though they were learned and pious men yet they were but men and consequently were lyable to error as well as other men And herein the Advice of S. Austin is to be followed to wit to follow (23) Neminem velim sic amplecti mea omnia ut me sequatur nisi in eis quibus me non errare perspexerit August de persever Sanct. cap. 21. tom 27. him and such as himself no further than they follow Truth and Holy Scripture Solis eis Scripturarum libris qui jam Canonici appellantur didici hunc timorem honoremque deserre ut nullum eorum autorem Scribendo aliquid errasse firmissime credam August 1 Epist 19. which ought still to be preferred before them And yet S. Augustin was neither the worst nor the meanest of those Christian Hero's Thus do we reverence but do not idolize them and only preferr the Scriptures before them whereas the Papists value their late Papal Decrees before the Primitive Doctors These things being premised I shall renew that fivefold Challenge about the Popes Supremacy formerly propounded by a Reverend and Learned Bishop of our Church which the Papists ought first to answer before they can justly obtain what they in vain pretend to as Consequences of that Supremacy For they failing to prove this which I think they will never be able to do their Attempts in the points depending thereon must needs be fruitless and ineffectual The Challenge is this 1. Whether our Saviour before his Ascension did constitute S. Peter his Vicar and gave him a monarchical Supremacy over the Apostles and the whole Church 2. Whether the Papists can prove that St. Peter while he lived exercised such Power and Supream Jurisdiction even over the Apostles In such Cases as these Idem est non esse non apparere 3. Whether if St. Peter exercised any such Authority it was not temporary and ceased with his Person as the Apostleship did 4. Whether if all these were true as they are wholly the contrary they can make it appear That the Bishop of Rome was the Successour of St. Peter and not the Bishop of Antioch and whether ever he was at Rome or no 5. Whether they can make it appear That our Blessed Saviour when on Earth exercised such a temporal Monarchy as the Pope now challengeth Confessions of the Popish Doctors in this Case To the first and second Queries it is Confessed by (25) Cusan de Concil Cath. 2.3 Cardinal Cusanus That St. Peter received no more Authority and then he could not exercise any Authority over his Fellows than the rest of the Apostles To the 3d and 4th Queries it is Confessed by (26) Aen. Sylvius de gestis Concil Basil Aeneas Sylvius afterwards Pope by the name of Pius 2. That the Pope's Succession is not revealed in Scripture and then it cannot be proved jure divino positivo And by Bellarmin (27) De Rom. Pont l. 4. c. 4. That neither Scripture nor Tradition habet allows then farewell Papal Supremacy That the Apostolic Seat or Chair was so fixed at Rome which I really believe as well as he that it could not be taken from thence And then why might it not be at Antioch or Jerusalem as well as Rome Confessed by him (28) Idem de Pontif. l. 2. c. 29. further That as long as the Emperors were Heathen the Pope was subject to them in all Civil Causes And That for above One thousand years his (29) Id. de Rom. Pont. l. 4. c. 2. Sect. Secunda Opinio Judgment was not esteemed Infallible nor (30) Idem de Concil l. 2. cap. 13. his Authority above that of a General Council Where was then the exercise or acknowledgment of this Supremacy and Infallibility of the Popes Was all the world a-sleep or ignorant so long of this Power which they now challenge to themselves Jure Divino No but the Pope I warrant you had not yet the opportunity to usurp and challenge it as he hath done since To four of these you see they have plainly yielded and the last they can never make good either from Scripture or Ecclesiastical History Add to these