the Truth indeed â—bserve this â—ruth vvell If we interpret Scripture according to our own humane sense and understanding and accordingly believe it â—e must â—â—me to true â—isdom by 〈◊〉 Misterious â—â—orance â—â—d to be in â—â—reated â—â—ght by â—indness we thereby make our beleife humane conceit and not divine Faith which must have nothing in it but the pure Revelation of God and Proposition of the Church guided infallibly by his holy Spirrit To speake Truth I know nothing by which People are more deceived then in taking that to be Faith which is merely humane Conceipt and the Invention of Man having nothing Divine but only a gloss and colour of Holy Scripture which truly examined proves but Dross and Counterfeit as by what hath been said doth manifestly appeare to all that are not willfully blind Hereupon St. Augustine saith of such as Obstinately and perversly obtrude and thrust their understandings into these divine Mysteries to which they cannot by such means reach That instead of the right Worship of God and Truth A golden sentence vvorthy to be vvritten in every Man's Heart And besides that it is Augustines it is most venerable for the certain Truth of it they worship their own Vnderstanding and adore their own Errours These are his very words Homini extra Ecclesiam Religio sua est cultus phantasmatum suorum et Error suus Deus suus A Man's Religion who is out of the Church is the worship of his own Phansies and his Errour is his God I wish with all my soul All men would consider and ponder well with true Indifferency and earnest desive to know the truth this solid Truth of St. Augustine That those who are in the Church guided â—y the infallible Spirit of God may contiâ—ue subject to it in true humility without â—y pride of their own understanding â—nd those who are not may unbeguile themselves and acknowledge their errour submitting to her and truly captivating heirunderstandings in Obedience to Faith proposed by her by whose mouth we must heare it not otherwise to be learned and unless we do this by hearing and believing the Church the Evangelist passeth thiâ— cleare and definitive sentence upon us that we should be esteemed as Heathens and Publicans Neither can we ever hope to have God for our Father unless we take the Church for our Mother Much may be said in this matter And the holy Writers Fathers and Saints of God out of their great Zeal to this Fundamental Truth have written abundantly thereof to ground all upon this firm Rock which shall never fail Much I say may be said to prevent Errors and declare the truth of our Faith but this little onely which I have gathered out of them may suffice and will firmly establish us if sincerely practised That is once againe in 〈◊〉 word to suppress the curious itching of ouâ— understanding from medling with these Mysteries of Faith with which it hath no thing to do by way of searching but musâ— simply believe it 's divine light from thâ— Churches proposing through God's Revelation The understanding therefore having nothing to do with Faith but only simply to receive it and propose it to the will to practice upon it It cannot err about it and so as to all Errors in matter of Eaith the understanding by this means is debarred and the proud comb of it cut and these Errors can creep in no other way God keep them alwaies out and us in the Truth and true Faith The Mysteries whereof because we cannot discern them in themselves we must simply believe them as revealed by God and proposed by the Church without further discussion That we may not mistake the true Church of God There are certain infallible \Marks Signs Notes or Proprieties which be inseparable from It and agree with None but it as natural light may evidently discern if considered and duly weighed even by the simplest Man living and supernatural light confirms them so that there can be no mistake of the true Church and consequently of the true Faith if we observe these visible Notes and Marks For none either remayns Infidel or becoms Heretick but who either does not or will not observe them They are such as St. Augustine made choice of to direct himself Heare what he saith and follow his example These worthily saith he keep me in the lap of the Church UNITY THE CONSENT OF NATIONS AUTHORITY BY MIRACLES BEGUN HOLYNES NOURISHED BY HOPE BY CHARITY INCREASED BY ANTIQUITY MADE FIRM AND SURE SUCCESSION THERE KEEPS ME THE SUCCESSION OF PRIESTS FROM THE VERY SEE OF PETER THE APOSTLE to whom our Lord after his Resurection committed the feeding of his Sheep EVEN TO THIS BISHOP THAT NOW IS There KEEPS ME FINALLY THE VERY NAME OF CATHOLICK CATHOLICK which not without cause amongst so many Heresies the true Church alone hath obtained You perceive St. Augustine stuck fast to the Churches Faith after his being an Heretick and all his bickering with Errors through the Motive of these infallible Marks which are proper to it alone and relied not on his own Judgment or wit as great and as strong as it was the like to which perchance was never or ever will be which he found to be too shallow to dive into these high Mysteries of Faith If any one