9 10 11. ver I wrote vnto you in an Epistle not to companie with Fornicators The Corinthians had extended this precept too farre so farre as it was not possible for them exactly to obserue it And vpon this occasion it seemes they did as it vsually fals out in like cases vtterly neglect to practise it within its proper bounds or limits The Apostle therefore expresseth his meaning not to be that they should not keepe company with the Fornicators of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or with Idolaters for then must ye needs goe out of the world But now I haue written vnto you not to keepe company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an Idolater or a railer or a Drunkard or an extortioner with such a one no not to eate For what haue I to doe to iudge them also that are without doe not yee iudge them that are within But them that are without God iudgeth 3 Thus it is true in blessings or priuiledges ecclesiasticall as well as ciuill Omnis commoditas sua fert incommoda secum Euery commodity or conveniēce is charged with some or other incommodious conditions Such of the Corinthians as were foris extra matriculam Ecclesiae visibilis out of the visible Church in Corinth were not subiect vnto this extraordinarie Iudicature or the inconveniences that did accompanie it Vnto all which euery visible member of the Chuch there planted was subiect But this subiection was like the seruice of God a great part of their perfect freedome and a chastisement not sweet for the present but grieuous yet yeelding the peaceable fruit of righteousnesse to them that were exercised by it All the Corinthians that were foris that is out of the visible Church there planted were more then lyable and more then obnoxious to a more dreadfull iudgement from God which one time or other must ineuitably fall vpon euery one that is not found in Christ or that is not a liue-member of the holy Catholike Church The onely meanes at least the ordinarie meanes then possible to be exempted from this fearefull iudgement was by associating themselues vnto the present visible Church and by submission of their soules to this peculiar Iudicature of Gods Apostles Christs Embassadours For this power as the Apostle elsewhere speakes was not giuen them for destruction but for edification The members of the Church that were thus iudged by them were chastened by the Lord that they should not bee condemned with the world 1 Cor. 11. vers 32. Every Apostle of Christ had the same authoritie which S. Paul here practised namely full authoritie to set downe orders for governing the Chruches planted by them and for excommunicating all such persons as either contemptuously violated their orders or did otherwise scandalously trespasse against the morall Law of God 4 Was it then lawfull for any visible member of the Church planted by Saint Paul at Corinth in case of controuersies which were to be arbitrated according to the tenor of his prescript before rehearsed to appeale from the sentence of Saint Paul or other domesticke arbitrators vnto S. Peter or vnto any forraine Church or See planted or gouerned by him Or contrariwise was it lawfull for the Churches planted by Saint Peter to appeale vnto S. Paul If thus to doe it were not lawfull then questionlesse the Churches visible of Saint Pauls planting were as truely distinct from the Chruches planted or governed by Saint Peter as one free State or Common weale is from another vnto which it is not in iurisdiction or matter of appeale subordinate Now it is not the vnitie or identitie of lawes or customes that makes a Common weale or Kingdome to be one and the same vnlesse the persons which are subiect vnto the same Lawes be likewise subiect to the same Supreame Tribunall For albeit aswell the temporall Lawes as the Ecclesiasticall constitutions of Sweden or Russia were as like to our English Lawes Ecclesiasticall or temporall as one apple is like to another yet could not Russia Sweden and England bee so properly termed one Kingdome and Common weale as England and Scotland are although the Lawes by which those Kingdomes are gouerned be much different 5 In like manner admitting the Lawes discipline of all the Churches planted by Saint Peter by Saint Paul and other Apostles had beene the selfe same yet could they not in this respect bee so truly and properly said one visible Church as the particular Churches planted by Saint Paul especially in one and the same prouince were one Church albeit their Lawes or ordinances had been more different It is probable then that there were as many seuerall distinct visible Churches as there were Apostles or other Ambassadors of Christ immediately indued with this extraordinary iudicature which is immediately deriued from Christ and independent vpon any earthly power or any power whatsoever on earth whether spirituall or temporall Their opinion is very probable who thinke that euery Apostle had his peculiar circuit allotted him by Christ and that they did disperse themselues into twelue seuerall parts of the world According to this tradition of the Ancients a learned Criticke of our times in matters sacred doth point and interpret the 25. v. of the first of the Acts after another manner then any known Interpreter to my remembrance doth And they prayed saying Thou Lord which knowest the hearts of all men shew whether of these two thou hast chosen that he may take the roome of this ministration Apostleship frō which Iudas by transgression fell that he to wit Iudas might goe vnto his owne place Forso this place is ordinarily expounded but the Greek may bear another sense to wit that he that tooke part of the ministration and Apostleship from which Iudas had falne might bee sent that circuit which Iudas had he not falne should haue gone I It is then profession of the same faith participation of the Sacraments and subiection to the same Lawes and Ordinances ecclesiasticke which makes the visible Chruch to be one II It is the diuersitie of independent Iudicature or supreame tribunalls ecclesiasticke which makes pluralitie of visible Churches or distinguisheth one from the other III That which makes euery visible Church to be more or lesse the true Church of God is the greater or lesse efficacie or conformity of its publike doctrine and discipline for enapting or fashioning the visible members of it that they may become liue-members of the Holy Catholike Church or living stones of the new Ierusalem Euery true visible Church is as an inferiour Free-Schoole or Nurserie for trayning vp Scholars that they may be fit to be admitted into the celestiall Academie 6 There be two questions yet remaining of very good vse which if God permit shall bee more particularly discussed hereafter First Whether there be any Iudicature ecclesiasticke for independencie or otherwise altogether the same with that which the Apostles in
