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A41614 A papist mis-represented and represented, or, A twofold character of popery the one containing a sum of the superstitions, idolatries, cruelties, treacheries, and wicked principles of the popery which hath disturb'd this nation above an hundred and fifty years, fill'd it with fears and jealousies, and deserves the hatred of all good Christians : the other laying open that popery which the papists own and profess, with the chief articles of their faith, and some of the principle grounds and reasons, which hold them in that religion / by J.L. one of the Church of Rome ; to which is added, a book entituled, The doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome, truly represented, in answer to the aforesaid book by a Prote Gother, John, d. 1704.; Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699. 1686 (1686) Wing G1336; ESTC R21204 180,124 215

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understood a word that he spoke Does any one think that those Holy Women who follow'd their Lord in these sad Passages and were Witnesses of his Sufferings wanted Holy Affections in their Souls because he spoke not or were they scandaliz'd at his silence Was not their Faith in him that suffer'd by which they believ'd him to be Christ Iesus true God and Man laying down his life for the Redemption of Man sufficient to excite in their Souls all the Passions due from a sinful Creature to his bleeding Redeemer to his Crucified Iesus The like Faith also is sufficient to fill him with Devotion when he is present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass For believing that Christ is there really present before him under the Species of Bread and Wine and that He that lies upon the Altar is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World What need of more to quicken in his Soul all the Affections of a Devout Lover Can he behold his Redeemer before him and not break forth into Love and Thanksgiving Can he see him that gives sight to the Blind health to the Sick and life to the Dead and yet stand still senseless and un-mov'd without putting any Petition to him without asking any thing for his blind sick and sinful Soul Can he believe that he that gives his life for the World and died for our sins is there before him and not be touch'd with sorrow and contrition for his Offence Can he see commemorated every doleful passage of his Saviour's sufferings in the several Mysteries of the Mass and yet not be fill'd with grief and compassion Is not Iesus welcome to a devout Soul although he come in silence Is not the Presence of Christ a more forcing motive to a Christian than any Humane Words could be And if he must needs have Words let him behold with the eye of Faith the gaping Wounds of his Redeemer and see if those speak nothing to his Soul If they do not 't is because he wants Faith It nothing therefore concerns his Devotion that the Mass is said in Latin If the Church has order'd it thus so to preserve Unity as in Faith so in the External Worship of God and to prevent alterations and changes which it would be expos'd to if in Vulgar Languages and other good Reasons What 's that to him He should receive but little advantage if it were in his Mother Tongue For besides that the greatest part is said in so low a Voice that it is not possible he should hear it the Words do not belong to him That 's only the Priest's Office and the Obligation is to accompany the Priest in Prayer and Spirit to be a joint-Offerer with him to contemplate the Mysteries there represented and to excite in his Soul Devotions according to the exigency of every Passage according to the Directions he finds in his English Prayer-Books of which there are extant great variety set forth for the help of the Ignorant by which they are taught the meaning of every Part and Ceremony of the Mass and how to apply their Devotions accordingly And if at any time he be present at other publick Devotions as the Church Offices the Litanies solemn Thanksgivings Exequies c. which are all perform'd in Latin or should say any private Prayers or sing an Hymn in the same Language which he understands not yet is he taught that this may be done with great benefit to his Soul and the acceptance of God if at these occasions he does but endeavour to raise his thoughts to Heaven and fix his Heart upon his Maker For that God does not respect the Language of the Lips but of the Heart does not attend the motion of the Tongue but of the Mind and if these be but directed to him in Thanksgiving in Praeising in Petitioning in Humiliation in Contrition and such like Acts as Circumstances require he need not doubt but that God accepts his Prayers and Devotions It being an undeniable th●ng that to say Prayers well and devoutly 't is not necessary to have attention on the Words or on the Sense of the Prayers but rather purely on God Of these three Attentions this last being approv'd by all as of greatest Perfection and most pleasing to God And this he can have whether he understands the Words or no it being very usual and easie for a Petitioner to accompany his Petition with an earnest desire of obtaining his suit tho the Language in which it is worded be unknown to him XXIV Of Praying in an unknown Tongue THE Q●estion in short is Whether the Church Service at which Persons are bound to assist ought not to be in a Language understood by those who are bound to assist For our Author grants That a Papist is bound to assist at the Church Service and to hear Mass but he is not bound to understand the Words there spoken This is a plain state of the case and one would have thought St. Paul's Discourse about Edification in the Church-Service and a known Tongue and the Primitive Practice had des●rved a little consideration but not a Word is said to either of them and the whole is so managed as tho there had been no Rule or any appearance of Practice to the contrary But I must consider what he doth say 1. The Mass is a Sacrifice And what then Have they no other Church-Service but the Mass What then becomes of their Breviaries Litanies and all other Offices But suppose the Priests Office in the Mass be to offer the Sacrifice are there no Prayers in the Canon of the Mass wherein the People are concerned Why must not they understand what they are required to assist in Prayer for If they have English Books as he saith to teach them every part and Ceremony of the Mass why not as well the Prayers in the Mass wherein they are to joyn They tell us It is unseasonable then for the People to say their Beads and other Devotions And I suppose as unseasonable to talk or think of other matters Why then should not they know what it is they are to do and what Petitions they are then to make to God Are there no Responses to be made No Lessons to be read No Creed to be professed Doth not the Priest speak to the People to pray and they answer him Is there no Thanksgiving after the Communion which the People is concerned in We are as much for their Devout Affections as they can be but we think they are not hindred by understanding what they are about We cannot but wonder that any man should say That it nothing concerns his Devotion that the Mass is in Latin if he understand it not Is it no part of Devotion to joyn in the publick Prayers not merely by rote but from a due apprehension of the matter contained in them He requires That they accompany the Priest in Prayer and Spirit And why not in understanding also But
