not that the like hapneth in the Church how many things did the Saints ordaine with a good intent which wee see at this day changed partly by abuse and partly by superstition The feasts Ceremonies Images Monasteries and the like none of them were instituted in that sort at the first as now they are vsed and yet wee Gedeons hold our peace they take not away the abuse they take not away the superstition For if wee take a reuiew of what was anciently practised in the Primitiue Church we shall find that the Discipline thereof had the same scope touching the soule which Physicke hath for the bodie and may accordingly bee diuided into that which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is tending to the preseruation of health and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which aymes at the restoring of health the one conducing to the preuenting the other to the remoouing of Diseases Now as there bee in a Christian man three principall vertues from whence as from so many vitall parts all graces in man doe flow to wit Faith Hope and Charitie so this parcell of Church Discipline which concerned the preseruation of health was imployed in prescribing such Cordials and Antidotes as were behoofefull to preserue fortifie or increase some one of these For the benefit of Faith in respect of knowledge and to season it with a true sense and apprehension of diuine matters the Church did apply diuers instruments First Bookes and those principally the holy Scriptures comprising such writings onely as wee stile by the name of Canonicall To them the Iewes of the dispersion called Hellenists added in their Greeke translations the Apocrypha bookes as profitable partly for their matters sake partly for the supply of the historie of the Bible Now the Greeke and Latine Church receiuing their translations of the old Testament not of the Iewes inhabiting Iudea who neuer mixt the Apocrypha with the other but of those of the dispersion and being loath to distaste them to whom they were beholding for their paines were in the beginning contented onely not to seuer them from the Canonicall Bookes in binding howsoeuer they did in authoritie afterwards they began to cite them in their Sermons Works though not as diuine yet as venerable and familiar writings then permitted them to be read as Athanasius affirmes to the Catechumenists in length of time to the Congregation and in the end custome giuing them credit they were doubtfully in the Florentine but more palpably in the Tridentine Councell canonized with the stile of Canonicall and made equall in authoritie to the other Secondly Translations for bookes in an vnknowne language are like Trumpets giuing an vncertaine sound And therefore no sooner was the Gospell preacht but the Scriptures had their translations The vniuersall Church by custome establisht none because none could be of vniuersall vse Yet amidst such varietie as was then extant that which passeth vnder the name of the Septuagint found best entertainment in the Greeke Church and a translation made out of the same into Latine by an vncertaine Authour found somewhat the like in the Latine The chiefe cause whereof seemes to be this that for a long time there wanted in the West those who being skilled in the Hebrew could supply their wants from thence with a better This Latine translation was afterwards partly mended partly patched with fragments and phrases pickt out of Hierome winning authoritie in the Westerne Church by two meanes Custome and Ignorance of the Originalls and at length in the Councell of Trent made authenticall and by two Popes Sixtus Quintus and Clement the eighth confirmed by two contrarie Editions with the solecismes of the Translators and errors of the Transcribers Ceremonies were the third instrument whereby as by certaine outward signes and characters the Church would imprint in the mindes of ignorant people the vse and effects of the Sacraments These at the first were performed by expressions rather verball then reall as Exhortations Prayers Interrogations and such like as we vse in baptisme But after awhile to these verball and audible ceremonies reall and visible were added and that without any bad meaning or intention of their first founders but see how Tares in the end displayed themselues amongst the Wheat For what were at the first but few by Saint Austens time were so multiplyed that in his 119. Epist hee complayneth of their burden and now are so encreased that they are more then can bee borne what were then but things accessorie and helps to the worship of God are now become parts of the worship of God and meritorious what were then but signes and had onely vsum significandi a vse to signifie are now become causes and haue vsum efficiendi a vse to produce supernaturall effects From these Ceremonies in processe of time abused and mis-vnderstood many grosse errors had their originall For to begin with Baptisme it borrowing a ceremonie from Exorcising which in those dayes was a gift in the Church of casting out Deuils by adjuration it signified thereby not that men before Baptisme are possessed with the Deuill but first what they are by Nature that is children of wrath and seruants of the Deuill and secondly what wee are by Grace whereof Baptisme is a Sacrament that is freed from the bondage of Sathan and made Co-heires of the Kingdome of heauen But howsoeuer Baptisme was not held for a long time so absolutely necessarie to saluation that setting contempt or wilfull negligence aside in the partie which dies vnbaptized a man might not bee saued without it witnesse the custom of the church which was to haue but one or two times in the yeer at the most to wit Easter Whitsontide assigned for the same yet this exorcising at length began to worke so farre with some especially after that diuers of the Fathers spake hyperbolically of baptisme in eagernesse against Pelagius the Heretike who taking away originall sinne tooke also away with it by consequence the necessitie of baptisme that what was at the first held necessarie necessitate precepti by the necessitie of a precept was made to be necessarie necessitate medij by the necessitie of a meanes and in conclusion the Schoolemen hauing taken a more distinct suruey of Hell then was done afore-time assigned lodgings in the third storie for children which die without baptisme wherin they award them poenam damni paine of losse though not poenam sensus paine of sense affirming farther this paine to be eternall As it fared with Baptisme so did it with the Eucharist For what was Transubstantiation therein at the first but non ens a thing neither proueable by the Scriptures as many of the learnedst Romanists doe confesse nor as some of them doe also grant receiued for diuers hundred yeeres into the articles of Christian faith The Fathers indeed acknowledged a change of the Bread and Wine but it was a change not of their
