in their own Tongue to have it in Latin they stoutly resisted him So that the Pope that he might keep up his usurped Authority was forced to pretend that he gave them leave to have it in their own Language But amongst all his Instances the Cardinal had least reason to have mention'd the Conversion of the Indians and Jews For as for the Indians the unheard-of Cruelties which even the Popish Historians relate to have been used towards them and their gross Ignorance after their Conversion are a sufficient Evidence how little they were beholden for it to the Doctrine which was taught them One would wonder how it were possible for Mankind to be guilty of such inhuman Barbarities as Bartolomaeus Casas who was a Bishop and lived in India relates the Spaniards to have committed In abhorrence whereof Acosta has a Discourse on purpose to shew the Unreasonableness of making War against the Barbarians L. 2. c. 2 c. De Ind. salut procur upon the account of Religion He afterwards discourses of the Capacity of the Indians asserting that they ought to have better Instructors sent them That those which they then had had been of such little use to them that after the space of forty Years there were scarce any found amongst so great a number of Converts who understood two Articles of the Creed L. 4. c. 3. p. 358. or had any apprehension what Christ Eternal Life or the Eucharist meant But this concerning the Conversion of the Indians has already been mentioned in Note the fourth As for the manner of converting the Jews I shall only make mention of one Instance which happened in the time of Heraclius the Emperour who writ to Dagobert the King of France that he would command all the Jews in his Dominions to turn Christians Aimoin iv 22. and either to banish or slay those who would not who accordingly did so banishing as many as would not be baptized Since Erasmus who knew these matters well enough has so freely declared that altho their Conversion be a thing much to be wished for yet that such Courses were taken by some to effect it that of a wicked Jew Erasm Annoâ— in Mat. 23. it often happened there was made a Christian much more wicked than he was before his Conversion Having thus shewn the weakness of the Cardinal's Arguments all that I shall add upon this Subject shall be only this That the mean Account some of our new Converts have given of Themselves and the Motives of their Change looks not very favourable upon this Ninth Note and makes it suspicious that the Efficacy of Doctrine was not the only thing that did the work But that on the other hand since the chiefest Patrons of the Romish Cause do at this time endeavour to disguise their Religion with so much Artifice and to represent it as like ours as they can they do really think their Doctrine by its own Worth and Excellency then most likely to prevail when it is made appear to be most akin to that of the Reformed Churches THE END ERRATA PAge 212. line 26. read sets it in Page 223. line 22. r. the Church LONDON Printed by J. D. for Richard Chiswel at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1687. The Tenth Note of the CHURCH EXAMINED VIZ HOLINESS of LIFE Decima Nota est Sanctitas Vitae Auctorum sive primorum Patrum nostrae Religionis Bellarm. L. iv c. 13. de Notis Ecclesiae IMPRIMATUR June 22. 1687. Jo. Battely IN this Argument it may suffice if it be shown I. What the Notion of Holiness is II. That Holiness is not properly a Note of the true Church III. That if it were a Note of the true Church yet it would not so belong to the Roman as to distinguish it from all other Churches and to appear upon it as the Infallible Character of the only Fold of Christ I. For Holiness it is of two kinds Holiness of Calling and Dedication of Mind and Manners By Holiness of Calling and Dedication I mean the Separation of Persons from the unbelieving and wicked World and the incorporating of them by Baptism into the Spiritual Society of the Christian Church And by such means the dedicating of them to the Service of Christ according to the tenour of the Evangelical Covenant In this Sense St. Paul told the Members of the Church of Corinth (a) 1 Cor. 6.11 that they were wash'd and sanctify'd or by their Christian Calling or Dedication made Sacred and Holy. By Holiness of Mind and Manners to which Bellarmin here gives the Name of Probity a Vertue commended by him but coldly obey'd I understand the habitual private and publick Practice of Christian Religion as it proceeds from the true Principle of it the Love of God as it is measur'd by the True Rule of it Right Reason in Conjunction with the Revealed Will of God And as it is directed to its proper Ends the Glory of God and the Good of all reasonable Creatures For this kind of Holiness St. Paul (b) 1 Thess 5.23 makes pious Application to God in behalf of the Thessalonians saying The very God of Peace sanctify you wholly and I pray God your whole Spirit and Soul and Body be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Now II. Neither of these kinds of Holiness can be properly called a Note of the true Church For the first Kind It is confess'd that the Christian Church is Holy and it was called Holy in the Creed before the Epithet of Catholick was inserted into that Sum of Faith (c) S. Cypr. Epist 70. p. 190. cum dicimus h. e. Baptizandis credis in vitam aeternam remissionem Peccatorum per Sanctan Ecclesiam And the Supream Pastor of the Church lov'd it in such extraordinary manner that (d) Ephes 5.25 26 27. He gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of Water by the Word by Baptism and Assent to the Doctrine and Conditions of the Gospel That he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinckle or any such thing any thing which may seem uncomely to Christ to whom she as Supream Head is united That it should be Holy and without blemish This Holiness of Dedication is elegantly set forth after the manner of the Oriental Poesy in the Book of the Canticles in which is represented the Spiritual Marriage of Christ and his chaste and unblemish'd Church Though some Romanists have wrested these and other places which speak of her Dove-like and undefiled Nature and apply them to that which they please to call the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin (e) V. Coron preuves par l' Escriture du contenu en la foy Catholique p. 1. So ready are they who upbraid the Reformed with Interpreting Scripture out of their own Heads to do the same thing themselves and with a much greater mixture of
more boldly insisting again upon it he was then confuted by him openly in the Congregation exposed to publick Shame and by the Magistrate committed to Custody as a seditious Person and not long after by the Senate banished the City This publick Disgrace he would never forgive Calvin but ever after bore a mortal Hatred against him though he durst not openly proclaim it till after Calvin was remov'd into another World and out of a capacity of confuting his Calumnies This alone is enough the Romanists themselves being Judges to overthrow the Credit of this Story I might also add that Bolsec was a necessitous indigent Person and a Man of debauch'd Morals and so every way qualified for the feigning of a story which he was well assured would be amply rewarded 2. So gross are his Impostures that many Learned Papists who have made it their study to defame Calvin are asham'd to quote them Florimond de Raemond speaking of Calvin From this Head saith he as from Pandora 's Box are come forth all those Troops of Evils all those Legions of Miseries and those Torrents of Blood which have overflow'd the better part of Europe He that would know all these particulars let him read the Authors who have taken the pains to write them And then quoting Surius Bolsec and some others in the Margin he adds I have on purpose omitted many things for the fear I had that Hatred had sometimes more power over them than Truth (e) Qui en vondra scavoir toutes les particularitez lise les Auteurs qui ont pris la peine de l' Escriture I' enlaisse à dessein beaucomp de choses pour la crainte que j'ay que quelquefois la haine ait eu plus pouvoir sur eux que la verite De la Naâ—ssance de l' Heresie l. 7. c. 8. p. 879. Of those many things he omitted this foul Disease is one And Don Peter of St. Romuald a Priest and Monk As for Theodore Beza says he Jerome Bolsec and James Lingey all that they have written of Calvin is suspected of Flattery or of too great sharpness against him (f) Car pour Theodore de Beze Hierosme Bolsec Medicin de Lion Jaques Lingey Ecossois Docteur de Sorbonne tout ce qui ils en ont écrit est suspect de flaterie ou de trop grande aigreur contre luy Thres Cronolog Historiq l'an 150. 