the Church the promises of Christ assure us But that to necessarie truths she shall adde no unnecessarie opinions for that we have no warrant either from the Scripture or any promise of God And were it otherwise the Doctors above mentioned had betrayed the Churches cause in stead of maintaining it For if in all her doctrines and definitions she be infallible why should they restraine her infallibilitie in defining unto matters necessary They should have profess'd her roundly and plainly infallible in all her determinations For to limit her infallibility in defining onely to things necessary and then to say that all defin'd by her is eo ipso necessarie because defin'd is to delude the world and seemingly to yeild something when nothing is yeilded The Romane cause at this day as it appeares by the vulgar Writers of the Popes quarter and among others by our Mistaker wholly depends on this pretended absolute infallibility All Controversies in the issue are reduced to this and decided by it And with great reason if there were any reason in it or for it For if Rome cannot erre or be deceived then without doubt all they erre and are deceived who dissent from her And therefore me thinkes learned men of that partie might do very well to ease themselves and the world of much trouble and paines in the scanning of other questions if with all their strength and witt they can but settle on the Pope or his adherents such an infallibility by any one convicting argument this will instantly and evidently conclude all our other differences No wise man will any way contradict them who cannot any way erre But surely this doctrine that the Church is infallible in all her definitions is so far from being certaine and divine that it is at the best but doubtfull and problematicall and that even by and from their owne principles The Roman Drs deliver us these Maximes concerning the Churches authority 1. r Staplet lib. 9. Princip doctr passim contr Whitak That the truth of Scripture it selfe and of all contained in it relyes in respect of us upon the testimony of the Church so as nothing is credible to us but by the Churches attestation 2. s Valent. Tom. 3. disp 1. qu. 1. pun 1. §. 6. col 29. That the proposition of the Church is so necessary to the act of divine faith that nothing can be beleeved without it 3. That t Bellarm. lib. 4. de Pont. R. cap. 14. §. Respondeo Inprimis untill a doctrine be declared or defined by the Church so long it may be either doubted of or denyed without danger These propositions are their owne Hence wee assume But this doctrine that the Church is infallible in all her decrees and definitions was never yet declared decreed or defined by the Church no not by any Councell or by any Pope And hence we inferre Therefore it is a doctrine which may be doubted of or denyed without danger a doctrine which no man can beleeue by divine faith a doctrine whatsoever it be in it selfe to Christians not credible If any man will deny the assumption he will oblige himselfe to disproue it by a contrary instance Let it be shewed where and when and in what termes the Church hath published any such declaration And suppose which will not be granted that such a declaration had beene made it may be demanded with reason upon what warrant the Church can assume to her selfe a power so divine and boundlesse as to authorize all her decrees in so high a forme that they must be accounted divine and infallible If the promise of God in Scripture be pleaded for this power we haue already shewed how the learned among themselues haue voyded this plea and so restrained those promises that they are by much too narrow to support so wide a priviledge If it bee said that this authority of the Church is a principle admitted by all Christians without any doubt or proofe this is a saying voluntary and and groundlesse For 1. they will confesse every principle in Religion to be founded either in nature or in Scripture or in tradition or in Church definition and in none of these will they find any footing for this 2. All Christians in the world confesse the authority of Scripture to be a principle indemonstrable yet are we by them perpetually urged to proue that authority and that by Scripture 3. Dr u Princ. Doctrin l. ◠c. 21. Stapleton thinkes it not onely fitting but necessary in respect of us that the Church should give testimony to her self especially thē in this point of so great importance consequence cōcerning her infallible authority wherein all Religiō is so much concerned 4. Lastly it is a great errour and vanitie to beleeue that this absolute infallibility of the Church is beleeved by all Christians especially in the sence of our Adversaries who ever by the Church intend that unsound piece which they call the Roman Catholique The Protestants and Greekes expresly accuse this Church and haue convicted her too as they thinke of many grosse and dangerous errors The w See Mr. Brierwoods Enquiries Armenians Syrians Indians Iacobites