Examine what Submission Mr M. has paid her When we talk of Submission to the Church by the Church may be meant either the Universal Church or the Particular Church wherein we were Born Baptized and Educated and to both these we profess and pay due Submission Witness of the Doctrine of Christ and we receive her Testimony The onely Question with us is What Doctrine Christ and his Apostles Taught And this we believe contained in the Scriptures Concerning the Sence of any Word in them we receive likewise the Testimony of the Catholick Church Every Doctor approved by her is a Witness and every Council received by her is as the Deposition of Witnesses By this means we know her Sence in former Ages as well as in this Age and are able to compare them together Where these agree we have no reason to doubt her Veracity but where one Age of her says one thing and another Age says another thing we count our selves under no obligation to believe either of their Testimonies to be a necessary part of the Doctrine of Christ. 'T is therefore the Church of all Ages and places that we reckon the Ground and Pillar of Truth Whereas Mr M. conâ—ines us to the Visible Church and pretends we are to take the Sence of all former Ages from the present But pray why may not I as well understand the Sence of the Church of the fourth Age from the Council of Nice as I can understand the Sence of the last Age from the Council of Trent It was therefore by this Rule and with Submission to his Church that our Reformers proceeded in their Reformation and except Mr M. can shew which he has not so much as endeavoured to do that they deviated from this Rule he has done nothing to prove that they had not a due Deference and Submission to the Catholick Church And as she thus submitted to the Sence of the Universal Church so she requires all her Subjects to submit to her to receive the Faith to which she with the Catholick Church bears Testimony to own her Laws of Discipline submit to her Censures and conform to her Constitutions But she pretends to no Dominion over mens Faith or to oblige them to believe any thing because she has decreed it Her Authority is to propose as a Witness not to define as a Judge If any one dissent from her he must not make a Schism or turn Preacher in contradiction to her Authority If any one be otherwise minded he must follow the Apostle's Rule Phil. 3. 15. he must conform as far as he can and yield a Passive Obedience to her Censures where he cannot give an Active to her Commands While he walks by this Rule he can neither be a Schismatick nor Heretick and may expect if he use due means that God will either reveal to him what he wants or pardon his Errour if he mistake § 23. This Submission is coherent even with Calvin's Principles And though I am not concerned for any private Divine yet since Mr M. has troubled us with so few Quotations I will pay him so much Respect as to take notice of this and the Reader may from it learn how faithfully he Transcribes and Englisheth his Quotations The Quotation as in Calvin As Transcribed by Mr M. Non alius est in vitam ingressus nisi nos ipsa concipiat in utero nisi pariat nisi nos aâ—at suis uberibus Adde quod extra ejus gremium nulla speranda est peccatorum remissio nec ulla salus Lib. 4. Cap. 1. Sect. 4. Extra Ecclesiae gremium nulla speranda Salus nec Remissio peccatorum quia non est alius in vitam ingressus Thus in English literally Thus render'd into English by Him. There is no other Passage into Life except the Visible Church conceive us in her Womb bring us forth and nourish us with her Breasts Add to this That out of her Bosom there is no Remission of Sins to be expected nor any Salvation He that will enter into Life let him mortifie the Pride of his own Reason and humbly cast himself at the Feet of the Catholick Church Both Calvin and we own that Pride and all other Passions ought to be Mortified And except Mr M. can shew that we have used our Reason proudly that is not yielded out of some design Passion or Prejudice when our Reason was convinced we have just reason to reckon all his Accusations effects of his own Passion and Petulancy against his Mother Church He confesses that many of us are Catholâ—ks by Inclination I hope we are really so but the Tyranny of Prejudice or Interest keeps us Protestants But for Prejudice lâ—t the World judge whether our People are more liable to Prejudice who are allowed to Read and Examine and Judge for themselves or the Members of his Church that are taught to submit without Examination As for Intérest I think it is the Interest of every man to continue Protestant if he value his Soul but for Worldly Interest the Scales are hardly equal I find not one of their Converts who has lost by it yet But whatever our Interest is our Loyalty is unquestionable if he know divers Loyal Persons of the Church of England I know none else § 24. Let us now take a view of