indices are infinite testimoâ—â— against them both that they do so aâ—â— that they need it But besides these things we haâ—â— thought it fit to represent in onâ— aspect some of their chief Doctrines 〈◊〉 difference from the Church of Enâ—â—land and make it evident that they 〈◊〉 indeed new and brought into the Church first by way of opinion and afterwards by power and at last by their own authority decreed into Laws and Articles Sect. II. FIrst we allege that that this very power of making new Articles is a Novelty and expresly against the Doctrine of the Primitive Church and we prove it first by the words of the Apostle saying If we or an Angel from Heaven shall preach unto you any other Gospel viz. in whole or in part for there is the same reason of them both than that which we have preached let him be Anathema and secondly by â—he sentence of the Fathers in the third General Council that at Ephesus â— That it should not be lawful for any Man â—o publish or compose another Faith or Creed than that which was defin'd by the Nicene Council and that whosoever shall â—are to compose or offer any such to any â—ersons willing to be converted from â—aganism Iudaism or Heresie if they were Bishops or Clerks they should be depos'd if Lay-men they should be accursed And yet in the Church of Rome Faith and Christianity increase like the Moon Bromyard complain'd of it long since and the mischief encreases daily They have now a new Article of Faith ready for the stamp which may very shortly become necessary to salvation we mean that of the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Whether the Pope be above a Council or no we are not sure whether it be an article of faith amongst them or not It is very near one if it be not Bellarmine would fain have us believe that the Council of Constance approving the Bull of P. Martin the fifth declar'd foâ— the Popes Supremacy But Iohâ— Gerson who was at the Council sayes that the Council did abate those heights to which flattery had advance'â— the Pope and that before that Council they spoke such great things of thâ— Pope which afterwards moderate Meâ—â—durst not speak but yet some otheâ— spake them so confidently before it that he that should then have spoken to the contrary would hardly have escap'd the note of Heresie and that these Men continued the same pretensions even after the Council But the Council of Basil decreed for the Council against the Pope and the Council of Lateran under Leo the tenth decreed for the Pope against the Council So that it is cross and pile and whether for a peny when it can be done it is now a known case it shall become an article of faith But for the present it is a probationary article and according to Bellarmine's expression is ferè de fide it is almost an article of Faith they want a little age and then they may go alone But the Council of Trent hath produc'd a strange new article but it is sine controver si â credendum it must be believ'd and must not be controverted that although the Ancient Fathers did give the Communion to infants yet they did not believe it necessary to salvation Now this being a matter of fact whether they did or did not believe it every man that reads their writings can be able to inform himselfâ— and besides that it is strange that this should be determin'd by a Council and determin'd against evident truth it being notorious that divers of the Fathers did say it is necessary to salvation the decree it self is beyond all bounds of modesty and a strange pretension of Empire over the Christian belief But we proceed to other instances Sect. III. THe Roman Doctrine of indulgences was the first occasion of the great change and Reformation of the Western Churches begun by the Preachings of Martin Luther and others and besides that it grew to that intolerable abuse that it became a shame to it self and a reproch to Christendom it was also so very an Innovation that their great Antoninus confesses that concerning them we have nothing expresly either in the Scriptures or in the sayings of the Ancient Doctors and the same is affirmed by Sylvester Prieriaâ— Bishop Fisher of Rochester says that in the beginning of the Church there was no use of indulgences and that they began after the people were awhile affrighted with the torments of Purgatory and many of the School-men confess that the use of indulgences began in the time of Pope Alexander the third towards the end of the XII Century but Agrippa imputes the beginning of them to Boniface the VIII who liv'd in the Reign of King Edward the first of England 1300 years after Christ. But that in his time the first Jubilee was kept we are assur'd by Crantzius This Pope lived and died with very great infamy and therefore was not likely form himâ—elf to transfer much honour and reputation to the new institution But that about this time indulgences began is more than probable much before it is certain they were not For in the whole Canon Law written by Gratian and in the sentences of Peter Lombard there is nothing spoken of indulgences Now because they liv'd in the time of P. Alexander III. if he had introduc'd them and much rather if they had been as ancient as S. Gregory as some vainly and weakly pretend from no greater authority than their own Legends it is probable that these great Men writing Bodies of Divinity and Law would have made mention of so considerable a point and so great a part of the Roman Religion as things are now order'd If they had been Doctrines of the Church then as they are now it is certain they must have come under their cognisance and discourses Now lest the Roman Emissaries should deceive any of the good Sons of the Church we think it fit to acquaint them that in the Primitive Church when the Bishops impos'd severe penances and that they were almost quite perform'd and a great cause of pity intervened or danger of death or an excellent repentance or that the Martyrs interceded the Bishop did sometimes indulge the penitent and relax some of the remaining parts of his penance and according to the example of S. Paul in the case of the incestuous Corinthian gave them ease lest they should be swallowed up with too much sorrow But the Roman Doctrine of Indulgences is wholly another thing nothing of it but the abused name remains For in the Church of Rome they now pretend that there is an infinite of degrees of Christs merits and satisfaction beyond what is necessary for the salvation of his servants and for fear Christ should not have enough the Saints have a surplusage of merits or at lest of satisfactions more than they can spend or themselves do need and out of these
last it was frugally employed by a great Pope to raise a portion for a Lady the Wife of Franceschetto Cibo bastard Son of P. Innocent VIII and the merchandize it self became the stakes of Gamesters at Dice and Cards and men did vile actions that they might win indulgences by gaming making their way to heaven easier Now although the Holy Fathers of the Church could not be suppos'd in direct terms to speak against this new Doctrine of Indulgences because in their days it was not yet they have said many things which do perfectly destroy this new Doctrine and these unchristian practices For besides that they teach a repentance wholly reducing us to a good life a faith that intirely relies upon Christs merits and satisfactions a hope wholly depending upon the plain promises of the Gospel a service perfectly consisting in the works of a good conscience a labour of love a religion of justice and piety and moral vertues they do also expresly teach that pilgrimages to holy places and such like inventions which are now the earnings and price of indulgences are not requirâ—d of us and are not the way of salvation as is to be seen in an Oration made by S. Gregory Nyssene wholly against pilgrimages to Ierusalem in S. Chrysostom S. Augustine and S. Bernard The sense of these Fathers is this in the words of S. Augustine God said not Go to the East and seek righteousness sail to the West that you may receive indulgence But indulge thy brother and it shall be indulg'd to thee you have need to inquire for no other indulgence to thy sins if thou wilt retire into the closet of thy heart there thou shalt find it That is All our hopes of Indulgence is from GOD through IESUS CHRIST and is wholly to be obtain'd by faith in Christ and perseverance in good works and intire mortification of all our sins To conclude this particular Though the gains which the Church of Rome makes of Indulgences be a heap almost as great as the abuses themselves yet the greatest Patrons of this new Doctrine could never give any certainty or reasonable comfort to the Conscience of any person that could inquire into it They never durst determine whether they were Absolutions or Compensations whether they only take off the penances actually impos'd by the Confessor or potentially and all that which might have been impos'd whether all that may be paid in the Court of men or all that can or will be required by the Laws and severity of God â— Neither can they speak rationally to the Great Question Whether the Treasure of the Church consists of the Satisfactions of Christ only or of the Saints For if of Saints it will by all men be acknowledged to be a defeisible estate and being finite and limited will be spent sooner than the needs of the Church can be served and if therefore it be necessary to add the merits and satisfaction of Christ since they are an Ocean of infinity and can supply more than all our needs to what purpose is it to add the little minutes and droppings of the Saints They cannot tell whether they may be given if the Receiver do nothing or give nothing for them And though this last particular could better be resolv'd by the Court of Rome than by the Church of Rome yet all the Doctrines which built up the new Fabrick of Indulgences were so dangerous to determine so improbable so unreasonable or at best so uncertain and invidious that according to the advice of the Bishop of Modena the Council of Trent left all the Doctrines and all the cases of Conscience quite alone and slubber'd the whole matter both in the question of Indulgences and Purgatory in general and recommendatory terms affirming that the power of giving Indulgence is in the Church and that the use is wholsome And that all hard and subtil questions viz. concerning Purgatory which although if it be at all it is a fire yet is the fuel of Indulgences and maintains them wholly all that is suspected to be false and all that is uncertain and whatsoever is curious and superstitious scandalous or for filthy lucre be laid aside And in the mean time they tell us not what is and what is not Superstitious nor what is scandalous nor what they mean by the general term of Indulgence and they establish no Doctrine neither curious nor incurious nor durst they decree the very foundation of this whole matter The Churches Treasure Neither durst they meddle with it but left it as they found it and continued in the abuses and proceed in the practice and set their Doctors as well as they can to desend all the new and curious and scandalous questions and to uphold the gainful trade But however it be with them the Doctrine it self is prov'd to be a direct Innovation in the matter of Christian Religion and that was it which we have undertaken to demonstrate Sect. IV. THe