine Offices sung in the same Selavonian Tongue because he who made three principal Tongues viz. Hebrew Greek and Latine made all to his praise c. And consormable to this is the Decree of the Council of Lateran under Innocent III. Anno 1215. that because in Con. 9. many parts within the same City and Diocess there are many people of different manners and Rites mixed together but of one Faith We therefore command that the Bishops of such Cities or Diocesses provide fit Men who shall celebrate Divine Offices according to the diversity of Tongues and Riâ—es and administer the Sacraments This may be farther confirmed by the very Offices of the Church of Rome but this is sufficient Vid. Cassandri Liturg. c. 36. to shew that the Church of Rome hath departed from Scripture Antiquity and it self when it doth require that Divine Service be performed in a Tongue unknown to the people and that it was never the opinion of the Fathers nor any Church nor even of the Church of Rome that it is most expedient to have it so performed So little was it then thought that religious things the less they are understood Epist Cleri Gall. Collect. p. 63. Epist P. Alex. 7. in Collect. p. 69. Hosius p. 64. Bellarm. Sect. Septimâ— P. Sanct. c. 17. n 3. E. W. Truth will out p. 45. 47. Râ—â—erus c. 22. Portraiture c. 14 p. 224. Bellarm. l. 1. de â—â—ssa c. 11. Sanders orat p. 72 Râ—em Annot p. 461. the more they would be admired and that to preserve a reverence for them and the people from dangerous errours it is requisâ—te to keep them from being understood So little was it pleaded that there are any Tongues sacred in themselves and that as the three upon the Cross of Christ are to be preferred before others and to exclude the rest so the Latine as next to the head of Christ is the most venerable of the three So little was it then thought that there is a certain kind of Divinity in Latin and something more of Majesty and fitter to stir up Devotion then in other Tongues So little were they afraid that Latin would be lost if the service were not kept in it or however so little evident is it that they valued the preservation of that Tongue above the Edification of the Church Lastly So little did they think of the expedience of having the service in one common Tongue as Latin That Christians where-ever they travel may find the self same Service and Priests may officiate in it as at home As if for the sake of the few that travel the many that stay at home should be left destitute and for one Mans convenience 10000. be exposed to eternal perdâ—ioâ— These are Arguments coined on purpose to defend the Cause and so are peculiar to the Church that needs them II. Let us consider whither from the time of its having been a Rits it hath been the Rite of every Church To this I shall only produce their own Confessions Cassander Liturg c. 11. 13. 15 Ledesm c. 33 n. 5 Bellarm. c. 16. sect obj ult Salmer on in 1 cor 16. sect septime for it is acknowledged that the Armenians Egyptianâ— Habassines Muscovites and Sclavâ—nians have their Service in a Tongue known to the people And their giving them the hard Names of Hereticks Schismaticks and Barbarous will not save the Council from being fallible when it saith It is the rite of every church But were there no such Churches in the World that herein practised contrary to the Church of Rome yet it would no more justifie her then it can make that good which is evil that expedient which is mischievous to the Church of God or reconcile one part of the Council to the other that when it hath declared The Masi contaiâ—â—â— great instruction for the people yet adds That it is expedient and an approved Rite that it be not celebrated in the Vulgar Tongue But say they this is granted If there were no interpretation but that is provided for by the Council for it is ordered That lest Christs sheep should hunger all that have the care of Souls shall frequently expound c. And that we are now to consider SECT IV Whither the Provisions made by the Council of Trent for having some part of the Mass expounded be sufficient to countervail the mischief of having the whole celebrated in a Tongue not understood of the People and to excuse the Church of Rome in the injunction of it THis is the last refuge they betake themselves to S. C. Answ to D. Piece 7. 175. Sanders orat p. 63. confessing that without an Interpretation S. Paul is against them but with this they plead he is for them But what shall we then think of the case in their Church at a time when as the people could not understand so the Priests could not interpret and wanted both the gift and had not acquired so much as the art of it What shall we think of their case and their Church that hath neither provided nor doth use such an Interpretation as the Apostle speaks of but what differs as much from it in respect of the light it gives to the people as both that and the Tongue they use do in the way by which they are obtained If it were a translation what a ludicrous thing would it be for
seventh Council * Syn. 7. Act. ult p. 886. Con. in Labb Richer H. Conc. Gen. vol. 1. p. 658. Ad calc ejusd act 7 in omn. editionibus concil legitur Epist Synod quam Tarasius c. Et diserte narrat cunctos Patres Honorium damnasse condemned as a Monothilite And he was expresly anathematized for confirming the wicked Doctrine of Sergius The guilt of Heresie in Honorius is owned in the Solemn Profession of Faith made by the Popes at their entrance on the Papacy a Lib. diurn Pontif. con sid 2. p. 41. Autores verò novi hoeretici dogmatis Sergium Pyrrhum Paulum Petru◠Episcopos unà cum Honorio qui pravis eorum assertionibut fomentum impendit pariterque Theodorum Pharamitanum Cyrum Alexandrinum cum eorum imitatoribus c. This matter is so manifest that Melchior Canus b Melch can Loci com l. 6. c. ult p. 242 243. c. professeth no Sophistry is artful enough to put the Colour of a plausible defence upon it A late Romanist hath undertaken to write the History of the Monothilites c Anton. Dez Hist Mon. Par 1678. and the Defence of Honorius seemeth to be the principal motive to that undertaking Yet so great is the power of Truth and such in this case is the plainness of it that in the Apologist himself we find these concessions That the Pope a Id. ib. p. 224. 325 226 218. was condemned by the Council and that the Council was not to be blamed †that Pope Leo the second owned both the Council and the Sentence and that Honorius was Sentenc'd as an Heretick * Id. p. 220. He would abate this guilt by saying b P. 207 208. that Honorius erred as a private Person and not as Head of the Church because his Epistle was hortatory and not compulsive It is true he erred not as Head of the Church for such he was not neither as such was he owned But he erred as a publick person and with Heretical obstinacy For Pope Leo as he noteth said concerning him that he had made it his business to betray and subvert the Holy Faith c Id. p. 122. profanā proditione immaculatam fidem subvertere conatus est Flammam confovit p. 123. Now this matter of Fact sufficeth for the refuting all the fallacious reasonings of the patrons of Papal infallibility For all must agree that they d de Socer Christ p. 40 are not unerring Guides who actually erre The Sieur de Balzac d Socr. Chr. p. 40. mocks at the weakness of one of the Romish Fathers who offered four reasons to prove that the Duke D' Espernon was not returned out of England And offered them to a Gentleman who had seen him since his return There seemeth no fitness in the constituting of such a Arg. V Guide nor any necessity for it Had it been agreeable to Gods Wisdom his Wisdom would not have been wanting to it self God having made Man a Reasonable Creature would not make void the use of deliberation and the freedom of his judgment There is no vertue in the Assent where the Eye is forced open and Light held directly to it It is enough that God the rewarder of them who believe hath given Men sufficient faculties and sufficient means And seing Holiness is as necessary to the pleasing of GOD and to the peace of the World as Union in Doctrine to which there is too frequently given a lifeless assent seing there must be Christian Obedience as long as there is a Church seing as the Guide in Controversie * R. H. Annot. on D. St. Answ p. 81. himself urgeth the Catholick Church and all the parts of it are believed in the Creed to be Holy as well as Orthodox We ask not the Romanists an impertinent Question when we desire them to tell us why a means to infallibility in the judgement rather than irresistibleness in the pious choice of the Will is to be by Heaven provided in the Church Both seem a kind of Destination of equal necessity But though the Reformed especially those of the Prop. V. Church of England see no necessity for an infallible Guide nor believe there is one on the face of the earth yet they do not reject all Ecclesiastical Guidance but allow it great place in matters of Discipline and Order and some place also though not that of an unerring Judge in Matters of Faith At the beginning of the Reformation the Protestants though they refused the judgment of the Pope their Enemy yet they declined not the determination of a Council And in the Assembly at Ausburgh the Romanists and Protestants agreed in a council as the Umpire of their publick difference At this the Pope was so alarumed saith the Sieur de Mezary * Hij A. 1. that he wrote to the Kings of France and England that he would do all they would desire provided they hindred the calling of a Council In the Reformation of the Church of England great regard was had to the Primitive Fathers and Councils And the aforesaid French Historian was as much mistaken in the affairs of Our Church when he said of our Religion that it was a medly of the Opinions of Calvin and Luther a A. as he was afterwards in the affairs of our State when he said King James was elected at the Guild-hall King of England b 10. A. 1603. The Romanists represent us very falsly whilst they fix upon us a private Spirit as it stands in opposition to the Authority of the Catholick Church Mr. Alabaster c See J. Racsters 7 motives of W. A p. 11 12. expresseth one motive to his conversion to the Roman Church in these Words Weigh together the Spouse of Christ with Luther Calvin Melancthon Oecumenical councils with private opinions The Reverend learned Fathers with Arius Actius Vigilantius Men alwayes in their time Burned for Hereticks of which words the former are false reasoning the latter is false History The Bishop of Meaux d Confer avec M. claut de p. 110. reasons after the same fallacious manner Supposing a Protestant to be of this perswasion that he can understand the Scriptures better than all the rest of the Church together of which perswasion he saith very truly that it exalteth Pride and removeth Docility The Guide in controversies d R. H. Annot on D. St. Answ p. 84. puts the Question wrong in these terms Whither a Protestant in refusing the submission of his judgment to the Authority or Infallibility of the Catholick Church in her Councils can have in several Articles of necessary Faith wherein the sense of Scripture is controverted as sure a Foundation of his Faith as he who submits his judgement to the foresaid Authority or also Infallibility Here the Catholick Church is put in place of the Roman Authority and Infallibility are joyned together and it is suggested dishonestly concerning the Reformed that they lay aside
