that kindled the flame which burns to this day 'T is a prodigious blindness in which there is somthing supernatural that men should come so far as to utter such Blasphemies and that at this day men should not be afraid to repeat them Scripture insufficient The Third Affront tho Papists offer to the Scriptures is their asserting them to be insufficient and imperfect and that they cannot serve as a Rule of Faith. They employ their greatest Engins to establish this Principle Councill of Trent Ses 4. that Traditions ought to be regarded with the same reverence and veneration that is given to the Scripture Yea that Traditions excell the Scriptures because the H. Scriptures cannot subsist unless confirmed by Tradition Baron Tom. â— Annal. whereas Traditions keep their strength intire without the H. Writings We stand more in need of Tradition than of Scripture for the Scriptures only furnish us with a dead and dumb letter But Tradition as the Church holds it forth helps us to the true sense which is not indeed distinctly layd down in the Scripture yet is the real word of God. W. Bayly Nothing is more injurious to the Scripture than this Nothing is more contrary to the intention and wisdom of God than to suppose that he hath given a Rule of Faith which cannot regulate Faith which is too short by more than three quarters which is crooked dubious flexible and altogether useless without the aid of another Rule that is unknown to all Christians excepting a small number of Learned men who alone are capable of consulting it Scripture hath no Authority The fourth Affront that Popery offers to the Scriptures relates to their Authority They have no Authority without the testimony of the Church Without the Authority of the Church Bayly we should have no more Obligation to believe the Scriptures than the History of Titus Livius The Scripture Hosius if deprived of the Churches testimony have no more Authority than Esops Fables How know we say they that the Writings which go under the name of Moses are his seeing we never had a sight of the Originals And if we should who could assure us that they were writ by Moses's own hand Again if we could be assured of this what certainty have we that what Moses writ is true Who shall assure us that the Evangelists were Witnesses to all that they report But tho we should believe that they saw and heard all the Actions and Discourses of J. Christ which they report yet they might forgett and lye as every man may deceive and be deceived How can we again know with certainty Pighius that what goes under their names are their true Writings and not corrupted or forged I know not what kind of Temper a man must be of who can read and hear such things without trembling He that should speak at this rate of the Alcoran at Constantinople would be impaled alive An Infidel cannot say more to destroy all the Authority of the Holy Scriptures The several ways used by Papists to take away the Credit of the scripture 'T is not enough to these Gentlemen to affront the Scriptures by these four Accusations 1. That they are not necessary to the Church 2. That they are obscure 3. That they are defective 4. That they have no Authority as to us without the Church there is no Method imaginable which they employ not to dishonour them They tell us that they were writ only Occasionally and not at all with any design to make them a Rule of Faith. An Evangelist or an Apostle wrote a Gospel or an Epistle at random by chance and on particular private designs Afterward the Church collected those loose writings into one Book But seeing these were not writ by one or several persons writing in concert we cannot find in them a System of Faith. Can any thing be said more affronting to the H. Spirit who ordered the pens of these Writers and the occasions that obliged them to write The Papists talk just as if the Apostles had writ meerly on their own designs without any Inspiration But did not the H. Spirit who moved them to write design their writings collected together should be the true Rule of Faith To lessen the Credit of the Canonical books that are truly divine Popery hath joyn'd with them fabulous books a tale of Tobit a Romance of Judith of Bel and the Dragon of Susanna This tends to dispose the minds of men to believe whatever they have a mind to propose seeing the veriest Fables when authoriz'd by the Church ought to be received as Truth and the greatest Truth destitute of the Churches Testimony may be rejected as a Fable This is not yet enough the more effectually to abolish the holy Books and their Authority they affirm that at this time we have not the H. Scriptures compleat Many Books say they are lost we have not the Book of the Wars of the Lord mention'd in the Book of Numbers We have not the Books of Gad and of Iddo Solomon wrote concerning plants from the Cedar even to the Hyssop and I know not how many thousand Parables and Songs which we have not