confirmed in this resolution when I vnderslood how Luther Calvin hauing no Scripture for them but against them haue grosly abused it to maintaine their errour For Luther the first Apostle in this last age of this new doctrine did two notable iniuries to the word of God For Seeing that this prime article of his faith was not expresly contain'd in the Scripture by an vnparallel'd presumption he added the word sola or Alone to the Scripture in his German translation of the Bible And whereas S. Paul saith we account a man iustifyed by faith without the workes of the law he makes him say by faith alone And when this high temerity of adding to the word of God was obiected to him Luth. tom 5. Germ. fol. 141. dâ—m he defended it with most insolent words saying that a Papist and an asse was the same thing and that the word sola should remaine in his Bible although all the Papists in the world shoud go mad and be transformed to in Asses The second iniury that he did to the Scripture was not by Addition but by Diminution wherin he was much more liberal then in the first for he added only one word but he took away many hundreds Because finding that the words above cited of S. Iames epistle were clearly expresly against his doctrin he expunged the whole epistle out of the Canon of the holy Scriptures Luth in praef in novu n Test Luth in cap. 22. Genes calling it an epistle of straw vnworthy the Spirit of an Apostle Yea he arrived to that impudency that he said the Authour of that epistle delirat that is dotes or raves By these two practises I was moved to think that Luther could not be the second Elias the Restorer of purity true religioÌ„ who would not only reform the Church but also the Scriptures yea in such a manner as he hath incurred not one but both the curses threatned by S. Iohn for adding to and pareing from the Scriptures And by this I perceived also what little esteem they make of the Scripture when it makes against their errours Calvin went more subtilly to work for although he followed Luthers doctrin of Iustification yet he neither added the word Sola to the letter of the Scripture neither did he deny S. Iames epistle to be Canonical But what Luther added to the letter Calvin added to the sense and what Luther denyed the other corrupted For Calvin would have Iustification by faith only to be as firmly believed as if the word only were there in Scripture which indeed is all one as if he had added with Luther that word to the Scripture Then the words of S. Iames which are clearly opposite to his errour and for which Luther did reiect the whole epistle he doth so corrupt with new senses which Luthers more grosse head could not invent that they passe many mens senses vnderstandings too and are against the words of Scripture clearly against the sense of the holy Fathers For he saith faith alone doth iustify but not alone Some others of his Schollers explaine it thus fides sola iustificat sed non solitaria Others say faith doth iustify and not works but yet faith not without works or a man is iustifyed with works but not by works and works are the means but not the causes of Iustification But all these inventions are directly contrary to the words of S. Iames. For he saith man is iustifyed by works not by faith only He doth not say man is iustifyed with works but by works he doth not say he is iustifyed by faith only but not by faith only And after the same manner and expression that he ascribeth our iustification to faith he ascribs it also vnto works He neither speaks of causes nor means these are the Ministers words and not the word of God which is not cleared but rendred more obscure by them It was made appear to me that the question at first between the Catholiques Luther was whether good works were in any respect necessary to our iustification and not whether they were required as causes or conditions Luther said they were in no wise necessary or else none could be iustifyed since the best works of the greatest Saints are mortal sins And in this he spake consequentially to his principles But Calvin finding that the Catholiques by innumerable Scriptures and particularly by that place of S. Iames proved the necessity of good works vnto Iustification he invented a distinction not to cleare but to confound the matter that good works were necessary but not as causes and faith was the only cause of Iustification And this he did also very vnreasonably against the principle which he holds common with Luther to witt that all our best actions are deadly sins For if good works be in any manner necessary how can any be iustifyed according to Calvin who maintains there can be no good works but that all are mortal sins For if a condition be necessary to any effect then if the condition be not fulfilled the effect cannot be produced As approximation of wood vnto the fire is ordinarly called the condition without which the wood could not take fire Therefore as the wood if it were not put near the fire would not conceive fire so also if good works be a necessary condition vnto iustification as Calvin pretends no man can be iustifyed since according to him there can be no good works Therefore Calvin speaks very inconsequentially if not also falsly Moreover it was showen me that the Lutherans were so highly offended with these new glosses of Calvin his Schollers that they call them the doctrins of the new Papists more pernicious then these of the old and Illyricus Illyr in praef ep ad Rom. a famous Lutheran doth not stand to call these Calvinists Seducers who by diuerse waye saith he would elude the propositioÌ„ of S. Paul c. For this cause the Lutherans deny all necessity of good works vnto Salvation either as means or causes For this they professed at the conference of Altenberg Coll. Al ten col 4 f. 75. We conclude say they with that worthy saying of Luther If works be necessary vnto Salvation then none can be saved without works and then we would not be saved by faith only So I found at length that this prime article of our religion to witt that man is iustifyed by faith only after so many great brags is not in Scripture but against Scripture as the Lutherans vnderstand it and as Calvin takes it it s not only against Scripture but also against his own principle who makes the whole matter to end in Philosophical termes for the most part neither vnderstood by speakers nor hearers Of which matter I had not long ago a notable experience For being in a Gentlemans house in the countrey where there chanced to be a Minister of esteem'd learning two Roman Catholiques and diverse Protestants as the
the bond but also the Sacrament of Marriage is commended By which few Testimonies these 5. Sacraments which you reiect are as clearly proved out of the Scripture as these two which you admit Yea although they had not been mentioned in the Scripture yet they are all with reverence to be received seing they are demonstrated by divine Tradition which is of no lesse infallible authority then the Scripture it self as has been proved above and this Tradition is evident both by the consent of the holy Fathers and by the constant beleef practice of the whole Church which has vsed these Sacraments in all ages according to the ends for which they were instituted And thefore the Catholique doctrine concerning the number of the Sacraments which flowes from such pure fountains is pure true not corrupted as you do calumniate Whereas indeed your doctrine and that of your first Reformers in this matter is not only full of corruption but also of confusion For Luthers followers admit three Sacraments to witt Ap. Becan in Man lib. 1. c. 8. Baptism Eucharist Penance as may be seen in their Catechismes Zuinglius receives also three but not all the same for in place of Penance he puts Matrimonie And Calvin reckons also three for to Baptism the Supper Cal. lib. 4. Instit c. 19. par 32. he adds Order So full of confusion even at the beginning were these builders of Babylon following neither Scriptures nor Fathers but their own fancies Wherein you are not behind with them swarving from the doctrin of your Master Calvin and according to your own imaginations admitting only 2. Sacraments which two also in effect you destroy by robbing them of all vertue and efficacy as has been shewed above chap. 21. in fine You accuse next the Catholique Church of corruptions concerning the vse of the Sacraments But it is sufficient against your accusations that these vses of the Sacraments which you most blame as private Baptism private Communion c. are known to have been observed by the holy Primitive Church are in themselvs laudable and tend much to the devotion comfort of the faithfull and are also approved by diverse learned moderate Protestants Whereas your doctrines practises make your Sacraments altogether gracelesse and almost Vselesse and Comfortlesse for which you are blamed by diverse Protestants Moreover you are enemies also to the very Ceremonies with which the Sacraments are administrated in the Catholique Church It is not sufficient for you to have taken away the fruite of Grace from these heavenly Trees planted by God in the Garden of his Church as in a heavenly Paradise vnlesse you pull away also the Ceremonies which serve as leaves and Ornaments to them You detest all Ceremonies not contain'd in the word of God By which you lay down a most false deceitfull principle as if no Ceremonies were to be vsed which were not expresly there For first the Scriptures containes not expresly all doctrines but referres vs to the Church and to Traditions as we have seen above How much lesse then doth it contain all Ceremonies Secondly As our Saviour when he did institute the Sacraments did not prescribe the particular forme by which they should be celebrated but left that to the wisdome of his Apostles so his Apostles did not set down that manner in writing S. Augustin expresly affirmes the first part Aug. ep 118. ad Ianuar. saying Christ did not command in what order thereafter the Sacrament should be taken that he might leave that place to the Apostles by whom hs was to order his Church The second part is also evident For we never read where S. Paul who writing to the Corinthians concerning the holy Eucharist said 1. Cor. 11. ver vlt. The rest I will dispose when I come did expresse that manner or order in the Scripture And the same may be said of the other Apostles Thirdly Some Rites and Ceremonies vsed by Christ himself recorded in Scripture were changed by the holy Apostles according to the instinct of the holy Ghost for the greater honour of the blessed Sacrament and have been from the Apostles times observed throughout the whole Church without Scripture Aug. ep 118. c. 6. This S. Augustin doth testify Neither saith he because Christ gave the Sacrament after meat ought we having dyn'd or sup't assemble to receive that Sacrament or as these whom the Apostle reproves and corrects mingle it with their Tables c. For it seem'd good to the holy Ghost that for the honour of so great a Sacrament our Lords body before all other meat should first enter into the mouth of a Christian and therefore this custom is observed throughout the whole world Fourthly the Church can institute ceremonies for greater decency and Order and for the more honour of God For if Iacob a private man vsed a new Ceremonie by erecting a stone by powring oyle vpon it and giving it the title of Bethel Genes 28. If the Synagogue of the Iewes made a new feast by the advice of Mardocheus Ester 9. why not also shall the Church of Christ have the same authority If such was the power of a private man and of the Handmaid How much more ought the power be of the Free-woman the holy Church the immaculate Spouse of Iesus-Christ Or what can be more ridiculous and profane then to grant that power to these and deny it to this Or to think that the Catholique Church which is governed by the Holy Ghost in all truth according to Christs promise should not have so much wisdom as to ordain aright some few Ceremonies Therefore your former principle is very false for many reasons yea it is so false that yourselves doe not observe it For where have you Scripture for the Godfathers God-Mothers which you require at Baptism Where have you scripture for taking your Communion fasting from the hands of one another not from the hands of your Minister and for many such rites customes besides your stoole of Repentance When did your Ministers observe that ceremony of washing the feet of others which was vsed by Christ Iohn 13.5 before the celebration of the Eucharist When did either they or their Elders anoint the sick according to S. Iames precept Whereby it is evident that you observe some Rites which are not contain'd in the scriptures and others you neglect which are there particularly recommended As then it is clear that the Church of Christ may vse ceremonies which are not expressed in Scripture so these Ceremonies which she observeth are most commendable because they are most auncient and were vsed in the primitive times as Coccius shewes by the testimonies of the holy Fathers they are most observeable because they were instituted by the holy Apostles and Pastors of the Church who had both authority and wisdom to institute those which are most convenient And lastly they have been confirmed by the long
Scriptures cannot be certainly knowen but by the testimony authority of the Church and are to be believed for the samâ— as S. Augustin doth affirme the Creed also may be knowen and ought to be believed to be Apostolical for the same very reason since the same testimony authority are for both Yea the Tradition Testimony of the Church for the Apostles Creed hath in a certaine manner some preeminence above that which is for the Scripture For it is more ancieÌ„t more vniuersal more manifest More ancient because the holy Fathers and the whole Church do constantly affirme that the Symbol was composed by the Apostles before any part of the new Testament was written It was more vniversal because it was received every where at the very first plantation of Christianity whereas diverse parts of the Scripture being directed only to some particular Churches could not be communicated but after some space to the whole Church It was also more manifest because there were some bookes of the Scripture doubted of by some of the ancient Fathers till the Vniversal Church did determin the Canon of the Sciptures but there was never any ancient Christian who doubted of or denyed the Apostles Creed there was such a clear and Vniversal tradition for it And besides the Creed in it self is very clear as being a short rule of faith ordain'd for the capacity of the most simple according to which the Scriptures that are more obscure ought to be vnderstood Seing then the whole Church in the primitive times and in all ages hath professed that the Apostles made taught the Creed it remaines most certaine that the Apostles did teach it for greater certainty then this cannot be had If the Apostles taught and delivered it vnto the first Christians then they being so taught were obliged to receive it with the sâ—me reverence wherewith they did receive the Scriptures which were delivered or directed vnto them by the same Apostles And if the first ChristiaÌ„s were so obliged why not also their children their childreÌ„s children so downeward froÌ„ age to age vntill the end of the world shall haue the same obligation If this obligation held in the first age why not also in the second and in every succeeding age Or when should this obligation cease Or why more at one time then at an other since the same assurance remaines at all times Or why should it cease more for the Creed then for the Scripture since the same testimony is for both and if there be any preeminence in this matter the Creed hath it as has been shewed Wherefore as I was by these considerations fully satisfyed of the Apostolique authority laudable vse of the Creed in the primitive Church so I could in no wise approve the Presbyterians innovations against it but rather did much admire of their presumption For by their denying the Creed to be Apostolique I saw they denyed the clear rule and endeavoured to subvert the very foundation of the Christian faith By their taking away both the publick and private vse of it they would haue robbed Christians of the heavenly apparell and spiritual armour of their soules as the holy Fathers above call it And all this they do relying vpon no other grounds but their owne gesses which they oppose and would haue to be preferred to the constant testimony and irrefragable authority of the whole Christian world The Iewes brought at least Aug. in psal 63. v. 7. sleeping witnesses against the resurrection of Christ for which folly S. Augustin mocks theÌ„ and saith that they theÌ„selves were sleeping and failed in their search But the Presbyterians bring neither sleeping nor waking witnesses and yet they will blindly iudge in a matter done above 16. hundred yeares ago and boldly pronounce sentence against an ancient fundamental truth which had been received professed by the Christians of all ages But albeit the Presbyterians do reiect the authority testimony of the Church yet I saw if they followed their owne principles they might as easily discern the Creed to be Apostolique as they pretend they can know the Scriptures For the Maiesty of the style the harmony of the parts the purity of the doctrin and the like do concurre in the Creed in an eminent degree as we haue seen above out of the holy Fathers who do so highly praise it for its perfections as a worke Worthy of such heavenly Architects And the matter being considered in it self the Creed in all these qualities is equal if not Superiour by outward apparance vnto the Scriptures For in them there are many seeming contradictions hard to be explained but none in this Many things in Scripture not so full of Maiesty as about S. Pauls cloke c. 2. Tim. 4.13 but the creed is totally replenished with most sublime divine mysteries Therefore if the Presbyterians could by these marks discern the Scriptures they might as easily discern the Creed to haue been made by the Apostles Albeit I admired much how the Presbyterians could vpon so weake grounds deny the Apostles Creed against such invincible authorities yet I was much more stricken with admiration when I considered what they brought in place of it For in place of the Apostles Creed we got the Presbyterians Covenant As that was denyed to be Apostolical so this was cry'd vp to be Divine for it was called Gods Covenant the Confession of faith c. As parents were accustomed at the Baptisme of their children to say the Apostles Creed in which they promised to bring them vp so now they were made promise to breede them in the Covenant which was too long to haue by heart or to be repeated This was truly a rare exchange to deny the Creed to be Apostolique to cry vp the Covenant to be Divine To rob vs of a most ancient clear briefe positive Sacred Confession of faith made by the holy Apostles famous in all ages vniversally received troughout the whole world full of great mysteries divine expressions And to give vs in place of it a new long obscure negative Confession or rather Confossion of faith full of terrible oaths execrations combinations devised by some few discontented heads by cunning and force obtruded vpon this Nation much suspected at the beginning to be nothing but a meer pretence of religion as it was notoriously knowen to be a humane invention and as it 's now at lenth after all its disguises manifested for such vnto the world It 's good fame hath not lasted long neither at home nor abroad It got some footing in England by cunning and worldly interest but these soone failing it was quickly detected and reiected The Christlan Moderator saith to this purpose Christ Mod. p. 2. That the last Reformation setled with so solemn a Covenant and caried on with so furious a zeal is already by better lights discovered to be meerly humane therefore deservedly lay'd aside Therefore to
really present in the Sacrament Although this be a most important question and is much agitated by the curiosity of carnal reason yet I was soone satisfyed in it because I was resolved by Gods grace to found my faith vpon no other ground but vpon the divine Scriptures as they were vnderstood by the ancient Church holy Fathers And therefore after a little diligence and some conference with a Catholique on this matter I found that the reall presence of Christs body in the Sacrament was conforme to the clear words of the Scriptures which were so vnderstood by the holy Fathers and which in right reason cannot be otherwise vnderstood and that God hath approved this truth by famous miracles And vpon the other part I found that the Presbyerian doctrin is against Scriptures Fathers Councels and right reason that it is an ancient heresy and so false that many Protestants do eagerly oppose it and lastly that such great confusion was in this matter among the first Apostles of this new religion that it is no wonder to see it so much multiplied among their children All which points I will briefly touch 1. The Catholiques bring expresse Scripture for the reall presence to witt the words of Institution of this holy Sacrament related by three Evangelists and one Apostle where our Saviour alwayes saith This is my body This is my blood And to know that he mean'd of his true reall body he adioyneth my body which shall be given for you and my blood which shall be shed for you Now it was his reall body which was given for them and his reall blood which was shed for them S. Iohn ch 6. Therefore it was his reall body reall blood which they received in the Sacrament Moreover S. Iohn relateth along discourse which our Saviour had to the Iewes in which he affirmes that he was the bread of life that came down from heaven And the bread which he was to give was his flesh for the life of the world and vnlesse they eate his flesh and drink his blood they should have no life in them And notwitstanding that the Iewes murmured at all these things saying How can this man give vs his flesh to eate and this is a hard saying who can heare it Yet our Saviour did with many asseverations affirm it over and over again yea and the suffered them to depart from him because they would not believe this divine mystery Now Christ is not a mocker or deceiver of men to speak one thing yea and to averre it with asseverations which are equivalent to oaths and to intend the contrary Christ is not ignorant of the vsual manner of speech Therefore since he tells the Apostles plainly that the Eucharist is his body delivered for them it must be his body as the Catholiques beleeve and cannot be not his body as the Presbyterians imagine If the Scripture be Iudge of controversies then this controversie is decyded for that Iudge to which Protestants make ordinarly their appeales hath so determined the cause against them that they dare not stand to the clear words of their Iudge in so much that some learned Protestants do confesse that the Scripture taken in the native proper and literal sense is plainly for the Catholiques against themselves and namely Morton when he speaks thus to the Catholiques If the words he certainly true in a proper and literal sense Morton deinstit Sacrament lib. 2. c. 1. then we are to yeeld to you the whole cause And therefore they are enforced to runne to their tropes figures But I found the holy Fathers making no such glosses on our Saviours clear words taking them in their proper sense S. Augustin citing these words of our Saviour this is my body Aug. in ps 33. speaks thus A man may be carried by the hands of others no man is carried in his own hands but Christ was carried in his own hands when recomeÌ„ding his body he himself said this is my body For he carried himself in his own haÌ„ds And again We receive with a faithfull heart and month Idem contr adversar legis lib. 2. c. 9. Ambros lib. 4. de Sacram cap. 4. Chrys lib. 2. de Sacerdotio Cypr. de Coena Domini the Mediator of God and man the man Iesus Christ who giveth vs his flesh to eate S. Ambrose saith clearly Before consecration it is bread but when the words of consecration come it is the body of Christ Heare him saying take eate This is my body c. S. Chrysostom saith He who sitteth above with the father in that same instant of time O miracle O the bounty of God! is touched by the hands of all and he gives himself to those who will receive and embrace him S. Cyprian The bread which our Lord gave to his Disciples being changed not in shape but in nature by the omnipotency of the word is made flesh Many more testimonies of these and of the other holy Fathers in all the first ages even vntill the time of the Apostles Concil Nicen. apud Bellar. lib. 2 de Euch. aristi c. 10. Concil Ephes apud eund lib. 2. cap. 25. may be seen collected by Coccius and Gualterus So that I found both the Scriptures Fathers giving sentence against the Presbyterians The first for the letter and the other for the sense This same truth is also confirmed by the testimonie and authority of the vniuersal Church in general Councels as the first Nicen Councel whose words Bellarmin cites The third generall Councel of Ephesus to which S. Cyrill of Alexandria did preside by which Synod the epistle of S. Cyrill to Nestorius where the real presence of Christs body in the Eucharist is contain'd was approved as it was thereafter by the fourth and fift generall Councels to speak nothing of other more late Councels Besides all these authorities it was also made evident vnto me by the light of reason that our Saviours words concerning the institution of this Sacrament cannot be but literally vnderstood For 1. the principall articles or points of our faith are not delivered in the Scriptures but in proper and clear words But this by all mens Confession is a principall mystery of our faith Therefore it is delivered in clear and plaine tearmes 2. That cannot be ascrybed to Christ without blasphemy which no reasonable or prudent man would do But no reasonable or prudent man would make his testament in obscure and figurative words for that were the high way to deceive his children heires and put them at variance Therefore since Christ at the institution of this Sacrament a little before his death was making his Testament as is manifest by his words when he calleth the Chalice Luke 20.22 the new Testament in his blood by which he left vnto his children the most precious legacie of his body for their comfort nourishment he spake properly clearly and not figuratively 3. Chrâ—st promised the Iewes