the first planting of Churches had and practised Secondly Whether independent Iudicatures ecclesiasticke did or may decrease or multiply in succeeding ages or so decrease for number that there shall be but one left on earth vnto which all ought to bee subiect so farre that there shall or can bee but one true visible Church Concerning the first point Whether there bee any Iudicature Ecclesiasticke altogether the same with that which the Apostles had I am not of opinion with Erastus that great Physition and good Diuine that the exercise of Excommunication was then onely needfull when no visible Church had any legall or ciuill remedie to preserue its vnitie or purge it selfe of grosse offenders Or that the right or power of Excommunication which the Apostles and their immediate successors had did vtterly expire and vanish after once whole Cities or Common weales became Christian and the Churches which before had onely soiourned amongst them were incorporated into them as liue principall members enabled by full authority deriued from the supreame Maiestie or soueraigntie of States or Kingdomes to inflict corporall punishment vpon offenders to enact coerciue or penall Lawes or other meanes necessary for diffusing the doctrine of life throughout the whole body politike without lett or incumbrance of any particular part or member But though I be not thus farre of Erastus his mind that the power of Excommunication did at that time specified by him vtterly expire or determine yet hath experience made it more then probable that after the Churches and Common weales were so mutually interwrapt and lincked together that euery member of the Common weale was inforced to become a member of the Church and to bee so admitted by Church Gouernours the edge of the spirituall sword was much abated the force of former spirituall ordinances became stifeled with the multitude of persons against whom they were directed Whether the defect bee in the power it selfe or in such as haue it but doe not vse it certaine it is that this branch of discipline is not in our dayes so effectuall as sometimes it hath beene either for framing visible Churches vnto the rules prescribed by their great Founders or first Planters or for conforming the members of the visible Church vnto the true Holy and Catholike Church The meere spirituall power with which alone the Apostles and their immediate Successors were indued was of greater efficacie then both the remainder of the like spirituall power in later Bishops and Pastors and all the strength of secular or ciuill power wherewith Princes States or Kingdomes since the mutuall incorporation of Common weales and Churches haue as they were in conscience and de iure divino bound assisted Prelates and Church-gouernors 7 To the second question Whether there be one or more independent tribunals the later Romanists vnanimously answer that there is but one onely Iudicature or supreame tribunall here on earth the Iudge whereof they make the onely head of all the Churches or as they would say of the whole militant Church here on earth Nostra sententia est saith Bellarmine Ecclesiam vnam tantum esse non duas et illam vnam et veram esse coetum bominum eiusdem christianae fidei professione et eorundem sacramentorum communione colligatum sub regimine legitimorum pastorum ac praecipue vnius Christi in terris vicarij Romani Pontificis Ex qua definitione facile colligi potest qui homines ad Ecclesiam pertineant qui vero ad eam non pertineant Tres enim sunt partes huius definitionis Professio verae fidei Sacramentorum communio et subiectio ad legitimum pastorem Romanum Pontificem The Church in our opinion saith Cardinall Bellarmine is one not two and this one true Church is a Company of men linked together by profession of the same christian Faith by communion of the same Sacraments vnder the gouernement of lawfull Pastors and chiefly of the Bishop of Rome Christs sole Vicegerent here on earth Out of this definition hee further addes it may easily bee gathered what men pertaine vnto the Church who pertaine not vnto it For the parts of this definition are three Profession of Faith Sacramentall Communion and subiection to the lawfull Pastor viz. the Bishop of Rome The conclusion which he aymes at is this that whosoeuer either doth not hold the same Faith in all points which the Romish Church doth or doth not communicate with that Church in the vse of Sacraments or doing both these doth not withall acknowledge the Bishop of Rome for his supreame Gouernour ecclesiastike hee no way belongs to the true Church Whosoeuer holds all the three parts of the former definition he is the true sonne of the same Church The militant Church saith the Author of the Antidote is a society or company of men linked and combined together in the same profession of the Christian Faith and vse of Sacraments vnder lawfull Pastors chiefly vnder one Head and Vicar of Christ the Pope of Rome the 3. part of the Antidote cap. 1. p. 17. § 5. 