Discipline and Faith shall appear to be there also will be the Truth of Scriptures and Expositions and all Christian Traditions Si quid horum per orbem frequentat Ecclesia Amongst such things whatsoever is practised by the Church through the world to dispute whether she ought not to be imitated therein is a mark of most insolent madness Scire sufficit It is a sufficient Motive to reject from our Belief whatsoever we know to be contrary to the teaching of the Church Dicet aliquis si Divinis eloquiis It may be demanded how if both the Devil and his Disciples do make use of and apply Divine Scriptures Sentences and Promises of whom some are false Apostles others false Prophets and all of them Heretics What shall Catholic children of our Mother the Church do How shall they discern truth from falshood in interpreting Holy Scriptures Hereto we answer according as we have received from Holy and learned men before us that they must be very careful to interpret Scriptures according to the Traditions of the Universal Church and according to the Rules of Catholic Doctrine THE SECOND QUESTION BUT WHY ARE YOU A PROTESTANT §. 45 CAth. Sir Have you considered seriously on the Subject of our last Discourse Prot. Yes Cath. And have you found either in Scripture Tradition Councils or Holy Fathers any warrant to remain divided both in Doctrine and Discipline from all Churches antiently existent upon Earth and at the same time to profess notwithstanding a Belief of One Holy Catholic Church out of whose Communion there is no Salvation Prot. I freely accknowledge that I am not able to produce any considerable Quotations to confront yours Quotations I mean asserting the Authority of particular or new-erected Churches independent on others Cath. Then since it seems both Scripture Tradition Councils and Fathers have given their Testimonies against you Why are you still a Protestant §. 46. Prot. Sir I suppose you do believe I should be very glad to find out a Church to whose Authority I could think my self obliged entirely to submit mine own judgment and securely to commit my Soul to her guidance But hitherto not having been able to find such an one I must be content to stay where I am For as for the Roman Church to whose Communion alone you would invite me she appears to me so wholly depraved that I think a real Miracle would hardly draw me to joyn my self to her Communion Cath. I see Sir that you despairing to justifie your own Churches and to excuse them from Schism do seek to draw me to particular Disputes By which notwithstanding you can receive no benefit at all whatever the success of such Disputes shall be For still the unpardonable guilt of Schism will lie upon you However I will not refuse so far to comply with you Therefore tell me Wherein consists that depravation you speak of Prot. It consists in this that both her Doctrines and Discipline are framed as on purpose to comply with wordly interests and by consequence are opposed to the Spirit of Christianity Cath. How does that appear §. 47. Prot. It appears more than sufficiently in this that as the late learned Arcbishop of Spalato observes all those Points of your Belief and Practice which we condemn and for which we separate from your Church are such as manifestly have a strong influence on the satisfying either her Ambition or Covetousness Cath. Which are the Points which you suppose to comply with Ambition Prot. These which here follow 1. Your Churches assuming the Title of Catholic to her self alone with exclusion of all other Churches 2. The Popes assumed Universal Authority 3. His pretended Infallibility in determining Controversies 4. His usurped Temporal Authority 5. A Power to be acknowledged as given to Priests by consecrating the outward Symbols to make the glorified Body of our Saviour present on the Alter 6. The Offering it in Sacrifice to the Father 7. The exposing of it to mens Adoration 8. The Obligation imposed on all sinners to discover their most secret sins to Priests in Confession and to submit to satisfactions enjoyned by them 9. A proud esteem of attaining to Iustification and Salvation by your own Merits Thus your Clergy not content to invent Doctrines proper to procure their own Exaltation would instill Pride into the people also §. 48. Cath. For what Doctrines do you accuse the Roman Church of Covetousness Prot. Of this latter sort are the Romane Doctrines 1. Touching Prayer for the dead and Purgatory out of the torments whereof Souls are to be redeemed by Masses Alms c. 2. The gaining of Heaven by mony given for Indulgences 3. The Invocation of Saints 4. The worshipping of their Images and Relicks To which Pilgrimages are ordained with costly Offerings c. §. 49. Cath. This Observation made by the infamous Apostate you named if rightly considered truly seems to argue a guilt somewhere yet not in the Church but much rather in those who seperated from her For it strongly argues that since to oppose her they made choice only of those Points which regarded the Honour Authority and Wealth of the Clergy the true Motives inducing them to rebel against the Church were not any zeal for Truth or care for their Souls for they acknowledg her Orthodox as to all Points of Doctrine approved by former Heretics That therefore which stirred up their rage against her was Envy Hatred of Obedience and a thirst unquenchable to rob her of the Treasure and Possessions conferred on her by the Piety of their Holy Progenitours Now Sir tell me sincerely If you were to establish a Church would you take for your pattern that Schismatical King Ieroboam who chose Priests from the dreggs of the People or God himself who instituted a splendid Clergy Prot. It cannot indeed be denied but that contemptible needy and depending Directours of Souls will but very meanly discharge so high an Office as Christ has committed to them having made them Spiritual Iudges of Mankind and stiled them the Light of the world and the Salt of the Earth §. 50. Cath. If the first Reformers had been of your Judgment they would first have reformed in themselves their inordinate Passions But Sir if you please let us leave the judgment of mens secret intentions to Almighty God to whom alone they are open and transparent However this may with full assurance be asserted That if Sacriledge and freedom from Ecclesiastical Iurisdiction were not the only prime Motives they were and will be the prime Effects of your multiplied Reformations §. 51. Prot. I am well content to desist from enquiring into the secret thoughts of persons on either side And therefore I will henceforth consider the forementioned Points in debate between us absolutely and in themselves And so doing you must give me leave to say That this also may with full assurance be asserted that whatever Motives the Roman Church may have to