Doctrine of Purgatory is the Mother of Indulgences and the fear of that hath introduc'd these For the world hapned to be abus'd like the Countrey-man in the Fable who being told he was likely to fall into a delirium in his feet was advis'd for remedy to take the juice of Cotton He feared a disease that was not and look'd for a cure as ridiculous But if the Parent of Indulgences be not from Christ and his Apostles if upon this ground the Primitive Church never built the Superstructures of Rome must fall they can be no stronger than their Supporter Now then in order to the proving the Doctrine of Purgatory to be an Innovation 1. We consider That the Doctrines upon which it is pretended reasonable are all dubious and disputable at the very best Such are 1. Their distinction of sins Mortal and Venial in their own nature 2. That the taking away the guilt of sins does not suppose the taking away the obligation to punishment that is That when a mans sin is pardon'd he may be punished without the guilt of that sin as justly as with it as if the guilt could be any thing else but an obligation to punishment for having sinned which is a Proposition of which no wise man can make sense but it is ceâ—tain that it is expresly against the Word of God who promises upon our repentance so to take away our sins that he will remember them no more And so did Christ to all those to whom he gave pardon for he did not take our faults and guilt on him any other way but by curing our evil hearts and taking away the punishment And this was so perfectly believ'd by the Primitive Church that they alwayes made the penances and satisfaction to be undergone before they gave absolution and after absolution they never impos'd or oblig'd to punishment unless it were to sick persons of whose recovery they despaired not of them indeed in case they had not finished their
first of all Apostles not first S. Peter and secondarily Apostles but all the Apostles were first It is also evident that S Peter did not carry himself so as to give the least overture or umbrage to make any one suspect he had any such preheminence but he was as St. Chrysostom truly says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he did all things with the common consent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nothing by special authority or principality and if he had any such it is more than probable that the Apostles who survived him had succeeded him in it rather than the Bishop of Rome and it being certain as the Bishop of Canaries confesses That there is in Scripture no revelation that the Bishop of Rome should succeed Peter in it and we being there told that S. Peter was at Antioch but never that he was at Rome it being confessed by some of their own parties by Cardinal Cusanus Soto Driedo Canus and Segovius that this succession was not addicted to any particular Church nor that Christs institution of this does any other way appear that it cannot be proved that the Bishop of Rome is Prince of the Church it being also certain that there was no such thing known in the primitive Church but that the holy Fathers both of Africa and the East did oppose Pope Victor and Pope Stephen when they began to interpose with a presumptive Authority in the affairs of other Churches and that the Bishops of the Church did treat with the Roman Bishop as with a brother not as their superiour and that the General Council held at Chalcedon did give to the Bishops of C. P. equal rights and preeminence with the Bishops of Rome and that the Greek Churches are at this day and have been a long time great opponents of this pretension of the Bishops of Rome and after all this since it is certain that Christ who foreknows all things did also know that tâ—ere would be great disputes and challenges of this preeminence did indeed suppress it in his Apostles and said not it should be otherwise in succession and did not give any command to his Church to obey the Bishops of Rome as his Vicars more than what he commanded concerning all Bishops it must be certain that it cannot be necessary to salvation to do so but that it is more than probable tha◠〈◊〉 never intended any such thing and 〈◊〉 the Bishops of Rome have to the great prejudice of Christendom made a great schism and usurped a title which is not their due and challenged an authority to which they have no right and have set themselves above others who are their equals and impose an Article of Faith of their own contriving and have made great preparation for Antichrist if he ever get into that Seat or be in already and made it necessary for all of the Roman Communion to believe and obey him in all things Sect. XIâ— THere are very many more things in which the Church of Rome hath greatly turn'd aside from the Doctrines of Scripture and the practise of the Catholick Apostolick and primitive Church Such are these The Invocâ—â—â—n of Saints the Insufficiencie of Sâ—â—â—â—ures without Traditions of Faith unto Salvation their absolving sinners before they have by canonical penances and the fruits of a good life testified their repentance their giving leave to simple Presbyters by Papal dispensation to give confirmation or chrism selling Masses for Ninepences Circumgestation of the Eucharist to be ador'd The dangerous Doctrine of the necessity of the Priests intention in collating Sacraments by which device they have put it into the power of the Priest to damn whom he please of his own parish their affirming that the Mass is a proper and propitiatory sacrifice for the quick and the dead Private Masses or the Lords Supper without Communion which is against the doctrine and practise of the ancient Church of Rome it self and contrary to the tradition of the Apostles if we may believe Pope Calixtus and is also forbidden under pain of Excommunication Peractâ consecratione omnes communicent qui noluerint ecclesiasticis carere liminibus sic autem etiam Apostoli statuerunt sancta Romana tenet Ecclesia When the consecration is finished let all communicate that will not be thrust from the bounds of the Church for so the Apostles appointed and so the Holy Church of Rome does hold The same also was decreed by P. Soter and P. Martin in a Council of Bishops and most severely enjoyn'd by the Canons of the Apostles as they are cited in the Canon Law There are divers others but we suppose that those Innovations which we have already noted may be sufficient to verifie this charge of Novelty But we have done this the rather because the Roman Emissaries endeavour to prevail amongst the ignorant and prejudicate by boasting of Antiquity and calling their Religion the Old Religion and the Catholick so insnaring others by ignorant words in which is no truth their Religion as it distinguishes from the Religion of the Church of England and Ireland being neither the Old nor the Catholick Religion but New and superinduc'd by arts known to all who with sincerity and diligence have look'd into their pretences But they have taught every Priest that can scarse understand his Breviary of which in Ireland there are but too many and very many of the people to ask where our Religion was before Luther Whereas it appears by the premises that it is much more easie for us to shew our Religion before Luther than for them to shew theirs before Trent And although they can shew too much practise of their Religion in the degenerate ages of the Church yet we can and do clearly shew ours in the purest and first ages and can and do draw lines pointing to the times and places where the several rooms and stories of their Babel was builded and where polished and where furnished But when the Keepers of the field slept and the Enemy had sown tares and they had choak'd the wheat and almost destroyed it when the world complain'd of the infinite errors in the Church and being oppressed by a violent power durst not complain so much as they had cause and when they who had cause to complain were yet themselves very much abused and did not complain in all they might when divers excellent persons S. Bernard Clemangis Grosthead Marsilius Ocham Alvarus Abbat Ioachim Petrarch Savanarola Valla Erasmus Mantuan Gerson Ferus Cassander Andre as Fricius Modrevius Hermannus Coloniensis Wasseburgius Archdeacon of Verdun Paulus Langius Staphilus Telesphorus de Cusentiâ Doctor Talheymius Francis Zabarel the Cardinal and Pope Adrian himself with many others not to reckon Wiclef Hus Hierom of Prague the Bohemians and the poor men of Lions whom they call'd Hereticks and confuted with fire and sword when almost all Christian Princes did complain heavily of the corrupt state of the Church and of Religion and
Non magna loquimur sed bivimus Nihil opinionis Gratia omnia Conscentiae faciam A Dissuasive FROM POPERY By JEREMY Lord Bishop of Down The third Edition revised and corrected by the Author LONDON Printed by I. G. for Rich. Royston Bookseller to the King 's most Excellent Majesty MDCLXIV THE PREFACE TO THE READER WHen a Roman Gentleman had to please himself written a book in Greek and presented it to Cato he desir'd him to pardon the faults of his Expressions since he wrote in Greek which was a Tongue in which he was not perfect Master Cato told him he had better then to have let it alone and written in Latin by how much it is better not to commit a fault than to make apologies For if the thing be good it needs not to be excus'd if it be not good a crude apologie will do nothing but confess the fault but never makes amends I therefore make this Address to all who will concern themselves in reading this book not to ask their pardon for my fault in doing of it I know of none for if I had known them I would have mended them before the Publication and yet though I know not any I do not question but much fault will be found by too many I wish I have given them no cause for their so doing But I do not onely mean it in the particular Periods where every man that is not a Son of the Church of England or Ireland will at least do as Apollonius did to the Apparition that affrighted his company on the mountain Caucasus he will revile and persecute me with evil words but I mean it in the whole Design and men will reasonably or capritiously ask Why any more Controversies Why this over again Why against the Papists against whom so very many are already exasperated that they cry out fiercely of Persecution And why can they not be suffered to enjoy their share of peace which hath returned in the hands of His Sacred Majesty at his blessed Restauration For as much of this as concerns my self I make no excuse but give my reasons and hope to justifie this procedure with that modesty which David us'd to his angry brother saying What have I now done is there not a cause The cause is this The Reverend Fathers my Lords the Bishops of Ireland in their circumspection and watchfulness over their Flocks having espied grievous Wolves to have entered in some with Sheeps-clothing and some without some secret enemies and some open at first endeavour'd to give check to those enemies which had put fire into the bed-straw and though God hath very much prosper'd their labours yet they have work enough to do and will have till God shall call them home to the land of peace and unity But it was soon remembred that when King James of blessed memory had discerned the spirits of the English Non-conformists and found them peevish and