8 The Church triumphant is more beholding to or rather lesse iniured by this Cardinall and his followers then it was by some former Popes or Councels which as the Doctor of famous and blessed memorie long since obserued haue made the Pope head of the Church triumphant Cardinall Bellarmine and his Epitomists in making the Pope such an head of the vniuersall Church militant make him an essentiall head of all Christs actuall liue and indeficient members here on earth And thus to doe is an indignitie to Christ not literally or fully expressable by any tearmes which the tongue or pen of men can inuent It may notwithstanding be thus typically represented or shadowed Suppose a man should put a Gorgon or Saracens head made of straw or clouts taken out of a sinke or some other place not fit to be named vpon the Kings statue or image made by publike authority of pure gold hauing first stricken off or stollen away the true head which the Artificer had framed of matter homogeneall and correspondent for forme or proportion to the rest of the body 9 Contradictorie to Cardinall Bellarmine and the Author of the Antidotes definition wee may for the present conclude and the rules as well of nature and reason as of lawes supernaturall and diuine will ratifie our conclusion viz. First that since the Churches and Common-weales absolutely distinct each from other and independent one of another haue beene thus wedded together as soule and body as man and wife there haue beene as many seuerall visible Churches independent each on other for matter of iurisdiction or subiection to one visible Head as there be seuerall free States or Christian Kingdomes independent one of another Secondly that the subordination of Church to Church is in proportion the same with the subordination of the seuerall states wherein the Churches are planted The best vnion that can be expected betweene visible Chuches
the chiefe Priests and Elders in matters of faith and practice as wee are from communicating with the Romish Church or members of the Trent Councell But if this mans meaning be that neither the Prophets nor our Sauiours Disciples before his death did take vpon them to erect a new visible Church altogether distinct from the erring Synagogue the obiection is true but no way preiudiciall to vs. For they liued in that Church or common weale as our forefathers before Luthers time which feared God did in the Romish Church or common weale which had not by publike consent abandoned the Romish Religion that is neither as absolute members of the Synagogue nor yet a visible Church distinct from it but as visible members of that primitiue Church from which the Synagogue had degenerated As for the Prophets and other godly men which liued before our Sauiours death they wanted rather power than willing minds to reforme the corruptions of the visible Church in which they liued And the true reason why that Church continued so corrupt from Iosias his death vntill the destruction of the Temple and grew so wicked againe in the age before our Sauiours time was because during these times there were either naughty Kings or no Kings at all in Israel Had Iehosophat Ezekiah Iosiah or any like vnto them of Dauids line beene Kings of Iudah in Herods stead there is no question but they would haue brought the Scribes and Pharisees to better order or haue deposed them either haue reduced the then visible Church to its primitiue purity or haue erected a new visible Church according to the paterne prescribed by Moses That the Priests and Prophets did so ouerbeare the true Prophets of God Ieremiah Ezekiel c. to the ruine of the City and Kingdome was the fault of Iehoiakim and Zedekiah As at this day againe it is the fault and folly of Christian Kings that the Church of Rome is not either reduced to better conformity with the holy Catholike and Apostolike Church or else demolished as the Iewish Synagogue was But what should moue this man I meane the Author of the blind Guide of Faith to make the former obiection against vs I cannot conceiue vnlesse it were to giue vs and the Christian world to vnderstand That the visible Romish Church his mother could bee very well content to continue till Christs second comming as erroneous and antichristian as the Iewish Synagogue was before his first comming in the flesh vpon condition she may retaine her wonted power and authority to tyrannize ouer vs and other Saints of God as the visible Iewish Church or Synagogue did oft-times ouer the true Prophets and Christs disciples 2 For conclusion of this point In as much as Christian Princes and free States did second Luther in his intended reformation of so much of the visible Romish-Church as was seated in their Soueraignties or Dominions this warrants our separation to haue beene iust and lawfull and free from all suspition of rebellion or schisme whereunto the like attempts in Iury though vndertaken by Gods Prophets had beene obnoxious vnlesse the Princes or chiefe Magistrates had giuen them countenance and authority Howbeit neither Prince nor people ioyntly or seuerally either now haue or at any time had power to make a new church altogether distinct from the Catholike Church militant on earth which hath beene one by continuation of the same faith since the Apostles time But in case any part of the Church militant or visible be infected with heresie or ouerswaid by faction to approue such impious and vngodly practices as are incompatible with the Holy Catholike faith which hath beene professed in pure and vncorrupt times euery free Prince or State haue in this case power and authority sufficient to dislinke themselues from the factious combination of the visible Church or Churches seated in forraigne States or Kingdomes and to vnite themselues into renewed formes of visible Churches distinct from others Yet thus to doe so they doe no more is not to make a new Church neuer heard of before but rather to recollect the scattered members of the Holy Catholike Church in whom the life and substance of the true Church of God consists and to put a new accidentall forme vpon them 3 The case is altogether the same as if an Army consisting of threescore thousand English French and Italians appointed