only upon the sincere Resolution of the Penitent And surely nothing can be more absurd and contrary to Reason than that when Men have performed all the Conditions which the Gospel requires yet they should notwithstanding this be deprived of all the Blessings and Benefits which God hath promised and intends to confer upon them because the Priest hath not the same Intention So that when a Man hath done all he can to work out his own Salvation he shall be never the nearer only for want of That which is wholly out of his Power the right Intention of the Priest Besides that after all their Boasts of the safe Condition of Men in Their Church and the most certain and infallible means of Salvation to be had in it this one Principle that the Intention of the Priest is necessary to the Validity and Virtue of the Sacraments puts the Salvation of Men upon the greatest Hazard and Uncertainty and such as it is impossible for any Man either to discover or prevent unless he had some certain way to know the Heart and Intention of the Priest For upon these terms who can know whether any Man be a Priest and really ordained or not Nay whether he be a Christian and have been truly baptized or not and consequently whether any of his Admistrations be valid and we have any Benefit and Advantage by them Because all this depends upon the knowledge of that which we neither do nor can know So that when a Man hath conscientiously done all that God requires of any Man to make him capable of Salvation yet without any Fault of his the want of Intention in an idle-minded Man may frustrate all And though the Man have been baptized and do truly believe the Gospel and hath sincerely repented of his sins and lived a most Holy Life yet all this may signifie nothing and after all he may be no Christian because his Baptism was invalid And all the Promises of God to the means of Salvation which his Goodness and Wisdom hath prescribed may be of no Efficacy if the Priest do not intend in the Administration of the Sacraments to do that which God and the Church intend Now if this be true there is certainly no Church in the World in which the Salvation of Men runs so many hazards and yet all this hazard and uncertainty has its rise from a Scholastical Point which is directly contrary to all the Notions of Mankind concerning the Goodness of God and to the clear Reason of the thing and to the constant Tenor of the Gospel and which was never asserted by any of the ancient Fathers much less defined by any Council before that of Trent So that it is a Doctrine new and needless and in the necessary consequences of it unreasonable and absurd to the utmost degree The last Instance I shall mention is their Rule of Faith The Rule of Faith universally received and acknowledged by the Christian Church in all Ages before the Council of Trent was the Word of God contained in the Canonical Books of Holy Scripture which were therefore by the Church called Canonical because they were the Rule of Faith and Manners of the Doctrines to be believed and the Duties to be practised by all Christians But when the Errours and Corruptions of the Romish Church were grown to the highth and the Pope and his Council at Trent were resolved not to Retrench and Reform them they saw it necessary to enlarge and lengthen out their Rule because the ancient Rule of the Holy Scriptures would by no means reach several of the Doctrines and Practices of that Church which they were resolved to maintain and make good by one means or other As namely the Doctrine of Transubstantiation of Purgatory and of the Seven Sacracraments and the practice of the Worship of Saints and Images of the Scriptures and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue of Indulgences and the Communion in one kind and several other superstitious Practices in use among them Now to enlarge their Rule to the best advantage for the Justification of these Doctrines and Practices they took these two ways 1. They have added to the Canonical Books of the Old Testament which were received by the Jewish Church to whom were committed the Oracles of God I say to these they have added several Apocryphal Books not warranted by Divine Inspiration because they were written after Prophecy and Divine Inspiration was ceased in the Jewish Church Malachi being the last of their Prophets according to the general Tradition of that Church But because the addition of these Books did not make a Rule of Faith and Practice large enough for their purpose in imitation of the Jews in the time of the greatest Confusion and Degeneracy of that Church they added in the Second Place to their Books of Scripture which they call the written Word an unwritten Word which they call Oral Tradition from Christ and his Apostles which they declare to be of equal Authority with the Holy Scriptures themselves and that it ought to be received with the same Pious Veneration and Affection Of which Traditions They being the Keepers and Judges they may extend them to what they please and having them in their own Breasts they may declare whatever they have a mind to to have been a constant and universal Tradition of their Church tho it is evident to common Sense that nothing can be more uncertain and more liable to Alteration and Mistake than Tradition at the distance of so many Ages brought down by word of mouth without writing and passing through so many hands He that can think these to be of equal Certainty and Authority with what is delivered by Writing and brought down by Books undertakes the defence of a strange Paradox viz. That general Rumour and Report of Things said and done 1500 Years ago is of equal Authority and Credit with a Record and a written History By which proceeding of the Council of Trent concerning the Rule of Faith and Practice it is very evident that they had no mind to bring their Faith to the Ancient Rule the Holy Scriptures That they knew could not be done and therefore they were resolved to fit their Rule to their Faith And this Foundation being laid in their first Decree all the rest would afterwards go on very smoothly For do but give Men the making of their Rule and they can make good any thing by it And accordingly the Council of Trent having thus fixt and fitted a Rule to their own purpose in the Conclusion of that Decree they give the World fair warning upon what Grounds and in what Ways they intend to proceed in their following Decrees of Practice and Definitions of Faith Omnes itaque intelligant quo ordine via ipsa Synodus post jactum fidei confessionis fundamentum sit progressura c. Be it known therefore to all men in what Order and Way the Synod after having laid this
of the Rule of Faith I know that the Council of Trent declares it for the Rule they intend to proceed upon and make use of for the Confirmation and Proof of their following Determinations and Decrees But did any of the ancient Councils of the Christian Church lay down this Rule and proceed upon it Did not Constantine the Emperour at the opening of the First General Council lay the Bible before them as the only Rule according to which they were to proceed and this with the Approbation of all those Holy Fathers that were assembled in that Council And did not following Councils proceed upon the same Rule Do any of the ancient Fathers ever mention any Rule of Christian Faith and Practice besides the Holy Scriptures and the ancient Creed which because it is an Abridgment of the necessary Articles of Christian Faith contained in the Holy Scriptures is by them frequently called the Rule of Faith Do not the same Fathers frequently and expresly say That the Scriptures are a perfect Rule and that all things are plainly contained in them which concern Faith and Life and that whatever cannot be proved by Testimony of Scripture is to be rejected All this I am sure I can make good by innumerable express Testimonies of the ancient Fathers which are well known to those that are versed in them By what Authority then hath the Council of Trent set up this new Rule unknown to the Christian Church for 1500 Years and who gave them this Authority The plain truth is the necessity of it for the Defence of the Errors and Corruptions which they had embraced and were resolved not to part with forced them to lengthen out the Rule the old Rule of the Holy Scriptures being too short for their purpose Thirdly Whereas they pretend that Holy Scripture as expounded by a private Spirit may not seem so favourable to some of their Doctrines and Practices yet as interpreted by Tradition which can only give the true Sense of Scripture it agrees very well with them I suppose they mean that whereas a private Spirit would be apt to understand some Texts of Scripture as if People were to search and read the Scripture Tradition interprets those Texts in a quite other Sense that People are not to be permitted to read the Holy Scriptures A private Spirit would be apt to understand St. Paul's Discourse in the 14th of the 1st to the Corinthians to be against Celebrating Prayer and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue as being contrary to Edification and indeed to common Sense For he says If one should come and find them speaking and praying in an unknown Tongue will they not say Ye are mad But now Tradition which only knows how to give the true Sense can reconcile this Discourse of St. Paul very easily with the Practice of the Church of Rome in this matter And so likewise the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians with the Worship of Angels and the Epistle to the Hebrews with offering the Propitiatory Sacrifice of Christ in the Mass a Thousand times every Day And to give but one Instance more Whereas a Man by his private Spirit would be very apt to understand the Second Commandment to forbid all Worship of Images Tradition discovers the meaning of this Commandment to be that due Veneration is to be given to them So that at this rate of interpreting Scripture by Tradition it is impossible to fix any Objection from Scripture upon any Doctrine or Practice which they have a mind to maintain Fourthly Whereas they pretend the Tradition of their Church delivered from the Mouth of Christ or dictated by the Holy Spirit and brought down to them and preserved by continnal Succession in the Church to be of equal Authority with the Word of God for so the Council of Trent says That the Holy Synod doth receive and