be to finde faith on the earth How the faithfull should be afflicted killed and hated of all Nations That iniquity shall abound and the loue of many shall waxe cold And that the cunning impostures of false teachers pretending the name of Christ and the Church should be such and so specious being seconded also with miracles that if it were possible the very elect should be deceiued Where was the flourishing visibility of the Church when the poison of Arianisme had infected almost the whole world O which time Saint Ierome wriâ—eth Ecclesiae naeâ—eâ— fuiss fere obrutam That the ship of the Church was almost sunke And this some of our Romish aduersaries confesse both for the time of Arian heresie and in the daies of Antichrist Then that we may not be seduced and carryed away with flourishing shewes we must know that the Church though it be alwaies visible yet it is not alwaies alike visible it is not alwaies in pompe and eminent estate he that in the time of Christ should so â—aue looked for the Church would sooner haue ioâ—ned himselfe to the Iewish Synagogue then to the society of Christ and his Apostles Wee must not therefore looke so much to the multitude and outward flourish as seeke for the truth though it be but in a few and those neuer so obscure For it is not of necessity that the Church bee alwaies discerned and acknowledged of the world but it is sufficient for the visibilitie of it that it neuer faileth to bee visibly seene and acknowledged by the professors themselues for this must euer hold in the Church in the middest of all disturbances that Wisedome is iustified of her Children The fourth consideration is That in the visible Church some particular Churches are more pure some more corrupt then others as the Church of Corinth and Galaâ—ia and some of the seuen Asian Churches were more infected with error thâ—n other Churches Vnder this head are to bee obserued diuers remarkable points and very necessary for our present vse 1. That in a corrupt Church sometimes the greatest member and among them the Chiefest for eminencie and authority are most corrupted Thus it was in the idolatrous times among the Iewes All the chiefe of the Priests and people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the Heathen and polluted the House of the Lord. They mocked the Messengers of God and despised his Word and misused his Prophets It was so at the comming of Christ. He câ—me vnto his owne and his owne receiuâ—d him not Nay they reiected him This saith S. Peter is the stone which was set at nought of you builders The master builders were the chiefe destroyers the prime gouernours in the Church the greatest enemies of Christ and Christianity Thus for a time did the Arian faction preuaile against the true Church hauing gotten the Emperiall Throne to countenance them by meanes whereof they did sway all things at their pleasure And thus it hath beene a long time and continueth to this day in the Church of Roman so that wee may well say to them with Leo Ye are armed with the name of the Church and yet ye fight against the Church This may aduise vs that the truth of Religion is not tyed to multitude and greatnesse 2. That whereas many excellent priuiledges and comfortable promises belong to the Church wee must know that the sound and good part onely and not the corrupt is capeable of those benefits I dare not saith Saint Augustine speaking of the prerogatiues of the Church vnderstand this but of iust and holy men Therfore S. Paul doth tye the priuiledges to the true Israel of God the Children of the promise And S. Peter the promises to them that are effectually called By this wee may see both that the chiefest and most eminent yea the greatest number in the Church if they want true sauing grace haue no right to the priuiledges and promises of the Church though they liue in the midst of it And againe the poorest member of the Church that is a true beleeuer shall sustaine no preiudice to hinder his happinesse by being mixed with the wicked But the wheate shall be gathered into the Lords garner the chaffe cast into the fire For saith the Apostle What if somâ— did not beleeue Shall their vnbeliefe make the faith of God without effect 3. That a corrupt Church may keepe and conuay to posterity the Canon of â—â—aired Scripture the forme of knowledge and rule of faith and â—holesome doctrine and Sacraments in a generall manner and yet ouerthrow all by some particular opposite doctrines and superstitioâ—â— practices to the losse of their owne saluation that so hold and practise In the greatest deprauation of Religion by Idolatry in the time of the Iewes it was so The Booke of God though it lay dusting and out of vse yet by the prouidence of God it was kept The Sacraments specially Circumcision was in vse euen in corrupt times and hypocrites much gloried in the outward circumcision as we may see by the reprooâ—es of the Prophets and Apostles The Iewish Synagogue at