on earth to see his miracles and hear his doctrin the same is also to bâ—… said of the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles Now to bar the Vulgar from this is to hinder them to hear and see Christ and his Apostles as if that were a Priviledge restricted to Church-men What shall be then said of these who call the Scriptures a Nose of Wax the Sourse of all Heresies a Book written not on Design but upon particular Emergents and do assert its incompleatness unless made up by the Traditions of the Church Is not this to add to the Words of that Book and to accuse the faithful Witness of unfaithfulness But worse than all this is held by these who will have all the Authority of the Scriptures to depend on the Church which must be believed in the first place But here a great difference is to be made betwixt the testimony of a Witness and the authority of a Iudge the former is not denied to the Church and so the Iews had the Oracles of God committed to them but that doth not prove the Authority of their Sanhedrim infallible or superiour to Scripture and in this case more cannot be ascribed to the Christian Church than was proper to the Jewish in our Saviours time But further if the Scripture be to be believed on the testimony of the Church then upon what account is the Church first believed It cannot be said because of any testimony in Scripture for if it give authority to the Scriptures it cannot receive its authority from their testimony How then shall it be proved that the Church must be believed or must it be taken from their own word and yet no other reason can be given to prove the Church infallible For to say that they have continued in a Succession of Bishops from the Apostles days concludes nothing unless it be first proved that the Doctrine of the Apostles was of God otherwise the Mahometan Religion is as much to be believed since for many Ages a Succession of Priests have believed it Further the Greek Churches drive up the Series of their Bishops to the Apostles days as well as the Roman why then should not their Authority be likewise acknowledged infallible In fine must the Vulgar go and examine the Successions of the Bishops and judge about all the dubious Elections whether the Conveyance have been interrupted or not Certainly were this to be done it were an impossible Atchievement and harder than the study of the Originals of both Testaments Therefore the Vulgar must simply believe the Authority of the Church on her own testimony which is the most absurd thing imaginable and this to every individual will resolve into the testimony of their Priest Behold then a goodly Foundation for building our Faith upon Christ Prophetick Office is also invaded by the pretence of the Churches Infallibility in expounding Scriptures for if this be granted the whole Authority will be devolved on the Church for by this Doctrine she may teach what she will and were the Scripture evidence never so full to the contrary yet whatever wrested Exposition she offer though visibly contrary to the plain meaning of the words must be believed But with whom this Power and Authority is lodged is not agreed to among themselves some yielding it to the High Priest of the Church when in his Chair others to the great Sanhedrim of Christendom in a General Council others to both jointly but all this is asserted without proof for that of Christs of telling the Church Mat. 18. 17. so often repeated by them is meant of particular offences and so is restricted to the case of differences among Brethren and relates not to points of Doctrine Besides the Context of these Words doth clearly shew them applicable to every Parochiaâ—… Church and yet their Infallibility cannot be asserted So it is clear that Christ doth only speak of a jurisdiction for quieting of differences among the Brethren That of the gates of Hell their not prevailing against the Church Mat. 16. 18. proves not the pretence of Infallibility And indeed the Translation of that place deserves Amendment and instead of hell that Word is tâ—… be rendred grave so that the meaning of the Phrase is Death which is the mouth and gate through which we pass â—…nto the Grave and is so used by Greek Writers shall never prevail against the Church that is the Church shall never die Neither will that of the Spirit of truth leading out into all truth Joh. 16. 13. advance the Cause a whit since that promise relates to all Believers and it is a part of the happiness of the new Dispensation that all in it shall be taught of God And the promise of founding the Church on St. Peter Matth. 16. saith as â—…ittle for suppose the Rock on whom the Church were to be built were St. Peter himself which I shall not much contravert that is not peculiar unto him since we are all built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets and on the twelve foundations of the new Ierusalem are written the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb but what will that prove for a series of the Bishops of Rome And finally for the keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 16. 