Bishop of Condom gives this reason himself unawares in effect saith he the taking away the Cup or the communion under one kind is a consequence of Transubstantiation Before Transubstantiation was believed there was a great regard had for the Sacraments of the body and bloud of Jesus Christ but the Irreverencies were not of the same consequence nor so scandalous as they have been since it was caught that the bread and the wine are no longer the same which they are seen to be but that they are the proper body and the proper bloud of Jesus Christ for it is well known that it is onely since Transubstantiation hath passed into an Article of Faith that the Cup also hath been taken away Therefore also whatever hopes the Bishop of Condom seems to give that the Communion under the Form of the wine may be re-establisht for the benefit of peace and re-union in all appearance we are to a wait a long time this re-establishment if it be at all to be expected whilst the Doctrine of Transubstantiation shall subsist The benefit of re-union which hinderd not but that the Council of Trent did elude this re-establishment in a time when it was demanded with so much instance will never in all likelihood prevail against the inconvenience of Irreverencie which will alwayes continue that is to say it will alwayes be a great scandal ever and anon to see spilt that which is believed to be the proper bloud of the Lord and the simple reflexion which may be made on this consequence may alone be capable to open at last the eyes of the people upon the Doctrine of Transubstantiation it self The other consideration which the Bishop of Condom brings for the taking away the Cup is this that he saith our own Synods have not judged that in the Lords Supper we ought to deny the bread unto those who by a natural aversion cannot suffer the smell or taste of wine and that by consequence the communion under both kinds is not essential unto the Sacrament and that it is in the power of the Church to give therein onely one But who sees not the extreme difference that there is betwixt this useage of our Churches and that which the Church of Rome ordains and practises and that there can no good consequence be drawn from the one unto the other Our Synods are so far from allowing to themselves the authority of taking away any thing from the Institution of our Saviour or of making any the least change therein that they have kept themselves so religiously to his words as to have made it a question whether the bread should be given unto them who onely through this natural aversion which they cannot overcome forbear to take the sign of the wine and they give not the bread it self but in the manner which the Bishop of Condom reports causing them who cannot drink wine to make a protestation that it is not through disrespect and obliging them to put the Cup to their lips to avoid scandal The Church of Rome on the contrary takes away the Cup from whole Nations that desire it reseraving his advantage to the Clergy lone or to Princes or other considerable persons whom she thinks good to gratifie and all this apparently as a new means to increase and confirm her authority over Princes and people THE SIXTH PART Behold now at length the Question of the Eucharist dispatcht we leave it unto those who are pleased to take the pains of reading this Answer to make reflexion themselves what the importance of the thing requires I was unwilling to have insisted so long time upon it but this Article alone makes us the moyety of the Bishop of Condom's Treatise it was impossible to clear all and to be shorter We shall make a speedier dispatch with the three points which remain to wit Tradition the authority of the Church and the authority of the Pope as well because they are general matters upon which there are express Volumes as also because the Bishop of Condom himself passeth very lightly over the Questions of Tradition and of the authority of the Pope and that Lastly â—t is known that these three Questions will be treated of throughly by a better hand in a Work which will â—hortly be published and particularly the Question of the Church which is the chiefest upon which in a manner depend the two others We will confine our selves here to examine in a few words what the Bishop of Condom layes down upon each of these three Articles and we are perswaded that we cannot betâ—er confirm our Doctrine in opposition unto that of the Church of Rome than by shewing how weak â—nd vain are the reasons of a person â—f so much address and reputation as â—t is In the first place as to Tradition XVIII The Word writen and unwritten The Bishop of Condom here again â—akes an indirect advantage in â—he expressions in calling it as he â—oth the unwritten Word a name â—hat prejudges the Question by the â—hing it self which is in question He â—ntends to suppose thereby that the Traditions of the Church of Rome which we admit not at all are nothing else but the very Doctrine of Jesus Christ and of his Apostles as well as the Holy Scriptures with this onely difference that the one was put into Paper by the Evangelists and by the Apostles and that the other was committed to the memory of the first faithful from whom the Church of Rome pretends that they have been delivered from hand to hand unto our Age and by consequence that we ought to receive Traditions with the same Faith and submission as the Scriptures for so it is that the Bishop of Condom gives us to understand in two places pa. 159 160. Sess 4 c. Can. Script and that the Council of Trent it self decides it in proper terms Now we have no thoughts of denying that what our Lord and his Apostles said by word of mouth ought to be of the same authority as that which the same Apostles afterwards left in writing that is not at all the question but we say that our Lord having put it into the hearts of the Evangelists and of the Apostles to write the Gospel which they preached these holy Doctours being immediately directed by the Holy Spirit have not done the thing imperfectly or by halves that by consequence at the least they did not omit any thing essential unto Christian Religion and that Lastly their writings do contain all that is necessary for the Service of God and for the rule of our manners St. Paul 2 Tim. 3.16 17 as yet regarding principally the Scripture of the Old Testament said unto Timothy that the Scripture is proper for instruction Mat. 1â— 3.9 for correction for reproofe that the man of God may be perfect and accomplisht unto every good work By greater reason both the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament being conjoined are able to do
Apostles themselves or at least of the following age which speaketh clearly and in express words we have received such or such a Doctrine from the mouth of the Apostles or we hold it from those who have received it themselves from the Apostles own mouth for who can doubt but that there should be at least some formal and express Testimony to establish by the sole authority of Tradition a Religious Worship or any Important Doctrine that should binde mens Consciences But in conclusion behold here what the Bishop of Condom gives us in stead of such a proof pa. 159 160. the certain sign saith he that a Tradition comes from the Apostles is when it is embraced by all the Christian Churches without possible finding out the beginning of it c. And a little after It not being possible adds he that a Doctrine received from the beginning of the Church can proceed from any other origin but that of the Apostles The Bishop of Condom indefinitely layes down this Maxim not daring to apply the same unto any of the Traditions of the Church of Rome as knowing that this character indefinite as it is doth not suit with them To judge rightly of his argument and of the consequence which he would draw from thence this is the order into which we ought to put his propositions It is impossible saith he that a Doctrine received from the beginning of the Church should proceed from any other origin but from the Apostles A Doctrine embraced by all the Christian Churches whereof the beginning cannot be shewed is necessarily from the beginning of the Church Therefore such a Doctrine proceeds from the Apostles Now the Traditions of the Church of Rome are Doctrines