again subdivided into two parts the first and second as may be seen since the fourth Century It was needful at the entrance of this Discourse to give the Reader this short Draught of the Countries that went under the Name of Gallia to give him an Idea of that part of them where we intend to shew him the Continuation of that Church which gave birth to the Albigenses and furnished the West with Witnesses of so great weight against the Corruptions of the Romish Party and indeed though the Visi-Gothes who cut off these Provinces from the Roman Empire and afterwards the French who destroyed the Visi-Gothes in the time of Clovis made very great Changes in this Division of Gallia Narbonensis and Aquitain yet we may exactly observe that the Church of these Provinces hath well nigh always made a distinct Body by her Synods and Canons It is a matter of Difficulty precisely to fix the first Rise of these Churches I own that some Greek Fathers have believ'd that St. Luke and Crescens Disciples of St. Paul did preach the Gospel in Gallia but that which engaged them in this Opinion seems of little or no solidity And the Galatia mention'd by St. Paul in the second of Timothy doth not signify Gallia but a Province of the lesser Asia as the learned Petavius acknowledgeth Others have believed that St. Paul himself preached the Gospel in these Provinces as he passed through them in his way to Spain where the fourth Century took it for granted that he preached the Gospel but neither doth this seem grounded upon sufficient Authority and we do not find that the antient Authors of these Countries did ever maintain any such thing Should we indeed as to this Point give credit to the most part of the Romish Legends to which Baronius in his Annals pays too great a Deference it would be an easy matter to give to the most part of these Churches a most august Original We might suppose that St. Peter and St. Paul were the Founders of them by the Ministry of their Disciples or that Clement Bishop of Rome sent them thither almost immediately after the Martyrdom of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul They tell us that Paul was the first Bishop of Narbon Saturninus of Tholouse Martialis of Limoges Frontinus of Perigueux Vincentius of Daeqs Georgius of Puy Eutropius of Xaintes Much like as for some Ages since in most of the other Churches of France they suppose that the first Bishops were sent them by the same Apostles or by their first Successors But we meet with nothing but Falsities in these pretended Traditions and it is impossible to reconcile them with what Sulpicius Severus and Gregorius Turonensis tell us concerning the Rise of Christian Religion among the Gauls The former of these distinctly assures us that Gaule never had any Martyrs before the Empire of Aurelius Son of Antoninus Hist lib. 2. Sub Aurelio Antonini filio Persecutio quinta agitata ac tunc primum inter Gallias Martyria visa serius trans Alpes Dei Religione suscepta The fifth Persecution was carried on under Antonine's Son and then first were Martyrdoms seen among the Gauls the Divine Religion having been later entertained beyond the Alps. This single Period of Severus gives Sentence against all those pretended Martyrs wherewith the Churches of France have fill'd their Breviaries The latter tells us plainly that it was not till the Empire of Decius about the year 250 that the City of Tholouse had for her first Bishop Saturninus who was sent from Rome in company of six others into the Country of the Gauls to preach the Gospel to wit Gatian at Tours Trophimus at Arles Paul at Narbon Dionysius at Paris Austremoine at Clermont and Martialis at Limoges This is that which is clearly proved from the Acts of the Martyrdom of St. Saturninus cited by Gregory Bishop of Tours These Testimonies of two antient Authors the one of the 5 th Century and the other more antient viz. the same who wrote the Martyrdom of St. Saturninus have made such an Impression upon some of the Learnedest Men of the Roman Communion viz. upon Bosquet Bishop of Montpellier Sirmond and Launoy the famous Doctor of the Faculty of Paris as to make them with Scorn reject those Legends which ascribe more antient Founders to these Churches notwithstanding that they are the greatest Ornament of the Breviaries of the Gallican Church and that they cannot lose their Credit without shaking the belief of abundance of Miracles and the Authority of a great number of Devotions And indeed what reason is there to own a Tradition for authentick which we scarcely find back'd with any Witness for the space of above 700 years Besides don't we know that it was the Dispute about Precedency between the Churches in the 8 th and 9 th Century and which we find lasted till the 12 th that engaged the several Parties to devise this great Antiquity and boldly change that which before had been the current Belief of their Churches because it did not answer their Pretensions nor comport with their Vanity to substitute instead thereof fabulous Originals under whose shelter they might maintain a Dispute with more advantage against those that were on even ground with them But however it be difficult to fix the certain Original of these Churches for the Gothick Liturgy which was used in these Provinces assures us that St. Saturninus came from Smyrna from whence it should seem that the first Founders of the Churches of Lions and Vienna came likewise yet thus much we may assert that the Gospel soon took deep root there My Design is not to refute here what the Authors of the Legends have inserted in their fabulous Relations concerning the Establishment of the Christian Religion in these Provinces and the Character of the Piety of those first Founders of Christianity of their Precepts and of their Miracles Indeed there