between us the chief design of this attempt Now that we may not charge them nor they us falsly or rashly I. It may be convenient first to lay down some Principles concerning this Church in which they and we seem mostly agreed though all our Writers express not themselves alike clearly herein II. To propound the chief Bands of Unity within this Church III. To mark out the most obvious Defections from them by the Romanists IV. To shew the Reformation in the Church of England proceeded and was framed with all due regard to the preservation of them V. To clear it of the most common Objections VI. To consider the strong obligations from hence upon all sorts of Dissenters among us to embrace and continue in its ommunion I. The former will soon be dispatcht which I reduce to the following particulars 1. That our Blessed Saviour alwayes had and alwayes will have a Church in the World in which his Doctrine hath been and shall be so far profest and his Sacraments so effectually administred that they who rightly improve them may not want necessary supplies for their present spiritual life or future hopes of Salvation though the extent of the Church as to its boundaries and the perfection of it in degrees may be vastly different at one time and in one place from another This many Prophesies in the Old Testament and Promises from our Saviour in the New give abundant ground for our Faith to rely upon and the experience of all Ages hitherto hath confirmed 2. That this Church is a distinct Society within it self furnished with sufficient Authority in some to Govern and Obligation in others to be subject necessary to every Society which the power of the Keyes given by our Lord to received in or shut out and the exercise of Discipline from Divine Precept and Scripture Example evince beyond all exception But then this Ecclesiastical Power in whomsoever placed or strained to what height soever can never extend to vacate or change the express Institution of Christ or take away our Obligation to his revealed Truth and direct Commands In case of any competition the Apostles defence may be ours We must obey God rather then man And St. Pauls profession We can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth And again If we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel c. let him be accursed Gal. 1. 8. 3. This Church must be visible as every Society is more or less whose parts are so and whose Profession must be so Our entrance into it is in a visible manner by Baptismal Initiation Our oblidged Communion with it is in diverse outward sensible Acts which the representation of it by a Body or Building might prove More clearly is it likened to a city on a Hill which cannot be hid Mat. 5. 14. Set up as the Light of the World an Ensign to the Gentiles which all Nations should flee unto or else it would witness against them wherein its Followers should take Sanctuary and find a Refuge 4. Within these Boundaries we have the only hopes of safety here and happiness hereafter What GOD may do by his supereminent unaccountable power in an extraordinary case is presumption for us but to inquire into Out of this Atk there is no prospect given to us of any escape from the Universal Deluge a S. Cyprian Ep. 60 p. 143. Ed. Ox. Si aliquis ex talibus fuerit apprehensus non est quod sibi quasi in confessione Nominis blandiatur cum constet si occisi ejusmodi extra Ecclesiam fuerint Fidei coronam non esse sed poenam potius esse perfidiae Nec in Domo Dei inter unanimes habitaturos esse quos videmus de pacifica Divina Domo furore discordiae recessisse S. August Caeteri in Conc. Cirtensi adv Donatistas Ep. 152. T. 2. p. 696. Edit Frob. 556. Quisquis ergo ab hac Ecclesia Catholica fuerit separatus quantumlibet laudabiliter se vivere existimet hoc solo scelere quod a Christi unitate disjunctus est non habebit vitam Sed ira Dei manet super eum Quisquis autem in hac Ecclesia bene vixerit nihil ei praejudicant aliena peccata Idem Ep. 204. ad Donatum Presbyterum Donatist T. 2. p. 834. Foris autem ab Ecclesia constitutus separatus a compage unitatis vinculo Charitatis aeterno supplicio punireris etiamsi pro Christi nomine vivus incendereris All the spiritual Promises concerning this life or a better are made to this Church the Members of this Body who is the Head Therefore the Apostles preach to Jews and Gentiles the necessity of receiving this Character Seeing there is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved as St Peter attests Acts 4. 12. 5. This church is but one It is an Article of our Faith exprest in our Creed to believe it so For there be many members yet but one Body One Spirit quickning all One LORD and Head over all One GOD and Father of all one Faith one Baptism one Hope of our Calling in all as the Apostle argues Eph. 4. 4. 5. 6. 7 c. II. Now we are to enquire what are the chief Bands of Unity in the Church which make keep and evidence it to be one How we may secure our selves within this Garden enclosed this Spring shut up this Fountain sealed as the Ancients usually apply that Cant 4. 12. to this one Enclosure of the Church 1. This appears in the Vnity of Belief not only inwardly but in the outward profession of the same Faith which was once delivered to the Saints and hath been generally preserved and continued down throughout all Ages of the Church In testimony whereof the most eminent Bishops upon their first Consecration sent to their Brethren confessions of their Faith 2. In the Vnity of a Tertullian de praescript Haeret. c. 20. p. 209. Sic omnes primae Apostolicae dum una omnes probant unitatem Dum est communicatio Pacis appellatio Fraternitatis contesseratio Hospitalitatis quae jura non alia ratio regit quam ejusdem Sacramenti una traditio S. August adv literas â—eâ—iliani T. 7. p. 132. Charitas Christiana nisi in unitate Ecclesiae non potest custodiri Ibid. p. 473. de bapt adv Donatist l. 6. Etiamsi Christi Baptismum usque and Sacramenti celebrationem perceperunt tamen vitam aeternam nisi per Charitatis unitatem non consequuntur Et Ibid de unitate Ecclesiae c. 2 p. 510. Ecclesia corpus Christi est unde utique manisesâ—um est eum qui non est in membris Christi â—hristianam salutem habere non posse membra autem Christi per unitatis charitatem sibi copulantur per eandem capiti suo cohaerent quod est christus Charity and Affection as Fellow-members one of another as well as of the same Head that if one suffer
and Ceremonies she is sensible when they are too numerous how apt they are to darken the inward and more essential luster of Religion and prove a burden instead of a Relief to its Worship which she takes notice c Preface to the common prayer concerning Ceremonies why some are abolished St. Augustine complain'd of in his time But have since so encreased in the Eastern as well as Western Churches that it must argue a great aw to make the Service look like any thing serious and Sacred However this number alone where the particulars are not otherwise obnoxious tempts some to spend all their zeal therein and diverts them from things more necessary or gives too much occasion to others to quarrel about them Yet withal being apprehensive how needful it would be to maintain Order and Decency She hath kept some though very few and those most plain and unexceptionable in their nature most significative of the end for which they were appointed and most ancient and universal in their Institution and practice hinted in the tittle of our Liturgy as it is changed from the former And to prevent all differences hereabout she hath expressed her sense of them so clearly and explicitely that one would think no peevish obstinacy had room to interpose a scruple however the event hath proved Thus abundantly hath the Church of England vindicated her Reformation from all pretence of Apostacy from the True Ancient Catholick and Apostolick Church and shewed in all instances how careful she hath been to preserve the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of peace with all the Members thereof Nor hath she been wanting in any respect or reverence due thereunto No Church being more cautious and sparing in its determinations more Canonical in its Impositions more Regular in its Succession and more charitable in its Censures making all necessary provision for her own Children so within the bounds of Catholick Unity that had other Churches observed the like method or measures way had been made for an universal consent a Touto gar en pote tes Ecclesias to kauchema hoti apo ton peraton tes oikumenes epi ta perata microis symbolaiois ephodiazomennoi hoi ex hekastes Ecclesias adelphoi pantas pateras kai adelphous euriscon S. Basil Ep. 198. T. 3. p. 409. and every true Christian where ever he came would have found his own Church wherewith to communicate without hesitancy in all Religious Offices And as b St. Augustin observed in his time he would have needed but to enquire for the Catholick Church and no Schismatick would have darred to divert him to their Conventicles But if after the confusions and disorders of so many Centuries amidst such a depraved state by corrupt manners diversities of opinions and perplext Interests so great a happiness be not to be hoped for now that private person or particular Church will clear themselves before GOD and all good men that do what is in their power towards it and pray to Him to amend what they cannot change and in the mean time make the best use of what means they enjoy Upon which Premises an easie Solution is given to the old cavilling question Where was your Church before the Reformation or that time We answer Just where it is Thereby no new Church was set up no new Articles of Faith brought in no new Sacraments no new order of Priesthood to minister in holy things all which would have indeed required new Miracles and a new immediate Authority from Heaven so attested only the old were purged from impurities in Doctrine Worship and Practice which in passing through so many degenerate Ages they had contracted and that an ordinary Power might suffice to do If we were in the Catholick Church before we are so still and hope to better purpose We are not therefore out of it because there rash Censures have excluded us and then they unreasonably take advantage to argue against us from their own act We never formally shut them out what ever they have done to us What degrees of corruption in Faith or Manners may be consistent with the bare being of a Church or the possibility of salvation therein is needless and dangerous for us nicely to enquire it may be impossible for us to know I am sure it is most safe for us to reform what we know to be amiss and to leave those who do not to stand or fall by their own Master It is a very ill requital of our Charity if it be turned into a weapon of offence to wound or slay us by that by which we shewed our desire of their Cure But they and we must stand another trial and await a finall infallible Sentence which ours here cannot change The best security that we know to meet it with comfort will be to use the most strict impartiality with our selves and the greatest Charity to others Yet our Adversaries glory in nothing more then in the name of the Catholick Church and boast in no Title so much as that of Catholicks which hath had deservedly so great veneration in all Antiquity But their claim here truly examined will prove as fallacious and arrogant as in any other instance For the term Catholick if we respect the notation of the word or the most constant use of it is the same as Vniversal and so joyned to the Church signifies the general Body of all Christians dispersed throughout the World opposed to any distinct Party or separate Communion Thus we find it constantly applied by St. Augustin in all his Tracts against the Donatists St. August de unitate Ecclesiae c 2. T. 7. p. 5. 