it is Impossible the Church shou'd give them such Provocation as might justifie a Separation in like manner All those who are excommunicated by the Church for their obstinate Refusal to assent to any Truth declar'd to be an Article of Faith are properly call'd Heretics Now Protestants as well as Catholics agree that neither Schismatics nor Heretics are Members of the Catholic Church nor any way within its Pale There only remains then to examine who those are on whom these Marks of Schism and Heresie are justly chargeable and who on the other Hand are free from that charge which if plainly made out it will be easy to see what Congregation of Faithful can be justly call'd the Catholic Church Now all the Societies of Christians who with any colour of Reason can pretend to the Name of Catholic are these 1. The Nestorians and Eutychians 2. The Greek Church 3. The Church of England And lastly the R. Catholics I have on purpose omitted the Waldenses Socinians Hussites Lutherans Calvinists and all those almost Innumerable Sects continually shooting out of the Trunck of the Reformation and spreading far and near over our own unfortunate Ilands as Anabaptists Independents Quakers Mugoltonians Seekers Familists Philadelphians c. because all these are destitute of even the least Pretence to the Name of Catholic Church having neither lawful Pastors lawful Mission nor Right Ordination which as all the Christian World before the Reformation and as the Church of England still grants cannot be given without Imposition of Hands performed by Bishops This they Ingenuously own they have not consequently nor the least Pretence to the Catholic Church no nor if we believe some Learned Divines of the Church of England to the Name of Christian For as these Gentlemen Reason no Man can be call'd Christian unless he is Baptiz'd Baptism cannot be conferr'd but by such who have Authority to administer the Sacraments no Man can have this Authority but by lawful Ordination and this is not conferr'd nor cannot without Imposition of Hands by Lawfully ordain'd Bishops Bishops all these Sects own they have not consequently nor true Baptism nor Christianity This I confess cannot be said of the four Societies aforesaid For every one of them hath always retain'd the Hierarchy of the Church Bishops Priests and Deacons at least have pretended to it and think it Essential to the being of the Catholic Church But since this is not enough unless they have likewise the Catholic Faith and Communion which together with the said Hierarchy make up the essential parts of Catholic Religion our present Bus'ness shall be to try each of them by this Touchstone and see which will abide the Test 1. Touching the Nestorians and Eutychians Under this Appellation I comprehend the Jacobites Cophtes Armenians and all other Sects who follow the Opinions of Nestorius and Eutyches touching the Person and Natures in Christ all the Rest of the Eastern Christians either adhereing to the Roman or Greek Church What I have to say concerning these Sects shall be dispatch'd in a few Words Dr. Tillotson and all the Learned Men of the Church of England do receive the Definitions of the four first General Councils whereof the two last excommunicated and condemn'd as Heretics the Authors of these Sects and their Adherents Nâ—storius for asserting two persons Eutyches for denying two Natures in Christ consequently all those Sects who took up their Opinions are justly excluded from the number of True Catholics As to the Points in Controversie betwixt the Church of Rome and the Protestants viz. Transubstantiation Sacrifice of the Mass Prayers for the Dead Invocation of Saints c. they are as firmly believ'd by the said Sects as by the R. Catholics 2. As for the Greek Church It is notoriously known that the Chiefest Reason of their Separation from the Church of Rome was because this Church asserted the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son which yet the Protestants hold to be Orthodox Doctrine And no less evident that the Greek Church did Recant their Error concerning this Point and all other things wherein they differ'd from the Church of Rome many times but more especially in three General Councils First in the Council of Lâ—theran where the Patriarch of Constantinople assisted in Person 2dly In the Council of Lyons where the Greek Emperor and other Representatives of the Greek Church were present And lastly in the Council of Florence where the Emperor the Patriarch of Constantinople and a great many Greek Bishops were present and disputed the Point for a long time which at last came to this Issue There were Letters of Vnion drawn up wherein the Grecians do acknowledge the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and Son the Popes Supremacy and some other Points of no great Weight before debated These Letters were signed by the Emperor and by all the Greek Bishops the Bishop of Ephesus only excepted and stand upon Record to this day Whence it is manifest that by their own Act and Deed they are convicted of Schism for their wilful and causeless Separation afterwards from the Church of Rome whom they own'd by this Authentick Instrument to be the Catholic Church and themselves likewise to be Members of it Touching the main Points in Controversie betwixt the Protestants and the Church of Rome what the Greek Church holds and professes let us hear from the Pen of an Ingenious Protestant Gentleman Sir Edwin Sandys in his Europae Speculum pag. 233. With Rome saith he they concur in the opinion of Transubstantiation and generally in the Sacrifice and whole body of the Mass in praying to Saints in Auricular Confession in offering of Sacrifice and Prayer for the Dead and in these without any or no material Difference They hold Purgatory also and the Worshiping of Pictures Thus far Sandys So that tho' the Greeks were a true Church it wou'd but very little help the Protestant Cause nay rather it wou'd very much prejudice it since the Grecians hold those points to be Orthodox on the pretended falsity whereof the Protestants ground their Separation But of this more in its proper Place 3. Touching the Church of England This is of so Great Importance to our present Controversie or rather the only necessary Point to be Rightly understood that it is requisite it shou'd be handl'd with all the clearness and perspicuity imaginable And if it be possible to make it Evident that this Church is branded with Heresie and Schism two things sufficient to unchurch any Society of Christians whatsoever I hope I may without vanity say that I have gained my Point To prove then that the Church of England is both Heretical and Schismatical I am heartily sorry I must use such hard Expressions to so many Ingenious and Great Men whose Learning and other good Qualities I very much honor and respect I shall make use of no Arguments but such as are grounded upon the clear Light of natural
and Blood which surely is all that is requisite to the Essence or Nature of the Sacrament And now who wou'd believe that the R. Catholics had such grounds in Scripture for the Communion in one kind considering the loud and clamorous accusations yea and the horrible Sacrileges they are charg'd with upon this Subject Well! And who are those who charge us thus Why they are Great and Eminent Men Great indeed not only for the Rank and Station wherein the Powers of this World have placed them but also Great for their Learning and other Excellent Endowments But then 't is that they must so do The Protestant Religion as all the World knows was planted in these Kingdoms by open Force and Violence These Gentlemen's Predecessors possess'd Themselves of the Rich Benefices of the Church and when Men's Interest and Honor are once engag'd 't is hard if they do not stand by them Now there is no way left to justifie these Proceedings but by railing at the Church of Rome and exposing her pretended Corruptions and therefore 't is no marvel they shou'd lay these and a great deal more to her charge But take away these Fatal Byasses Let Benefices be laid a side Let the Riches of the Church be propos'd as the Reward of Virtue and Merit and then we shall see how many Eyes this will open then we shall see the Scales fall off and those who have been hitherto our Greatest Persecutors become like St. Paul the most Zealous Assertors of our Faith and Religion But this by the way There is an other Passage in St. Luke which favours the Communion in One Kind This Evangelist tells us that Christ after his Resurrection appear'd to two of his Disciples as they went to Emans who adds St. Luke constrain'd Him to aâ—ide with them and when he sate at Meat He took Bread and bless'd it and brake and gave to them and their Eyes were open'd and they knew him and he vanish'd out of their sight Now 't is certain that if this Bread which Christ bless'd and brake was the Eucharist we have at least one instance in which Christ himself gave the Communion in one kind For 't is said that after he had broke the Bread and gave it to them he vanish'd out of their sight And indeed it is very hard to conceive how the breaking of ordinary Bread as 't is usually done at Meat shou'd open these Disciples Eyes so as to know him that did it to be Christ Besides the breaking of Bread in the Acts of the Apostles is always understood of the Communion and St. Chrisostom St. Augustin venerable Bede and Theophilactus in their comments upon this place teach us that this Bread which Christ brake was the Eucharist which surely they wou'd not have done had there been the least doubt of the lawfulness of the Communion in one kind However because it is not thus interpreted by the universal consent of the Church I shall lay no more weight upon it than it can reasonably bear leaving the Reader to judge what impression the Authority of four such Great Men so well read in Antiquity is apt to make upon an unprejudic'd Mind I now proceed to shew that the Communion in Both Kinds is not Essential to the