doctrin Christ his Apostles taught and that the Catholique Church by her constant treading this way has still held the same true doctrin which she first received and consequently has never changed her doctrin nor brought in corruption as the Ministers do caluminate And therefore their pretended Reformation having no other ground but this calumnie is a groundlesse imagination and a destruction of Christs true doctrin But that the truth of this whole matter may yet more fully appear I will shew you briefly that this constant testimony is the only sure infallible way to attayn vnto the certain knowledge possession of our Saviours true doctrin that it is also most easy vniuersal for all sorts of persons that the holy Fathers primitive Church did follow it and that all Errors heresies have been clearly confuted by it We have already show'n that this testimony is a sure infallible means now that it is only sure infallible Aug. cont ep fond c. 5. is shewed For if there were any other it would be the Scripture as Protestants pretend But that cannot be 1. Because we cannot beleeve the Scripture without the testimony of the Church as S. Augustin clearly avoucheth 2. Albeit we could know it without that testimony yet by the Scripture we cannot know the whole doctrin of Christ especially since the Scripture it self saith 2. Thessal 2.15 Hold fast the Tradition Thirdly principally Albeit the Scripture contain'd the whole doctrin of Christ yet how shall I know assuredly by the letter of the Scripture the true sense of it without which I have not the true doctrin of Christ Yea I may corrupt the Scripture or follow those who corrupt it as S. Peter shewes many do vnto their own perdition Here many if not all Protestants are perplexed to show how by the Scripture the true sense of it may be had Some say that the Scripture is clear in all things necessary to Salvation so that every man may easily vnderstand them Others think that the Scripture is not so clear but an Interpreter is necessary But they are divyded in assigning this Interpreter Some say the Scripture in one place expounds it self in another Others assign the private Spirit and last of all some assign for an Interpreter every mans natural reason But all these are false frivolous pretences For first they could never shew what these necessary points are Besides this is an open confession that by the Scripture we cannot know assuredly our Saviours doctrin in these points which they call not necessary Then is not the true belief of the Sacrament necessary for the Church and yet we see what contrary glosses the Lutherans Calvinists make on our Saviours clear words Lastly if there needed no Interpreter for things necessary every one although vnlearned who could but read might pick out what are necessary which troubles the most learned heads among them to find out and these who could not read behoved to pin their implicit faith at at other mens sleeves Now what confusion would this make what vncertainty would there be in this case of our Saviours doctrin And how contrary are these things to truth and experience to Protestants principles practices So it is evident that by the Scripture alone we cannot come to the sure and infallible knowledge of our Saviours doctrin Neither can we attayn to it by the Scripture assisted by any Interpreter which Protestāts assign For it is false that the Scripture expounds it self it being obscure in many places which are not interpreted by others more plaine as may appear besides other reasons by the Protestants dissenssions in many points The conference of places study and the like which some require to be ioyn'd with the Scripture are but humane helps subiect to error and not infallible Then for the private Spirit it can give vs as little assurance of the sense as it can of the letter of the Scripture We see what contrariety is among those who all equally lay claim to it Neither is the last Interpreter to witt every mans reason assigned by M. Chilingworth the last peaceable Refiner of the English Church any white better but rather worse For besids that this opinion makes humane reason not the divine authority the main ground of our faith which is a dangerous errour it is so far from bringing men vnto the sure knowledge of what our Saviour taught that it professeth no more but a moral certainty for the truth of the whole Christian religion and leaves all particular doctrines to be pickt out of the Scriptures according to the diversity of mens particular reasons And so diuerse men according to the diversity of their reasons collect from the Scriptures opposite doctrines For what some think reasonable accept others esteem vnreasonable and reiect as is evident in the Socinians who deny the divinity of Christ principally vpon this ground because it chokes their reason as the Calvinists also chiefly for the same reason deny the reall presence So that this Interpreter brings as great vncertainty to know our Saviours doctrin as any other And therefore it remaines evident that the Scripture even assisted by any Interpreter which Protestants can assigne much more the Scripture alone is not a sure infallible means for this end and consequently the testimony of the Church is the only sure infallible means But here I did enquire of the Catholique If the Scriptures were as cleer every where as S. Augustin affirmes they are concerning the Church where he saith they need no Interpreter might they not then give vs vndoubted assurance of our Saviours doctrin To which he answered That although the Scripture were never so clear and as evident in every sentence as words can be written Yet because these words may be diversly vnderstood taken indifferent senses they cannot be so sure infallible away to certifie vs what was our Saviours doctrin as the living words testimony of the whole Church which received the true doctrin and the sense together with the letter of the Scriptures which she hath constantly transmitted vnto posterity This is evident in a very principal point of the Christian religiō to witt the holy Sacrament What words can be more clear then these of our Saviour This is my body which shall be given for you c And yet vpon these clear words there are reckoned about two hundred diverse interpretations since Protestāts arose How then should a man amōg such variety of senses come vnto the true sense be sure that he has attayn'd vnto it in which only Christs true doctrin consists Therefore it is evident in this case that the written word cannot do it and this only the Church can perform which has conserved both the letter and sense of the Scriptures from corruptions If then the Scriptures although they were written in most cleer words cannot certifie vs fully of the true sense of our Saviours doctrin
how much lesse can they as they are now being in many places hard and obscure These Protestants who reiect all but Scripture would make Christ to have been the most imprudent Lawgiver that ever was in ths world to have left vs only a written law or a book in many things very obscure and expose it to every man to scance vpon without assigning an Interpreter who could give vs full assurance of the true sense of it That way would never bring men to the sure knowledge of Christs doctrine and the true sense of his law but would make all things vncertain and bring in a confusion more worthy of Babel then of the house of God But his divine wisdom hath otherwise provyded We haue seen then said the Catholique that the testimony of all Christians in every generation is the only sure infallible way Now we shall see that it is the most easy vniversal way to attayn vnto the certain knowledge of what Christ his Apostles taught For what is more easy then to hear a continued testimony of Pastors people who constantly depose that this is the doctrin which they have receiued from their Forefathers what can be more easy then to open our eys and see the practise of all Christians No man of sense will deny if the true doctrin can be surely known hereby but it is a much mor easy way then by the Scriptures which are so hard and obscure or by any written word although never so cleer And it is also evident that it is more vniversal for the Scriptures are only for those who can read and vnderstand them but this serues for all sortes of persons learned or vnlearned these who can read or cannot and even for the meanest capacities This was certainly the meaning of God when he promised vnder the Gospel a direct way so that fooles cannot erre by it Therefore this being so sure Esay 35.8 so easy so vniversal a way the wisdom goodnesse of God who disposeth all things wisely and sweetely has made vse of it This may be yet further illustrated and confirmed by the manner how the Christian religion was planted First the Apostles stayd long in one place that they might diligently inculcate the Christian doctrin as S. Paul said to the Ephesians Acts 20 27.31 I haue not spared to declare vnto you all the Counsell of God c. For three years night day I ceased not with teares to warn every one c. Secondly the Apostles earnestly exhorted their disciples to keep carefully what they had received 2. Timoth 2.2 Galat. 1.9 to entrust it vnto faithfull witnesses and not to admit any doctrin contrary to that which they had received not although an Angel from heauen should preach otherwise Thirdly The mysteries of the Christian religion were not only sensibly taught to the eare but they were rendred visible to the sight by the â—ractise devotion of the Christian people Fourthly The Christian religion was planted at once in many diverse nations Therefore it was easy for the primitive Christians to know what was the Apostles doctrin which they had heard so often beaten into their eares which they saw practised with their eys and which was profest through out the whole word and great reason had they not to receive any doctrin contrary to it It was also easy for them to discern hold out all new false doctrins For although some would pretend never so much the Scriptures against the publique doctrin of the Church yet the ancient Christians knowing certainly that the Scriptures are not contrary to the doctrin which the Apostles had clearly delivered by lively voice and publickly establish'd in the Church they vnderstood the Scriptures according to the clear rule of faith left by the Apostles They did not vpon pretext of contrariety between the doctrin of the Church the Scriptures abandon the Apostles clear lively doctrin vniversally establisht and follow a new glosse of their writings contrary to it which had been indeed grosse follie and directly against the Apostles command in the Scriptures as has been shown And as this was an easy way in the first ages to know the truth and to discern error so it has been in the succeeding ages For the rule of faith ought to be immoveable as the faith it self is God himself promiseth the continuance of this easy way when he said by Esay Esay 59.21 My Spirit which is in thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth and out of the mouth of thy seed for ever And again Vpon thy walls ô Ierusalem Esay 62.6 I haue appointed watchmen all the day all the night c. The Scripture directs vs to this way Deuter. 32.7 Remember the dayes of old saith Moyses Consider euery Generation ask thy Father and he will show thee thy Elders they will tell thee God himself saith in Ieremy Ieremie 6.16 stand you in the ways and see and ask for the old Paths where is the good way and walk therein and you shall find Rest to your soules Because many leave this old good way we see they change many wayes and can find no rest and never will vntill they return again to the old good way which they foolishly abandoned Christ directs vs to this way Math. 18.17 when he saith Tell the Church and who heares you heares me c. The holy Fathers followed this way S. Augustin shewes that this is the way to put an end to all doubts to attayn vnto the truth to be at rest which he knew by his own experience Aug. de vtilitate cred cap. 8. If thou seeme to thy self saith he to have been already sufficiently tossed and would make an end of these labours paines Follow the way of the Catholique Disciplin which has proceeded from Christ by his Apostles even vnto vs and from hence shall descend and be conveighed vnto posterity Tertullian affirmes there is no other way to know the Apostles doctrin Tertull. de praescrip c. 21. What the Apostles taught saith he I will prescribe ought no otherwise to be proued then by these Churches which the Apostles founded And that we must begin with the testimony of the Church in the time wherein we live to ascend by every generation vnto the ancient Church and so to the very mouth of Christ his Apostles the same Tertullian shewes who makes this ladder of belief Tert. de praes c. 21. What I believe I receiued from the present Church the present Church from the Primitive the Primitive from the Apostles the Apostles from Christ c. According to this tradition the holy Fathers did vnderstand the Scriptures Vincent Lyr. cont heres c. 1. S. Vincentius Lyrinensis shewes the necessity of this rule to avoid the turnings and windings of diverse errors where he cites and commends the following words of
can it be but wonderfull to consider that this Church being dilated throughout the world in so many diverse remote Kingdomes Provinces Countreys of different languages Customs worldly interests and some of these being enemies to others in worldly affaires should all agree in the Vnity of the same Catholique faith as if they were one man Whereas all other Churches which go out from this vnder pretext of greater purity although they do not fill the earth but are comprized in small bounds fall into such horrible dissensions and divisions that they never rest till like generations of vipers they destroy one an other and oftentimes the later destroies the former as we have seen in our time The Church in Communion with the sea of Rome may be known to be the true Church by this admirable Vnity for which Christ prayed and Christ by it may be known to have been sent from heaven who had establish't vpon earth so large a Kingdome of such admirable Vnity If the Vnity of the Catholique Church were not a special blissing of God how could it fall out to her alone How could it have continued so long among such great multitudes of people as have been and are of her Communion How comes it to passe that Vnity could never be conserved among heretiques who although but few and new could never shun the curse of Division which ever destruction followes at the heels For my part I cannot resist vnto this clear reason As this Vnity in the Catholique Church proceeds principally from the blissing of God so secondarly it flowes from the ordinary means which his divine wisdome has appointed and whereof all false Churches are destitute As first from this principle that she beleeves nothing but what has descended vnto her by the constant testimony of her forefathers in all ages from the time of Christ his Apostles By which means it has been shown that she cannot but keep Vnity in faith Secondly She receives the Decrees of all General Councils which in all reason ought to be believed to preserve that which was delivered by the Apostles and if any doubt arise about the sense of the Scriptures are more able to interpret them then any other persons To which therefore all the members of the Catholique Church do modestly wisey submit their iudgments they never ransack any matter of faith once defined but it remaines ever inviolable And lastly All Catholiques submit themselves to one Supreme Pastor whom they acknowledge to be establish't by Christ over the whole Church From whom the holy Fathers do affirm that the Vnity of the Church doth much depend This person appoynted by Christ they shew out of the Scriptures to have been S. Peter to whom Christ said Math. 16.19 Iohn 21 16.18 Cypr. in tract de simplicite Praelator I will give thee the keys of the Kingdome of Heaven c. and again Feed my sheep feed my Lambs Vpon which S. Cyprian saith That Christ might shew Vnity he establish't one Chaire and he disposed by his authority the Origin of that Vnity to proceed from One c. The Primacy is given to Peter that one Church of Christ and one Chaire might be shown S. Hierom seeing the necessity of One head Hieron lib. 1. cont Iovinian for keeping Vnity saith excellently One is chosen that a head being appoynted Occasion of schisme might be taken away And that the Bishop of Rome is successor to S. Peter in that same Dignity Primacy and that the Vnity of the Church depends vpon his authority all the holy Fathers do affirm The same S. Hierom writing to S. Damasus Bishop of Rome saith Hier ep ad Damasum With the Successor of the Fisher with the Disciple of the Crosse I speak c. I am ioyn'd in Communion with thy Holynesse that is with the Chaire of Peter vpon that rock I know the Church is built who gathereth not with thee scattereth S. Augustin affirmes Aug. cont epist fundament c. 4. that the Succession of Priests from the seat of Peter to whom our Lord after his resurrection commended his sheep to be fed vntill the present Bishop held him within the lap of the Church There is nothing more ordinary with the Fathers then to reckon out the succession of the Roman Bishops from S. Peter vnto their time Aug. epist 166. Cypr. epist 73. 45. S. Augustin tearmeth the sea of their residence the Chair of Vnity and S. Cyprian calls it the beginning of Vnity the roote of the Catholique Church As by these means the Vnity of the true Church is preserved so for want of them there can be no constant Vnity in false Churches For they all reiecting the infallible testimony authority of the Catholique Church by which we are certified of our Saviours doctrine as has been shewed put their own election and private iudgment in place of it and their iudgments being diverse they make diverse faiths having no Compasse to steer by but the Scriptures which they diversly interpret according to their pleasures Neither do they submit themselv's to the sentence of any Church for they beleeve that all Churches may erre neither is their own Church constant in her sentence for one Assembly ransacks and condemns as heresy and Anti-Christian what another has defined approved as Christian truths Neither have they any supreme Pastor to whom they obey And in a word they have no bond to ty them together except sometimes worldly interest or the hatred of another religion And when these interests faile when by mutual assistance ioyn't forces they have subdued or overturned that Church which they esteem their Common adversarie then they instantly begin to be miserably scattered divided as fresh experience sheweth how after the destructiō of the late English Church the brethren of Scotland and England became hugely divided notwithstanding the solemne League Covenant which had before so straitly tyed them together Yea it is impossible for the wit of man to make it otherwise For besides that it is impossible that many men can a long time adhere to the same falshoods as we suppose all heresies to be the nature of man being so strongly bent vpon truth this confusion division followes from the nature of their principal doctrin which is the ground work of all the rest to witt that every one should have liberty of reading interpreting Scripture and iudging the Preachers doctrin thereby From which ground there must needs arise variety of sects in religion according to the various conceipts and apprehensions of people Moreover God in his iust iudgment sends ever the curse of division among heretiques for according to their sin so are they punished They endeavoured to divide the Church and themselvs are divided and so at length destroied This God promised by the Prophet Esay when he said Esay 19.2 I will set the Aegyptians against the Aegyptians and they shall fight every one
against his brother and every one against his neighbour citie against citie and Kingdome against Kingdome S. Augustin saith it is the iust iudgment of God Aug lib. de agone Christi c 29. lib 1. de bapt c 6. that those who seek nothing else but to divide the Church should themselves be miserably divided And so he shewes how the Donatists were cut into small threds S. Chrysostom affirmes that the sin of dividing the Church is so great that nothing doth so provoke the anger of God So that when we have done all other manner of good Chrysâ—st hom 11. in ep ad Ephes we deserve no lesse severe punishment for dividing the Vnity fulnesse of the Church then those who pierced divided Christs own body Salomon saith that there are six things which our Lord hates Proverb 6.16.19 and the seventh is abomination to him which is He who soweth discord among brethren How much then must he hate and abhorre those who sow discord in his Church which is his body and his spouse for which he died and for the Vnity whereof he so ardently prayed And therefore it 's no wonder to see the curse of division fall ever among them And as this division and contrariety ariseth naturally from their principall doctrin the ground of all the rest besides Gods iudgment on them so they have no way to take it away when it doth arise For albeit they pretend the word of God to be their Iugde of Controversies to which they promise all obedience yet this Iudge could never hitherto end any controversy among them and indeed it is not the word but the sword which decides all their Controversies The iust contrary is in the Catholique Church For albeit all heresies and sects do first arise out from her 1. Cor. 11.19 as the Apostle saith There must be heresies and S. Iohn affirmeth They went out from vs but were not of vs yet they do not arise from the nature of the Churches doctrin or from her principles which are constant immoveable all tending to Vnity but from the malice of the Devil And when they arise the Church loseth not her Vnity thereby For if these coyners or followers of new doctrines do not submit themselvs to the iudgment of the Church they are iudicially cutt off from that body from which they first cut themselvs by misbeleef and by this means the rest of the body is preserved entire and at Vnity within it self So that when any question ariseth the Church has a solid way to take away all Controversie and to preserve Vnity But the Protestants principles tend to division and they have no means to take it away as has been shewed Since then it is so evident by the Scripture that the Church of Christ must have Vnity it is no lesse evident that that cannot be the true Church which wants Vnity and is full of Dissensions Divisions as the Protestant Church appeares now evidently to be even to the weakest vnderstandings by her great Schismes and divisions both in doctrin government And therefore he who believes a Church of so great division or confusion to be the true Church cannot be said to follow the Scriptures but rather to controul them and to follow his own fancies Whereas the Church in Communion with the Sea of Rome by her admirable Vnity both in doctrin disciplin all the world over even to the least article or point of faith may be easily seen to be the true Church of Christ which was founded by him and he by the same Vnity may be known to be the true Messias who was sent from heaven CHAP. XXXIII The true Church proved by her holynesse THE second mark whereby the true Church is described in the Nicen Creed is Holynesse I beleeve One holy c. Church which property is also assign'd to her in the Apostles Creed I beleeve the holy Catholique Church Besides these authorities the very light of Nature and the Scripture show that the true Church ought to be holy For this being a society of people ordain'd by God for a most holy end to witt to enioy himself who is the Holy of Holies for all eternity must have holynesse of doctrin to direct them and holynesse of life to bring them to so holy an end This the Prophet David sheweth Psal 92 vers vlt saying Holynesse becometh thine house O Lord for ever S. Paul saith that Christ delivered himself fâ—r his Church that he might sanctifie it c. that he might present it to himself Ephes 5.26.27 a glorious Church not hauing spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it may be holy and vnspotted It is evident then by the â—reed by the light of Nature and by the Scriptures that the true Church must be Holy And the holynesse of it for our present purpose consists principally in two things to wit in holynesse of doctrine holynesse of life Therefore that Church which teacheth impious doctrin and wherein there is little or no holynesse of life cannot be the true Church Let vs then briefly see to which Church whither to the Protestant or to the Church in Communion with the sea of Rome this mark of Holynesse doth best agree First concerning doctrin I find that the first Apostles of Protestants teach doctrin directly repugnant to the goodnesse of God to the Nature of man to the holynesse of the Christian Sacraments to the observation of Gods commandments besides many other particulars Calvin the great Foundatour of Pressbytery teaches that God is the Author of sin for thus he writeth Cal lib. 1. instit cap. 18 par 3. Now I have clearly enough shewed that God is called the Author of all these things which these Controwlers to witt the Papists will have to fall forth by his idle permission onely And such things which according to Catholiques God willeth not but only permits are sins of which Calvin there speaks as of the blindnesse and tyranny of Achab of the incest of Absalon and the like of which he calls God the Author Again he saith Man by the iust impulsion of God Ibid par 4. doth that which is not lawfull for him to do And of Pharao he saith Deus voluit vtique illum iussui suo non obtemperare immo vt ei repugnaret In Rom. pc 454. ipse in eo effecit God willed him not to obey his Commandment yea he himself wrought that in him that he might disobey it Many more places are collected by Becan in a Treatise which he wrote on this subiect de Authore peccati Where he cites diverse testimonies of Beza and other Protestant Authors to the same purpose Now that this is an impious opinion and against the very clear light of nature is evident For all men conceive by natural instinct that God is not only good in himself but also goodnesse it self the Author and fountain of all goodnesse But
not vsurped For he who is a iust Possessor is no Vsurper Yea he has been so far from vsurping over the Scriptures the Church c. that he has chiefly preserved them from the Vsurpations and corruptions of Heretiques And first it is shewed that he doth not vsurp over the Scriptures as the Covenanters do calumniate For he neither Vsurps over the letter nor the sense of them Not the first For both the Pope whole Catholique Church professe that they only declare that to be Scripture which they received for such from the holy Apostles and it 's by their care diligence that the letter of the Scripture has descended pure free from corruptions vnto our hands whereas it might have been altogether corrupted or totally perished for Protestants Neither do the Pope or Catholique Church vsurp over the sense of the Scriptures but they preserve that sense which is conforme to the Vanimous consent of the auncient fathers of the Primitive Church Secondly the Pope doth not vsurp over the Church because the care and charge of it was committed by Christ to S. Peter and to his Successors as we have seen and he preserves the Church from the Vsurpation of Heretiques Thirdly He doth not vsurp over the Civil Magistrate The experience of many ages in all Christians Kingdomes Common-wealths is more then sufficient to make this good to manifest the impudent falshood of the Presbyterian calumnie to the contrary Fourthly The Pope doth not vsurp over the Consciences of men but as chief Governor of the Church has lawfull authority to make Ecclesiastical Lawes which bind in Conscience as also all the iust Lawes of Kings other Civil Magistrats do bind in Conscience to which their subiects ought to obey according to that of S. Paul Be subiect not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake Rom. 13.5 And the contrary doctrin of Protestants which affirmeth that neither the Lawes of Church Kings or other Magistrates do bind in conscience is much detested by the Catholique Church and opens a broad way to all disobedience But now it will not be amisse to show how yow are destitute of all lawfull authority and deeply guilty of the same Vsurpations which yow falsly impose on others First all heretiques who go out of the Church and having no lawfull calling or authority take vpon them to be Pastors and impose their new doctrines Lawes vpon the Church are truly Vsurpers and are called Theeves by our Saviour who enter not by the doore but climb vp another way So S. Optatus speaks to the Donatists How comes it to passe Opt. lib. 2. cont Parmen saith he that you who are fighting against the Chair of Peter by your presumptions and Sacrilegious boldnesse contend to Vsurp the keies of the Kingdome to your selves Thus Luther Calvin the two chief Apostles of Protestants were Vsurpers who being private men without any lawfull calling or authority would bring in new doctrines and prescribe lawes to the whole Catholique Church And in this the Covenanting Ministers do imitate them Secondly they vsurped in particular over both the letter and sense of the Scriptures For Luther added the word Only to them in the matter of Iustification and tooke the whole Epistle of S. Iames and the Apocalypse from them Calvin also by his private Spirit made vp a new Canon not known before his time expunging many bookes avnciently received out of the Scriptures which new Rule the Covenanters follow Then for the sense they transgressed the bounds set by the Fathers reiecting the auncient sense preserved by the Catholique Church and invented new senses of their own imaginations which they enforced vpon others as divine Truths In this also you Covenanting Ministers have followed closely their footsteps For you have been no lesse fertile in inventing such new senses then active in enforceing them vpon others Thirdly your pretended Reformers were Vsurpers over the Church who having no lawfull calling nor authority tooke vpon them to be Reformers of the Church who would impose their own fancies as lawes divine Oracles on the Church who insolently would take vpon them to iudge and condemn the whole Catholique Church and who vnder pretext of Reformation have destroyed almost all that is sacred in the Church barbarously destroying many excellent Churches and Sacrilegiously vsurping and plundering the riches Ornaments of them This Luther and Calvin did at the beginning and this you have compleated in a great measure above all their progenie Fourthly you are also very guilty of Vsurpation over the Civil Magistrate The late riseing of your religion cannot furnish vs old histories but for your short time you have been prettie bussie and afford vs a good store For in our Countrey there have been only 3. or 4. Princes since your religion Began and none of them has been exempt from your Vsurpation First The Queen Regent was deposed by you from her Regency and died shortly thereafter for grief Secondly How you vsed her daughter Queen Mary Stewart it is notoriously known to the world For after you had imprisonned her enforced her to renounce her Crowne you never desisted till by persecuting of her vnto death you made her purchase a more glorious Crown and yet by your calumnies after her death augment her glory in heaven Thirdly Basili con Doron How you Vsurped over King Iames her Son he himself hath registred to your no small infamy And albeit you did not prevaile against him yet you have payed home that deficiency with Vsury to his Son the late King Charles By this may be seen whither the Pope or yow do Vsurp more over the Civil Magistrate Lastly you have been great Vsurpers over mens Consciences as may be known to passe by all other instances by your furious vrgeing this same Covenant vpon many Protestants against their Consciences for which they give you the Title of Soule-Tyrants By all which may be seen that you are very guilty of the same Vsurpations which you falsly obiect to others SECTION V. That the Lawes of the Catholique Church are not Tyrannous nor her doctrin concerning the Scriptures and office of Christ erroneous AFTER you have renounced the Popes authority as vnlawfull then yow renounce his Lawes as Tyrannous and the doctrin of the Catholique Church concerning the Scriptures the office of Christ as Erroneous For thus you speak in your Covenant We detest all his Tyrannous Lawes made vpon indifferent things against our Christian libertie His Erroneous doctrin against the sufficiency of the written word the perfection of the Law the office of Christ and his blessed Evangel If you renounce all lawes made vpon indifferent things pretending that they are against your Christian libertie then you renounce the most part of all Lawes both Civil and Ecclesiastical which are ordinarly vpon such matters and in a certain manner restrain libertie Then you may renounce also the Lawes of the Apostles Acts 15. for