the very challenging of such a Right which belongs only to the truly Catholic Church is a strong proof that She alone is that Church which hath a Right to challenge it and would prove her self a false Church if She did not challenge it But because perhaps you cannot easily induce your mind to consider her otherwise than as a particular Church I confidently believe that if the Eastern Church were united in one Body with the Western you would not find any difficulty to think your self obliged to yield an entire Obedience to so great an Authority Prot. This I willingly acknowledg §. 32. Cath. Be pleased then to reflect on some Age when these two great Churches were united for example in the days of St. Gregory the Great Then there was a perfect agreement through the whole World excepting only the Societies of Ancient Heretics acknowledged for such by Protestants Then both Doctrine and Discipline was uniform every where What St. Gregory taught was accepted through the whole Church Yea those parts of his Writings which are most opposite to your Doctrines as his Dialogues c. have presently after his time been translated into the Greek tongue and with veneration received by that Church Whence will follow that what he hath taught us in his Writings touching Points of Religion and which you most mislike was then esteem'd true Catholic Doctrine Now what does St. Gregory teach but the same which is now taught in the Roman Church In all Controversies lately raised between Catholics and Protestants he is constantly and directly against Protestants This is so manifest that it is acknowledged by many learned Protestants who describing the particular Points of Religion professed by St. Gregory and St. Augustine the Monk sent by him to convert England name these Freewill Merit and Iustification of Works Pennance Satisfaction Purgatory Celibacy of Priests publick Invocation of Saints and Worshipping of them Veneration of Images Exorcisms Pardons Vows Monachism Transubstantiation Prayer for the Dead Oblation of Christ's Body and Blood for the Dead the Roman Bishop's Iurisdiction over all Churches Celebration of Mass Consecrations of Churches Altars Chalices Corporals and Fonts of Baptism Veneration of Relicks Sprinkling of Holy-Water Dedicating Churches to the Bones and Ashes of Saints Indulgencies to such as visit Churches on certain days Pilgrimages and in a word the whole Chaos of Popish Superstition as they are pleased to stile it So that Mr. Ascham affirms of our Apostle St. Augustine the Disciple of St. Gregory that He was the overthrower of true Religion and the establisher of all Popish Doctrines and another saith of him That he subjected England to the lust of Antichrist which Antichrist you must take for granted was St. Gregory and therefore after his death went undoubtedly to Hell there to receive his reward Thus evident Convictions forced them to confess that all the Doctrines of Faith now taught were then professed as Catholic Doctrines but gall and malice against the Church suggested such foul unseemly words to their Pens Notwithstanding Protestant Writers when not being engaged in controversie they have occasion to treat of St. Gregory himself they are not sparing in their Elogies of him such as these He was a holy and a learned Bishop He was by Name and indeed truly Great adorned with many and great endowments of Divine Grace and as he is often styled the mouth and shining light of our Lord. He was truly a pious man and for his Christian humility yet more to be praised From his Infancy being addicted to the studies of Piety he retired into a Monastery where shewing a particular sanctity of life and being wholly intent upon Prayer he drew the eyes of all men upon him He did so discharge the Pontifical Office that following ages never had his equal much less any one excelling him He was exceedingly renowned for Miracles c. Now me thinks Sir the consent of the Eastern and Western Churches under the Government of such a Prelate so versed as he was in holy Scripture witness his Sermons and Commentaries should be so prevalent with you as to make you suspect your own Reason if it suggests to you that the Religion professed in his days was superstitions and idolatrous § 33. Prot. But why do you say that the Universal Church in the East and West was governd by Saint Gregory when he himself sharply condemned the Patriarch of Constantinople for assuming such a Title as Universal Bishop which he calls an Antichristian Title Cath. It was indeed a Title full of arrogance and therefore justly condemned by St. Gregory in the Notion in which he conceived it might be understood as if the Patriarch pretended thereby to be esteemed the only legitimate Bishop in the Eastern Church For thence it would follow that all other Bishops were only his Substitutes acting by his commission and removeable by him at pleasure Whereas they claim a reception of their Order and Character immediately from Christ alone Such a new Title therefore it was that St. Gregory condemned in that Patriarch and abhorred to accept himself as plainly appears by his Epistles But yet that he had a Superintendence over the whole Church as Supreme Pastor thereof to receive and judge Appeals of Bishops from all Parts in causis majoribus to oblige all Prelates even Patriarchs to the Profession of the Faith established in Councils and the observance of the Churches Laws and to impose Ecclesiastical Censures on all Transgressors of them this St. Gregory challenged and to this the Prelates both of the Western and Eastern Churches also submitted as appears by many Epistles sent by him and Answers received from several Patriarchs and other Prelates in the East §. 