factious unreasonable and imperious not onely unable to govern but as inconsistent with the Government as greedy to snatch at it for themselves resolved to take off their disguise and put a difference between Conscience and Faction and to bring them to the measures and rules of Laws and to this the Council and all wise men were consenting because by the Kings great wisdom and the conduct of the whole Conference and Inquiry men saw there was reason on the Kings side and necessity on all sides But the Gun-powder Treason breaking out a new Zele was enkindled against the Papists and it shin'd so greatly that the Non-conformists escap'd by the light of it and quickly grew warm by the heat of that flame to which they added no small increase by their Declamations and other acts of insinuation insomuch that they being neglected multiply'd untill they got power enough to do all those mischiefs which we have seen and felt This being remembred and spoken of it was soon observ'd that the Tables onely were now turn'd and that now the publick zele and watchfulness against those men and those persuasions which so lately have afflicted us might give to the Emissaries of the Church of Rome leisure and opportunity to grow into numbers and strength to debauch many Souls and to unhinge the safety and peace of the Kingdom In Ireland we saw too much of it done and found the mischief growing too fast and the most intolerable inconveniencies but too justly apprehended as near and imminent We had reason at least to cry Fire when it flamed through our very Roofs and to interpose with all care and diligence when Religion and the eternal Interest of Souls was at stake as knowing we should be greatly unfit to appear and account to the great Bishop and Shepherd of Souls if we had suffer'd the enemies to sow tares in our fields we standing and looking on It was therefore consider'd how we might best serve God and rescue our charges from their danger and it was concluded presently to run to arms I mean to the weapons of our warfare to the armour of the Spirit to the works of our calling and to tell the people of their peril to warn them of the enemy and to lead them in the ways of truth and peace and holiness that if they would be admonished they might be safe if they would not they should be without excuse because they could not say but the Prophets have been amongst them But then it was next enquired who should minister in this affair and put in order all those things which they had to give in charge It was easie to chuse many but hard to chuse one there were many fit to succeed in the vacant Apostleship and though Barsabas the Just was by all the Church nam'd as a fit and worthy man yet the lot fell upon Matthias and that was my case it fell to me to be their Amanuensis when persons most worthy were more readily excus'd and in this my Lords the Bishops had reason that according to S. Pauls rule If there be judgments or controversies amongst us they should be imploy'd who are least esteem'd in the Church and upon this account I had nothing left me but Obedience though I confess that I found regret in the nature of the imployment for I love not to be as S. Paul calls it one of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Disputers of this world For I suppose skill in Controversies as they are now us'd to be the worst part of Learning and time is the worst spent in them and men the least benefited by them that is when the Questions are curious and impertinent intricate and inexplicable not to make men better but to make a Sect. But when the Propositions disputed are of the foundation of Faith or lead to good life or naturally do good to single persons or publick societies then they are part of the depositum of Christianity of the Analogy of faith and for this we are by the Apostle commanded to contend
The Church of Rome teaches Doctrinesâ— which in many things are destructive of Christian Society in general and oâ— Monarchy in special Both which the Religion of the Church of England and Ireland does by her Doctrines greatly and Christianly support 260 A DISSUASIVE FROM POPERY To the People of IRELAND The Introduction THe Questions of difference between Our Churches and the Church of Rome have been so often disputed and the evidences both sides so often produc'd that those who are strangers to the present constitution of affairs it may seem very unnecessary to say them over again and yet it will seem almost imâ—impossible to produce any new matter or if we could it will not be probable that what can be newly alleged can prevail more than all that which already hath been so often urged in these Questions But we are not deterr'd from doing our duty by any such considerations as knowing that the same medicaments are with successe applyed to a returning or an abiding Ulcer and the Preachers of Gods word must for ever be ready to put the People in mind of such things which they already have heard and by the same Scriptures and the same reasons endeavour to destroy their sin oâ— prevent their danger and by the same word of God to extirpate those errors which have had opportunity in the time of our late disorders to spring up and grow stronger not when the Keepers of the field slept but when they were wounded and their hands cut ofâ—â— and their mouths stopp'd lest they should continue or proceed to do the work of God thoroughly A little warm Sun and some indulgent showers of a softer rain have made many weeds of erroneous Doctrine to take root greatly and to spread themselves widely and the Bigots of the Roman Church by their late importune boldness and indiscreet frowardness in making Proselytes have but too manifestly declar'd to all the World that if they were rerum potiti â— Masters of our affairs they would suffer nothing to grow but their own Colocynths and Gourds And although the Natural remedy for this were to take away that impunity upon the account of which alone they do encrease yet because we shall never be Authors of such Counsels but confidently rely upon God the Holy Scriptures right reason and the most venerable and prime Antiquity which are the proper defensatives of truth for its support and maintenance yet we must not conceal from the People committed to our charges the great evils to which they are tempted by the Roman Emissaries that while the King and the Parliament take care to secure all the publick interests by instruments of their own we also may by the word of our proper Ministery endeavour to stop the progression of such errors which we know to be destructive of Christian Religion and consequently dangerous to the interest of souls In this procedure although we shall say some things which have not been alwayes plac'd before their eyes and others we shall represent with a fittingness to their present necessities and all with Charity too and zeal for their souls yet if we were to say nothing but what hath been often said already we are still doing the work of God and repeating his voice and by the same remedies curing the same diseases and we only wait for the blessing of God prospering that importunity which is our duty according to the avice of Solomon In the Morning sow thy seed and in the Evening withhold not thy hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that or whether they both shall be alike good CHAP. I. The Doctrine of the Roman Church in the Controverted Articles is neither Catholick Apostolick nor Primitive Sect. I. IT was the challenge of St. Augustine to the Donatists who as the Church of Rome does at this day inclos'd the Catholick Church within their own circuits Ye say that Christ is Heir of no Lands but where Donatus is Co-heir Read this to us out of the Law and the Prophets out of the Psalms out of the Gospel it self or out of the Letters of the Apostles Read it thence and we believe it Plainly directing us to the Fountains of our Faith the Old and New Testament the words of Christ and the words of the Apostles For nothing else can be the Foundation of our Faith whatsoever came in after these for is est it belongs not unto Christ. To these we also add not as Authors or Finishers but as helpers of our Faith and Heirs of the Doctrine Apostolical the Senâ—iments and Catholick Doctrine of the Church of God in the Ages next after the Apostles Not that we think them or our selves bound to every private opinion even of a Primitive Bishop and Martyr but that we all acknowledge that the whole Church of God kept the Faith entire and transmitted faithfully to the after-Ages the whole Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the form of Doctrine and sound words which was at first delivered to the Saints and was defective in nothing that belong'd unto salvation and we believe that those Ages sent millions of Saints to the bosom of Christ and seal'd the true faith with their lives and with their deaths and by both gave testimony unto Jesus and had from him the testimony of his Spirit And this method of procedure we now choose not only because to them that know well how to use it to the Sober and the Moderate the Peaceable and the Wise it is the best the most certain visible and tangible most humble and satisfactory but also because the Church of Rome does with greatest noises pretend her Conformity to Antiquity Indeed the present Roman Doctrines which are in difference were invisible and unheard-of in the first and best antiquity and with how ill success their quotations are out of the Fathers of the first three Ages every inquiring Man may easily discern But the noises therefore which they make are from the Writings of the succeeding Ages where secular interest did more prevail and the writings of the Fathers were vast and voluminous full of controversie and ambiguous senses fitted to their own times and questions full of proper opinions and such variety of sayings that both sides eternally and inconfutably shall bring sayings for themselves respectively Now although things being thus it will be impossible for them to conclude from the sayings of a number of Fathers that their doctrine which they would prove thence was the Catholick Doctrine of the Church because any number that is less than all does not prove a Catholick consent yet the clear sayings of one or two of these Fathers truly alleged by us to the contrary will certainly prove that what many of them suppose it do affirm and which but two or three as good Catholicks as the other do deny was not then matter of faith or a Doctrine of the Church for if it had these had been Hereticks accounted and not have remain'd