they made some vpon indifferent things as to abstaine from things strangled and from blood giving them out in the name of the holy Ghost and commanding them to be kept by the first Christians which Lawes albeit they restrain'd libertie yet they were not against Christian libertie which cōsists principally in three things to witt in freedome from the slavery of sin in freedome from the fear servitude of the Moral Law by receiving the gift of Charity through Christs grace whereby we willingly and ioyfully-fullfill the Law and lastly in freedome from the bondage of the Iewish Ceremonial Law which S. Peter calls a heavie yoak These are the liberties wherewith Christ has made vs free as was shown me at more length and are not as the Covenanters do imagine a libertie to do what every man lists or to be vnder no obedience of Spiritual or Temporal Lawes Against which licentious libertie S. Peter gives warning in these words Be subiect vnto every humane Creature for God 1. Pet. 2.13 c. as free and not as having freedome for a cloke of malice And S. Paul to the Galatians You are called brethren into libertie Gal. 5.13 only make not this libertie an occasion to the flesh c. Now all the Lawes of the Catholique Church against which the Ministers make heaviest complaints as about lentfasting abstinence from flesh on frydayes the single life of Church men and the like may be easily shown to have been observed in the primitive times to be most iust nowayes Tyrannous or against our Christian libertie but that they rather tend vnto Christian perfection which is the greatest libertie of a Christian and that the Ministers who speak so much against these holy Lawes make their libertie as S. Paul speaks an occasion to the flesh or as S. Peter saith a cloke of malice But it would indeed seem very strange if it were not so ordinary among you that yourselves do such things without all authority which you blame in the Catholique Church vnto which Christ has given so great authority For have not you dureing the space of some few years heaped vp more Lawes and decrees in your Assemblies then exceed all the body of the Canon Law And yet you cannot deny but the most part of these Lawes is made vpon indifferent things and some of them in the Iudgment of many Protestants vpon false things as your Lawes for swearing subscribing the Covenant You pretend much Christian libertie which you promised to the people but indeed you kept them in more then Iewish slaverie For to passe by many other instances you would not suffer the people vpon Sundayes after they had been much wearied hearing both your long some Sermons prayers to be seen on the streets or to go and recreat themselves in the fields which truly was greater then a Iudaïcal servitude The Catholiques find the yoak of Christ sweet and the Lawes of his Church their loving Mother not heavie But many Protestants find the yoak of your Presbytery which they esteem a cruel step-mother to be very bitter and think your Lawes not only against their Christian libertie but also insupportable Now we come to your other heavy accusations against the Catholique Church which for brevities sake we must only touch Yow accuse her doctrin as Erroneous against the sufficiency of the written word But without all reason For she teacheth that the written word is sufficient in this sense that it containes immediatly the substance of our faith all the articles necessary necessitate medij for mans Salvation and also it containes mediatly all that we are to beleeve in that it remits vs to the Church which it assureth vs is governed by the holy Ghost in all truth Whence it evidently followeth that we draw that truth out of the scriptures which we draw out of the mouth of the Church for whosoever deputes an other to speak for him speaks mediatly by his mouth So S. Augustin reasoneth Aug. lib. 1. cont Cres c. 33. Albeit saith he we can produce no example of Scripture concerning this matter yet hold we the truth of the same Scripture seing we do that which is conformable to the Vniversal Church which the authority of the same Scripture commends vnto vs. And in this sense the written word is most sufficient But it is not sufficient in the common sense of heretiques who will have the dead letter of the Scripture to be sufficient without having recourse to the Catholique Church for the true sense of it and who will have nothing to be beleeved but what is formally expresly containd in it For that is directly against the Scriptures themselvs which referre vs to the Church and bid vs stand fast and hold the Traditions That is also against the doctrin of the auncient Fathers S. Chrysostome saith Chrys on 2. Thess 2. It is evident that the Apostles did not deliver all things by writing but many things without and those be as worthy credit as the others Epiphanius saith to the same purpose We must vse Traditions Epiph. hares 61. for the Scriptures have not all things That is contrary to the practice of the Covenanters who beleeve somethings without Scripture and diverse points against it as we have seen above And lastly it has furnished weapons to the Socinians and Anabaptists to fight against the Presbyterians who now by experience are become more wise then at the beginning For in their new Confession of faith at Westminster Confess West 6.1 art 6. they say That the whole Counsel of God concerning all things necessary to Salvation is either expresly set down in Scripture or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture So that the Scripture which was before sufficient without Church and Traditions is now not sufficient to Salvation without Logique and Consequences which doctrin makes them fall into another grosse folly to quite the Church the pillar and ground of Truth and have recourse to Philosophie and fallible consequences wherein these new sects are not behind with them but by the same principle do vndermine them You next accuse the Catholique Church of erroneous doctrin against the perfection of the Law the office of Christ and of his Evangel But you do not make good your accusations neither show yow wherein these pretended Errors do consist Yet it may be easily shown that your accusations are false and that your selves are guilty of the same crimes For the Catholique Church teacheth that the Law of Christ is most perfect and that the very substance of perfection consists in keeping it and that none can be perfect without fulfilling it And albeit it be true that she teacheth there be some Evangelical Counsels which make a man more perfect then the precise keeping of the Law yet that doctrin is nothing against the perfection of the Law For this was the doctrin of Christ of S. Paul and of the holy Fathers Our Saviour having said
little the Model and Methode of it In the first place are set down the Occasions of that Honorable new Converts doubts concerning the Truth of the Protestant Religion such as are the Ministers Inconstancy in Doctrin Disciplin their great Dissensions and Divisions Their Tyrannizing over mens Consciences Their Contradicting their own Principles c. In which matters some late histories or passages are interlaced without expressing the names of persons therein concerned because that was not necessary since the things here touched are publique late fresh in all mens knowledge and Memories within the Countrey and the persons also well enough known Neither is it the digrace of any mens persons Hier. Apolog. 3. cont Ruffin c. 11. which S. Hierom calls the Machines of Heretiques but the correction of their Errors which is here intended After the occasion of the doubts is shewed in some few chapters then followeth the Triall of the last pretended Presbyterian Reformation in the principal points thereof as its condemning of Episcopacy the abolishing the hymne of Glory to the Father c. the denying the Apostolical authority of the Apostles Creed neglecting to say our Lords Prayer c. In all which points the Presbyterians are found to go against the word of God the Primitive Church the former doctrines practises of many among themselvs against their first Reformers and many learned Protestants So that this last pretended Reformation is shewed to be nothing but a reall Deformation destroying not only the Apostolique office government established by Christ in his Church but also the two chief Pillars or heads of the Christian Religion to witt our Lords Prayer and the Apostles Creed Then followeth the Trial of the first pretended Reformation which is also shewed to have destroyed in effect the other two chief Pillars of Christianity to witt the Divine Commandments and Holy Sacraments and to have brought in a most Erroneous doctrin of Iustification by Faith only expresly against the Scriptures holy Fathers So that these two pretended Reformations are shown to have made vp between them the hideous work of Desolation After this the whole Protestant Church by the vndenyable principle of the perpetuity of Christs Church is proved not to be the true Church of Christ And by the same vndenyable principle the Church in Communion with the Sea of Rome and she alone is demonstrated to be the true Catholique Church of Christ and to have in all ages still continued in the same doctrin which she received from Christ his Apostles notwithstanding the calumnies of Heretiques Then lastly the same truth is proved by the Marks whereby the true Church is clearly designed in the Scriptures as by her Vnity Sanctity Vniversality Apostolical Succession by which marks the holy Fathers also did prove the true Church in their times To which is subioyned a brief Examination of the Presbyterian Covenant or Confession of Faith which although it was much Idolatrized of late is shewed to be nothing but a Denyall and Abiuration of the holy Faith with many execrations and blasphemies against it This briefly Courteous Reader is the Scope and Methode of the ensuing Treatises which the Author thereof earnestly wishes may tend to thy profit That if thou be a new Converted Catholique thou mayst be coÌ„firmed thereby in thy holy Faith If one who after many tossings in Errors art seeking the Truth thou mayst be assisted to find it where only it can be found if lastly thou be one who not through malice but through negligence or ignorance adheres vnto Errors thou mayst be stirred vp to try them and to seek diligently the Truth which is a work most worthy of thy paines Neither is it so hard as some do imagin to find the Truth since God Almighty according to his infinit goodnesse wisdom has prepared the way to heaven so much the more certain easy to be known how much more Error and deceit in it brings greater losse with it and therefore he has promised so plain and direct a way vnto Eternal happinesse that fooles may not erre by it Esay 35.5 Whence it is evident if thou seekest this way with diligence and after the right manner thou mayst have great confidence by Gods grace to attayn vnto it But then thou wilt seek it in the right way according to the advice of the glorious Doctor S. Augustin to his friend Honoratus if thou dost vse fervent and frequent prayer Aug de vtilâ— credâ—s 15 16. strivest to have peace and tranquillity of mind if thou wilt hear that Church which God hath established on earth with so great authority and which is called Catholique both by her own by strangers For it is by Authority only whereby men can come vnto the knowledge of Divin Truth and there is no Authority equall vnto this wich began by Miracles and is most famous for Multltudes of peoples and Nations and therefore if thou proceedest orderly at this Authority thou oughtest to begin as the same holy Father affirmes But if thou contemnest so great Authority and only openest thy eares to the Enemies and Calumniators of so famous a Society which has been also calumniated by all the former heretiques as well as by these of this Age thou canst not be excused neither canst thou arrive vnto the possession of solid Truth Therefore if thou be wise follow the former advice of S. Augustin who was so wise so learned a Doctor and who had such great knowledge and experience in this affaire And if thou wouldest take a short and compendious way to come vnto the Truth Try only that one question of the Church according to the marks abovementioned whereby it is clearly designed in Scripture and thou wilt not only soone find that they cannot agree to thy New Inconstant Church but also thou wilt quickly see that they agree to the Catholique Church which has ever endured and against which Hels gates could never prevaile and so with the true Church thou wilt find aâ—l Truth because it is ever governed by the Spirit of Truth and is the Pillar and ground of Truth This is the right manner for thee to attayn vnto the Truth and to true Happâ—nesse To which that God Almighty may direct and bring thee shall be earnestly desired by thy welwisher F. W. S. A TABLE OF THE CHAPTERS Chap. I. THAT God by the Confusion of Error stirres vp many to seek the Truth p. 1. Ch. II. Of the Ministers Inconstancy and of the Alterations made by the late Presbyterian Reformation p. 8. Ch. III. Of the Ministers Dissensions Divisions p. 15. Ch. IV. Of the Presbyterians Rigour and Tyranny over Protestants p. 26. Ch. V. Of the Presbyterians contradicting their own Principles p. 34. Ch. VI. Of the Presbyterians Disobedience to the Civil Magistrate and of their pretext of Piety p. 46. Ch. VII Of Episcopacy condemned as Anti-Christian by the Presbyterians p. 53. Ch. VIII Of our Lords
Prayer neglected to be said by the Presbyterians p. 71. Ch. IX Of Glory to the Father c. or the Hymn of Glorification taken away by the Presbyterians p. 78. Ch. X. Of the Apostles Creed denyed to be Apostolical by the Presbyterians p. 89. Ch. XI of the Article of Christs Descent to Hell perverted by the Presbyterians p. 102. Ch. XII A Reflection vpon the last and an Entrance into the Triall of the first Supposed Reformation p. 115. Ch. XIII Of the possibility to keep the Divine Commandments with the assistance of Gods grace denyed by the Presbyterians their first Reformers p. 118. Ch. XIV A Consideration of the Presbyterians principall grounds against the possibility of keeping the Divine Commandments p. 136. Ch. XV. of Iustification by Faith only maintaind by the Presbyterians and their first Reformers as the principal article of their Religion p. 153. Ch. XVI Of the Nature of Iustification according to the Catholique doctrine p. 167. Ch. XVII Of the Presbyterians three principall Errours concerning Iustification p. 178. Ch. XVIII Of the Excellency of the Christian Sacraments and particularly how they conferre Grace which is denyed by the Presbyterians p. 194. Ch. XIX That Baptism taketh aâ—ay Original sin which is denyed by the Presbyterians p. 204. Ch. XX. That Bapâ—â—sm is necessary for the Salvation of Infants which is denyed by the Presbyterians p. 211. Ch. XXI Of the reall presence of Christs body in the holy Sacrament which is denyed by the Presbyterians p. 224. Ch. XXII Some Reflections vpon both the pretended Scottish Reformations p. 246. Ch. XXIII That the true Church must be perpetuall and must endure without interruption vnto the end of the world p. 251. Ch. XXIV That the Protestant Church hath not been perpetual yea was not at all before Luther and therefore is not the true Church p. 257. Ch. XXV That the Pâ—otâ—stant Church was not Visible before Luther neither in the Waldenses Albigenses Wiâ—lefists nor Hussits p. 265. Ch. XXVI That the Protestant Church hath not continued Visible in the Grecians Armenians nor Aethiopians p. 272. Ch. XXVII That the Protestant Church was not visible in the primitive Church or in the holy Fathers nor thereafter in the Roman Church p. 276. Ch. XXVIII That the Church of Christ ought to be alwayes Visible and therefore an invisible Church cannot be the true Church p 287. Ch. XXIX That albeit the true Church might be invisible yet the Protestants had no invisible Church before Luther p. 297. Ch. XXX That the Church in Communion with the Sea of Rome she alone is the true Church p. 310. Ch. XXXI That the Church in Communion with the Sea of Rome holds now and has still held the same doctrin which was taught first by Christ his Apostles 326. Ch. XXXII The true Church proved from the Scripture first by her Vnity p. 352. Ch. XXXIII The true Church proved by her Holynesse p. 361. Ch. XXXIV The true Church demonstrated by her Vniversality for which she is called Catholique p. 376. Ch. XXXV The true Church proved by her continued Succession and the lawfull Vocation of her Pastors for which she is called Apostolique p. 385. Ch. XXXVI The Conclusion p. 399 APPROBATIO EGO infra scriptus in Sacra Theologiae Facultate Parisiensi Magister Testor librum hunc quem diligenter Perlegi cui Titulus est Presbyteries Triall or the Occasion and Motives of Conversion to the Catholique Faith of a Person of quality in Scotland Authore F. W. S. nihil prorsus continere aut Catholicae Fidei aut Moribus Christianis absonum Imino Doctrinam Sanam verè Euangelicam in eo explicat confirmat eruditus eiusdem Author necnon oppositos non-nullos Errores maxime Nationem Scoticam heretica prauitate infestantes non minus clare quam solide refutat refellit Quod Chirographo meo significaui Parisijs 25. Augusti Anno 1656. HEN. HOLDEN APPROBATIO NOS infra scripti in Sacra Facultate Parisiensi Doctores Theologi Perlegimus diligenter Librum cuius inscriptio est Presbyteries Triall or the Occasion and Motives of Conversion to the Catholique Faith of a person of quality in Scotland Authore D. F. W. S. In quo non solum nihil occurrit Fidei Catholicae aut bonis moribus aduersum sed plurima reperimus docte erudite clare proposita quae ad Conuersionem cùm omnium tum praecipue istarum partium Hereticorum conducere possunt vt ad Catholicorum Confirmationem Quare nostro Iudicio dignissimus est qui typis committatur Datum Parisijs die 13. Nouembris Anno Domini 1656. ED. TIREL RI. NVGENT Ego idem sentio Fr. IOANNES PONCIVS Ordinis S. Francisci S. Theologiae Lector Iubilatus PRESBYTERIES TRIALL CHAP. I. That God by the confusion of Errour stirres vp many to seek the Truth SO great and admirable is the goodnesse of God that as S. Augustin hath observed he would not permit sin to be in the world Aug. in Enchirid c. 27. 100. vnlesse he did draw good from it And so infinit is his power ioyn'd with that goodnesse that from the worst and most wicked actions he can and doth extract the greatest goods Ioseph did acknowledge in himself the experience of this truth when he said to his brethren who had vnnaturally sold him you thought euil against me Genes 50. ver 20. but God hath turn'd it vnto good that he might exalt me as you see this day and preserue much people But this truth is more admirably seen in that most horrible crime of the Iewes of crucifying the Lord of glory out of which God did extract the greatest of all goods to wit the Exaltation of Christ and the Redemption of mankind Since then that Heresy is confessed by all Christians not only to be evill but one of the greatest evils as being the corruption of a most excellent good to witt the divine faith Gods goodnesse would never permitt it to arise and for a tyme to continue against the true faith the holy Church vnlesse he cowld and did make it tend to the good of both S. Paul toucheth this matter when he saith to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 11.19 Heresies must be that they which are approoved may be made manifest among you That they must be proceeds by the permission of God from the vickednesse and free choise of man and from the malice of the Devill whom our Saviour calls the Enemy Math. 13.26 who sowes tares in the field where he had sowen the good seed That Heresies are turn'd into good proceeds from the goodnesse and special providence of God who of evil worketh good as he doth here making heresies tend to the manifestation of those who are approved and constant in the faith But the providence and goodnesse of God is specially wonderfull in this matter that he doth not only draw good from Heresy but also he makes it against its owne nature intent to serve
lesse are they impossible Yea I found it was the love of God that made the Commandements which seeme so hard and difficult to others to be easy vnto the Saints David saith Psal 119. that the Commandements of God were more sweete then the honey or the honey comb and againe I did run in the way of thy Commandements when thou didst enlarge my hart Moreover all the children of God love Christ and they who love him as himself testifyeth keep his words Iohn 14.23 and S. Iohn saith This is the of love God that we keep his Commandements Therefore hauing diligently considered these testimonies of the Scripture I found that the Scripture was clearly for the possibility of keeping Gods Commandements with the assistance of his grace as the Catholiques teach and against the impossibility of observing them as the Prerbyterians almost all Protestants hold Wherevpon I tooke occasion to admire at two things First how it was possible that all the points of our religion are expressly in Scripture and that the contrary points maintain'd by the Papists are not in Scripture but condemned by it since vpon serious triall I found the Scripture to be in this matter so clearly against vs. 2. I did no lesse admire that I reading frequently the Scriptures before this search did not till now observe our doctrin to be contrary vnto it But a Catholique to whom I imparted my thoughts some space thereafter did quickly free me of these admirations by shewing me the reasons of both The first said he is not to be much admired For if the first Reformers had not pretended that all their new doctrines were expressly in the Scriptures they had got no followers and if the Ministers did not continue to make the same pretence there would be few or none so foolish as to abide with them This same pretence of Scripture all Heretiques have ever made although their errours were clearly against Scripture And this pretence they must all make if they intend to find any Credit The reason also of the second said he is no lesse evident For it 's no wonder that till of late yow did not find your doctrin to be contrary vnto the Scriptures because you did reade them before very superficially without solid reflexion attention as the most part of Protestants do and many also reade them with preiudicate opinions framing their faith vnto the Scripture but wresting the Scripture vnto their errours That is not to search the Scriptures to which our Saviour did exhort the Iewes who contented themselves with the like superficiall reading of them and therefore could find nothing of Christ in them But he shew if they would search that is reade diligently consideratly they would find that the Scriptures bare testimony of him The like may be said truly of the Catholique Church Religion that if the Protestants would search the Scriptures they would find therein sufficient and clear testimonies of them Thus spake the Catholique But although the above cited testimonies of the Scripture appeared sufficiently clear vnto me yet least relying vpon my own iudgment I might be deceived I had my next recours after the Scriptures to the exposition of the holy Fathers to the beliefe of the holy Primitive Church From which the old Episcopal Ministers did affirm that the Papists were altogether degenerated and we were made by them to believe that as our doctrin was conform to the Scriptures so it was also conforme to the holy Fathers who were all said to be of our religion true Protestants But to speak mildly whithout any exaggeration I found that to be a grosse vntruth and that the Puritans who either not claime the holy Fathers or yeeld them vnto the Papists are much more ingenuous in this matter then the old Protestants as shall be seen God willing in the progresse of this Triall Concerning the possibility of keeping the divine Commandements I found three things to be clearly contayned in the holy Fathers 1. They affirm that the Catholique doctrin is expressed in the Scriptures which they did so vnderstand and expound 2. They prove it by the light of reason drawen from the nature iustice goodnessâ— of God They not only condemn the contrary that is Presbyterian doctrin as an heresy but they accurse it as a blasphemy against God In proose of the first S. Crysostom brings these words of our Saviour above cited My yoke is easy and my burden is light Chrys lib. de compunct cordis and saith Christ hâ—m self hath truely affirmed of his CoÌ„mandements that there is nothing laborious nothing troublesome in them saying my yoke is easy my burden is light And we on the contrary make them heavy which he hath made light and what he hath made sweete we make bitter by sinning If there were any thing laborious in the Commandements deservedly and decently labour should accompany vertue for rewards are propounded after labours c. And elswhere he explaines the same words daintily thus Idem hâ—mil 6. Hearing my precepts to be a yoke be not affray'd for it is replenished with rare delight Neither feare ye that I name it a burden in Math for it is light How then said he before the gate to be narrow and the way to be straight through tribulation O that is when thou art drowsie or a dastard but when with courage thou doest that work then the burden shall be light c. S. Augustin proves by these words of S. Iohn And his Commandements are not heavy that the Commandements are not only possible but also easy and he shewes that it is the Love of God which makes them light the want of that love that makes them seem heavy The precepts of God saith he Aug. lib. de nat gra c. 69. are good if we vse them lawfully For in so much as it is believ'd most firmely that God who is iust good cannot command impossible things therevpon we are admonished what we are to do in easy matters and in difficult what to request pray for For all are made easy to charity to which alone the burden of Christ is light or it is the burden it self which is light according to that which is said And his Commendements are not heavy And let him to whom theâ— be heavy consider that it could not haue been said in holy Scripture they are not heavy vnlesse there could be such a disposition of heart to which they are not heavy and let him pray for that which is commanded And a little after How can that be heavy which is the Commandement of charity For either a man doth not love and then the command is heavy or else he doth love and then it cannot be heavy In which words divers notable things are contayn'd I took notice principally of these 1. That he saith the possibility of keeping the Commandements is most firmely believed 2. he doth not only prove it by
