of whose Authority was never any doubt in the Church viz. Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalmes Proverbs Ecclesiastes Solomons Song Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi And the other Books as Hierom saith the Church doth Read for Example of Life and Instruction of Manners All the Books of the New Testament as they are commonly Received we do Receive and Account them Canonical The Presbyterians Under the Name of Holy Scripture or the Word of God Written are now Contain'd all the Books of the Old and New Testament which are these Genesis c. just as the Church of England reckons them All which are given by Inspiration to be the Rule of Faith and Life The Books commonly called Apocrypha not being of Divine Inspiration are no part of the Canon of the Scripture and therefore are of no Authority in the Church of God nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other Humane Writings The Authority of the Holy Scripture for which it ought to be Believ'd and Obey'd dependeth not upon the Testimony of any Man or Church but wholly upon God who is Truth it self the Author thereof and therefore it is to be Receiv'd because it is the Word of God We may be mov'd and induc'd by the Testimony of the Church to an High and Reverend esteem of the Holy Scriptures And the Heavenliness of the Matter the Efficacy of the Doctrine the Majesty of the Stile the Consent of all the Parts the Scope of the whole which is to give all Glory to God the full Discovery it makes of the only way of Mans Salvation the many other incomparable Excellencies and the entire Perfection thereof are Arguments whereby it doth abundantly Evidence it to be the Word of God yet notwithstanding our full Perswasion and Assurance of the Infallible Truth and Divine Authority thereof is from the Inward Work of the Holy Spirit bearing Witness by and with the Word in our Hearts The whole Council of God concerning all things necessary for his own Glory Mans Salvation Faith and Life is either expresly set down in Scripture or by good and necessary Consequence may be deduc'd from Scripture unto which nothing at any time is to be added whether by New Revelations of the Spirit or Tradition of Men nevertheless we do acknowledge the Inward Illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are Revealed in the Word and that there are some Circumstances concerning the Worship of God and Government of the Church Common to Humane Actions and Societies which are to be ordered by the Light of Nature and Christian prudence according to the general Rules of the Word which are always to be observed The Old Testament in Hebrew which was the Native Language of the People of God of old and the New Testament in Greek which at the time of the Writing of it was most generally known to the Nations being immediately inspir'd by God and by his singular Care and Providence kept pure in all Ages are therefore Authentical so as in all Controversies of Religion the Church is finally to Appeal to Them But because these Original Tongues are not known to all the People of God who have Right unto and Interest in the Scriptures and are Commanded in the Fear of God to Read and Search them Therefore they are to be Translated into the Vulgar Language of every Nation unto which they come that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all they may Worship him in an acceptable manner and through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures may have hope The Infallible Rule of the Interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture it self and therefore when there is a question about the true and full Sense of any Scripture which is manifold but one it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly The Supream Judge by which all Controversies of Religion are to be Determined and all Decrees of Councils Opinions of Ancient Writers Doctrines of Men and Private Spirits are to be examined and in whose Sentence we are to rest can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture The Papists The Decree of the Council of Trent touching the Canonical Scriptures Session the Fourth The Holy Oecumenical and General Tridentine Council lawfully Congregated in the Holy Spirit the three Legats of the Apostolick See presiding therein considering That the Purity of the Gospel as to Truth and Discipline is contained in Books Written and in Traditions not Written which received by the Apostles from the Mouth of Christ himself or by the Apostles by the Dictates of the Holy Ghost delivered as from Hand to Hand have come down even unto us following the Example of the Fathers does with an equal Affection of Piety and like Reverence receive and regard as well all the Books of the Old and New Testament since one God is Author of both as such Traditions pertaining either to Faith or Manners the same being dictated either Orally by Christ or by the Holy Spirit and Conserv'd by a continual Succession in the Catholick Church and as touching the Books of Holy Scripture that none may doubt which they are which by this Sacred Synod are received an Index of them is annexed and they are as follows Of the Old Testament five Books of Moses that is Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth Four Books of Kings under that name they include the two Books of Samuel two of Chronicles the first of Esdras and the Second which is called Nehemias Tobias Judith Esther Job David's Psalter of 150 Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes the Canticles Wisdom Ecclesiasticus Isaiah Jeremiah with Baruch Ezekiel Daniel Twelve lesser Prophets viz. Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonas Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechary and Malachi and the First and Second of the Maccabees Of the New Testament the Four Evangelists Matthew Mark c. as we reckon them And if any Person shall not receive all the said whole Books with all their Parts as they have wont to be read in the Catholick Church and as they are in the old Vulgar Latin Edition for Sacred and Canonical or knowingly shall contemn the aforesaid Traditions Let him be Anathema or Accursed And the said Sacred Council does also Appoint and Declare That the said old Vulgar Latin Edition which hath by the long use of so many Ages been approved of in the Church shall in all publick Readings Disputations Preachings and Expositions be esteemed Authentick And that none on any pretence whatsoever shall dare or presume to Reject the same And for the restraining of wanton Wits does likewise Decree That no one Person leaning on his own Prudence shall in matters of Faith and Manners pertaining to
Edification of the Christian Doctrine wresting the Scripture to his own Senses dare to interpret the Holy Scripture contrary to the Sense which Holy Mother Church whose Right it is to Judge of the true Sense of Sacred Scriptures hath held or doth hold or against the unanimous Consent of the Fathers though even such Interpretations be never intended to be Publisht Thus the very Words of that pretended Council wherewith agrees Bellarmine de Verbo Dei lib. 1. cap. 7 8 and 9. whereby it plainly appears That the Church of Rome not only Adds to Gods Word Six whole Books besides several parts of Books As the Epistle of Jeremiah the 13 and 14 Chapters of Daniel The Song of the three Children added to the 3d. of Daniel and an Appendix to the Third Chapter of Hester beginning v. 10. all which are in the Vulgar Latin more than the Church of England receives and holds her Accursed for not receiving them but also prefers the Vulgar Latin Edition the most Corrupt and Imperfect Edition extant before the original Texts in Hebrew and Greek And binds up all Christians to interpret Scripture in her own Sense and according to her Pleasure Nor is it any wonder That they should thus treat these Sacred Oracles if we Consider what Esteem they have of them This very Council you see accounts them Imperfect and not a sufficient Rule of Faith and Manners without Traditions and equals Traditions with them declaring They are to be received pari pietatis affectu reverentiâ with the very same Reverence and Pious Affection But the Council was subtlely modest For their Doctors cannot forbear to load the Word of God with Reproaches Scripturae sunt muti judices sunt veluti nasus quidam Cereus The Scriptures are dumb Judges and but like a Nose of Wax says Pighius de Ecclesia pag. 89 90. And Eccius calls them a Black Gospel and Inky Divinity Nor is Cardinal Bellarmine less hold For he maintains Scripturas sine Traditionibus nec simpliciter necessarias nec sufficienter Finem proprium praecipuum non fuisse ut esset Regula Fidei De Verbo Dei l. 4. cap. 4. and 12. That the Scriptures are not simply necessary nor sufficient without Traditions and that their proper and chief end was not That they should be a Rule of Faith And Eccius in his Enchiridion is very positive That the Scripture is not Authentick but by the Authority of the Church wherewith agrees Azorius Instit Mor. Part 2. l. 5. cap. 24. Scriptura Canonica non Agnoscitur aut habetur nisi Ecclesiae Authoritate probetur The Scripture is not own'd or esteem'd Canonical unless it be approved by the Authority of the Church In a Word nothing is more Common in the Works of Popish Authors than such Titles as these Of the Insufficiency of the Obscurity and of the Vncertainty of the Scripture c. Nor have their Practices been unsuitable For in the Bohemian Persecutions between the Years 1620 and 1630 the Papists were wont to say The Scriptures were the Fountain of Heresy and thereupon Nick-nam'd the Bible Wiblia which in the Bohemian Language signifies Vomit A thousand Bibles they burnt and destroyed some at the Market place as was done at Fulneck others brought them in Carts without the Walls as was done at Zalicum and Frutnovia others brought them in heaps to the Gallows as at Hadritium and so in great heaps burnt them The like was done in the Irish Massacre in 41. A plague on 't that damn'd