all things which words do not establish but with the greatest Evidence destroy this vain Tradition And First That the words of Malachy Mal. iv 5 6. Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet c. cannot be understood of our Lord's Second Coming to pass Judgment on the World will be exceeding Evident from these considerations 1. That this Forerunner was to come the Lord there mentioned to follow before the Ruine of the Jewish Temple this is evident from these words Behold I will send my Messenger Mal. iij. 1 2. and he shall prepare my way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple For that the Messenger in this Third Chapter is the same with Elijah the Prophet in the Fourth Chapter will be apparent 1. From the Office of this Messenger which was to come before the Face of the Lord or to be his Forerunner as the Elijah mentioned Chapter the ourth was to be and as John Baptist was 2. From the Consideration of the work he was to do Mal. iij. 1. This Messenger being to prepare the way before him as the Elijah promised also was to do by turning the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children and of the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just And as the Angel doth inform us that the Baptist should do for saith the Angel He shall go before him in the Spirit and Power of Elias to turn the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children and of the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just to make ready a People prepared for the Lord. 3. Luk. i. 17. From the consideration of the Day of his Coming mentioned Chapter the Third as a Day so dreadful that few could abide it or stand when he appeareth by reason of the Severity of the Judgments which should then befal them vers 2. And Chapter the Fourth as a Day great and terrible Since then the Lord here mentioned was to come suddenly seeing he was to come to hi◠Temple 't is certain that the Day of his coming was to be before the Temple was destroyed and therefore could not be the Day of Judgment 4. This will be further evident from the Consideration of the persons to whom this Messenger and this Elijah were both sent Chap. iij. 1. for the Messenger was sent to them who then sought for the Lord and delighted in the Messenger of the Covenant vers 3. vers 4. he was to be his Messenger who was to purifie the Sons of Levi to make the Offerings of Judah and Jesusalem pleasant to the Lord. He therefore was a Messenger peculiarly sent to them to reprove them for their Sins and to declare unto them such things as concerned them and not such things as were common to the whole World. Accordingly Elijah the Prophet was sent to them that fear'd his name Chap. iv v. 2. to them who were obliged to remember the Law of Moses vers 4. which he commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel This Day of Terror therefore must be chiefly that which did concern that Nation And lastly This Elias was to come to call Men to Conversion and Repentance for which was a fit Season at our Lord's first coming whereas at his second coming there will be no time for Repentance but for the Destribution of Rewards and Punishments He was to come to turn the Hearts of the Fathers c least God should smite the Earth Becherem i. e. the Inhabitants of Judah with Destruction so that the Ruine threatned here might be prevented by Repentance and Conversion whereas the general Day of Judgment cannot be thus prevented but will certainly come in the appointed time The only Objection that is considerable against this Assertion Object is That the Day spoken of Chapter iv vers 5. is represented as a dreadful Day which seemeth proper to the Day of Judgment whereas the Day of Christ's first coming is not so called but rather an Acceptable Day and a Day of Salvation To this I Answer Answ That the Day of our Lord's first coming considered as reaching to the Destruction of Jerusalem was indeed a very dreadful and terrible Day Thus in the Prophet Joel we read of a Day of the Lord described in the same Expressions Joel ij 31. The Sun shall be turned into Darkness and the Moon into Blood before the great and terrible Day of the Lord come and yet St. Peter speaking of what was done after our Lord's Ascention and citing these very words saith Acts ij 16. This was that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel Moreover our Blessed Lord speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the miseries that should befal that very Generation saith Luk. xxi 22. Mat. xxiv 21. These shall be the days of Vengeance such days of Tribulation as never were from the beginning of the World and never shall be afterwards Yea Vid Dr. Pocock in Mal. 3. v. 2. the Tradition of the Jews doth in their Talmud make mention of such great Afflictions which should happen in the days of their Messiah unto Israel that happy should he be who did not see them Which notwithstanding this day might well be stiled an Acceptable Day a Day of Salvation to them who received our Jesus as their Saviour believed in him and obeyed his Sayings according to the words of the Prophet Malachy Behold the Day cometh which shall burn as an Oven c. Mal. iv 1 2. but to you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his Wings Whence after this most terrible description our Lord speaks thus to his Disciples Luk. xxi 18 19. vers 28. Be not ye terrified when these things shall happen in Patience possess your Spirits for there shall not one Hair of your Heads perish when these things come to pass then look up and lift up your Heads for your Redemption draweth nigh Secondly That the Elias of whom the Prophet Malachy speaks § 4 was not the Tisbite or that it is not there asserted that he who in the Reign of Ahab was carried into Heaven should be in person sent as the Fore-runner of our Lord's second Advent will be evident from these Considerations 1. Because Elias the Tisbite came not upon the Errands mentioned there to prepare the way of the Lord or turn the Hearts of the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just before the ruin of Jurusalem and the destruction of the Temple as the Elijah promised by the Prophet was to do and did 2. 'T is certain that the Messenger described by the Prophet as the Fore-runner of the Lord and of his Day was John the Baptist for so our Saviour doth expresly teach us saying This John is he of whom it is written Matth. xi 10. Luk. vij 27 28. Behold I send my Messeger before thy Face to prepare thy way before thee There hath not risen among Men a greater Prophet
Traditions did we not find them thus handed down to us in these Writings so can we have no reason to receive the pretended Traditions of the Church of Rome because they are not handed down unto us in this manner But saith Mr. M. Before we can know true Books § 24 and true Copies of Books from false P. 407 408. we must first know true Tradition from false that we assuredly may say these are the true Books of Scripture these are the true Copies of those Books because true Tradition commends them for such these be false Books or false Copies of true Books because the Tradition which commends these is false tell me the means by which infallibly the true Tradition in this point may be known from the false and that very means I will assign in other points to know true Tradition from false This Objection I retort thus Resp before we can know true Tradition from false we must know true Faith from false for true Tradition is only the Tradition of the Faithful that is of those who do entirely believe all the necessary Articles of Christian Faith and if I must first know this Faith before I can know true Tradition I cannot need Tradition to instruct me in the Christian Faith. Again tell me the means by which I may know true Faith antecedently to Tradition and the very same means will I assign to know the Faith of Protestants without it 2. This Argument in the Mouth of an unbelieving Jew that lived in the Days of Christ and his Apostles pleads as strongly for the vain Traditions of the Scribes and Pharisees and the whole Jewish Nation rejected by our Lord and his Apostles as for the pretended Traditions of the Church of Rome v. g. you send us to Moses and the Prophets to learn the true Messiah and from these Scriptures you attempt to prove your Jesus is the Messiah promised to the Jews but before you can know whether the Books you cite be the true Books of Moses and the Prophets and the Copies you have of them be true Copies you must know true Tradition from false tell me then the means by which infallibly the true Tradition in this Point may be known from the false and that very means will I assign to prove the Traditions of the Jewish Church rejected by your Lord and his Apostles to be true Whatsoever Answer Mr. M. can return to this Objection will be as applicable to his own 