'T is no wonder he should say that Beza is suspected of Flattery but doubtless had not Bolsec's Calumnies been very broad and ill-colour'd a Monk would never have suspected them 2. The Falshood of this Tale will be farther manifest to all Men by considering what other Persons both Protestants and Papists whose Authority in this matter at least is unquestionable have written concerning Calvin's Diseases and Death 1. For Protestants I shall insist only upon Beza's History of his Life He pretending to tell us all his Diseases makes no mention of this besides that the account he gives of him some days before and at his Death is utterly inconsistent with it Bolsec says That from his Ulcers and from his whole Body issued most noisom Stinks by which he was loathsom to himself and his Family and that his Domesticks reported that for this very reason he would not be visited (g) Cum ex ulceribus totoque corpore gravissimi foetores emanarunt ob quorum graveolentiam sibi ipsi gravis quae eum circumstabat familiae erat Quam causam fuisse etiam hi ejus Domestici narrarunt quod visitari se nolletâ— Vit. Calv. c. 22. Now Beza tells us That after he had finish'd his Will viz. April 26. a Month and one Day before his Death he signified to the Syndicks and all the Senators that he had a desire to visit them once more in their Senate-House before he died and hoped to be carried thither the next Day they desired him to consult his Health and sent him word that they would come to him which accordingly they did After he had thanked them for their Favours and given them much good Advice he gave to every one of them his right Hand and dismissed them weeping April 28 at his request all the Ministers within the Jurisdiction of that City came to him to whom after he had given an Exhortation he likewise reach'd out his Right Hand to each one in particular and sent them away with heavy Hearts and wet Eyes May 19 and he died May 27 the Ministers being wont on that Day to eat together a Supper was prepar'd for them at his House and he being carried to them from his Bed into the next Room I now Brethren saith he come to take my last Farewell I shall never more sit at Table Before Supper was ended when he required to be carried back again to his Bed-Chamber he said with a Smiling Countenance This Wall between us will not hinder but tho absent in Body I shall be present in Spirit with you I need repeat no more If this already said be true what Bolsec says must be false And that this is true every one must grant considering the time when and the place where it was publish'd who grants that Beza was in his Wits For he publish'd it presently after Calvin's Death at Geneva where if but one tittle had been false every Citizen almost must have known it If the Senators had not all visited him and the Ministers all met at his House a few Days before his Death as Beza reports every one of those Senators and every one of those Ministers would have given him the Lye and proclaimed him to the World for an impudent Impostor Especially those who were Calvin's Enemies would have noised it abroad Whereas not one either great or small was found who contradicted one Word of it 2. But we need not the Testimony of Beza or any other Protestant the Papists themselves even those who have written much more than is true to defame him shall be his Compurgators For if they take no notice of this Disease who could they have found any colour for it would have made the World ring with it 't is certain they took it for a Fable Now whosoever will take the pains to peruse the Book quoted in the Margin (h) La Defense de Calvin contre l'outrage fait a sa memoire c. Par Charles Drelincourt he will find many of these collected to his Hands But because the Book is not in a Language that every one understands I shall touch upon two or three of them Florimond when he reckons up his Diseases gives not the least intimation of this (i) La Naissance de l'Heresie l. 7. c. 10. p. 888. Jaques Desmay insists vehemently on those Diseases Calvin was afflicted with toward the end of his Life as Impostumes Hemorrhoids Stone Gout in short no less than a dozen and then insults over him making them as visible Tokens of God's
of Christ Now so far as Bellarmin's Notes belong to every true particular Church so far we allow them and let the Church of Rome make the best of them She can for we doubt not to make our claim to them as good and much better than hers but he has named very few such the 6th the Agreement and Consent in Doctrine with the Ancient and Apostolick Church and the 8th the Holiness of its Doctrine are the cheif if not the only Notes of this nature and these we will stand and fall by many of his other are not properly the Notes of a true Church any otherwise than as they are Testimonies of the truth of common Christianity which is professed by all true Churches and if they are Notes of the Church so every true particular Church has a share in them Such as his 9th the efficacy of Doctrine The 10th the Holiness of the lives of the first Authors and Fathers of our Religion and I suppose the Holiness of Christ and his Apostles give Testimony to the truth of common Christianity and therefore to all Churches who profess the common Faith once delivered to the Saints The 11th the Glory of Miracles which also proves the truth of Christian Religion and I hope a little better than Popish Miracles do Transubstantiation The 12th is the Spirit of Prophesy which as far as it is a good Note belongs to the Religion not to the Church Other Notes he assigns which I doubt will prove no Notes at all as 13 14 15. because they are not always true and at best uncertain His third and fourth Notes are not Notes of a Church but God's Promises made to his Church as of a long Duration that it shall never fail and Amplitude or Extent and multitude of Believers These Promises we believe God will fulfil to his Church but they can be no Notes which is the true Church For the first of these can never be a Note till the day of Judgment That Church which shall never be destroyed is the true Church but a bare long continuance is no Mark of a true Church for an Apostatical Church may continue by the patience and forbearance of God many hundred Years and be destroyed at last and then this Argument of a long Duration is confuted And as for Amplitude and Extent that is not to distinguish one Christian Church from another that the most numerous Church should be the truest but to distinguish the Christian Church from all other Religions and then I doubt this Prophecy has not received its just Accomplishment yet for tho we take in all the Christian Churches in the World and not exclude the greatest part of them as the Church of Rome does yet they bear but a small proportion to the rest of the World. And now there are but three of his fifteen Notes of the Church left The first concerning the Name Catholick which makes every Church a Catholick Church which will call it self so Tho Catholick does not declare what a Church is but in what Communion it is and is no Note of a true Church unless it be first proved that they are true Churches which are in Communion with each other For if three parts in four of all the Churches in the World were very corrupt and degenerate in Faith and Worship and were in one Communion this would be the most Catholick Communion as Catholick signifies the most general and universal but yet the fourth part which is sincere would be the best and truest Church and the Catholick Church as that signifies the Communion of all Orthodox and Pure Churches His first Note is the Succession of Bishops in the Church of