precepts touching manners yet it is not decided say Canonists of whom this generall Councell is to consist For as it is generally defined it imports an assembly of Bishops or holy Fathers met together out of all quarters of the earth But Bellarmine in his first Booke De Concil 17. Cap. saith that such a generall Councell neuer was nor possibly can bee since in the first generall Councell there were present but two Priests out of Italy one Bishop out of France one out of Spaine and one out of Africa In the second and third there were none out of the West and in the fourth onely the Legate of Leo which deliuered the consent of the other Bishops of Spaine France and Italy who had before sent the same in Writing vnto the Pope forth of their owne Prouinces And on the contrarie in Councels celebrated in the West few Easterne Bishops haue bin found What then thinkes the Cardinall best to bee done Why he tels vs it is enough if it be published and made knowne to all the greater Christian Prouinces neither matters it say Canus Turrecremata and Gregorie de Valentia that all bee Cited much lesse that all doe Come sufficient it is saith Bellarmine if no Bishop be excluded if out of the greater part of Christian Prouinces some doe appeare and if the foure chiefe Patriarchs which are besides the Bishop of Rome bee present either by themselues or by their substitutes though hee thinkes that this Condition bee not very necessarie at this day considering they are either Heretikes or Schismatikes So that here they commit mayne Contradictions For first they make a Councell to be generall and to represent the whole Church and yet to consist oftentimes of fewer Bishops than a Nationall and those for substance but of one Angle of the World onely the rest either not cited or not expected Secondly they iudge it sufficient for the Patriarchs which are absent to depute others in their roome the which was also practised by their Bishops at Trent and yet as Valentia and others well dispute in the Case of the Popes Legates the assistance of the holy Ghost is a thing personall and cannot bee delegated vnto another Wherefore to salue all sores with one playster Valentia and Turrecremata doe affirme that considering those difficulties the Popes owne authoritie it being vniuersall is capable to make a particular Councell to bee Vniuersall as it hath done in some of the Roman But see then a third contradiction no lesse misse-shapen than the former ascends the Stage for whereas Bellarmine in his first booke de Concil and fifteenth Chapter and others and endeuour to proue jure diuino by the Law of God that Bishops onely haue deciding voyces in a generall Councell and that the promise of deliuering the truth is made to them onely as being the sole Pastors of the Church they confesse notwithstanding in their writings and declare by the practise of the Tridentine Councell that Cardinalls Abbots and Generalls of Orders haue voyces there though not ordinarie and by right yet by priuiledge and custome whence it followes that either the Church hath that prerogatiue to assigne and appoint whom the holy Ghost shall assist or else that a major part in a Councell may bee made vp by those to whom the holy Ghost hath past no promise that they shall not erre 2. These absurdities therefore considered some of the Church of Rome doe abase that high esteeme which for a long time was conceaued of generall Councells making either their first originall to bee but humane as Albertus Pighius or their vse not absolutely necessarie as Bellarmine and others Hence it is that a second sort contracting the face of the Church into a lesser modell doe teach that the Church here disputed of to bee the Iudge of Controuersies is the Pope in the Church represented not by Bishops in a Councell but by the Colledge of Cardinalls in the Consistorie which opinion is recited by Greg. de Valentia in his Disputations vpon Thomas 3. But because the Colledge of Cardinalls seemes too compendious a walke wherein to impale the greatnesse of the Pope and a generall Councell too vncertaine a path to tread therefore the greater cry rings this peale that the Church wee talke of is the Pope himselfe whether with a Councell or without a Councell whether with the Cardinalls or without them as in the next Gradation shall appeare The third Gradation BVt thirdly grant for the manner that it bee the Pope himselfe which is this Church whether with a Councell or without a Councell whether with Cardinalls or without them yet is it not determined for the time when it is the Pope 1. For some teach that it is the Pope at all times in that hee cannot possibly be an Hereticke or publish a falshood and of this opinion is Albertus Pighius in his fourth booke de Hierarch eccles cap. 8. 2. But others hold that it is the Pope then onely when hee publisheth a doctrine vnder this condition to bee beleeued by the whole Church as an Article of Faith and of this opinion is Bellarmine himselfe and by his account Thom. Aquinas Waldensis Ioannes de Turrecremata Driedo Caietan Hosius Eckius Ioannes a Louaine Petrus a Soto Melchior Canus besides Valentia Becanus and the whole fraternitie of Iesuites The fourth Gradation BVt fourthly grant for the time because haec est communissima opinio this is the most common opinion of all Catholicks saith Bellarmine that the Church is then the Pope when hee propounds a doctrine to bee beleeued by all men as an article of Faith yet is it not sufficiently resolued by them for the matters what matters they must bee in resoluing whereof his proposition is infallible 1. For you haue beene hitherto made beleeue that whensoeuer hee buckles himselfe to define any thing to bee beleeued as an Article of Faith that then hee is in his Chaire and then hee cannot erre and amongst other points in which they say that wee are to beleeue assuredly that the Pope cannot erre Bellarmine and Greg. de Valentia reckon vp the Canonization of Saints to be one and that the Pope is the successor of Peter to bee another 2. But on the other side it is first confest by Bellarmine and as hee saith by all Catholickes that the Pope may erre euen with a generall Councell at his elbow in matters of fact which depend vpon information and the testimonies of men and such is the question touching the legitimacie of the Pope confest to bee by Bellarmine And because the Canonization of Saints is of the same nature Valentia confesseth that the Popes infallibilitie therein is not so altogether deliuered by the Church and Canus in his fifth booke de locis theolog chap. 5. saith that it is not certaine de fide as a matter of faith neither will hee
hauing the forme of godlinesse but denying the power thereof 2. Tim. 3. The Beast in the Reuelation is described with two hornes like the Lambe but withall hauing the voice of a Dragon Chap. 13. The woman which sits vpon many waters is an Whore and inticeth with dalliances like another Dalilah and with a Cup of abomination makes drunke the Inhabitants of the earth Chap. 17. Her Army are Locusts whose faces are as the faces of men whose haire as the haire of women but looke either within and then see teeth as the teeth of Lions or behinde and behold there tayles like vnto the tayles of Scorpions Chap. 9. Lastly would you see the manner how his poisonous doctrine is to gayne vpon the Church Then as before you beheld not the faces of Nero's so neither must you here expect the marches of Iehu's Away with that fond imagination of Bellarmine and other Romanists who imagine that Antichrist must defer his warre vpon the Church vntill the end of the World and that he must dispatch all his conquests and finish his reigne within the short space of three yeeres and an halfe No Saint Iohn tells vs that Antichrist was alreadie come and Saint Paul that in his dayes the misterie of iniquitie did alreadie worke but how not that the seruants of the housholder could take notice of it for that hee that did let would let saith he vntill he were taken away and then and not till then should that wicked one be reuealed 2. Thes 2. For as it is true in morallitie that nemo repentè fit pessimus no man at the first push becomes extreamly bad so the Apostle saith it shall fare with these Seducers they shall not renounce the truth at once but decline from the sinceritie of it by degrees growing as the Text hath it worse and worse deceiuing and being deceiued 2. Tim. 3. 