is reason to deplore either the boundless Impudence of the Pastors of the Roman Communion in obtruding such palpable Falsities or the prodigious Stupidity of the People of that Church who feed themselves with Stories more fabulous than those of Amadis of Gaul and make them the Subject of their Devotion We read in the Life of St. Martialis that after the Saint had converted Limoges he there consecrated Churches to the Honour of Jesus Christ of the H. Virgin and St. Stephen whose Cousin he was We read that he raised to Life the Priests of the Idol whom God had struck dead with a Clap of Thunder for their poisoning St. Martialis and that after their Resurrection he converted them We find that he admitted to the Vow of Virginity a Person called Valeria who some time after having had her Head cut off by order of the Duke of Guienne whose Courtship she had slighted immediately took up her Head and carried it to St. Martialis as he was saying Mass We find him there going to Rome to give an account to
pretended to confirm them by Confessions which the Cruelty of their Tortures have forced from them Neither is it only in this Work of his that St. Irenaeus informs us what in his time was the Faith of these Churches planted in Gaul for he hath left us five Books and Eusebius has preserved for us some Epistles of that ancient Bishop altogether refulgent with the Purity of the Faith delivered by the Apostles 1. St. Irenaeus gives us this for one Character of the Gnosticks that they embraced Doctrines which were not to be found in the Writings of the Prophets or the Apostles Lib. 1. cap. 1. p. 33. And 't is with the same Spirit that he attributes to Hereticks the accusing of the Scripture for being unintelligible without the Help of Tradition whereas he maintains that that which had been preached was committed to Writing by the special Will of God to the end it might be the Ground and Pillar of our Faith Lib. 3. c. 1 2. And that it is to make the Apostles Hypocrites to suppose that they taught some things in publick and others in private whence it appears clearly that when he makes use of Tradition he only does it with respect to those scriptural Doctrines which the Hereticks opposed and whereof they pretended that the Apostles had left the contrary to those that succeeded them Lib. 3. c. 2. 'T is upon this occasion that he alledgeth the Testimony of the Church of Rome founded by the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul as of one that was most known Ad hanc enim Ecclesiam saith he propter potentiorem Principalitatem necesse est omnem convenire Ecclesiam hoc est eos qui sunt undique fideles in quo semper ab his qui sunt undique conservata est ea quae est ab Apostolis Traditio For to this Church because of its more powerful Superiority it behoves the whole Church to come that is the Believers of all Parts for as much as therein the Tradition from the Apostles has always peen preserved by the Believers of all parts It is apparent that whatsoever Design he may have had to raise the Authority of the Church of Rome he makes no other use of it than to make out that it was impossible those Doctrines which the Hereticks gave out for Apostolical should be really so seeing they were unknown to a Church which had had the Apostles and their Successors for her Guides more especially seeing that Church was placed in the very Seat of the Empire which continually drew to Rome a vast number of Believers from all the different places of the Empire from whence they brought not along with them a different Tradition from that which they found in the Bosom of the Church of Rome That St. Irenaeus had no other aim but this is owned by F. Quesnel in his Notes upon the tenth Epistle of St. Leo pag. 809. And this appears evidently because after all that Esteem which he had for the Church of Rome he was not afraid to write to her Bishop very censuring Letters upon the account of his having excommunicated the Churches of Asia that celebrated Easter the fourteenth of the Moon of March as also because he continued in the Communion of those Churches of Asia without being concerned at the Excommunication of the Pope of Rome 2. He reduces the whole Faith of Christians throughout the World to that which we call the Apostles Creed without mentioning so much as a Word of those Doctrines which the Church of Rome has superadded to it pretending to confirm them by Tradition Lib. 1. c. 2. 3. He maintains the Scriptures to be both clear and perfect Lib. 2. c. 47. 4. He rejects the Doctrines which the Hereticks grounded upon the Explication of some Parables maintaining that nothing ought to be established but upon clear and evident places of Scripture Lib. 2. c. 46. 5. It appears by his Writings that Penance at that time was publick without dispensing with Women that were overtaken with the Sins of Uncleanness by which means being exposed to extream Confusion it made some of them abjure Christianity Lib. 1. c. 9. 6. He makes it appear that Caelibat was not yet known in Asia whence these first Christians of the Gauls derived their Original which is acknowledged by the Fevardentius Lib. 1. c. 9. 7. He assigns to the Marcosians the custom of anointing those they received into their Communion with Balm Opobalsamo which shews that at that time extream Unction was not known And we may make the same Observation from his imputing to other Hereticks the anointing of Persons at the Point of Death with Oil and Water Lib. 1. c. 18. 