10. Quaestio certe inter nos versatar ubi sit Ecclesia utrum apud nos an apud illos quae utique und est quam majores nostri Catholicam nominarunt ut ex eo ipso nomine ostenderent quia per totum est Ibid. c. 3. p. 514. Christi Ecclesia canonicarum Scripturarum Divinis certissimis testimoniis in omnibus Gentibus designata est Et c. 4. ab ejus corpore quod est Ecclesia it a dissentiunt ut eorum communio non sit cum toto quacunque ea diffunditur sed in aliqua parte separata inveniatur manifestum est eos non esse in Ecclesia catholica Et. c. 12. p. 533. aliud Evangelizat qui periisse dicit de caetero mundo Ecclesiam in parte Donati in sola Aâ—rica remansisse Item de fide symbolo in eam partem de Ecclesia catholica T. 3. p. 149. Haeretici de Deo falsa sentiendo ipsam fidem violant Schismatici autem discissionibus iniquis a fraterna Caritate dissiliunt quapropter nec Haereticus pertinet ad Ecclesiam Catholicam quae diligit Deum nec Schismaticus quoniam diligit proximum and so opposed to them who went about to shut it up within their own Party and straitned Communion therein too closely imitated by our Adversaries who in spite of name
of civil honour due to beasts as that there is an inferiour degree of Religious Worship due to some men For all degrees of Religious Worship are as peculiar and appropriate to God as civil respects are to men and as the highest degree of civil honour is to a Soveraign Prince However should we grant that some excellent Creatures might be capable of some inferiour degrees of Religious Worship yet as the Prince is the fountain of civil honour which no subject must presume to usurp without a grant from his Prince so no creature how excellent soever has any natural and inherent right to any degree of Religious Worship and therefore we must not presume to worship any Creature without Gods command nor to pay any other degree of worship to them but what God hath prescribed and instituted and the only way to know this is to examine the Scriptures which is the only external revelation we have of the will of God Let us then inquire what the sense of Scripture is in this controversie and I shall distinctly examine the testimonies both of the Old and New Testament concerning the object of Religious Worship SECT II. The Testimonies of the Mosaical Law considered TO begin with the Old Testament and nothing is Sect 3. 1. more plain in all the Scripture then that the Laws of Moses confine â— Religious worship to that one Supreme God the Lord Jehovah who Created the Heavens and the Earth For 1. The Israelites were expresly commanded to worship the Lord Jehovah and to worship no other Beeing as our Saviour himself assures us who I suppose will be allowed for a very good Expositor of the Laws of Moses It is written Matth. 4. 10. Deut. 6. 13. Deutr 10. 10. thou shalt worship the Lord they God and him only shalt thou serve In the Hebrew Text from whence our Saviour cites this Law it is only said Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him without that addition of him only And yet both the Septuagint and the vulgar Latine read the words as our Saviour doth him only shalt thou serve and the authority of our Saviour is sufficient to justifie this Interpretation and withal gives us a general rule which puts an end to this controversie that as often as we are commanded in Scripture to worship God we are commanded also to worship none besides him For indeed the first Commandment is very express in this matter and all other Laws which concern the obiect of Worship must in all reason be expounded by that Thou shalt have none other Gods before me The Septuagint 20 Exod. 3. renders it plen emu besides me so does the Chaldee Syriack and Arabick to the same sense And it is universally concluded by all Expositors that I have seen that the true interpretation of this Commandment is that we must worship no other God but the Lord Jehovah To pay Religious Worship to any Beeing does in the Scriptures notion make that Beeing our God which is the only reason why they are commanded not to have any other Gods For there is but one true God and therefore in a strict sense they can have no other GODS because there are no other Gods to be had but whatever Beeings they worship they make that their God by worshiping it and so the Heathens had a great many Gods but the Jews are commanded to have but one GOD that is to worship none else besides him In other places GOD expresly forbids them to worship any strange Gods or the Gods of the people or those Nations Deut. 6. 14 that were round about them And least we should suspect that they were forbid to worship the Gods of the people only because those Heathen Idolaters worship Devils and wicked Spirits the Prophet Jeremiah gives us a general notion who are to be reputed false GODS and not to be worshipped Thus shall ye say unto them the Gods that have not made the Heavens and the Jer. 10. 11. Earth even they shall perish from the Earth and from under these Heavens So that whatever Beeing is worshipped whither it be a good or a bad Spirit which did not make the Heavens and the Earth is a false GOD to such Worshippers and I suppose the Church of Rome will not say that Saints or Angels or the Virgin Mary as much as they magnifie her made the Heavens and the Earth And then according to this rule they ought not to be worshipped But to put this past doubt that the true meaning of these Laws is to forbid the worship of any other Beeing besides the Supreme GOD I shall observe two or three things in our Saviours answer to the Devils temptation which will give great light and strength to it 1. That our Saviour absolutely rejects the worship of any other Beeing together with the Supreme GOD. The thing our Saviour condemns is not the renouncing the worship of God for the worship of Creatures for the Devil never tempted him to his but the worship of any other being besides GOD though we still continue to worship the Supreme GOD. It is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Which is a plain demonstration that men may believe and worship the Supreme God and yet be Idolaters if they worship any thing else besides him The Devil did not desire our Saviour to renounce the worship of the supreme God but was contented that he should worship God still so he would but worship him also And therefore it is no reason to excuse the Church of Rome from Idolatry because they worship the supreme God as well as Saints and Angels this they may do and be Idolaters still for Idolatry does not consist meerly in renouncing the worship of the supreme God but in worshipping any thing else though we continue to worship him When the Jews worship'd their Baalims and false gods they did not wholly renounce the worship of the God of Israel and the Heathens themselves especially the wisest men amongst them did acknowledge one supreme God though they worshiped a great many inferiour Deities with him 2. Our Saviour in his answer to the Devils temptation does not urge his being a wicked and Apostate Spirit an enemy and a rebel against God but gives such a reason why he could not worship him as equally excludes all Creatures whither good or bad Spirits from any right to Divine Worship Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Him and none else whither they be good or bad spirits for our Saviour does not confine his answer to either and therefore includes them both When we charge the church of Rome with too plain an imitation of the Pagan Idolatry in that worship they paid to their inferiour Daemons which was nothing more then what the Church of Rome now gives to Saints and Angels they think it a sufficient answer that the Heathens worshiped Devils and Apostate Spirits
Land was a Holy Land Gods peculiar Inheritance which he gave by promise to their Fathers and the Temple was his House where he dwelt among them it cannot be expected that any other Gods might be worship'd by such a people in such a Land and in such a house as God had appropriated to himself 3. It is very considerable that we have no approved example under the Law of any worship pay'd to Saints or Angels or any other Beeing but God alone We have too many sad examples of the Idolatry of the Jews both in worshipping the Molten Calf which Aaron made and Jeroboams Calves and Baalim's and other Heathen gods but had it been allowed by their Law to have pay'd any inferiour degree of Religious Worship to Saints and Angels which is now asserted by the Church of Rome to be a matter of such great benefit and advantage to mankind it is a very strange that we should not have one example of it throughout the Scripture nor any authentick Records among the Jewish Writers All the Psalms of David are directed to God alone and yet we cannot think but such a devout man would have bestowed some Hymns upon his Patron and tutelar Saints had he worship'd any such as well as the Papâ—sts do now This the Church of Rome sees and acknowledges and thinksshe answers too when she gives us the reason why it could not be so under the Law because those Old Testament-Saints were not then admitted into Heaven to the immediate vision and fruition of God Heaven-gates were not opened till the resurrection and Ascension of our Saviour and therefore those blessed Spirits were not in a condition to be our Intercessors and Mediators till they were received into Heaven but now Saints and Martyrs ascend directly into Heaven and reign with Christ in Glorie and it seems share with him in his peculiar Worship and Glorie too Now 1. Whither this be so or not the Scriptures assign no such reason for it and therfore it is likely there might be other reasons and I think I have made it very plain that there was We are not inquiring for what reasons the Jewish Church did not worship Saints and Angels but whither they did worship them or not and it appears that they never did so that we have neither precept nor example for this during all the time of the Jewish Church which is all we intend to prove by this argument 2. But yet it is evident that this is not a good reason why the Jews did not worship Angels under the Law For certainly Angels were as much in Heaven then as they are now whatever Saints were They are represented in the Old Testament as the constant Attendants and Râ—tinue of God and the great Ministers of his Providence and therefore they were as capable of Divine Worship in the time of the Law as they are now nay I think a little more For the Law it self was given by the Ministry of Angels and their appearances were more frequent and familiar and the world seemed to be more under the Government of Angels then then it is now since Christ is made the Head of the Church and exalted above all principalities and powers And therefore sometimes the Advocates of the Church of Rome make some little offers to prove the worship of Angels in those days to this purpose they alledge that form of benediction which Jacob used in blessing the Sons of Josheph The Gen. 44. 