13. What therefore is obserued touching the methodicall disposition of the seuen Churches in the Reuelation though it cannot be typically or prophetically applied as some haue fondly imagined to any Churches in particular yet the Rōanists who by these parts vnderstand the whole may obserue the same in the seueral states and conditions of the Church vniuersall If Ephesus the first and mother Church of lesser Asia leaue her first loue chap. 2. verse 4. this defect of loue in Smyrna the second Church begets counterfeit professors them which say they are Iewes and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan v. 9. Smyrnas counterfeits in Pergamus the third Church proue Balaams and cast a stumbling blocke to those of the couenant euen the Orthodoxe beleeuers pointed out by the Children of Israel v. 14. Now what is but a stumbling blocke in Pergamus the third Church procures a tolleration for Iesabell to preach it in Theatira the fourth v. 20. and loe what in Theatira the fourth is preached and as it were sowed the same springs vp in Sardis the fifth and choakes a great part of the good corne and the precipe to the Angell that is the Bishop thereof is strengthen the things which remaine that are ready to dye chap. 3. verse 2. Whereby wee may note the difference betweene the particular heresies of Arius Nestorius and the like whose Authors and beginners the Papists brag that they can assigne and this generall defection or falling away vnder Antichrist of which they challenge vs to nominate the time and Authors For first those backslidings were of them of whom S. Iohn saith they went out from vs but they were not of vs and therefore making a rent and separation from the Church were the more remarkeable this of Antichrist who is to sit in the Temple of God is to be of those who were of vs and went not out from vs and therefore making no visible rent from the Church must needes be the lesse noted Secondly those being but of some few left Sentinels enough behinde to eye them this was to be vniuersall of the Sentinels and Watchmen themselues euen of the starres which the Dragon was to pul down from heauen with his tayle and if the Watchmen themselues sleepe who shall discouer the approach of the enemie Thirdly those made open inuasion vpon the truth and oppugned the bulwarkes of Faith with hostile furie as Arius the diuinitie of Christ Macedonius the diuinitie of the Holy Ghost and the like this is a claudestine conspiracie and opposeth of the faith not directly but obliquely not formally but virtually not in expresse termes but by consequences and therefore vntill the trumpets sounded the alarum and the thunders in the Reuelation gaue warning few sufpected it Lastly those were like the gourd of Ionas which sprang vp in a night this was like the tares first but a seede then a blade and lastly a fruit and therefore approching by vnsensible degrees was the lesse obserued and discouered And to apply these things more home to the Church of Rome let any speake whether the tower of this second Babell mounted not by the same steps and ascents vnto the battlements How many things at the first were but stumbling blockes that in time became staires to lift Iesabel into the Pulpit how many positions in the infancie of the Gospell vnknowne that after a while were disputed then sided and at length ratified and confirmed What opinions that at first were but dogmata scholae tenents of the scholes that in their riper age were made dogmata Ecclesiae Constitutions of the Church lastly dogmata fidei Articles of faith What errors but Pigmies in their birth that became grand heresies and sonnes of Anak in their grouth So that wee may truly say of the master builders which vpon a foundation happily of gold of siluer layed rowes of stone or bricke and their prentises which thereon aduanced a second storie of slime or rubbish as Vincentius Lyrinensis did of the Donatists building their heresie vpon the authoritie of Cyprian O maruailous change of things the authors of the opinions are iudged Catholickes but the followers thereof are Heretickes the masters are pardoned but the schollers or learners are condemned the writers of the bookes shall without doubt be the Children of the Kingdome but Hell shall be the place for the abettors and maintainers thereof And truly it is an obseruation no lesse iudicious then true of Albaspinus Bishop of Orleans that scarce any error hath crept into the Church which tooke not its originall and sourse from the ancient approued Discipline of the Church not that the institution was bad but that the application is now amisse the seruants of the Housholder made the lawes but the seruants of the enemie added the glosse Hearken what Ferus a Friar saith vpon the eighth of Iudges speaking of Gedeon There was saith he a double sinne in Gedeon both in that he made an Ephod contrary to the Word of God and in that seeing the abuse thereof he tooke it not away Now who sees
Credo Ecclesiam Sanctam Catholicam I beleeue the holy Catholike Church THE Authoritie Vniuersalitie and Visibilitie of the CHVRCH handled and discussed By EDWARD CHALONER Dr. in Diuinitie and Principall of ALBAN Hall in OXFORD LONDON Printed by William Stansby and are to bee sold in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Gray-Hound 1625. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE WILLIAM Earle of PEMBROKE Lord HERBERT of Cardiffe Lord Par and Rosse of Kendall Lord Marmion and Saint Qâ—intin c. Lord Chamberlaine of his MAIESTIES Houshold Lord Warden of the Stanneries Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter Chancellor of the Vniuersitie of Oxford And one of his Maiesties most Honorable Priuie Councell MY LORD THe first assault which was euer made vpon mankind appeared in the shape of a question for in that manner did the Serpent sett vpon Eue and the victorie then purchased hath euer since animated the Viperous brood of that arch-enemie to encounter the Church of God with the same engin Aristotles positiue formes of disputing sute not so well with their distempered materials as those of Socrates which conclude in Questions As it was at the building of Babel so is it now in Babylon their confounded language serues onely to aske and demand not to reply For what are the cryes of Rome which more frequently walke the streets and fill them with lowder clamours then those of London other then these Whereupon doe you lastly ground your beliefe How doe you know the Scriptures to be the Word of God Where was your Church in all ages If the Church of Rome professe not the same faith which anciently it did when did it alter or varie from her first integritie Argumentations of other natures are forbidden the Laytie vnder paine of curse this kinde onely of disputing by Questions is dispensed vnto the rudest by the prouerb which saith An Ideot may propound more in an houre then the learnedst in a Kingdome can resolue in a yeere Hauing therefore discoursed vpon these subiects partly in some Lectures had in a famous Metropolitan Church of this Kingdome where for a time abiding I aduentured to thrust in my Sickle into the Haruest of more worthy Labourers partly in my seuerall attendances vpon our late Soueraigne of happy Memorie and his Gracious Maiestie now being I presume in humble acknowledgment of your noble fauours conferred vpon me to present these my poore endeauours to your honourable protection beseeching your Lordship to passe a fauourable construction vpon my