the Confession of that Learned Papist (31) Barns's Catholico-Romanus Pacificus MS. Sect. 31. Father Barns That allowing the Bishop of Rome to have Supremacy elsewhere yet the Pope hath no Supremacy in Britain Insula autem Britanniae gavisaest olim privilegio Cyprio ut nullius Patriarchae Legibus subderetur And afterwards Videtur pacis ergô retineri debere sinè dispendio Catholicismi absque Schismatis ullius notâ What can the Papists say to this so plain an acknowledgment But not designing to treat at large upon the Pope's Supremacy I have not as in the following Subjects produced the Testimonies of Fathers and Councils against this Doctrine of Rome but shall advise the Reader to consult herein Bishop Jewel against Harding Article 4. Archbishop Bramhal 's Schism Guarded against Will. Serjeant Dr. Barrow of the Pope's Supremacy and the Bishop of Lincoln 's Brutum Fulmen who will give him full satisfaction in that point THE CONTENTS Of the following TREATISE SECT I. OF the Scriptures Sufficiency Page 1. SECT II. Of the Scripture Canon p. 5. SECT III. Of Invocation of Saints and of the Blessed Virgin p. 8. Of Image Worship p. 10. Of Adoration of the Host p. 12. SECT IV. Of the Three Creeds and how the Pope imposes new Articles of Faith upon his followers p. 15. SECT V. Of the number of Sacraments and of Communion in one kind p. 17. SECT VI. Of Transubstantiation p. 21. SECT VII Of Purgatory p. 24. Of Indulgences p. 28. Of the Sacrifice of the Mass p. 29. Of Justification by Faith ibid. Of Merits p. 31. SECT VIII Of Prayers in an unknown Tongue p. 34. SECT IX Of the Marriage of Priests p. 37. Of Auricular Confession p. 44. SECT X. Of Obedience to Governors p. 47. THE Protestants Companion SECTION I. THE Protestant Church of England our Holy Mother admits of no other Rule for Faith and practice than the (1) Articles of the Church of England published Ann. Dom. 1562 for the avoiding of diversities of opinions and for the establishing of consent touching true Religion Article 6 20. 2d Book of Homilies Hom. 2. Holy Scriptures which according to (2) 2 Tim. 3.15 the Apostles are able to make us wise unto Salvation The Church of Rome doth equal unwritten (3) Concil Trident. Sess 4. Decret 1. Traditions with the Holy Scriptures whom (4) Pighius Eccles Hierarch L. 3. C. 3. some of that Church do call a nose of Wax (5) Bellarmine di verbo Dei l. 4. c. 4. Another and that no less man than a Cardinal affirms That the Scripture is no more to be believed in saying that it comes from God than Mahomet's Alcoran because that saith so too Another (6) Pool de Primatu Romanae Ecclesiae fol. 92. Cardinal saith That the
Scriptures have no authority but for the Decree of the Church they mean the Roman Church by whom it (7) Caranza Controvers 1. And no marvel when another affirmeth that the Scripture hath no more authority than Aesop's Fables V. Bailly Tract 1.9.17 ought to be regulated and not the Church be regulated by it and the reason is because as it is (8) Peter Sutor Translat Bibl. c. 22. confess'd that the people would easily be drawn away from observing the Church's i.e. Romish Institutions (9) Consil de Stabilienda Rom. sede p. 6. And though the Papists do cashier the publick use of the Holy Scriptures and fly to as they pretend an Infallible Judg yet are they not agreed among themselves who that should be These Learned Romanists following contend that the priviledg of Infallibility belongs only to the whole Church militant and neither to the Pope nor General Council nor to the Body of the Clergy Occam Dial. p. 1. l. 5. c. 25 29 3. when they should perceive That they are not contained in the Law of Christ and that their i.e. Popish Doctrines are not only different from but repugnant to the Holy Scriptures Hence doth the Church (10) Cusanus Concord Cathol l. 2. c. 3. Antoninus Sum. Summarum p. 3. Tit. 23. c. 2. § 6. Panormitan Decret p. l. l. 1. Tit. de Elect. Cap. significasti Mirandula de fide ordine credend Theor. 