Augmentation of the Sacraments of that Church the Ignorance of the Holy Scripture and the Invocation of Saints which in the Roman Church is gone as far as Idolatry are all grounded and lest some body should believe that I charge falsely the Church of Rome when I accuse it of Idolatry or lest some body should believe what the Papists use to say that it is but the common people that ground their hope upon the merits of the Saints and that the learned men who are lightned do not fall in so gross errors do but read the Psalter of the blessed Virgin Mary in the works of St. Bonaventure and you shall see that this Cardinal attributes to the blessed Virgin Mary all that which is attributed to God Almighty in Davids Psalmes and every where where the name of God should be he puts in the room the name of the Blessed Virgin pray can any thing be more impious and more wicked Neither can you say that that error is an error of a private man for I answer that it is a publick error in that Church and the error of the Church it self since in the book of the Mass upon St Nicolas's day (b) Decemb. 6. the Priest who says the Mass hath an order from the Church whereby he is engaged under the pain of a Mortal sin to pray God that by the merits and prayers of St. Nicolas they may be delivered from the fire of Hell Vt ejus precibus meritis à gehennae incendiis liberemur a Church which makes that prayer doth it not believe that it is by the prayers and merits of St. Nicolas that we are delivered from Hell and to believe that is it not to believe an horrible Impiety In the same book of Mass on the day (a) The 6th of July of St. Peter and St. Paul all the Roman Church prays to God that by the merits of these two Saints all men may obtain Eternal Glovy Vt amborum meritis aeternitatis gloriam consequamur then it is the errour of all the Roman Church and not of a private man to believe that it is by the merits of Saints we are to obtain eternal life And on the day (b) The 14 July of St. Bonaventure the Church of Rome prays God he would be pleased to absolve all men from their sins by the merits of that Saint ejus intercedentibus meritis ab omnibus nos absolve peccatis Now a Church which believes that it is by the merits of Saints that we are delivered from Hell that it is by the merits of Saints that we obtain eternal life that it is by the merits of Saints that our sins are forgiven is that a Christian Church could the Mahometans and Idolaters hold or think any thing more destructive of the merits and more opposite to the Glory of Jesus Christ could they invent an error more contrary to the truth of Christianity GENERAL CONCLUSION That I was engaged to go out of the Church of Rome whereof God Almighty made me know the errors by the degrees I have rehearsed in the two parts of this discourse AFter I had made that examination of the principles whereupon is grounded the Authority of the Roman Church after I had discovered the falsehood and the nullity of the reasons which she alledges to oblige the world to commit it self into her hands after I had found that Antiquity Multitude and Succession are not priviledges which the Church of Rome possesses above all other Churches after I had known that if the Church of Rome should enjoy all those priviledges above other Churches yet it would not be a good consequence from thence that it be the true Church and a Church freed from errors after I had discovered that all the infallibility of the Roman Church was grounded only upon the Authority of the Popes and that the greatness and Authority of the Popes was grounded but upon Ambition and Covetousness I understood that there was no other foundation of the true Religion but the word of God I acknowledged the truth of those Axiomes of St. Chrysostome (a) Homil. de Lazaro That the Ignorance of the Scripture procreates Heresies and that (b) Homilia 38. sup Joann the Scriptures bring us to God Almighty drive away Heresies and keep us from falling into error that thought imprinted it self upon my mind very strongly and made an end of scattering away the Clouds which Truth seemed to be wrapped in I knew manifestly that all points which are called Articles of Faith in the Roman Church but are not grounded upon the Scripture are indeed Articles of the Interest and of the Ambition of those who rule it and not Articles of Faith which are to be no other than Articles of the Word of God I understood well that that which was taught in that Church was the word of man not the word of God and that having no foundation in the Scripture they could not be sufficient Articles to oblige all men to believe them moreover in examining particularly and without preoccupation the Articles of Rome I knew them to be contrary to the Scripture so whereas at that time I acknowledged nothing but the word of God for the true rule of my Faith I concluded that all those Articles of Rome were so many errors and that having a natural obligation to forsake error assoon as we know it I was obliged to go out of the Roman Church to forsake altogether and faithfully all the errors which it stands for §. 1. The occasion of a Sermon about the Sacrament called again in my mind all the notions I had of the Errours of Rome THus I discussed the Articles of the Belief of Rome when the time of my obedience being finished I left the Monastery where I was near Saumur to come again to Paris there the F. Provincial who had disposed of his Secretary to send him to govern one of the Monasteries of our province spoke of making me his Secretary but the Divine Providence ordered it another way for the F. Provincial seeing that the F. General had taken upon himself all the care of our Province for the while he was to stay at Paris thought that it should be needless to take a Secretary that was the reason why he commanded me to go to preach at the Parish of Meudon which is a Borough six miles out of Paris That Place where God Almighty had begun some years before to lighten me with the light of his Truth seemed to me the place of all the world the most pleasing and the most well liked I preached every Sunday and every Holy-day which is kept by the Church of Rome till at last about the time that they Celebrate the days which are called Corpus-Christi-days being engaged to preach as I us'd to do I read again what I had written afore upon the matter of the Sacrament and I was troubled in reading what I had written What! said I must I abuse