Christ at York but the Priest there doth it therefore the Body of Christ at London is different from that at York or else the Conversion at London would be into the Body as at York But if not what is the substantial Term of this substantial Change where nothing but an accidental Mode doth follow If there be any such Term whether that must not be a production of something which was not before and if it be so Christ must have as many new Bodies as there are Consecrations 8. This makes that which hath no particular Subsistence of its own to be the Subject of a substantial Change for this is the condition of Christ's Body whatever its manner of Existence be after the Hypostatical Union to the Divine Nature For when Bellarmin Petavius and others of their greatest Divines undertake against Nestorius to explain the Hypostatical Union they tell us it consists in this that the human Nature loseth its proper Subsistence and is assumed into the Subsistence of the Divine Nature From whence I infer That the Body of Christ having no proper Subsistence of its own there can be no substantial Change into that which hath no proper subsistence but into that which hath and consequently the Change must be into the Divine Nature principally from whence it will follow the Elements losing their Subsistence upon Consecration the Divinity must be united hypostatically to them as to the human Nature and so there will be as many Hypostatical Unions as there are Consecrations And so this Doctrine not only confounds Sense and Reason but the Mysteries of Christ's Incarnation too Which I think is sufficient for this Head VI. Of Merits and Good Works HE believes Christ's Death and Passion to be ineffectual and insignificant and that he has no dependance upon the merits of his Sufferings or the Mercy of God for the obtaining Salvation but that he is to be sav'd by his own Merits And for this reason he is very zealously busie in fasting in whipping himself in watching in going in Procession in wearing Hair-shirts and using a thousand such like Mortifications And having done this he thinks himself not at all beholding to God for his Salvation and that to give him Heaven will be no favour It being now his due upon the account of his own meritorious Atchievements without any God-a-mercy to Christ's Passion or his Makers Goodness HE believes it damnable to say that Christ's Death and Passion is ineffectual and insignificant And that 't is the Doctrine of Devils to belive That he has no dependance for his Salvation upon the Merits of Christ's Sufferings or the Mercy of God but only upon his own Merits and good Works 'T is his Faith to believe That of our selves we are not sufficient so much as to think a good thought that the Grace by which we are justified is given us purely gratis upon the account of Christs Merits moreover that no Man how just soever can merit any thing either in this life or in that to come independant on the Merits Passion of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless that through the Merits of Christ the good Works of a just Man proceeding from Grace are so acceptable to God that through his Goodness and Promise they are truly meritorious of eternal Life And this he has learn'd from the Apostle 2 Tim. 4.8 where he is taught that there is a Crown of Justice which our Lord a just Judge will render at the last day not only to Saint Paul but also to all those that shall have fought a good sight and consummated their course kept the Faith and lov'd his coming Knowing therefore that at the day of Judgment he is to receive according to his Works He endeavours by good Works to make his Vocation and Election sure And in following this Counsel he thinks he no more offends against the fulness of the Merits of Christ's or God's Mercy than the Apostle does in giving it VI. Of Merits and good Works FOr the true stating this Controversie we are to observe 1. That we do not charge those of the Church of Rome That they belive Christ's Death and Passion to be ineffectual and insignificant and that they have no dependence on the Merits of his Sufferings or the Mercy of God for attaining Salvation but that they are to be saved only by their own Merits and Good Works as the Misrepresenter saith 2. We do not charge them with denying the Necessity of Divine Grace in order to merit or with asserting that they can merit independently thereupon 3. We do by no means dispute about the Necessity of Good Works in order to the Reward of another Life or assert that Christ's Merits will save Men without working out their own Salvation but do firmly believe that God will judg Men according to their Works The Question then is Whether the Good Works of a just Man as our Author expresses it are truly meritorious of eternal Life Which he affirms but qualifies with saying That they proceed from Grace and that through Gods Goodness and Promise they are truly meritorious But the Council of Trent denounces an Anathema against those who deny the Good Works of justified Persons to be truly meritorious of the increase of Grace and of eternal Life Here then lie the Points in difference 1. Whether such Good Works can be said to be truly meritorious 2. Whether those who deny it deserve an Anathema for so doing As to what relates to Gods Acceptance and Allowance and his Goodness and Promise we freely own all that he saith about it and if no more be meant what need an Anathema about this matter There must therefore be something beyond this when Good Works are not only said to be truly meritorious but we are cursed if we do not say the same To make any thing truly meritorious we must suppose these Conditions requisite 1. That what we pretend to merit by be our own free act 2. That it be not defective 3. That there be an Equality between it and the Reward due to it 4. That there be an Obligation in point of Justice to give that Reward to him that doth it And from these Considerations we deny that good Works even of justified Persons can be truly meritorious 1. It is granted by themselves That what is truly meritorious must be a free Act of the Person who doth it Now the good Works of justified persons cannot be said to be their own free Acts if the Power of doing them depend upon Divine Assistance and there was an antecedent Obligation upon them to perform them So that they can do nothing but what they are bound to as God's Creatures and their very Power of doing it is from the Grace of God If Men pretended to merit at anothers hands by what God gives there were some colour for it but to merit from God himself by what he gives us seems very incongruous If I ow a Man an 100 l.