8. He attributes to the Gnosticks the Imitation of the Heathens because they had the Images of Jesus Christ Lib. 1. c. 24. which makes it evident that the Christians had no Images much less that they gave to them any religious Worship And indeed we find him reasoning lib. 2. c. 6. after such a manner as shews that the Christians were yet in full Possession of a Right to reproach the Heathens with all those Absurdities that arise from the Use of Images The same may also be gathered from lib. 2. c. 42. where he divides the Law into two Tables in a manner very different from that of the Doctors of the Roman Church and altogether conformable to the Judgment of Josephus and other Jewish Doctors 9. He makes it appear that he knew nothing of the Separability of Accidents from their Subjects which is the sole Support of Transubstantiation lib. 2. c. 14. 10. He in plain terms â—ejects the Invocation of Angels instead thereof recommending that of our Saviour Jesus Christ lib. 2. c. 57. 11. He asserts that the Blessed Virgin had unseasonable Motions intempestivam festinationem John 2.3 so far was he from believing her wholly free from Sin lib. 2. c. 18. This shews that when he saith cap. 33. Quod alligavit Virgo Eva per incredulitatem hoc Virgo Maria solvit per fidem What the Virgin Eve bound up by her Unbelief that the Virgin Mary set free by her Faith he doth not own the Virgin for the Person that saved Men but his meaning is like that of Hesychius who said speaking of the Women to whom Jesus Christ appeared after his Resurrection Invenêre enim saith he mulieres quod olim amisere per Evam lucrum invenit ea quae damni occasionem praebuerat For the Women found what formerly they lost by Eve she found the Gain who had been an occasion of the Loss T. 15. B. P. p. 823. col 1. And this is the sense likewise of that other Passage of St. Irenaeus which we find lib. 5. c. 19. for though he calls the Virgin Eve's Advocate it plainly appears that he meant nothing else but what is express'd by St. Chrysostom in Ps 44. T. 3. p. 221. Virgo nos Paradiso expulit per Virginem vitam aternam invenimus A Virgin drove us
out of Paradise and by a Virgin we have found eternal Life 12. That he did not believe we ought to have recourse to the Intercession of Saints can be invincibly demonstrated from hence because he did not believe that the Faithful should see the Face of God before the Day of Judgment lib. 5. c. 3. 13. He plainly asserts that the Apostolical Succession is of no Consideration without the Truth of Doctrine Lib. 4. c. 43. so far was he from making it a bar to hinder Believers from examining the Doctrine propounded to them 14. He maintains that the Gates of Heaven were open'd to Jesus Christ because of the Assumption of his Flesh so far was he from believing that his glorified Body could penetrate Bodies Lib. 3. c. 18. lib. 4. c. 66. He asserts that Jesus Christ at his being born opened the Blessed Virgin 's Womb lib. 4. c. 66. which the Church of Rome condemns for divers Reasons And for as much as he holds the Holy Ghost to be the Food of Life lib. 4. c. 75. accordingly he maintains c. 2. lib. 5. that our Bodies are nourished by the Creatures of God received in the Eucharist and that they receive growth by them He distinctly asserts that the Sacrament of the Eucharist as to its Substance consists of Bread and Wine which are the Creatures of God which he receives as Oblations of a different kind from the Sacrifices of the old Testament and indeed in case he had otherwise conceived the matter he would have favoured the Opinion of the Gnosticks who pretending that the Work of the Creation was not the Work of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ could never have lighted upon a more comfortable Doctrine than that of Transubstantiation by means of which the Nature of Bread and Wine would be destroyed by Jesus Christ in the Sacrament and nothing left but the Accidents that is to say meer Fantomes without any thing of Reality L. 4. c. 34 57. In like manner we find him asserting lib. 5. c. 33. that what Jesus Christ gave to his Disciples in the Cup was the Generation or Product of the Vine 15. We see clearly from what Eusebius has preserved of St. Irenaeus that the Variety in observing a Fast before Easter was very great and that there was no Law of the Apostles or of Jesus Christ injoining it every one using it according to his own free Will and Devotion We find also that whatsoever Respect St. Irenaeus had for the Church of Rome he was no more inclined to be led by her sole Authority than St. Polycarp was whom he much commends and if he considered her as an Apostolick Church yet he never attributed to her any Authority over the other Flocks of the Lord. I will not dissemble that St. Irenaeus seems somewhat at a loss about the state of Believers after Death but to this it is sufficient to say 1. That we find in St. Irenaeus an Abridgment of the Faith almost in the same form that we find it in the Apostles Creed as it is called 2. That if we do not agree to all the Opinions of St. Irenaeus about the State of Souls after Death 't is certain that the Doctors of the Church of Rome do at least reject as many Articles as we do yea and more too From what I have said we may however perceive what was the State of the Christian Religion in Gaul a little after the middle of the second Century which is the time wherein St. Irenaeus lived and flourished I wish I could produce for the following Century as Authentick a Witness concerning the State of the Churches in this part of Gaul but indeed though there were diverse famous Writers whose Works are cited by St. Jerome yet there is in a manner nothing of them left to us I know there are some who believe that Victorinus was Bishop of Poictiers in the third Century but this is not found true for it is certain that he was Bishop of Passau Patavionensis and not Pictaviensis so that we must proceed to those who can inform us of the State of this part of Gaul during the fourth Century CHAP. III. The Faith of Gallia Aquitanica and Narbonensis in the Fourth Century ST Hilary Bishop of