34. Since therefore it is confessedly certain that the present Roman Church professes the same Religion which Saint Gregory taught and planted in England which the Eastern Church in those times approved without any contradiction and which is now condemned by Protestants it will evidently follow that in those few Points in which the present Eastern Churches quarrel with the Roman the said Eastern Churches only have been Innovators and consequently that the Roman Church that is all Churches united in subordination to the Prime Patriarch and Pastor still remains the Catholic Church and enjoys the same Authority which the Universal Church in and before St. Gregories days enjoyed So that all Christians who break from her Communion do thereby shew themselves Schismaticks and Self-condemned §. 35. I have purposely made choice to instance in the time of St. Gregory the Great because on the one side several Protestants impute the beginning of the Churches depravation principally to that Age and on the other side Almighty God as if he had a design to confute and silence their accusations chose that Age especially in which to accomplish that most illustrious of all Prophesies foreshewing the glory of the Catholic Church which is the Conversion of Nations from Heathenish Idolatry
be raised to the end a heavier judgment should befall those who saw the Church and yet fled out of it Quis numeret testimonia de Ecclesia toto Orbe terrarum diffusa Quis Who can number the testimonies given in Scripture touching the Church spread over the whole earth who can number them There are not in the whole world so many Heresies against the Church as there are Testimonies in the old Law for the Church What page there does not proclaim this what verse does not mention it All passages there cry out aloud for the Unity of our Lords Body for he has placed peace through the borders of Hierusalem Now thou O Heretick barkest against all these Testimonies And therefore that whch is written in the Apocalypse is justly verified in that City Without are dogs Thou barkest against these Testimonies From what Tribunal dost thou judg Thy Tribunal is the presumption of thine own heart It is a lofty but a ruinous Tribunal Exaltare super coelos Deus super omnem terram gloria tua Be thou exalted O God above the Heavens and thy Glory over all the earth My Bretheren we have not seen God exalted above the Heavens yet we believe it But we not only believe but we see his Glory exalted over all the Earth in his Church Now I beseech you observe what a madness it is which possesses Heretics They being cut off from the compacted Body of the Church of Christ and by holding a part being deprived of the whole will not communicate with the whole earth over which the glory of Christ is spread O Heretical Madness Thou believest with me that which thou doest not see and thou deniest that which both thou and I do see Thou believest with me that Christ is exalted above the Heavens which neither of us hath seen and thou deniest his glory over all the earth which we both see In sole posuit Tabernaculum suum He has placed his Tabernacle in the Sun that is in a place manifest to all His Tabernacle is his flesh His Tabernacle is his Church which is placed in the Sun not in the night but in the day Tanquam ille quem catechizamus quaereret diceret quo ergo signo If a Catechumen should be inquisitive and say But by what sign shall I being as yet a little one and unable clearly to discern the truth from so many errours by what mark I say shall I find the Church of Christ to believe which I am obliged by so many manifest predictions Hereto the Prophet as if he had a perfect knowledge of the Catechumens scruples answers teaching him that this is foretold to be the Church of Christ which is raised on high and apparent to all For she is the seat of his Glory For in regard of such doubts as may befal the simpler sort of Christians who may be seduced by crafty men from the Church so gloriously manifest our Lord providing a remedy saith A City which is set upon a mountain cannot be hid Christo tales maledicunt qui Those do blaspheme Christ who affirm that the Church hath perished from off the whole earth and remained only on Africa Geneva England Holland c. §. 2. Of the Catholic Churches Unity and of Schism §. 43. Una est Ecclesia quaecunque illa sit There is one only Church whichsoever that is of which it is written my dove my undesiled is but one she is the only one of her Mother neither can there be so many Churches as there are Shisms O this Position both the Schismatics Donatists and St. Augustin were agreed Perirem si essem departe Pauli I should perish eternally if I were of a party of which St. Paul was the leader How then shall I avoid perdition if I be of the party of Donatus of Luther Calvin Tindall c Quamvis Novatianus Though the Schismatic Novatian hath been put to death for the Faith yet he hath not been crowned Why not Crowned Because he died out of the peace concord and communion of the Church separated from that common Mother of whom whosoever will be a Martyr must be a Member We ought rather to endure any torments than consent to the dividing of Gods Church Since the Martyrdom to which we expose our selves by hindring a division of the Church is no less glorious then that which is suffered for refusing to Sacrifice to Idols Si in Navi pericula sunt If there be dangers to those who are ein the Ship there is certain drowning to those who are out of it In montem sanctum tuum Into his Holy Mountain His holy Mountain is his Holy Church This is the Mountain which according to the Vision of Daniel grew to this vastness from a small stone