3. To this demand I answer That where the Tradition deriveth from the Fountain of Tradition and can be proved by written Testimonies to have done so And 2ly that where it is a Tradition not of a matter of Fact but Faith and passeth down without controul and contradiction of any that were then and after owned by other Churches as true Christian Brethren And 3ly where it can be proved irrational and absurd that the Tradition could have so long and generally obtained without just ground of being owned as such there the Tradition ought to be embraced as true When therefore Mr. M. hath proved the pretended Traditions of the Church of Rome to have these Three Characters of true Tradition we shall have equal reason to admire his Parts as we have now to wonder at his Confidence but they who can believe Impossibilities may be allowed to undertake them CHAP. IV. Sixthly We distinguish betwixt Traditions touching purely Doctrinals or divine Revelations touching Articles of Faith and Matters of Practice in the first the Fathers have been subject to mistake in Doctrines not Fundamental as appears 1. From the Doctrine of the Mellennium delivered in the Second and Third Centuries as a Tradition received from Christ and his Apostles § 1. As a thing of which they were certain Ibid. 2. As a Doctrine proved from variety of Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament which could say they receive no other sence § 2.3 As a Doctrine denied only by Hereticks or such as were deceived by them § 3. It was embraced by the greatest number of Christians and Church Guides delivering it not as Doctors only but Testators § 4. Hence the uncertainty of such Traditions is demonstrated and the falshood of the pretended Tradition for Invocation of Saints § 5. 2ly A like mistake is proved from the general Doctrine of the Fathers of the four first Centuries that the Day of Judgment was nigh at hand § 6. And that the time of Antichrists coming was at hand § 7. That the World should end after Six thousand Years that is according to their computation Five hundred Years after our Saviour's Advent § 8. The Inferences hence Ibid. In matters of practice we distinguish Seventhly betwixt such as have been generally received without contest in the purest Ages of the Church and such as have been contested and disowned by Orthodox Churches or Members of the Church and that we cannot depend with certainty on the latter is proved 1. From the Contest betwixt P. Victor and the Asiaticks touching the Easter Festival in which it is observed 1. That the greatest part of the Christian World consented in judgment with Victor and his Synod § 9.2 That they who with him kept this Feast on the Lord's Day pleaded an Apostolical Tradition for that Practice § 10. 3. That they who kept it with the Jews pleaded the same Tradition and with greater Evidence § 11. 4. That when the Pope endeavoured by terrifying Letters to affright them from their practice all the Asiaticks and Neighbouring Provinces refused to hearken to him and condemned him for it § 12. 5. That hereupon Victor attempted to Excommunicate them and commanded others to have no Communion with them § 13. 6. That notwithstanding this injunction all the other Churches held Communion with them and sharply reprehended Victor as a disturber of the Church's Peace § 14. Inferences hence shewing the Falshood of the Fundamental Rule of the Guide of Controversies and the uncertainty of Tradition § 15. Which is farther proved from the Contest betwixt P. Stephen and St. Cyprian and the Asiaticks touching the Baptizing of Hereticks where 't is observed 1. That the Opinion of Stephen was for the Baptizing of no Hereticks no not those who were not Baptized in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost that of St. Cyprian for the Baptizing of all Hereticks and Schismaticks § 16. 2. That Pope Stephen proceeded to an Excommunication of his Brethren upon this account and a refusal of Communion with them and so did Pope Xystus and Dionysius after him whereas they of Africa judged no Man who differed from them § 17. 3. Observe that the Opinion of the Africans and other Eastern Churches was asserted by many Christian Doctors Churches and Councils and was of long continuance after this dispute § 18. 4. Observe that as Pope Stephen pretended to Apostolical and Original Tradition for his Opinion so did the contrary Party for their Opinion § 19. 5. That
such as want the Evidence of Reason to assure us of their Truth of the latter kind is the Tradition that Enoch and Elias are to appear as Christ's Fore-runners at the Day of Judgment § 1. This Tradition is very ancient and found no Contradiction in the Church § 2. It was also the general Tradition of the Jews that Elias was to come in Person before the first coming of their Messiah Ibid. And yet this is not countenanced but plainly is confuted by the Scriptures § 3. The promise in Malachy belongs not to Christ's Second but to his first Advent Ibid. The Elias there promised was not Elias in Person but John the Baptist § 4. The Objections against this Assertion answered Ibid. Two Corollaries 1. That Tradition is not always a sure Interpreter of Scripture 2. That Oral Tradition is not of absolute certainty in matters of Speculation § 5 6. The Tradition of the Superiority of Bishops over Presbbyters may be relied upon because it is strengthened by Reason § 7. So also is the Tradition of the true Copies of Scripture where note 1. That we cannot know the Scriptures are not corrupted from the Infallibility of the Jewish or the Christian Church § 8 9. But we may know from Reason grounded upon Scripture 1st That the Scriptures were committed pure to the Christian Church § 10. 2dly That the immediate succeeding Age could want no assurance of their Purity whilst the Autographae were extant § 11. 3dly That these Records being so generally dispersed could not be then corrupted § 11. 4ly That the whole Church would not and part of them could not corrupt them § 13. 5ly That the Providence of God would not permit them to be corrupted in Substantials § 14. No like proof can be given that the pretended Traditions of the Church of Rome have been thus handed down unto us § 15. The Objection of Mr. Mumford is answered § 16. WE distinguish betwixt Traditions which can be made appear by Reason to be such as ought to be received Dist 8. and which we therefore think our selves obliged to receive and such as cannot by Reason be proved to have derived from the Apostles though they appeared very early in the Church Of the first Nature are the Traditions of the Canon of Scripture of the Copies handed down to us without Corruption in any necessary Articles of Christian Faith of the Observation of the Lord's Day c. Of the Second Order are the Traditions of the Millennary Doctrine of the Appearance of Enoch and Elias the Tisbite as the Forerunners of the Day of Judgment And of Traditions of this Nature we say we have no Ground sufficient to receive them as Articles of Christian Faith or Apostolical Traditions The Appearance of Enoch and Elias § 1 then to resist the Seduction of Antichrist and to be slain by him is delivered thus De Resur Carnis c. 22. Enoch and Helias are saith Tertullian Translated caeterum morituri reservantur ut Antichristum sanguine suo extinguant but they are reserved to die and shed their Blood for the Extinction of Antichrist This saith Petrus Alexandrinus is In Chronico 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Apoc. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Tradition of the Church That Enoch is to come in the last Days with Helias to resist Antichrist It is saith Aretas unanimously received by the Church from Tradition that Enoch and Elias the Tisbite are to come The Tradition of the Advent of the Tisbite is as old as Justin Martyr § 2 Dial. cum Tryph. p. 268. and hath been constantly believed in the Church from that time till the Reformation that of Enoch's coming with him is as old as Tertullian it generally obtained in the following Centuries and found no Contradiction from any of the Writers of those times and yet I find no ground at all for this Tradition concerning Enoch For the Two Witnesses in the Revelations are not described like Enoch and Elias but like Moses and Elias Rev. xi 6. it being said They have Power to shut Heaven that it Rain not in the Days of their Prophecy which Elijah did and have Power over Waters to turn them into Blood and to smite the Earth with all Plagues as often as they will which we know Moses did but there is nothing in the description of these Witnesses relating in the least to Enoch As for Elias let it be considered First That it was the general Tradition of the Jewish Nation that Elias the Tisbite was to come in Person as the Forerunner of the Messiah of the Jews that he in Person was to Anoint him and make him