from Earth into Limbus The third when he ascended from thence into Heaven It also signifies the threefold state of those that shall be saved viz. Virgins Continent and Married persons 2. The twelve lighted Candles signifie according to Rabanus Maurus the twelve Patriarchs and Apostles or according to Ivo that the shining and burning light of the Apostles is to be commended 3. The Bishop's thrice smiting of the door with his Pastoral Staff shews that the Powers of Heaven Earth and Hell yield unto him and that Christ hath a threefold right to his Church Again by this threefold smiting of the door with his Staff is understood the preaching of the Gospel And the opening of the door denotes that by the preaching of Pastors Infidels are converted to the Faith The Deacon's Interrogation Who is the King of Glory signifies the peoples ignorance of Christ And the Bishop knocks thrice Because that is the most noted and sacred Number and because without the invocation of the Trinity there is no Sacrament in the Church 4. The door being opened the Bishop enters to note that nothing is able to resist his Office when rightly executed according to that Lord who can resist thy power And he enters the Church with two or three that in the mouth of two or three Witnesses every word of Consecration may be confirmed or because few were present when Christ in his Transfiguration pray'd for the Church And when the Bishop is entred he saith Peace be to this House because Christ came into the world to make peace between God and Man 5. The Bishop begins at the left corner of the East and goes to the right corner of the West and then at the right corner of the East to the left of the West writing on the Pavement sprinkled with ashes the whole Alphabet in Greek and Latin 1 By the Alphabet we are to understand the first Principles and Rudiments of the Christian Faith according to that of the Apostle Heb. 5. 2. 2. This Alphabet is written in Greek and Latin and not in Hebrew because the Jews departed from the Faith 3. It is written in an oblique after the manner of a Cross and not a direct line Because no man can attain to this holy knowledg who receives not the Mystery of the Cross 4. He goes from the left corner of the East to the right of the West and then from the right corner of the East to the left of the West where we have a two-fold figure 1. Of the Cross signified in such a Scheme 2. The collection both of Jews and Gentiles into one Church And he begins at the left corner of the East to shew that Christ was born of the Jews and goes to the right corner of the West to shew that though Christ was born of the Jews the Doctrine and belief of his Incarnation and Passion was received by the Gentiles And his going from the right corner of the East to the left corner of the West seems to signifie that when the fulness of the Gentiles is come all Israel shall be saved 6. Twelve Crosses are painted on the Walls for three reasons 1. To affright Devils 2. To be Ensigns of Christ's Triumphs 3. To excite Devotion And these Crosses are anointed with Chrism and have Candles burning before them to signifie that the Twelve Apostles who received the first fruits of the Spirit have revealed the Mystery of the Cross to all Nations And so much for the mystical signification of these Ceremonies and the second particular 3. The Heathen beautified their Temples with many noble Gifts and much costly Furniture The Capitol in Rome consecrated to Jupiter Imperator upon Mount Torpeius was adorned with the Statues and Images of all the gods Maiolus mentions a Temple in Vpsalia of such splendor and glory that the Pavement Walls and the very Pillars of it were covered with Gold Dies Canicul p. 405. And Ruffinus speaking of the Temple of Serapis saith that the Walls within were covered with Plates of Gold apud Maiol ibid. The Heathen when in any distress or danger frequently vowed to enrich and adorn the Temples of their gods with magnificent gifts Hinc Augusta nitent sacratis munera Templis Aurea Phoebeis certantia Lumina Templis Manilius apud Rosin Antiq. Rom. lib. 2. cap. 2. Instituit pulchram solidavit robore Templum Caepit perfecit donisque ornavit auxit And a little after he adds Plurima votorum sacravit dona suorum Immensoque pium ditavit munere Templum Corippus Africanus apud cundem Tertullian speaking of the old Romans saith Deum victimis Templum donis honorâstis Ye have honoured God with Sacrifices and beautified the Temple with gifts Apol. cap. 26. Thus do Papists adorn and beautifie their Churches For this their great Doctors urge many Arguments Bellar. de Cultu Sanctor lib. 3. cap. 6. Stapleton Antidota Evangelica in Caput 12. Johannes Durantus de Ritib Eccles lib. 1. cap. 4. And Durandus and Belethus tell us That this adorning consisteth in three things viz. in the decking and trimming of the Church Quire and Altar The Church that is the body of the Church is to be adorned with Curtains and Princely Hangings of Silk and Arras the Quire with Tapistry or Hangings wrought with Pictures of divers colours c. the Altar with rich