upon the same grounds turn Christianity out of doors and own it to be built on no better foundation than the Ignorant Zeal and Confidence of its Asserters The Motive of St. Augustin for his embracing the Scriptures for the Word of God was the Authority of the Catholic Church he expresly declaring cont Ep. Fundam That he would not believe the Gospel except the Authority of the Catholic Church mov'd him to it From this same Authority it is he receives every Article of his Faith and since in his very Creed he is taught to believe the Holy Catholic Church he thinks he has Reason enough to do it And whosoever taxes him of Weakness or Confidence for so doing do's nothing less than call him a Fool for believing his Creed and this is only one Remove from telling him that if he 'll be Wise and have good Reasons for what he do's he must be no Christian Others may be so Wise as to believe only Eleven Articles of their Creed for his part he thinks it no reflection upon his Wisdom to believe Twelve he was taught so many when he was a Child and he do's not find he has outgrown any one of the number This Catholic Church which by the Creed every Christian is bound to believe is as was explicated in our last the Congregation of all true Believers under the Government and Direction of Pastors and Teachers in an uninterrupted Succession descending from the Apostles who by Gods appointment are set over the Flock to feed and rule it and whom the Flock is oblig'd to hear and obey and whose Faith they are bound to follow in each respective Age. 'T is thus deliver'd to him by St. Paul Heb. 13. 7 17. Remember them which have the Rule over you whose Faith follow Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves And this way of the Faithful receiving their Instruction in the Christian Belief from the Catholic Church speaking to them by the Pastors and Teachers of the said Church which is the Method he observes as to every Article of his Faith has been always look'd on so sound and reasonable that in the time of the very Apostles and of the Primitive Church there was never any us'd but this 't was by this means the World first became Christian and by the very same Orthodox Christianity has been always preserv'd in its vigour and purity notwithstanding all the oppositions of Subtle Malicious or Self-interested Adversaries He that has but read the Scriptures cannot but have observ'd that the Method prescrib'd by Cbrist himself for the planting and propagating the Mysteries of his Holy Faith in the World was by ordaining and commissionating Apostles and Disciples to inform all Mankind of his Doctrine and Religion and the only Reasonable Means for any at that time to arrive to the certain Knowledge of the True Faith was to hear and submit to the Doctrine deliver'd by Those that were thus sent to Preach and Teach it This is the way by which the Christian Religion was first planted in the World and by this it has been ever since maintain'd The same Pastors and Overseers that were to teach the Gospel having another part of their Charge viz. To stand up in case of any Difficulties or Divisions arising in Point of Faith and by their Decision to put an end to the Controversie So to preserve Unity amongst the Faithful and defeat all the attempts of Turbulent and Presuming Spirits This Method of Pastors and Teachers directing and feeding and the Obligation of the Flock to Submit and Obey as necessary for continuing One Faith amongst Believers he has learnt to be Reasonable and of Divine Institution from the Practice of the Apostles For he finds Acts 15. that a Controversie being started at Antioch concerning the necessity of Circumcision 't was not left to every Particular Believer to think and decide the matter as they judge fit according to the best of their Knowledge and Parts neither did Paul and Barnabas with other Overseers of the Church of Antioch undertake to define any thing in this Particular No what was the Common Concern of all Christians was not to be determin'd by the Rulers and Pastors of any Particular Church but as belonging to All 't was to be remitted to the Consideration and Decision of Those who had All under their Charge that is the Pastors of the Vniversal or Catholic Church And thus did Paul and Barnabas for going up to Jerusalem the Cause was committed to the Hearing and Sentence of All the Apostles and Elders assembled at Jurusalem And as 't was determin'd by Them thus in Body 't was receiv'd by the Faithful with consolation not only at Antioch but in all other Places wheresoever the Gospel of Christ was preach'd by the Apostles who as they went through the Cities deliver'd them the Decrees for to keep that were ordain'd of the Apostles and Elders who were at Jerusalem Act. 16. 