Permissu Superiorum and we thank them for the seasonableness of it in helping us in true Representing what their allowed Doctrines and Practices are 2. That this is published in English that our People as well as theirs may be convinced how far we have been from unjust charging them as to such things as these 3. That at the same time they plead for keeping the Bible out of the hands of the People wherein their Discretion is so far to be commended since the Scripture and this new Scheme of Devotion can never stand together There being not one word in the Bible towards it but very much against it and the Psalms and Hymns must be burlesq'd to found that way But what saith our Author to their Rosaries wherein there are ten Ave Maries to one Pater noster which is accounted a special piece of Devotion and great things are said of the Effects of it by Alanus de Rupe and many others 1. As to the Ave Maries he saith there is no more Dishonour to God in reciting the Angelical Salutation than in the first pronouncing it by the Angel Gabriel and Elizabeth But it may not be altogether so pertinent But doth he really think they said the whole Ave Maria as it is used among them Did the Angel and Elizabeth say Sancta Maria Mater Dei ora pro nobis peccatoribus nunc in hora mortis nostrae If not to what purpose are they mentioned here 2. As to the Repetition that he saith is no more an idle Superstition than David 's repeating the same words 26 times in the 136. Psalm But what is this to the Question why more Supplications to the blessed Virgin than to Christ And not one word of Answer is given to it But Alanus de Rupe answers it roundly Because the blessed Virgin is our Mediatrix to Christ the Mother of Mercy and the special Patroness of Sinners This is indeed true representing IV. Of paying Divine Worship to Relicks HE believes a kind of Divinity to remain in the Relicks of his reputed Saints and therefore adores their ro●ten Bones their corrupted flesh their old Rags with Divine Honour kneeling down to them kissing them and going in Pilgrimage to their Shrines and Sepulchres And he is so far possess'd with a conceited Deity lying hid in those senseless Remains that he foolishly believes they work greater Miracles and raise more to life than ever Christ Himself did HE believes it damnable to think there 's any Divinity in the Relicks of Saints or to adore them with Divine Honour or to pray to their rotten Bones old Rags or Shrines or that they can work any strange Cures or Miracles by any hidden Power of their own But he believes it good and lawful to keep them with a Veneration and give them a Religious honour and respect And this he thinks due to them in as much as knowing himself oblig'd to respect and honour God Almighty from his heart he looks upon himself also oblig'd to respect and honour every thing that has any particular Relation to him But this with an inferiour Honour as the Iews did to the Ark to the Tables of the Law to Moses's Rod to the Temple to the Priests So we generally allow to the Bible because it contains Gods Word to the Church because it is Gods House to Holy Men and Priests because they are Gods Servants And so he does to Relicks because they appertain to Gods Favourites and being insensible things are yet very sensible Pledges and lively Memorials of Christ's Servants dead indeed to us but alive with him in Glory And more especially because God himself has been pleas'd to hnour them by making them Instruments of many evident Miracles he has visibly work'd by them as is manifest upon undeniable Record And this he believes as easie for God Almighty now and as much redounding to the honour of his holy Name as it was in the Old Law to work such miraculous effects by Moses's Rod by Gideon's Trumpets by Elia's Mantle after he was taken up into Heaven 2 Kings 2.14 Eliseus's Bones 2 Kings 13.21 and infinite other such like insensible Things And also in the New Law by the Hem of his own Garment Mat. 9.21 by the Shadow of St. Peter Acts 5.15 by the Napkins and Handkerchiefs that had but touch'd the Body of S. Paul casting out Devils and curing Diseases Acts 19.12 and such like And thus by having a Veneration and Respect for these he honours God And does not doubt but that they that contemn and profane these do the like to God as much as they did who profan'd the Bread of Proposition the Temple and Vessels that belong'd to it IV. Of paying Divine Worship to Reliques FOR the right understanding this Controversie we are to consider 1. That there is a due Veneration to the Bodies of Saints and Martyrs allowed on both sides and there is an undue Worship of them which is disowned on both sides The due Veneration is a Religious Decency to be observed towards them which lies in avoiding any thing like Contempt or Dishonour to them and using all such Testimonies of Respect and Decency which becomes the Remains of Excellent Persons provided we are satisfied of their Sincerity without having recourse to Divine Omnipotency to prove them which Ferrandus the Jesuit runs so much to to prove the Truth of many Reliques worshipped in the Church of Rome in many places at once But that it is possible to exceed in the Worship of true Reliques even Bellarmine confesseth who says that God took away the Body of Moses lest the People should give Divine Worship to it And S. Ierom as hot as he was against Vigilantius yet he utterly denied giving any Adoration to the Reliques of Martyrs It seems then it is very possible to exceed that way 2. The Question then is Whether those Acts of Worship which are allowed in the Church of Rome do not go beyond due Veneration For it is unreasonable to suppose those who give it to believe those Reliques to be Gods and therefore it must be such a Worship as is given to them supposing them to be only Reliques of such Persons The Council of Trent decrees Honour and Veneration to be given to them but never determines what is due and what not it forbids all Excesses in drinking and eating in the visiting of Reliques but not a word of Excesses in worshipping of them unless it be comprehended under the name of Superstition But Superstition lies in something forbidden according to their notion of it therefore if there be no Prohibition by the Church there can be no Superstition in the Worship of them And if they had thought there had been any in the known Practices of the Church they would certainly have mentioned them and because they did not we ought in reason to look on them as allowed And yet not only Cassander complains of the great Superstition about them