boldnesse and to accept of them as from him who is and alwayes will remayne Your Lordships humbly deuoted ED. CHALONER The Contents of the first Part of this Booke SECT I. THe Preface and partition of the ensuing subiect pag. 1. SECT II. What act of Faith is implyed in this Article of the Church and the errours of Romish Interpreters touching the same pag. 3. SECT III. The Romanists distractions touching the Church set downe in eight Gradations SECT IIII. The palpable abuse offered the Laytie by obtruding the Church vnto them as their soueraigne Iudge displayed by the present practice of the Iesuites pag. 26. SECT V. The obiections out of the Scriptures touching the Churches infallibilitie answered pag. 30. SECT VI. The obiection drawne from the question how wee may know the authoritie sense puritie and perfection of the Scriptures handled and resolued pag. 36. SECT VII The new sleights and deuices which the Iesuites vse in enforcing these arguments touching the Church and the Scriptures pag. 51. The Contents of the second Part. SECT I. THe first way whereby one may know the Church to bee Catholike or Vniuersall pag. 71. SECT II. The second way whereby one may know the Church to be Catholike or Vniuersall Together with an Application of the same to the present question of these times touching the existency of our Church in all Ages pag. 83. Errata Page 58. The â— which is in lin 7. ought to be in lin 14. ibid. lin 12. for obligation r. Religion ibid. lin 14. for but search r. but by search pag. 91. lin 19. for The fift r. The sixt Credo Ecclesiam Sanctam Catholicam I beleeue the holy Catholike Church SECT I. The Preface and partition of the ensuing subject THis parcell of the Creed how compendious soeuer it seems in wordes yet is it in signification so ample that if the Iesuites Comment exceedes not the Text this alone is an abridgement of Diuinitie this a Catechisme sufficient to engrosse the Layties whole studie and beliefe It is not a matter of small consequence to them which oppose names to things and triumph in the naked sounds of Church and Catholike whether you apparell the sense in any other furniture of Language then this they cannot reply as Demosthenes did to Aeschines wheÌ„ being vpbrayded with the improper vse of a word hee answered that the fortunes of Greece consisted not therein No in hoc sit a sum fortunae Romae in these Sillables the fortunes of Rome are entrench'd not the seuen Hils whereon shee is seated not her extended Wals whose auncient Tracts are almost enâ—omb'd with Age not her Castle of Saint Angelo are halfe so relied vpon by her as this single Article For why Shee hopes the Church will serue her for a Cittadle or Towre of defence Holynesse will colour her title and Catholicke will from all quarters furnish her with a voluminous Armie of ancient and experienced souldiers Howsoeuer therefore I am not able to vndertake this subiect either with that power or skill as those which haue preceded me in the same yet because as Rome was not built in a day so neither can shee bee surueied in an houre or as shee is the Beast with seuen heads and ten hornes resembling Hydra which as soone as Hercules had smitten off one head maintained the fight with another so there may remaine after those greater labours of others something for vs of succeeding times and ages to meete withall Be it as it will I shall not thinke my paines mispent if whilest others haue pared off an head my weaker strookes force her but so far as to shrinke in a horne But to leaue Prefaces and come to the handling of the point The words now read vnto you containing in them a matter of Faith and Beliefe doe present two thinges to our consideration Viz. 1. First the act of Faith in these words tacitely implied I beleeue 2. Secondly the obiect of this Faith the Church pourtraited and described by two properties Viz. 1. Sanctitie in that it is called Holy 2. Vnjuersalitie in that it is stiled Catholicke SECT II. What act of Faith is implied in this Article of the Church and the errours of Romish interpreters touching the same COncerning the acte of this faith I beleeue though it be not prefixed to the beginning of this Article as neither to the rest which follow it yet is it to be vnderstood the former I beleeue which precedes the Article of
a beliefe of the Churches saying Stapleton notwithstanding would faine find an cuasion from this argument saying that to yeeld beliefe to the affirmations of the Church is the Theologicall sense of the Creede though it bee not the Grammaticall much like as Bellarmine who endeauouring to proue Purgatorie from these words of Christ Matth. 12. It shall not be forgiuen him neither in this world nor in the world to come Confesseth in the end that it followes not indeed according to the rules of Logicke but onely according to the rule of Prudence as if forsooth the Arts were contradictorie to Diuinitie and not subordinate vnto it and that one might not iustly suspect something to bee amisse in that house where the Mistresse and her hand maides are at variance Secondly I argue from the word Catholicke in the Creede which by the Tridentine Catechismes owne confession signifying the Flocke as well as the Pastors and excluding no time no persons nor any condition of men is not possible to be seene nor capable to be heard nor able to bee consulted with and therefore according to the sense which the Church beleeues in this place it is absurd to conceiue that these words Credo Ecclesiam I beleeue that there is a Church should bee equiualent to these Credo Ecclesiae I yeeld faith and beliefe to the Church But for breuities sake omitting other proofes as more behoofull for those which write large Tracts than for my selfe who desire to obserue as neere as I can the lawes of Catechising my third reason shall bee drawen from the word Church which being by the Papists inuolued with so many contrarieties and contradictions from it I thus argue That which is to be the foundation of my faith and to which I am to yeeld assent in all things that must be a thing certainely knowne and determined what it is It is not sufficient to be acquainted with the word but wee must also vnderstand the thing for faith is not verball but reall neither are we conueied to heauen by bare sounds as by Magicke spels but by truths and verities which are couched vnder them But according to the Papists owne assertions this Church which they here would make to be the foundation of their faith and to which say they we are to yeeld assent in all things is not to them a thing as yet certainely knowne and determined what it is which by these Gradations following I shall demonstrate SECT III. The Romanists distractions touching the Church set downe in eight Gradations THe Church is deuided by some of the Popish Doctors into the Church 1. Essentially which they make to be the Conuocation of all that beleeue in Christ 2. Representatiue which they say are either the Bishops assembled in a generall Councell as most doe affirme or the Colledge of Cardinals as Siluester Prierias imagines 3. Virtually which they conceiue to be the Pope The first Gradation 1. NOw graunt the Church to be such a Pillar of truth that who so heares it cannot erre yet First it is not determined by Popish writers which is that Church to whose Oracles and definitiue sentence we are to listen 1. The Glosse vpon Gratians Decrees which containe the Popes owne lawes and constitutions asking the question what Church it is to be meant off when it is said that the Church cannot erre answeres that it is to be meant not of the Pope but of the