known unto the People that before the Advent of the Son of David Elias was to come to Preach concerning him This is the Import of the Question of St. Joh. i. 21. Matt. xvij 10. Mal. iv 5. John Art thou Elias and of the Saying of the Scribes Elias must first come and restore all things of the Interpretation of the Seventy Behold I send unto you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Elias the Tisbite and of that Saying of the Son of Syrach Elias was ordained for reproofs in their times Ecclus xliij 10. to pacifie the wrath of the Lord's Judgment before it break into fury and to turn the Heart of the Father to the Son and to restore the Tribes of Jacob. And suitably to these Assertions Trypho the Jew declares That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dial. p. 268. all we Jews expect Elias to Anoint Christ at his coming Secondly Observe That it was the general Tradition of the Writers of the Christian Church even from the Second Century that Elias the Tisbite is to come in person before our Lord's Second Advent to prepare Men for it This Opinion of the coming of Elias In Tetull de resur carn c. 22. Not. in Orig. p. 41. c. 1. tradit tota Patrum antiquitas all the ancient Fathers have delivered saith De la Cerda Constans est patrum omniumque consensu receptissima Ecclesiae opinio It is the constant and most received Opinion of the Church and all the Fathers saith Huetius Constantissima semper fuit Christianorum opinio It was always the most constant Opinion of Christians In Mat. xi 14. That Elias was to come before the Day of Judgment saith Maldonate It is saith Mr. Mede well known Disc 25. p. 48. that all the Fathers were of this Opinion He is to come saith Petrus Alexandrinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Tradition of the Church saith Arethas Caesariensis In Apoc. 11. According to the unanimously received Opinion of the Church And yet if we may credit either the Angel or our Blessed Lord § 3 the Prophecy on which the Jews built this Tradition was fulfilled in John the Baptist And if we may believe the Ancient Fathers they built their Tradition on those words of Christ Elias cometh first and restoreth
evident from History and the Confessions of the Romish Doctors Com in Dan. 14. That as Lyranus saith In Ecclesia aliquando sit deceptio populi in Miraculis factis a Sacerdotibus The Priests of that Church sometimes deceived the People with Miracles Non obscurum est quot opiniones invectae sunt in Orbem per homines ad suum quaestum callidos confictorum miraculorum praesidio p. 188. Cap. 11. §. 11. De purg l. 1. c. 11. quarta Ratio De Sanctorum Beat. l. 1. c. 19. accedant l. 2. c. 12. Argument quartum De Sacr. Euch. l. 3. c. 8. postremum de poenit l. 3. c. 12. quarta Ratio done by them for temporal Advantage That according to the Passage cited by the Lord Faulkland from Erasmus or Sr. Thomas Moor many Opinions have been brought into the World by Men cunning to promote their Profit by the means of feigned Miracles I have already proved from the Testimonies of Romish Writers That by such Miracles they do endeavour to confirm their Doctrines we need no other Witness than their Bellarmine who proves Purgatory from the Apparition of Souls declaring they were in that Place That Saints are to be invoked and Images to be worshipped from the Miracles performed upon the Invocation of the First and the Worship of the Second The corporeal Presence of our Lord in the Sacrament and the jus divinum of Auricular Confession from the same Topick And yet some of their Writers have seen just Reason to confess that some of the Miracles produced to confirm these Articles In sum part 4. qu. 11. Art. 4. §. 3. were either humane or diabolical Impostures Thus Alexander of Hales saith That Flesh appeared in the Sacrament interdum humana procuratione interdum operatione Diabolica sometimes by humane Procurement and sometimes by Procurement of the Devil In Can. Miss lect 49. f. 127. b. And Gabriel Biel doth acknowledge that Miracles are done to Men who run to Images sometimes by the Operation of Devils to deceive those inordinate Worshippers God permitting it and their Infidelity exacting it And the same Verdict may with great Reason be passed upon all the rest they appearing in the World not only after that time when the Fathers tell us Miracles were ceased or not to be regarded and when they said the Power of working Miracles was to be given up to Satan but also after that the Goths the Vandals Longobards Franks and Saxons and other barbarous Nations had over-run the West and brought in a Deluge of most horrid Ignorance this dark and dubious Conjuncture was the very Season when these Romish Miracles began to swarm and fly abroad Then do we hear from Pope Gregory Gregory of Tours Bede and others of the Apparitions of sad Souls to acquaint others with their sad Condition underneath craving for Help from the Prayers Pilgrimages and Masses of the Living a Charity which neither Moses nor the Prophets Jesus Christ or his Apostles ever thought fit to mention or prescribe Then do we hear from the Second Nicene Council from Gregory of Tours and other later Writers of Images bleeding smiling or mourning as Occasion required Then do we read in Paulus Diaconus Paschasius and other Patrons of Transubstantiation of Flesh and Blood and of a little Child appearing in the consecrated Elements Now had such Miracles been truly wrought by divine Power and Assistance upon these Occasions they would have more especially been then performed when the Gift of Miracles continued in the Church and was confessedly common among Christians and done for Confirmation of the Faith and for Conviction of the Vnbeliever they being then more necessary for those great Ends for which they were at first designed nor would the Writers of the first Four Ages have been less careful to mention and appeal unto them than are the Romanists at present whose Histories are stuffed up with them especially they would have mentioned them in those Discourses and Apologies which were design'd on purpose to confirm the Christian Faith from the miraculous Operations done by Christians they being not less zealous to promote the Glory of their Lord the Interests of Christianity the Credit of their Institutions and the true Honour of their Saints than Romish Priests Whereas from the beginning of Christianity to the Days of Constantine we do not find in all the genuine Records of Antiquity one tittle of this Nature They are indeed very copious in relating the miraculous Cures and Operations then performed (a) Clem. Recogn l. 5. §. 36. Euseb Hist Eccl. l. 1. c. 13 p. 34. Iren. l. 2. c. 57. by Imposition of Hands (b) Tertull. ad Scap. c. 4. by anointing of the Sick with Oil (c) Just M. Apol. 1. p. 45. Dial. 247. Iren. l. 2. c. 56 57. Orig. in Cels l. 1. p. 7 20. by Prayer and invocation of the Name of Jesus (d) Just M. Dial. p. 302. Orig. l. 7. p. 334. Lact. l. 4. c. 27. by adjuration of evil Spirits by his Name but of miraculous Apparitions of Souls from Purgatory of Flesh and Blood appearing visibly in the Eucharist of Miracles performed at the Adoration of Images or at auricular Confession they speak not one Word these being Miracles designed for other Ends and reserved for times more worthy of them Thirdly Errors in Doctrine or in Practice Sect. 9 might exceedingly prevail by reason of the great Authority the Vogue and Reputation of those Men who either first began or else gave Countenance to them when begun by others St. Paul well understood what an Inlet to Schisms Contentions and Divisions it would be for Men to cry up Paul Apollo Cephas 1 Cor. i. 12. iv 6. and to be puffed up for one against another and therefore he endeavours to prevent that Evil in the Church of Corinth and in most of his Epistles he is constrained to magnify his Office 2 Cor. c. 10 11 12. and to commend himself in opposition to those false Apostles and deceitful Workers who made it their Business to depress his Authority and to procure Credit and Admiration to themselves It was the great Opinion which the Jews had both of the Scribes and Pharisees which caused them so readily to embrace and superstitiously to Reverence and stiffly to retain those Superstitions and Traditions by which they render'd vain God's Worship and made void his Law. Vide Cap. 11. §. 7. They saith Josephus had the popular Applause as being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most worthy of Credit in the Peoples Judgment and the best Interpreters of their Laws Mr. Wake 's Second Def. Part 1. p. 81. And we at present see how great a Grief it is to some that our Ministers are in the best Sence popular by living so as to deserve the good Opinion and preaching so as to deserve Attention from the People and gaining Reputation to their Doctrine by their Sincerity as well as Learning or in St.
