That this Church of England had no dependence upon the Authority of the Church of Rome which She might not lawfully throw off and that She does not owe any Subjection to the Bishop of Rome but had just Power without asking his leave or staying for his Consent to Reform Her self And withal that the Church of Rome ought to have Reformed Her self as we have done since there were most necessary Causes for so doing the Communion of that Church being defiled with the profession of those damnable Errors and the practice of those Superstitions and Idolatries which we have done away To this purpose we challenge those of that Communion with the particulars of their Doctrine of Transubstantiation their Sacrifice of the Mass their Service in an unknown Tongue their half Communion their Worship of Images their Adoration of the Host and the rest of those Abominations whereof the Communion of that Church doth in great part Consist We acknowledge that we separated from them in these things when we Reformed our selves but in so doing we were not guilty of Schism from the Church of Rome and that if nothing else were to be said because this Church owes no Subjection to that but withal that the Causes of the Reformation being so necessary as we pretend them to be the Separation of Communion that ensued upon our being and their hating to be Reformed was on our side just and necessary upon that account also and therefore not Schismatical So that our Answer is twofold 1. That the Church of England being by no kind of Right subject to the Roman or any Forreign Bishop had full Power and Authority without asking leave of Forreigners to Reform her self And this we say would have cleared her from the Imputation of Schism if the causes of the Reformation had not been so necessary as indeed they were If before the Reformation there had been no Unlawful conditions of Communion required in the Western Churches and all the fault that could have been found in them had amounted to no more than bare Inconveniences and Imprudence in the manner of their Discipline or in ordering the outward Mode of Worship it had yet been free for the Church of England to have Reformed those lesser faults within her self though no other Church would have done the like And though for such defects remaining in other Churches abroad she ought not to have Separated from their Communion yet she might very justly and Commendably free her self from them at home But if a Forreign Church suppose that of Rome should hereupon have abstained from the Communion of this Church till we had returned to the former Inconvenient though Lawful Rites and Customs that Forreign Church had been guilty of Schism in so doing And if the Church of England not willing to part with her Liberty and to prostitute her Authority to the Usurpation of the See of Rome should have adher'd to her own Reformation she had not been guilty of the breach of Communion following that her Resolution because she had done nothing but what was within the compass of her just Power to do and in which she was not liable to be controuled by any other Church We say with St. Cyprian that the Episcopal Government of the Church ought to be but one spread abroad amongst Bishops many in number but heartily agreeing together But with the same excellent Man we say too that it is Equal that every one of them should have a part of the Flock assigned to him which he is to Govern remembring that he is to give an account of his management to God Which he said in asserting the Freedom of the African Churches from Subjection to the Roman This we think is justly applicable to our Case The Church of England is a National Church once indeed under the Usurpation of the Roman Bishop and at length rescued from that servitude we are at present United together by Common Rules for Government and Worship Consulted upon and agreed unto by the Bishops and Presbyters in Convocation and then made Laws to all the particular Churches of this Kingdom by the Authority of the Soveraign These Laws shew the Reformation of the Church And they do not want any Authority they ought to have for wanting the consent of the Roman Bishop upon whom we have neither Ecclesiastical nor Civil Dependence For if any one single Bishop of the African Church might determin Causes and judge matters of Ecclesiastical cognisance which yet was seldom done in things of moment without the advice of Collegues when the Church had rest from Persecution and this without allowing Appeals to Rome much more may the Bishops of a whose Christian Kingdom confederate together to order Church matters Independently upon the See of Rome especially being required thereunto by their Christian Soveraign to whom they all owe Subjection and Obedience in all things saving their Common Christianity So that if the Causes of the Reformation had not been so weighty as indeed they were yet considering the Authority by which it was effected our Separation from Rome thereupon ensuing was wholly Guiltless on our part it being necessary unless we would submit to the Unjust and Tyrannous Claims of a Forreign Bishop 2. To the charge of Schism laid against us by the Romanist we Answer also that the conditions of Communion required in the Roman Church were many of them Vnlawful to be submitted unto since we could not Communicate with her without professing Doctrines that are plainly contrary to Gods Word nor without doing several things that are clearly and particularly forbidden by it And since it is not in the Power of any Man or Church to dispense with our Obligations to the Laws of God we could not be obliged to preserve Communion with the Bishop of Rome and his Adherents upon those Terms But because Catholick