out by many Christian Writers And if the Church cannot add to the Scripture and our Author thinks it damnable to do it how can it make any Books Canonical which were not so received by the Church For the Scripture in this sense is the Canon and therefore if it add to the Canon it adds to the Scripture i. e. it makes it necessary to believe some Books to be of infallible Authority which were not believed to be so either by the Iewish or Christian Church as appears by abundant Testimonies to that purpose produced by a learned Bishop of this Church which ought to have been considered by the Representer that he might not have talked so crudely about this matter But however I must consider what he saith 1. He produces the Testimony of Greg. Nazianzen who is expresly against him and declares but Twenty two Books in the Canon of the Old Testament but how doth he prove that he thought these Books Canonical He quotes his Oration on the Maccabees Where I can find nothing like it and instead of it he expresly follows as he declares the Book of Iosephus of the Authority of Reason concerning them So that if this proves any thing it proves Iosephus his Book Canonical and not the Maccabees 2. He adds the Testimony of S. Ambrose who in the place he refers to enlarges on the Story of the Maccabees but saith nothing of the Authority of the Book And even Coccius himself grants that of old Melito Sardensis Amphilochius Greg. Nazianzen the Council of Laodicea S. Hierom Russinus and Gregory the Great did not own the Book of Maccabees for Canonical 3. Innocentius ad Exuperium speaks more to this purpose And if the Decretal Epistle be allowed against which Bishop Cosins hath made considerable Objections then it must be granted that these Books were then in the Roman Canon but that they were not received by the Universal Church appears evidently by the Canon of the Council of Laodicea c. 60. wherein these Books are left out and this was received in the Code of the Universal Church which was as clear a Proof of the Canon then generally received as can be expected It is true the Council of Carthage took them in and S. Augustine seems to be of the same Opinion But on the other side they are left out by Mel●to Bishop of Sardis who lived near the Apostles times Origen Athanasius S. Hilary S. Cyril of Ierusalem Epiphanius S. Basil Amphilochius S. Chrysostom and especially S. Ierom who hath laboured in this point so much that no fewer than thirteen places are produced out of him to this purpose by the forementioned learned Bishop of our Church who clearly proves there was no Tradition for the Canon of the Council of Trent in any one Age of the Christian Church But our Author goes on 4. It is of little concern to him whether these Books were ever in the Hebrew Copy I would only ask whether it be of any concern to him whether they were divinely inspired or not He saith It is damnable to add to the Scripture by the Scripture we mean Books written by Divine Inspiration Can the Church make Books to be so written which were not so written If not then all it hath to do is to deliver by Tradition what was so and what not Whence should they have this Tradition but from the Iews and they owned no Divine Inspiration after the time of Malachy How then should there be any Books so written after that time And he that saith in this matter as he doth It is of little concern to him whether they were in the Hebrew Canon doth little concern himself what he ought to believe and what not in this matter 5. Since the Churches Declaration he saith no Catholicks ever doubted What doth he mean by the Churches Declaration that of Innocent and the Council of Carthage Then the same Bishop hath shewed him that since that time there have been very many both in the Greek and Latin Church of another Opinion And a little before the Council of Trent Catharinus saith That a Friend of his and a Brother in Christ derided him as one that wanted Learning for daring to assert these Books were within the Canon of Scripture and it is plain Card. Cajetan could never be perswaded of it But if he means since the Council of Trent then we are returned to our Difficulty how such a Council can make any Books Canonical which were not received for such by the Catholick Church before For then they do not declare the Canon but create it XII Of the Vulgar Edition of the Bible HE makes no Conscience of abusing the Scripture and perverting for the maintenance of his Errors and Superstitions And therefore though he dares not altogether lay it by lest he should by so doing lose all claim to Christianity Yet he utterly disapproves it as it is in its genuine Truth and Purity and as allow'd in the Church of England and crying this down he believes it unlawful to be read by any of his Communion And then puts into their hands another Volume which in its Frontis-piece bears the Title indeed of the Word of God with the names of the Books and Chapters but in the context of it is so every where full of Corruptions Falsifications and intolerable Abuses that it almost every where belies its Title and is unfit for any one who professes himself a Christian. HE believes it a damnable sin to abuse the Scripture or any ways to pervert it for the maintenance of Errors or Superstitions and thinks himself oblig'd rather to lay down his life than concur to or approve of any such Falsifications or Corruptions prejudicial to Faith or Good Manners For this reason being conscious that in all Ages there has been several Copies of this Sacred Volume quite different from the Originals in many places either through the mistake of the Transcribers or malice of others endeavouring by this means to gain credit to their new Doctrines He is commanded not to receive all Books indifferently for the Word of God that wear that Title but only such as are approv'd by the Church and recommended by her Legitimate And such is that he daily uses commonly known by the name of the Vulgar Translation which has been the principal of all other Latin Copies in all Ages since the Primitive times much commended by St. Augustine and never altered in any thing but once heretofore by the Holy Studies of St. Hierome And twice or thrice since being review'd by Authority and purg'd of such mistakes as in length of time had crept in by Transcribers or Printers faults And that this Translation is most pure and incorrupt as to any thing concerning matter of Belief or differences in Religion is not only the Doctrine of his Church but also the Sentiment of many Learned Men of the Reformation who approve this Version and prefer it before any