Book has done all the Mischief said some of those Bloody Tories Nor do our English Papists want any thing but an Opportunity to Act the like Villanies For their Principle and Malice is the same as appears by one of their English Pamphlets Intituled The Reconciler of Religions Printed Anno 1663 and Dedicated to one Mr. Lawrence Dibusty Merchant of London in p. 26. we have these Words The Protestants and Sectaries saith he you see he makes no differencen the Case between the Church of England and Dissenters dash out for Apocrypha whole Books as Tobias Judith Ecclesiasticus Wisdom Maccabees Baruch c. whole Chapters as the 13 and 14 of Daniel from the 10 to the 16 of Esther Whole Histories as that of Susanna and the Elders of Bell and the Dragon c. All which the Vniversal Church of God receiveth for Authentical Holy and Canonical And thereupon p. 41. he concludes thus As the Protestant Bible is 't is no more the Word of God than is the Alchoran or Aesops Fables yea it is worse than Aesops Fables it 's a Diabolical Invention and an Heretical Labour and a Sacrilegious Instrument to Deceive and Damn all such poor Souls as Believe it and therefore worthy to be burnt with Fire in the middle of the Market at Noon and let all the People say Amen So be it I give you exactly his Words wherein you have the true Spirit of Popery others may politickly mince the Matter but this is their general Sentiment and accordingly they practice beyond the Seas where to have a Bible in the Vulgar Tongue is Capital And where is now the Man that hath the least Spark of Grace or Modesty that would rather be a Papist than a Presbyterian The seventh Article of the Church of England Of the Old Testament THE Old Testament is not contrary to the New For both in the Old and New Testament Everlasting Life is offered to Mankind by Christ who is the only Mediatour between God and Man being both God and Man wherefore they are not to be heard which feign that the Old Fathers did look only for Transitory Promises Although the Law given from God by Moses as touching Ceremonies and Kites do not bind Christian Men nor the Civil precepts thereof ought for necessity to be received in any Common-Wealth yet notwithstanding no Christian Man whatsoever is free from the Obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral The Presbyterians The Substance of this Article is Asserted and at large Explained and Proved by Calvin in the Second Book of his Institutions cap. 7. 9 10 and 11. too tedious here to Recite The Papists Two Clauses of this Article are Contradicted by the Papists First That of Christs being the only Mediatour between God and Man For they Assign Angels and Saints to be also Mediators and especially the Virgin Mary and pray to them accordingly But of this see more Article the 18 and 31. Secondly Whereas 't is said no Christian Man is free from the Obedience of the Commandements which are called Moral we know the Pope pretends he can dispense with the Moral-Law c. For we find in his Canon-Law Caus 15. q. 6. cap. 2. Auctoritatum in the Glosse are these Words Contra jus Naturale potest dispensare contra Apostolum The Pope can dispense against the Law of Nature and against the Apostles The eighth Article of the Church of England Of the three Creeds THE three Creeds
the Church of England Of Homilies THE Second Book of Homilies the several Titles whereof we have joined under this Article doth contain a godly and wholesom Doctrine and necessary for these times as doth the former Book of Homilies which were set forth in the time of Edward the Sixth and therefore we judge to be read in Churches by the Ministers diligently and distinctly as they may be understood by the People Of the Names of the Homilies Of the right use of the Church Against peril of Idolatry c. The Presbyterians Do generally own the Truth of these Homilies nor do utterly disallow their being read in publick Assemblies provided it tend not to occasion Sloath and neglect of Gifts and the Divine assistance in Ministers nor hinder the greater Edification which the People might reap by the Word Preached unto them The Papists Do utterly Condemn a very great part of the Doctrine contained in these Homilies too tedious here to enumerate But the same will appear to any one that reads them and is at all acquainted with Popish Tenets The six and thirtieth Article of the Church of England Of Consecration of Bishops and Ministers THE Book of Consecration of Archbishops and Bishops and ordering of Priests aud Deacons lately set forth in the time of Edward the Sixth and confirmed at the same time by Authority of Parliament doth contain all things necessary to such Consecration and ordering neither hath it any thing that of it self is Superstitious and Ungodly And therefore whoever are Consecrated or Ordered according to the Rites of that Book since the second year of the afore-named King Edward unto this time or hereafter shall be Consecrated or Ordered according to the same Rites we Decree all such to be rightly lawfully and orderly Consecrated and Ordered The Presbyterians Do not deny the Ordination of the Church of England to be in it self lawful so as to esteem all those so Ordained not to be lawful Ministers of Christ The Papists Whoever taketh upon him to Preach to Administer the Sacraments c. and is not ordered by a true Catholick Bishop to be a Curate of Souls Parson Bishop c. is a Thief and Murderer of Souls Rhem. Annot. on John 10. 