the comming of our Lord kept these Oracles and that for vs though they thought not so The Iew saith Saint Augustine carrieth the Booke whereby the Christian may beleeue Yea they did teach many things for the matter very sound and therefore sitting in Moses Chaire by teaching Moses doctrine Christ would haue them so farre at least to bee heard But yet for all this marke what the Lord Iesus saith of them Except your righteousnesse shall exceede the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharises yee shall in no case enter into the Kingdome of heauen And againe In vaine they worship me teaching for doctrines mens precepts Hereupon it followeth that by reason of these meanes there may be in a corrupt Church some that may preserue faith and true Religion for the substance as did Zachary the Priest and Elizabeth his wife Old Simeon Nathaniel Ioseph and Mary and many more And vpon this ground we of the reformed Churches thinke and iudge charitably of our forefathers that liued in those blinde and darke times of Popery and of such as yet remaine among them or are intangled by them vpon conceite of their common clayme of the onely Catholike Church wee I say iudge charitably of them though they detrude vs all into Hell For thus wee deeme of their state before God That as in the times of Apostacie and falling into Idolatry among the Iewes the Lord had a remnant he reserued to himselfe 7000. which neuer bowed the knee to Baal He had in the Church of-Pergamus euen where Satans throne was those that kept his Name and denied not his Faith and that in the heate of persecution hee had a few names in Sardis which had not defiled their garments So we doubt not but
there but that it continued still and shall continue to the end of the world it is said in the shurting vp of this Historie That the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saued These words offer vnto vs at the first view foure remarkable obseruations The first is The way to saluation and that is by being added to the Church The second is the Efficient or Author of this addition and that is The Lord God The third is the time and continuance of this worke and that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 daily or from day to day The fourth is the happy end of such as are added to the Church and that is Saluation They all and they onely are such as shall be saued In the first obseruation that I may complete the whole doctrine of it three things are to bee considered 1. That the way to saluation is by the Church 2. What that Church is where saluation may be had 3. By what meanes and how men are to be added to the Church that they may be saued Touching the first branch it must be knowne and beleeued of all that desire saluation that the Regia via the King of Kings high way to heauen is the Church without which Church there is no saluation That I may demonstrate this truth cast but your eye vpon the Arke of Noah wherein was most liuely figured the Church of God A type twice alledged by Saint Peter to this very purpose to shew that saluation is and onely is in the Church And therefore he vrgeth against such as made defection from the Church that God spared not the old world but did bring in the flood vpon the world of the vngodly that is vpon those that were out of the Arke out of the Church Againe Baptisme being the Sacrament of our entrance into the Church of Christ he doth parallell it and compare it with the Arke intimating thus much that as onely those eight soules were saued in the Arke by water so there is no hope of saluation but onely in the Church the solemne entrance whereinto is ordinarily by Baptisme We know that the head is the fountaine of life sense and motion to the whole body and euery member of it but yet onely to that body whereof it is the head euen so it is betweene Christ and the Church Christ is the head the Church is the body and euery true Christian is a particular member of that body Ye are saith S. Paul the body of Christ and members in particular Now as the head doth naturally performe the office of a head to the body and to it onely so Christ doth impart the Diuine influence of sauing grace onely to his Church Therefore the Apostle speaking of Christ saith That from the head all the body by ioynts and bands hauing nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God and hauing affirmed That Christ is the head of the Church hee immediately inferreth vpon it and he is the Sauiour of the body This is that body out of which the Spirit giueth no life This Position That saluation is to bee had onely in the Church is not obscurely noted by those sacred similies so frequent in Scripture where the Church is resembled to a House to a Citie to a Mother to a Vine To a House So doth S. Paul call it The house of God which is the Church of the liuing God It is likened to a House in a two fold sense first as the word is taken properly for an edifice or mansion