Poictiers a famous Confessor in the Persecution which the Arians stirr'd up against the Orthodox can afford us much Light concerning the State and Faith of these Diocesses This great Man was married as he who published his Works at Paris owns after the famous Baptista Mantuanus observing that the Law for the Celibacy of the Clergy was not yet introduced and that before that time as St. Jerom expresseth it they rather made choice of married Persons than unmarried because the former were judged more proper for the Functions of the Holy Ministry But this is not the only Article wherein he differ'd from Popery as well as the Church of Aquitain 1. He counts the Canonical Books as we do and plainly holds them for Apocryphal which we reject as we find in the Preface to his Commentary upon the Book of Psalms 2. He lays it down for an Error and piece of Impiety to look upon the Scripture as imperfect in Psalm 118. Lit. Vau. 3. He asserts that Ignorance is not capable of excusing Men seeing the Scripture is proposed to us as the Rule of our Faith and Manners Non habet veniam ignoratio voluntatis quia sub scientiae facultate nescire repudiatae magis quam non repertae scientiae est reatus Ob id enim longe à Peccatoribus salus quia non exquisierint Justificationes Dei Nam utique non ob aliud consignatae literis manent quam ut ad universorum scientiam notionemque defluerent Ignorance of the Divine Will gives no Excuse because to be ignorant when we may learn makes us guilty of rejecting Knowledg rather than missing of it For therefore is Salvation far from Sinners because they search not after that which justifies before God and which indeed is for no other reason preserv'd in Writing but that it might be derived to the Knowledg and Understanding of all This is a Stile and these are Maxims very different from those of the Church of Rome 4. He affirms that we are to be ignorant of whatsoever the Scripture doth not teach us and after having asserted that it is the Character of Hereticks to conceal the Holy Scripture fol. 204. he maintains that it is another Mark of Heresy to believe beyond what the Gospel teacheth us Tu qui ultra Evangelium sapis necesse est ut aliis alibi arcanorum doctrinis cognitionem Paterni nominis adeptus sis Thou who art wise beyond the Gospel it must needs be that thou hast elsewhere by other secret Doctrines attained the Knowledg of God the Father fol. 132. 5. He asserts that it was the Will of God that the Scripture should be plain and clear Quantae enim potuit Dominus verborum simplicitate
Fruit of the Vine at the Lord's Supper and mentions not so much as one Word of Transubstantiation in a place where he particularly explains the Institution of the Eucharist Can. 30. in Matth. To speak the Truth how could he have any other Thoughts who maintains that Jesus Christ is no longer on the Earth in respect of his Body because it is impossible for a Body to be in more places than one Adest enim cum fideliter invocatur per naturam suam praesens est spiritus enim est omnia penetrans continens non enim secundum nos corporalis est ut cum alicubi adsit absit aliunde sed virtute praesenti se quâcunque est porrigenti cum replente omniae ejus spiritu in omnibus sit tamen ei qui in eum credat adsistit For he is present by his Nature when he is call'd upon with Faith he being a Spirit penetrating and containing all things for he is not like us corporeal so as that when he is in one place he should be absent from another but he is in all places by the Presence of his Power which extendeth it self where-ever he is and his Spirit that filleth all things yet he is in a more peculiar manner with him that believes in him 21. He was so far from approving the Romish Inquisition that he calls the Emperor Constantius Antichrist for persecuting those that were not of his Opinion lib. in Constant August Yea he judg'd all Force to be so contrary to the Spirit of the Christian Religion that he maintains that there can be no Religion where Force is made use of Lastly He was so far from believing that the Antichrist whereof St. John speaks was already come that he maintains that he would be revealed in the Churches that were then possessed by the Arians and that the Faith being thus attack'd the true Believers would be forced to look out for Shelter amongst the Mountains in Woods and Caves leaving the Antichrist Master of the publick Places consecrated to the Worship of God This is the Sum of what may be gathered from the Writings of St. Hilary I make no mention of some Errors of this great Man because Claudianus Mamertus having confuted them about the end of the fifth Century has made it appear that they were only some particular Opinions of this great Confessor and that we cannot look upon them as the common Faith of the Diocess where he was setled But the same cannot be said of the Articles I have noted Claudianus is so far from blaming them that he approves them by his Silence and shews that his Doctrine in this Respect was the Doctrine of the Church of Gaul We have nothing left us of the Works of Rhodanius Bishop of Tholouse who was contemporary with St. Hilary But it appears clear to us that this Holy Confessor having been sent into Banishment with St. Hilary after the Council of Beziers by the Cabal of Saturninus Bishop of Arles Favourer of the Arians we are to consider Rhodanius as a Defender of the same Faith and an illustrious Witness of the Belief of his Diocess And we ought to make the same Judgment of Phaebadius Bishop of Agen who was so much engaged in the same Quarrel and who acquired so great a Name by the vigorous Opposition he made against the Errors of Arius But Providence has preserved us none of his Works In effect this great Man who wrote in the Year 357. as appears by his Book against the