embraced by all the Christian Churches without possibility of shewing their beginning therefore they proceed from the Apostles These are the Bishop of Condom's propositions in the order wherein they ought to be and in this order it is plainly evident that there is not one of them that is absolutely true or rather that is not false in the terms in which it is conceived In the first place this proposition is not true that it is not possible that a Doctrine received from the beginning oâ— the Church should come from any other origin but from the Apostles except it be shewed that it was then received gâ—nerally of all the Churches and that the Apostles did not oppose themselves against it for the Apostles themselves testifie that in their times the Mystery of iniquity began to work 2 Thes 2.7 1 Tim. 1.7 that there were false Teachers amongst the Christians and by consequence false Doctrines so that it was no way impossible that these same Doctrines were not followed or revived in after-times â—s were many Heresies which appeared in the first and second age of Christianity But the second proposition is yet less true that a Doctrine embraced by all the Christian Churches whereof the beginning is not to be found should necessarily be from the beginning of the Church or that it should come from the Apostles which is the same thing in the Bishop of Condom's sense for those that make any reflexion upon the manner by which changes come in either in the Laws or Customs of States or in the Worship and Doctrines of Religion very well know that the time and original of these changes cannot always be shewn Much less therefore should it be said that these Establishments must necessarily be from the first foundation of these States or Religion Who could shew the Original of all the false Traditions of the Jewes Should it therefore be said that they were all from the beginning of the Jewish Church or the unwritten Word of Moses Amongst Christians themselves for example the use of giving the Sacrament unto little children was without doubt generally observed De pec in rit remi ii 1. ca. 20 24. Et l. 3. contr Julian c 4 Sâ—ss cap 4 because St. Austin openly has taught it as an Apostolical Tradition that it was absolutely necessary and that without it little children could not be saved The Council of Trent saith upon this subject that the Fathers which followed this custome ought to shew their reasons for it nevertheless it is one of those Doctrines whereof we cannot shew the beginning and for all that none dares to say at this time that it was received from the beginning of the Church or that it came from the Apostles otherwise the Council of Trent would not have dared to abrogate and abolish it as it hath done In fine the third proposition which the Bishop of Condom doth suppose in his Argument is yet less true than the two former namely that the Traditions of the Church of Rome which separate us from her communion are Doctrines embraced by all the Christian Churches without possible shewing the beginning thereof Can the Church of Rome shew any thing near this of any one of those Traditions which are in dispute betwixt us for example of Purgatory of the invocation of Saints of worshipping of Images of Relicks of the Cross of auricular confession of Indulgences of the Pope's Supremacy of private Masses of the adoration of the Host of the communion under one kind of religious Worship in an unknown Tongue or in fine of any of the particular Doctrines which separate us from the Roman Church For not to speak of the present time in which it is evidently known that there are many of the Christian Churches as well in the East as the West which do not embrace all the Doctrines of the Church of Rome it is also a thing most certain and notorious that it is not in the power of the Church of Rome to shew I will not say of all these Doctrines in general but of any one of them alone that it was embraced not onely in all times but scarcely at any time by all the Christian Churches On the contrary there are a great number of these Traditions of the Church of Rome whereof their first beginnings may precisely enough be shewn for example the worshipping of Saints and Images auricular confession the communion under one kind and many others and of all in general excepting that of praying for the dead whereof there is some mention to be found towards the latter end of the second Age. Our Authours have very solidly made appear that there is no footstep of them to be found in the three first Cajetan Thom. Pâ—râ—z Peron Beat. Rhen. Gab. Biel Roffen-Lombard c. Gab. Biel lect 57. upon the Canon of the Mass Quia sine du bio Ecclesia habet Spiritum sponsi sui Christi ideo non errans The most knowing of the Church of Rome themselves do not dissent as to the greatest number of Traditions as hath been noted before of worshipping of Saints of Images of confession of Purgatory and indulgences and they maintain not these sorts of Doctrines but by the general Maxime of the
authority of the Church of Rome which they pretend cannot err Behold therefore the Bishop of Condom's argument overthrown in all its parts seeing that the Maxime which he layes down is not true which is that all the Doctrines embraced by all the Christian Churches whereof the first beginning cannot be shewn proceed from the Apostles and that the application which he doth make is less true which is that all the Traditions of the Church of Rome are Doctrines embrac'd by all the Christian Churches without possibility of shewing their beginning and by consequence this conclusion whether it be of the Bishop of Condom or of the Council of Trent far from being true and orthodox is a very strange principle that we ought to receive the Traditions even those which do separate us from the Church of Rome with the same respect and the same submission as the Holy Scripture XIX The authority of the Church After Tradition follows the authority of the Church The Bishop of Condom doth not clearly explain wherein this authority consists nor what he understands by the Church which should have this authority whether this authority should have any bounds or whether it should have none or whether it be the Pope with the Council or without the Council or the Council alone in which this authority doth reside for we also have our Churches and our Governours and we believe that we should not onely keep order but all that doth conduce for the maintaining of unity and concord and the Question here as elsewhere is oftentimes but of the more or less What the Bishop of Condom sayes in this case is reducible to four principal propositions The first that it cannot be but by the authority of the Church that we receive the whole body of the Holy Scriptures The second that it is of the Church that we learn Tradition and by Tradition the true sense of the Scriptures The third that it is the Church and her Pastours assembled which should determine controversies that divide the Faithful and that when once they have resolved any matter we ought to submit unto their decisions without examining anew that which they have resolved The fourth and last that this authority is so necessary that after having denied it we have been forced to establish it amongst us by our discipline by the Acts of our Synods and by our practice in things pertaining to Faith it self As to the first we agree with the Bishop of Condom that the Christian Church is the Guardian of the Scriptures and that as she hath received the Law and the Prophets from the Jewish Church so it is from the Chirstian Church that the Faithful receive all the Scriptures as well of the Old as of the New Testament We even acknowledge that the authority of the Church is a lawful reason which at first makes us look upon the Scripture as a revelation from Heaven but we do deny not onely that it is meerly by the authority of the Church but that it is principally by her authority that we receive the Scripture as the Divine Word The Scripture is full of Testimonies which it self gives of its Divinity and of the efficacious power which it hath upon hearts by the operation of the Holy Ghost It is indeed somewhat injurious to this the Divinity of the Scripture and to its efficacy and somewhat contradictory when it is contended that a matter Divine