4. of Rome under severe penalties forbid the Laity the perusal of them and thereby involves every Lay-man in the guilt of being a Traditor which in the (11) In fine Concil Trident. Reg. 4. first Ages of Christianity was a crime (12) Hence comes it to pass that not only the Popish Laity but even the Priests themselves are very ignorant in the Holy Scriptures so that once a Schoolman in the last Age being to preach at Paris where the famous Melancthon was his Auditor took a Text for want I suppose of a better Book out of Aristotle's Ethicks Sixtinus Amama Orat. de Barbarie ex Melancth next door to Apostasie Which Act doth not only imply That the Popish Church refuseth to be try'd by the Test of God's Word but is diametrically opposite to the practice of the Primitive Christians as appears in the following Quotations The Romish Tenet of slighting the Scriptures is contrary to the Word of God Joh. 5.39 2 Tim. 3.16.17 Contrary to the Fathers Clemens Romanus Epist ad Corinth p. 58 61 68. Irenaeus l. 2. c. 47. Idem l. 3. c. 1. c. 2. Tertullian adv Hermogen c. 23. Clemens Alexandrinus Stromat l. 7. Origen in Esai Hom. 2. Idem in Comment in Josh p. 27. Id. Homil. in Leviticum 9. Comment in Matthaeum p. 220. Cyprian Epist 74. Eusebius adv Sabellium l. 2. Constantinus Magnus apud Theodoret. Histor lib. 1. c. 7. Athanasius in Orat. adv Gentes de Incarn Christi Hilarius ad Constant Optatus l. 5. de Schis Donat. Basil de Sp. Sancto c. 7. Id. de verâ ac piâ fide Tom. 2. Op. Graec. Lat. p. 386. Id. in Ethicis Reg. 16. Tom. 2. Id. Hom. 29. de Trinit Tom. 1. Gregor Nyss in Dial. de animâ ac Resurrect Hieronymus in Comment in Esa cap. 19. Id. in Epist ad Laetam Id. adv Helvid Id. Praefat. Comment in Epist ad Ephes Chrysostom 13 Hom. in Gen. Id. Hom. 52. in Joh. Id. Homil. 4. in Lazar. Id. Hom. 34. in Act. 15. Id. Praefat. in Epist ad Rom. Id. Hom. 13. in 2 Cor. 7. Id. Hom. 9. in Coloss 3. Id. Hom. 3. in 1 Thessal Id. Hom. 3. in 2 Thessal 2. Id. Hom. 8. in Epist ad Hebr. c. 5. Augustin Epist 3. Id. de Doctrinâ Christi l. 2. c. 6. 9. Id. de Vnitat Eccles c. 3 4 5 12. Id. Epist 157. Id. de Bapt. c. Donat. lib. 1. c. 6. l. 2. c. 3. 14. That passage in St. Augustin Ego Evangelio non crederem c. contr Ep. fundam c. 5. is interpreted by these Learned Papists following To be meant of the Primitive Church and those men who saw and heard our Blessed Saviour and not that the Fathers should be of more authority than the Scriptures John Gerson de vitâ Sp. Lect. 2. Hic aperitur modus c. Joh. Driedo de Eccl. Script Dogm l. 4. c. 4. Th. Wald. Doctrinal l. 2. c. 21. Sufficiat universali Ecclesiae pro preconio potestatis suae modernae c. who is very smart upon such as held the contrary Idem Epist 48. Tom. 2. Epist 19. Cyril Alex l. 7. adv Julian Theodoret Dial. 2. Id. Qu. 45. in Genes Theophilus Alexand. in 2 Pasch Homil. Cyril Hieros Cat. 4. Vincentius Lirinensis contra Haeres cap. 2. c. 41. Justus Orgelitanus in c. 4. Cantic Gregorius Magnus in Ezekiel l. 1. Hom. 9. Tom. 2. Id. Moral l. 8. c. 8. Id. in Cant. c. 5. Id. Moral l. 16. c. 17. Tom. 1. Id. l. 4. Ep. 40. ad Theod. Medic. Tom. 2. Id. Epist ad Leand. c. 4. Praefat. in Job Tom. 1. That the Holy Scriptures could not be corrupted but those corruptions would have been discover'd See Augustin de util lit credendi c. 3. Id. c. Faustum l. 11. c. 2◠and Confess'd by Bellarmin That the Scriptures could not be corrupted but those Corruptions would be discovered by Catholicks de V. D. l. 2. c. 7. Consult in this point Bishop Jewel's Treatise of the Holy Scriptures who in his excellent Apology handles all the main points in Controversie betwixt us and the Church of Rome and Article 15 against Harding Dr. Stillingfleet's Rational Account of the Grounds of Protestant Religion Reprinted in 1681 