Rome from the Apostles till now This is a Note of the Roman Church and the Succession of Bishops in the Greek Church is as good a Note of the Greek Church And any Churches which have been later planted who have Bishops in Succession from any of the Apostles or Apostolical Bishops by this Note are as good Churches as they So that this is a Note common to all true Churches and therefore can do the Church of Rome no Service His seventh Note indeed is home to his purpose That that is the only true Church which is united to the Bishop of Rome as to its Head. If he could prove this it must do his business without any other Notes but that will be examined hereafter But it is like the Confidence of a Jesuit to make that the Note of the Church which is the chief Subject of the Dispute The Sum is this There can be no Notes of a true Church but what belong to all true Churches for tho there is but one Catholick Church yet there are a great many true particular Churches which make up this Catholick Church as homogeneal Parts which have all the same Nature But now very few of the Cardinal's Notes belong to all true Churches and those which do so signifie nothing to his purpose because they are common to more Churches than the Church of Rome And as for the Catholick Church that is known only by particular Churches for it is nothing else but the Union of all true Churches in Faith and Worship and one Communion as far as distinct Churches at a great distance from each other are capable of it And therefore there is no other way to know which is the Catholick Church but by knowing all the true Churches in the World which either are in actual Communion with one another or are in a Disposition for it whenever occasion is offered For it is impossible that all true Christian Churches all the World over should ever joyn in any visible and external Acts of Communion and therefore tho we know and believe that there is a Catholick Church because we are assured that all true Churches in the World are but one Church the one Body and Spouse of Christ yet it is next to impossible to know all the Parts of the Catholick Church without which we cannot know the whole Catholick Church because we cannot know all the particular true Churches all the World over Nor indeed is there any need we should For we may certainly know which is a truly Catholick Church without knowing the whole Catholick Church For every Church which professes the true Catholick Faith and imposes only Catholick Terms of Communion and is ready out of the Principles of Brotherly Love and Charity that cement of Catholick Communion to communicate with all Churches and to receive all Churches to her Communion upon these Terms is a truly Catholick Church which shews how ridiculous it is to make the Catholick Church our first Inquiry and to pretend to give Notes to find out the true Catholick Church by before we know what a true Particular Church is But the Mystery of this will appear more in what follows 3dly For another Mystery of finding the true Church by Notes is to pick out of all the Christian Churches in the World
next to the Bishop of Rome because that was New Rome †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Constantinop Can. 3. so that it was the Imperial City of Rome which gave the Honour of being the first Bishop in the Church and not a Divine Institution or a Succession from St. Peter and when Constantinople by the Emperor's removing thither became the next great City the Bishop partook of the Honour of the City And in the Fourth General Council at Calcedon had for that Reason equal Priviledges conferred upon him with the Bishop of Old Rome ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Calced Can. 28. as the Fathers expresly declare To which I shall add the famous Case of Appeals which was challenged about the Year 418 by Pope Zosimus over the African Church not by Divine Right but by a pretended Ecclesiastical Canon which was found afterwards to be forged and the Power of the Church of Rome to receive Appeals or to judg the Causes of other Churches was fully disowned and disclaimed * Concil Carthag 6. And this with the Exemption of the Churches of Milan Ravenna and Aquileia from the Jurisdiction of the Church of Rome tho they were so near Neighbours to it even in Italy it self is enough to give full Satisfaction to any reasonable Man what a different Opinion the Primitive Church had of the Church of Rome from what it now has of it self concerning an Universal Supremacy and of its being the Mother and Mistress of all Churches The next most peculiar Doctrine of Popery is Transubsiantiation which as it was formerly owned by Valentia (a) De Transub l. 2. c. 7. and Cusanus (b) Exercit. l. 6. Ser. 40. and a great many of the School-men Scotus Durandus and others (c) Vid. Pref. ad Johan Major not to have been the Doctrine of the Primitive Church so it has been lately proved at large by one of their own Communion (d) A Treatise written by an Author of the Church of Rome touching Transubstantiation tho if for that reason it may be thrown out from being an Article of Faith by the Members of the Roman Church they will leave but very few proper to themselves according to the Principle of that Gentleman to wit the making not the present but the Primitive Church a Rule of their Faith which if they will universally follow it will lead them quite out of the Roman Church as well as out of that single Error of it we have such excellent Treatises of late * See Discourse of Transubstantiation Transubstantiation no Doctrine of the Primitive Fathers The Doctrine of the Trinity and Transubstantiation compared 1. par about this which prove it beyond all Exception and beyond all Answer to be no Doctrine of the Primitive Church that I shall add nothing about it but only these two Observations First That it appears not by any Liturgy or Eucharistick Form that was ever used by the Church no not by the Roman Canon it self which is much ancienter than this Doctrine and therefore not so conformed to it That the Church ever used any Prayer to this purpose at the Eucharist that the Substance of the Sacramental Elements should be changed or done away and the Flesh and Blood of Christ substituted instead of them under the Species or Accidents but only that they might be made the Body and Blood of Christ by the Spirits coming down upon them so that it was only a Spiritual and Sacramental not a Substantial Change of them that was ever prayed for or ever believed for if the Church had always had this Faith it would surely have sometimes prayed in it Secondly I observe that in those Times when this Doctrine came first into the Church which was a little before Berengarius it was so new and raw that it was not fully digested nor perfectly understood even by those who then held it as appears by that blundering Recantation which was drawn up for him after the Examination of no less than three Popes and five Synods wherein he is made to say That after Consecration the true Body and Blood of Christ is not only Sacramentally but sensibly and truly handled and broke by the Hands of the Priests and ground by the Teeth of the Faithful †Post Consecrationem verum Corpus Sanguinem Christi sensualitèr non solùm Sacramento sed veritate manibus Sacerdotum tractari frangi fidelium dentibus atteri Grat. de Consec dist 2. cap. This sensible and true handling and breaking and grinding Christ's Body is so strange and dreadful a thing that the Glossator observes this upon it That unless you do understand these Word of Berengarius in a sound sense * Nisi sanè intelligas verba Berengarii in majorem incidas haeresin quam ipse babuit Glos Ib. that is contrary to what the Words signify and mean you will fall into a greater Heresy than that of Berengarius himself by which it appears that this Monster of Transubstantiation as a great Man ‖ Perrone See the excellent Preface to a Discourse on the Holy Eucharist in two great points of their own afterwards calls it was so unformed and mishapen a thing at that time that it was a sign it was then but new come into the World and had need of being farther licked into a better shape If Transubstantiation