Coverings Crufixes Phylacteries c. Rational Divin Officior lib. 1. cap. 3. numb 23 Explicat Divin Officior cap. 115. And answerable hereunto is their Practice as all Travellers into those parts where the Roman Religion is established and Historians declare The Palaces of Princes come far short of many of their Churches in splendor and glory How richly and magnificently the Church of Loreto is adorned by Popes Kings and Emperors Turselin gives us a large account Pope Julius 2. beautisi'd this Church with many noble gifts He enriched the high Altar with sacred Ornature viz. an excellent Sute of Cloth of Gold a Silver Cross of Forty pound weight gilt and carved with rare art two Candlesticks a cubit and an half high of twenty six pound weight being of the same substance and work Histor Lauret lib. 2. cap. 12. Francis Cajetan a Noble-man of Rome gave Golden Ornaments for the Altar Cardinal Arigonio other Vestments of Silver and beset with Pearl and the Cardinal of Vrbine most of the Sacred Ornature of his Chappel which was very rich and costly lib. 4. cap. 13. lib 5. cap. 1. 4. The Heathen every year celebrated the Dedication of their Temples which they called the Feast of Dedication Hospinian mentions a famous Fountain in Italy called Juturna from which the Romans fetched water for all their Sacrifices At this Fountain a Temple was built and dedicated to Juturna and the Dedication of it was solemnly observed on the Ides of January De Origine Festor Pagan lib. 2. cap. 8. p. 51. And on the 17 of February or then-about was celebrated the Dedication of the Temple Concordia which Camillus vowed
after every Canticle to denote that our joy was turned into sorrow because the true Sun was set Others put them out at three times in remembrance of Christs three days burial In some Churches the Candles are put out with a Wax hand * O the wit of man which signifies the hand of Judas which was as it were of Wax that is flexible to evil by which Christ our King and true Light was betrayed and as much as in him lay extinguished The Candle in the midst is not put out but kept burning in a Chest or Corner that afterwards it may be brought forth and enlighten the Church And this Candle signifies 1. The Faith which remained only in the Virgin Mary by whom all the Elect are taught and illuminated 2. It signifies Christ who though he seemed according to his flesh extinguished yet according to his Divinity which was hid from them he lived and afterwards rising with most glorious light manifested himself to his Disciples 3. The bringing forth of the Candle which seemed to be put out notes the illumination of Faith in the Apostles and others in whom it was then almost extinct 4. It denoteth Faith after Infidelity 5. It signifies that the fire of the holy Spirit which seems extinguished in Believers shines forth again in them 6. The renewing of the Light signifieth the renovation of the New Testament 7. The Lights are put out successively one after another and one is as it were put out because covered and afterwards brought forth to note That the perverse dressers of the Vineyard and wicked men have slain the Messengers of the Father viz. the Prophets and at last his Heir whose burial is signified by the covering of the Light and resurrection by the bringing of it forth And the Candle last put out according to some is greater than the rest and signifies Christ who was Lord of the Prophets and according to others where the Candle is equal with the rest it also signifieth Christ who was reputed one of the Prophets and the last extinguished because after him there was no Prophet And lastly The Candle it self is put out at the Evangelical Canticle because Christ was slain preaching the Gospel Ration Divin Officior lib. 6. cap. 72. Our Romanists have bestowed many glorious Titles upon several of their great Doctors as Angelical Seraphical Illuminate Irrefragable Profound Certainly this Doctor if the first Discoverer of these strange Mysteries hath deserved them all CHAP. XVIII Worshipping towards the East THE Heathen worshipped towards the East For this many Testimonies might be produced out of their own Writers Surgit aetherei spectans orientia Solis Lumina ritè cavis undam de flumine palmis Sustulit tales effundit ad aethera voces Virgil. Aeneid lib. 8. Illi ad surgentem conversi lumina Solem Dant fruges manibus salsas Idem lib. 12. And herein saith Servius they observed the ancient Custom which was to look towards the East when they prayed And Ovid speaks to the same purpose Fastor lib. 4. His Dea placanda est haec tu conversus adortus Dic quater It was the general practice as Alexander ab Alexandro testifieth to worship the gods towards the East In Genial Dierum lib. 4. cap. 17. Hence their Temples were built East and West as Vitruvius Plutarch and others have affirmed Nay they thought no lustration was lawful except that which was done by those that turned to the East saith Cratinus in Chirone apud Natal Comit. Mythol lib. 1. cap. 14. Thus do our Romanists worship towards the East and for this their famous