by ioynt consent of these Nations to inuade the Turke should bee misled by the Italian Generall to reuenge his priuate quarrels vpon the Christians If the English vpon discouery of their Generals trecherie should abandon him and adioyne themselues vnto the Hungarians or other Christians oppressed by the Turke they could not iustly be blamed either for defection or reuolt or for leuying an Armie or vndertaking a warre altogether new without any warrant or commission Well might they presume their Prince would approue their proceedings specially if their seruice had successe answerable to the godly intentions of their first Commission 4 As many of our forefathers as did submit themselues vnto the Iurisdiction of the church of Rome and vndertook such seruices as the Pope or Romane Prelacie did appoint them vnto they did thus onely vpon presumption that the Pope did faithfully execute his Commission as the Apostles successor or that he did command in chiefe for Christ But when the contrary was notoriously knowne vnto this people that hee did but counterfeit the visage of the Lambe that he might the more plausibly effect the designes of the Dragon Our Prince and people in abandoning his yoke and breaking off their confederacie with the church of Rome did well And this being done they remaine the same church they were for life and substance but the same Church better purified and purged from rebellious Antichristian humours the same Church so much more homogeneall to the ancient Primitiue catholike Church by how much they remained the freer from seruitude to Romish tyranny whose vsurped authority ouer other Churches is but Antichristianisme or Apostasie from Christ CHAP. XX. Whether the name Catholike can in good earnest be pleaded or pretended for an vnseparable marke of the true visible Church 1 BVt in all these Illustrations it will be excepted that wee take something for granted which the Romish Church will vtterly disclaime This for one That our forefathers at the time of their departure from the Romish Church were true Catholikes or in the interim betweene the abandoning of the Prelacie of Rome and the establishing a Prelacie or forme of Gouernment of their owne more refined were visible members of the holy Catholike Church For so destitute is the Romane Church of all true solid properties of the true Church of God that she is faine to plead the name and title of Catholike to be her proper note or Ensigne which no other Church may more presume to challenge then a Seruingman may presume to weare his Masters coate or cognizance after hee be discharged of his
may by necessary consequence bee deduced out of them for points of faith and this growth is still in eodem genere from the same root Other points of faith besides these our Church admitteth none but tyes euen her Prelates and Gouernours to obtrude no other doctrines as points of faith vpon their Auditors than such as are either expresly contained in Scriptures or may infallibly bee deduced from them And this is the fundamentall and radicall difference between our Church and the Romish Church which admitteth such an illimited increase or growth of faith as is in heapes or congests of Heterogenealls CHAP. 22. Of the adinuentions or new Articles added to the Creed by the Romish Church by which she hath defiled the Holy Catholike and Apostolike faith Of the difference betwixt the Church of Rome and the Church of England concerning the rule of faith What that ecclesiasticke tradition was which Vincentius Liâ—inensis so much commendeth to what vse it serued in the ancient Councels 1 THe paine-worthiest enquiry in this argument were first to make search what additions or adinuentions vnto the ancient or primitiue Canon of Catholike faith haue beene made receiued or authorized by the Romish Church since the Councel of Ephesus which was some 3. yeers before Vincentius Lirinensis wrote his admonitions concerning this point and in what age and vpon what occasions such additions haue beene made or receiued Secondly to make proofe or demonstration how farre and in what manner such additions do corrupt or contaminate the Holy Catholike faith and how farre each or all of them ioyntly or seuerally doe vndermine or overthrow the holy Catholike faith The first addition or adinuention of moment which comes into my memorie is the Inuocation of Saints and veneration of Images Both which points were added as articles of faith or parts of the creed which all were bound to beleeue and professe by Tharasius Patriarke of Constantinople and President of that illiterate parasiticall and factious Assembly which hath bin coÌ„monly enstyled the seuenth generall or second Nicene Councell In these the like abominable decrees the then Bishop of Rome was Tharasius his complice his instigator and abettor as may appeare from the speeches of his Legates in that Councell and by his owne Epistles although part of the Epistle may bee iustly suspected to haue beene framed since But by what spirit this Councell was managed or in whose name they met together I referre the Reader vnto that learned Treatise in the booke of Homilies whereunto wee haue all subscribed concerning the perill of Idolatry especially the third part What ingenuous minds of this Kingdome thought of that Councell before either the Author of these Homilies or Luther was borne may in part bee gathered from an ancient English Historiographer who saith the Church of God did hold this decree in execration 2 The selfe same points with a great many more of like or worse nature all whatsoeuer any Councell which the Romish Church accounteth generall or oecumenicall or any Canons which the same Church accounteth Catholike euen all the decrees whereto the Trent Councell hath affixt their Anathemaes haue beene annext by Pius Quartus to the Nicene Creed and are inserted as principall points of that oath which euery Roman Bishop at his consecration is to take one part of which oath or solemne vow it likewise is that euery Bishop shall exact