and building to dwell in consisting of foundation walls and roofe thus S. Peter termeth the faithfull liuely stones built vp a spirituall house and Christ the corner stone Saint Paul calleth them Gods building himselfe and other Ministers Gods builders and Christ the foundation for saith he other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is Iesus Christ and he telleth the Ephesians that they are built vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Christ himselfe being the chiefe corner stone As therefore the safetie of a House standeth in the strength and firmenesse of its owne foundation which giueth support to it and onely to it euen so saluation and freedome from eternall and vtter ruine belongeth onely to the Church the House of God built so firmely vpon the Rocke Iesus Christ that the gates of hell cannot preuaile against it Againe it is compared to a House in another sense the word House being taken for the inhabitants so it is to bee vnderstood when S. Peter saith that Iudgement must begin at the House of God that is with the godly with the righteous as he plainely interpreteth himselfe And the Apostle to the Hebrewes calling the Church Christs owne House saith of himselfe and the rest of the faithfull Whose House we are Now the Church and euery member of it is called The House of God and of Christ because he doth dwell in their hearts by faith as a housholder in his house More expresly elsewhere in plainetermes the Church is called The Lords family or houshold The Domestickes or houshold of God The houshold of faith The Ministers are called Stewards that rule ouer the houshold and Christ himselfe The Lord of the house As then the Master of a family prouideth onely for his owne house all necessaries for maintenance and sustentation of life but not for others or other mens families except it bee in the case of charitie So God though in his gracious Indulgence as a Creator to his creatures hee bee good to all he preserueth man and beast he maketh his Sunne to rise on the euill and on the good and sendeth raine on the iust and on the vniust Yet in a peculiar manner he is good to Israel euen to such as are of a cleane heart He is the Sauiour of all men but specially of those that beleeue This houshold of faith onely doth he saue eternally they onely hauing God for their Father the Church for their Mother Christ for their elder Brother regenerated by one and the same immortall seed of the Word of God nourished with one and the same sincere milke partakers all of one Bread and drinking all of one Cup. Therefore S. Peter saith of himselfe and the rest of this family That God according to his Diuine power hath giuen vnto vs all things that pertaine vnto life and godlinesse through the knowledge of him that hath called vs to glory and vertue None then can looke for life and saluation but they that are of Gods houshold who alone can truely say with the Psalmist I am thine saue me The Church is likewise resembled to a Citie or Commonwealth Thus it is set foorth in a vision to Saint Iohn by the name of the Holy Citie
saluation not allâ—ging the beleeuer to repose himselfe vpon any one place as Rome or Constantinople or the like but placeth him that shall be saued in the Congregation of the faithfull And good reason for he knew well that Arianisme had possessed all places yea Rome it selfe and had infected the head euen Liberius himselfe the Bishop of Rome as is not onely witnessed by the Fathers as Athanasius Hierome Hillarie Augustine but is also acknowledged by their own Romish Doctors Cardinals and Historians though Bellarmine and Baronius would gladly faigne some excuse for him 4. Moreouer it must be considered that Rome is and euer was when it was at the best but a particular Church and member of the vniuersall as other Churches are and therefore can no more challenge the dependance of other Churches vpon it then they can subiect it to any of them See how cleerely and fully S. Paul writing to the Romanes speaketh to this point where telling them that he had receiued grace and Apostleship for obedience to the fâ—ith among all nations among whom saith he ye are also the called of Iesus Christ He saith not aboue whom as giuing Rome primacie ouer all the rest but among whom as conioyning them in fraternitie with other Churches and them with it 5. Lastly we must know that Rome is not onely a particular Church but is also subiect to errour as well as other Churches This the Apostle intimateth by that seuere Caueat which he gâ—ueth to the Church of Rome among other Gentiles Bee not high minded saith hee but feare For if God spared not the naturall branches take heed lest hee also spare not thee Behold therefore the goodnesse and seueritie of God on them which fell seueritie but towards thee goodnesse if thou continue in his goodnesse otherwise thou also shalt bee cut off Heere wee see that Rome hath no more immunity from errour then any