loco qui omnia condidt Verum tamen adista quae hominibus nota sunt quis potest ejus consilium perscrutari quare in aliis locis haec miracula siant in aliis non siant And I am content to acknowledge my ignorance in imitation of him when nothing appeares in the place it self as sometimes there doth For if any man who hath any lively Faith within him should enter Hierusalem see the place where the Lamb of God was sacrificed the price of our Redemption Payd Innocency condemned the Divine wisdome derided for folly the King of Glory crowned with thornes the Creator scoft scorned by his creatures God dying dying that painfull ignominious death of the Crosse When he should think here his flesh was torne with stripes here his head was crowned with thornes here those hands which wrought soe many miracles were perced with nayles here those feete soe often wearyed in see king the lost sheepe were fixt to the Crosse Here that tongue which had command over the Elements death Hell was imbued with vinager Gall here his side was opened the last drop of Blood spilt the life of the world dyed to rayse to life the world When he considers this with all that his owne sins had soe greate a share in requiring this most aboundant Redemption will not the very place suggesting these more thoughts fixe his Imagination quicken his fancy detaine his understanding stirre up his will to a hatred of sin the cause of all this severe Judgement uppon the unspotted Lamb to confusion for having contributed soe much to it by his owne offences to love God above all things who hath loved us soe much Hereafter before you throw such hard stones at our heades consider whither there be not with us mingled by a communion of sentiments some persons to whome you must owne greate respect to be due I have brought you here into an Assembly of the cheifest Preachers Prelates of all ages all teaching commanding or practising these workes which you deride The Apostles take up the first rank over all Iesus-Christ God Blessed for evermore presiding giving Example suppase in the name of all these S. Basil S. Austin or S. Paul the Apostle should thus speake unto you How comes it to passe that you presume to censure in those of your days that which they practice only in Imitation of us How dare you say that our exercises should kill the vitalls of Religion dull the apprehensions of sin That what Christ did himself what is done by others following his footsteps should leade from Christ hinder the earnest applications to him What answer can you make to these tru Reproaches Think a little sadly on this it will bring you to a temper more be seeming your coat then when you writ what I have here answered SECTION IV. Two objections answered G. B. pag. 63. This is an easy way of escaping punishment ANSWER Can you never settle your Judgment will you let it ever be moved round with every blast of wind Here our way to expiate sins is too easy Pag. 144. it is a heavy yoake a racke to souls When you have experienced them fasting with breade water foe many days a weeke sayd devoutly every day some prayers gon long Pilgrimages on foote taken disciplines worne hayreshirts chaines served the sicke in Hospitalls the Prisoners in Goales given Almes to the Poore watched c. When I say you have tryed these for some months if you continu in your opinion that our way of expiating sins is Easyer then yours I shall think your common sense equall to your Piety admire both alike G. B. Ibidem The Papists endeavour to give a pleasant tast to their Pennances wherefore to the grave melancholy we give of one sort to the fiety sullen of another to the Ioviall a third c. ANSWER Here you deliver a dreame as a certaine Truth Cite the Council name the Authour of such à practice If you can name none as I am sure you cannot owne your selfe the inventer of this which is to say a Calumniator CHAPTER XIX Sacrifice of the Masse G. B. p. 64. Another opposition made to the Preistly office of Christ is their conceipt of the sacrifice of the Masse which they beleive is a formall expiation of sins both for the living dead who are in Purgatory ANSWER You fall soe often that it would tire any man to take you up always It is not tru that Catholicks hold masse to be a formall expiation of sins unica causa formalis the only formall cause of our justification says the Council of Trent sess 6. c. 7. is the justice of God by which he makes us just That is it is habituall grace or Charity But let that passe We say with the fathers that Masse is an Expiatory Sacrifice S. Austin Enchir. c. 110. following his distinction of souls deceased into three classes those in Heaven those in Purgatory those in Hell he says that Masses for for the first are thanks givings for the second Expiations Propitiationes sunt for the third not ease to the dead but some comfort to their living friends Pro valdè bonis gratiarum actiones sunt pro non valdè malis propitiationes sunt pro valdè malis etsi nulla adjumenta mortuorum qualescumque vivorum consolationes sunt Enchir. cap. 110. To cleere yet more this point of the Sacrifice of Masse of Christ offred offring himself in it heare S. Austin l. 10. de