the like confession of his inferiors to bee ratified by oath or solemne vow Caetera omnia à sacris oecumenicis concilijs ac praecipuè à sacrosancta Tridentina Synodo tradita definita declarata indubitanter recipio atque profiteor fimulque contraria omnia atque haereses quascunque ab ecclesia damnatas rejectas anathematizatas ego pariter damno reijcio anathematizo Hanc veram catholicam fidem extra quam nemo salvus esse potest quam in praesenti sponte profiteor veraciter teneo eandem integram inviolatam vsque ad extremum vitae spiritum constantissimè Deo adiuvante retinere confiteri atque à meis subditis vel illis quorum cura ad me in munere meo spectabit teneri doceri praedicari quantum in me erit curaturum Ego idem N. spondeo voveo ac iuro sic me Deus adiuuet haec sancta Dei Evangelia Onup de vita pont pag. 472. The particular decree concerning Inuocation of Saints and adoration of Images is much inlarged by the Trent Councell and by Pius Quartus But of the equivalency of Idolatry in Rome Heathen and Rome Christian elsewhere at large In this one point to omit others the present Romish Church farre exceeds the Easterne Church in the time of the second Nicene Councell in that it ratifies the worshipping of all such Saints as are canonized by the Pope 3 The second addition made by the Romane Church vnto the ancient canon of faith is a transcendent one and illimited and that is the making of Ecclesiasticall Tradition to be an integrall part of the canon of faith This doth not onely pollute but vndermine the whole fabricke of the holy primitiue and Catholike faith That there is a certaine rule or authentick canon of faith is a principle wherein the ancient primitiue Church the moderne Roman and all reformed Churches agree The first point of difference betwixt vs is about the extent of the written canon specially of the old Testament The maine points of difference are these First we affirme with antiquity and in particular with Vincentius Lirinensis that the canon of Scripture is a rule of faith perfect for quantity and sufficient for qualitie that is it containes all things in it that are necessary to saluation or requisite to be contained in any rule so containes them as they may be beleeued and vnderstood wthout relying on any other rule or authority equivalent to them in certainty or more authentick in respect of vs then the Scriptures are The moderne Romish Church denies the canon of Scripture to bee perfect and compleat in respect of its quantity or sufficient for its quality or efficacy To supply the defect of its quantity they adde Tradition as another part of the same rule homogeneall and equiualent to it for quality To supply the vnsufficiency aswell of canonicall Scriptures as of Tradition in respect of their quality or efficacy towards vs they adde the infallible authority of the present visible Church The former addition of vnwritten Traditions as part of the infallible rule doth vndermine this latter addition of the Churches infallible absolute authority aswell in determining the extent as in declaring the true sense and meaning of the whole rule vtterly puls downe the structure of faith yet when we reiect Ecclesiasticall Tradition from being any part of the rule of faith we doe not altogether deny the authority or vse of it Howbeit that Ecclesiasticall Tradition wherof there was such excellent vse in the Primitiue Church was not
vnwritten tradition or customes commended or ratified by the supposed infallibility of any visible Church That Ecclesiastical Tradition which Vincentius Lirinensis so much commends did especially consist in the Confessions or registers of particular Churches Now the vnanimous consent of so many seuerall Churches as exhibited their Confessions to the Nicene Councell being not dependent one of another not ouerswayed by authority nor misled by faction to frame the Confessions of their faith by imitation or according to some patterne set them but voluntarily and freely exhibiting such Confessions as had beene framed and taught before these controuersies arose was a pregnant argument to any vnpartiall vnderstanding man that this faith wherein they all agreed had beene deliuered vnto them by the Apostles and their followers by the first planters of the Churches thus agreeing a pregnant argument likewise that these first planters had beene inspired and taught by one and the same Spirit Each particular Church was a competent or authentike witnesse of euery other Churches integrity and fidelity in seruando depositum in carefull preseruing the truth committed to their speciall trust On the contrary in that Arius Eutyches Nestorius and other heretikes did obtrude such constructions of scriptures vpon their Auditors as had no where beene heard of before but sprung vp with themselues or from the places wherein they liued this was an argument more then probable that if the Apostles had deliuered the whole forme of wholesome doctrine vnto posteritie a point questioned by no Church in those times these men or the particular Churches which abetted them had not kept the doctrine deliuered vnto them by our Sauiour and his Apostles but had corrupted or defiled it with the idle fancies of their owne braines or with the muddy conceit of their discontented passions To speake more briefly though perhaps more fully The vnanimous consent of so many distinct visible Churches as exhibited their seuerall Confessions Catechismes or Testimonies of their owne and their forefathers faith vnto the foure first oecumenicall Councels was an argument of the same force and efficacie against Arius and other heretikes for whose conuiction these Councels were called as the generall consent and practice of all Nations in worshipping some Diuine power or other hath beene in all ages against the Atheists Nothing besides the ingraffed notion of a Deitie or diuine power could haue inclined so many seuerall Nations so much different in naturall disposition in ciuill discipline and education to affect or practice the dutie of