will flee Deceit Wisd 1.5 and from Thoughts that are without Understanding and will not abide when Unrighteousness cometh in Now saith he P. 72. if according to the Testimony of the Lord the Holy Spirit rests only upon the Humble and the Meek the Man who trembles at God's Word Et secundum mores hodiernos pauci admodum tales verisimiliter in conciliis sunt and according to the Manners of our Times 't is very likely that few such are in our Councils but of carnal worldly ambitious and contentious Men and of Men having that Knowledge which puffeth up turba solet adesse copiosa the Number usually is very great what necessity is there to believe that the Holy Spirit doth prevail in those Councils and move the Minds of them who always do resist and do oppose his Motions to those things which are most sound and salutary P. 73. If it be not from humane Infirmity but from the Guidance of the Holy Spirit that Councils cannot be deceived who can be sure this Holy Spirit will be present with the major part of an Assembly of such Men they being though in Profession Christians ye in reallity Men of the World who Joh. 14.17 saith St. John cannot receive the Spirit of Truth 2ly Because such corrupt Manners do provoke God in his righteous Judgment to give Men up to strong Delusions and to permit the great Deceiver to prevail upon them according to that Expression of St. Paul That evil Men and Seducers will grow worse and worse 2 Tim. 3.13 deceiving and being deceived Thus of the Times of Antichrist he hath foretold 2 Thess 2.9 10. That because Men received not the Truth in the Love of it therefore God should send among them strong Delusions that they should believe a Lye. And this Account St. Basil also gives of the forementioned Miscarriages of the Church Governors of his Time Ibid. p. 394. viz. That they befel them because being corrupt and abominable in their doings they had deserved the Punishment which the Apostle speaks of saying because they liked not to retain God in their Knowledge therefore he gave them up to a reprobate Sence and which our Lord inflicted on the wicked Jews to whom he therefore spake in Parables 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they might not perceive the Divine Mysteries of the Gospel because they first had shut their Eyes made their Ears heavy and their foolish Heart was waxed gross that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That by way of Punishment they might be subject unto Blindness in greater Matters Clemangis in this also follows the Sentiments of St. Basil For after he had abundantly declared the great Corruptions of their Manners who usually then met in Councils he puts this Question Ibid. p. 73. Quis certo possit scire an major pars concilij sit digna decipi who therefore can know surely whether the major Part of a Council be not worthy to be deceived 3ly Mens evil Lives had they no other Tempter do naturally incline them to cast off those Principles and Practices which contradict and do condemn their Actions and hinder their Pursuit and free Enjoyment of their sensual Appetites this they must be enclined to do partly to free themselves from the continual Gripings of an evil and condemning Conscience For as Theodoret observes They who have put away the upright Conscience do afterwards cast off the Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they cannot bear the Accusations of a guilty Conscience And partly that they may exert more freely that natural Opposition that is in them to that Law of Holiness and Light by which their Actions are reproved according to that saying of our Lord Every one that doth Evil hateth the Light John 3.20 neither cometh he unto the Light least his Deeds should be reproved 'T is this Corruption of Manners which seemeth to have turned all the Severities of ancient Penance and all the wholesom Methods of Church Discipline into Formalities and Superstition into fruitless Pilgrimages the going barefoot the carrying wax Tapers the mumbling over a few Pater Noster's Ave Maria's or penitential Psalms which either the penitent doth not or at the least is not obliged to attend to and which have very little Tendency to the Conversion and Reformation of a Sinner but rather do encourage him to sin at such an easy rate 'T is this hath introduced so many easy Ways of Pardon and Justification Attritio ex turpitudinis peccati Consideratione vel ex Gehennae poenarum metu communiter concipitur Concil Trid. Sess 14. c. 4. Et eum ad gratiam dei in Sacramento poenitentiae impetrandam dispoint Ibid. vid. Catechism Rom. Part. 2. c. 5. §. 37 38. without the bringing forth Fruits meet for Repentance and taught even Councils to determine that Attrition or Sorrow out of apprehension of the Foulness of Sin or the fear of Punishment will dispose Men to obtain the Favour of God in the Sacrament of Penance So that if the vilest Wretch when going out of that World in which he hath lived most lewdly all his Life be afraid of Punishment for his Enormities or apprehensive of the Foulness of them as the more wicked he hath been the likelier he is and the greater Reason he still hath to be provided he be absolved by a Priest he must go out of the World in the Favour of God and in a justified Estate And if so what necessity is there of adding to our Faith Vertue and of patient Continuance in well doing that we may seek for Honour and Immortality or of following after Holiness and Purity of Life that we may see God Moreover Men by their wicked Conversations will be disposed to introduce and cherish such Doctrines as best comply with their impure Inclinations that they may have the greater Freedom in the Pursuit of their Ambition Covetousness and all their other sensual Appetities and may the better gratify those Inclinations And here we have a wide Door open at which the Innovations of the Church of Rome might enter seeing most of them have an apparent Tendance to the gratification of Pride and love of Empire of Covetousness and Ambition of Ease and Freedom from restraint in the Ecclesiasticks and Church Governors and give them Opportunity to Lord it over Mens Consciences to engross the Wealth and the Conveniences of the World to live at ease and to be uncontroulable by any but themselves For do not the Doctrines of Purgatory Pardons and Indulgences directly tend to make them Masters of Mens eternal and by that of their temporal Estates Is not the Treasury of the Saints and of our Saviour 's Merits a way of driving Trade for the enriching their own Treasuries Do not their Masses and Oblations of true propitiatory Sacrifices for the Dead tend to engage all dying Persons to sacrifice their Estates unto them and leave them lumping Summs of Money for that end Are
Doctrines of the Church of Rome are not received by Tradition from Father to Son since in this matter the Sons have generally entertained a Doctrine their Fathers either knew nothing of or plainly contradicted and that is now become pious and consonant to Ecclesiastical Worship which in St. Bernard's time was Ep. 174. praesumpta novitas Mater temeritatis soror superstitionis filia levitatis A bold Novelty the Mother of Rashness the Sister of Superstition the Daughter of Levity 5. Hence doth it follow that even by the Authority of the heads of the Vniversal Church men may be forbidden under pain of Damnation to Assert the Ancient Doctrine of the Church and may have liberty to contradict it Yea that in the judgment of a great R. Council received by the French as General and bearing that title in all Editions of the Councils that may be agreeable to the Catholick Faith to Reason and to Holy Scripture which is repugnant to the Ancient Doctrine of the Church Catholick for Eight whole Centuries 6. Hence is it manifest that the Trent Council hath given liberty to all her Members to hold that which is opposite to an universal constant unopposed Tradition of the Church for many Ages that is that she hath left them at their liberty to hold the Ancient Faith or hold the contrary 7. Hence it appears that in the Church of Rome Feasts may be instituted in which all men shall be exhorted to praise God for a thing which perhaps never was and of the truth of which none of her Members can be certain certitudine fidei with the certainty of Faith all of them being by this Church permitted to believe the contrary CHAP. III. Fifthly We distinguish betwixt Traditions which though not written in Scripture are left on Record in the Ecclesiastical writings of the first and purest Ages of the Church and such as are so purely Oral Traditions as that we find no footsteps of them in the Three first Centuries much less any assurance they had then any general Reception of the first kind is the Canon of Scripture of the Old Testament mentioned in our Sixth Article § 1. This is proved from the Jews § 2. From the Christians of the Second Century § 3. Of the Third Century § 4. From almost all the celebrated Writers of the Fourth Century § 5. Where also it is observed 1. That these Fathers profess to deliver that Catalogue of them which they had received from Tradition § 6. And that the Books which they rejected as Apocryphal were so reputed by the Church § 7. That the Catalogue they produced was that received not only by the Jews but Christians § 8. That they made it to prevent mistakes § 9. That they represent the Books contained in their Catalogue as the Fountain of Salvation the rest as insufficient to confirm Articles of Faith § 10. The same Tradition still continued to the Sixteenth Century § 11. What the Roman Doctors must do if they would shew a like Tradition for any of their Tenets § 12. The unreasonableness of their pretences to Tradition in this Article Ibid. The Attempts of Mr. M. and J. L. to prove their Canon from the Council of Carthage the Testimony of St. Austin the Decrees of Pope Innocent and Gelasius are Answered § 13. The Tradition touching the Books of the New Testament where it is proved 1. That the Four Evangelists the Acts the Thirteen Epistles of St. Paul the First of Peter and of John were always owned as Canonical by all Orthodox Christians § 14. 