Sacrament 2. from the general practise of the Church in all Ages even in those days wherein the Protestants do confess the Pure Word of God was preach'd and the Sacraments duly administred The Protestants do pretend to pay a great deal of Respect and veneration to Antiquity and in all their Debates and Controversies of Religion whether with Us or among Themselves they are willing to Appeal to the Primitive Church which they look upon as the Rule and Measure of their Faith and Practice Now if it appears by the Practice of the Primitive Church that the Communion was given in One Kind without the other and that this was neither prohibited by the Governours of the Church nor found fault with by the People nor yet wrote against by any Man whatsoever then 't is but reasonable to hope that every Ingenious Protestant will easily be perswaded that neither the Pastors nor the People of the Primitive Church did ever believe that both kinds were Essential to the worthy participation of the Sacrament This I shall by God's Assistance endeavour to evince from the best Records and the most unquestionable Witnesses and Writers of the Primitive Times And here I find four sorts of Communion the Communion of the Sick the Communion of Infants and little Children the Communion of Private Families commonly call'd the Domestic Communion and the Public and Solemn Communion of the Church And in regard of all these I shall undertake to prove that for the first six hundred Years the Eucharist was given 1. in the Communion of the Sick under the Species of Bread alone 2. In the Communion of Infants and little Children under the species of Wine alone 3. In the Domestic or Private Communion under the species of Bread but so as to be sometimes given tho' seldom in both kinds And lastly in the public and solemn Communion of the Church sometimes in one sometimes in both kinds as the Piety and Devotion of the People carry'd them to participate of one or Both. Touching the Communion of the Sick Eusebius One of the Best Hist Eccles lib. 6. cap. 44. and most Celebrated Historians of the Primitive Church gives us an intire Letter of the Great Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria upon this Subject In this Letter Dionysus relates the Story of a certain Old Man call'd Serapion who being under Publick Pennance and falling Sick sent a Boy to a Priest that was at some distance from him to desire him to come to him and give him the sacred Communion before he had departed this Life but the Priest happening at the same time to be sick and not able to go so far gave a Piece of the sacred Bread to the Boy and order'd him to carry it to Serapion and enjoyn'd him moreover to moisten it in some Liquor and then to give it to him as his last Viaticum which when he had done saith Dionysius the good Old Man immediately gave up the Ghost Here is a Communion in one kind related by a Man who was as Great a Saint as he was a Bishop and Recorded by an other Great and Learned Bishop Both very ancient Witnesses both much celebrated by Antiquity Yet neither the one nor the other finds any fault with the Priest nor with Serapion for this Communion which our Adversaries wou'd now abhor as sacrilegious and detestable on the contrary they both admire the Goodness of God as the said Letter witnesseth in sparing this poor Man's Life 'till he had receiv'd the sacred Pledge of his Redemption And now can it be imagin'd that these two Great Men who liv'd so near the Times of the Apostles and were so well instructed in the Faith and Discipline of the Church shou'd
here fasten upon us is so Gross and Palpable that it were to abuse the Reader 's Patience to insist long upon our Vindication They say we pray in an Vnknown Tongue and we say and are ready to prove that we pray in the Tongue the best known in Europe And we farther say that therefore we pray in it because it is so And I am sure They Themselves what ever they may say in the Heat of Disputes are upon all other Occasions ready to acknowledge this Truth However because we are commanded by St. Peter to be ready always to give an Answer to every Man 1 Pet. 3.15 that asketh us a Reason of the hope that is in us I shall endeavour to offer some of the Reasons why we pray in that Tongue which they call Vnknown and leave the Reader to judge whether our Adversaries have all the Reason they pretend to cry so loud 1. We make use of the Latin Tongue in our Liturgy because we wou'd not Recede from the Example and Practice of our Ancestors who from the first planting of Christianity to this Day whether in Rome or in any other Part of the Western Church us'd no other Language in the Liturgy than Latin And thus to follow the Model our Holy and Pious Fore-fathers left us the Scripture not only warrants but commands us to do Remember the Days of Old Deut. 32.7 consider the Years of many Generations Ask thy Father and he will shew thee thy Elders and they will tell thee 'T is certain and even acknowledg'd by our Aversaries that when the Christian Religion was first Preach'd in the West every Country had then as well as now it s own peculiar Language different from the Latin which tho' it was cultivated by Men of Letters and Bus'ness in all Countrys to which the Romans extended their Conquest yet the common people or Natives were generally Ignorant of And 't is no less Evident that the Apostles and Apostolical Men who preach'd and Propagated the Christian Religion in these Countrys were endued with a Power of working Miracles in Confirmation of the Truth of it and by their readiness to lay down their Lives and to shed their Blood for it gave sufficient Testimony of their Zeal and Charity for the common People as well as for the great Ones yet all the Records of Antiquity all the Ancient and Modern Liturgies together with the Universal Tradition of the Western Church and even the Consent of our Adversaries all these I say bear witness that neither the Apostles nor the Apostolical Men who first planted the Christian Faith in these Parts nor any succeeding Generation of Catholics did ever use in the public Liturgy of the Church any other Language than the Latin which 't is confess'd the common People Generally Speaking of all Countries except Italy are and have always been Ignorant of And therefore I think we may very safely tred in the steps of these our Holy Ancestors and be content with the Liturgy and Language they left us at least if we must be condemn'd for so doing we have the comfort to be condemn'd in Company with these Great and Holy Men to whose Doctrine and Practice God Himself was pleas'd to put His Seal 2. We must make use of this Language because we conceive it very necessary to have an Uniformity as much as is possible both in Faith and Practice that we may with one Heart and one Tongue Praise the Lord and Magnifie His holy Name The Catholic Church is One in Communion as well as in Faith Now how much one common Tongue in which the public Service of the Church is perform'd contributes to foment this Union the miserable Distractions and Divisions of our modern Reformers who have as many different Religions as they have different Tongues do but too manifestly Evince All the Members of the Catholic Religion ought to have Communion and Fellowship one with another They shou'd all be united in one common Faith and one uniform Worship of one God they ought all to be qualified for the Participation of the same Sacrament and to assist together at the same Public Divine Service wherever they meet else how can the Unity of their Faith and Communion subsist Now 't is hard to conceive how all this can be perform'd if we have our Liturgy in as many different Tongues as there are Countrys in the Catholic Church For how can I have fellowship with a Man whose Language I do not understand How can I joyn in Prayer or in God's public Worship with any Society of People when I cannot discern by any thing they do or say whether they are Catholics or Heretics Or how shall I receive the Sacrament in the Society of those who for any thing I can see or understand may be Jews or Blasphemers of my Holy Religion So that if we take away that Common Band that Common Language that unites and Cements all the Members of Christ's mystical Body the whole Frame of the Catholic Church will dissolve and falls to Pieces and we shall have as many different Churches as we have Tongues 3. We do not see what great loss the Common People suffer by not having the Liturgy in vulgar Tongues and if we had we are sure the good that might acrew to them by having it so is not so valuable as to be purchas'd at the Expence of the common Union and Peace of the whole Catholic Church which as experience shews is necessarily consequent upon such an Indulgence The most Part of the common People are taught at least to read in their own Language and if we except some of the Commonality of Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland who are industriously barr'd all sort of Education there is not one in a hundred even of the meanest of the Common sort who want this Help And then they have the whole Mass the Epistles and Gospels and Collects of all the Sundays in the Year together with all the Psalms in vulgar Languages in their Prayer-books which they may read to themselves in their own Tongue whilst the Priest reads them in Latin and which no doubt contributes more to their Edification than if the Priest had spoke in their own Tongue considering that in Catholic Countries where some Thousands are assembled it is not possible for the hundreth part of the Audience to hear what is said in what ever Language he speaks Add that the greatest part of the Mass is pronounc'd so low that scarce any that is present hears what is said the Rubric so commanding that the Priest may in the Silence of Recollection and Meditation be the better dispos'd to perform the Office in that August and Adorable Mystery with the Gravity and Decency that becomes it Besides on all Sundays and great Festivals throughout the Year there are in Catholic Countries public Sermons and Exhortations perform'd in Vulgar Language yea and public Prayers read in the Pulpit either before or after the