16. Angel which redemed me from all evil bless the Lads But 1. This is not a direct prayer to the Angel but onely his committing of them to the care and patronage of that Angel with a prayer to God for that purpose And if he by experience had found that God had appointed his Angel to defend and protect him it was but reasonable to pray to God that the same Angel might protect his posterity 2. But yet according to the sense of the Antient Fathers this was no created Angel and Spirit but the Son and Word of God the Angel of the presence who is so often in Scripture stiled Jehovah a name which can belong to no created Spirit And it is no hard matter to make it highly probable that this is that Angel who redeemed Jacob out of all his troubles But it is strange if Angels were worshipped under the Old Testament we should have no clearer and plainer evidence of it then such a single Text which was never expounded either by any Jewish or Christian Writers to this sense till of late dayes and here the Priests of the Church of Rome are to be put in mind of their Oath to expound Scripture according to the unanimous consent of the Ancient Fathers SECT III. The Testimonies of the Gospel considered whither Chrâ—â—â— and his Apostles have made any alteration in the object â—f our Worship LEt us now proceed in the second place to consider Sect. 3. the writings of the New Testament and examine what they teach us concerning the object of our Worship And that Christ and his Apostles have made no change in the object of our worship will appear from these considerations 1. That they could not do it Had they ever attempted to set up the worship of any other Beeings besides the One Supreme God the Lord Jehovah the Jews were expresly commanded by their Law not to believe them nor hearken to them whatever signs and wonders and miracles they had wrought If there arise among you a Prophet or a dreamer of dreams and giveth thee a Deut. 13. 1 2 3 4 5. sign or wonder and the sign or wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee saying let us go after other Gods which thou hast not known and let us serve them Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of the Prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord your GOD proveth you to know whither you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your Soul Ye shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his Commandments and obey his voice and you shall serve him and cleave unto him And that Prophet or dreamer of dreams shall be put to death c. in which Law there are some things very matterial to be obsered in this present dispuâ—e 1. When they are forbidden to hearken to any Prophet who seduces them to the worship of any other Gods this must be extended to all those instances of Idolatrous worship which are forbid by the Law of Moses whatever is opposed to the worship of one Supreme and Soveraign Beeing the Lord Jehovah And therefore whither these Prophets seduced them from the worship of the Lord Jehovah to the worship of other Gods or perswaded them to worship other Gods besides the Lord Jehovah whither they were any of those Gods which were at that time worship'd by other Nations or any other Gods whom the ignorance and superstition of the people should create in after
then the whole Christian worship which was signified and prefigured by these Types must be peculiar and appropriate to the one Supreme GOD. As for instance I have already proved at large that the Jews were to worship but one God because they had but one Temple to worship in and all their worship had some relation or other to this one Temple and therefore all their worship was appropriated to that one God whose Temple it was now we know Gods dwelling in the Temple at Jerusalem was only a Type and Figure of Gods dwelling in Humane Nature upon which account Christ calls his body the Temple and St. John tells us That the word was made flesh and dwelt among us es kenosen en hemin tabernacled 2 Joh. 19. 21. 1 Joh. 14. 2 Coloss 3. among us as God formerly dwelt in the Jewish Tabernacle or Temple and St. Paul adds That the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ bodily somatikos realy substantially as an accomplishment of Gods dwelling by Types and Figures and shadows in the Jewish Temple Now if all the Jewish worship was confined to the Temple or had a necessary relation to it as I have already proved and this Temple was but a figure of the Incarnation of Christ who should dwell among us in humane nature then all the Christian worship must be offered up to God through Jesus Christ as all the Jewish worship was offered to God at the Temple for Christ is the only Temple in a strict and proper sense of the Christian Church and therefore he alone can render all our services acceptable to God So that God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the only object of our worship and Christ considered as God Incarnate as God dwelling in humane nature is the only Temple where all our worship must be offered to GOD that is we shall find acceptance with God only in his name and mediation we must worship no other Beeing but only the Supreme God and that only through Jesus Christ Thus under the Law the Priests were to interceed for the people but not without Sacrifice their Intercession was founded in making atonement and expiation for sin which plainly signified that under the Gospel we can have no other Mediator but only him who expiates our sins and interceeds in the merits of his Sacrifice who is our Priest and our Sacrifice and therefore our Mediator as St. John observes If any man sin we have 1 Joh. 2. 1 2. an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins The Law knew no such thing as a Mediator of pure intercession a Mediator who is no Priest and offers no Sacrifice for us and therefore the Gospel allows of no such Mediators neither who mediate only by their prayers without a Sacrifice such Mediators as the Church of Rome makes of Saints and Angels and the Virgin Mary but we have onely one Mediator a Mediator of redemption who has purchased us with his Blood of whom the Priests under the Law were Types and Figures Thus under the Law none but the High Priest was to enter into the Holy of Holies with the blood of the Sacrifice now the Holy of Holies was a Type of Heaven Heb. 1. 12. and therefore this plainly signified that under the Gospel there should be but one High Priest and Mediator to offer up our Prayers and Supplications in Heaven He and He only who enters into Heaven with his own Blood as the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies with the blood of the Sacrifice There may be a great many Priests and Advocates on Earth to interceed for us as there were under the Law great numbers of Priests the Sons of Aaron to attend the Service and Ministry of the Temple but we have and can have but one Priest and Mediator in Heaven Whoever acknowledges that the Priesthood and Ministry of the Law was Typical of the Evangelical Priesthood and Worship cannot avoid the force of this argument and whoever will not acknowledge this must reject most of St. Paul's Epistles especially the Epistle to the Hebrews which proceeds wholly upon this way of reasoning Now this manifestly justifies the worship of the Church of England as true Christian worship for we worship One God through one Mediator who offered himself a sacrifice for us when he was on Earth and interceeds for us as our High Priest in Heaven which answers to the One Temple and the One High Priest under the Law But though the Church of Rome does what we do worship the Supreme GOD through Jesus Christ yet she spoils the Analogie between the Type and the Antitype the legal and Evangelical worship by doing more when she sends us to the Shrines and Altars of so many several Saints surely this cannot answer to that one Temple at Jerusalem where God alone was to be worshipped there are many Temples and Mercy-seats now as there are Shrines and Altars of Saints and Angels by whose Intercession we may obtain our requests of God When she advances Saints and Angels to the Office of Mediators and Intercessors in Heaven this contradicts the Type of One High Preist who alone might enter into the Holy of Holies which was a type of Heaven for there is some difference between having one Mediator in Heaven and there can be no more under the Gospel to answer to the Typical High Priest under the Law and having a hundred Mediators in Heaven together with our Typical High Priest To have a Mediator of pure Intercession in Heaven who never offered any Sacrifice for us cannot answer to the High Priest under the Law who could not enter into the Holy of Holies without the blood of sacrifice The High Priests entering but once a year into the Holy of Holies which was typical of Christs entering once into Heaven to interceed for us cannot be reconciled with a new succession of Mediators as often as the Pope of Rome pleases to canonize them So that either the Law was not typical of the state of the Gospel or the Worship of Saints and Angels which is so contrary to all the types and figures of the Law cannot be true Christian Worship Sixthly I shall add but one thing more that Christ and his Apostles have made no alteration in the object of the worship appears from hence that de facto there is no such Law in the Gospel for the worship of any other Beeing besides the One supreme God There is a great deal against it as I have already shewn but if there had been nothing against it it had been argument enough against any such alteration that there is no express positive Law for it The force of which argument does not consist meerly in the silence of the Gospel that there is nothing said for it which the most Learned Advocates of the Church of Rome readily grant and give their reasons such as they are why
