qu' il vous y laisse un patrimonie tout divin qui est sa Verite c. The Translators of the Mons Testament in their Preface have these Words If God heretofore commanded his People to read that Law without ceasing which he had given them and to meditate in it day and night And if the Religious believe themselves obliged to read perpetually the Rule they have received from their Founder How can we neglect to read the Law of Jesus Christ the words of which are Spirit and Life since being entred by Baptism into the Catholick and Vniversal Religion of which Jesus Christ is the Founder we ought to look upon the Gospel as our Rule which teaches us his Will which assures us of his Promises which is our Light in this World and which must one Day be our Judg y Que si Dieu avoit commandé autrefois à son peuple de lire sans cesse la loy qu' il luy avoit donnée et de la mediter jour it nuit et si les Religieux se croient obligez de lire tous les jours la Regle qu' ils ont recüe de leur Instituteur comment pouvonsnous negliger de lire la loy de Jesus Christ c p. 4 5. In the Judgment of these Learned Men of the Church of Rome to deny the reading of the Scriptures to the People is as unreasonable and unjust as not to suffer an Heir to see his Father's Will or to forbid the Regulars the sight of their Rule If any Man shall think that these Testimonies are not weighty enough I shall add another which cannot be refused by those Men I now dispute against viz. That of Pope Gregory the Great The holy Scripture saith he as a kind of Looking-glass is set before the Eyes of our Mind that our inward Face may be seen by it By it we know what in us is foul and what is fair by it we perceive how much we profit by it how far we are from profiting It declares the brave Exploits of the Saints and provokes the weak to the imitation of them and while it commemorates their victorious Acts it confirms and strengthens our weakness against the assaults of Vice and we are the less fearful in the Encounter by seeing the foregoing Triumphs of so many valiant Men. But sometimes it sets before us not only their Virtues but their Falls that in the Victory of the strong we may find that which we ought to imitate and again in their Falls that which we ought to fear z Scriptura sacra mentis oculis quasi quoddam speculum opponitur ut interna nostra facies in ipsa videatur c. Expos Moral in 1 cap. Job l. 2. c. 1. fol. 4. K I appeal now to the Romanists themselves Whether this great Pope thought it not fit that the reading of the Holy Scriptures should be left free to every Man If they say no I question not but to make them confess it whether they will or no in the following parts of this Discourse SECT III. Nor is the practice of the Roman Church now less contrary to the practice of the whole Christian Church for more than a thousand Years after Christ That the Scriptures lay open to all sorts of Persons in the Jewish Church I need not prove It is sufficiently known by that Passage of Josephus a Joseph l. 2. contr Appion frequently quoted by Protestant Writers viz. That if any Man ask a Jew concerning the Laws he will tell him every thing more readily than his Name for learning them as soon as they come to have sence of any thing they retain them deeply imprinted in their Minds And Maimonides informs us That it did not suffice a Jew barely to read the Law but he was to write it too For tho a Father had left his Son a Copy of the Law he was notwithstanding obliged to write for himself another Copy with his own Hand or procure it to be written if he could not write himself And therefore the Pentateuch at least as Morinus a Learned Romanist infers b Exercit. Bibl. l. 2. Exercit 16. c. 1. n. 6 7. that is the Books of Moses were in the Hands of all the Jews and frequently many Copies were in one Family because they were wont to keep those that were left by their Fathers But my design at present is to shew That the practice of the Christian Church yea of the Roman Church it self heretofore was quite contrary to the Rules and Practice of the Church of Rome now And that this may be made so evident that those who wish it were false may be constrain'd to confess it I shall proceed in the same Method that a Reverend Author hath done in a late learned Discourse upon another controverted Point c A Vindication of the Answer to some Papers c. viz. I shall prove by unquestionable Testimonies for twelve hundred Years downward from our Saviour's Birth that the reading of the Scripture had no restraint put upon it but was left in common to all Christians That it was so in the first Age we have undeniable Evidence in the Scripture it self Would our Saviour and his Apostles in their popular Discourses so frequently have sent their Hearers to the Scriptures had they not then been allowed to read them d Mat. 21. 13. Luk. 6. 3 4. Joh. 10. 34 35. Act. 2. 16. Could the Bereans have searched the Scriptures to see whether those things that were spoken by Paul were so e Act. 17. 11. had not the Scripture been in their Hands Had not all the Saints in all Achaia been permitted to read the Scriptures could St. Paul have said truly to them We write none other things to you than what you read f 2 Cor. 1. 13. That very Text so frequently produced by Romish Writers to prove that the Vulgar ought not to read the Scriptures g 2 Pet. 3. 16. is an Argument that in the Apostles time they did so For it is not easie to conceive how the unlearned and unstable should wrest the Scriptures had they never read them In the same Age in St. Clement's Epistle directed to all the Christians at Corinth we find these Words You have known Beloved you have well known the holy Scriptures you have thoroughly looked into the Oracles of God c. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And if the Christians at Corinth were so conversant in the Scriptures surely the Christians of Rome in the time of this Bishop were not forbidden to read them Toward the end of the second Age Clement of Alexandria gives this Character of a Christian His whole Life is a holy Solemnity his Sacrifices are Prayers and Praises and conferences of the Scriptures before his Meal and Psalms and Hymns while he is at it i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stromat l. 7. p. 728. Edit 1629. Certainly no Restraint was then laid upon
can prove these two things 1. That both parts of a Contradiction may be true For nothing is more obvious than that those Propositions are by many of the Roman Clergy delivered as the Word of God which are contradictory the one to the other For Example One says the Wood of the Cross is to be adored another that Jesus Christ only is to be adored in the presence of the Cross That the Pope has Power to depose Kings one makes it Heresy to deny another to affirm it 2. That that may be the Word of God which is plainly contrary to what God hath taught in the holy Scriptures for so are many things taught by many of their Pastors For example That the sacred Body of the Mother of Jesus is endow'd with a super-seraphical activity whereby she can render her self present in a moment to all her Devotees vieweth all their Actions Words and Concerns and can aid them at whatever distance at all times whatever their Calamities be c. p Contemplations on the Life and Glory of the Holy Mary p. 69. When the Representer shall have proved these two Propositions That Contradictions may be true and that that may be the Word of God that is plainly contrary to the Word of God we may then perhaps be perswaded to believe that the Roman Priests speak nothing but Oracles SECT II. That which is mentioned as the next Misconstruction Inference II. or false Inference of the Protestants is this That the Papist takes up all his Belief upon trust he is led through all the Mysteries of his Religion by the hand without seeing which way or whither he goes All from beginning to end is Blindness and Ignorance c. q Chap. 7. p. 49. And what says the Representer in answer to this A Papist believes as the Church of God that is the present Church of Rome teaches And does not he take all his Belief upon trust who without examination believes whatsoever his Church teaches But how does he know what his Church teaches his Priest tells him Well he believes as the Church teaches he believes the Church teaches this or that because his Priest tells him so does he not then take his Church's Faith and his own too upon trust from his Priest No For he does not believe blindly but knowingly and understandingly so far as the littleness of humane Reason and his own Capacity will give him leave How does this appear Because in order to this his Church has provided him of variety of Learned Books explicating to him the sense of the Scriptures as likewise the Articles of his Creed every Mystery of his Religion the ten Commandments the Sacraments and the whole Duty of a Christian and this in such numbers both in Latin and English and other Languages c. What Learned Books for the Vnlearned and in Latin too for those who understand not a word of Latin May they not learn as much from the Latin Bible as from a Latin Explication Well may they believe understandingly when their Church has provided them of such Books for that purpose which are above their Vnderstanding But besides these he has Books in English and other Languages In England he is better provided of Books than in other Countries But does he not take all these upon trust too since he is not suffered to examine so much as one of them by the Scripture Yea is not his Belief of these Books a plain Argument that he believes blindfold Because many such things are contain'd in them which if he impartially examined he could never yield his assent to That I may not be thought to speak at random I shall give a single Instance out of that great number I could produce in each of the Heads before-mentioned 1. For the sense of Scripture he must take it upon trust who takes that Dominion ascribed to the Blessed Virgin to be meant in these Texts quoted for it viz. that God hath given her sovereign Dominion in Heaven over the Angels the Queen stood at thy right Hand Psalm 44. on Earth over Men Kings reign by me c. Prov. 18. and over Hell and the Devil she shall bruise thy Head Gen. 3. r Jesus Maria Joseph p. 167 168. 2. For the Articles of his Creed He believes upon trust who believes Contradictions and so does he who believes that by the Catholick Church in the Creed is meant the Roman Catholick 3. For the Mysteries of his Religion I appeal to all Men whether he does not take them upon trust who takes them as they are delivered in a Book lately printed s Contemplations on the Life and Glory of the Holy Mary particularly this of the Nativity of the Mother of Jesus That Holy Mary being by a singular Priviledg in regard of her Divine Maternity perfectly innocent holy and full of Grace Wisdom and all Virtues in the first positive instant of the Infusion of her Soul she from thence forth ever exercised the sublime Operations of the Contemplative and Vnitive Life without recourse to Images of Imagination or dependence on sense by the help of abstractive Lights divinely infus'd representing 1. The several Essences Attributes and Motions of the whole Body of the Creation in their several degrees and stations 2. The Divinity of God with its manifold Emanations Operations and unexplicable Comprehensions 3. And the Humanity of Jesus with all the Orders of Grace Mysteries of Salvation and extatick Loves of the Saints whereby her great Soul was so compleatly actuated even in the Womb of her Mother that her Contemplations Sallies of Love and Vnions with God were restless ever increasing in their vigor and still expatiating through the vast Motions and Methods of Mystical Love. Thus Divine Mary became still more acceptable to God replenish'd with Grace and absorpt in the Abyss of supernatural Perfection which wonderfully encreased the languishings of Angels Souls in Limbo and of her holy Parents for the hour of her Birth t Ibid. p. 44 45. This is a Mystery and so are several others in the same Book which I fear the Vulgar are not able to believe knowingly 4. For the ten Commandments he must believe blindly who believes he has them intire in his Catechism when so considerable a part is left out Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the Likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above c. Or that he hath the fourth Commandment sincerely delivered in these words Remember to sanctify the holy Days We are told I know in the Abridgment of Christian Doctrine that the Church cannot be accused of the least shadow of omitting any parts of the Commandments u P. 113. But how can that be when it is before acknowledged that a great Part of the Text is omitted Because in no Catholick Bible is there one Syllable left out But what is this to the Vulgar who are not permitted to read any Catholick Bible who know no