other Church no no more then the Church of the Iewes Rome no more then Ierusalem and that God doth tye himselfe to none but with condition If they doe answere his goodnesse to them with perseuerance and continuance in his goodnesse and care of correspondent dutie to him Therefore our Church of England hath well added in the Article of the Church these words viz. As the Church of Ierusalem Alexandria and Antioch haue erred so also the Church of Rome hath erred not onely in their liuing and manner of ceremonies but also in matters of faith Heere it will not be amisse out of the manifold errours of the Romish Church to giue instance in a few as a taste of the rest I will inroll them in a short Catalogue and they shall be onely such as no man that will be a Romane Catholicke can auoyde but must vpon paine of damnation in his order place beleeue and practise The very naming of the errors may be a sufficieÌ„t coÌ„uictioÌ„ they are so palpably grose 1. They deny the reading of the holy Scriptures in common to Christian people which is not onely an errour but the cause of all other errours as our Sauiour tolde the Sadduces Ye doe erre not knowing the Scriptures And this they doe contrary to the expresse command of Christ Search the Scriptures contrary to the exhortatioÌ„ of S. Paul Let the word of God dwell in you richly contrary to the vsuall practice of the faithfull in all antiquitie both Iewes and Christians contrary to the very end and vse for which sacred Scriptures were written as the Apostle telleth the old Romanes Whatsoeuer things saith he were written aforetime were written for our learning that wee through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might haue hope Yea and contrary to the generall iudgement of the Orthodoxe Fathers of the Church The Scripture being as S. Gregory said well nothing else but an Epistle of Almighty God to his creature 2. They attribute such eminency of power to the Pope ouer all soules subiect to him that in a blind-fold obedience they must be at his bâ—cke to beleeue and to doe as he will haue them therefore they stile him The supreme Iudge in causes of faith and manners and sticke not to say Satis est si is legem tulerit It is sufficient if he say the word and are so impatient of controule heerein that no man must dare to say vnto him Curita facis Why doest thou so though his fact were too odious to name An errour not onely impious in Religion but pernicious in any ciuill State for hereby not onely his prohibet forbidding shall keepe men from Gods true worship and seruice but his iubet commanding shall arme them against their Soueraigne as wee know it hath done heere in England Farre were the greatest Apostles from assuming to themselues any such absolute power their voyce was Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ. And againe Though we or an Angel from heauen preach any other Gospel vnto you let him bee accursed Therefore they must needs be strangely bewitched and possessed with errour that can beleeue that a sinfull man should haue a priuiledge aboue Apostles and Angels 3. Their whole fabricke and forme of Religious seruice and publike worship of God being in an vnknowne tongue to the people what is it but a notorious and intolerable errour For take to heart I pray you and thinke seriously what a lamentable condition that people is in that stand bound all the daies of their life to resort to a Church where in their most solemne Liturgies Masses and Seruice they vnderstand not one sentence to their soules comfort The whole Volume of sacred Scripture and examples of both Testaments are against it S. Paul in confutation of it bestoweth a large Chapter proouing that it is not onely vnfruitfull but barbarous and a fearefull note of Gods iudgement vpon a people They haue not an ancient Orthodoxe Father to father this errour among them you shall heare these voyces sounding Let the Greekes in Greeke let the Romanes in the Romane tongue let all in their owne language pray and praise God Againe How canst thou saith S. Cyprian desire to be heard of God who doest not vnderstand thy selfe Nay our Christian reformed Churches haue this happinesse that among the Romanists themselues there are of chiefe note that ingenuously confesse that it is better and more to edification that publike Prayers be in the vulgar and common language knowne of the people then in Latine Let vs blesse God then that hath vouchsafed vs the better part and pray that he would open their eyes that are thus blinded with error that they may take part with vs. 4. That foule error of Idolatrous adoration of Images in common practice among them how expresly contrary is it to the Commandement of God Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image nor the likenesse of any thing c. thou shalt not bow downe