in the Communion of the Church But although for the reasonableness of the thing we have thought fit to take notice of it yet we shall have no need to make use of it since not onely in the prime and purest Antiquity we are indubitably more than Conquerors but even in the succeeding Ages we have the advantage both numero pondere men surâ in number weight and measure We do easily acknowledge that to dispute these questions from the sayings of the Fathers is not the readiest way to make an end of them but therefore we do wholly rely upon Scriptures as the foundation and final resort of all our perswasions and from thence can never be confuted but we also admit the Fathers as admirable helps for the understanding of the Scriptures and as good testimony of the Doctrine deliver'd from their forefathers down to them of what the Church esteem'd the way of Salvation and therefore if we find any Doctrine now taught which was not plac'd in their way of Salvation we reject it as being no part of the Christian faith and which ought not to be impos'd upon consciences They were wise unto salvation and fully instructed to every good work and therefore the faith which they profess'd and deriv'd from Scripture we profess also and in the same faith we hope to be sav'd even as they But for the new Doctors we understand them not we know them not Our faith is the same from the beginning and cannot become new But because we shall make it to appear that they do greatly innovate in al their points of controversie with us and shew nothing but shadows instead of substances and little images oâ— things instead of solid arguments we shall take from them their armour in which they trusted and choose this sword of Goliath to combat their errors for non est alter talis It is noâ— easie to find a better than the word of God expounded by the prime and best Antiquity The first thing therefore we are to advertise is that the Emissaries of the Roman Church endeavour to perswade the good People of our Dioceses from a Religion that is truly Primitive and Apostolick and divert them to Propositions of their own new and unheard-of in the first ages oâ— the Christian Church For the Religion of our Church is therefore certainly Primitive and Apostolick because it teaches us to believe the whole Scriptures of the Old and New Testament and nothing else as matter of faith and therefore unless there can be new Scriptures we can have no new matters of belief no new articles of faith Whatsoever we cannot prove from thence we disclaim it as not deriving from the Fountains of our Saviour We also do believe the Apostles Creed the Nicene with the additions of Constantinople and that which is commonly called the Symbol of Saint Athanasius and the four first General Councils are so intirely admitted by us that they together with the plain words of Scripture are made the rule and measure of judging Heresies amongst us and in pursuance of these it is commanded by our Church that the Clergy shall never teach any thing as matter of Faith religiously to be observed but that which is agreeable to the Old and New Testament and collected out of the same Doctrine by the Ancient Fathers and Catholick Bishops of the Church This was undoubtedly the Faith of the Primitive Church they admitted all into their Communion that were of this faith they condemned no Man that did not condemn these they gave letters communicatory by no otheâ— cognisance and all were Brethren who spake this voice Hanc legenâ— sequentes Christianorum Catholicorumâ— nomen jubemus amplecti reliquos verâ— dementes vesanosque judicantes haeretici dogmatis infamiam sustinere said the Emperors Gratian Valentiniaâ— and Theodosius in their Proclamation to the People of C. P. All that believ'd this Doctrine were Christianâ— and Catholicks viz. all they who believe in the Father Son and Holy Ghost one Divinity of equal Majesty in the Holy Trinity which indeeâ— was the summ of what was decreeâ— in explication of the Apostles Creed in the four first General Councils And what faith can be the foundation of a more solid peace the surer ligaments of Catholick Communion or the firmer basis of a holy life and of the hopes of Heaven hereafter than the measures which the Holy Primitive Church did hold and we after them That which we rely upon is the same that the Primitive Church did acknowledge to be the adaequate foundation of their hopes in the matters of belief The way which they thought sufficient to go to Heaven in is the way which we walk what they did not teach we do not publish and impose into this faith entirely and into no other as they did theirs so we baptize our Catechumens The Discriminations of Heresie from Catholick Doctrine which they us'd we use also and we use no other and in short we believe all that Doctrine which the Church of Rome believes except those things which they have superinduc'd upon â—he Old Religion and in which we shall prove that they have innovated So that by their confession all the Doctrine which we teach the people as matter of Faith must be confessed to be Ancient Primitive and Apostolick or else theirs is not so for ours is the same and â—â— both have received this faith from the fountains of Scripture and Universaâ— Tradition not they from us or we from them but both of us from Christ and his Apostles And therefore there can be no question whetheâ— the Faith of the Church of Englanâ— be Apostolick or Primitive it is so confessedly But the Question is concerning many other particulars whicâ— were unknown to the Holy Doctor of the first ages which were no part â—â— their faith which were never put intâ— their Creeds which were not determin'd in any of the four first Generâ—â— Councils rever'd in all Christendom and entertain'd every where with greâ—â— Religion and veneration even next 〈◊〉 the four Gospels and the Apostolicâ— writings Of this sort because the Church of Rome hath introduc'd many anâ— hath adopted them into their lanâ— Creed and imposes them upon thâ— People not only without but again the Scriptures and the Catholick Doctrine of the Church of God laying heavy burdens on Mens consciences and making the narrow way to Heaven yet narrower by their own inventions arrogating to themselves a dominion over our faith and prescribing a method of Salvation which Christ and his Apostles never taught corrupting the faith of the â—hurch of God and teaching for Doctrines the Commandements of Men and lastly having derogated from the Prerogative of Christ who alone is the Author and Finisher of our faith and hath perfected it in the revelations consign'd in the Holy Scriptures therefore it â—s that we esteem our selves oblig'd to warn the People of their danger and to depart from it and call upon them â—o stand
Instrument of Union how they were yet constrain'd to it by their Chiefs being obnoxious to the Pope how a while after they dissolv'd that Union and to this day refuse to own this Doctrine are things so notoriously known that they need no further declaration We add this only to make the conviction more manifest We have thought fit to annex some few but very clear testimonies of Antiquity expresly destroying the new Doctrine of Purgatory S. Cyprian saith Quando istinc excessum fuerit nullus jam locus poenitentiae est nullus satisfaction is effectus When we are gone from hence there is no place left for repentance and no effect of satisfaction S. Dionysius calls the extremity of death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The end of all our agonies and affirms That the Holy men of God rest in joy and in never failing hopes and are come to the end of their holy combates S. Iustin Martyr affirms That when the soul is departed from the body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 presently there is a separation made of the just and unjust The unjust are by Angels born into places which they have deserv'd but the souls of the just into Paradise where they have the conversation of Angels and Archangels S. Ambrose saith that Death is a haven of rest and makes not our condition worse but according as it finds every man sort reserves him to the judgement that is to come The same is affirm'd by S. Hilary S. Macarius and divers others they speak but of two states after death of the just and the unjust These are plac'd in horrible Regions reserv'd to the judgement of the great day the other have their souls carried by Quires of Angels into places of rest S. Gregory Nazianzen expresly affirms that after this life there is no purgation For after Christs ascension into Heaven the souls of all Saints are with Christ saith Gennadius and going from the body they go to Christ expecting the resurrection of their body with it to pass into the perfection of perpetual bliss and this he delivers as the Doctrine of the Catholick Church In what place soever a man is taken at his death of light or darkness of wickedness or vertue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ◠in the same order and in the same degree either in light with the just and with Christ the great King or in darkness with the uujust and with the Prince of Darkness said Olimpiodorus And lastly we recite the words of S. Leo one of the Popes of Rome speaking of the Penitents who had not perform'd all their penances But if any one of them for whom we pray unto the Lord being interrupted by any obstacles falls from the gift of the present Indulgence viz. of Ecclesiastical Absolution and before he arrive at the appointed remedies that is before he hath perform'd his penances or satisfactions ends his temporal life that which remaining in the body he hath not receiv'd when he is devested of his body he cannot obtain He knew not of the new devices of paying in Purgatory what they paid not here and of being cleansed there who were not clean here And how these words or of any the precedent are reconcileable with the Doctrines of Purgatory hath not yet entred into our imagination To conclude this particular We complain greatly that this Doctrine which in all the parts of it is uncertain and in the late additions to it in Rome is certainly false is yet with all the faults of it passed into an Article of Faith by the Council of Trent But besides what hath been said it will be more than sufficient to oppose against it these clearest words of Scripture Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth even so saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours If all the dead that die in Christ be at rest and are in no more affliction or labours then the Doctrine of the horrible pains of Purgatory is as false as it is uncomfortable To these words we add the saying of Christ and we relie upon it He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath eternal life and cometh not into judgment but passeth from death unto life If so then not into the judgment of Purgatory If the servant of Christ passeth from death to life then not from death to the terminable pains of a part of Hell They that have eternal life suffer no intermedial punishment judgment or condemnation after death for death and life are the whole progression according to the Doctrine of Christ and Him we choose to follow Sect. V. THe Doctrine of Transubstantiation is so far from being Primitive and Apostolick that we know the very time it began to be own'd publickly for an opinion and the very Council in which it was said to be passed into a publick Doctrine and by what arts it was promoted and by what persons it was introduc'd For all the world knows that by their own parties by Scotus Ocham Biel Fisher Bishop of Rochester and divers others whom Bellarmine calls most learned and most acute men it was declared that the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is not expressed in the Canon of the Bible that in the Scriptures there is no place so express as without the Churches Declaration to compel us to admit of Transubstantiation and therefore at least it is to be suspected of novelty But further we know it was but a disputable question in the ninth and tenth ages after Christ that it was not pretended to be an Article of faith till the Lateran Council in the time of Pope Innocent the third MCC years and more after Christ that since that pretended determination divers of the chiefest teachers of their own side have been no more satisfied of the ground of it than they were before but still have publickly affirm'd that the Article is not express'd in Scripture particularly Iohanes de Bassolis Cardinal Cajetan and Melchior Canus besides those above reckon'd And therefore if it was not express'd in Scripture it will be too clear that they made their Articles of their own heads for they could not declare it to be there if it was not and if it was there but obscurely then it ought to be taught accordingly and at most it could be but a probable doctrine and not certain as an Article of Faith But that we may put it past argument and probability it is certain that as the Doctrine was not taught in Scripture expresly so it was not at all taught as a Catholick Doctrine or an Article of the Faith by the Primitive ages of the Church Now for this we need no proof but the confession and acknowledgment of the greatest Doctors of the Church of Rome Scotus says that before the Lateran Council Transubstantiation was not an Article of faith as Bellarmine confesses and Henriquez affirms that