with the cold of its iniquity When we there see that Just Men have done valiantly we our selves are disposed to courage in well-doing The Soul of the Reader is enkindled by the Flame of Holy Examples It sees their noble Acts and is displeased with it self that it doth not imitate them Hence in the Voice of the Bridgroom it is said to the Bride Thy Neck is like the Tower of David builded for an Armory whereon there hang a thousand Bucklers In the Neck is the Throat in the Throat is the Voice What therefore is meant by the Neck of Holy Church but its Sacred Oracles whereon a thousand Shields are said to hang because all our defence is contained in the Sacred Oracles For there are the Commandments of God there are the Examples of Just Men. If the Soul grow cold in the love of God let it hear what is said Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Mind and with all thy Strength c. (w) Hom. 16. Super Ezech. He that desires to see more to this purpose let him consult his moral Exposition of the Book of Job especially l. 20. his Epistle to Leander Archbishop of Sevil and read his famous Story of Poor Servolus (x) Hom. 15. de divers Lect. Evangelii And when he has done so I shall leave him to judg whether this great Pope was of the same judgment with Pope Pius IV and the Trent Fathers Whether the Holy Scriptures were not in his time read at Rome by the most unlearned Vulgar For the seventh Age Isidore Archbishop of Sevil is a Witness beyond exception The Holy Scripture saith he to the weak and those that are Children in understanding as to its History seems low in words when to more excellent Men it rises higher while it opens to them its Mysteries and by this means it remains common both to the little Ones and to the Perfect The Holy Scripture is varied in proportion to the Vnderstanding of every Reader as Manna which to the ancient People gave a different taste acccording to their different Palats c. (y) Scriptura Sacra infirmis sensu parâ—â—is secundum historiam humilis videtur in Verbis cum excellentioribus autem viris alâ—â—s incedit dum eis sua mysteria pandit atque per hoc utrisque manet communis parvulis â—erfectis Sententiar l. 1. c. 18. That the same practice continu'd in the eighth Age we are assured by venerable Bede and the Saxon Homilies In his Character of Aidan Bishop of the Northumbrians he makes it none of the least of his Vertues That he was so far from the sloth of the Age that all that went with him whether Clergy or Lay-men were obliged to meditate that is to take pains to read the Scriptures or to learn the Psalms This saith he was his daily Work and the Work of all those that were with him z Hist Ecclesiast l. 3. c. 5. And because the reading of the Scriptures was then too generally neglected the Saxon Church endeavoured a Remedy for this Evil in her Homilies out of which I shall cite but one Passage viz. The reading of the Holy Scriptures purges the Soul of the Reader It brings to mind the fear of eternal Punishment it also lifts up his Heart to the Joy Above Whosoever would be together with God he ought to pray often and often to read the Holy Scriptures for when we pray we speak to God and when we read the Holy Bible God speaks to us The reading of the Holy Bible brings a double benefit to the Readers The first That it informs the Mind the other That it takes it off from the Trifles of this World to the love of God. How far was the Church yet from believing That Lay-mens reading of the Scriptures did more hurt than good He that hath a mind to see more out of the Saxon Homilies let him consult the Notes on Bede's Ecclesiastical History a Lib. 3. p. 172 173 174. l. 4. p. 310. In the 9th Age Rabanus Maurus Archbishop of Mentz speaks thus That Divine Wisdom which shines forth iâ— the Holy Spripture is both to the Strong and Weak both to the Wise and Foolish if they will mind it and truly obey it a wholsom Medicine It is the enlightning of the Mind the Correction of Life the Path of Righteousness And therefore both the greater and the lesser do want its help and stand stand in need of its conduct b Sapientia Divina quae in Sacra Scriptura elucet omnibus tam potentibus quam infirmis tam sapientibus quam insipientibus si eam recte intenderint ei rite obedierint Medicina Salubris est Ipsa est Illuminatio animae c. In the tenth Odo Abbat of Clugny tells us That by the wild Goats which God speaks of to Job are meant all good and wise Men. For as these Goats abide in the Rocks and if they at any time fall from their Heights they keep themselves unhurt in their Flesh So these good Men dwell in the Rocks because they endeavour to live according to the Examples of the Fathers and when they fall at any time they are not dashed in pieces because leaning upon the Scriptures of the two Testaments they escape and by the comfort of them sustain themselves that they do not faint in trouble c Collat. l. 3. It seems the Scriptures were yet thought useful to every Man to support and comfort him in Troubles and Afflictions In the eleventh Age hear what Advice Theophylact gives to Parents If thou wilt have thy Children obey thee instruct them in the Word of God say not that it belongs only to Monks to read the Scriptures for it is the Duty of every Christian especially of those who are conversant in the World who stand in need of greater Assistances as Men tossed in a Storm 'T is thy Concern and Interest that they hear the Scriptures for they will thence learn to honour their Father and Mother d Theoph. in Ephes c. 6. v. 4. So far was this great Bishop from thinking the reading of the Scriptures hurtful to the Laity that he thought it more necessary for them than others so far from confining them only to the Learned that he would have Children the most ignorant of the Laity to read them In the twelfth Age Rupertus Tuitiensis says That the Holy Scripture is rightly called a Field because it is in truth a publick thing that lies open and is propos'd to all Men who are desirous to read or hear it e Sancta Scriptura recte dicitur ager quia profecto res publica est res in aperto posita cunctis hominibus imò populis omnibus legere vel audire capientibus proposita est L. 1. de Glorific Trinit To whom we may add St. Bernard who in a popular Discourse earnestly exhorts his Hearers to apply themselves to the Scriptures from the consideration
of those inestimable Benefits they would receive thereby f Serm. 24. de diversis Thus I have shew'd the practice of the Christian Church to the twelfth Age not from the Testimonies of obscure and suspected Authors but of Men famous in their Generations and whose Names are held in great veneration in the Church of Rome Which I have the rather done because some Persons have had the confidence to bear the World in hand that in the Primitive Church a restraint was laid upon the reading of the Scripture An Assertion so manifestly untrue that we need desire no clearer Proofs of the contrary than those two or three Passages out of the Ancients they produce for it If the Reader desire to know when and upon what occasion this Liberty was first taken from Lay-men I 'll now tell him The first Synodical Prohibition was that of the Synod of Tholouse in the Year 1228 in these words We forbid that Lay-men be permitted to have the Books of the Old and New Testament unless perhaps some one out of Devotion desire to have the Psalter or Breviary for Divine Offices and the Hours of the Blessed Virgin but even those now mentioned they may not have translated in the vulgar Tongue g Prohibemus etiam ne Libros Veteris Novi Testamenti Laici permittantur habere nisi forte Psalterium aut Breviarium pro Divinis Officiis ac horas Beatae Virginis aliquis ex devotione habere velit Sed ne prâ— libros habeant in vulgari Translatos D'Achetii Tom. 2. p. 624. The special occasion of this Decree was the preaching of the VValdenses who taught that in Articles of Faith the Holy Scripture was the Rule by which Men were to judg that whatsoever was not agreeable to the Word of God ought to be rejected That the reading and knowledg of the Scripture was free and necessary to all Men both Laity and Clergy * Cent. 12. Ecclesiast Hist c. 8. By this time the Church of Rome had gotten such a new Faith as would not abide the old Test and therefore it was prudently done to deprive the People of the Scripture that they might not be able to discover those Errors into which they led them CHAP. III. LET us now see what the Representer offers to justify this Practice of the present Church of Rome so manifestly repugnant to Scripture to Reason and to the ancient Practice of the Church of Rome it self yea of the whole Christian Church throughout the World. Surely they must be very weighty Reasons or else they will never bear down so great a weight as lies in the other Scale against them Does he shew that God hath retracted his first Grant That he hath repealed his old Law and established one quite contrary in the room of it Does he shew That the Reason of the Thing is changed So that if the Primitive Fathers were alive again they would now with as much earnestness dissuade Lay-men from reading the Scripture as they formerly exhorted them to it Had he done thus he had spoken to the purpose But alas we find nothing of this nor any thing like it What then are his Reasons You shall now hear And I shall endeavour to represent them to the best advantage without abating one grain of their just weight They are all reducible to this one general Head viz. The Mischiefs that arise from the promiscuous reading of the Scripture several of which he mentions and insists upon and then acquaints us with the Reasons as he supposes of those Mischiefs That therefore my Discourse upon them may be the more clear and distinct I shall divide it into these three parts 1. I shall consider the General Reason 2. The Particulars he insists upon 3. The Reasons he gives why these Mischiefs flow from the free reading of the Bible SECT I. The general Reason he gives of this Restraint is The Mischiess that arise from the promiscuous reading of the Bible since these and infinite other Mischiefs arise from the free permitting the Bible among the Multitude He viz. the Papist thinks it commendable in his Church out of a true solicitude for the Salvation of Souls to prevent those Evils by teaching the true sense of this Sacred Volume without leaving the Book to be scann'd by them as they please and so not permitting them to turn the Food of their Souls into Poison or abuse that to their Destruction which was ordain'd by Christ for their gaining of Heaven (h) Chap. 7. p. 52. But if out of pure kindness to the Souls of the Vulgar they take away this dangerous Book from them Why do they give them other very perilous Books in the room of it I mean Images which they call Lay-mens Books tho by the Confession of many of their own Writers they are horribly abused by the Vulgar But to pass that This is the Argument they commonly insist upon and tho it hath been wretchedly bafled again and again yet for want of a better it is upon every occasion dress'd up anew and urged with as brisk a Confidence as if it had never before been heard of He says he does sincerely respect honour and reverence the Scripture (i) Chap. 6. p. 44. But methinks he expresses his respect and reverence as untowardly as the Lindians did toward their God Hercules whom they worshipped by throwing Stones at him For what is this but to say that the Bible is the most dangerous Book in the World since a Lay-man cannot read it without danger of being eternally undone by it And if this be to honour and reverence the Scripture I know not what it is to revile it The Representer will say this is a false Inference I shall be glad if he can make that appear for nothing seems to follow more naturally from the Premises He will say he does not impute these Mischiefs to the Scripture it self but to Mens Abuse of it (k) Chap. 7. p. 52. What then the danger is not the less if it be so apt to be abused that scarce any Man can read it who will not so abuse it Let us suppose there are two things the one of which is an excellent Antidote if rightly used but so hard a matter it is so to use it that not one in an hundred can be found to whom it doth not turn to Poyson The other is it self a rank Poyson yet may be so temper'd and taken with that caution that it may become an Antidote Is not now this Antidote however excellent in it self as dangerous as the Poyson But if these Mischiefs proceed meerly from Mens Abuse of Scripture why is it then denied to those who do not thus abuse it For in that he says Such as for the MOST PART are not capable of reading it as they ought have not leave to read it and those that are capable may have IN MOST COVNTRIES leave to read it as they please l Pag. 52. He