Arians gives us sufficiently to understand what his Faith was in divers Articles and what was the Doctrine of the Diocess 1. He maintains that the Catholick Faith is found with those who speak according to the Holy Scripture and not amongst those who only make use of Prejudices After having quoted several places of Scripture to prove against the Arians the Eternity of the Son he concludes in this manner B. Patr. T. 4. p. 174. Volentes igitur à Patre Filium scindere infra Deum ponere de Evangelio praescribunt Those therefore who would rend the Father from the Son and place him below God give Law to the Gospel He expresseth himself yet more strongly to this purpose towards the end of his Book ib. p. 180. Hoc credimus hoc tenemus quia hoc accepimus à Prophetis hoc nobis Evangelia locuta sunt hoc Apostoli tradiderunt hoc Martyres in passione confessi sunt in hoc mentibus fidei etiam haeremus contra quod si Angelus de Coelo annuntiaverit Anathema sit Ergo ut supra diximus praejudicatae opinionis authoritas nihil valebit quia contra semetipsam ipsa consistit This we believe this we hold fast because 't is this we have received from the Prophets this the Gospels have declared to us this the Apostles have left us this the Martyrs in their Sufferings have confessed and to this we adhere with our Minds by Faith so that if an Angel from Heaven should preach contrary to this let him be accursed Wherefore as was said before the Authority of a prejudicate Opinion can be of no force because it stands against it self 2. He makes it appear that the Name of Catholick was not sufficient to be a true Christian when he represents that Arianism had so far seized the Minds of all the World that it was necessary to espouse the Arian Heresy to procure the Name of being Catholicks ib. p. 169. Sed quia aut Haeresis suscipienda est ut Catholici dicamur aut verè Catholici non futuri si Haeresin non repudiamus ad hanc tractatûs conditionem necessitate descendimus But because we are either to become Hereticks that we may be called Catholicks or cease to be Catholicks indeed by becoming Hereticks we are necessitated to write this Treatise 3. He asserts that the Revelation of Holy Scripture is so perfect with respect to the Divinity of our Saviour that Anathemas are to be pronounced against all those that advance any other Doctrine This appears from the great number of Passages which he quotes from thence p. 173 178. to which he joins the Anathema whereof I have already spoke before 4. He observes expresly that the same Honours rendred to Jesus Christ in the Liturgy as to God do demonstrate his Equality with God p. 174. Quod si ita est saith he quotidie blasphemamus in gratiarum actionibus oblationibus sacrificiorum communia haec Patri filio confitentes c. If it be so we blaspheme daily in our Thanksgivings and Offerings of Sacrifice in confessing these things common to Father and Son Thus doth he implicitly overthrow the first Principles of the Church of Rome viz. the Imperfection of the Holy Scripture in Matters of Faith the Authority and Necessity of Traditions which are the compleating of it and other such like Doctrines We should now proceed to examine what the State of these Diocesses was in the following Century
Power into Spain to examine those that were Hereticks and being found such to take away their Lives and Estates Neither was it to be doubted but that this Storm would have reach'd the greatest part of Believers because of the small Distinction made between them and the other for then they judged Persons only by the Eye esteeming them Hereticks from their pale Looks or Habit rather than by their Faith He afterwards shews the Horror that St. Martin had conceived against these kind of Proceedings There was nothing he was more concerned about Illa praecipua cura ne Tribuni cum jure gladiorum ad Hispanias mitterentur Than to prevent the Tribunes being sent into Spain with the Power of the Sword He renounced Communion with these sanguinary Bishops but not long after to avoid a greater Mischief he was obliged to give up that Point though he still refused to subscribe to the Condemnation of the Priscillianists Hujus diei communionem Martinus iniit satius aestimans ad horam cedere quam his non consulere quorum cervicibus gladius imminebat veruntamen summâ vi Episcopis nitentibus ut communionem illam subscriptione firmaret extorqueri non potuit Martin communicated with them at that time thinking it better for a while to give way to them than not to provide for their Safety who had the Sword hanging over them But yet though the Bishops used their utmost Endeavours to make him ratify his communicating with them by his Subscription they could never bring him to it If we consult Vincentius Lirinensis and Cassian they will afford us much Light as to the State of these Diocesses Vincentius a Priest of the Monastery of Lerins is one of those who can best inform us what was esteemed Orthodox in these Churches Indeed we find all the peculiar Doctrines of the Church of Rome are condemned in the Maxims that he solidly asserts in the 28 th Chapter of his Commonitorium where he maintains that the Church may every day make a further Progress in the Knowledg of Truth and all this without making any Innovation Crescat igitur oportet multum vehementerque proficiat tam singulorum quam omnium tam unius hominis quam totius Ecclesiae aetatum ac saeculorum gradibus intelligentia scientia sapientia sed in suo duntaxat genere in eodem se dogmate eodem sensu eademque sententia The Understanding Knowledg and Wisdom as well of every singular Person as of the whole Church ought to grow and greatly increase according to the several Degrees of Times and Ages but every one in his own way that is to say in the same Doctrine in the same Sense and the same