his Submission to the Church 1. For the Catholick Church he has taken the liberty to cut off from her what Members he thought fit and has reduced her to a fourth part of Christians He has obtruded Articles of Faith on her to which she never gave Testimony and has subjected her to a Head at Rome to whom God never subjected her that is He has created a Catholick Church out of his own head and rejected that of Christ's Planting 2. As for the Particular Church which made him a Member of Christ by Baptism this his spiritual Mother he has pronounced a Harlot and her Children By-blows He has condemned her Sacraments degraded her Bishops to whom he sware Obedience renounced her Orders and given her the Title of an unsanctified Nation In short as far as lay in his Power he has exposed the Nackedness of his Mother Behold the Petulancy and Contradiction of an undutiful Son. But thanks be to God notwithstanding his feeble Attempts Her Bow abides in strength and the Arms of her Hands are made strong by the Hands of the Mighty God of Jacob Gen. 49. 24. CHAP. VI. ALthough Mr. M. hath nothing new in his Latine Addition but only repeats what he said first in his Preface and then in his Book yet I did not think it fit to let what he has said in this Language be without some Animadversions in the same Ad dubia quae proponuntur super Reformatione Anglicana sic respondetur Ad 1. An Ecclesia Anglicana sit tota Ecclesia Resp. Quà m absurdum sit ut una particularis Ecclesia â—e esse totam Catholicam Christi Ecclesiam extra quam non est salus
sence of the ancient Fathers pag. 5. which plainly shews that he knew nothing of Sâ—cinus his Opinions or Principles who positively denied the necessity of Baptism and protested against being judged by that sence the Fathers or the Primitive Church have given of Scriptures These are sufficient to shew the vast difference between the pretences of the present Dissenters and the ground of our Reformation And that the Argument he draws from the Obligation in Ordination laid on the Presbâ—ters of our Church to minister the Doctrine and Sacraments as this Church and Realm have received the same according to the Commandments of God pag. 4. is of no force against the first Reformers though it obliged Mr. M. not to desert our Church and the Nonconformists not to preach in contradiction to her declared Doctrine and Worship § 9. And so I proceed to his fifth Query Whether an Act of Parliament in France Spain or Germany be not as good an Authority for Popery there as in England for Protestancy I suppose by an Act of Parliament he means the Laws enacted regularly by the Supream Powers of those Nations which he ignorantly expresses by an Act of Parliament and to this I answer That if any Religion is to be established in any Kingdom by temporal Rewards or Punishments to encourage the Obedient and terrifie the disobedient the supream Powers of every Nation only can thus establish that Religion they themselves are sole Judges with what temporal Rewards and Punishments and how far they will establish it and they are answerable only to God for their actings herein If therefore the Supream Civil Government in France or Spain set up Popery a Man must submit to it or burn for it if the Law be so and such a Law though it is unjust is as forcible for a false Religion as a true But there is another way of establishing a Religion and that is by convincing Mens Minds that the Religion is true and that according as men cordially embrace it the shall be secured of the Divine Favour and be happy in the next World. And if this be the Christian Religion of which they are so convinced one Principle of it is that the Professors thereof ought to associate themselves into a Body and that Christ the Author thereof has appointed Governors who are to descend in Succession and that to these regularly appointed a due Obedience is to be paid as Men value the Rewards or Punishments of the next life Now Men thus perswaded cannot think an Act of the Civil Governors alone a sufficient Commission for any one to undertake the Function of a Spiritual Pastor any more than an Act of these Spiritual Pastors is sufficient to capacitate and commissionate a Man to discharge a Civil Function and therfore Mr. M. argues very unnecessarily against the Parliaments Power to preach or administer Sacraments pag. 3. since the 27th Article of our Church denies expresly that Power to the Civil Governors I suppose I have sufficiently shewn that our first Reformers had a Canonical as well as Parliamentary Mission and I suppose that this Canonical Mission is nothing the less valid because the other goes along with it But then it may be objected Have not France and Spain an Act of the Church as well as State for establishing their Religion I answer they have and so has Mahometism in Turkey an Act of what they count the Church for its establishment And therefore it is not