2. That it cannot be necessary to Salvation to be assured that the Books formerly controverted belong to the Canon § 15. 3. That we cannot be assured of the true Canon of the New Testament from the Testimony of the Latin Church § 16. 4. That there is not the like necessity that the controverted Books should have been generally received from the beginning as that all necessary Articles of Christian Faith and Manners should be then generally received § 17. That we have cause sufficient to own as Canonical the Books once controverted is proved 1. in the General § 18. 2. In Particular touching the Apocalypse § 19. And the Epistle to the Hebrews § 20. Touching the Epistle of St. James the Second of Peter the Second and Third of John the Epistle of St. Jude § 21. No Orthodox Persons dobuted of them after the Fourth Century § 22. The Romanists cannot prove their Doctrines by any like Traditions and in particular not by such a Tradition as proves the Apocalypse Canonical § 23. The Objection of Mr. M. Answered § 24. AGain § 1 the word Tradition may be applied to signifie either such things as are not written in the Scripture Dist 5. though they are left on Record in the Ecclesiastical writings of the first and purest Ages Vocatur Doctrina non scripta non ea quae nusquam scripta est sed quae non est scripta a primo Autore Bellarm. de verbo Dei non scripto l. 4. c. 2. and from them handed down unto us in the writings of succeeding Ages or else to signifie such things as are said only to be delivered by word of Mouth but cannot by the Records of preceding Ages be proved to have been received as Doctrines generally maintained or practices always observed in the Church of Christ of the first sort is the Tradition of the Canon of Scripture of the Apostles Symbol as a perfect Summary of Doctrines necessary to be believed the Observation of the Lord's Day the Superiority of Bishops over Presbyters the Ordination of Presbyters and Deacons by Bishops only and the like we having full and pregnant evidence from the first Records of Antiquity unto this present time of all these things and whatsoever can be proved by a like Tradition touching a necessary Article of Christian Faith we are all ready to receive but those pretended Traditions of the Roman Church which by no Records of Antiquity can be made appear to have been constantly received by the Church as Apostolical Traditions we have just Reason to reject as being without Ground so stiled For Instance First We receive the Canon of the Scriptures of the Old Testament mentioned in our Sixth Article because it is by written Tradition handed down unto us from the Jews from Christ and his Apostles and from their Successors in the Church and we reject the Canon of the Old Testament imposed upon us by the Fourth Session of the Trent Council partly because we find a clear Tradition both virtually by all who say the Canon of the Old Testament is only that we own and expresly by those who say the others which we stile Apocrypha belong not to the Canon And 1. § 2 We receive our Canon from the Ancient Jews to whom were committed the Oracles of God for their Josephus saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 L. 1. contra Apion
most Christian Churches Saint Jerom that in process of time it obtained Authority Estius notes That they who before doubted of it in the Fourth Century embraced the Opinion of them who received it Praefat. in Epist Jacobi and that from thence no Church no Ecclesiastical Writer is found who ever doubted of it but on the contrary all the Catalogues of the Books of Holy Scripture published by General or Provincial Councils Roman Bishops or other Orthodox Writers number it among Canonical Scriptures quae probatio ad certam fidem faciendam cuique Catholico sufficere debet which proof must give sufficient certainty of it to any Catholick The Second Epistle of St. Peter Pag. 58. Apud Cypr. Ep. 75. p. 220. is cited by Origen against Marcian under the Name of Peter Firmilion saith That both Paul and Peter in suis Epistolis Haereticos execrati sunt ut eos evitemus monuerunt in their Epistles condemned Hereticks and admonished us to avoid them which is done by Saint Peter only in this Epistle Eusebius saith That it was commemorated by many and that they who did not reckon it Canonical yet held it very useful on which account Lib. 3. c. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was much studied with other Scriptures The same Eusebius informs us That his First Epistle was always owned by all Christians and thence we may have full assurance of the Truth of this Epistle for there are not saith the Reverend Doctor Hammond greater Evidences of any Epistles being written by the acknowledged Author of it than these Cap. 1. v. 1. The Title of Simon Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ The Voice which came from Heaven saying vers 17 18. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased we heard when we Peter and John and James were with him in the Holy Mount this second Epistle beloved I write unto you that you may be mindful of the Commandments of us the Apostles of the Lord and Saviour Cap. 3. v. 1 2. All which are certain Demonstrations That Simon Peter the Apostle of our Lord who was with him in Mount-Tabor and there heard the Voice forementioned and who writ the First Epistle to the Twelve Tribes dispersed writ this also Note Lastly That after the Fourth Century § 22 there appears not the least intimation that any of these Books were any longer doubted of by any Orthodox Professor of the Christian Faith they being all received and reckoned as Canonical by the Councils and Fathers who mentioned the Canon of the New Testament Now from these premisses there is just ground to make this Inference and Conclusion That seeing most of the Catalogues of the Fourth Century given by Councils or by Fathers and all the Catalogues of the Fifth Century unquestionably assure us that what was once controverted by some few was afterwards unanimously received by all the Church of God we are sufficiently assured of the true Canon of the Books of the New Testament The evidence now produced even of these controverted Books being sufficient both in the judgment of all Catholicks and of all Christians who on these grounds alone receive them as such to assure us that they are Canonical Scripture for by what reason can any Man evince that ought to be rejected from the Canon which always was received as Canonical by the greatest part of the Church Catholick and being accurately enquired into by those who once were Doubters found such an uncontroulled reception through the whole Church diffused as stifled through all future Ages the least appearance of a doubt Hence then the Roman § 23 Doctors may discern what it is they have to do if they do undertake to shew us such a Tradition for those Roman Doctrines we reject as hath been shew'd for the Controverted Books of the New Testament And 1. It must be owned by them that it cannot be necessary to Salvation to believe or have an absolute assurance that these are true and Apostolical Traditions and therefore Haec est fides extra quam salus esse non potest This is the Catholick Faith without which there is no Salvation must be excluded from the Roman Creed 2. It must be also owned that the pretented Traditions of the present R. Church were for some Centuries controverted and rejected by whole Churches Orthodox and Apostolical and which were as such owned and embraced by all Christians and that some of them were or at least might have been for the first Four Centuries disowned by the Church of Rome as was one of these controverted Books and consequently it must be owned that she could not then be received as Mater Magistra omnium Ecclesiarum the Mother and Mistress of all Churches 3. It must be proved that there was the same necessity that these controverted Books should be known and received from the beginning by all Christians as that the necessary Traditions and Articles of Christian Faith should be so 4. It must be proved that these Traditions were always owned and mentioned as Divine and Apostolical Traditions by many Orthodox Churches and Fathers and even when controverted were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acknowledged by most of the Church Guides To instance in the Apocalypse which Mr. M. on all occasions singles out as a Book whose Authenticalness cannot be better proved than their Traditions let him shew us any such Testimonies from the First Second and Third Centuries for