Sermon in which the people are instructed in their Duty to God and their Neighbours and excited to do Works of Charity to forgive their Enemies and to repent of their Sins to pray for the King and his Magistrats and for one onother In a word in which all the Duties and Obligations of a Christian are duly inculcated and all this I am sure they are at least in the Countries where I have been as careful to perform as they are to say the Mass So that notwithstanding what Protestants say all the Difference between them and us in this particular is that we do in vulgar Language very near all that they do and over and above give the people an Opportunity of adoring Jesus Christ and of quickning their Memory by the Representation of his Death and Passion which is perform'd in the Latin Mass Lastly If there were no other Reasons the Difficulty of translating the Liturgy into vulgar Languages and preserving it in its purity is enough to diswade us from the Undertaking The uniformity of our Liturgy is the best standing Monument we have of the Faith and Practice of our Ancestors 'T is it that shews us how they us'd to administer the Sacraments and what sort of Ceremonies they judg'd most proper to excite and stir up Devotion and to perform God's Service with that Gravity and Decency suitable to His Holy Religion Now if this Liturgie were translated into all the Vulgar Languages which Catholics use and which is so much subject to Alteration and Corruption even to that degree that what is spoken in one Age is scarce understood in an other at least is so nauseous and grateing that none but the meaner sort of People will hear it without disgust What endless Labour wou'd it prove to be thus every Age modeling and reforming and changing our Liturgies What Confusion and Disorders wou'd the Unskilfulness or the Fancy of Translators occasion Nay what Tumults and Uproars wou'd such frequent Alterations create both in Church and State whilst some to use King Henry VIII his Phrase stood up for their Old Mumpsimus and others for their New Sumpsimus is not easily Imagin'd And whatever our Adversaries may think on 't Experience shews us that this is no Imaginary but a Real and almost insuperable Difficulty For instance The Calvinistâ— in France made use of Marot's Translation of the Psalms and Sung them in their Temples as the French call them for a considerable Time but some of their Learned Ministers finding that this Translation was not agreeable to the Original nor even to decency and good behaviour but on the contrary was full of ridiculous lew'd and prophane expressions resolv'd to give the People a better and more perfect Translation Now what confusions and divisions this last created among the Brethren whoever is curious to know may consult the Writers of those Times Again The Church of England which without doubt is the best because the least Reform'd of the Protestant Party Translated the Scripture Compos'd a new Ordinal and a set Form of Prayer in Vulgar Language in Edward the Sixth's Time but these being found in Queen Elizabeth and King James's Days if we believe their own Writers deficient in many things and in others not agreeable to the then Protestant Religion which was not as yet perfectly lick'd into Shape and Form other new Translations are undertaken but how much confusion and trouble these also occasion'd the said Writers can best inform us Farther The Church of England is the Richest and if we may judge by their Works the most Charitable of all the Reformation yet there pass'd a hundred Years of the Reign of Protestanism before the Welsh were provided of a Liturgy in their own Language tho' most of the common People of that Country do not understand any other Tongue And to this day they have not furnish'd the Irish with a Liturgy in their own Language tho' many thousands in the North of Ireland and in the High-lands of Scotland go to Church which yet understand nothing but the Irish Tongue So that it is no such easie matter to furnish even the Subjects of one Crown with Liturgies in their own Language Now if it be so difficult to supply a few People with Liturgies in their own Tongue and so hard to contain them in their Duty when the said Liturgies must be alter'd Who can imagin all the Difficulties that wou'd attend the attempt shou'd the Catholic Church propose to translate her Liturgy into all the several Languages us'd in Europe Or who can conceive how it were possible for her to keep an Uniformity in Practice and Ceremony or to contain the People in their Duty if she must change her Liturgy every hundred Years or less and speak a new Language The Gentry and Better sort of People cannot abide to have their Ears grated with Obsolete Antick Expressions and the common People who think the Substance chang'd with the Words will not part with their old Mumpsimus And then what fine work wou'd this make Marot in one of his Psalms gives us this Ridiculous Phrase I will cast my Slipper at him The common People who minded only the Rime and Gingle of the Words no sooner understood that this Phrase was alter'd tho' indeed for the better when they were so incens'd upon the matter that the Ministers were like to have not slippers but sticks and stones and such Arms as a popular Fury administer'd cast at them And what do you think shou'd happen in in the Church of Rome where there are so many different Languages so many different Humours so hard to be satisfied so many uncouth unpolish'd people so difficult to be govern'd shou'd she undertake to give them the Liturgy in their own Tongues and continue changing and altering the same as often as the Languages change Truly for my part as I am perswaded that the Design is as vain as it is needless so I may reasonably presume the Holy Catholic Church will never attempt it And thus I have endeavour'd to touch upon some of the Reasons that mov'd the Church in all Ages to hold to one Universal Language which is always the same not subject to Alteration or Corruption no more than the Faith and Religion which it teacheth nor less Pure and Perfect now than it was seventeen hundred Years since And surely such a Language so lofty in its Expressions so beautiful and Majestie in its Numbers so Energic and Expressive in its Sense and as I may say so immortal and indefectible in its Duration is the fittest to have the public and solemn Service of the Immortal and Eternal God perform'd in it And in this methinks we do but what the Light of Nature teacheth all Nations and what our Adversaries cou'd not but see wou'd they but devest Themselves of their Prejudices 'T is well known the Jews lost their Mother Tongue in the Capativity of Babylon yet they never read the Law of Moses or
the Canon of the Council of Nice by which it was provided That there shall be but one Metropolitan in each Province made a Pragmatic Sanction whereby he Constituted the Bishop of Berithum Metropolitan in the same Province and submited a great many of the former Metropolitan's Suffragans to him which when the Bishop of Tyre expos'd to the Council it was unanimously Decreed That the said Bishop of Tyre should be restor'd to all his Privileges and Jurisdiction notwithstanding the Emperor's Sanction which the Council declar'd to be of no Force or Virtue against the Canons of the Church So that it is evident this General Council knew nothing of any such Ecclesiastical Power vested in the Emperor tho' Lord of almost all the World much less in a Prince of a few Provinces 'T is true there is a Canon of a Council held long after in Constantinople called Quinisexta-synodus which provides that if the Emperor shou'd Erect or raise any City to the Dignity of Metropolis of a Province the Ecclesiastical Power ought to follow the Temporal The Sense of which Canon I conceive must be this that either the Bishop of the City thus dignifi'd was to have the Jurisdiction of a Metropolitan over all the Bishops in the Province the former Metropolitan being reduc'd to the condition of a private Bishop or that the same Province ought to be divided into Two and Governed by two Metropolitans with distinct Limits and Jurisdictions Whether of the two be the Sense of those Fathers 't is manifest this Canon does not exempt the one or the other from the Jurisdiction of the Patriarch much less from that of the Pope as Head of the Church And indeed to give it the most rigorous Interpretation it is impossible to stretch it any further than this That when a City is made Metropolis or Head of a Kingdom the Bishop of that City ought to have Jurisdiction over all the Bishops in the same Kingdom But this does not give the least colour to any Exemption from the Ecclesiastical Power to which this Kingdom was subject before Besides this same was not enacted by the Emperor or any Secular Prince but by a Council of Bishops in favour doubtless of the Episcopal Dignity because it was proper that the first Bishop or Metropolitan shou'd have his Seat in the Metropolis of the Kingdom and take his Denomination from thence And yet we see this never took place in the West otherwise the Bishops of Paris in France of London in England of Edenburg in Scotland and others might as justly pretend to a Primacy in these several Kingdoms which I am confident the Archbishop of Canterbury wou'd as much oppose as any of the Rest Now that the Church of England did wilfully separate from the Pope from their own immediate Heads the Bishops of England and from the Communion of all the Bishops in the World besides Stow Baker Dr. Heilen Dr. Burnet is plain matter of fact equally attested by all Writers as well Protestants as Catholics K. Henry VIII did separate from the Pope and assum'd to himself the Title of Head of the Church of England persecuting and putting to death all such who oppos'd his Supremacy After the