Bellarmin urgeth several arguments As 1. Because Paradise was seated in the East Gen. 2. Therefore we pray towards the East because we profess our selves Pilgrims and long for our Country out of which we were ejected by sin 2. Because the Heavens begin to move from the East hence 't is that that part of the world is most excellent And therefore when we pray we turn our corporal face to the most excellent Body that we may be admonished to turn our spiritual face to the most excellent Spirit which is God 3. Because Christ whom we invocate is the Light of the World and therefore to signifie that we are illuminated by Christ the Sun of Righteousness as they are by the Corporeal Sun who look towards the East we use this Ceremony 4. Because our Lord was crucified on the Cross towards the West therefore we pray towards the East that we may look him in the face These most convincing Arguments are urged by Bellarmin and many other Roman Doctors for this Custom But their Polydor Virgil ingenuously confesseth that it was derived from the Gentiles De Inventor Rerum lib. 5. cap. 9. And Pope Leo 3. acknowledgeth that this practice savours of a Pagan spirit and ought not to be tolerated among Christians From such Institutions this impiety hath proceeded that the Sun when it riseth in the mornning is adored from high places by simple people which also some Christians do and they think so religiously that before they come to the Church of Blessed Peter the Apostle having passed the Steps to the High Altar they Though Basil made worshipping towards the East an ancient Tradition Lib. de Spir. Sanct. Yet their infallible Leo cancell'd it as an Heathenish Addition not fit to be entertain'd in Christian Religion turn their bodies to the rising Sun and bow in honour of that glorious Body which being done partly through ignorance and partly from a spirit of Paganism we are greatly troubled because though some perhaps rather worship the Creator of Light than Light it self which is a Creature yet we must abstain from the very appearance of such Veneration which when one that hath renounc'd Gentilism observeth in us will he not retain this part of his old Religion as probable which he sees common both to Christians and Gentiles Serm. 7. de Nativit And Pineda affirms that in this Pope's time the custom of building Churches and worshipping towards the East was not observed In Job cap. 31. ver 26. CHAP. XIX HOLY WATER THE Heathen besprinkled themselves with lustral or purgative Water when they went to sacrifice and perform their Devotions Spargit ipse suos lauro rorante capillos Incipit solita fundere voce preces Ablue praeteriti perjuria temporis inquit Ablue praeterita persida verba fide Ovid. Fastor lib. 5. Ter se convertit ter sumptis flumine crinem Irrogavit aquis ternis hiatibus ora Solvit Ovid. Metam Lib. 7. And their hands especially were to be washed as Homer informs us Iliad lib. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non decet illotis manibus libare superno Vina Jovi pudor hoc prohibet fecisse cruoure Turpatum me caede virum deis fundere vota And Timarchidas in libro de Coronis tells us That Asterius was smitten with a Thunder-bolt because he
continued Victorious and Prosperous Did Religion universally prevail and influence the hearts and lives of men then might we beat our Swords into plough-shares and our Spears into pruning-books then every man might sit under his own Vine eating the fruit thereof and none should make him afraid then there would be no leading into Captivity no complaining in our Streets no vexatious Suits no groanings of the oppressed no private injuries no publick Seditions In a word this would make England a Land of desire an heritage of glory even the glory of all Nations And in order to the advance of Religion so advantagious to Mankind let me recommend two Things to your special care and observation 1. The suppression of such Doctrines as subvert Religion particularly those of the Romish Church How dangerous they are to Government and destructive of Vertue you cannot be ignorant and how malepert the Promoters and Professors of them are lately grown is visible to all I am not for your sheathing the Sword of Justice in their Bowels such severity becometh Romanists best yet let them know you have one and that you dare draw it in the defence of that Faith you own which is truly Ancient Catholick and Apostolical 2. The strict Observation of the Christian Sabbath That this day is of Divine Institution and grounded on the fourth Commandment is expresly asserted in the Homily of the Time and Place of Prayer in these words Whatsoever is found in the Commandment appertaining to the Law of Nature as a thing most godly most just and needful for the setting forth of Gods Glory it ought to be retain'd and kept of all good Christian People and therefore by this Commandment we ought to have a Time as one Day in the week wherein one ought to rest yea from our lawful and needful works For like-as it appeareth by this Commandment That no man in the six days ought to be slothful or