Judgment 2. He in the same place exclaims against all new Doctrines and new Names and yet owns that the Church acquires daily more Light in matters of Religion Sed ita tamen ut vere profectus sit ille fidei non permutatio But yet so that this is really an Advancement not a Change of Faith 3. He reduces all that we ought to believe to the Rule of Faith and declares what is the true use and the true Authority of the Doctors of the Church Quae tamen antiqua sanctorum Patrum consensio non in omnibus divinae legis quaestiunculis sed solum certè praecipuè in fidei regula magno nobis studio investiganda est sequenda Quibus tamen Patribus hâc lege credendum est ut quicquid vel omnes vel plures uno eodemque sensu manifestè frequenter perseveranter velut quodam consentiente sibi magistrorum consilio accipiendo tenendo tradendo firmaverint id pro indubitato certo ratoque habeatur But yet this primitive Consent of the Holy Fathers is not to be inquired after and followed as to the lesser Questions of Divine Law alike but especially if not only in the Rule of Faith Which Fathers we may give full Credit to on this Condition that whatsoever all or the most of them do in the same sense manifestly frequently and constantly maintain as in a Council of Masters agreeing together by their receiving holding and delivering the same that ought to be esteemed unquestionable certain and firm 4. He lays down a Method how we may dispute with the Church of Rome about the Errors she has drawn from Antiquity by reducing the whole Dispute to the Scripture Atque ideo quascunque illas antiquiores vel Schismatum vel Haereseωn profanitates nullo modo nos oportet nisi aut sola si opus est Scripturarum authoritate convincere aut certe jam antiquitus universalibus Sacerdotum Catholicorum Conciliis convictas damnatasque vitare Wherefore we are no other way to convict all ancient Errors of Schism or Heresy but either if need be by the sole Authority of Scripture or else to avoid them as already condemned by the universal Councils of Catholick Priests 5. He excellently explains the Use of Tradition without derogating any thing from the Sufficiency of Scripture Diximus in superioribus hanc fuisse semper esse hodieque Catholicorum consuetudinem ut fidem veram duobus istis mediis adprobent primum Divini Canonis authoritate deinde Ecclesiae traditione non quia Canon solus non sibi ad universa sufficiat sed quia verba Divina pro suo plerique arbitratis interpretantes varias opiniones erroresque concipiant atque ideo necesse sit ut ad unam Ecclesiastici sensus regulam scripturae coelestis intelligentia dirigatur in iis duntaxat praecipuè quaestionibus quibus totius Catholici dogmatis fundamenta nituntur We have said before that this hath been and still is the Custom of Catholicks to prove the true Faith two ways 1 st by the Authority of the Divine Canon And 2 dly by the Churches Tradition not as if the Canon were not of it self sufficient but because most Men interpret Scripture according to their own private Fancy which has given occasion to various Opinions and Errors Wherefore it is needful that the Understanding of Holy Scripture be regulated by one single Determination of the Church and particularly in those Questions on which the Foundations of all Catholick Doctrine rest Lastly He desires that universal Consent may be taken only from such a Tradition as he authorizeth Item diximus in ipsa rursus Ecclesia universitatis pariter ac antiquitatis consensionem spectari oportere ne aut ab unitatis integritate in partem schismatis abrumpamur aut à vetustatis religione in Haereseωn novitates praecipitemur We have said also that in the Church we are to have an Eye to the Consent of Universality and Antiquity that wee be not rent from the entire Union into a Schism or be cast headlong from the Religion of the Ancients into the Novelties of Heresy There needs little more than these Maxims to secure a Church where they are taught from those Corruptions into which the Church of
be given for you and this is my Blood which shall be shed for many for the Remission of Sins But it is plain that Charlemain understands by the Word Image a Prototype like the Shadows of the Law with respect to which it is true what many of the Fathers have said that the Sacraments of the New Testament are the Body and the Truth though otherwise considered as Sacraments they are sacred Signs which cannot be confounded with the things signified by them without renouncing the Light of common sense Moreover we are to observe that Charlemain never said that the Eucharist is properly the Body of Jesus Christ If he denies Jesus Christ to have said concerning the Eucharist this is the Image of my Body taking the Word as a Prototype and a Shadow of things to come yet he always holds that it is his Body in a Sacramental Sense for he never speaks of the Eucharist as the Body of our Lord without adding the Restriction of Sacrament or of Mystery If saith he he hears the Mystery of the Body and of the Blood once mentioned and twice together he hath bestowed upon us the Sacrament of his Body and of his Blood And lastly the Mystery of the Body and of the Blood cannot be called an Image Now the Word Mystery according to the constant Use of the Church properly signifies the Symbol the Figure the sacred Sign of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Lastly We ought to observe that though he says that the Sacrament is the Body of Jesus Christ yet he never saith that it ought to be adored Indeed he ought to have drawn up an Impeachment against these Worshippers of Images upon this Article and a very important one too because it is very evident that the Greek Worshippers of Images did not adore the Eucharist but gave only a simple Veneration to it like to that which they bestowed