venerate these Traditions with equal pious Affection and Reverence as they do the written Word of God This we must declare against as unreasonable in it self to make Tradition conveyed by Word of Mouth from one to another through so many Ages and liable to so many Mistakes and Miscarriages to be at the distance of 1500 Years of equal Certainty and Authority with the Holy Scriptures carefully preserved and transmitted down to us because this as I said before is to make common Rumor and Report of equal Authority and Certainty with a written Record And not only so but hereby they make the Scriptures an imperfect Rule contrary to the declared Judgment of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Christian Church and so in truth they set up a new Rule of Faith whereby they change the Christian Religion For a new Rule of Faith and Religion makes a new Faith and Religion This we charge the Church of Rome with and do challenge them to shew this new Rule of Faith before the Council of Trent and consequently where their Religion was before that Council to shew a Religion consisting of all those Articles which are defined by the Council of Trent as necessary to Salvation and established upon this new Rule professed by any Christian Church in the World before that time And as they have pitch'd upon a new Rule of Faith so it is easie to see to what End For take Pope Pius IV. his Creed and we may see where the Old and New Religion parts even at the end of the Twelve Articles of the Aplostles Creed which was the ancient Christian Faith to which are added in Pope Pius his Creed Twelve Articles more defined in the Council of Trent and supported only by Tradition So that as the Scripture answers for the Twelve old Articles which are plainly contained there so Tradition is to answer for the Twelve new ones And therefore the matter was calculated very exactly when they make Tradition just of equal Authority with the Scriptures because as many Articles of Their Faith were to be made good by it and rely upon it as those which are proved by the Authority of Scripture But that Tradition is of equal Authority with the Scriptures we have nothing in the whole World for it but the bare Assertion of the Council of Trent I should now have added some other Considerations tending to confirm and establish us in our Religion against the Pretences and Insinuations of Seducing Spirits But I shall proceed no farther at present The Tenth Sermon as number'd follows THere is a mistake in Numbering of these Sermons The Tenth should be called the Ninth and so on to the end For there are but Fifteen Sermons in this Volume and should be no more A SERMON HEB. X. 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that hath promised THESE words contain an Exhortation to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering and an Argument or Encouragement thereto because he is faithful that hath promised By the Exhortation to hold fast the
in this kind ought not to move us when their Pretence to Infallibility is destitute of the proper Proof and Evidence of it which is a Power of Miracles and when their Doctrines and Practices have neither the evidence of Reason or Scripture on their side For instance That the Church of Rome is the Mother and Mistress of all Churches which is one of the new Articles of Pope Pius the IVth's Creed and yet there is not one syllable in Scripture tending to this purpose And in Reason it cannot be that any but that which was the First Christian Church should be the Mother of all Churches and that the Church of Rome certainly was not and the Church of Jerusalem undoubtedly was And then that the Bishop of Rome as Successor of St. Peter there is the Supreme and Vniversal Pastor of Christ's Church by Divine appointment as he assumes to himself and that it is necessary to Salvation for every humane Creature to be subject to the Bishop of Rome as is declared in their Canon-Law by a Constitution of Pope Boniface the VIIIth which Constitution is confirmed in the last Lateran Council of all which there is not the least mention in Scripture nor any divine Appointment to that purpose to be found there And it is against Reason that all the World should be obliged to trudge to Rome for the Decision of Causes and Differences which in many and the most weighty Matters are reserved to the Decision of that See and can be determin'd no-where else And against Reason likewise it is to found this universal Supremacy in his being Successor of St. Peter and to fix it in the Bishop of Rome rather than at Antioch when it is certain and granted by themselves that St. Peter was first Bishop of Antioch and out of all question that he was Bishop of Antioch but not so that he was Bishop of Rome Nor is there any thing in Scripture for the Deliverance of Souls out of Purgatory by the Prayers and Masses of the Living The whole Thing is groundless and not agreeable to the constant Suppositions of Scripture concerning a future State Nor is there any Reason for it besides that which is not fit to be given the Wealth and Profit which it brings in The Invocation and Worship of the Blessed Virgin and of all the Saints departed is destitute of all Scripture-warrant or Example and confessed by themselves not to have been owned or practised in the Three first Ages of the Church because it looked too like the Heathen Idolatry which deserves to be well considered by those who pretend to derive their whole Religion from Christ and his Apostles by a continued and uninterrupted Succession And this practice is likewise destitute of all colour of Reason unless we be assured that they hear our Prayers in all places which we cannot be unless they be present in all places which they themselves do not believe or that God doth some way or other reveal and make known to them the Prayers which are made to them which we cannot possibly be assured of but by some Revelation of God to that purpose which we no-where find nor doth the Church of Rome pretend to it But I proceed to the 2 d Thing namely That we should much more hold fast the Profession of our Faith and Religion against the Confidence of Men contrary to Scripture and Reason and the common Sense of Mankind For these are the chief grounds of Certainty which we can have for or against any thing and if these be clearly on our side we ought not to be much moved by the Confidence of Men concerning any Doctrines or Practices of Religion which are plainly contrary to these If in Points wherein we have this advantage on our side we do not hold fast the Profession of our Religion our Error and Folly are capable of no excuse And this advantage we plainly have in several Points and Controversies betwixt us and the Church of Rome As in the Worship of Images which is as expresly and clearly forbidden in the Second Commandment and that without any Distinction as any other thing is forbidden in the whole Bible And that it is so forbidden in this Commandment and that this Commandment is still in force among Christians was the Universal Sense of the ancient Christian Church Prayers and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue are directly contrary to the very Nature and End of religious Worship which ought to be a Reasonable Service which it cannot be if it be not directed by our Understandings and accompanied with our Hearts and Affections But if it be performed in an unknown Tongue our Understanding can have no part in it and if we do not understand it it cannot move our Affections And this likewise is plainly contrary to Scripture namely to a large Discourse of St. Paul's almost throughout a whole Chapter where he purp sely sets himself to shew the Unprofitableness and gross Absurdity of Praying or Celebrating any other Part of Religious Worship in an unknown Tongue If any part of Our Religion had been half so clearly condemned in Scripture as this is which yet is the constant and general Practice of the Church of Rome we must have lain down in our shame and confusion would have covered us and we must either have rejected the Authority of the Bible or have renounced that Point of our Religion what-ever it had been Though it had been dear to us as our right Hand and our right Eye we must upon such plain Evidence of Scripture against it have cut it off and plucked it out and cast it from us The like may be said of Locking up the Scriptures from the people in an unknown Tongue contrary to the Command of the Scriptures themselves and to the great End and Design of Almighty God in the Writing and Publishing of them and contrary to the perpetual Exhortations and Counsels of all the Ancient Fathers of the Christian Church for a great many Ages not one excepted They are hardly more frequent and copious and earnest in any Argument than in perswading People of all Ranks and Conditions to the constant and careful Reaing of the Holy Scriptures And contrary to the Common Reason and Sense of Mankind For what should Men be perswaded to be acquainted withal if not with That which is the great Instrument of our Salvation That Book which was written on purpose to reveal and convey to Men the Knowledge of God and of his Will and their Duty What should Men be allowed to know if not That which is the best and most effectual Means to direct and bring them to Heaven or turn them from Sin and to preserve them from Eternal Misery When our Saviour would represent the best and most effectual Means of bringing Men to Happiness and saving them from the Eternal Torments of Hell in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus He brings in Abraham giving the best Advice he