vpon his wisdome For as it 's certaine that God made these lawes so it 's no lesse evident in the Scriptures that God vseth admonitions exhortations propounds rewards and threatens punishements to induce men to observe his lawes Now what Magistrate would be esteemed to be in his right wits who would not only make lawes impossible to be kept but also spend time in making exhortations propounding rewards to perswade men to do impossibilities But the Presbyterian doctrine makes God who is not only wise but wisdome it self subiect to both these follies which are most grosse absurdities And therefore since his lawes admonitions exhortations cannot be but prudent reasonable they do ever suppose the possibility of that which they enioyne and wherevnto they exhorte 3. The Presbyterian doctrine is not only iniurious to God but also it is very preiudiciall to man for it would rob him of the most excel-cellent of all vertues to witt the love of God For none can love another vnlesse he be good iust or at least appeare to be so But how can God appeare to be so who is described by the Presbyterians as if he were the most cruel Tyrant in the world to command impossibilities then to punish man eternally for not doing them Therefore if the Prerbyterian doctrine were true no man could love God as good gratious but rather would hate him as vniust Tyrannous 4. The Presbyterian opinion is a great enemy to piety vertue For if the Commandements be impossible none will strive to keep them and by this meanes a wide gate is opened to all impiety This is acknowledged by the forementioned Minister M. Shelford who saith Were the law impossible to be kept then all the exhortations threatnings in Gods word should be idle then all mens labours would wax lazie then good life which is after the rule would be exiled for that no man will strive against the stream Wherefore great enemies are they to Christian growth reward in the way of Godlinesse who are against this doctrine to witt of the possibility to keep the Commandements Lastly if the law were impossible then all men would be freed from subiection obedience to it for who can be reasonably tyed to things meerly impossible And this was the vse that Islebius one of Luthers Schollers made of his doctrine wherevpon he began the sect of the Anti-nomians as Sleidan doth testify in the 12. book of his history Having therefore found such clear testimonies of Scriptures Fathers such weight of right reason for the ancient Catholique doctrine I could not either in reason or conscience reiect all these and follow the Presbyterians groundlesse fancies which are against the very ground of faith to witt the holy Scriptures For the Presbyterians do teach that the commandements are impossible even with Gods grace And the Scripture saith they are easy light not heavy which is more then if it had affirmed that they were meerly possible Againe the Presbyterians by affirming the commandements are impossible do averre that never any did keep them doth or shall keep them The Scripture shewes in expresse termes that Abraham Zachary Elizabeth and others did keep them and that God hath promised many should keep them S. Iohn affirmeth that he who saith he knoweth God keepeth not his commandements is a liar the truth is not in him The Presbyterians do professe that they know God and that they neither do nor can keep his commandments and yet they will not be esteemed liars but rather true Professours For my part I am not able to reconcile such manifest contradictions as are in this matter betwixt the Scriptures the Presbyterians And therefore seing I cannot adhere to both I choosed rather to abandon the Presbyterians in thiâ— matter then to forsake the Scriptures I was much confirmed in this resolution when I saw the Catholique doctrine and sense of the Scriptures to be so clearly in the holy Fathers that by no shifts their testimonies can be shunned But I will add to these testimonies already brought one or two more which seem'd to me very clear efficacious How I pray you saith Sainct Augustin is it impossible vnto man to love Aug. ser 47. de Sanc to love I say a bountifull Creator a most loving father and then also to love his own flesh in his brethren but he who loves has fulfilled the law as the Apostle teacheth Wherefore the same holy Father admiring the great goodnesse bounty of God Rom. 3. who requires nothing of vs but to love him who is so good in himself and so gracious to vs he speaks thus vnto him What is man that thou wilt haue thy self to be beloved by him Aug. lib. 1. Confes c. 5. and if he do not love thee thou threatens him with great punisments But is not this punishment great enough if I do not love thee S. Chrysostome to the like purpose saith God commanded nothing impossible in so much Chry. hom 19. in Heb. hom 18. de Poenit. that many go beyond the very commandments And then he sheweth who these were to witt S. Paul S. Peter even all the quire of Saints Lastly the holy Fathers do not only prove the Catholique doctrine by the Scriptures and most solid reason founded vpon the goodnesse iustice of God but they condemne also the contrary opinion as a flat blasphemy against God Which censure is approved likewise by some Protestants Truly I cannot resist these reasons authorities and follow the Presbyterians to make a doctrine which is against the Scriptures and is condemned as blasphemy by the holy Fathers by some Protestants a principal article of my faith CHAP. XIV A Consideration of the Presbyterians principall grounds against the Possibility of keeping the Divine Commandements HAVING received aboundant satifaction in this matter concerning the Catholique doctrin I will briefly run through the Presbyterians principal grounds against it which in this search I did not leave vnconsidered 1. I found they acknowledged the Novelty of their doctrine 2. They brought no pure Scripture to prove it notwithstanding they pretend to believe nothing but Scripture 3. The Scriptures they bring are privatly expounded by them against the holy Fathers ancient Church against the Scriptures themselves in other places 4. They lay down some false Maximes and weak reasons whereon they build their imaginary faith or rather most dangerous errour Calvin acknowledges the novelty singularity of his doctrine Cal. lib. 2. Instit cap. 7 sect 5. in these words That we said the observation of the law to be impossible is briefly to be explained confirmed for it was wont commonly to be esteemed a most absurd opinion in so much as Hierome did not doubt to denounce a curse to it but I care nothing what Hierome thought Cent. 2. â— cap. 4. The Centuriators also of Magdeburg do acknowledge
As a man who was rich and had mispent his estate cannot be iustly commanded by any new law to pay as much tribute as when he had his estate nor be punished for not paying it thereafter for such a law would be both vniust ridiculous commanding impossibilities and so would be no law and the makers of it would be both vnreasonable cruel So man after the fall of Adam could not by any new law be iustly commanded by God to do that which was impossible vnto him vnlesse we would make that new law vniust and ridiculous God him self vnreasonable Tyrannous Therefore since God made and promulgated his law long after the fall of man vsed exhortations propounded rewards and threatned punishments to induce men to keep it and all his actions are iust and wise they presuppose necessarly the possibility of keeping that law with the assistance of his grace or else such things would not be only against Gods goodnesse iustice but also against ordinary prudence Moreover the same Catholique shew me that the Presbyterians who accuse the Catholiques falsy for taking away the second commandment as they call it of which matter we shall haue occasion to speak more fitly hereafter may be iustly accused for taking away in reality not one but alle the commandments For their errour of the impossibility of them destroyes the end for which they and all iust lawes are made to wi t that they may be kept and so they destroy the Whole divine commandments and make them of no effect yea this errour destroies also the end of Christs Incarnation Passion if we will believe S. Augustin For having brougt many passages of Scripture to this purpose he subioyns Quibus appaparet D. Iesum Christum nullam aliam ob causam in carnem venisse c. Aug. lib 1 de pecc mer rem c. 26. where he sheweth very largely that Christ for no other cause came vnto the world and became obedient vnto the death of the Crosse but that he might reconcile sinners to God destroy the power of sin obtaine grace from God to make vs walk in newnesse of life and in obedience of his holy commandments Whereby it may be seen what a dangerous fundamental errour this is which is against such principal fundamental points of the Christian religion Therefore the Presbyteriās would de well to make vse of the same holy Fathers sound advice when he saith Let him to whom the commandments are heavie know Aug. lib. de perfect institue c. 10. that he hath not got the gift to witt of the love of God by which they are made not heavie but yet though he find them heavie let him not be broke with despaire but let him be enforced and stirred vp to seek to beg and to knock But the Presbyterians who hereby may know that they want the love of God cannot make immediat vse of this wholsome counsel to seek and beg that love of God by which his commandments are made easy till they first correct or rather quite their erroneous faith whereof they make this a chiefe article that it 's impossible to love God or keep his commandments Therefore they must first beg true faith that they may believe Gods commandments to be possible with help of his grace and then they may beg and obtaine the second to witt the love of God by which they may find grace to fulfill them This article of the Presbyterians faith gave occasion to a Catholique Gentleman of my acquentance to say to the Presbyterians who were much pressing him to subscrib the Covenant that he would never be of their religion who professed they did not love God yea and made it an article of their faith that they could not love him Thus he Having therefore diligently considered all these grounds I could no longer believe the impossibility of keeping Gods commandments even with the help of his grace as an article of my faith reveald in Scripture which I found to be against Scripture and against the goodnesse iustice and wisdome of God Which the holy Fathers some Protestants do call extream blasphemy which destroyes the vertue and power of Gods grace which puts the blame of our negligence sluggishnesse from our selves and layes all vpon God which is against the end of Christs Incarnation merit of his Passsion which hinders the growth of piety and opens a gate to all wickednesse and makes all the divine commandments of no effect But vpon the contrary I resolved by Gods grace to embrace and believe the ancient Catholique doctrin concerning the possibility of keeping the commandments with the help of Gods grace Which I found to be so clearly expressed in Scriptures so strongly maintaind by the holy Fathers so consonant to right reason iustice piety and which did make so much for the glory of Gods grace the merits of Christs death and passion CHAP. XV. Of Iustification by Faith onely maintain'd by the Presbyterians and their first Reformers as the principal article of their Religion AFTER the triall of our doctrine concerning the Commandments I considered in the next place our doctrine of Iustification not only because this hath connexion with the former but also for the importāce of the matter For I haue read and heard this article of Iustification by faith onely called by many Protestants the soule and life of their religion and of all articles the principal and greatest on the contrary they call Iustification by works the life of Popery so that M. Fox saith that Luther Fox Acts. Man p. 402. by opening a certaine veine which lay long hid to witt our Iustification by faith only did overturne the foundation of Popery Moreover I haue heard it affirmed that Iustification by faith only was so certaine a truth and so evidently contain'd in the Scriptures that some of the learned Papists after they had much oppposed it were at lenth overcome by the strenth of it and made to acknowledge it and there was no point of Popery esteem'd to be more absurd nor more against the Scriptures then Iustification by works in so much that M Knox in his first sermon at S. Andrewes did make instance principally in it Knox Chron. pag. 76. 77. for thus speaks his history of him He plainly proved the Papists doctrine lawes to repugne directly to the lawes of God the Father and of Christ Iesus his Son This he proved by conferring the doctrine of Iustification expressed in the Scriptures which teach that man is iustifyed by faith only c. and the doctrine of the Papists which attributes iustification to the works of the law And vpon severall occasions I haue heard the Ministers pretend great advantage in this point which they ordinarly vrge very much Having then no small expectation to find such expresse and convincing Scripture for this point of Iustification by faith only that any impudent front cowld hardly deny it I begun
to consider these passages which they do ordinarly bring and cote on the margent of their Confession and I found that not one of them containes in expresse words the Presbyterian article contradictory to the Papists as may appeare to any man who will read the words These passages are three and the first is in S. Iohn who saith As many as received him he gave them power to become the Sons of God who believe in his name The two others are in S. Paul Iohn ch 1. v. 12. Rom. 3.28 Rom. 5.1 who saith We conclude or as it is in the Catholique translation We account a man to be iustifyed by faith without the workes of the law And againe being iustifyed therefore by faith let vs haue peace toward God Now in none of these places can I find it written that man is iustifyed by faith only or as it is in their new Confessiō faith is the alone instrument of Iustification I find indeed that the Scripture saith there that man is iustifyed by faith but I can not find where it saith by faith only that word only or alone which is the maine point in this matter cannot be found in the Scripture albeit M. Knox in his foresaid sermon falsly pretends that it is expressed in Scripture I admired to see both our first and last Reformers after such huge pretences to want expresse Scripture for this maine article of their religion but I admired much more when I found the Catholique article which is flatly contradictory to the Protestants to be expresly in the Scriptures S. Iames saith Iames 2.21 24. Abraham our father was he not iustifyed by works offering Isaac his Son vpon the altar And again Do you see that by works a man is iustifyed and not by faith only Where S. Iames directly contradicts the doctrine of the Protestants for they say A man is not iustifyed by works but by faith only and S. Iames saith a man is iustifyed by works and not by faith only I wondered how we could brag so much that we had always the Scripture for vs against the Papists and yet when I tryed the matter I found ever hitherto the contrary as may be found by any man who will not renounce his senses of hearing and seeing But to find this in other points I did not think it so strange as in the present which is called the principal point of the Protestant religion and wherein we did so much glory against the Papists who haue much the better of vs if we will acknowledge the expresse words of Scripture and stand to them But the Presbyterians pretend that although their article be not word by word in Scripture yet the equivalent is there when S. Paul saith a man is iustifyed by faith without the works of the law which they say is all one as if he had said by faith only I found many weighty reasons against this Ministeriall glosse 1. At the beginning of their Reformation they promised vs the pure word of God and now they give vs for it their gesses or the word of man which is a weak ground of faith 2. which is yet worse Their words interpretations are in expresse termes against the word of God in another place to witt in S. Iames as we have seen 3. They affirm that all points necessary to Salvation are clearly contain'd in Scripture How comes it then that this most necessary substantial point which they call the life of Christianity is not there yea how comes it to passe that not only it is not in Scripture but the quite contrary is word by word in Scripture and that not simply affirmed but proved by many reasons examples and these who affirm the contrary are compared to Devils 4. The holy Fathers primitive Church did never vnderstand the Scriptures in that sense but in the contrary How then could I in sense considering these things make the Ministers words and interpretation which are not Scripture yea which are against Scripture and against the holy Fathers the beliefe of the primitive Church to be the principal article of my faith S. Augustin shewes that some men in the Apostles own time did misinterpret the same words of S. Paul as the Presbyterians do now and made it the ground of the same errour Aug. de gr lib. arb cap. 7. But men saith he not vnderstanding what the Apostle saith we account a man iustifyed by faith without works thought that he said faith would suffice a man albeit he live ill and have no good works Which God forbid that the vessel of election should think c. Secondly the same holy Father shewes that to roote out the errour of those who by misconstruing S. Pauls words did gather from them iustification by faith only the other Apostles did principally direct the intentions of their Epistles S. Peter saith he Aug. lib. de fide oper c. 14. knowing that some wicked men took occasion from some obscure sentences of S. Paul as being secure of their salvation which is in faith had no care to live well gave advertisment that there were some things in his epistle hard to be vnderstood which men perverted as they do the other Scriptures to their own perdition See vpon what a dangerous ground the principal article of our Reformation is founded and how dangerous also it self is But S. Iames Aug. ibid. saith S. Augustin is so highly offended with these men who think that faith without works can availe vnto salvation that he compares them even to Devils And then hauings brought these words of the Apostle Thou believest that there is one God thou dost well the Devils also beleeve tremble he subioyns Quid verius brevius vehementius dici potuit what could be said more truely more briefly efficaciously Thus S. Augustin And that he alone did not condemne this errour maintained the Catholique doctrin opposite to it Cent. Mag. cent 23. 4. 5. cap. 4. Aug haeres 54. is manifest by the Confession of the Centurists who for this cause taxe the most ancient fathers as S. Clement Origen S. Cyprian S. Hierome S. Ambrose Augustin Chrysostome many more Moreover the same S. Augustin shewes that this errour of iustification by faith only was the ancient heresy of Eunomius Iren. cont haeres c. 20. and S. Ireneus ascribes it also to Simon Magus And yet this ancient heresy against the Scripture the holy Fathers is obtruded vpon vs as the principal article of our faith by our Reformers who yet pretend to believe nothing but pure Scripture Therefore I resolued by Gods grace not to believe any longer such a wicked opinion as the principal article of my religion but vpon the contrary I intended to embrace follow the Catholique doctrin opposite to it which I found to be in expresse termes in the Scriptures which were so vnderstood and beleeved by the holy Fathers I vas much
ordinary discours now a dayes is concerning religion so I heard one at that time For the Minister taking occasion by hearing Cardinal Bellarmin named spake at first much in his praise saying that none of all the Popish Authors did relate so faithfully the Protestant Tenets nor argumented more clearly then he did Yet at length said the Minister after the Cardinal hath shewed the strength of his wit at the issue of the matter being convinced by the force of truth he concludes for the most part with the Protestants Wherevpon one of the Catholiques present said that he admired very much how Bellarmin who had written so much for Popry should be esteem'd a Protestāt merrily subioyn'd that himself was iust a Protestant as Bellarmin was After there had pass'd a little laughter occasioned by these words the other Catholique did gravely desire the Minister to shew wherein Bellarmin was a Protestant Wherevpon the Minister instanced in this same matter of Iustification and said that after Bellarmin had wearied himself by produceing many testimonies of Scriptures and Fathers to prove that we are iustifyed by works and not by faith only he in end yeelds the victory to tthe Proestants for he concludes That it is most safe to rely vpon the merits of Christ And so in one sentence he destroyeth what he had been building a long time To which the Catholique replyed that if Bellarmin was a Protestant for that then all Catholiques were Protestants for they all professed the same Neither was the Catholiques relying on Christ merits any way against iustification by good works more then the Protestants relying on the same merits was against their supposed Iustification by faith only But said he I admire very much how you ordinarly pretend so great advantage in your doctrin of Iustification by faith only which you esteem the principal article of your religion and yet it cannot be found in all the Scripture the only pretended ground of all your faith And how you can crye so much against the Catholiques for believing that we are iustifyed by works not by faith only which is expresly and word by word in the Scripture For doth not S. Iames clearly say Ye see that man is iustifyed by works and not by faith only The Minister finding himself thus engaged pass'd presently from the Scripture enquired of the Catholique whom he knew well enough not to be a profess'd Scholler If he had any Logique Who answered he had not much but he had sufficient for this purpose That there was not much Logique required to see what was contained in Scripture He would trust his owne eyes in that matter It was sufficient for him that he had on his side the expresse Scripture which is better then Logique But the Minister told him that although these words are in Scripture yet they must be vnderstood in a sound sense For works said he although they be necessary to iustification yet they are not the causes of it but in a very improper sense For you must vnderstand that there are diverse kinds of causes there is causa efficiens causa formalis and causa sine qua non which is not a cause properly Now works are not the efficient nor formal cause but only causa sine qua non They are via regni and not causa regnandi And so after this manner he made a long discours involving the matter in great obscurities passing the reach of the hearers if not also overpassing his own vnderstanding But the Catholique holding him still by his grounds told the Minister that his Logique was no Scripture and that the Protestants are brought to a low ebb when they are enforced to acknowlege that this prime article of their faith is not expresly in Scripture as they at first pretended And now when the quite opposite doctrine maintaind by the Catholiques against which the Ministers did so much raile is showē to be expresly in Scripture they are enforced to run from Scripture to their Logique which indeed is to yeeld the cause to the Catholiques and to quite ground For at first they pretended nothing but Scripture and now they flie to Aristotles Logique and that against the expresse words of Scripture making the whole matter end in a Logomachy which is so much the worse on the Protestants side seing they will not vse the very phrase of Scripture which the Catholiques keep And vpon this followes also another evil that the people being made to believe that they are iustifyed by faith only and not by works makes by natural Logique this inference which all the Ministers in the world with all their artificial Logique will not put out of their heads that good works are not necessary and so they altogether neglect them Thus ended that conference the Minister replying something but little to purpose with small satisfaction of some Protestants present who imagined that this prime article of their faith had been better grounded and that this Minister whom they much esteemed could haue said more then to acknowledge that his faith was against the words of Scripture and in end to run to his Philosophical distinctions which were not by them intelligible But albeit I was sufficiently satisfyed by what hath been said of the truth of the Catholique doctrin concerning Iustification yet being desirous that I might be able to discern more fully the deceits and obscurities which the Ministers invent to elude the clear Scriptures a Catholique whose assistance I required shew me that for this end it was necessary I should first know the nature of Iustification according to the doctrin of the Catholique Church For as a Rule said he is a measure to discern both what is right and what is crooked so truth is a manifestation both of it self and of falshood Wherevpon he had several discourses with me on this matter the summe of which I will briefly collect CHAP. XVI Of the Nature of Iustification according to the Catholique doctrine ALBEIT you haue seen evidently said the Catholique vnto me that according to the expresse Scriptures man is iustifyed by works not by faith only yet that you may know how this is done and what works are excluded from iustification according to S. Paul and what these works are by which we are iustifyed according to S. Iames yow must know the nature of Iustification of a sinner which according to the Catholique Church is thus described Iustification of a sinner is the translation of one from the state of sin into the state of grace a changing of one from being an enemy to make him become the friend of God There is the misery from which a sinner is delivered the happinesse to which he is brought Now that he may come from such a miserable condition to such a happy estate there are some preparations and dispositions required to go before in the soule of a sinner that is come to age of which kind only we here speak First God of
that themselves do acknowledge in end the necessity of good works But to know how they are necessary either as causes or conditions is not a necessary curiosity wherof few are capable and without which many have gone to heaven And so now I proceed to the Trial of our doctrin concerning the Sacraments CHAP. XVIII Of the Excellency of the Christian Sacraments and particularly how they conferre Grace which is denyed by the Presbyterians AS I knew the Christian religion to be the most excellent of all true religions that ever have been whether we consider that which was vnder the law of nature or the other which was vnder the law of Moyses so I iustly conceived that it was most agreeable to Gods goodnesse and wisdome to adorne and enrich it with most excellent Sacraments For since no religion whether true or false can be without some sensible signes Aug. lib. 19. cont Faust cap. 22. as S. Augustin hath observed the Christian religion which is not only the true but also the most perfect religion to which the former two served as preparations must also have the most perfect and efficacious Sacraments And so I found the same S. Augustin extolling the perfection of the Christian Sacraments above these of the ancient law Aug. lib. 3. de doct Christ c. 19. Aug. cont Faust lib. 19. c. 13. Our Lord saith he and the Apostolical disciplin haue delivered some few Sacraments for many and these most easy to be done most magnificent for signification and most pure to be observed And elswhere he saith the Sacramenss are changed they are made easier fewer holsommer happier Now the principal perfection of the Christian Sacraments was generally believed to consist in this that God by them did conferre grace vnto our soules Which truth is so engrafted in the hearts of Christians that I knew diverse Protestants could not be at first perswaded that Luther or Calvin or that their Church taught the contrary and. when that was sufficiently manifested to them they were much scandalized at it In so much that some of them did say If the Sacraments do not confer grace and baptisme doth not take away original sin for what vse serve the Sacraments for what end were they ordain'd Wherefore being thus stirred vp to try this question I found in end that the Catholique doctrine which taught that the Sacraments of the new Law do confer grace is conformable to the divine Scriptures that it was expresly believed by the holy Fathers and doth duly exalt the perfection of the Christian Sacraments Whereas the Presbyterians doctrin which denyeth the Sacraments to confer grace is not only false against the Scriptures but was also condemned as an ancient heresy by the holy Fathers that it vndervalues the vertue of the Christian Sacraments and is so absurd that diverse famous Protestants haue abandoned that opinion albeit it was taught both by Luther Calvin and in this point do agree with the Catholiques All which things for brevities sake I will only touch Of Baptisme S. Iohn said to the Iewes 3.11 Math. I indeed baptize yow in water but he who comes after me shall baptize you in the holy Ghost fire Ananias said to S. Paul be baptized wash away thy sins Acts 22.16 Titus 3.5 Eph s 5.26 S. Paul calleth also Baptisme the Lauer of regeneration by which we are saved The same Apostle saith that Christ hath sanctifyed his Church by the lauer of water in the word of life By which testimonies albeit we speak nothing of many others it appear'd sufficiently clear to me since we are said to have our sins washed away by baptisme to be sanctifyed to be born of new again that by it we receive also grace without which these things could not be verified and performed The like is also affirmed of the Eucharist of which our Saviour saith If any man eate of this bread Iohn 6.51.54 he shall live for ever And again He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life Now this everlasting life is no otherwise had here but by receiving Grace which is the seed of Glory and of eternal life happinesse Therefore these two Sacraments which are all that the Presbyterians admit do confer grace by the vertue institution of Christ What was the belief of the holy Fathers and of the whole Church in this point it is so clear that Calvin himself and other chief Protestants do acknowledge it to be the same which is now believed by the Catholiques against their doctrin Cal. lib. 4. Instit cap. 14. sect 14. 26. For. Calvin confesseth that with great consent it was taught and believed for many ages That the Sacraments of the new Law do confer grace if they were not hindered by mortal sin which albeit he calleth a pernicious and pestilentious opinion and alleadgeth that it drawes men from God to rest in the sight of corporall things and not in God himself yet he confesseth also that it was taught by S. Augustin the holy Fathers whom he striveth to excuse by saying that in their immoderat praises of the Sacraments Cent. 2. c. 4. cent 3. c 4. Muscul in loc com p. 299. they vsed hyperbolical speeches The Lutheran Centurists do ascribe the same doctrin as an errour to the most ancient Fathers as to S. Clement Iustin Cyprian and others Musculus saith plainly that Augustin did rashly affirm that the Sacraments of the new law conferred grace These open confessions shall save our paines of citing the Fathers testimonies And that this doctrin of the Catholiques doth manifest the perfection of the Christian Sacraments it is so clear of it self that it needeth no illustration Vpon this consideratiō S. Augustin Aug. tract 80. in Ioan. admiring the wonderfull effects of the Sacraments cry'd out Vnde tanta virtus aquae vt corpus tangat cor abluat Whence comes saith he so great vertue to the water that it toucheth the body and cleanseth the soule Where he ascribes this wonderful effect to the goodnesse omnipotency of God which sheweth also that his speeches are not hyperbolicall as Calvin falsly pretends Thus much briefly to shew that I found the Catholique doctrin to be conforme to the Scriptures holy Fathers and to manifest the perfection of the Christian Sacraments And therfore Calvins opinion which is iust contrary must needs be against all these He himself confesseth that it is against the holy Fathers and consequently it cannot be conforme to the Scriptures whereon they founded their faith and not vpon humane imaginations That it taketh away a great perfection from the Sacraments denying them to conferre grace is so evident that it needs no proofe Calvin saw this so clearly that he pretended the Farhers vsed immoderate praises of the Sacraments and that this vertue which the Catholiques do ascribe to the Sacraments makes people to trust more in creatures them in God himself But as I found