19. their being given to St. Peter that saith no more but that he was to open the Gospel which is usually called the Kingdom of God or of Heaven in the New Testament Now the use of keys being to open the door this was peculiar St. Peters honour who did first publish the Gospel both to Jews and Gentiles and in particular did first receive the Gentiles into the new Dispensation But this hath no relation to the Bishops of Rome nor to the pretended infallibility of that See That which hath the fairest appearance of reason is that if there be no absolute unerring Court on earth for deciding of controversies there shall be no end of them but every private man may upon the pretence of some ill understood place of Scripture break the unity of the Church and so the peace of the Church is in hazard of being irrecoverably lost But how specious soever this may appear it hath no weight in it For it is certain that vice as well as errour is destructive of Religion and it will be no â—…mputation on our Religion that the one be no more guarded against than the other is if then there be no authority for repressing Vice but the outward discipline of the Church it is not incongruous there be no other authority for â—…uppressing of errour but that same of the Discipline of the Church It is certainly a peece of humility for a man to suspect his own thoughts when they lye â—…ross to the Sentiments of the guides and â—…eaders of the Church But withal a man ought to be in all he does fully perwaded in his own mind and we are commanded to try the spirits and not to believe very spirit 1
they are still so fresh in our remembrance by the copious accounts we have of them that I need not tell what Arts the Popes and other Ecclesiasticks used to set all Germany on fire upon this account noâ—… need I tell the cruelty was exercised in the Nether-Lands in Charles the fifth his time in which more than an hundred thousand are said by Grotius to have been butchered on the account of Religion And in his Son Philips time the D. of Alva did in a short time cut down 36000. Nor need I tell the cruelties were practised in France for about forty years together nor of that treacherous Massacre wherein there was an equal mixture of perfidy and cruelty which for all that was intertained at Rome with great joy and applauses It will be also needless to tell of their cruelty in England in Queen Mary's dayes which was chiefly mannaged by the Churchmen And many are yet alive who remember what enraged cruelty appeared in our neighbour-Island against all of our Religion which did not only flow from the fury of an oppressed People but they were trained encouraged and waranded to it by their Priests and the Nuntio who came afterwards among them discovered who was the spring of all their motions Shall I to this add all the private assassinations committed on that account which were not only practised but justified I might here congest many instances Brother murdering Brother on the account of Religion Neither is Clement a Dominican his murthering Henry the third nor Chastlets attempt nor Ravalliaâ—…s fact on Henry the fourth forgotten Q. Elizabeths life is full of these attempts and the blackest of them all was the Gunpowder treason all which are to be charged on that Church because the Doctrine of murthering Heretique Princes was taught licenced printed and yet not condemned in it From these hints we may guess how much of the lowly meek and charitable Spirit is to be found with them But should I to this add the horrid cruelties exercised in these massacres I should be almost past belief had I not undeniable Historians for verifying it but the mildest of them being to be burned alive we may guess what the more savage have done by their tortures and lingering Deaths Next shall I mention their Courts of Inquisition which have been among them in the hands of Churchmen from the dayes of their pretended Saint Dominick whose order have been the great Instruments of the cruelties of that Church and whose procedure being tyed to no forms of equity or justice is as unjust as unmerciful persons being haled to their black Courts upon bare suspitions or secret Informations without leading of proofs against them are by Torture examined not only of their own opinions but of all that are known to them whose Testimony though drawn from them by cruel Torture will bring the same Tortures on all they delate neither is there any mercy or any whom this Court declares Heretick but the Civil Magistrate must condemn them to the fire Now what man that considers the meekness of Christ and the Evangelical Spirit can think that Church the Spouse of Christ that hath rioted it with such savage rage against thousands of persons for no other crime but because they adhered firmly to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and would not consent or concur with these signal and palpable corruptions with which they have adulterated it But as from the constitution of their Church we see their difformity from the Gospel-rule so we will next consider their Church-men and we shall find how far they have strayed from the first Original Church-men ought to be the Guides and Pastours of souls Now how little of this there is among them we will soon be resolved in What do the Popes about the feeding of souls when do