friends can assure him that there is no proofe of it there so haue wee also just cause to mistrust the inferior Priests the feet when the head begins to faile and when we heare S. Hierome crying out that all heresies and commotions both Ecclesiasticall and Civill commonly came from Priests nay it seemes they justly deserue to be thus stigmatized when their owne Canons haue laid this note vpon them which saies omne malum à Sacerdotibus dist 50. quod retentum à Gregorio 13. expunxit Sixtus Quintus Jnd. expurg Belg. fol 306. Besides by this rule of blind obedience they that followed Luthers doctrine are justified against the Pope because he was their lawfull Pastor and they did no more then their duty in harkening vnto him if it be true indeede that the Laity are bound to obey the Clergy in all things touching their faith and salvation The perpetuity of Christs Church on earth That the Church increased by Preaching and Miracles at the first That it shall continue vnto the end of the world by vertue of Christs promise and the assistance of the Holy Ghost All this is vndoubted truth and I pray you aske your friend whether hee know any Protestant that doth deny it Stapleton some other of the shamelesse crew haue gone about to perswade the world that wee beleeue not the perpetuity of Christs Church for ever vpon earth but it is so shamelesse a slaunder that Bellarmine himselfe stands vpon our defence and pleads our cause against all such calumniators Notandum est saith he multos ex nostris tempus terere let your friend note it for hee is one of those multi whom it concernes dum probant absolutè Ecclesiam non posse deficere Nam Calvinus caeteri Haeretici id concedunt Bellarm lib. 3. de Eccl. milit c. 13. in initio capit And though himselfe vndertaking in the same place to set downe the Protestants opinion doe it very vntowardly yet you see what hee thinkes of those other gamesters who charge vs to hold that the Church hath at sometime decayed and consequently that Christ hath failed in his promise made vnto her Tempus terunt saith he they are all but triflers If your friend haue any such conce it of vs desire him to belieue Bellarmine and hereafter to haue a better opinion If not aske him to what purpose hee cited Isa 59.22 Math. 28.19.20 Joh. 14.16.17 Math. 18.18 Howsoever let him now know that we belieue the Catholique Church to bee Regnum quod non dissipabitur an everlasting Kingdome that shall stand when all earthly Kingdomes faile But wee doe not beleeue that this is true of every particular Church and wee know that the Romish Church is no more then a particular and therefore as subiect to mutability and corruption as any other of the same nature Secondly tell him how wee beleeue that the holy Ghost doth and ever will guide the same Catholique Church into all necessary truth but we deny first that all those things are necessary to be beleeved which Rome professeth as truths Secondly that the guidance into such truths is a grace entailed to any one succession of Bishops more then to other or that the Popes chaire hath any greater reason to presume of her infallibility then any other Patriarchicall Seas had heretofore of theirs But we must talke more of this hereafter Saint Peter not the ministeriall head of the Church That our Saviour did constitute St Peter to bee Ministeriall of his Church Well may the name of a Ministeriall head be given to Saint Peter in respect of his Apostleship and there is not one of the twelue but that in the same respect the same name belongs vnto him as they are called the twelue foundations of the holy Ierusalem Apoc. 21.14 so they may bee called 12. Ministeriall Heads of the Church vnder Christ But to appropriate these names vnto Peter alone to make him not a Ministeriall but the Ministeriall head as if the rest were no Heads at all it is such a wrong done to the other Apostles as cruell Landlords sometimes offer to their Tenants when they take away their common from them and make it their owne inclosure As for the curtesie which perhaps they thinke they doe vnto Saint Peter it is such a one as he will never giue them thankes for that blessed Saint knowes well enough that all this quarrelling about Supremacy is not for his sake but for the Popes and that his name is vsed only for a leaping stocke to helpe the other to horse Hee takes as much delight in this honourable supremacy which they would cast vpon him joyned with the disgrace of his fellow Apostles as Paul and Barnabas did when the men of Lystra would haue sacrificed vnto them Act. 14.14 Hoc erant vtique caeteri Apostoli quod fuit Petrus pari consortio praediti Honoris Potestatis Cip. de vnit Eccles And yet we doe not say that this equality betweene the Apostles was so equall but that there was ever a Prius Posterius among them as in all well-guided societies it is fit there should bee for avoiding confusion Iames and Peter and Iohn are termed Pillars by which they are vnderstood to be persons of speciall note among the rest Gal. 2.9 and like enough that Peter in regard either of his seniority in the Apostleship or the fervency of his zeale to Christ or some other speciall grace wherein hee did excell might be a more eminent pillar then any one of the other vt Plato Princeps Philosophorum sic