and commanded to be believe even by Ten Thousand Councils he believes it damnable in any one to receive it and by such Decrees to make Additions to his Creed This seems to be a very good saying and it is pity any thing else should overthrow it But here lies the Misrepresenting he will believe what Christ and his Apostles taught from the Definitions of Councils and so all this goodly Fabrick falls to nothing for it is but as if one should say If Aristotle should falsly deliver Plato's sense I will never believe him but I am resolved to take Plato's sense only from Aristotle's Words So here he first declares he will take the Faith of Christ from the Church and then he saith if the Church Representative should contradict the Faith of Christ he would never believe it 2. We dispute not with them the Right and Necessity of General Councils upon great occasions if they be truly so rightfully called lawfully assembled and fairly managed which have been and may be of great use to the Christian world for setling the Faith healing the Breaches of Christendom and reforming Abuses And we farther say that the Decrees of such Councils ought to be submitted to where they proceed upon certain Grounds of Faith and not upon unwritten Traditions which was the fatal stumbling at the threshold in the Council of Trent and was not to be recovered afterwards for their setting up Traditions equally with the written Word made it it easie for them to define and as easie for all others to reject their Definitions in case there had not been so many other Objections against the Proceedings of that Council And so all our Dispute concerning this matter is taken off from the general Notion and runs into the particular Debate concerning the Qualifications and Proceedings of some which were called Free General Councils but were neither General nor Free and therefore could not deliver the Sense of the Catholick Church which our Author requires them to do XVIII Of Infallibility in the Church HE believes that the Pastors and Prelates of his Church are Infallible and that like so many Divine Oracles or petty Familiar Deities they are exempt from Errour and cannot deceive But this especially when they are met together in a General Council It being a main part of his Faith That then they are secure from all mistakes and that it is as impossible for them to decline either to the right hand or the left in any of their Definitions and Decrees as it is for God to leave Heaven and become the Author of Lies Thus fondly believing these to be assisted with a necessary Infallibility like Gods whom their Ignorance ill Example and debauch'd Lives to a true Considerer scarce speak to be Men. As if God Almighty did so blindly throw his Benefits and Graces amongst his Creatures that none should have a more powerful assistance of Gods Truth and infallible Spirit than those in whom there was least of God to be found HE believes that the Pastors and Prelates of his Church are Fallible that there is none of them but may fall into Errours Heresie and Schism and consequently are subject to mistakes But that the whole Church can fail or be deceiv'd in any one Point of Faith this he believes impossible knowing it to be built on better Promises such as secure her from all Errour and danger of Prevarication Her Foundation being laid by Christ against which the Gates of Hell shall not prevail Matthew 16.18 The Power that protects her being Christ himself Behold I am with you all days Matthew 28.20 The Spirit that Guides and Teaches her being the Comforter of the Holy Ghost who shall teach her all things and suggest to her all things that Christ has said to her Ioh. 14.16 The time that she is to be thus protected taught and assisted being not only while the Apostles liv'd or for the first three for or five hundred years next after but for ever to the end of the World Behold I am with you all days Matthew 28.20 He will give you another Paraclete that he may abide with you for ever Ioh. 14.16 And the thing that she is to be thus taught to the end of the World being all Truth He shall teach you all Truth Ioh. 16.13 Now being assured by these Promises that the Church of Christ shall be taught all Truth by the special assistance of the Holy Ghost to the end of the World he has Faith to believe that Christ will make his Words good and that his Church shall never fail nor be currupted with Antichristian Doctrine nor be the Mistress of Errours but shall be taught all Truth and shall teach all Truth to the Consummation of things and that whosoever hears her hears Christ And whosoever despiseth her despises Christ and ought to be esteemed as an Heathen or a Publican Matthew 18.17 The like assistance of the Holy Ghost he believes to be in all General Councils which is the Church Representative as the Parliament is the Representative of the Nation by which they are especially protected from all Errour in all Definitions and Declarations in matters of Faith So that what the Apostles pronounc'd concerning the Result of their Council Acts 15.28 It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to Vs He does not doubt may be prefix'd to all the Determinations in Point of Faith resolv'd on by any General Council lawfully assembled since that time or to be held to the Worlds end The Assistance being to extend as far as the Promise And though 't is possible that several of the Prelates and Pastors in such an Assembly as also many others in Communion with the Church of Christ should at other times either through Pride or Ignorance prevaricate make Innovations in Faith teach Erroneous Doctrines and endeavour to draw Numbers after them yet he is taught that this does not at all argue a Fallibility in the Church nor prejudice her Faith but only the Persons that thus unhappily fall into these Errours and cut themselves off from being Members of the Mystical Body of Christ upon Earth Whilst the Belief of the Church remains pure and untainted and experiences the Truth of what Saint Paul foretold That Grievous Wolves shall enter in among you not sparing the Flock Also of your own selves shall Men arise speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them Act. 20. v. 29 30. which as it prov'd true even in the Apostles time by the Fall of Nicholas and his Followers as also several others So it has been verified in all Ages since by turbulent and presuming Spirits broaching new Doctrines and making Separations and Schisms But this without casting any more Aspersion on the Church or Congregation of the Faithful than the Fall of Iudas did on the A●ostles or the Rebellion of Lucifer on the Hierarchy of Angels which was no more than that such wicked and presuming Spirits went out from amongst them and were expell'd their
