seven Sacraments truly and properly so and whosoever saith there are more or fewer instituted by Christ is accursed Trid. Sess 7. Can. 1. Transubstantiation 13. Bread and Wine after Consecration are turn'd into the Substance of Christ's Body and Blood without changing the Species Conc. Trid. Communion in one kind 14. The People are forbidden to receive the Sacrament in both kinds Trid. Sess 21. c. 1. Solitary Masses 15. Solitary Masses wherein the Priest communicates alone are approved and commended and whosoever saith they are unlawful and to be abrogated is accursed Trid. Sess 22. Can. 8. Auricular Confession 16. Without particular Confession of Sins to a Priest is neither Forgiveness nor Salvation to be obtained Trid. Sess 14. c. 5. Can. 6 7. Extreme Vnction 17. Extreme Unction is a Sacrament and to be administred when Persons are in imminent danger and last of all to be applied Trid. Sess 14. c. 13. Priest's Marriage 18. Those that are in Orders may not Marry and those that are married may not be admitted to Orders Conc. Later 1. Can. 21. Later 2. Can. 6. What the Church of Rome hath held 1. Before the time of the Nicene Council little regard was had to the Church of Rome So Pope Pius 2. Epist p. 802. and the Church of Rome call'd others Apostolical and Sister-Churches 2. For one Bishop to set himself over the rest and to have all the rest in Subjection to him is the Pride Lucifer and the fore-running of Antichrist Pope Gregor 1. Epist 36. 3. St. Jerom who was a Member of the Latin Church saith That tho Tobias Judith and Maccabees c. were read yet they were not received as Canonical Scriptures Prolog Proverb And Pope Gregory 1. quoting the Maccabees excuses himself for producing a Testimony out of a Book not Canonical We do not amiss c. Moral in Job l. 19. c. 13. 4. Gregory 1. saith All things which edifie and instruct are contained in the Scriptures and that from thence the Teachers may presently teach whatsoever is needful In Ezek. Hom. l. 1. c. 8. de Cur. Past l. 2. c. 11. 5. Pope Gregory the 9th An. 1227. declared the not knowing the Scriptures by the Testimony of Truth it self is the occasion of Errours and therefore it 's expedient for all Men to read or hear them Epist ad Germ. Archiep Constant apud M. Paris Hen. 3. 6. Gregory 1. saith that the best of Men will find no Merit in their best Actions And that if he should attain to the highest Vertue he should obtain eternal Life not by Merits but by Pardon Moral l. 9. c. 11. And elsewhere he saith I pray to be saved not trusting to my Merits but presuming to obtain that by thy Mercy alone which I hope not for by my Merit in 1 Psal poenit 7. Fisher Bp of Rochester in Hen. 8th's time saith the use of Indulgences seems to be late in the Church and upon the recital of this Testimony Polydore Virgil adds which being things of so great moment you might expect them more certainly from the Mouth of God De Invent. l. 8. c. 1. Cardinal Cajetan saith there is no Authority of Scripture or ancient Fathers Greek or Latin that brings them to our Knowledg Opusc 15. c. 1. 8. Bp. Fisher saith There is none or very rare mention of Purgatory in the ancient Fathers Roff. contr Luther Art. 18. And Pope Gregory 1. saith that at the time of Death either the good or evil Spirit seizeth upon the Soul and keeps it for ever with it without any change Moral in Job l. 8. c. 8. Vid. Vindication of the Answer to some late Papers pag. 76. 9. Bellarmine acknowledges that long after the Apostles both in the Eastern and Western Churches the People were wont to answer in Divine Offices De Verb. l. 2. cap. 16. § sed neque Vid. Discourse concerning Celebration of Divine Service in an unknown Tongue p. 46 47 48. 10. Irenaeus Bp of Lyons saith Throughout the whole World the Church doth nothing by Invocations of Angels but directeth her Prayers to God which hath made all and calls upon the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ And it seems not to have been an Article of Faith in the times of Lombard and Scotus as it is now the one of which saith It 's not incredible the Saints do hear what we say And the latter It 's probable God doth reveal our Prayers Lomb. Sent. lib. 4. Dist 45. Scot. in 4 Dist Q. 45. 11. Pope Gregory I after he hath allowed Images in Temples for information of the Ignorant doth professedly forbid the worship of them Lib. 7. Epist 109. ad Serenum Registr Epist l. 9. Ep. 9. c. 12. Cassander a Member of the Church of Rome saith we shall not likely find any before Pet. Lombard who lived about 1130 that did define the number of the Sacraments Art. 13. § de num Sacr. And particularly Alex. Hales the famous Schoolman saith that Confirmation was ordained to be a Sacrament by the Meldensian Council Par. 4. Q. 9. M. 1. 13. Pope Gelasius saith That in the Sacrament the Substance or Nature of Bread ceaseth not or perisheth not Gelas cont Eutych Gregory I. saith That our Bodies as well as our Souls are nourished by the Eucharist Sacram. 16. Kal. Mar. in 6. Psal poenit 14. Pope Gelasius declares Either let them receive the whole Sacrament or let them be driven from the whole for the dividing of one and the same Sacrament cannot be done without great Sacriledg De Consecr Dist 2. Comperimus And Pope Gregory I. affirms it to be the constant practice for the People to receive in both kinds Sacram. in Quadrag Tr. 3. Vid. Vindication of the Answer to some Papers p. 75. 15. Anacletus Bishop of Rome did decree That all present should communicate or else should be turn'd out of the Church for so the Apostles did order and the Holy Church or Rome observeth Par. 3. Dist 1. Episcop 2. peracta Gregory I. forbids the Priest to celebrate the Eucharist alone Greg. lib. Capital cap. 7. apud Cassand Liturg. c. 33. 16. This was neither in the Time of Pope Gelasius or Pope Gregory I. Vid. Vindication of the Answer p. 73. 17. In Gregory the First 's time it was used in order to Recovery and the Eucharist was to be given after it Sacram. p. 253. Vid. Vindicat. of the Answ p. 77. 18. To marry was a priviledg belonging to the Clergy as well as others So Cassander Consult Art. 23. Polyd. Virg. Invent. l. 5. c. 4. By this Parallel thus far drawn betwixt the Ancient and Present Doctrine of the Church of Rome we may be able to judg of the Immutability and Duration of the Church which can no more be consistent with it than one part of a Contradiction can be reconciled to another or than Infallibility can be consistent with the having actually err'd To find fallible Churches mistaken and at some times to vary
things as Marks of Distinction only without any further Design of lessening their Natures and Qualities by them p. 31. 4. It does not follow that because the Name Catholick in that time when it was for the most part conjoined with the Catholick Faith was a sure Note of a true Church it must always be so even when the Name and the Thing are parted p. 32. The worst of Hereticks laid claim to it p. 33. The Rule to know the True Church by proved from Lactantius and St. Austin ibid. 5. It doth not follow that because the being called after the Names of particular Men in that Age when all so called were for the most part corrupt in the Faith was a sure Hand of Schismaticks and Hereticks that it must always be so p. 33 34. III. The Church of Rome having egregiously corrupted the Catholick Faith or Religion neither is nor deserves the Name of a Catholick Church p. 34. This justified by comparing her Doctrine in several Points with that delivered by Christ and his Apostles p. 35. For Instance that Angels and Saints are to be prayed unto and worshipped this contrary to Scripture ibid. The worshipping of Images contrary to the second Commandment which they make the same with the first p. 36. The Scripture commands all Persons indifferently to read the Scriptures the Church of Rome allows not this Liberty to the Laity but upon License ibid The Scriptures forbid Prayers in an unknown Tongue and the Church of Rome enjoins such and no other p. 37. Purgatory contrary to Scripture ibid. The denying the Cup to the Laity contrary to the express Instistitution of our Saviour p. 38. The Scripture saith that the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament even after Consecration is Bread and Wine the Church of Rome says the Bread and Wine is Transubstantiated into the natural Body and Blood of Christ. p. 39. The Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass according to the Scripture derogatory to Christ's own Priestly Oblation whereby he once offered himself a compleat Sacrifice of Expiation p. 40. In all these Particulars the Church of Rome a Corrupter of the Christian Faith and Doctrine and consequently deserves not the name of Catholick ibid The Second Note ANTIQUITY THis Mark and Character of a true Church is not proper to the Church of Rome alone nor in truth doth it belong to it To prove this three things are here offered I. That the Plea of bare Antiquity is not proper to the Church but common to it with other Societies of false Religion p. 41. The Notes of a thing must be proper to that of which they are a Note and not common to it with other things p. 42. 