should not be received but by dependance upon an humane authority It is as if one would say that it is yet at this day onely by the authority of the Jewish Church that Christians have received the whole body of the Scriptures of the Old Testament because it is by her hand that we have received them though upon the whole the authority of this peopel chosen of God may be a reasonable ground of the Divinity of the Scriptures Truth hath its proper character even in humane matters which makes us acknowledge it for its self when once it is set before our eyes and not for the authority of those who propose it to us By greater reason Heavenly truths like the Sun manifest themselves by their proper splendour 'T is a common speech upon this subject that a man asleep being told the Sun is up presently believes it is day upon what is told him but when once he sees it is day he believes it not any longer because he was told so but because he sees it and he doth not so much as dream any longer that it was told him so The Gentlemen of the Church of Rome will not agree that it is as clear that the Scripture is the Word of God as it is clear that it is day when the Sun is above our Horizon and this is it which the Bishop of Condom gives to understand in terms positive enough when he speaks of us that whatever we say he believes that it is principally the authority of the Church pag. 16. that determines us to reverence as Divine Books the Song of Songs which hath so few sensible marks of prophetical inspiration the Epistle of St. James which Luther rejected and that of St. Jude which might be suspected by reason of some Apocryphal Books which are therein alledged But how dare any man rebate or decry as I may so speak the brightness and force of the Word of God Why sayes he absolutely that the Song of Songs hath so few marks of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit And to what end here again proposes he scruples against this Song and against the two Epistles of St. James and St. Jude which we look upon both in the one and the other communion as sacred Books and that without so much as alledging the reasons which have determined as well the Church of Rome as ours to receive these Writings as Canoniâ—al For will any say that if these Writings had not had any character of Divinity the sole approbation of the Church of Rome could give them 〈◊〉 light which they had not of themselves For our parts 2 Tim. 3.16 we say with the Apostle that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and if all men do not look upon them in the same manner or with the same sentiments it is not the fault of the Scripture but it is the effect of the variety and weakness of the humane spirit and the wise and free dispensation of the Spirit of God which bloweth where it will and as it will An evident proof that it is not the authority of the Church of Rome which determines those of our communion to reverence the Scriptures and these three Books particularly as Canonical but that it is their own proper character and the grace which we believe that God gives us to acknowledge this character is that 't is well known there are some others as Tobie Judith VVisdome Ecclesiasticus and the two first Books of Maccabees c. which the Church of Rome receives as Canonical which
all this The same Scripture of the New Testament speaks in divers places against Traditions without ever intimating that there were some good which were to be distinguished from the bad and in one onely place which is that whereof the Bishop of Condom makes mention Mar. 7.8 9 13. Colos 2.8 2 Thes 2.15 the Apostle exhorting the Thessalonians to hold fast the Traditions which they had received of him whether it were by mouth when he was present with them or by Epistle which he had since writ to them sayes not one word which intimates that the things which he had taught them by mouth were different from those which he had written unto them but he gives to understand all along that it was one and the same Gospel which he preached unto all to them who were present by voice and to them that were absent by writing In summe whosoever will take the pains with any attention to read St. Paul's Two Epistles to the Thessalonians where he speaks unto them of the instructions which he gave them and of the manner of his having preached the Gospel unto them shall find there nothing at all no more than in the Gospel it self which hath the least resemblance to prayer for the dead to Purgatory to the invocation of Saints to the adoration of Images nor in fine to any of the Traditions which are in question betwixt the Gentlemen of the Church of Rome and us It were an easie matter here De Doct. Christ li. 2. c. 9. li. 3. cont lit Petili c. 6. Hieron ad Hel. vi pa. 315 366. Chrysos Hono. 3. in 2. ad Cor. to strengthen our selves with the Testimony of St. Austin and of several other Fathers to prove what we have said that the Scripture doth contain all that is necessary either for the Service of God or for the rule of our actions but besides that this were to engage in a particular Controversie touching the judgment of the Fathers which is not the design of this Answer we think that amongst Christians it were in some fort to prejudice the Dignity and Divinity of this same Holy Scripture to doubt that its proper light were not sufficient to make known its perfection Onely let us see what the Bishop of Condom produces for the unwritten Word Jesus Christ saith he having founded his Church upon preaching pa. 158. the unwritten Word was the first rule of Christianity and when thereto the Scriptures of the New Testament were added this Word did not thereby lose its authority We must observe here at first that this is to speak in some sort improperly to say that Jesus Christ founded the Church upon preaching and not rather by preaching Preaching is a means and not a foundation the means may cease the foundation ought to be durable And no more is it true that the unwritten Word was the first rule of Christianity It is the Scripture it self of the Old Testament which was the first and the eldest rule and the foundation of the Faith of Christians It is the Old Testament that not onely contains the Commandments of the Law which is the permanent and unchangeable rule of our Duty as well towards God as towards men but likewise all the figures all the promises and all the prophesies touching the Messias the time and the place of his Birth and all the circumstances of his death The Gospel as all the world knows is not the abrogating but the fulfilling of the Law therefore it is that we see that Jesus Christ and the Apostles grounded their preaching upon the Scriptures of the Old Testament Jesus Christ continually refers the Jews to the Law and to the Testimony It is written saith he in your Law c. Joh. 5.39 46. Rom. 1. Search the Scriptures diligently for in them ye think ye have eternal life And the Apostle St. Paul to the Romans Paul a servant of Jesus Christ c. separated unto the Gospel c. which was promised by the prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his Son Jesus Christ c. who was made of the seed of David according to the Flesh and so he begins his very Epistle to the Hebrews God who at sundry times spake unto the Fathers by the prophets c. In fine his first Chapter and the whole Epistle is nothing else but one citation of Exodus of Chronicles of Samuel Job Psalms and the other Books of the Old Testament It is besides a very improper manner of speaking to say that when the Scriptures of the New Testament were joyned unto the unwritten Word this word for all that did not thereby lose its authority as if the Doctrine of the Gospel such as we have it now in writing were an accessary or were a thing different from that unto which they pretend it was joined or that that which was not written were more considerable than that which we have in the Sacred Books for this expression of the Bishop of Condom's that the Scriptures were joyned to the unwritten word suggests all these imaginations in stead of saying the thing properly as it is He should have said that the unwritten Word having been put into writing or the Scripture of the New Testament having succeeded preaching this Divine Word not onely not lost its authority but on the contrary