think his wit deeper and sounder then this great Saint's was And that these reasons were not sufficient Motives I will not contest with his over-weened conceipt of himself but let him runn headlong whither the spirit or rather sprite of pride will drive him I know as the Apostle tells me Every Man hath not Faith and that there must be Heresies But woe to them that are infected with them They are blind and obstinate and Condemned by their own Judgments There is no End of disputing with them and so I leave them and come to propose those Marks which may serve any well minded Man to finde out the true Church Mother of all true Faith and Religion These are the Marks or Signes of the true Church of Christ THe Church of Christ must be One ONE That the true Church of Christ and the Religion professed by it be but One is most necessary for since the Divine Providence governs the Church we must needs grant that the Government thereof is the best of all being the chiefe of all as ordered by him by whom Kings raign and govern And the best Government of a Multitude is Monarchical That is when One Head and Chief governs the whole multitude This is manifest by the End and Scope of Government being the Peace Vnion of the Subjects which is most excellently enjoyed when One governs the whole Church for by that means all Occasion of Schisme is taken away Moreover the true Militant Church which is a Company of Faithful Believers under One chief Pastour is so much the Perfecter by how much more like it is to the Triumphant What the
purpose As the name of Christian doth distinguish the Church from Jews Gentiles and Heathens so the name Catholick from falsâ— Prophets and peculiar Sects who glory under the name of Christ and belong not to him And to this purpose said Pacianus my Name is Christian my Sirname Catholickâ— This Name therefore is most deservedly put into the Creed of the Apostles aâ— distinguishing from all Sects and Hereticks and most proper to the true Church Only None therefore can miss of the true Church who follow the Catholickâ— The general name will most certainly inform you her very adversaries being Judges Luk. 19.22 Out of thy mouth I Judge thee O wicked Servant The true Church must be One holy Catholick and Consequently Apostolick THe Fourth and last mark is Apostolick Apostolick shewing the true Church and Religion not taken up at the second hand as many do now a days to be derived from Christ and his Apostles and so to us as an inheritance from our Ancestors by a continual succession of Bishops from the Chayr of Peter to this present Pope and so to continue without â—ayling every One holding Vnion with his Predecessors True Religion no Inveâ—tion of Maâ—â— and keeping still the same Profession of Faith so visibly and apparently that it is like a City upon a Mountain or a Candle on a Candlestick to give light to all in the house of God Whereby it is manifest that it is not the Invention of Man it never being contrary to it self in Doctrin but allwaies running in the same Current of Apostolical Tradition and through this united strength hath out lasted many hundreds of Heresies which though manifestly divided in themselves did ever joyne hands to overthrow this One holy Catholick Apostolick Faith but never found any other Rock then It against which they split themselves And thus we know it to be that kingdom of which Daniel Prophesieth saying Dan. 2.44 And in the Dayes of these Kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed and this kingdom shall not be given to any other people but it shall break and destroy all those kingdoms shall stand for ever Observe therefore I beseech you out of this Mark that those who pretend to be founders of new Religions Reformers or what else they please to be called were once of this Apostolical continued Faith and went out and forsook it and consequently their Doctrin is later or less Antient Math. 14. and for this very reason not good seed but Cockle which the envious Man soweth after For these are the Properties of Hereticks and false teachers to be inventors of new Doctrin to divide and separate themselves to cause dissentions scandals against the Doctrin they had learned The true Faith therefore is Apostolical to be traced up to the Apostles and Christ himself the fountain and author of all truth Now if you desire to know in particular the positive tenents of the true Catholick Faith which I find St. Augustin the Monk of the holy Order of St. Benedict preached and professed who planted the Christian Faith in England above a thousand yeares ago in the yeare 596. in the reign of Elbert otherwise Ethelbert King of Kent who married Queen Bertha of France a Catholick sent by St. Gregary the great theâ— Pope of Rome in that Apostolical Mission Doctor of the Church Monk of the same holy Order who founded seaven Monasteries himself six in Sicilia the 7th in Rome dedicated to St. Andrew of which St. Augustin was Abbot And in very deed searching into Antiquity and the Tradition of the Church by which the Truth infallibly is delivered to us I find the very same Articles plainly to be traced even to