they preach the Gospel or dispence the Sacraments Alas it were below the height of his holiness to stoop to such mean Offices Does any vestige of a Church-man remain in that Court and do they not directly rule in the Spirit of the Lords of the Gentiles And in this the Cardinals Bishops and Abbots do to their proportion imitate their most Holy Father abandoning wholly the work of the Gospel as if they bore an empty title or at most were only bound to say Mass on some greater holy days but in all other things do avowedly cast off the care of their flocks Shall I here tell of the relaxation of all the ancient rules about the offices and duty of Church-men which these latter ages have invented and mention how children are made Bishops how they allow of Pluralities Non-residencies Unions Commendams Gratia expectativa's with a great many more corruptions which are every day authorized and granted at Rome and so zealous were they for these that they strugled hard against the honest attempt of some at Trent who would have had residence declared of divine right and got it though with much ado to be laid aside And thus it is that the Bishops and Abbots among them do for most part relinquish their Charges to live at the Courts of Princes and insinuate themselves upon all affairs and offices and swarms of them go to Rome gaping for preferment there I deny not but even these late ages have produced great men among them who seem to have designed the reviving of the Ancient Discipline both among the Clergy and the People but as these instances are rare so they were hated and persecuted at Rome for their zeal Witness the condemning of Arnolds Book of frequent Communion and the severity Iansenius and the Abbot of S. Gyran with their followers have met with and thus whatever individuals that Church may have produced yet the corruptions I have hinted are notoriously publickly and generally practised in it and no where so avowedly as at the Court of Rome But to compened this defect of the Superior Clergy they have swarms of the inferior ranks every where both secular and regular who seem to mind the care of souls very seriously But not to reflect again upon any thing hath been hitherto said of their bad conduct of souls I shall now only take notice of the authority they pretend to as if the People were bound blindly to follow their Confessors direction as the voice of God which clearly makes them the servants of men and subjects them to the heaviest yoke which is most directly contrary to the liberty where with Christ hath made us free and what a rack to souls have they made Confession and what an Engine to get into the secrets of all the World and to bring mankind under their subjection is obvious enough to any that considers it and to enforce it the more as they teach it simply necessary to Salvation so the authority they made the World believe the Priests were vested with for pardoning sin together with their easie pardons and slight penances did root it deep in the hearts of all of that Communion But I go next
to examine the Sacraments of which so much being said already little remains to be added By their dividing the Cup from the Bread they destroy Christs Institution and so make it no Sacrament and the hearing of Mass without communicating though it make up the greatest part of their worship yet is purely a service of their owâ—… devising without warrant from Christâ—… Institution who said take eat this is my Body thereby shewing he intended the vertue and benefit of that Ordinance only for those who received it And in a word let any read and compare the Institution of the Lord Supper as it is in the three Gospels and the Epistle to the Corinthians together with the whole office of the Mass as it is in the Roman Church and then let him on his Conscience pass his verdict whether they have adhered to or departed from Christs Institution in that piece of their worship Finally one great end of all solemn Worship being the Communion of Saints in their joint adorations and mutual occurrence in divine services what union can they have with God or what communion can they hold one with another who perform all their Worship in an unknown Tongue which is the rule and constant practice of that Church beyond Sea though for the better venting of their sophisticated stuff among us they give the people Books of devotion in their vulgar Language yet continue to say the Office of the Mass in Latine And thus far I have run a round that great Circle I proposed to my self in the beginning of this discourse and have examined the chief Designs of the Christian Religion and have found the great and evident contradictions given to them in all their branches by the established and authorized Doctrines and practises of that Church in which I have fully justified the wise mans observation that he who increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow and have said enough to evince to all rational and considering minds how unsafe it is for any that would keep a good Conscience to hold Communion with them But I have not finished my design till I likewise examine the Characters of the Christian Religion and compare them with these are to be found