Scotus says it was not ancient insomuch that Bellarmine accuses him of ignorance saying he talk'd at that rate because he had not read the Roman Council under Pope Gregory the VII nor that consent of Fathers which to so little purpose he had heap'd together Rem transubstantiation is Patres ne attigisse quidem said some of the English Jesuits in Prison The Fathers have not so much as touch'd or medled with the matter of Transubstantiation and in Peter Lombard's time it was so far from being an Article of Faith or a Catholick Doctrine that they did not know whether it were true or no And after he had collected the sentences of the Fathers in that Article he confess'd He could not tell whether there was any substantial change or no. His words are these If it be inquir'd what kind of conversion it is whether it be formal or substantial or of another kind I am not able to define it Onely I know that it is not formal because the same accidents remain the same colour and taste To some it seems to be substantial saying that so the substance is chang'd into the substance that it is done essentially To which the former authorities seem to consent But to this sentence others oppose these things If the substance of bread and wine be substantially converted into the body and blood of Christ then every day some substance is made the body or blood of Christ which before was not the body and to day something is Christs body which yesterday was not and every day Christs body is increased and is made of such matter of which it was not made in the conception These are his words which we have remark'd not onely for the arguments sake though it be unanswerable but to give a plain demonstration that in his time this Doctrine was new not the Doctrine of the Church And this was written but about fifty years before it was said to be decreed in the Lateran Council and therefore it made hast in so short time to passe from a disputable opinion to an Article of faith But even after the Council Durandus as good a Catholick and as famous a Doctor as any was in the Church of Rome publickly maintain'd that even after consecration the very matter of bread remain'd and although he says that by reason of the Authority of the Church it is not to be held yet it is not onely possible it should be so but it implies no contradiction that it should be Christs body and yet the matter of bread remain and if this might be admitted it would salve many difficulties which arise from saying that the substance of bread does not remain But here his reason was overcome by authority and he durst not affirm that of which alone he was able to give as he thought a reasonable account But by this it appears that the opinion was but then in the forge and by all their understanding they could never accord it but still the questions were uncertain according to that old Distich Corpore de Christilis est de sanguine lis est Déque modo lis est non habitura modum And the opinion was not determin'd in the Lateran as it is now held at Rome buâ— it is also plain that it is a stranger to antiquity De Transubstantiatione panis in corpus Christi rara est in antiquis scriptoribus mentio said Alphonsus à Castro There is seldome mention made in the ancient writers of transubstantiating the bread into Christs body We know the modesty and interest of the man he would not have said it had been seldome if he could have found it in any reasonable degree warranted he might have said and justified it There was no mention at all of this Article in the primitive Church and that it was a mere stranger to Antiquity will not be denyd by any sober person who considers That it was with so much uneasiness entertained even in the corruptest and most degenerous times and argued and unsettled almost 1300 years after Christ. And that it was so will but too evidently appear by that stating and resolution of this question which we find in the Canon law For Berengarius was by P. Nicolaus commanded to recant his error in these words and to affirm Verum corpus sanguinem Domini nostri Iesu Christi sensualiter non solùm in sacramento sed in veritate manibus sacerdotum tractari frangi fidelium dentibus atteri That the true body and bloud of our Lord Jesus Christ sensually not onely in sacrament but in truth is handled by the priests hands and broken and grinded by the teeth of the faithful Now although this was publickly read at Rome before an hundred and fourteen Bishops and by the Pope sent up and down the Churches of Italy France and Germany yet at this day it is renounc'd by the Church of Rome and unless it be well expounded says the Gloss will lead into a heresie greater than what Berengarias was commanded to renounce and no interpretation can make it tolerable but such an one as is in another place of the Canon law statuimus i. e. abrogamus nothing but a plain denying it in the sense of Pope Nicolas But however this may be it is plain they understood it not as iâ— is now decreed But as it happened to the Pelagians in the beginning of their heresie they spake rudely ignorantly and easily to be reprov'd but being asham'd and disputed into a more sober understanding of their hypothesis spake more warily but yet differently from what they said at first so it was and is in this question at first they understood it not it was too unreasonable in any tolerable sense to make any thing of it but experience and necessity hath brought it to what it is But that this Doctrine was not the doctrine of the first and best ages of the Church these following testimonies do make evident The words of Tertullian are these The bread being taken and distributed to his Disciples Christ made it his body saying This is my body that is the figure of my body The same is affirmed by Iustin Martyr The bread of the Eucharist wâ—s a figure which Christ the Lord commanded to do in remembrance of his passion Origen calls the bread and the chalice the images of the body and bloud of Christ and again That bread which is sanctified by the word of God so far as belongs to the matter or substance of it goes into the belly and is cast away in the secession or separation which to affirm of the natural or glorified body of Christ were greatly blasphemous and therefore the body of Christ which the Communicants receive is not the body in a natural sense but in a spiritual which is not capable of any such accident as the elements are Eusebius says that Christ gave to his Disciples the Symbols of Divine
understands the Priests thoughts when he speaks not as well as when he speaks he hears the prayer of the heart and sees the word of the mind and a dumb Priest can do all the ceremonies and make the signs and he that speaks aloud to them that understand him not does no more Now since there is no use of vocal prayer in publick but that all together may signifie their desires and stir up one another and joyn in the expression of them to God by this device a man who understands not what is said can onely pray with his lips for the heart cannot pray but by desiring and it cannot desire what it understands not So that in this case prayer cannot be an act of the soul There is neither affection nor understanding notice or desire The heart says nothing and asks for nothing and therefore receives nothing Solomon calls that the sacrifice of fools when men consider not and they who understand not what is said cannot take it into consideration But there needs no more to be said in so plain a case We end this with the words of the Civil and Canon Law Iustinian the Emperour made a Law in these words We will and command that all Bishops and Priests celebrate the sacred Oblation and the Prayers thereunto added in holy Baptism not in a low voice but with a loud and clear voice which may be heard by the faithful people that is be understood for so it follows that thereby the minds of the hearers may be raised up with greater devotion to set forth the praises of the Lord God for so the Apostle teacheth in the first to the Corinthians It is true that this Law was rased out of the Latine versions of Iustinian The fraud and design was too palpable but it prevail'd nothing for it is acknowledged by Cassander and Bellarmine and is in the Greek Copies of Holoander The Canon Law is also most express from an Authority of no less than a Pope and a General Council as themselves esteem Innocent III. in the great Council of Lateran above MCC years after Christ in these words Because in most parts within the same City and Diocess the people of divers Tongues are mixt together having under one and the same faith divers ceremonies and rites we straitly charge and command That the Bishops of such Cities and Dioceses provide men fit who may celebrate Divine Service according to the diversity of ceremonies and languages and administer the Sacraments of the Church instructing them both by word and by example Now if the words of the Apostle and the practise of the primitive Church the Sayings of the Fathers and the Confessions of wise men amongst themselves if the consent of Nations and the piety of our fore-fathers if right reason and the necessity of the thing if the needs of the ignorant and the very inseparable conditions of holy prayers if the Laws of Princes and the Laws of the Church which do require all our prayers to be said by them that understand what they say if all these cannot prevail with the Church of Rome to do so much good to the peoples souls as to consent they should understand what in particular they are to ask of God certainly there is a great pertinacy of opinion and but a little charity to those precious souls for whom Christ dyed and for whom they must give account Indeed the old Toscan Rites and the Sooth-sayings of the Salian Priests Vix Sacerdotibus suis intellecta sed quae mutari vetat Religio were scarce understood by their Priests themselves but their Religion forbad to change them Thus anciently did the Osseni Hereticks of whom Epiphanius tells and the Heracleonitae of whom S. Austin gives account they taught to pray with obscure words and some others in Clemens Alexandrinus suppos'd that words spoken in a barbarous or unknown tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are