was corroborated in that it doth not any longer depend on the memory nor the will of men naturally subject unto Errour For upon the main the Bishop of Condom pretends that the Holy Scripture contains onely the lesser part of Christian Religion and that on the contrary Tradition doth contain the principal part At least his pretence is that there may be some particular Doctrines which are not to be had but by Tradition which ought not for their not being in Scripture therefore to lose their authority As for any thing else the Gentlemen of the Church of Rome are so little firm to their principle of Tradition or at least they so well acknowledge that Tradition cannot go equal with Scripture though the Council hath been pleased to determine the contrary that when they are pressed touching particular Traditions which are in question betwixt them and us there is scarce one but they endeavour to support by the authority of Scripture whether it be by interpreting it in their sense or by the consequences which they draw thence When they treat of Tradition in general they maintain it with excess comparing it to Scripture as if it went through all Religion and when they treat of their Doctrines in particular they would make the World believe that there is scarce any one amongst them which is not founded on the very Scripture But if we would know nevertheless how the Bishop of Condom proves that the particular ponits of Tradition are the very Doctrine of the Apostles unwritten it may be at first we would believe that he had in hand some Authour either of the age of the
AN ANSWER To the BISHOP of CONDOM's BOOK Entituled An Exposition of the Doctrin of the Catholick Church upon Matters of Controversie Written Originally in French DVBLIN Printed by Benjamin Tooke Printer to the KING 's most Excellent Majesty And are to be Sold by Joseph Wilde in Castlestreet 1676. SI quis existimet in hoc Libello cui Titulus An Answer to the Bishop of Condom c. reperiri quid Doctrinae aut Institutis Ecclesiae Anglicanae non admodum conforme id donandum est peculiari Reformatarum in Gallia Ecclesiarum statui Certè responsi corpus verè aureumcenseo dignum quod Imprimatur Edw. VVetenhall S. T. P. Reverendissimo in Christo Patri ac Domino D. Michaeli Archiepiscopo Dublin c. à Sacris Domesticis The Epistle Dedicatory To his Grace MICHAEL By Divine Providence Archbishop of DUBLIN And Lord Chancellor of IRELAND IT is well known to the World that those accomplishments which have at all times been most esteemed by the wisest men as Prudence Temperance Justice and Fortitude have even in the worst of times most eminently appeared in your Grace Which virtues have shined with greater lustre by the light derived from His Sacred Majesty whose Princely wisdom hath thought fit to choose such an Instrument to bear so considerable a part of Government in a Kingdom so lately retrieved from almost total ruine to distribute the highest Justice where so many several Interests interfere which nevertheless is done with so much moderation that nothing but Envy can repine at your Graces eminent degree in Church and State It is sufficiently known how blind Tradition and custome in matters of Religion have inthralled the minds of most of the Natives of Ireland which certainly makes them the more unfit in all respects for the service of their Prince This consideration mov'd me to expose the following Treatise unto publick view in that Kingdom It was lately written by a Reu. Divine of the Reformed Church in answer to the Bishop of Condom a person that upon mature deliberation with all the Art imaginable undertook an Exposition of the Belief of the Roman Church wherein it is evident to the World how contrary this Prelate's success is unto our Jewell's against Cole Harding and other Roman Champions whereby the decay of that Politick Religion in one Century may be perceived and the excellent nature of Truth which prevails over all opposers may be discovered which if any thing should invite men to submit unto it Some it may be will censure me for dediecating things of this natur-unto your Grace being therein so perfectly verst already To such I shall only say that good things are not the worse for being often heard and knowing that your Grace hath at all times earnestly contended for the Faith and been a zealous promoter of it these matters being in their Original dressed after the exquisitest manner I have presumed to send them into the World under your Graces Patronage beseeching Almighty God long to preserve your Grace for His Majesty and these Nations good which shall ever be the earnest prayer of Your GRACES Most obedient and most humble Servitour Jos Walker To Monsieur CONRART SInce it is you Sir who inspired me with the thought of undertaking the defense of our common cause against a Prelate of the reputation of the Bishop of Condom be pleased also to become responsible to the publick for the manner in which I have acquitted my self herein I am perswaded a man could not set here a better name than yours to do no wrong to himself or to give more weight to the Answer he had made It is notorious that you are known through all parts where desert is known You are equally loved and esteemed by all worthy persons both of one and the other Communion and by the Bishop of Condom himself And as all the world agrees that none can wear a spirit or an heart more upright than that which you own so it will be easily presumed that those sentiments which you shall have approved are no less sincere and faithful Nor can any say that this is an Anonymous Work in that they see not my Name here if you will be pleased it be known that he who writ it has the honour to be one of the friends of Monsieur Conrart ADVERTISEMENT THE Bishop of Condom's Treatise hath appeared three several times and at each time in a very different condition The first in a Manuscript about four years ago at that time only containing the Articles of worshipping Saints of Images and Reliques the matter of Justification and that of the Sacraments excepting only the Sacrament of the Eucharist which was not as yet therein The second about nine or ten moneths past of the first Impression which was recalled The Bishop of Condom had thereunto joyned at that time not onely the Articles of the Eucharist of Tradition of the authority of the Church of the authority of the Pope all which do make the amplest and most considerable part of his Treatise but he had also changed several places of the Manuscript Copy The third as it doth now appear in this second Edition which the Printer calls the first because the first was not published and it is in this second Edition chiefly that it is to be found that the Bishop of Condom hath changed several places as well of the first Edition as of the Manuscript that was dispersed amongst us whether he did it of his own inclination or to accommodate himself the better unto the Opinions of those of his own communion with whom he had conferred It ought not to be thought strange that those who in these dayes publish Books in the matter of Religion should with all circumspection consider them over again and again and especially when it is upon points of Controversie because then a mans business is not only to establish his own belief but also to engage the contrary which requires an exact knowledge of all the principles and opinions of one and the other But if it be true that the Church of Rome hath a plain form of Doctrine as the Bishop of Condome would have us believe if the Bishop of Condom's Treatise be only a bare Exposition of Faith as the Title doth import and as he himself doth declare in the beginning pag. 2. one would think there were not necessary for that either subtlety vizour or contrivance it would be only needful to tell us at once with an entire opening of heart what is believed and the manner how it is believed and for so doing the most natural and least artificial manner is always best I will not here set down the alterations which the Bishop of Condom hath made unto what was contained in the Manuscript that was before mentioned but I cannot pass by with silence the difference that is to be found in the first and second Edition because nothing doth more clearly shew the ground of their opinions who write