in the Synagogue of Rome The first Character of our faith is that it was delivered to the World by men sent of God and divinely inspired who proved their Mission by Miracles Now these Doctrines about which we differ from that Church can pretend to no such divine original let them tell us what inspired man did first teach the worship of Images of the Mass of Angels and Saints and of Reliques what man sent of God was the first Author of the belief of the corporal presence of the Sacrifice of the Mass of the Popes supremacy of Purgatory of Indulgences and of all these innumerable superstitions of which the Scripture is absolutely silent for if these doctrines were not the off-spring of Revelations they are none of the Oracles of God nor can we be obliged to believe them as such It is true they vouch Scriptures for proof to some of these but these are so far stretched that their sure retreat is in the Sanctuary of the Churches Traditions but till a clear warrant be produced for proving it was impossible that any falshood could have that way crept into the World we must be excused from believing these Neither is it possible to know what Traditions came from the Apostles for as the vulgar are not capable of pursuing the enquiry so the loss of most of the writings of the first two Ages makes it impossible to know what Traditions came from the Apostles But this I say not that we need fear this trial for the silence of the first and purest Ages about these things which are controverted among us is evidence enough that they were not known to them especially since in their Apologies which they wrote to the Heathens for their Religion and Worship wherein they give an abstract of their Doctrines and a Rubric of their worship they never once mention these great evils for which we now accuse that Church It is true a late ingenious Writer whose sincere zeal and candor had much offended the Roman Court and drawn censures on himself and his Book took a way to repair his reputation by a new Method of proving the truth of the Opinions held in the Roman Church which was that since the present Church held them that shews that they had them so from their Ancestors and they from theirs till you run backwards to the days of the Apostles alledging that a change in the Worship was unpracticable since it could not be done in a corner but in the view of all the World who it is not to be imagined were capable of suffering any great or considerable change to be made in that which was daily in their view and much in their esteem therefore he concludes that every Generation adhered to that belief in which they were born and so no change in any great substantial and visible part of worship could be made It is true he applies this only to the belief of the corporal presence which he attempts to prove could never have been introduced into the Church had it not been conveyed down from the Apostles He hath indeed set off this with all the beauties of wit and elegencies of stile and much profound reading But with how great and eminent advantages both of reason and learning this pretence hath been baffled I leave it to the judgment of all who have been so happy as to read Mr. Claud his incomparable Writings And the common sense of mankind will prove this but an imposture how fairly soever adorned for if we find it certain that any Doctrines or main parts of worship are now received into that Church and if from the undeniable evidences of History and Writings of Ancients it appear that these things were not received in the ancient Church then it is certain there hath been a change made from what was then to what is now though an ingenious Invention may make it appear very difficult to imagin how and when the change came in especially when it was insensibly and by pieces advanced If then it be proved that the Fathers believed the Elements in the Sacrament were really bread and wine and not changed from their own nature but only types and figures of the Body of Christ then we are sure a change must have been made though the ignorance of some ages makes it a hard task to clear all particulars about it It is true the Fathers did highly magnifie this Sacrament with many expressions which though the vehemence of Divine Rhetorick can well justifie yet will not bear a Logical Examen but when they speak in a cooler Stile nothing can be more clear then that they believed not the corporal presence But may not that reasoning of the impossibility of a change in a worship be as well applied to the taking