4. This was the Practice of the Apostles as it stands recorded in Holy Writ providentially there describ'd that their Successors the Rulers and Pastors of the Church in future Ages from this Authentic President might be provided of a Means whereby to maintain a Vnity in Faith amongst all True Believers however spread throughout the different and divided Nations of the Universe and know how to give a check to all growing Schisms and Heresies As therefore the Apostles put a stop to this Debate concerning the Circumcision by determining in Council in what manner the Faithful were to be taught were to believe and do in this Particular and by this Determination preserv'd the Vnity of Spirit in the Bond of Peace amongst the Faithful and prevented the many Divisions which otherwise might have torn the Flock asunder had they been every one lest to their own thoughts to judge of it as they pleas'd In like manner did the Pastors of the Church succeeding them in their Charge in the like Circumstances for when there appear'd any entring in among the Flock as was foretold by St. Paul Act. 20. 29. and like grievous Wolves not sparing it but speaking Perverse things to draw away Disciples after them The Overseers who were to feed the Church of God and commanded by the same Apostle to Watch and take heed to all the Flock ib. v. 28. assembled in Council and by their Determination declar'd to all under their Charge the Faith deliver'd and directed them which way to believe as to the Point in debate This was the Practice of the Primitive Church when as yet acknowledg'd Pure and Vncorrupted Thus did the Pastors then in the First General Council at Nice decide the Controversie rais'd by Arius thus they did in the Second at Constantinople in the Third at Ephesus in the Foutth at Chalcedon The Faithful always receiving with great Veneration the Determination of their Pastors thus Assembled and looking upon this Submission to their Doctrine as the most Reasonable Means whereby
but chiefly Eusebius Caesariensis an Historian of that Age and who is listed by Dr. Swadlin in the same place for another Professor of the Protestant Religion Besides we 'll see what account some Modern Protestant Historians give of the Religion of those times Misrepresent Very fairly propos'd See you hold on so to the end and He hear you with patience for I am of the same mind with your Lay-friend and He tell it you freely I have vow'd to follow Truth and Charity where-ever they lead me Represent This is some encouragement if your heart keep pace with your words But lâ—t's enter upon our view First I find Constantine erected a magnificent Church in memory of the Apostles He preâ—ared himself a Sepulchre in it to the end that after death he might be esteemed woâ—th of the prayers which should be performed there in honour of the Apostles He consecrated a Church to the Apostles believing that their memory would be useful and advantâ—gioâ—s to his Soul. Euseb de vit Coast l. 4. c. 60. 2. When he march'd with his Army he carried with him a portable Tabernacle with Priests and Deacons attending it for the celebration of the Divine Mystertes So Zozomenus hist l. 1. c. 8. vers fin 3. He had Lights burning in the Church in the day time so the Centurists Cent 4. 410. relate it out of Eusebius 4. He Translated to Constantinople the Holy Relicks of St. Andrew Luke and Timothy at which the Devils roar'd as 't is worded by St. Jerome who gives the whole Narration of it cont Vigilant Bullinger likewise mentions it de Orig. error 5. He translated to Constantinople for the preservation of that City certain Relicks of the Cross found near Jerusalem by his Mother Helen Centurists Cent. 4. Col. 1529. Being fully perswaded that That City would be perfectly secure wherein such a Relick as this was preserv'd As Socrates relates it Eccles Hist l. 1. c. 17. 6. Under him Pilgrimages were made to Jerusalem the Empress Helen his Mother went thither to Worship as the Centurists have it Cent. 4. col 457. And Eusebius relates how Alexander who liv'd an hundred years before Constantine went in pilgrimage to Jerusalem upon account both of praying there and also of seeing the places Euseb Hist l. 6. c. 11. 7. In his time 't was decreed in a Council held at Arles that Priests might not marry Centurists Cent. 4. Col. 704. 8. He had in great Veneration Sacred Virgins professing perpetual Chastity Euseb de vit Const l. 4. c. 28. And Socrates says that Helen found at Jerusalem Holy Virgins Consecrated to God whom She so highly honour'd that She her self waited upon them and brought them Meat to the Tables at the Entertainment to which She had invited them Ec. Hist l. 1. c. 17. 9. Vnder him were Monks throughout Syria Palestine and Bithynia and other places of Asia in the Dominion of Constantin So the Centurists Cent. 4. Col. 1294. They say likewise he most greatly Reverenc'd Anthony the Monk who lived in the Deserts of Aegypt Cent. 4. Col. 470. Zozom hist l. 1. c. 13. Socrat. Eccles Hist l. 1. c. 21. 10. He restrain'd himself from all Licenousness and Luxury by macerating himself with fastings and bodily austerities Eus de vit Const l. 2. c. 14. 11. He visited and embraced the Sepulcher of Peter and Paul and laying aside his Imperial State he became a Petitioner to the Saints that they would become Intercessors to God for him St. Chrysost in ep 2. Cor. Hom. 26. 