sufficient that the Power that establishes a Religion be competent and the Methods regular by which it is settled but likewise it is necessary that the Religion be true in it self and therefore a man must examine whether the Christian Religion be more purely truly taught established in England or in Spain before he either reject or embrace the one or the other For a false Religion may have all the regular settlements that a true can have and the Professors thereof being conscious of its weakness are often more industrious to make the accidental security the stronger And I do affirm that there is not one Argument in this Paper urged by Mr. M. against Protestants but might with equal advantage be urged mutatis mutandis against convert Christians in a Mahometan Country this alone is sufficient to shew them all to be unconclusive The way therefore for every man to be satisfied in his Religion is to examine it apart from the accidental advantages of it and chuse that which has best reasons to recommend it for a man ought to chuse his Church by his Religion and not his Religion by his Church But he asks in case there be no Judge to determine who have the true sence of Scripture Roman Catholicks or Protestants whether the Catholick sence be not as good as the Protestants Pref. p. 3. It were a sufficient Answer to this to put another case like it to him in the person of a Turk And it is this in case there is no Judge to determine as I know of none saith the Turk which is the Word of God the Bible or the Alchoran Why should not the Affirmation of us Mâ—slelmans who are ready to vouch to the death for the Alchoran and are twice the number of you Christians be as good authority for Men to believe the Alchoran came from God as your vouching for your Bibles is sufficient to perswade men to believe that they came from him But I do not love to shift off a Question and therefore tell him that the sence put by Roman Catholicks on the Scripture is not so good as the sence put on them by the Protestants If it were they would not be afraid to put it to the World and let every person that is equally concerned judge for himself but they had rather appeal to themselves as Judges and then they are sure of the cause But then he tells us that he could never understand what Unity of Spirit or agreement in Faith Christians are like to have page 3. upon these Principles To which I Answer more than they have now If National Churches were left to be govern'd by themselves the Subjects of each Church bound to adhere to their immediate Governors in all quarrels with neighbouring Churches those contentions must soon come to an end as the quarrel between St. Cyprian Stephen did For when the Governours of differing Churches find that they cannot hurt one another or advantage themselves by denial of Communion as it must be when the one Church doth not raise a Faction to side with it in the other the quarrel must soon cease for the thing that makes quarrels endless is interest But if it once be counted Lawful for one Church to get a Party in the others Precincts and set up Altar against Altar in the same place this will continue the Schism and is the very fundamental reason of the breaches of Charity amongst Christians that now pester Christendom which are much
by any other Devotional Book Lastly What is this to the Reformation which found not one Exposition in Print by Commandment of the Church nor any counted necessary I will venture to put one Question to Mr. M. and having askt so many I hope he will not take it ill Ought the Mass to be understood by the People or no If it ought to be understood why is not the best method taken to make them understand it even to read it in a Tongue understood by them If it matters not whether it be understood by the People or no to what purpose doth he talk of an Exposition His third Argument in behalf of the practice of his Church is taken from the Example of the Jewish Church Had not saith he the Jewish Church almost all her Scriptures and publick Service for fourteen Generations that is to say from the Captivity unto Christ in the old Hebrew A Language not then understood by the the common People I Answer she had some of them in old Hebrew but not only in it They were read in the Synagogues first in Hebrew for the use of the Learned and then in the Vulgar for the common People This he might have learnt from Father Simon and Bishop Walton Nay Doctor Isaac Vossius is positive that the Greek was the vulgar Language of Jerusalem in our Saviours time and that the Septuagint Translation and not the old Hebrew was read in the Synagogues of the Jews And all unanimously conclude that the people either understood the original of what was read or were made understand it by an Interpreter 'T is probable Saint Paul had respect to this custom among the Jews when he commands the Prophet that spake with Tongues to keep silence in the Church if there was no Interpreter 1 Cor. 14. 