were then but new those other Doctrines which have issued from it and are its proper Production could not be old such as Adoration of the Sacrament Communion in one kind Solitary Masses and the Proper and Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass And therefore I shall not say any thing of them since their Date will be owned to be as late as that of Transubstantiation and tho they may not follow from it yet they cannot be maintained or believed without it so that what has been said against the one takes away the very Foundation of the other As to the Number of the Sacraments tho the Council of Trent has declared this to be exactly Seven and made it an Article of Faith to believe so yet no Man sure will have the confidence to say That this Number was determined by the Primitive Church when they can bring no Author who makes any mention of such a Number till 1100 Years after Christ and Bellarmin thinks it unreasonable we should require them to shew this either in the Scriptures or the Fathers †Non debere adversarios petere ut ostendamus in Scripturis au◠Patribus nomen Septenacii numeri Sacramentorum Bellar. de effect Sacram. l. 2. c. 24. tho if it be an Article of Faith which must be believed upon pain of Damnation there ought to be something to shew for it one would think out of one of them Was the Necessity of Auricular Confession a Doctrine of the Primitive Church when in the time of Peter Lombard he tells us * In his enim etiam docti
Christ and that we might grow up into him in all things which is the Head even Christ Now here we do not only find our Saviour represented as the Head of his Church and we as the Members of his Body but that amongst the several subordinate Members of which his Body consists there is no mention of that most necessary Member of all if I may call it a Member the Vicarious Head of the Church For it is not said that he gave first Peter to be Head of his Church and then Apostles c. But he gave first some Apostles and those not as Heads of his Church neither but as principal Members of it And in the Beginning of the same Chapter where he describes the Unity of the Church he says there is one Body and one Spirit one Hope of our Calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of all Now I would fain know whether the Cardinal would have omitted here one visible Head of the Church in which all ought to be united And then let any Man tell me why St. Paul did He had the like occasion in another Place where having said much concerning the Unity of the Body of Christ Ye are saith he the Body of Christ and Members in particular And God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondly Prophets 1 Cor. xii 27 28. thirdly Teachers c. Now I say if this visible Head of Unity had been elsewhere mentioned never so often he ought not to have been omitted in any of these three places much less if he were mentioned no where else But no notice being taken of this Head elsewhere nor here neither is little less than a Demonstration that that there was no such Head to be taken notice of When any one shall pretend to so high a Prerogative and vast a Dependence as this implies we may in Reason expect he should be able to produce some very good Evidence of his Right to it And therefore the meer silence of the Scripture is prejudice enough against the Pretence But the silence of the Scripture in such places as I have produced is a direct Argument against it Nay Lastly The Scripture is so far from giving the least intimation of any such Headship where the mention of it was unavoidable if it had been a Divine Constitution that it seems expresly to oppose it For St. Paul speaking against those Contentions which happened by one saying I am of Paul another I am of Apollos a third I am of Cephas he does not oppose Cephas or Peter to the rest as if it were lawful for them to say I am of Peter but not I am of Paul c. but utterly reproves all such Distinctions and requires them all to be united in Christ Is Christ divided says he Was Paul Crucified for you Or were ye Baptized in the Name of Paul Plainly shewing that to establish any mortal Man as the Center of Union in the Christian Church is in effect to divide the Authority of Christ and that if we unite our selves in such a Head we may as well be baptized in his Name and have him for our Saviour too 2. As little Foundation is there in Reason for this Headship of the Pope over the whole Body of Christ since it will necessarily require that all the Christian Churches in the World even those that are at greatest Distance from one another be reduced under his Government and depend upon his Authority the Administration of which vast Power and Trust is incompatible to any mortal Man. Being vested in a wise and good Man it could be but of little benefit to a Body so diffusive as the Catholick Church but in the Hands of a weak or vicious Person it would become the Instrument of Pride Tyranny Oppression and Divisions A small Bishoprick requires the utmost Care and Prudence to manage it aright but what Ability without a Miracle could be sufficient for a tolerable discharge of so great a Trust as the Inspection and Government of the whole Church from one end of the Earth to the other But the Temptations to abuse such Power would be infinite and the Abuses themselves intolerable and hardly capable of Redress as we see also by no small Experience For after that that Power was pretended to at Rome and submitted to by the Western Church the Scandals Miseries of this part of Christendom grew to such an Extremity that it could not be dissembled Insomuch that the Cardinals and Prelats appointed by Pope Paul the Third to advise concerning the state of the Church Consil de Emend Eccl. in Richer l. 4. assured him that she was just falling head-long into Ruine and that the chief Cause was that the Pope's Will and Pleasure had been the Rule of all his Doings And he that shall consider what a lewd and filthy place Rome it self was grown by their own confession may observe from thence how likely it is that the Government of the Catholick Church should thrive in one Man's hand after another who are too busy to attend upon the Reformation of most scandalous and crying Disorders at home 3. Neither is there any colour in Antiquity for this Headship of the Pope altho they are the Primitive Fathers upon whose Authority chiefly they would support this Usurpation The Testimonies which the Cardinal has chosen for his Purpose are so far from it that one would wonder to see so weighty a Superstructure laid upon so weak a Foundation Thus because S. Irenaeus says that every Church i.e. the Faithful who are all about must needs resort to the Roman Church because of the more Powerful Principality i.e. because the Imperial City drew the Business of the World to it self and by consequence Christians in all parts had occasion of recourse to it therefore the Bishop of that City was the Head of all Churches in the World. Because S. Cyprian call'd the Roman the Principal Church from whence the Vnity of the Priests did arise and the Matrix and Root of the Catholick Church Therefore he could mean nothing else but that Union to the Bishop of Rome is absolutely necessary to a part in Christ and his Church Whereas it is most evident that elsewhere he did freely assert the Independence of other Bishops upon that Bishop and of other Episcopal Churches upon that Church And consequently that he called it the Principal Church as being constituted in the Principal City so Rigaltius acknowledgeth and the Spring of Sacerdotal Vnity and the Root of the Catholick Church because Bishops having occasion either to come up to Rome or to send thither from all parts did by their Unity with the Church there manifestly declare their Union to one another which was a convenience accruing to that Church and to all others from the Imperial City in which it was constituted but by no means inferring that other Churches were more obliged to Union with her than she with others Again because
