of the Church is not given but promised The Church is said to be built when it is Gathered Fed Taught and Ruled and when any Member is anew added to it or reconciled But in all this manner of building or gathering the Faithful into one Sheepfold The other Pastors are VVorkmen and wise Architects but Peter the Master of the Family the rest are Pillars Peter the Foundation on which they rely He allows Christ to be called in Scripture a Rock and therefore when he went away he left St. Peter his Successor and gave him the same Name because he was to be the Father and Prince of the Church even such a Foundation of it against which the Gates of Hell should not prevail Then he adds that by the Keys Christ gave the fulness of all Ecclesiastical Power only to St. Peter VVhich Power is to open and shut the Kingdom of Heaven whether by it is meant Life Eternal or the Communion of the Militant Church VVhich power of the Keys is greater as given to St. Peter than to the rest of the Apostles The power of binding and loosing is a partial and inferior Power which they have but his is to Govern to Teach to Dispose and Exercise all things which belong to the Office of General Pastor For as a King in his Kingdome hath the Sword given to him alone but he commits the use of it to Inferior Magistrates so St. Peter hath the Power of the Keys commited to him properly and principally but transfers the use of them in some inferior manner to Pastors of a lower Rank that are substituted by him In the Remish Translation that we may observe how great stress they put upon these words they are decyphered in a distinct Character and are rendred remarkable by being appointed the Gospel for so many Festivals as for St. Peter's day for the Cathedra Petri Romae Jan. 18. Antiochiae Feb. 22. for the Feast of Petri ad Vincula Aug. 1. and on the day of the Creation and Coronation of the Pope and on the Anniversary thereof What is to be found in their Annotations more than what the Gentlemen already named have hinted is not much Only they are angry with the English Translators for not rendring the words thus Thou art a Rock and upon this Rock or Thou art Peter or Upon this Peter I will build my Church VVhich if it be a fault is likewise to be found in their so much adored vulgar Translation In the Exposition of the Keys they enlarge St. Peter's Power by ascribing to him the Authority and Chair of Doctrine Knowledg Judgment and Discretion between true and false Doctrine The height of Government the power of making Laws of calling Councils of the principal Voice in them of Confirming them of making Canons and wholsome Decrees of Abrogating the contrary of Ordaining Bishops and Pastors or deposing or suspending them finally the Power to dispense the Goods of the Church both Spiritual and Temporal and therefore by the Name of Keyes is given that Super-eminent Power which is called in respect of the Power granted to other Apostles Bishops and Pastors plenitudo Potestatis fulness of Power This is that Exposition on which the Advocates for the Popes Supremacy lay so great stress that they can by no means afford us any other it is the grand support of the Holy Chair the very bottom of all Papal Authority for on whatever Rock other parts of the Christian Church are founded yet this we are assured of that the Roman is built upon this and the greatness of it's Bishop must sink if we take away this only Prop of it By such meanes are the Waters of Life troubled but not by good Angels not to heal the VVounds and make up the breaches of the Church but to vex and widen them and when the Fountain is rendred so muddy we must expect nothing but putrid streams It is a great Argument of a sinking Cause when men catch at Straws for their support And we may conclude that the Scriptures are altogether silent in their Cause when upon this one Foundation they raise so many Structures as the Supremacy of the Pope the Infallibility and Visibility of their Church and the Power of Indulgences All which must of necessity fall to the Ground if the Rock on which they be Built be removed II. As it is certainly in our following Exposition the second thing propos'd whereby the Scriptures shall be so far vindicated from the sense already put on them to which they are rackt that they shall speak in their own proper Language and in it deliver Truth openly and clearly There are as you remember several Opinions concerning the Rock in the Text. The first whereof is that Peter is the Rock which because Bellarmine proves by the Authority of some Fathers I shall take off their Testimony The Authorities are St. Cyril lib. 2. cap. 12. com in Jo. That upon Peter as on a firm Rock his Church should be built The Next is St. Hilary In hunc Locum Oh happy Foundation of the Church in imposing thy new Name c. The last is St. Basil lib. de poenit Tho Peter be a Rock yet he is not a Rock as Christ is For Christ is the true and unmoveable Rock of himself