Death of Queen Mary in whose Reign the Church of England was again reconcil'd to Rome Queen Elizabeth call'd a Parliament in order to settle Matters of Religion In this Parliament all the Bishops of England were depriv'd of their Episcopal Seas some cast into Prison others banish'd the Country all violently forc'd away from their Flocks and Pastoral Functions Nor will it at all relieve the Protestant Cause to say which yet is their only plea that the Bishops were depriv'd because they wou'd not take the Oath of Supremacy reviv'd by that Parliament For beside that it is an unheard of Thing that any Society of Laymen shou'd take upon them to determin Spiritual Matters for such was the Tenure of that Oath and to impose them upon Bishops to whom it chiefly belong'd to determin such matters This Proceeding was contrary to the Ordinary Methods of Parliament both before and ever after that Time For all things relating to Ecclesiastical and Spiritual Matters are first determin'd and agreed upon in the Convocation of the Bishops whose province and care it is to declare what is Spiritual and what not and then refer'd to both Houses of Parliament to pass into Law But here is a Spiritual Matter past into a Law which vests the Supreme Spiritual Power in the Queen and which all the Bishops in the Kingdom solemnly protest against as a thing as monstrously absurd as it was ever before unheard of And yet they must be all depriv'd because they wou'd not swear to the Truth of nor assert this Spiritual Power lodg'd in a Person whose very Sex rendred her incapable of Indeed they might as well deprive them for not believing and swearing to the truth of the Alcaron But this is too absurd to need a Confutation That the Church of England separated from the Communion of all other Bishops in the World is evident even to this day since they never were able to shew as much as one single Bishop in the whole World who professeth to be of their Communion Now if all this be not Schism I confess I know not what is To separate from the Pope and all in Communion with him To separate from their own Bishops and raise Altars against their Altars or rather to pull down all Altars as they have done to separate from all the Bishops in the World If this be not in the highest degree Schismatical farewel Reason and Religion And here I may justly make the same Intercession as St. Paul calls it against the Church of England with that of Elijah against the Schismatical Church of Israel whose perfect Image I am sorry they bear Lord they have killed thy Bishops and Priests and digged down thine Altars and we poor persecuted Sheep are left alone and they seek our lives to take them away 4. As to the Roman Catholics I need not urge any more Reasons than what has been already offer'd to prove that this Society of Christians is the True Catholic Church For since it is manifestly prov'd that neither the Nestorian nor the Eutychian nor the Greek nor yet the Church of England is the Catholic Church it remains that the Roman Catholics must necessarily be it However I shall lay down some Notes agreed on by all sides to pertain to the Catholic Church which upon Examination will be found to be peculiar to the Roman Catholic Church 1. The Roman Catholic Church is a Great Body of the Faithful spread over all the known parts of the World there being but few Kingdoms known where some Believers in communion with the Bishop of Rome are not to be found Hence She justly claims the Title of Catholic 2. If we except the Protestants there are but few material Points in which all other Sects differ from Her
Intimation in Scripture of this Priviledge confer'd upon the Church of Rome and it is strange the Ancient Fathers in their Disputes against Heretics shou'd never Appeal to this Judge c. That there is not only Intimation but even plain Texts of Scripture which denote the Churche's Infallibility is what I think is already sufficiently Prov'd And since it is likewise Prov'd that the Roman Church or which is the same thing the Congregation of Faithful in Communion with it is the Catholic Church I think it is a necessary ' Consequence that there are plain Texts of Scripture that prove the Infallibility of the Church of Rome Nor is it less certain that the Ancient Fathers in their Disputes against Heretics did Appeal to this Judge For in those days there was no other Means to convince Heretics of their Errors but by the Authority of the Church In the primitive Times New Heresies sprung up as many if not more than in any of our latter Ages yet there was no other Rule or Standard to judge these Errors by the Canonical Books of Scripture not being collected or put together at least in 150 Years after the Foundation of the Church and then not one Book of it all whose Authority or Credit was not question'd by some Heretic or other How was it then possible for the Ancient Fathers to confute these Hereties unless they had Appeal'd to the Authority of the Church and told them that this is the Doctrine of the Catholic Church this is what we receiv'd from our Fore-fathers And this is what all the Christian World believes Neither is it true that the ancient Fathers did not Appeal to this Judge even when the Scripture was collected and receiv'd as the Word of God Read but St. Ireneus Contra Haeres Tertul de Praescript Epipha de Haeres St. Austin cont Epist Fund and many more and you shall find how much the Doctor was mistaken in this bus'ness I do not cite the passages of these Fathers because they are so well known and so often quoted by Others who wrote upon this Subject But let this of St. Austin to use the Doctors own Phrase be instead of a thousand I wou'd not believe the Gospel Cont. Epist Funda were it not that the Authority of the Church moves me to it The second Objection is in Answer to a Certain Passage in the Canon Law Vol. 3. pag. 94. where it is said That if every Man may judge for himself there will be nothing but Confusion in Religion there will be no End of Controversies And that our Lord had not seem'd to be Discreet * The Drs Translation of the Latin has it so if he had not provided for the Assurance of Men's Faith by giving them an Infallible Judge To this he says that if this Reasoning be good we may as well conclude that there is an Universal Infallible Judge in Temporal Matters but it is evident in Fact and Experience says he that there is no such Judge in Temporal Matters consequently nor in Matters of Faith Answ Had there been an Universal Infallible Judge appointed in Temporal Matters it wou'd doubtless contribute very much to the Peace and Tranquility of the World if He were Obey'd but very little to the Means wherewith God Almighty designs to bring his chosen People to the Kingdom of Heaven which is to exercise them with Fiery Tryals and make them pass thro' much Tribulation And therefore He permits the Cruelty of Tyrants to try the patience of Martyrs and suffers the Oppression of the Poor on Earth to enhance their Reward in Heaven So that the Cruelty or Errors of a Temporal Judge do rather increase than diminish the Happiness of the Just But the Case is far otherwise in spiritual Matters If the Judge shou'd spoil us of our Faith or err in Judging for us it wou'd cause our Eternal ruine our Damnation being necessarily consequent upon a False Belief And for that Reason the goodness of God seems to be so much the more engag'd to secure the Spiritual than the temporal Judge from error by how much the danger is the greater on that side and the Ruin more inevitable if we shou'd chance to Err. Christ threatens Damnation to all those that will not believe his Doctrine which how it can stand with his Infinit Goodness unless he had provided Infallible Means of conveying the Truth of this Doctrine to them it is hard to conceive In short Temporal Ease and Tranquility is of very little Moment even in this Life but of none at all in the next and therefore generally speaking God leaves Men in the Counsel of their own Hands and permits Them very often to disturb the public Peace and quiet of this World But the true Knowledge of his Divine Law and of the Mysteries of our Redemption are of so great importance to our Eternal Happiness that his Goodness will Infallibly secure it for us if it be not our own Fault Object 3. An Infallible Judge pag. 95 96. if there were one is no certain way to end Controversies and to preserve the Vnity of the Church unless it were likewise Infallibly Certain that there is such a Judge and who he is For till Men were sure of both these there wou'd be still a Controversie whether there be an Infallible Judge and who he is And if it be true which they tell us that without an Infallible judge Controversies cannot be ended then a Controversie concerning an Infallible judge can never be ended And there are two Controversies actually on foot about an Infallible Judge One whether there be an Infallible Judge or not Which is a Controversie between Vs and the Church of Rome And the other who this Infallible Judge is Which is a Controversie among themselves which cou'd never yet be decided And yet till it be decided Infallibility if they had it wou'd be of no use to them for the ending of Controversies Thus far the Drs. own Words Answ That there is an Infallible Judge is already prov'd Who that Judge is I have likewise manifestly shewn namely the Living Voice of all the Catholic Pastors and People agreeing in the same Points of Faith And if it be farther ask'd who those Pastors and People are I answer The same in Communion with the Pope as it is prov'd before And surely none will doubt but we may be Infallibly certain that these agree in the same Points of Faith Consequently we may be Infallibly certain both that there is an Infallible Judge and who that Judge is And if it be True which they tell us says the Doctor that without an Infallible Judge Controversies cannot be ended then a Controversie concerning an Infallible Judge can never be ended And why so Why may not an Infallible Judge end it Is not an Infallible Judge sufficient to end any Controversie whatsoever If the Church be Infallible and assisted by the Spirit of God for no other End than to
