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B02897
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The declaration of several eminent Roman Catholicks in this kingdom of England, who did embrace the Protestant religion, with their reasons for their change deliver'd in their words, at their embracing the Protestant religion. To which is added a catalogue of sundry great persons of the Roman-Catholick religion, that are now turned to the true Protestant-religion of the Church of England.
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1688
(1688)
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Wing D617A; ESTC R176402
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4,969
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10
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poysoned in taking the Sacrament Strange Absurdities and prodigious Acts to which Transubstantiation would subject the Body of Christ if the Doctrine were true His next Exception is against the Privation of the Cup contrary to the commands of Christ Drink ye all and the Practice of the Church 1 Cor. 11. His third Exception is against Purgatory as if the unspeakable Dignity of the Sacrifice of Christ were not able to blot out our Offences to reconcile our Souls to God and to justifie before the Throne of Justice Besides he assures himself that it is a great diminishing of Gods Mercy Grace and unspeakable Favour and a too-much eclipsing of the matchless Glory of the Ocean of his compassions His next Exception is against the Canonizing of Saints by which means the silly ignorant People are induc'd to commit Idolatry and Spiritual Fornication impiously and incredulouâ—ly against God who is able to save and restore to life those that are dead that from hence proceeded so many Pilgrimages into strange Countries under pretence whereof many Adulterâ—es Fornications Sodomies Incests and other execrable acts were committed and the Bodies of those Ador'd and â—uperâ—â—itâ—ou ly Worâ—hipped upon Earth whose â—ouls were tormented in Hell He adds that Gold and Silver can work mâ—ch with the People for raâ— ng of the most vile and wickeâ— Peâ—son â—pon Earth to the reputation of Holiness and Deâ—â—caâ—â—n which never can come from the spirit of Sanctificaâ—ion but from â—he Authority of a mortal and sinful Man Yet that those were the â—aâ—nts wherein the Papists put their hopes and at whose hands they look for Succour both in life and death Wherefore says the Convert I utterly renounce them and put my whole trust and confidence in my Creator only And lastly he renders to the Divine Majesty eternal thanks above all other benefits of his large liberality bestowed upon him for his Conversion in particular protesting to imploy the Grace and Gifts it had pleas'd his Omnipotency to endue him withall to the glorious praise of his eternal Majesty and the Edification of his Church where his Word was most purely Preach'd and his holy Sacraments most sincerely administred according to the Institution of Christ John Norman Sub-Prior of Marestay and a Predicant Friar made publick profession of the Protestant Religion the same year and gave his Reasons in the Reformed Churches of Yours and Traisneau to this effect In the first place he bewails for having so long follow'd the way that conducted to Perdition and for having forsaken the true Path which was to be trac'd for the attaining of heaven and then blesses himself for that in the end the Spirit of God had brought him to the light of a holy Knowledge of the way of Salvation Lo now says he you see me unmask'd from the fraudulent embraces of the Strumpet Babel which is the Nursery of all Impiety Now am I loose from the dangerous labyrinth of Errors Errors so abominable that there is no man of never so little Faith but detests and renounces them particularly he instances the boldnesâ— of the Popish Priests in using the terms Qui creavit me dedit mihi creare se he that created me gave me power to create him and qui creavit me sine me creatur mediante me he that created me without me is created by my means Which he asserts to be a manifest over-throwing the Doctrine concerning the truth of the Humane Nature of Christ who has but one Body and not two Bodies as the words infer for that by their reckoning Christ must have one Body fram'd in the Womb of the Pure Virgin and another which the Creator creates by the Priest In the next place he objects against their daily Sacrificing for the Quick and the Dead by which means the Papists seem directly to infer that the Sacrifice once made by Christ upon the Cross was insufficient In the next place he objects against Praying to Saints as depriving Christ of his excelling Titles of Intercessor and Medâ—ator In the next place he taxes the Papists with Idolatry in attributing to a thing without life that which only belongs to