the pretended Traditions of the Church of Rome as we have shewed for the Apocalypse any one that saith of them as Denys of Alexandria doth of the Apocalypse That he durst not reject it by reason of the multitude of Christians who had a veneration for it let him produce the plain Testimonies of the Fathers that the Truth of these Traditions may be decided by the Testimonies of the Ancients that they owned them as Apostolical by virtue of their Testimony that the Ancient and Holy Fathers led by the Spirit of God gave Testimony to them and that they were the Traditions of holy Men inspired by God All these things have been said of the Apocalypse in the Four first Centuries and when Mr. M. can produce any thing of the like nature evidence and strength for any one of his Traditions we will own it as Divine and Apostolical Here then we see the greatest and the plainest difference betwixt the Traditions we receive and own and those pretended Traditions of the Church of Rome which we reject For 1. The Traditions we receive are Traditions handed down in writing to us throughout all Ages of the Church unto this present time the Traditions we reject are only presumptive Traditions such as the Church of Rome presumes to be so but yet they have no Footsteps in the Ancient Records of the Church of Christ which is a demonstration that they falsly do presume they are Traditions for as we could have no just reason to believe those which we own to be
nor be esteemed so presently the Charter of the Christian Faith had they been so forgetful as not to make them known to them for whose Sakes they were written They were Books which pretended to a Commission from the Holy Jesus to give Rules of Life and Doctrine to the Christian Churches which none but the Apostles and Evangelists could do all others still pretending to deliver what they received from them Lastly They being written partly to confirm and to ascertain to us the Story of Christ's Birth Life Passion Resurrection and partly to engage us to believe that Jesus was the Christ partly to put an end to those Contentions and to rectify those Errors which had crept into the Church in the Apostles Days and which did need a speedly Reformation partly to give Instructions for the Bishops Priests and Deacons and Governours of the Church how to behave themselves in their Offices partly to justify themselves against false Brethren and deceitful Workers and to preserve their Proselytes from such as did pervert the Faith and partly to instruct them how to bear up in fiery Trials and to support their Souls under the Sufferings and Temptations to which Christianity exposed them and therefore on those Grounds which did require their quick Dispatch upon that Errand and to those Churches for whose use they did intend them it is evident the Apostles must design that early Notice should be given of them and so commit them to their new born Proselytes and Babes in Christ Accordingly the Tradition of the Church assures us that when the Apostles went to preach to the Gentiles they desired them to leave in Writing the things which they had taught Vid. c. 7. §. 1 2. and that in compliance with their Desires they writ their Gospels and having preached the Gospel to them Iren. l. 3. c. 3. Postea verè per voluntatem dei in scripturis nobis tradiderunt fundamentum Columnam fidei futurum They afterwards by the Will of God delivered to them the Gospel they had Preached in Writing to be the Pillar and the Ground of Faith hereafter St. Peter speaks of all the Epistles of St. Paul shewing that at least many of them were then written Euseb Eccl. Hift. l. 3. c. 3. and others of the Ancients that they were all Fourteen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noted by and manifest to all though some doubted whether he were indeed the Author of one of them 2. § 11 It is evident that the immediate succeeding Age could not be ignorant of what was thus delivered to the Church and was commended to them by the Apostles as the Pillar and the Ground of Faith De Praescript c. 36. especially if we consider that the Autographa were still extant saith Tertullian some of those Persons were still living to whom they were directed and with whom they were intrusted and all those Churches still continued flourishing to whom they were sent and to whom they were read in publick and by whom in private 3. § 12 Those Records being once so generally dispersed through places at so great a distance as they were in the Second Century so universally acknowledged and consented to by Men of curious Parts and different Perswasions and repugnant Judgments and great Aversions from each other preserved in their Originals to succeeding Ages multiplied into divers Versions copied out by Christians for their private and for publick use esteemed by them as digesta nostra their Digests saith (a) Adv. Marc. l. 4. c. 3. Tertullian as (b) Concil Carthag apud Cypr. p. 232. Optatus l. 1. libri divini Scripturae deificae say the Martyrs believed by all Christians to be divine saith (c) Euseb H. Eccl. l 6. c. 25.3.25 Orig. contr Cels l. 3. p. 138. Origen And as the Records of their Hopes and Fears and thereupon being so carefully (d) Euseb H. Eccl. l. 4 c. 26. Lib. 8 cap. 11 13. Euseb l. 6. c. 19 p. 222. Justin M. Ap. 2. p. 98. sought after so riveted in their Minds for many say the Ancients had them entirely in their Memory they being so constantly rehearsed in their Assemblies by Men whose work it was to Read and Preach and to exhort to the performance of those Duties they enjoin'd being so frequent in their Writings so often cited in their Confessions Comments Apologies and Epistles of the Christian Worthies Euseb l. 6. c. 19. p. 219. as also in the Objection of those Adversaries to whose view they still lay open It must be certain that they were handed down to the succeeding Generations pure and uncorrupt Indeed these things render us more secure of the Scriptures being preserved entire than any Man can be of the Statutes of the Land or of any Histories or Records whatsoever because the Evidence of it depends upon more Persons more Holy and so less subject to deceive more concerned that they should not be corrupted than that no other Records should and so we must renounce all certainty of any Records or grant the certainty that these are truly what they do pretend And 4. This Corruption of the Word of God § 13 or Substitution of any other Doctrine than that which it delivered could not be done by any part or Sect of Christians but they who had embraced the Faith and used the same Copies of the Word of God in other places of the Christian World must have found out the Cheat and therefore this corruption if at all effected must be the work of the whole World of Christians But can it be supposed that the immediate succeeding Ages should universally conspire to substitute their own Inventions for the Word of God and yet continue stedfast in and suffer so much for that Faith which denounced the severest Judgments against those which should do such things Or that a World of Men should with the hazard of their Lives and Fortunes avouch the Gospel and at the same time make an essential Change even in the Frame and Substance of its Doctrine whilst it yet daily sounded in their Ears employ'd their Tongues and by so doing make it ineffectual both to themselves and their Posterity Can it be reasonably thought that they should venture upon that which were the Gospel true or false must needs expose them to the greatest Evils whilst they continued Abettors of it Moreover had such a thing been done can we in reason think that of those many Thousands who in the Primitive Ages did renounce the Gospel that of those many wavering Spirits those excommunicate Members especially those Hereticks who upon other motives did renounce the greatest part of Scripture can it I say be thought that none of those should publish and disclose the Forgery or answer the Alligations made from Scripture by saying They were Citations of false and of corrupt Scriptures but that such apparent Forgeries should find a general Reception from all that looked into their Truth and be unquestionably received as genuine