laid for it in mens Minds or constant Provision made for the due Exercise of it all necessary Encouragement given to it and a sutable strict and regular Practice of it observable among them And there are several things which are not at all insisted on by us which they of the Church of Rome boast of as serving to some or all of these puâ—poses which I shall represent as fairly as I can that we may see what there is in that Church that doth answer such great pretences For it is observed that they of the Church of Rome oftentimes insteed of dispute endeavour to work on our People and too often prevail by appealinâ— to matters of Practice visible to every ones Eye an Argument to which men need not use their Reason but their Sense and this will say they sufficiently convince any of the excellency of our way For here are several things used as Instances and Expressions of Devotion very acceptable to God and sutable to a good Christian Temper which are either not at all used in the Church of England or at least not in that Degree and Measure and yet all those that are used in the Church of England say they are used among us For we not only enjoyn and practise constant use of Prayers publick and private together with Reading and Preaching of the Word Sacraments and whatever is used in the Church of England but we have besides several things which are as well proper Expressions of Devotion as Helps and Assistances which are not used among the Protestants The Principal things which they urge are such as these 1. They blame the Reformation in general as well as the Church of England for the want of Monasteries and such other Religious Houses which are so numerous in the Popish Countries where Holy Men and Women being shut up and having bid adiew to the World live as in Heaven in constant Exercise of praising of God Night and Day and of praying to him for the Church and State and particular Christians as well as themselves and who are not only so beneficial to the World by the constancy of their Prayers but also by their Example putting others in mind of Religion and of doing likewise and by the severity of their lives as to Diet Garbe and other Circumstances live in a constant Practice of that self-denyal which is commanded in Scripture and was so practised by Holy Men almost from the begining of Christianity and are as it were constant Preachers of Holiness and Mortification who tho' they do indeed stay here in the World below yet converse not in it but are in some Sense out of it and live above it 2. They sometimes also boast of the extraordinary Charity and Liberality to all good and Holy Uses pressed and practised among them which is but sparingly used say they among the Protestants Especially their excessive Expence and Cost in building and endowing Monasteries erecting Churches Chappels and Crosses their so pompous adorning the places dedicated to the Worship of God besides their Charitable Assistance and relief which they afford to the Bodies of the Living and the Souls of the Dead and no Man can deny but Charity is a certaint Evidence as well as a great branch and duty of true Religion and Devotion 3. Sometimes they glory in the great number of Saints commemorated in their Church and dying in the Communion of it and urge them as a forcible Example to others and a mighty incentive to Devotion they think also it redounds much to the Honour and Commendation of their Church to have had such glorious Members of it and twit us as they think severely when they ask us what Saints we have of our Church and wonder especially that we should observe so few Festivals and Holidayes whereas the very many dayes set apart in their Church in memory of their several Saints they think not only afford proper Occasions for all Acts of Religion but are a sign of their being less addicted to this World when so great a part of their time is spent in the Service of God and that Piety and Devotion are a considerable part of their Business and Imployment 4. They urge also the multitude of Pictures and Images of several Famous Men and Women who have in an eminent manner served and pleased God and been instrumental in converting the World as very proper assistances of a Mans Devotion instructing some they being the Books of the Unlearned and sensibly affecting and alluring all to the Imitation of the Persons whom they represent 5. Sometimes they commend their Church for the Fastings and other Acts of severity and Mortification used not only by the Monks and Regulars but by all sorts of Men according to the Rules of their Church on set dayes of the Week or Seasons of the Year as well as such Austerities as are enjoyned by their Confessors by way of Penance their going bare-foot and bare headed in Processions their whipping and lashing themselves their drawing great Chains and Weights after them as great and proper Instances of Self-denial and Devotion 6. They place also a great Deal of Religion in Pilgrimages which the more Devout sort take and spend their Estates and sometimes their Lives in to Jerusalem Rome Loretto Mount-ferrdt to St. Thomas at Canterbury St. Winefrid's Well or some such other places where some extraordinary Person hath lived or some strange Relique is left or where they reckon God hath on some Occasion or other wonderfully manifested himself and they reckon that the very visiting or kissing these are either an Argument of truly Devout Minds or that which will make them so And their Manuals or Books which their Priests give into the peoples hands do not fail by all the art imaginable to endeavour to screw up Mens Devotion even to rapture and extasie in Commendation of these Practises and Orders even as if they would have us believe that there is no true Religion and Devotion without these and that where there are these things practised it is a certain sign that the mind is affected as it ought Piety flourisheth in the highest Degree And besides these Matters of Practice their are also several Doctrines and Opinions peculiar to themselves which they reckon do naturally tend to the advancement of true Devotion As 7. Their Doctrine concerning the Intercession of Saints for us and the Advantage of Invocation or prayer to them and that we of the Church of England want one of the greatest Encouragements to Prayer and Devotion that can be who neither own nor make use of these Helps and therefore that we cannot have such hope of Success and Blessing as they have 8. Their Doctrine concerning the Merit of Good Works and Supererogation is of the same Nature in their esteem For the more Worth you suppose in any Action the greater Incouragement is there to the performance of it and therefore surely it must be a most irresistible motive to
endeavour to add to a Stock of Merit which is already infinite as some have thought And indeed it had need be infinite else it is to be feared it is almost if not quite spent especially considering the vast Expence of these Merits in frequent Jubilees and other Indulgences the Multitude of Sinners and the little extraordinary Vertue and Piety found among them at this day to add to their Store So that methinks it may justly be question'd whither they are not bankrupt before now their Disbursemâ—nt so much exceeding their Receipts and the Credit of their Bank seems to depend wholly on their Old flock of Merit which the Ancients laid up for them and yet they grant that this was rather casual then out of Design or good Nature For the Saints design'd only to make sure doing enough for themselves and it seems that less served their turns then they thought of and the rest was laid by for the use of such rich Sinners as the Church would sell it to So that all the Stock of Merit which the Church of Rome hath so great occasion for and of which there is made so prodigious an Expence is at the best but a Chance and spare-heap which they cannot tell how they came by for every Bishop hath the same Title to such Treasure trove that the Bishop of Rome hath nay they have reason to fear there was never any such Treasure For I doubt not but the Saints in heaven will thankfully own that they have received more from GOD then they deserved or could challenge to be sure they knew not how much there was ever laid up nor whither the Stock be spent and yet they spend as freely now as if they had been only laying up till this time and that the Treasure were now first opened Many other such Absurdities and unanswerable Difficulties there are in their Doctrine of Merits to the use of others And is it not a dismal thing that the Priests of the Church of Rome should teach men to trust in and as to Salvation depend assuredly on these of which they themselves have no manner of assurance nor Ground to hope Is not this to play with Men's souls and eternal Salvation And especially can this be urged as an encouragement of Devotion when if it were as true as it is false it tends directly to make Men vicious and to neglect Devotion For so a man will think if there be such a Stock in the Church why should not he have a Share of it as well as another And if one can merit for another why should not he depend on others as well as they on his Merits And seeing Merits may be bought as the Roman Casuists have adjudged he may think it very reasonable that others Merits should be given him in exchange for his Money So the Result of all is this according to this Doctrine and the supposed Church-flock only one thing is needful and that is Money and this will fully make up all lack of Piety and Devotion 10. And the belief of Purgatory and of the validity of Prayers for the dead is no proper Encouragement of true Devotion For true Devotion is such as we perform to God agreeably to his Will when we know what we do and for what ends and have a promise or hope of Success but when a man prayes to God to deliver a Soul out of Purgatory he must suppose as true several things which are either false or at least very uncertain so that he can never pray in Faith or without great perplexitie and distraction of mind for he knows not whither there by any such place or state as Purgatory For Scripture sayes nothing of it nor the Fathers of the three or four first Centuries He knows not whither the Soul that he prayes for be in Purgatory if there should be such a place for it may be in Heaven or in Hell for ought he can tell And if the Soul be in Purgatory he knows not whither it be Usefull or Lawful to pray for it for God hath given us neither Command nor Encouragement nor Liberty so to do Nay there are several particulars which they themselves cannot agree on concerning Purgatory viz. What Sins are punished there How the Soul without its Body can be tormented there with a material Fire Who are Gods Instruments in punishing the Souls there For the Devils are not and how the Pope by his Indulgences can applie the Satisfactions of Christ and of the Saints so as to deliver any Soul out of Purgatory And if there be such a place the Pope himself by his Example doth enough to dishearten all Men from endeavouring to deliver the Souls of their Friends from thence For it is not doubted but he can deliver all out of Purgatory he having the Command of the Treasure of the Church And it must needs be a wonderful Discouragement to a Devout Mind that among so many hundred Popes their should not be one found so Charitable as to release so many thousands of poor Soul that lye under intolerable pains and so must lye till the last day or till the debâ— of their temporal punishment be paid If the Pope can do so much with so little Charge or Trouble to himself and yet will not do it surely I have less Reason to do any thing Nor doth it follow that because it is a part of acceptable Devotion for one Man to pray for another whilst living here on Earth that therefore it is as pleasing to God for us to pray for Souls departed For our Prayers for others on Earth are either for Temporal Blessings or â—or the means of Grace We pretend not to desire God to reverse his own Laws and save such a Man let him be as bad as he will but to make him Holy first and then to make him Happy And to pray any otherwise for another Man naturally tâ—nds to represent it aâ— feasible to reconcile a wicked Life with the hopes of Heaven but when a Man is dead he can Work no more nor make any use of the means of Grace and therefore there is no room for this Prayer to God for him he is not capable of Repentance and Glory and Amendment and of being made fit for Heaven Lastly if they boast of the validity of the Orders of their Bishops and Priests as an Encouragement to Devotion the validity of the Sacraments depending so much on the Legality of the Minstry We answer that we have a Clergy as properly and truly of Christ's sending as any Church in the World against whose Ordination and Mission nothing can be objected We deriving the Succession of our bishops not only from their own Austin but from the British bishops before his time which is the only Regular way of Mission that we know of except that of an extraordinary Commission from Heaven as St. Paul had And I would not that there were that to be objected against us that is justly objected against