giving heed to seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils So that the particular kind of Idolatry into which some part of the Christian Church should apostatize is here pointed at That they should worship Souls departed or the Spirits of dead Men which was part of the Heathen Idolatry into which the People of Israel did frequently relapse So that the Spirit of God doth here foretel such an Apostasie in some part of the Christian Church as the People of Israel were guilty of in falling into the Heathen Idolatry They shall be Worshipers of the Dead as the Israelites also were And this is the great and dangerous Seduction which the Christians are so much cautioned against in the New Testament and charged to hold fast the profession of the Faith against the cunning Arts and Insinuations of seducing Spirits not but as I said before that we are always to have an Ear open to Reason and to be ready to hearken and to yield to That whenever it is fairly proposed But to be over-reached and rooked out of one's Religion by little Sophistical Arts and Tricks is Childish and silly After we are upon due Trial and Examination of the Grounds of our Religion settled and established in it we ought not to suffer our selves to be removed from it by the groundless Pretences of Confident People to Infallibility and to be practised upon by Cunning Men who lie at catch to make Proselytes to their Party This is to be like Children tossed to and fro and carried about with every Wind of Doctrine And we ought to be the more careful of our selves because there never was any time wherein seducing Spirits were more bold and busie to pervert Men from the Truth Against These we should hold fast our Religion as a Man would do his Money in a Crowd It passeth in the World for a great Mark of Folly when a Man and his Money are soon parted But it is a sign of much greater Folly for a Man easily to quit his Religion especially to be caught by some such gross Methods as the Seducers I am speaking of commonly use and which lie so very open to Suspicion such as ill-designing Men are wont to practise upon a young Heir when they have insinuated themselves into his Company to make a Prey of him They charge him to tell no body in what Company he hath been not to ask the Counsel and Advice of his Friends concerning what they have been persuading him to because they for their own Interest will be sure to disswade him from it Just thus do these Seducers practise upon weak People They charge them not to acquaint their Minister with whom they have been nor what Discourse they have had about Religion nor what Books have been put into their Hands because then all their kind Design and Intention towards them will be defeated But above all they must be sure to read no Books on the other side because they are no competent Judges of Points of Faith and this reading on both sides will rather confound than clear their Understandings They tell them that they have stated the matter truly and would not for all the World deceive them and they may easily perceive by their earnest Application to them that nothing but Charity and a passionate desire of the Salvation of their Souls makes them take all these Pains with them But this is so gross a way of proceeding that any Man of common understanding must needs discern by this kind Treatment that these Men can have no honest Design upon them To come then to a more particular Consideration of the Arts and Methods which they use I mean particularly those of the Church of Rome in making Proselytes to their Religion As 1. In allowing them to be very competent and sufficient Judges for themselves in the Choice of their Church and Religion that is which is the True Church and Religion in which alone Salvation is to be had and yet telling them at the same time that they are utterly incapable of judging of particular Doctrines and Points of Faith and Practice but for these they must rely upon the Judgment of an Infallible Church when they are in it otherwise they will certainly run into damnable Errors and Mistakes about these things And they must of necessity allow them to be sufficient Judges for themselves in the Choice of their Religion as will be evident by considering in what Method they proceed with their intended Proselyte They propose to him to change his Church and his Religion because he is in the wrong and they will shew him a better and such a one as is the only True one and in which alone Salvation is to be had To perswade him hereto they offer him some Reasons and Arguments or give him Books to read containing Arguments to move him to make this Change to satisfie him of the Reasonableness and to convince him of the Necessity of it Now by this way of proceeding and they can take no other they do whether they will or no make the Person whom they are endeavouring to convert a Judge for himself which Church and Religion is best that which they would have him embrace and come over to or that which they would perswade him to forsake For to what end else do they offer him Reasons and Arguments to perswade him to leave our Church and to come over to theirs but that he may consider the Force and Weight of them and having considered them may judge whether they be of force sufficient to over-rule him to make this Change So that as unwilling as they are to make particular Persons judge for themselves about Points of Faith and about the Sense of Scripture confirming those Points because this is to leave every Man to his own private Spirit and Fancy and giddy Brain yet they are compelled by Necessity and against their own Principles to allow a Man in this case of chusing his Religion to be a Judge of the Reasons and Arguments which they offer to induce him thereto So that whether they will or no they must permit him to be a Judge for himself for this once but not to make a Practice of it or to pretend this Priviledge ever after For in acknowledgment of this great Favour of being permitted to judge for himself this once which they do unwillingly grant him and upon meer Necessity he is for ever after to resign up his Judgment to the Church And tho this Liberty be allowed pro hâc vice and properly to serve a turn i. e. in order to the changing of his Religion yet he is to understand that he is no fit and competent Judge of particular Points of Faith these he must all learn from the True Church when he is in it and take them upon her Authority and in so doing he shall do very prudently because She is infallible and cannot be deceived but He may But is there any Sense in all this that
we have reason to be satisfied that the Church of Rome is a Church in the Communion whereof a Man may be safe But till that be made out they have done nothing to perswade any Man that understands himself that it is safe much less necessary to be of their Communion But if particular Points must be discussed and cleared before a Man can be satisfied in the Enquiry after the True Church then they must allow their intended Convert to be a Judge likewise of particular Points and if he be sufficient for that too before he comes into their Church I do not see of what use the Infallibility of the Church will be to him when he is in it A SERMON ON HEB. X. 23. Let us hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised I Have already made a considerable Progress in my Discourse upon these Words in which I told you there is an Exhortation to hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering and an Argument or Encouragement thereto because he is faithful that promised I am yet upon the First of these the Exhortation to hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering by which I told you the Apostle doth not intend that those who are capable of examining the Grounds and Reasons of their Religion should not have the Liberty to do it nor that when upon due Enquiry they are as they verily believe established in the true Faith and Religion they should obstinately refuse to hear any Reason that is fairly offered against their present Persuasion And then I proceeded to shew positively First What it is that we are here exhorted to hold fast viz. The Confession or Profession of our Faith the ancient Christian Faith of which every Christian makes Profession in his Baptism For it is of that the Apostle here speaks as appears plainly by the Context Secondly How we are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith And of this I gave Account in these following Particulars 1. We should hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support that Confidence 2. And much more against the Confidence of Men contrary to plain Scripture and Reason and the common Sense of Mankind of which I gave you particular Instances 3. Against all the Temptations and Terrors of the World 4. Against all vain Promises of being put into a safer Condition and groundless Hopes of getting to Heaven upon easier Terms in some other Church and Religion I am now upon the 5. And Last Particular I mentioned namely That we are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering against all the cunning Arts and Insinuations of busie and disputing Men whose Design it is to unhinge Men from their Religion and to make Proselytes to their Party and Faction I have already mentioned some of the Arts which they use I mean particularly them of the Church of Rome in making Proselytes to their Religion and I have shewn the Absurdity and Unreasonableness of them As First In allowing Men to be very competent and sufficient Judges for themselves in the Choice of their Religion i. e. which is the True Church and Religion in which alone Salvation is to be had and yet telling them at the same time that they are utterly incapable of judging of particular Doctrines and Points of Faith As for these they must rely upon the Judgment of an Infallible Church and if they do not they will certainly run into damnable Errors and Mistakes And they must of necessity allow them the first a sufficient Ability to judge for themselves in the Choice of their Religion Otherwise in vain do they offer them Arguments to perswade them to Theirs if they cannot judge of the Force of them But now after this to deny them all Ability to judge of particular Doctrines and Points of Faith is a very absurd and inconsistent Pretence Secondly Another Art they use in order to their making a right Choice of their Religion is earnestly to perswade them to hear and read only the Arguments and Books on Their side Which is just as if one should go about to persuade a Judge in order to the better understanding and clearer Decision of a Cause to hear only the Council on one side Thirdly They tell them that the only thing they are to enquire into is which is the True Church the one Catholick Church mentioned in the Creed out of which there is no Salvation and when they have found that they are to rely upon the Authority of that Church which is Infallible for all other things And this Method they wisely take to avoid particular Disputes about the Innovations and Errors which we charge them withal But I have shewn at large that this cannot be the First Enquiry Because it is not the true Church that makes the true Christian