instruments doth not depend either vpon the the holynes of the Minister or vpon worthinesse of the receiver but vpon the work wrought that is on the Sacramental action which is instituted by Christ for that end As for example the Sacrament of baptisme confers the grace of Sanctification to infants washing away their original sin and making them the children of God and this effect it vndoubtedly produceth in infants in whom no dispositions are required so that if they die before they commit any actual sin all of them would infallibly go to heaven Here it is evident that baptisme confers grace by the work wrought or by the Sacramental action and institution of Christ and not for any worthinesse of the infants Again although the dispositions of faith love repentance and the rest be required in these persons who being come to age are to be baptized yet baptisme doth produce their Sanctification not by vertue or for the merit of these dispositions although without them iustifying grace would not be produced but for the institution of Christ to whom and not to the merit of the receaver all the grace is attributed Thus he shew me how the Catholique Doctours did explaine the matter and that it never entered into any of their heads that the Sacraments would produce grace in those who were ill disposed or received thē without due preparation since the Scripture sheweth that these 1. Cor. 11. v. 9. who receeive the Eucharist vnworthily receive vnto themselves damnation Vpon these considerations I thought it no wonder that the Presbyterians who esteem their Sacraments to be of so little value haue also made them to be of so little vse For they haue abrogated and condemned all private baptisme and Communion so that these two Sacraments which are all they have cannot be any more vsed in private although vpon never so great necessity And for their Communion as they never give it in private for the comfort of the sick so they give it very seldom in publick for the devotion of the whole for in some remarkable Townes and other parts of the Countrey it hath not been once administrated these 8. or 9. yeares By all which I saw clearly enough that the doctrines and practises of the Presbyterians were not only against the excellency but also against the necessity of the Christian Sacraments which were thereby rendred altogether gracelesse and almost vselesse Therefore I intended Godwilling to follow no longer such wicked opinions and practises which destroy the nature end and vse of the Christian Sacraments CHAP. XIX That Baptisme taketh away Original sin which is denyed by the Presbyterians VPON the determination of the former question this other was soone decyded For if Baptisme conferres grace as hath been proved generally of all the Christian Sacraments in the former chapter then it also taketh away sin which cannot stay with grace in the same place And so accordingly the Catholiques teach Concil Trid. sess 5 can 5. that Original sin is taken away by Baptisme as the Councel of Trent hath defined in these words If any man shall deny that by grace conserred in the Sacrament of Baptisme the guilt of original sin is taken away or saith also that all that is properly sin is not taken away but only razed and not imputed be he accursed The chieff Protestants Presbyterians hold the contrary as an article of their faith Luther saith to deny sin to be remaining in a child after baptisme Luth. art 1. damnat à Leone X. Cal. lib. 4. Instit cap. 15. sect 10. Confess Vvestmin ch 6. is to tread both Paul and Christ vnder foote Calvin accordeth to him It is false saith he that by baptisme we are loosed and exempted from original sin The Presbyterian confession of Westminster saith that by original sin we are wholly defiled in all the faculties parts of soule body And that this corruption of nature during this life doth remain in those that are regenerated and that it self and all the motions of it are truly properly sin I found the Catholique doctrin to be firmly founded in the Scriptures to have been zealously defended by the holy fathers who account them infidels who deny it and to be agreable to the very instinct of almost all Christians And consequently the Presbyterian belief which is iust opposite must be against all these as also I found it to have been an ancient heresy and that it is so false and absurd that diverse Protestants have been scandalized at it and abandonned it and some have condemned it as blasphemy All which I shall briefly touch That baptisme taketh away original yea and all sin the Scripture sufficiently sheweth Ananias said to S. Paul Acts 22.17 Acts 2.38 Ephes 5.26 Titus 1. v. 5.1 Pet. 3.21 Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins S. Peter gave this advice to the Iewes be every one of you baptized for the remission of your sins S. Paul saith that Christ hath loved his Church and delivered himself for it that he might sanctifie it cleansing it by the lauer of water in the word Again He hath saved vs by the lauer of regeneration S. Peter saith Baptisme saveth you also If then Baptisme washeth away our sins how are they not taken away if we be cleansed from sin how can the filthinesse of sin remain If we be borne of new again in the lauer of regeneration how can the old man or death of sin abide in vs Christ is called in the Scripture the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world But how could he be said to take away the sins of the world if he did not take away Original sin which is the sin of the whole world And how is that sin taken away but by Baptisme These places of Scripture appeare so clear for this truth that without great violence they cannot be wrested to an other sense But now let vs heare the iudgment of the holy Fathers of the primitive Church S. Augustin sheweth the doctrin of the ancient Church against the Pelagians who falsely alleadged that the Catholiques maintaind Baptisme did not take away all sins but did only shave them for which supposed doctrin they branded the Catholiques with the name of Manichees He puts down their calumny in these words Aug. lib. 1. cont duas epist Pelag. c. 13. These Manichees do teach that baptism doth not give remission of sins nor takes away crimes but only shaves them To which calumny S. Augustin answer's thus Who affirmes this against the Pelagians vnlesse he be some infidel For we teach that baptism gives remission of all sins and takes away crimes and not shaveth them Where may be observed not only what was the doctrin of the auncient Church but also that the contrary is a point of the Manichean heresy and that these who maintain it are infidels in S. Augustins iudgment Again the same holy Father sheweth the great vertue of
by a true conversion to God when the baptism of water is not contemned but rather desired and yet through some necessity men die without it as S. Ambrose testifieth of Valentinian the yonger· I haue lost him Ambr. orat de obitâ—â— Val. ent iunioris Mark 1.4 Luke 3.3 saith he whom I was to regenerate but he hath not lost the grace which he hoped for This true conversion penance is also called baptism in the Scriptures for it is said that S. Iohn preached baptism of penance vnto remission of sins And according to this doctrin the ancients did handsomly distinguish three kinds of baptism which they called Sanguinis flaminis fluminis that is the baptism of blood of the Spirit of water Lastly he said that although baptism were not a necessarie mean ordained by God for Salvation of Infants yet it hath the necessitie of a command to Pastors Mat. 28.19 as is evident by our Saviours words to the Apostles Goe and teach all nations baptizeing them c. Therefore although it were supposed that no hurt come to the children dying without baptism yet they who by their office are obliged to baptize commit a great sin when they wilfully neglect to obey Christs command which the Presbyterian Pastors manifestly do suffering so many children notwithstanding the many teares and cries of their parents to die without baptism And according to this observation King Iames answered well a Minister in Scotland who enquired of him if he thought baptism so necessarie that if it were omitted the child would be damned No said the King but I verily believe if yow being called to baptise a child in danger of death would refuse to do it that you would be damned This answer may be seen in the first dayes conference at Hampton-Court Where it is also shewed that such a neglect of baptisme is not only a damnable sin in the Minister but likwise that it is very daÌ„gerous for the child For who saith the Bishop of London hath any carâ— of religion and would not by all meanes be carefull that his child receive baptism Who would not rather assure his action vpon the promises of Iesus Christ then the omission of it vpon the secret iudgment of God Then whereas the Ministers do alleadge that Christs command extends only to publique and not to private baptism this is a meer fancy without any ground in Scripture where no such distinctioÌ„ is made yea it is against Scripture For do we not read that S. Paul was baptized privatly by Ananias and the Eunuch by S. Philip. Acts. 9.18 Acts. 8.38 But they who teach that Gods commandments are impossible to be kept and make dayly profession to break them may let this passe with the rest These and diverse other inconsequentiall errours of the Presbyterians concerning baptim he did manifest vnto me which for brevities sake I omitt Therefore to conclude this point I cannot believe the Presbyterian doctrin against the necessity ob baptism because iâ— is against our Saviours expresse words against the holy Fathers whole ancient Church because it is an ancient heresy condemned in the Pelagians because it is against the common instinct of Christians and is condemned by diverse famous Protestants so that King Iames the head of a famous Protestant Church iudged it damnable in the Ministers and his Prelats esteem'd it most dangerous to the infants For which dangerous doctrin and the cruel practise flowing from it I can find no other ground but Ministerial tradition from Geneva and that against the Scriptures and all the former authorities Florimond above cited sheweth Flor. Reym de orta haeres lib. 8. c. 11. c. how this tradition descended from Calvin and that Musculus Superintendent of Berne deposed a Minister named Samuel Hueber for having baptized a child in the night when it was in danger of death and Beza did assist to that censure Moreover he sheweth how in a Protestant Synod at Figear it was ordain'd that the Ministers should comfort the parents of children dying without baptism But all in vaine so that the Ministers of Poictou in an aslembly at Chastelrauld in the yeare 1599. were enforced to give way to Ministers to baptize in private houses that they might avoid the cryes of tender hearted mothers I have heard of some pittiful accidents that have fallen forth in our Countrey vpon this same occasion so that some mothers have almost gone out of their witts when the Ministers suffered their children to die without baptism And I knew a Protestant father who for this same reason took great indignation at all Presbyterian Ministers Such a strong impression hath God made of this truth in the hearts of the simple people who in many other things have suffered themselves to be too simply misled to abandon the truth By all which it may be fâ—en how the Presbyterians make void and destroy the Sacrament of baptism CHAP. XXI Of the reall presence of Christs body in the holy Sacrament which is denyed by the Presbyterians AS the Presbyterians by denying both the effect and necâ—ssity of bapism do in effect quite take away that so holy and necessary a Sacrament so I conceived if it be true that Christs body be really present in the Eucharist as the Catholiques beleeve that the Presbyterians who deny the reall presence and do give vs nothing but signes and tokens of Christs body do also destroy this other most excellent Sacrament The Catholiques belief in this point Concil Triden sessio 13 c. 1. is clearly set down by the Councel of Trent where it is said The holy Synod doth openly and simply professe that in the holâ— Sacrament of the Eucharist after the consecration of bread wine our Lord Iesus Christ true od true man is truly really suhstantially contain'd c. Our first Scott sh Confession speaks not so clearly For after some ambiguity of words by which it would seem to graunt the reall presence it acknowledged that hrists body is only in the heavens For it saith that the holy Ghost by true faith 1. Scottish confes art 21. carrieth vs above all things that are visible c and maketh vs to feed vpon the body blood of Christ Iesus which is in the heavens And yet notwithstanding the far distance of place which is betwixt his body now grorifyed in the heavens and vs now mortall in this earth yet we assuredly beleeve c. The late Gonfession of Westminster albeit it vseth also some ambiguous expressions yet it affirmeth that Christs body is not corporally or carnally in with or vnder the bread wine Confess Vvest chap. 29. n. 7. And it s knowen also that the Presbyterians do zealously maintaine that Christs body is only in the heavens and that it is impossible even to the omnipotency of God to make a body to be present in two places at once And therefore according to them Christs body cannot be
When S. Gregorie was giving the Sacrament to the people he came to a woman who smiled when he said to her the body of our Lord Iesus Christ preserue thy soule wherevpon the Pope did withdraw his hand lay'd the SacrameÌ„t on the altar After the holy solemnities were ended he enquired at the woman why she had laughed in so dreadfull an action She in end confessed that she could not acknowledge that bread which she had made with her own hands to be the body of Christ Then S. Gregorie prayed God earnestly for her and obtain'd that the bread even in external forme should be turned into flesh by which miracle he both reduced the woman vnto the faith and confirmed the people in it The faith of S. Lowis King of France Bosius li 14 de signis Eccles p. 145. ex Villanaeo an 1258. concerning this Sacrament is much celebrated For when he being advertised that a most beavtifull child had appeard in the holy Sacrament was desired to come and see this miracle he refused to goe saying that these miracles were done for these who doubted but for himself he was most certaine that Christ Iesus was truly present in the Eucharist An other such apparition was seen at Doway in the yeare 1254. continueda good time Spond suppl anno 1254. n. 16. so that great numbers of people came from diverse parts to see it and the memory of it is every yeare celebrated in that town with great solemnity By all which considerations I was sufficiently satisfyed of the Catholique belief concerning the reall presence which I found to be containd in the holy Scriptures beleeved by the holy Fathers and by general Councels and to be confirmed by miracles And therefore I could not any longer believe the Presbyterian doctrin which against all these authorities makes the body of Christ to be as far distant from the Sacrament as the heavens are from the earth 1. I perceived that they scarcely pretend to have Scripture for them but are enforced to runne from the clear words of it to their tropes figures Aug. lib. 3. de doct Christ c. 10. which S. Augustin observed long ago to be the custom of erroneous persons So soone saith he as the opinion of any errour hath once prepossessed their minds they esteeme all to be figures which the Scripture saith to the contrarie And therefore albeit the Scripture saith not once but foure times that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Iesus Christ without ever saying in any one place that it is not his body but only a figure of it they beleeve the one which it saith not and not the other which it affirmes Against them S. Iohn Damascen saith efficaciously Damas lib. 4. Orthodo fidei The bread wine is not a figure of the body blood of Christ God forbid it were that but it is the divine body of our Lord he himself saying this is my body 2. They passe from the Scriptures Fathers and found their negative faith vpon their senses and some carnal reasons Chrys homil 60. ad popul Antioch Against which vaine pretences S. Chrysostom saith well Let vs beleeve God every where let vs not oppose him although that which he saith seem absurd to our sense vnderstanding Let his speech overcome our sense and reason which in all things we ought to do cheefly in the mysteries not only looking to that which lieth before vs but also holding fast his words For we cannot be deceived by his words our sense may be easily deceived these cannot be false this is often deceived Because therefore he hath said this is my body let vs not be holden by any doubt but let vs beleeve and comprehend it wiâ—h the ey 's of of our vnderstanding Cyrill Alex. lib. 4. in Ioan c. 13. S. Cyrill speaks no lesse efficaciously against those who pretend this mystery to be against reason and impossible compareing them to incredulous Iewes A malignant minde saith he doth presently reiect as frivolous false what it doth not vnderstand yeelding to none nor thinking any thing to be aboue it self as we shall find the Iewes to have been For when it became them who had seen the divine vertue the miracles of our Saviour to receive his speech willingly and if any thing seemed difficult to have asked the resolution of him they did the quit contrarie and cryed out together against God not without great impietie How can this man give vs his flesh neither did it come into their minde that there is nothing impossible with God for since they were sensual as S. Paul speaks they could not vnderstand spiritual things and so great a mystery seemed to them to be follie But let vs make great profit by other mens sins Let us have a firme faith in these mysteries Let vs neuer speak nor think that word How That 's meerly Iudaical and the cause of great punishment Thus S. Cyrill 3. The Presbyterians do wrest our Saviours words by a figurative interpretation against all reason as hath been shewed Then I found this Presbyterian doctrin Apud Bellar. lib. 1. de Euch. cap. 1. Gualt Chronolog saecul 1. cap. 1. Elien resp ad Apolog. Bellar. c. 1. Casaub ans to Card. Peron 1. instance fol. 32. English to have been an ancient heresie of Simon Magus and Menander and thereafter of Berengarius who at his death did recant of the Albigenses and of diverse others Yea Gualterus brings some testimonies of the holy Fathers to shew that Iudas the traitor denyed the reall presence and did not believe our Saviours words in the 6. chapter of S. Iohn Lastly diverse famous Protestants have abandoned that doctrin of Calvin As Bishop Andrews who writes thus against Bellarmin We agree faith he with yow of the matter all the contention is about the manner a presence I say we believe not lesse reall then yow Casaubon made the like profession in name of King Iames of the whole Church of England And whereas I heard so much cryed out against Transubstantiation as a thing impossible and a noveltie lately introduced into the Church I found both these allegations to be false For the holy Fathers do shew both the possibility and the verity of it out of the Scriptures Cyrill Hieros Catech. 4. Mystag Ambros l. 4. de Sacram c. 4. lib. de mysterijs initiand cap. 9. S. Cyrill saith Christ changed once water into wine which is near vnto blood and is he not worthy to be believed of vs that he hath changed wine into blood S. Ambrose having shewed the power of Christs speech how by it he gave a being to the world which had no being before saith How much more then operative is it that these things which were might have a being and be converted into another Again the same holy Father calls this change a conversion of nature substance bringing examples out of the old
is granted by all Christians that the Church in Communion with Rome had once this succession and professed the true faith at least for some years after the Apostles Therefore either she holds still the same true faith and so has a continued succession from the Apostles or else if she hath fail'd some other Church hath succeeded and kept the true faith in all generations thereafter But no other Church can be assigned which hath still succeeded Therefore either the Church in Communion with the sea of Rome which was once vndenyably the true Church is still the true Church and hath ever professed the same true faith or else the true Church of Christ which ought to be perpetual and visible hath perished out of the earth for many ages which no Christian can affirm Moreover as the true Church is clearly easily known by her continued succession so all false Churches are evidently discoverd by their new rising S. Irenaeus li. 3. c. 3. The most ancient Father S. Irenaeus having reckon'd out the succession of the Roman Bishops by which he shewes the succession of the true Church from the Apostles saith Haec est plenissima ostensio c. This is a most full demonstration that the same lively faith taugth by the Apostles is still even vnto this day conserved in the Church and truly delivered And by this saith he Confundimus omnes c. We confound all Novelists who cannot shew such a succession S. Hierom saith that any new Church which hath not still endured from the Apostles is not the Church of Christ Hier. dial cont Lucifer vt sup Tertull. de praescrip c. 34. Idem li. advers Hermonem c. 1. but the Synagogue of Anti-Christ For by this same very thing that they are afterwards established they shew themselves to be those whom the Apostle foretold were to arise Tertullian affirmeth that Heretiques are discovered by their age alone Again To cut short all disputes with Heretiques we vse to prescribe them by their posteriority or after rising But it is worth the observation and much illustrates this matter to consider what two contrary things the Scripture foretells of the true Church and of heresies Of the Church it shewes that it hath no later beginning then Christ who founded it and can end no sooner then the consummation of the world Both these truths are contain'd in that one sentence of Christ to speak of no more Math. 16.19 Vpon this rock will I build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Of sects heresies it shewes iust the contrary 1. They are not so ancient as Christ but arise afterwards as S. Paul foretold the Ephesians saying I know Acts 20.29.30 that after my departure there will ravening Wolves enter in among you c. and of your selves shall arise men speaking perverse things 1. Iohn 2.19 S. Iohn saith They went out from vs. 2. As they rise lately so they quickly decay S. Paul saith 2. Tim. 3.9 They shall prosper no further The first two are verifyed clearly in the Catholique Church which being founded by Christ hath continued to this day without interruption and so shall continue vnto the end of the world For this being the work of God cannot be dissolved as Gamaliel wisely or rather divinly foretold The other two are no lesse verifyed of all false Churches For they began of late in several ages after the Apostles and albeit they seem'd sometimes firmly established yet being the works devices of men they were ever at length dissolved The first point to witt late rising is verifyd of the Protestant Churches which were not known before Luther their dissensions changes divisions and subdivisions which every day encrease and for which there is no remedie shew that they cannot endure for ever Is it not then truly admirable that the heresies which have risen against the Church being so many in number for two hundred Heresiarchs are reckoned to have been before Luther some of thē vpheld by great earthly power maintain'd by diverse svbtile and crafty wits covered with the mask of truth and promoved with furious zeal yet never one of them hath endured And vpon the other part the Catholique Church being all alone so ancient so much hated so much calumniated and persecuted by them all hath stood out against them all and endures vnto this day Is it not very considerable that all heretiques having intended by slight and might the destruction of the Catholique Church which some of them have most cruelly persecuted and the building of their own new respective Churches yet they could never get either of these two designs accomplished For the Catholique Church being founded by Christ vpon a rock cannot be shaken Whereas these new Churches albeit sometimes they seem to be brought neer vnto some setling perfection yet before they can get on the Capestone for which the Presbyterians did often in vain cry fall ever into ruin and confusion Who will consider these things may not see the finger of God in protection of his Church the clear performāce of all his promises vnto her And vpon the other part who may not see an evident curse fall vpon all heresies which like Babels can never be perfited being built vpon the sand cannot long stand or being like adulterous plants cannot take deep rootes But that you may discern the better how the true Church is so easily known by her continued succession all false Churches are so clearly discovered by their new rising I pray yow conceive in your mind these following representations which are grounded in the Scriptures holy Fathers 1. Represent vnto your self the true Church as a great River passing from one end of the earth to the other running continually from the time of Christ his Apostles through all generations And such is the Church in Communion with the sea of Rome having succession of Pastors people in all ages like a river ever running in which all the Saints as living waters have flowed vnto paradise But heretical Churches are like little brooks or rainfloods not alway's running but rising at several times after stormes tempests not compassing the earth but overflowing some petty corners of it making for a short space a great noise thereafter running more calmly and in end clean dried vp S. Augustin makes this comparison for on these words of the psalme Aug. in psal 57. They shall come to nothing as water running down he saith Let not my brethren some floods which are called Torrents affright you the water runs down for a time it makes a great noise it shall soon cease they cannot endure long Many heresies are now dead they have run in their streams as much as they could they have run out their waters are dried vp scarcely the memorie of them is to be found c. Thus he You know that the Covenant did not always run and