upon the Cross the Altar and the Gospel as one of their Authors tells us in a Book which they call An Invective of the Orthodox against the Opposers of Images printed at the Louvre in 1685. in the Collection of Authors who have writ since Theophanes CHAP. IX The Faith of the Churches of Aquitain and Narbon in the Ninth Century CHarlemain that great Man who lived till the Year 814. maintained the Spirit of Opposition against the Errors and Superstitions of the Church of Rome that espoused the Interest of the Image-Worshippers by approving the second Council of Nice This Council having established the Authority of Tradition as being a necessary Principle to support the Worship of Images we find that the Churches of Aquitain and Narbon kept themselves firmly to the Authority of the Scriptures grounding their Faith thereon and regulating their Worship according to the same Of this we have an illustrious Example in the Council of Arles assembled in the Year 813 by the Order of Charlemain whereat the Arch-bishop of Narbon assisted with his Suffragans For the Fathers of this Council thought fit to begin it with a Profession of their Faith which is nothing but an Extract of that Creed which bears the Name of Athanasius and this is that which they ordain should be preached to the People for the Catholick Faith without so much as mentioning one Word of those Articles of Faith that the Church of Rome now imposeth Charlemain had ordered a Collection of Homilies to be made out of the Works of Origen St. Ambrose St. Chrysostom St. Jerom St. Augustin St. Leo St. Maximus St. Gregory and Bede which he caused to be published in these Diocesses as well as the rest of his Empire now these Homilies do so strongly oppose the most part of those Novelties which were then endeavoured to be introduced that this Book for a long time served as a Bar to hinder People from leaning too much towards those things that incline Men to Superstition There is no Protestant in the least versed in the Matters of Controversy who seeing the Names of those ancient Doctors comprized in this Collection will not remember how much these Fathers have opposed themselves to a Multitude of Corruptions which prevailed at last by the factious Endeavours of some of the latter Popes wherefore I may excuse my self from making an Extract of this Collection choosing rather to produce other Witnesses which the same Diocess affords us concerning the Faith of these Diocesses in the ninth Century I can only produce three or four but to recompense the smallness of their Number they are Men against whose Authority the most contentious Adversaries will have nothing to oppose In the first place it is certain that as the Bishops of Aquitain and Narbon had set themselves against the Superstition and Idolatry of the Greeks and the Pope in the matter of Images at the Council of Francfort so their Successors imitated their Zeal and Vigor in the Synod at Paris in 824 upon the same Question where they determin'd that Pope Adrian who had writ an Answer to the Book of Charlemain and therein undertaken the Defence of the second Council of Nice had made use of in the said Reply superstitious Testimonies and not at all to the purpose answering what he thought fit and not what was agreeable And besides they drew up a new Collection of great Numbers of Arguments against this superstitious Worship to recal Pope Paschal and those of his Party from their doating on Images We can shew further that the same Zeal was continued in this Diocess Baluzius hath acknowledged and so has Massonus before him that the Book of Agobardus Arch-bishop of Lions concerning Pictures expresseth no more than the general Opinions of the Bishops of France and Germany concerning this Point But it may not be amiss to quote it in particular not only to shew what were the Opinions of the Churches of Aquitain and Narbon because though he was born in Spain yet he had continued for a long time in Aquitain whither he was invited because of the general Esteem he had gained to be the Coadjutor to Leidradus Arch-bishop of Lions to whom he succeeded but also because it appears by his Works that the most illustrious Bishops of Gallia Narbonensis carefully consulted him in Matters of Difficulty as their Master being indeed a most famous Doctor able to instruct and inform them 1. He declares as St. Augustin did before him that we can never equalize the Authority of any Interpreter whatsoever to that of the Apostles Concerning Expositors also St. Austin hath delivered That we are to hold far otherwise than you do whom not only in his Book which he hath writ against Faustus the Manichee concerning those who have been blamed by the Doctors yea the best of them speaks thus which sort of Writings that is to say Expositions are not to be read with a Necessity of believing but with a Liberty of judging for those Books only that are of Divine Authority are to be read not with a Liberty of