Congregation of the faithful that is the Church Essentially 2. But this opinion of the Church is generally by almost all the Papists reiected for being the iudge of Controuersies and consequently the foundation of our faith the reasons are First because such a multitude dispersed farre and wide throughout the face of the earth cannot be so marshalled as to haue their opinions calculated Secondly because the greater part of these are Lay-people whose apprehensions oftentimes reach not vnto the matters controuerted Lastly because there is no promise made either to the flocke or to the Pastors and doctors of the Church that a greater part of them shal not erre but only that all of them shal not erre Wherefore though the whole Church in this sense cannot erre errore personali with a personall error yet Bellarmine in his fourth Booke De Rom. Pont. and fourth Chapter tels vs that we must seeke out for one that cannot erre errore iudicali with a iudiciall errour Some therefore of the Papists are of opinion that the Church in this sense as it is taken for the iudge of controuersies and foundation of faith is the Church representatiue in a generall Councell of Bishops no matter whether with the Pope or without him because the Pope say they though he be the head of all Christians and all Churches in seuerall yet is he not of all the Church assembled in a Councell togeather And of this opinion besides those which Bellarmine reckons vp as Cardinalis Cameracensis Ioh. Gerson Iacobus Almanus Nic. Cusanus Panormitanus Cardinalis Florentinus and Abulensis we may ioyne Ocham Driedo the Bishops assembled in the generall Councels of Constance and Basill and in a word the Vniuersitie of Paris as Coriolanus in his Preface to the Councels Praelud 5. doth confesse 3. But many of the later Papists and especially the Iesuites perceiuing that the former opinion touching the Authoritie of a generall Councell aboue the Pope howsoeuer the contrarie bee not yet determined doth indeed ouerthrow the verie faith of the Popes Primacie and finding as they say no promise made to a generall Councell without the Pope for that the Church is to be built vpon the rocke and not the rocke vpon the Church they doe concurre that the Church whose definitiue sentence wee are bound to beleeue is nothing else but the Church virtually that is the Pope whereby they delude and impose vpon the world more than euer for whilst they boast of the Church their Mother they meane and intend nothing else thereby but onely the Pope their father The second Gradation BVt secondly graunt for the Church at the Iesuites request that it be the Pope vpon which we are to relie yet is it not agreed vpon by them for the manner whether it bee the Pope alone or whether the Pope in an assembly of the Church representatiue and again whether this Church representatiue be the Colledge of Cardinals or whether a generall Councell 1. For no meane Writers amongst them doe hold that the Pope may erre if hee define without a generall Councell as besides many of the Parisiens Alphonsus a Castro and Pope Adrian the sixth doe auerre that we may see not onely priuate men but also Popes themselues to haue suspected the Papall authoritie in this point And here though Bellarmine vaunts that all Catholickes doe conspire in this that when the Pope defines any thing in a generall Councell hee is then out of danger of erring either in faith or generall
pronounce him to bee an Heriticke who after so great a pudder as hath beene kept about Saint Francis shall yet deny him to bee in heauen Secondly Turrecremata in his second booke de Ecclesia and Syluester in his summes do grant that the Pope may so farre as in him lyes endeà uour to establish his owne heresie and obtrude it vpon the Church nor doe Valentia and Bellarmine dissalow their position vnder these two prouiso's the one that if he doe it effectually then the contrary hath beene formerly determined by the Church so that the Church can then receiue no danger thereby of erring the other that if the contrary was neuer before determined then the Pope may indeed attempt it as did Ioh. 22. in a question touching the state of the soule after death but God in his prouidence will take such course as that he neuer shall accomplish it The fifth Gradation BVt fiftly grant for the matters that the Pope be this Church in determining any matter of Faith whatsoeuer yet is it not resolued clearely by them for the person in generall whether the Pope vpon which wee are so to relie bee the present Pope or whether the Popes deceased 1. For the voice of the Iesuites speakes this that it is the present Pope nay Gregorie de Valentia is so confident therein that neque Scriptura sacra saith hee neque etiam sola traditio si ab ea separes praesentem in ecclesia authoritatem est illa authoritas infallibilis magistra fidei c. that is neither the Scriptures nor yet traditions if you separat from the present authoritie in the Church is that infallible mistresse of Faith Iudge of controuersies So Bellarmine omnium conciliorum veterum omnium dogmatum firmitas pendet ab authoritate praesentis Ecclesiae the strength of all ancient Councells and all assertions doth depend vpon the authoritie of the present Church and their reasons alleadgedare for that without the authoritie of the present Church wee neither can be assured of the certainty of Traditions and Councells nor of the sense meaning of them 2. But contrariwise the case being put as you haue heard by Turrecremata and Siluester that the Pope may doe what lyes in him to propose an heresie both Valentia and Bellarmine grant the position not to be impossible vpon condition that the heresie haue beene condemned formerly by the Church for then according to their doctrine the Church is to examin the errors of the present Pope by truthes resolued by precedent Popes So that if in all points necessarie to saluation the truth haue beene already determined by former Popes as in 1600. yeeres space they haue had leasure enough to doe it the present Pope ceaseth to bee a competent Iudge in such matters hee may erre touching them hee may doe his best indeuour to obtrude vpon the Church heresies concerning them nay hee stands himselfe to bee arrained at the barre and Tribunall of his Clergie whether he be Orthodoxe or no and that by the prescripts of his predecessors The sixt Gradation SIxtly graunt for the Person in generall that it bee the present Pope which is the Church in that no danger can accrue from the Popes propounding an heresie if that heresie haue beene formerly condemned because as they say the Church may then know him not to bee their Shepherd but a Wolfe yet is it not agreed or determined sufficiently amongst them for the meanes how the Church may bee able to iudge or truly discerne him to be such an one 1. For they which hold a Generall Councell to be aboue the Pope and that it cannot erre as Gerson Cameracensis and others aboue mentioned doe hold likewise that the Pope so erring may bee iudged both for his person and doctrine by the church in a Generall Councell 2. But they which hold a Generall Councell not to be aboue the Pope but that wanting his companie it may erre euen in matters of faith as Bellarmine Valentia Cajetan Turrecremata and others these disable any for being competent Iudges of the Popes doctrine For howsoeuer they may pretend that the Councell proceeding according to former Popes declarations cannot erre yet because they teach that the certaintie sense of former Decrees depends vpon the iudgement of the present Pope I cannot see what meanes may according to their