Christ instancing for example that Prayer of theirs to the Cross Hail Holy Cross our only Hope in this time of passion Encrease Justice to the Godly and give Mercy to the Guilty He further taxes their want of Understanding in believing that by theâ—r Works they Meritoriously gain Heaven as being a palpable lessening the merits of Christ for that if the Graces of God might be purchas'd by Man's Merits Christ had then dy'd in vain Besides that it is contrary to the Scripture which tells us That when we have done all we can we are unprofitable Servants In the conclusion he tells the World that he has omitted many Superstitions and Heresies that caus'd him to fly from the pretenâ—ed Catholick Religion and to settle himself with all humâ—lity in the Reformed Church Adding withall that let his â—nemâ—es say what they pleas'd or do what they could neither Promises nor Threats neither Injuries nor Persecutions should with Gods grace withdraw him from his Pious Resolution to embrace the true and lively Faith of the Reformed Churches And lastly beseeching the Congregation of the Faithful meaning the Protestants to receive him into their number The Names of several Roman Catholicks that are turn'd to the Protestant Religion In the 12th â—ge from 1100 Sermon 22. upon the Canticles Sermon 5. upon Isai 6.46 Sermon 86. upon the Canticles l. 3. Comment upon the Book of Kings c. 12. Summa sententia Tract 6. to 1200. liv'd St. Bernard a Monk who held Justification by Faith alone and disclaim'd Justification by works I am not worthy says he neither can I by my own merets obtain the Kingdom of Heaven but rest upon that Interest which I have in the Merits of Christ's passion He also taught that the Eucharist was a Commemoration only in his Sermon upon the Lords Supper he also held the Sufficiency of the Scriptures without Traditions affirming that the Word of God was all in all c. Rupertus Tuitiensis taught That whatsoever concerns the Word of God whatsoever was to be known or spoken touching the Incarnation the Divinity and Humanity of Christ is contain'd in the Two Testaments besides or without which two there was nothing that ought to be deliver'd or believ'd And Hugo de Sancto Victore maintain'd Communicating in both kinds Gracianus the Monk Recites many Ancient Canons and Constitutions for Communicating in both kinds C. 6. tom 3. de concecrat dibt 2 and declared his Testimony against Transubstantiation in these words As the Heavenly Bread which is Christ's Body where indeed it is but the Sacrament of his Body so the sacrificing of the Flesh of Christ is said to be his Passion not in the truth of the thing but inâ—d signifying Myster Of the same Opinion in the same Age was Peter Blesensis Archdeacon of Bath and Johannes Semeca Dominic Calderinus mentionâ—d by Ladovicus Vives condemn'd the whole Mass so that being urg'd by his Friend to go to Mass when he could not in Civility deny it Come said he let us go to the Common Error FINIS
THE DECLARATION Of several Eminent Roman Catholicks In this KINGDOM of ENGLAND Who did Embrace the Protestant Religion With their Reasons for their Change deliver'd in their own Words at their Embracing the Protestant Religion To which is Added A Catalogue of sundry great Persons of the Roman-Catholick Religion that are now turned to the true Protestant-Religion of the Church of England Licensed LONDON Printed for R. B. 1688. The Declaration of several Eminent Roman Catholicks in this Kingdom of England who did Embrace the Protestant Religion with their Reasons for their Change deliver'd in their own Words c. THey that will derive the Goodness or Truth of a Religion from the Proselytes which it makes ought to consider the Equality of the Persons and the End of their Conversion For what signifies the Turning of half a score Persons to the Romish Religion though their Number should be trebled where for one that submits his misguided Reason ten are deluded by their Passions or follow the Current of the Times Allur'd by private Hopes and the Arguments of Self-Interest Of this Number was Peter Espinal Archbishop of Lyons who having embraced the Doctrine of the Protestants in his younger years afterwards chang'd his Opinion and became an inveterate Prosecutor of the Reformed Thuan. l. 8â— 122. but it was not his Zeal that made him so furious but his eager Ambition of a Cardinals Cap to which he sacrific'd his otherwise great Learning and Parts Nor was this all for having wasted his own Demeans to run in Debt he knew no other way to supply his luxurious Extravagance than by siding with the Guisian or Henotic Faction At the same time not only a Turncoat from his Religion but a Rebel to his Prince The next to him we find Francis Balduinus who having embrac'd the Protestant Religion in Germany Thuan. l. 53.57 at length return'd to the Romish perswasion upon the fair hopes he had of being