by him he says there are infinite other p Pag. 52. Those infinite other I can say nothing to because I know not what they are If he please to tell us some of them for we cannot expect he should ennumerate all because they are infinite they shall be considered All those he is pleased to mention are of the same kind viz. the Divisions that are among Christians from the different Senses they put upon the Scripture thereby making as many Bibles as there are Men. The unhappy Divisions says he which are among Christians sufficiently inform him that to such Readers as St. Peter calls unwary and ignorant how ever wise they may think themselves Arianism may be as obvious in this Book as Christ's Divinity and that when such an one undertakes the interpretation of it 't is an hazard whether at the end he comes out Quaker Anabaptist Presbyterian Independent Muggletonian Socinian or Atheist 'T is a venture whether the Trinity shall have place in his Creed or no Whether he 'll allow of Baptism or any Sacrament and whether Cruelty cutting of Throats Oppression Tyranny Dethroning of Kings and Murder of Princes shall not with him become a necessary Duty and a true serving of the Lord c. q Pag. 52. And in another place the Reason he gives why the Holy Scriptures are not generally allowed to the Vulgar is this That there may not be as many different Bibles among them as there are Heads r Pag. 54. Which is in effect the same with the former And in a third That it is not only thus in SEVERAL PEOPLE but even the SAME PERSON many times hath the faculty of multiplying the Word of God s Chap. 9. pag. 57. That is by reading the Scriptures Men are not only divided one from another but the same Person is at different times divided from himself by putting one Sense upon them at one time and another at another I shall observe one thing by the way before I come to expose the Folly of this way of Reasoning Had not this Gentleman vainly presumed that the Vulgar of our Communion are as ignorant as those of his own in other Countries he would not have laid so great stress upon these Words of St. Peter the unlearned and unstable and repeated them thrice within the compass of one half Sheet tho perhaps for a disguise in the words now cited he puts unwary and ignorant instead of unlearned and unstable since they are so far from proving what he designs that they are a fair Argument for the contrary For as I before observed could the unlearned have wrested the Scriptures had they not read them And if because they wrested them they were to be forbidden to read them would not the Apostle when the matter requir'd it have told them so and given this in charge to the Pastors of the Church Had he been of the same judgment with his Successors at Rome for the last three or four hundred years was it possible he should have forgotten this I appeal to the Representer's own Conscience Does he think it was St. Peter's intention that this Epistle of his should not be read by those to whom he wrote it If not he intended it should be read by the Vulgar for 't is certain it was written to such I shall now proceed to the particular consideration of these Mischiefs Which tho all as I said before of the same kind yet because to make the greater shew the Representer hath put them into a different dress of words and discoursed of them apart in three several Chapters t Chap. 7. 8 9. lest I should be thought to wave any thing material to his purpose I shall also speak to them severally and they are these I. The many Divisions that are among Christians u Chap. 7. p. 52. II. As many different Bibles as there are different Heads w Chap. 8. p. 54. III. Not only several People but even the same Person many times has the faculty of multiplying the Word of God x Chap. 9. p. 57. Mischief I. I. Having just before spoken of the many unhappy Divisions among Christians he says That these and infinite other Mischiefs arise from the free permitting the Bible among the Multitude y Pag. 52. Now if he speaks to the purpose his meaning must of necessity be That all these many unhappy Divisions arise from this cause only or at least from this cause principally And therefore no more is here needful than to discover the falseness of this Assertion However I shall be more liberal and shew these two things 1. That what is here affirm'd is notoriously false 2. That in case it were true it would not be of force to infer the Conclusion viz. That the reading of the Bible ought to be denied to the Vulgar First It is notoriously false That all the unhappy Divisions among Christians take their rise either ONLY or CHIEFLY from the free permitting of the Bible among the Multitude This will be evident by considering these five things 1. That there were Divisions among the Ancient Guides or Pastors of the Church 2. That there have been and still are Divisions yea as many among the Learned of the Church of Rome as among the Protestants 3. That the Learned Romanists are divided among themselves in all those Points in which they are divided from Protestants 4. That those very pernicious Doctrines and Practices which the Representer himself mentions are derived from the Learned and especially from the Learned of the Church of Rome And therefore 5. That the Divisions among the Vulgar for the most part are not owing to themselves but to the Learned 1. There were Divisions among the ancient Guides and Pastors of the Christian Church and in matters of as great moment as those are in which the Protestants are divided As between St. Irenaeus and Victor St. Cyprian and Stephen St. Chrysostom and Theophilus St. Jerom and Ruffinus St. Cyril and Theodoret the Bishops of the Council of Nice and those also of Sardica c. I wish those Divisions and many other among the ancient Bishops were not too well known to need any Proof Now can the Representer say That these Divisions sprang from permitting the Bible to the Multitude I trow not 2. There have been and still are Divisions yea as many among the Learned of the Church of Rome as among the Protestants Almost every Schoolman is the Head of a Sect and the Controversies between the Lutherans and the Calvinists are not so many as between the Thomists and the Scotists The Dissentions between the Regular and Secular Priests have lasted already for some Ages and are likely still to continue so many several Orders so many Sects in Religion you may find among the Regulars and the Remonstrants and Anti-monstrants will as soon unite as the Dominicans with the Jesuits or the Franciscans Yea the Popes themselves the Centre of their Unity are
be true of many of the Vulgar is it not also as true of many of the Learned yea of many of the most Learned in the Church of Rome May it not as truly be said how many may be found among your Bishops Cardinals and Popes who according to their different humours as their Interest changes espouse different Doctrines and Perswasions Witness in elder times Pope Liberius and Vigilius who were either Hereticks or Catholicks as their Interest changed And for later times witness the Cardinal of Cusa who one while more zealous than he for the Authority of a General Council above the Pope But when he expected to be made a Cardinal who more zealous for the contrary Doctrine Upon which Richerius his Words are observable By this saith he we are given to know that very many who have defended the Truth in a state of Poverty have deserted the same out of hope of Dignities and a more plentiful Fortune and especially out of an ambition of being made Cardinals (l) Hist Concil general l. 3. p. 479. Witness Aeneas Sylvius who vehemently opposed that Doctrine when he was Pope which he had before as vehemently maintained when he was Clerk to the Council of Basil And that it was interest that gave him this new Light not I but Richerius and Maimbourg plainly assert (m) Richer Hist Concil general l. 4. parte 1. c. 6. Maimb Prerog Of the Church of Rome c. 25. p. 338. Yea the Pope himself in his Bull of Retractation says in effect as much for speaking of the Disputes between him and Juliano Cardinal of St. Angelo he confesses the Doctrine he forsook was the ancient and that he embraced was new (n) Tuebamur antiquam sententiam ille novam defendebat Witness the Cardinal of Lorrain Does not he he himself confess that his Interest being turn'd he turned with it (o) Hist of the Counc of Trent l. 8. p. 767. Was not his Perswasion different according to the different Impressions he received from the Pope and the Queen of France When he first came to Trent how contrary his Sentiments in several Points were to those he had afterward when the State of affairs in France was altered and he had been caressed by the Pope and his Holiness had gain'd his good Opinion may sufficiently appear by comparing the places quoted in the Margin (p) Hist of the Counc of Trent ps 659 692 703 704 712 733 743 744 767 782 813. It 's too well known to need to be mentioned how that Gardiner Bonner and all the Popish Bishops Fisher only excepted espoused different Doctrines and Perswasions as their Interests changed and according to the different Impressions they received either from the King or the Pope And don't you now see how to these same Bishops Cardinals and Popes the Word of God was not always the same but alter'd according to Seasons and Times That it was one Word of God that directed Aeneas Sylvius while he was Secretary to the Council of Basil another while he was Pope That in King Henry VIII's and King Edward VI's Reigns the King's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Affairs was in Gardiner's and Bonner's Bibles in Queen Marie's Reign the Pope's was found instead of the King 's The Conclusion hence is unavoidable That if all Men are to be denied the reading of the holy Scriptures who according to their different Humours as their Interest changes espouse different Doctrines and Persuasions they must be denied to many more than the Vulgar unless their Bishops Cardinals and Popes are to be placed in that rank SECT III. In the next place the Representer gives us his Reasons why the Vulgar so differ in the sense of the Bible which are two one of them imply'd the other expressed That which is imply'd is the Obscurity of the Scripture That which is express'd is the setting up every Man 's private Reason to be Judg of Scripture (q) Chap. 9. p. 58. Reason I. I. The Obscurity of the Scripture For if it be so plain and easy says he how comes it there is so little agreement in the understanding it When the Protestants affirm that the Scripture is plain and easie they mean it is so to those only who read it with honest Hearts who sincerely desire to know the Truth and to direct their Lives answerable to it and they mean that it 's so not simply in all things but in all things necessary to Salvation And when they affirm this they affirm no more than St. Austin did Believe me saith he whatsoever is in those Scriptures speaking of the Scriptures of the old Testament which are more obscure than those of the new it is high and Divine they contain nothing but what is true and that Doctrine which is most fit for the repairing and restoring of Souls and so disposed that there is no Man but may draw thence that which is sufficient for him provided he comes devoutly and piously affected as true Religion requires (r) Quicquid est mihi crede in Scripturis illis altum divinum est inest omnino veritas reficiendis instaurandisque animis accommodatissima disciplina plane ita modificata ut nemo inde haurire non possit quod sibi satis est si modo ad hauriendum devotè ac piè ut vera Religio poscit accedat De utilitate credendi c. 6. They affirm no more than what St. Chrysostom did for he says That all things necessary are manifest (s) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. 3. in 2. ad Thess They affirm no more than what the Bishop of Rome did formerly For the Holy Scripture saith Pope Gregory as I find him quoted by the Authors of the Preface of the Mons Testament is as a great River which runs always and which will run to the end of the World. The little Children and the Men of full Stature the strong and the weak do there find that living Water that springs up even to Heaven It offers it self to all and it suits it self to all It hath a simplicity that abases it self to the most simple Souls and a height that exercises and raises the most lofty †P. 9. Nay they say no more than what many learned Romanists of this present Age have said The Bishop of Vence speaking of the new Testament says The Son of God hath in it taken care to teach us CLEARLY and DISTINCTLY our whole Duty to him as well as our whole Duty to our Neighbour and our selves This is that which the Gospels contain The Epistles of the Apostles are a Comment upon it and an Explication more enlarged and distinct which leave not any thing in the Christian Life we ought to live upon Earth unexplain'd (t) Preface of Mr. Arnaud And Mr. Arnaud says That the holy Fathers have noted that one of those things which shew the Divinity of the holy Scriptures and in which they excel all the Writings of Men