and breaks all the Kingdoms of the earth and which encreased in greatness till it filled the whole surface of the earth In this Mountain he was heard who said I cryed with my voice unto the Lord and he heard me from his holy Mountain Whosoever prays besides this Mountain let him not hope to be heard to eternal life Many are heard in many of their requests but let them not boast because they are heard The Devils were heard in their request to be sent into the Swine Let us desire to be heard to eternal life There cannot possibly be made any Reformation of such importance as the mischief of Schism is pernicious Nobiscum estis in Baptismo You Donatists are with us in Baptism in the Creed and in the other Sacrament of our Lord. But in the Spirit of Unity in the Bond of Peace and finally in the Catholic Church you are not with us Tenenda est nobis Christiana Religio Christian Religion is to be held by us and the Communion of that Church which is Catholic and is named Catholic not only by her children but also even by her enemies Fieri non potest It cannot possibly be that any one should have a just cause to separate his Communion from the Communion of the whole world Ut hanc omittam sapientiam Not to speak of that Wisdom which you do not believe to be in the Catholic Church there are many other things which most justly keep me in her bosom the consent of people and Nations keeps me the authority begun by miracles nourished by hope encreased by charity established by antiquity keeps me there A succession of Bishops from the Chair of St. Peter to whom our Lord after his Ascension committed his Sheep to be fed to the present pontificate keeps me there Lastly the very Name of Catholic keeps me there which name the Church alone among so many Heresies hath not without just reason possessed insomuch as though all Heretics are desirous to be called Catholics yet if a stranger asketh any of them where the Catholic Congregation meets not any of them has the boldness to shew him his own
Temple These therefore so many and so great bonds keep a believer firm in the Catholic Church although by reason of his natural dulness and perhaps his sins he does not manifestly see and penetrate the depth of Divine Truths But among you Heretics who have none of these advantages to invite or hold me nothing is heard to sound but a vain promise of true Doctrine c. Firmissime tene et nullatenus dubites Hold most firmly and doubt not at all that every Heretic or Schismatic baptised in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost if before he Dies he be not joyned and incorporated into the Catholic Church he can by no means be saved though he should give never so many Alms yea though he should shed his Blood for the Name of Christ For neither Baptism nor liberal distributing of Alms nor the undergoing death for the Name of Christ can profit any one to Salvation as long as Heretical or Schismatical lewdness perseveres in him which leadeth to eternal death §. 3. Of the Catholic Churches Authority Of interpreting Scripture Saint Augustine informs us that a certain acquaintance of his derided the Disciples of Catholic Faith by which men were commanded to believe the Church not being taught by demonstrative Reasons what was true To satisfie this Friend he wrote his Book De Utilitate credendi Ecclesiae in which he writes thus It is fitly instituted by the Majesty of Catholic Discipline that those who come to Religion should before all other things be perswaded to believe the Church But you will say were it not better that Reason should be employed to move me which without any temerity I might follow withersoever it leads me Perhaps it might be so But since to come to the knowledge of God by Reason is a matter of so great importance and difficulty do you think that generally all men are capable of searching into the Reasons by which mens minds may be brought to a knowledg of Divine Mysteries Or are the greatest number of men such or but a few I suppose you will answer But a few If so do you think that the knowledg of Religion is to be denyed to all the rest who have not so piercing a Judgment It is a miserable thing to be deceived by Authority but it is much more miserable not to be moved by it If Gods Providence does not preside over human affairs there will be no cause why we should trouble our selves about Religion We ought not therefore to despair that some Authority is constituted by God by which those who walk doubtfully may be raised up to God Puto si quis Sapiens extitisset I conceive that if there were extant a wise man to whom our Lord had given his Testimony viz. that he should be directed by him and if that man were consulted by us concerning this controversie we should not at all doubt to do whatsoever he enjoyned us least we should be adjudged to oppose our selves not so much to that man himself as to our Lord Jesus Christ by whose Testimony he is recommended Now such Testimony doth our Lord afford to his Church Haeretici qui cum in unitate Heretics who though they be not in Catholic Unity and Communion yet Glory in the title of Christians are compelled to oppose Orthodox Believers and they have the boldness to attempt the seducing unskilful Christians by force of disputing and Reasoning whereas our Lord came with a peculiar Medicine against this when he enjoyned not reasoning but Believing to all people But Heretics are forced to take the way of arguing by reason because they see themselves in a most abject Condition if their Authority be compared with Catholic Authority Therefore they endeavour to prevail by a pretence and promise of Reason against the most unshaken Authority of the firmly established Church This is the uniform and as it were regular temerity of all Heretics But the most clement Emperor of our Faith has fortified with the Citadel of Authority his Church both by numerous Congregations of People and Nations and the Chairs of his Apostles He also by a few piously learned and truly Spiritual men has armed his Church with most copious provisions of invincible