opinion be affoorded for the triall of the Popes doctrine if he should chance to erre The seuenth Gradation SEauenthly graunt for the meanes that the Church neuer neede to passe verdict vpon the Popes doctrine yet is it not agreed vpon by them for the See whether the Popedome bee necessarily vnited to the See of Rome so that the word Roman for ought they know assuredly is not conuertible with Catholike but that he which brags he is a Roman Catholike to day may if the Pope should chance to die prooue a Geneua Catholike tomorrow 1. For Dominicus a Soto vpon the fourth of the Senten saith that the Apostolicall seate and power of vniuersall Bishop is annext to the Bishoprick of Rome onely jure Ecclesiastico that is not by the Law of God but by the Churches constitution so that by the authoritie of the Church a Bishop of another See may be chosen Pope And Bellarmine graunts that it is no matter of faith that the Apostolicall seate may not bee separated from the Church of Rome forasmuch as neither Scripture nor Tradition doe auouch it 2. But Canus Driedo Turrecremata and Gregorie de Valentia doe hold the contrarie that the Bishop of Rome is Peters successor not onely by the constitution of the Church but also by the institution of Christ though Valentia confesseth varias hac de re doctorum sententias that the opinions of the Doctors be diuers in this point The eighth Gradation EIghtly for I shall not yet leaue them graunt for the See that the Bishop of Rome bee the ordayned Successour of Peter by the institution of Christ not onely in the Popedome but also in the particular See of Rome yet is it not certayne for the particular person of this or any present Pope whether hee bee the true and lawfull Bishop of Rome or no 1. For although Gregorie de Valentia doth thinke that Gods prouidence will alwayes secure the Church of a lawfull Pope 2. Yet hee confesseth that graue Doctors doe admit the case as possible and this according to them may fall out diuers wayes First if the Pope be promoted by Simonie and that this is not impossible Aquinas affirmes it 2a. 2a. q. 100. where hee saith Papa potest incurrere vitium Simoniae sicut quilibet alius the Pope may incurre the sinne of Simonie as well as any other The which opinion Cajetan and others vpon Thomas doe follow and it is moreouer a clause in the Bull of Pope Iulius the second That if any Pope happen to be chosen simoniacally the same
suppose to bee infallible that Church being according to their supposition either the Pope in his chaire or a Generall Councell but are engaged altogether to the reports of particular Priests and Iesuites whom none will exempt from being subiect to error and deceit 2. To the second question if the exposition of the Church be not infallible how doe we know the sense and meaning of the Scriptures I answere that although all places of the Scripture are not alike perspicuous as all are not alike necessarie to saluation yet for the opening of the sense thereof so farre as is behoofefull for his Church God is the best Interpreter of his owne meaning expounding outwardly one place of the Word by another inwardly both opening ones eyes to discerne and enclining ones heart to assent vnto the truth As for those which cannot see but with the Popes spectacles and pretend the Scriptures to bee euery where throughout so ouershadowed with a mist that nothing presents it selfe cleerly to their view I wonder the lesse at them because their blindnesse is such that they cannot see to serue God without burning Tapers and lighted Candles at noone day Now on the other side I demand of them if one cannot know the certaine meaning and sense of the Scriptures vnlesse the exposition of the Church be infallible 1. Wherefore hath not the Church of Rome all this while publisht a set interpretation vpon any one book of the Bible considering that they say it is so necessarie and that the Popes Commentaries vpon it haue for so many Marts beene expected 2. How a man which cannot discerne the sense of the Scriptures in plaine places shall be able to shun the processe in infinitum and not runne his wits out of breath considering that according to the Papists themselues the voyce of the Church vttered in former Decrees requires the exposition of the present Church meaning the Pope and that the Churches Canons are inuol'd with no lesse if not more perplexeties than the Scriptures I could instance in ancient Councells as the Nicen and aske whether the sixth Canon wherein these wordes be Quoniam talis est Episcopo Romano consuetudo are to bee vnderstood according to the opinion of Ruffinus or Balsamon or Caranza or Bellarmine which foure are recounted by Bellarmine lib 2. de Rom. Pont. c. 13. But because I desire to confine my selfe to that which is pure Roman let 's cast the water of the Tridentine Synagogue and see whether that runnes so cleere as they pretend I aske therefore first touching the Canonicall bookes the number and names whereof the Fathers therein assembled were so carefull to set downe Sess 4. whether that which we call the Apocrypha Esther be there canonized as Bellarmine affirmeth lib. 1. de verbo Dei c. 7. or whether that booke and those which are called additaments bee there excluded from the Canon as Sixtus Senensis in lib. 1. 8. biblioth sanct doth auouch Secondly for the intention required by the Councell in him which administers the Sacrament Sess 7. I aske whether the wordes of the Councell be to be vnderstood according to Catharinus opinion in opusc or Bellarmines lib. 1. de Sacram in Gen. c. 27. Thirdly I aske how it comes to passe that Priscian and our old Grammarians will not serue to construe the text of the Councel if the Roman Church can endite with so perspicuous a stile but that Sess 7. Can. 8. Opus operatum must contrarie to the Grammar rules as Bellarmine confesseth lib. 2. de Sacram. c. 1. be vnderstood passiuely And that in the sixth Sess cap. 5. de iustif it is said Neque homo ipse nihil omninò agat wherein contrarie to Grammar are two negatiues expressed which cannot bee resolued into an affirmatiue Fourthly if the interpretations of the Church are so facile and easie whether was the Councell of Trents meaning concerning Originall sinne and Iustification the same that Dominicus a Soto affirms it to be or that which Ambrosius Catharinus attributes vnto it seeing both were present at the drawing of the Canons both presented books for proofe of their opinions to the Councell which are now extant and the Councell it selfe being appealed vnto could not decide the Controuersie nor agree what was her owne meaning therein To the third question if the tradition of the Church be not infallible how shall we know whether the Scriptures be perfect and entire or maimed and corrupted I answer that there is a double perfection of the Scriptures the one of integrall parts which appertaines to the perfection of each booke Chapter and verse in particular the other of essentiall parts which pertaine to the perfection of sauing knowledge If the question be of the integrall puritie and perfection how I know that there be copies of the Scriptures in the world by iudicious comparing whereof light may bee giuen to correct all manifest errors and defects crept into the Text whether by negligence or ignorance of the transcribers or otherwise I answer that I am assured thereof by the promises of God in generall to establish a perpetuitie of sauing knowledge and true beliefe in his Church and consequently by that firme foundation of his prouidence which appointing the end to witte eternall life will neuer suffer the