THE Peoples Right To Read the Holy Scripture ASSERTED In ANSWER to the 6th 7th 8th 9th and 10th Chapters of the Second Part of the POPISH REPRESENTER LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVII IMPRIMATUR Hen. Maurice Rmo in Christo P. D. Wilhelmo Archiepiscop Cant. a Sacris Maii 27. 1687. The Contents Four Things proposed to be treated of I. WHAT the Practice of the Church of Rome in this this Matter is II. That this Practice is plainly contrary to the Will of God to the Reason of the Thing and to the Practice of the Christian Church for more than a thousand Years after Christ III. The Insufficiency of those Reasons by which the Representer endeavours to justify it IV. The Truth of those Inferences the Protestants draw from it Page 1 2. CHAP. I. THE Practice of the Church of Rome in this Matter represented Pag. 2 c. CHAP. II. THE Contrariety of this Practice to the Will of God to Reason and to the Practice of the Christian Church for more than a thousand Years Pag. 8 c. SECT I. It 's contrariety to the Will of God appears in that God 1. Caused the Scriptures to be written in a Language understood by the Vulgar Pag. 9. 2. Adress'd them to the Vulgar Pag. 11. 3. Commanded the Vulgar to converse familiarly with them Pag. 12. SECT II. It 's contrariety to Reason shew'd both from the Scope and End of the Scriptures and from the Testimonies of many Learned Men of the Church of Rome Pag. 14 SECT III. It 's contrariety to the Practice of the Christian Church proved by unquestionable Testimonies for twelve hundred Years downward p. 17 c. When and upon what occasion a Restraint was first laid upon the reading of the Scriptures p. 26 CHAP. III. THE Reasons the Representer offers to justify this Practice of the Church of Rome Pag. 27 SECT I. The general Reason viz. the Mischiefs that arise from the promiscuous reading of the Scripture consider'd and the absurdity of it exposed p. 28 c. SECT II. The Mischiefs objected are all of the same kind p. 33In particular these three 1. The Divisions that are among Christians 2. As many different Bibles as there are different Heads 3. Not only several Persons but the same Person many times hath different Bibles I. That the Divisions among Christians arise solely or principally from the reading of the Bible by the Vulgar 1. It is notoriously false 2. In case it were true it would not be of force to infer his Conclusion p. 36 It is notoriously false In that 1. There were Divisions among the ancient Guides of the Church ibid. 2. There have been and still are Divisions yea as many among the Learned of the Church of Rome as among the Protestants p. 37 The Learned Romanists are divided among themselves in all those Points in which they are divided from Protestants ibid. 4. Those very pernicious Doctrines and Practices which the Representer himself mentions are deriv'd from the Learned especially from the Learned of the Church of Rome p. 39 5. The Divisions among the Vulgar for the most part are not owing to themselves but to the Learned 41 If it were true that the Divisions among Christians arise from the reading of the Bible by the Vulgar yet it would not be sufficient Reason for denying the Bible to them p. 42 II. The second Mischief viz. If the Bible be allowed the Vulgar there will be as many different Bibles among them as there are Heads p. 43 That every difference in Sense makes not a different Bible p. 44 The vanity of this Reason appears in that 1. It is of equal force against the reading of the Scripture by the Learned yea of much greater p. 45 2. Where the Vulgar are not permitted to read the Bible there are as many different Bibles in the Representer's Sense as where they are p. 46 3. The Argument retorted p. 47 III. The third Mischief may also be objected with as much Reason against the reading of the Scripture by the Learned particularly by the Roman Bishops Cardinals and Popes p. 48 SECT III. The Reasons the Representer gives why the Vulgar so differ in the sense of Scripture are two viz. The Obscurity of the Scripture and the setting up every Man's private Reason to be judg of it p. 50 1. The Obscurity of the Scriptures ibid. What the Protestants affirm of the plainness of the Scripture is no more than what the Ancient Fathers what the Bishop of Rome formerly and what many Learned Romanists of this present Age have affirm'd p. 51 That the Disagreement about the sense of Scripture proceeds not from the obscurity of it p. 52 From whence this Disagreement proceeds p. 53 2. The setting up every Man 's private Reason to be judg of Scripture p. 54 The Protestants make not Reason judg of Scripture as the Socinians do ibid. They make Reason no otherwise Judg than as our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles have allowed commanded p. 55 The Clergy of the Church of Rome notwithstanding their loud Cry against private Reason make it Judg as much as Protestants p. 56 His Argument from the Oneness of the Christian Faith answered and retorted p. 57 58 c. His other Arguments from the Authority of the Church the Creed Heb. 13. 17. 1 Tim. 3. 15. Mat. 18. 17. answered p. 61 62 c. CHAP. IV. THE false Constructions or wrong Inferences as the Representer calls them which the Protestants make from this Practice are three 1. That the Vulgar Papists are deprived of the Word of God. 2. That they take up all their Belief upon trust 3. That the Reason why they are not permitted to read the Bible is for fear least they should discover the Errors of their Religion p. 65 SECT I. The first Protestant Inference justified and the Representer's Reasons to the contrary shew'd to be idle and insignificant p. 65 66 67 c SECT II. That the Vulgar Papist takes all his Belief upon trust p. 7â— This shew'd in each of those Heads mentioned by the Representer And the absurdity of his Reasons to the contrary maâ— manifest p. 71 72 7â— SECT III. The third Inference vindicated and his two Reasons â— it shew'd to be of no force p. â—â— No thanks to them that the Bible is not denied the Learned p. â—â— That it is the Bible it self they look upon as mischievous p. â—â— Some Learned Men not so well qualified to discover their â—â—rors as some of the Vulgar p. â—â— Many of their Learned Men have discovered their Errors p. â—â— Why more liberty is given to their Vulgar here in Englaâ—â— than in other Countries p. â—â— That the Vulgar here in England have discovered their Errâ—â— p â—â— The Peoples Right to read the Holy Scripture asserted THough it is as evident as that the Scripture is in Print that the free Use of it is by the Roman Clergy
only Printed but in Manuscript g Prohibentur Biblia lingua vulgari extantia cum omnibus earum partibus impressis aut Manuscriptis pariter summaria compendia quamvis historica eorundam Bibliorum aut librorum sacrae Scripturae idiomate aut lingua vulgari And Alfonsus de Castro tells us That Ferdinand King of Spain forbad any Man under the heaviest Penalties to translate the Bible into the Vulgar Tongue or to keep any Bible in his Hands already translated h Alfons de Castro advers Haeres l. 1. c. 13. And in the Index of Pope Alexander VII not only those Bibles that are translated and printed by Hereticks but all Bibles in any Vulgar Tongue are prohibited i Biblia vulgari quocunque idiomate conscripta Yea so careful are the Clergy in most Popish Countries to keep the Laity from the Knowledg of the Scriptures that as Sir Edwin Sandys relates in their very Sermons tho they preach for the most part on the Gospel of the Day yet they do not read or otherwise recite the Text but discourse only on such Points of it as they think fittest that no sound of Scripture may possess the People I say in most Popish Countries because the use of France as he says is otherwise k Sandys's Europae Speculum p. 126 127. It would be therefore ridiculous in Spain to talk of a Licence because the Bible it self is not there permitted in the Vulgar Tongue And all that is permitted in other Countries where the Church of Rome bears sway without controul is that a Man may read the Holy Scripture in case he can get a Licence for it But now to whom may this Licence be granted What to all Men indifferently who ask it No but to those only who they know can receive no hurt but encrease of Faith and Piety thereby (l) Quos intellexerint ex hujusmodi lectione non damnum sed fidei atque Pietatis augmentum capere posse That is as the Representer expresses it Those who are not in danger of preferring their own Sense before that which they receive from their Pastors and the Church (m) Chap. 7. p. 52. And may it not be presumed that these Men will never so much as ask it For to what purpose should they desire to read the Scriptures who are already resolved right or wrong to believe as the Priest bids them Yea so far are they from desiring it that they reckon it a Mortal Sin. And should others presume to ask it it would be denied them because they cannot so much as ask it but they will be suspected to be of the number of those Persons who are in the greatest danger of receiving hurt by it So that upon the whole Matter the great noise they make of Licences is but a meer Sham since those of the Vulgar who might perhaps obtain them are never likely to ask them and those who will be most forward to ask them will never be able to obtain them And that it was indeed a Device of the Clergy to get the Bible again out of the Hands of the People among whom it was then dispersed is plain enough because whosoever had got a Bible and had not a Licence he might not receive Absolution of his Sins unless he first delivered up his Bible to the Ordinary And having thus got the Bible again into their own keeping that they designed as much as possible to keep it for the future out of the Hands of the People is further manifest from the addition made to this Rule by Pope Clement VIII upon the new Impression of it viz. That by this Impression or Edition no new Faculty is given to Bishops or Inquisitors or any Superiors of Regulars to grant a Licence of buying reading or retaining the Bible in the Vulgar Tongue since hitherto by the command and usage of the Holy Roman and Vniversal Inquisition that Faculty of granting such Licences of reading or retaining the Vulgar Bibles or any parts of the Holy Scriptures as well of the New as the Old Testament in any Vulgar Tongue hath been taken from them Which says he is to be inviolably observed (n) Observat Clement VIII circa Reg. quartam Trid. If then this Power formerly given of granting Licences be taken away and no new Power of granting them given it necessarily follows That there is now no such thing in being as a Power of granting Licences Or had there been any such Power before this new Impression of the Rule was made yet it was then taken away by the Pope in decreeing That the Command and Practice of the Roman Inquisition was to be inviolably observed And lest some perhaps might presume to read the Bible notwithstanding the Penalty threatned to them that do so to give check as much as might be to such Presumption the Booksellers who shall sell them to such Persons besides the loss of the price of the Books are liable to be punished at the Bishop's Pleasure It would be now superfluous to produce Cardinal Bellarmin Sixtus Senensis Stapleton Gretser Ledesna Azorius or any other great Names in the Church of Rome as Witnesses of this Practice I shall therefore conclude with a brief Recollection of what hath been delivered First In the Pope's or the King of Spain's Dominions no Vulgar Translation of the Bible is allowed nor any Parcels or Summaries of the Bible or of the Stories thereof 2dly In those Countries where the Vulgar Bible is not absolutely prohibited no Man is allowed to read it without a Licence 3dly This Licence must be granted by the Bishop or Inquisitor only though by the Custom of France it may be granted by the Penitentiary or Curat 4thly It may not be granted by them to all Persons who desire it but to those only of whom they shall understand that they can receive no hurt by reading it That is those of whom they are so secure that they think there is no fear of losing them and few or none of these will ever desire it So that all this talk of granting leave to read the Bible amounts to no more than this That those who desire it shall for the most part be denied it Even the Mareschal of Chastres's Lady notwithstanding her great Quality and Piety could not without much difficulty get a Licence from the Arch-Bishop of Sens. Nor could she by any Means procure it for the whole Bible but for some certain Books only (o) Le Sanctuaire fermè aux Profames p. 339. CHAP. II. THat it is contrary to the Will of God contrary to Reason yea contrary to the Practice of the Christian Church for more than a thousand Years after Christ not to permit the free use of the Holy Scripture to the Vulgar SECT I. That it is the Will of God That the Vulgar should have the free use of the Scripture omitting many other Arguments these three alone may suffice to prove 1. That