Reason But the more secure and rational Discipline is That those who are ignorant or infirm should be received within the Castle of Faith depending on Authority that they may be defended by those who can combate with the weapons of most powerful Reason Noc nos ipsi tale aliquid auderemus asserere Neither durst we affirm any such thing viz. that Hereties ought not to be rebaptized if we were not strengthned by the unanimous Authority of the universal Church To which Authority no doubt Cyprian who held the contrary would have submitted if in his time the truth of this question had been established by the examination and decision of a Plenary Council Proinde quamvis hujus rei certe de Scripturis Canonicis non proferatur exemplum Although no express example can be brought out of Canonical Scriptures touching this Point of rebaptization yet the truth of the same Scriptures in this matter is held by us when we do that which has pleased the Universal Church which the Authority of Scripture themselves does commend That since the Holy Scripture cannot deceive us he whosoever is in fear of being deceived by the obscurity of this question may consult the same Church about it which Church the holy Scripture doth without all ambiguity demonstrate Aliud est cum Authoritati credimus It is one thing when we believe submitting to Authority and another when we yield to reason To believe Authority is a way very compendious and without labour Et si nulla ratione indagetur Whatsoever is from Ancient times preached by our Orthodox Faith and believed through the whole Church though by no search of reason it can be found out and though by no speech it can be clearly expressed yet notwithstanding it is to be acknowledged most true Haeretici sunt sibi arbitri Religionis Heretics are to themselves judges of Religion Whereas the proper work of Religion is the Duty of Obedience to Authority Non ad Scripturas provocandum est We must not disputing with Heretics appeal to Scripture Neither is the debate to be constituted in things in which either no victory at all will follow or an uncertain one or little better than uncertain For though the success of examining Scriptures should not be such that each party should have no advantage over the other yet due order requires that that should be first proposed about which at present we are to dispute viz. to which of the parties the preaching of Faith belongs who have right to the Scriptures from whom and by whom and when and to whom that Discipline has been delivered by which men are made Christians For where the Truth both of Christian
Theological Scar-crow had intended to apply that Expression to single divided Churches whose birth has perhaps been within mans memory and particularly to the Church of England some Fundamental Doctrines whereof to my knowledge he did not assent to and whose Ecclesiastical Government he did not approve his Assertion may be justified to be grounded on Reason For who can tell how a Seperation from any of them can be called Schism or Tenents contradicting their Heresies They all mutually favour one another with the Title of Pure Reformed and Sufficiently Orthodox Churches So that in which soever among them any one shall live and from which soever of them any one shall think fit to depart as liking another better this according to their common grounds must be accounted a matter in a manner indifferent and however there is in it no danger of incurring the guilt of Schism so it be done with an unpretended Conscience It seems therefore to me an Act unjust and unsuitable to the grounds of Pure Reformation in some late Prelatical Writers who charge with the Crime of Schism their tender Conscienced Orthodox Brethren for deserting their Communion as it was anciently in the Donatists those Arch-contrivers of Schisms for doing the same to the Primianists Maximianists and Rogatists subdivided Sects Spawned from them It is plain therefore that among all Reformed Congregations Schism is a meer Scar-crow and the like may be said of Heresie And the reason is because both Heresie and Schism must include an opposition to that Church only which can justly challenge an Authority to determin what Doctrins are true and necessary to be believed by all Christians and to oblige all under penalty of Anathema's to joyn in her Communion Which Authority only belongs to the Catholic Church and which is not so much as pretended to by any Reformed Congregations §. 115. Hence it necessarily follows that the entertaining a perswasion that the Catholic Church to which God hath made a Promise that he will lead her into all Truth is guilty of Errours can proceed only from an excess of Spiritual Pride but it is moreover 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an obstruction of Reason upon a meer suspicion of such Errors to esteem one's Self obliged to separate from her Communion But so pestilent is the Nature of Spiritual Sins that though all men condemn them and most men are deeply stained with them yet not any one can see them in himself Where shall we find an usurping Oppressor acknowledge himself Covetous or an ambitious man proud So never did any Schismatic say or think himself Such He acknowledges that he separates from the Church and boasts of it yet he will not endure to be esteemed a Schismatic as if Sinlurked only in the Greek expression To conclude Unless you will impute to all the Antient Councils and Holy Fathers of Gods Church not only the utmost extremity of ignorance and folly but likewise a base partial interessedness and most execrable Tyranny in denouncing Anathemas against Dissenters and Separatists you will judge Separation from Catholic Communion to be no vain Theological Scar-crow Such a sleight Opinion of the harmlesness of Schism was not first branched in this Age. Saint Augustine will inform us that in his days There were some who said We thought it made no matter where that is in what Communion we preserved the Faith of Christ But saith he thanks be given to our Lord who hath gathered us from separation and hath made manifest to us that this is a thing pleasing to God who is One to be served in Unity Such horror had those great Lights of the Church of the Crime of Schism that according to their judgment even Martyrdom it self cannot cure the deadly poyson of it And that the Martyrdom to which we expose our selves by hindring Schism in the Church is no less glorious then that which is suffered for refusing to Sacrifice to Idols That there cannot possibly be made any Reformation of such importance as the mischief of Schism is pernicious And in a word That it cannot possibly be that any one should have a just cause toâ— separate from Catholic Communion More to this purpose you may find in the Second Section of the Collection of Testimonies out of the Holy Fathers at the end of our former Discourse Prot. I well remember them therefore if you please here we may make an end §. 