28. And therefore Mr. M. has quite mistaken his Argument when he asks Did our Saviour or his Apostles ever reprehend the Jews for not translating the Scripture into the vulgar Language There was no ground for such a Reprehension since the Jews had done it three hundred years before therefore will rise up in Judgment against the absurd practice of the Roman Church will condemn her who is more unkind to her Subjects than the very Jews has provided worse for their Edisication in this point It is to no purpose to say as Mr. M. doth that the Latine is more vulgar than the English Since this is a manifest falshood and must be owned to be such by all men who consider that the Latine is not vulgar in any place of the World. I cannot tell whether I can call it a fourth Argument which offers in these words If the Service of God must be said in the maternal tongue of every Nation where shall an English man in France or Spain that understands not the language go to serve God on the Lords day I answer To Church and joyn his presence and private Devotion with the Congregation since he cannot joyn in the publick Prayers In case of necessity a man is accepted by God according to what he can do and what is not in his power is not required of him In a Country where there are no Christians he must go no where and in a strange Country he must go to the publick Devotions though he do noâ— understand them For that is better then not going at all His last Argument for the vindication of the publick Service of the Church in an unknown Tongue is That this would destroy all Community of Sacraments and Litâ—rgie between the Members of the Catholick Church which being one Body or Society of Men cannot be like the Builders of Babel who could not understand one anothers Language Now if they that understand not one anothers language are Builders of Babel then the Priest and People where the Service is in an unknown Tongue are plainly such Builders For they do not understand one another Two Cities may very well be Built and conveniently Governed by two People of different Languages and these Cities may likewise manage all their common Business and keep a good Correspondence by the help of a few Men that understand both Languages But two Languages in the same City is very inconvenient and cannot be so remedied It is so in the Church Distant Congregations may have a very good Communion with one another by the help of their Priests who understand a common Language But to have a Language spoken to a Congregation or in it that the Members cannot understand is to bring in a great confusion and directly opposite to the Apostles command which he himself here produces Rom. 15. 16. that we should with one mind and mouth glorifie God For how can a Congregation glorifie God with one mouth if they do not understand the words in which they are to joyn Thus Mr. M's Arguments constantly make against himself If want of a common Language destroys unity of Sacraments and Liturgy in distant Churches it destroys that unity much more where there is wanting a common Language between the Priest People in the same Church But the truth is the unity of the Sacraments and Liturgies have no dependency on the unity of Language but are the same in whatever language they are used or administred And so it was in the Primitive Church where every People had their own Liturgy in their own Language Mr. M. foresaw that 1 Cor. 14. would be objected against him And he tells us p. 11. That he humbly thinks it not well understood by Prostants This is a main point and one would have expected a substantial Reason for his Opinion some Determination of a Primitive Council or a whole shoal of Fathers at least But instead of that he pretends to cut the throat of the Objection out of that very Chapter in which Protestants glory If any be Ignorant saith he let him be Ignorant Wherefore Brethren covet to Prophesie and forbid not to speak with Tongues v. 39. God is not the Author of Confusion but Peace v. 33. I shall not trouble the Reader with an Answer to these Arguments if Mr. M. designed in earnest to prove by them that we do not well understand the Apostle in this Chapter I would advise him to take the Opinion of a Physician whether all be right about his Head. § 8. The third thing wherein Mr. M. endeavours to vindicate his Church is the Worship of Images And to this purpose he alledges First That the Council of Trent hath commanded all Superstition to be taken away in the use of Images and then gives it in charge to all Bishops to look to it p. 12. If they had reckoned the Worship of Images Superstition this had indeed taken away our Objection but on the contrary the Council decreed that Images of Christ not of his Human Nature as he improperly expresses it and likewise of the Blessed Virgin and other Saints are to be had and retained especially in Churches