Christ himself and his immediate successor St. Peter and so down to us till this day and shall be till the worlds end visible and Apparent which is the sure Footing for every one to tread in They are these contained in the Profession of Faith received by the Church to wit I. N. Do by a firm Faith believe and Profess all every thing contained in the Symbol of Faith which the Holy Roman Church useth viz. I believe in one God the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and Earth and of all things Visible and invisible And in One Lord Jesus Christ the onely begotteâ— Son of God and begotten oâ— his Father before all Agesâ— God of God Light of Lightâ— very God of very God begotten not made Consubstantial to the Father by whom all things were madeâ— who for us men and for ouâ— salvation descended from heaven and was incarnated by the holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and made Man was also crucifyed for us under Pontius Pilat suffered and was buried and rose the third day according to the Scripturesâ— and ascended into Heavenâ— sitteth at the right hand oâ— the Father and shall come again with Glory to judge the quick and the dead of whose Kingdom there shall be no End And in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of â—ife who proceedeth from â—he Father and Son who together with the Father and â—he Son is equally adored and â—onglorified who spake by â—he Prophets And One Hoâ—y Catholick and Apostolick Church I confess one Baptisme for the Remission of â—â—ns and I expect the resurrection of the dead and life â—f the world to come Amen The Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions and the other Observations and Constitutions of the samâ— Church I do most firmly admit and embrace Likewise I admit the Holy Scripture according to that sense which our holy Motheâ— the Catholick Church eveâ— did and doth hold to which it belongs to judge of the truâ— sense and interpretation oâ— the Holy Scriptures neitheâ— will I receive or interpreâ— it but according to thâ— unanimous Consent of thâ— Fathers I profess also that there aâ—â— Seaven true and proper Sacraments of the new Law instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ and necessary to the salvation of Mankind though not all to every particular Person To wit Baptism Confirmation the Eucharist Pen-nance Extream Unction holy Order Matrimony And that they do confer Grace of these that Baptism Confirmation and Order without Sacrilege cannot be reiterated The received and approved rites also of the Catholick Church in the solemn Administration of all the foresaid Sacraments I do receive admit I do embrace and receive all and every one of the Doctrines touching original Sin and Justification which have been defined and declared in the Holy Council of Trent I do in like manner profess that there is a true proper and Propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead offered to God in the Mass by lawful Priests truly ordained And that in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist after Consecration there is truly really and substantially the body and blood together with the soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ And that the whole substance of Bread is converted into
which is alwaies pure and holy tending to Vertue View and Consider the Tenets and practises of Both true and false and then judge The Religion which is true and holy is that WHich hath Calendars full of approved Known Saints of all Ages and Professions A kallendar of 〈◊〉 approved known Saints whose Sanctity none dare or can justly oppose That which hath wrought evident and true miracles in all Ages from the beginning till this hour True Miracles and shall work upon occasion to the Consummation of the Saints That which hath converted all nations to the Faith of Christ from Judaisme All Nations Converted c. Idolatry Heathenisme c. and whose teachers and Professors have been of known sanctity and holy Life To name One for all St. Augustin our Apostle of the holy Order of St. Bennet who converted England to the Faith of Christ from blind Idolatry and Heathenisme Sent by St. Gregory the great then Pope of Rome of the same holy Order That which hath built all the Churches Churches Monasteries Nunneries Hospitals built c. Monasteries Nunneries Colledges Hospitals c. in Christandom endowed them with rents instituted the Universities distinguished the Multitude into Parishes proportioned the Tyths annexed the glebe Land ordayned the Bishoppricks lymitted the Diocesses and decree'd the Ecclesiastical Lawes so full of learning and Piety that they are now all good and learned Mens Studyes besides infinite other good Works of all sorts That which from the Flower of her Infancy the Apostles themselves being such ever had still hath Religious Orders and ever shall have infinit Multitudes of Beleivers of either sex professing Poverty Chastity and Obedience the three cheif Evangelical Counsels so highly commended and practised by Antiquity not onely as Sonveraigne divine helps to perfection but also as Beautiful Ornaments to Christs Church