after it began how furiously it ran what great noise it made how it carried down almost all with it Now you see it runs more calmly it is almost run out and the great noise of it is past Again the true Church is like the Sun ever shining in all generations according to that of the Psalmist He hath put his tabernacle in the Sun Psal 18.6 which S. Augustin expounds thus He hath placed his Church in manifestation And such has been the Church in Communion with the sea of Rome always visible and ever shining since the time of Christ But all heresies are like Comets which arise at certain times being made vp of terrestrial vapours make a great blaze so long as their grosse matter lasts but so soō as that failes they quickly evanish So indeed are heresies made vp for the most part of tēporary interests which make thē for a short time give a great glister but so soon as the grosse matter of these interests failes as it cannot laste long then they begin to shine dimnly then they languish in end evanish How great a light was the Covenant esteem'd What a great lustre did it make in great Britain so long as the interests concurred But these soon failing new lights have risen which have discocovered the former to be meerly humane have made it to languish and in a word have shown it to be a Comet Moreover the Church of Christ is frequently compared by the holy Fathers to a ship strongly built and wisely governed by Christ which ever since his time hath sailed through the seas of this world and notwithstanding the many tempests which the Divel and wicked men have raisd against her yet she riding out them all hath carried in her all these who have been saved vnto the port of Salvation She has been many wayes tossed but could never be overwhelmed For Ambros lib. de Salomone c. 4. as S. Ambrose saith excellently She cannot suffer ship shipwrak because Christ is exalted on the mast that is on the Crosse the Father sits pilot in the sterne and the holy Ghost preserves the fore-Castle Such is the Church in Communion with the sea of Rome as we have seen But heretical Churches are like little boats neither made nor governed by Christ but by new Sect-Masters who foolishly abandoned the ship of the Church Who promise a safe and more easy passage to heaven whereby many are rashly drawn to entrust their soules to them But within a short space the stormes arising these new vnskifull Pilots being of contrary iudgments fall into horrible dissensions and their passingers into bloody factions to the destruction of one another So that in end these boats which came but lately vpon the sea of this world which intended fondly to sink the Church are das't against rocks split in pieces and all these miserable soules which remain'd in them are overwhelm'd with waters Hieron epist ad Damaum For whosoever saith S. Hierom is not in the ark of Noah shall perish by the raging deluge And thus all false Churches after a little time have perished Lastly the Church is compared by Christ vnto a house built by himself as by a wise Master-builder vpon ◠rock which must stand for ever And such is the Church in Communion with the sea of Rome which hath stood vnto this day But heresies are new houses built by foolish sect◠masters not founded vpon a rock but vpon the sand which are soon shaken overthrown Wherefore to conclude I hope now through Gods goodnesse that you having seen such evidence for the truth of the Roman Catholique Church will make your self a domestique of this heavenly house which can never be shaken that you will enter into this ship which can suffer no shipwrack that you will walk in this light that can never be eclipsed and that you will runn this channel wherein all the Saints have pas't vnto paradise To this purpose spake the Catholique After I had considered diligently all these things which were given me thereafter in writing and had seen that this reason was so well grounded in the Scriptures and was vsed by the holy Fathers as a most clear and convincing way to prove the true Church I was much satisfyed therewith But yet I desired the Catholique if he would fully satisfie me to shew that the Roman Catholique Church had never changed her doctrin and had still kept that same which she had received from the Apostles For I doubt not said I but you know that the Ministers accuse her to have fallen from the Apostolique doctrin in many points and to have brought in many corruptions Wherevnto he answered that by proving the Church in Communion with the sea of Rome and her alone to have had a continued succession he had proved clearly her to be the true Church and so consequently to haue stil retained the same doctrin which was taught by Christ and the Apostles for change of doctrin changeth the Church and so the doctrin being changed the Church had not continued But said he for your more full satisfaction to take away all doubts and to dispell the mists of these calumnies I will prove the same truth by another special way CHAP. XXXI That the Church in communion with the sea of Rome holds now and has still held the same doctrin which was taught first by Christ his Apostles ALBEIT this truth hath been sufficiently proved by the continued succession of the Church yet now it shall be demonstrated by the special manner whereby this Church has received and still conveighed all her doctrin and for more clearnesse I frame my reason thus That Church which in all ages believed nothing as the doctrin of Christ his Apostles but what she received from her immediat Ancestors as their doctrin holds and hath still held the true doctrin of Christ his Apostles But the Church in Communion with the sea of Rome she alone hath in all ages received all her doctrin after that manner Therefore she alone holds and hath still held the true doctrin which was first taught by Christ his Apostles and consequently she has never changed the doctrin which she first received The Maior is proved after this manner That Church which in all ages believes the same doctrin which Christ and his Apostles taught in the first age hath ever held the true doctrin of Christ his Apostles But that Church which believes nothing as Christs doctrin but what she received as such from her immediat Ancestors believes in all ages the same doctrin which Christ his Apostles taught in the first age Therefore that Church which receives so her doctrin has ever held the same doctrin which was taught at first by Christ his Apostles The reason of this vniformity of doctrin in all ages is because that principle of receiving no doctrin as the doctrin of Christ his Apostles but what was delivered immediatly
by the Christians of the preceeding age makes the doctrin of every following age the same with the doctrin of the preceeding age and so makes the doctrin of all after ages the same with the doctrin of the first age For suppose that the Church now in this age relies vpon that principle to believe nothing as Christs doctrin but what her predecessors of the 15. age taught her to be his doctrin it is evident that the doctrin of these two ages will be the same And the Church of the 15. age relying vpon the same principle must hold the same doctrin which the Church of the 14. age held and so vpward the doctrin of the third age will be the same with that of the second and the doctrin of the second will be the same with that of the first and so if this principle has been carefully observed in all ages the doctrin of all ages will be the same with the doctrin of the first age which is the doctrin of Christ and of his Apostles The Maior then is evident The Minor is proved thus The Church now in Communion with the Roman sea holds in this age that principle For she professeth to believe nothing contrary to the doctrin of her immediat Ancestors and presumes to add nothing as Christs doctrin vnto the doctrin of her Ancestors Therefore she professeth to believe nothing as Christs doctrin but what she received as such from her immediat Ancestors If the Church of the present age professeth so as it is evident she doth then the Church of the fifteenth age behoved to make the like profession or else the Church of this age could not make it For so many persons as are now in Communion with the Roman Church cannot concurre to make so notorious sensible a lye as to say they professe nothing but what was profes't and taught by their immediat Ancestors if these of the 15. age had not made truly such a profession of the same doctrines And for the same reason these of the 15. age could not make that profession and teach it vnto this age vnlesse the 14. age had done the same and so you may ascend vpward even vnto the first age Therefore the Church professing to observe this principle now in this age hath profes't it alwayes If she has profes't it alwayes she has also observ'd it alwayes for the same reason because so many Nations as are in Commmunion of the Roman Church cannnot make so notorious a lye as to say they believe nothing but what they received from their immediat Ancestors if they believed any thing else as Christs doctrin which they had not received Therefore seing they affirm in all ages even vnto the first that they received all their doctrin from their Ancestors it must be true that they did receive it all and it must be also true that with the other doctrine they received and observed this principle To believe nothing but what has been delivered by their immediat Ancestors For this is as it were the rule ground of all particular doctrines So that by proving that the present Church in Communion with the sea of Rome professeth to observe this principle it 's proved she profes't it alwayes and by proving that she profest it alwayes it is shown she has observ'd it alwayes and this principle been alwayes profes't and observed it has been ever delivered with the rest of the doctrin as the main ground whereon the Church hath relyed by which men may come vnto the sure knowledge possession of the true doctrin which was taught by Christ his Apostles So that if the whole Church hath not made a notorious sensible lye in one age to damn themselves and their whole posterity she hath ever received all her doctrin from her immediat Ancestors and so it will be true that the doctrin of all ages is the same with the doctrin of the first age which is the true doctrin of Christ his Apostles Now it rests to be shown that this Church alone observes the former principle which is easily done For if there had been any other society of Christians which had constantly kept that principle it had also kep't the same doctrin which the Roman Church keeps as is evident by what hath been said Secondly No other Churches and especially the Protestant can so much as pretend to keep this principle For they are so far from professing to receive all their doctrines from their immediat Ancestors that at their first rising they accuse their Ancestors and the Church in their time of Errors whereof they professe themselves to be Reformers and that not by doctrin which they had received immediatly from others but what they had received or pick't out from the Scriptures by their private collections which has been the ordinary custom of all heretiques And this is evident in Protestants who do acknowledge that they have their doctrin not by the testimony of the age immediatly preceeding Luther but from him who opposed the whole Church in his time and for many ages before him which he pretended to reform by the Scriptures The whole strength of this proof is grounded vpon this manifest truth that a full report from whole worlds of fathers to whole worlds of Sons of such things as they heard and saw is altogether infallible since sensible evidence in a world of eye witnesses vnanimously concurring is altogether infallible And such is the test mony of the whole Church in every age for her doctrin that it is the very same which was delivered by Christ and his Apostles and therefore it was truly delivered by them For neither can the Church be mistaken in this testimonie since whole Nations cannot be deceived in what is told them not once or twice but what is dayly beaten into their ears what they are bred with and what they see dayly with their eyes or else we may say the whole world erres in iudging white from black Neither can all the Christians in the world dispersed through so many Nations malitiously conspire to make so notorious a lie as to say they heard this taught and saw it practised if they had not seen and heard it For that were to testify a lie in a matter subiect to sense against their greatest interest to witt the Salvation of themselvs of their posterity If it be impossible that all the persons of a great Citie and much more of a whole Nation should think affirm that they saw and heard such things which truly they neither saw nor heard How much more is it impossible that all Christians Cities Nations should think and affirm they were instructed in such doctrines saw such practices if it were not really true that they had received these doctrines seen these practices Hence it remaines evident that this continued testimony of so many Christian in every generation is a most sure infallible way to attayn vnto the certain knowledge of what
S. Ambrose Let vs therefore keep the precepts of our Elders and not with temerity of rude presumption violate those seals descending to vs by inheritance To the same purpose Origen writeth In our vnderstanding saith he of the Scriptures Orig. tract 27. 〈◊〉 we must not depart from the first Ecclesiasticall Tradition nor believe otherwise but as the Church of God has by succession delivered vnto vs. By this way also all heresies have been clearly discovered condemned Theodoret l. 1. hist c. 8. Theodoret expresly witnesseth that the heresy of Arius was condemned by the doctrin not written which had been always profest in the Church For there was no end by Scripture the Arians pretending that as well as the Catholiques Tertullian saith There is no good got by disputing out of the texts of Scripture But either to make a man sick or mad And the reason is because albeit you would bring never so clear Scriptures the heretiques will expound all according to their pleasures and they never faile also to bring Scriptures for themselvs so that the victory is vncertain or not so evident but by the constant belief of the Church all heretiques are clearly confounded S. Athanasius by this means confounds the Arians Behold saith he we have proved the succession of our doctrin delivered from hand to hand from father to son But as for yov ô new Iewes and Sons of Caiphas Athanas lib. 1. de decret Niceni CoÌ„ what progenitors can you name for your selvs By this means also the Error of rebaptizing those who had been baptized by heretiques was refuted and the custom of the Church to the contrary prevailed over all S. Cyprians reasons and many authorities collected from the Scriptures Aug. lib. 2 de bapt c. 9. As yet saith S. Augustin there had been no General Councell assembled in that behalf but the world was held in by the strength of Custom which was opposed to those who would bring in that novelty S. Stephen Pope and Martyr wrote to S. Cyprian in these words Nihil innovetur nisi quod traditum est Let nothing be changed nothing received but what has been delivered Herevpon I proposed this difficulty that some things were believed after the definition of a General Councel which were not believed before Therefore it would seem that the Church has not always relied on that principle to believe nothing but what was delivered by the constant testimony of their immediat Ancestors To which the Catholique answered that the clearing of this difficulty would manifest the strength evidence of the former proof First said he it is evident that the principal if not all the points maintain'd by Catholiques and now questioned by Protestants did ever appear externally in the profession practise of the whole Church and were not defined by anterior Councils Therefore according to S. Augustins rule they are Apostolical Aug. lib. 4. de baptis c. 24. For that saith he which the vniversal Church doth hold and was not instituted by Councels but has been still retayn'd in the Church is most iustly believed to have descended from no other authority than from the Apostles Therefore this obiection makes nothing for the benefit of Protestants who condemn many things which were publickly vniversally profest and practised in the Church before they were by any Councils authorized Secondly These points of faith which were determined by General Councels were not defin'd as new doctrines For either they were generally constantly believed by the whole Church till some heretiques began violently to oppose them or there were some points not so generally believed practised throughout the whole Church but some Catholiques did with submission to the iudgmeÌ„t of the Church doubt of them Now it is evident that the Church in the points of the first kind believed the same thing after the definition of a General Council which she believed before as we haue seen out of S. Athanasius concerning the Divinity of Christ which was believed as well before the great Councell of Nice as after it Neither were these other points of which some Catholiques doubted defin'd as new doctrines but the whole Church assembled in a General Council after due examination having found these points to have descended by sufficient approued testimony or tradition and being assisted by Christ the head of his body which is the Church the holy Ghost the Guide of it according to our Sauiours promise special necessary providence over his Church proposeth them to be vniversally believed without any more doubt And whosoever after this definition of the vniversal Church of her supreme authority call these things any more in question become heretiques are cast out of the Church But all good Christians who had any doubt before for want of the Churches proposeall having now got that do acquiesce and are put out of all doubt for to oppose the whole Church Aug. epist 118. ad â—anuar as S. Augustin observes would be most insolent madnesse This whole matter is clear in the question of rebaptization For it was decided by a General Council according to the custom or Tradition which was opposed before the Council to S. Cyprian Therefore the same thing was a matter of faith was believed before the Council although some did not know it to be such till the Church did interpose her supreme authority declare it to be so S. Augustin shewes how much himself relies on this iudgment and that S. Cyprian would have yielded to it if in his time it had been interposed Aug lib. â— de bapt c. 4. Neither durst we saith he affirm any such thing if we were not well grounded vpon the most vniforme authority of the vniversal Church vnto which vndoubtedly S. Cyprian also would have yielded if in his time the truth of the question had been cleared declared by a General Council established Vpon the other part these who after the determination of the Council maintaynd the same error of rebaptization were esteemed Heretiques Vincent cont he es c. 9. which made S. Vincentius cry out thus O admirable change the Authors of one self opinion are called Catholiques and the followers of it Heretiques And the reason of the difference is because as S. Augustin observes An erring disputer may be suffered in other questions not diligently tried not as yet strengthned by the full authority of the Church Aug. serm 14 de verbis Apostol in these matters an error may be suffered But after the iudgment of the Vniversal Church which is the highest authority on earth has past and condemned any error then it is no more to be suffered then these who will not hear the Church are by our Sauiours command to be esteem'd as Heathens Publicans By which the difficulty proposed is clearly answered the proof stands good That the Church has alwayes believed that which from father to son has been delivered
and amongst all doctrines which have been delivered there is none descended more clearly then the irrefragable testimony of the Catholique Church either as she is dilated throughout the whole world or as she is assembled in a General Council whereof the continual practice of the Church from the beginning is a superabvndant evidence From this truth we will briefly deduce some Corollaries 1. Since we neither ought nor can arrive vnto the certain knowledge of our Saviours and his Apostles doctrin but by the testimony of the Catholique Church this Testimony is not only necessary for the knowledge of the doctrines not written but also of these which are written because the true sense of these cannot be infallibly known but by this lively rule of faith 2. The doctrines not written which have been still believed and profest in the Church are truly Apostolical divine as well as these doctrines which are contain'd in Scripture because we have the same infallible assurance for them that we have for these 3. Since the Testimony and authority of the Vniversal Church is the only means by which we can be fully assured what was the doctrin of Christ and therefore is the formal motive of our belief it followes that what ever the Church testifieth to be revealed by God has been truly revealed and ought to be beleeued whither the matters themselvs be great or small And hereby the Protestants distinction of points fundamental not fundamental is quite overturned and shewed to be impertinent Because neither of these points are beleeved for themselv's but for the divine authority revealing them and this cannot be known but by the testimony of the Church by her authority proposing them Therefor the formal motive being the same for all points they are all alike to be beleeved when they are by the same authority of the Church sufficiently proposed and in that case to deny any thing albeit never so small for the matter is a fundamental error and clearly opposite to the formal motive of our faith for which all the points of faith are beleeved and whosoever disbeleeves any thing at all so proposed denies faith to God reiects his authority 4. He who contemnes or neglects the testimony of the Catholique Church in the time wherein he lives which is a testimony beyond all exception most worthie of credit can never come to the full certain knowledge of our Saviours doctrin For that is as it were the first step of the ladder vpon which if one set not first his foote he cannot arrive vnto the top that is vnto the first age wherein Christ his Apostles lived 5. From this principle flow all the notes of the Church As first her Vnity in all points of faith For if she has alway's beleeved nothing but what was received from hand to hand from father to son by the testimony of the Christian world and all persons within her submit to the same supreme authority of one chief Pastor of General Councels the Church cannot but have Vnity in all points of faith Secondly the holynesse of the Church flowes also from the foresaid principle For if the doctrin of the Church was holy at the beginning as all Christians must confesse and the doctrin by this continual testimony remaines ever the same as hath been proved Then the Church is still holy in all her doctrines which all tend to holynesse Thirdly the Church is also Catholique For it is by the testimony of Christians in all Nations that the doctrin of Christ is infallibly conueighed vnto vs. Lastly the Church is Apostolique For it is by her continued testimony that the doctrin of Christ is known in all generations and therefore she must have a continued succession from the Apostles Wherefore to conclude I hope that I have proved now sufficiently the Church in Communion with the Sea of Rome by receiving all her doctrines in all ages from her forefathers has ever kept the same doctrin which she first received from Christ his Apostles never changed it and therefore as she was so she still is the spouse of Christ being a fruitefull Mother yet a chast Virgin never parting from Christ for she could never be drawn from the doctrin which she once received from him neither by the bloody persecutions of the Pagans nor by the deceitfull pretexts and allurements of heretiques yea she never did dissemble the least Error in her deerest children Iude v. 3. but as S. Iude exhorts has ever contended earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints She has indeed been ever falsly accused as an Adulteresse by all heresies which are themselvs as we have seen before harlots and strumpets But she remaines pure chast Adulterari non potest Cypr. in tract de simplicitate Prelator Osee 2.19 saith S. Cyprian Sponsa Christi c. The Spouse of Christ cannot become an adulteresse she is chast incorrupt What she once knew of Christ she still holds and never at all parts from him as he never parts from his Church to which he said I will espouse thee to my self for ever S. Paul speaking of the great love of Christ to his Church saith that he delivered himself for it Ephes 5.25 c. that he might sanctifie it and present it vnto himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing c. And of the indissolvible coniunction between Christ and his Church he saith This is a great Sacrament Ibid. v. 32. but I say in Christ his Church As the Iewes did loaden our Saviour with lies calumnies so all heretiques strive to defame oppresse his Spouse by the same means but all in Vain For as the innocency of Christ did appear and the whole earth was filled with his praises whereas his enemies were cloathed with shame confusion were scattered through the earth had their Temple destroyed and their Nation ruined So within a short time the vnspotted innocency purity of his spouse is manifested to the shame confusion of all heresies which being accursed by the Church with all their lies calumnies are ever at length destroyed from the face of the earth for as the Wiseman has observed Ecclesiastic c. 3. v. 11 the Mothers curse rooteth vp the foundation If it was a great sin in the Iewes that they not only refused to hear and obey Christ but also falsly accused him and many wayes lyed and blasphemed against him It cannot be a small sin in heretiques that they do not only refuse to hear the Church for which crime alone they are by Christs command to be holden as Heathens Publicans but also they falsly accuse his Spouse which he loves so deerly for an Adulteresse and charge her with Idolatry Superstition all sorts of abomination These calumnies if not blasphemies are the ground of all their new doctrines pretended Reformations By which we may know the rare fabrick
how can he be goodnesse itself and the Author of goodnesse if he be the Author of wickednesse A holy Father saith Basil quod Deus noe sit auctor malor It 's the same madnesse to deny God and to say he is the Author of sin For if he be the Author of sin he is not good if he be not good he is not God The Manicheans taught the same impiety but with this difference that they made not the good but the evil God the Author of evil Moreover it 's evident that God cannot be the Author of that whereof he is the punisher But he is the punisher of sin Therefore he cannot be the Author of it I know some Protestants strive to make a faire face vpon this doctrin of Calvin but all in vain for it is so black and vgly of it self in the tearmes which he vseth that as it is in the proverb these who would blanch it vndertake to wash a black-Moore The text is so bad that it can admit no good Commentarie Feuardentius lib. 2. Theomachiae Calvinisticae cap. 12. So that the Lutherans in Germanie have condemned it as contumelious against God pernicious to mankind and the Zuinglians of Berne caused Calvins books wherein these black errors were contain'd to be burnt publickly by the common Executioner He teacheth also some doctrin no lesse pernicious in the iudgment of many concerning predestination as that God by his only will has ordaind many without any consideration of their merits to damnation Cal. lib. 3. Inst c. 22. par 2. His words are these By his only will and without any consideration of their merits they are predestinated to eternal death Such doctrin which transformes God into the Devil and represents him as the greatest Tyrant imaginable cannot be holy no more then he who taught it can be heavenly albeit he be much esteem'd by the Presbyterians who keep still this doctrin lying at their hearts though vpon some occasions they are ashamd to profess it Secondly As he robs God of his goodnesse so doth he also spoile man of his free-will which is not only false against common experience and the confession of mankind for as S. Augustin saith no fewnesse of the learned Aug. lib. de vera relig c. 14. no company of the vnlearned do deny it but also in the iudgment of many Protestants it makes all exhortations admonitions and threats which are so frequent in the Scriptures both vselesse and ridiculous it hinders all exercise yea and attempt of vertue holynesse and with the opinion of Gods absolute decree of reprobation it brings men to despaire Thirdly their doctrin of the impossibility to keep the divine commandments even with the assistance of Gods grace we have seen above to be iniurious to the goodnesse wisdom and iustice of God to be a great hindrance of the growth of piety and of the care of a good life from which wicked doctrin flowed the impious sect of the Anti-Nomians To which if we shall add that doctrin which they call the life of their religion to witt their iustification by a special faith only whereby they beleeve that all their sins are forgiven them what a wid gate is opened to all licentious liberty to the neglect of piety and of all good works Their doctrin also concerning the Sacraments is not holy which robs them of all grace and vertue of sanctification In a word if the proper doctrines of the Presbyterians be impartially considered there is almost nothing amongst them which hath appearance of holynesse or any invitation to it For they do not esteem their Churches holy they have no holy ornaments no holy Vessels no holy rites or Ceremonies no holy dayes or festivities no holy forme of publique worship or service of God and nothing that setteth forth the Maiesty magnificence of God or that can breed respect or reverēce in man Yea their principles if they be followed lead to prophanesse or Atheism whereof I will bring some few instances The first is of one named Godefridus a Valle who wrote a book Becan opusc disp An Deus sit Auctor peccati cap. 17. which he entitled Of the art of beleeving nothing In which he said all other things false and one only thing true as Becan relates to witt that he who would become an Atheist should first be a Calvinist as himself had been For from that doctrin of Calvin that God is the Author of sin and that by his absolute decree of Reprobation he had preordain'd the most part of men vnto damnation without any regard of their works but only for his own pleasure he collected that such a God was a most cruel Tyrant Therefore he would rather deny there was a God then acknowledge such a God And therevpon he became a profest Atheist and was burnt publickly in Paris in the yeare 1572. Another instance fell out not long ago in our own Countrey on another subiect For as the Presbyterian Ministers generally teach that the Church is no more holy then any other place nor no more reverence due vnto it except only when the Minister is preaching so a great Apostle of the Covenant taught that doctrin very eagerly in Aberdeen the fruite whereof did shortly thereafter appear For a covenanting souldier of the Saints army was found within few dayes in the Colledge Church of that town in vncivil conversation with a woman and being brought before the same Minister as I was credibly informed who did exaggerate the grievousnesse of the crime from the holynesse of the place he answered that there was neither preaching nor praying in the Church at that time By which he confounded the Minister Now of a long time they keep their Churches shut both night and day except only at such times as the Minister is to preach I knew also a young Lady who took great scandal at a Ministers sermon wherein he vndertook to prove against the Papists the impossibility of living chastly which doctrin she truly said was very dangerous to young people and loosed the reines to all lasciviousnesse So that in many points both concerning God and man the Sacraments the Commandments we see the Presbyterian Church is not holy in doctrin But on the other part the Church in Communion with the Sea of Rome teacheth most holy doctrin in all these points For first concerning God she teacheth that in him there are all perfections in an infinit degree that he is not only good in himself but the fountain of all goodnesse and that no evil can proceed from him That he is neither the cause Author or approver of sin That he is so good that he would not permit sin to be vnlesse he could draw good from it That he has predestinate no man to damnation but only for sins which they willingly freely commit This is the doctrin of the Catholique Church and of the holy Fathers Aug. in Enchir. c. 100. S.