1. 1. Protestant Ministers and Preachers have no due mission For all their mission from the beginning of their Reformation was either the Inspiration of a Spirit they know not what or the Commission of a Child Edward the Sixth whom they called Supream Head of the Church and from whose Kingly Power all Jurisdiction as well Ecclesiastical as Civil they affirm'd did flow See Fox Tom. 2. anno 1546 in King Edward the Sixth Or the Letters Patents of a Woman Queen Elizabeth to whom they were pleas'd to Attribute the like Superiority and Power See Statut. anno primo Elizab. cap. 1. or the Illicite and Invalid ordination or mission of or by one Story an Apostate Monk who Ordained their first Bishops at the Nags-head in Cheapside in Q. Eliz. time See Christopherus de Sacro Bosco if they have any better let them prove it in the mean time let them know we value not a Straw Masons old new Records produc'd in the year 1613 which was a matter of 50 years after the thing now mentioned was Sacrilegiously and Invalidly done and most disgracefully and shamefully cryed down but those could not give them any Spiritual Authority Power or right to Preach For according to that received Maxim of the Law no Man can give more Right than he himself hath Cook l. 1. Therefore c. 2. Moreover a Bishop is to be Ordained by two or three Bishops Counc Apostol Can. 1. And a Priest and likewise a Deacon and the rest of the Clergy by a Bishop Ibid. Can. 2. Conc. Trid. Sess 23. Can. 7. But this Apostolical and needful manner of ordination or mission they never yet had For they rejected it quite and brought in an Heretical fashion in its stead in Edward the Sixths time Neither if they were willing could they have For as I said before their Bishops from the beginning of their Reformation had no other Ordination Consecration or Mission than the Commission of the King or Queens Pleasure For the Sacrilegious Illicite and invalid Ordination of or by Story which was the first pretended Holy mission of Protestants in England and from whence they hitherto derive their orders it was not worth a straw witness the fore mentioned Canons of the Apostolica Council c. And consequently their pretended Holy Orders thence derived are not worth a Pins Head Therefore they are not true Preachers what are they then Forsooth Intruders Wolves and Murderers Sons of Belial false Prophets and Priests of Baal which is their Heresie Rebellion and Stubbornness against the Church Thus that railing Rabshekah but the falsity of all such clamours was long since demonstrated by the Learned Mason in his Treatise of the Ordination of Bishops and Priests in the Church of England The seven and thirtieth Article of the Church of England Of the Civil Magistrate THE Kings Majesty hath the chief Power in this Realm of England and other his Dominions unto whom the chief Government of all Estates of this Realm whether they be Civil or Ecclesiastical in all Causes doth appertain nor is not nor ought to be Subject to any Forreign Jurisdiction where we attribute to the Kings Majesty the chief Government by which Titles we understand the minds of some dangerous Folks to be offended He give not to our Princes the Ministring of Gods Word or of the Sacraments the which thing the In junctions also lately set forth by Eliz. our Queen do most plainly testifie But that only Prerogative which we les to have been goven always to all Godly Princes in Holy Scriptures by God himself that is that they should rule all Estates and Degrees committed to their Charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and restrain with the Civil Sword the stubborn and Evil doers The Bishop of Rome hath no Jurisdiction in this Realm of England The Laws of the Realm may punish Christian Men with Death for hainous and grievous Offences It is lawful for Christian Men at the Commandement of the Magistrate to wear Weapons and serve in the Wars The Presbyterians God the Supream Lord and King of all the World hath Ordained Civil Magistrates to be under him over the People for his own Glory and the publick good and to this end hath armed them with the power of the Sword for the defence and incouragement of them that are good and for the punishment of Evil doers The Civil Magistrate may not assume to himself the Administration of the Word and Sacraments or the power of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven yet he hath Authority and it is his duty to take order that Unity and Peace be preserv'd in the Church and that the Truth of God be kept pure and intire that all Blasphemies and