idle but diligently to labour in that state wherein God hath set him Even so God hath given express charge to all men That upon the Sabbath-day which is now our Sunday they should cease from all weekly and work-day labour to the intent That like-as God himself wrought six days and rested the â—eventh and blessed and sanctified it Even so Gods obedient People should use the Sunday holily not in Sports and Plays and rest from their common and daily business and also give themselves wholly not an hour or two to heavenly Exercises of Gods true Religion and Service So that God doth not only command the Observation of this Holy-day but also by his own Example doth stir and provoke us to the diligent keeping of the same If we will be the Children of our Heavenly Father we must be careful to keep the Christian Sabbath-day which is the Sunday not only for that it is Gods express Commandment but also to declare our selves to be loving Children in following the Example of our gracious Lord and Father In which words we may observe 1. That by virtue of the fourth Commandment one day in seven is perpetually to be kept holy 2. That the keeping of the Lords-day is grounded upon and commanded in the fourth Commandment This Testimony I have urged to check those who confidently Preach and Print too contrary to their own Subscriptions That our Sabbath hath only the Churches Authority to support it and have no better Name than Judaick Precisians for the strict Observers of it But let me further add and 't is what I mainly intend That the devout and conscientious Observation of this Day is the Support of Religion A great Divine tells us The Commandment for the Sabbath is put in the close of the First and in the beginning of the second Table to denote That the Observation of both Tables depends much upon the sanctification of this Day And another observes That Religion is just as the Sabbath is it decays or grows as the Sabbath is esteemed it flourisheth in a due veneration of the Sabbath and it pines and consumes when the Sabbath is neglected I never knew any Place or Person eminent for Piety that was not careful in the sanctification of this Day My next request therefore Right Honourable and Worshipful is That you would unanimously and zealously endeavour to promote the strict Observation of our Christian Sabbath Let not the notorious Profaners of it escape unpunished I will not further oppress your Patience only crave your Patronage and favourable acceptance of this Treatise and a thankful acknowledgment of the great Obligations you have laid upon me That God would incline your hearts to contribute your utmost endeavours towards the advancement of true Religion and Vertue and Succeed you in them and Reward you for them That he would Confer on you all the Blessings you want and preserve and sanctifie those you have and Crown all with the unconceivable Glories of another World is now and shall be the humble and fervent Prayer of Your most obliged and Devoted Servant Joshua Stopford The Epistle to the Reader IGnorant Persons who know little or nothing of Rome but from the Pamphlets of her Parasites may be induced to fancy it to be no less than a Heavenly Jerusalem and they whose Ears are continually fill'd with the Venerable Expressions of Catholick Faith Holy Fathers General Councils Perpetual Successions S. Peters Chair c. ingeminated by Romanists may saith a late Writer by the very sound of such Words be some-what dispos'd to entertain a favourable Opinion of the Romish-Religion The Design of the following Treatise is to fortifie These against such allurements by representing both the one and the other in their true native Colours And to expose unto publick View such dismal Pieces of their Catholick Doctrine and Worship as whosoever observes them well shall have I hope no great temptation to look over-friendly towards Rome And in Order to this end I have used no arguments but such as all that can read may understand My present intention being only to instruct common Christians and to lead them in a plain way In discovering their Corruptions Superstitions and Idolatry I have used all sincerity urging nothing material to their prejudice but what is found either in their publick Liturgies or their best Authors and as much moderation as the matter in hand was capable of Indeed I am forced sometimes to call Things by their proper Names as lying with another Mans Wife Adultery purloining another mans goods Robbery adoring Stocks and Stones Idolatry And if our Romanists think these Expressions uncivil and instead of confessing themselves guilty of what is most justly charged upon them complain that I reproach them I must answer some-what like Elijah in the like case That they are the only men who have reproached themselves For I only say that which they do and cast nothing upon their Face but what I find in their Bosome and not the hundredth Part of it Some Hours and Days and Weeks I