and others is confessed by the Centurists The approved sanctity of S. Francis Xaverius a Iesuite who in the last age converted sundry Nations of the east Indies is testifyed by Hacluite a Minister in his book of Navigations where he doth highly praise him Luther confesseth that in the Papacy is the very kernel of piety Breirly cites the words of diverse Protestants who acknowledge that there are many holy men women in the Roman Church that Protestants are not to be compared vnto them in the least degree and that the Catholique Church hath many excellent orders and holy institutions Apol. tract 2. c. 3. sect 9. subd 1. post F. for curbing of sin and advancing of piety whereof Protestants are destitute This must be a strong truth which extorts confession from Adversaries and this Confession is a most convincent proofe against themselves Moreover amongst many of the Catholique Church there is found not an ordinary but a sublime degree of holynesse For many persons in all ages of the greatest quality honour riches have renounced the world all its pleasures that they might serve and enioy God more freely so that they have not only by Gods grace kept but also gone beyond the commandments as S. Chrysostom speaks S. Augustin describing the manners of the Catholique Church in his time after an excellent apostraphe concerning the holynesse of her doctrin saith vnto her concerning holynesse of life Aug. lib. de morib Eccl Cat. c. 30. Deservedly with thee the divine Commandments are kept far and neer By good right with thee are many given to hospitality many dutifull many mercyfull many learned many chast many holy many so burning with the love of God that in highest abstinence from all worldly pleasures incredible contempt of the world they delight only in the desert And thereafter shewing the diverse degrees of holy persons in the Catholique Church as of the Anachorits who liv'd in the wildernesse of the Monks who liv'd a part by themselvs and of others who were gathered together into Communities of religious women who separating themselvs from the company of men served God chastly diligently and having described their diverse manner of living their divin contemplations fervent prayers frequent fastings and the rest of their holy exercises he saith of the Anachorits not without admiration Aug. ibid. cap. 31. What is it I beseech you that these men who cannot but love man do see and yet can be without the sight of man Truly whatever it be it must be more excellent then all humane things since for the contemplation of it a man can live without man And a little after To whom this excellent hight of holynesse doth not appear of it 's own accord worthy of admiration how can it appear to him by our words Then of them all he professeth himself vnable to praise sufficiently these holy manners these holy orders and institutions and if he would vndertake to do it he would be affrayed lest he seemed to detract from them as if they would not please men by the simple relation of theÌ„ In end as this were an vndeniable truth appealing to the heretiques own iudgment he saith These things O Mâ—nichaeans reprove if you can But if there had been any Presbyterians in his time he had found them not only reproving these most holy things but also renouncing abiuring and accursing them as may by known by their Covenant practice at the beginning of their Reformation In this indeed the Presbyterians go beyond the Manicheans S. Augustin proceeds to the praise of the holynesse of the Clergy the Bishops Priests Deacons whose vertue he saith is so much the more wonderfull how much it 's more hard to keep it in such a kind of troublesome life amongst so great a multitude of persons with whom for their spiritual goods they do converse And yet he saith that he knew many holy persons in all these vocations as also many of the laytie of all ranks qualities living holyly in the world as if they did not vse the world and who would willingly forsake all wordly things before they forsook the love and service of God This Description of the ancient Catholique Church which the Catholique shew vnto me did represent very clearly to my sight how fitly the present Catholique Church doth agree with it in all these holy orders and Institutions and it did no lesse evidently manifest vnto me how monstruously the present Protestant Church is different from it Lastly diverse histories as well of Enemies as of friends have recorded many famous miracles wrought in the Catholique Church for confirmation of her doctrin and for manifestation of the holynesse of some persons who have lived dyed in her Communion The Magdeburgian Centurists although Protestants have recorded many great miracles done by Catholiques in the 13. chapter of every Century for 1300. years together after Christ Therefore since holynesse of life doctrin testifyed by Miracles from heaven hath in all ages from Christ been found eminently in the Roman Catholique Church and in no other we may most iustly conclude That she and no other is the true Church and lawfull spouse of Christ Aug. epist 50. ad Bonifacium S. Augustin saith The Catholique Church alone is the body of Christ c. out of this body the Holy Ghost quickens no man And a little before For as a member if it be cutt off from the body of a living man cannot retain the Spirit of life so a man who is cut off from the body of Christ the Iust cannot retain the Spirit of Iustice CHAP. XXXIV The true Church demonstrated by her Vniversality for which she is called Catholique AS the true Church is designed in the Apostles Creed by her holynesse so is she also by her Vniversality I beleeve the holy Catholique Church She is clearly also described by the same vniversality Genes 12.17 in the Scripture God said to Abraham In thy seed all the Nations of the earth shall be blessed The Prophet Esay foretould the same when he said of the Church All Nations shall flow vnto it Esay 2.2 Psalm 2. God promised this to Christ I will give thee the Gentils for thine inheritance the vtmost bounds of the earth for thy possessions Christ himself declared it Luke 24.47 when he said that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name vnto all Nations beginning from Hierusalem S. Paul said to the Colossians Coloss 1.6 that the Gospel was in all the world fructifyed Therefore to forbear from citing more testimonies it 's evident by the Creed by the Law and the Prophets by the Psalmes and the holy Apostles and by Christ himself the most true describer of his own body that his Church must be Catholique or Vniversal for place having the Communion of all Nations She must be also Vniversal for time that is she must endure from the time of Christ
evidēt marks of the Synagogue of Anti-Christ Neither indeed can any new sects with any probability call themselvs Catholiques For what would be more ridiculous then if the Independents or Quakers who are of so late standing and of so litle extension would stile themselvs Catholiques this word signifying Vniversality both of time place which they evidently want The same may be as iustly said of the Presbyterians or of any other Protestant Congregation And if any of these sects were so vnwise as to call themselvs so they would not be vnderstood but taken for Papists I remember that my Catholique friend shew me that it has been an ordinary custom of those who separat themselv's from the Catholique Church when they see that they neither have the thing signifyed by the word Catholique nor can obtain the title of it to shew themselvs enemies to both This the old Donatists did who pretended that it was not necessary Aug. cont Crescon l. 3. c. 66. the true Church should have communion of Nations or be Vniversal that truth is often among a few and that it was the fault of many to erre This same some Protestants do pretend Against which may be opposed the words of S. Augustin Aug. epist 48 who saith As he shall be Anathema or accursed who preacheth that neither Christ suffered nor rose again because we learned by the Gospel that it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise again the third day so he shall also be anathema whosoever preacheth the Church to be elswhere then in the Communion of all Nations because by the self same Gospel we learn in the words next following pennance to be preached in his name and remission of sins throughout all Nations Then for the word Catholique Luther was so great an enemy to it that he tooke it out of the Apostles Creed putting the word Christian in place of it Our Presbyterians ordinarly abstain from the word Catholique turning it Vniversal Beza in praefat novi Testam Beza calls it the vain tearme Catholique A great Apostle of the Covenant shew both his envie anger at this word For when a Gentlemā in the North who had been summoned not long ago to give an account of his faith before the Presbytery of Aberdeen had profest himself to be a Catholique the said Apostle was offended with that title and willed him to call himself a Papist which he neglecting to do the Min̄ister thē enquired of him If the women of his religion called themselvs Catholiques also Which question had such an vncivil sense as he proposed it that some of his more modest brethren sitting in iudgment with him shew both by their Countenance and words their dislike of his vncivility S. Augustin relates how the Donatists also were great Enemies to the word Catholique calling it a humane forgerie or fiction Aug. lib. 1. cont Gaudent c. 33. which the holy Father calls words of blasphemie To conclude therefore this point As it is evident both by the Creed and by the Scripture that the true Church must be Catholique so it 's very clear certain that the Protestant Church before Luther was not Catholique that as yet it is not Catholique and by all appearance never will be For according to the nature of heresie it gote all what it possesseth at the first hurle and these 80. years it hath made no progresse but rather by its own divisions hath gone backward and has been still on the loosing hand Therefore the Protestant Church not being Catholique cannot be the true Church Vpon the other part it is no lesse evident that of all Christian societies the Church in Communion with the sea of Rome was the Catholique Church in the time of the Apostles as it was also in the time of S. Augustin and of the holy Fathers and ever since it has had the Communion of Nations kept all General Councels made decrees condemned all Errors heresies And in a word what the holy Scriptures have so clearly fore-tould of the Vniversality of Christs Church and of the conversion of Gentils from infidelity to Christianity hath been accomplished in this Church alone and performed by her members Therefore this Church and no other is the holy Catholique and true Church of Christ CHAP. XXXV The true Church proved by her continued succession lawfull vocation of her Pastors for which she is called Apostolique BY this note or property of Apostolique the holy Fathers and auncient Councels would have the true Church clearly known and distinguished from all new sects heresies The Church is called Apostolique principally for two reasons First because it was founded by the Apostles and from their time must continue vnto the end of the world Secondly because the Pastors thereof derive their Mission from the Apostles by ordinary calling personal succession In the first sense the true Church is clearly distinguished from all sects and false Churches because they were not founded by the Apostles but by some new pretended Reformers who arose after the Apostles in their several generations and therefore these new Churches founded and erected by them are not called Apostolique but have their denomination from their founders such as the Arians Pelagians Lutherans Calvinists In the second sense she is also clearly distinguished from false Churches because they have not lawful Pastors deriving their vocation from the Apostles by a continued and vninterrupted succession but intrude themselvs into the office of Pastors without any lawfull calling Of the first sense of the word Apostolique we have spoken sufficiently above when we proved the true Church by her perpetuity and continued succession and disproved all false Churches for want of it which proofes need not to be here repeated Of the second sense of the word Apostolique we shall here briefly speak Besids the authority of the Creed it is evident by the Scriptures that there must be alwayes Pastors in the Church lawfully called to that charge God saith by the Prophet Esay vpon thy walls Esay 62.6 ô Ierusalem I have appointed watchmen all the day and all the night They shall not hold their peace for ever Ephes 4.11 The Apostle S. Paul sheweth how our Saviour performed this promise by appoynting Pastors and Teachers To the consummation of the Saints for the work of the Ministerie for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all meet in the Vnity of faith Our Saviour also has promised his continual assistance vnto the Pastors of his Church Behold Math. vlt. I am with you always even vnto the consummation of the world As there must be always Pastors in the Church so they must be lawfully called to that charge or else they are not Pastors but Theeves and Robbers S. Paul saith Heb. 5.4 Rom. 10 15. no man takes vpon him that honour but he who is called of God as Aaron And again how shall they preach vnlesse they be sent◠God in the old Testament reproved
those who went without mission saying I had not sent these Prophets yet they ran Ieremie 23.21 and 27.15 Iohn 10.1 and prophesied falsly in my name Christ saith who entereth not by the doore into the sheeâ—fold but climbeth another way is a theef and a robber Moreover our Saviour has put a strict obligation vpon all people to hear and obey their lawfull Pastors and has forewarned them earnestly to beware of false Prophets Of the first he saith Who heares you heares me Luke 10.16 Math. 10.15 and who contemns you contemns me And whosoever shall not receive you nor heare your words c. Verily I say vnto you it shal be more tolerable for the land of the Sodomits Gomorrhaeans in the day of Iudgment then for that Citie Of false Teachers he saith Beware Math. 24 5. Math 7.15 that no man seduce you for many shall come in my name And again Take great heede of false Prophets S. Paul to the like purpose forewarneth the Ephesians saying Take heede to your selvs I know that after my departure Act. 20.28.30 there will ravening Wolves enter in among yow c. For the which cause be Vigilant Seing then we know evidently by the Scriptures that there must remain always true and Lawfull Pastors in the Church and that false Prophets will also arise That we are obliged vnder paine of damnation to heare the first and vnder no lesse danger to beware of the last It is most certain that the goodnesse of God who promised such a clear way vnder the Gospel that fooles should not erre in it has ordaind an easy sensible way for all men to discern between true false Pastors that they may be preserved from error in so great danger or else noâ— only fooles but also wisemen might be miserably mistaken and misled to their own perdition Now the same Scripture points out this easy and direct way if men would walk in it For it shewes that all true Pastors must have sensible vocation Mission and these who want them cannot be true and Lawful Pastors First it's evident that our Saviour did sensibly call 12. Apostles and sent them with commission to feed govern his Church Secondly the Apostles did also sensibly call and ordain other Pastors as is evident in the election ordination of S. Mathias Thirdly the chief Pastors that is Bishops received also power from the Apostles to choose and ordain others as is evident in what the Scripture records of Titus and Timothee This was so evident and sensible a way that fooles might not erre in it And if this order was always observed that none could be esteem'd lawful Pastors but who were thus called and ordain'd by others who had received that power then it was as easy to know a true Pastor from a false Apostle as it is easy to know who is called to be a Iudge in the State from an vsurper for they are both discernable by easy and sensible signs This is the doore of which our Saviour speaks by which all these who are lawfull Pastors enter into the government of the Church and all these who enter not by this doore and yet vsurp that honour to be Pastors of the Church are theevs who climb vp another way and so may be easily known The auncient Iewes had also an easy way to know their ordinary Priests Pastors from vsurpers For among them none were Priests but these who were descended from Levi by Aaron by natural generation But in the Law of grace it is more easy where none are to be esteem'd Bishops Lawfull Pastors but these who are descended from the holy Apostles by visible ordination personal succession The holy Fathers did vse this succession and Vocation of Pastors as a most evident argument to demonstrat the true Church and by want of these they discovered also as clearly all false Churches For it 's certain the true Church cannot be without lawfull Pastors lawfull Pastors cannot be without lawfull Vocation ordination where there are no true Pastors lawfully called and ordaind there can be no true Church S. Ireneus proves the true Church by the Succession of Pastors Irenaâ—us lib. 3. c. 3 which he calls a clear demonstration by which all heretiques are confounded Tertullian requires the heretiques to bring forth the origine of their Churches to recite the order of their Bishops Tert. lib. de praescrip by succession from the Apostles As it is evident then that vocation succession of Pastors by lawfull ordination is an inseparable propertie of the true Church So We shall now briefly see to which Church it best agrees whither to the Protestant or to the Church in Communion with the Sea of Rome I find that the Protestant Pastors are as much perplexed to show the lawfulnesse of their Vocation after Luther as they were vexed to show where their Church was before him For they run from one shift to another and what some say others controule severly censure As there were three principal sorts of Protestants to witt the Lutherans Calvinists these of the late English Church so I find they bring three different answers to the question of their Ministers vocation Some say the Lutherian Ministers have an ordinary vocation because Luther was made a Priest in the Roman Church But this answer is frivolous For first Luther by that Vocation got only commission to preach the doctrin of that Church and not to preach against it Secondly it is monstruously absurd for the Lutherians to derive their Vocation from that Church which their first Apostle esteem'd Anti-Christian Thirdly Although Luthers own vocation were supposed to be good how could he being only a simple Priest ordain others since from the beginning of Christianity it was never known that a Priest could be ordaind by any but by a Bishop Fourthly Luther succeeded to none neither Bishop or Priest who professed his doctrin and therefore the Lutherans are in their first source destitute of succession and in their progresse of lawfull ordination and so neither Luther nor his successors have any lawfull Vocation Calvin most of his Schollers renounce the way of ordinary run to an extraordinary vocation for they are ashamed to derive their vocation from the Roman Church which they imagine to be Anti-Christian neither can they do it because Calvin was never ordain'd a Priest By the tyrannyâ— saith he of the Pope Cal. lib. 4. Instit c. 3. par 4. the true line of ordination was interrupted now there is need of a new supplâ—e And truly this was an extraordinary charge which the Lord imposed on vs. To him accords his Scholler Beza who saith that at the beginning of their Church ordinary vocation appear'd no where And Beza in epist ad Alemannum in the Conference at Poysie being enquired of his Vocation he said it was extraordinary Against this pretext of extraordinary vocation which is followed
by all the Puritians other Protestants do sharply inveigh Saravia saith that it 's a doctrine full of danger Saravia in defen cont Bez. p. 73. Prot. Apol. tract â— c. 2. sect 3. subd 2 of a new and evil example and vpholden by no testimony of the Scripture Diverse other Protestants cited in the Protestants Apologie reiect this extraordinary vocation as fanatical and opening a way to all seducers who may make the same pretext And now the Presbyterians find by sad experience that the Independents Anabaptists and others make vse of it against themselvs But that Calvin and his followers had no extraordinary vocation may be easily shown For vnto that there are two things requisite according to the examples recorded in the Scriptures First that God speak sensibly vnto one whom he is to call extraordinarly as he did to Moyses Elias S. Paul Secondly That he make that appeare by some miracle The first is not sufficient without the second To which may be ioynd a third condition to witt holynesse of life doctrin which becomes Gods extraordinary Ambassadours without which even their miracles ought to be suspected Now not only one but all these conditions were visibly deficient in Calvin the other pretended Reformers For never any of them was so impudent as to say that God spake sensibly to them albeit Luther confesseth that the Devil conferred oftner then once with him Erasm in diatribâ— de lib. arb Then they were so impoteÌ„t of working miracles that Erasmus obiects to them They were never as yet able so much as to cure a lame horse Lastly their lives were not extraordinary for holynesse befitting an extraordinary Vocation as we have seen above Luthers sentence against Muâ—ster Luth â—â— Senat M â—us makes also against Calvin If he pretend saith Luther that he is sent by God as the Apostles let him prove that by doing signes and miracles for where ever God will change the ordinary way there always he works miracles Lastly the late Church of England pretended a succession lawfull Vocation of her Pastors Mason of the consecration epist de dicatorie above all other Protestants For so Mr Mason praiseth and admireth the sweet and singular providence of God towards the new Church of England that when other reformed Church as were enforced through necessity to admit extraordinary Fathers or Ordainers that is to receive ordination from inferiour Ministers or Priests yet the Church of England had alwayes Bishops who according to the ordinary and most secure custom of the Church had conferred holy Orders But this pretence is also false and frivolous For either the first Protestant Bishops in Queen Elizabeth time were ordaind by the Catholique Bishops or had their Vocation from some others Sander de schis Angl. Champ. de Vocaâ— Ministrorum as from the Queen and Parliament The first cannot be said For both Sanderus and Dr. Champnâ—y show that the Catholique Bishops choosed rather to die in prison as they did then to impose their hands vpon the Queens new design'd Protestant Bishops Besids M. Whitaker and Fulk renounce the Catholique ordination as vnlawfull albeit all the more late Diuines of the English Church had their recourse vnto it in so much that Fulk expresseth himself very passionatly thus We with our whole heart Fulk in reâ—ent a pud Brairlie tr 2. c. 2 sect 6. ad Dâ— renounce abhorre detest and spit at your filthie Anti-Christian Orders So full of confusion are they in this matter that what some of their greatest Divins esteem their greatest glory others no lesse famous among them think their greatest shame Moreover albeit the Catholique Bishops were granted to have imposed their hands on the first Protestant Bishops yet by that ordination they made them only Catholique and not Protestant Bishops for the Church in all reason and common sense cannot give a lawfull Vocation to any Pastors to preach and act against her self Therefore if these first Bishops of the late English Church were Protestants when they were ordain'd they were not lawfully ordaind and if they became thereafter Protestants they lost all lawfull exercice of their power of ordination when they vsed it against that Church from which they pretend to derive their lawfull vocation Lastly the first Protestant Bishops in King Edward the sixth or Queen Elizabeths time succeeded to no other Protestant Bishops much lesse can they show their succession vnto the Apostles as is requisite to make them lawfull and Apostolical Bishops If it be said that the first Protestant Bishops were made by vertue of the King or Queens supremacie and by act of parliament This is not the way prescryved in the Scripture which has been always observed in the Church And if these English Bishops Pastors had no more sure ground for their vocation then the Royal Supremacy it is no wonder that they are both falne together and that one Parliament has ransacted what others had enacted So we see that the late English Church has been resolved into the same principles of which it was first composed as by the same iust iudgment the Presbyterians who pretend an extraordinary vocation are almost subverted by the Independents Anabaptists vpon the same pretext It rests that I speak now a word of our Scottish Ministers Vocation which I found as groundlesse and more ridiculous then any of the rest For besids that the most part of them at the beginning were vnlettered men and had no other Vocation to be Ministers then that which the Presbyterians blame now in the Independents the Vocation of M. Xnox our great Reformer seems very strange as it is described in his own Chronicle In one thing indeed he shew himself more Scrupulous then Luther for although he had been ordain'd a Roman Priest yet he thought not without reason that his Popish orders gave him no lawfull Vocation to be a Protestant Minister and therefore he expected another call which was given him after this manner Some discontented Protestants having conspired together had cruelly kill'd Spots woods in his history c. as a Protestant Author speaks Cardinal Beaton within his own house the castle of S. Andrewes possessing themselvs of all the Cardinals riches and thereafter kept out the Castle in rebellion against the State To this place of security M. Knox had his refuge carying along with him some Gentlemens children whom he instructed in the Grammar and new Catechisme Knox Chron. p. 74. 75 His book saith that when these within the Castle perceived the manner of his doctrin they dealt earnestly with him to take vpon him the function of a Preacher But he refused alledging he would not run where God had not sent him meaning that he would do nothing without a lawfull calling Wherevpon they going to a private Councel resolve or give a charge publickly to M. Knox by the mouth of their preacher Iohn Rough which was done at the next Sermon as it is there at more
length described So by this means M. Knox gote his Vocation to be a Minister from the call of that holy Congregation which was guiltie of murder and robbery and was then in actual rebellion by the mouth of their Preacher who could have no lawfull vocation himself but being an vnlettered man had taken vp by all appearance that calling at his own hand as many others did For it is said of him in the 74. page Albeit he was not the most learned yet was his doctrin without corruption c. I was much astonished when this historie of our first Reformer his Vocation was first shown me in his own book by a Catholique who did not faile to manifest the ridiculousnesse of it by all the circumstances Now these are all the different Vocations of the Protestant Ministers and all and every one of them are so vnsufficient that they are disproved not only by Catholiques but also by most famous Protestants who are brought to such confusion in this matter that they hardly know what to say For they can neither pretend ordinary nor extraordinary Vocation not the first because they evidently want succession as also ordination both which are requisite to an ordinary calling Not the second because they want the power of working miracles and have no extraordinary holynesse which are qualities very requisite and vsual for all Gods extraordinary Ambassadours And albeit neither of these qualities were required yet these who pretend this extraordinary Vocation do fall into such contradictions that they are evidently known thereby not to be Gods extraordinary Ambassadours whom he never vseth to send with contrary Commissions So that to the Protestant Ministers or Bishops agree well the words of S. Cyprian Cypr. de simplicit Praâ—lator These are men saith he who without any divin disposition preferre themselvs among rash people who make themselvs Prelats without any lawfull ordination who none giving to them a Bishops office take the name of Bishops vpon them Therefore the Protestant Pastors wanting clearly succession from the Apostles are not Apostolique and so are not true Pastors but Vsurpers and consequently the Protestant Church is not the true Church for that cannot be the true Church which hath no lawfull Pastors Vpon the other part this succession of Bishops from the Apostles has been ever so evidently in the Church of the Roman Communion that the holy Fathers did bring it as a most evident argument to show the true Church and therefore they reckon out ordinarly the succession of the Roman Bishops Aug. cont epist fund c. 4. S. Augustin saith The Succession of Priests from the Seat of Peter the Apostle vnto the present Bishoprique holds me in the Church And elswhere shewing the continuance of the same succession he saith The continuance of the true Church by most certain succession of Bishops Aug. lib. conâ— advers leg prophet c. 20. doth persevere from the Apostles time vnto ours and to the times after vs again And this succession doth to this day continue in the Roman Church as evidently as it did in the time of the holy Fathers neither can any thing be said now against it which might not have been said as iustly by the auncient heretiques Therefore as the Church in Communion with the Sea of Rome has been shewed to be one holy and Catholique Church so it is no lesse evident that it is Apostolique having lawfull Pastors as it has ever had deriving their Vocation from the holy Apostles by lawfull ordination personal succession and consequently this is the true Church lawfull spouse of Iesus Christ This matter of Vocation is of great importance because doctrin depends vpon it and because it is easily discerned so that it is compared by our Saviour Iohn 10.1 to a Gate As then it is more easy to hold a theef at the gate then to thrust him out being once let in so all heretiques are more easily confounded for lack of Vocation which is to hold them at the doore of the Church then by the falshood of their doctrin which is to expell them after they are once admitted For if they cannot bring evident testimonies of their Vocation ordination from a known Pastor of the Church they are presently known to be Wolves who run when they were not sent who enter not by the doore but climb vp another way Therefore it is great deceit in some Ministers to vndertake to prove the lawfulnesse of their Vocation by the truth of their doctrin which is a preposterous and ridiculous way Numer 16. Core and his complices taught no other doctrin but that which was taught by Moyses and yet because they vsurped the Priests office we know how fearfully they were punished What would be more ridiculous then if one would vsurp the Office of a Iudge in the state and then would prove himself to be a lawfull Iudge by the iustice of his decisions This question then of Vocation being so important and easy a Catholique gave me this advice which I resolve God willing to follow never to admit a Minister to dispute of religion till he first shew the lawfulnesse of his Vocation and to make ever that the first question Wherefore having now seen such evidence for the truth of the Roman Catholique Church to which alone the marks and properties of the true Church recorded in Scripture do so clearly agree I will draw to an end by this subsequent Conclusion CHAP. XXXVI The Conclusion AS light is more pleasant after darknesse so is the invention of truth more delightfull after errors I have now by Gods grace and by the former Triall seen both our pretended Reformations which were called such great engyring Lights to be nothing but thick Aegyptian darknesse obscuring the chief and most clear truths of the Christian Religion both in doctrin disciplin I have now found amongst the Protestants what S. Augustin observed amongst the Manichees Aug. cont epist fund c. 4. that they have nothing but a meer promise of truth a pretext of following only the Scriptures wheÌ„ indeed they follow their own Errors That their doctrin is nothing but counterfeit Mettall which cannot endure the fire of Triall Yea I have clearly seen that their Church which is the ground work of all has not the least resemblance of the Church of Christ as she is without ambiguity described in the Scriptures For according to them the Church of Christ must endure for ever But the Protestant Church has only endured since the time of Luther According to the Scriptures the Church cannot be hid but must ever shine like a light set vpon a Candlestick But the Protestant Church has lyen many hundred years hid and invisible vnder a bushell The Church of Christ must have Vnity as becomes the house of God But the Protestant Church is full of division confusion both in doctrin disciplin The true Church must be holy in all her doctrin and