S. Paul wrote a third Epistle to the Corinthians which is lost one to the Church of Laodicea and perhaps many others which are not to be found and who knows whether in all these writings that we have not there were not innumerable things which would have made the Rule of Faith more compleat Perhaps what is come down to us are only some Planks escap'd from a Shipwrack which hath swallowed up the Vessel All the sacred Books of the Old Testament were burnt at the sacking of Jerusalem under Zedekiah Afterward Ezra gather'd what he could of the scatterd pieces There are Popish Authors who discourse at this rate Yea they go further Those Books of Holy Scripture that are preserved are yet corrupted and alterd The Jews out of hatred to the Christian Religion have corrupted the Originals at the best these Originals are lost and the Copies have felt the injuries of Time and the fate that is inevitable to all antient Books having for above three thousand years past thro the hands of so many ignorant persons many things may have been changed in them Besides they are dead Languages in which these Books are written such as we understand not we are not skill'd in their Grammar we know not the signification of their words This is what they discourse at this day Lastly to compleat the Affront they pull away these books out of the peoples hands they affright them with these as if they tended to ruin their souls They tell men that it never was the intention of God to abandon his Scriptures to the indiscretion of the Laity And on this pretence the Scripture is become a secret Book hid under a barbarous Language to which none is allowed to approach unless he is aforehand initiated in their
mystical and spiritual reason assign'd for 't But First these are meer Chimaera's and fancies which the first Inventers of these Ceremonies never dreamt of we are told of a learned man in the Church of Rome a Canon of Clugny who hath prepared a book for the press that will confute and shame the Durand's the Biels the Innocent's and the Disciples of such as have wrote of the Mysteries of the Mass for he will prove that all these Ceremonies are without any mystery and that they were only instituted upon motives of commodity and convenience or by meer hazard and occasion but suppose there were a mysterious Intention hidden under these Ceremonies were the service any whit the less carnal for this who allmost is there that understands these Mysteries A man must have been for a long time in a dream to have imagin'd those impertinent reasons which are brought by the mystical Authors of the Roman Church for all the parts of their external worship The Priests themselves do not know them and the People never heard one word concerning them so that they never see any thing but bodily exercise and a worship meerly corporeal and external The most important piece of worship in the Church of Rome is the Mass let us examin it a little whether it hath those two Characters of being Spiritual and Reasonable which are certainly two properties of every Service in the Christian Religion In the Mass the Priest being cloath'd with his Sacerdotal Habit begins with that which they call the Judica the Introitus and the Confiteor There some words taken out of the Psalms are thrust in and mixt with some words of prayer The Priest makes confession of his sins to God to the Virgin and to the Saints he demands absolution and he bestows it on the People he ascendes to the Altar he stoops down below it and mutters some prayers to himself of which no body understands either the sense or the sound He says to the People Cantate Domino i. e. sing to the Lord and yet no man dares sing He repeats several times Kirie Eleison Christe Eleison Greek words whose meaning he knows not for 't is very common that he scarce understands the Latine of the Mass The Gradual is the second part of the Mass in which he sings some kind of songs that are different according to the time and Days on which Mass is read the Deacon prepares himself to read the Gospell he prays to God in Latin that he would purify his Lips the Priest gives him his blessing and makes many signs of the Cross over him The Deacon kisseth the hand of the Priest and makes the sign of the Cross with the thumb of his right hand over the Book over himself upon his forehead his mouth and stomach he perfumes the Book with Incense and being thus well armed against the charms of the Devill by his Grimace and wry-faces he reads the Gospell of the day but the poor People in the mean while understand nothing The reading being over the Priest returns the Book saying these words Per Evangelica dicta deleantur nostra Delicta i. e. by the sayings of the Gospell may our sins be blotted out The Deacon burns Incense the Priest reads the Creed and turning towards the People he says Dominus vobiscum After the Gradual comes the Offertory in which the Priest taking the dish wherin are the