Faith and Doctrine but the Profession of the true Christian Faith and Doctrine which makes the true Church Besides their way of proving Their Church to be the only true Church being by the Marks and Properties of the true Church of which the Chief is The Conformity of their Doctrines and Practices with the Primitive and Apostolical Church this unavoidably draws on an Examination of their particular Doctrines and Practices whether they be conformable to those of the Primitive and Apostolical Church before their great Enquiry Which is the True Church can be brought to any Issue which it is plain it can never be without entring into the Ocean of particular Disputes which they desire above all things to avoid So that they are never the nearer by this Method they can neither shorten their Work by it nor keep off the Examination of their particular Errors and Corruptions which are a very sore place and they cannot endure we should touch it I shall now proceed to discover some other Arts and Methods which they use in seducing People to Their Church and Religion and shall be as brief in them as I can Fourthly They pretend that the Roman Church is the Catholick Church i. e. the Visible Society of all Christians united to the Bishop of Rome as the Supream Pastor and Visible Head of Christ's Church upon Earth from whence it clearly follows That it is necessary to all Christians to joyn themselves to the Communion of the Roman Church otherwise they cannot be Members of the Catholick Church of Christ out of which there is no Salvation We grant the Consequence That if the Roman Church be the Catholick Church it is necessary to be of that Communion because out of the Catholick Church there is ordinarily no Salvation to be had But how do they prove that the Roman Church is the Catholick Church They would fain have us so civil as to take this for granted because if we do not they do not well know how to go about to prove it And indeed some things are obstinate and
will not be proved without so much Trouble and Difficulty that it is better to let them alone and by the confident Assertion of them by Importunity and by any other fair means to get them believed without Proof of this stubborn sort of Propositions which will admit of no Proof This is one That a Part is the Whole or which is all one Thâ—â— the Roman Church is the Catholick Church For that it is but a Part of the Christian Church and not the best Part neither but perhaps the very worst and most corrupt of all the rest is no difficult matter to prove and hath been often done But now to prove the Church of Rome to be the Catholick Church that is the whole Society of all True Christians in the World these following Particulars ought to be clearly shewn and made out 1. A plain Constitution of our Saviour whereby St. Peter and his Successors at Rome are made the Supream Head and Pastors of the whole Christian Church For St. Peter first Can they shew any such Constitution in the Gospel or can they produce the least Proof and Evidence out of the History of the Acts and the Epistles of the Apostles that St. Peter was acknowledg'd for such by the rest of the Apostles Nay is there not clear evidence there to the contrary that in the first Council of the Christian Church at Jerusalem St. James the Bishop of Jerusalem was if not Superior at least equal to him Does St. Paul acknowledg any Superiority of St. Peter over him Nay does he not upon several occasions declare himself equal to the chiefest Apostles even to St. Peter himself And is this Consistent with a plain Constitution of our Lord's makeing St. Peter Supream Head and Pastor of the Christian Church But suppose this to have been so where doth it appear by any Constitution of our Saviour that this Authority was derived to his Successors And if it were why to his Successors at Rome rather than at Antioch where he was first and unquestionably Bishop They must acknowledg that when he was Bishop of Antioch he was the Supream Head and Pastor of the whole Christian Church and then the Style must have been the Antiochian Catholick Church as it is now the Roman Catholick But do they find any footsteps of such a Style in Ecclesiastical History 2. To make good this Proposition That the Roman Church is the Catholick Church they are in consequence obliged to affirm and believe That the Churches of Asia which were Excommunicated by the Bishops of Rome for not keeping Easter as They did and the Churches of Asia and Africa who were Excommunicated by the same Bishop upon the Point of Rebaptizing Hereticks that all these by being turn'd out of the Communion of the Roman Church were also Cut off from the Catholick Church and from a possibility of Salvation This the Church of Rome themselves will not affirm and yet if to be cast out of the Communion of the Roman and the Catholick Church be all one they must affirm it 3. In consequence of this Proposition That the Church of Rome is the Catholick Church they ought to hold that all Baptism out of the Communion of Their Church is void and of none effect For if it be good then it makes the Persons baptized Members of the Catholick Church and then those that are out of the Communion of the Roman Church may be true Members of the Catholic Church and then the Roman and the Catholick Church are not all one But the Church of Rome holds the Baptism of Hereticks and of those that are out of the Communion of Their Church to be good which is a Demonstration that the Roman Church neither is the Catholick Church nor if she believe consistently can she think her self to be so 4. In consequence of this Proposition all the Christians in the World which do not yield Subjection to the Bishop of Rome and acknowledg his Supremacy are no true parts of the Catholick Church nor in a possibility of Salvation And this does not only exclude those of the Reform'd Religion from being Members of the Catholick Church but the Greeks and the Eastern Churches i. e. Four of the Five Patriarchal Churches of the Christian World which taken together are really greater than those in Communion with the Church of Rome And this the Church of Rome does affirm concerning all those Churches and Christians which refuse Subjection to the Bishop of Rome that they are out of the Communion of the Catholick Church and a capacity of Salvation But surely it is not possible that the True Catholick Church of Christ can have so little Charity as this comes to and to a wise Man there needs no other Demonstration than this That the Church of Rome is so far from being the Whole Christian Church that it 's a very Arrogant and Uncharitable Part of it Fifthly and Lastly In consequence of the Truth of this Proposition and of the Importance of it to the Salvation of Souls and to the Peace and Unity of the Christian Church they ought to produce express Mention of the Roman Catholick Church in the Ancient Creeds of the Christian Church For if this Proposition That the Roman Church is the Catholick be true it was always so and always of the greatest Importance to the Salvation of Men and the Peace and Unity of the Christian Church and if it were so and always believed to be so by the Christian Church as they pretend What reason can be imagin'd why the Ancient Christian Church should never say so nor put an Article of such Consequence and Importance in express Words in their Creeds nor why they should not have used the Style of Roman Catholick as familiarly then as they do now in the Roman Church A plain Evidence that this is a new Style which they use when they give themselves the Title of the Roman Catholick Church and that the Ancient Christian Church knew better than to call one Part of the Catholick Church the Whole I am sure that AEneas Sylvius who was afterwards Pope Pius the Second says that before the Council of Nice little respect was had to the Roman Church But how does this consist with their present Pretence that the Roman Church is and always hath been the Catholick Church and that the Bishop of Rome is by Christ's appointment the Supream Pastor and Visible Head of the whole Christian Church Is it possible that this should be believed in the Christian Church before the Council of Nice and yet little respect to be had at that time to the Roman Church This indeed was said by AEneas Sylvius before he sate in the Infallible Chair but is never the less true for that 5ly The next step of their Method is That the Roman Church is Infallible and by this means They have a certain remedy against Heresie and a Judge of Controversies from which there is no Appeal which We want in Our
Scripture or in the Doctrine and Practice of the Ancient Christian Church any Command or Example for the Worship of Images for the Invocation of Saints and Angels and the Blessed Virgin which do now make a great part of their Religion Nay is not the Doctrine of the Scriptures and of the Ancient Fathers plainly against all these Practices With what face then can it be said That the Church of Rome hath made a constant Visible Profession of the same Faith and Practice in all Ages from the time of Christ and his Apostles Or would the primitive Church of Rome if it should now visit the Earth again own the present Church of Rome to be the same in all Matters of Faith and practice that it was when they left it And whereas they demand of Us to shew a Visible Church from the time of Christ and his Apostles that hath always opposed the Church of Rome in those points of Doctrine and Practice which we Object to them what can be more impertinent than this Demand When they know that in all these Points we charge them with Innovations in Matters of Faith and Practice and say that those things came in by degrees several Ages after the Apostles time some sooner some later as we are able to make good and have done it And would they have us shew them a Visible Church that opposed these Errors and Corruptions in their Church before ever they appeared This we do not pretend to shew And supposing they had not been at all opposed when they appeared nor a long time after not till the Reformation yet if they be Errors and Corruptions of the Christian Doctrine and contrary to the Holy Scriptures and to the Faith and Practice of the Primitive Church there is no Prescription against Truth 'T is never too late for any Church to reject those Errors and Corruptions and to reform it self from them The bottom of all this Matter is they