Testament to pass by the History of Tobit Judith and the Maccabees quia non sunt de Canone apud Hebraeos nec apud Christianos because they neither are esteemed Canonical by Jews nor Christians yea St. Jerom saith in his Prologue That inter Apocrypha cantantur the Church Chants them among the Apocrypha I therefore saith he first intend to write on the whole Canonical Scripture and then super istos alios qui communiter ponuntur in bibliis quamvis non sint de Canone upon those and other Books which are commonly put in our Bibles though they belong not to the Canon Moreover the Third and Fourth of Esdras he passeth over without Notes for the same Reason On the Thirteenth of Daniel he Notes thus The History of Susanna ought to be put inter libros Bibliae non Canonicos among the Books of the Bible which are not Canonical and in his Notes on the Fourteenth Chapter he saith of the History of Bell and the Dragon ponitur inter Scripturas non Canonicas it is put among those Scriptures which are not Canonical after the History of Susanna Now had not Lyra mentioned the Judgment of the Church touching these Books yet these Expressions in Comments of so great Credit in the Church sufficiently shew that this was then a Doctrine well received in the Church of Rome Antoninus Florentinus in his Historical Summs acknowledgeth only Twenty-two Canonical Books of the Old Testament Cent. 15. Sum. Hist part 1. Tit. 3. c. 4. c. 6. §. 12. saying in General of Wisdom Ecclesiasticus Tobit Judith and the Maccabees that Ecclesia recipit the Church receives them as true and profitable though not as of force in matters of Faith Unde forte habent Authoritatem talem qualem habent dicta istorum doctorum approbata ab Ecclesia Sum. Theol. part 3. Tit. 18. c. 6. §. 2. and in particular of Ecclesiasticus that it is receptus ab Ecclesia ad legendum non tamen Authenticus est ad probandum ea quae veniunt in contentionem fidei received by the Church to be read but is not Authentical to prove things doubtful in the Faith. Alphonsus Tostatus saith of the Six debated Books Praefat. in Matth. qu. 2. That they are not put into the Canon by the Church nor doth she regularly command them to be read or to be received or judge them disobedient who do not receive them For Ecclesia non est certa de Auctoribus eorum the Church is not certain of the Authors of them yea she knoweth not an spiritu sancto inspirati whether they were indited by Men inspired of the Holy Spirit and so she obliges no Man ad necessariò credendum id quod ibi habetur to yield necessary assent to what they do contain Enarrat praefat in l. paralip q. 7. And elsewhere Though saith he these Apocryphal Books be joined with others of the Bible and read in the Church none of them is of such Authority ut ex eo Ecclesia arguat ad probandam aliquam veritatem quantum ad hoc non recipit eos that the Church proves any truth out of them for as to that she doth not receive them Dionysius Carthusianus saith Praefat. in Gen. Art. 4. The Books of the Old Testament are Twenty-two as saith St. Jerom in his Prologue before the Kings and having reckoned them up Five Legal Eight Historical Nine Hagiographa he adds Hos libros vocant Canonicos alios vero Apocryphos These Books are called by Divines Canonical the rest Apocryphal In the Sixteenth Century Franciscus Ximenius reckons those Books of the Old Testament which were extant only in Greek Cent. 16. as Bibl. Complut Praef. ad Lect. Libri extra Canonem quos Ecclesia potius ad aedificationem populi quam ad auctoritatem Ecclesiasticorum dogmatum confirmandam recipit Books out of the Canon which the Church receives rather for Edification of the People than for confirmation of Ecclesiastical Doctrines Erasmus having numbered the Canonical Books of the Old Testament as we do In expos Symb. Apost Decal Catech. 4. vers finem Ed. Antver 1533. concludes thus Intra hunc numerum conclusit priscorum Authoritas Vet. Test volumina The Authority of the Ancients comprized the Volumes of the Old Testament of whose Truth it was not lawful to doubt within this number Johannes Ferus having told us that the Apocryphal Books were Nine In exam Ordinand he adds That olim in Ecclesia Apocryphi publicè non recitabantur nec quisquam Authoritate eorum premebatur anciently the Apocryphal Books were not read publickly nor was any Man pressed with their Authority Sebastian Munster in his Preface to the Old Testament and in the Chapter of the Canonical Books of the Old Testament numbers them exactly as we do and then he saith Intra hunc numerum concluserunt Hebraei prisci Christiani volumina veteris Testamenti Both the Hebrews and the ancient Christians comprized the Volumes of the Old Testament within this number but now the other which he reckons as we do excepting only the Song of the Three Children are received in usum Ecclesiasticum into the use of the Church Moreover from the Ninth Century in which the Ordinary Gloss upon the Bible was begun by Strabus to the Sixteenth they did not only number the Canonical and reject the Apocryphal Books as we do but they did it chiefly for the very reason that is assigned in our Article viz. among others the Authority of St. Jerom Card. Cajetan Praefat. super Josuam ad Clem. 7. declaring That Sancto Hieronymo universa Ecclesia Latina plurimum debet propter discretos ab eodem libros Canonicos à non Canonicis The universal Church is very much beholding to St. Jerom not only because he noted what Parts where added to the Books of the Old Testament or were but doubtful Appendixes but also for separating the Canonical from the uncanonical Books That the Church received those Books which he received and rejected those which he rejected That Consonat Hieronymus cus maxima habetur fides in Ecclesia is inquam Hieronymus in Prologo Galeato inter Canonicos libros V. Testamenti hosce duntaxat enumerat Firmiter tamen haerendum credo sententiae Hieronymi Cujus Autoritas me movit ne multo altius quam a suo tempore de librorum horum ordine disputarem cum illis floruerit temporibus quae doctis hominibus abundabant multa ex Gestis veterum Theologorum legerit quae nunc periere peritissimus quoque suit Graecae Hebraicae literaturae demum ejus testimonium ab Ecclesia pro sanctissimo habeatur Picus Mirand de fide ordinc credendi Theorem 5. Com. in libr. Hist V. Test In primum cap. Matth. ad v. 12. Testimonium Hieronymi quoad hoc ut Sacrosanctum habetur in Ecclesiâ as to this Matter the Church held his Testimony to
1. p. 474. De Nat. Deor. l. 3. ab initio p. 243. those that were before us and were as they affirmed the Progeny of the Gods though they give no necessary Demonstration of what they say nor shall any Man's Reason be he never so learned saith Cicero move me from that Opinion of the Worship of the immortal Gods Quam a Majoribus accepi which I received from my Ancestors See here Popery in the Foundation of it borrowed from Heathanism see how exactly they comply in the same Plea. Moreover the Answer which the Christians then returned unto this Plea of Pagans from Tradition § 11 is a sufficient Justification of the Protestants against the same Pretences in the Mouths of Roman Catholicks and a full Evidence that they were not Assertors of the Roman Doctrine in this Matter For First They represent it as the great Folly of the Heathen World that they followed Custom against Reason objecting it to their Reproach that they did what they saw done not what their Reason told them should be done That among them Arnob. l. 7. p. 236. L. 2. c. 6. p. 172. Plus valet nullam habens consuetudo rationem Custom without Reason prevailed more than the weight of Things examined by the Nature of Truth What will you do saith Lactantius to them Majoresne potius quam Rationem sequaris Would you follow your Ancestors rather than Reason esteeming this the greatest of Absurdities He farther adds That they who were led like Beasts by others Et qui sine ullo judicio inventa Majorum probant sapientiam sibi adimunt and who did without Judgment approve of the Inventions of their Ancestors P. 173. deprived themselves of Wisdom Now if it be so great a Folly and Absurdity and such a brutish renouncing of all Wisdom to comply with Custom against Reason and without exercising of our Judgments must it not much more be so to comply with it against Scripture Reason and the whole Stream of Primitive Antiquity as we must do if we do yield a blind Submission to the Doctrines of the Roman Church Secondly They prove their Ancestors were not to be followed without the use of Reason and Discretion because they were so prone to receive Fables and even Monsters of Opinions P. 21. We are not to be drawn into Error by consenting to our Ancestors saith Octavius Majoribus enim nostris tam facilis in mendaciis fides fuerit ut temere crediderint etiam alia monstrosa mira miracula for our Ancestors were so easily imposed upon by Lyes that they believed rashly many other monstrous Wonders L. 1. p. 34. You plead Antiquity saith Arnobius as an Argument of Truth Quasi vero errorum Antiquitas plenissima Mater non fuerit as if Antiquity were not the pregnant Mother of Errors and as if she had not brought forth all those Things which in their ignominious Fables impute such filthy Characters to their Gods. De Civ Dei l. 22. c. 6. St. Austin also saith That Antiquitas recepit fabulas fictas nonnunquam incondite Antiquity received Fables feigned sometimes incongruously And is it not evident from the Confessions of the Romish Doctors and Historians that in the dark and ignorant Ages of the Church from the Tenth to the Fifteenth Century their Church abounded with idle Monks who made it their whole Business to fill Church History with lying Legends and Tales as Foolish and Ridiculous as those of Heathens Locor Theolog l 11. c. 6. p. 652. For Melchior Canus doth ingenuously confess Res Gestas Sanctorum falsis commentitiis fabulis contaminari That the Histories of the Saints were defiled with false and counterfeit Fables That most of their Writers have feigned so many things either in compliance with their Affections or on set purpose That he was not only ashamed P. 650. but even weary of them their whole Narration being invented either for gain or Error Ibid. p. 658. And speaking of their Golden Legend he saith Praefat. ante Homil. de fest Sanctorum In illo miraculorum monstra saepius quam vera miracula legas Royardus adds That such Writers weakened the truth it self Insertis passim fabulis ac meris nugamentis by the Fables and