1. Because what is proper to a thing is inseparable from it and did ever belong to it since it had a being and can at no time be absent from it ibid. 2. Other Societies have laid claim to this Note and it could not be denied them and therefore no proper Note of a Church ibid. This shews that bare Antiquity cannot be a Note of Truth p. 44. Antiquity and Priority widely different p. 45. A twofold Antiquity one in respect of us the other absolute and in it self ibid. The Church of Rome will not be tried only by the Scriptures which is the true Antiquity p. 46. Error almost as ancient as Truth for which reason several wicked Doctrines running down to Posterity have made use of the plea of Antiquity to give them countenance and support p. 47. II. The present Church of Rome vainly pretends to true Antiquity i.e. to ancient Truth p. 48. Wherein true Antiquity doth consist ibid. The present Church of Rome not ancient by reason of that alteration they have made in the ancient Creed p. 49. Cardinal Bellarmin's Ratiocination against this charge consisting of 6 things to be observed in all Changes of Religion none of which he says can be shewn in the Church of Rome since the Apostles time ibid. His reasoning built upon very false grounds this considered and largely answered in four Particulars p. 50. 1. As being contrary to all History and Experience there having been great Changes in Religion the Authors and the beginnings c. of which cannot be known p. 50. 2. Neither do the Examples they alledg for this their reasoning serve to no other purpose but to shew the falseness of it as in the case of the Nestorian and Arrian Heresies p. 51. 3. Supposing them true they would uphold the greatest Impieties ibid. The Heathen Gods and their Oracles supported by this Argument p. 52. 4. The Roman Church it self an instance of this there being an acknowledg'd change in it and yet they cannot tell who first began it viz. Communion in one kind ibid. Two instances out of Polydore Virgil when and by whom they were brought into the Church of Rome p. 53. 1. Their grand Article of Faith the Papal Authority brought in by Victor and carried on by the following Bishops ibid. The present Definitions of the Catholick Church and the Power of the Pope to depose Kings not challenged till Gregory VII i.e. 1000 Years after Christ ibid. 2. It is known when Images crept into the Church p. 55. A little more than 100 Years since unwritten Traditions were decreed to be a part of the Rule of Faith i. e. of the Word of God. ibid. III. That the Religion of the Church of England by Law established is the true Primitive Christianity p. 56. The Third Note DURATION THree things are here considered I. What is to be understood by the term Duration p. 58. Duration includes 3 things 1. A Being of a Church from the beginning p. 58 2. The continuance of that Church to the end p. 58 3. The continuance of that Church from the beginning to the end without interruption p. 58 Bellarmine's Application of the first of these to the Church of Rome yet deficient in the latter Branches p. 59. II. How far Duration is a Note of the true Church p. 59. This is no Note by which a true Church is to be found out or distinguished from the false ib. For four Reasons 1. The nature of the thing will not permit that it should be a Note p. 60. 2. That cannot be a Note of the true Church which doth not inseparably belong to the Church in all seasons and cases p. 61. 3. That which is a Note must be proper to the thing which it is the Note of and not common to other things as well as that p. 61 62. Common to false Churches as well as true ibid. 4. If it be a Note of a true Church then those could not be true Churches which have not not had that Duration ib. This unchurches the 7 Churches of Asia p. 62 63. III. The Church of Rome hath no just and sufficient title to this Character p. 63. This proved as to 1. Place 2. Persons 3. Order 4. Doctrine these being the things by which a Church doth exist and is made
consistent with the Pains and Fire of Purgatory which Bellarmin tells us is hotter than Hell it self is past my Apprehension The Chuch of Rome says that Souls are to continue in Purgatory till they have made full satisfaction for their Sins and are throughly purged from them and that whoever says that there is no Debt of temporal Punishment to be pay'd either in this World or in Purgatory before they can be admitted into Heaven is accursed Concil Trid. Sess 6. Can. 30. The Church of Rome says the Cup is not to be administred to the Laity and gives many reasons for it lest the Blood of Christ should be spilt lest the Wine kept for the Sick should fret lest Wine may not always be had or lest some may not be able to bear the smell or taste of it Whether these are sufficient Reasons or no the Council of Trent enjoyns all to believe them so under an Anathema Concil Trid. Sess 21. Can. 1. 2. The Council of Constance acknowledges that our Saviour instituted the Sacrament in both kinds and that it so continued in the Church of Rome many Centuries and yet with a Notwithstanding to both these it sacrilegiously robs the People of the Cup. Concil Const Sess 13. The Church of Rome says that the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist by the Priests pronouncing these Words Hoc est corpus meum is transubstantiated into the natural Body and Blood of Christ the Species or Accidents only of the Bread and Wine remaining and hath made it an Article to be believed by all under an Anathema Concil Trid. Sess 13. de Real Praes c. 1. Cornel. a Lapide tells us that it was the Opinion of some of their grave Divines that this Change is made after so powerful and effectual manner that if Christ had not been incarnated before the force of this Charm would have incarnated him and cloath'd him with Human Nature The Church of Rome says that in the Sacrifice of the Mass Christ is offered as often as that is celebrated and that tho' therein he be unbloodily offer'd yet is it a true propitiatory Sacrifice for the Sins both of the Living and Dead Concil Trid. Sess 22. Cap. 1. And declares the Person accursed that denies any part of this Ibid. In all these Particulars you see and several other might be instanc'd in the Faith and Doctrine of the Church of Rome bears a manifest repugnance to the Gospel of Christ Now if the Holy Scripture may be allow'd so much as to be a Rule of Faith and Manners in those things it particularly treats of the Church of Rome contradicting that Rule in those things must be condemned for a Corrupter of the Christian Faith or Doctrine And having thus made it evident that she holds not the true Catholick Faith 't is as evident that she is not and consequently deserves not to be called a Catholick Church THE END LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard 1687. The Second Note of the CHURCH EXAMINED VIZ. ANTIQUITY Secunda Nota est ANTIQVITAS Bellar. L. iv c. v. de Notis Ecclesiae IMPRIMATUR Apr. 5. 