meanes conducting thereunto either to perish or being disparaged by corruptions to become fruitlesse Neither doth Greg de Valentia run for farther proofes to secure the Popes legitimacie and salue the danger to which the Latine vulgar edition of the Bible is lyable by often impressions then this prouidence of God But if the question be of the essentiall puritie and perfection of the Scriptures how one may be assured that so much as contaynes points necesarie to saluation is preserued perfect and entire in them I answer that to resolue ones selfe herein he hath besides the generall promises of God and his neuer fayling prouidence an experimentall knowledge also springing from that amplitude of comfort and consolation which Gods Spirit effects by the Scriptures in the hearts and consciences of true beleeuers For such is the vnion and coherence of points necessarie to saluation on with the other that one workes not his proper effect where the other is not at least in some reasonable and conuenient measure knowne and beleeued Now on the contrarie I demaund of them if we cannot bee assured of the puritie and perfection of the Scriptures vnlesse the Tradition of the Church concerning it bee infallible how a man can euer bee resolued thereof from the Church of Rome Which first could neither heretofore preserue her Latine vulgar editions of the Bible which shee preferres before the originall from manifest Corruptions as may appeare by the corrections of Origen and Hierom nor at this day hath been able to Canonize any edition without permitting faults solecismes Barbarismes Misinterpretations Ambiguities Additions Substractions Transpositions Immutations Deprauations and the like which are confest by
him to speake but by writing nor that writing to bee ordinarily read and declared without an Herald The principall Iudge wee say is God himselfe from whom proceedes the knowledge of all supernaturall truths whatsoeuer The instruments whereby hee communicates them vnto vs are threefold first his Spirit whereby he speakes inwardly vnto vs both enlightning vs to behold and perswading vs to beleeue the sense and meaning of his mysteries Yet is not this a priuate spirit because it reueales not ought vnto vs besides the publicke writing nor ordinarily without the ministerie of the Church For to speake more clearely a spirit may be termed priuate Either 1. Ratione Principij in regard of the author and efficient from whence it comes 2. Ratione Subiecti in regard of the subiect or person in which it dwells 3. Ratione Medij in regard of the meanes which it vseth Now the spirit wherby we iudge of diuine truths howsoeuer it may bee termed priuate in regard of the Subiect or Person wherin it inhabites hee being haply as most men are of a priuat condition yet we allow it not to bee priuate either in regard of the meanes which it vseth which are the reading of the Scriptures publike ministerie of the Church Councells Fathers c. or in respect of the Author efficient thereof which is the Holy Ghost the common father of light and grace at which kind of spirit Saint Peter specially aymes when hee saith no Scripture is of priuate interpretation 2. Pet. 1. The second instrument whereby God declares his sentence is the Scripture which is the only outward infallible rule whereby Controuersies may be resolued and decided and is not to be accounted imperfect or vnsufficient for this purpose because all men are not able to pry forth with into the meaning thereof throughout or for that it wants vocall organs to expresse which amidst varietie of senses attributed vnto it is his owne For it promiseth not to doe this but to those who are enlightned with the spirit and which make right vse of the publike meanes as the ministerie of the Church reading of Authors comparing of places and the like Logicians telling vs that an instrument is then sayd to be sufficient not when it serues for all vses and in all manners whatsoeuer but when it serues to such an end and in such sort applyed as the principall efficient hath ordainedit as a writing is then sufficiently legeable if those which haue eyes and a will therunto can read it though to the blind and negligent it seeme otherwise The third instrument whereby God publisheth his decrees is the Church and in it the Bishops and Pastors thereof whether assembled in Councels or otherwise considered in their ordinarie ministerie This holds the place of an Herald and howsoeuer it stands not in equipage with the two former yet God hath commanded vs to heare it and promised that it shall neuer erre in fundamentall points either totally or finally So that in summe the totall and plenary indicature of matters of Faith belongs to the Holy Ghost whereby the Iudge of these things properly taken is he alone the gift of his spirit the Scriptures and the Church are but partiall instruments of promulgation seruing onely as seuerall trunkes and pipes whereby his decree arriues at the eares of our vnderstanding yet if any shall compare the outward instruments together the Church and the Scriptures and demand by which of the two it is that the Holy Ghost speakes properly as hee is iudge of Controuersies and on which wee are finally to rest for his infallible sentence I answer not the Church but the Scriptures First in respect of their dignity because the Scriptures are the immediate worke of God dictated by his Spirit Whereas the expositions of the Church proceed not immediately from God but mediating the voice of the Scriptures Secondly in respect of their certainty for the church is subiect to error the Scriptures are not Againe the truth in regard of the Scriptures is fixt and therefore easie to be there found shee being alwayes lodged in the same bookes but in regard of the Church it is Ambulatorie and therefore needes more search to discouer it there as not being entayled either to chaire place or person Thirdly in respect of the order and manner of knowing them for howsoeuer by a confused knowledge the Church may bee notior Scripturis knowen better then the Scriptures and-before them yet according to a distinct knowledge are the Scriptures notiores Ecclesia knowne better and sooner then the Church for the true Scriptures are knowne by their owne light but the true Church is not knowne but by the light of the Scriptures The conceit that the Church must be accompanied with infallibilitie if to no other end yet to make a finall end of Controuersies vpon earth is ridiculous for if they suppose a finall end of Controuersies amongst all men whatsoeuer first they suppose that which shall neuer be whilest the Church is militant vpon earth for the Apostle tells vs that there must be heresies 1. Cor. 11. Secondly they present a meanes vncompetent to compasse that which they designe by naming the Church of Rome to that office both in that she is a partie and hath not as yet cleared her title to that dignitie and in that infallibilitie in the Iudge is not sufficient to compose differences in supernaturall matters without grace in the hearer which is no coyne that comes out of the Popes treasurie nor hear be that growes in his Garden but raines from heauen where and what measure God pleaseth On the other side if more particularlie they require an end of Controuersies amongst those whom God hath elected and that so farre as is necessarie for the saluation of their soules it is needlesse to attribute infallibilitie to the Church for the seruing of this Cure because to them God supplyes the infallible assurance of his truth by meanes more excellent and agreeable to the nature of his spirituall Kingdome to wit by his Wisedome in furnishing them with a rule both able to bee knowne by its notes and characters and also sufficient to decide all necessarie questions that may at any time be incident by his Grace enabling them to see the truth and demonstrating the certaintie thereof to their consciences and by his Prouidence raising vp faithfull Pastors in one place or other to prepare open and display those verities and decisions to the flocke Many like cratchets to these and answered by the same grounds doe issue daily out of the Iesuits warehouse as for example if wee produce one place of Scripture to proue the meaning of another they bid them call vpon vs to alleadge a third place which shall say that this place ought to bee expounded by that as if wee needed a Text to proue God no lyar or that he doth not contradict himselfe If in disputing vpon any subiect we goe about to destroy their Assertion they will them