the New Law of Faith. We read nothing throughout the whole Jewish State that may make us suppose that any of the Prophets after the Death of Moses tho they were sometimes endu'd with the Power of doing this or that Miracle that they ever taught any new Doctrine which had not been deliver'd by Moses or which they undertook to confirm by any Miracle It is true they sometimes wrought a Miracle as a Credential for themselves and their own Character to shew that they were Prophets sent from God. But then the whole Errand of their Commission was to explain Moses's Law to awaken Men to a stricter Conformity to what they had so provokingly violated to denounce heavy Judgments upon their Disobedience to speak encouraging things to a distress'd and persecuted Church and in a Word to fore-tell the Events of future Ages and particularly point out the Days of the Messiah and Revolutions of Christianity Again we find that under the Dispensation of the Gospel the Miracles which our Saviour and his Apostles wrought were to warrant the whole new Oeconomy And tho one main thing the Apostles were empowr'd for was to bear Testimony to the Resurrection of their Master yet was this chiefly as the whole frame of the Gospel depended wholly upon the Truth and Evidence of this great Event because if it were not as fully made out that he rose again as that he dy'd their Preaching had been vain and their Attempts to abolish the Law and Constitution of Moses had been an unwarrantable Usurpation Nor do we find that tho in a following Age or two the Church was probably bless'd with those miraculous Powers till the Gospel was diffusively enough propagated yet do we not find that they wrought any one Miracle for the establishment of any one particular Doctrine much less any Doctrine that had not been delivered by the Apostles before them nor enter'd into the Substance and Fundamentals of the Gospel Which leads to the next thing viz. Secondly That many of those Doctrines which these Miracles are alledg'd in Confirmation of are so far from being expresly asserted or warranted in the Holy Scriptures that they rather bear a direct Contrariety E. g. The Doctrine of Transubstantiation upon which is superstructed the Adoration of the Host which Adoration supposing the Doctrine of Transubstantiation not to be fundamentally true is by the Confession of several of their own Authors down-right Idolatry Again the Doctrine of worshipping Images we cannot but think to be against the express Law of God. The Doctrine of praying to Saints departed seems immediately to intrench upon the Office of the Holy Jesus as he is our alone Mediator and gives to the Creature incommunicable Attributes of the Creator as Omniscience and Omnipresence And to name no more the Doctrine of Purgatory with its appendent Doctrines about Indulgences Satisfaction and the like they seem to alter the whole Scheme of the Gospel-Institution by taking off from the infiniteness of Divine Mercy and sufficiency of Christ's Satisfaction Now these are the Doctrines wherein the Glory of the Roman Miracles have been generally concern'd So long therefore as we think we have so much in the Holy Scriptures in bar against the Doctrines themselves we cannot but think we have most just prejudices against the Miracles by which the truth of these Doctrines are advanced or supported We are directed by the Apostle to prove all things and to hold fast that which is good 1 Thess v. 21. And not to believe every Spirit but to try the Spirits whether they be of God 1 Joh. iv 1. By the Spirits doubtless must be meant no other than those that pretended to Prophesying to Revelations and to the Power of some Miracles Now it is very true in that first Age wherein this Apostle wrote among the diversity of Gifts there was this of discerning of Spirits that adorn'd some Men 1 Cor. xii 10. It is not probable that the Apostle caution'd these against false Spirits for they were empowr'd to discern them But the Warning belongs to the whole Rank of Christians as appears by the plain Rule he gives to try them by Ver. 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh is of God c. This seems to point at a sort of Gnosticks in that Age that would be allegorizing the whole History of our Saviour's Life and Death and Resurrection and make it no real thing but purely Mystical and Figurative Whoever therefore would pretend to the Gift of Prophecy or Miracle and yet deliver this kind of Divinity he must be rejected notwithstanding all the shew he might make So in proportion still are we warranted to try the Sprits to judge of any Powers of Miracle that are produc'd in Confirmation of a Doctrine that may intrench upon the great Offices of the Blessed Jesus or look new and forreign to those Revelations which himself and his Apostles have deliver'd to us as the sum and upshot of Christianity Tho we saith the Apostle or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed Gal. i. 8. Tho we the Apostles that are vested with so visible a Power of Miracles nay tho an Angel from Heaven and certainly if an Angel should come he might be capable of doing things beyond the order or course of Nature as to us at least as hath been often seen by what Devils have perform'd tho such an one should be propagating other Doctrines and that by all the most powerful Methods that such spiritual Beings are capable of using they are to be held accursed Our Saviour gives the Caution to all his Followers in every Age That there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great Signs and Wonders insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect. Behold I have told you before Matth. xxiv 24 25. I shall only add the great Criterion of Miracles in the old Testament Deut. xiii 1 2 3. If there arise among you a Prophet or a Dreamer of Dreams and giveth thee a Sign or Wonder and the Sign or the Wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee saying Let us go after other Gods which thou hast not known and let us serve them thou shalt not hearken to the Words of that Prophet or that Dreamer of Dreams for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your Heart and with all your Soul. So long therefore as the Doctrines which these sort of Miracles are brought to confirm are in dispute betwixt us and after all the impartial Enquiry we can make we think that several of them do war directly against the received Doctrines of our Faith this Glory of Miracles is vainly urg'd to us as a Note of the true Church when we are warn'd even against Miracles themselves where they
69. which I presume is the best that his Friend Bellarmine could direct him to and which hath nothing further in it than a pretty high Flight which several of the Fathers would take when they mention the Holy Sacrament and what may be well enough defended by those that reject Transubstantiation to the uttermost The Cardinal gives us another Miracle from Paschasius de Corpore Dom. c. 14. which our late learned Reasoner is very fond of too ‖ Consens Veterum p. 97. The Story is of a certain Godly Priest that was in great dis-tress to see with his bodily Eyes the Shape of him whom he certainly believ'd actually present under the Species of Bread and Wine At length he obtain'd what he so long desir'd and beheld the Body of Christ in Human Shape but in the Figure of a Child which he had also most vehemently desired Now as to this beside the Authority of the Book out of which this is taken let us consider to what purpose this Miracle was wrought or the Story of it told in this place The Cardinal is upon the Proof of Christ's Bodily Presence in the Sacrament and this Bodily Presence is so receiv'd by those of the Roman Communion that they believe that very Body which was slain upon the Cross was buried was rais'd again and went up into Heaven that that very numerical Body is substantially and intirely under the Species of Bread and Wine the Substance of which is perfectly vanish'd Let me therefore ask Mr. Sclater of Putney because his Friend the Cardinal cannot now answer for himself Did our Blessed Saviour die an Infant and rise again an Infant and does he now sit at the Right Hand of God in the Figure of a Child or in his Infant-state If not and I hope he will say it is blasphemous to think so how then did this Godly Presbyter