cy-devant est tombée dans la Corruption et dans l Erreur § 1. Corruption horrible dans ses Moeurs p. 80. § 2. Erreurs extremement grossieres dans sa Doctrine pag. 88. Conclusion Generale Que j'estois engagé de sortir de l'Eglise de Rome aprés que Dieu m'en eut fait connoître les Erreurs par les degrés que j'ay marqués dans les deux Parties de ce Discours pag. 88. § 1. L'Occasion d'un Sermon que je préchay sur le sujet du Sacrement me rappella dans l'Esprit toutes les idées que j'avois des Erreurs de Rome pag. 91. § 2. Les repugnances que je souffris et les difficultés qu'il me falut surmonter pag. 94. § 3. Les raisons que je meditay dans mon esprit pour differer ma Conversion pag. 96. § 4. Dieu par sa misericorde me fait vivement comprendre le grand peché que c'est que de s'opposer au saint Esprit et ainsi acheve ma Conversion en me faisant genereusement abandonner la Communion de Rome pag. 101. TABLE INTRODUCTION § 1. The Reasons wherefore I have been engaged to write these Memoires Pag. 1. § 2. That the Conversion of a man who did live in the Errors of the Roman Church is a very great Miracle pag. 5. § 3. After what manner and by what degrees the Spirit of God made me understand my Errors pag. 9. FIRST PART That the Doctrin of the Roman Church is not grounded neither upon the belief of the Primitive Church or the Authority of the Holy Fathers CHAP. I. How I understood that the Doctrin of the Roman Church is not grounded upon the Scripture § 1. The Reading of the Scripture disposes me to acknowledge the Errors of Rome pag. 11. § 2. The Errors of the Roman Church whereof I was perswaded made me find in the Scripture many Difficulties many Insufficiencies and many Contradictions pap 16. § 3. Circumstances which did contribute to hasten my Conversion pag. 22. § 4. Conclusion of this Chapter That the Articles of Faith of the Roman Church cannot be proved by Scripture pag. 26. CHAP. II. How I understood that the Articles of Faith of the Roman Church are not grounded upon the Belief of the Primitive Church nor upon the Authority of the Holy Fathers INTRODUCTION The reading of the Books concerning The Perpetuity of Faith in the Eucharist was an occasion to me to examin in particular the Belief of the Roman Church about that matter pag. 30. Division of the Errors of Rome concerning the Eucharist pag. 34. Section I. That the belief of Rome about the real Presence in the sense of Transubstantiation is a new Doctrin in the Church I. First Proof drawn out of the Arguments wherewith the Fathers of the Church had wont to Dispute against the Heathens pag. 36. II. Second Proof drawn out of the Reasons wherewith the same Fathers had wont to Dispute against the Hereticks pag. 41. III. Third Proof drawn out of the manner whereafter the Fathers had wont to speak of the Holy Saerament pag. 44. IV. Fourth Proof drawn out of the novelty of the Doctrin teaching Transubstantiation pag. 48 Section II. That that which is taught of the Sacrifice of the Mass in the Church of Rome is a Doctrin contrary to the belief of the Primitive Church I. In what sense it is true to say that the Holy Sacrament is a Sacrifice pag. 50. II. That the pretended Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Roman Church is contrary to the Scripture pag. 53. III. What has given occasion to that Error and the degrees of Corruption which brought forth that belief pag. 56. IV. That the horrid abuse which is slid in the Roman Church to offer their Sacrifices in the honour of Saints is a practice contrary to that of the Primitive Church pag. 59. Section III. That the manner of Administring the Sacrament in the Roman Church is quite different and very much opposed to that to which they were used in the first Ages of the Church I. That in the time of the Apostles and in the first ages of the Church they gave the Communion to all the People under both kinds they worshipped not the Host and celebrated not the Holy Mysteries in an unknown Tongue pag. 64. II. The beginning of all the Errors of the Roman Church in the Administration of the Sacrament pag. 70. 1. The beginning of the Abridgement of the Cup. pag. 71. 2. The beginning of the Worship of the Host pag. 74. 3. The beginning of the celebration of the Eucharist in an unknown Tongue pag. 78. Conclusion of the First Part. That the Articles of Faith of the Roman Church cannot be proved by the practice of the Primitive Church nor by the authority of the ancient Fathers pag. 80. Second Part. That the Church of Rome is not the true Church that it's Authority is not Infallible and that it is full of Corruptions and Errors INTRODUCTION The Divine Providence brought forth some occasions which made me resolve to examin the very first grounds of the Question concerning the Authority of the Roman Church pag. 1. 1. The occasion that I had to examin a-new all the Articles of Faith of the Roman Church all which I reduced to the Authority of the same Church pag. 3. 2. The occasion that I had to doubt of the Infallibility of the Pope made me resolve to examin again and without passion upon which is grounded that Authority which the Church of Rome boasts so much pag. 6. 3. Circumstances wherewith I began to examin the Authority of the Roman Church and what I do design in the Rehearsal of them pag. 12. CHAP. I. Of the pretended grounds of the Authority of the Roman Church pag. 16. Section I. That Antiquity Multitude and Succession are not priviledges which ever the Roman Church had enjoyed above all other Churches pag. 20. § 1. That the Roman Church is not the Eldest of all the Churches pag. 21 § 2. That the Multitude is not on the Roman Churches side pag. 25. § 3. That other Churches as well as the Roman have their Succession from Bishop to Bishop from the very Apostles pag. 29. Section II. That neither Antiquity neither Multitude neither Succession are not Infallible marks of the true Church and consequently that a Church may have them all and with them all be an Heretical Church pag. 32. § 1. That Antiquity is not an Infallible mark of the true Church pag. 33. § 2. That the Multitude is not an Infallible mark of the true Church pag. 39. § 3. That the Succession is not an Infallible mark of the true Church pag. 45. Conclusion That it is the Succession of the true Doctrin from the Apostles which is an Infallible mark of the true Church and that the Church of Rome which hath not the Succession of the Doctrin has no reason to boast neither of its Antiquity neither of the Multitude neither