Civit. Dei cap. 20. Verus ille Mediator in quantum forman servi accipiens mediator effectus est Dei hominum homo Christus Iesus cùm informâ Deisacrificium cum Patre sumat cum quo unus Deus est tamen in formâ servi sacrificium maluit esse quà m sumere ne vel hac occasione quisquā existimaret cuilibet sacrificandum esse creaturae Per hoc Sacerdos est ipse offerens ipse oblatio Cujus rei Sacramentum quotidianum esse voluit Ecclesiae sacrificium The tru Mediator by taking uppon himself the shape of a servant being made Mediator betwixt God men the man Christ Iesus who together with his father with whome he is one God as God receives sacrifice but as man will have no sacrifice offred to himself to cut off all pretence of sacrificing to any but God In this sacrifice he is the Preist he is the Sacrificer he is himself the sacrifice Or he is the person who offers he is the oblation And he hath ordred the sacrifice of the Church as a dayly commemoration or Sacrament of that sacrifice of the Crosse Thus he Where you see a sacrifice of the Church as a dayly commemoration of that of the Crosse That Christ offers it that he himself is offred in it all this to God no sacrifice being offred to any else If you
of such foul crimes during our life To Heaven Blasphemy accompanyed with finall Impenitency cannot enter it To the Ayre our sins would defile it To the Earth we are un worthy to treade uppon it Hell Hell is the only fit place for us if yet Hell it self hath any torments proportioned to so hainous offences What reply can you make to this with what eyes can you looke on them Should he thence passe into an Assembly of Pagan Idolaters Iupiter the Arch-Divil or Lucifer presiding over them with what Acclamations would he be received How would they rejoice for so noted a Proselite How would the President renew his hopes of recovering that throne by the helpe of so able a man which he affected from the beginning in the sides of the north Isay 14.13 whence he was beaten by the Spirit of God working in with the Primitive Christians That Satan was for a time to be bound after Loosed againe we reade Apoc. 20.3 Such Doctrine as this that he is the tru God gives a greate blow to his chaine And what dispositions there are at present to entertaine him all know Libertinisme Blasphemy all Impiety walking bare-faced men glorying in them seeme to provoke our Just God to punish these sins by that other Paganisme the multitudes flocking to such Conventicles as have little of Christianity more then the name discover how loosely many of the people are united to Christ that there are greate dispositions to a generall Apostasy which I am perswaded E.S. would be as sorry to see happen in his days as any other Yet least althô against his will he should promote see greate a mischeife I wish he renounce this Paradox otherwise that it be writ uppon his Tombe Here Lyeth a Champion of the Reformed Church of Ingland who Beleived in Adored no other God but the Pagan Iupiter I designe no formall answer to his Defence of the Discourse of Idolatry His able Antagonist needes no helpe from my Weakenesse so I let him end the dispute he hath so happily managed hitherto Yet if I am not mistaken I shall lay such principles as may serve for an answer to that booke For seing the manner of handling the matter is new I have taken the liberty to be Longer in it then elsewhere It may be he will having reade what I say find a reason to change his Judgment of us that we can say nothing but out of Bellarmin or Coccius It is no hard matter to satisfy any indifferent man in that point it being so cleere in Antiquity that if we reade Iustinus M. or Athenagoras Tertullian or S. Cyprian Minutius Felix or Arnobius S. Austin or S. Hierome we shall every where find convincing proofes of the falshood of that Errour It may be some may take the paynes to publish some of those Greate men's treatises in Inglish for the publick good to shew the World Mr. Stil 's Ingenuity in handling Controversy Now if he hath the Confidence to falsify so cleere a matter of fact testifyed by Scripture by Fathers by History by Pagans by the Divils them selves and acknowledged by those of his owne Communion how can he be relyed on in Points of Doctrine which are more disputable as being more obnoxious to mistakes not capable of so cleere disproofes He could not possibly have given greater cause to suspect all he writes then by such a Paradox so evidently false so confidently asserted One thing I desire of our adversaryes for their owne sakes that they regard a little what write not fill their bookes with every thing that occurres tru or false I shall take notice of Mr. B. in the tract Mr. Whithy in the title Page of his booke cites as Scotus his Opinion an Objection which he makes answers He myght with like reason have cited him all Divines for Atheisme seing all put some Objections against the Being of a God all Protestant writers of controversy for Popery seing out of them Papist objections may be taken Again pag. 242. he says no ancient Father takes notice of any Heathen objecting to Christians their Prayers to Saints which is an assurance says he there