Petrus Princeps Apostolorum Hierom. adversus Pelag. lib. 1. cap. 4. Now as that name made not other Philosophers subiect to Plato so neither doth the like giuen to Peter inferre any Iurisdiction that hee had over his fellowes or makes them any whit inferiour vnto him that way Saint Ambrose saith of Paul that he was not inferiour to Peter or to any other of the Apostles that went before onely in time in 2. Cor. 12.9 And in his booke de Incar Dom. Cap. 4. speaking of that Primacy that Peter had he calleth it Primatum Confessionis wherein Peter was preferred a primacy of confession faith he not of honour a primacy of faith but not of degree Your friend is of another minde and brings Scripture to proue a greater supremacy given vnto Peter then all this we speake of consider his proofes St Peters supremacy And I say to thee thou art Peter and vpon this rocke will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevaile against it and J will giue to thee the keyes of the Kingdome of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind vpon earth it shall be bound also in the heavens and whatsoever thou shalt loose in earth it shall be loosed also in the heavens Math. 6. vers 18.19 Before that ever our Saviour spake these words to Peter you must vnderstand that hee had proposed a certaine question to them all
and J will giue to thee the Keyes of the Kingdome of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind vpon earth it shall bee bound also in the heavens and whatsoever thou shalt loose in earth it shall be loosed also in the Heavens Math. 16. v. 18.19 And our Saviour said Simon Simon behold Satan hath required to haue thee for to sift as wheat But I haue prayed for thee that thy faith faile not and thou being converted confirme thy Brothren Luk. 22. v. 31.32 Our Saviour Christ asking Peter if he loued him more then these said yea Lord thou knowest I loue thee whereupon Christ said to him twice feed my Lambes and the third time feede my Sheepe Ioh. 21. v. 15.16.17 That Saint Peter was chiefe of the Apostles and the first Bishop of Rome When all the holy Apostles are named S. Peter is the first Math. 10. vers 2. After the Apostles had visibly receiued the Holy Ghost S. Peter made the first Sermon thereof whereat 3000. persons were converted Act. 2. v. 41. With his word and power he killed Ananias and Saphira for their Sacriledge Act. 5. v. 5. Saiut Peter called the first Councell of the Apostles held at Ierusalem and first spake therein Act. 15. v. 7. Jt is affirmed by old writers and some moderne learned Protestants that S. Peter was 15. yeares Bishop of Rome and by the auncient Ecclesiasticall wryters that S. Peter and S. Paul were both of them martyred together in Rome vnder the Emperour Nero. Orig. apud Euseb Lib. 3. cap. 1. Eus Cap. 24. Lib. 2. Hist Eccliastic Tertul. de praesc c. 26. Aug. tract 123 in Ioh. Chrysost Beda in hunc locum S. Ambr. Serm. 66.68 St Maximus Statu faelix Ecclesia cui totam doctrinam Apostoli cum suo fanguine pro funderunt vbi Petrus passioni Dominicae adaequatur vbi Paulus Iohannis exitu Coronatur Tertul. de Praescrip cap. 36. That St Peters Successors Bishops of Rome haue exercised chiefe authority in the Church Militant ever since to this day After the Martyrdome of St Peter first Bishop of Rome 32. of the succeeding Bishops there were martyred for the faith of Christ Eusebius Pope Victor in the first 200. yeares excommunicated the Asian Bishops about the observation or keeping Easter day Pope Silvester 314. yeeres called the first Councell of Nice against the Arian hereste Pope Damasus 367. called the second generall Councell at Constantinople against Macedonius the heretique Pope Caelestine 414. called the third generall Councell at Ephesus against Nestorius the heretique Pope Leo 440. called the fourth generall Councell at Calcedon against the heretique Eutiches And likewise euer since to the last generall Councell of Trent the Bishops of Rome haue called them all as heresies and false Prophets did arise in the Church Jt is confessed by divers learned Protestants that the Roman Church was the true Mother Church which Christ our Saviour planted some for 300. yeares some for 400. yeares some for 600. yeares and some for 800 yeares after Christ which being true that it was once the true Church and also true that our Saviour Christ promised to bee with it to the consummation of the world and to send the spirit of Truth to abide with it for ever and that Hell gates should not preuaile against it and Christ saith Heaven and Earth shall passe but my words shall not passe How then can it be true that the Roman Church being once the true mother Church should fall so fouly from her first puritie as is by some too too boldly affirmed Jt is so necessary for every one to know and beliene the holy Catholique Church Militant that whosoever is not a sound member of that society either in act or desire cannot be saved as all those which were out of Noahs Arke were drowned And to end with a demonstration all the Patriarchall Episcopall Seas of the Apostles be extinguished and worne out many hundred yeares since by Heretiques and Jnfidels onely the Church of Rome the Seate of Saint Peter stands at this day most conspicuous according to the prayer and promise