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A40079
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The fourth note of the church examined, viz. Amplitude, or multitude and variety of believers
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Fowler, Edward, 1632-1714.
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1687
(1687)
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Wing F1705; ESTC R32229
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12,032
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24
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Nov. Orb. l. 2. â—6 19. Many of them were driven to Baptism as Beasts to the Water And Oviedo saith of Cuba That there was scarcely any one or but extremely few that willingly became Christians And both he and Benzo who were long conversant in those parts say of Cuba and New Spain That they had scarcely any thing belonging to Christianity besides the bare Name of Christians That they only minded the Name they received in Baptism and not long after forgot that too And the former of these makes this no matter of Wonder since he declares their Converters to be no better Christians than these Converrts And excellently expostulates with them about the horrible Wickedness of their Lives telling them that would they give the poor Indians good Examples this Method would signify much more towards the making of them good Christians than that Course they took with them And the old Monsieur Arnaud in an Assembly at Paris scoffed at the Iesuits for the Conversion of the Indians calling it a brave warlike Conversion Conversionem bellam bellicosam and telling them that they had converted Gladium oris in os Gladii And whereas the Cardinal in the Words following those last cited makes this flourish that Rome hath Churches in all the four Parts of the World to the East in the Indies to the West in America to the North in Japan to the South in Brasil and the uttermost Part of Africa If his meaning was more than this That there is no Country in all those Parts but what hath Romanists in it it was to say no worse a mere Flourish If he meant no more than so we may dare to affirm as much concerning Protestants But it matters not much whether we can or no since there are infinite Numbers of Christians who though they bear not the Name of Protestants yet agree with them in not being Papists and as was said in all the great Points of the Christian Religion whether of Faith or Practice To pass by the Christians under the Patriarch of Mozall of whom Postellus saith Cosmog p. 69. Though they are but few in comparison of what they have been yet they are many more than us Latines To say nothing neither of the Armenian Christians falsely called Nestorians whose Catholick as they call their Patriarch Otho Frisingensis reports to have under his Obedience above a thousand Bishops See Brerewood 's Enquiries p. 211. last Edit from the Report of his Legats sent to Rome both which vast Bodies of Christians acknowledg no Subjection to the See of Rome I say to pass by these we need not instance in any besides the Greek Church for the foresaid Purpose Which hath had an uninterrupted Succession of Bishops from the Apostles and is of greater Antiquity than the Church of Rome and which hath produced more Fathers than that Church This Church is divided into many Nations as the Hyberians the People of Colchis now Mengrelia the Arabians Chaldaeans Aethiopians Aegyptians Moscovites Bulgarians Sclavonians Albanians Caramanians Walachians Moldavians Graecians c. And we may guess what a huge Disproportion there is in Largeness between all the Greek Churches and those Subject to the Church of Rome by this That the Countries in Europe and Asia which the Moscovites alone inhabit are computed to be near of as great an extent as all Europe besides The Greek Church hath Four Ancient Patriarchs the Constantinopolitan the Alexandrian the Antiochian and the Patriarch of Ierusalem And since the Patriarchate of Constantinople hath been under the Turkish Tyranny there hath been a Fifth Patriarch viz. of Mosco Cyril Patriarch of Alexandria and since of Constantinople Bellarmin 's Contemporary saith of the Greek Church dispersed through the foresaid Nations that They are stedfast in the Faith of Christ That no Innovation in Matters of Faith is found among them and but only some difference in Ceremonies Ep. 2. ad Vytenbogard inter Ep. praest Vir. p. 399. in Octavo He acknowledgeth that some of those Nations are not free from Superstition but adds that without detriment of the Faith it is connived at because it can't be remedied in regard of many Difficulties But in those things which belong to the Essence of Faith Perseverantes sunt permanentes they are fixed and unalterable He also writes that Whereas the Oriental Churches seem to be Reproached for their Ignorance Ep. 1. ad eundem ibid. p. 369. Philosophy and other sorts of Learning being gone from thence into other parts since they have been opprest with many Miseries by reason of the Tyranny of the Turk yet they reap no small Advantage hereby because by this Means they are unacquainted with those Pestiferous Questions which at this time infect Mens Ears and with the new Monstrous Portentous Doctrines And 't is plain what Doctrines he chiefly meant He adds that They are content with incompta Fides See the Rvd. Dean Stilling-fleet's Defence of the Greek Church from the Romanists charge of Heresy In his Learned Vindication of Arch-Bishop Laud. a plain undrest Faith taught them by the Apostles and their Ancestors and herein they persevere even unto Blood That They keep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 integram the Faith entirely That They see themselves bereft of all their Substance their Children snatch'd from their Embraces and are continually brought into the greatest Tribulations yet it is not grievous to them to suffer these things for the Faith of Christ c. So that the Motto which Minutius Felix made for the Primitive Christians Non magna Loquimur sed Vivimus Great things are not so much Talk'd as Lived by us This Great Prelate whose Fidelity in this Account is unquestionable he being a Person of as fam'd Piety as Learning doth assure us is deserved by these Greek Christians But for all this They must all be doom'd to Hell Torments as effectually as the Church of Rome's Sentence can do it because they will not Truckle under Her and so be made subject to a double Bondage And thus have I sufficiently shewed That it would be for the Interest of the Reformed Churches that Cardinal Bellarmin's Fourth Note of the Church were as true as we have proved it false And that it would then overthrow instead of establishing the Church of Rome's marvellous Pretence of being The True or Catholick Church THE END Pag. 80. lin 18. read ab omnibus LONDON Printed by I. D. for Richard Chiswel at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1687.