and Practices that aggrieve us are at best but private opinions that may be laid aside This is it they ordinarily discourse to us to make us inclinable to themselves and this is in particular the sense and Soul of the Bishop of Condoms Treatise more openly indeed and more expresly in the Manuscript Copy and what hath been cited of the first Edition but yet clearly enough in the second On the other side the profession of Faith declares in so many words that we must believe and receive all the traditions all the institutions all the customs of the Roman Church which doth comprise generally all that is known and that is not known It saith yet more expresly that we ought to pray unto Saints to Worship their relicks have Images of Jesus Christ of the Virgin and of all the Saints and render them the honour and the Worship due unto them admit of Seven true Sacraments and embrace all the Council of Trent hath said and decided touching justification and by consequence the merit of Works satisfactions Purgatory and all the Doctrine of Indulgences believe the conversion of all the substance of the Bread into the body of Jesus Christ and the conversion of all the substance of the Wine into his bloud which is called Transubstantiation and that all Jesus Christ is intirely received and the true Sacrament under the one and the other of the two species Lastly that we are to believe that the Church of Rome is the Mistress of all other Churches to swear intire obedience unto the Pope of Rome and generally to receive all other things whatsoever that are taught by the Councillâ— and particularly by the Council of Treâ—â— which doth comprise generally whâ—â— a man will all that is in dispute Tâ—â—â— is what is formally required of thâ—â—â— that present themselves before the Câ—rate the Bishop or the great peâ—tentiary now let all these Articles 〈◊〉 Faith be compared with the stile 〈◊〉 the Bishop of Condoms Treatise and afterwards Let it be maturely judged if this be one and the same Doctrine For our parts being very far from aggravating the difference there is betwixt the one and the other or from having a mind to make a greater distance betwixt us and the Church of Rome than there is indeed We believe that there is nothing more to be desired for the good of Christian Religion and by little and little to bring mens Spirits mutually nearer that that all those of the Roman Church generally would at least accommodate themselves freely openly unto these sort of sweetnings that the Bishop of Condom doth and that instead of heightning the differences that there may be between his exposition and the Doctrine which they commonly profess they would Write on the contrary in the same sense that he doth and clearer and fuller yet than he hath Written that Lastly they would all say at least as he doth that this is alone the true Doctrine of the Roman Church Religion at least would find it self discharged and freed of a great many Doctrines and practises which do nothing but burthen consciences this would be in sundry points as one of those insensible changes which have come into the Church but a change for the better and an happy beginning of Reformation that might have much more happy consequences The BULL of our moâ—… Holy Lord Lord PIUâ— by Divine Providencâ— Pope the IV. of thaâ— Name Touching thâ— Form of the Oath 〈◊〉 Profession of Faith Translated out of Latine PIUS Bishop Servant of the Seâ—vants of God ad perpetuam 〈◊〉 memoriam for a perpetual record THE duty of our Apostoliâ— Charge which lies upon 〈◊〉 requires that those things which the Lord Almighty for the prudent guidance of his Church has vouchsafed from Heaven to inspire in the Holy Fathers assembled in his Name we make hast to put in execution without delay for his praise and glory Whereâ— therefore according to the Order of the Council of Trent all whom it shall henceforth happen to be set over Cathedral or Superiour Churches or to be provided for by any dignities or Canonries of the same or any other whatsoever Ecclesiastical benefices having cure of Souls are bound to make publick profession of the Orthodox Faith and to engage and swear that they will continue in obedience to the Roman Church We willing also that the same be observed by all whosoever shall be disposed of in Monasteries Convents Religious houses or other places whatsoever of whatsoever Regular Orders even of the Military ones by whatsoever name or Title and to this purpose that what concerns our care may not be the least wanting to any that a profession of one and the same faith may be uniformly exibited by all and that one certain form of it may be known unto all do by power Apostolick strictly injoyn and command by the tenour of these presents that this very form annexed to these presents be published and that it be received and observed all the World over by those by whom according to the decrees of the said Council it does belong and by all other persons aforesaid and that under the penalties by the said Council enacted against offenders in this case the aforesaid Profession be Solemnly made according to this and no other form in this tenor IN. Do with firm Faith believe and profess all and every things and thing which are contained in the Symbol of Faith which the Holy Roman Church useth viz. Articles of Faith taken out of the Symbols of Nice and Con stantinople I believe in one God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth and of all things visible and invisible and in one Lord Jesus Christ the onely begotten Son of God and brought forth of his Father before all Ages God of God Light of Light very God of very God begotten not made of the same substance with the Father by whom all things were made who for us men and our Salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and made man was also crucified for us under Pontius Pilat suffered and was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures and ascended into Heaven sitteth at the right hand of the Father and shall come again with Glory to judge both the quick and the dead of whose Kingdom there shall be no end And in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of Life who proceedeth from the Father and the Son who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified who spake by the Prophets And one Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins and I look for the Resurrection of the dead and the Life of the World to come Amen The Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions and the other observations Articles of Faith touching the matters in Cotroversie which the Romish Church hath added to the Antient and constitutions of the same
those Holy Originals neither Commandment nor example to the contrary Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God anâ— him onely shalt thou serve said our Saviour to the Devil that tempted him If Religion were onely an arbitrary Worship St. Aug. lib. 4. contr Faust cap. 11. de Genes cont Manich. li be a p. 1. and that to render it Lawful it were enough to refer all to God the Manichees which adored God the Father Son and Holy Ghost with a Sovereign Worship and who also Worshipped the Sun and Moon by reason of the residence they believed God made in those glorious bodies might have said that they did terminate all in God and in a Word there could be no false Worship superstion or evil action which may not be justified if it were enough to say that all did terminate in God Besides the Church of Rome doth but fairly say that She teacheth that the Worship of Saints ought to refer it self to or terminate it self on God the people will everlastingly terminate it on the Saints on their relicks and on their Images because the same reason which causeth that grosser minds cannot form to themselves any Idea of an Infinie and in visible God as he is doth also make them naturally to stop at Saints and creatures and that they rely more on things which they see or know than on that which they onely know imperfectly They will have as the Jews had Gods to march before them and at all times when Relicks and Images are set before the eyes of the people as is usual their eyes and their hearts far from being lifted up unto God will stop not onely at the saints themselves but at their Images and Relicks The Second Part. The Bishop of