confess I could not with a safe Conscience say of any Creature And Albertus Magnus the Master of St. Thomas Aquinas hath not only 12 Books of the Praises of the Virgin Mary but also a distinct Book called Biblia Mariana in which he applies several places of Scripture to the Virgin Mary as if she were prefigured in several passages of the Old Testament as well as her Son So Gen. 1. 1. that she was that Heaven that God made Gen. 1. 3. She was the Light which God there made and so on through almost the whole Scripture And however Cautious they are in the Books which they Print in English for the use of their Converts here yet in them we find often such sayings to or of the Virgin Mary as I cannot reconcile with Christianity for so in the Manual quoted before in the Prayers for Women with Child they sing thus to her Hail to the Queen who Reigns above Mother of Clemencie and Love c. Elsewhere they pray thus to her page 1â—6 O blessed Mother assisâ— my Weakness in all my Daâ—â—ers and Necessities in all Temptations to sin and in the hour of my Death that through thy Protection I may be safe in the Lord. Where the Lord indeed is mentioned out of Complement and for Fashions sake but they had first begged of the Lady as much as they wanted or could desire and pag. 80. they call her Spouse of the Holy Ghost Promise of the Prophets Expectation of the Patriarchs Queen of the Angels Teacher of the Apostles strengthâ—â—â— of Martyrs Faithful comforter of the Living and Dead Now if they print such things in English what do they print in Spanish If they do such things in a green Tree what shall be done in a dry And I fear that even their nicest Casuists give too much Countenance to this so gross Practice For they have determined that Honours above civil câ—ltus Hyperduliae are due to the Virgin Mary that is in plain English Divine Honours must be paid to her For it must be a very Metaphysical head that can in this sense apprehend a kind of Honour above ciâ—il and yet not divine it must be somewhat like his that would pretend to find a mean between Creator and Creature between Finite and Infinite Lastly this is most notorious that they enjoyn acts to be used and propose Objects of Worship which they themselves cannot deny but there is danger of offending in them and even of falling into that Idolatry and yet take little or no care of giving caution concerning them and if the grosest abuse should happen there is scarcely any possibility of redress Indeed where-ever they speak of Veneration due to Reliques and Images of worshipping of Saints and especially the Virgin Mâ—â—y they always seem as if they cared not how much Honour were to paid to them only they must make as if they put some Reâ—â—â—iction on it for the sake of the Reformed who would exclaim against them And therefore their Command for the worshipping of them is general and absolute but the Limitations are so nice and forced that one may easily see that they very unwillinglie deny any Worship to be paid to them For so the wary council of Trent speaking of Images sayes They are to be kept and due Honour and Veneration paid to them And though by and by they seem as if they would limit this Honour yet presently they put in such words as make that pretended Limitation to signifie nothing For they tell you That whatever Honour you pay to the Image goes to the person represented v. g. to our Saviour it seems the Honour is paid to him whither we intend so or no And hence you may easily gather what Honour is due to to the Image of our Saviour and how little fear there is of paying too much Honour to it For I suppose we are all agreed there is no fear of paying too much Honour to our blessed Saviour and whatever Honour is paid to his Imâ—â—â— is paid to him if we can believe these Gentlemen And agreeably hereunto it is very rare to hear of any person censured or blamed for paying too much Honour to Images though surely it is as possible for men to be Idolaters now as in the former Ages and I suppose that neither the common people nor all the Priests are Men of such extraordinary Understanding and Learning as to be altogether free from the like Temptation Nay the Caution which is given â—eems only to concern Imagines falsi dogmatis Rudibus periculosi Erroris Occasionem praebentes but there is not one word concerning the abuse which may be made of the Image of Christ or of a true Saint There is no Provision made that Men be warned not to perform too much Devotion in their Minds to a good Image And by what this Council sayes the Priest understands well enough what it intends and therefore scarcelie ever darâ— preach against the excess and abuse of Images Reliques c. Tho' they cannot but â—ee it actually committed every day And now if their should happen to be any Idolatrous Worship pay'd to an Image tho' the Bishop hath power indeed to set the Image up yet he hath not power to pull it down or to correct any abuse concerning it without the leave of the Archbishop and other Bishops of the Province and even of the Pope himself So unwilling do they seem that any Provision should be made for redressing abuses in so great and common a Case as the excess in Worship of Images must needs be v. Conciâ— Trid. Sess 25. Lastly as we have seen how deficient and very faultie the Church of Rome is in her pretences to Devotion wee 'll now consider what Provision is made for the due Exercise of Devotion among our selves that we may thank God for our being settled in the Communion of the Church of England and may learn to be conscientiously strict and â—â—gular in our own as well as to despise the Romish Devotions And in order hereunto I reckon that these four things are especially to be regarded First That among us none but the true Object of Devotion is proposed to be worshipped God the Father Son and Holy Ghost none of the most blessed Angels or Saints in Heaven being ever invocked or adored by us For we look on them only as our Brethren and Members of the same Church with us triumphing indeed whilst we are here below still in our Warfare We thank God for them and keep Feasts in the Memory of them at the same time praising God for his Goodness and Grace bestowed on them and shining forth in them and also stirring up our selves by such Commemorations to follow their good Example and this we think is as much as is due from us to our fellow Creatures and believe that neither God allows nor do they expect more from us Secondly Only proper expressions of Devotion are commanded or allowed by our Church For the
ends then to triflle with to Pray to them For to what purpose should they Pray to them that can't hear them Why should they beseech those to be their Advocates to God and recommend their particular cases to him whose cases they cannot by any way that we know of come to understand As for their Learning and seeing all things in the Glass of the Trinity or learning them by particular revelation from God as God has declared no such thing to us so is it not to be known by the Light of Nature but the contrary is very probable if not certain as shall be made to appear in the sequel of this Discourse It is not denyed but that blessed Spirits who are safely landed upon the Shore do pray for their Partners who are still behind beating it on the Waves it is not denied but that Saints in Heaven may Pray in particular to God for their Friends and Relations whose necessities and infirmities they were well acquainted with before they left the Body so 't was agreed betwixt St Cyprian and Cornelius that who went first to Glory should be mindful of the others condition to God for why should their Memories or their Charity be thought to be less in Heaven then they were on Earth We know 't was the practice of some good Men in the Primitive times to recommend themselves to the Prayers of the Saints that is to desire God to hear the Prayers that the Saints in Heaven did make in their behalf and to apply themselves to the Martyrs a little before their suffering when they themselves were entred into bliss to interceed with God for those who were yet on the way passing thither with fear and trembling But now is there no difference betwixt the Saints intercessions for us and our Invocation of them Betwixt their Praying for us in Heaven and our Praying to them on Earth Is there no difference betwixt one Living Christian Praying to another to Pray for him who hears his request and who is acquainted with his condition and our addressing to Saints departed to pray for us who know us not and who are are ignorant of our state Again when they pray to Saints departed they do it with all the Rites and Solemnities of a Religious Worship in sacred offices upon their Knees with uncovered Heads with Hands and Eyes lifted up in times and places dedicated to Gods Worship now though it should be true that they do no more then Pray to Saints to pray for them yet doing it in that manner with such external Acts of Devotion that are confest to be the same wherewith we call on God I do not see how they can be excused even on this account from attributing that Honour to the Creature which is due only to the Creator As God is owned to be infinite in himself and to have incommunicable perfections so there ought to be some peculiar and appropriate Acts and signs of Worship to signify that we do inwardly so esteem and believe of God and when these are once determined by the Law of God or the universal reason and consent of Mankind the applying them to any else but him is a plain violating his peculiarities and robbing him of his Honour And now in this respect also I cannot discern how the Romish Invocation of Saints is of the same nature with our requesting our Fellow-Members to pray for us For not to mention again the presence of these and the absence of the other is there no difference betwixt my desiring an eminently good Christian to pray for me and falling down on my Knees with Hands and Eyes lifted up and that in a Temple to him with that request Would not every good Man that has any regard for the Honour of God presently shew his detestation of such an action Would he not say to me as St. Peter to Cornelius falling down before him Stand up I my self also am a Man Would he not with St. Paul have rent his Garments and with much Holy indignation cryed out to me as he to the Men of Lystra designing the same Honours to him and Barnabas wherewith they Worship'd their Gods Why do ye these things we