Rome did exercise Jurisdiction by way of Excommunication over the Eastern Bishops of which alone there remains any difficulty We have besides Innumerable Examples from the Fourth to the Tenth Century as that for instance Innocent the First excommunicated â—â—eâ—phiâ—us Bishop of Alexandria Celestinus the First Nestorius of Constantinople Agapâ—tus Anthimius another Bishop of Constantinople Nicholas the First Pâ—otius the intruded Bish p of Constantinople besides these I say we have two memorable Facts to this purpose in the begining of the Second and about the midle of the Third Century The first is related by two Eminent Witnesses St. Irenaeus Eusebius Casariensis by St. Ireâ—aeus in a Letter to Pope Victor and by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History lib. 5. cap. 25. This Historian tells us that Victor Bishop of Rome excommunicated Polycrates and the Rest of the Asiatic Bishops because they wou'd not be induc'd to celebrate Easter after the Roman Custom And St. Irenaeus in his Leter to this Pope complains most grievously of his Severity in cutting off so many Members from the Body of the Church for a matter of Discipline which no way respected the Faith 'T is true St. Irenaeus and Eusebius do not approve of Victor's Proceedings in this Bus'ness because they look'd upon his Sentence to be too severe yet neither the one nor the other did ever say that Victor had no power to do so And as St. Irenaeus took the liberty to reprehend the Pope for his too great Severity as he thought in this matter so no doubt he wou'd have told him that he exceeded his Commission by such a Procedure if he had not been convinc'd that the like Power had been vested in him And most certainly Eusebius who was an Asiatic Bishop himself wou'd never have complemented the Bishop of Rome but wou'd have plainly here inserted that the Pope had no power to Excommunicate the Bishops of Asia had there been the least question of his Authority in that particular The Second is that famous Controversie between Pope Stephen and St. Cyprian touching the Baptism confer'd by Hereties Many learned Writers are of opinion that St. Stephen Excommunicated St. Cyprian and his Adherents and all do agree that he threatn'd at last to Excommunicate Them Yet we do not find that St. Cyprian or any other Ecclesiastical Writer did ever say that the Bishop of Rome exceeded his Power in so doing 'T is true St. Cyprian and his Adherents as well as the Asiatic Bishops persisted in their Error notwithstanding the Pope's Excommunication as it usually falls out Men being hardly ever diswaded from the Opinions they once undertake to maintain but the Council of Nice has Justifi'd the Pope's Conduct in both these particulars branding with Heresie such as maintain'd the said Errors That there were Appeals made to the Bishop of Rome by the Eastern Bishops is no less manifest St. Athanasius and Paul Bishop of Constantinople appeal'd to Pope Julius for redress of the Violence offer'd them by the Arians St. Chrys stom to Innocent the First Theodoretus to Leo besides many more which I shall at present omit Socrates a famous Ecclesiastical Writer of the Primitive Times tells us lib. 2. cap. 15. How St. Athanasius and Paul with several other Bishops came to Rome and complain'd to Julius of the Violence offer'd them by the Arians and how he had undertaken their Patronage Among other things he adds this concerning the Pope's Authority in this particular 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But he the Pope because the Church of Rome had that Priviledge warranted them with his Letters wherein he freely spoke his mind and sent them back to the East restoring Each to his own Place and severely reprehending those who rashly turn'd them out The Learned Theodoretus informs us Hist Eccles lib. 2. cap. 4. that St. Athanasius being a second Time turn'd out by the Arians appeal'd again to Rome And that Pope Julius following the Canon of the Church commanded the Arians to come to Rome and cited Athanasius to appear at his Consistory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us now put both these Testimonies together Here are two of the greatest Bishops of the East violently thrust out of their Bishopricks and flying to the Bishop of Rome for Redress Here are two of the most famous and most Eminent Historians of Antiquity who tell us that the Church of Rome had a peculiar Priviledge to protect and restore Bishops that the Bishop of Rome did but act according to or follow the Canon or Law of the Church as Thedoretus words it when he commanded the Aâ—ians to appear before him and summon'd Athanasius to answer their Charge If these be not Aâ—ts of Legal Jurisdiction if this be not the formal and proper Process of an Appeal we are as yet to Learn the meaning of these Terms Palladius Bishop of Helenopolis in the Life of St. Chrysostom tells us that this great Patriach sent four Bishops to Rome to plead his Cause and we have two Letters of Theodoretus setting forth his Appeal to the Bishop of Rome the first to the Pope and the second to Renatus Dean or Arch-Deacon of the Church of Rome in which he has these Words They have spoil'd me of my Bishoprick they did not reverence my Age consum'd in Religion nor my Gray Hairs Wherefore I beseech you to perswade the most Holy Arch-bishop to use his Apostâ—lic Authority and to command us to come to your Consistory for that Holy See sitteth at the Helm and hath the Government of the whole World Besides all these we have an express Canon of the General Council of Sardica held in or about the Year 347. wherein it is manifestly Decreed That if any Bishop be accus'd or condemn'd or depriv'd of his Bishoprick by the Bishops of his Province and that the Bishop thus depriv'd will Appeal or fly to the Bishop of Rome and desire to be heard the Bishop of Rome may either commit the Cognizance of his Cause to the Bishops of the Neighbouring Province or send Legats clâ—ath'd with his own Authority to be present at the Judgement or do whatever shall seem best in that behalf to his own most prudent Counsel Now let any Impartial Man judge if the single Authority of this Council be not sufficient to establish the Pope's Authority in Point of Appeals tho' there were nothing else to prove it That the Bishop of Rome exercis'd Jurisdiction over the Eastern Bishops by way of Confirmation and Deposition is too well known to need much Proof St. Leo tells us Epist 13. That he was earnestly desir'd by Theodosius the Emperor to confirm Anatolius Bishop of Constantinople which yet he refus'd to do unless Anatolius had first profess'd the same Doctrine with Cyrillus and the Rest of the Catholic Bishops in Opposition to the Heresie of Nestorius The same Pope gives us to understand in his Epist 82. That he had constituted the Bishop of Thessalonica as his Vicegerent in that part of
that St. Peter rose up first open'd the Subject of their Meeting discours'd upon the Conversion of the Gentiles by his Ministry shew'd the Unreasonableness of that Yoke the Jews wou'd fain put upon them and concluded with a peremptory Sentence to that purpose which 't is manifest St. James and the rest did but follow and if this be not sufficient Evidence of his Superiority even over St. James let the World judge As for St. Paul's declaring himself equal to St. Peter it moves me not For so may any Bishop lawfully ordain'd do to the Pope without the least diminution of his Supremacy the Equality meant by St. Paul respecting only the Power of preaching the word of God to those to whom he was sent of administring the Sacraments and of ordaining Ministers for the use and benefit of the Faithful To do all which I readily grant every Apostle's Power to be equal to St. Peter's and every lawfully ordain'd Bishop's to that of the Pope's As to his Question Where doth it appear that St. Peter 's Power was deriv'd to his Successors I am almost unwilling to honour it with a Confutation being in my sense one of the simplest Expressions that ever drop'd from a Man of his parts If I shou'd ask where doth it appear that he was by Divine Institution Archbishop of Canterbury I believe he wou'd be puzel'd a little to give a good Answer Yet he did not scruple to stile himself John by the Grace of God Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Did ever any Man question whether the Authority and Power of the Bishop of any See was deriv'd to his Successor Was not Christ's Power deriv'd to his Apostles As the Father hath sent me even sâ— sâ—nd I you Was not the Apostle's Power deriv'd to their Successors Else how cou'd we pretend to be Christians In short that Heirs and Successors shou'd Inherit the Power and Authority of their Ancestors unless there be a positive Law or Exception to the contrary is surely a self evident Maxim grafted in our Hearts by the Law of Nature and confirm'd by the Common Consent of Mankind What shou'd then hinder Peter's Authority to be deriv'd to his Successors whom all the World before the rise of Protestanism did believe to be the Bishops of Rome and not those of Antioch as the Dr. seems here to suggest 2. To make good that the Roman Church is the Catholic Church they are oblig'd to affiirm says the Dr. That the Churches of Asia and Affrica which were Excommunicated by the Bishops of Rome for celebrating Easter after the Jewish manner and upon the point of Rebaptizing Heretics were cut off from the Catholic Church and from a possibility of Salvation This the Church of Rome themselves will not affirm continues he and yet if to be cast out of the Communion of the Roman and the Catholic Church be all one they must affirm it Answ This Argument is grounded upon a Fallacy and therefore the Inference is False Had the Bishop of Rome and the Roman Church been convertible Terms the Inference wou'd