but what is contained in the holy Scriptures or may be proved thereby Nor doth she embrace any one Doctrine as an Article of Faith but what is clearly expressed in those Books of whose Canonicalness there never was the least Dispute in the Primitive Church Secondly I proceed to shew that if we should acknowledg this to be a true Note of the Catholick Church instead of enabling the Church of Rome to make good her Pretension of so being it will destroy it And instead of doing Disservice to the Reformed Churches it will do them excellent Service and be a certain Argument of their being true Parts of the Catholick Church And 1. I will shew that it will not at all Advantage the Church of Rome as to that her Pretension and therefore can do us no Prejudice The Cardinal proves 1. That his Church began to fructify throughout the World in the Days of the Apostles from these Words of St. Paul Col. 1. 6. The Truth of the Gospel is come unto you as it is in all the World and bringeth forth Fruit as it doth also in you c. But what is this to his Church Is the Gospel's bringing forth Fruit in all the World the same thing with the Church of Rome 's so doing 2. He adds the Authority of several Fathers for this Church's being spread in their Time all over the then known World but gives us none of their Sayings except St. Prosper's The first Father he cites is St. Irenaeus in the 3 d Chapter of his Book Edit Paris P. 53. But the Father here only saith That this Faith which he sums up immediately before and is but the chief part of the Apostle's Creed the Church disseminated throughout the World diligently preserves as if it were confined but to one House But how doth this concern the Church of Rome Which is not once mentioned with others here particularly named except we could be made to believe that wheresoever the Word Church is found that Church is still to be understood Next he cites Tertullian adversùs Iudaeos Edit Rig. p. 189. and having search'd that Book these or none are the Words he means viz. Those Words of David are to be understood of the Apostle's their Sound is gone forth in all the Earth and their Words unto the End of the World For in whom have all Nations believed but in Christ who is now come The Parthians Medes Elamites and those that inhabit Mesopotamia Armenia Phrygia Cappadocia Pontus Asia and Pamphilia Egypt Africa and beyond Cyrene the Romans and Jews now in Jerusalem and other Nations as now of the Getuli and Moors all Spain divers Countries of the Gauls and those of the Britains which the Romans could never conquer are subject to Christ c. But I again ask What is all this to the Church of Rome more than to any other particular Church belonging to any one of the many Nations of which that of the Romans is one and two whole Quarters of the World here mentioned His third Father is St. Cyprian Edit Oxon. p. 108. in his Book de Vnitate Ecclesiae But here is nothing he could fancy to be for his purpose except these Words The Church is one which by its Fruitfulness is extended into a Multitude As there are many Rays of the Sun and but one Light c. So the Church of our Lord which being filled with Light sends forth her Beams through the whole World is but one Light which is diffused every-where But though this be said of the Catholick Church is here the least Intimation that the Church of Rome is this Catholick Church After St. Cyprian follow several of the later Fathers their Books being only directed to But the narrow room I am confined to will not permit me to examine them nor need we look any farther to be satisfied how this greatest Man of the Roman Church condescended to the most shameful impertinence in citing Scripture and Fathers for the doing her Service But we must not overlook St. Prosper's Verses in his Book de Ingratis viz. Sedes Roma Petri quae Pastoralis Honoris Facta Caput Mundo quicquid non possidet Armis Relligione tenet i. e. Rome the Seat of Peter being made the Head of Pastoral Honour in the World whatsoever Country she possesseth not by her Arms she holds by her Religion But considering how early this Father lived viz. about the beginning of the Fifth Century he could mean no more than this That the Church of Rome the most Honourable of all other by means of that Cities being the ancient Seat of the Emperors keeps still possession of those places by the Religion they received from Her over which she hath lost Her Old Dominion And what is this but another plain Instance of most idle quoting of Ancient Authors Not to reflect upon Fetching Arguments from Poetical Flourishes But not to stand to consider how Ample the Roman Church was in the times of those Fathers nothing is more evident than that that part of Christendom she took up was but a small Spot of Ground compared with the Space those Churches filled which tho they held Communion with Her were distinct Churches from Her and owned no Subjection to Her. And it was about or above an Hundred Years after the youngest of those Fathers that the Pope was invested by that Execrable Wretch Phocas a Blessed Title in the mean time with the Primacy over all Churches And Gregory the Great who died in the Beginning of the Sixth Century not only sharply inveighed against Iohn Patriarch of Constantinople and his Successor Cyriacus for assuming to themselves the Title of Vniversal Bishops though there was no appearance of their designing any thing more thereby than an Addition of Honour not of Power to that Patriarchate but also called those who should affect such a Haughty Title Greg. Epist. 37. 70. lib. 11. Ep. 30. l. 4. the Forerunners of Antichrist And as these Bishops taking this Title was a Demonstration that they acknowledged not the least Subjection to the Bishops of Rome so Pope Gregory's calling those Bishops who should so do without Exception Forerunners of Antichrist is as plain a Proof that the Bishops of Rome to his time did not look on themselves as having a Primacy over all Churches And 't is manifest that in the time of the Council of Nice the Church of Rome was not thought to include the Catholick Church or to be any more than one part thereof This I say is manifest from the Sixth Canon of that Council viz. Let the ancient Customs be preserved for the Bishop of Alexandria to have Iurisdiction over Egypt Lybia and Pentapolis because the Bishop of Rome hath a like Custom c. Which is as much as to say that the Bishop of Alexandria had then the same uncontroulable Power in his large Jurisdiction that the Bishop of Rome had in his And therefore that Council knew nothing