more powerful The Jews also in their Synagogues at this day read Hebrew which the people but rarely understand and the Turks in their Mosques read Arabick of which the people know nothing But Christians never did so till they of Rome resolved to refuse to do benefit to the souls of the people in this instance or to bring them from intolerable ignorance Sect. VIII THe Church of Rome hath to very bad purposes introduc'd and impos'd upon Christendom the worship and veneration of Images kissing them pulling off their hats kneeling falling down and praying before them which they call giving them due honor and veneration What external honor and veneration that is which they call due is express'd by the instances now reckon'd which the Council of Trent in their Decree enumerate and establish What the inward honor and worship is which they intend to them is intimated in the same Decree By the Images they worship Christ and his Saints and therefore by these Images they pass that honor to Christ and his Saints which is their due that is as their Doctors explain it Latria or Divine worship to God and Christ. Hyperdulia or more than service to the Blessed Virgin Mary and service or doulia to other canoniz'd persons So that upon the whole the case is this What ever worship they give to God and Christ and his Saints they give it first to the image and from the image they pass it unto Christ and Christs servants And therefore we need not to enquire what actions they suppose to be fit or due For whatsoever is due to God to Christ or his Saints that worship they give to their respective Images all the same in external semblance and ministery as appears in all their great Churches and publick actions and processions and Temples and Festivals and endowments and censings and pilgrimages and prayers and vows made to them Now besides that these things are so like Idolatry that they can no way be reasonably excused of which we shall in the next Chapter give some account besides that they are too like the religion of the Heathens and so plainly and frequently forbidden in the Old Testament and are so infinitely unlike the simple and wise the natural and holy the pure and the spiritual religion of the Gospel besides that they are so infinite a scandal to the Jews and Turks and reproach Christianity it self amongst all strangers that live in their communion and observe their rites besides that they cannot pretend to be lawfull but with the laborious artifices of many Metaphysical notions and distinctions which the people who most need them do least understand and that therefore the people worship them without these distinctioâ—s and directly put confidence in them and that it is impossible that ignorant persons who in all Christian countreys make up the biggest number should do otherwise when otherwise they cannot understand it and besides that the thing it self with or without distinctions is a superstitious and forbidden an unlawful and unnatural worship of
exposiag that sacred Mystery to derision and scandalous contempt It is also which at present we have undertaken particularly to remark against the doctrine and practise of the primitive Catholick Church S. Clemens of Alexandria says that in the Discipline of Moses God was not to be represented in the shape of a Man or of any other thing and that Christians understood themselves to be bound by the same Law we find it expresly taught by Origen Tertullian Eusebius Athanasius S. Hierom S. Austin Theodoret Damascen and the Synod of Constantinople as it is reported in the 6. Action of the second Nicene Council And certainly if there were not a strange spirit of contradiction or superstition or deflexion from the Christian Rule greatly prevailing in the Ch. of Rome it were impossible that this practise should be so countenanc'd by them and defended so to no purpose with so much scandal and against the natural reason of mankind and the very Law of Nature it self For the Heathens were sufficiently by the light of Nature taught to abominate all Pictures or Images of God Sed nulla effigies simulacraque nulla Deorum Majestate locum sacro implevere timore They in their earliest ages had no Pictures no Images of their Gods Their Temples were filled with majesty and a sacred fear and the reason is given by Macrobius Antiquity made no Image viz. of God because the supreme God and the mind that is born of him that is his Son the eternal Word as it is beyond the Soul so it is above Nature and therefore it is not lawful that Figments should come thither Nicephorus Callistus relating the heresie of the Armenians and Iacobites says they made Images of the Father Son and Holy Ghost quod perquam absurdum est Nothing is more absurd than to make Pictures or Images of the Persons of the holy and adorable Trinity And yet they do this in the Church of Rome For in the windows of their Churches even in Conntrey-villages where the danger cannot be denied to be great and the scandal insupportable nay in their books of Devotion in their very Mass-books and Breviaries in their Portuises and Manuals they picture the holy Trinity with three noses and four eyes and three faces in a knot to the great dishonour of God and scandal of Christianity it self We add no more for the case is too evidently bad but reprove the error with the words of their own Polydore Virgil Since the world began never was any thing more foolish than to picture God who is present everywhere Sect. X. THe last Instance of Innovations introducâ—d in Doctrine and Practise by the Church of Rome that we shall represent is that of the Popes Universal Bishoprick That is not onely that he is Bishop of Bishops superiour to all and every one but that his Bishoprick is a Pleniâ—ude of Power and as for other Bishops of his fulness they all receive a part of the Ministery and sollicitude and not onely so but that he onely is a Bishop by immediate Divine Dispensation and others receive from him whatsoever they have For to this height many of them are come at last Which Doctrine although as it is in sins where the carnal are most full of reproch but the spiritual are of greatest malignity so it happens in this Article For though it be not so scandalous as their Idolatry so ridiculous as their Superstitions so unreasonable as their Doctrine of Transubstantiation so easily reprov'd as their Half Communion and Service in an unknown Tongue yet it is of as dangerous and evil effect and as false and as certainly an Innovation as any thing in their whole Conjugation of Erroursâ— When Christ founded his Church he left it in the hands of his Apostles without any prerogative given to one or eminency above the rest save onely of priority and orderly precedency which of it self was natural necessary and incident The Apostles govern'd all their Authority was the sanction and their Decrees and Writings were the Laws of the Church They exercis'd a common jurisdiction and divided it according to the needs and emergencies and circumstances of the Church In the Council of Ierusalem S. Peter gave not the decisive sentence but S. Iames who was the Bishop of that See Christ sent all his Apostles as his Father sent him and therefore he gave to every one of them the whole power which he left behind and to the Bishops congregated at Miletum S. Paul gave them caution to take care of the whole flock of God and affirms to them all that the Holy Ghost had made them Bishops and in the whole New Testament there is no act or sign of superiority or that one Apostle exercised power over another but to them whom Christ sent he in common intrusted the Church of God according to that excellent saying of S. Cyprian The other Apostles are the same that S. Peter was endowed with an equal fellowship of honour and power and they are all shephards and the flock is one and therefore it ought to be â—ed by all the Apostles with unanimous consent This unity and identity of power without question and interruption did continue and descend to Bishops in the primitive Church in which it was a known doctrine that the Bishops were successors of the Apostles and what was not in the beginning could not be in the descent unless it were innovated and introduc'd by a new authority Christ gave ordinary power to none but the Apostles and the power being to continue for ever in the Church it was to be succeeded to and by the same authority even of Christ it descended to them who were their successors that is to the Bishops as all antiquity does consent and teach Not S. Peter alone but every Apostle and therefore every one who succeeds them in their ordinary power may and must remember the words of S. Paul We are Embassadors or Legates for Christ Christs Vicars not the Popes Delegates and so all the Apostles are called in the Preface of the Mass quos oper is tui Vicarios eidem contulisti praeesse Pastores they are Pastors of the Flock and Vicars of Christ and so also they are in express terms called by S. Ambrose and therefore it is a strange usurpation that the Pope arrogates that to himself by Impropriation which is common to him with all the Bishops of Christendome The consequent of this is that by the law of Christ one Bishop is not superior to another Christ gave the power to all alike he made no Head of the Bishops he gave to none a supremacy of power or universality of jurisdiction But this the Pope hath long challenged and to bring his purposes to pass hath for these Six hundred years by-gone invaded the rights of Bishops and delegated matters of order and jurisdiction to Monks and Friers insomuch that the power
of Bishops was greatly diminished at the erecting of the Cluniac and Cistercian Monks about the year ML but about the year MCC it was almost swallowed up by privileges granted to the Begging Friers and there kept by the power of the Pope which power got one great step more above the Bishops when they got it declared that the Pope is above a Coâ—ncil of Bisâ—ops and at last it was turn'd into a new doctrine by Cajetane who for his prosperous invention was made a Cardinal that all the whole Apostolick or Episcopal power is radical and inherent in the Pope in whom is the fulness of the Ecclesiastical authority and that Bishops receive their portion of it from him and this was first boldly maintain'd in the Council of Trent by the Jesuits and it is now the opinion of their Order but it is also that which the Pope challenges in practise when he pretends to a power over all Bishops and that this power is deriv'd to him from Christ when he calls himself the Universal Bishop and the Vicarial Head of the Church the Churches Monarch he from whom all Ecclesiastical Authority is derived to whose sentence in things Divine every Christian under pain of damnation is bound to be subject Now this is it which as it is productive of infinite mischiefs so it is an Innovation and an absolute deflexion from the primitive Catholick Doctrine and yet is the great ground-work and foundation of their Church This we shall represent in these following testimonies Pope Eleutherius in an Epistle to the Bishops of France says that Christ committed the Universal Church to the Bishops and S. Ambrose says that the Bishop holdeth the place of Christ and is his substituteâ— But famous are the words of S. Cyprian The Church of Christ is one through the whole world divided by him into many