would have us to shew them a Society of Christians that in all Ages hath preserved it self free from all such Errors and Corruptions as we charge them withall or else we deny the Perpetual Visibility of the Catholick Church No such matter We say the Church of Christ hath always been Visible in every Age since Christ's time and that the several Societies of Christians professing the Christian Doctrine and Laws of Christ have made up the Catholick Church some parts whereof have in several Ages fallen into great Errors and Corruptions and no part of the Catholick into more and greater than the Church of Rome So that it requires the utmost of our Charity to think that they are a true tho a very unsound and corrupt Part of the Catholick Church of Christ. We acknowledge likewise that We were once involved in the like Degeneracy but by the mercy of God and pious care and prudence of those that were in Authority are happily rescued out of it and tho' we were not out of the Catholick Church before yet since our Reformation from the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome we are in it upon better Terms and are a much sounder Part of it and I hope by the Mercy and Goodness of God we shall for ever continue so So that to the Perpetual Visibility of Christ's Church it is not necessary that the whole Christian Church or indeed that any Part of it should be free from all Errors and Corruptions Even the Churches planted by the Apostles in the Primitive Times were not so St. Paul reproves several Doctrines and Practices in the Church of Corinth and of Colosse and of Galatia and the Spirit of God several Things in the Seven Churches of Asia and yet all these were true Parts and Members of the Catholick Church of Christ notwithstanding these Faults and Errors because they all agreed in the Main and Essential Doctrines of Christianity And when more and greater Corruptions grew upon the Church or any part of it the greater reason and need there was of a Reformation And as every particular Person hath a right to reform any thing that he finds amiss in himself so far as concerns himself so much more every National Church hath a Power within it self to reform it self from all Errors and Corruptions and by the Sanction of the Catholick Authority to confirm that Reformation which is our Case here in England And whatever part of the Church how great and eminent soever excludes from her Communion such a National Church for reforming her self from plain Errors and Corruptions clearly condemned by the Word of God and by the Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Christian Church is undoubtedly Guilty of Schism And this is the Truth of the Case between us and the Church of Rome And no blind talk about a Perpetual Visible Church can render Us guilty of Schism for making a Real Reformation or acquit Them of it for casting us out of their Communion for that Cause 7. And Lastly to mention no more they pretend that we delude the People by laying too much stress upon Scripture and making it the only Rule of Faith and Manners whereas Scripture and Tradition together make up the entire Rule of Faith and not Scripture Interpreted by every Mans private Fancy but by Tradition carefully preserved in the Church So that it ought to be no wonder if several of their Doctrines and Practices cannot be so clearly made out by Scripture or perhaps seem contrary to it as it may be expounded by a private Spirit but not as Interpreted by the Tradition of the Church which can only give the true Sense of Scripture And therefore they are to understand that several of those Doctrines and Practices which we Object against are most clearly proved by the Tradition of their Church which is of equal Authority with Scripture In this Objection of theirs which they design for the Cover of all their Errors and Corruptions there are several things distinctly to be considered which I shall do as briefly as I can First Whereas it is suggested That We delude the People by laying too much stress upon the Scriptures which certainly we cannot well do if it be the Word of God it ought to be considered whether They do not delude and abuse them infinitely more in keeping the Scriptures from them and not suffering them to see That which they cannot deny to be at least a considerable Part of the Rule of Christian Doctrine and Practice Doth it not by this dealing of theirs appear very suspicious that they are extreamly afraid that the People should examine their Doctrine and Practice by this Rule For what other Reason can they have to conceal it from them Secondly Whereas they affirm that Scripture alone is not the Rule of Christian Faith and Practice but that Scripture and Oral Tradition preserved in the Church and delivered down from hand to hand makes up the entire Rule I would fain know whence they learn'd this new Doctrine
Profession of our Faith without wavering is not meant that those who are capable of examining the Grounds and Reasons of their Religion should blindly hold it fast against the best Reasons that can be offered because upon these terms every Man must continue in the Religion in which he happens to be fixt by Education or an ill choice be his Religion true or false without Examining and looking into it whether it be right or wrong for till a Man examines every Man thinks his Religion right That which the Apostle here exhorts Christians to hold fast is the Ancient Faith of which all Christians make a solemn profession in their Baptism as plainly appears from the context And this Profession of our Faith we are to hold in the following instances which I shall but briefly mention without enlarging upon them 1. We are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support that Confidence 2. And much more against the Confidence of Men contrary to plain Scripture and Reason and to the common Sense of Mankind 3. Against all the Temptations and Terrors of the World against the Temptations of Fashion and Example and of Worldly Interest and Advantage and against all Terrors and Sufferings of Persecution 4. Against all vain promises of being put into a safer condition and groundless hopes of getting to Heaven upon easier terms than the Gospel hath proposed in some other Church and Religion Lastly We are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering against all the cunning Arts and Insinuations of busie and disputing Men whose design it is to unhinge Men from their Religion and to make Proselytes to their Party and Faction But without entring into these particulars I shall in order to Establishment in the Reformed Religion which we profess in opposition to the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome apply my self at this time to make a short comparison betwixt the Religion which we profess and that of the Church of Rome That we may discern on which side the advantage of Truth lies and in making this comparison I shall insist upon Three things which will bring the matter to an issue and are I think sufficient to determine every sober and considerate Man which of these he ought in Reason and with regard to the safety of his Soul to embrace And they are these I. That we govern our Belief and Practice in matters of Religion by the true ancient Rule of Christianity the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures But the Church of Rome for the maintenance of their Errors and Corruptions have been forced to devise a new Rule never owned by the Primitive Church nor by the Ancient Fathers and Councils of it II. That the Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us and the Church of Rome are either contrary to this Rule or destitute of the Warrant and Authority of it and are plain Additions to the ancient Christianity and Corruptions of it III. That our Religion hath many clear Advantages of that of the Church of Rome not only very considerable in themselves but very obvious and discernable to an ordinary capacity upon the first proposal of them I shall be as brief in these as I can I. That we govern our belief and Practice in matters of Religion by the true ancient Rule of Christianity the Word of God contain'd in the Holy Scriptures But the Church of Rome for the maintaining of their Errors and Corruptions have been forced to devise a new Rule never owned by the Primitive Church nor by the Ancient Councils and Fathers of it That is they have joined with the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures the unwritten Traditions of their Church concerning several points of their Faith and Practice which they acknowledge cannot be proved from Scripture and these they call the unwritten Word of God and the Council of Trent hath decreed them to be of equal Authority with the Holy Scriptures and that they do receive and venerate them with the same pious Affection and Reverence and all this contrary to the express declaration and unanimous consent of all the Ancient Councils and Fathers of the Christian Church as I have already shewn and this never declar'd to be a point of Faith till it was decreed not much above a Hundred Years ago in the Council of Trent and this surely if any thing is a Matter of great consequence to presume to alter the Ancient Rule of Christian Doctrine and Practice and to enlarge it and add to it at their pleasure But the Church of Rome having made so great a change in the Doctrine and Practice of Christianity it became consequently necessary to make a change of the Rule And therefore with great Reason did the Council of Trent take this into consideration in the first place and put it in the front of their Decrees because it was to be the foundation and main proof of the following Definitions of Faith and Decrees of Practice for which without this new Rule there had been no colour II. The Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us and the Church of Rome are either contrary to the true Rule or destitute of the Warrant and Authority of it and plain Additions to the Ancient Christianity and Corruptions of it the Truth of this will best appear by instancing in some of the principal Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us As for their two great Fundamental Doctrines of the Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over all the Christians in the world and the Infallibility of their Church there is not one word in Scripture concerning these Priviledges nay it is little less than a demonstration that they have no such Priviledges that St. Paul in a long Epistle to the Church of Rome takes no notice of them That the Church of Rome either then was or was to be soon after the Mother and Mistress of all Churches which is now grown to be an Article of Faith in the Church of Rome and yet it is hardly to be imagined that he could have omitted to take notice of such remarkable Priviledges of their Bishops and Church above any in the world had he known they had belonged to them So that in all probability he was ignorant of those mighty Prerogatives of the Church of Rome otherwise it cannot be but that he would have written with more deference and submission to this Seat of Infallibility and Center of Unity he would certainly have paid a greater Respect to this Mother and Mistress of all Churches where the Head of the Church and Vicar of Christ either was already seated or by the appointment of Christ was designed for ever to fix his Throne and establish his Residence but there is not one word or the least intimation of any such thing throughout this whole Epistle nor in any other part of the New Testament Besides that both these pretended