Sacrifice of the Mass which has been observ'd perform'd frequented by the Faithful in all Ag●s attested by the General Consent of ancient Canons universal Tradition Councils and the pract●ce of the whole Church mention'd and allow'd of by all the Fathers Greek and Latin and never call'd into question but of l●te Years being that pure Offering which Malachy Prophecying of Christ foretold should be offer'd among the Gentiles in every place Mal. 1.11 as it is understood by several Fathers and particularly S. Cypr. l. 1. c. 18. advers Iud. S. Ierom S. Theodoret S. Cyril in their Commentaries upon this Text S. Augustine l. 18. c. 15. de Civit. S. Chrysost. in Psal. 95. and others Of the MASS UNder this Head which is thought of so great cons●quence in the Roman Church I expected a fuller Representation than I here find as about the Opus Operatum i. e. how far the meer Act is effectual About their Solitary Masses when no Person receives but the Priest about the People having so little to do or understand in all the other parts of the Mass About the Rites and Ceremonies of the Mass how useful and important they are About reconciling the present Canon of the Mass with the present Practises About offering up Masses for the honour of Saints All which we find in the Council of Trent but are omitted by our Representer Who speaks of the Mass as tho there were no Controversie about it but only concerning the Sacrifice there supposed to be offered up and which he is far from true Representing For the Council of Trent not only affirms a true proper propitiatory Sacrifice to be there offered up for the quick and dead but denounces Anathema's against those that deny it So that the Question is not Whether the Eucharist may not in the sense of Antiquity be allowed to be a Commemorative Sacrifice as it takes in the whole Action but whether in the Mass there be such a Representation made to God of Christ's Sacrifice as to be it self a true and propitiatory Sacrifice for the Sins of the Q●ick and the Dead Now all that our Representer saith to the purpose is 1. That Christ bequeathed his Body and Blood at his last Supper under the species of Bread and Wine not only a Sacrament but also a Sacrifice I had thought it had been more proper to have offered a Sacrifice than to have bequeathed it And this ought to have been proved as the Foundation of this Sacrifice viz. That Christ did at his last Supper offer up his Body and Blood as a Propitiatory Sacrifice to God And then what need his suffering on the Cross 2. He gave this in charge to his Apostles as the first and chief Priests of the New-Testament and to their Successors to offer But Where When and How For we read nothing at all of it in Scripture Christ indeed did bid them do the same thing he had there done in his last Supper But did he the offer up himself or not If not How can the Sacrifice be drawn from his Action If he did it is impossible to prove the necessi●y of his dying afterwards 3. This Sacrifice was never questioned till of late years We say it was never determined to be a Propitiatory Sacrifice till of late We do not deny the Fathers interpreting Mal. 1.11 of an Offering under the Gospel but they generally understand it of Spiritual and Eucharistical Sacr●fices and although some of them by way of Accommodation do apply it to the Eucharist yet not one of them doth make it a Propitiatory Sacrifice which was the thing to be proved For we have no mind to dispute about Metaphorical Sacrifices when the Council of Trent so positively decrees it to be a True Proper and Propitiatory Sacrifice XXIII Of Purgatory HE believes contrary to all Reason the Word of God and all Antiquity that besides Heaven and Hell there is a third place which his Church is pleas'd to call Purgatory a place intended purely for those of his Communion wh●re they may easily have admittance after this Life without danger of falling into Hell for that though Hell was designed first for the punishment of Sinners yet that now since the blessed discovery of Purgatory Hell may easily be skip'd over and an eternal Damnation avoided for an exchange of some short Penalty undergone in this Pope's Prison where he never need fear to be detained long for that if he has but a friend left behind him that will but say a few Hail-Maries for his Soul or in his Testament did but remember to order a small sum to be presented to some M●ss Priest he never need doubt of being soon releas'd for that a Golden K●y will as infallibly open the Gates of Purgatory as of any other Prison wha●soever HE believes it damnable to admit of any thing for Faith that is contrary to Reason the Word of God and all Antiquity and that the Being of a Third Place call'd Purgatory is so far from being contrary to all or any of these that it is attested confirm'd and establish'd by them all 'T is expresly in the 2 d. of the Maccabees c 12. where Money was sent to Hierusalem that Sacrifices might be offered for the slain And ' ●is recommended as a Holy Cogitation to Pray for the Dead Now though these Books are not thought Canonical by some yet St. Augustine held them as such and says they are so received by the Church l. 18. de Civit. But whether so or no one thing is allow'd by all viz. That they contain nothing contrary to Faith and that they were cited by the Antient Fathers for the Confutation of Errors forming of good Manners and the explication of the Christian Doctrine Thus were they us'd by Origen for Condemnation of the Valentinian Hereticks Orig. in cap 5. Ep. ad Rom. thus by St. Cyprian Lib. de Exhor Mart. c. 11. thus by Euseb. Caesariensis Lib. Praepar Evang. 11. c. 15. thus by St. Greg. Naz. Ambros. c. And he is in a manner certain that the Books would never have been put to this Use by these Holy and Learned F●thers they would never with such confidence have produc'd their Authority nor would they have been read by the Church in those Golden times had this Doctrine of a Third Place and of Prayers for the Dead which they maintain been any idle Superstition a meer Dream contrary to Reason the Word of God and Antiquity or had it been any Error at all The being also of a Third Place is plainly intimated by our Saviour Matth. 12.32 where he says Whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this World neither in the World to come By which words Christ evidently supposes that though these shall not yet some sins are forgiven in the World to come which since it cannot be in Heaven where no sin enters nor in Hell whence there is no Redemption it must necess●rily be