of Christ that his faith should not faile and that the gates of Hell should not prevaile against it Thus briefly is proued the beginning encreasing and continuing of the holy Christian Catholique Apostolique and Romane Church as also the promised continuall assistance of the Holy Ghost the Spirit of truth to remaine therewith alwaies to the Consummation of the World that is for ever Of which Vine all Christians that shall be saued must be vnited liuely branches and members THE ANSWERE to the Priests Motiues GOod Brother Whosoever he was that sent you these lines as motiues to make you a Romish Catholique I must needs thinke him your friend and by that name I meane to call him hereafter because I thinke hee did it out of a desire to saue your soule although I am sure he goes the wrong way to worke And if you should follow him which God forbid hee will certainly leade you into the ditch Though his proofes bee simple ones as I hope you will see by the answere yet it seemes hee thought better of them and they were the best he knew and therefore if hee faile in his purpose as I hope he shall yet you haue some cause to thanke him in that hee vsed the same arguments to perswade you wherewith hee himselfe was perswaded But for the validity of his reasons doe you judge your selfe when you haue heard vs both speake or if not let it bee tried by God and the country And who soever he was he hath placed a sentence in the foot of his discourse which for the importancie thereof deserved to bee set in a higher roome therefore I will begin with that first The true Catholique Church Jt is so necessary saith hee for every one to know and beleeue the holy Catholique Church militant that whosoever is not a sound member of that society either in act or desire cannot bee saved All this is true and there is great reason for it for if it were once agreed among Christians which were the true Church of Christ other differences in Religion would more easily be composed by the authority thereof But so long as the doubt remaines concerning the Church it selfe as in these daies that is the capitall controversie betweene Protestants Papists there is small hope of any good accord vnlesse both sides could agree vpon some third party to be vmpire Who must be such a one as is of sufficient vnderstanding to discerne where the truth resteth and withall of that indifferency in affection that he encline no way to one side more then to another For that either the Romish or reformed Church being themselues the parties litigant that they should require to be made Iudges in their own cause though some of our adver saries be not ashamed to make such a proposition yet I thinke there is no man that hath his fiue wits about him
the largest And Papists haue little hope ever to see it hereafter spread over the whole World Now because the Pope hath no jurisdiction in those parts nor ever had shall wee thinke therefore that Christ hath no kingdome there Or that the Grecian Armenian Jndian Aethiopian and other African Churches bee no Churches at all because they are no Popish Churches I omit to speake here of Protestants in Europe whose multitude the Pope knowes better then hee loues But for those other which I was speaking of it is certaine that either the Prophecies mentioned before are accomplished in those Christians or else they were never accomplished hitherunto at all eyther Christ now reigneth in those Churches or else his kingdome was never so large as it was promised that it should be And although it cannot be denied but that those Easterne Southerne Christians are much degenerated from their primitiue purity and there bee diverse things amisse in their profession yet they are Christians still and whosoever denies them that name because they are none of the Popes creatures hee robs Christ of more subiects then hee leaues him to raigne over Vbicunque timetur laudatur Deus ibi vera est Ecclesia August in Psal 21. The Church for the space of sixe hundred yeares was not only without this visible head but so farre from desiring it that when Iohn Patriarch of Constantinople an ambitious Prelate began to affect this matter he was told by Gregorie the Great that his course was Antichristian yet it is certaine the ambition of this Patriarch was no more then that which hath since broken forth in ambitious Popes vnder the name of their Supremacy and the same reasons which Gregory vsed against Iohn being many in number they conclude as strongly against Gregories Successors now a daies as ever they did then against the other Read Greg. on that Argument lib. 4. Ep. 30.32.36 alibi If the same question were made now to the Pope which was then made by Gregory to that Patriarch Tu quid Christo vniversalis Ecclesiae capiti in extremi iudicij dicturus es examine qui cuncta eius membra vibi conaris vniversalis appellatione supponere I thinke his Holinesse would be to seeke of an answere I am sure Gerson a learned Roman Catholike was so farre from thinking such a visible Head to bee any matter of necessity in the Catholique Church that hee thought the body might doe well enough though this head were taken off from the shoulders as appeares by his booke written De aufenibilitate Papae And so I passe from this description of the Catholique