have spent in Reading their Missals Breviaries Rituals and Authors of chiefest note amongst them and find their Religion and Worship so contrariant to Scripture so absurd and Ridiculous that I must publickly profess an utter detestation of it Yet I think it not a much less sin to make Papists worse than they are than to make Widows more destitute or add Affliction to the afflicted I have intituled this Book An Exact Parallel between Rome-Pagan and Rome-Christian c. And how truly I leave it to any one upon an impartial View to judg Many things are purposely omitted for brevity sake and several Reflexions upon what I have mention'd which perhaps might have made this Discourse more acceptable to some to prevent the imputation of a Railer There are two Positions laid down and not with more Zeal than Policy defended by the Roman Church for I do not see how they could secure their deluded Proselytes without them 1. That 't is not convenient the common People should know much of Religion and therefore they take from them the Key of Knowledg I mean the use of their Bibles Bellarmin saith That Faith is to be defined rather by ignorance than by knowledg De Justificat Lib. 1. cap. 7. Thieves will blow out the Candles for fear of being discover'd I know the common Plea is That Scripture is dark and that the ignorant might be seduced by it But they that speak thus do not only accuse Scripture of obscurity but of untruth also for Scripture bears witness to it self That 't is clear and made to give Light to the Vnderstanding Psal 19. 8 The Commandment of the Lord is pure inlightning the eyes Psal 119. 105 Thy Word is a Lamp unto my Feet and a Light unto my Path. The Books of the Prophets are of all Scripture the most obscure yet S. Peter saith That they are like a Light shining in a dark place Thus they accuse Scripture of untruth when they accuse it of darkness and with that cast a great reproach upon God as if he had digg'd a pit to make men fall into it in the dark and deliver'd the Doctrine of Salvation in obscure Terms to lead men into errour like one that makes his Will in ambiguous words purposely to occasion Strife among his Heirs Should the Father of Lights study obscurity He that gave his Son to save his Enenemies Should he be envious of the Salvation of his Children If the Scripture must be prohibited to the People lest they fall into Heresie by the same nay by a stronger reason it ought to be prohibited to Bishops and Priests since from them not from the People all Heresies have proceeded Read the Catalogues of ancient Hereticks made by S. Austin Epiphanius and you will find that almost all the Heresiarchs were Clergymen But 'T is no wonder that our Adversaries of Rome find Scripture dark since they cannot find in it what they would For he must needs have piercing Eyes and a reaching Wit that can find in Scripture a Command for Sacrificing the Body of Christ in the Mass or the Invocation of Saints or the Veneration of Images and Reliques or the Popes Succession in S. Peters Primacy c. Doubtless the Scripture is not so dark but these Gentlemen desire that it were a thousand times darker that none might find in it their condemnation The advice which certain Bishops in Bononia gave unto Pope Paul 3. was That no Mortal should be permitted to read more of the Scripture than that little which was wont to be read in the Mass And they give two weighty Reasons for it 1. Because so long as men were content with that little your Affairs succeeded according to desire but quite contrary since so much of the Scriptures was read 2. Because if any one read that Book viz. the Scriptures and observe the Customs and Practices of our Church he will see that there is no agreement betwixt them and that the Doctrine which we Preach is altogether different from and sometimes contrary to that contained in the Bible The Doctrine of an Implicit Faith is of singular Use and admirable Advantage to the Church that delivers it Vnhappy Papists like the Andabatae of Old must wink and fight and are obliged to follow their Guides in spight of Christs Caution given upon the like occasion Mat. 15. 14. Protestant Ministers bespeak their Hearers in the words of S. Paul I speak as to wise men judg what I say 1 Cor. 10. 15. while Popish Priests must if they would speak out say I speak as to Fools believe all that I say A plain sign their Gold is adulterate because they dare not suffer it to come to the Touch-stone And this piece of Policy they seem to have learn'd of the old Pagans who kept the common People in ignorance of their Sacred Mysteries Plutarch in vita Numae p. 58 62. Alexander ab Alexand. in Genial Dier lib. 4. cap. 17. And Tiraquellus in his Annotations upon him saith Sacra seclusa dicebantur Graecis Mysteria quod ea intus oporteat occludere nec cuiquam profano i. e. non sacris initiato explicare There 's nothing feigned saith S. Ambrose nothing is done in the dark as 't is among the Gentiles whose eyes they cover lest the People seeing those Things which they call Sacred might perceive how they are abused with divers Vanities In 1 Cor. cap. 14. And so much for their first Position 2. The second is That unwritten Traditions are of Equal