unconsecrated wafers he offers them unto God with these words Holy Father God Almighty and Eternal receive this immaculate sacrifice which I thine unworthy servant offer unto Thee my living and true God for my innumerable sins offences and negligences and for all those who are here present round about and for all faith full Christians Living and Dead that it might be profitable to their salvation in Eternal Life Observe that 't is all this while but meer bread But what kind of Bread think ye little loose leaves of paper made with a little flower and bak't between two Irons This is the propitiatory oblation that is offer'd for the Living and the Dead After this the Priest takes the Chalice and offers it likewise unto God he makes many Prayers that God would bless this sacrifice that he would accept it and that it may be gratefull and well-pleasing to him You must know that this was the sacrifice of the Mass before Transubstantiation was found out plain Bread and wine was then offer'd Judge then whether any man could believe that this was a true propitiatory Sacrifice In this part of the Mass every thing that can be imagin'd is done to make this bread and wine to be a propitiatory Sacrifice They offer it to God they offer it to the honour of the Saints and of the Virgin and say unto the People Pray to God that this Sacrifice which is yours and mine may be acceptable to him 'T is in this part that the Secrets are said they are short Prayers spoken with a low voice but are concluded with a per omnia saecula saeculorum which breaks forth in a voice of Thunder after a deep silence Lastly comes the Canon of the Mass which is an additional peice in favor of Transubstantiation There begins the Consecration and the Body of Jesus Christ then comes upon the Altar There the Priest changes postures and makes an hundred grimaces he speaks and then holds his tongue he stoops down then raiseth himself up and kisses the sides of the Altar He makes many signs of the cross he prays for the Popes for Kings and for him in particular on whose account that Mass is said He offers to the honour of God of the Virgin of the Apostles and of the Martyrs when the consecration is over he rises up and worships After this he proceeds to the true propitiatory Sacrifice He offers the Body of J. Christ praying God that it may be as agreable to him as the Sacrifice of Abel i. e. they compare the Body of our Lord to that of a dead Beast The Priest strikes upon his breast several times he uncovers the chalice and makes many signs of the Cross over the Blood of J. Christ to drive the Devil from it He sings he prays and then sets down the chalice and the consecrated wafers upon the corporal that is to say upon the linnen of the Altar He again takes up the Dish wherin the wafers are he makes over himself a great sign of the Cross and breaks the wafer into three pieces He throws one back into the chalice with the other he makes the signs of the cross over the chalice touching the foot of it the middle and the brim and then he stroaks his eyes with it He covers the chalice again he prays and returns to the side of the People and makes them kiss the Pax so they call a Trenchar or a little board on which is painted a Crucifix or the image of the Virgin. Then he puts himself in a posture to eat the wafer and
drink the chalice He prepares himself by divers signs of the Cross kneelings and prayers he eats the pieces of the wafer that are upon the plate and then repeating the same actions as for the wafer he drinks the chalice with that part of the wafer that was thrown into it He makes the assistants likewise to communicate if there be any present who are prepar'd He rinses the gobelet with unconsecrated wine he drinks it he empties the chalice and folds up the linnen and pronounces the last Dominus vobiscum and at last he saith the Ite Missaest and for a conclusion he kisseth the Altar lifts his eyes and hands to Heaven worships the cross and blesseth the People These are the ordinary simple Masses but those upon Great Festivals have the addition of many other things For instance in that on the Saturday before Easter they put out all the candles in the Church and strike new fire with a Flintand steel The Pomp of Solemn Masses they sprinkle the new fire with holy water they light up torches the Deacon takes three lighted Tapers at the end of a stick The Acolyte fastens five grains of Incense in the form of a cross upon one of the consecrated Tapers they kindle it they consecrate the fonts of Baptism by cutting the water in the form of a Cross they make it leap back towards the four parts of the world breathing upon it three times in the form of a Cross and dipping the consecrated Taper on which are the five grains of incense three times in this water in the form of a Cross Absurdities of the worship of the Mass When I consider this medley of vain Ceremonies without reason without order ill