Church All that followes from thence to the end almost of the first page might well haue bin spared neither can I devise to what purpose it is brought in 1. That our Saviour Christ being a Priest for ever secundum ordinem Melchisedec Christ the head of the Church was the first visible Head and founder of the said holy Christian Catholique Church c. Hee is no Christian that doubts of it but when I heare him say that Christ was the first visible head of the Church me thinkes hee speakes strangely vnlessE hee thinke that Christ is now ceased to bee somewhat that hee was heretofore For why else did he not say in praesenti that Christ is the head of the Church as well as he is a priest for ever vnlesse he were afraid to hurt the Popes head Primus semper dicitur in ordine ad secundum secundus ad tertium Now if the Church by the death of Christ her first head got her a second head which was S. Peter why then vpon his death shee got a third head and so consequently hath had as many Heads as shee hath had Popes which is scarce good English 2. How farre the Clergy are to bee obeyed That Christ did institute a Clergy a Laity in his Church the one to preach and administer Sacraments the other to learne and to obey c. I hope hee doth not meane that the Clergy are freed from obeying the Gospell because they are bound to preach it But that Christ did institute such a distinction of people in his Church we know before hee told vs so Heere a man might suspect that some Priest had his finger in the framing of this writing in as much as when he speakes of the duty of the Laity he tels them That they are bound to obey the Clergy in all things touching their Faith a speech too lauish for any Priest to speake and too slavish for any ingenuous Lay man to heare except it be much circumcised they must obey in all things he meanes first the persons then the doctrine Ex personis fidem non ex fide personas And Champnies an English Sorbonist professeth as much l. de vocat minist c. 1. And so likewise Stapleton In doctrinâ religionis non quid dicatur sed quis loquatur attendendum est defens Ecclesiasticae autorit l. 3. c. 7. demon strat princip doctrin l. 10. c. 5. Which Tertullian thought a great absurdity and so disclaimes it Veritas docendo persuadet non suadendo docet adver Valent. Hic est sacerdos de genere Aaronis non decipiet nos 1. Mac. 7.14 so did some over-credulous Iews say of Alcimus but yet they were deceiued And so would your friend perswade you to belieue him because he is a Romish Priest and to take vp your faith vpon his credit But let it first appeare that their Clergy are so priviledged by speciall or common grace that either they cannot preach false doctrine though they would or that they wil not though they can then we are content they should bee obeyed in all things Alfonsus à Castro tells indeed strange things that hee heard a Dominican preach concerning the priviledges of his owne order l. 1. de haeres c. 9. but your friend goes beyond him and saies as much of every popish Priest such must bee obeyed in all things and therefore such cannot or should not erre and then vbi Papae infallibilitas what preheminence shall his holinesse haue more then every common Masse Priest Either this Pontifex maximus this high Priest must forbeare to say his Pater noster or forbid other Priests to say theirs or else they will goe cheeke by cheeke with him neque sufficit dicere neither can they say that they are all equall potestate ordinis only for they will be so potestate iurisdictionis too if they are to be obeyed in all things What will they say then that the Pope alone is the infallible Church to the learned Papist but to the common people every parish Priest is their Church to this I may answere that as Cotton seem'd to mistrust even the Popes infallibility when he desired to know of the divell the strongest proofe in Scripture for Purgatory Thuan. To. 5. fol. 1136. though hee needed not haue troubled the divell so farre when many of his owne
THE FALSHOOD OF THE CHEIFE grounds of the Romish Religion Descried and convinced in a briefe Answere to certaine Motiues sent by a Priest to a Gentleman to induce him to turne Papist By W.S. Printed for the Author Anno Dom. 1635. TO THE WORSHIPFVLL his much honoured Vncle EDWARD SMYTH Esquire SIR THere are other reasons besides that common motiue and popular pretence of the importunity of friends which hath now put this little manuall into the world It was composed by the Author for I cannot say that it was written by him but rather dictated as hee spake it lying on his bed of sicknesse and therefore hee intended to haue kept it private iudging it vnworthy other mens approbation because vnworthy his own Neverthelesse it secretly crept into the presse and return'd from thence full of faults like the Printer of it who had as little authority to Print it at all as Print it false There was no other way to suppresse the old impression but by a new which I haue here done setting it out the second time but in a lesse volumne and with lesse faults There is one motiue more and that more important then the former The Author since his death for in his life time malice it selfe was never so audacious as to dare ecclipse the bightnesse of his integrity either in life or