that he should be clearly known If there be then such a Judge is not necessary for that means cannot be necessary without which the end may be attained 1. If Controversies which create disturbance to the Church cannot be determin'd without an infallible Umpire 't is also necessary for the determining of them not only that there be such an Umpire but that we be assured who he is for in this case not to be known and not to be are in effect the same thing so that let there be Judges infallible never so many our Controversies will be never the nearer an end unless we are able to discern who they are Now I cannot imagine at present how they can be known except one of these two ways only either by being clearly revealed by God in Scripture or by God's bearing witness to their Infallibility by Signs and Wonders But God hath neither expresly nor by evident consequence declared in Scripture that he hath any where constituted such a Judge much less hath he told us who he is and where we may find him till therefore they who pretend to it prove their Infallibility by unquestionable Miracles let them not expect that we should take them for such Nor can they in reason blame us for this since the disagreement in this point is so great among themselves that of all other questions it seems most to stand in need of an infallible Judge to determine it 2. If Controversies may be decided by other means then what need of an infallible Judge That cannot be necessary to an end without which the end may be obtain'd And that Controversies may be otherways determin'd is certain because they have been How were all the Controversies decided and the Heresies suppress'd which sprang up in the early Age of the Christian Church Were the Gnosticks the Valentinians the Novatians the Macedonians the Donatists the Arians suppress'd by those who took upon them to be Infallible No such thing was in those days talked of the Bishops and Councils that confuted them did not so much as pretend to any such Privilege The only means they had recourse to was the infallible Rule the Holy Scriptures this was the Judge to which in all their Questions they appeal'd and those who are so perverse as not to be determin'd by it should Elias come and take the Chair neither will they be determin'd by his Sentence for nothing can be objected to render the Scripture ineffectual to this end but the same may with equal force be objected against the Definitions of an infallible Judge And therefore 3. An infallible Judge is no such infallible means for the ending of Controversies as is by the Romanists supposed For 1. When there was such a Judge in the Jewish Church I mean our Blessed Saviour Did his Authority put an end to the Disputes between the Pharisees and the Sadduces and other Sects among them Yea did not that Church then fall into the most damnable Error by rejecting this infallible Teacher 'T will be said the reason of that was because they did not own his Infallibility Be it so and may not then any other infallible Guide be rejected Can it be imagin'd that any other Person 's Infallibility should ever be attested with more unquestionable Credentials than his was But 2. Neither those who have been own'd for Infallible have been so successful to this purpose among them who have own'd them under this Character For 1. The Apostles were thought Infallible by those Churches which they planted and yet Errors and Heresies sprang up in them and they were divided into Parties And tho St. Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians had endeavour'd to reduce them to Unity yet we find by his second Epistle that that had not put an end to their Divisions Those who know they have a Guide that cannot err may go astray as much as others in case they refuse to follow his conduct 2. The Romanists tell us that their Church cannot err and if they do indeed believe what they profess it will be as effectual for the ending of Differences among themselves as if it were indeed Infallible And yet are there not many Controversies among them And tho they upbraid us with our Divisions are not theirs as many And some of them such as are by the differing Parties reckon'd even Matters of Faith If then their Infallibility were such a Sovereign Cure of Divisions how comes it to pass that no Reconciliation is made between the dissenting Parties among themselves The truth is so far is their pretended infallible Judge from lessening that he encreases their Controversies for no sooner was he talked of but instead of deciding those that were already many were raised that were never before heard of And therefore 3. Such a work of the Holy Spirit upon mens Hearts as would make them meek and humble and charitable and heavenly minded sincere Lovers of Truth desirous to know the will of God and resolv'd to do it would be an expedient much more available for the healing of our Divisions and promoting of Peace than Infallibility of Judgment For from whence come Wars and Fightings among us come