to them nor worship them An error whereof they are so consciously guilty in themselues that in their Catechismes and confession of their penitents they commonly leaue out that Commandement And their professors being charged with this errour are so ashamed of it that they in plaine termes deny that they doe any such religious seruice to Images therein indeed denying their owne Religion and incurring the curse of their Trent Councell which anathematizeth all those that hold against their Decree heerein namely That duc honour and worship ought to bee giuen to Images But doth not their reall practice crosse their verball excuse for if they doe not worship Images why doe they performe so many religious seruices vnto them they vayle and bow downe vnto them they set vp before them lights in honour of them they offer vp incense and other oblations vnto them they expand and spread foorth their armes before them in Prayer What can they do more for outward seruice to God himselfe This Idolatrous practice is not onely condemned in sacred Scripture as expresly as Blasphemy witchcraft murther adultery or any other sinne and auoyded of all the faithfull of both Testaments but is renounced as impious by the Fathers for many ages after Christ affirming Images in the Church to be contrary to the authority of the Scriptures that there is no Religion where an Image is And S. Gregory about 600. yeeres after Christ forbiddeth vtterly the adoration of Images onely allowing the Historicall vse of them as wee doe at this day whereby we may see that this foule errour had not as yet in so long time possessed the Sea of Rome 5. Their Priests in the Masse offer vp a propitiatorie sacrifice both for the quicke and the dead and their blind followers are bound so to beleeue and doe both pray and pay to bee had in his mâ—mento Whereas all propitiatory sacrifices haue their period and end in Christ who is the end of the Law and the onely Sacrificing Priest in the Gospel being a Priest for euer according to the order of Melchisedech This Sacrifice is onely one and once onely offered and that by himselfe alone and therefore is called The offering of the body of Iesus once for all and this Man saith the Apostle after he had offered one sacrifice for sinne for euâ—â— sate downe on the right hand of God For by one offering hee hath perfected for euer them that are sanctified How sacrilegious then and blasphemous is that daily propitiatory sacrifice of theirs where is their warrant for it seeing Christ ordained no sacrifice to bee offered by any sacrificing Priest but onely a Sacrament commemoratiue to bee administred by the Pastours of the Church and receiued together with them by the people Where in the Gospell can they finde the calling of a Sacrificing Priest The Commission is onely Goe teach and baptize and the subiect of their teaching must be no other thing but that which Christ hath commanded other ordinary Priesthood our Lord ordained none but Pastors and Teachers The name Sacrifice we deny not to the Sacrament but with the Fathers wee call it a Sacrifice for diuers good respects and namely because as the Master of Sentences saith out of S. Augustine and S. Ambrose It is the remembrance and representation of the true Sacrifice offered vpon the Altar of the Crosse. As for any proper reall and propitiatory Sacrifice wee may see by this that it was not knowne in Peter Lumbards time about twelue hundred yeeres after Christ and therefore is farre from being truly Catholicke 6. Their Transubstantiation which they oblige euery Christian soule to beleeue not onely vpon paine of their fagot fire but of the fire of hell thaâ— is that after the words of Consecration there ceaseth to be the substance of Bread and Wine that there remaine only the outward accidents shew and shâ—pe thereof vnder which the very body and blood of Christ is substantially and corporally inclosed How directly contrary is it to the expresse words of Christ in the first Institution For our Lord Iesus after the consecration and blessing testifieth the elements to remaine in their substance calling them by their right names Bread and The fruit of the Vine The like doth S. Paul and that often in one short Context It is an errour indeed against common sense For let the senses of sight smelling taste and feeling report if there remaine not the substance of Bread and Wine after consecration insomuch that if a man haue sufficient quantitie of them he may well for a proportionable time sustaine nature with no other food which could not be if there remained nothing but the externe accidents and meere shew of Bread and Wine It is against the nature of a true body which is to be onely in one place at one time and that in his due dimension and substance Now we know and beleeue that Christ is true man in all things like vnto vs sinne onely excepted and therefore to make him to bee without dimension in so many hundred nay thousands of places at one instant doth manifestly imply a tacite denyall of his humane nature It is against our Christian Creed where