whosoever disbelieves one Article of the Catholick Faith does in a manner disbelieve all There being no more hopes of Salvation for one that denies obstinately any one Point of the Catholick Faith thô he believes all the rest then there is for one who keeps Nine of the Commandments with the Breach of the Tenth An obstinate opposition against one Point of Faith and a sin against one Commandment being as certainly damnable as if 't were against all There being the same reason and an equal necessity that the Observance of God'● Law and the Assent to the Catholick Faith be alike entire and Whole And now being convinc'd that none can believe to Salvation but he that embraces the Catholick Faith thus wholly and entirely by an equal submission to all the Mysteries contain'd in it without opposition to any And being likewise convinc'd that no one can arrive to the true knowledg of this Faith with an assurance of its Integrity but by receiving it as propos'd and believ'd by the Church of Christ Which Church was founded by the Son of God watered with his Blood and by an infallible assistance of the Holy Ghost by which it was to be taught all Truth to the end of the World was secur'd from the danger of being deceiv'd or deceiving others to the consummation of things He does not doubt but as in the Apostles time so also ever since and at present God addeth to his Church daily such as shall be saved Acts 2.47 there being no entire faith necessary to Salvation to be found out of this Church and no possibility as St. Cyprian says that God shall be a Father to any who own not this Church for his Mother But now where and which this Church is and what Society of Men are Members of it among such variety of Pretenders though it may seem a great difficulty to some to distinguish yet to him it is none at all for since there is no other Church besides the Roman Catholick which has had a continued and visible Succession of B●shops and Pastors in all Ages since the Apostles no other that has converted Infidel Nations to Christianity no other that has always preserv'd Peace and Unity amongst its Members all of them speaking the same thing and being perfectly joyn'd together in the same mind and the same judgment no other that by assembling the Elders and Prelates has oppos'd in all Ages Heresies and Schisms and condemn'd all those who not sparing the Flock have spoken perverse things endeavouring to draw away Disciples after them no other that has in obedience to the command of Christ send Apostles amongst Infidels and Unbelievers for the preaching to them the Gospel and instructing them in Christianity and by this way without Arms or Blood have spread their Faith throughout the World no other that by evident and undeniable Miracles have prov'd the truth of her Doctrine no other but what has begun by Separation whose first Preachers have gone out from this the time of their first Preaching and shewing themselves to the World being upon Record and their new Doctrine censur'd and condemn'd by that Church from whence they separated Since I say there 's no other Society or Christian Congregation in the World to which these certain Marks of the Church of Christ does agree 't is evident to him that this is the only true Church that whosoever denies any Article of her Faith denies so much of Christ's Doctrine that whosoever hears her hears Christ and whosoever obstinately and wilfully is separated from her is in the same distance separated from Christ himself and finally that God addeth to this Church daily such as shall be saved Acts 2.47 XXXV Of the Vncharitableness of the Papists THE Missrepresenter as he is called charges this Point home Because they deny Salvation to those who believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith in the Apostles Creed and lead vertuous and good Lives if they be not of their Communion To this the Representer answers in plain terms That this is nothing but what they have learn'd from the Mouth of Christ and his Apostles And to this end he musters up all their Sayings against I●fidels false Prophets Gnosticks Corinthians as thô they were point-blank levelled against all that live out of Communion of the Church of Rome But this is no Uncharitableness but pure zeal and the same the Primitive Church shewed against Hereticks such as Marcion Basilides and Bardesanes who were condemned in the first Age for denying the Resurrection of the dead c. What in the first Age Methinks the Second had been early enough for them But this is to let us see what Learning there is among you But do we deny the Resurrection of the Dead or hold any one of the Heresies condemned by the Primitive Church What then is our Fault which can merit so severe a Sentence We oppose the Church What Church The Primitive Apostolical Church The Church in the time of the four General Councils I do not think that will be said but I am sure it can never be proved What Church then The present Church Is it then damnable to oppose the present Church But I pray let us know what ye mean by it The Universal Body of Christians in the World No No abundance of them are Hereticks and Schismaticks as well as we i. e. All the Christians in the Eastern and Southern parts who are not in Communion with the Church of Rome So that two parts in three of Christians are sent to Hell by this Principle and yet it is no Uncharitableness But suppose the Church of Rome be the only true Church must men be damned presently for opposing its Doctrines I pray think a little better on it and you will change your Minds Suppose a man do not submit to the Guides of this Church in a matter of Doctrine declared by them Must he be Damned What if it be the Deposing Power Yet his Principle is If a Man do not hold the Faith entire he is gone But Popes and Councils have declared this to be a point of Faith therefore if he doth not hold it he must be damned There is no way of answering this but he must abate the severity of his Sentence against us For upon the same Reason he questions that we may question many more And all his Arguments against us will hold against himself For saith he he that disbelieves one Article of Catholick Faith does in a manner disbelieve all Let him therefore look to it as well as we But he endeavours to prove the Roman Catholick Church to be the true Church by the ordinary Notes and Marks of the Church Altho he is far enough from doing it yet this will not do his business For he must prove that we are convinced that it is the true Church and then indeed he may charge us with Obstinate Opposition but not before And it is a very strange thing to me that when their Divines