see the Body of Christ as he supposed it transubstantiated under the Species of Bread and Wine The Substance of the Bread and Wine was gone into that Body that had been crucified What! was there Transubstantiation upon Transubstantiation and the proper Body of our Saviour gone into the Substance of a Child's Body It may be this made him in love with those Liturgies he quotes †Consens Veterum p. 28. wherein the Priest is blessing God for vouchsafing by him to change the immaculate Body of Christ and his precious Blood c. To change it into what perhaps from that of a grown Man to that of a Child or Infant Well but the Cardinal is something more wary in the Story than the venturesom Gentleman of Putney For he tells us the Priest had desir'd to see him in this Shape If so and if he was thus far indulg'd what kind of Argument is this for Transubstantiation What Conviction is this that the very self-same Body that hung upon the Cross and is at the right Hand of God is brought down under the Species of Bread and Wine But the Author adds in Bellarmin That it pleaseth God to work Miracles upon a twofold account sometimes to confirm the doubting and sometimes for the Consolation of those that fervently love him * Bellarm. de Saer Euchar. ubi supr This we are to suppose then was not to confirm the Godly Priest in his Faith he needed not that but to give him great Consolation But what Are we to suppose so Godly a Presbyter as this was to be more ravish'd in the view of his Saviour under the shape of a smiling playing Babe than in that very Form wherein he finish'd the great work of our Salvation upon the Cross and wherein he is now triumphing Above in the Accomplishment of what he undertook Let him believe it that can make the Doctrine of Transubstantiation the Reason of his Conversion from the Church of England to that of Rome and can strengthen his Faith in it more firmly from some Rabbinical Prophecies and such a Story as this is †Consensus Veter p. 21 22. and so on and p. 97. I would have examined a Third Story of St. Anthony of Padua but I find this done so learnedly and so effectually to my Hands by a most ingenious Pen (a) Reflections on the Rom. Devotions p. 326 327 c. that I had rather refer the Reader thither than needlesly swell the bulk of this Note Considering therefore how little likelihood of Truth there is in many Stories of this kind or where as to matter of Fact some of them may have been possibly true yet how reasonably they may be accounted the Tricks and Impostures of Evil Spirits I cannot but close this Head with an Expression of St. Austin to the Donatists upon the same Pretensions they had to Miracles August de Vnitate Eccles c. 16. Removentur ista vel figmenta mendacium hominum vel portenta fallacium spirituum Away with these either Fictions of Lying Men or Illusions of deceiving Spirits For certainly they are neither the Note nor can be the Glory of any true Church And therefore III. Lastly We of the Reform'd Religion as we do not pretend to the working of Miracles in our Age so if we did we could pretend to prove nothing by them but what hath been already sufficiently prov'd by the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles We most humbly and thankfully adore the great Condescentions of Divine Grace that hath been pleas'd in his first planting of Christianity so fully and so unquestionably to confirm all the necessary Articles of our Belief with such strong and convincing Miracles The Report of these Miracles we most firmly believe We do without the least haesitancy own the Almighty Power of God in them and entirely embrace all that Faith which they were design'd to confirm and establish We know of no other Doctrines that we have any Obligation to receive than what are deliver'd to us in the Holy Scriptures and so effectually seal'd to us We have nothing new to put off or back with the pretence of Miracles but are always ready to reject both the Doctrines when they are propos'd and the Miracles when they are offer'd in Defence of them We have no need to follow cunningly devis'd Fables since we have a more sure Word of Prophecy to which by God's Grace we will take heed And therefore all Miracles at this time of the Day are superfluous to us for if the Doctrine be not propos'd to us before-hand in the written Word ten thousand Miracles could not warrant it if it be to be found there they may save the trouble of a Miracle because that Word of God hath been sufficiently confirm'd in that Way already This Word of God is the sure Rule of our Faith the great Character of our Hopes and if the hearty Belief of this and humble Conformity of Life to it will not secure us at last we are contented to lose all the Rewards which this Gospel hath made us to expect And therefore
it follows that the Church must know them too by Revelation from him then it follows also that the Church must know all things that are to happen hereafter because it is God only that can communicate such Knowledg If he meant that those who have any degree of it must necessarily belong to the Church because God only can give it neither is this true as I shall presently shew Nor if it were could the Gift of foretelling some Things be for this Reason a Note of the Church unless also the want of this Gift should be a demonstration against any Communion that it is not a True Church which I am sure can never be proved from hence that none but God can bestow it 3. He adds that in Deut. 18. it is laid down for a Note of False Doctrine If a Prophet foretells any thing and it does not come to pass Now First This Argument is very impertinent unless as lying Prophecy is said to be a Note of False Doctrine so False Doctrine be also supposed a Note of a False Church which is a very dangerous Supposition to a Church that had rather be tried by any other Note than that of the Truth of her Doctrine for it seems if we can clearly prove by any Good Argument that she professeth False Doctrine it follows without more to do that she is no True Church But Secondly It is not said in the place cited by the Cardinal that False Prophecy is a Note of False Doctrine but that 't is a Note or rather an Argument that the Prophet had no Commission from God to say that such an Event should come to pass Nor does it follow from hence that the False Prophet must needs be a Heretick unless it be impossible for a Catholick or an Orthodox Professor to tell a Lye which I think no Man will be so hardy as to say Thirdly Much less is it said that a Prophet's foretelling rightly a future contingent Event is a Note of True Doctrine which had been necessary to make True Prophecy a Note of the True Church Nay on the other Hand there is express Caution given not long before against being seduced into Idolatry by true Predictions If there arise among you a Prophet or a Dreamer of Dreams and giveth thee a Sign or a Wonder and the Sign or the Wonder comes to pass whereof he spake unto hee saying Deut. xiii 1 2 3. Let us go after other Gods Thou shalt not hearken unto the Words of that Prophet For the Lord your God proveth you c. Which shews the Confidence of the Cardinal in pronouncing so peremptorily that there have been no true Predictions amongst Heathens and Hereticks unless perhaps for a Testimony to our Faith. For this Warning plainly supposed that such Predictions there would be not to confirm Believers in the Truth but to prove their Constancy under a Temptation to Error They must indeed be False Prophets as that signifies False Teachers who should endeavour to gain Authority to Impious Doctrines and to Idolatrous Practices by appealing to the Truth of their own Predictions But yet they were to be True Prophets in respect of the Events which they would foretell And therefore to pretend that Heathens and Hereticks never foretold any Contingency which came to pass but when Providence designed a farther Testimony to confirm us in the Faith is to speak gently a wretched Mistake And there is no more Difficulty in this Point than whether we are to believe God or Bellarmin But if there had been no true Prophecies amongst Heathens besides those which were designed for a Testimony to the Christian Faith yet even these are a manifest Argument that the Gift of Prophecy is no certain Note of the Church nay they prove it more evidently than any other Prophecies could do because those Predictions surely have the most unquestionable Truth which were made for a Testimony to True Doctrine Of which kind that there had been several amongst the Gentiles seems very probable from those Remains thereof which we meet with in Virgil and Tacitus Eclog. 