1687. JO. BATTELY IT is a shrewd sign that a Church is in an ill Case when the most learned and witty Defenders of it commend it to the World by such Marks and Characters whereby they say it may be known as are neither proper to it alone nor in Truth belong to it But more truly and evidently belong to them whom they oppose That this is the Case of the present Church of Rome in that Famous Note of ANTIQUITY which Bellarmin and others make a Mark of the true Church I will clearly and distinctly demonstrate by shewing these three Things I. That the Plea of bare Antiquity is not proper to the Church but common to it with other Societies of false Religion II. That true Antiquity is not on the side of the present Roman Church But III. That it is truly on Ours I. It is confessed by all even by them who make Antiquity a Mark of the Church that the Notes of a Thing must be proper to that of which they are a Note and not common to it with other Things Which quite destroys this Note of Antiquity upon a double Account First Because that which is proper to a Thing is inseparable from it and did ever belong to it since it had a Being and can at no Time without the destruction of its Being be absent from it This every Fresh-Man in Learning knows and by that may know that Antiquity is not a Note proper to the Church because it did not always belong to the Church For there was a Time when the Church was New. Which was objected to it by the Adversaries of our Religion and the Defenders of the Church answered the very same to them then that we do to the Romanists now as will appear in the second Thing I have to observe Secondly That other Societies have laid claim to this Note and it could not be denied them and therefore 't is not a proper Note whereby the true Church may be certainly known being common to it with others that are not of the Church 1. For first the Samaritans claimed it against the Jews as appears from the Womans Discourse with our Saviour Joh. iv 20. Our Fathers worshipped in this Mountain c. They had done so for many Ages before they worshipped in Jerusalem For here God appeared unto Abraham who here also built an Altar when he came first out of Chaldea Gen. xii 6 7. Here Jacob likewise built an Altar when he came out of Mesopotamia Gen. xxxiii 20. Here there was a Sanctuary in the Days of Joshua who gave his last Charge to Israel and made a Covenant with them in this Place Chap. xxiv 25 26. Here the Patriarchs were buried v. 32. Nay here-abouts was Shiloh Judg. xxi 19. where by the order of Joshua the Tabernacle and the Ark of God were setled long before it was brought to Jerusalem Josh xviii 1 2. which was all this time in the Hands of the Jebusites To which Plea the Jews could not make an Answer but by maintaining this Principle That not the Antiquity of Place but the Authority of God's Precept was to be their direction in this Case And God it appeared by the Holy Books had chosen Jerusalem to place his Name there 2. Thus the Jews themselves argued against Christ that he did not follow the Tradition of the Elders which had been derived to them from ancient times Mark vii 1 c. and against Christians whom they called the Sect of the Nazarens Acts xxiv 5. as much as to say Hereticks newly sprung up from Jesus of Nazareth 3. And thus the Pagans argued against them both particularly against the Christians saying to St. Paul at Athens May we know what this New Doctrine whereof thou speakest is Acts xvii 19. And in after-times calling it a Novel Religion a
the receiving of Apocryphal Books into the Canon of Scripture and other Opinions and Practices in the Christian Church And for the Doctrine of Transubstantiation as it is against the common Sense of Mankind and destroys the certainty of every thing else so the Jews upon all occasions object against it We have a Witness beyond Exception even of the Roman Church who brings in the Jews objecting against this Doctrine Fortalitium Fidei Lugd. Anno 1525. and representing the unreasonableness and absurdity of it from fourteen several Heads of Argument which I may not here represent to the Reader because it would be too great a Digression Nor do I find this Learned Author who writes in Defence of the Roman Church and attempts to answer these Objections alledging that this was the Doctrine which was taught by the Hebrew Doctors The Jews have so far abhorred this Doctrine Decret Gregor l. v. Tit. vi cap. 13. Accepimus autem c. and so far detested Christians upon this account that they were wont when they made use of Christian Nurses to force them to throw away their Milk for three Days together before they gave suck when it happened that at Easter these Nurses had received the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ This Pope Gregory complains of and decrees upon it that Christians should not for the future be Servants to the Jews J. Albo Ikkarim And Josephus Albo disputes against this Doctrine of Transubstantiation very vigorously And so do many others V. Nizach vet p. 255. in their Books against Christians And many more Testimonies might be produced Lipman Nizachon p. 11. were not most of their Books printed in Italy where it is not safe for them to be too plain And Learned Men do very well know that the Passage in Joseph Albo against this Doctrine of the Roman Church hath been expunged in one Edition of that Author 'T is very well known that all the later Jews are against this Doctrine And that Trypho the Jew and the most ancient Writers have not objected it against Christians is only an Argument that this Doctrine was not so old as that time in which they lived This Doctrine the Jews are certain cannot be true because if they are not certain of the Falsity of this they have no Certainty of their own Religion nor can ever be convinced of the Truth of ours The Truth is this is one great occasion of hardening them against Christianity and we are never like to see them come into the Christian Church till this Doctrine of Transubstantiation and the Worship of Images be removed out of it But then the Practice annexed to the Doctrine of Transubstantiation of worshipping a Creature is so dangerous that even they who own the Doctrine confess if that be not true they cannot be excused from Idolatry God give us a just Sence of these things that we may not hereafter have besides our own Sins which will be load great enough the Obstinacy of the Jews in great measure to answer for THE END LONDON Printed by J. D. for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1687. The Fourteenth Note of the CHURCH EXAMINED VIZ The unhappy End of the Church's Enemies Decima quarta Nota est Infelix exitus seu finis eorm qui Ecclesiam oppugnant Bellarm. L. iv c. 17. de Notis Ecclesiae IMPRIMATUR July 27. 1687. Guil. Needham IF he be an unwise Builder who pulls down what he intends to build up then Cardinal Bellarmin tho one of the Master-Builders of the Church of Rome deserves not to be reckon'd one of the wisest For he must shut his Eyes close who does not plainly see that he frequently defeats his own Design by giving Notes which conclude that Church to be false which he design'd to prove was the only true one Such for instance is that which is now to be consider'd as shall in the Sequel of this Discourse be made appear The Confutation of which cannot be difficult since I find nothing in the whole Chapter that hath so much as the shew of an Argument Whereas some of his Notes are guarded with a pretence at least of Scripture Reason and Antiquity this is exposed naked to the Assaults of its Adversaries without so much as a Paper Shield to protect it He tells us indeed many Tragical Stories of unhappy Deaths some of which are true some doubtful and others false some of Persons who were deadly Enemies other of Persons who were zealous Defenders of the true Church But had the Stories been all certainly true and had the Persons who thus died been all of them implacable Enemies of the Church of Rome yet what does it signify unless he had also proved That when a Person dies an unnatural Death the meaning of it is That that Church of which he professed himself a Member is false and the Church he opposed the only true one But how unwise soever he was in the choice of his Note he was so wise as not to attempt the proof of this unless the Citation of this Scripture may pass for a Proof Praise his People O ye Nations for he will avenge the Blood of his Servants and will render Vengeance to his Enemies (a) Deut. 32.43 God will avenge the Blood of his Servants therefore if a Protestant die an uphappy Death the Church of Rome is the only true Church But why did the Cardinal send out this Note so forlorn For a good Reason because no Defence could be found for it But why did he then bring it into the Field Because he knew it was Popular and might serve the Cause better than another that was never so well fenc'd For will not he dread to oppose the Church of Rome who is persuaded that God will set a Note of Vengeance upon those that do so Will not he stedfastly adhere to it who believes that that is a certain way to an happy Death In short whosoever can be persuaded to believe that the Church of Rome is by this Note distinguish'd from all other Churches he will as much dread to turn Protestant as he does to die the most prodigious sort of Death But the Mischief is That however serviceable this pretended Note may be to them among weak and undiscerning Persons it will do there as much disservice among those who are judicious and able to examine it For when they shall once see what a palpable Cheat it is and in case that it were a Note of the true Church that the Church of Rome hath the least Reason of any Church in the World to pretend to it they will be thereby disposed to break off from the Communion of that Church which contradicts its own Marks and betake themselves to some other Church which hath a better Title to them For the effecting of which I shall proceed in this Method I. I shall premise some Things as preparatory to what follows II. Shew that this can