Priledges are omitted by plain Fact and Evidence of things themselves their Supremacy in that the far greatest part of the Christian Church neither is at this day nor can be shewn by the Records of any Age ever to have been subject to the Bishop of Rome or to have acknowledged his Authority and Jurisdiction over them and the Infallibility of the Pope whether with or without a General Council about which they still differ though Infallibility was devised on purpose to determine all differences I say this Infallibility where-ever it is pretended to be is plainly confuted by the contradictory Definitions of several Popes and Councils for if they have contradicted one another as is plain beyond all contradiction in several instances then there must of necessity be an Error on one side and there can be no so certain demonstration that any one is infallible as evident Error and Mistake is of the contrary Next their concealing both the Rule of Religion and the Practice of it in the Worship and Service of God from the People in an unknown Tongue and their administring the Communion to the People in one kind only contrary to clear Scripture and the plain Institution of our Blessed Saviour and then their Worship of Images and Invocation of Angels and Saints and the Blessed Virgin in the same Solemn manner and for the same Blessings and Benefits which we beg of God himself contrary to the express Word of God which commands us to Worship the Lord our God and to serve him only and which declares that as there is but one God so there is but one Mediator between God and Man Christ Jesus but one Mediator not only of Redemption but of Intercession too for the Apostle there speaks of a Mediator of Intercession by whom only we are to offer up our Prayers which are to be put up to God only and which expresly forbids Men to worship any Image or likeness And the Learned Men of their own Church acknowledge that there is neither Precept nor Example for these Practices in Scripture and that they were not used in the Christian Church for several Ages and this acknowledgment we think very considerable since so great a part of their Religion especially as it is practised among the People is contained in these points for the Service of God in an Unknown Tongue and withholding the Scriptures from the People they do not pretend so much as One Testimony of any Father for the first 600 Years and nothing certainly can be more unreasonable in it self than to deny People the best means of knowing the Will of God and not to permit them to understand what is done in the publick Worship of God and what Prayers are put up to him in the Church The two great Doctrines of Transubstantiation and Purgatory are acknowledged by many of their own Learned Writers to have no certain Foundation in Scripture and that there are seven Sacraments of the Christian Religion tho' it be now made an Article of Faith by the Council of Trent is a thing which cannot be shewn in any Council or Father for above a Thousand Years after Christ. And we find no mention of this Number of the Sacraments till the Age of Peter Lombard the Father of the Schoolmen That the Church of Rome is the Mother and Mistress of all Churches tho' that also be one of the new Articles of Pope Pius the IV. his Creed which their Priests are by a Solemn Oath obliged to believe and teach yet is it most evidently false That she is not the Mother of all Churches is plain because Jerusalem was certainly so for there certainly was the first Christian Church and from thence all the Christian Churches in the World derive themselves that she is not tho' she fain would be the Mistress of all Churches is as evident because the greatest part of the Christian Church does at this day and always did deny that she hath any Authority or Supremacy over them Now these are the principal matters in difference betwixt us and if these Points and a few more be pared off from Popery that which remains of their Religion is the same with ours that is the true Ancient Christianity III. I shall shew that our Religion hath many clear advantages of theirs not only very considerable in themselves but very obvious and discernable to an ordinary capacity upon the very first proposal of them as 1. That our Religion agrees perfectly with the Scriptures and all points both of our Belief and Practice esteemed by us as necessary to Salvation are there contained even our Enemies themselves being Judges We Worship the Lord our God and him only do we serve We do not fall down before Images and Worship them we address all our Prayers to God alone by the only Mediation and Intercession of his Son Jesus Christ as he himself hath given us Commandment and as St. Paul doth plainly direct giving us this plain and Substantial Reason for it Because as there is but one God so there is but one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus The publick Worship and Service of God is perform'd by us in a Language which we understand according to St. Paul's express Order and Direction and the universal Practice of the ancient Church and the Nature and Reason of the thing it self We administer the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in both kinds according to our Saviour's Example and plain Institution and the continual Practice of all the Christian Churches in the World for above a Thousand Years 2. We believe nothing as necessary to Salvation but what hath been owned in all Ages to be the Christian Doctrine and is acknowleged so to be by the Church of Rome it self and we receive the whole Faith of the Primitive Christian Church viz. What ever is contained in the Apostles Creed and in the Explications of that in the Creeds of the Four first General Councills By which it plainly appears that all points of Faith in difference betwixt us and the Church of Rome are meer Innovations and plain Additions to the ancient Christian Faith But all that we believe is acknowledged by them to be undoubtedly the ancient Christian Faith 3. There is nothing wanting in our Church and Religion whether in Matter of Faith or Practice which either the Scripture makes necessary to Salvation or was so esteem'd by the Christian Church for the first Five Hundred Years and we trust that what was sufficient for the Salvation of Christians in the best Ages of Christianity for Five Hundred Years together may be so still and we are very well content to venture our Salvation upon the same terms that they did 4. Our Religion is not only free from all Idolatrous Worship but even from all Suspicion and probable Charge of any such thing but this the Church of Rome is not as is acknowledged by her most Learned Champions and as no Man of Ingenuity can deny And
was discovered 3. The Decretal Epistles of the Ancient Popes a large Volume of Forgeries compiled by Isidore Mercator to countenance the Usurpations of the Bishop of Rome and of which the Church of Rome made great use for several Ages and pertinaciously defended the Authority of them till the Learned Men of their own Church have at last been forced for very shame to disclaim them and to confess the Imposture of them A like instance whereto is not I hope to be shewn in any Christian Church This is that which St. Paul calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the slight of Men such as Gamesters use at Dice for to alledge false and forged Authors in this case is to play with false Dice when the Salvation of Mens Souls lie at stake 11. Our Religion hath this mighty advantage that it doth not decline Tryal and Examination which to any Man of ingenuity must needs appear a very good Sign of an honest Cause but if any Church be shy of having her Religion Examined and her Doctrines and Practices brought into the open light this gives just ground of Suspicion that she hath some distrust of them for Truth doth not seek corners nor shun the light Our Saviour hath told us who they are that love darkness rather than light viz. they whose deeds are Evil for every one saith he that doth Evil hateth the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be reproved and made manifest There needs no more to render a Religion suspected to a wise Man than to see those who profess it and make such proud boasts of the Truth and Goodness of it so fearful that it should be examin'd and lookt into and that their People should take the liberty to hear and read what can be said against it 12. We perswade Men to our Reliligion by Human and Christian ways such as our Saviour and his Apostles used by urging Men with the Authority of God and with Arguments fetcht from another World The promise of Eternal Life and Happiness and the threatning of Eternal death and Misery which are the proper Arguments of Religion and which alone are fitted to work upon the Minds and Consciences of Men the terror and torture of death may make Men Hypocrites and awe them to profess with their Mouths what they do not believe in their Hearts but this is no proper means of converting the Soul and convincing the Minds and Consciences of Men and these violent and cruel ways cannot be denyed to have been Practised in the Church of Rome and set on foot by the Authority of Councils and greatly countenanced and encouraged by