116. Cath. Farewel Sir and pardon the frequent urging of this most necessary Admonition If I thought you would require it I could very easily have concluded this Discourse as I did the former with a Collection of Testimonies from the Holy Fathers to justifie the Churches Doctrines through all the Points here mentioned But such a Collection having been the only Subject of many great volumns published by Catholic Doctors it will be sufficient to refer you to them I will only desire you to take notice in perusing them first That never any such Book has been written by any Protestant And next that such Collections have been made by Catholics to shew that their whole Religion came by descent from the Antient Fathers Whereas Protestants only upon a particular occasion Select some obscure or ambiguous passages from their Writings with a purpose to cast a mist besore the eyes of unwary Readers that they may so elude the force of those Testimonies far exceeding in number and more perspicuously evident produced by Catholics FINIS 1 Tim. 3. 15 Psal. 122. 3. Matt. 5. 14. Isa. 54. Mat. 18. 17. Calvin Instit. lib. 4. cap. 1. Calvin Epi. ad Melanct. Prejugez con les Calvinists San. Relation pag. 233. Roses his View of Religion pag. 4768. Humsr. in Iesuitiâ—mi part 2. 〈◊〉 5. Mig leb Cent. 6. p. 289. lb. c. 10. p. 748. Cariâ—â— Chron. lib. 4. 〈◊〉 Onanâ— Epitome cent 6. Parker Antih Bâ—it c. 17. Aâ—ch 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 Dom. p. 33. Osiand Epist. p. 290. Whitak cont Dur. l. 5. §. 26. Humfr. ad rat 5. Godwin in Conv. Brit. c. 4. Magdeb. Cent. 6. c. 10. Castal in Praefat. Bibliâ—r Lat. Philip Nicolai de Regno Christi c. 1. p. 53. Auâ— Epist. 165. Calvin Inâ—stit l. 4. c. 2. §. 42. August in Psalm 30. Conc. 2â— Aug. in Ps. 147. Aug. in Psal. 56. August in Epist. Ioan 2. August cont Faust. l. 13. c. 13. Aug. in Psal. 85. Aug. de Baptis cont Don. l. 1. c. 10 Aug. in Ps. 1. 30. Pacian Epist 2. ad Sympron Dionys. Alex ap Euseb l. 6. Aug. Ser. 22. de diversis Aug. in I sal 42. Itâ— l. 4. c. 62. Aug. in Psal. 48 Aug. de Vera Rel g. Aug. Epist. 48. Aug. cont Epist. Fundam c. 3. Fulgent de â—ide ad Pet. cap. 39. Aug. Retract l. 1. Id de Utilitate Aug. de Unitate Eccl. c. 19. Aug. in Psal. 41. Aug. de Baptismo cont Donat l. 2. Aug. cont â—reseon 〈◊〉 33. Aug. de Quantit Animae c. 7. Aug. cont Iulian. l. â— c. 5. Hilar. l. 1. Tertull. de Praescrips c. 18. Aug. Epist. 118. Aug. de Haeres Vincent Lirin Comon c. 38. Sâ—ogli â—el Chr. Nauâ—r 1 Kin. 12. Mat. 5. 13. 14. Conc. Trid. Sess. 4. Io. 16. 13. Mat. 16. 18. Bulla Piiâ— P. 4. Conc. Fâ—r Perron in Ambass Epist. Margaretae Gubernatricis ad Archiepiscopum Camerac Responsis ejusd Confess de Foy Art 36. Catech. Dimanch 53. Ib. 52. Ibid. Epist. aâ— Cardin. Perron Council Trid. Sess. 13. can 6. Bull. Pii P. IV. Concil Trid. Sess. 22. c. 1. Hebr. 9. 26. Ib. 28. Ib. 12. Ioh. 22. 23. Mat. 18. 18. Iam. 5. 16. Concil Trid. Sess. 14. Can. 13. 14. Concil Trideâ— Sess. 2â— Suarez Vasquez Concil Trid. Sess. 21. de Reform c. 9. Ibid Sess. 25. Council Trid. Sess. 6. can 11. Ib. can 34 Ib. c. 9. Ib. c. 8. Ib. c. 16. Ibid. Ib. Sess. 14. cap. 8. Can. Miss â—uth Concil Trid. Sess. 25. Eâ—ius Bull. Pii P. IV. Council Trid. Sess. 25. 2 Mâ—cchab 12. 43 44. Calvin Insti lib. 3. c. 25. §. c. 1. Tim. 4. 1. 1 Tim. 3. 15. Mat. 18. 17. Hâ—le's Discourse of Schism Epiâ— aâ— Diut Aug. Epist 48 Dionys. Alex. ap Euseb. l. 6 Pacian Epist. 2. Iren. l. 4. c. 62. Aug. Epist 48.
wilfully misinterpret Scripture to their own destruction especially in Points Fundamental which are so clearly set down in Scripture that no sober Enquirer can be mistaken in them Cath. Well Sir I have at present done asking Questions and now better enabled by what you have said will endeavor to give you a fuller Answer to the Question you proposed in the begining viz. Why are you a Catholick §. 11. First then Sir I am a Catholick because I believe that Christ the Author and Finisher of our Faith is infinitely both good wise and omnipotent His goodness inclined him to come down into this world to save mankind by establishing a Church upon earth which should remain till the end of the world and in which the way to Heaven should be so taught as not only the Wise and Learned but the Poor Simple and Ignorant also should by Faith and Obedience be made partakers of Eternal Happiness Now his goodness having designed this his wisdom enabled him to appoint ways and means proper to effect that his blessed Design and omnipotence to make those means successful § 12. The general efficacious means to accomplish this are first The revealing his whole will to his Church which we acknowledg to be sufficiently done in Holy Scripture as to all points absolutely necessary to Salvation though in all those points not so clearly to every one that without a Teacher their sense may not be mistaken Neither doth Scripture make an express discernment of what points are necessary And secondly The assisting of this his Church with fidelity and a constant performance of her duty in declaring all necessary Divine Truth manifested to her to her Subjects with a command that all Christians should obey and submit to what she shall teach or enjoyn them God having thus revealed his whole Will to his one Catholic Church it necessarily and evidently follows 1. That Ignorance or Error in any Points of Christian Doctrine necessary to Salvation is damnable 2. That a Seperation from this one Church is damnable also upon what pretence soever the separation be made §. 