Peter is unmovable by Christ the Rock Now we confess with Cyril Hilary and Basil that Peter was a Stone designed for the Foundation of the Church but so as all the Apostles are Stones upon which the Church is Builded Rev. 21.14 And though we are taught by the Apostles 1 Cor. 3.11 That other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Yet we do not exclude the Ministery and Laborers of his Apostles whom also we acknowledg to be Stones and Foundations of his Church not in respect of their Persons but of their Heavenly Doctrine whereby they became with the Prophets the Foundation Jesus Christ being the Corner Stone Ephes 2.20 So that we can safely allow that Peter may be stiled the Rock on which the Church is built if we take it in a qualified and Secundary sense He is that Apostle on whom in the Planting of the Church as on a chief stone in the Building there is great stress and weight laid He was already one of the most considerable Disciples of Christ sharing with James and John in many signal Favors which others enjoyed not He twice made Confession with greatest Alacrity and firmest boldness of Christ's being the Messias and the Son of God He first made known both to Jews and Gentiles the Truth of that which he here professes that Jesus is the Christ And as amongst the Hebrews all the Levites were in a common Notion of this Phrase called Stones of the Temple so he is called by way of Excellence such a Stone as relying on the Corner Stone was with the Rest of the Apostles a principal Stone in the Building of Christ yet not so as excluding
Imposition of their Hands to Give the Spirit Enabling others to VVork Miracles was Peculiar and Proper to them Hence it is that St. Chrysostome concludes That tho Prophecy the Gift of Miracles and Expelling Devils the Orders of Pastors and Teachers were all Spiritual Powers and Ensignes of great Authority yet the Apostolical Eminency is far above all these VVhich therefore he calls a Spiritual Consulship An Apostle having as great Preheminence above all other Officers in the Church as the Consul had above all other Magistrates in Rome These were a few Select Men whom our Lord chose out of the rest of his Disciples to devolve Part of the Government on their Shoulders and to Depute them for the first Planting and Settling Christianity in the VVorld He chose Twelve whom he named Apostles Luk. 6.13 whom he Endowed with Extraordinary Gifts that they might more prevalently contend against the strong Prejudices of Pleasure and Interest The Power of Tongues and other Miraculous Effusions of the Holy Ghost being like VVatering to a Plant which when it hath taken Root and filled the Land could Subsist without those Extraordinary Helps VVhen Israel was brought into Canaan and Jacob into a Strange Land God in a most signal manner Fought against the Nations and Dispossest them But when his People were settled there God sends them not even in their greatest Distress such Remarkable Deliverances as he did before So Christ in the Establishment of his Church observes the same Methods of Providence The Powers of the Devil when free and instigating all Mankind against the Doctrine of Christ must be Resisted and Opposed by a Power superior to his own But when he was once Subdued by Christ and then by his Church there needs not the same Power to keep him in Bonds as at first to Conquer and Fetter him He may still rage and shake his Chain but he cannot break it He looks Terribly like the Souldiers of Tarentum to the Romans when they lay Dead with their Swords in their Hands He may affright but he cannot Hurt So that in this case the Holy Ghost acts not so Extraordinarily to Preserve as at first to Plant it because he that Opposes it is not now so Strong as he then was For a less Force can keep the Garrison than take the City St. Augustine gives a good Reason De Util. Credendi cap. 16. why it was not fit that these Miraculous Courses should still have continued Because the Liveliness of the Spring after a Dead Winter is no Wonder since acted every Year So the Strangeness of Miracles which moved at first would not now be regarded if continued c. This Power and Honour of the Apostle-ship conveyed by the Commission to the Apostles was equally conferred on all which is my Second Consideration They were all Chosen in the same Manner and at the same Time All equally Infallible in their Judgements and Determinations All sent to Preach and Baptize all Nations and intrusted with the Power of Binding and Loosing and All furnished with the necessary Gifts and Powers of the Holy Ghost Indeed the Fortunes of the Church of Rome depend upon a different Doctrine and the Tide of its Interest runs another way and it behoves the Patrons of the Pope's Supremacy to contend with mighty Zeal and Fierceness for St. Peter's For if the Original Right be questioned that which is derived from it must fall when it loses its Foundation There is nothing so certain as that