Condom doth here descend from the General Proposition touching the nature of Religious Worship Of the Invocation of Saints to the explication of particular Worships which do make part of the Articles of Faith whereunto he reduces the controversies He begins with the Invocation of Saints indeavouring also to sweeten and extenuate this worship of the Church of Rome as well in the Doctrine as in the practice and onely studies colourable means to insinuate his Doctrin in stead of following the natural order of things of the Doctrin it self that is to say instead of establishing before all things that the Invocation of Saints is a Lawful worship instituted by God and by consequence well pleasing in his eyes he indeavours to surprise mens minds by this other general proposition that those of the Pretended Reformed Religion being pressed by the force of the truth do begin to acknowledge that the Custom of Praying unto Saints and to honour their Relicks was established ever since the fourth Century he means that we do acknowledge that this worship did begin to be established at that time This is but a perverting of words for the Bishop of Condom knows very well that it is not now that we do begin to make this acknowledgement and that this acknowledgment is neither new nor forced nor particular to Monsieur Daille as the Bishop of Condom doth seem to take notice Clemnit Casaub â—ossias du Moulin c. Blondeâ— Chamier Bochard in a word all those who have treated throughly of this Subject have agreed upon the time in which Praying unto Saints begun to be introduced This trick of expression from the Biâ—hop of Condom is onely a short wâ—y to insinuate that there hath been a variation betwixt our authors and less sincerity at one time than at another which nevertheless hath not the least ground however his proposition shall be explained that it may not be mistaken It is true that we have always acknowledged that Praying unto Saints began to be practised towards the end of the Fourth Age but we never acknowledged neither do we yet acknowledge that it was an usage then established in the publick service of the Church nor is it true that it was authorised by any Council Onely if it be needful we make appear by convincing proofs not only that there is neither command nor example neither in the Old or New Testament for the Invocation of Saints but also that there is not the least mark in any of the authors of the fiâ—â—â— three Ages which are extant in sâ—ficiently great numbers Mr. Dâ—ille doth not accuse any the Fathers much less St. Augustiâ—â— to have changed the Doctrin in thâ— point from the former Ages for 〈◊〉 Austin hath declared himself the Leâ— of any for these sorts of Prayers 〈◊〉 Saints Mr. Daille doth only complaiâ— of this that they suffered them inseâ—sibly to be brought in upon bad priâ—ciples and doth accuse them of havâ—ing erred in this as the Church 〈◊〉 Rome doth acknowledge that theâ— have all erred in other things If thâ— Bishop of Condom pretend that thâ— is to abandon those great men under colour of acknowledging that the were men subject to errour the millenaries which do yet to this day expect a Kingdom for a Thousand year on earth under the immediate Government of Christ Jesus those whicâ— believe that Souls at their departurâ— out of this Life shall sleep until thâ— day of Judgement and Generally alâ— those that have followed or do yeâ— follow any one of these errours which appeared in the first Ages may as well say that we have abandoned those of the Fathers who followed or taught those matters and by consequence that they are not errors but Doctrines Lawfully established But it will appear very unlikely saith the Bishop of Condom that Mr. Daillé hath better understood the opinions of the Fathers of the three first Ages than those who have gathered as it may be said the succession of their Doctrin and he will be much less believed that the Fathers of the fourth Age where far from perceiving that there was any innovation brought in in their Worship this Minister on the contrary hath produced express texts by which they clearly shew that they pretend in praying to the Saints to have followed the example of those who went before them These kinds of discourses are very uncertain and are properly but Colours If the Bishop of Condom had taken the pains to have mentioned the texts he speaks of it would have been seen that there is not the least in any of them which shews clearly as he would have men believe that the Fathers of the fourth Age did pretenâ— that the invocation of Saints was it use in the three precedent Ages It is known to be the custom of those who have no good ground not Lawful right for what they do to seek to authorise themselves at leasâ— by examples as the Gentlemen of the Roman Church do at this present by the greatest part of their traditions But if it were true that some Author of the Fourth Age had written iâ— General terms that in Praying unto Saints in that Age they followed the example of those that had gone before them not
shewing the time when these examples appeared who seeâ— not that this might be referred unto the time immediatly going before in the same Age and would conclude nothing for the three first if nothing were â—o be found in those Ages Howsoeveâ— iâ— be we believe shall we be ablâ— to â—aâ—e appear that never any author of the Fourth Age hath alledged any text of the three former thâ— makes out that in those times they prayed unto Saints The Cardinal Du Perron In the reply unto the King of Great Britain answer 187â— Impress Pâ—aâ— whose art in turning all to his advantage is sufficiently known hath been forced to confess in proper terms that there is not to be found any footstep of the invocation of Saints in the Authors next to the Apostles Age seeking vain slâ—ights and evasions upon this matter Perez a Spanish Bishop Os Tradi pa 197â— more sincere goeth farther confessing that he found not that any Prayd unto Saints before the year 360. See then more than three Ages and aâ— half exempted from the pretensions of the Gentlemen of the Church oâ— Rom by their own confession and what can there be more convincing on the side of Tradition unto those which make if the rule of their Faith against such a worship as this which maks so great a part of the Roman Religion than not to find at all the least step of it in the whole course of 360 years the purest time of Christianity As to what the Bishop of Condom saith that it is not at all likely that Mr. Daille had better understood the opinion of the Fathers of the three first Ages then those of the fourth Age did understand them first it is not here the business to understand or not to understand the opinion of the Fathers of the three first Ages for none of their writings can be alledged which those of the fourth Age have understood iâ— one sense and Mr. Daille in another The onely business is to know iâ— there be any thing in those writings which sheweth that they Prayed unto Saints Mr. Daille affirms that he finds nothing at all Du Perrâ—â— and Perez speaking to the same effect as is already said and the authors of the Fourth Age say nothing contrary But if there were occasion to explain any of the Fathers of the three first Ages it would not possibly be so great a Paradox as the Bishop of Condom imagins to suppose that Mr. Daille has been able to understand them as well as most of the Fathers of the fourth age did understand them Those who amongst all his other works have read his books of the use of the fathers of the Novelty of Roman Traditions of the object of the worship of the Latins and upon the Epistles attributed to St. Ignatius where he had occasion to speak throughly of the Doctring of the three first Ages will acknowledge if they are in the least just and sincere that haply scarce any before him hath either more studied or better understood the Fathers than he and I may credible say here that if the veneration which is to be had for antient things be one day joyned unto the proper excellency of his works and unto the clear reputation in which he lived preached even unto a great age he will be esteemed in after times for one of the greatest most excellent Doctors which the Church ever had The Fathers of the Fourth age lived some in Europe others in Asia