also are Men of like Passions with you As the Saints in Heaven cannot be supposed to lose any thing of their Love and Charity towards their Fellow-Members by going thither so neither can they be thought to abate any thing of their Zeal and fervour for the honour of God and therefore certainlie what they did and would have refused here on Earth they must with higher degrees of abhorrence reject now they are in Heaven Moreover if this be all they mean by all their several Offices of Devotions to Saints departed that they should pray for them unto God why in all this time that these forms have been complained of has not the sense of them been better exprest Whence I pray should we take the meaning of such prayers but from the usual signification of the Words But if not why has no Inquisition past upon them Why have not the grossest and rankest for Superstition and encroaching on the prerogative of God been expunged and blotted out Why all this while has there been no review no comments upon them no cautions and instructions written and bound up with their Breviaries Rosaries and Hours that the people might know how to understand them If the form of words in their Saint-Invocation be the same that is used to God but their sense and meaning otherwise Why don't they tell this to the World and make their explication as publick and as general as the prayers Certainlie the Bishops and Governours of the Romish Church and those that have the care of Souls amongst them are either guilty of gross and willfull neglects to the people or else whatever they say to us their will is that the People should understand those Prayers according to the customary and received use of the words and then I am sure they pray not only to saints to pray for them unto God in order to the obtaining of him such aids and supplies they want but to Saints themselves for those very blessings As will appear at large in the next particular 2. They pray to Saints departed for those very blessings that none but God can give To what purpose else do they advise us to fly not only to their prayers but their help and assistance which words help and assistance would have been Opeâ— auxiliiumque Trid. Con. fess 25. Propere veni accelera altogether superflous was not something else mean'd by them then only that of their prayers To what purpose else do they Pray to visit them to make haste and come to them did they not expect some other aid and assistance from them then bare praying for them for that certainly might have been better and more convenientlie performed in Heaven before the Face of God To what purpose else in some particular cases do they put up
it not of as much force now to cast it out of the Church as it was then not to bring it in Does it not give infinite offence to a great part of the Christian World and is it not esteem'd and that justly by them to be the old Pagan-Worship revived or something very near it For it is not enough to excuse them from it that the object of their Invâ—cation is not the same that they do not with them pay this Worship to the Heathen Deities who though in some respects they had been Patrons and Benefactors to their Country were yet in others very lewd and unworthy persons but to the Apostles of Christ and Christians Martyrs who in all respects were highly deserving of the World whilst they agree in the same act kind of Worship and give that Honour to the Creature which properly and peculiarly belongs to God and herein especially did the Pagan Worship and Superstition consist 2. We shall now examine the chief of those Texts the Romanists produce in the behalf of this Doctrine and let you see how little they serve to that purpose The first is Luke 15. 7. 10. There shall be joy in Heaven and again There shall be joy before the Angels of God over our Sinner that repenteth From whence they argue that if Angels and blessed spirits rejoyce at the Conversion of a sinner they must know and understand this change that 's wrought in them before they can rejoyce at it and if the knowledge of their repentance reaches them why not also of their Prayers And then if they can hear their Prayers why may they not be Prayed unto To this it 's answered That this rejoycing in Heaven is not for the Conversion of a particular sinner but in general for the Redemption of Mankind by Jesus Christ and this appears more then probable from the parable of the lost sheep immediately going before whereof these words are the Conclusion the Ninety nine sheep not lost are the Angels presevering in their first state of Innocency the sheep that went aftray Adam and in him all his Posterity that fell from God the shepherd that went to seek the lost sheep God himself who sent his Son into the World to seek and to save that which is lost on whose shoulders the great Work of Mans Redemption was laid and for this we are sure there was joy in Heaven when a Blessed Chore of Angels sung that Heavenly Anthem at Christs Nativity Glory be to God on high and on Earth Peace good will towards Men But Supposing this rejoycing is to be understood for the repentance of individual sinners it may be observed Emopion toâ— Aggelâ—n that this joy is not said to be the joy of Angels but before the Angels intimating that this rejoying is not to be attributed to the Angels but to God in whose presence they stand and this exposition is countenanced by considering 't is God that answers to the Shepherd in the parable as he went to seek his straied sheep and rejoyced at the finding of it so 't is God that by his Grace and Mercy in Christ recovered Man and rejoycâ—d at the accomplishment of his own Work Again If this Text does imply that Angels in Heaven know when a Sinner is converted and rejoyce at it it does not follow that they know this by some excellent priviledge and perfection of their nature whereby also they are enabled to understand even those mental Prayers that we are told ought to be put up to them but passing alwayes betwixt Heaven and Earth as waâ— represented unto Jacob in his Divine Vision on God's Errands and Embassies those that ascend from Earth may tell the joyful News of converted sinners to them in Heaven but they that tell them this cannot also acquaint them with the inward secret desires and cogitations of Mens Hearts be-being in a capacity by observing in Men the Signs and Fruits of true Repentance to know the one but having no way by their own natural power to understand the other The second place is Mat. 22. 30. Where our Saviour sayes That the just at the Resâ—rrection shall be as the Angels in Heaven from whence they infer that if our Prayers and concerns are known to the Angels and they on that account may be Invocated why should they not be known also to the Saints departed who are as they enjoying the same Blissful Vision of God To this may be returned That we are no more sure of the Knowledge of Angels in this particular then we are of that of Saints and therefore the one ought to be proved before the other be granted The Angels in Heaven see indeed the Face of Christs Father which is in Heaven but the meaning of that is not that by enjoying the sight of Gods Face they therein see and hear all things transacted here on Earth but that they are God's Ministers alwayes attending round about his Thron and waiting before him to receive his Commands and to execute his pleasure But was this Knowledge the priviledge of the Angelical nature the equality which just Men in the Text are said to have to the Augels is not mean'd an equality of Knowledge or perfection of nature but a similitude of State and Priviledges and his appears from the contex In the Resurrection they neither Mary nor are given in Marriage but are as the Angels of God the just shall not be equal to the Angels in every respect for as they dâ—ffer in Nature and Kind so they shall have distinct natural Quâ—lities and Operations of Bliss and Haâ—piness they as the Angels in that Spiritualized State shall not need Matrimony for the propagation of their Kind nor Food for the preservation of their incorruptible Bodies they shall be free from all the necessities that attend temporal humane lite and all the affections that arise from the body and sensitive part of Man they as Angels shall be the Children of God being Children of the Reâ—urrection partakers of the Blâ—ss and immoveably possest of all the priviledges of the Sons of God Yet Was this equality to the Angels to be mean'd of an equality in Nature and Knowledge yet the Saints departed are not to enjoy it untill the Resurrection and so though the Angels on that account might be Invocated yet the Saints departed who are not till the Resurrection â—o have this excellent priviledge conferred on them are not till then to have this Homage and Worship paid to them At the Resurrection they shall be as the Angels of God whither they are before that admiâ—ted into the beaâ—fical Vision we need not now dispute since if they are this Angelical priviledge of seeing all things in the Face of God is reserved for the Saints as a farther addition of bliss till that day Again they produce Revel 5. 8. Where it 's said That the Four Beasts and twenty four Elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them Harps and Goldâ—n
God Outward Acts of worship are declarative of the inward respect and veneration of the Soul to God as words are of the inward thoughts and apprehensions of the mind and as when I use such words which acording to common custom signify such a Proposition I must be concluded to mean and intend that Proposition so when I use such outward Acts of Worship which by Custom or Institution signify the Honour due to God to any other I must be thought to ascribe the Honour that 's due to God to that other The Coriâ—â—â—ians although they knew that an Idol was nothing in the World yet because they observed the Feasts that were dedicated to the Honour of the Idol Eating and Drinking in the Idols Temple are said by the Apostle to Drink the 1 Cor. 20. 21. Cup of Devils and to be partakers of the Devils Tables and to have Fellowship with Devils that is by doing those actions that in those places were used to signify the Worship of the Heathen Gods although they intended no Religion but Civility and Complement in the compliance they are said to Worship those Heathen Gods who were not Gods but Devils The Israelites that halted betwixt God and Baal although they could not but have higher apprehensions of God then Baal Yet by bowing the Knee to Baal and Kissing his Mouth by using those outward 1 Kings 19. 18. Acts of Worship wherewith the Heathens Worship'd him are said to be guilty of Idolatry In sume was a mental reservation of keeping the Heart to God and intending the highest degrees of Honour and Worship to him sufficient to clear Men from Idolatry whilst they perform outward Acts Instituted and customarily observed for Religious worship Exod. 32. 