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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A46367	The pastoral letters of the incomparable Jurieu directed to the Protestants in France groaning under the Babylonish tyranny, translated : wherein the sophistical arguments and unexpressible cruelties made use of by the papists for the making converts, are laid open and expos'd to just abhorrence : unto which is added, a brief account of the Hungarian persecution.; Lettres pastorales addressées aux fidèles de France qui gémissent sous la captivité de Babylon. English	Jurieu, Pierre, 1637-1713.	1689 (1689)	Wing J1208; ESTC R16862	424,436	670

Church or to speak better that the Church shall never fall into any Error Not at all For if one say to a Prince I will take care that your Enemies shall never prevail upon you that will not necessarily signifie that the Enemy shall never have any Victory upon him or gain any considerable advantage against him Altho this Prince should lose some Villages yea and some Provinces yet if the gross and capital parts of his Empire always subsist notwithstanding he would have the accomplishment of the promise made unto him Provided therefore that the Church subsist in all Ages altho corrupt provided that the Fundamentals of Christianity remain throughout in their integrity the promise the gates of hell shall not prevail against it hath its accomplishment But your Converters will tell you these words signifie not so for they signifie that the Church can never fall into any Error Answer them That is the thing that is in question between you and me But who shall judge for us concerning the sense of these words It must not be you for you are a party and who can better judge than Scripture and Experience Now 't is clear by the Scripture that the sense of these words the gates of hell shall never prevail against the Church is not that the Church shall never suffer any considerable Errors in its Faith. All the Holy Scripture affirms the contrary It complains sometimes that the ancient Church was become idolatrous and had served other gods It foretels in express words that the Christian Church should corrupt it self That grievous wolves should enter into the fold not sparing the flock That there would be perilous times in which there would be an Apostacy from the Faith and seducing Spirits would teach Doctrines of Devils That Antichrist the son of perdition should sit in the Temple and in the Church of God. That the Church should be hid and as in a desart for the space of one thousand two hundred and sixty prophetick days that is one thousand two hundred and sixty years That when the Son of Man shall come he shall not find faith nor love among Men. That false Prophets and false Christs shall arise and deceive many To conclude for one Text by which it may be proved that the Church cannot err we can produce an hundred that do affirm that false Teachers should introduce Errors there-into Let us leave the Scriptures and pass to Experience and see whether the Church hath not actually erred It is proved clearly that she hath erred because she hath established a Worship directly opposite to that pure and simple Worship the Model whereof is found in the New Testament viz. of Images of Saints and Saintesses of a second sort of Mediators of Masses Sacrifices and a hundred other things that have not the least shadow of appointment there Let us return to our Text The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church It is disputed whether this Text doth signifie that the Church can never Err in any wise or whether it signifies that the foundations and fundamental verities of the Church can never be overturned In truth the last sense is that of Jesus Christ And all that can be granted to the Papists is that they are capable of the other But is it not very clear that we ought to chuse the latter seeing the Holy Scripture and experience determines us thereunto by a manner wholly invincible It is true and we see it that by a singular Providence God hath not permitted the Foundations of Christianity to be subverted in any of the Christian Communions all receive the Creeds of the Apostles Nice Constantinople yea even that attributed to St. Athanasius Behold therefore what our Lord would mean thereby But besides this we see that there is no Communion that hath continued pure all have embraced Errors and some of them such as are filthy shameful and mortal Therefore it is not that which our Lord Jesus Christ would say it is not a promise of absolute infallibility that is made to the Christian Church Without doubt he foretold what is come to pass and not that which never happened Behold my Brethren two general methods by which you may be able to rescue your selves from the Sophisms and fallacious Arguments which they call ways of Prescription till we can clear up those difficulties that you your selves cannot resolve about that submission that people ought to have for their Guides to the end that they may walk safely The second medium or argument wherewith all these Gentlemen serve themselves and whereof Monsieur de Meaux serves himself here to prove that they have a succession of Doctrine as well as a succession of Seats is the impossibility of insensible changes If the Invocation of Saints say they the worship of Images Masses without Communicants the taking away of the Cup had been newly introduced the Innovator would have been known and his name would have been branded with infamy as that of Arrius and Nestorius I do not think that ever any thing hath been done more opposite to reason and fidelity than the disputes these Gentlemen have thought fit to raise against insensible changes and alterations I say first it is opposite to fidelity For it is not possible that these Gentlemen can believe what they say when they tell us that we cannot determine the Authors nor the times of the principal Changes whereof we complain seeing on the contrary we observe to them the times the principal Authors and the noise that these Innovations made in the World. Does not every one know that the introduction of Images into the Church the taking away of the Cup and the establishment of the Papal Authority did make a terrible noise suffer great contraditions cause great troubles and even the shedding of much blood in the Church It is therefore notoriously to dispute against honesty and fidelity to deny that we are able to give any account of the most eminent and principal Innovations But is it not to dispute against reason and sound judgment to say as Monsieur de Meaux doth that if there had been any Innovators in the Church the spirit of Truth would have marked them and their names would have been infamous as those of Arrius Nestorius c. How could the names of these Innovators be infamous seeing their Innovations were received and entertained The Authors of Heresies and Superstitions which are rejected are indeed noted with infamy but those that are received are Canonized and adored Therefore those of the fourth Age which introduced the Invocation of Saints had no note of infamy put upon them because the beginnings of that unhappy Superstition were greedily imbraced The reason why those things in those Ages were not treated as Innovations and the Authors of them as Innovators was because they adopted and received them Had they assigned any note of infamy upon them they had condemned the worship which they admitted they had accused it of