meer Fooleries they frequently inserted Cornelius Agrippa saith De vanit scient cap. 97. That lying piously they counterfeited Relicks framed Miracles Confinguntque vel plausibiles vel terribiles Fabulas and feigned plausible or terrible Tales In lib. Confess August Erasmus saith They studied to commend them whom they favoured Fabulis vanis miraculis fictis with vain Fables and feigned Miracles Cap. de Reliquiis l. 1. c. 11. p. 156. Lib. 5. p. 565. The like complaints you may read in Cassander's Consultation in Espencaeus's Commentary upon Timothy and in Lyranus on the Fourteenth Chapter of Daniel Aventinus informs us That in the days of Hildebrand many false Prophets Fabulis Miraculis à veritate plebem Christi avertunt did turn away the People from the Truth by Fables and Miracles Then saith he arose false Prophets false Apostles false Priests P. 591. Qui simulata Religione populum deceperunt magna signa prodigia ediderunt who deceived the People with feigned Religion and wrought great Signs and Wonders The Clergy of Liege add That then were those Stories feigned concerning Sylvester and Constantine no less ignorantly than impudently and falsly and many others which say they Christian Modesty will not permit us to tell then crept in the traffique of Holy Things Concil To. 2. Edit Colon. apud Quiritel p. 809. and the Holy Philosophy by the subtile interpretation of Sycophants began to be corrupted polluted and violated with humane Inventions and old Wives Fables John Gerson speaks thus Enquire if there be not Apocryphal Scriptures De Defect Viror Eccles Consid 16. c. Hymns and Prayers brought into the Church in process of time either of purpose or of ignorance to the great hurt of the Christian Faith. He also saith There is very much Superstition in the Worshipping of Saints innumerable Observations without all Ground or Reason vain credulity in believing things concerning the Saints reported in the uncertain Legends of their Lives Thirdly The Fathers tell them That this was the rise of all their Errors Minuc p. 26. Quod inconsulte gestiant parentibus obedire That they would without consulting follow their Fore-fathers Et fieri maluerunt alieni erroris accessio quam sibi credere and that they chose rather to follow the Errors of other Men than believe themselves Clem. Alex. Adm. p. 57. That they had never fallen into such impiety 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if being carried away with Custom they had not shut their Eyes against Reason And it is also our perswasion that this adhering to the Customs of the present R. Church and to the Customs which crept in or advanced into Articles of her Faith
the Roman Church were in this case opposite to Scripture and the plainest Reason And as St. Basil doth to Amphilochius in the same case Can. 47. Eos qui Romae sunt non ea in omnibus observare quae sunt ab origine tradita Ep. 75. p. 220. Though you and the Romans hold the contrary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet ought our Sentence to take place And as Firmilian expresly doth That 't is usual with them of Rome to vary from Apostolical Tradition Could so many Fathers so many Churches so many Councils have not only practised in opposition to the Doctrines and Customs of that Church but also have condemned them in such opprobrious Terms as they have done Cyp. Ep. 69. p. 185. Ep. 73. p. 206 208 210. Ep. 74. p 212 c. pronouncing the Assertors of them Prevaricators in matters both of Faith and Truth Betrayers of the Church Enemies to Christians Friends and Abettors of Hereticks Men who did plead their Cause and partake with them in their Sins Men who did null evacuate destroy the Baptism of the Church and give up the Spouse of Christ to Adulterers Fifthly § 25 Hence it is manifest That in that Age they verily believed that what had passed for Apostolical Tradition in the Church of Rome and her Adherents might be no such matter that both that Church and her Abettors might impose upon their fellow Christians in pretending to it and that there lay no Obligation on other Churches to comply with them in such matters as they delivered for Apostolical Tradition For otherwise how could it happen that so many populous Churches so many Councils so many famous Bishops that Athanasius Optatus St. Basil Cyril of Jerusalem all great Assertors of true Apostolical Tradition should declare so plainly and expresly against this practice of the Church of Rome that Firmilian should declare Neminem tam stultum esse qui hoc credat Apostolos tradidisse Ep. 75. p. 219. Nemo infamare Apostolos debeat quasi illi Haereticorum Baptisinata probaverint Ep. 74. p. 211. No Man could be so Foolish as to believe the Apostles had delivered any such thing that St. Cyprian should say That this pretence of Romanists was manifestly false and tended to blaspheme the Reputation of the Blessed Apostles that the Africans should not only reject this pretended Apostolical Tradition in the opprobrious Terms forementioned but should declare so oft in Council that the contrary Doctrine descended from Evangelical Authority and Apostolical Tradition Vid. Supra and was confirmed by the Divine Law and the Holy Scriptures How lastly could it happen that all the other Churches excepting that of Rome were all at Peace and still maintained Communion with these Opposers and Traducers of this pretended Tradition and did not blame them in the least on this account but rather interceded with the Roman Bishop to lay aside his Fury and entertain Communion and Friendship with these Churches as they did Sixthly Hence it appears that in that Age they thought not Custom or Tradition though practised by the Church of Rome and by the major part of Christians any certain Rule of Manners but thought themselves obliged sometimes to vary from it and that they might have Truth and Reason and Scripture on their sides against it that it concerned them to examine then whether the Custom they were required to follow had its rise from Christ and his Apostles and could be proved from their Writings and if not to reject it For in this matter they declare Non esse consuetudine praescribendum Cypr. Ep. 71. p. 194. sed ratione vincendum Their Adversaries were not to prescribe to them from Custom but to convince them by reason St. Paul having taught every one not to adhere pertinaciously to what he had once imbibed Pag. 195. but willingly to embrace any thing which he found better or more profitable That 't was in vain when Men were overcome by reason Ep. 73. p. 203. to oppose Custom to it as if Custom were better than Truth and that were not rather to be followed which was revealed for the better by the Holy Spirit that Non semper errandum Ibid. p. 208. quia aliquando erratum est We must not always erre because we once have done so Ep. 74. p. 215. that Custom without Truth was only old Error and vainly was preferred before it that the Truth being manifested Concil Carth. apud Cypr. p. 236 240 241. Custom was to yield to it that no Man ought to preferr Custom to Reason and Truth that Christ being Truth we ought rather to follow that than Custom that it was obstinacy and presumption Cypr. Ep. 74. p. 212. humanam traditionem divinae dispositioni anteponere to preferr humane Tradition to divine Orders and not to consider that God is angry when humane Tradition evacuates divine Precepts that when it was said to them let nothing be innovated Ibid. p. 211. but that which was delivered be observed it was to be enquired unde est ista traditio whence is that Tradition Whether from the Authority of Christ and the Gospel the commands and Epistles of the Apostles and if in Evangelio praecipitur Ib. p. 215. aut in Apostolorum Epistolis aut Actubus continetur it were commanded in the Gospel or contained in the Acts or Epistles of the Apostles then was it to be observed and that when Truth shook and staggered we were to have recourse to the Head and Original of Divine Tradition ad originem dominicam Evangelicam Apostolicam Traditionem to the Gospel and Apostolical Tradition Lastly Hence it is evident § 26 That in those early times Tradition Apostolical and from the beginning must falsly be pretended by Great Men and Churches even in a matter of continual practice and occurrence in the Church of God for here you see it was pretended for the Admission of Hereticks without Baptism by Pope Stephen and his Church and the fame Tradition Apostolical and from the beginning was pretended for the opposite Doctrine by Firmilian and St. Basil and their Party and yet the Church did in the following Ages declare against the Pretences of them both If then in these plain matters of Fact and of continual practice Tradition did so fail both the Pretenders to it must it not be more apt to fail in matters of meer Speculation If by Tradition these Churches could not truly tell what their Forefathers did how should they by it tell assuredly in all things what they held since that could only be made known unto them by their Words and Actions if actually they handed down unto posterity for a traditionary Practice that which was not truly so why might they not also hand that down to them as a traditionary Doctrine which was nothing less than so CHAP. V. Eightly We distinguish also betwixt Traditions which appear from Reason to be such as ought to be received and