was no such practice Yet S. Augustin twice takes notice of that objection l. 8. de Civit. Dei c. 27. l. 20. contra Faust c. 21. As also S. Hierome ep 53. ad Riparium lib. cont Jovinian c. 2. Againe in the same page he assures there was no mention of canonizing Saints till the 7. century Yet the schisme of the Donatists was in the beginning of the 4. century a greate cause of this schisme was the malice spyght of Lucilla a factious proud exceeding rich woman who was reprehended by Caecilianus then a Deacon for honouring the bone of a Martyr before he was Canonized Os Martyris nondum vindicati says Optatus Milevit l. 1. may be seene in S. Aug. l. 1. cont Parmenian cap. 3. epist 162. Moreover out of the Iliberitan Council can 60. S. Austin Brevic. collat die 3. c. 13. is gathered that the African Spanish Churchs would not admit into the number of Martyrs which was their Canonizing them such as lost their lives having provoked the Persecutors to kill them Soe in the third age there was the custome of Canonizing for the Council of Eliberis or Elvira Optatus speake of it as of a custome establisht This being soe cleere soe obvious I cannot guesse what should ground Mr. Whitby's mistake of no custome to Canonize before the 7. century unlesse it was that he found in Bellar. l. 1. de Sanct. Beatit or in Surius his life of S. Swithbert that this Saint was the first of whose solemne Canonization any records are extant Which yet is far from what Mr. Whitby affirmes of no mention of the custome of Canonizing till the 7. Century Such grosse errours beare the character of a Minister fryghted with Popery writing against it none else are capable of them I have reade very little in that worke for opening it accidentally in that place where those two greate untruths are so confidently advanced that brought to my mind the words of the wise man Prov. 29.20 So I thought I myght spend my time better then on him One word to preuent misinterpretations In the following treatise I put W. L. for Will. Lawd late Lord Primate of Ingland as also E. S. for D. Stillingfleete G.B. for Mr. Burnet not out of any disesteeme of his personall Endowments or want of Respect for his publicke character but only for brevity's sake Which none can be offended with who knows we cite in alike manner Bellarmin Baronius Perron Cayetan without their titles notwithstanding their Ecclesiasticall dignity Selfe defence is of the law of nature is never lesse obnoxious to Censure then when least personall And such is my case whose only endeauour is to pleade for the Cat. Church of which I have the happinesse to
can heare him The Divine Scriptures are hygh majesticall in the sense simple without affectation in word they are plaine yet in them are hygh Hills which no naturall wit can surmount They are perspicuous yet full of mysterious clouds which baffle the most peircing eye They are all Tru yet S. Austin (c) l. 3. cont Faust c. 2. Piè cogitantes tantae auctoritatis eminentiam latère ibi aliquid crediderunt quod petentibus daretur oblatrantibus negaretur takes notice of some seeming contradictions which cannot be reconciled with our recourse to God the Authour of scriptures Lesse is learnt by study then by Prayer if Prayer be accompanyed with humility The (d) Psal 18. or 19. 7. testimony of God is faithfull giving wisdome to the little ones or making wise the simple as the Inglish hath it And the Author of our faith glorifyes his Father (a) Mat. 11.25 for concealing his mysteryes from the learned wise revealing them to little ones S. Gregory furnishes us with a fit comparison (b) Greg. ep ad Leandrum c. 4. Instar fluminis alti plani in quo Agnus ambulet Elephas natet of a shallow deape river in which a lambe may wade an Elephant swimme That is in it the simple humble find ground to stand uppon which the Proud loose by it are lost The words are plaine easy but the sense sublime hard not to be reacht by humane industry but by Divine inspiration which is denyed to those who rely on their owne abilityes given to such as recurre to God No bookes of the Sybills nor oracles of the Divills or other humane writing can equall Divine Scripture in this point Another character of Divine Scriptures is the force which accompanyes them workes uppon the hart of those who are well disposed which insinuates its selfe into the will enflames it with the love of God breakeing in pieces the stony hart of sinners Art (c) Ierem. 