adoration Nothing besides the euidence of truth deliuered vnto the Christian world by Christ and his Apostles could haue kept so many seueral Churches as communicated their Confessions vnto the Councell of Nice and Ephesus c. in the vnitie of the same faith 4 Howbeit this vnanimous Tradition Ecclesiasticke was not in these times held for any proper part of the Rule of faith but alleadged onely as an inducement to incline the hearts of such as before acknowledged the written word for the onely Rule of faith to beleeue that the interpretations or decisions of those Councels did containe the true sense and meaning of the Rule acknowledged by all So that the written Tradition which Vincentius so much commends was not by the Nicene Councell vsed to any such purpose as the Romanist now vse vnwritten Traditions The onely vse of it was to direct the present Church in her examination of the Catholike truth or points of faith The chiefe authority which the visible Church then challenged did consist in the vnanimous consent of Ecclesiasticke Tradition and that as was said before but an inducement to imbrace the interpretations of the present Church and reiect the interpretations of vpstart heretikes 5 But was it a receiued truth in these Primitiue times or a truth acknowledged by Vicentius the pretended patron of Roman Catholike Tradition that the ioynt consent of so many Bishops as were assembled in the first Councell of Nice or the ioynt Confessions of so many seuerall Diocesses as were then deliuered to that Councell should vnto the worlds end continue an argument or inducement of like force or validitie as it then was either for establishment of the Canons which succeeding Councels should make or for condemning such opinions as with the consent of as many or more Bishops as were there assembled should be condemned for heresies No the same Vincentius hath giuen posteritie a Caueat as full of wisedome as of religion in some cases not to admit of his former admonition concerning the triall of Catholike faith either for refelling heresies or for establishing of the truth The limitation of his former admonition is in his owne words thus As for ancient and inueterate heresies they are not in any wise to bee refuted by the former method because continuance of time after heresies be once set on foot may afford Heretikes many opportunities of stealing Truth out of the writings of the Ancient or for exchanging orthodoxall antiquity with prophane nouelties Now what opportunities of falsification did these 800. yeeres last past affoord which the Romane church was not alwaies ready to take The opportunities afforded by dissolution of the Romane Empire and variance of christian Kings first made the Romane Cleargie such sacrilegious Thieues as Vincentius supposeth any opportunitie may make heretikes to be And the Romane church being flesht with the spoile of Christs flocke and christian churches through the West haue not beene wanting vnto themselues in deuising new opportunities in coyning a new art of falsifying Antiquitie of stealing the consent and suffrages of the christian world from orthodoxall and primitiue truth So that if this controuersie may be examined and discussed by Vincentius his rules since the first acknowledgment of the Popes supremacie since the making of Edicts for the acknowledging of it since the exemption of Clarkes from royall or ciuill iurisdiction all the written testimonies or vnwritten traditions which the children of the Romish church doe or can rake together are voyd in law and voyd in conscience there is not so much as one legall single Testimony but all are as a multitude of false and illegall witnesses of parties or conspirators in their owne cause 6 But although heresies of long standing continuance cannot be refuted nor may not be assaulted in Vincentius his iudgement by the former method that is by multitude of suffragants or ioynt consent of seuerall Prouinces is there therefore no other meanes left to conuince them no way left to eschew them yes we may eschew them saith he as already condemned by ancient and orthodoxall Councels or we may conuince them so it be needfull or expedient by the sole authority of Scriptures Now if the Scriptures be sufficient to conuince heresies of long continuance or long standing and to confute such heretikes as want neither wit will nor opportunitie to falsifie ancient records and imprint traditions of their owne coyning with inscriptions of Antiquity I hope the same Scripture was
of this case they would not conclude the cause specially before a Iudge not acquainted with the mystery of the Creation For he that hath a wife and a wife hath a wife and shee that hath a husband and a husband hath a husband But if that precept of our Sauiour Whosoeuer putteth away his wife vnlesse it bee for adulterie and marieth another committeth adultery and hee that marieth her being so put away committeth adultery were once produced any Heathen Ciuilian might giue this absolute and infallible sentence If yee Christians will admit this Law for true and iust or for a rule of conscience then Polygamy certainly is a naturall part of Adultery and hee that hath a wife and marieth another is to bee punished as an Adulterer For what is the reason why he that putteth away his wife though by legall diuorce and marieth another commits adultery with the second or why he that marieth the first being so put away is likewise an Adulterer Is not the reason because the bond of matrimonie betwixt the husband and the first wife according to this your Christian law is not dissolued by a legall sentence of diuorce extra casum adulterij vnlesse in case of adultery Yet as a sentence of diuorce gotten vpon suspicion of adultery or subornation or vpon other causes which humane Lawes and Gods Law vnto the Iew did permit cannot by the Evangelicall Law altogether dissolue the bond of matrimony so out of all question it doth rather loosen or weaken it than corroborate or knit it faster Wherefore if hee that