Charity neither do we condemn any who holds the foundation though in some lesser matter they differ from us but hope they may be saved as well as we We abhor the Doctrine of cruel persecuting of any for their Consciences The outmost we allow of or desire of that nature being the preservation of our own Societies pure from the contagion of other Traffiquers and the driving from us those who do so disturb us All the authority we give the Church is Paternal and not Tyrannical our Church-men we hold to be the Pastors but not the Lords of the flock who are obliged to feed them sincerely both by their Doctrine Labours and whole Conversation but we pretend to no blind obedience due to their directions and count them noble Christians who search and try all they say by that Test of the Scriptures We send the People to confess their sins to God from whom only we teach them to expect their pardon and pretend to no other keys but Ministerial ones over publick and known Scandals In our Worship as all do understand it so every one may joyn in it And in the number use and simplicity of our Sacraments we have religiously adhered to the Rules of the Gospel we holding them to be solemn federal Rites of our Stipulation with God in which if we do worthily partake of them we are assured of the Presence of the Divine Spirit and Grace for uniting our Souls more intirely to God and advancing us in all the ways of the Spirit of Life and if the Institution of them in the Gospel be compared with our Administration of them it will appear how close we have kept to our Rule And thus we see how exactly conform the Doctrine of our Church is to the whole Branches of the Christian Design upon which it is not to be doubted but the Characters of the Christian Religion will also fit ours We found our Faith only on the Scriptures and though we pay a great deal of venerable esteem to the Churches of God during their purity which continued above four Centuries and so be very willing to be determined in Rituals and Matters that are external and indifferent by their Opinions and Practices yet our Faith settles only on the Word of God and not on the Traditions of Men neither do we believe every Spirit that pretends to Rapts and Visions but try the Spirits whether they be of God or not and though an Angel should preach to us another Gospel we would hold him accursed The Miracles we trust to as the Proofs of the Truth of that Revelation which we believe are only those contained in the Scriptures and though we believe there was a wonder-working power continued for some time in the Church yet we make a great difference betwixt what we historically credit and what we religiously believe neither will we for supporting our Interest or Authority have recourse to that base trade of forging lying Wonders but we rest satisfied with the Miracles Christ and his Apostles wrought for the proof of the Religion we own since what we believe is no other than what they taught and therefore we leave the trade of forging new Miracles to them who have forged a new Religion And for the plain genuines of the Gospel we have not departed a step from it since we call upon our People by all the motives we can devise and with all the earnestness we are Masters of to receive full and clear Instruction in all the Matters of our Religion which we distinctly lay open to them And nothing of Interest or Design can be charged on us who pretend to nothing but to be the Stewards of the Mysteries of God nor have we offered to sophisticate the simplicity of our Worship by any additions to it for the determining about some particular forms is no addition to Worship but only the following forth of these Precepts of doing all things to edification peace and order But an addition to Worship is when any new piece of Divine Service is invented with a pretence of our being more acceptable to God thereby or of our receiving Grace by that conveyance and therefore any Rites we have as they are not without some hints from Scripture so we pretend not to become any way acceptable to God by them Further we teach no irrational nor unconceivable Doctrine It is true there are Mysteries in our Faith and even reason it self teacheth that these must be unconceivable but for all our other perswasions they are such as may be well made out to the rational faculties of man therefore we do not betake our selves to that Sanctuary that we must be believed assert what we please but we assert nothing but what we offer to evince by the clearest proofs And in â—…ine we add nothing to the burdensomness of the Laws of Christ but teach and propose them as we have them from his Gospel without adding changing or altering a tittle from the first Institution And so far have I considered the Doctrine and Worship of our Church wherein if I could justify all our Practices as well as I can do our Principles there were no grounds to fear hurt from all the Cavils of Mortals But for bad practices whatsoever matter of regrate they may furnish us with they afford none for separation Therefore there is no ground that can justify a separation from our Church much less warrant the turning over from us to the Communion of Rome And thus far have I pursued my designed Enquiry which was if with a safe Conscience any might adjoin themselves to the Popish Religion or if Communion with our Church was to be kept and continued in and have found great grounds to assert the evident hazards of the former so that no man to whom his salvation and welfare is dear can or ought to joyn himself to that Church on the other hand without renting the Body of Christ none can or ought to depart from our Churches But I leave the â—…erusal and considering of these things â—…o the serious Reader to whom I â—…ope they may give some satisfaction â—…f he bring with him to the Enquiry an attentive serious and unbyassed mind And I leave the success of this and every other attempt of this Nature for the clearing of Divine truth with him who is the only Fountain of Blessings who is over all God blessed for evermore Amen FINIS Errata PAge 16. line 6. for formerly read formally l. 24. Abuses r. Abases p. 30. l. 14. forewarnes r. warneâ—… â—…â—…1 l. 1. where r. what p. 52. l 9. but r. yet p. 54. â—… 24. dele a. p. 64. l. 18. betwixt add that p. 91. a r. â—…is p. 99. l. 5. enhansing r. engrossing l. 8. transmitâ—…ng r. transmuting p. 103. l. 16. since r. for p. 110. â—… 18. or r. for p. 138. l. 13. unity r. purity These Books are to be sold by Moses Pitt at the Angel near the Little North Door of St.