Men want Good Arguments when they urge VVeak Ones and none but a Fool will Build his House upon the Sands that hath a Rock at hand for a Foundation So that when we hear Bellarmine reckoning up such Prerogatives of St. Peter as these are The Change of his Name The Fishing in his Ship Paying Tribute for Christ and Himself and such like We may conclude That he hath proved nothing but the Weakness of the Cause he maintains Indeed there is one Argument which is as Uncharitable as it is VVeak When St. Peter hath this Promise That the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against him By it the Cardinal understands not only the Perpetual Stability of the Universal Church but of the Rock on which it is Founded So that by a Special Priviledge it is promised to Peter That his Sea shall never fail Which Promise had it been made to the rest of the Apostles St. James's Seat had been still at Jerusalem St. John's at Ephesus St. Mathews in Aethopia and St. Andrews in Scythia But all these have yielded to the Gates of Hell VVere this a safe and honest way of Defending a Cause the Prosperous Villain is ever secure from the Imputation of Guilt and Success is as good an Argument for the great Turk of Constantinople as for the Pope of Rome If we consult the Fathers they tell us That all the Apostles were Equal as having equal Power committed to them in the Keys Tho it be said to St. Peter only in this Place That upon this Rock and To thee I give c. Yet in another Place the same Charge is committed to all the Apostles as Joh. 20. And all of them Receive the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Stability of the Church is fixt upon them All Hieronym Christ after his Resurrection gave Equal Power and Authority to all his Apostles and said to them all Whose Sins ye Remit c. Cyprian And in another Place What Peter was that were the rest of the Apostles having a Fellowship of the same Honour and Power Theophylact also intimates That the Church may be said to be Built upon Peter but no otherwise than upon the rest of the Apostles And he adds They who have obtained the Grace to be Bishops have Power to Remit and Bind as well as Peter For altho it were said to Peter alone I will give to thee yet the Keys were granted to all the Apostles This was the Doctrine of the Primitive Church To which agrees the Judgement of a Pope in those Times Greg. Epist lib. 4. Ep. 34 38. who was very severe upon the Patriarch of Constantinople for affecting a Supremacy over the whole Church And so little did he think of putting in his own Plea that he Condemns it as Intrenching upon the Prerogative of Christ To these Authorities which plainly destroy the Roman Cause there must be some Answers given by Bellarmine and Stapleton which are very indifferent tho the best they could afford Stapleton tells us That the same Power is not conferred by Mat. 18. Joh. 20. as in my Text Which St. Jerome affirms and we have already proved To the other Part of St. Jerem's Testimony Bellarmine grants That all the Apostles are equally the Foundation of the Church but they as Messengers and Ambassadors Peter as Ordinary Pastor What he means shall be presently considered Thus he also endeavours to silence St. Cyprian's Testimony by telling us That the Apostles were all Equal in respect
IMPRIMATUR Geo. Thorp R mo in C. P. D. D no. Gulielmo Archiep. Cant. a Sacris Domesticis Nov. 4th 1678. THE FOUNDATION OF Popery Shaken OR THE Bishop of ROME'S Supremacy Opposed IN A SERMON UPON MATTH XVI 18 19. By William Cade M. A. and Priest of the Church of ENGLAND LONDON Printed by T.M. for Robert Clavel at the Signe of the Peacock in St. Paul's-Church-yard 1678. ERRORS of the PRESS PAge 5. line 11. for for read of p. 8. l. 7. f. or r. and p. 10. l. 9. r. Apostle ibid. l. 12. r. Labours p. 21. l. 24. r. Aethiopia TO Mr. Edward Muns OF CLAPHAM IN THE County of SVRREY Gent. Honoured Sir A Reverend Clergy-Man of the Church of England affirms That when the Publick Maintenance of any Tenet will bring the utmost Hazard upon a Man 's Life or Fortune and there be a necessity that that Doctrine should be propagated Then to be silent upon any Worldly Conceits of Honour Profit or present Safety is a Breach of Christian Duty or at least it argues a Cowardize unbecoming One that hath not only Listed himself under Christ's Banners but hath undertaken the Charge of his Flock which he must not Desert when the Wolfe approaches I do not hence urge a Necessity of Printing this Sermon or that every Church-Man is obliged to declare his Judgement concerning the Subject treated of in it But I would have it rather Received as an Excuse for the Publishing this Discourse to which I was not only Invited but Commanded by some that heard it Preached who were likewise instant in the fore-going Argument I cannot presume it will do that Service which those Friends in Kindness seemed to imagine Whatever their Motive was to the Publication Obedience