Part 1. c. 7 8 9. Chillingworth's Religion of the Protestants a safe way to Salvation Part 1. Chap. 2. Lively Oracles by the Author as it 's said of the Whole Duty of Man SECT II. We receive no other Books of Scripture for (13) Article 6. Canonical in the Church of England than (14) Concil Trident. Sess 4. such as of whose authority there was never any doubt in the Church The Church of Rome doth make the Books commonly call'd Apocrypha of equal authority with those of the Old and New Testament which neither the (15) Witness the two Learned Jews Philo Judaeus apud Euseb de Praeparat Evangel l. 8. and Josephus apud Euseb Histor Eccles l. 3. c. 9. alias 10. and this is fully confessed by Bellarmine de Verbo Dei l. 1. c. 10. Jews to (16) Rom. 3.2 whom were committed the Oracles of God nor the Primitive Church nor (17) As for the third pretended Council of Carthage alledged by some Papists St. Austin who was one of the chief therein votes in this point for the Doctrine of our Church de Civitate Dei l. 17. c. ult alibi And though they pretend that the Book of Baruch held by us as Apocryphal was declared Canonical in the Council of Florence yet did
was that damnable Treason designed by Gunpowder against the Person of King James the First of blessed Memory and the two Houses of Parliament to which the Pope himself as we (100) Delrio disq Magic l. 6. c. 1. are credibly informed was not only privy but its director too Pursuant thereof that Pope Clement VIII a little before that time gave order That no Priest should discover any thing that came to his Knowledg in Confession to the benefit of the Secular Government I think there needs no better evidence of the Pope's good intentions towards the Secular Government nor what ill effects the practice of this sort of Confession can and may produce than this And that it still may be used as an Instrument in procuring the ruine of Princes and subversion of Kingdoms Let us hear their i. e. the Popish Doctors opinion of its virtue and use One of them then tells us That the Seal of Auricular Confession which they hold to be of Divine Institution is so Sacred that it may not be broken open to save (101) Tolet. Instruct Sacerd l. 3. c. 16. the Lives of Princes or of the whole Commonwealth Another (102) Henriquez de poenit l. 2. c. 19. n. 5. goes further and saith That the Seal of Confession is not to be broken no not to save all the World Here the Reader may see for this is not only the opinion of one or two private men but runs with the stream of their (103) See Eudemon Joannes in his Apology for Garnet Binet Suarez c. Writers what may be expected from the Charity of their Popish Priests what an unlucky tool Auricular Confession is in (104) And yet they can say that it is of Divine Right See Biel l. 4. dist 17. Q. 1. Scotus ibid. Bonaventure ibid n. 72. which if it had been the Fathers would never have writ against it nor would it have been disanhull'd For private Confession of crimes was a rogated a out An. Dom. 396. upon the discovery of a Whoredom committed betwixt a Deacon and a Noble Woman Histor Tripartit l. 9. c. 35. And though it was practised several years before yet was it not enjoyn'd as a necessary Act of Salvation before the Council of Lateran An. Dom. 1215. under Pope Innocent III and therefore far from true Antiquity their hands Besides to how great an awe of and respect for their Confessor to whom they are bound as I have already said to discover all their Sins under pain of Eternal Damnation To what Pride and Insolence to what Lust and Revenge to what Avarice and Rapine are not only the meanest Men but even Persons that make the greatest figure exposed unto by Auricular Confession in Popish Churches It is a slavery so great and intollerable that the Israelitish Tasks in Egypt were a pleasure or at least a divertisement in comparison of it Auricular Confession to a Priest under point of Salvation and Damnation and that people cannot be saved without it is Contrary to Scripture Isai 55.7 Acts 2.38 and c. 3.19 and c. 16.30 31. Rom. 10.3 Contrary to the Fathers who when they did speak of the necessity of Confession generally meant Confession before God only or a publick acknowledgment of some publick crimes incurring the censure of Excommunication and that in an Ecclesiastical Assembly Origen in Psal 37. Hom. 2. Cyprian de lapsis Serm. 5. Chrysostom Hom. 4. de Lazaro Id. Hom. 2. in Psal 50. Homil. 