God caused it at first to be written in a Language understood by the Vulgar 2. He caused it to be directed and addressed to them 3. He commanded them to acquaint themselves with it 1. God caused the holy Scriptures to be at first written in a Language understood by the Vulgar That the Books of Moses and the Prophets were written in the common Language of the Jews is generally granted by the Romanists themselves Monsieur Mallet indeed has been so hardy as to say That it is most probable that the Books of the Law were not composed by Moses in the Vulgar Language of the Jews But the Arguments by which he attempts to prove it are not only ridiculous and in themselves false but in case they were true would be so far from establishing what he asserts that they would quite destroy it He that hath a Mind to see them exposed let him consult Monsieur Arnaud's another learned Romanist Confutation of his Book (b) De la Lecture de l' Ecriture Sainte contre les Parodoxes extravagans impies de Mons Mallet Out of which I shall at present transcribe but one Passage I shall say a Word only says he of Moses 's last Song because it is a demonstrative Proof that there is nothing in the World more manifestly false than that which Monsieur Mallet says is probable for there is nothing in all the Books of Moses that is more nobly written and in a more lofty Stile than this Song which he commanded the Jews to write and to learn by Heart and to sing often that it might serve as a Testimony against themselves if they should forsake the Worship of God. He therefore certainly supposed that they would understand it since his Intention was that in singing it they should be touched and affected with it (c) Je diray Seulement un mot de son dernier Cantique parce que c'est une preuve demonstrative pour faire voir que Mr. Mall appelle probable la chose du monde la plus visiblement fausse c. l. 1. c. 4. p. 55. As for the Books of the New Testament there is no question save of two only the Gospel of St. Matthew and the Epistle to the Hebrews but that they were all written in Greek which was then the most Vulgar Language in the World there being no other Tongue at that time understood by so many People And whereas it is objected that the Latin was the Vulgar Tongue of the Romans to whom notwithstanding St. Paul wrote in Greek The answer is easy That the Greek Tongue was at that time more generally underderstood and used at Rome it self It was more known to the Strangers there and particularly to the Jews whom the Apostle had in his Epistle a special regard to who were well acquainted with the Greek but for the most part ignorant of the Latin Tongue d Grot. Annot in Evang. S. Marci Epist ad Heb. And for the Romans themselves scarce any could be found no not among their Women who did not understand it In such common use was it that as Mr. Arnaud observes they taught it even their Parrots e De la Lect. c. l. 2. c. 13. If St. Matthew's Gospel was written at first in Hebrew as many of the Ancients affirm by Hebrew they meant that which was then the Vulgar Language of the Jews who dwelt at Jerusalem for whose sake his Gospel was primarily written This is asserted by such great Authorities in the Church of Rome as one would think no Romanist should reject particularly by Estius and Bellarmin I shall recite Bellarmin's Words and for brevity sake refer the Reader to Estius f Est Proleg in Comment in Epist ad Hebraeos super hac quaestione Qua lingua scripta sit Epist ad Hebraeos It is very probable says the Cardinal that the Gospel of St. Matthew and the Epistle to the Hebrews were written in the Syriac Tongue for Albertus Widmestadius and Guido Fabritius have proved it by the most convincing Arguments Neither do the ancient Writers Irenaeus Origen Eusebius Athanasius Epiphanius Jerom who say these Books especially the Gospel of St. Matthew were written in Hebrew contradict these for they speak of that Hebrew which was the Vulgar Tongue in the time of the Apostles even as in the Gospel it self we frequently read that a thing was so call'd in the Hebrew when it is manifest that was so call'd in the Syriac For instance He went forth into a place call'd the place of a Scull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha whereas Golgotha is not a proper Hebrew but a Syriac word g Bell. de Verbo Dei l. 2. c. 4. Add to this That Eusebius says expresly that St. Matthew writ his Gospel in his Country Language and the reason he gives for it necessarily required that he should do so h Euseb Hist Ecclesiast l. 3. For the Epistle to the Hebrews it matters not whether it was originally written in Greek or Syriac because both these Languages were then generally understood by the Hebrews Tho Estius has produc'd such Arguments as will not easily be answered to prove that it was at first written in Greek To conclude this Argument Since God caused the Scriptures to be at first written in a Language the Vulgar were acquainted with who can be so sensless as to imagine that is was not his pleasure that the vulgar should read them 2. God at first addressed the Holy Scriptures to the Vulgar as well as to others I have written to him saith God the great Things of my Law i Hos 8. 12. Who was he to whom he had written them The Verse foregoing told us it was Ephraim who is there put for the whole Body of the Israelites The first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians is directed to all that in every Place call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus The second to the Church of God which is at Corinth with all the Saints which are in all Acaia For the rest of the Epistles I refer the Reader to the Discourse quoted in the Margin (k) The Lay-Christian's Obligation to read the Holy Scriptures Now can any Man who has not quite lost his Understanding suppose that God would not have these Epistles read by those Persons to whom they were written There are those Persons I know who pretend to think so who tell us That though St. Paul directed his Epistles to all Christians in general yet his intention was that the Pastors of the Church only should read them But can any thing be said more absurdly Are not those Epistles he designed for the Pastors directed to them alone as his Epistles to Timothy and Titus Why then should he direct his other Epistles to all the Saints but that it was his intention that they all should be made acquainted with them When his Epistle to the Philippians is directed to ALL the Saints at
Philippi together with the Bishops and Deacons Can any Man have the face to say That he intended it only for the Bishops and Deacons Is it not as manifest as that there are such Epistles that his Speech in them is usually addressed to the People And let a Man but seriously consider That in his Epistle to the Colossians he commands That after that Epistle had been read among them they should cause it to be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans (l) Coloss 4. 16. That he gives a most solemn Charge That his Epistle to the Thessalonians should be read to all the Holy Brethren (m) 1 Thess 5. 27. and then believe if he can that it was his meaning that the Scripture should be withheld from any the poorest and most ignorant Christian 3. Nor has God only addressed the Holy Scriptures to the Vulgar but he hath also commanded them to acquaint themselves familiarly with them The words I command thee this day saith God to all Israel Priests and People shall be in thine Heart and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy Children and talk of them when thou sittest in thine House c. (n) Deut. 6. 6 7 8. Can it be supposed that they should talk of these words when they sate in their Houses and when they walked by the way when they lay down and when they rose up that they should bind them for a Sign upon their Hands and that they should be as Frontlets between their eyes that they should write them upon the Posts of their Houses and upon their Gates that they should teach them diligently to their Children and yet should not be permitted to read them When Moses had made an end of speaking these words having said all that he had in charge from God to deliver to this People he concludes thus Set your Hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day which ye shall command your Children to observe and do all the words of this Law for it is not a vain thing for you because it is your Life c. (o) Deut. 32. 45 46 47. Is this said like a Man that would not have them so much as read the words he had spoken to them And for the New Testament the Command is general to Christians of all States and Qualities That the Word of Christ dwell in them and not only so but that it dwell in them richly so richly that they may thereby be indowed with all Wisdom (p) Coloss 3. 16. Which St. Chrysostom thought so plain a Command to the common People to read the Scriptures that in his Sermon upon these words he thus earnestly exhorts them Hearken all ye that are Men of the VVorld and have a VVife and Children under your Government how even You he commands especially to read the Scriptures and that not simply or now and then by chance but with much diligence (q) Hom. 9. in Epist ad Coloss If St. Chrysostom's word be not thought sufficent I shall add to it a late famous Divine of the Church of Rome VVhat more clear saith he than that St. Paul thus exhorts Coloss 3. Let the VVord of Christ dwell in You. But in what You In those Saints and Faithful Brethren in Christ that were at Colosse to whom he inscribed this Epistle not as some other Epistles to Bishops Priests and Deacons Let the VVord of Christ therefore dwell in You in all Wisdom c. r Espens in Epist ad Tit. cap. 2 p. 518 519. Which the Author speaks to shew that the reading of the Scriptures ought not to be prohibited to Lay-men That this Prohibition is indeed contrary to the Will of God will yet further appear by shewing that it is very absurd and unreasonable SECT II. Let us hear what common Reason saith to use the words of a Reverend Person of our own Church in an excellent Treatise upon this Subject and that teaches us That since the Holy Scriptures were written for the use and benefit of all all should have the liberty to read them They were written for all it is plain for that which they teach is the Duty of all that which they promise is the Portion of all s Search the Scriptures p. 58. Dare any one say That the Scripture was not given as a Rule to the People That it was not designed to teach them not only what they are concerned to know and to do in the general as they are Men or as they are Christians but to instruct them also more particularly how they ought to demean themselves in their several Callings and Relations in their different States and Conditions of Life that they may walk worthy of God in this World and be made meet for the happiness of the next And what can be more absurd than that a Man should not be suffered to read those Lessons which as he hopes for Salvation he is bound to learn That he should not be permitted the perusal of those Laws which under peril of Damnation he is bound to obey That he should be forbid to see with his own Eyes what God hath promised to quicken him to his Duty and what he hath threatned to deter him from the contrary Are not the Scriptures as St. Chrysostom calls them the Weapons of our Spiritual Warfare the Storehouse of Spiritual Medicines t Hom. 9. in Epist ad Colos Are they not given for a Light to our Feet and a Lamp to our Paths u Psal 119. 105. Prov. 6. 23. And therefore to deprive the People of them what is it else but to take away the Light from a Man in darkness To deny Medicines to one that is sick Or to deprive a Souldier of those Weapons by which he should defend himself and repel his Enemies What the the Representer says in opposition to this shall be anon considered I shall add no more upon this Head than what I shall borrow from some great and learned Men of the Church of Rome The Bishop of Vence in his Dedicatory Epistle prefixed to his Translation of the New Test addresses thus to all Christians indifferently Behold it is the Testament of the Son of God your Father and your Judg which I offer to you I cannot doubt but the reading of it will be acceptable to you You will see that he hath there left you a Patrimony most divine which is his Truth and that he hath divided it in a wonderful manner For though it be but one yet he hath suited it to the condition and to the Duties of every Man to the end that all Men by practising its Precepts may live in Peace and may come to the possession of his Inheritance which is eternal Life x Voicy le Testament du Fils de Dieu vostre Pere et vostre Juge que je Vous offre Je ne puis douter que la lecture ne vous en soit agreable Vous verrez