Authority with Scripture and the Rule of Faith and Manners Concil Trident. Sess 4. â—e Canonicis Scripturis Bellarmin â—ffirms That the Scripture is not a â—ufficient Rule of Faith de verbo Dei non script Lib. 4. cap. 12. The Church saith Lindanus was not tyed to Scripture by the will of Christ Panopl Lib. 5. cap. 5. Christ would not have his Church to depend on Scriptures of paper and would not commit his Mysteries to Parchment Costerus Enchirid. cap. 1. p. 43. And Salmeron gives us a Reason why God would not have all the Mysteries of Religion to be written viz. That the Commandment of Christ should be kept Give not holy things unto dogs Tom. 13. disput 8. p. 216. Which Reason is also given by Costerus Enchirid. cap. 1. p. 48. Nay 't is most evident That they have exalted Traditions above Scripture Costerus calleth the Tradition Printed in the Heart of the Church another kind of Scripture The Excellency of that Scripture saith he far surmounteth the Holy Scriptures which the Apostles have left in parchments Enchirid. cap. 1. p. 44. Stapleton affirms That the Church's determination is of greater Authority than the Scripture de Auth. Script Controvers 7. Lib. 12. cap. 15. And in another place he saith That Scripture in it self is not so much the Rule of Faith as the Faith of the Church that is the Tradition of the Roman Church is the Rule of Scripture And they speak more reverently of
fault as well as without fault Valentinian having a drop of the water sprinkled upon his Garment which was cast by the Priests in their Heathenish Services cut out that piece of cloth upon which that drop fell from the rest of the Garment The ancient Christians would not set up Lights and Bayes at their doors though for this they were persecuted as Enemies to the Emperor because the Temples and the doors of Idolaters were wont to be thus garnished Tertullian de Idolatria cap. 15. The primitive Worthies would not endure that any Christian should look toward Jerusalem praying because they would avoid all shew of Judaism S. Austin thought it in his time unlawful to fast on the Sabbath day because the Manichees did so And he retracted even Ironies because they had the appearance of lying God appointed his own Ceremonies so as a Wall of Partition might be put between the Israelites and the Gentiles in which respect his people are forbid to eat Swines flesh the ordinary food of Pagans to make their heads bald to shave their beards to cut their flesh And Aquinas thinks that because the Heathen set their Temples Eastward therefore God's was set Westward 12 Quest 102. Art 4. The Apostle commands his Thessalonians and in them all Christians to abstain from all appearance of evil not only apparent sins but sins in appearance are to be avoided by Christians If we look back to the old Law how often do we find God giving it in charge to his people that they should not imitate the Heathen especially in their superstitious Customs and religious Ceremonies Lev. 18. 3 After the doings of the land of Egypt wherein ye dwelt shall ye not do neither shall ye walk in their Ordinances The Hebrew Doctors saith Ainsworth explain it thus We may not walk in the statutes of the Heathen nor be like unto them either in apparel or in hair A man must not let the locks of his head grow like the locks of their heads nor shave off the sides and leave the hair in the midst as they do c. and the reason is given Because the Lord had separated them from other people This Command is repeated and a Commination annexed Levit. 20. 22 23. and afterwards they were often admonished by the Prophets Jer. 10. 2 Learn not the way of the heathen do not symbolize with them How little these repeated Injunctions are observed by those of the Roman Communion is too evident to considerative minds That most of the principal Doctrines and Sacred Ceremonies of that Church are derived from Pagans or at least have a perfect agreement with them is so manifest a Truth that certainly none can doubt of it who pretend to any knowledg of them When I call to mind the Institutions of the Holy Mysteries of Ethnicks saith Beroaldus I am even forced to believe That most things appertaining to the celebration of our Solemnities and Ceremonies are taken thence As for example From the Gentile Religion are the shaven heads of priests turnings round at the Altar sacrifical pomp and many such like Ceremonies which our Priests solemnly use in our Mysteries How many things good God! in our Religion are like to the Pagan Religion How many Rites common Apud Wolsium Lection Memor Tom. 1. p. 907. Baronius confesseth That in many things there is a conformity between Popery and Paganism That many things have been laudably translated from Gentile Superstition into the Christian Religion hath been demonstrated by many Examples and the Authority of Fathers And what wonder is it if the most holy Bishops have granted that the ancient Customs of Gentiles should be introduced into the Worship of the true God from which it seemed impossible to take off many though converted to Christianity