Maronites Abassines with other innumerable assemblies of Christians haue many doctrines and customes directly repugnant to those of Rome which were an unreasonable presumption and absurditie if they esteemed the Church of Rome so wholly infallible Nay within the Roman Church it selfe many Authors of great learning and judgement by name x Horum omnium testimonia legere est apud Rob. Baronium de objecto fidei Tract 5. cap. 19. Occam Cameracensis Waldensis Panormitanus Antoninus Archbishop of Florence Cardinal Cusan Nicholas Clemangis haue declared their opinion that any particular Churches and particularly the Roman any Councels though Generall any Popes may erre even to heresie and I doubt not but the best learned Romanists at this day are of the same opinion Before wee proceed it will not be from our purpose to note one thing more in passing The Church of Rome pretends that it is an office belonging onely to Her to deliver the entire rule of faith to all Christian people And she pretends further that this divine and infalliable rule is made up of three integrall parts to wit Scriptures Traditions and Church definitions If this be true she doth but loosely discharge her office very ill satisfie the obligation which she hath unto the Christian world For 1. Why hath she not yet defined that her definitions are of divine authority The late Fathers of Trent haue canonized unwritten traditions and equall'd them to Scriptures but why did they omit to canonize the decrees of all Popes Councells Why did they not adde to Traditions their Church definitions and command them both and them all to be received with no lesse devotion then the holy Scriptures 2. The same Fathers have given us an exact catalogue of all the bookes of Scripture but why did they not give us the like list of divine and infallible Traditions Is
purè divina nec purè humana sed quasi media another In truth and to speake properly an humane testimony saith a q Aegid de Conick disp 9. dub 5 Conc. 2. Quantumvis Ecclesia dirigatur infallibili Sp. S. assistentiâ atque ita ejus testimoniū nitatur suo modo authoritate divinâ atque ab ea firmitatem accipiat tamen non est verè propriè testimonium sive verbum revelatio Dei sed propriè est testimonium humanum Ergò illud nequit esse objectum formale fidei Theologieae consequenter haec nequit in illud tanquam in suum objectum ultimò resolvi third who thereupon well inferres that therefore the voyce of the Church cannot be the formall object of divine faith or that where-into it is lastly resolved The Church then is onely the first inducer to beleeue and the watchman that holdeth out the light in open view and presenteth the shining beams thereof to all that haue eyes to discerne it but the principall motiue and last object of beliefe is the divine authority of Scripture it selfe And that Scripture is of divine authority the beleever sees by that glorious beame of divine light which shines in r Bellarmin de verbo Dei li. 1. c. 2. Certissimas divinas esse Scripturas quae Propheticis Apostolicis literis continentur nec humana inventa sed divina oracula continere testis est ipsa Scriptura O. rig de Princip l. 4. c. 1. Quòd ipsae divinae Scripturae sint divinitùs inspiratae ex ipsis divinis Scriptuis is ostendemus Salv. Massil l. 3. de Gubern mox a◠initio Alia omnia id est humana dicta argumentis ac testibus egent Dei autem sermo ipse sibi testis est quia necesse est quicquió incorrupta veritas loquitur incorruptum sit testimonium veritatis Scripture by many internall arguments found in the letter it selfe though found by the helpe and direction of the Church without and of grace within Herein the Church leades but the Scripture resolues The Ministery of the Church as a Candlestick presents and holds out the light but this supposed there is in the Scripture it selfe * 2 Pet. 1. 19. light sufficient which though blinde * 1 Cor. 2. 14 sensuall mindes see not yet the eye of reason cleared by grace and assisted by the many motiues which the Church useth for enforcing of her instructions may discover to be divine descended from the father fountaine of light To this light the Church addes nothing at all but onely points at it directs us to it disposes and prepares us for it introduces it as the dawning of the morning doth the cleare Sunshine So farre as any Church walks in this light and carries it with her we may safely follow her if she bring a divine word for her warrant she must be beleeved But if her propositions or doctrines be meerely voluntary her owne and not according to that word there Es 8. 