my self engaged upon pain of a mortal Sin to recite every day the 119th Psalm wherefore I did read it every day with as much application as I could Ch. 1. §. 1. The obligation to recite it so often did never make me to loath and though I were weary oftentimes to Read or to hear Read I do not know how many fabulous Stories which are to be found in the Roman Breviary several thwart applications of the Scripture several Orisons and Litanies wherein they Pray to all the Saints one after another to obtain of them the things which we are to hope only from God Almighty yet I was never loath to hear the Scripture especially this Psalm whereunto I had some most peculiar Attractions I went to Church with joy I opened my Breviary with pleasure to Read that Psalm and I discovered therein every day some new glimps of Light which inticed me to have a great deal of Esteem for the Word of God Psalm 119. It is in that Psalm I learned that the Wor of God is an excellent remedy to Cure all the Diseases of our Souls (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 9. drawing them out of their Deboachments and a miraculous Preservative (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 11. to keep them from falling again into Sin Therein I learned that an infallible mark to be sure whether a man fears God or no is to know whether he be glad (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 74 to see and frequent those who put all their trust in his Holy Word Therein I learned that a very good way to become (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 98. Wiser than all our Enemies to have more * 99. understanding than all our Teachers * 100. to be Wiser than the Ancients is to love the Scriptures so that our Study be in them all the day long Therein I learned that the Word of God is an Holy Contract full of a great many very obliging Promises wherein the Lord has been pleased to agree with men (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 50. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 82. to comfort them in their afflictions (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 107 to strengthen them in their troubles to fulfil them (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 41. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 58. with his loving Mercies to save them (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 81. to deal well with them (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 65. to take them in his Protection and to deliver them Therein I learned that the Saints are to love the Word of God (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 154. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 170. above all Silver and Gold in the World that (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 72. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 127. it is their Meditations all the day long That the cause of their grief and trouble is to see that their Enemies which are no others than the Enemies of God (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 97. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 148. have forgotten his Holy Words despised them and banished them out of their hearts therein I learned that the Word of God (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 139. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 158. is sweeter than any thing that it is (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 103. a LAMP unto our Feet and a LIGHT unto our Path that (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 105. the entrance of the word of God gives LIGHT that it gives understanding unto the simple that this holy Word is (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 130. very Pure that it is (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 140. true from the beginning and that it (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 160. endureth for ever These Holy thoughts of a Prophet full of the Holy Ghost presented themselves every day unto my eyes with some new inticements and made me conceive so high an esteem of the word of God that I fully resolved to make the Holy Writings my peculiar Study I read first many times that Translation of the Bible which is called the Vulgar Translation then having obtained the permission of Reading the Scripture in a Vulgar Tongue knowing that one 's own Tongue prints in his mind more pure and more lively Notions I read the Translation of the Bible by the Doctorsof Louvain But whereas I heard say every day by those I conversed withal that the Bible was a Book full of Darkness that the Translations thereof had been corrupted by the Hereticks I read the New Testament in the Togue in which every body confesses it has been first written and as for the Old Testament the places which they say have been corrupted by those of the Reformed Church I conferred with the Translation of the Sventy Interpreters which I thought free from Corruption since it was done about 272 Years afore the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ Good God! how marvellous are the means thou art pleased to use to act thy Miracles would some body had told me at that time Oh you are plunged in many Errors and all that Study of the Scripture to which you give your self with so great an application it is the work of God who begins to pluck you from the Errors of Rome Alas I should have been amazed very much Yet for all that it is very true for if I had been altogether Ignorant of the Original Tongues of the Scripture I should have had some Reason or at least some pretence to mistrust that the places of the Scripture which are directly contrary to the Doctrine of the Church of Rome Ch. 1. §. 2. had not been Translated according to the Originals or that the Interpreters had changed the sense and the signification of them as it is cried out so often by those of the Roman Church § 2. The Errors of the Roman Church whereof I was perswaded made me find in the Scriptures many difficulties many insufficiencies and many contradictions THe reading of the Scripture raised in my mind many difficulties Difficulties of the Scripture not that the Scripture is dark in it self but because I had my understanding full of the Errors of Rome and I did endevour to find those Errors in the Scripture in the places from whence the Roman Writers are wont to draw them This place of (a) Matth. 16.18 St. Matthew Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will Build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it c. That of (b) Luke 22.32 St. Luke I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not and that (a) John 21.16 of St. John Feed my Sheep c. If all these Words do signifie nothing but what every body conceives by the natural notions which they do picture in our Soul these Words are very easie but if they do signifie that the Pope is the true Successor of St. Peter the Vicar of Christ the High-Priest the Head