then indeed have been Right and the Argument True but surely Dr. Tillotson knew very well we never understood these Terms so The Fallacy then consists in this that he joyns together the two different Notions of Roman Church and Bishop of Rome and makes them pass for one and the same thing and so by a cunning piece of Sophistry concludes that whatever is done by the Bishop of Rome is likewise the Act and Deed of the whole Roman Church 3. In consequence of this Proposition that the Church of Rome is the Catholic Church they ought to hold that all Baptism out of the Communion of their Church is void and of none effect For if it be good pursues the Dr. then it makes the Persons Baptiz'd Members of the Catholic Church and then those that are out of the Communion of the Roman Church may be true Members of the Catholic Church And then the Roman and the Catholic Church are not all one But the Church of Rome holds the Baptism of Heretics to be good consequently the Roman Church is not the Catholic Church Answ His Inference is likewise here false and so is his Consequence The Roman Catholics following the Ancient Fathers and Councils of the Primitive Church do believe that the Baptism confer'd by Heretics with due Matter and Form is good and vallid and that it makes the Baptiz'd True Members of the Catholic and consequently of the Roman Church provided there be no impediment of Heresie or Schism on the part of the Persons thus Baptiz'd but if they are engag'd in any Heresie or Schism they hold indeed that they receive a true Character of Baptism but this alone neither makes them Members of the Catholic Church nor availes any thing to their Salvation For as St. Austin says all the Sacraments may be had out of the Church but Salvation cannot Now the Doctor to make good this Inference shou'd do these two things 1. He shou'd have prov'd that Infants and such as are not capable of Heresie or Schism being Baptiz'd by Heretics are out of the Communion of the Roman Church For this we utterly deny and on the contrary affirm they are true Members of it untill they forsake or renounce it by actual Profession of Heresie or by Schism 2. That those who are actually engag'd in Heresie or Schism being Baptiz'd in that State and persisting in it are notwithstanding by virtue of their Baptism made true Members of the Catholic Church Cou'd the Dr. but prove this he wou'd I own both gain his Point and render glorious Service to several Thousands of Ancient Heretics who denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ as well as to the present Protestants by making them all True Members of the Catholic Church in spite of all the General Councils and their Authority But alas This is what neither he nor any body else will ever attempt And indeed if it were possible to be effected we shou'd I am sure be as glad of it and as willing to contribute to the Salvation of these Men as he or any body else but we have learn'd from the Word of God and from the Principles of true Charity not to flatter any Society of Men with a false Peace and Security when we have no grounds for it 4. In consequence of this Proposition all the Christians in the World which do not yield Subjection to the Bishop of Rome and acknowledg his Supremacy are no true parts of the Catholic Church nor in a possibility of Salvation And this does not only exclude those of the Reform'd Religion from being Members of the Catholic Church but the Greeks and the Eastern Churches i. e. four of the five Patriarchal Churches of the Christian World Hence the Dr. concludes that the Roman Church is not the Catholic Church because it has not more Charity than this comes to Answ This Argument is founded upon an Inconveniency and a great
present Mass-book Alcuinus De Div. Off. a Famous Author of the eigth Century relates the same thing So doth Rupertus Lib. 2. c. 9. de Div. Off. Hugo de Sancto Victore and other Writers of the Eleventh Century They tell us that on Good-Friday there was no Consecration made but that the Body of our Lord which was consecrated the day before was reserv'd for that day's Communion that the Priest took the Lord's Body and some unconsecrated Wine and Water and then gave the Communion to the People under the Form of Bread alone So that there has been a perpetual Practice in the Latin Church of giving the Communion in one kind solemnly once every Year both to Clergy and Laity even to this very Time I might further bring the Authority of Sozomenus Evagrius Authors of the sixth Century and of several Great and Learned Men of the Gallican Church to confirm this Practice but I think it is sufficiently evident from what is said that the Communion was publicly givâ—ng in one kind ever since Christians had Churches for public and solemn Service I shall therefore proceed to shew in the last place That to take the Communion in both kinds is not Essential to the Sacrament from the Consent of our Adversaries if consistent with Themselves I suppose Martin Luther's Opinion in this Matter is of no small Authority for 't is but reasonable to suppose that those who have follow'd the Scheme which he drew shou'd pay their just tribute of Respect to his Opinion in this Point Let us then hear him speak If any Council says he shou'd chance to Decree the Communion in both kinds we shou'd by no means make use of Both De Miffa Ang. nay we wou'd sooner in contempt of the Council take one or neither than both and curse those who shou'd by the Authority of such a Council make use of both kinds Here I think it is very plain Luther was of opinion that both kinds was not essential to the Sacrament else surely he wou'd not have said that he wou'd sooner make use of neither than of both nor curse those who shou'd take both kinds But the Discipline of the French Protestants will afford us a more ample Testimony in this Matter In a Synod held in Potiers Anno. 1560. and in an other in Rochel 1571. It is provided that those who cannot drink Wine may receive the Communion under the Form of Bread It may not be amiss to subjoin their very Words as they are read in the 12th Chapter of their Discipline Tit. Of the Lord's Sup. Art 7. The Bread of the Lord's Supper ought to be administer'd to those who cannot drink Wine upon their making Protestation that it is not out of Contempt and upon their endeavouring what they can to obviate all Scandal even by approaching the Cup as neer their Mouths as they are able Now 't is not to be imagin'd that these Gentlemen shou'd think both kinds essential to the Communion and yet make such a Decision For there is no Body who is never so little Read in Philosophy but knows that the Essence of Things is indivisible that by separating one essential Part from the other you destroy the nature of the whole that in giving only an essential part of a thing you give nothing in regard of that whose essential part it was consequently he that gives but part of the Sacrament gives no Sacrament at all Therefore these Gentlemen who knew better Things in ordering the Bread alone to be given to those who cou'd not drink Wine cannot in Reason be suppos'd to believe that the Cup was Essential to the Communion else they wou'd have absolutely refus'd the Sacrament to those who cou'd not receive it in both kinds since to give it in one kind were to give nothing at all but rather to prophane and abuse that which is most Sacred and August in the Christian Religion whereas the natural disability of those who cannot drink Wine might reasonably excuse them from taking either kind And thus I have endeavour'd as briefly as I cou'd to prove from the practice and discipline of the Church in all Ages from public as well as private Communion from Liturgies Fathers and Historians and even from the consent of our Adversaries manifestly imply'd in their Discipline and Practice that neither the Primitive Christians nor the Catholic Church in any Age nor yet any Orthodox Believer did ever think that to take the Sacrament in both kinds was essential to the Communion And if so then it is plain and evident that the Church hath Power to and may lawfully restrain the Faithful from the Cup and confine them to One kind only Let us now see what Dr. Tillotson objects to all this And here I shall not abuse the Reader 's Patience by repeating the same thing over again for since all that can with any colour of Reason be objected is contain'd in one short Paragraph tho' the things there insisted on are often repeated in several of his Sermons but with no material Addition I will only transcribe it and offer my Exceptions to it And then says he the Communion in One kind is plainly contrary to our Saviours Institution in both kinds as they themselves acknowledge And therefore the Council of Constance being sensible of this was forc'd to decree it with an express non Obstante to the Institution of Christ and the Practice of the Apostles and the Primitive Church And their Doctrine of Concomitancy as if the Blood were in the Flesh and together with it will not help the matter because in the Sacrament Christ's Body is represented as broken and pierc'd and exhausted and drain'd of his Blood and his Blood is represented as shed and poured out so that one kind can by no means contain and exhibit both Three things the Doctor here insists upon 1. That We our selves acknowledg the the Communion in one kind to be contrary to our Saviour's Institution 2. That the Council of Constance was forc'd to decree it with a non obstante to the Institution of Christ 3. That the Doctrine of Concomitancy will not help the matter because in the Sacrament Christ's Body is represented as broken and exhausted and drain'd of His Blood I may say of these three Propositions the first is neither True nor to the purpose The second is something to the Purpose but not True The third is like the first neither True nor to the Purpose I begin with the first We our selves acknowledge that the Communion in one Kind is contrary to our Saviour's Institution For my own part I have read at least some of the best R. Catholic Casuists and Divines upon this Subject and have convers'd with many more Yet I declare I neither read nor heard any of them say that to give the Communion in one kind was contrary to our Saviour's Institution nay I think all R. Catholics do believe that the Administration of the Communion