23.29 not my words like fire like a hammer that breakes a Rocke No precepts of Pagan Phylosophers had this energy I will not assure you ever perceived ether of these two qualityes in reading of Scripture in your workes there appeares little signes of ether or of the disposition which they suppose CHAPTER VI. Scriptures Supprest G. B. Pag. 13. Scriptures being the Revelation of the whole counsell of God written by plaine simple men as first directed to the use of the rude illitterate vulgar for teaching them the mysterye of Godlinesse the path of life it is a shrewd indication that if any study to kide this lyght under a candlestick to keepe it in an unknowne tongue or forbid the body of Christians the use of it that those must be conscious to themselves of greate deformity to that rule ANSWER Here you begin your charge of AntiChristianisme against your mother-Church as the charge is false soe in your managing it you mingle many Errours with some few truths A bad cause is not capable of a better defence I will take notice of some of your most considerable slips leave the reader to Judge of the rest That Scriptures were written by plaine simple men is not tru Was Moses such who was learned in all the learning of the Aegyptians Was David the swette singer of Israel a plaine simple man What shall we say of Salomon to whose wonderfull knowledge the Scripture it selfe beares witnesse Amos it is true was but Esayas was not nor Daniel nor Samuel And who ever was Author of the Booke of Job he was certainly far from being plaine simple for in him are found in perfection Phylosophy Astrology Divinity as a queene gouverning them if Caussinus the Jesuit may be beleived as compleate Rhetorick as in any whosoever And as to the Authors of the new Testament as long as S. Paul S. Luke S. John are amongst them you will never perswade the learned part of the world that your speech is not rash inconsiderate But suppose it tru that they were all plaine simple men what then Doth it follow that what they writ is easy to the meanest capacity for that you intend if you intend any thing Doe you not know that these men were only the Scribes of the Holy Ghost that in a scribe capacity of understanding is not necessary but only fidelity in writing No greate science is necessary in a Printer who only Prints what is given him by an Author the Same of a Scribe who writes what is dictated unto him Now all Authors of Canonicall bookes are the Scribes of the Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 soe their doctrine is to be calculated according to the Meridian of that Divine Spirit not of their qualitys Take the most plaine simple of them all (a) Amos 1.1 the herd man of Thecue reade him over if you say you understand him quite thorough I will say you have confidence to say any thing G. B. pag. 14. The hardests part of Scripture are the writings of the old Testament yet those were communicated to all ANSWER Some parts of the new are as hard at any of the old viz. the Apocalypse some parts of S. Paul's Epistle are hard to be understood (b) 2. Pet 3.16 Likewise Is it not tru that all the writings of the old Testament were made common to all the Israelits The King (c) Deut. 17.18 was indeed commanded to write to himself a copy of the law out of that which was before the Preists the Levits By which it appeares that even Copyes of the law were not soe ordinary Which may be gatheted also out of the 4. of Kings c. 22. there was such astonishment at the finding reading of the booke of the law newly found in the Temple The tencommandments were common the Pharisys Phylacteryes prove it As for the rest it was divided into Parashots sections read unto the People when they met on the Sabboth as you may see Acts 15.21 And in the second of Esdras cap. 8. And the Same custome is still in the Cat. Church which in her service doth dayly reade some of the new old Testament G. B. pag. 14. What paynes are taken by Papists to detract from the Authority of Scriptures how they quarrel its darknesse its ambiguousnesse the genuinesse of its Originalls ANSWER This is a calumny We all unanimously owne Scripture to be the word of God that no untruth can be found in it Out of its darknesse Ambiguity we shew the necessity of receiving its sense from Tradition not sticking to the bare letter of the Scripture without the sense which is to the letter what a soul is to the body G. B. pag. 15. We complaine of Scripture being too much perused ANSWER Another calumny In all our universitys we have masters of Scriptures who in those I know take place of
113. Illa causa est maxima impietatis insame quod plus valet in affectibus miserorum similis viventi forma quae sibi efficit supplicari quam quod cam mamfestum est nonesse viventem ut debeat à vivente contemni Plus enim valent ad curvandam infaelicem animam quod os habent oculos habent aures habent quà m ad corrigendam quod non loquentur non videbunt non audient Illa causa The greatest cause of this mad senselesse impiety is that the likenesse of a living man workes more strongly uppon the affection of those wretches then an evident conviction that being dead they should be despised by the living For the shape of eyes eares mouth nose hands feete are more prevalent to bend downe before them a miserable soul then their not speaking hearing seing smelling touching or walking is to correct the error Says S. Austin Probably this may be the reason wherefore althô by God's command statues (b) Exodi 25.18 of Cherubins were made to be placed with the Ark in the Sanctuary where none but Preists came yet in the courts of the temple ether those of the Jews or Gentills there were none To leave norhing in the syght of that stiffe neckt Rebellious Adulterous people which myght be (b) Exodi 25.18 Astumbling blocke to their souls a snare to their feete And such would those statues have beene to the Jews