8 to any besides God the Israelites could not be guilty of it when they Sacrified to the Golden-Calf they had made nor the Wiser sort of Heathens who whilst they knew the vulgar Gods to be no Gods but Cheats and Devils did out of fear of punishment comply with the vulgar practice of burning Incense to them and the Primitive Fathers were very much mistaken who judged not only those Christians who at the Emperors Command sacrificed to Idols against their Consciences guilty of Idolatry but even those who though no threats could move them to do it in Libellatici person did yet either purchase Certificates that they had done it when they did it not or procure some others their Heathen Friends and servants to do it for them implicitly to be guilty of it I shall name but one Scripture more Col. 2. 18. Let no Man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary Humility and Worshipping of Angels and not holding the head Where we see the Apostles expresly condemns the Worship of Angels as forsaking of Christ and not â—olding the head and if the Worship of Angels it follows with greater force of reason the Worship of Saints departed What this Worship was Theodoret upon the place informs us where he says that the Jews that is Jewish Christians Having received the Law by the Ministration of Angels and holding that the God of all was Invisible and in accessible taught that Men ought to obtain the favour of God by the Means and Intercession of Angels and the same Father tells us that they had Oratories or Chappels of St. Michael This St. Paul calls â—ot holding the head because they set up more Mediators besides Christ who was the only one appointed by God and they that joyn others with him do forsake him accordingly the Council of Loadicea condemned it as Idolatrous the words of the Canon are these That christians Council Laâ—d can 35. ought not to forsake the Church of God and Invocate Angels because they that do so forsake our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God and give themselves to Idolatry St. Paul and the Canon both speak so direct and home against the Romanists that Baronius it seems was hard put to it to answer them when he 's forc'd to beg Theodoret's Pardon and tells him with his good leave that he understood neither the one nor the other that it was the Religious Worship of false and Heathenish Gods not that of good Angels that was forbid and condemned by both of them and that those Oratories of St. Michael were set up by Catholicks and not by Hereticks it being then the practice of the Church to Invocate Angels And now though we might safely venture Theodoret's Judgment and Credit against Baronius's yet we have no need of his Authority to find out the true meaning of the Text whoever considers that the Apostle condemns the Worship of Angels in general and duly weighs the series of his Discourse will easily apprehend that it is not levelled against the Heathens who had not yet embraced Christianity but adher'd to the Worship of their false Gods but a sort of Judaizing Christians who retaining still a mighty Veneration for Angels as the supposed givers of the Law endeavoured to introduce the Worship of them into the Church of Christ Let no Man beguile you of your reward in Worshipping of Angels not holding the head the Apostles Argument to disâ—wade them from that Worship is that by doing so they forsook Christ which could not have been an Argument to the Heathens who had never yet believed on him VI. That the Fathers of the first and purest Ages till after three hundred are all express and positive in their Writings against it HOw fully the sacred Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament do condemn the Invocation of Saints you have seen already now that the Fathers of the purest Ages understood the Scriptures in the same sense as Protestants do as to this particular and are also very clear in their writings against it will appear from these following Considerations 1. They generally denied the Doctrine on which this of Saint-Invocation is founded viz. that Saints departed do now reign in Heaven and enjoy the Beatifick Vision 'T is by this blessed priviledge especially of seing God that the Romanists ground their belief that the perfected Spirits of just Men in Heaven come to see all things in him to know the Petitions and to be acquaintwith the requests of their humble Supplicants but now the Primitive Fathers have peremptorly affirmed that the Saints departed are not yet admitted to the sight of God but are only kept in certain hidden receptacles in the full enjoyment of Peace and rest till the general Resurrection this they have not only asserted in so many words and endeavoured to Iren. l. 5. c. 31. prove from our Saviours Soul being in Paradise which they will not have to be the highest Heaven but thinking them in a condition not yet fully and compleatly happy instead of Invocating them Chrysos Tom. 6. p. 998. did Pray for their farther Bliss Consummation So that denying the foundation they can't be supposed to grant the Doctrine built upon it No fewer then Eighteen
not this the declared reason why the Church of Rome gives Religious Worship to Angels and departed Saints Because of a middle sort of worth and excellency that is in them that 's neither infinite as the divine nor so low as the humane but Spiritual and Supernatural whereby approaching near to the Divinity they have great interest in the Court of Heaven and ought as Celsus said of their Daemons to be Prayed unto to be favourable and propitious to us So exact you see is the parallel betwixt them Now against this Daemon-Worship the Fathers replied that whatever great and supernatural excellencies were to be found in the Spirits above ought indeed to have an Acknowledgement and Honour paied to them both in Mind and Action proportioned and Commensurate to such excellencies but yet they were not to be esteemed inwardly as Gods nor to be Worshipp'd with any outward Act of Religious Worship be it erecting Altars making Vows or puting up Prayers to them as if they were such For all and every part of that was solely due to God and not to be given to any the highest Created Excellency As you may see their minds more fully in the next particular 4. The Fathers positively assert that none but God ought to be invocated And the first I shall mention is that advice Ign. Ep. ad Philadelph which Ignatius gave the Virgins of his time not to direct their Prayers and Supplications to any but only to the Blessed Trinity Oh ye Virgins have Christ alone before your Eyes and his Father in your Prayers being enlightned by the Spirit Irenaeus in his first Book taking notice of some Persons who had entertained strange fancies concerning the Power of Angels accordingly gave Divine Worship to them tells us plainly that the Doctrine and Practice of the Iren l. 2. c. 57. Church in his dayes was far otherwise and that throughout the World it did nothing by Invocation of Angels nor by Incantations but purely and manifestly directs her Prayers to God who made all and calls upon the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ Feuardentius in his notes upon the place would have the words of the Father to be understood only of Prayers made by Evil Spirits and angels but then why did not the Father express it so Why does he exclud all Angels without distinction from Divine Worship when he sayes the whole Church every where called only upon God and his Son Christ Jesus Eusebius in his History hath set down a long Prayer of the of the Holy Martyr Polycrap which he uttered at the time of his Suffering wherein there is not any one Petition put up to Saints but every one directed to God through the Meditation of Christ closing his Prayer with Euseb l. 4. c. 15. this Doxology Therefore in all things I Praise thee I Bless thee I Glorify thee through the Eternal Priest Jesus Christ thy Beloved Son to whom with thee Oh Father and the Holy Ghost be all Glory now and for ever To which we may add what also is Recorded by the same Author that when the Church of Smyrna desired the Body of their Martyred Bishop to give it an Honourable Inteâ—ment and was denyed it by the Governour upon the unworthy suggestion of the Jews that they would Worship it they thus replied We can never be induced to Worship any other but Christ him being the Son of God we adore others as Martyrs and his sincere Disciples we worthily Love and Respect and that which here deserves a particular observation is what the Learned Primate of Armagh hath pointed out to us viz. that what in the Original Greek Sebein Religiously to Worship is in the Latin Edition that was wont to be read in all the Churches of the West rendred precem Orationis Ex passion M. S. 7. Kalend. Febr. in Bib. Eccl. Sarish Dom. Rob. Cotton impendere to impart the Supplication of Prayer The nexâ— Testimony I shall produce is that of Origen who is very full to this purpose in his Writings against Celsus he tells us We must endeavour to please God alone and labour to have him propitious to us procuring his good will with Godliness and all kind of Vertue and if Celsus will have us to procure the good will of any others after him that is God ovâ—â— all let him consider that as when the Body is moved the motions of the shadow thereof doth follow it so in like manner having God favourable to us who is over all it followeth that we shall have all his Friends both Angels and Spirits loving to us and whereas Celsus had said of the Angels that they belong to God and in that respect were to be Prayed unto that they may be favourable to us he thus sharply replies Away with Celsus's Council saying that we must Pray to Angels for we must Pray to him who is God over all and we must Pray to the Word of God his only begotten Son and the first born of all Creatures and we must intreat him that he as High Priest would present our Prayer unto his God and our God And when Celsus Objected that the Christians did not keep to their own rule of Praying to and Worshipping none but God since they gave the same Honour to Christ whom they knew to be a Man he replies that Christ was God as well as Man one with the Father and proves it from Miracles and Prophesies and Precepts that this Honour was given to him to be Worship'd as they Worship'd the Father Had Celsus Objected that the Christians Worship'd Angels and Saints departed it had been laid right and would have born hard upon them and he had inferred strongly that they might as well Worship their Inferiour Deities but Celsus Objects no such thing but only their Worshipping of Christ which Origen was well provided to answer and this is an evident proof that the Christians were not guilty of it Had there been but the least ground to suspect them for it it would have been so hugely serviceable to his cause and with so much force have rebounded back upon the Christians that 't is not to be imagined so industrious and spightfull an Adversary as Celsus would have omitted with the greatest Insult and Triumph to have laid it at their Door To these we might add the Suffrages of many more St. Cyprian who have written set Treatises of Prayer teaching us to regulate all our Prayers after that most perfect Pattern of our Lords and ever to direct our Petitions to our Heavenly Father only Gregory Nyssen saith we are taught to Worship and aktiston physin Cont. Eunom Tom. 2. Orat. 4. Oâ—at 3. Contr. Arrian De ver Relig. c. 55. de civit Dei l. 22. c. 10. Ep. 42. Adore that Nature only that 's uncreated Athanasius That God only is to be Worshipped that the creature is not to Adore the creature St. Austin sayes expresly that the Saints are to be Honoured for