I think I may reasonable conclude that the common people wou'd do the same were they never so well read in the Scriptures unless we suppose that the Protestant Religion has some Virtue to attract the common people upon the readding of Scripture in a vulgar Tongue which is incommunicable to Men of Letters when they read the same But methinks the stand the Protestant Religion has been at now upwards of an hundred Years without gaining one Foot of Ground nay hardly keeping what it had notwithstanding all the liberty and Indulgence it gives to Flesh and Blood is an evident Argument that it was not a serious Meditation and Study of Scripture but rather a popular fury and something like madness that brought over so many of the common People to embrace it in the Begining And indeed if the Fences and Bulworks wherewith the Protestant Religion is fortified were taken away if the Tests and Penal-Laws and other grievous Burdens laid upon R. Catholics were taken off if all the scandalous and opprobrious Language which Ministers thunder out in their Pulpits against the Church and Bishop of Rome all the False and Ridiculous Tenets which are ascrib'd to R. Catholics and manag'd with all the Art and Industry proper to inflame the People's hatred and to give them a perpetual aversion to R. Catholics and their Religion all the marks of Infamy and Dishonour put upon them being not permitted to bear any Civil or Military Office nay scarce allow'd in some Countries to exercise such honest Professions or Callings as may enable them to get their Bread if all these fatal Engins I say were laid aside and every Man left to chuse his Religion without the hopes of Reward on the one side or the Fear of loss of Goods and Temporal Punishment on the other I doubt the Protestant Religion wou'd soon fall to pieces and many a Prodigal Child wou'd return to their Father's Houses whence they have so long stray'd But these Fences and Barriers shall I call them of Religion being so Rivetted and interwoven with the Temporal Laws and Constitutions of most Governments where the Protestant Religion sways I fear all Reasons and Arguments tho' never so Evident are too weak to encounter them unless God of His Mercy be pleas'd to put His Hand to the Work To whose infinit Goodness and Mercy I do from my Heart most earnestly recommend it CHAP. VII Of the Invocation of Saints WHat we believe to be of Faith on this Head is thus declar'd by the Council of Trent That the Saints who Reign with Jesus Christ offer up to God their Prayers for Men that it is Good and Profitable to Invocate them after an Humble Manner and to have Recourse to their Prayers Aid and Assistance to obtain of God His Benefits thro' our Lord Jesus Christ His Son who is our only Saviour and Redeemer Sess 25. This the Council declares to be the Faith of the Church concerning this point but does not Command or Oblige any of the Laity to pray to the Saints or Invocate them 'T is a Practice receiv'd from the Primitive Church and us'd by the Greatest and most Learned and virtuous of the Holy Fathers of those Times as appears by their Works and handed Down to us by an uninterrupted Tradition But because it is not absolutely necessary the Church leaves every one the liberty to make use of it or not aâ— they think fit Yet to see how Dr. Tillotson lays about him upon this Subject and what pains he takes to confute it one wou'd think we have nothing in our Liturgies and public Prayer-books but Prayers to Saints and that we do nothing else in the public and solemn Service of the Church but pray to Saints and worship them Here it may be expected I shou'd give a Specimen of his Laborious Endeavours in this matter but I think a Pattern wou'd not do and therefore I shall refer the Reader to three intire Sermons Vol. 2. edit post obit Ser. 2 3 4. where this Bus'ness is handled to some purpose Now to justifie our Proceedings from these imputations and to shew the Reasonableness of this Practice as by us us'd I shall do these Four Things 1. I will endeavour to shew that to invocate the Saints by which Words we protest and declare and 't is hard if we may not be allow'd to interpret our own Words that we mean nothing else but to desire them to pray for us is not repugnant to the Word of God 2. that in the public and solemn Service of the Church excepting the Litanies of the Saints which are read or sung solemnly four times a Year the General Confession of Sins in the begining of the Mass a few Hymns Anthems and Versicles which are not Prayers strictly and properly so call'd and most of which are read only once a Year excepting these I say we put up no Prayers to Saints or Angels but all our Prayers are address'd to Almighty God and to Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer Not but that we hold it lawful even in the public and solemn Service of the Church to pray to the Saints that is to desire them to pray for us since all the Addresses we make to the Saints do finally Terminate in Jesus Christ in virtue of whose Death and Passion we believe the Saints are enabled to pray for us but because it is matter of Fact that we do not address our Prayers in the solemn Service of the Church but to God alone 3. I will make it appear from the very Words of the Holy Fathers that the Practice of praying to Saints was us'd in the Primitive Church And Lastly I shall endeavour to return a brief Answer to what the Dr. thought fit to bring against this Point 1. I will endeavour to shew that to invocate the Saints or which is the same thing to desire them to pray for us is not repugnant to the Word of God The Texts of Scripture which seems to be against this Practice and which the Doctor urges are taken out of St. Paul 1 Tim. 2.5 where he says There is one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus And again Heb. 9.15 For this Cause He Christ is the Mediator of the New Testament c. Hence the Doctor concludes that it is contrary to the Word of God and which he mostly insists upon derogatory to the Mediatorship of Jesus Christ to pray to any Saint or Angel since to do so were to constitute them Mediators between God and Men contrary to the Express Words of St. Paul But sure he was not aware how far this Inference wou'd carry him else he wou'd be a little more reserv'd We are exhorted by the Scriptures and by the Rules of Charity we are bound to pray to God for one another Eph. 6.19 1 Tim. 2. Yea and St. Paul himself desires the Ephesians to pray for him and exhorts Timothy to have Prayers and
the Angel declar'd it grant us thy humble Petitioners who believe Her to be truly the Mother of God that by Her intercession we may with Thee be assisted thro' the same our Lord Jesus Christ c. Amen A Collect on the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul O God who hast consecrated this Day by the Martyrdom of Peter and Paul grant to thy Church to follow their Example in all things by whom the Religion began thro' our Lord Jesus c. Amen A Collect on the Nativity of St. John Baptist O God who hast Honor'd this Day with the Nativity of St. John give to thy People the Grace of Spiritual Joy and guide the Minds of all the Faithful in the way of eternal Salvation thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Here you see all these Prayers are address'd to God alone And thus indeed are all the Collects in the Mass-Book and Breviary which I willingly submit to any Man's Tryal ad Paenam libri As to the Office and Litanies of the B. V. Mary which are found in Manuals and read by some R. Catholics there is no Reason to charge them upon the Public Office and Service of the Church since they are not us'd by the Church nor publish'd by public Authority The Church does indeed allow such Prayers to be said as far as they hold within the Compass of meer Intercession because they are founded in the Practice of the Primitive Church and all succeeding Ages But if any of them contain any Terms or Expressions bordering upon the Prerogative of the Mediatorship of Jesus Christ she does as heartily and as earnestly desire they shou'd be abolish'd as any Protestant whatsoever Touching the Rosary or Beads in which the Dr. reproaches us for saying ten Ave Marias for one Pater Noster I believe every one knows the Church obliges no body to say it I am sure there are Millions of R. Catholics who never do Besides there is nothing in the Ave Maria but the very Words of Scripture except these last pray for us now and in the Hour of our Death and if it be a good thing to desire the Mother of God to pray for us sure the oftner we desire it the better it is As to the Disproportion between the Pater Nosters and the Ave Marias I must confess it were something if those who use the Rosary made all their Devotion to consist in it But it is well known that such as say it do to their Power discharge all other Christian Duties at least do pretend to no Exemption upon the Score of their Beads or Rosary from Praying to Almighty God from Adoring and Worshiping Him and giving Him their Humble and Hearty Thanks for his Benefits and Blessings from commemorating the Death and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and having recourse to the Merits thereof for Mercy and Pardon of their Sins And now when they have endeavour'd to discharge all these Essential Duties where lies the harm if they spend some part of their spare Hours in saying over and above so many Ave Marias especially since they are founded in the Merits of the Death and Passion of our Lord and Saviour in Virtue whereof all Catholics do hope and trust that the Virgin Mary and all the Saints will pray for them Or how can it be counted a