Communion ought to be preserved they ought to have put away those Scandals from amongst themselves which since they have not done though the Separation is equal on both sides yet the Schism is not ours but theirs only And therefore we farther say that if the Corruptions of the Roman Church which God forbid should ever come to be establisht in this Church of England again by the same Authority that has abolisht them it were not only Lawful but a necessary Duty to separate from the Communion of this Church in that Case We have that Reverence of Church Authority and of the Supreme Magistrate that we will submit to their Determinations in all things wherein God has left us to our own Liberty But if they Command us to do things contrary to his Determination and to take that liberty which he has not given us we must remember that we are to obey God rather than Man We have that sense also of the mischief of Divisions and Separations and of the Duty of maintaining Church-Communion that if the Laws of God be but observed we are not only ready to comply
to require nothing in the Communion of Christians but what is agreeable to Gods Word and Lawful to be done And on the other side that in such things we ought to do what is Commanded and by no means to run into a Separate Communion Upon these principles we departed from Rome and stick where we are and I trust that through the Grace of God we shall neither go back to Rome nor run after the Separation there being no need either of the former to preserve Vnity or of the later to avoid Tyranny To draw to a conclusion of this matter The main Reason of our Separation from Rome was this that we could not continue in her Communion without doing things that God hath plainly forbidden The Reformation of our Church was at first effected by and hath all along stood upon Good and Just Authority She does not only hold forth all necessary means of Salvation but she requires nothing to be done in her Communion that is contrary to Gods Word And therefore we hold our selves bound under the pain of Schism to continue in her Communion Now I do not understand how upon these principles Men must run into Endless Separations unless it be impossible for us whatever we pretend to know who are our Lawful Governours and to know what God hath Commanded and what he hath Forbidden us to do And I must confess if these things be Impossible to be known 't is a Foolish thing for any Man to trouble his Conscience with Cases of Communion and Separation As for the Dissenters to omit the Independents whose Churches are in their very Constitution inconsistent with Submitting to a Common Authority in matters of Worship they have forsaken us for nothing but because the Forms of our Worship or our two or three Ceremonies in it are not Commanded in Gods Word and because in things left otherwise to our Liberty we are determined by the Authority of our Superiors Or because these things might be better ordered and because the Communion which they have taken upon them to set up in Opposition to the Church of England is purer than ours though ours be a Lawful Communion Now these principles do indeed tend to Endless Separations unless these Men could tell us either how we could be United in one Communion though all of us believed it Vnlawful to Obey a Competent Authority that should presume to determin any Indifferent things relating to Gods Worship or what particular Communion that is from which it would be Vnlawful to Separate even upon this principle That there is no Obligation to Communion where there is any thing possible to be mended in the outward mode of Gods Worship In a Word they that Separate upon Just and Necessary cause as the Church of England hath done from the Church of Rome and stop there are not to be charged with the consequence of their practice who Separate without such Causes as the Dissenters do from our Church And if they have proceeded farther than they are able to justify themselves by the principles of our Reformation they must Answer for it themselves 2. The principles of our Reformation do not obstruct our Communion with any true Church of Christ abroad where there are no Unlawful Terms of Communion But so do the principles of the Dissenters Separation By the same reason that our Governours determin one Common order of Worship and Discipline for the Churches over which they have Authority The Governours of other Churches also may determin in these things according to their Prudence for the People subject to their Authority And we who blame the Church of Rome for interposing her Authority amongst us with whom she has no more Right to meddle than any other Forreign Church has must in all things that come within the Liberty of Christians leave other Churches that are as Independent upon Vs as we are upon Rome to their Authority and Liberty And this is what our Church has expresly declared In these our doings we condemn not other Nations nor prescribe any thing but to our own People only for we think it convenient that every Country should use such Ceremonies as they shall think best to the setting forth of Gods Honor and Glory and to the reducing of the People to a most Perfect and Godly living without Error or Superstition and that they should put away other things which from time to time they perceive to be most abused as in Mens Ordinances it often chanceth diversly in divers Countries In pursuance of which excellent and truly Catholick Declaration I would not only Communicate with Foreign Churches who differ from us in nothing but matters of From and Ceremony but if I were amongst them I should observe their Establish'd Modes and Forms of Worship and though I thought our own way at home worthy