to claim the highest degree of Worship The Scripture says See Discourse concerning Invocation of Saints 1684. How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed Making God alone the Object of Prayer who is the only Object of Mens Faith and Confidence Rom. 10.14 The Scripture says Two others in 1686. There is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all 1 Tim. 2.5 6. The Scripture says See particular examination of Monsieur de Meaux in the Articies of Invoc of Saints and Worship of Images 1686. as it is in Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing c. Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them Exod. 20.4 Where we see all use of Images in the worship of God whether Carved or Painted are expresly forbidden without any Exception or Distinction See Treatise on Search the Scriptures 1685. As also the Lay-Christian's Obligation to read the Scriptures 1687. The Scripture commands all Persons indifferently to read to search to meditate on the Scriptures that the Word of God dwell in them richly in all Wisdom Luk. 16.29 John 5.39 Psal 1.2 Col. 3.16 See Disc of Divine Service in an unknown Tongue 1685. The Scripture expresly forbids Prayers in an unknown Tongue as altogether unprofitable and unedifying in the Church 1 Cor. 14.2 He that speaks in an unknown Tongue speaketh not unto Men ver 11. If I know not the meaning of the Voice he that speaketh shall be a Barbarian unto me ver 16. If thou shalt bless with the Spirit by the gift of an unknown Tongue how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks since he understands not what thou sayest The Scripture says Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord they rest from their Labours Rev. 14.13 To Day said our Saviour to the repenting Thief on the Cross shalt thou be with me in Paradise Luk. 23.43 And Paradise is acknowledged by them to be a place of Peace and Joy. Bellar. de Sanct. Beat. l. 1. c. 3. Test 4. The Scripture says that the Blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth us from all Sin. 1 Joh. 1.7 And that God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us all our Trespasses Eph. 4.32 Col. 2.13 See Discourse of the Communion in one kind in answer to Monsieur de Meaux 1687. The Scripture says that when our Saviour instituted the blessed Sacrament of his Body and Blood he commanded it to be administred and receiv'd in both kinds the Cup as well as the Bread saying Drink ye all of this Mat. 26.27 Neither were the Disciples any more Priests when they took the Cup than when they received the Bread for if they were made Priests by our Saviour's pronouncing these Words Do this in Remembrance of me they became so before they had taken at least before they had eaten the Bread as well as before they had received the Cup It not appearing that Christ made any Pause betwixt his saying Take eat This is my Body and his saying Do this in Remembrance of me but spake them as it were in a Breath as one continued Sentence and then upon this account the whole Sacrament the Bread as well as the Wine must belong only to the Priests See Discourse of Transubstantiation 1685. The Scripture says that the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament even after Consecration is Bread and Wine still 1 Cor. 11.26 27. And it is very evident that when our Saviour said Another of the Real Presence c. in Answer to two Discourses from Oxford 1687. This is my Body he meant it only as the Representation of his Body a manner of Speech well understood by the Jews who commonly said the same thing of the Paschal Lamb They call'd it the Body of the Passover whenas it was but the Memorial a Figure usual in Sacraments and indeed essential to them Adeò potenter efficaciter ut si Christus necdum esset incarnatus per haec verba hoc est Corpus meum incarnaretur Corpusque humanum assumeret Cornel. a Lapid Com. in Esa c. 7. The Scripture says that Christ needed not daily as those High Priests to offer up Sacrifice c. for this he did once when he offer'd up himself Heb. 7.27 And that without Blood there is no Remission of Sin Heb. 9.22 The Church of Rome says that Angels and Saints are to be worship'd and pray'd unto Catech. Rom. par 3. c. 2. n. 8 9. Tho with an inferiour kind of worship not the same that 's given to God. Ibid. The Church of Rome says It 's good and profitable to pray to Saints and Angels Concil Trid. Sess 25. de Invocat The Church of Rome prays to Saints as Intercessors and teaches that God bestows many Favours upon Men by their Merit Grace and Intercession Catech. Rom. par 3. c. 2. n. 12. The Church of Rome requires that due worship and veneration be given to them such as kissing uncovering the Head and falling down before them and denounces a Curse against those that think otherwise Concil Trid. Sess 25. Catech. Rom par 3. c. 2. n. 24. And then to cover the Shame and Guilt of this claps the Second Commandment to the First and by making it of the same sense with that makes it to have none of its own nor of any signification The Church of Rome allows not this liberty to the Laity but upon Licence that is not easily to be obtained and says that more hurt than good comes by the reading of them Reg. Ind. libr. Prohib Reg. 4. Nay a liberty to read them under such a Restriction was thought too much and therefore the Faculty of granting such Licences was by the order of Pope Clement the 8th quite taken away Reg. Ind. libr. Prohib Auct Sexti 5. Clem. 8. Obser circa 4. regul The Church of Rome strictly enjoins such and no other viz. in the Latin Tongue and denounces a Curse against those who say that Divine Service ought to be administred only in the vulgar Tongue Concil Trident. Sess 22. c. 8. Can. 9. Hereby making the People perform to God an unreasonable Service whilst it takes from them the knowledg of the Prayers offered in their Name and suffers them not to understand their own Desires The Church of Rome says that Souls who die in a state of Grace but are not sufficiently purg'd from their Sins go first into Purgatory a place of Torment bordering near upon Hell from which yet their deliverance may be expedited by the Suffrages that is Prayers Alms and Masses said and done by the Faithful that are alive in their behalf Bellar. de Purgat l. 2. c. 6. Catech. Rom. par 1. c. 6. n. 3. Concil Trid. Sess 25. Decret de Purgat Now how this resting from their Labours and being in Paradise can be