raysing the Professors to a supream degree of Grace and glory Witnessed and sealed with the Blood of holy Martyrs and Confirmed by Miracles That which hath been testified and sealed with the blood and sufferings of such Martyrs and Confessors as are allowed by the adversaries thereof and all Points and Articles of her holy Doctrine confirmed by most authentical and approved Miracles which no other Contrary Religion ever was or shall be able to do sufficient to convince the whole World if they were not extreamly blind and perversly Obstinate That which hath instituted the Feasts Fastingdays and feasts Holy Rites and wholesom Ceremonys Fasting dayes and all good Ceremonies and Observations used through out the the whole Church As Christmas Easter Ascension Whitsontide Corpus Christi the Vigils and Feasts of the Apostles and other Saints the fast of Lent Emberdays Abstinence from flesh On Frydaies and Saturdads very wholsome commodious even to Common Wealths and private Families Rites likewise and sacred Forms and Ceremonies observed in administring the Sacraments Consecrations Coronations instalments and all other solemnities which carry with them Veneration State and decency That which professeth not the large The Narrow way of Morification and Penance and Broadway but the straight and narrow such as the holy writ affirms to be the way to Heaven as Annual Confession to a Priest Pennance Restitution Satisfaction performance of Vows Mortification of the old Man and the like injunctions observed by none but those of the true Religion Libertinisme being the sole Profession and the very soul of all Sectaries in One kind or Other That unto whose society whosoever truly enters Change of Manners upon Conversion lives forthwith in more feare and love of God hatred to sin and changes his former life into a better That which most hath The most learned holy and able Men. and in former Ages ever had and ever shall have the most Famous Men for wit Judgment reading writing true schollership and solid Vertue Qualityes of all Other most likely to discern and abandon errors to her Teachers Doctors and instructers That which hath excelled in spirituallity True spirituallity and whose beleivers have interiourly Conversed with God in a most experimental and Ineffable way and thereby satisfied their Propension not possible to be satisfied out of the true Faith and Religion and have chosen the best part never to be taken from them And this is most evident by many Admirable Books written by the Practisers of this spirituality and professors of this only true and holy Religion That whose publick Church-service is performed Publick Church Service and executed with that Reverence Venerable gravity Majesty And the several parts and ceremonies so admirably and aptly composed and ordered for annual Commemorations and representing of our Saviours Incarnation Birth life Passion Burial Resurection Ascension Coming af the Holy Ghost the institution of the blessed Sacrament of the Altar and other passages aswel of Christ our head as of his Members the Saints That whose Secular The single â—ife of the Clergy Secular and Regular and regular Clergy live without wives free from Care of providing for Wife and Children and the second sort no way distracted with Affairs and incumbrances of the World but Cloistred unles some of the more Able and Vertuous be through special want and to Gods greater Glory called to Episcopal Sees and other employments in the Church pass their whole time in Prayer watching Fasting Continual study of Scriptures with daily Conferences for the full and perfect Understanding of them Add to this that all their Priests and beneficed Clergy are bound to say every day an Office in their Breviary â—ound to say â—â—e Breviary A Book of that Excellency that none but the Spirit of God could have composed it and which alone is sufficient to make them Devout and learned That finally though there be many other motives of Holiness in this true Church which by reason of her Holy Doctrin Royal Loyal and divine Obedience subjection to all Power Civil and Spiritual and Ordinances keeps all subjects in due allegiance to their Temporal Kings and Princes and to all power spiritually constituted over them And hath evermore blessed Popes Bishops Abbots Superiors Kings and Princes Magistrates and Subjects with Constant and permanent Peace true Happiness Prosperity and Victorys true Glory temporal and Eternal together with unfeigned Love One to another neighbourly and just Commerce And in a word so that all things go on with Order Love Justice and Peace Now as the true Church and Religion hath these glorious fruits and evident Effects So have all Heresies and Sects the clear Contrary Foul and monstrous Fruits and Effects And most apparently abominable to all who are not wilfully blind and perversly Obstinate Consider then on the Contrary side how the False Church and Religion is That which is void of Saints A Calendar of Hipocritical ridiculous Saints Foxes Acts and monuments sufficiently witness and hath no other but vile hypocrites such as after some time even those of the