upon all the accounts of Order and Decency and Tendency to Edification to be preferred before theirs yet I should not only conform to their way but Religiously abstain from creating any prejudice against it in the minds of Christian People in those places and rather do all that Honestly I could to bring those to a favourable Opinion of it who were prejudiced against it This is that Rule which St. Austin thought should take place not only in respect of those Orders which were Establish'd by Synods of Bishops but in respect also of those Customs which had crept into particular Churches though it was hard to tell why or how they came in In things of this Nature saith he there is one most wholesom Rule to be observed That wherever we see any of them obtain which are neither contrary to Faith nor good Manners and have some tendency to Edification we should not only abstain from finding fault with them but Commend and Practise them our selves And yet he complains in this very Epistle of the multitude of Ceremonious Observations in which particular Churches differed from one another and wishes that a Reformation were made by Authority Thus in the foregoing Epistle speaking of the different observations of divers places for Instance that some fast upon the Saturday and some do not c. and of all other things of this kind which are to be accounted Indifferent Nothing says he does more become the Gravity and Prudence of a Christian then to do after the manner of that Church into which he shall happen to come Then he relates St. Ambrose his celebrated Answer to Monica about things of this sort When I am at Rome I Fast on the Saturday when I am here at Milan I do not Fast And so when thou comest into any Church observe its Customs if thou wouldest neither give just Cause of Offence nor take Offence without Cause This advice St. Austin magnified highly and the more he thought of it the better he liked it For says he I have often with great sorrow considered how the minds of Weak Christians have been disturbed by the
with which they agree in the Substance of Faith and Worship and from differing with Authority for the future about things Indifferent The Cause of the Separation as it is managed by themselves is so very Slight that one would hope they should be of themselves something afraid to venture their being Schismaticks upon it and consequently that they should be ready to consider what has been said to shew that there is indeed no Just Cause given them to Separate from our Church and that there is no Reason to call any thing Popery which they dislike in our Communion as some of them have done to the great disadvantage of the Protestant Religion since as much as in them lay they have made the World believe that the Cause of Popery is better than it is and that it doth not consist only of Opinions and Practices that cannot be defended but of some also that may And it is not the least kindness that the indiscreet Zeal of some Protestants hath done to the Church of Rome that they have inveighed against some things which may be easily justified as if they also were Popish Corruptions And the Learned Men of that Church have not been behind hand in making use of this advantage and that by straining their utmost Wit to represent the Protestant Religion under such Colours as if it stood in Opposition to Episcopacy and Liturgy and to all Ecclesiastical Canons and Constitutions And I am perswaded the Dissenters cannot do the Protestant Religion a greater kindness than by forbearing to give them this occasion for the Future For let a Cause be never so good in it self it is never likely to thrive in their hands who instead of pressing their Adversaries with what they can never maintain are still forward to deny what they are well able to prove As for the Papists amongst us their mistakes in Faith and Worship are so Gross and Foul that if they would give themselves a little time to Consider what has and what may farther be said to convince them I do not doubt but all of them that are endued with a Competent Understanding and an Honest Sense of things would soon feel those palpable Errors into the belief and practise of which they have been hitherto deluded by an unreasonable deference to the Authority of the Church of Rome and no longer stand off from the Communion of the Church of England The bigger any fault is one would think it should be more easily spied Now these Men Separate from us meerly because we have abandoned those wicked Doctrines and Practices which are of themselves a most necessary Cause of Separation from any Church in the World that should Impose them And therefore they of all Men are the most Notorious Schismaticks that can be imagined And I beseech God to open their Eyes to see it and to recover into the way of Truth all such as have Erred and are Deceived that those who have hitherto been obstinate may prove all things and that those who can be perswaded to Consider these things may hold fast that which is good Rom. 15. 5 6. And the God of Patience and Consolation grant us to be like minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus That We may with one Mind and one Mouth Glorify God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Amen FINIS ERATA Page 18. line 18. for Term read Form p. 15. l. 31. for cppear r. appear p. 25. l. 27. r. l Cor. 14. Ad Antonianum Ep. 52. Ad Cornclium Ep. 55. Case on behalf of Diss P. 5. P. 17. P. 16. 17. P. 9. P. 20. c. Case on behalf of Diss P. 2. P. 3. P. 3. Case P. 29 30. Case in behalf of Dissenters P. 2. P. 3. P. 36. P. 3. Preface to the Liturgy Ad Januarium Ep. 119. Ep. 118. Ad Casulanum Ep. 86. Ep. 86. Ep. 119. Lactant. lib 2. De Origine Erroris Sect. 7. 1 Thess 5. 21.