us return to our Lord 's Original the Evangelical Beginning the Apostolical Tradition And hence let the Reason of our Act arise from whence Order and the Beginning arose If therefore Christ alone is to be heard we ought not to regard what another before us thought fit to be done but what Christ who is before all first did For we ought not to follow the Custom of Man but the Truth of God since God himself speaks thus by the Prophet Isaiah In vain do they worship me teaching the Commandments and Doctrines of Men. Which very Words our Lord again repeats in the Gospel Ye reject the Commandments of God that ye may establish your own Tradition Thus S. Cyprian †Epist lxiii ad Caecilium fratrem lxxiv. ad Pompeium Ed. Oxon. With whom Tertullian ‖ L. de Veland Virg. c. 1. whom he was wont to call his Master agrees in many memorable Sayings No body can prescribe against the Truth neither Space of Times nor the Patronages of Persons nor the Priviledg of Countries From which things indeed Custom having gotten a Beginning by Ignorance or Simplicity and being grown strong by Succession pleads against Truth But our Lord Christ calls himself the TRVTH not CVSTOM Nor doth Novelty so much confute Heresy as Truth Whatsoever is against Truth that will be Heresy even old Custom Truth doth not stand * L. de Anima c. xxviii in need of old Custom to make it be believed nor doth Heresy fear the Charge of Novelty That which is plainly false is made generous by Antiquity For why should I not call that false whose Proof is false Why should I believe Pythagoras who tells Lies that he may be believed I omit all the rest having said enough to shew that if Antiquity it self be to be credited we ought not to depend upon Antiquity alone but seek for ancient Truth Which leads me to the second thing I undertook to shew that the present Church of Rome vainly pretends to true Antiquity i.e. to ancient Truth II. The Antiquity of a Church doth not consist in the Antiquity of the Place where it is seated For a new Worship may come into an ancient Place of Worship as the new Altar of Ahaz was introduced into the Temple at Jerusalem where he sacrificed to the Gods of Damascus 2 King. xvi 2 Chron. xxviii 23 Nor doth it consist meerly in the Antiquity of its Founders For the Apostles founded many Churches which had all the same Title to Antiquity in this regard and yet continued not such Churches as they left them but decayed some of them so fast that what Truth and Goodness remained among them was ready to dye even before all the Apostles were dead Rev. iii. 2. But it 's true Antiquity consists in the Preservation of the ancient Truth entire and uncorrupted which it received from the Apostles and which made it at first to be a Church Those things are truly ancient which persist in the same State after a long Tract of Time wherein they were at their beginning For if they have suffered any Change in that which belongs to their Being and Constitution they have lost their Antiquity and become another thing than they were at the first Now to know this we must enquire into the Nature of the thing it self and understand for instance what it is that makes a Society to be the Church of God. And all agree it is the Christian Truth In which if it have suffered Alteration that is doth not hold the same Christian Doctrine it did at the beginning but hath introduced Errors and Lies under the pretence of ancient Truth it is not the same Church it was at first and therefore hath not that Mark of true Antiquity which will prove it to be such as it pretends Now that this is the Case of the present Church of Rome is evident by that Alteration they have made in the ancient Creed Unto which they have added as many more Articles as there were at the first and thereby made such a Change in their Church for a Change is made by adding as well as taking away as makes it not to be the same ancient Church which the Apostles founded at the beginning This Charge they have no way to avoid nor can by any other means maintain that they are such an ancient Church as Christ and his Apostles setled but by this Ratiocination as Bellarmin calls it That in all great Changes of Religion these six things may be ever shewn 1. The Author of that Change. 2. The new Doctrine that was brought in 3. The Time when it began 4. The Place where 5. Who opposed it 6. And who joyned themselves to it None of which can be shewn in the Church of Rome since the Apostles times and therefore there hath been no Change at all made in it but it remains the same it was at first without any Alteration Which is a reasoning built upon grounds so notoriously false that it scarce deserves the Name of a poor Piece of Sophistry 1. For first it is contrary to all History and Experience which shews us there have been great Changes the Authors and the Beginnings c. of which cannot now be known Though no Man can doubt there hath been an Alteration made For the Body Spiritual and Civil too is like the Body Natural In which as there are some Diseases which make such a violent and sudden Assault that one may say at what moment they began So there are other which grow so insensibly and by such slow Degrees that none can tell when the first Alteration was made and by what Accident from a good Habit of Body to a bad Thus we are sure a Man is in a deep Consumption when we see him worn away to Skin and Bone though no body can tell the precise time when nor by what means nor where and in what Company his Blood began to be tainted And thus we are sure there is a Gangrene as St Paul calls Heresy when we see it corrode the Body of the Church though it crept in so secretly at the first and so indiscernably that it was not suspected nor can alway be traced to its first Occasion and Original No the Tares in the Field which is another Example whereby our Lord himself illustrates this matter had taken root before they were espied for they were sown in the Night while Men slept and could take no notice of it so that all that could be known was this that his Enemy had done it That is the Tares were not from our Saviour nor were first sown but were of a later and quite different Original But by what particular Instrument the Enemy sowed them at what hour of the Night by what hand and when did not appear for the matter was carried so secretly and in the dark that the Servants who knew of the sowing of the good Seed in the Field wondred to see the bad and ask'd
next to the Bishop of Rome because that was New Rome †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Constantinop Can. 3. so that it was the Imperial City of Rome which gave the Honour of being the first Bishop in the Church and not a Divine Institution or a Succession from St. Peter and when Constantinople by the Emperor's removing thither became the next great City the Bishop partook of the Honour of the City And in the Fourth General Council at Calcedon had for that Reason equal Priviledges conferred upon him with the Bishop of Old Rome ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Calced Can. 28. as the Fathers expresly declare To which I shall add the famous Case of Appeals which was challenged about the Year 418 by Pope Zosimus over the African Church not by Divine Right but by a pretended Ecclesiastical Canon which was found afterwards to be forged and the Power of the Church of Rome to receive Appeals or to judg the Causes of other Churches was fully disowned and disclaimed * Concil Carthag 6. And this with the Exemption of the Churches of Milan Ravenna and Aquileia from the Jurisdiction of the Church of Rome tho they were so near Neighbours to it even in Italy it self is enough to give full Satisfaction to any reasonable Man what a different Opinion the Primitive Church had of the Church of Rome from what it now has of it self concerning an Universal Supremacy and of its being the Mother and Mistress of all Churches The next most peculiar Doctrine of Popery is Transubsiantiation which as it was formerly owned by Valentia (a) De Transub l. 2. c. 7. and Cusanus (b) Exercit. l. 6. Ser. 40. and a great many of the School-men Scotus Durandus and others (c) Vid. Pref. ad Johan Major not to have been the Doctrine of the Primitive Church so it has been lately proved at large by one of their own Communion (d) A Treatise written by an Author of the Church of Rome touching Transubstantiation tho if for that reason it may be thrown out from being an Article of Faith by the Members of the Roman Church they will leave but very few proper to themselves according to the Principle of that Gentleman to wit the making not the present but the Primitive Church a Rule of their Faith which if they will universally follow it will lead them quite out of the Roman Church as well as out of that single Error of it we have such excellent Treatises of late * See Discourse of Transubstantiation Transubstantiation no Doctrine of the Primitive Fathers The Doctrine of the Trinity and Transubstantiation