13. Now to avoid eternal Misery thus threatned by Error or Schism only one of these two ways is possible 1. By ones own light to penetrate into all Mysteries so as to be most firmly assured of a right understanding of all necessary verities revealed by God in Holy Scriptures 2. Or out of a distrust of our own abilities to submit our Reason and internal Assent to Authority The former of these ways all Sects divided from the Roman Church and among themselves do uniformly take being forced hereto by denying any visible Society of men to have any authority obliging the Consciences of their Subjects and by conseqence they have all if any an equal Title that is indeed equally none at all to challenge belief one as well as another neither can they rationally without deserting their common Ground condemn or excommunicate one another The latter way we Catholics only take and as we think prudently and surely §. 14. For Sir I beseech you to consider what a busy laborious task you have undertaken by being a Protestant of what Sect among them soever you are Before you can promise to your self any rest of mind in the Peculiar Fundamental Doctrines of your Sect your Conscience must satisfy you that you have not embraced a Religion by hazard but after a diligent sincere and effectual examination of all the Reasons and arguments not only of Catholicks submitting to Authority but also of other Sectaries who proceeding your way of interpreting Scripture by a private light do condemn your Doctrines or whose Doctrines you condemn To be able to do all this how many Volums of Controversy are you obliged to read and examine Besides this it will be absolutely necessary that you be perfectly studyed in all the Books of Scripture with the best Commentaries on them both Ancient and Modern since you ground your Religion upon a sense of Scripture which perhaps not any of them will allow and then in equity you are to examine their reasons for it Now what one mans age will suffice for all this business though but in one or two Points controverted and though the party were learned and had never so much leasure What then shall ignorant persons do who yet make up the greatest number of Christians What shall Trades-men and Day-Labourers do who can scarce allow from their necessary Vocations any time at all dayly even to say their Prayers yet it concerns all these upon the venture of Eternal Happiness or Misery not to forsake or embrace a Religion without a sufficient Examination made by themselves of the grounds of it since they are told and believe it that they must trust to themselves only because no external Authority upon Earth can require from them a submission of their judgment inasmuch as according to their general fundamental Positions no Authority is infallible §. 15. Now whereas you said That all Fundamental Doctrines of Christianity are so clearly set down in Scripture that no sober Enquirer can be mistaken in them If this were true yet since neither the Scripture nor you your selves do clearly express which and how many Doctrines are fundamental every tittle of Scriptures must be read and examined by every one of you for fear a necessary Doctrine should chance to escape you But to demonstrate the groundlesness of that your Assertion I desire you to reflect on the prodigious multiplicity of Sects swarming in this age all which ground their Belief upon pretended clear Texts of Scripture alone you will then scarce find one Article of Christian Faith exempted from their Disputes There are not wanting who deny the Mistery of the Holy Trinity the Divinity and Incarnation of our Lord the Divine Personality of the Holy Ghost Some absolutely deny Freewill whilst others exalt the power of it so high as to affirm Divine Grace unnecessary to its best Operations Some affirm our Nature to be so incurably polluted by Original Sin as that all the best actions of the Regenerate are Mortal Sins Others will acknowledge no Original Sin at all Some affirm Baptism necessary to Salvation even of Infants Others reject Infant-Baptism and Calvinists assert that Infants without Baptism are sanctified by their Parents faith and that some Infants dying though baptized may be damned Some believe mans Soul to be mortal and that it perisheth with the Body not having any Knowledg or Sentiment after death Some confine God to a determinate place in Heaven and also deny his Prescience of future Contingents Lastly some deny an Eternity of torments in Hell Surely you will not deny most of these to be contrary to Fundamental Doctrines of our Faith yet all who maintain these Tenets and all Sectaries who contradict them do ground themselves upon express Scripture which to you seems so clear You cannot be more confident that you have light on the true sence of Scripture than they of a
be admitted in France the Pope not only knowing but expresly allowing such refusal as appears by the Bull of Pope Clement the eight sent to King Henry the fourth at his reception into the Church and recited by Cardinal Perron in his Epistles in which Bull we find this Clause His Majesty shall effectually take order that the Council of Trent he published and admitted in all things Excepting only at your must earnest Supplication and Petition those things if there be any such which cannot be put in execution without a real disturbance of public tranquility The King of Spain likewise though believed to be more complyant with the Court of Rome being sollicited by the Pope to publish and admit the same Council in his Belgick Provinces though he willingly yielded thereto yet he did it not without this additional Clause adjoyned Touching the Regalities Rights Prerogatives and Preeminences of his Majesty his Vassals