20. is no light in them neither can her authority make such doctrines proper objects of divine faith An Object how sensible soever it be in it selfe yet it doth not actually moue the Sense unlesse it be conveyed applyed to it by some Meane So here God hath appointed an ordinary outward meanes to present and propound divine verities to our faith and this ordinary means wee grant is the Church to which wee willingly attribute these two excellent uses in that imployment 1. of a witnesse testifying the authority and sence of the Scriptures unto us 2. of Gods instrument by whose ministery in preaching and expounding the Scriptures the Holy Ghost begets a divine faith in us But in that assent which wee yeeld unto the mysteries propounded and delivered by the Church though the Church be one cause to wit inductiue or preparatiue s Gretser Append. 2. ad lib. 3. Bellar. de verb. D. Col. 1514. principaliter Scripturis fidem habemus propter divinā revelationem at ob Ecclesiae authoritatem non aliter quā ut ob conditionem sine qua non Et infra Sacris litetis assensum prae bemus primariò ob divinam revelationem secundariò ob Ecclesiae testimonium without which men ordinarily do not beleeue yet it is not the principall or finall upon which wee lastly depend The chiefe principle or ground on which faith rests and for which it firmly assents unto those truths which the Church propounds is divine revelation made in the Scripture Nothing lesse then this nothing but this can erect or qualifie an act of t Becan Sum. tract de fide ca. 1. q. 2. §. 9. Assensus qui nititur authoritate Ecclesiae non est assensus fidei Theologicae sen divinae sed alterius inferioris ordinis super naturall faith which must be absolutely undoubted and certaine and without this faith is but opinion or persuasion or at the most an acquired humane beliefe This power in the Church to instruct her children in the faith according to Scripture which is her ground and rule from which she may not depart we willingly admit But we cannot yeeld that the present Church hath an absolute or unlimited authority to propound what she pleases or an infallible assistance in all her propositions which is our Mistakers meaning and the new doctrine of some of his Masters Who teach 1. that the authority of the Church is absolute not depending on Scripture but on which the Scripture it selfe and so our whole faith depends The words of u Bellar. de effect Sacram. lib. 2. cap. 25. §. tertium testimonium Bellarmine are remarkable If saith he we take away the authority of the present Church of Rome and of the Trent Councell the decrees of all other ancient Councels the whole Christian faith may be questioned as doubtfull For the strength of all doctrines and of all Councels depends upon the authority of the present Church And elsewhere againe to the same purpose lest the former words might seeme to haue fallen from his pen unawares w Bellar. de Eccl. mil. lib. 3. cap. 10. §. Adhaec necesse est The Scriptures Traditions and all doctrines whatsoever depend on the testimony of the Church he means that of Rome without which all are wholly uncertaine Here 's a plaine principle of Atheisme For if this be true all the faith we haue of God of our Redeemer of the Scripture of any thing in Religion is all but an ungrounded and uncertaine opinion unlesse the Church confirme it And as the Idols of old Rome could not be consecrated or deified but by consent of the Senate who tooke upon thē 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. x Chrys in 2. ad Cor. hom 26 in Moral Et Tertul. Apolog cap. 5. Nisi homini Deus placuerit Deus non erit Chrysostome merily speakes to make gods by most voyces So here it seemes our true God and
Scriptures and Religion must all stand at the courtesie and suffrage of the Roman Conclaue 2 They teach that much of the object or matter of faith is not contained in Scripture any way that the Church hath an unlimited power to supply the defects of Scripture and that she may propound any doctrines as necessary to salvation which haue no other ground but her owne authority which is equall to that of Scripture There are many things saith y Mel. Canus Loc. lib. 3. c. 3. fund 3. Canus belonging to the faith of Christians which are neither manifestly nor obscurely contained in the sacred Scriptures And Doctor a Princip Doctrin li. 12 c. 5. initio Stapleton Very many things necessary to salvation and necessarily to be beleeved are not comprehended in the Scriptures but are commended to us onely by the authority of the Church And againe b Id. Relect. Contr. 4. qu. 1. art 3. ad arg 12. Etiamsi nullo ScripturaruÌ„ aut evidenti aut probabili testimonio confirmetur The Church may propound define matters of faith without any evident nay without any probable testimony of Scripture Do not these words of Stapleton imply that the Church of Rome propounds many things to the beliefe of Christians without any probability from Scripture With what ingenuity then or conscience do they pretend Scripture in each Controversie against us since by their owne confession many of their assertions are meere unwritten Traditions leaning onely on the authoritie of their Church On the contrary for the fullnesse and sufficiency of Scripture in all necessary points we have the full consent of Antiquity and of many learned Writers of their owne even of Bellarmine himselfe whose