contriv'd and ill put together I cannot comprehend how so many men of understanding should ever suffer themselves to be inchanted with it What is there of Spirituality or of Reason in all these Grimaces turnings and returnings elevations and stoopings these signs of the cross repeated an hundred times over upon the Altar upon the Priest upon the book upon the wafers upon the body and blood it self of our Lord Jesus Christ these soft murmurs and loud screamings these Reverences and extensions of the hand c One must be prodigiously blind that can persuade himself that this is becoming the Majesty of divine service It would hardly be tolerable on a Theater in a piece that were any thing grave and these Gentlemen need not wonder that men compare this to the Ceremonies of such who by signs and figures and circles and muttering words think they can charm and chain up the Devill The Pagans themselves observ'd a better decorum in their sacrifices There is nothing Spiritual to be found in all this And there is as little to be found in it that can be called Rational 'T is true in this miscellany there are some things good for we meet with divers passages of the H. Scripture but they are intermixt without reason order or coherence and sometimes you may divine long enough ere you can imagine why or wherfore they are mention'd Besides that being in an unknown tongue whatsoever there is in it of Spirituality or Reason is lost as to the People What reason is there for the Confession of Sins to the Saints and to the Virgin as well as unto God what reason is there to demand the prayers of the people when they are ignorant of what you say to ' em Is it not absurd and ridiculous that a Priest celebrating a private Mass in the Corner of a Church without any assistants should turn himself about and speak to the walls saying Dominus vobiscum The Lord be with you Is it not ridiculous to make the Deacon ascend an high Pulpit in sight of all the People to read to 'em an Epistle or Gospell in Latine which they understand nothing of Is it not a manifest Contradiction to offer little wafers that are not consecrated as a Sacrifice for the living and the dead Is it not to affront our Blessed Lord Jesus to pretend to arm him against the Devill by making signs of the Cross Must they not be void of reason and common sense to leave a parcell of words in their liturgie which are addrest to the people and yet expresly to order that they shall be pronounc't with a low voice that they may not hear so much as the sound of ' em To what purpose do they pray for all the People as if they were to partake of the bread and wine and yet oftentimes they do not all communicate and when they do but in one kind of the bread only In truth we may as soon number the stars as reckon up all the absurdities contradictions and impieties of this false Worship What spirituality and what reason is there in the Ceremonies added by the Papacy unto Baptism the signs of the cross upon the forehead upon the mouth upon the nose upon the eyes upon the ears of the Baptised the spittle wherwith they stroak his nose and ears their exorcizing the water and the conjurations over the font of Baptism Circumcision was plain and simple there can be no comparison between this and that Can there be any spirituality or reason in giving to their Devoto's a Rosary or a string of Beads wherby they may repeat just such a number of Ave's and Paternoster's but ten Ave's to one Pater that is ten homages to the Virgin for one to God the Father as if the Virgin were ten times more adorable than God. Is it not absurd to say the Ave i. e. the salutation of the Angell to the Virgin in the form of a Prayer to give her the tidings of the future conception of Jesus Christ a thousand times a day two thousand years after his birth we should never have done if we should say all that may be urg'd against them on this head These Instances may suffice to let us see that the Romish worship in the general hath this in common with Heathenism that it is gross and carnal and without reason Let us now see it more particularly CHAPTER XVII The Parallel between Popery and Paganism in Doctrines and Worship being a continuation of the tenth character of Antichristianism found in the Papacy Popery hath five objects of worship THe Paganism of the Romish Religion is so obvious and manifest that 't is not possible not to discern it wherefore it hath been accus'd of this many hundred times within these last two hundred years That we may be convinc't there is ground for this charge we must consider in Popery the Object of their worship and the Ceremonies of it For the object of their worship they have First the Supreme God an Infinite Being 2. They worship Angells Spirits by nature separated from matter 3. They imploy and worship the Souls of men of Dead men whom they canoniz'd to whom they build temples and offer incense 4. They have services to the Dead and to