Annal. Tom. 1. ad annum 58. p. 606. And he comes to particulars ad annum 44. p. 382 Anniversary Vigils thou hast in Suetonius de Vespaniano cap. 7. Holy water and sprinkling of Sepulchers in Juvenal Sat. 6. and others Lights in Suetonius de Octavio Candles and Torches in Seneca and Macrobius Polydor Virgil having in several Chapters described the ancient Usages and superstitious Ceremonies of the Pagan Religion concludes that Book with these words Atque tale fuit apud Romanos rerum sacrarum initium quarum bonam nos partem accepimus uti apposite per nos explicatur And such was the beginning of Sacred Rites and Ceremonies among the Romans a good part of which have we embraced c. de Inventor rerum lib. 4. The pomp of Rites and Ceremonies saith Cornelius Agrippa in Vestments Vessels Lights Bells Organs Musick Odours Sacrifices Gestures rich Pictures choice of Meats Fastings c. are not the least part of Religion And then a little after he adds Quorum magna pars Eusebio teste exinde ab Ethnicis in nostram quoque religionem migravit A great part of which as Eusebius testifieth hath been taken from Ethnicks and received into our Religion De Vanitate Scient cap. 56. But to make this more evident I will instance in several Doctrines and Ceremonies of the Roman Church and shew their perfect agreement with those of the Pagan Religion CHAP. I. Canonization of SAINTS IT was an ancient Custom among the Heathen and universally observed That men famous for Vertue and eminently serviceable to their Countreys either in repelling evil or procuring good things were admitted into the number of the gods and decreed to receive Divine Honour Cicero de natura deorum lib. 2. Eusebius de preparatione Evangel lib. 2. cap. 9. Hesiod tells us That when those happy men of the first and golden Age of the World were departed this life great Jupiter promoted them to be Demons that is Keepers and Protectors or Patrons of earthly Mortals and Overseers of their good and evil works givers of Riches c. And Eusebius from Diodorus saith That the Egyptians affirmed That such as had been vertuous and great Benefactors to the world were deified after their death De praeparat Evang. lib. 3. cap. 3. So Polydore Virgil de Inventor rerum lib. 1. cap. 5. And the manner of this Consecration is thus described by Herodian Histor. Rom. lib. 4. where he speaks of the deisication of Severus The Body of the Emperor being buried according to the usual custom with many pompous solemnities his Effigies of Wax was placed at the entry of the Palace upon a large Bed of Ivory sumptuously adorned about this Bed sate the Senate on the left hand and honourable Matrous on the right in their Mourning Habits for seven days during which time the Physicians did visit the Effigies and treat it as if it were alive in he fit of sickness When these days were expired he was concluded to be dead and transported to the old Court where the Magistrates quitted their Offices Here Benches were built round about the Court and on the one side were placed the children of Noblemen and Patricins and on the other side Noble
Theat lib. 3. p. 69. Durantus Rational divin Officior lib. 5. cap. 1. num 6. CONCLVSION I Could easily give you many other Instances of this Conformity and Agreement between Rome-Pagan and Rome-Christian which hath been as you heard confessed by many and defended by some of their greatest Doctors But I have already exceeded my Bounds and therefore will conclude with one Inference from the preceding Discourse Hence it appears How extremely hazardouâ— 'tis to live and dye in the Roman Communion For what Blasphemy Superstition and Idolatry is disfused through all the Veins of their Worship and Religion Antichrist 〈◊〉 Man of Sin is called the Son of Perdition 2 Thes â— 3 and so he is both actively and passively he is damned himself and the cause of the damnation of others Read v. 9 10 11 12 of that Chapter His coming is after the working of Satan with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lâ—e that they all might be damned And they whom the Whore of Babylon hath made drunk with the Wine of her Fornication shall drink of the Wine of the Wrath of God Rev. 14. 9 10. The only doubt is Whether the Pope be Antichrist which seem'd so probable to the famous Lord Bacon that being asked by King James Whether he thought him so to be 'T was not less truly than wittily answered by him That if an Hue and Cry should come after Antichrist which should describe him by those Characters by which he is decyphered in the Bible he would certainly apprehend the Pope for him And whosoever will but peruse with an impartial eye the Authors on both sides that have treated of this Subject will I doubt not conclude the notorious weakness of their Answers to our Allegations to be at least an high Presumption of the Truth of our Assertion if not sufficient to put an end to all further Doubtings Quest Is not then Salvation possible in the Roman Church Or may not a man who lives and dyes in the Communion of that Church be saved Answ Many of our Divines have answered this