they not hence even from our Lusts Scarce ever was any Error broach'd that created disturbance to the Church but 't is manifest it took its rise from and was foster'd and maintain'd either by the Lust of the Flesh or the Lust of the Eye or the Pride of Life Let but mens fleshly worldly and devilish Lusts be once mortified and our Differences will be composed or if any remain they will be such as will be destructive neither of Peace nor Charity Should we therefore argue at the same absurd rate that our Adversuries do might we not as fairly conclude that God hath made every man Pious and Humble and a Doer of his Will as that he hath made one Man or one Church Infallible But now if that which is supposed by the Romanists were all granted If it were necessary to the Peace of the Church that all Controversies should be decided if they cannot be decided without some infallible Umpire and if it were certain that such an Umpire would give a final determination to them yet doth it hence follow that the Church of Rome must be that Umpire Suppose the Church of England were Infallible might it not be as serviceable to these Intents and Purposes III. This pretended Infallibility of the Church of Rome hath as little support from the Doctrine of the Antient Christian Church as it hath from Scripture and Reason Tho the Romanists are wont among those who will take their word to boast much of the Authority of the Fathers yet that they are not able to produce so much as one who speaks to their purpose may be reasonably concluded from the Performances of Cardinal Bellarmine in this matter * Bell. de Rom. Pontif. l. 4. c. 4. all whose Allegations are so impertinent that the very reading of
a General Council confirm'd by another As the Council of Basil confirm'd by Pope Nicolas V. was esteemed a Schismatical and Seditious Conventicle and reprobated by the last Lateran Council confirm'd by Pope Leo X. (f) Binii notis in Concil Constantiens Bâ—ll de Concil Auâ—t l. 2. c. 17. which at Rome is accounted a General Council So that unless Errors become Truth and Contradictions be reconciled when determin'd by a Pope and Council we may conclude that not only the Pope himself but a General Council confirm'd by him hath err'd It plainly appears by what hath been said that those have actually err'd whom the Church of Rome supposes to be her only infallible Guides From whence it unavoidably follows that the Church of Rome hath err'd First in all those Points which have been erroneously defin'd by them Secondly In supposing them to be Infallible I shall not stay to shew of what use Councils either General or Provincial are how far their Authority extends and what great Benefit may accrue to the Church by them tho they be suppos'd not to be Infallible But shall proceed to the next Proposition viz. II. That the Errors of the Church of Rome were not slight and in matters of small moment but so gross and enormous when the Reformation was set on foot that there was a necessity of reforming them This will be evident First By unquestionable Testimonies Secondly By taking a particular view of the Errors themselves First By Testimonies of unquestionable Authority of Persons who could neither be mistaken through Ignorance nor byass'd by Interest or Affection to represent Matters worse than indeed they were But who were on the contrary as well acquainted with the State of the Roman Church as any Persons in the World who were promoted to the greatest Honours in it whose worldly Interests ingaged them above all other men to maintain its Reputation and Authority and who not only liv'd but died in Communion with it Such were their learned Doctors their Bishops and Cardinals their Princes and Emperors their Popes and General Councils tho the two last are not to be reckon'd for single Witnesses but for the Voice of their Church the one being their Church Representative the other according to their Divinity their Church Virtual Of those many which offer themselves I shall content my self to produce a few and those shall be such as were either cotemporary with or who liv'd within about a hundred years of the Reformation passing over those who were at a greater distance from it John Gerson the renowned Chancellor of Paris in a Sermon to the Council of Constance applies to the modern Church of Rome these words of the Prophet Ezekiel Thou didst trust in thine own beauty and plaiedst the Harlot because of thy renown and pour'dst out thy Fornications on every one that pass'd by And in all thy Abominations thou hast not remember'd the days of thy youth Thou hast built thy brothel house at every head of the way and hast made thy beauty to be abhorr'd Behold therefore I will deliver thee into the hands of those that hate thee And after he had told them what were the sad Symptoms of approaching Ruine he advises them to a great and notable Reformation of Manners as the only means to prevent it (a) John Gerson Serm. de â—ignâ—â— ruinâ— Ecclesiae And because saith he some may