12. He Sign'd his Fore-head with the Sign of the Cross Euseb in vit Const l. 3. c. 2. He honour'd the same Sign Eus in laud. Const He had success of Victory in vertue of it and erected it publickly Euseb de vit Const l. 2. c. 7. l. 1. c. 25. 13. He sate not down at the Council of Nice till such time as the Bishops had beckoned to him Euseb ib. l. 3. c. 10. 14. He judg'd it unlawful for him to undertake the Judgment of Ecclesiastical Causes but commited them over to be decided by Bishops Zozom hist l. 1. c. 16. 15. He procur'd the Synod at Arles where the Petition of the Council to Pope Sylvester was that for the Vniform Observation of Easter day throughout the world He would send forth his Letters to all according to antient Custom Osiand in Epit. c. cent 4. p. 182. 16. He subjected all Christian Churches to the Pope insomuch that Mr. Napper in his Treatise upon the Revelations dedicated to King James I. says After the Year of God Three Hundred the Emperor Constantine subdued all Christian Churches to Pope Sylvester from which time till these our days the Pope and his Clergy has possess'd the outward and Visible Church And ib. P. 43. The Popes Kingdom says he has had power over all Christians from the time of Pope Sylvester and â—he Emperor Constantine for these Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Years And ib. p. 145. From the time of Constantine until these our days even One Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Years the Pope and his Clergy has possess'd the outward visible Church of Christians Agen ib. p. 68. Between the year of Christ Three Hundred and Three Hundred and Sixteen the Antichristian and Papistical Râ—â—gn began reigning universally and without any debatable contradiction One Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Years God's True Church most certainly abiding so long Latent and Invisible Nay he goes yet further ib. p. 391. During even the Second and Third Ages says he after Christ the true Temple of God and Light of the Gospel was obscur'd by the Roman Antichrist himself 17. He attributed Primacy to the Bishop of Rome as Frigevillaeus Gauuius owns Pal. Chr. ad Regin Angliae Constantine preferr'd says he the Bishop of Rome and of Constantinople before the rest giving the Primacy to the Bishop of Rome before all And upon this score he is charg'd by the same Author p. 34. fatalâ—y to have given Power to the Beast 18. He reprov'd Acesius the Novatian for denying the Power of remitting sin to be given to Priests Centurists Cent. 4. Col 653. and Socrates l. 1. c. 10. 19. Of his Priests assembled to the Dedication of the Church some of them did Preach and interpret the Holy Scriptures But such as were unable to arrive at these things appeased the Deity with unbloody Sacrifices and Mystick Immolations humbâ—y offering up their Prayers to God for the common peace for the Church of God. So Euseb de vit Const l. 4. c. 45. 20. After his death Prayers were offer'd for his Soul So the Centuriators Cent. 4. Col. 454. where they relate that after his death the People pour'd forth Prayers for the Emperors Soul not without Tears So likewise Eusebius who adds that his Body was vouchsafed a Place with the Monument of the Apostles that it might be vouchsafed the Divine Rites and Mystie Service or Sacrifice de vit Const. l. 4. c. 71.
Ammonites pray to Ashtoroth or Milcom He does not deny but in one of the Hymns us'd in his Church are found these words Hail O Cross our only Hope In this time of the Passion encrease Righteousness in the Just and blot out the Sins of the Guilty And these same words as likewise the whole Hymn are found in St. Ambrose's Works tho compos'd by that Learned Bishop Vincentius Fortunatus who liv'd in the fifth Age to be sung on Passion Sunday upon which day it is still us'd by his Church as part of that days Solemnity And if for these words of this Prelate whose Name is so often celebrated by Pious and Learned Men and his whole Church must be blackned with the Infamy of Idolatry and praying directly to the Cross then stand clear Paul have a care Chrysostome beware O Creed and you Common-prayer-Book look to your felf for if there be but any that will weigh you in this Scale if you have but a Grave Catechist that according to this Rule will Faithfully represent you you 'll be infallibly set out for nothing better then Professors of Folly and Nonsence Bundles of Absurdities and Prophaneness sitter for the diversion of Drolling Atheists than the Direction of any Christian Congregation 'T is but exposing some sentences and expressions found in them in the rigid and literal sence of the words to the Multitude and they 'll presently lose all their Authority of being Divine and become as Ridiculous as Popery which by these true-representing Arts has been made so infamous by its Adversaries As now if after the Method of this Faithful Catechism the Question should be thus ask'd concerning St. Paul Quest What regard had St. Paul for the material Cross A. He reverenc'd it above all things in Heaven and Earth expresly owning it for the only Subject of his Glory God forbid says he Gal. 6. 