plaine words to this purpose have been already noted And the same Cardinall though herein as not seldome contradicting both himselfe and his fellowes c Bellar. lib. 3. de verb. D. interpret cap. 10. ad arg 15. Sciendum est propositionem fidei concludita li Syllogismo Quicquid Deus revelavit in Scripturis est verum hoc Deus revelavit in Scripturis ergò hoc est verum Ex propositionibus hujus Syllogismi prima certa est apud omnes secunda apud Catholicos est etiam firmissimas nititur enim testimonio Ecclesiae Concilii vel Pontificis grants that a proposition is not de fide unlesse it be concluded in this Syllogisme whatsoever Gâ—â— hath revealed in Scripture is true but thâ— or that God hath revealed in Scripture ergâ— it is true If matters of faith must be revealed in Scripture as this reason supposes then the proposall of the Church cannot make any unwritten veritie to become matter of faith Yet to salve the soveraigne power of His Church he makes all the strength and truth of the minor in this Syllogisme to depend on the testimony of the Church and by consequence the truth of the conclusion which ever resembles the weake Premisse So as if this be true there is no truth in the Scriptures or in our Religion without the attestation of the Church 3. They teach that the Church is infallibly assisted in her proposalls and doctrines so as she cannot erre And this dreame hath made Rome sencelesse of her errours and careles to seek any remedie nay utterly incapable of remedie For to mindes really possessed with this fond persuasion and prejudice the most convincing reasons the most plaine Scriptures the most pregnant authorities of Fathers which proue the Church of Rome may erre or hath erred are all lost and made ineffectuall and seeme not strong arguments of the truth but strong temptations against it And this imagination of their Churches infallibility is to them at once both a sufficient reason of what is most unreasonable and a sufficient answer for what is most unanswerable That the Church is infallible we do not absolutely deny wee only deny the Church to be absolutely infallible Some of the most able Writers of the Roman partie do so fairly limit this priviledge that in their sence we do without difficulty admit it Their limitation is double regarding 1. the subject of this infallibility 2. the object of it First for the subject they plant this infallibility only in the Church Universall or the Catholique body of Christ on earth comprehending all his members not in any particular Church or any representation of the Church in CouÌ„cels Generall or particular much lesse in any one member of the Church no not in him who pretends to be the Head So d Walden lib. 2. Doct. fid art 2. cap. 19. §. 1. Ecclesia Universalis fideÌ„ habet indefectibilem non quidem in Generali Synodo congregata quam aliquoties errâsse percepimus Sylv. Sum. verb. Ecclesia cap. 1. §. 4. Ecclesia quae non potest errare dicitur noÌ„ Papa sed congregatio fideliuÌ„ Et vide gloss in cap. 24. qu. 1. call A recta Waldensis Sylvester and others 2. For the object or extent of this infallibility they grant it reaches not to all points or questions in Religion that may arise but only to such Articles as belong to the substance of faith such as are matters essentiall fundamentall simply necessary for the Church to know belleue To omit e Maldon in Iohan. 14. 26. Dubium est an illud docebit omnia referendum sit ad illud quaecunque dixi vobis quasi non aliud docturum Spiritum sanctum dicat quà m quod ipse anteà docuiffer Non repugnabo si quis ita velit interpretari Charron vetité 3. chap. 5. §. lc second poinct L infallibilité de l'Eglise ne s'entend que des choses qui concernent la substance de la foy laquelle ne reçoit point de contrarieté divet sité changement pource nulle correction reformation ou amendement estant vne tousiours immuable non reformable dit Tertullien de virg Veland Et ibid. saepe others Dr f Staplet Princip Doctrin lib. 8. controv 4. cap. 15. Stapleton is full and punctuall to this purpose He distinguishes controversies of Religion into two sorts Some saith he are about those doctrines of faith which necessarily pertaine to the publique faith of the Church Others about such matters as doe not necessarily belong to the faith but may be variously held and disputed without hurt or prejudice to faith To the first sort he restrains the infallibility of the Church But in the second he yeelds that the Church may sometimes erre either in her discourses or in her conclusions that without any violation of Christs promise made to the Church for infallibilitie And of this assertion He giues diverse good reasons The first and chiefest taken from the end for which infallibility was given to the Church It was given saith He for the common salvation of the faithfull and not for the satisfaction of unprofitable curiosities or for the search of unnecessary subtleties For as nature so God is neither defectiue in necessaries nor lavish in