Question Affirmatively with some limitations Which charitable Concession is grosly abused by our Adversaries of Rome When they meet with some weak and ignorant Persons whom they endeavour to proselyte the medium which they commonly use is this That their Religion is the safer And they prove it thus By our Confession Salvation may be had in their Church but their Doctors absolutely deny the possibility of Salvation This Objection hath been most solidly confuted by the learned Dr. Tillotson Dean of Canterbury in ours and therefore by the Confession of both Parties they may be safe but of us there 's a great question for none but our selves say that we can be saved That I may give the Reader the true state of and return a full Answer to the Question propounded I will lay down these following Propositions 1. That we have great reason to think That many of the Laity in the Romish Church if not the greatest number of them do not cordially embrace many of their Corruptions in Doctrinals nor the most dangerous of them 2. That these are commonly tainted with so much of their Corruptions as renders their Salvation extreamly hazardous 1 Cor. 3. 12 15. If any man build on this foundation wood hay stubble He shall be saved yet so as by fire This Phrase so as by fire is Proverbial and notes the extream danger a man is in and yet escapes They are not saved with less danger than the Seven Thousand were among the Idolatry of the Ten Tribes 1 King 19. 18 or the Corites in the Tents of Corah their Father Num. 26. 11. 'T was an extraordinary Mercy that preserved the one and I cannot tell how rescued the other 3. That a Protestant leaving the Communion of our Church doth incur a greater guilt and consequently run a greater hazard than one who was bred up in the Communion of the Church of Rome and continues therein by invincible ignorance For a Protestant is suppos'd to have sufficient Convictions of the Errors of the Roman Church or is guilty of wilful Ignorance if he hath not And although we know not what allowance God will make for invincible Ignorance and the impresses of Birth and Education yet we are sure that wilful Ignorance or chusing a worse Church before a better is a damnable Sin and unrepented of destroys Salvation 4. When we say That Salvation may be had in the Roman Church 't is grounded on the hopes we conceive of their Repentance and not the goodness of their Religion 5. That man who embraceth Popery in its latitude that is the Canons of the Tridentine Council and as they are explicated by many of their greatest Doctors and whose practices exactly correspond therewith cannot be saved 1. Because he embraceth damnable Errors as worshipping of Images and the Host in the Sacrament 2. Because a Reprobate may do nay often doth as much and more than many of their chiefest Doctors have placed among the Agenda of that Church for the attainment of eternal life I grant that damnable Errors do no more than damnable Practices as Whoredom Drunkenness actually damn men when sincere Repentance intervenes this will obtain from God a Pardon of the one as well as of the other But the Repentance prescribed by their Doctors falls so far short of that required by God in his word that if a man rest in it and I fear too many do he adds Impenitency to his other Crimes and consequently is excluded from all hopes of Salvation This will appear if we remark the nature of that Repentance which say they is sufficient to obtain remission of sin In the new Law saith Lay-man after the commission of a mortal sin true Contrition is not necessary to a man who is about to receive the Sacrament of Penance but Attrition is sufficient though he know it to be no more And when 't is said That of Attrite by vertue of the Sacrament a man is made Contrite it is not to be understood as if the act of Attrition did pass into an act of Contrition but that the sinner by Attrition with the Sacrament of Penance is as well justified as by Contrition without it Theol. Moral lib. 5. tract 6. cap. 2. And Fillincius starting this Question Whether Attrition in the Article of Death be sufficient with the Sacrament or a man ought to have Contrition Answers That according to Divine Justice a man that 's attrite with the Sacrament is not obliged to be contrite in the Article of Death and he gives this reason Because the opinion of the sufficiency of Attrition with the Sacrament is practically certain according to the Council of Trent Quaest Mor. Tom. 1. Tract 6. cap. 8. num 197. And Escobar affirms That this is the received opinion of their School-men and Casuists Theol. Moral Tract â— Exam. 4. cap. 7. Reader My hearty prayer is That God would give thee a right understanding in all things that concern Religion and thy Salvation and to those of the Romish Perswasion Repentance to the acknowledgment of the Truth that they may recover themselves from the snare of the Devil FINIS To the READER SEveral Errata's have past in this Impression by reason of the Authors distance from the Press which the Candid Reader is desired to pardon and amend with his Pen.