compared 1. par about this which prove it beyond all Exception and beyond all Answer to be no Doctrine of the Primitive Church that I shall add nothing about it but only these two Observations First That it appears not by any Liturgy or Eucharistick Form that was ever used by the Church no not by the Roman Canon it self which is much ancienter than this Doctrine and therefore not so conformed to it That the Church ever used any Prayer to this purpose at the Eucharist that the Substance of the Sacramental Elements should be changed or done away and the Flesh and Blood of Christ substituted instead of them under the Species or Accidents but only that they might be made the Body and Blood of Christ by the Spirits coming down upon them so that it was only a Spiritual and Sacramental not a Substantial Change of them that was ever prayed for or ever believed for if the Church had always had this Faith it would surely have sometimes prayed in it Secondly I observe that in those Times when this Doctrine came first into the Church which was a little before Berengarius it was so new and raw that it was not fully digested nor perfectly understood even by those who then held it as appears by that blundering Recantation which was drawn up for him after the Examination of no less than three Popes and five Synods wherein he is made to say That after Consecration the true Body and Blood of Christ is not only Sacramentally but sensibly and truly handled and broke by the Hands of the Priests and ground by the Teeth of the Faithful †Post Consecrationem verum Corpus Sanguinem Christi sensualitèr non solùm Sacramento sed veritate manibus Sacerdotum tractari frangi fidelium dentibus atteri Grat. de Consec dist 2. cap. This sensible and true handling and breaking and grinding Christ's Body is so strange and dreadful a thing that the Glossator observes this upon it That unless you do understand these Word of Berengarius in a sound sense * Nisi sanè intelligas verba Berengarii in majorem incidas haeresin quam ipse babuit Glos Ib. that is contrary to what the Words signify and mean you will fall into a greater Heresy than that of Berengarius himself by which it appears that this Monster of Transubstantiation as a great Man ‖ Perrone See the excellent Preface to a Discourse on the Holy Eucharist in two great points of their own afterwards calls it was so unformed and mishapen a thing at that time that it was a sign it was then but new come into the World and had need of being farther licked into a better shape If Transubstantiation were then but new those other Doctrines which have issued from it and are its proper Production could not be old such as Adoration of the Sacrament Communion in one kind Solitary Masses and the Proper and Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass And therefore I shall not say any thing of them since their Date will be owned to be as late as that of Transubstantiation and tho they may not follow from it yet they cannot be maintained or believed without it so that what has been said against the one takes away the very Foundation of the other As to the Number of the Sacraments tho the Council of Trent has declared this to be exactly Seven and made it an Article of Faith to believe so yet no Man sure will have the confidence to say That this Number was determined by the Primitive Church when they can bring no Author who makes any mention of such a Number till 1100 Years after Christ and Bellarmin thinks it unreasonable we should require them to shew this either in the Scriptures or the Fathers †Non debere adversarios petere ut ostendamus in Scripturis au◠Patribus nomen Septenacii numeri Sacramentorum Bellar. de effect Sacram. l. 2. c. 24. tho if it be an Article of Faith which must be believed upon pain of Damnation there ought to be something to shew for it one would think out of one of them Was the Necessity of Auricular Confession a Doctrine of the Primitive Church when in the time of Peter Lombard he tells us * In his enim etiam docti
with the Head and among themselves was too large a Note to fit no other Society but a true Christian Church Now if in restraining his Note he had understood Christ by the Head and by the Union of the Members to one another an Agreement in the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints this indeed would have served for the finding out of a True Church but then this was too large for the Cardinal's Purpose which was to find no other Church to be True but the Roman And therefore by the Head it was necessary to understand the Pope and by the Union of the Members an Agreement in all that Doctrine which is taught by the Roman Church For it was to be hoped that this would mark all the Roman Communion in but it would most undoubtedly mark all other Christians out of the only true Church For this is the admirable reasoning to which it leads That is the true Church which acknowledges the Pope for its Head and for its Faith professes the Doctrine whatever it be that is taught in the Church of Rome And from hence it must needs follow that the Church of Rome is the only True Church Quod erat demonstrandum And if the Cardinal had left the Matter thus in shorf he had in my mind done better for his Church and his reasoning had been less exceptionable than he has made it in the pursuance of his Enlargements When a Man has to do with an untractable piece of Matter it often happens that the more he strives to fashion it to his own Purpose the farther he is from it And so this great Man by labouring over-much to make this his Mark of Unity utterly unserviceable to any other Church has given it that Figure at last which makes it unfit for his own as we shall see in convenient place For I shall endeavour to make out these three things I. That the Unity here offer'd is no true Note of the Church II. That if it were yet the Roman Church has it not III. That that Unity which is indeed a Note of the Church we have and that in a much greater degree than they I. That the Vnity here offered is no true Note of the Church which I shall shew concerning both his Instances of it And First Concerning Vnion with the Pope as Head of the Church That this should be a Note of the Church is a pretence that hath neither Scripture Reason nor Antiquity for it but all against it 1. For Scripture the Cardinal offers not any proof from thence of his Presumption which yet had been very requisite to a point of so vast a Consequence if the Scripture had afforded any Testimony to his purpose That the Pope should be the Head of the Church and the Center of its Unity that Union to him should be an essential Character of the Church and the very Being of it depend upon him But that the Scripture should not give us the least intimation of it is a thing so perfectly unaccountable that the very silence of the Scripture in a matter of this high nature is to us a sufficient Argument that the Apostles knew nothing of any such Constitution Especially since they did not forget to make plain and frequent mention of another Head of the Church to which all the Members are to be united viz. our Lord Jesus Christ They tell us Eph. i. 20 22 23. That when God raised him from the dead he gave him to be HEAD over all things to the Church which is HIS BODY That as there are many Members in one Body so we being many Rom. xii 4 5. are ONE BODY IN CHRIST That as the Body is one and hath many Members so also is CHRIST 1 Cor. xii 12 27. i.e. Christ and the Church the whole being denominated from the Head for we are the BODY OF CHRIST We are told That he is the Head Eph. iv 16. even Christ Vers 23. from whom the whole Body is fitly joyned together c. That he is the Head of the Church and the Saviour of the Body That he is the Head of the Body the Church Col. i. 18. And much more to this purpose might be added Now when the Church is so frequently declared to be one Body and to this one Body one Head is so frequently assigned and no more What can any Man who is not possest with prejudice make of this but that there is no other Head of the Church besides him who is so often mentioned as such and that by the same Reason that any Man goes about to add another Head to the Church he might if he pleased find out another Church for the Head Nor does it help at all that they pretend the