fruitfull in produceing Saints But the Protestant Church teacheth doctrines which tend to prophanesse to the neglect of piety of all good works and she is so barren in produceing Saints that she professeth to bring forth none but those who continually or dayly break mortally Gods Commandments The true Church according to the Scriptures must be Catholique or Vniversal and must convert all Nations from infidelity to Christianity But the Protestant Church is only in parts pettie corners of the earth and has never as yet converted any Nation of Infidels but according to the nature of heresy has only perverted some ill Catholiques The true Church must ever have true Pastors lawfully called and ordained deriving their Succession by an vninterrupted line from the holy Apostles But the Protestant Churches first Pastors succeeded to none and without any lawfull Vocation ordination did intrude themselves by Vsurpation into the Pastoral office as all their successors have done The true Church adheres so closly to the truth that she is called in the Scriptures The pillar ground of truth 1. Timoth 3.15 But the Protestant Church is so inconstant passing from one falshood into another that she may be called the Pillar ground of Error The true Church according to Christs promise is ever directed by the Spirit of truth into all truth But the Protestant Church is misgoverned by the Spirit of giddinesse as is known by fresh experience These considerations besides others make me see the great darknesse wherein I lay and have made me to admire of my former blindnesse that I reading so frequently the Scriptures did not see the monstrous difference which is between the Church of Christ there so clearly described and the Protestant Church to which not one propertie of the true Church contain'd in the Scriptures doth agree This shew me how necessary it is to read the Scriptures with attention and to implore the Divine Maiesty for spirituall illumination without which darknesse will seem light and light darknesse But in the holy Catholique Church I found not only promise but also perforformance of truth I found her faith to be more pretious then gold which is tried by the fire as S. Peter speaks 1. Pet. 1.7 which after greatest opposition and triall doth ever shine more brightly I found in this Church clearly fulfilled all the Prophesies and that to her do agree all the properties of the true Church described in the Scriptures For this is the Church which alone has endured since the time of the Apostles This is the Church which as a Citie seated on a hill could never be hid but as a Candle set vpon a Candlestick hath enlightned the whole world This is the Church which has been admirable for its Vnity and eminent for its sanctity replenishing the heaven with innumerable Saints who have all lived and died in the bosome of her Communion This is the Church which is Vniversal for time place which has had her gates continually open night and day to receive the strength of the Gentils which she alone has converted from infidelity to Christianity This is the Church which has had a continued succession of Pastors descending without interruption from the holy Apostles This is the Church which adheres so closely to the faith she once received that she would never part from it nor yield in one syllabe or letter neither to Heathnish cruelty nor to heretical impiety and which neither force nor flatterie could ever shake so that she may be iustly called the Pillar ground of Veritie This Church is the chast Virgin Spouse of Christ which has been ever falsly accused as an Adulteresse by all Heretical Strumpets and has been even overloaden with their Calumnies but she has alwayes adhered vnto her heavenly spouse who in his own time has manifested her innocencie and brought confusion on her Enemies And in a word this is the Church which is admirable for its order and government for its supreme authority and invincible strength for its heavenly doctrin and great holynesse and lastly for her power of working miracles What then can I do more fitly then after so great darknesse to embrace so clear a light after so many dangerous errors and wandrings to put my self in the direct way of Salvation and incorporat my self without delay into this one holy Catholique Apostolique Church wherein all the holy Fathers all the Saints have liv'd and dyed What can I vse more properly then the words of S. Augustin who saith to this purpose since we see so great help of God Aug. dt vâ—il credendi c. 17. so great profit and fruite shall we make any doubt at all to retire vnto the bosome of that Church which from the Apostolique Sea by succession of Bishops has obtaind the Soveraign authority heretiques in vain barking round about it c. To which not to yield the Primacy is either a matter of greatest impiety or of precipitat arrogancy The same Motives which held S. Augustin within the Catholique Church have drawn me vnto it To witt Idem cont epist fund c. 4. the Consent of People and Nations Authority begun by Miracles nourished by Hope enlarged by Charity and Confirmed by Antiquity The Succession of Priests from the Seat of Peter vnto the present Bishoprick And last of all the very name Catholique which not without cause this Church has only obtaind among so many Heresies Iohn 1.41 Iohn 4.29 As then S. Andrew and the Woman of Samaria were glad when they found the Messias foretould by the Prophets because they were sure to find with him all truth So am I no lesse overioyed to have found the true Church foretould and clearly described by the Messias for with her I am sure to find all truth since she is the Pillar and ground of Truth and Christ has promised to her the Spirit of truth to remain with her for ever to lead her into all truth As the Apostles believed Christ for the voice of God the Father who said Mark 9.7 Luke 10.16 This is my beloved Son heare him so I believe the Church for the voice of God the Son who said Who heares you heares me and who despiseth yow despiseth me Math. 18.19 and who will not hear the Church let him be to thee as a Heathen a Publican And as the holy Apostles did believe Christ in all things because he received all from his father so I believe the Catholique Church in all points because she has received all her doctrines from Christ his Apostles and has faithfully retaind them This Catholique Church is she alone which Lactan. lib. 4. divinar Instit c. vlt. as an auncient Father writeth retaines the true worship This is the fountain of truth and House of Faith This is the Temple of God into which if one do not enter or from which if one go astray he is a stranger from the hope of life
get no more rest Next as you falsly pretended your faith to be contain'd in the word of God so now as groundlesly you pretend the Catholique faith to be condemned by the same word which as yet you could never make good in any one point It is true indeed that the Catholique Church is condemned by the Church of Scotland But it is as true that the Church of Scotland is condemned by the Catholique Church which is of far greater authority and which has iudged condemned all former Heresies and Triumphed over them Now followes your dismall song with your abiurations detestations of the Faith Order Disciplin of the Catholique Church and first you strick at the Visible head and Governour of it vnder Christ whom you call Anti-Christ detesting his Authority which you call vsurped The principal reason for which you beleeve this strange article of your faith to witt that the Pope is Anti-Christ is because he claimes Primacy over other Bishops and extends his care over the whole Church which he affirmes to be committed to his charge as vnto S. Peters Successor If your reason were good then S. Peter himself had been the first Anti-Christ For both the Scriptures and Fathers show that he received from Christ the primacy over the other Apostles and that the care of the whole Church was entrusted to him S. Mathew shewes that Peter was the first of the Apostles The names saith he Math. 10 2. of the Apostles are these the first Sâ—mon who is called Peter Now Peter was not first in calling but in preeminence For as S. Ambrose saith in 2. Cor. 12. Andrew first followed our Saviour before Peter and yet the Primacy Andrew received not but Peter The same is showed by the change of his name which Christ promised in the 1. of S. Iohn and thereafter performed Math. 16. in S Mathew where he said Thou art Peter or a Rock and vpon this Rock will I build my Church c. And I will give vnto thee the keyes of the Kingdome of heaven c. This change of the name of Simon into Peter foretold by Christ and thereafter performed by him is not without great mystery and these excellent privileges which our Saviour promised to him of the keyes of the Kingdome of heaven of binding and loosing do show that he was particularly to grace and advance him above others which he performed after his resurrection when he said to him Feed my sheep feed my Lambs giving him thereby the charge of his whole flock 5. Iohn 21.16 The same Supremacy of S. Peter may be showed by many other preeminences recorded in Scripture as how Christ prayed particularly for him that his faith might not faile and payed Tribut for him but for brevities sake they are omitted Now we shall briefly see how the holy Fathers vnderstood these Scriptures S. Gregory the great saith Greg. lib â— â—pâ—st 7 â— It is manifest to all persons who know the Gospell that from our Lords own mouth the â—â—re of the whole Church was 〈◊〉 to S. Peter the Prince of the Apostles for to For what end saith he did Christ shed his blood Chrysost lib. 2. de Sacerdotio Aug. epist 86. but that he might purchase these sheep the care of which he committed to S. Peter and his successors S. Augustin calls S. Peter the Head of the Apostles the Gate-keeper of heaven and the Foundation of the Church S. Cyprian saith Cypr. epist ad Iulian. We hold Peter the Head and Roote of the Church And in a word all the holy Fathers affirm the same They do likwise acknowledge that the Bishops of Rome are S. Peter successors in that supreame Authority S. Athanasius writing to Pope Liberius saith Athanas epist ad liber Ep. ad Felicem For this cause the Vniversal Church is committed to you by our Lord Iesus that you should labour for all men And again writing to Pope Felix he saith Thou art Peter and vpon thy foundation the Pillars of the Church that is the Bishops are fortified S. Augustin saith Aug. ep 165. in the Romaâ— Church the Principality of the Apostolique Chair did ever flourish And elswhere Number the Priests from the Sea of Peter Aug. in psal cont part Donati and in that order of Fathers see who succeeded to another This is the Rock which the proud gates of hell do not overcome To which we shall only add the testimony of S. Bernard who writes thus to Eugenius Thou art he to whom the keies of heaven are delivered â—ern l. 2. de consid c. 8. and to whom the sheep are committed there be other Porters of heaven other Pastor of flocks but thou â—â—st â—â—â—erited in more glorious and different sort For they have every 〈◊〉 their particular sâ—ock but to thee all Vniver-â—â—◠〈…〉 of all the Pastors themselvs But thou wilt ask me how I prove that even by our Lords word For to whom of all I say not only Bishops but Apostles were the sheep so absolutely and without limitation committed If thou lovest me Peter feed my sheep He saith not the people of this kingdome or that Citie but my sheep without all distinction So S. Bernard By which Authorities Testimonies both of the Scriptures and Fathers you see what solid ground the Popes authority hath that it was confer'd by Christ on S. Peter and that it has been acknowledged by the holy Fathers Christian world in the Bishops of Rome his Successors Therefore you very rashly have reiected this authority which has been established confirmed by Christs special providence vnto this day but more wickedly do you call it an vsurped Tyranny and beleeve the Pope for vindicating and exercising the same authority to be the great Anti-Christ whereas you ought to acknowledge him to be the Vicar of Christ These who honour reverence the Authority of the Bishops of Rome of the Apostolique Sea follow the example of all the holy Fathers and auncient good Christians but these who now a dayes endeavour to dishonour and revile them have the Heretiques for their Predecessors who never caried good-will to them S. Augustin shewes that the Donatists called the Apostolique Sea the Chair of Pestilence but that is nothing to the Epithets of the Covenanting Ministers Who exâ—eed in railings and blasphemies all that ever spoke when they fall vpon this point making thereby the simple people beleeve that Anti-Christian article of their faith that the Pope is Anti-Christ But the holy Fathers tooke it for an vndoubted mark that these who did not acknowledge the Popes authority and were not of his Communion belonged not to Christ but to Anti-Christ S. Hierom writing to S Damasus saith who gathereth not with thee scattereth that is who it not Christs is Anti-Christs Having now seen that the Pope whom the Covenanters call malitiously Anti-Christ is the Vicar of Christ it remaines evident that his Authority is lawfull
else but the privation of some good and that can be of no other good but of Original Iustice And as Original Iustice albeit it comprehended many supernatural perfections both in the soule body consisted principally properly in that Iustifying grace by which the soule was adorned and Vnited vnto God the Soveraign good so original sin is the privation only of that Iustifying grace in the Superiour part of the soule the want of which makes the soule deformed and averted from God And seing this want is taken away by Baptisme and the whole grace as it beautifyed the soule is entirly restored the whole guilt of original sin is taken away and the whole essence of Original Iustice is recovered again by the merits of Christ Then for Concupiscence which is left after Baptisme it is not truly any sin but a weaknesse imperfection of Nature proceeding from the former Original sin as all sicknesses miseries and death it self are All which are left in vs even after the sin it self is taken away to put vs in mind from what happy Estate we had fallen and to stirre vs vp to labour more diligently and to call more earnestly for the help of Gods grace Neither is the grace which we receive from Christ the smaller or weaker that it doth not take away concupiscence and restore vs to the whole rectitude which Adam enieyed but it is rather more strong since many by it do stand even with all that weaknesse of nature which Adam did not with all the grace he had even in the strength rectitude of his nature All which things were confirmed to me by diverse authorities reasons which were too longsome here to insert It shall be sufficient to bring one testimony of S. Augustin against Calvins opinion and the fundament of it Concupiscence August lib. 1. de nuptijs concupis c. 23. saith he is called sin because it was made by sin whereas now in the regenerate it is not sin c. Yea he sheweth that concupiscence is so far from being sin when it is resisted that it becomes rather the matter of Victory and of a Crown vnto vs. Sometimes saith he Aug de Genesi cont Manich c. 4. Cal. lib. 3. Inst c. 3. par 10. reason doth stoutly resist bridle Concupiscence even when it is stirred vp which when it is performed we fall not into sin but after some wrestlings we are crowned Calvin ingenuously confesseth that his opinion in this matter is against S. Augustin all Antiquity which is sufficient to make it to be suspected if not also reiected As then the Catholique doctrine concerning Original sin is the same holy pure doctrine of the Primitive Church so your doctrine ô Covenanters is full of corruptions For besides that it corrupts the Catholique Faith it corrupts both your soules bodies This your selves do confesse for in your new Confession you say that man by Original sin became wholly defilled Conf. westminst ch 6. in all the faculties parts of Soule body and that this corruption of nature dureing this life doth remain in those who are regenerated and that both it self and the motions of it are truly properly sin Moreover it corrupts all your best thoughts words and actions For so you professe that by it you are vtterly indisposed disabled and made opposite to all good and wholly inclined to all evil This also M. Calvin did teach Cal in Antid Con. Trid. sess 6. c. 16. Shels p. 146. saying The vitiousnesse of original sin which remaines in vs defiles before God what ever works proceed from vs. Of which doctrin M. Shelford a Protestant gives his opinion thus These who say so cannot in my Iudgment be excused from extream blasphemie Thirdly it corrupts Grace for it makes the Grace of Christ so weak and imperfect that it cannot free vs from the corruption of Original sin And lastly it is the source of many corrupt errors as of your Iustification by faith only the impossibility of keeping Gods commandments the denyall of all good works of inherent Iustice many more From which it is evident that your doctrine is very much corrupted which is the cause of so many corruptions Hence also may be easily seen that the Catholique doctrin concerning our natural inhability and rebellion to Gods Law is not corrupted because as it teacheth against the Pelagians that we are vnable by the power of nature to keep Gods Law so it affirmeth also against the Presbyterians what is impossible to be done by nature is possible by Gods grace and what we cannot do of our selves we can performe by the strength of him who comforts vs. Which might be easily shown to be S. Pauls doctrine Rom. 8.3.4 Philip. 4.13 and therefore to be free of corruption But your doctrine is very corrupt which so grants a natural inhability that it denys all supernatural ability even with the assistance of Gods grace to keep his Law You professe yourselves to be so naturally rebels to God that all his grace cannot make you good subiects which shewes that both your doctrin your selves are very much corrupted The same may be shewed of Sanctification For the Catholiques teach that no man is so perfectly holy here in this pilgrinage but he may every day advance in holynesse and be renewed dayly in the inward man and that no person even the holyest is free of venial sins imperfections and then only we shall be perfect when this corruption shall put on immortality In this sense they grant that sanctification in this life is imperfect whereas in an other sense they teach that there may be even in this life a certain perfection of holynesse in some degree svitable to the observation of the divine Commandments as has been shewed above chap. 14. p. 145. But your doctrin is very corrupt which maks your sanctification so imperfect that you cannot by it think so much as a good thought or do any thing but sin mortally And your obedience to the Law is so imperfect that you break it at every minut So that such sanctification may be rather called profanation and such imperfect obedience to Gods Law may be iustly tearmed Disobedience Lastly if the Catholique doctrin which affirmeth that man is not iustifyed by faith only be corrupted then the Scripture is corrupted which teacheth the same not only in substance but in expresse words proving it by diverse arguments examples and comparcing those who beleeve the contrary to Devils as we have seen above chap. 15. pag. 157. But your doctrin in this principal article of your faith is very much corrupted which corrupteth the pure fountain of Gods word By all which may be seen not only how falsly you accuse the Catholique doctrin of corruptions in all the former points but also how truly your own doctrin is full of corruptions SECTION VII Of the Holy Sacraments of Ceremonies Divorces and of Dispensations NEXT follow
these words of the Covenant We detest his corrupted doctrine concerning the nature number and vse of the holy Sacraments His five bastard Sacraments with all his Rites Ceremonies and false doctrines added to the Ministration of the true Sacraments without the word of God His cruel Iudgment against Infants departing without the Sacraments His absolute necessitie of Baptisme His blasphemous opinion of Transubstantiation or real presence of Christs body in the Elements and receiving of the same by the wicked or bodies of men His dispensations of Solemn Oaths periuries and degrees of Mariage forbidden by the word His cruelty against the Innocent divorced As an impudent strumpet said my Catholique friend is accustomed when she contends with a Chast Matrone to obiect such crimes to her whereof herself is notoriously guilty So here the Covenanters do accuse the holy Catholique Church the Immaculate Spouse of Iesus-Christ of Errors corruptions in the nature number vse of the holy Sacraments whereas themselves are miserably corrupted in all these points Which shall be briefly shown First you accuse the Catholique Church of corrupted doctrin concerning the Nature of the Sacraments which must be because she teacheth that the Sacraments of the new law do conferre grace But we have seen above that this is most true doctrin conforme to the Scriptures and holy Fathers and that this is a perfection most suitable to the excellency of the Christian Sacraments Whereas your doctrine which robs the Sacraments of all power to conferre Grace and makes them only simple tokens signs and seals without all efficacie and which equals the Sacraments of the old Law in excellency vnto them corrupts indeed the nature of the Christian Sacraments and abaseth the power of them which cannot be done without perverting and corrupting the Scriptures and holy Fathers which are so clear for the Catholique doctrine that they have moved many famous Protestants to abandon your Calvinistical opinion All which may be seen in the 18. Chapter of the former Treatise Next you accuse the Catholique doctrine of corruption concerning the Number of the Christian Sacraments whereas indeed your doctrine if we will iudge of it by your first Reformers is not only full of corruption but also of confusion in this matter The Catholiques do constantly teach that there be 7. Sacraments of the Law of grace instituted by Iesus-Christ to witt Baptisme Confirmation Eucharist Penance Order Extream-Vnction and Matrimony Which precise number hath from the ancient Fathers Primitive Church by continual practice been delivered and received in both Churches Greek and Latin as may appeare by the Councel of Florence For all which Sacraments the Catholiques do bring expresse Scriptures Testimonies of the holy Fathers some of which we shal briefly touch To speak then nothing of Baptisme and the Eucharist which are out of question Confirmation is shewed 2. Cor. 1. and 1â— verse where it is said He that Coâ—firmeth vs with you in Christ and hath anointed vs God who also hath fealed vs and given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts And Acts 8. verse 14. when Philip the Deacon had converted Samaria Peter and Iohn were sent to confirme them who when they were come saith the Scripture prayed for them that they might receive the holy Ghost c. Then did they impose their hands vpon them and they received the Holy Ghost Of which S. Augustin saith August lib. 2 cont lit Petil. c. 104. The Sacrament of Chrisme in the kind of Visible seales is sacred and holy even as Baptisme it self Penance is shewed Iohn 20. verse 2. where our Saviour said to his Apostles Receive you the Holy Ghost whose sins you forgive they are forgiven and whose sins you retain they are retain'd Of this power which Christ has given to Priests followeth the necessity of Confession For if the sins retaynd on earth be retayn'd and not remitted in heaven and on the other part the Priest cannot remit the sin vnlesse he know it as it is manifest he cannot nor can he know it vnlesse it be told him it followeth necessarly that he who will have his sins remitted must by his own Confession open them to whom God hath given power to remit them Confession was also vsed in the Apostles times Acts 19. v. 18. as appeareth in the Acts where it is said Many of them that beleeved came Confessing and declareing their deeds Of this Sacrament S. Ambrose giveth testimonie Amb. lib. de poenit c. 7. who refelleth thus the Novatians Why do ye baptize if sins cannot be remitted by a Man For in Baptism is the remission of all sins nor is it material whether Priests challenge to themselvs this power by Penance or by Baptisme S. Chrysostom saith Chrys lib. 3. de Sacerdotio That Christ has given that power to Priests which he would not to be given neither to Angels nor Archangels The earthly Princes have also power to bind but the bodies only but the bond of Priests toucheth the very soule it self and reacheth even to the heavens c. what power I beseech you Aug. lib. 50. homiliar can be greater then this S. Augustin also speaketh to the same purpose in his 49. homily and in the second book of Visitation of the sick Of holy Orders the Scripture beareth testimonie S. Paul writing to Timothee saith Impose hands on no man lightly 1. Tim. 5.22 And again Neglect not the grace that is in thee which is given thee by Prophesie with the imposition of the hands of Priesthood Our Saviour said to his Apostles Receive the Holy Ghost c. Iohn 20. S. Augustin calleth Holy Order a Sacrament compareing it with Baptisme Aug lib. 2. cont Parmen c. 13. Let them explicate saith he how the Sacrament of the Baptized cannot be lost and the Sacrament of one Ordained can Extream Vnction is clearly in Scripture Is any man sick among you saith S. Iames Iames 5.13 c. let him bring in the Priests of the Church and let them pray over him anointing him with oyle in the name of our Lord and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man and our Lord will lift him vp and if he be in sins his sins shall be forgiven him Vpon which S. Chrysostom saith Chrys lib. 3. de Sacerdotio The Priests have authority to forgive sins not only when they regenerate vs but afterwards also For is any sick among you saith the Apostle let him bring in the Priests c. Of Matrimony it is said They shall be two in one flesh this is a great Sacrament but I say in Christ and the Church Ephes 5.31.32 Vpon which S. Augustin saith That Aug. tract 9. in Ioan. which in Christ and the Church is a great Sacrament this in all men and wives whatsoever is the least Sacrament but notwithstanding an inseparable Sacrament of coniunction And again lib. de fide operibus c. 7. In the Church not only
p p How the Presbyterian sect albeit it pretēds the word of God as all Heretiques do ordinarly pretēd is notwithstanding cōdemned by the word of God by the holy Catholique Church which is of far greater Authority then the Presbyterian Kirk of cotland may be seen almost every where in the former Treatises word of God AND KIRK OF SCOTLAND But in special we detest and refuse the VSVRPED AVTHORITY of that Roman q q As it has been shewed above sect 4. p. 432. that the Pope is the Vicar of Iesus Christ and therefore not Anti Christ so also all who do not belong to him belong not to Christ but to Anti Christ and therefore are Anti Christian So S. Hierom expresly affirmeth ibid. p. 437. ANTI-CHRIST Vpon the r r Calvin vsurped ove the letter of the Scriptures by making vp a new Canon never known before And he vsurped over the sense of them by reiecting the ancient sense of the holy Fathers and by inventing new senses according to his private fancies So do also his Disciples the Presbyterian Ministers So did likewise Luther most grosly see p. 439. SCRIPTVRES of God the ſ ſ Calvin did vsurp over the holy Catholique Church who having no lawfull authority would take vpon him to reforme the Church to iudge and condemn her to prescribe his own fancies as divine Rules vnto her So do also the Presbyterians See p. 440. KIRK the t t The Presbyterians in Scotland have had but 4. Princes since their religion began and they have vndenyably vsurped highly over them all as may be seen p. 440. and 41. CIVIL MAGISTRATE and u u How they Tyrannized over the consciences of their fellow subiects is notoriously known and may be seen chap. 4. p. 26. CONSCIENAES of men All his x x These who vnder pretence of Christian liberty disobey iust Lawes such as are the Lawes of the Catholique Church which were also observed in the primitive times as these about lent fasting the single life of Church men c. make their freedome a cloke of malice against S. Peters advice 1. Pet. 2.13 and an occasion to the flesh Gal. 5.13 see above p. 454. 455. TYRANNOVS Lawes made vpon indifferent things against our Christian libertie His ERRONEOVS Doctrin against the SVFFICIENCIE of the y y The Presbyterians destroy all Traditions against the expresse Scripture See above p. 445. and 6. VVRITTEN word the PERFECTION of the Law the OFFICE of Christ and his blessed Evangel His corrupted Doctrine concerning b b Calvin teacheth that Original sin still remaines in vs even after Baptism and that it defiles before God what ever works proceed from vs and so makes thē mortal sins which doctrine the Presbyterians follow as may be seen above with more to this purpose p. 451. 454. ORIGINAL sin Our NATVRAL INHABILITY REBELLION to Gods Law Our Iustification by d d They make Iustification by faith only the principal article of their Reformation and deny Iustification by works expresly against the Scripture Iames 2.124 and the holy Fathers See above ch 14. p. 157. FAITH ONLY Our e e They make our sanctification so imperfect that we cannot by it think so much as a good thought or do any thing but sin mortally and still disobey Gods Commandments so that such sanctification is rather profanation and such Obedience is Disobedience See above p. 455. IMPERFECT Sanctification and Obedience to the Law The f f They have corrupted the Nature of the Sacraments by denying that they were ordaind to conferre Grace by making them only signs and Tokens They have corrupted the number by taking away 5. Sacraments and the vse by abrogating both private Baptisme Communion besides both the publique and private vse of others See above p. 458. seq and before ch 18. Presb. Trial. NATVRE NVMBER and VSE of the holy Sacraments His five g g By denying the two Sacraments of Baptisme and the Eucharist which they admitt to conferre Grace They make them Gracelesse and so indeed Bastard Sacraments since the Sacraments of the Law of Grace were instituted to conferre Grace Above p. 467. before that ch 18 Pres. Trial p. 194. BASTARD SACRAMENTS with all his h h They not only not practise the Venerable Rites Ceremonies of the Catholique Church which were vsed in the Primitive times as may be seen in Coccius tom 2. Thesau Cathol but also they condemn them See p. 464. RITES CEREMONIES and false Doctrines added to the Ministration of the true Sacraments without the word of God His CRVELL Iudgement against Infants dying WITHOVT the Sacrament His absolute Necessity of Baptisme His l l The opinion of Calvin and his Disciples is that Christs body is only really in the Heavens and yet it is also really to the soule of the Receivers by faith which he calls iustly a Mysterie vnperceptible as it is indeed a Chimera made vp of contradictions whereas the Catholique beleef of the real presence or Transubstantiation is so firmly grounded in the Scriptures that Beza confesseth if Christs Words be taken literally as it has been proved above they must be Popish Transubstantiation doth necessarly follow See above pag. 240. 41. and 43. BLASPHEMOVS OPINION of TRANSVBSTANTIATION or real PRESENCE of Christs body IN the the Elements and receiving of the same by the WICKED or BODIES of men His m m Their first Reformers brake their Solemn Oaths and Vowes without all Dispensations p. 469. And the Presbyterians have made many to periure themselves by enforceing them to take the Covenant against their Consciences They allow also Marriages in degrees forbidden by the Catholique Church for the people often marries among them in the second third and 4. degree without all Dispensations See also above that it is a false calumnie that the Catholique Church dispenseth in degrees forbidden by the Law of Christ p. 470. DISPENSATIONS with solemn OATHS PERIVRIES and DEGREES of Marriage forbidden in the word His n n They cruelly allow Marriages to the divorced against the doctrine of Christ his Apostles and the holy Fathers which S. Augustin saith are not Marriages but Adulteries see above p. 470. 471. CRVELTIE against the innocent divorced His o o The holy Masse which chaseth away Divels as S. Augustin testifies above p. 475 cannot be Devilish but the abrogation of it is Devilish besides other reasons because Luther confessed that the Devil did instigate him to it See above p. 476. and the whole 8. section DEVILISH MASSE His p p If it be blasphemy to raile against the sacred order of Priesthood of which order Christ himself is the High eternal Priest And against the holy Sacrifice offered vp by that holy order besids other points of the Catholique faith revealed by Christ then our Presbyterian Ministery is deeply guilty of blasphemy See p. 477. 4. See above how S. Augustin calls this a holy