Merits and P●ssion of Christ he c●n Merit Salvation by his own good Works or make condign satisfaction for the guilt of his sins or the pains Eternal due to them R. Amen VIII Cursed is he that contemns the Word of God or hides it from the People on design to keep them from the knowledge of their Duty and to preserve them in Ignorance and Error R. Amen IX Cursed is he that undervalues the Word of God or that forsaking Scripture chuses rather to follow Humane Traditions than it R. Amen X. Cursed is he that leaves the Commandments of God to observe the constitutions of Men. R. Amen XI Cursed is he that omits any of the Ten Commandments or keeps the people from the knowledge of any one of them to the end they may not have occasion of discovering the Truth R. Amen XII Cursed is he that Preaches to the People in unknown Tongues such as they understand not or uses any other means to keep them in Ignorance R. Amen XIII Cursed is he that believes that the Pope can give to any upon any account whatsoever Dispensation to lie or swear falsly or that 't is lawful for any at the last hour to protest himself Innocent in case he be Guilty R. Amen XIV Cursed is he that encourages sins or teaches Men to defer the amendment of their Lives or presumption of their Death-bed-Repentance R. Amen XV. Cursed is he that teaches Men that they may be lawfully drunk on a Friday or any other Fasting-day tho they must not taste the least bit of Flesh. R. Amen XVI Cursed is he who places Religion in nothing but a pompous shew consisting only in Ceremonies and which teaches not the People to serve God in Spirit and Truth R. Amen XVII Cursed is he who loves or promotes Cruelty that teaches People to be bloody-minded and to lay aside the meekness of Iesus Christ. R. Amen XVIII Cursed is he who teaches it lawful to do any wicked thing tho it be for the Interest and Good of Mother-Church or that any Evil Action may be done that Good may come on it R. Amen XIX Cursed are we if amongst all those wicked Principles and damnable Doctrines commonly laid at our doors any one of them be the Faith of our Church And cursed are we if we do not as heartily detest all those hellish Pract●ces as they that so vehemently urge them against us R. Amen XX. Cursed are we if in an answering and saying Amen to any of these Curses we use any Equivocations Mental Reservations or do not ass●nt to them in the common and obvious Sense of the Words R. Amen And can the Papists then thus seriously and without check of Conscience say Amen to all these Curses Yes they can and are ready to it whensoever and and as often as it shall be requir'd of them And what then is to be said of those who either by Word or Writing charge these Doctrines upon the Faith of the Church of Rome Is a lying Spirit in the mouth of all the Prophets Are they all gone aside Do they b●ck b●te with their Tongue do Evil to their Neighbour and take up Reproach against th●ir Neighbour I 'll say no such thing but leave the impartial Considerer to judge One thing I can safely affirm That the Papists are foully Mis represented and shew in publick as much unlike what they are as the Christians were of old by the Gentiles that they lie under a great Calumny and severely smart in good Name Persons and Estates for such things which they as much and as heartily detest as those who accuse them But the Comfort is Christ has said to his Followers Ye shall be hated of all men Matth. 10.22 and Saint Paul We are made a Spectacle unto the World and we don't doubt that who bears this with Patience shall for every loss here and content receive a hundred fold in Heaven For base things of the World and things which are despi●ed hath God chosen ● Corinth 1.28 An Answer to the Conclusion HAving thus gone through the several Heads which our Author complains have been so much Mirsrepresented it is now fit to consider what he saith in his Conclusion which he makes to answer his Introduction by renewing therein his doleful Complaints of their being Misrepresented just as Christ and his Apostles and the Primitive Christians were I hope the former Discourse hath shewed their Doctrines and Practices are not so very like those of Christ and his Apostles and the Primitive Christians that their Cases should be made so parallel but as in his Conclusion he hath summed up the substance of his Representations so I shall therein follow his Method only with this difference that I shall in one Column set down his own Representations of Popery and in the other the Reasons in short why we cannot embrace them Wherein Popery consists as represented by this Author 1. IN using all external Acts of Adoration before Images as Kneeling Praying lifting up the Eyes burning Candles Incense c. Not merely to worship the Objects before them but to worship the Images themselves on the account of the Objects represented by them or in his own Words Because the Honour that is exhibited to them is referred to the Prototypes which they represent 2. In joining the Saints in Heaven together with Christ in Intercession for us and making Prayers on Earth to them on that Account 3. In allowing more Supplications to be used to the Blessed Virgin than to Christ For he denies it to be an idle Superstition to repeat Ten Ave Maria's for one Pater-Noster 4. In giving religious Honour and Respect to Relicks Such as placing them upon Altars burning Wax Candles before them carrying them in Processions to be seen touched or humbly kissed by the People which are the known allowed Practices in the Church of Rome 5. In adoring Christ as present in the Eucharist on the account of the Substance of Bread and Wine being changed into that Body of Christ which suffered on the Cróss 6. In believing the Substance of Bread and Wine by the Words of Consecration to be changed into his own Body and Blood the Species only or Accidents of Bread and Wine remaining as before 7. In making good Works to be truly meritorious of Eternal Life 8. In making Confession of our Sins to a Priest in order to Absolution 9. In the use of Indulgences for taking away the Temporal Punishments of sin remaining due after the Guilt is remitted 10. In supposing the Penitent Sinner may in some measure satisfie by Prayer Fasting Alms c. for the Temporal Pain which by order of God's Iustice sometimes remains due after the Guilt and the Eternal Pain are remitted 11. In thinking the Scripture not fit to be read generally by all without Licence or in the Vulgar Tongue 12. In allowing the Books of Tobit Judith Ecclesiasticus Wisdom Maccabees to be Canonical 13. In preferring the Vulgar Latin Edition