euer since the time of our Sauiour vnto this present I doe beleeue with the same faith and vpon the same grounds that I beleeue the Catholike Church because I beleeue our Church of England to be a member of the Catholike and this I beleeue a priori that is for the promise sake made in the Scriptures that it shall bee so But where our Church was before Luther or who were the Professors of it euer since the time of our blessed Sauiour vntill this present is no part of my Creed There is not a syllable in it which inuites me to proceed that way Doe I say I beleeue the vniuersalitie of Christs Church and must my foundation be such onely as can breed in me but an opinion or naked hope doe I begin in Faith and with the Galathians must I end in the flesh that is with sense Doe I build with one hand a Church Catholike which cannot bee seene and with the other must I draw it in a Map or point it out to the eye Nay set the Church as Catholike aside and consider it but in her parts which consideration of it belongs not to the Creed yet in this sense also is the Church at sometimes so obscured that by our Aduersaries owne confession none but the prudent and wise are able to discerne it The Church is I confesse compared in the Reuelation to a woman clothed with the Sunne in Isaiah to a Citie built vpon an Hill and by the Fathers to the Moone the Sunne the Moone and a Hill are things most easie to be discerned yet we know this Sunne may be obscured with a Clowd an Hill may be hid with a mist and the Moone as Saint Austen in his 119. Epist alluding to the Church obserueth hath her wanes and eclipses in the time of her peregrination SECT II. The second way whereby one may know the Church to be Catholike or Vniuersall IF any should mistake me and thinke that pressing so earnestly the preeminencie of knowing the Church to be Catholike and Vniuersall a priori that is from the promises made vnto it in the Scriptures we doe suspect our proofs a posteriori from the Professors of our Religion in all Ages to be either none or weake let them know that we want not those who haue scored out varietie of sufficient paths to proceed this way also which howsoeuer they bee not like the testimonie of our Sauiour to beget a faith yet are they like the testimonie of the Samaritan woman to induce a credulitie For not to tyre you with large discourses which were to exceed my limits onely for satisfaction herein to the reasonable and impartiall Hearer let vs take along with vs these few considerations 1. The first that we are to distinguish betweene our affirmatiues that is such things as are purely affirmed by vs and our negatiues such as in whole or in part we denie betweene which there is a great difference to be made in all sciences For affirmatiue propositions onely are the proper parts and ingredients of a discipline Negatiues are admitted say Logicians not so much by way of Precept as of Cautell and of Commentaries to vindicate the other from misconstruction 2. The second that such affirmatiues of ours as are established by our Church of England at least such as concerne the foundation of faith haue beene in all ages professed by the Church of Rome it selfe For explication whereof we are to obserue that the Popes Arithmetick which he vseth in calculating the articles of faith is not substraction but addition what wee purely affirme the Popish writers for the most part doe affirme the same the difference is that they affirme somewhat more then wee doe They denie not so much that our affirmations are truth as that they say we affirme not all the truth wherevpon they vsually stile vs in their writings Negatiuists For example sake Wee agree on both sides the Scriptures to be the Rule of Faith the Bookes of the old Testament written in Hebrew to bee Canonicall that we are iustified by Faith that God hath made two receptacles for mens soules after death Heauen and Hell that God may bee worshipped in spirit without an Image that wee are to pray vnto God by Christ that there be two Sacraments that Christ is really receaued in the Lords Supper that Christ made one oblation of himselfe vpon the Crosse for the redemption propitiation and satisfaction for the sinnes of the whole world In a word where they take the Negatiue part as in with-holding the Cup from the Laytie forbidding the administration of the Sacraments in the vulgar tongue and restrayning the marriage of Priests yet euen in these they condescend vnto vs for the lawfulnesse of the things in themselues and in respect of the Law of God and oppose them onely in regard of their necessitie and conueniencie and for that the Church of Rome hath otherwise ordayned But see our affirmations content them not To the Scriptures they adde and equalize vnwritten Traditions To the Hebrew Canon the Apocrypha To Faith in the act of Iustification Workes To Heauen and Hell Purgatorie Limbus Patrum and Limbus Puerorum To the worship of God in spirit Images To prayer to God by Christ inuocation and intercession of Saints To Baptisme and the Lords Supper fiue other Sacraments To the realitie of Christ in the Sacrament his corporall presence To the sacrifice of Christ vpon the Crosse the sacrifice in the Masse with other like and these we denie 3. The third that our affirmations by the iudgement of the Church of Rome haue beene in all ages deemed sufficient to saluation so that our Negatiues take not away any doctrine the explicit beliefe whereof is absolutely necessarie For first in regard of knowledge the Schoolemen hold that much lesse is needfull to bee explicitly beleeued then what is contayned in our affirmations For whereas wee entertayne and embrace amongst our affirmatiue articles not onely the doctrine of the three Creedes but also sundrie other assertions as may appeare by the booke of Articles and Homilies established in our Church Albertus Magnus on the contrarie with Bonauenture Richardus and Durandus thinke that so much onely of the Creed is necessarie as the Church solemnizeth in her holidayes Thomas Aquinas Scotus Gabriel Biel and Pope Adrian the sixth which goe farther thinke it needfull to beleeue but the whole Creed and Alexander ab Hales which goes farthest thinkes that one need but adde to the Apostolicall Creed the Nicen and Athanasian to make a compleat beleeuer quanquam hoc nimis durum videtur though this seemes too hard an imposition saith Gregorie de Valentia in his third Tom. vpon Thom. 1. disp although one wade no farther therein then the proper sense and haue no great distinct knowledge of the matters Nay Bellarmine is so confident in this point that he sticks not to say that the Apostles themselues neuer vsed to preach openly