the Bridegroom and the Foundation of the Church as he is stiled (b) De Pontif. Roman lib. 2. cap. 31. by Bellarmin if they do signifie that the Pope is Infallible that he has the power to make new Articles of Faith (c) 2.2 q. 1. art 10. as Thomas Aquinas doth hold If those places of Scripture signifie all these Propositions they are very dark we must confess it is a very hard matter to follow these Consequences since they are contrary even to common Sence That place of St. Paul (d) 1 Corinth 11.24 This is my Body If these Words are to be expounded after the same manner that those other words of the same St. Paul in the same Epistle in the next Chapter (e) 1 Corinth 12.27 Ye are the Body of Christ this place is very easie but if these words signifie that the substance of Bread in the Holy Sacrament is transubstantiated into Jesus Christ his own Flesh into his own substance as it is written (a) Sess 13. cap 4. can 2. in the Councel of Trent that place is very obscure there is not in all the Scripture such another And if we are to give to all the Texts of Scripture which are alike to that so rough an explication to understand them after the same manner the Council of Trent understands that of St. Paul we must needs say that all the substance of Christ is Transubstantiated into the substance of a (b) Joh. 10.7 door that Christ is truly and really a (c) Joh. 1.29 Lamb that the spiritual Rock which followed the Children of Israel in the Wilderness had but the appearances the colour the hardness the resemblance of a Rock but truly and really it was Transubstantiated into the Body into the Blood into the Soul and the Divinity of Christ because the Scripture saith (d) 1 Cor. 10.4 That Rock was Christ And how horrid an absurdity would it be to draw such consequences Ah we must confess the Scripture is very difficult if we are to receive such Interpretations Besides that I did find in the Scripture many Insufficiencies Insufficiencies of the Scripture I thought it was an Article of Faith to believe that the Roman Church is the true Church which Christ has established and in all the Scripture I did find nothing of it I knew it was an Article of the Faith of Rom to believe that it is an Holy thing godly acceptable to the Lord and profitable to Men (a) Sess 25. To call upon the names of the Saints (b) Sess 25. decr 2. To Worship their Images Bones and Reliques according as it is decreed in the Council of Trent And I did not find in all the Scripture any Prayers directed to the Saints after their Death I did not find in all the Acts of the Apostles nor any where else that the first Christians had any Images in whose presence they said their Prayers neither do we read they had any Caskets or Shrines wherein Reliques were kept to bring them abroad in solemn Processions to set them in the middle of their Churches and to Worship them there Wherefore I said sometimes to my self Alas If We keep the same Faith as the first Christians why do We the things which the first Christians never did Why do We call upon the names of Saints Why do We Worship their Images and Bones I found not in all the Scripture Indulgencies or Purgatory in short I thought my self obliged to beieve several Articles of Faith of which there is no mention in the Scripture That made me think that the Scripture was an insufficient Book and that every thing which is necessary to believe for our Salvation is not contained in it But I did not perceive my errors nor the falshood of my discoursing and that whereas I did conclude that the Scripture was insufficient because I did not find in it all those Articles I should rather and more rightly conclude that all those Doctrines are not Articles of Faith since they are not to be found in the Word of God These first glimpses of Truth made a mighty Impression in my Mind though under pretences of Doubts Difficulties and Insufficiencies Contradictions of the Scripture to which were added even many contradictions which I found in the Places of the Scripture whereby the Doctrine of the Church of Rome is utterly subverted in that place of (a) 1 Tim. 4. St. Paul to Timothy Now the Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils speaking Lyes in Hypocrisie having their Consciences seared with a hot Iron forbidding to Marry and commanding to abstain from Meats which God has created to be received with Thanksgivings You would say that the Apostle did see by the Spirit the Errors of the Roman Church which he condemns before-hand as Doctrines of Devils Who doth not understand that these words do utterly destroy the Doctrine of the Popes in the Decree of Gracian (a) Distinct 82. can Propos can Propos can Plurimos wherein the Marriage of Church-men is stiled a defiling and a Sacriledge Doutterly destory the Commandements of the Roman Church wherein it is commanded to abstain from Meats upon the pain of a Mortal Sin These Words of (b) 1 Cor. 10.16 17. St. Paul to the Corinthians The BREAD which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ We are all partakers of that one BREAD and in the next Chapter (c) 1 Cor. 1◠v. 26 27 28. As often as you Eat that BREAD c. Let a man examin himself and so let him Eat of that BREAD All these Testimonies of the Holy Ghost were a mighty weight to incline me to believe that the Holy Sacrament was the Bread which is broken Ch. 1. §. 3. But at last error did come again to extinguish this sparkle of Light which began to shine in my Soul and whereas it is the belief of Rome which is to be ruled modified and accommodated to the Truth of the Word of God I did perswade my self that these places of the Scripture were to be ruled modified and accommodated to the belief of Rome and so I was obliged to look upon all those Words of Scripture as so many Contradictions §. 3. Circumstances which did contribute to hasten my Conversion IN that condition I found my self divided betwixt Error and Truth betwixt the Word of God and the Belief of the Church of Rome But Error brought forth some pretences to persist stubbornly May be said I the reason wherefore I come to so many Difficulties Insufficiencies and Contradictions in the Scripture is because I have not read what the Theologians write concerning such Questions may be the Study of Divinity will make plain all these Difficulties supply all these Insufficiencies and reconcile all these Contradictions So I was like to that blind Man whom Christ