Pope to be but the Vicarious and Ministerial Head of the Church since if without Union to him we are out of the Church and have no part in Christ it was necessary that this pretended Vicarious Head should have been as plainly and frequently expressed as we know the True and Real Head to have been Nay it was something more necessary since a very slender intimation might have been sufficient to assure us that he who is the Image of the Invisible God Col. i. 15 18. by whom all things were created and by whom all things consist is also the Head of the Body the Church Ver. 14. That he in whom we have redemption through his Blood who is the Saviour of the Body and for our sakes humbled himself to the Death of the Cross should be also the Head of the Body and be exalted to be Head over all things unto his Church He I say in whom infinite Power and Goodness met But that there should be another Head given to the whole Church to be united to which was no less necessary than Union to Christ himself And that this Catholick Head should be no other than a sinful Man and he very often none of the best this was so far removed from self-Evidence or even Probability that it certainly needed very express mention if not frequent inculcation Now that he should be frequently mentioned as Head of the Church who in comparison needed not to be mentioned at all And that no mention at all should be made of another Head of the Church that needs it very much is for them to give an account of who make Union to this later Head no less necessary to a Part in the Body of Christ than Union to the former Which account will be much harder to be given inasmuch as there is no mention at all of this pretended Head where there was the most fair and inviting occasion for it that can be well imagined Thus St. Paul shewing what Gifts Christ bestowed upon his Church after his Ascension saith He gave some Apostles and some Prophets Eph. iv 11 12 c. and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the edifying of the Body of
69. which I presume is the best that his Friend Bellarmine could direct him to and which hath nothing further in it than a pretty high Flight which several of the Fathers would take when they mention the Holy Sacrament and what may be well enough defended by those that reject Transubstantiation to the uttermost The Cardinal gives us another Miracle from Paschasius de Corpore Dom. c. 14. which our late learned Reasoner is very fond of too ‖ Consens Veterum p. 97. The Story is of a certain Godly Priest that was in great dis-tress to see with his bodily Eyes the Shape of him whom he certainly believ'd actually present under the Species of Bread and Wine At length he obtain'd what he so long desir'd and beheld the Body of Christ in Human Shape but in the Figure of a Child which he had also most vehemently desired Now as to this beside the Authority of the Book out of which this is taken let us consider to what purpose this Miracle was wrought or the Story of it told in this place The Cardinal is upon the Proof of Christ's Bodily Presence in the Sacrament and this Bodily Presence is so receiv'd by those of the Roman Communion that they believe that very Body which was slain upon the Cross was buried was rais'd again and went up into Heaven that that very numerical Body is substantially and intirely under the Species of Bread and Wine the Substance of which is perfectly vanish'd Let me therefore ask Mr. Sclater of Putney because his Friend the Cardinal cannot now answer for himself Did our Blessed Saviour die an Infant and rise again an Infant and does he now sit at the Right Hand of God in the Figure of a Child or in his Infant-state If not and I hope he will say it is blasphemous to think so how then did this Godly Presbyter see the Body of Christ as he supposed it transubstantiated under the Species of Bread and Wine The Substance of the Bread and Wine was gone into that Body that had been crucified What! was there Transubstantiation upon Transubstantiation and the proper Body of our Saviour gone into the Substance of a Child's Body It may be this made him in love with those Liturgies he quotes †Consens Veterum p. 28. wherein the Priest is blessing God for vouchsafing by him to change the immaculate Body of Christ and his precious Blood c. To change it into what perhaps from that of a grown Man to that of a Child or Infant Well but the Cardinal is something more wary in the Story than the venturesom Gentleman of Putney For he tells us the Priest had desir'd to see him in this Shape If so and if he was thus far indulg'd what kind of Argument is this for Transubstantiation What Conviction is this that the very self-same Body that hung upon the Cross and is at the right Hand of God is brought down under the Species of Bread and Wine But the Author adds in Bellarmin That it pleaseth God to work Miracles upon a twofold account sometimes to confirm the doubting and sometimes for the Consolation of those that fervently love him * Bellarm. de Saer Euchar. ubi supr This we are to suppose then was not to confirm the Godly Priest in his Faith he needed not that but to give him great Consolation But what Are we to suppose so Godly a Presbyter as this was to be more ravish'd in the view of his Saviour under the shape of a smiling playing Babe than in that very Form wherein he finish'd the great work of our Salvation upon the Cross and wherein he is now triumphing Above in the Accomplishment of what he undertook Let him believe it that can make the Doctrine of Transubstantiation the Reason of his Conversion from the Church of England to that of Rome and can strengthen his Faith in it more firmly from some Rabbinical Prophecies and such a Story as this is †Consensus Veter p. 21 22. and so on and p. 97. I would have examined a Third Story of St. Anthony of Padua but I find this done so learnedly and so effectually to my Hands by a most ingenious Pen (a) Reflections on the Rom. Devotions p. 326 327 c. that I had rather refer the Reader thither than needlesly swell the bulk of this Note Considering therefore how little likelihood of Truth there is in many Stories of this kind or where as to matter of Fact some of them may have been possibly true yet how reasonably they may be accounted the Tricks and Impostures of Evil Spirits I cannot but close this Head with an Expression of St. Austin to the Donatists upon the same Pretensions they had to Miracles August de Vnitate Eccles c. 16. Removentur ista vel figmenta mendacium hominum vel portenta fallacium spirituum Away with these either Fictions of Lying Men or Illusions of deceiving Spirits For certainly they are neither the Note nor can be the Glory of any true Church And therefore III. Lastly We of the Reform'd Religion as we do not pretend to the working of Miracles in our Age so if we did we could pretend to prove nothing by them but what hath been already sufficiently prov'd by the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles We most humbly and thankfully adore the great Condescentions of Divine Grace that hath been pleas'd in his first planting of Christianity so fully and so unquestionably to confirm all the necessary Articles of our Belief with such strong and convincing Miracles The Report of these Miracles we most firmly believe We do without the least haesitancy own the Almighty Power of God in them and entirely embrace all that Faith which they were design'd to confirm and establish We know of no other Doctrines that we have any Obligation to receive than what are deliver'd to us in the Holy Scriptures and so effectually seal'd to us We have nothing new to put off or back with the pretence of Miracles but are always ready to reject both the Doctrines when they are propos'd and the Miracles when they are offer'd in Defence of them We have no need to follow cunningly devis'd Fables since we have a more sure Word of Prophecy to which by God's Grace we will take heed And therefore all Miracles at this time of the Day are superfluous to us for if the Doctrine be not propos'd to us before-hand in the written Word ten thousand Miracles could not warrant it if it be to be found there they may save the trouble of a Miracle because that Word of God hath been sufficiently confirm'd in that Way already This Word of God is the sure Rule of our Faith the great Character of our Hopes and if the hearty Belief of this and humble Conformity of Life to it will not secure us at last we are contented to lose all the Rewards which this Gospel hath made us to expect And therefore