plainly grants that Some have not leave to read it who are capable of reading it as they ought and that in some Countries they cannot obtain this leave tho they never so much desire it Where by capable of reading as they ought he must if he speak sense mean those who will not abuse it tho it is a great mistake to confound these two as if they were the same when they are as different the one from the other as a sick Man is from one that is not capable of being well and therefore to say that a Man who abuses the Scripture is not capable of reading it as he ought is as absurd as that a sick Man is not capable of recovering his Health Were indeed all those that abuse the Scripture uncapable of reading it to good purpose I should not deny but they might with good reason be deprived of it But if they must be denied it for no other reason but because they abuse it then let all Men be deprived of their Eyes their Ears their Tongues c. there being no Man by whom these are not more or less abused Yea let not only some but every Man in the World be denied the reading of the Scripture because I fear there is scarce any Man who is most careful to avoid it but he may some time or other through weakness or ignorance abuse it It is therefore certain that a Man ought not for every Abuse to be deprived of this Priviledg And if for any of those mentioned by the Representer our blessed Saviour and his Apostles were much to blame who put all Men indifferently upon the study of the Scripture notwithstanding all these Abuses were as high in their time as they have been in any Age since Did I say not for every Abuse I will add not for any Abuse unless there can be any that God did not foresee for since notwithstanding any such Abuse he gave free liberty to all Men who can deny it to any unless they will take upon them to correct God And yet when all is done in case Men are to be denied the reading of the Scripture because they abuse it then those above all others ought to be denied it who most extragavantly abuse it I mean those who prove the Pope is as much greater than the Emperor as the Sun is greater than the Moon from Gen. 1. 16. God made two great Lights the greater Light to rule the Day and the lesser Light to rule the Night That in the Churches Power are two Swords the Temporal and the Spiritual from that Speech of St. Peter to Christ Behold here are two Swords That the Pope is an absolute universal Soveraign because Christ said to St. Peter Feed my Sheep That a married Man cannot please God because St. Paul saith They that are in the Flesh cannot please God. And to give one Instance in the Subject we are now upon That no unlearned Man may presume to meddle with the Scripture because God commanded That if a Beast touch'd the Mountain it should be stoned or thrust through with a Dart. Did ever Men more abuse the Scripture than those who for bad purposes put such absurd ridiculous Senses upon it And yet these are the Men who have taken upon them to be the only infallible Interpreters of it Let all impartial Men then judg who best deserves to be forbidden to read it Whether his Holiness or an honest Mechanic The Truth is the Pope and his Clergy have set up a Worldly Religion so directly opposite to that of Christ that the Heretical Scriptures however tortured will never be brought to a compliance with The Mischiefs they talk of that arise from the Vulgar are but pretended the Mischiefs that come to themselves thereby are those they are indeed afraid of as was plainly confessed to Pope Julius III by those Bishops assembled at Bononia to consult about the establishment of the Roman Church m Verger Consil de Rom. Eccles stabilienda I shall not insist upon it That the Representer is so intent upon the Mischiefs that he quite forgets the Benefits which arise from reading the Scriptures and those many intolerable Mischiefs which flow from the neglect of it which the ancient Fathers have largely insisted upon The reading of the Divine Scriptures says St. Chrysostom is a Spiritual Meadow a Paradise of Delights a better Paradise of Delight than that other Paradise God hath planted this Paradise not in the Earth but in the Souls of Believers He hath placed it not in Eden or toward the East confining it to one place but hath extended it to the Ends of the World. Here is no Serpent it is a place free from wild Beasts and fenced with the Grace of the holy Spirit And this Paradise hath a Fountain as the other had a Fountain from which not only four but myriads of Rivers flow Would you know the Nature of it know it from its use It is not profitable to this present Life but to the Life eternal Let us spend our Time in this Paradise let us sit by this Fountain let us abide in the reading of these Scriptures For as those that sit by a Fountain and enjoy that cool refreshing Air and when the Sun grows hot dipping their Face continually do drive away the stifling Heat and easily cure their troublesom Thirst So he that sits by the Fountain of the Divine Scriptures if the flame of Lust annoy him bathing his Soul in these Waters he may easily extinguish it If fierce Anger molest him inflaming his Heart as a boiling Cauldron by instilling a little of this Water he may presently repress the importunity of the Passion and from all evil Cogitations the reading of the Divine Scriptures delivers the Soul. For which Reason the great Prophet David knowing the advantage that comes by reading the Scriptures compares the Man who constantly attends to the Scriptures to a Plant placed by the Rivers of Waters which always flourishes For as that Tree is not hurt by unseasonable Air or by the scorching Rays of the Sun So that Soul that stands by the flowings of the Divine Scriptures and is continually watered by them is unconquerable if Sickness Loss false Accusation Revilings Yea if all the Evils in the World assault such a Soul he easily repels all Perturbations of Mind having sufficient Consolation from the reading of the Scriptures n De utilitate lectionis Script If any Man list to see more to this purpose let him consult the Sermon And as the Benefits are many and so great that a Man may reap from the reading of the Scripture so the same St. Chrysostom tells us that Myriads of Mischiefs spring from the neglect of it o Proaem in Epist ad Rom. many of which he hath given us a particular account of in several of his Sermons SECT II. Let us now consider what these Mischiefs are the Representer makes such a Noise about Besides those mention'd
I mean the Arguments by which the People were stirred up to rebel were transcribed from Popish Writers particularly from Mariana and Parsons out of whom he may see in some Books then published whole leaves together translated And therefore 5. The Divisions among the Vulgar are very rarely in comparison owing to themselves they are not to be imputed to the different Senses which they themselves in their private reading put upon the Bible but for the most part to the different Senses they receive of it from their Teachers For the truth of which I appeal to History and to the common Observation of Mankind If the Representer be not satisfied with this I desire him to answer but this one Question Whence came it to pass that so many of the Vulgar in England France Germany the Netherlands c. divided themselves from the Church of Rome before they had the Bible in a Language they understood That Division could not proceed from their reading of the Bible which was made before they had ever read it I cannot imagine what Answer he can give but that they followed their Leaders Wickliff Luther Zuinglius c. who first dividing from the Church of Rome drew the People after them The Division therefore took its Rise from the Learned and from them descended to the Ignorant The Trent Fathers therefore were miserably mistaken in denying the Bible to the Laity only they should have decreed in the first place that no Clergy-man should be suffer'd to read it that there might be like People like Priest And this the more prudent Bishops at Bononia were aware of when they advised Julius III not to permit any Mortal to read more of the Gospel than that little which is contained in the Mass (e) Consil de Rom. Eccles stabiliend apud Vergerium Tom. 1. I need say no more to expose the Falshood of this Assertion That the Divisions among Christians proceed solely or chiefly from permitting the Bible among the Vulgar But 2. If this were true yet it would not be a sufficient Reason for denying the reading of the Bible to the Vulgar For if it were so now it would have been so heretofore it would have been so in the early Ages of the Christian Church when there were as many Sects and Heresies as there are now It would have been so in the Time of the Apostles for in almost every Church planted by them Divisions presently sprang up It would have been so in the Jewish Church for they had their Sects as well as the Christians yea it would have been so from the very beginning when the Scripture was first publish'd But when the Bible was first written had this been a sufficient Reason would God have caused it to be written in the Vulgar Language of that People to whom it was given and laid his Command upon all without distinction to apply themselves to the study of it And in the succeeding Ages of the Jewish Church yea after the Babylonian Captivity tho some new Sects then sprang up among them so far was it from being thought a Reason why they should not read the Law that by the Laws of that Nation every Man was obliged to write a Copy of the Law for himself with his own hand And if the Case had been alter'd in the days of our Saviour would he not have told us Would he never have reproved the prying Multitude as the Representer is pleased to complement the People for reading the Law and the Prophets Nay would he have put them upon the reading of them as he plainly does as oft as in his Discourses to the People he quotes them for the proof of what he says And had his Apostles after him thought this a fit Expedient either for the Prevention or Cure of Divisions when they wrote their Epistles to those Churches in which Divisions were already sown as the Churches of Corinth and Colosse would they have addressed them to all without exception and exhorted all that the Word of God dwell in them richly And when in succeeding Ages the Church was miserably rent with Schisms do any of the Fathers prescribe this Remedy Nay tho St. Jerome St. Austin St. Chrysostom c. sadly complain of the abuse of Scripture by Hereticks yet do they not exhort all sorts of Persons to read it In a word The Church of Rome it self did not think this a fit Expedient till it was so changed from what it was in the beginning that if St. Peter and St. Paul should have been raised again from the Dead they would not have owned it for that Church which they at first planted I have I think said more than enough to the first Mischief II. The second which he gives as the main Reason Mischief II. why the Holy Scripture is not allow'd to the Vulgar of his Church without exception is this That if this be allow'd there will be as many different Bibles among them as there are Heads (f) Chap. 8. p. 54. that is The words of the Bible will be understood by them in as many different senses as there are Men For he thus explains himself Tho the Book of the Scriptures does certainly contain the Word of God yet to every Christian that reads it 't is the Sense and Meaning and not the Letter is more properly the Word of God. Now do You but reflect in how many different Senses the Letter of the Bible is understood and so many different Bibles will you find multiply'd by your Followers And tell me upon examination whether this be much fewer than Heads g P. 54. So wonderfully pleased is he with this Conceit that he presently falls into a fit of Raillery Don't you think there would be a pretty variety of Bibles there would be this Man's Bible and that Man's Bible such an one's Bible and such an one's Bible infinite number of Bibles But I fear I shall quickly spoil his mirth I shall not insist upon it That every difference in sense makes not a difference of Bibles as long as there is an agreement in all things material in those Points which by all the differing Parties are acknowledged sufficient to Salvation I need not beg this because they themselves are forc'd to assert it in their own defence For they acknowledg that the Vulgar Latin Translation of the Bible differs in many places from the Original That before Pope Clement's Edition there were many various Readings That the Bibles set forth by Sixtus and Clement are different each from other in many Places and yet they say they are not to be reckoned different Bibles because they do not differ in any thing material to the Faith. This being premised I return to his Argument which in short is this If the Holy Scriptures should be generally allow'd to the Vulgar without exception they will every one understand them in a different sense h Ibid. Therefore they ought not to be thus allow'd Now in that