members and the Bishoprick is but one diffused in the agreeing plurality of many Bispops And again To every Pastor a portion of the flock is given which let every one of them rule and govern By which words it is evident that the primitive Church understood no Prelation of one and Subordination of another commanded by Christ or by virtue of their Ordination but onely what was for orders sake introduc'd by Princes and consent of Prelates And it was to this purpose very full which was said by Pope Symmachus As it is in the holy Trinity whose power is one and undivided or to use the expression in the Athanasian Creed none is before or after other none is greater or less than another so there is one Bishoprick amongst divers Bishops and therefore why should the Canons of the ancient Bishops be violated by their Successors Now these words being spoken against the invasion of the rights of the Church of Arles by Anastasius and the question being in the exercise of Jurisdiction and about the institution of Bishops does fully declare that the Bishops of Rome had no superiority by the laws of Christ over any Bishop in the Catholick Church and that his Bishoprick gave no more power to him than Christ gave to the Bishop of the smallest Diocese And therefore all the Church of God whenever they reckoned the several orders and degrees of Ministery in the Catholick Church reckon the Bishop as the last and supreme beyond whom there is no spiritual power but in Christ. For as the whole Hierarchy ends in Iesus so does every particular one in its own Bishop Beyond the Bishop there is no step till you rest in the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls Under him every Bishop is supreme in spirituals and in all power which to any Bishop is given by Christ. S. Ignatius therefore exhorts that all should obey their Bishop and the Bishop obey Christ as Christ obeyed his Father There are no other intermedial degrees of Divine institution But as Origen teaches The Apostles and they who after them are ordainâ—d by God that is the Bishops have the supreme place in the Church and the Prophets have the second place The same also is taught by P. Gelasius by S. Hierom and Fulgentius and indeed by all the Fathers who spake any thing in this matter Insomuch that when Bellarmine is in this question press'd out of the book of Nilus by the Authority of the Fathers standing against him he answers Papam Patres non habere in Ecclesiâ sed Filios omnes The Pope acknowledges no Fathers in the Church for they are all his Sons Now although we suppose this to be greatly sufficient to declare the Doctrine of the primitive Catholick Church concerning the equality of power in all Bishops by Divine right yet the Fathers have also expresly declared themselves that one Bishop is not superiour to another and ought not to judge another or force another to obedience They are the words of S. Cyprian to a Council of Bishops None of us makes himself a Bishop of Bishops or by tyrannical power drives his collegues to a necessity of obedience since every Bishop according to the license of his own liberty and power hath his own choice and cannot be judged by another nor yet himself judge another but let us all expect the judgment of our L. Iesus Christ who onely and alone hath the power of setting us in the Government of his Church and judging of what we do This wasâ—spoken and intended against P. Stephen who did then begin dominari in clero to lord it over Gods heritage and to excommunicate his brethren as Demetrius did in the time of the Apostles themselves but they both found their reprovers Demetrius was chastised by S. Iohn for this usurpation and Stephen by S. Cyprian and this also was approv'd by S. Austin We conclude this particular with the words of S. Gregory Bishop of Rome who because the Patriarch of Constantinople called himself Universal Bishop said It was a proud title prophane sacrilegious and Antichristian and therefore he little thought that his successors in the same See should so fiercely challenge that Antichristian title much less did the then Bishop of Rome in those ages challenge it as their own peculiar for they had no mind to be or to be esteemed Antichristian Romano pontifici oblatum est sed nullus unquam eorum hoc singularitatis nomen assump sit His predecessors it seems had been tempted with an offer of that title but none of them ever assumed that name of singularity as being against the law of the Gospel and the Canons of the Church Now this being a matter of which Christ spake not one word to Saint Peter if it be a matter of faith and salvation as it is now pretended it is not imaginable he would have been so perfectly silent But though he was silent of any intention to do this yet S. Pauâ— was not silent that Christ did otherwise for he hath set in his Church primùm Apostolos
good mans case If an Indulgence be granted to a place for so many days in every year it were fit you inquire for how many years that will laâ—t for some Doctors say That if a definite number of years be not set down it is intended to last but twenty years And therefore it is good to be wise early 8. But it is yet of greater consideration If you take out a Bull of Indulgence relating to the Article of death in case you recover that sickness in which you thought you should use it you must consider whether you must not take out a new one for the next fit of sickness or will the firstâ— which stood for nothing keep cold and without any sensible errour serve when you shall indeed die 9. You must also inquire and be rightly inform'd whether an Indulgence granted upon a certain Festival will be valid if the day be chang'd as they were all at once by the Gregorian Calendar or if you go into another Countrey where the Feast is not kept the same day as it happens in movable Feasts and on S. Bartholomews-day and some others 10. When your Lawyers have told you their opinion of all these Questions and given it under their hands it will concern you to inquire yet further whether a succeeding Pope have not or cannot revoke an Indulgence granted by his Predecessor for this is often done in matters of favour and privileges and the German Princes complain'd sadly of it and it was complain'd in the Council of Lions that Martin the Legate of Pope Innocent the VIII revok'd and dissipated all former Grants and it is an old Rule Papa nunquam sibi ligat manus The Pope never binds his own hands But here some caution would do well 11. It is worth inquiry whether in the year of Jubilee all other Indulgences be suspended for though some thinkâ— they are not yet Navar and Emanuel S à affirm that they are and if they chance to say true for no man knows whether they do or no you may be at a loss that way And when all this is done yet 12. Your Indulgences will be of no avail to you in reserved cases which are very many A great many more very fine scruples might be mov'd and are so and therefore when you have gotten all the security you can by these you are not saâ—e at all â—ut therefore be sure still to get Masses to be said So that now the great Objection is answered you need not fear that saying Masses will ever be made unnecessary by the multitude of Indulgences The Priest must still be imployed and entertained in subsidium since there are so many ways of making the Indulgence good for nothing And as for the fear of emptying Purgatory by the free and liberal use of the Keys it is very needless because the Pope cannot evacuate Purgatory or give so many Indulgences as to take out all souls from thence And therefore if the Popes and the Bishops and the Legates have been already too free it may be there is so much in arrear that the Treasure of the Church is spent or the Church is in debt for souls or else though the Treasure be inexhaustible yet so much of her Treasure ought not to be made use of and therefore it may be that your souls shall be post-pon'd and must stay and take its turn God knows when And therefore we cannot but commend the prudence of Cardinal Albernotius who by his last will took order for fifty thousand Masses to be said for his soul for he was a wise man and lov'd to make all as sure as he could But then to apply this to the Consciences of the poor people of the Roman Communion Here is a great deal of Treasure of the Church pretended and a great many favours granted and much ease promised and the wealth of the Church boasted of and the peoples money gotten and that this may be a perpetual spring it is clear amongst their own Writers that you are not sure of any good by all that is past but you must get more security or this may be nothing But how easie were it for you now to conclude that all this is but a meer cozenage an art to get money but that 's but the least of the evil it is a certain way to deceive souls For since there are so many thousands that trust to these things and yet in the confession of your own Writers there are so many fallibilities in the whole and in every parr why will you suffer your selves so weakly and vainly to be cozen'd out of your souls with promises that signifie nothing and words without vertue and treasures that make no man rich and Indulgences that give confidence to sin but no ease to the pains which follow Besides all this it is very considerable that this whole affair is a state of temptation for they that have so many ways to escape will not be so careful of the main stake as the interest of it requires He that hopes to be relieved by many others will be tempted to neglect himself There is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Unum necessarium even that we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling A little wisdom and an easie observation were enough to make all men that love themselves wisely to abstain from such diet which does not nourish but fills the stomach with wind and imagination But to return to the main Inquiry We desire that it be considered how dangerously good life is undermined by the Propositions collaterally taught by their Great Doctors in this matter of Indulgences besides the main and direct danger and deception 1. Venial sins preceding or following the work enjoyn'd for getting Indulgences hinder not their fruit But if they intervene in the time of doing them then they hinder By this Proposition there is infinite uncertainty concerning the value of any Indulgence for if venial sins be daily incursions who can say that he is one day clean from them And if he be not he hath paid his price for that which profits not and he is made to relie upon that which will not support him But though this being taught doth evacuate the Indulgence yet it is not taught to prevent the sin for before and after if you commit venial sins there is no great matter in it The inconvenience is not great and the remedy is easie you are told of your security as to this point before hand 2. Pope Adrian taught a worse matter He that will obtain indulgence for another if he does perform the work enjoyn'd though himself be in deadly sin yet for the other he prevails as if a man could do more for another than he can do for himself or as if God would regard the prayers of a vile and a wicked person when he intercedes for another and at the same time if he prays for himself his prayer is