wee beleeue that Christ leauing the world in regard of his bodily presence ascended into heauen and sitteth on the right hand of God and from thence hee shall come to iudgement which S. Peter aptly interpreteth in these words Whom saith he the heauen must receiue vntill the times of restitution of all things But there is no one euidence more apparantly conuincing this errour then if wee consider that at the institution of the Sacrament Christ sate visibly before the Apostles that they might plainely see with their eyes where his true body was And withall did expresly signifie vnto them that hee spake not simply of his body but of his body crucified and blood shed which as yet was not then done This saith our Lord Christ is my body which is giuen for you or as S. Paul relateth it which is broken for you Againe of the Cup he saith This is my blood of the new Testament which is shed for many adding also for the cleering of all doubt heerein the commemoratiue vse of the Sacrament which euidently confuteth all carnall and corporall presence This doe saith he in remembrance of me that is of me crucified For saith the Apostle as often as you shall eate this bread and drinke this cup ye shew the Lords death till he come Now whereas he calleth the bread his body and the wine his blood it is according to the vsuall manner of Scripture speaking euery where of Sacraments it calleth them by the name of those things whereof they are Sacraments Thus Circumcision was called the Couenant because it was the signe and seale of the Couenant So the Paschall Lambe is called the Passcouer because it was the signe of the Passcouer
an infinite Maiesty at one instant to heare the manifold variety of petitions of all men vpon the face of the earth yea and to know the very thoughts and desires of euery heart praier being principally the act of the heart Vpon this very ground wise Salomon takes for granted that all praier ought to bee made to God onely Heare thou in heauen saith he to God thy dwelling place and forgiue and doe and giue to euery man according to his wayes whose heart thou knowest for thou euen thou only knowest the hearts of all the Children of men Againe prayer to Saints wanteth that threefold prop that must support euery true and acceptable seruice to God that is to say Precept Promise and Paterne For Inuocation of Gods name we haue expresse commandement Call vpon me And our Sauiour commandeth that when we pray we should direct our prayers to Our Father in heauen We haue also a sure word of promise Whatsoeuer ye shall aske the Father in my name he wil giue it you And Whosoeuer shall call vpon the name of the Lord shall be saued We haue no such precept no such promise to warrant and incourage vs to inuocate the Blessed Virgin S. Peter S. Paul or any or all of the Saints Againe for praier to God only we haue expresse paterne both perâ—onall in all the Fathers from the first Adam in the Patriarkes Prophets Apostles and prime Orthodox Fathers of the Church who did suffer Martyrdome for this very point That God onely in Christ is to be adored and called vpon We haue also a reall paterne in that Heauenly Manuall of praier and praise the Sacred Psalter or Psalmes of Dauid together with the set formes of the faithfuls praiers recorded euery where in Scripture and all directed to God only not on paterne of prayer to Saints This is ingenuously confessed by their own Eccius and other Pontificians that inuocation of Saints hath no warrant in sacred Scripture not in the Old Testament because the Fathers were then in Limbo nor in the new Testament lest the Gentiles should returne againe to their old Idoll-worship and leâ—t the Apostles should bee charged with arrogancy as be speaking beforehand their owne glory and worship to bee done to themselues after their death Nay more they confesse that it is the safer and better way to call vpon God onely in the name of Iesus Christ. And one of them out of a work ascribed to Saint Augustine concludes the question thus More safely and more sweetly do I speake in prayer to my Iesus then to any of the Saints The storie of George Duke of Saxony is herein memorable Lying vpon his death-bed the Monkes like Locusts swarming about him and beholding his agony exhorted him one to inuocate the Virgin Mary another to call vpon the Angels another to pray to these and these Saints for helpe in that extremity but a Noble man one of his familiars standing by directed his speech to the Duke in this manner Your Highnesse saith he was wont in your politicke affaires to take vp this prouerbe To goe the direct way without ambages or circumstances is the most compendious course Why then should your Highnesse in this most dangerous passage goe about the furthest way and not rather goe the direct way vnto God himselfe by Christ who both will and can certainely helpe Erasmus among other his pleasant conceits doth merrily glance at this error reporting a story