Popes themselves Witness the many Croisades for the extirpation of Hereticks the standing Cruelties of their Inquisition their occasional Massacres and Persecutions of which we have fresh Instances in every Age. But these Methods of Conversion are a certain Sign that they either disturst the Truth and Goodness of their Cause or else that they think Truth and the Arguments for it are of no force when Dragoons are their Ratio ultima the last Reason which their Cause relies upon and the best and most effectual it can afford Again we hold no Doctrines in defiance of the Senses of all Mankind such as is that of Transubstantiation which is now declared in the Church of Rome to be a Necessary Article of Faith so that a Man cannot be of that Religion unless he will renounce his Senses and believe against the clear Verdict of them in a plain sensible matter but after this I do not understand how a Man can believe any thing because by this very thing he destroys and takes away the Foundation of all Certainty if any Man forbid me to believe what I see I forbid him to believe any thing upon better and surer Evidence St. Paul saith that Faith cometh by hearing but if I cannot rely upon the certainty of Sense then the means whereby Faith is conveyed is uncertain and we may say as St. Paul doth in another case Then is our Preaching vain and your Faith also is vain Lastly To mention no more particulars as to several things used and Practised in the Church of Rome we are on the much safer side if we should happen to be mistaken about them than they are if they should be mistaken for it is certainly Lawful to read the Scriptures and Lawful to permit to the People the use of the Scriptures in a known Tongue Otherwise we must condemn the Apostles and the Primitive Church for allowing this Liberty It is certainly Lawful to have the publick Prayers and Service of God celebrated in a Language which all that joyn in it can understand It is certainly Lawful to administer the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to the People in both kinds otherwise the Christian Church would not have done it for a Thousand Years It is certainly Lawful not to Worship Images not to pray to Angels or Saints or the Blessed Virgin otherwise the Primitive Church would not have forborn these Practices for Three Hundred Years as is acknowledged by those of the Church of Rome Suppose a Man should pray to God only and offer up all his Prayers to him only by Jesus Christ without making mention of any other Mediator or Intercessor with God for us relying herein upon what the Apostle says concerning our High Priest Jesus the Son of God Heb. 7 25. That he is able to save them to the utmost who come unto God by him i. e. by his Mediation and Intercession since he ever liveth to make Intercession for them might not a Man reasonably hope to obtain of God all the Blessings he stands in need of by Addressing himself only to him in the Name and by the Intercession of that one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus Nay why may not a Man reasonably think that this is both a shorter and more effectual way to obtain our requests than by turning our selves to the Angels and Saints and importuning them to solicite God for us especially if we should order the matter so as to make ten times more frequent Addresses to these than we do to God and our Blessed Saviour and in comparison of the other to neglect these we cannot certainly think any more able to help us and do us good than the great God of Heaven and Earth the God as St. Paul styles him that heareth Prayers and therefore unto him should all flesh come We cannot certainly think any Intercessor so powerful and prevalent with God as his only and dearly beloved Son offering up our Prayers to God in Heaven by vertue of that most acceptable and invaluable Sacrifice which he offered to him on Earth we cannot surely think that there is so much Goodness any where as in God that in any of the Angels or Saints or even in the Blessed Mother of our Lord there is more Mercy and Compassion for Sinners and a tenderer sense of our Infirmities
it but having no root in themselves they endured but for a while and when tribulation and persecution ariseth because of the word presently they fall off And there is likewise a partial Apostasie from Christianity when some Fundamental Article of it is denied whereby in effect and by consequence the whole Christian Faith is overthrown Of this Hymeneus and Philetus were guilty of whom the Apostle says that they erred concerning the truth saying that tbe Resurrection was past already and thereby overthrew the faith of some 2 Tim. 2. 17 18. That is they turned the Resurrection into an Allegory and did thereby really destroy a most Fundamental Article of the Christian Religion So that to make a man an Apostate it is not necessary that a man should solemnly renounce his Baptism and declare Christianity to be false there are several other ways whereby a man may bring himself under this guilt as by a silent quitting of his Religion and withdrawing himself from the Communion of all that profess it by denying an Essential Doctrine of Christianity by undermining the great End and Design of it by teaching Doctrines which directly tend to encourage Men in impenitence and a wicked course of life nay to Authorise all manner of impiety and vice in telling Men that whatever they do they cannot Sin for which the Primitive Christians did look upon the Gnosticks as no better than Apostates from Christianity and tho they retained the Name of Christians yet not to be truly and really so And there is likewise a partial Apostacy from the Christan Religion of which I shall speak under the II. Head I proposed which was to consider the several sorts and degrees of Apostacy The highest of all is the renouncing and forsaking of Christianity or of some Essential part of it which is a virtual Apostafie from it But there are several tendencies towards this which they who are guilty of are in some degree guilty of this Sin As 1. Indifferency in Religion and want of all sort of Concernment for it when a Man tho he never quitted his Religion yet is so little concerned for it that a very small Occasion or Temptation would make him do it he is contented to be reckoned in the number of those who profess it so long as it is the Fashion and he finds no great Inconvenience by it but is so indifferent in his Mind about it like Gallio who minded none of those things that he can turn himself into any other Shape when his Interest requires it so that tho he never actually deserted it yet he is 2 kind of Apostate in the preparation and disposition of his Mind And to such Persons that Title which Solomon gives to some may fitly enough be applyed they are Backsliders in Heart 2. Another tendency to this Sin and a great degree of it is withdrawing from the Publick Marks and Testimonies of the Profession of Religion by forsaking the Assemblies of Christians for the Worship and Service of God to withdraw our selves from those for fear of Danger or Suffering is a kind of Denyal of our Religion And this was the case of some in the Apostles time when Persecution grew hot and the open Profession of Christianity dangerous to avoid this Danger many appeared not in the Assemblies of Christians for fear of being observed and brought into trouble for it This the Apostle taxeth some for in this Chapter and speaketh of it as a letting go our Profession and a kind of deserting of Christianity v. 23 35. Let us hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering not forsaking the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is He doth not say they had quitted their Profession but they had but a loose hold of it and were silently stealing away from it 3. A light temper of Mind which easily receives Impressions from those who lie in wait to deceive and seduce Men from the Truth When Men are not well rooted and established in Religion they are apt to be inveigled by the crafty Insinuations of Seducers to be moved with every wind of Doctrine and to be easily shaken in Mind by every trifling piece of Sophistry that is confidently obtruded upon them for a weighty Argument Now this is a temper of Mind which disposeth Men to Apostasie and renders them an easie Prey to every one that takes a Pleasure and a Pride in making Proselytes It is true indeed a Man should always have a Mind ready to entertain Truth when it is fairly proposed to him but the main things of Religion are so plainly revealed and lie so obvious to every ordinary capacity that every Man may discern them and when he hath once entertained them ought to be stedfast and unmovable in them and not suffer himself to be whiffled out of them by any insignificant noise about the Infallibility of a Visible Church much less ought he to be moved by any Man's uncharitableness and positiveness in damning all that are not of his Mind There are some things so very plain not only in Scripture but to the common Reason of Mankind that no subtilty of Discourse no pretended Authority or even Infallibility of any Church ought to stagger us in the least about them as that we ought not or cannot believe any thing in direct contradiction to Sense and Reason that the People ought to Read and Study the Holy Scriptures and to serve God and pray to him in a Language which they understand that they ought to receive the Sacrament as our Saviour instituted and appointed it that is in both kinds that it can neither be our Duty nor Lawful to do that which God hath forbidden as he hath done the Worship of Images in the Second Commandment as plainly as words can do it Upon any one of these Points a Man would fix his foot and stand alone against the whole World 4. Another Degree of Apostasie is a departure from the Purity of the Christian Doctrine and Worship in a gross and notorious manner This is a partial tho not a total Apostasie from the Christian Religion and there have been and still are some in the World who are justly Charged with this degree of Apostasie from Religion namely such as tho they retain and profess the Belief of all the Articles of the Christian Faith and Worship the only true God and him whom he hath sent Jesus Christ yet have greatly perverted the Christian Religion by superinducing and adding new Articles of Faith and gross Corruptions and Superstitions in Worship and imposing upon Men the Belief and Practice of these as necessary to Salvation And St. Paul is my Warrant for this Censure who chargeth those who added to the Christian Religion the Necessity of Circumcision and observing the Law of Moses and thereby perverted the Gospel of Christ as guilty in some degree of Apostasie from Christianity for he calls it preaching another Gospel Gal. 1. 7 8. There be some that trouble