and some in Africk Printing not being then in use there was not the same facility to see all the Manuscripts of Forreign parts The Fathers had each their proper Lights and peculiar study of some of the writings of the preceding ages and of their own at this day those who have the time Wisdom Judgment and the knowledge of tongues which are necessary for the well understanding the Fathers may collect not onely all the Fathers works of the three first Ages but also the several Lights of the Fourth and also joyn unto those Lights those of all the following ages unto that wherein we Live day unto day uttereth Speech right unto night sheweth knowledge Who questions but at this time several places of the Holy Scriptures are better understood than they were in the First ages This dispute it self hath served to clear many truths which were not known until these Last times for instance several passages misunderstood by the Fathers which are now better understood in the one and in the other Communion than they were formerly and sundry errours whereinto it is agreed they were fallen from which praised be God we are now delivered Here it is that the Bishop of Condom comes at length to explain the belief of the Roman Church touching the invocation of Saints in particular what he saith may be reduced to this that the Church of Rome teacheth that it is useful to pray unto Saints and that she teacheth to pray unto them in a Spirit of Charity and Brotherly fellowship as we pray to our Brethren that are living upon earth that this Prayer unto Saints doth not any more derogate from the mediation of Jesus Christ than that which we make unto our Living Brethren that the Church of Rome makes a great deal of difference betwixt the Prayers which she addresâ—â—â— unto God and those which she makes unto Saints that unto God she saith have mercy upon us and to the Saints only Pray for us and that this is the sense unto which the Church reduceth all the Prayers unto Saints in whatsoever terms they be conceived that the Council teaching that it is good and useful to call upon the Saints in an humble maner and to fly unto their aid for obtaining benefits of God by his Son Jesus Christ the Bishop of Condom conceives not how we can say that this is to depart from our Lord Jesus Christ Afterwards he adds that the Church doth not offer unto God 〈◊〉 Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the honor of Saints but only so as to name them 〈◊〉 the faithful servants of God to render his thanks for their victory and to pray hiâ— to be inclined by their intercessions moâ—â— over that this is not to advance the creature above its condition to attribute 〈◊〉 them a knowledge of the desires and necessities of which we make sâ—cret â—â—quests unto them in as much as thâ— God hath not refused to reveal things 〈◊〉 come unto the Prophets though they seem to be more particularly reserved unâ—â— his own knowledge that Lastly thâ— Church doth not decide any thing upâ—â— the different meanes which God make use of in imparting this knowledge unâ—â— the Saints whether he doth it by the Ministry of Angels or by a particulâ—â— revelation or whether he discover all unto them in his infinite essence where a truth is comprised This is the sense and as near aâ— may be the Bishop of Condoms verâ— expressions whereby he would sweeten his Doctrines as much
authority which must be proposed to us as the rule of our Faith because the Council is formally contrary to the Bishop of Condom's Doctrine Sess 1â— cap. 6. de Sâ—cram Poenâ—â— The Council speaking of Works and of Penances the things here in question doth not onely call them satisfactory in proper terms as also sometimes doth the Bishop of Condom himself but the Council doth declare that it suits not with the justice and goodness of God to forgive us our sins without some satisfaction on our parts and yet more expresly that these pennances whâ—â—â— the Church of Rome doth impose are not onely a precaution for our amendment and a remedy for the time to come which the Bishop of Condom calls the bands of justice and duty but a punishment or a revenge and a chastisement for our past sins requiring in proper termes that the Curates have always this maxime before their eyes and that they be very exact in examining the quality of the crimes and the abilities of the penitents and to impose upon them pennances proportionable to their sins This is so clear and express that nothing can be more In very deed this Doctrine of the Council is the common and constant Doctrine of the Church of Rome upon this point Lib. 1. de Purg. ca. 14. insomuch that Bellarmine by a subtilty contrary to that of the Bishop of Condoms doth teach that it is we who properly satisfy for our sins and that the satisfaction of Jesus Christ onely puts a value upon ours The Bishop of Condom therefore ought either to make all those of his communion to relinquish this Doctrin of the Council which is the common and constant Doctrine of their Church or to come to an accord that even by his own judgment we have right to charge them with the two things that have been touch'd The one that the Doctrine of the Church of Rome doth contradict it self and the other that they believe to satisfie at least in part for their sinns that by consequence they do injury unto the infinite satisfaction of Jesus Christ The Bishop of Condom did not judge it for his purpose to speak more openly what those painful and laborious works and those satisfactory pains are whereof here is question it might be said that these are verily of the number of those things which must be little explained and which are much better when they are lightly passed or wrapped up in general terms It would indeed seem that the Bishop of Condom hath introduced this term of painful and laborious works in the room of what the Roman Church directly calls penal works or pennances and satisfactions There is much difference betwixt the one and the other the one imports only difficult works the other punishments and it may plainly be seen by what hath been said that this alteration in the expressions doth onely proceed from the alteration which the Bishop of Condom hath made in the common Doctrine of the Church of Rome But to conclude by what name soever they are called we know they are such kind of works whereof we have already spoken Vows Pilgrimages Visits of Churches Abstinences Prayers by set-number Hair shirts Sack-clothes going without Shirts lying hard and such other Mortifications in this life and at last the paines of Purgatory in the other Now if it be here demanded whether there be not some authority for all these Doctrines the Council of Trent produces not any It only saith that in the Old Testament there are some examples of persons whom God hath punished with temporal paines though he had forgiven them their sin and that it seems to suit with the justice of God that it should be one kind of Grace which he shewes unto those who have sinned before Baptism and another which he shews to those who have sinned after Baptism The Bishop of Condom saith the same that this is just that this is a certain Order established as when God doth forgive us the sin of Adam and yet for all that not free us from the maladies which are the consequent of that sin This is the onely ground and sole authority that they give us for so considerable a Doctrine as is that of Satisfactions that is to say an argument meerly humane without any command or precept in Scripture as if the evils and corrections which God sends us to exercise our faith and patience were not at all effects of his love rather than punishments or as if this were a title or reason for us to give our selves discipline as they speak or to torment our selves and attempt in some sort upon our own lives As to us who have onely the will and Word of God for the rule of our manners and actions as well as of our Faith we are perswaded that all these Works which God hath not commanded being very far from pleasing do offend him that all this appearance of devotion is nothing else but an imitation of the Sect of the Pharisees which corrupted the Law by their Traditions fasting formally twice aweek The abstinence from meats in particular is an imitation of the Sect of the Pythagoraeans which fed on nothing but