Estates and Subjects the Laycal Iurisdiction hitherto used the Right of Lay-Patronage the Right of Nomination Hearing of causes in the possessory matter of Benefices Tithes possessed or pretended to by Seculars c. in regard of all such things his Majesties Intention is that proceedings shall go on as hitherto they have done without changing any thing at all c. So necessarily scrupulous are Christian Princes to prevent the least diminution of their Temporal Rights and Priviledges More lately likewise when certain Authors of one Order published several Treatises in which they endeavoured to exalt to the height the Popes Iurisdiction Universal in Temporal affairs those Books were censured and condemned by many Catholic Universities and committed to the fire by Public Authority the Pope not being ignorant hereof And moreover which perhaps is yet more considerable the Superior General of the said Religious Order even in Rome it self published an Edict known to all Christendom by which he strictly forbad his Subjects under most heavy Censures to maintain such a Temporal Iurisdiction of the Pope either in Books Sermons or Disputations Now that which makes this so solemn a Prohibition of more weight is this that whereas the foresaid Authors earnestly contended to prove that all Christians were obliged to believe the Popes Right to such Authority as an Article of our Christian Faith the said General by publishing his Prohibitory Edict clearly shewed that he renounced the Belief of such a Doctrine For otherwise Who but a◠Antichrist would so severely under a penalty of Excommunication forbid the teaching or defending an Article of Faith And moreover in a General Chapter not long after assembled the said Prohibition was ratified by all Superiors of the same Order as their own Writers testifie Prot. I must needs confess that Christian Princes and Subjects too are much beholding to that Worthy General for his prudence and zeal to prevent occasions of tumults and Seditions Notwithstanding it seems to me that Princes are not yet secure for though the said Doctrine should cease to be esteemed an Article of Faith why may it not be defended as an Opinion at least Speculatively probable and if so a slender Probability will have force but too great to raise and foment Rebellions when discontents are multiplied among the people §. 66. Cath. You are much deceived Sir For besides that you may be sure that Princes will never permit their Authority to be rendred questionable the very pretending such a Doctrine to be only Probable is equivalently to grant that it is no Authority at all Since every one knows that a meer probable Title against a long established possession such as is that of Princes for their Temporal Soveraignty is in Law and Reason accounted no Title and consequently none who have any sence of Christianity will ever seek with the horrible Scandal of Religion to instill such a manifestly unjust incentive to Rebellion into the minds of Christians And now Sir I beseech you to consider things seriously and then judg with what injustice and cruelty our whole Religion and Church is condemned as teaching Treason and Rebellion and this only for a few private mens Writings so generally abhorred by our selves Prot. All I can say hereto is that for as much as concerns my self I will be no longer an accuser of your Church in this matter Proceed therefore if you please to the other following Points 4. Of the Real Presence and Transubstantiation §. 67. Cath. The next Point of Catholic Doctrine opposed by all Sectaries regards the Holy Eucharist Their rage against the former is indeed greater because interest is more concerned in it but a greater advantage for seducing the ignorant people they make of this because they permit them to judg of this most dreadful Mystery by their outward Senses which Catholics instructed by Holy Fathers tell them are not to be believed here In the Eucharist the first matter of Dispute and ground of the rest is the Catholic Doctrine touching the Real Presence of our Lords Body on the Altar after Consecration of the Symbole thus declared in the Council of Trent I prosess that in the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist is present truly and substantially the Body and the Blood together with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Iesus Christ And that there is made a Conversion of the whole Substance of the Bread into his Body and of the whole substance of the Wine into his Blood Which Conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation This Article of our Belief is to us solidly established on the Words of Institution THIS IS MY BODY which Words without any figurative explication are repeated alike by three Evangelists and the Apostle Saint Paul therefore we believe following universal Tradition that our Lord sincerely meant as he spake and because we believe so we are hated Prot. But how can you expect that we should assent hereto since our Senses contradict it §. 68. Cath. You cannot say however that our Senses are deceived for in this great Mystery they have a right perception of their proper Objects to wit Colour Extention Figure c. Neither I suppose will you say that the judgment which Reason from the Senses collects is always infallible For if so then for example our Saviour whilst living on earth should have been judged a meer Man And the Angels appearing to Lot and his daughters no Angels but meer men for so would Reason relying on the outward Senses have judged Prot. in these examples Divine Revelation expresly teaches the contrary Cath. Then if in the present case you were assured by Divine Revelation that God by a supernatural Power did on the Priests consecrating the Symbols produce a real Change of the Outward Elements into the Body and Blood of Christ you would believe God against your Senses Prot. I should no doubt §. 69. Cath. Can you have a greater assurance hereof then the express Words of Christ literally understood by the Constant Tradition of all Churches in all ages Prot. Such an assurance