14. that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jefus Christ Again He look'd upon the Wood of the Cross as that which had purchas'd Mans Reconciliation to God as he directly confesses Ephes 2. 16. where he says Man was Reconcil'd unto God in one body by the Cross Would not the urging these expressions of St. Paul in the rigid sence of the Words as they signifie the material Wood of the Cross make him change his Colour in the Eyes of the Multitude and render him more like an Infidel than an Apostle of Jesus Christ for thus placing his Glory and Mans Reconciliation in a piece of Wood And if these same measures are applied to St. Chrysostom and other Fathers who flourish'd in the time of the Church's Purity will not they all appear disfigur'd with the horror of Superstition and Idolatry and carry the most infamous Marks of Popery in the very face of them St. Chrisostom says expresly that the Cross has broken the Gates of Hell has open'd the Passage into Heaven has made Paradise again accessible and confounded the power of Satan and a little before that every thing that contributes to our Salvation receives its perfection from the Cross St. Ephrem in almost the same words thus celebrates the Cross It has triumph'd says he over death 't is the Hope of true Believers the Light of the World the Key of Paradice the Overthrow of Heresies the Help of Religious Men the Establishment of Faith a great and secure Protection and the perpetual Glory of good Christians for ever Now let but these words of these Eminent and Primitive Christians be thrown amongst the Crowds with an innuendo as if spoken meerly of the material Cross and that they attributed so many excellencies to a piece of Wood what scandals would immediately follow How many contempts and scornful reproches would these Great Fathers receive from the presuming Multitude And how many compassionate Moans would the more Pitying Sex sigh out upon the darkness of that Age This would certainly have follow'd had it been the Fate of these Primitive Christians to have faln into True-representing Protestant hands or were there any faithful Catechism to have made Questions and Answers upon their Faith and Practice But certainly 't is not only the part of a Faithful Catechism that pretends to give a true account of mens Belief and Practice to lay down some words some expressions taken out of their Hymns their Epistles their Books and then leave them to the discretion of every undiscerning or prejudic'd Reader to interpret as they please and more especially it ought not to have pointed out to a false and mistaken sence which however literal is yet contrary to the meaning of those whose Doctrine it pretends to deliver No this is not doing faithfully 't is not true-representing If it would have made good its Title in the Frontispiece it should besides relating the bare words have given a faithful account of the sence in which Catholicks understand those words And therefore as to do right to St. Paul St. Chrysostom St. Ephrem c. besides giving a bare Narrative of their expressions it ought to be explicated to the people that in all those high Encomiums of infinit and divine Perfections and Effects attributed to the Cross they do not understand the meer Material Cross or piece of Wood but the Belief in the Mystery of the Cross the Passion of the Son of God or Christ Crucified which are all signified and represented by the Cross So to represent truly the Practice of Catholicks 't is not sufficient to set down the bare words of the Hymn but likewise their meaning ought to have been propos'd that with St. Paul St. Chrysostom St. Ephrem c. they do not understand barely the Material Cross but Christ crucified and that in that Holy time of the Passion in which that Hymn is sung their whole Devotion and Prayers are directed to Him who being born for us Men and our Salvation made peace through the Blood of his Cross So that the meaning of Catholicks in saying that Hymn is Hail O Christ our only Hope In this time of the Passion increase Righteousness in the Just c. This had been true-representing indeed but to pretend to faithful representing and then to set down only Words without their due Sence and Meaning is to represent by halves it has more of deceiving in it then representing having little of truth in it besides in Brags and Pretences This certainly is so insincere a Method that if allow'd there needs no more to blast the Credit and Reputation even os Truth it self and 't is very observable that there is scarce an Argument taken up by Protestants or any Means us'd by them for the defeating of Popery or making it Ridiculous to the Multitude but the same if follow'd on will infallibly ruin all Religion and turn Christianity out of the World Protestancy it self is not proof against its own weapons but that which brought it into the World will be certainly its overthrow with as many as have but