came to present themselves distinctly to my mind with the most hidden most secret and most mysterious â—ricks they be cloathed withal and in â—vriting for the infallible Authority of â—he Pope I began to learn that the Pope was not infallible and by consequent that all the Articles of Faith of the Church of Rome which I grounded upon such an infallibility were grounded upon a lye 1. The occasion I had to examine anew all the Articles of Faith of the Roman Church which I reduced all to the Authority of the same Church I Had not yet the age that the Canons of the Church required to be ordained a Priest when I had made an end of my Course of Divinity and the General of the Order of which I was besides the ordinary permission of preaching which he uses to give to those who were judged to have the necessary aptitudes to teach and edifie the people sent me an extraordinary permission to preach the word of God though I was but a Deacon I was sent that year to dwell in the Monastery of the chief town of Champagne and the superior of that Monastery who was a person of an extraordinary capacity and consummated vertue appointed me to teach publickly the Catechism in one of the Churches of that town I did it and whereas the concurrence of the Articles of Faith which I discoursed of obliged me to discourse of matters of Controversie I had occasion to examine them to consider all the reasons both for and against to instruct my self leasurely of all the truths of the word of God and to discover all the errours of the Roman Church every one in particular Yet I did not publish in the Pulpit the light of truth wherewith God Almighty lightened my mind and I did preach the Articles of Faith of the Roman Church whereof I was but a litle perswaded I must needs here O my God give satisfaction for the wrong I did to truth Many people that followed the Wars who Wintered in that Town where I preached came to hear my Catechisms two of them which were of the Protestant Religion one an Officer and the other a common Souldier born on in the Province of Languedoc the other in that of Poicton came to tell me that the reasons I brought forth for the defence of the Faith of Rome had perswaded them that they were ready to forsake and forswear their heresies and that they prayed me to instruct them farther in the Principles of the Roman Religion I did it I instructed them a while and I made them to forswear according to the forms of Rome unto the Superior of that Monastery Ah! could those men hear my voice I would cry unto them with all my heart Come again Brethren come again into the lap of the Church from which I pluck'd you out the reasons I alledged to you I acknowledge now they were but Sophismes the Authors I cited I made them speak against their own minds expounding them after some ill constructions in fine the places of the Scripture which I caused you to take notice of read them again and again without preoccupation and you shall find that they teach nothing less than what is taught in the Church of Rome That antiquity which I attributed to that Church began only after the purity of the Gospel had been corrupted by the Bishops of Rome that Church which I said was the image of the Primitive I said was the image of the Primitive Church is truly the Church of the latter-times whereof St. Paul * 1 Tim. 4. speaks a Church which forbids to mary a Church which holds that it is a sin to eat certain meats in certain times and by consequent a most corrupt Church wherewith the Primitive Church hath no commerce or conformity in short I should tell them freely that I did not believe my self at that time that the Articles of the Faith of Rome were grounded either upon the Authority of the Scripture or the Authority of the Fathers of the Primitive Church and that all that I was detained withall in the Communion of Rome was the belief which I was perswaded of that the Pope was infallible which belief I have discovered since to be false and a great errour 2. The occasion I had to doubt of the infallibility of the Pope made me resolve the examine again and without passion upon what the Authority which the Church of Rome boasts so much of is grounded AFter I had continued to teach the Catechism in that Town my Superiours destinated me to dwell in the Monastery of Sens in Burgundy I arrived there in the time whereat the Lord Archbishop of Sens had resolved to make an end of the difference he had had a great while with all the Monks of his Diocess concerning the right he stood upon to make his visitation in their Churches he had already begun to deal compulsively with some of the Monasteries which are in his Diocess and the Provincial of our Order fearing that my Lord Archbishop would deal after the same manner with the Monastery of Sens and that the Monks should withstand him to the scandal of all the people gave order to the Superior of that Monastery to go to my Lord Archbishop and to inform him of the reasons which the Monks insisted upon to withstand the Bishops and not suffer them to hold any visitation in their Monasteries the Superior desired me to come with him he went to my Lord Archbishop discourst to him his reasons according to the order he had received of the Provincial and my Lord of Sens who was a learned man a sublime spirit skil'd in all Canonical matters gave his answers to all that the Superior had proposed to him I heard that great Archbishop with all the respect and veneration I was to do and I stayed holding my peace till his Grace was pleased to begin to me and desire me to speak if I had any thing to answer to what he had said I told his Grace as compendiously as I could what I had remarked in his answers which I was not contented with and I answered to his reasons as succintly as it was possible Some days after the Provincial wrote to me and desired me to send him the result of the Conference with my Lord Archbishop and to write him withall what I my self in particular thought of the Contention we had with the Bishops concerning the matters of Jurisdiction I examined the question in its principles I reduced the Conference we had with my Lord Archbishop to some Capital Arguments whereupon I wrote fully and at length all my remarks in form of Reflexions which I sent to the Provincial as he desired me to do whereupon he wrote to me the most obliging letter in the world Those Reflexions I had made give me a great desire to examine the greatness of the Power which is attributed to the Pope in the Church of Rome and gave me the occasion to weigh