Fault to desire the Virgin Mary to do that for us which even the Dr. himself and all the Learned Protestants in the world do acknowledge She and all the Saints in Heaven constantly do tho' we shou'd not ask it of them Now this is plainly the Case All R. Catholics are taught and exhorted by the Church to discharge first their Duty to God to worship and adore him to put up their Prayers to Him to thank him for His Benefits to be sorry for their sins to beg Mercy and Forgiveness thro' the Merits of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and when this is done if they will take the Lady's Office or the Litanies of the Saints or the V. Mary or their Beads and beg those great Friends and Favourits of Jesus Christ who shed their Blood and lay down their Lives for the Truth of His Gospel to recommend them to Him and his Heavenly Father is it not better since the mind of Man must always be in Action than spend the Time in Idleness or perhaps in Evil Conversation In a Word these are Devotions which certain Fraternities and Regular Societies have taken upon them to discharge over and above the necessary and Essential Duties of Christianity and which other Catholics to be Partakers of the Prayers of the said Fraternities and Societies do also perform But in saying their Beads they do not always as the Dr. wou'd suggest say ten Ave Maria's for one Pater Noster For several Fraternities and Catholics say all Pater Nosters without ever an Ave Maria. But of this enough I proceed to shew 3. From the very Words of the Holy Fathers that this Practice of praying to Saints was us'd in the primitive Church St. Ambrose delivers his Thoughts in these Words We ought to pray to the Angels in our own Behalf who are given as a Guard to Vs We ought to pray to the Martyrs whose Bodies remaining with Vs seem to be as it were a Pledge of their Protection Lib de Viduis prope Fin. Gregory Nissen speaks thus to the Martyr St. Theodorus Intercede and Pray for your Country with our Common Lord and King Orat. in St. Theodor. St. Austin We do not Commemorate the Martyrs at the Lord's Table as We do those who die in the Peace of the Church but We do Commemorate them that they may pray for Vs that we may follow their Steps Tract 84. in Joa Again Holy Mary * Note that the Sermon whence this Passage is taken is ascrib'd by some Critics to St. Fulgentius but whether of the two it belongs to it matters not being both Fathers of Great Renown and of the same Age. succour the Distressed help the Pusillanimous cherish those that Mourn pray for the People mediate for the Clergy intercede for the Devout Female Sex let every one perceive thy Assistance who celebrate thy Commemoration Ser. 18. de Sanctis Theodoret We do not address our Selves unto the Martyrs as unto Gods but we pray unto them as Divine Men that they wou'd please to become Legats or Intercessors for us Ser. 8. de Martyr lib. Curat Grae◠Affect The Council of Calcedon Act. 11. has these Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Flavianus Liveth after his Death the Martyr will pray for us or as the Translators render it Let the Martyr pray for us it being usual with the Orientals to put the Future Tense for the Imperative Here is a General Council of more than 600 Bishops desiring the Martyr Flavianus to pray for Them This Council was held in the Year 451 and is one of the four first General Councils whose Acts and Decrees the Church of
which that I may the more plainly and distinctly do I shall proceed in this Method 1. I will endeavour to shew that the Doctrine of Purgatory is founded in Scripture as interpreted by the Ancient Fathers of the Church 2. But more especially that it is founded in the Practice observ'd in the primitive Church of Praying for the Dead This I take to be an unanswerable Argument for if it appears that the Primitive Church did pray for the Dead that their Sins might be forgiven them then it will necessarily follow that they believ'd those Souls they thus pray'd for to be in a place where they might be help'd and benefited by their Prayers This is evident for if the Primitive Church were of Opinion that all Souls departed did go strait to Heaven or to Hell it were vain and superfluous to pray for them They knew there was no getting of Souls out of Hell for out of Hell there is no Redemption And therefore it were in vain to attempt it And it were superfluous to pray for the Souls in Heaven for the Remision of their Sins For why shou'd they pray for that which they knew they had no need of So that if they did pray for the Remission of Sins of Souls departed the Consequence is inevitable that they did believe there was a Third Place were some Souls were detain'd and might be assisted by their Prayers which is what we call Purgatory 3. I shall answer what Doctor Tillotson brings against this Point 1. I shall endeavour to shew that the Doctrine of Purgatory is founded in Scripture as interpreted by the Ancient Fathers of the Church To prove this Head I will produce some Texts of Scripture with the Readings of the Fathers upon Them 1. Agree with thine Adversary quickly whilst thou art in the way with him Lest at any time the Adversary deliver thee to the Judge and the Judge deliver thee to the Officer and thou be cost into Prison Verify I say unto thee thou shalt not come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost Farthing Mat. 5.25.26 Tertullian a Father of the Second Age â— de Anima cap. 58. reâ—ds thus upon this Text. Seeing we understand that Prison which the Gospel demonstrates to be places below and the uttermost Farthing we interpret every small fault there to be punish'd by the delay of the Resurrection no Man can doubt but the Soul may pay something in the places below St. Cyprian a Father of the third Age It is one thing to be cast into Prison not to go out thence till he pays the uttermost Farthing an other Epist 52. ad Anton presently to receive the Reward of Faith one thing to be afflicted with long pains for Sins to be mended and purg'd long with Fire another to have purg'd all Sins by sufferings Here this Father alluding to the foregoing Text says that some Souls are cast into Prison 'till they pay the uttermost Fathing that others immediately receive their Reward that is Heaven Some are afflicted and purg'd by Fire in order to their Amendment whilst others have purg'd all their Sins by Sufferings or Martyrdom The very Language of the present R. Catholic Church St. Jerom a Father of the fourth Age who for his extraordinary Learning and Knowledge in the Scriptures was call'd Magister Mundi the Master of the World in his comment upon the said Text has these Words This is that which he says Comment in 5. Matt. thou shalt not go out of Prison till thou pay even thy little Sins There is then such a Prison in this Great Master's Opinion 2. Every Man's Work shall be made manifest for the Day shall declare it because it shall be reveal'd by Fire and the Fire shall try every Man's Work of what sort it is If any Man's Work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a Reward If any Man's Work shall be burnt he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by Fire 1 Cor. 3.13.14 15. St. Ambrose or the Author of the Commentaries upon the Epistles of St. Paul annex'd to his Works which the ablest Critics do with good Reason ascribe to Hilary Deacon of the Church of Rome and Contemporary to St. Ambrose speaks thus of this Passage But when he St. Paul saith Yet so as by Fire he shews indeed that he shall be saved but yet shall suffer the Punishmenâ— of Fire that being purg'd by Fire he may be sav'd and not tormented for ever as the Infidels are with Everlasting Fire In cap. 3. Epist 1. ad Cor. St. Gregory of Nisse is so plain and full upon this Subject that no R. Catholic can at this Time speak plainer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Man is cleansed says he either in this present Life by Prayer and the Love of Wisdom or after his Death by the Furnace of a Purging Fire And a little after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After his Departure out of the Body knowing the Difference between Virtue and Vice it is impossible to be Partakers of the Divinity unless Purgatory Fire doth cleanse the Soul from the Spots that stick to it Orat. pro. Mortuis prope Fin. St. Austin speaks much to the same purpose Purge me O Lord says he in this Life and make me such as shall not need that Puâ—ifying Fire And a little after he adds He shall be saved yet so as by Fire And because it is said He shall be saved this Fire is contemn'd yet it will be more grievous than any Thing that a Man can suffer in this Life Enar. in Psal 37. I might insist upon several other Passages of St. Austin and bring more Texts of Scripture with the Sense of the Fathers upon them with Respect to this Subject but I think what is here offer'd is sufficient to shew that our Doctrine concerning Purgatory is founded in Scripture and that the Ancient Fathers did believe it to be so I shall now proceed to shew 2. That the Doctrine of Purgatory is founded in the Practice observ'd in the Primitive Church of praying for the Dead for the Remission of Sins This as I said before if made out will plainly establish our Tenet For if the Primitive Church did pray for the Dead for the Remission of their Sins it follows necessarily that they suppos'd them capable of being assisted by their Prayers and consequently neither in Heaven nor in Hell but in a third Place which is what we believe and call Purgatory Now that the Primitive Church and all succeeding Generations us'd to pray for the Dead for the Remission of their Sins no one Point in the Christian Religion is more Universally attested St. Epiphanius tells us that Aerius was reputed an Heretic for denying the Lawfulness of it and besides him I do not find since Christianity began till the Begining of the last Age any one single Person that ever denied or question'd it Never was there found any Liturgy without it