Herbs Whippings and Macerations an imitation of the Priest of Baal and of those of Cybele which whipped themselves and tore their skin even till the bloud gushed out and to conclude all these pretended Satisfactions are nothing else but commandments of men which as it hath been said do manifestly derogate from the infinite Satisfaction of Jesus Christ Purgatory Joh. Roffen Nav. l. 3. com de Jub Ind. De purgatorio apud priscos illos nulla vel quam rarissima fiebat mentio c. Nulla de purgatorio cura c. Cajetan in Tract de Indulg cap. 2. Nulla Sacrae Scripturae nulla priscorum Doctâ—â—rum Graecorum aut Latinorum authoritas scripta hac ad nostram deduxit no itiam sed hoc solum à 〈◊〉 annis Scripturae commendatem est de uerâ—stis â—â—â—bâ—s quod B. Gregor stat Indulg instituit Gab Biel lect 〈◊〉 57. upon the Can. of the Mass Ante tempora Greg. medicus vel nullus suit usus Inâ—l nunc autem crebrescit c. We have the same things to say against Purgatory as against Satisfactions it is also a Doctrine which derogates from the merit of the death of Jesus Christ as if the expiation which he made of our sins were imperfect that there were need that we should compleat it There is no track of Purgatory to be found in the Scripture whether of the Old or New Testament without forced interpretations and consequences whereof our Doctours have sufficiently shew'd the vanity Many also of themselves of the Church of Rome accord that for this Doctrine they have nothing but Tradition since the time of Gregory the first who wrote in the end of the Sixth Age and that the Doctrine of Purgatory and Indulgences are not onely not in Scripture but also
we receive not as such and that on the contrary we do receive the Epistle of St. James which the Lutherans receive not at least all of them as we do whatever conformity there may be in other things betwixt them and us Again as a proof that it is not the authority of the Jewish Church which determines the one or the other of us to receive the Scriptures of the Old Testament as Canonical we may take this that at this time the Jewes not receiving for such all that the Church of Rome receiveth she doth not think her self bound to acquiesce in their judgement The Bishop of Condom's second proposition touching the authority of the Church depends in a manner wholly on the former for he saith that as we receive the Scriptures from the hands of the Church so we learn Tradition of her and by means of Tradition the true sense of the Scriptures In good time Let the Church then be the Guardian of Tradition as she is of the Scriptures and let her make use of Tradition either for order and discipline to facilitate the understanding of Scripture but let her not make thereof a title to impose upon us Worships or Doctrines which do not accord with the Scriptures or to make the sense of the Scripture to depend absolutely upon the interpretation of the Church as in receiving the Old Testament from the Jewes the Church did not tye her self blindly to receive their Traditions which overthrow the Law nor their interpretation when it doth not accord with the true sense of the Prophets Errour as vice is for the most part in the extremes we owe respect teachableness and submission unto all those whom God sets over us to instruct us this is not contested but this is no reason to change this submission into a voluntary blindness Faith being a gift of God we ought not to change nor force the use of the exteriour means which God employes to work it in our hearts but we ought to use them according to his intention with a spirit of sweetness and of charity to perswade and not to constrain Otherwise a blind submission in matter of Faith is not submission but a spirit of servitude very unworthy of the liberty of the children of God and to require such a submission by what name soever it be called is to make an outward society of bodies of interest and appearance and not at all a true communion of spirit and of judgement pa 162. pa. 165. The Church saith the Bishop of Condom doth profess that she saith nothing now of her self that she inventeth not any thing anew in points of Doctrine and elsewhere very far from intending to render her self mistriss of her Faith as her Adversaries accuse her she hath done what she can to bind her self and that the means of innovation may be taken away seeing she not onely submits to the Scripture but to banish for ever those arbitrary interpretations which make mens thoughts to pass for Scripture she hath bound her self to understand them as to what regards Faith and manners according to the sense of the holy Fathers from which she professeth never to depart declaring in all the Councils and in all the professions of Faith which she hath published that she receives not any Doctrine which is not conformable unto the tradition of all the foregoing Ages The Bishop of Condom doth well to say that the Church of Rome professes that she invents not any thing for where be the Innovatours which do not profess the same thing But upon the main is it true that the latter Councils have alwayes exactly followed the Doctrine of the Fathers or of the very preceding Councils for not to speak of Transubstantiation of worshipping the Hoste and of private Masses which according to us are Doctrines and Worships unknown at least in the eight first Ages because the Gentlemen of the Roman Church do not agree to it it hath already been made appear in another place that the worshipping of Images was forbidden by the Councils of Eliberis of Constantinople and of Francfort and that the same Worship has been established or maintained by the authority of the second Council of Nice and in the last place by that of Trent It bath also been shewed upon the Article of Purgatory that that Doctrine with all its consequences was put in the place of the opinion which many of the Fathers of the first Ages had that after death the souls did sleep or did refresh themselves in a place separate from Heaven The case is the same as to Auricular confesssion and of Indulgences which have succeeded to the practice of publick pennance and generally as to all the Doctrines and all the practice of which we find no footsteps in the Fathers of the three first Ages nor in the first Councils and which we pretend to have been added at several times unto the Doctrine and Institution of Jesus Christ and of his Apostles And here to instance yet in two examples of alteration in Doctrine and practice which are quite out of all question Hath not the Council of Trent which is that the Bishop of Condom takes for the rule of his Exposition abrogated the doctrine and use of giving the Sacrament unto little children of which we have already spoken Hath it not also declared in express terms for confirming the taking away the cup which was before ordained by the Council of Constance that therein little weight could be laid on the Fathers for it is to no purpose so the Council decides to alledge the sixth of St. John for the communion under both kinds Sess 21. de com cap. 2. what way soever saith the Council it be understood according to the sundry interpretations of the holy Fathers We will not here examine whether all these divers changes are for the better or worse because it hath been already done heretofore and because we treat not here of the right but onely of the matter of fact which the Bishop of Condom hath averred to wit that the Church of Rome hath bound her self that she hath taken away the means of innovating that she submits her self through all to the sense of the Holy Fathers and that she doth not receive any Doctrine which is not conformable unto that of precedent Ages To conclude these Expositions seem to intimate that the Church of Rome is not so well assured of her infallibility but that it hath been acknowledged she had need to be secured against her self by tying up her hands and taking away the means of Innovation And nevertheless if we will be a little informed by themselves what hath been the success of all this precaution Let the Doctrines of the last five or six centuries be onely compared in general with the Doctrines and practices of the three first and even with the following Ages the Council of Trent with them that went before it without having any regard if they please to our