speaking of the Power of St. Peter saith That the same is also granted to those who imitate him because all those that follow the Foot-steps of St. Peter can also lawfully bind and loose Lastly It is said in Malachy Chap. 2. I will curse your Blessings And in Ezekiel Chap. 13. Wo to those that quicken the dead Souls and who declare those dead that don't die If God say the Hereticks do curse the Blessing of wicked Pastors and declares that the Souls which they pretend to quicken do not live how can he communicate his Grace through their Channel The ninth Heresy is professed by the same Hereticks who maintain that it is neither the Office nor the Order but only the Merit of a good Life which confers the Power of binding and loosing of consecrating and blessing so that this is their Conclusion the Merit of a good and holy Life say they is of greater Efficacy to confer upon any one the Right of consecrating and blessing of binding and loosing than the Order or Office and therefore they have not received any Orders yet they believe themselves to be just and to have the Merits of the Apostles and so they take upon them to bless as the Priests do and say That they can consecrate bind and loose because it is the Merit and not the Office that confers this Power And because they pretend to be the Apostles Vicegerents they say that their Merit gives them this Charge In this it is that they chiefly oppose the Faith of the Church and declare themselves to be Hereticks But they endeavour to defend their Heresy by the Authority of Esicius who saith That the Priests do not bless by their own Authority but only because they represent Jesus Christ and that it is because Christ is in them that they can bestow their plenary Benediction And they say moreover that not only a Priest but every one that hath Christ in himself and represents him in his Life as Moses did has the Power of conferring Blessings The tenth Heresy is likewise taught by the same Hereticks who maintain that the Dispensations or Indulgences which a Bishop grants at the Consecration of a Church or upon any other occasion are not of any Value Their Reason is this Suppose say they that a Man be obliged to a Penance of three Years at the Consecration of a Church and one Bishop releases him of a third part of his Penance a second and third Bishop may do the like and thus for three Half-pence a Man shall be released of this three Years Penance And which is more these sorts of Dispensations are unjust for there is no Proportion between a Half-penny or a Crown and one whole Years Penance The eleventh Heresy is That the Prayers which are made for the Dead by those who are in any mortal Sin are unprofitable For say these Hereticks how can these Prayers do any Service to the Dead since they can do none at all to those who make them Can Prayers which are hurtful to them that make them be of any Advantage to the Person for whom they are designed Item in 3 q. in gravioribus it is said When a Judg is sollicited for his Favour to a Malefactor by any one that he hath no liking to it serves only to incense him so much the more and to make him pronounce a more severe Sentence So in like manner if any Man prays without Devotion it is the same thing as if he desired his own Condemnation for how can any Man whose very Prayer is Sin obtain by that Prayer any good thing for his Neighbour Or how can he whose Prayer deserves nothing at the Hand of God but Punishment pray profitably for another seeing God saith to the Sinner Psalm 49. What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes or why dost thou take my Covenant into thy Mouth They call also Reason to their Assistance When a Priest say they celebrates the Mass he being in mortal Sin the Action that he doth is evil and deserves eternal Punishment and by Consequence he cannot merit for another the Pardon of his Sins because it is impossible to merit Good and Evil Reward and Punishment by the self-same Action They quote the Canon-Law also which forbids us to assist at the Mass of a Priest who we are sure keeps a Concubine They prove likewise by another Authority that Men ought not to pray or sing Psalms in the Church as long as they are under mortal Sin The twelfth Heresy is of those who deny Purgatory and who say that it is a meer Invention of the Church to make the People give Alms and Offerings and to be at the charge of pompous Funerals for the Souls of the deceased or other things of that Nature I confess he does not mention the Albigenses by Name and that he confounds these pretended Heresies of the Albigenses with others that are much more hainous and some that were peculiar to some few Monks and that he attributes some of them in particular to the Vaudois as if they had been proper to them only But one may justly imagine that this Monk who compiled this Work from the Writings of other Monks or Doctors of the Church of Rome had his Eye upon the Albigenses because he acquaints us that he follows Alanus and that he copies his Arguments Now we know that Alanus wrote against the Waldenses and Albigenses as the manuscript Titles of his Books inform us though like the Author of the Fortalitium fidei he confounds them in his Treatise with the Arians Manichees and other pernicious Hereticks to render the Waldenses and Albigenses suspected of defending all those Heresies which he opposes It may be thought strange perhaps that this Monk did not imitate Alanus in attributing to the Albigenses the rejecting of Transubstantiation and the Consequents thereof but the Wonder will cease if we consider that he designed hereby to deprive the Jews against whom he disputes of an Advantage which they might reasonably draw from some Christians rejecting that Opinion though they owned Jesus Christ to be the Messiah and the Books of the New Testament to be of Divine Authority at the same time and therefore he rather chose to refute the Arguments against Transubstantiation as coming from the Mouths of the Jews than as Objections made by the Albigenses And indeed except the tenth Argument of the Jews against Transubstantiation which supposes the Christians who teach this Doctrine to be no better than brute Beasts as not having Sense enough to know that Jesus Christ being a Jew by Birth could not by the Circumstances of his Institution of the Eucharist intend any thing but a figurative meaning as opposed to a real and that his Apostles being Jews likewise could not form any other meaning in all this Ceremony but such as was figurative there is scarce any other which this Monk hath not borrowed from the Disputes which the Albigenses and Vaudois have held with those