of one at Sea where as their manner is euery man in a wracke flyeth to his Saint as it were his Tutelar God There was one saith he among the rest when he saw the present and imminent danger and that there was no delaying in the midst of his distraction thoght with himself If I should pray to S. Nicholas it is vncertaine whether he heare me and it may be he is busy in hearing dispatching other petitioners or if not so yet it may be that he cannot haue so speedy accesse to God to mediate for me as my present necessitie requires I will therefore saith he take the safest and surest course and goe the direct way to God himselfe by Christ because it is written in the Psalme Call vpon me in the day of trouble I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me And in the Hebrewes Let vs therefore come boldly vnto the Throne of grace that we may obtaine mercy and find grace to helpe in time of neede If any stumble at this that some Fathers are alledged to countenance this error let him remember that of S. August We must not hearken to This say I This say you but This saith the Lord. And distinctly first of himselfe he saith I would not haue you follow my authority that you should therfore thinke any thing necessary to be beleeued because I say it And of other Fathers what he held may appeare by that which he writeth of S. Cyprians Epistle viz. That it hath no authority to bind him For saith he I do not hold Saint Cyprians Letters to be Canonicall Scripture but I examine them by the Canonicall and what I finde thereunto agreeable I imbrace with his praise what is not consonant by his leaue I will leaue This is the true profession of a Doctor concerning the Scriptures at his inauguration Quod tenet teneo quod respuit respuo What the Scripture doth hold I hold what it doth reiect I reiect If any harp vpon the long custom of this error in the ChristiaÌ„ world let him consider as one saith wel that Christ said not I am custom but I am truth And that custome without truth is but an old error or the antiquity of error Which like an old sore is so much the worse and more incurable the older it is 11. Their prayer for the dead to deliuer them out of that fearefull and hell-like torment in Purgatory wherein they are made to beleeue they lye boyling as in a fierie fornace What an antithesis and plaine opposition is there betweene the Word of truth and this grosse error We know and are assured by the Word of God that the blood of Iesus Christ clenseth and purgeth vs from all sinne So that there is no neede of humane purgatiues either for veniall sinnes or for temporall punishment of sinnes mortall For our Lord Iesus assureth the faithfull departing this life that he that heareth his Word and beleeueth is passed from death vnto life and that they that die in the Lord are in a blessed estate rest from their labours Yea the poorest Lazarus that dieth in the faith of Abraham is immediately in his precious soule conuaied by the Angels into Abrahams bosome there possessed of heauenly ioy not afflicted with hellish torment This may be a sufficient conuiction of this error that there is not one sentence not one word not one syllable no not one letter in
the whole volume of Canonicall Scripture fauouring prayer for the dead as being in any such misery after their departure Nay that there is expresse Scripture to the contrary The Fathers were farre from any such conceite who held that the faithfull deceasing are in a blessed condition hauing obtained their desired end of victorie and beholding the Lord Iesus face to face And that the friends of the deceased counting him happie giue thankes to the Author of the victory with a song See heere the difference betwene the ancient Fathers and the now Romanists They held the faithfull deceased in a blessed and ioyfull estate These count them to be in misery and torment They congratulated their happinesse These condole their torments They gaue thankes for their attained victory These pray and pay to free them out of their conceited captiuity In a word They did sing for ioy These howle and cry for dolefull sorrow 12. Their daily deuotions which wee see in their Primers Rosaries and Manuals what are they for the most part but Fardles of blinde superstition for besides that they are in most passages directed to a wrong obiect worshipping the creature in stead of the Creator so changing as Saint Paul saith the truth of God into a lye they haue withall this foule blot of superstitious vanity that whereas God will bee serued by waight they serue him by number whereas he requireth serious waighty and iudicious deuotions framed according to our present wants as we may see in all the religious prayers of the Saints in holy Writ they directed by their blinde guides like a Horse in the Mill performe a superficiall slight and Circular seruice placing vertue and religious effect in the very number of their prayers in saying so many times ouer a