hauing gotten a sentence of diuorce by formall course of Law against his wife become guilty of Adultery in the Court of conscience and by the Euangelicall Law if hee marry another then much more shall he be an Adulterer who hauing a wife whose chastity was neuer called in question against whom no sentence of Law hath beene obtained if he shall presume to marry another Thus farre an Heathen by light of naturall reason without the assistance of Gods Spirit may goe in this and many other controuersies amongst Christians 3 Were not most Recusants throughout this Kingdome worse affected I will not say towards vs and our Religion but towards truth it selfe euen towards the light of the Gospell than any ciuill Heathen either are or can be they might as clearly discerne the vsurped authority of the Romish Church ouer their faith and ouer Scriptures the rule of faith to be as true a branch of Apostasie from Christ as Polygamy is of Adultery and that it doth more euidently dissolue the bonds of matrimony betwixt Christ and his Spouse the Church than Polygamy or adulterie doth the bond of matrimonie betwixt man and wife First they make the Scriptures as was said before not onely an imperfect rule in respect of its quantity but this defect being in their opinion supplyed by associating vnwritten Traditions vnto it in the second place they make both Scriptures and vnwritten Traditions to bee an vnsufficient rule in respect of their quality For it is their doctrine that we cannot know which be Canonicall Scriptures which are not which be authenticke traditions which not but by relying vpon the authority of the visible Church Againe admitting the Church could determine which were Authenticke Traditions which were not and that no Traditions should hereafter be receiued besides those which shee had determined yet if any controuersie should arise concerning the meaning of those Scriptures which she hath determined to be Canonicall or concerning the meaning limitation or vse of these Traditions which shee hath acknowledged to be authentike no priuate man may take vpon him absolutely to beleeue this or that to be the meaning of either but with submission of his iudgment to the Churches sentence And this as I haue elswhere shewed at large is not onely to make the authority of the Church to bee aboue the authority of the Scriptures but vtterly to nullifie the authority of the Scriptures saue onely so farre as they may serue as a stale or footstoole to support or hold vp the authority of the Church or Pope So that the last resolution of the Romanists beliefe as out of their owne comparisons of the Scriptures to colours and the authority of the Church vnto the light by which colours become visible to vs as is elsewhere demonstrated must be this That he absolutely beleeues onely the infallible authority of the Church concerning the truth of Scriptures and their true meaning their truth or meaning he neither absolutely nor infallibly beleeues So that if he beleeue any diuine truth it is onely ex accidenti that is in as much as the Church doth not erre in that point of faith which she proposeth vnto him howbeit to beleeue that which is true vpon no better motiue or condition then this is much worse then the ignorance of truth or meer vnbeliefe of the same truth How many seuerall diuine truths or articles of faith soeuer he thus beleeueth hee can be no true Catholike because he beleeues no diuine truth but as it is mixt with hellish antichristian falshood If wee shall proue that this supposed infallibilitie of the Romish Church doth in diuers points induce not onely heresie but infidelity and that infidelity of a worse sort then can be incident to any Heathen I hope our intended conclusion will bee sufficiently euicted that whosoeuer holds this absolute infallibility of the present visible Romish Church whatsoeuer he holds besides can bee no Catholike To giue you an instance for proofe of this 4 If one being a Christian shall steale hee doth commit a grieuous sinne yet a sinne of one kinde or species that is theft he doth not thereby cease to be a Christian he doth not thereby become an Infidell or Antichristian The like wee may say of fornication adultery murder incest or the like all which are grieuous sinnes and without repentance exclude men from the Kingdome of Heauen Yet can wee not say that they make a man an Infidell though worthy to be cast out of the Church vntill hee giue full proofe of his humble submission and hearty repentance for his fact But if any man that hath beene baptized and made a partaker of the word which in many points hee beleeues shall by couetousnesse malice intemperancie or the like haue so farre corrupted the feeds of Christianity or Law of God written in his heart as he shall thinke that which indeed and truth is theft fornication adultery murder or incest to be no sinne he is by the generall verdict of the Schooles not onely an hereticke but an Infidell Now Infidelitie is of two sorts either infidelitas purae negationis priuatiue infidelity such as is in the Heathen which haue not knowne God or his Lawes as hauing no commerce with his people or infidelitas prauae dispositionis depraued infidelity of which there bee more degrees as first it may bee in the Heathen to whom the truth of the