4. De Divin â— Not to insist upon that famous Acrostic of Sybilla Erythraea in Lactantius and Eusebius which it is certain that Cicero had seen Apol. 2. Strom. l. 6. Ep. 49. Qu. 2. De Civit. Dei lib. 18. c. 47. nor what Justin Martyr and Clemens Alexandrinus say of the Books of Hystaspes I shall only note what St. Austin says of this Master viz. That Christ was not foretold in Israel only but in other Nations also And that Predictions concerning Christ may be met with in the Books of those who are Strangers to Israel and that it is not incongruous to believe that this Mystery was revealed to Men of other Nations Which Things saith he may be mentioned as Advantages on our side over and above what is necessary Now will any Man say that these Predictions did less shew a Prophetic Light amongst the Gentiles because they were true With what Conscience therefore could Bellarmin shuffle off those famous Predictions of Balaam a Heathen Soothsayer Numb xxiv 15 c. concerning Christ to which he adds those of the Sybills by saying that they were a Testimony to our Faith As if the Argument were not so much the stronger that the Gift of True Prophecy is not confined within the Communion of the Church Surely he could not be ignorant that the Old Testament it self is called the Word of Prophecy 2 Pet. i. 19. and that the main Predictions thereof were for a Testimony to confirm us in the Faith. But by the same reason that he strikes off the true Predictions of Heathens from being an Instance of Prophetick Light because forsooth they were for the Confirmation of our Faith he must also set aside the best Evidence of Prophetick Light within the Communion of the Church the Predictions whereof were no less but more than any others for a Testimony to our Faith. As to the Oracles of Apollo which he does well to reject from being True Prophecies we need not to offer them for the disparagement of this Note of Prophetick Light since they might be deceitful and yet the Light of Prophecy neither be always in the Church nor never amongst those that are out of it But when he tells us That Hereticks are deceived as often as they would foretell any thing and that this appears from the False Prophets in the Old Testament it is a pitiful thing that such a Man should think it enough to prove a Conclusion so general by a particular Instance He refers us to 1 Kings 22. where we find that Ahab's Prophets spake by a Lying Spirit But does this prove that Hereticks never prophecy truly There were some False Prophets amongst the Ten Tribes upon their Revolt therefore there never were any True Ones How came it then to pass that there were so many of the Lord's Prophets amongst them 1 King. xviii 4. that at one time
Direction of not being tossed to and fro c. 3. Are condemned by Tertullian who bids us adhere to what is first And 4. By Vincentius Lyrinensis And 5. Have given ill Example by which the Reformers can justify themselves And lastly Have plainly condemned several Popes and the whole Lateran Council under Innocent III as not sufficiently knowing what the Church was since their Notion of it could not content those which came after them A great Injury and of dangerous Consequence Lastly Upon a Comparison of one with the other P. 432 c. and of both with the Antient Doctrine and Discipline of the Church he looks upon Bellarmin's Definition as the better of the Two because it may be so mollified by the Help of the Word Praecipuè chiefly which is in it as to admit of a tolerable Reconciliation with the Definition of the Antients which as he shews can no way agree with that of Canisius And upon the whole he concludes P. 450. That however Bellarmin's might be preferrable if either of them were necessary yet it will be hard for Catholicks to make their Complaints of Innovating which they heap upon Hereticks to appear just so long as they themselves shall retain such a Novel Definition and that if Gregory VIIths Rule were observed viz. That nothing should be drawn into Example or Authority which is contrary to the Fathers then even this his Definition tho it had been received yet ought to be rejected To this purpose that Accurate Writer as he is deservedly called by ‖ Letter to Bp. of Linc. p. 319. F. Walsh has argued to the utter confusion of the Cardinal's Argument from Union with the Pope as Head or of the Members among themselves For how can that be a Note of the True Church now which never was thought to belong to the Nature of it for 1500 Years together and which their own most Learned Lovers of Antiquity and Pious Opposers of Novelty do not think essential to it at this Day And where is the so much boasted Consent of the Members amongst themselves in all Matters of Faith I believe the holy Catholick Church is an Article of Faith. I would know of those Gentlemen who are at such perfect agreement amongst themselves what this Church is Bellarmine answers one thing Canisius another so contrary that if one speaks true the other must needs have told me that which is false And while the Definition of the former is followed by some and that of the later which is the worse is more generally received Launoy and many more of the most Learned sort stick to the Antients who are as different from both as they are from one another And yet after all we must be told that they are perfectly agreed in all matters of Faith and that this invisible unintelligible Union shews plainly that the Roman is the true Church One would hardly think that they are in earnest unless by Union they mean an equal Resolution to carry on the Dispute as long as they can contend and no longer Which kind of Union is to be met with almost every Term in Westminster-Hall where one may see two Parties prosecuting one another with all imaginable vigour who yet resolve to be quiet when the Bench has made them so Not that the Party who is cast in the Suit must needs change his Opinion of his own Cause because the last Verdict was against him but that if a new Trial will not be granted he is bound to acquiesce in the Judgment of the Court because it has a Sheriff with the Posse Comitatus to put it into Execution Thus they that make the Sentence of the Pope and they that make the Sentence of a Council the Sentence of the Church are united in a Resolution to stand to the Arbitrement of the Church there being a certain sensible Obligation upon them to profess that they will acquiesce in its Determination But in the mean time they may undoubtedly quarrel amongst themselves about Questions of such mighty Importance as that we mentioned even now and this without breach of Union amongst themselves till the Sentence of the Pope or the Sentence of a Plenary Council or the Sentence of both comes to part them Which yet will be long enough first if each side of the Question be abetted with numerous and able Parties that are at present both of 'em resolved to submit absolutely to the Church lest one of them upon an unseasonable Sentence should be provoked to change its Resolution And thus as we observed before the Question about the Immaculate Conception has been left undecided so long lest by determining that a more dangerous Question should be raised by the disobliged Party But if it should so happen that the Church cannot well avoid declaring her self in such a Case this new-fashion'd Union goes forward still tho she speaks so ambiguously that each Party fancies the Sentence to be on its own side which was done often at Trent with great Application and Art Particularly in the Decrees concerning Grace and Assurance of being Justified c. Which being finished Soto and Vega differed not only as much but something more than they did at first for now they had a new Question to debate viz. on which side the Council had decreed and so they fell to writing great Books upon it against one another But for all this they were admirably agreed because they agreed in submission to the Council I proceed to shew III. That that Vnity which is indeed a Note of the Church we have and that in a much greater degree than they Which Point will I hope yield some Discourse that will be more useful than barely to discover Mistakes and expose Sophistry For here I shall represent as well as I can the true Grounds and Notions of Church-Unity and then see who has most reason to pretend to it they or we 1. There is the Vnity of submitting to one Head our Lord Jesus Christ which is the Foundation of all other Christian Unity and therefore mentioned by St. Paul amongst the principal Reasons why the Church is one Body Eph. iv 5. One Lord. 2. There is the Vnity of professing the Common Faith that was once delivered to the Saints which is grounded upon the Authority of the Scriptures and summarily expounded in the Antient Creeds And therefore to One Lord the Apostle in the forementioned place adds one Faith. 