hands on all the Churches there will be no other proof of Christianity no other shelter for the Christians who shall desire to know the truth than the Holy Scriptures than the word of God and truly in that time as well as in all those which I have marked heretofore the Multitude will follow the part of error and the true Church shall be reduced to a little flock which shall be strengthened only with the word of God against all the Stratagems and the persecutions of Antichrist To make an end of that proof I will rehearse what happened in the Council of Nice according to that which Sophronius (d) lib. 1. cap. 8. relates all the Bishops thought to introduce into the Church a new Law which was that those who would be in the Sacred Orders should lead a single life the good Priest Paphnutius a venerable old man of a holiness and purity free from all slanders rose in the middle of that multitude of Bishops You must not saith he to them lay so heavy a burthen upon the shoulders of those who are in the Sacred Orders you are to consider what St. Paul (e) ad Hebr. 13.9 saith that Marriage is honourable in all and the bed undefiled to that voice a numerous multitude of Bishops Priests and Deacons who were present there vouchsafing their attention considered that Holy old man as an Apostle who came to declare to them the word of God and changed their resolution so knowing by the Doctrine of St. Paul that Marriage is honourable in all they left all the Church-men free to live in the state of Marriage as they had us'd to do before Do but judge now if in that time the Multitude got the advantage over truth and if the Fathers of that Council were of the opinion of the Roman Church that the Multitude of those who hold one and the same Doctrine is a mark of the truth of that belief §. 3. Succession is not an Infallible mark of the true Church IF Succession could give the right of being Infallible there is no Church in the world which had more right to be esteemed such than the Church of Jerusalem it is of Jerusalem that it is said (f) 2 Chron. 33.4 7. in Jerusalem shall my name be for ever In this house and in Jerusalem which I have chosen before all the Tribes of Israel will I put my name for ever (g) 2 Chron. 7.16 I have chosen and sanctified this house that my name may be there for ever and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually (h) Psal 132.13 14. The Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his habitation this is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it c. and I will also clothe her Priests with Salvation it was upon all those fair promises the Priests proceeded in withstanding the truth which was preached to them by the Prophets it was for that reason they exclaimed so often upon all occasions (i) Jerem. 7.4 The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord are these But hear what the Lord answers (k) v. 8 11 12 c. Behold ye trust in lying words that cannot profit Is this house which is called by my name become a Den of Robbers in your eyes behold even I have seen it saith the Lord but go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh where I set my name at the first and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel And now because you have done all these works saith the Lord Therefore will I do unto this house which is called by my name wherein ye trust and unto the place which I gave to you and to your Fathers as I have done to Shiloh and I will cast you out of my sight c. The same is to be seen in the other Prophets where Jerusalem after it had been established by the Lord as a Tabernacle which should never be removed it is said afterwards that for its abominations it is transported into Babylon If Shiloh hath ceased to be the house of God if Jerusalem be reduced into a Wilderness where nothing grows but Briers and Thorns where (a) Isaiah 5.6 God will command the Clouds that they rain no rain upon it hath the Church of Rome any reason to brag so much because it hath been in times past the Nurse of Martyrs the Seed-plot of Saints doth it follow from thence that it is still at this time in the same condition it was in the first Ages of the Church Hath not the present Church of Rome a great deal of reason to fear that after all the abominations it hath been filled withal by those who have had the government thereof it may be dealt with like Jerusalem that it may be made a Den of Robbers an horrible Babylon a dreadful Wilderness where grows nothing but Briers and Thorns and where God hath permitted that the Heaven of the Holy Scripture should be shut up and that there should not fall a drop of his word upon those who stubbornly persist in its abominations In fine could the Church of Rome be in hope of having more priviledges than many other Churches which have been built by the Apostles in the Eastern part which have conserved during long space of years their right succession preserved from Bishop to Bishop from Pastor to Pastor and which notwithstanding all that have been since by the Turks turned into several Mosquées where those Infidels have the exercise of their Religion If the Church of Rome would say that the Doctrine it teaches is to be followed because the Popes who do govern at this time have succeeded one another from Bishop to Bishop in St. Peter's Chair I answer that for the same reason in the time of Paul Samosatenus it was necessary for every body to be an Heretick because Paul of Samosate was right Bishop and Patriarch of Antioch that he had succeeded lawfully Demetrius Demetrius Fabius Fabius Babilas who succeeded Zebinus he Philetus he Asclepiades he Serapion he maximinus he Theophilus he Cornelius he Hero he Ignatius he Evodius who succeeded lawfully St. Peter I answer that in the Age wherein lived Nestorius every body was engaged to be a Nestorian because Nestorius was rightful Bishop and Patriarch of Constantinople right successor to Sisinius to Atticus to Arsatius to John Chrysostomus to Nectarius to Gregory of Nazianze and so from Bishop to bishop the 36th according to the Chronicles of Nicephorus who had lawfully succeeded in that Chair the Apostle St. Andrew In fine to follow without partiality that principle of Rome and to give it the extent such a proposition ought to have which is always false if it is not universal and capable to be the first proposition of a Syllogism I answer the Popes are to revoke the Thunderbolts they have thrown against the Church of England