say that the Church is founded upon a Rock and therefore in no danger of ruin He declares more particularly what were those Enormities in which the Church-men especially needed to be reform'd and then exhorts the Council either to reform all Estates of the Church in a General Council or command them to be reform'd in Provincial Synods that by their Authority the Church might be repaired and the House of God purg'd from all Vncleanness Vices and Errors (b) Declarat Defect viror Ecclesiast The same Author earnestly press'd Pope Alexander V. to set himself to reform those Corruptions and Abuses which as he says were the Plague of the Church and without the removal of which 't was in vain to expect Peace (c) Serm. coram Alexand in die Ascens Domini Nic. Clemangis another Parisian Doctor writ several Books upon this Subject in which he represents to the World the deplorable State of the Roman Church and the necessity of Reforming it (d) De Corrupto Statu Ecclesia de Reparaâ—â—â—â— Ruinâ— Eccles Add to these single Testimonies the solemn Appeal of the whole University of Paris from Pope Leo X. to a General Council in defence of the Pragmatick Sanction In which they set forth how that the Councils of Constance and Basil made many Decrees especially about the Reformation of the Ecclesiastical State as well in the Head as in the Members which in those days especially seem'd to stand in need of Reformation And how among other things the Sacred Council of Basil consider'd how by the antient Fathers Sacred Canons and wholsome Decrees were made for the happy Government of the Ecclesiastical State which as long as they were observ'd the vigour of Ecclesiastical Discipline continued Religion Piety and Charity flourish'd But after that men through Ambition and Covetousness began to contemn the Decrees of the Holy Fathers there follow'd Deformities in the Church many of which they afterwards enumerate and then appeal from the Pope to a future General Council (e) Fascic rerum expeâ—end ac sugiend Richer Hist Concil General l. 4. part 2. p. 84. And 't is observable that this Appeal was made in the year 1517. the very same year in which Luther began to preach against the horrible Abuses of Indulgences If we pass on to Bishops and Archbishops tho their Interest ingag'd them more strongly to oppose it yet we shall find several even among them who were so sensible of the necessity of Reformation that they earnestly call'd for it and endeavour'd to promote it Frederick Archbishop of Salerno Jerome Archbishop of Brunswick and Joh. Matth. Gibertus Bishop of Verona plainly declar'd that they had a great Sense of the Corruptions of the Church by the Articles of Reformation which together with the rest of the Select Council they deliver'd to Pope Paul III. (f) Richer Hiâ—t Concil General l. 4. part 2. p. 136. In a Book Intitled Onus Ecclesiae written by John Suffragan Bishop of Saltzburgh in the year 1519. that is but two years after Luther began the Reformation we have for many Chapters together a most direful Description of the corrupt State of the Church (g) Onus Ecclesiâ— c 19 20 21 c. In the Council of Trent the Bishop of Conimbria said For these 150 years the World hath demanded a Reformation in the Head and the Members and hitherto hath been deceived that now it was time they should labour in earnest and not by Dissimulation (h) History of the Council of Trent l. 6. p. 558. And Dudithius an
Bellarmine himself acknowledges (b) Bâ—ll de Rom. Pontif. l. 4. c. 2. that the Pope may not only err but be a Heretick yea and teach Heresie too if he define without a General Council And when a General Council says 't is certain the Pope may err (c) Concilii Basil Respons Synodal de Authorit Concil general supra Pap. Richer l. 3. c. 2. S. 6. And what that Council says of the Pope is experimentally verified of a Council confirm'd by the Pope as hath been before prov'd Nor is this Doctrine to be rejected meerly because it is notoriously False but more especially because of its horrid Consequences as it opens the door to and gives protection to any other the most palpable Error both in Doctrine and Practice For if this be once granted there is no remedy but we must believe Darkness to be Light if the Church of Rome says it is so Yea a Thomas Becket a Garnet or any other the most execrable Traitor must be worshipt for a Saint when the Pope is pleas'd to canonize him 2. Their Doctrine of the Popes sovereign Power over the universal Church That every Christian under pain of Damnation is bound to be subject to him that no Appeals may be made from him that he alone is the supream Judge over all Persons in all Causes Ecclesiastical but that he himself can be judged by no man This Doctrine hath not only been defin'd by Popes themselves as well as their Flatterers and many hundreds of years together put in execution by them but hath moreover been establish'd by such Councils as are by the Romanists accounted General (d) Concil Florent p. 85â— tom 8. apud Binium Concil Lateranens V. Sess 11. And yet is not only destitute of all Authority from Scripture but much may be found in Scripture against it And not only in Scripture but 't is plain from Church History that the Bishops of Rome in the early Ages of Christianity had no Jurisdiction beyond their own Province that for the first 300 years there were but two only viz. Victor and Stephen that took upon them to censure Persons that were of another Diocess and that they themselves were severely censured for it by other Bishops That the eight first General Councils were all both call'd and confirm'd not by Popes but by the Emperors (e) Richer Hist Concil general l. 1. c. 13. p. 753. Review of the Council of Trent l. 3. c. 1. 