to their Commands and Complyance with their Desires were mine It was not designed neither can a Sermon be thought to be a full Treatise and a sufficient Confutation to the Church of Rome in that particular Matter I am satisfyed if it give but Hints to those that have time to look more into the Subject and supply the Wants of those that have not Leisure and Opportunity to do so When the Church is set on Fire and like to be consumed in the Flames 't is enough for me if I can bring but one Drop of Water towards the quenching it When the Fence is broken down and the Vine that God's own Right Hand hath Planted amongst us is like to be Trodden down by the Wild Boar of the Forrest I am not so vain as to think I am able to Repair it I only discover my Willingness by putting to my Helping Hand Tho all Divisions are Destructive to the Church of England yet the Popish Faction seems to tend directly to its Ruin as being formed under one Head and having a more United Interest than any other Would the other Parties consider how much they assist the Papists in Rending and Dividing our Church would they be sensible how much our own Divisions Encourage the Foe they would no longer for a few slight Circumstances stand at Variance with their Mother Church but would Unite against the Common Enemy It is a Maxime in their Politicks Divide Impera which all our Separations help them to put into Practice And 't is to be feared that we have more Cause to Fear than the Jews had That the Romans will come and take away our Place and Nation For as that Party is Inconsiderable to us were we United so 't is very Dangerous by our Divisions It is Courage not to Fear and Prudence not to Slight an Enemy 'T is to be feared That if we thus go on Tacitus's Observation of the Britains will be very Applicable to us at this juncture That their Differences at Home not suffering them to Unite they were all Overcome by the Romans Dum Singuli pugnabant Omnes vincebantur And we know who said A Kingdom or House divided against it self cannot stand When the Enemy is before the Gates and sets up His Batteries against our Walls Whoever opens a Postern or pulls down our Inward Fortifications does more Mischief to us than we can apprehend from the Foe Without Were our Jerusalem a City at Unity within it self we need not fear the Armies of the Baylonians Sir While an Honest Zeal to the Church was thus prevailing with me to publish this Sermon I more willingly complyed there-with as laying hold of it as a Means of owning to the World what high Obligations have been laid on me by your Generous and Bountifull Hand A Private Gratitude would no longer content me when I had an Opportunity of making it Publick If You accept of these my first Endeavours I shall not much value the Opinion of Others nor fear the Censures of an Envious World The Present is indeed Mean like all the Returns of the Poor to their Benefactours But I hope it will be accepted as coming from an Humble and Thankful Heart You have a just Right and Title not only to the Author but to whatever shall be produced by him as being the onely Person to whom he owes all the Advantages of his Education There are other Reasons that render this Your Due who are so constant to your Profession and even in Clapham are so Zealous for the Church of England May You Live long to see Her Flourish and Tread down all her Enemies You saw Her once under a Cloud and even then she Gloried in the Cross and by Her Patience in Sufferings triumpht over her Persecutors May She now Exalt Her-self in the midst of her Adversaries round about Her and become as She is the Glory of the Protestant Religion so a Terror to the Church of Rome And may You long continue a Faithful Member of Her here while She is Militant that You may be a part of Her when She shall be Triumphant This is the Prayer of Honoured Sir Your most Obedient Kinsman and Humble Servant William Cade THE Foundation Shaken OR The Popes Supremacy Opposed Mat. xvi 18 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And I say unto thee thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I Build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it And I will give unto thee the Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven And whatsoever thou shalt Bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven And whatsoever thou shalt Loose on Earth shall be Loosed in Heaven THat this Text is perverted for the Maintenance of the Pope's Supremacy over the whole Christian Church as being grounded on two weak Foundations The One That St. Peter is hereby constituted Oecumenical Pastor The Other That the Bishop of Rome is herein St. Peters Successor and enjoys all his supposed Priviledges is so Notoriously Known that having but read the Words I am concerned to vindicate them from that perverted sense and to discover the full meaning and design of the place whereby I shall wrest this Scripture out of their Hands and