the house of God That saying of the holy Spirit Act. 2. v. 47. was more peculiarly verified of those times and of that people then of any other times or people The Lord added to the Church daily such as should bee saued This saying includes thus much That all or most of those that professed themselues members of the then visible Church became liue-members of the holy Catholike Church And no wonder for the temptations or dangers which then hindred the Iewes or Gentiles but especially the Iewes from consociating themselues to the then visible Church were more and greater then such as hinder the members of later visible Churches from entring into the Kingdome of heauen or from resolute profession of that doctrine without which no member of any visible Church this day extant vpon earth can enter or be admitted into that one holy and Catholike Church Vntill Bellarmine Valentia Stapleton and some others did trouble the streame or current of Gods Word as much as we haue here said was cleerely represented to the aduersaries of our Church Witnesse that Enchiridion of Christian Institutions set forth by the prouinciall Councell of Colon vpon this Article of the Creede The Author of which Enchiridion were he one or more hauing diuided the Church into triumphant and militant ingenuously grants that the Church militant taken in its proper and strict sense is inuisible saue onely to God He grants withall that some members of the Church militant ita sunt in domo Dei vt ipsi sint Domus Dei they are so in the Church of God as they themselues are the Churches of God that is as we said before they are homogeneall and liue-members of the one holy Catholike and Apostolike Church or pillars and liuing stones so layed by the hand of God that they can neuer be remoued All hee had to say against Lutherans was verùm ad eum modum non oportet accipere Ecclesia vocabulum c. That when Christ commands vs to heare the Church or when the Fathers dispute about the authority of the Church we are not to take the Church militant so strictly as Luther Caluine and their followers somtimes doe to wit for the liue-members of Christs mysticall body All this may be granted we are not the men which they mistake vs for We neuer denied obedience to the visible Church which consists of good and bad which containes in it as well the reprobate as the elect All the difference betwixt vs is about the bounds or the limits of the obedience which wee owe vnto the visible Church Wee say first the present Romish visible Church doth exact greater and more absolute obedience then either Moses or such as sate in Moses chayre then either Christ or his Apostles did exact of their followers whilest hee liued here on earth Secondly wee say that we doe not owe the same measure of obedience to any visible Church now on earth as the primitiue professors and beleeuers did to our Sauiour Christ and his Apostles CHAP. VIII What is required to the constitution of a visible Church Whence the vnitie or pluralitie of visible Churches ariseth What vnitie may be had or expected betweene visible Churches independent one of another for Iurisdiction The diuers acceptions or degrees of the visible Church 1 TO the constitution of a visible Church there is required first externall profession of one and and the same faith Whether the parties making this profession be many or few it skils not Sometimes the father of the family with his sonnes and men-seruants were professors of the Christian faith taught by the Apostles whilest the mothers and the daughters with others of the same family remained in Paganisme and infidelity et é contra Now though the house so diuided were not the Church of God yet was there a visible Church of God or part of such a Church in that house A visible Church distinct from others in place of habitation onely not by diuersitie of faith or discipline For seuerall families of the faithfull were called Churches as being partes similares Homogeneall parts of some more intire or ample visible Church Secondly to the constitution of an intire visible Church there is required besides vnitie of profession or the vnitie of faith professed or of morall Lawes acknowledged an vnitie of Lawes or ordinances iudiciall or an vnity of discipline of astipulation or obligement vnto a peculiar kind of power or authority before vnusuall in other Societies or Corporations 2 Before the Pastors or gouernors of the Church had any commission or coactiue power deriued frō Princes States or Common weales to make Lawes for the Church or for punishing offenders euery member of the visible Church in what Realme or Kingdome soeuer seated did renounce or abiure all vse of such libertie as euery other member of the same Kingdome or common-weale which was no member of the Church did enioy It was not lawfull for one member of the visible Church to implead another in matter of controuersie or wrong before a forraigne Iudge And although this astipulation was not legall that is not authorised by any humane Law or custome yet did it bind them faster then any legall or ciuill bond Dare any of you saith S. Paul having a matter against another goe to Law before the vniust and not before the Saints Doe ye not know that the Saints shall iudge the world and if the world shall be iudged by you are ye vnworthy to iudge the smallest matters 1 Cor. cap. 6. vers 1 2. But if some member of this visible church had opposed this spirituall authority or reiected this discipline or astipulation what remedie had the Apostles against them In primitiue times euery one that was partaker of the Word of the Sacraments or of spirituall blessings did thereby subiect or oblige himselfe vnto a peculiar kinde of Iudicature or tribunall vnto which no other member of the Common weale or Kingdome which was no participant of the Word or Sacraments was either subiect or obliged And this was the sentence of Excommunication an extraordinarie and peculiar kind of Iudicature which the Apostles exercised by authoritie immediately deriued from Christ not by commission or warrant from Princes or Estates not by the positiue Lawes or ordinances of any Body ciuill or ecclesiasticke I verily as absent in body but present in spirit haue iudged alreadie as though I were present concerning him that hath so done this deed In the name of our Lord Iesus Christ when yee are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Iesus Christ To deliuer such a one vnto Sathan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saued in the day of the Lord Iesus 1 Cor. cap. 5. v. 3 4 5. That this Apostolicall Iudicature did extend onely to the visible church planted by him that it did extend to all and might be exercised vpon euery actuall member of the same Church is apparant from the