the Poet said Furor arma ministrat Fury finds Arms and when they have no Cities they will take them There is some probability that Mr. Soulier knows how to read Latin for he hath transcribed three words thereof and this makes much to his honour against the Accusation of his Master Mesnier and Mr. Le Feure We answer to Mr. Soulier that we cannot warrant all the thoughts of other men but though it should be true that there were yet some reason to fear the Reformed as much abased and subjected as they are because Fury furnishes Arms yet there was no reason to fear them in the time of the Synod of Montpazier because then there was nothing which might move their Rage Lambs become Lions when they are run against the Walls The despair into which they thrust the Reformed might indeed have furnished them with Arms if God had not prevented those unhappy Commotions But it was impossible that the condition in which they were in 1659. should put them into that despair which puts them upon any thing and makes them sometimes successful therein An tighth Argument of Falshood and its Defence against the Wrangles of Soulier We drew an invincible Argument of Falshood against this wicked Piece from the Silence of the Court The King knew many Years since by the means of Joly Bishop of Agen and the Cardinal of Bouillion That they had formed a horrid Conspiracy in Guyenne against his State he knew the Authors thereof they were yet alive but he said nothing of it he did not chastise those who had made this bold Attempt He complained not of it any where and from whence comes this Spirit of Patience Have they forgiven the least fault to the Reformed for the space of twenty Years Have they not laid to their charge a thousand false Crimes Have they not had an open Ear for all their Accusors Have they not punished them severely for Faults falsely imputed and ill proved And would they neglect the punishment of Treason in him that was Principal therein who will believe it and whom can Soulier perswade of the truth of it Besides at what time was this Observe it was at a time in which they had sworn the Ruine of the Protestants in which they earnestly wished to find them culpable in which they did even all that can be imagined to make them so Was there any thing so much desired by the Clergy and the Court as to have a small occasion to say Seeing that our said Subjects have always persevered in a Spirit of Faction and Rebellion even in the times when they intirely enjoyed our Favour under the benefits of our Edicts as appears by the Conspiracy of Montpazier This would have been conveniently inserted in the Edict which revokes that of Nantes but there is nothing like it seen there they give no other reason there But that the greatest and the best part of our Subjects of the said Reformed Protestant Religion had embraced the Catholick so that the Edict of Nantes and all that had been granted in favour of the said Reformed Protestant Religion continues to no purpose It is very much worthy of Observation that only two Years before in the time when the utter Destruction of the Reformed was resolved the King gives a publick Testimony to their-Fidelity 't is in the Act of Oblivion granted to the pretended Rebels of Dauphine that is to say to those poor Men who were willing to pray to GOD upon the Ruine of their Churches without doing injury to any one but also without desires of being troubled there The King say I in the Oblivion which he granted to these men says The immoveable Fidelity of all our other Subjects of the said Religion hath inclined us rather to entertain thoughts of Clemency than of Rigour towards the Guilty How could it be that the Court should have such apprehensions of the Fidelity of the Protestants of the Kingdom if it had in its hand an Act capable of convincing them of desiring to expose the Kingdom as a prey to Strangers And if it had them not but knew well the Conspiracy of Montpazier and gave credit to it what could oblige it to insert a Clause so false in this Act of Oblivion I know very well that Kings in these fort of Acts pretend themselves satisfied oftentimes with persons which they do commend at that very season when they are least satisfied with them But it is when there is something to fear 't is when they would oblige men to lay down their Arms who are in a condition to make themselves feared and when actually and indeed they are afraid of them But I intreat you what is it that the King with 200000 Men in Arms without any foreign Wars hath to fear of a thousand or twelve hundred Peasants of Dauphine Vivarets and Cevennes of whom they had already massacred more than two thirds If Soulier can reconcile this with a pretended perswasion that the Court hath of the truth of the Conspiracy of Montpazier he will do us a kindness to do it But saith he the conclusion which they draw from the silence of the Court is no proof that it doubts the truth of this Act the liberty which the King hath given me of defending my self and maintaining it is an indisputable proof that his Majesty doth not doubt thereof A very fine proof The King hath permitted Soulier to defend this Piece therefore it is true and he believes 't is so First the King it may be knows not who this Soulier is and 't is known that these kind of Permissions pass by the means of a Father Confessour or some other Ecclesiastick who says concerning it what he pleases being much assured that he shall never be reprehended for it Besides behold a great Wonder that they suffer such a man as Soulier is to hazard his Reputation If he succeed to perswade this pretended Conspiracy of Montpazier with good luck the Court will always gain thereby and 't will be a reason and pretence to justifie its Conduct If he does not succeed therein the shame will remain upon him alone no name or person of Quality appears therein the hurt will not be great 'T is thus that men reason naturally in the World So that the Permission which the Court gives him to defend the truth of this Conspiracy is so far from being a mark of the value they have for him that 't is a proof they look on him as a Wretch which they abandon and leave as forlorn Let him shew us any man of Reputation which joyns with him in this Cause There is nothing more pleasant than to see the Value and Reputation which this Priest Soulier puts upon himself He demanded leave from the Court says he to defend himself and the King was pleased to permit it And speaking of an Author which goes for a person a little more able than he If this Writer expects I should do him the Honour