certain number of Pater-nosters Aue-Maries Credoes the like Read their books they will tel you that for 3. Aue-Maries said three times ouer euery day at three seuerall houres and at euery houre thrice is granted three hundred daies of pardon Againe for saying before the Image of Pittie fiue Pater-nosters fiue Aues and a Credo are granted thirty two thousand seuen hundred and fifty fiue yeeres of Pardon A multitude of these fopperies you may finde euery where in their superstitious deuotions And to further these numerall prayers there was at the last found out a new tricke the inuention of Beades When men saith Polidor Virgill began to number and reckon their praiers as though God were in our debt for often begging of him there were deuised by one Peâ—rus Heremita a Frenchman certain beads about the yere of our Lord 1090. The nouelty of this superstition is conuiction sufficient But the shame of it is that in the iudgement of him that cannot erre it is so farre from Christian piety that it is no better then flat Heathenisme therefore our Sauiour vpon that very ground doth warne all Christians to auoide such vaine repetitions When ye pray saith he vse not vain repetitious as the Heathen do for they thinke that they shall bee heard for their much speaking which is we see in the Lords account but vaine babbling A liuely paterne of a Papist and a Protestant for the maner of Religious deuotion we may see in the priests of Baal the Prophet Elias paralelled together the one continue from morning till noone and from noone till Euening with Audinos Audinos O Baal Heare vs O Baal heare vs c. with much cursitation and stirring as the Romish fashion is The other that is the good Prophet Elias a true paterne of piety and sound Religion reuerently and humbly addresseth himselfe to call vpon God praying in a short but yet a sweete and heauenly manner according to the present occasion Read the Storie and admire the difference 13. To be briefe concerning auricular confession that is that euery man doe confesse all his mortall sinnes with all the circumstances once euery yeere at the least and that priuately to a Priest at the least in vote or desire yea and that also of necessitie to saluation it is vtterly without either rule or example of Gods Word and this want of Diuine authority is ingenuously confessed by many of their owne Authors The confessions we finde in Scripture are either vnto God onely or if vnto men or before men it was in these cases 1. Before Baptisme at the entrance into Christianitie as in those that were baptized by Iohn Baptist. 2. In a case of free and voluntary testification of their sound conuersion as it is said in the Acts Many that beleeued came and confessed and shewed their workes 3. In case of some grieuous sinne lying heauie vpon the conscience as in the example of Dauids confession to Nathan the Prophet 4. In case of publike scandall to giue glory to God and satisfie the congregation as in the example of Achan 5. In case of priuate iniurie done by one man to another whether Priest or priuate man as it is in S. Iames Confesse your faults one to another and pray one for another In all these we haue not one confession after the Romish stampe to be made of necessitie to a Priest of all sinnes and that anniuersarie at the least once a yeere 14. Their placing of Religion in the distinction of meates S. Paul hath branded with the note of errour doctrine of deuils and deepe hypocrisie Prophetically foretelling it to be a marke of that Antichristian Apostasie that should befall these later times Now the Spirit saith hee speaketh expresly that in the later times some shall depart from the faith giuing heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of deuils speaking lyes in hypocrisie hauing their conscience seared with a hote iron forbidding to marrie and commanding to abstaine from meates which God hath created to bee receiued with thankesgiuing of them which beleeue and know the truth 15. Their violent laying hands vpon themselues by whippings to make satisfaction and procure acceptance with God hath no ground in sacred Scripture vnlesse they thinke the example of those Priests of Baal a good warrant Indeed I must needs say they went beyond our Romanists for they vsed Kniues and Launcers these but Whips they did launce these doe but lash 16. Their extreme vnction with which they shut vp and end their Romish race in this world is as vnwarrantable For whereas they haue but two onely texts for it they both faile them as their owne Doctors ingenuously confesse Those Scriptures in S. Marke and S. Iames speake onely of anoynting with oyle for the miraculous curing of the sicke but they vse anoynting to no such end but onely when men are irrecouerable and ready to depart out of this life These instances may be sufficient for a taste of Romish errours being the most vsuall and common to euery one that will be a professed Romane Catholicke Thus