as they had beene to the Gentills The Protestants cannot blame the Catholick Church for having statues exposing them to the people openly without blaming their owne Church in which statues are in like manner made exposed as I have heard of severall of their Cathedralls namely that of Canterbury where upon the font are those of Christ his twleve Apostles We think our people secured from the danger of Idolatry first by being taught that the statues are only representations of saints not saints themselves much lesse Gods Secondly because that Religious respect which we give to Images doth by them end ultimatè in God for why doe we respect the Image or Statue For the Saint it represents And why doe we reverence the Saint Merely because he was the Temple of God instrument of the Holy Ghost Soe that all our worship of Images ends in God his Christ with the Holy Ghost one God Blesse◠for ever more Thus we instructing the people stop their inclinations to the evill Idolatry by owning all we have all the Saint had that is good from God we hope we neede not feare that dreadfull Blindnesse Folly in to which the men wise according to this world were permitted to humble confound them to fall through a penall but a very Iust Iugdment of God The last occasion of this Idolatry was the Devill insinuating himself into the statues in amanner dwelling in them answering to questions proposed to them causing sicknesses healing them telling things which hapned at a distance pretending to foretell things to come althô in this unlesse they were very cautions in delivering their oracles in obscure termes their Ignorance in future things was easily discovered Of this see S. Austin (a) Aug. l. 8. de Civit. c. 23. Justinus (b) Iustin Mart. dialog cum Triphone Origenes (c) Origenes l. 1. contra Celsum Minutius Felix (d) Minutius Felix in Octavio Prudent (e) Prudent in Apotheosi Cyprian (f) Cypr. l. ad Demetrianum Arrobius Lactantius c. I. end with the convinting testimony of Athenagoras p. 29. The things sayd he which gave names to Idols were men those which take names of them are Divils For this reason Tertull. l. de testim Animae propè finem sayd Thou o soul didst abhor Divils yet thondidst Adore them I must not omit another kind of Idolatry of those who adored as God severall creatures ether for their beauty or the benefit they received by them such as are the fire some elements of the Earth or the sun moone or stars Vaine (g) Sap. 13.1 are all men by nature who are ignorant of God could not out of the good things seene know him that is nether by considering his workes did acknowledge the workemaster But deemed either fire or the circle of the stars or the lygks of Heaven to be Gods which governe the world with whose beauty if they being delyghted tooke them to be Gods let them know how much better the lord of them is But if they were astonisht a their power vertu let them understand by them how much myghtyerhe is who made them There is yet a nother species of Idolatry of such who Deifyed adored all creature◠Which was grounded on that opinion of the stoicks that God was the soul of the word which is exprest by Virgil Spiritus intus alit totamque infusaper artus Mens agitat molem magno se corpore miscer But nothing about this occurring in Scripture not much in Fathers I let in passe These are the severall species of Idolatry which doe occurre are most conspicuous amongst Pagans All were absolutely in excusable for leaving the Creator for the Creature Yet amongst all me thinks the cause of those who adored the sun was some what lesse in excusable then the rest for althô Reason teaches it evidently not to be a God yet experience shews it to have one Propertye of God for the sun gives lyght life to all that have eye hart it gives without interest it never appeares but as a common good besides its visible effects produces many other by hidden influences These considerations doe not excuse but they somewhat diminish the guilt of those who adored that wonderfull instrument the worke of the most hygh Ecclesiastici 43.2 To summe up what we have sayd we find that even the wisest men have beene guilty of the greatest folly that can enter into any man's head how weake soever to take for a God a thing soe much inferiour to them in nature That they expected helpe of a thing helpelesse direction from what is sentelesse To this they were disposed by the humane shape striking their fancy they were moved to it by love of a dead master feare of a living Tyrant flattery to one on whome their fortune depended these altogether heygthned by the Illusion of the Divill Sometimes Gratitude to beneficiall creatures enclined men to renounce the greate Benefactor Yet these motives how powerfull soever could never have made men soe prodigiously to renounce the use of Reason had they not by former sins soe far left God as to deserve to beleft by him not that they received no grace at all from him but that they had not such graces as would keepe them in what was good prevent their fall into those senselesse errors SECTION III. What were the Gods of the Pagans or What things were represented by their Idols Where it is proved