31. in Epist ad Hebraeos Hom. 5. de incomprehensibili nat Dei Hom. 8. de paen Hom. de poenit Confessione Augustin Confession l. 10. c. 3. Auricular Confession acknowledged not to have been Instituted by our Saviour and that it is not of Divine Institution by these Learned Papists Cardinal Cajetan in Joh. 20. Scotus in sent 4. dist 17. Q. 1. Maldon in summa Qu. 18. Art 4. Bell. de poenit l. 1. c. 4. Acknowledged by others That it is better to say that it was Instituted rather by the Tradition of the Universal Church than by the Authority of the Old and New Testament And yet it is denyed That this Tradition is Universal and that it is not necessary amongst the Greeks because this Custom i.e. of private Confession sprung not up among them de poenit dist 5. in principio Gloss Again it is Confessed That the Fathers scarce speak of it as of a thing commanded by Rhenanus in admonitione de Tertullian Dogmat. Lastly It is Confessed That we may obtain Pardon though our Mouths be silent then we do not confess And our Lord doth shew that a Sinner is not cleansed by the Judgment of the Priest but by the Bounty of Divine Grace Gratian dist 1. cap. Convertimini What clashing and enterfering is here Is this the pretended solid Union of the Popish Church in matters of Salvation and which she enjoyns under pain of Damnation Have they no better Grounds for their Articles of Faith than these Can Auricular Confession be of Divine Institution and yet neither be Instituted by our Blessed Saviour nor mentioned by the Fathers as a Divine Precept nor imposed by an Universal Tradition of the Church And lastly can it be necessary to Salvation and yet we can obtain pardon of Sins without the use of it Let any Papist reconcile me these erit mihi magnus Apollo Consult herein Bishop Taylor 's Dissuasive Part 1. ch 2. Sect. 2. F. White against Jesuite Fisher p. 189. Concerning the Marriage of the Clergy see Bishop Jewel's Defence of the Apology of the Church of England Part 2. p. 180. and Part 5. p. 456. Bishop Hall's Honour of the Married Clergy SECT X. As I have all along shewed the vast difference in Doctrines betwixt the Protestant Church of England and the Church of Rome so will I put a Period to this Discourse after I have done the like in that of Obedience Which I shall not as I have hitherto argue from the Articles and Homilies of our Church the Decrees of their Church the Writings of the Fathers and from Ancient Councils because that hath been sufficiently canvassed of late years but only subjoyn the undenyable Testimonies of King James I. and King Charles the Martyr of ever-blessed Memories and the Royal Grandfather and Father of our present Gracious Soveraign to determin the Case of Protestants Loyalty and Popish Rebellion King Charles I. in his Excellent Book entituled Εικον Βασιλικε chap. 27. to our Late Gracious King and then Prince of Wales saith King James I. in His Works p. 504. saith The best Profession of Religion I have ever esteemed that of the Church of England in which you have been educated (105) Yea it was but two days before his death that he told the Princess Elizabeth That she should dye for maintaining the true Protestant Religion In this I charge you to persevere as coming nearest to God's Word for Doctrine and to the Primitive Example for Government I tell you