Paul's Church A Table of ten thousand Square Numbers by Iohn Pell D. D. stitcht 1 s. 6 d. Tuba Stentoro-Phonica or Speaking-Trumpet being an Instrument of excellent use both at Sea and Land by Sir Samuel Morland Price of the Book 1 s. of the Instrument 40 s. Articles and Rules for the Government of His Majesties Forces by Land during this present War 1673. 1 s. 6 d. Quarto Dr. Pell's Introduction to Algebra 7 s. Nich. Mercatoris Logarithmo-Technia sive methodus construendi Logarithmos 1668. Iac. Gregorii Exercitationes Geometricae 1668. 2 s. Dr. Wallis Opera Mechanica 22 s. Love only for Love sake a Dramatick Romance by Sir Richard Fanshaw 3 s. 6 d. Mori Enchiridion Metaphysicum 1671. 10 s. Glisson de natura substantiae Energetica 1672. 8 s. Cumberland de Legibus Naturae contra Hobs. 7 s. Snellii Typis Batavus Lugd. Bat. 1624. 5 s. Snellii Observat. Hussiacae 5 s. Petrus Paaw de Ossibus Amstelreod 1633. 5 s. Dr Thomas Iacomb on the Eighth Chapter of the Romans 8 s. A Letter from a Gentleman of the Lord Howard's Retinue to his Friend in London Dated at Fez Nov. 1. 1670. 6 d. Octavo A Discourse of Local Motion undertaking to demonstrate the Laws of Motion and withall to prove that of the seven Rules delivered by Mr. Des Cartes on this Subject he hath mistaken Six Englished out of French 1671. 1 s. The History of the late Revolution of the Empire of the Great Mogol with a Description of the Countrey in two Volumes 7 s. The History of the Conquest of the Empire of China by the Tartars 1671. 4 s. Gualteri Needham Disputatio Anatomica de Formato Foeru 1667. 3 s. 6 d. â—…xtorfius's Epitomy of his Hebrew Grammar Englished by Iohn Davis 1658. 1 s. 6 d. The Fortunate Fool or the Life of the Dr. Cenudo a Spanish Romance 1670. 2 s. The Adventures of Mr. T. S. an English Merchant taken Prisoner by the Turks of Argiers with a Description of that Kingdom and the Towns and Places thereabouts 1670. 1 s. 6 d. Contemplations on Mortality 1670. 1 s. A Discourse written to a Learned Frier by Mr. Des Fourneillis shewing that the Systeme of Mr. Des Cartes and particularly his Opinion concerning Brutes does contain nothing dangerous and that all he hath written of both seems to have been taken out of the first Chapter of Genesis To which is annexed the Systeme General of the Cartesian Philosophy 1 s. The Relation of a Voyage into Mauritania in Africk by Roland Frejus of Marseilles by the French Kings Order 1666. to Muley Arxid King of Taffaletta c. with a Letter in answer to divers Questions concerning their Religion Manners c. 1671. 1 s 6 d. A Genuine Explication of the Visions in the Book of Revelation by A. B. Peganius 1671. 2 s. Prodromus to a Dissertation concerning Solids naturally contained within Solids laying a foundation for the rendring a rational account both of the Frame and the several Changes of the Mass of the Earth as also the various Productions of the same By Nich. Steno 1671. 1 s. 3 d. Basilius Valentinus of Natural and Supernatural things also of the first Tincture Root and Spirit of Metals and Minerals how the same are Conceived Generated Brought forth Changed and Augmented Whereunto is added Frier Bacon of the Medicine or Tincture of Antimony Mr. Iohn-Isaack Holland his Work of Saturn and Alexander Van Suchten of the Secrets of Antimony out of Dutch 1671. 2 s. The Poetical Histories being a compleat Collection of all the Stories necessary for a perfect understanding of the Greek and Latine Poets and 〈◊〉 Ancient Authors written Originally iâ—… 〈◊〉 by the Learned Jesuite P. Galtruchius 〈◊〉 Englished and Enriched with Observation â—…erning the Gods worshipped by our Ance 〈◊〉 in this Island by the Phoenicians and Syrian in Asia with many useful Notes and occasiona Proverbs gathered out of the best Authors Unto which are added two Treatises One oâ—… the Curiosities of Old Rome and of the difficulâ—… Names relating to the Affairs of that City The other containing the most remarkable Hieroglyphicks of Egypt The second Edition with Additions By Marius D'Assigny B. D. 3 s. 6. An Essay about the Origine and Virtues of Gems by the Honourable Robert Boyle 1 s. 6 d. Essays of the Strange Subtilty Determinate Nature and Great Efficacy of Effluviums to which are annexed New Experiments to make Fire and Flame ponderable together with a Discovery of the Perviousness of Glass By the Honourable Robert Boyle 2 s. 6 d. Twelves 〈◊〉 Paradise of Delights or an Elixir of Comforts offered to Believers in two Discourses the first on Heb. 6. 17 18. the second on Rom. 8. 32. By Robert Wyne 1 s.