own Authors 11. The Glory of Miracles These alone were never a Note of the true Church And those extraordinary Gifts which were bestowed at first for the Confirmation of Christianity we think they are ceased long ago But we are forewarned of False Christs and false Prophets Mat. 24.24 which should shew great Signs and Wonders which me-thinks should make a Church very careful how they made any pretension to Miracles But the Church of Rome is resolved to do it and would fain perswade us that there are many great Ones wrought among them to this very Day and as they believe always will be But we know and they will not deny it that many of the Miracles they have talked of are meer Forgeries and Delusions others altogether incredible and but weakly attested and wholly unworthy of the Seriousness and Gravity of the Christian Religion most of them said to be done in Corners and are never to be seen but among themselves When they please to oblige us Protestants with the sight of a few of them they may then deserve to be farther considered till that be done they must give us leave to think that their Church is reduced to great Streights when it shall stand in need of such slight Artifices as these to support it 12. The Light of Prophecy This if they had it can bring no more Advantage to their Cause than the other The Church of God anciently when extraordinary Revelations were more common had not always Prophets in it And when any appeared the Prophet was to be tryed by the Faith of the Church and not the Church by the Predictions of the Prophet And we are still commanded to try the Spirits whether they are of God 1 Joh. 4.1 Because many false Prophets are gone out into the World. 13. The Confession of Adversaries This if the Cardinal's Instances were pertinent would yet be but of little Consequence for if some Protestants have spoken favourably of his Catholicks some of his Catholicks have spoken favourably of Protestants Or if we should be willing to hope well of some of them as we are and they should adjudge us every one to Eternal Damnation as they generally do this would be but an ill sign that their Church must therefore be the truer because it is more Censorious and Uncharitable than Ours 14. The Vnhappy End of the Church's Enemies A wise Man would be something afraid of passing this into a Note before he was himself safe in his Grave For all things come alike to all Eccl. 9.2 there is one Event to the Righteous and to the Wicked Many of the most Zealous Patrons of the Romish Persuasion have met with as Tragical and Unfortunate Ends as the most accursed Heretick that ever was devoured by Vermin or burnt at a Stake 15. Temporal Felicity This may be placed in the same Rank with the former it is altogether as variable and inconstant as that no certain Judgment can be made upon it They are not to learn that the Enemies of their Church have been often successful and that Victory has not always waited upon their Catholick Arms no not in their most Holy Wars when Religion has been the only ground of the Quarrel Thus upon a Review of all the Notes in order as they are mustered up by the great Cardinal it may appear to any unprejudiced Enquirer that he has missed of his Aim For that they are either no Notes of a Church at all or not proper to that of Rome And now after the highest Pretences of an Infallible Church and the absolute Deference and Submission which they say is due unto it any Man that shall seriously consider the Matter must needs wonder they should have no surer means at last to find it out than a few slight and improbable nay some of them very vain false and extravagant Conjectures The Protestants whom they will not allow to be certain of any thing have far better Evidences than these and as good Assurances of the Truth of their Church as can be desired For we think the True Faith True Worship and a Right Administration of the Sacraments do unquestionably make a True Church These the Romanists themselves cannot deny to be the great and necessary Notes and if the Controversy betwixt us come to be determined by these it will soon appear which Communion we ought to prefer We make Profession of the whole Catholick Apostolick Faith as it is contained in the Holy Scriptures and briefly comprized in the three Creeds which is all that was ever received in the Primitive Church They have made large Additions to the Antient Belief and increased the number of the Articles from Twelve to Four and Twenty many of which were not so much as heard of in the First Ages and never made necessary to be believed till above fifteen hundred Years after the Publication of the Gospel We Worship Almighty God and none but him and unto him we Pray in a Language we understand through Jesus Christ our only Mediator in whose Name when we ask we are sure to be heard They have a kind of Worship which they give to Saints and Images which as to all External Acts of Adoration is the very same they pay to God himself and when their Addresses are directed unto Him all their Publick Service is in an unknown Tongue and they set up to themselves many Mediatours of Intercession when they cannot tell whether they hear them but it is most certain that God has never promised to hear them for their Sakes We receive the two Sacraments which Christ ordained in his Church and administer them both in such Manner and Form as he has appointed They without any Divine Authority have made Seven Sacraments and in the Lord's Supper they believe that there is offered up a proper Propitiatory Sacrifice for the Living and the Dead they adore the Elements which they think are Transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of our Saviour and suffer the Laity to communicate but in one kind robbing them of the Cup contrary to the plain Institution and express Command of our Blessed Lord. And since we have the True Faith True Worship and the Sacraments rightly Administred it is evident that we are not deficient in any thing that is necessary to the Constitution of a True Church But They will never be able to prove themselves such a One by the late Additions they have made to the Creed and their many Deviations from the Primitive Rule And yet they will be continually vaunting that they are not only a True Church but the only True Church in the World and upon this Presumption they thunder out their Anathema's upon all Christendom besides and confidently condemn them for a Company of Heretical and Schismatical Conventicles But they cannot justify that rash and uncharitable Sentence nor make good any part of this heavy Charge For we that heartily believe all the Antient Creeds cannot be accused of Heresy neither are we guilty of Schism because we only Reformed those Errors and Corruptions which they had introduced and wanted not sufficient Authority for what was done But if they are still absolutely resolved to stand to the Censure they have passed and allow no True Church upon Earth but their Own it is not Cardinal Bellarmin's Fifteen Notes that will ever prove it FINIS ERRATA Pag. 367. l. 3. for not r. most P. 371. Marg. l. ult for cap. 3. r. 13. LONDON Printed by J. D. for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1687. BOOKS lately printed for Richard Chiswell THE Pillar and Ground of Truth A Treatise shewing that the Roman Church falsly claims to be That Church and the Pillar of That Truth mentioned by St. Paul in his First Epistle to Timothy Chap. 3. Vers 15.4o. The Peoples Right to read the Holy Scripture Asserted 4o. A Short Summary of the Principal Controversies between the Church of England and the Church of Rome being a Vindication of several Protestant Doctrines in Answer to a Late Pamphlet Intituled Protestancy destitute of Scripture Proofs 4o. Two Discourses of Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead An Answer to a late Pamphlet Intituled The Judgment and Doctrine of the Clergy of the Church of England concerning one Special Branch of the King's Prerogative viz. In dispensing with the Penal Laws 4o. A PRIVATE PRAYER to be used in Difficult Times 8o.