his Soul to look to it that the Cause of his Separation be Just For this is one of those Cases wherein a meer Perswasion of Conscience will not secure a Man acting according to it from sinning against God And from hence it is evident that this Plea that we cannot in Conscience hold Communion with the Church of Rome may in our mouths be a very good Plea against the Papists as without question it is if our Consciences are rightly informed as to the Points controverted between them and us But the same Plea in the mouths of the Dissenters against the Church of England may not be good as most certainly it is not if they are perswaded that our Church hath given them just Cause for their Separation when there is indeed no such matter And therefore we may at least hope that they will all of them now seriously apply themselves to consider the merits of the Cause between them and us which they are now in an especial manner bound to do since the Charity of the Ministers of this City hath made the doing of it easie to all Persons that will be at the Pains to Judge for themselves and that by bringing down the particular Questions in Controversy between them and us to the Capacity of Ordinary Christians And if they will not use this Opportunity that is given them to Consider these things they will have the more to Answer to God and they most of all that disswade them from it To conclude this Point whereas the Papists declaim against our Separation from them under pretence of Conscience as if this had shewn the way to all sorts of Sectaries to Separate from us upon the same pretence We hope that all Persons who are not willing to be deceived will be able to Distinguish between a misguided Conscience on the one hand and a well Informed Conscience on the other and then proceed to examine the Reasons of our Separation whether they be not Just and Necessary and if they find them so to be that they will acquit us from all their blame who Separate without such Reasons For it is very Foolish and unjust not to allow the pretence of Conscience to be good in any Case because it is not so in all Cases Surely if one Mans Conscience tell him that he may and ought to Rebel while himself does not believe that 't is Rebellion he is going about this hinders not but another Man may Lawfully and justly pretend Conscience for his Loyalty and Duty to the Government And though in some Places of the World there are Sovereign Princes who extend their Authority for the maintaining of Damnable Errors and the suppressing of Gods Holy Truth and all the while believe that they use their Power as they ought to do yet this shall not hinder but that Princes who believe and profess the true Religion and withal protect and encourage it with their Authority as much as they can being fully perswaded that so they ought to do that they I say shall for this receive Gods thanks and rewards while the former shall go without them In like manner Conscience may be pretended for Disobeying the just Laws of that Authority which God hath set in the World and in the Church but this shall not hinder his Plea from being good who pretends Conscience for refusing to Commit Idolatry though all the Powers under Heaven should require him so to do Men may by mistake think they do God good Service in murdering his Servants For this has been done by you of the Church of Rome And if in such Plain Cases as these your understandings have been so foully Corrupted it is not so greatly to be wondred at that the Judgments of other Men are so perverted by Interest and Passion as to believe themselves Countermanded by God in things required by their Superiors but in which it would not be their Sin but a Performance of their Duty to obey And yet I hope this Answer whether it be better to Obey God or Man Judge ye was once Truly and Pertinently made and may be so again And so much for the Difference of the Case with respect to Conscience which was the last thing to be considered And now I know that all this will signify very little to any Man that brings not an honest mind with him to Consider it or who had rather take his Opinions in these things upon Trust than be at the Pains to Judge for himself But why should a Man disparage himself so much as not to use that Understanding which God hath given him in matters that Concern his Salvation Why should he be such an Enemy to himself as not to let go a Dangerous mistake when he may enjoy the Truth instead of it if he will use Reasonable Diligence to Consider what is said on both sides Give me leave to put you in mind of your Duty in this Case in the Words of an Ancient Christian Writer In all matters of Practice and Duty it Concerns every Man to use his own Judgment and Discretion in searching for Truth and in weighing what is fit to be done rather then to be betrayed into Error and Sin by such a Credulous reliance upon others as if himself had not the Reason of a Man and were incapable of Consideration God has given to every Man his share of Wit both to find out some things by himself and to weigh those which he hears from others 'T is Natural to all men to love Wisdom and to desire the Knowledge of the Truth And they make Fools of themselves who without Discretion take the Words of their Leaders for all that they say and follow them more like Beasts than like Reasonable Creatures which words are not so to be taken as if it were Dishonourable or Dangerous to any Man to make use of the help of others in Learning the Truth For this were to destroy the use of the Ministry in the Church of Christ and to take away the benefit of mutual endeavours to lead one another into a right Understanding of our Duty But for all this it may be a very Foolish and Unmanly part and it may betray us into very Dangerous Errors not to use our own Judgment at all in matters of Sin and Duty and in Opinions leading to the one or the other but instead thereof to rely altogether upon their Authority whom we have taken for our Guides This is what we say both to the People of the Popish and of the Dissenting Party that if they would apply themselves with Ordinary Diligence and with a sincere mind to find out the Truth in thse Cases they would not meet with any great Difficulty to Perplex them in the way especially if they whose Authority they very much rely upon would speak as plainly and clearly to the Points in Question as without Vanity I may say we have hitherto done We do not desire them to stop their Ears against those