he says generally and without exception He supposes That if they be allow'd to the Vulgar not generally but with an Exception they to whom they are so allow'd will not make them so many different Bibles From whence it plainly follows That if they should be allow'd to all without exception yet many of that all will understand them in the same sense which overthrows his universal Conclusion viz. That there will be as many different Bibles as Heads But I pass this Nor shall I stay to shew First That the Antecedent is notoriously untrue Secondly That if it were true yet the same Mischief will follow if the Vulgar be taught the Bible by their Pastors as he says they are in the Church of Rome because they may put as many different Interpretations upon their words as upon the words of the Bible But shall content my self to return these three things in answer to the Argument which will sufficiently expose its absurdity First That it is of equal force against the reading of the Bible by the Learned yea of much greater The Reason is plain because the Learned are those especially who expound the Bible to different Senses The most zealous Papist if he please to follow the Representer's Direction shall find this as evident as Demonstration Let him first ask twenty Lay-men what is the meaning of such a Text and write down each Man's sense at length as he delivers it in one Column Then let him consult twenty of the most learned Popish Commentators upon the same Text and write down what each of them says in another then let him compare all the Lay-men senses together and observe all the differences that are between them Let him then compare all the Learned Commentators senses together and observe likewise all the Differences between them then let him compare the Differences between the Vulgar with those between the Learned and if he find not the former fewer and less material than the later I shall own that I am mistaken I add That if the Understanding some places of Scripture in a different sense makes different Bibles then St. Cyprian and St. Stephen St. Austin and St. Jerome St. Cyril and Theodoret yea all the Learned Fathers of the Primitive Church had different Bibles and therefore if this Argument signify any thing ought not to have been suffered to read the Scripture The absurdity of which will yet be more manifest because Secondly Where the Vulgar are not permitted to read the Bible there are as many different Bibles in the Representer's sense as where they are Even in the Church of Rome there are as many I may truly say many more than among the Protestants The Thomists have one Bible the Scotists another the Franciscans one the Dominicans another the Jesuits one the Jansenists another The Scotists Bible teaches that Original Sin is nothing but the Privation of Original Righteousness the Thomists Bible teaches it is more The Franciscans find in their Bible the immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin the Dominicans find no such Matter in theirs The Jansenists Bible gives to God alone the praise of Converting Grace the Jesuits Bible gives it to God and themselves too In many of their Bibles Transubstantiation is as legible as these words This is my Body in many others no such Doctrine appears Yea the very Popes themselves in spite of their Infallibility have Bibles not only different but plainly contradictory Pope Gregory's I. Bible taught him that the Emperor was his Lord Pope Gregory's VII that the Emperor was his Vassal Yea some of their Bibles have taught them to be downright Hereticks so did Pope Honorius's and John's XXIII And which is yet worse not only their Popes but their Councils too have had different Bibles as might be shew'd at large if it were needful Yea if that be true which a great Cardinal has affirmed That the Precepts of Christ may be changed by the Church and at one time be interpreted to this sense and at another time to that i Card. Cusan Epist 2. de usu Communionis ad Bohem. Then the Church of Rome may every Age or every year have a different Bible And whereas the Representer grants that the Protestants have all the same Bible in their hands tho it be different in their Heads Those of the Church of Rome have in their Hands in one Age one Bible in another Age another In this and the Age next foregoing the Books of the Maccabees have been part of the Bible in their Hands which certainly were not so in the Age of Gregory the Great k Greg. Moral Expos in Job l. 19. c. 17. I further add That their agreement about the sense of the Council of Trent is as little as about the sense of the Scripture Soto's Council of Trent and Catharinus's Council of Trent Bellarmin's Council of Trent and the Bishop of Meaux's Council of Trent are so far from being the same that they are in many things directly opposite And therefore 3. To retort the Argument How shamefully does the Representer delude the poor Vulgar in perswading them that tho they do not read the Bible yet the very same Word of God is delivered to them by their Teachers whereas when it comes to be examined it is not the Word of God but their Teachers Imaginations they are guided by To convince him of this by his own experiment Let him take all the different senses their Teachers put upon the Scripture and carry them to any Licenser of his own Church in order to be printed and published as the Word of God and Rule of Faith and see if he can find any who will set them forward with an Imprimatur What an Vnchristian Imposture is it then to let so many poor Souls go on with a secure confidence of following the Word of God when what they follow is nothing better than the Imaginations and Dreams of their Priests Let now the Representer judg to whose shame the Droll is exposed and if he please let him still go on to upbraid the Protestants with their different Bibles III. But the Representer will go farther with us For Mischief III. 't is not only thus says he in several People but even the same Person many times has the faculty of multiplying the Word of God. For how many are there to be found among the Vulgar who according to their different humours as their Interest changes according to the different Impressions they receive from Confidents especially such as have gained their good Opinion espouse different Doctrines and Perswasions and run thorough as many Sects as there are Divisions in the Nation And yet in all their windings they follow as they imagine the Scripture Don't you see how to these same Persons the Word of God is not always the same It alters according to Seasons and Times and it was one Word of God directed them the last year another this c. Now suppose all this to
is this That they are equally accommodated to the Learned and the Ignorant to little Children and to grown Men to the weak and to the perfect to the shallow and the more profound Wits (u) De la Lect de l'Ecriture sainte l. 2. c. 6. But the Representer asks If the Scripture be so plain and easy how comes it there is so little agreement in the understanding it How are there so many different and contrary Divisions Sects and Perswasions in this one Nation How comes it that even in the essentials of Christianity concerning the Trinity c. there has been and at present is so great diversity among those that read the Scripture I answer 1. That the agreement among Protestants is not so little as he pretends That the Reformed Churches agree in all essential Points of Faith any Man may be satisfied who will take the pains to read over the Harmony of their Confessions But 2. Let the Disagreement be more or less it proceeds not from the Obscurity of the Scriptures This is evident because the Disagreement among those that read the Scripture is as great in those things that are most plainly as in those that are more obscurely delivered Can anything be more plain than these words of Christ concerning the Cup Drink ye all of it (w) Mat. 26. 27. Or those of St. Paul in which he applys this Drinking to the Lay-Corinthians (x) 1 Cor. 11. 25. Suppose it was Christ's Intention that the Laity should partake of the Cup as well as the Bread would not those Men who do not see it in these words in whatsoever Words he had express'd it have found out another meaning It 's plain then that it is not the obscurity of the Text from whence this diversity of Interpretation arises But. 2. To gratify the Representer I 'le plainly tell him what it is 1. In those who have different Lusts and Interests to serve 't is their different Lusts and Interests with which the Scriptures must be forced to comply 2. In those who are sincere and do not profess contrary to their Belief it is the different Prejudice or Principle they are possess'd with Tho the Scripture speaks never so plainly against the Doctrine and Worship of such a sort of Men yet if it be inconsistent with that which they have laid for the main Principle and Foundation of their Faith they can never perswade themselves that the Words are to be taken according to the most common and obvious sense but must find out some other meaning for them For instance It is a Principle with the Romanists that their Church cannot err Let therefore Scripture be never so express against the Worship of Images against Transubstantiation against Communion in one kind against the Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass against Prayer in an unknown Tongue yet they must of necessity conclude that it does not mean what it seems to say because if it should it unavoidably follows that their Church hath gosly err'd which according to their Principle is as impossible as that the Truth and Promise of God should fail And that it is indeed this Principle not the Obscurity of the Scripture that makes the difference in many Texts between them and us is evident enough by this consideration viz. That they cannot see that in the plainest words that is contrary to their Principle whereas in words not only obscure but most remote and impertinent they can see that which is agreeable thereto 1. They cannot see that in the plainest words that is contrary to their Principle If to worship an Image be unlawful their Church hath err'd therefore they cannot see it is forbid in the Second Commandment tho it is hard to conceive that other Words can be used more full to that purpose For be it graven Image or graven Thing or Idol that is forbidden it matters not since the Similitude or Likeness of any thing in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath c. is forbidden also 2. But see now how they can find that in the most remote and impertinent Text that is agreeable to their Principle Would you have a Scripture for the Worship of Images Bellarmine gives you Mat. 5. 34 35. Swear not by the Heaven for it is God's Throne nor by the Earth for it is his Footstool (y) De Imagin Sanctorum l. 2. c. 12. If you think this not clear enough take 2 Tim. 3. 15. Thou hast known the holy Scriptures from a Child (z) Ibid. The Scriptures are called Holy Scriptures therefore the Images of Christ and his Saints are to be worship'd Here 's a Demonstration as bright as Midnight He must be stark blind or shut his Eyes hard who can avoid its light I omit many other Instances which are ready at hand By these now mention'd it 's manifest enough that Mens Disagreement about the Sense of Scripture doth not proceed from its obscurity but from the different Principles or Prejudices they are prepossest with Better would it be for the Church of Rome were it more obscure in many Points than it is And were it but as clear for them as it is against them they would not then complain of its Obscurity or prohibit the Vulgar the reading of it II. But the Protestants are for setting up every Man's private Reason to be Judg of Scripture What to be Judg of what in Scripture ought to be received and what rejected as the Socinians do This is a very disingenuous Misrepresentation Much more remote from Truth is it That they are far worse in this than the rankest Socinian in the World (a) P. 58. The Protestant he very well knows being satisfied by his Reason concerning the divine Authority of the Scripture he firmly assents to whatsoever he finds delivered in it tho he be not able to conceive how it should be He indeed uses his Reason in judging of the sense of Scripture which he must of necessity do or else he can have no reason to believe it in a true rather than a false sense But having to the best of his understanding found out the meaning of it he makes neither common nor private Reason the Measure of what is to be received so as to admit nothing into his Faith but what he is able fully to understand Tho he meets with some things which are above his Capacity yet he does not say as Socinus speaking of Christ's Satisfaction If the very word were in Scripture not once but often yet I would not believe it but thinks he has the greatest Reason in the World to believe them because God has deliver'd them And that some things in Scripture are above his Capacity this he thinks is so far from being a discouragement that it is rather a motive to his Faith for he might be tempted to suspect the Divinity of the Scriptures if he found nothing in them above the reach of his own little Understanding either at first to