2. That the Pope hath been oppos'd in many Councils and many Synodical Decrees have been pass'd full sore against his will (f) As in the Council of Chalcedon the second at Constantinople the Council of Constance of Basil c. That he himself was subject to the Laws of the Church and upon his transgression of them obnoxious to censure no less than other Bishops That no Appeals were allow'd to him by the African Bishops That by the ancient Canons every Bishop did order the Affairs of his own Diocess without dependence upon or Subordination to the Bishop of Rome and that all Causes were finally to be determin'd by Provincial Councils (g) Concil Constantinopol 1 Can. 2. Concil Nicaen 1 Can. 5. That many Popes have been anathematiz'd by other Bishops and many judg'd condemn'd and depos'd by Synods All which and many more things which might be mention'd are plainly inconsistent with this pretended universal Empire of the Pope But if nothing could be alleg'd from Scripture or the Doctrine or Practice of the antient Church to the contrary yet the intolerable Evils which unavoidably flow from it cannot but render this Doctrine detestable to all those who have any sincere Love either to Truth or Goodness For whereever this Doctrine is receiv'd a man must think himself in duty bound to entertain Error and to reject the Truth to put Virtue for Vice and Vice for Virtue in case the Pope require him so to do And that the Pope not only may but for many Ages hath commanded men so to do the sad experience of the Christian World is a proof too unanswerable 3. The Doctrine of the Popes Dominion over temporal Princes That if Kings and Emperors oppose themselves to him or turn Hereticks he may depose them absolve their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance and give away their Kingdoms to whomsoever he pleases This exorbitant Power hath been challenged by the Pope for many successive Ages (h) Dictates of Greg. VII Dictate 9. That all Princes should kiss the Popes Feet Dictate 12. That the Pope may depose the Emperor Dictate 27. That he may absolve the Subjects of wicked Princes from their Allegiance Binius tom 7. part 1. p. 362. Richer l. 1. c. 13. And when opportunity hath serv'd hath been frequently put in practice by them So Gregory VII excommunicated the Emperor Henry IV. and gave away his Kingdoms to Rudolphus Duke of Sweden (i) Baron an 1080. n. 8. 12. Gregory IX excommunicated the Emperor Frederick II. and absolv'd his Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance (k) Bullarium Rom. Tom. 1. p. 89 90. Pope Paul III. excommunicated and deposed Henry VIII King of England and commanded all his Subjects under pain of a Curse to withdraw their Obedience from him (l) Bullar Rom. Tom. 1. p. 514. Pope Pius V. and Gregory XIII damn'd and depos'd Q. Elizabeth and absolv'd her Subjects from their Allegiance (m) Camdens Elizabeth This Doctrine and Practice has been defended by their learned Cardinals Baronius and Perron by their School-men Canonists and by the whole Order of Jesuits Yea 't is no more than what was decreed by divers such Councils as are generally own'd for lawful Representatives of their Church As by the third Lateran Council under Pope Alexander III. (n) Cap. 27. Relaxatos autem se noverint à debito Fidelitatis c. And by the fourth Lateran Council under Pope Innocent III. (o) Si vero Dominus temporalis requisitus monitus ab Ecclesia terram suam purgare neglexerit c. Eadem nihilominus lege servata circa eos qui non habent Dominos principales c. 3. And tho some Romanists are now asham'd to own it yet no less a man than Lessius tells us that if Kings may not be deposed by the Pope then of necessity must the General Council of Lateran have err'd But what can be more manifest than that this Doctrine is contradictory to the Holy Scripture Which tells us in express terms that the King is supream (q) 1 Epist Pet. 2. 13. and commands every Soul to be subject to the highest civil Powers (r) Rom. 13. 1. Nothing can be more repugnant to the Doctrine of the Primitive Fathers who taught that the Emperor was the supream Power on Earth that he was subject to God only and that all other Persons were put in subjection under him (Å¿) Tertull. Apolog c. 30. ad Scapuâ—â—m c. 2. that neither Prophet