and Terrors of Sense Our Faith and Hope have not their due and proper Influence upon us if they do not govern our Lives and Actions and make us stedfast in the Profession of our Holy Religion and in the Conscientious Practice of it St. Paul reason'd himself into this Holy Resolution from the Hopes of a blessed Resurrection Acts 24. 15 16. I have Hope says he toward God that there shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the Just and Vnjust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For this cause therefore I exercise my self always to have a Conscience void of Offence towards God and towards Men. VI. And Lastly If we be Sojourners and Travellers in this World we should often think of our End and carefully mind the Way to it Our End is Everlasting Happiness and the direct Way to it is by a constant and sincere and universal Obedience to the Laws and Commandments of God And this in it self is so plain a way that a sincere and honest Man can hardly err in it And therefore we must not suffer our selves to be led and trained out of it upon any Pretence whatsoever not by the Wild-fire of pretended Illuminations and Enthusiasms nor by the confident Pretence of an Infallible Guide that will needs shew us another way and perswade us to follow him blindfold in it Let us not quit the Infallible Rule of God's Word to follow any Guide whatsoever If an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Doctrine and Way to Heaven let him be accursed He who is the Way and the Truth and the Life when he was consulted with about the Way to Eternal Happiness knew no other but this For when the Young Man ask'd him Good Master what good thing shall I do that I may inherit Eternal Life His Answer was If thou wilt enter into Life keep the Commandments 'T is true indeed that by reason of our corrupt Inclinations within and powerful Temptations without this Way especially at our first setting out is rugged and difficult So our Lord hath forewarned us telling us That strait is the Gate and narrow is the Way that leadeth to Life and that there be few that find it Therefore we should strive to enter in take great Care and Pains to discern the Right Way and to overcome the Difficulties of our first Entrance into it and should often pray to God as David did Psalm 119. 19. I am a Stranger in the Earth hide not thy Commandments from me And Psalm 139. 23 24. Search me O God and know my Heart try me and know my Thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the Way Everlasting Thus if we would always have our End in our Eye it would both be a Direction to us in our Way and an Encouragement to quicken our Pace in it there being no more powerful Motive to a good Life than to be assured that if we have our Fruit unto Holiness our End shall be Everlasting Life FINIS ERRATA PAge 16. l. 26. r. Complement p. 28. l. 6. r. Nathanael p. 63. l. 20. after so dele p. 78. l. 19. r. Providence p. 80. l. 4. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 88. l. 11. after Comparison put p. 97. l. 26. r. farther p. 98. l. 16. r. fared p. 104. l. 15. r. established p. 110. l. ult dele p. 130. l. 15. r. sleight p. 142. l. 13. r. against p. 292. l. 1. r. infinitely p. 295. l. 18. after Confession dele p. 298. l. 24. after World put l. ult after Men put a Full Point p. 299. l. 21. r. distrust p. 303. l. 9. after God put l. 11. after us put a Full Point p. 313. l. 8. r. sufficiently p. 426. l. 7. r. goes off BOOKS Printed for Richard Chiswell DR THOMAS TENISON now Lord Archbishop of Canterbury his Sermon concerning Discretion in giving Alms. 1668. His Sermon against Self-love before the House of Commons 1689. His Sermon of doing Good to Posterity before Their Majesties 1690. His Sermon concerning the Wandring of the Mind in God's Service before the Queen Feb. 15. 1690. His Sermon of the Folly of Atheism before the Queen Feb. 22. 1690. His Sermon preached at the Anniversary Meeting of the Clergy-mens Sons Decemb. 3. 1691. His Sermon concerning the Celestial Body of a Christian before the Queen on Easter-Day 1694. His Sermon concerning Holy Resolution before the King at Kensington Decemb. 30. 1694 on Psal. 119. 106. His Sermon at the Funeral of the Queen in the Abby-Church in Westminster March 5. 1694 5. Dr. BVRNET Lord Bishop of Sarum his Discourse of the Pastoral Care 8vo His Four Discourses delivered to the Clergy of the Diocess of Sarum Concerning I. The Truth of the Christian Religion II. The Divinity and Death of Christ. III. The Infallibility and Authority of the Church IV. The Obligations to continue in the Communion of the Church 8vo 1694. His Sermon at the Funeral of Archbishop Tillotson 1694. His Sermon Preach'd before the King at St. James's Chappel on the 10th of February 1694 5 being the first Sunday in Lent on 2 Cor. 6. 1. Dr. PATRICK now Lord Bishop of Ely his Hearts-Ease or a Remedy against all Troubles With a Consolatory Discourse particularly directed to those who have lost their Friends and Relations To which is added two Papers printed in the time of the late Plague The sixth Edition corrected 12mo 1695. His Answer to a Book spread abroad by the Romish Priests Intituled The Touch-Stone of the Reformed Gospel wherein the true Doctrine of the Church of England and many Texts of the Holy Scripture are faithfully explained 8vo 1692. His Eight several occasional Sermons since the Revolution 4to His Exposition of the Ten Commandments 8vo A Vindication of their Majesty's Authority to fill the Sees of deprived Bishops In a Letter occasioned by Dr. B 's refusal of the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells 4to Rushworth's Historical Collections The Third Part in Two Volumes Containing the Principal Matters which happened from the meeting of the Parliament Nov. 3. 1640. to the end of the Year 1644. Wherein is a particular Account of the Rise and Progress of the Civil War to that Period Fol. 1692. The Letters of the Reverend Father Paul Counsellor of State to the most Serene Republick of Venice and Author of the Excellent History of the Council of Trent 1693. An Impartial History of the late Wars of Ireland In Two Parts From the time that Duke Schomberg landed with an Army in that Kingdom to the 23d of March 1692. when their Majesty's Proclamation was published declaring the War to be ended Illustrated with Copper Sculptures describing the most important Places of Action Written by George Story an Eye-witness of the most remarkable Passages 4to 1693. Dr. John Conant's Sermons Publish'd by Dr. Williams 1693. 8vo Of the Government of the Thoughts The Second Edition By Geo. Tully Sub-Dean of York 8vo 1694. Origo Legum Or A Treatise of the Origine of Laws and their Obliging Power as also of their great Variety and why some Laws are immutable and some not but may suffer change or cease to be or be suspended or abrogated In Seven Books By George Dawson Fol. 1694. A brief Discourse concerning the Lawfulness of Worshipping God by the Common-Prayer in Answer to a Book intituled A Brief Discourse of the Vnlawfulness of Common-Prayer-Worship By John Williams D. D. 4to 1694. A true Representation of the absurd and mischievous Principles of the Sect commonly known by the Name of Muggletonians 4to 1694. Memoirs of the most Reverend THOMAS CRANMER Archbishop of Canterbury Wherein the History of the Church and the Reformation of it during the Primacy of the said Archbishop are greatly illustrated and many singular Matters relating thereunto now first published In Three Books Collected chiefly from Records Registers Authentick Letters and other Original Manuscripts By John Strype M. A. Fol. 1694. A Commentary on the First Book of Moses called Genesis By the Right Reverend Father in God Simon Lord Bishop of Ely 4to 1695. The History of the Troubles and Tryal of the Most Reverend Father in God WILLIAM LAVD Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Wrote by himself during his Imprisonment in the Tower To which is prefixed the Diary of his own Life faithfully and entirely published from the Original Copy And subjoyned a Supplement to the preceding History the Arch-Bishop's Last Will His Large Answer to the Lord Say's Speech concerning Liturgies His Annual Accounts of his Province deliver'd to the King and some other Things relating to the History Publish'd by Henry Wharton Chaplain to Archbishop Sancroft Fol. The Possibility and Expediency and Necessity of Divine Revelation A Sermon preach'd at St. Martin's in the Fields January 7. 1694 5. at the beginning of the Lecture for the ensuing Year Founded by the Honourable Rob. Boyle Esq by John Williams D. D. The Certainty of Divine Revelation being his Second Sermon preach'd at the said Lecture Feb. 4. 1695. His Vindication of the Sermons of his Grace John Archbishop of Canterbury concerning the Divinity and Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour and of the Lord Bishop of Worcester's Sermon on the Mysteries of the Christian Faith from the Exceptions of a late Socinian Book Intituled Considerations on the Explications of the Doctrine of the Trinity To which is annexed a Letter from the Lord Bishop of Sarum to the Author of the said Vindication on the same Subject 1695. 4to Historia de Episcopis Decanis Londinensibus necnon de Episcopis Decanis Assavensibus à prima utriusque fundatione ad Annum MDXL. Accessit Appendix instrumentorum quorundam insignium duplex Autore Henrico Whartono A. M. 8vo 1695. An Essay on the Memory of the late QUEEN By Gilbert Bishop of Sarum 8vo Advertisement THere will be published several Sermons and Discourses of the most Reverend Dr. JOHN TILLOTSON late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury by order of his Administratrix faithfully transcribed from his own Papers by Dr. Ralph Barker Chaplain to his Grace Which are disposed of to Richard Chiswell and his Assigns If any Person Print any others except those published in the Author's Life-time they are to be look'd upon as Spurious and False And the Publishers will be proceeded against according to Law