doctrine hath had his faith branded with the name of apostacy and his profession with heresy But whither he were a professed open enemy or an hypocriticall friend which hath done him this wrong I forbeare to name Whosoever he were this ensuing treatise will put him both to shame and silence and therefore I need not make any apology for him whose owne workes speake in his defence Sir it was formerly made solely yours by the Author and therefore in the dedication it now iustly claimes your patronage only If it satisfy not the more curious reader yet hee that made it thought his paines fully recompenced in that it gaue you satisfaction neither doth the reward of my labour spread it selfe vnto others but is wholy terminated in your acceptance If it chance to bee condemned as imperfect because he hath not spoken all that might haue beene said on this subiect I adde neither hath he spoken all that hee could It was intended for a letter only and therefore not to swell into a larger volumne yet I presume there is as much in the answere as the Priests motiues require more peradventure then he ever expected or at least thank't him for Such as it is it is once more made yours by him who desires to be esteemed Your dutifull Nephew and Servant WILLIAM SVTTON From Christ-Church in Oxon. Iun. 28. 1635. Motiues sent by a Priest to a Gentleman to Induce him to turne Papist The rejection of the Iewes and acceptation of the Gentiles I Haue no will in you How to knovv the holy Catholique Church which all Christians professe to beleeue saith the Lord of Hostes and guift I will not receiue of your hands for from the rising of the Sunne to the going downe great is my name among the Gentiles and in every place there is Sacrificing and there is offered to my name a cleane oblation because my name is great amongst the Gentiles saith the Lord of Hostes Mal. 1. vers 11. A Description of the true Christian Catholique Church Militant The holy Christian Catholique Church militant which wee professe in the Apostles Creed to beleeue is a visible Monarchy or Kingdome consisting of all the true beleeuers vpon the face of the earth confessing one God in Trinity and Trinity in Vnity vnder one lawfull visible head for the time being obseruing one Faith Religion and Sacraments instituted by Christ Which holy kingdome and Society is composed of a visible head Clergy and Laity the head to governe the Clergy to preach and administer Sacraments the Laity to learne and to obey in all things touching their faith and salvation For Christ saith of the Pastors of his Church Hee that heareth you heareth mee and he that despiseth you despiseth mee Luk. 10. vers 16. That our Saviour Christ being a Priest for ever secundum ordinem Melchisedec was the first visible head and founder of the said holy Christian Catholique Church militant composed of a head Clergy and Laity is apparant first in his sacred person being the visible head in his holy Apostles being the Clergy and in his Common disciples being the Laity which small beginning is compared to a Mustard-seed and the increasing to a great tree that birds may build in the Branches thereof our Saviour saying to the Clergy his Apostles and in thē to all their lawfull Successors To you it is giuen to know the misteries of the Kingdome of God but to the rest in Parables Luk. 8. vers 10. The increasing of the Church By the Preaching and Miracles of our Saviour Christ and his Apostles many were converted to be members of the Church At S. Peters first Sermon after he had receiued the Holy Ghost 3000. were added and afterwards 5000. Act. 2. vers 41. Act. 4. vers 4. And Saint Paul affirmeth that in his time the Romane faith was renowned in the whole world Rom. 1. vers 8. agreeing with the words of Christs But you shall receiue the vertue of the holy Ghost comming vpon you and you shall bee Witnesses to me in Ierusalem and in all Iurie and Samaria and even to the vtmost of the earth Act 1. v. 8. Of the Continuance of the holy Catholique Church in true Faith by the Holy Ghosts assistance This is my Covenant with thee saith our Lord speaking of his Church my spirit that is in thee and my words that I haue put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth and out of the mouth of thy seed and out of the mouth of thy seedes seed saith our Lord from this present and for ever Isay 59. vers 21. All power is giuen to mee in Heaven and in Earth going therefore teach ye all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to obserue all things whatsoever I haue commanded you and behold J am with you alwaies to the Consummation of the World Math. 28. vers 19.20 I will aske the Father and hee will giue you another Paraclet that he may abide with you for ever the spirit of truth Ioh. 14. vers 16.17 And if hee will not heare the Church let him be to thee as the Heathen and as the Publican Math. 18. v. 17. All which promises of Christ for sending the Holy Ghost to preserue his Church in truth for ever was visibly miraculously performed on Whitsunday Act. 2. vers 1. That our Saviour Christ did constitute Saint Peter to bee Ministeriall head of his Church militant And I say to thee thou art Peter and vpon this rocke will I build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevaile against it