them with the Zeal of their Salvation and to turn away their hearts out of Error as he did yours Ah! how many thanks are you to give to God Almighty that he has drawn you out of the Tyranny where you were born But we should be very glad to hear the particularities of your Conversion And it is to rehearse them that I undertook this Discourse to engage you to joyn your Thanksgivings to mine for to thank Him to praise Him and to glorifie Him admiring the Greatness of his Goodness and the Wonders he doth work in the Souls of those whom he has 〈…〉 § 2. The Conversion of a Man who did live in the errors of the Roman Church is a very great Miracle SAint Peter's Chains broken by themselves many Blind men recovering their Eyes many Sick bodies healed many Dead rais'd up again these are very great Miracles and marvellous Deeds of the Highest's Mighty Hand But the Divine alterations which Grace works in our Souls are a great deal more marvellous more worthy of God's Majesty better becoming his Almightiness The Man whom the Finger of God has touched to work the Miracle of his Conversion doth not know himself any more so considerable is that change he feels his Soul entirely perswaded of certain Truths which God has revealed which he regarded heretofore as so many lies and he finds himself delivered from a multitude of errors which he worshipped as the Truth it self Peradventure you would have supposed that the prejudications of Error which he found in his mind from his Child-hood might be like so many petty Tyrants and young Devils who perplex him who vex him who trouble the quietness of his Conscience and raise up in him dimness and darkness stealing from his Eyes the very light of Truth You are mistaken Grace gives him strength to dissipate the evil Spirits and to withstand Error He doth enjoy the light of the Gospel with a peace and quietness which cannot be expressed and as the dawning of the Day which comes first after Night is received by all Creatures with more pleasant and more delightful wellcome than the very Light of Noon so I dare say there happens sometimes the same thing in the state of Grace A Soul newly lightened enjoys sometimes the Light with more pleasure and sweetness than do those who have been all their life long in the broad day-light of the Gospel That a man should live in such a Tranquillity of Conscience as the Saints themselves enjoy in Heaven That he should find pleasure and sweetness in being perswaded of a Truth which he lookt upon before as an Heresie and did not think of without Horrour it is a prodigious work of the Highest it is Almighty Gods mighty hand A Christian who has prostituted himself to all his Passions who has dived into all kinds of Vices and Deboachments who has transgressed all the Commandements of God when Grace touches and Converts him it is a great Miracle yet that man who prostituted himself to all kinds of Vices did never conceive any horrour against those who follow Virtue He did consider Virtue as a very hard thing but not as an Abomination and in the very same time wherein he broke all the Commandements he thought not that it was a great sin to keep them He did not look upon those who observed them as so many Monsters as so many Franticks as a people who deserving the malediction of God and the execration of Men ought to be exterminated out of the World with Sword and Fire But a Man who did live in the errors of Rome before God had hightened him by his Grace he looked upon the Reformed Church as a Church full of Abomination he never spoke of those who follow that Church but with Imprecation and Cursing he never read any proposition of their Doctrin but presently he added an Anathema and damned them to the pit of Hell he had rather have the conversation of Devils than that of a Protestant In a word all the Invectives Raylings Imprecations Maledictions Anathematizations he could heap up were to be poured out upon those who do profess the purity of the Gospel When after all those Repugnancies and Estrangements which seemed to be an obstacle to Truth you see a Man mollified opening his Eyes to the Grace of God changing his Dispositions his Notions his Thoughts and all his Manners Is not that a prodigie of Grace Have I not reason to say that this Miracle is not only greater than that whereby God gives again Eyes to the Blind Life to the Dead but even a great deal more marvellous than that which Grace works in the Conversion of the greatest Sinners § 3. After what manner the Spirit of God made me understasnd my Errors THe Lord our God doth not always shew altogether at once the effects of his mighty Power nor doth he work always after the same manner in all the Conversions of Sinners He speaks sometimes with a thundering Voice which altogether at once beats down dazles and converts a Sinner And it was with such a Voice he spoke to (a) Act. 9. St. Paul when in a minute of time he turned him from the most furious Enemy of the Gospel into a very Zealous Preacher of the same Gospel Other times he begins to speak to a Sinner softly and a great way off He prepares him he prevents him and he puts him in the Dispositions he judges fit for his Conversion It is after this manner he converted the (b) Act. 8. Eunuch of great Authority under Candace Queen of the Aethiopians he doth not overturn him out of his Chariot he doth not cast him to the ground to Convert him suddenly as he did afterwards St. Paul but he dispoes him by the reading of the Scripture to receive the light of the Gospel And it is after this manner the Lord has been pleased to draw me out of the Errors of Rome and to bring me through his great Mercies to profess here freely the purity of his Holy Word This is that which I intend to rehearse in all this Discourse in the First Part whereof I will recite how I understood that the Doctrin of the now Roman Church is grounded neither upon the Authority of the Holy Scriptures nor upon the belief of the Primitive Church nor the Authority of the Holy Fathers And in the Second Part how I understood that the Church of Rome is not the True Church that its Authority is not Infallible and that it is full of Corruptions and Errors FIRST PART The Doctrin of the Roman Church is grounded neither upon the Scripture nor upon the belief of the Primitive Church nor the Authority of the Holy Fathers CHAP. I. How I understood the Doctrin of the Roman Church to be not grounded upon the Scripture §. I. The Reading of the Scripture disposed me before-hand to acknowledge the Errors of Rome BEing in the Ecclesiastical Orders of the Church of Rome I thought