3. There is an Unity of Sacraments in the Church One Baptism by which we are all admitted into the same state of Duties and of Priviledges undertaking the Conditions of the New Covenant and gaining a Right to the Promises thereof Thus saith St. Paul 1 Cor. xii 13. By one Spirit we are all Baptized into one Body And the like Unity is inferred from the other Sacraments 1 Cor. x. 17. We being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all partakers of that one Bread. And again
we are all made to drink into one Spirit 4. There is also an Unity of Obedience to all the Institutions and Laws of Christ which is an Instance of Unity that ought by no means to be forgotten this being no less a common Duty than the Profession of the Faith the performance whereof uniteth us effectually to him as to our Head and maketh us living Members of his Body 5. There is the Unity of Christian Affection and brotherly Kindness of which our Lord spake when he said By this shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another Thus St. Paul 1 Cor. xii The Members should have the same care one of another c. 6. There is an Unity of Discipline and Government which is maintained chiefly by retaining for substance the same Form that was left in the Church by the Apostles by the Bishops and Pastors confederating together as much as may be for the edification of their Flocks by regarding every Regular Act of Authority in one Church as the Act of the whole and giving no occasion to breach of Christian-Communion by abusing a lawful or by claiming an undue Authority c. 7. There is likewise an Unity of Communion in the Service and Worship of God in glorifying God with one Mouth in joining in the same Religious Assemblies for Prayer and Sacraments for Acts of common Piety and Devotion according to the Rules of the Gospel I need not mention any more Instances of Christian Vnity since those that are more particular may be easily deduced from these Now to speak clearly there ought to be all these kinds and Instances of Unity in the Church but we see evidently that they are not all there I mean in every Part and Member of the Church And therefore they are not all necessary to the Being of a Church how necessary soever they may be whether to the Wellbeing of it or to the Salvation of those Persons whereof the Church consists But some of them are necessary to the Being of the Church and they are the acknowledgment of the one Lord the Profession of the one Faith and admission into the state of Christian Duties and Priviledges by one Baptism And this is all that I can find absolutely necessary to the Being of a Church inasmuch as the Apostle says That we are all baptized into one Body And therefore so far as Vnity in these things is spread and obtains in the World so far and no farther is the Body of the Church propagated because it is one by this Unity But then indeed there ought to be a farther Unity an Unity of observing all the Institutions of our Lord Jesus an Unity of Christian Charity and good Will an Unity of Government and Discipline an Unity of Communion in Religious Assemblies to which I will add also that there ought to be an Unity of Care to keep out of the Communion of Christians all dangerous Errors and unlawful Practices And when such begin to appear much more if they have taken root and are grown to a scandal to root them out again But Unity in these things does not run through the whole Church or through that Body which is one in the three former Respects and therefore it must necessarily be granted that the Church is not one Body in those later Respects tho it ought to be so But because these are proper Instances of Church-Unity tho not absolutely necessary to the Being of the Church therefore it cannot be denied that those particular Churches which keep Unity in these Respects better than others do have the Mark of Ecclesiastical Unity in a higher Degree than those others inasmuch as they have not only that Unity which is a Mark of a true Church but that also which is the Mark of a pure Church and are not only one Body in those things without which they could not be Parts of the Catholick Church but one also in those things wherein all other Parts of the Church ought to be one with them We therefore according to Truth allow the Church of Rome to be a Part of the Catholick Church because she holds that one Lord that one Faith that one Baptism which we hold without which there were no Church at all And thus far she maintains Catholick Unity But inasmuch as she hath violated the Institution of our Lord Jesus concerning the other Sacrament as in other Respects so by withholding the Cup from the People notwithstanding he said Drink ye all of this and that the Apostle said We are all made to drink into one Spirit even all that belong to the Body of Christ she has departed from Catholick Unity the Unity of Obedience Because she will not be content to be a Sister but claims to be the Mother and Mistress of all other Christian Churches and has advanced her Bishop to be Head and Monarch of the whole Church and will have Commuion with no other Christian Society but such as will be content to become her Subjects and will allow no Act of Ecclesiastical Authority to be valid but in a State of Dependence upon her she has therefore departed from the Catholick Unity of Government and Discipline Because she has brought the Sacrifice of the Mass Transubstantiation Purgatory Invocation of Saints c. into her Creed and Practices suitable to such false Doctrines into her Worship she has departed from that Purity of professing the Faith c. in which all Churches should be one And because she will have no Communion with us but upon these Terms which are impossible she has departed from the Unity of Catholick Communion Finally Because she has pursued all Christians that dare to open their Mouths against these Innovations with Anathema's c. and sacrificed the Lives of innumerable Christians to her resentments she has departed from the Unity of Catholick Charity With these things the Church of England cannot be charged nor with any such things as these not truly and justly I am sure In her Worship and Aministration of the Sacraments she transgresseth not the Institutions of the Lord in her Government she encroaches not upon the Liberty of other Churches To her Creed she hath added no Novelties To her Communion she hath annex'd no unlawful Conditions she doth not unchurch those Parts of Christendom that hold the Unity of the Faith no not that Church it self the Church of Rome which has added thereunto so many enormous Innovations She hath not embroiled the World nor wasted Countries with violence Upon such accounts as these she hath the Mark of Christian Vnity incomparably more than the other Church From such distinct notions of Vnity as I have laid down it is evident that nothing can be more idle than to seek for a Church by that Mark of Unity which the Cardinal lays down which comes to no more than this that Men be all of a mind that there be no Divisions among them c. since it is not