whom they follow at present All that we beg of them is that they would not take every thing upon Trust that others tell them in these matters but hear what we also have to offer to them and not only hear but consider and weigh it with the best Judgment they have And let me say this to all those whom I now speak of whether Papists or Dissenters that if you set your selves with a sincere desire of being rightly Informed to compare our Reasons with them whom hitherto you have trusted some Advantage you will gain by it whatever the Success be For if the Truth be not on our side you will in all likelihood get this benefit by it to be Confirmed in your own way upon better grounds than you had before But if it be it is then to be hoped that through the Grace of God you will discorn it and entertain it for which blessing you and we shall have great reason to yield our hearty Thanks and Praises to the Father of Lights who giveth Wisdom to them that ask him But if you should be so unhappily Prejudiced on the wrong side as to miss this benefit yet let me tell you it will turn to some good account for you at last that you took Pains to be better informed and that you were not altogether wanting to your selves to come to a right Understanding of your Duty in these Particulars by disposing your selves to Impartiality and by Reading and Meditating and Praying in all this for the Illumination of Gods Holy Spirit And now I trust there is little need to tell you that if your Leaders discourage you from taking this pains it may justly make you suspect that your Cause will not bear the Trial. If they would keep up your Confidence by their own and all the while divert you from comparing one thing with another and from trying what is said on both sides you have sufficient Cause to Question either their Honesty or their Understanding And the more unwilling they are that you should examin what we and they say the more Reason do they give you to resolve that you will do so I have shewn how greatly different the Case of the True English Protestant is from that of the Papist on the one hand and that of the Separatist on the other And though the difference be so very notorious as it is yet we know the Popish Priests have represented our Reformation under such Colours as to make it look like Fanaticism and the Dissenters are made to believe on the other hand that our Reformation is but a better sort of Popery And some little popular things are said on both sides to make these pretences look like Truth But now I have brought these Colours into the Light and if you will but take upon your selves to use your own Eyes you may I think easily discern that you have been all this while abused At least I have given you Reason enough to make farther Inquiries and to Consider more particular Questions But if upon Reading this general Discourse you should resolve to keep where you are and to trouble your selves no farther I am Confident the true Reason thereof must be this that you are afraid to proceed lest you should be convinced and this is nothing less than Wilfully to bar up your minds against the Knowledge of the Truth For though I have no conceit of this performance as if I had done any great matter in it yet I am Conscious to my self that I intended honestly all along and I am sure I have Written plainly and have laid some things together that may give just occasion to any well meaning Papist or Sectary to Question the safety of the way he is in at present especially if he has never troubled himself to Consider these things before And now I do heartily desire you all for I cannot desire this too often or too earnestly that you would take the Word of God for your Rule and propound the Rewards of another Life for your end and set the Fear of God before your Eyes whilest you Consider and Examin these things It is our concern for the safety of your Souls as well as for the Welfare of this Poor Church so distressed with Adversaries on both sides that putteth us forward upon all occasions to lay these things before you Do not therefore Read these Books which are indeed publisht for your sakes as if they were Written against you There is not one of us I am Confident but is troubled to see you expose your selves to the penalties of the Laws of the Land that are against you But we are more sorry to consider that at the same time you do also incur the high displeasure of God We would sain have you to avoid both the one and the other And if you would hearken to us the worst you would get by it is to live with less Disturbance in this World but whether that should prove true or not you would walk in a more Safe and Plain way to Heaven than that which any of you are in at present And I hope you would not grudge that good which this Church should receive by your return to us when you would do your selves so much more by it If therefore you think our Importunity troublesom pray remember what it is that makes us Importunate and let no misconstruction of the Design of your Friends render their honest endeavours Ineffectual to your conviction We would have you understand the Truth and do your Duty And as this end is Charitable so you must needs grant those means to be Charitable also by which we are contributing towards it It is indeed our Concern that these means should take place but it is yours something more if you are under great and dangerous mistakes as I am perswaded you are But if you should be so prejudiced against us as to think that we Write these Controversies more in Concern for the Temporal Interests of this Church than for your Spiritual Good Pray will you make this profitable use of that hard thought as to excel us in this matter by being more careful not to mix any Carnal and Worldly affection with your Judgment in Reading these things then you imagine us to be in Writing of them Be as strict as you will in Examining what we say in behalf of our Church only be willing that Truth should Overcome and Consider that if that prevails against your Errors you indeed are the Conquerours and that the greatest Gain will be yours both in this World and in the World to come I have no mind to prejudge which Party it is that we may hope to win more of to the Truth than of the other being very willing to believe that there is no Cause of despairing to do good on either side As for the Dissenters methinks it should not be hard to disswade the most of them from breaking the Communion of that Church any longer