so slippery so weak various wavering changeable inconstant as you see the private Reason of the Learned is to be rely'd on by them as their Guide in expounding of Scripture How can you imagine it possible for all Christians to concur in the same Belief while the Learned who read and expound the Scripture give differing and contrary interpretations of it For as long as the Scripture is no otherwise in their Heads and Hearts than by the interpretation they make of it their Faith must necessarily be as various as their Interpretation And is not the Story of the Manna which follows as applicable to the Learned For was not the taste of the Manna as different to the Priests as it was to the People Did it not relish according to that kind of Meat that was most grateful to every Priest's Palate Now if the Priests in Canaan had receiv'd a Command of bringing forth that sort of Meat whose taste should be like that of the Manna they ate in the Desert was it possible they should all agree in their Dish Since tho the Manna was the same they all fed on yet the Relish was as different as their Tempers and Palats Don't you therefore see that Men will never be of one Spirit and one Mind until the reading of the Scripture be prohibited to the Learned and not to some but to all his Holiness as Infallible only excepted For if it be allow'd to the Cardinals notwithstanding their Eminences above others together with his Holiness they will never agree in the sense of it For I can tell you of many Cardinals who have differ'd from his Holiness and among themselves too about the sense of it Is it not then as plain as Demonstration that there will be no end of Controversies as long as the Scriptures are read by any Man in the World besides the Pope And perhaps not then neither for since he is not infallible but when he speaks from his Chair which seldom happens at other times he may chance to contradict himself and give one sense of Scripture this Year another the next It were therefore most advisable could it possibly be effected that the Book it self were utterly abolished Let not any Man interpret this to the disparagement of Learning since nothing can be more evident than that the Learned have vast Advantages above the rest of Mankind for attaining to the true meaning of the more obscure Texts of Scripture provided they sincerely search after Truth and are so humble so sensible of their own liableness to mistake that they daily implore the Divine Assistance But if they be destitute of these Qualifications they are not only as subject to err but to err more dangerously than others In the beginning of the 10th Chapter the Representer talks again at the same impertinent rate so agreeable to him is this way of reasoning that he naturally falls into it in every Chapter But the Vanity of it lies so open that it need not be further exposed If any Man please to consult the place I shall leave it to himself to judg whether it be not every whit as applicable against permitting the Scripture to the Learned as the Vulgar But the Representer may say The Church of Rome does not allow the Learned to interpret Scripture according to their own private Reason For the Council of Trent has decreed That no Man presume to interpret Scripture contrary to the sense of the Church or the unanimous consent of the Fathers And has not the Church of England her Confession of Faith contrary to which she allows none of her Members to interpret Scripture Does she not admit all such Traditional Interpretations as can be derived from the Fountain And for all such Texts as are obscure and doubtful does she not direct the Vulgar to consult their Guides Tho it is true she does not command them to believe that White is Black or that Vice is Vertue if the Priest says that it is But however the Church of Rome denies them the liberty of interpreting the Scripture in their own sense it is certain that they commonly take it else how comes it that they give such different senses of the same Scripture How comes it that many of the Learned expound the sixth Chapter of St. John of the sacramental eating of Christ's Flesh and many as learned as they say that no such matter is there intended How comes it when so many tell us that these words This is my Body are so plain for Transubstantiation that he must be quite blind who does not see it that others whose sight is as good as theirs tell us they are not able to see this in them Do these Learned Men in their Exposition of the Scripture give us the sense of the Roman Church or do they not If not they follow their own private Reason if they do their Church gives contrary senses of Scripture and is as far from being one in this respect as it is from being Catholic He confesses p. 63. That some of the Protestants to keep up the Face of the Church do speculatively contend for Authority and Guides But then he says In Fact they defeat all these their Pretensions How do they in Fact defeat them Because they own no Authority so great or safe but it is to be subjected to the controul of every private Examiner They own an Authority so great as to Matters of External Government as to be subject to the controul of no Man who lives in Communion with the Church But he means an Authority so great that whatsoever the Church commands and prescribes to be receiv'd as the Truth and Faith of Christ it ought to be received But can the Church have no Authority unless Men are bound to believe without examination whatsoever she prescribes to be believed If so then had she no Authority in our Saviour's and his Apostles days no nor for several Ages after them For if any such Authority had been own'd in the fourth Century how came it to pass that after the Nicene Council the Arian Heresy spread more than it had done before If this be to open a Gate to all the Fanaticisms and Quakerisms in the World 't is certain the Protestants did not first open it but it was long before open'd by our Blessed Saviour when he gave this Command to his Disciples Call no Man Father upon the Earth for one is Your Father which is in Heaven neither be ye called Masters for one is Your Master even Christ (h) Mat. 23. 9 10. As much as to say There is none upon Earth by whose sense a Christian is to be absolutely determin'd his Faith is not to be resolv'd into any Man's Authority But by the Creed all Christians are bound to believe the Holy Catholic Church Yes That there is such a Church and that this Church teaches all Truths necessary to be known But it is one thing to believe this another thing to believe as
to forbear the reading of the Scriptures who do not understand them Secondly That they who thus read them with a pious Mind shall be graciously accepted and rewarded by God. These Inferences are not mine but both of them St. Chrysostom's It follows Since therefore the Papists in delivering the Scriptures come nearest to this method commanded by God in the Old Law prescribed and practised by Christ and his Apostles in the New c. If he mean that this was the only Method commanded by God in the Old Law and prescribed by Christ in the New I have already shew'd it to be false If he mean that this was one Method then how widely remote the Conclusion is from the Premisses will appear only by setting them together One Method commanded by God in the Old Law was that the Priests and Levites should read the Law and explain it to the People the like Method was prescribed and practised by Christ and his Apostles in the New Law Therefore the Papists in withholding the Scripture from the Common People come nearest to the Method commanded by God in the Old Law and prescribed by Christ and his Apostles in the New. Where lies the Connection And yet I confess it follows as clearly as this That the Scriptures were not in the Vulgar Tongue because St. Paul said to Timothy Thou hast learned the Holy Scriptures from a Child (a) Ledesma de Script Divinis quavis lingua non legendis c. 5. I should have thought the quite contrary had followed had I not been taught otherwise by one that follows the guidance of the Infallible Church Had the Representer spoken the whole Truth in the Premisses the Conclusion had been unavoidable for the Protestants who in delivering the Scripture to the People observe the same Method that God appointed under the Law and Christ and his Apostles under the Gospel What follows upon this Head we have had before SECT III. That which the Representer reckons as another Misconstruction Inference 3. of the Protestants is this That the Reason why the Vulgar Papists are not permitted to read the Bible is for fear lest they should discover the Errors of their Religion (g) Chap. 8. p. 53. 'T is true the Protestants assign this for one Reason but when he brings in the Protestant saying I can apprehend no other he misrepresents them because they assign others tho they take this to be the chief Now this he says is a Misconstruction that lies so open that there needs no more than a glimpse of Reason to discover it Let us therefore see whether there be so much as a glimpse in those pretended Reasons he brings to confute it which are these two 1. That tho the Vulgar and Vnlearned of the Papists have not in some Countries the Bible promiscuously allow'd amongst them yet that in those same Countries and all others there 's no College Vniversity Community or place of Learning but where the Scriptures are publickly read and expounded (h) Ibid. 2. That there can be no ground for this Pretension at least here in England where the Bible in English or the Rhemes Testament is to be found in most Catholic Families (i) P. 54. 1. That in all Popish Countries there 's no College Vniversity Community or place of Learning but where the Scripture is publickly read and expounded Now if they viz. the Protestants should consider this is it possible says the Representer for them to believe that that Restraint is upon the Vulgar for fear they should see into the Follies of their Religion It is possible and because we see a Papist can believe contrary to Sense and Reason I add that it is not only possible but there is great Reason for Protestants to believe this And that 1. Because even Papists themselves believe it So did the Bishops that met at Bononia to consult about the establishment of the Roman Church For having given it as their last and weightiest Advice to Julius III That he labour to the uttermost that as little as may be of the Gospel especially in the Vulgar Tongue be read in the Cities that were under his Dominions and that that little might suffice which is wont to be read in the Mass They add This in short is the Book which besides others hath raised those Tempests and Whirlwinds which we are almost carried away with And the truth is if any Man shall diligently consider this Book and then view in order one after another the things which are wont to be done in our Churches he will see that there is a very great difference between them and that this our Doctrine is altogether diverse from that and oft-times even contrary to it which as soon as Men understand being stirred up by some Learned Men of our Adversaries they never give over clamouring against us till they have render'd us odious to all Men k Hic ille est liber qui praeter caeteros hasce nobis tempestates ac turbines concitavit quibus prope abrepti sumus Et sane si quis illum diligenter expendar deinde quae in nostris fieri Ecclesiiis consueverunt singula ordine contemplatur videbit plurimum inter se dissidere hanc doctrinam nostram ab illa prorsus diversam esse ac saepe contrariam etiam Quod simul atque homines intelligunt à docto scilicet aliquo Adversariorum nostrorum stimulati non ante clamandi in nos finem faciunt donec re tandem pervulgata nos invisos omnibus reddiderint Consil de Rom. Eccles Stab Of the same Belief was Peter Sutor as appears by these words Since many things are deliver'd to be observed which are not expresly in the Holy Scriptures will not the Vnlearned observing these things be ready to murmur complaining that so great Burdens are laid upon them by which their Gospel-Liberty is sorely abridged And will they not be easily withdrawn from observing the Constitutions of the Church when they shall see that they are not contain'd in the Law of Christ l Sed cum multa palam tradantur observanda quae Sacris in literis expresse non habentur nonne Idiotae haec animadvertentes facile murmurabunt conquerentes cur tantae sibi imponantur Sarcinae quibus libertas Evangelica ita gravicer elevatur Nonne facile retrahentur ab observantia Institutionum Ecclesiasticarum quando eas in lege Christi animadverterint non contineri De Translat Bibl. c. 22. Fo. 96. To which may be added all those which make a vast number who as the Cardinal Rodolpho Pio di Carpi believe that if the Bible be in the Vulgar Tongue all Men will become Hereticks m Soave 's Hist of the Counc of Trent l. 5. p. 460. For who do they usually mean by Hereticks but those who by reading the Bible do first discover and then renounce their Errors Now tho I confess there are some things believed by Papists which I think it