put his hand upon (a) Mar. 8.24 he did see truly but yet he was not able to distinguish Men from Tree the Word of God had restored my Eyes but they were but weak and subject to a great many dimnesses it was need to have some time to strengthen me in the Truth which I had but a glimpse of and to take away the Ignorance of Divinity under the pretences of which the Devil would cloak the Word of God Therefore the Divine Providence that took care for my Conduct disposed all things to hasten my Conversion it brought to pass several incidents which the Profane would call chance but the Saints stile The hand of the Lord. First I was destinated for the study of Divinity four years before all my Companions let the Flatterers and Profane say what they please those who judge holily of things that come to pass understand very well that the design of the Lord in that was no other but to take away as soon as it could be the fair Pretences wherewith Error would have offuscated Truth Secondly the Lord permitted I should come to an able man learned in Divinity both Scholastical and Positive perfect in Right Canon which is the Decrees of Fathers Councils and Popes in a word a man who was marvellous in Study of Controversies and in every thing which can contribute to make an absolute Divine But He permitted also that there might be in so excellent a man the fair Dealing and the Sincerity of a Child that was the reason that some Years after when he had known the Truth of God and the Errors of Rome because he knew not how to disguise Truth he published it every where he could not forbear to say that Indulgences Purgatory and the Obligations of Believing the Articles of Faith of the Pope and of keeping his Commandements upon â—ain of a mortal Sin were so many â—rafty Tricks of Rome to get Money He could not forbear to tell every Body the Mysteries the Factions the Impostures of the most part of those last Councils which are accounted General and Oecumenical by the Church of Rome he defended generously all the Truths which we profess in the Church of England wherefore he drew upon himself all the Persecutions he suffered for Truth so that afterward he died a Martyr for the Gospel by the severity of the Laws of Rome Oh! had he been in the time that I conversed with him as much lightned as he has been since he had saved me many troubles and perplexities he had doubtless delivered me out of that Suspension of Spirit whereunto I was reduced by the subtilty of his Answers and the height of his Resolutions But in that time the Lod did but begin his Conversion as well as mine and lighten us both by degrees yet with these two differences First the Lord destinated him to suffer all kinds of Persecutions to make him a Witness of his Holy Word a Martyr of the Gospel and he has not yet judged me worthy of Persecutions nor of Martyrdom Secondly he would have him raised up to the number of those great Saints whom the World afflicts and torments Ch. 1. §. 4. (a) Heb. 11.38 Of whom the World is not worthy Therefore the Lord ravished betimes that innocent Soul in the liveliness of his Years and speedily was he taken away (b) Wisd 4.11 as saith Solomon Lest Wickedness should alter his Understanding or deceit beguile his Soul Whereas the Divine Justice has looked upon me as a grievous Offendor who am suffered to live that I might Mourn and Weep longer for my Sons §. 4. The Conclusions of this Chapter How I came to know that the Articles of faith of Rome cannot be proved by Scripture IT was under the Conduct of that learned and holy Man that I began to give my self to the Study of Divinity I read what Authors do write concerning those Questions but specially and more exactly concerning the Questions which are controverted which are for the most part the Doctrines the Church of Rome hath received out of pride and covetousness without any ground in the Scripture I found in those Questions several difficulties I came to propound them to my Master there is said he what Bellarmin Answers there is for this matter the Exposition of Cardinal du Perron there is what Bonaventure what Thomas Aquinas what Scotus what Suarez what Valentia what Boivin what Herincx what others say touching that difficulty But when I asked him Tell me I beseech you freely what do you think He Answered me almost to every one of those Questions To tell you the truth said he the Doctrin of Purgatory of Indulgences of Worshiping Images and Reliques the Doctrin of Transubstantiation c. I do not find all these Doctrins very evident in the Scripture I do not see neither how they can be drawn very directly out of those places of the Bible th Authors of Rome are wont to produce to prove them by I give them you said he only to alledge to those who would have a place of the Bible he brought forth in every matter to have some pretence to say seasonably or unseasonably the Scripture speaks of that Matter and to content the Hereticks But to speak plainly I do sincerely confess it is not the Scripture which obliges or perswades me to believe all those Articles but the true and the only reason why I do hold them is because the Church teaches them so There are said I in self at once a great many difficulties abridged it is a great deal more just and more reasonable to deal after this manner than to consume all our brain to find in the Scripture with great pains of false discoursing what the Holy Ghost had never intention to teach therein Let us acknowledge then freely that all the Articles of the Faith of Rome are not in the Scripture nor grounded upon any thing else but upon the Authority of the Church After that all these difficulties may be very easily resolved All the business will be but to know whether or no I am obliged to believe as an Article of Faith what the Roman Church teaches without any ground from the Scripture This was the pass to which I was reduced to this I thought all the Theologie of Rome was to be reduced I did but loose my labour in consulting other Professors of Divinity in Conferring with those Friends of mine who were some Bachelors some Licentiates some Doctos of Sorbon and Curates of some chief Parishes in Paris They spoke but Gibbrish or some Latin words contrary to the good common Secne and Reason when they would have grounded the Doctrin of the Church of Rome upon the Scriptures and they never spake with reason but when at last they reduced themselves as to a Principle to the infallible definitive and final Judgement of the said Church in such matters CHAP. II. Chap. 2. How I understood the Articles of Faith of the