preferr'd in Poland by Henry the Third afterwards King of France had he not been prevented by Death These were Men of great Parts and Learning and that we see how their Hopes and their Fears betray'd them But we are now to give a Particular Account of several Persons of no less Grandeur and Learnâ—ng that being before Devout Sons of Popery abandon'd the Ceremonies of Rome and making choice of the Protestant profession at the same time that they might not be tax'd of Inconstancy or Worldly Drifts published the true Reasons of their Coversion We shall begin with Annus Burgus a Senator of Paris at first only suspected to favour the Protestants was by Henry the Second of France sent to the Bastile at which time being declar'd a Heretick by his Judges he appeal'd to the Archbishop of Sens which Appeal being judged frivolous he was sent back to the Bishop of Paris by whom being then degraded from his Sacerdotal Character he then made open profession of the Protestant Religion testifying his joy for the kindness they had done him for that the Character of the Beast being now as he said defac'd he should have nothing more to do with Antichrist and that there might be no question of his Conversion he removed his first Confession as ambiguous and gave into Court another more clearly agreeing with the Doctrine of Geneva and Switzerland wherein after he had sharply enveighed against the Pope and the Ceremonies of Rome he declar'd himself prepar'd either to live or dye for which at last he was adjudged to be Burnt which Sentence as he heard with an undaunted Courage so at the Stake he gave the People to understand that he did not come there to suffer as a Malefactor but for adhering to the truth of the Gospel his Death was deplor'd by many that thought ill of his Conversion However says the Historian it partly so confirm'd the minds of some that had forsaken the Religion and likewise so exasperated others as it may be truly said that out of his Ashes sprung that prodigious harvest of Revolts and Conspiracies Thuan. l. 22.23 which afterwards for so long time harras'd a most flourishing Kingdom And the Author of the Council of Trent makes this Remark upon him Counc of Trent l. 5. That the Death and Constancy of a Person so Conspicuous waken'd a Curiosity in many to understand what that Religion should be for which so great a Man had suffer'd so Couragiously and complains that it much encreas'd the number of Protestant Proselytes Garsias Arias a Spaniard and Monk of the Monastery of St. Isidore in Sevil a Person of an acute Wit and rare Learning of a rigid Roman Catholick became a Preacher of the Reformed Religion even under the nose of the Inquisition in so much that Philip the 2d returning into Spain was much amaz'd to hear that the Reformed Religion was crept into his Most Catholick Dominions At first Garsias was too hard for the Inquisitors still baffling their Objections by the smartness of his Arguments But being at length Conv en'd before them upon surer Evidence he plainly shew'd that it was not out of Self-Interest but out of a real Convincement that he was in an Error before that he had abandoned the Popish Religion else he would never have so boldly Confronted the Cruel Tribunal as to tell them They were fitter for the vile Drudgery of Ostlers Thuan. l. 23. than to assume themselves to be the Censurers of a Faith which they so little understood declaring at the same time his hearty Repentance for having formerly so â—ppos'd the Maintainers of that Faith before them and for which he should always be sorry as long as he had whereupon haâ— was forthwith Condemn'd and soon after led in Triumph to Fâ—re and â—aggot and Burnt alive Wolfangus â—â—scabus was also in his younger years a Monk till better Information made him forsake the Ceremonies of the Romish Church and adheâ—r to the Protestant Religion of which he afterwards became a most painful and Famous Preacher to his dying day Melchior Roman a Spaniard and once Procurator of the Order of the Jacobins at Rome for the Provâ—nce of Tholouse having at last deserted the Church of Rome made a publick Declaration of his Conversion in the Reformed Church of Bergeral in the year 1600. wherein he gives an ample account of the Reasons which induc'd him to change his Religion to this effect His first Exception is That the Consecrated Sacrament should be subject to the eating of Mice and Rats he alledges that he saw at Lymoges in the Convent of the Jacobins an infinite number of Consecrated Sacrifices eaten with Rats and Worms Attested by Volaterranus l. 5. Georg. and all wrapt about with Cobwebbs He relates how Gregory the Seventh having consulted the Sacrament touching the Revealing of certain matters against the Emperour and receiving no answer threw it into the Fire He adds that Victor the Third a Bishop of Ebora and the Emperor Henry the 7th were