else or not so confidently and that if they do ask that S. Otilia shall not as much prevail to help a Fever as a Cataract or that if S. Sebastian be called upon to pray for the help of a poor femal sinner who by sad diseases pays the price of her lust he must go to S. Apollinaris in behalf of his Client But if any of the Roman Doctors say That they are not tied to defend the Superstitions of the Vulgar or the abused They say true they are not indeed but rather to reprove them as we do and to declare against them and Council of Trent very goodly forbids all â—uperstitions in this Article but yet tells us not what are Superstitions and what not and still the world goes on in the practice of the same intolerable follies and every Nation hath a particular Guardian-Saint and every City every Family and almost every House and every Devouter person almost chuses his own Patron-Saint whose Altars they more devoutly frequent whose Image they more religiously worship to whose Reliques they more readily go in Pilgrimage to whose Honour they say more Pater nosters whose Festival they more solemnly observe spoiling their prayers by their confidences in unknown persons living in an unknown condition and diminishing that affiance in God and our Lord Jesus Christ by importune and frequent addresses to them that cannot help But that these are not the faults of their people onely running wilfully into such follies but the practice of their Church and warranted and taught by their Guides appears by the publick prayers themselves such as these O generous Mary beauteous above all obtain pardon for us apply grace unto us prepare glory for us Hail thou Rose thou Virgin Mary c. Grant to us to use true wisdom and with the elect to enjoy grace that we may with melody praise thee and do thou drive our sins away O Virgin Mary give us joys These and divers others like these are in the Anthem of our Lady In the Rosary of our Lady this Hymn is to be said Reparatrix Salvatrix desperantis animae Irroratrix Largitrix Spiritualis gratiae Quod requiro quod suspiro measana vulnera Et da menti te poscenti gratiarum munera Ut sim castus modestus c. ........ Corde prudens ore studens veritatem dicere Malum nolens Deum volens pio semper opere That is Thou Repairer and Saviour of the despairing Soul the Dew-giver and Bestower of spiritual grace heal my wounds and give to the mind that prays to thee the gifts of grace that I may be chaste modest wise in heart true in my sayings hating evil loving God in holy works and much more to the same purpose There also the blessed Virgin Mary after many glorious Appellatives is prayed to in these words Joyn me to Christ govern me always enlighten my heart defend me always from the snare of the Enemy deliver us from all evil and from the pains of Hell So that it is no wonder that Pope Leo the X. calls her a Goddess and Turcelin the Jesuit Divinae majestatis potestatÃsque sociam Huic olim coelestium mortaliúmque principatum detulit Ad hujus arbitrium quoad hominum tutela postulat tâ—rras maria coelum naturámque moderatur Hâc annuente per hanc divinos thesauros coelestia dona largitur the companion or partner of the Divine Majesty and Power To her he long since gave the principality of all heavenly and mortal things At her will so far as the guardianship of Men requires he rules the Earth and Seas Heaven and Nature And she consenting he gives Divine treasures and Celestial gifts Nay in the Mass-books penned 1538. and us'd in the Polonian Churches they call the B. Virgin Mary Viam ad vitam totius mundi gubernatricem peccatorum cum Deo reconciliatricem fontem remissionis peccatorum lumen luminum the way to life the Governess of all the world the Reconciler of sinners with God the Fountain of Remission of sins Light of Light and at last salute her with an Ave universae Trinitatis Mater Hail thou Mother of the whole Trinity We do not pick out these onely as the most singular or the worâ—t forms for such as these are very numerous as is to be seen in their Breviaries Missals Hours of our Lady Rosary of our Lady the Letany of our Lady called Litania Mariae the Speculum Rosariorum the Hymns of Saints Portuises and Manuals These onely are the instances which amongst many others presently occurr Two things onely we shall adde instead of many more that might be represented The first is That in a Hymn which they from what reason or Etymology we know not neither are we concern'd call a Sequence the Council of Constance did invocate the B. Virgin in the same manner as Councils did use to invocate the Holy Ghost They call her the Mother of Grace the remedy to the miserable the fountain of mercy and the light of the Church attributes proper to God and incommunicable they sing her praises and pray to her for graces â—hey sing to her with the heart they call themselves her sons they declare her to be their health and comfoâ—t in all doubts and call on her for light from Heaven and trust in her for the destruction of Heresies and the repression of Schisms and for the lasting Confederations of peace The other thing we tell of is That there is a Psalter of our Lady of great and ancient account in the Church of Rome it hath been several times printed at Venice at Paris at Leipsich and the title is The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin compil'd by the Seraphical Doctor St. Bonaventure Bishop of Alba and Presbyter Cardinal of the Holy Church of Rome But of the Book it self the account is soon made for it is nothing but the Psalms of David an hundred and fifty in number are set down alter'd indeed to make as much of it as could be sense so reduc'd In which the name of Lord is left out and that of Lady put in so that whatever David said of God and Christ the same prayers and the same praises they say of the Blessed Virgin Mary and whether all that can be said without intolerable blasphemy we suppose needs not much disputation The same things but in a less proportion and frequency they say to other Saints O Maria Magdalena Audi vota laude plena Apud Christum chorum istum Clementer Concilia Ut fons summae pietatis Qui te lavit à peccatis Servos suos atque tuos Mundet dat â veniâ O Mary Magdalen hear our prayers which are full of praises and most clemently reconcile this company unto Christ That the Fountain of Supreme Piety who clensed thee from thy sins giving pardon may clense us who are his servants and thine These things are too bad already we shall not aggravate them by
the Treasure of Exorcisms and horrible Conjurings for that is the very title of the Book printed at Colein A. D. 1608 shall find many as horrid things and not censur'd by any Inquisitors as yet so far as we have ever read or heard Nay that very Luciferina or Devillish Exorcism is reprinted at Lyons A. D. 16â—4 in the institutio baptizandi which was restored by the Decree of the Council of Trent So that though it was forbidden in Spain it was allowed in France But as bad as that are allowed every where in the Church of Rome The most famous and of most publike use are The Treasure of Exorcisms of which we but now made mention the Roman Ritual The Manual of Exorcisms printed at Antwerp A. D. 1626. with Approbation of the Bishop and privilege of the Archdukes the Pastorals of several Churches especially that of Ruraemund and especially the Flagellum Daemonum The Devils whip by Father Hierom Mengus a Frier Minor which the Clergy of Orleans did use in the Exorcising of Martha Brosser A. D. 1599. the story whereof is in the Epistles of Cardinal D' Ossat and the History of the Excellent Thuanus Now from these Books especially this last we shall represent their manner of casting our Devils and then speak a word to the thing it self Their manner and form is this First They are to try the Devil by Holy water Incense Sulphur Rue which from thence as we suppose came to be called Herb of Grace and especially S. Iohns wort which therefore they call Devils flight with which if they cannot cast the Devil out yet they may do good to the Patient for so Pope Alexander the first promis'd and commanded the Priests to use it for the sanctifying and pacifying the people and driving away the snares of the Devil And to this it were well if the Exorcist would rail upon mock and jeer the Devil for he cannot endure a witty and a sharp taunt and loves jeering and railing no more than he loves holy water and this was well tried of old against an Empuse that met Apollonius Tyanaeus at Mount Caucasus against whom he rail'd and exhorted his company to do so Next to this the Exorcist may ask the Devil some questions What is his name How many of them there are For what cause and at what time he entered and for his own learning by what persons he can be cast out and by what Saint adjur'd who are his particular enemies in Heaven and who in Hell by what words he can be most afflicted for the Devils are such fools that they cannot keep their own counsel nor choose but tell and when they do they always tell true He may also ask him by what Covenant or what Charm he came there and by what he is to be released Then he may call Lucifer to help him and to torment that Spirit for so they cast out Devils by Belzebub the Prince of the Devils and certainly Lucifer dares not but obey him Next to this the Exorcist is cunningly to get out of the Devil the confession of some Article of Faith for the edification of the standers by whom he may by this means convince of the truth of Transubstantiation the reality of Purgatory or the value of Indulgences and command him to knock his head three times against the ground in adoration of the Holy Trinity But let him take heed what Reliques he apply to the Deuil for if the Reliques be counterfeit the Devil will be too hard for him However let the Exorcising Priest be sure to bless his pottage his meat his ointment his herbs and then also he may use some Schedules or little rolls of paper containing in them holy words but he must be sure to be exercis'd and skilful in all things that belong to the conjuring of the Devil These are the preparatory documents which when he hath observ'd then let him fall to his prayers Now for the prayers they also are publickly describ'd in their Offices before cited and are as followeth The Priest ties his stole about the neck of the possessed with three knots and says O ye abominable Rebels against God I conjure you Spirits and adjure you I call I constrain I call out I contend and contest where ever you are in this Man by the Father Son and Holy Ghost then â—e makes three †by the most powerful name of God Heloy the strong and admirable I exorcise you and adjure you and command you by the power I have that you incontinently hear the words of my conjuring and perceive your selves overcome and command you not to depart without license and so I bind you with this stole of jucundity in the name of the Father †Son †and Holy Ghost †Amen Then he makes two and thirty crosses more and calls over one and thirty names of God in false Hebrew and base Greek and some Latine signifying the same names and the two and thirtieth is by the sign of the Cross praying God to deliver them from their enemies Then follow more prayers and more adjurations and more conjurations for they are greatly different you must know and aspersions of holy water and shewings of the Cross and signings with it Then they adjure the Devil in case the names of God will not do it by S. Mary and S. Anne by S. Michael and St. Gabriel by Raphael and all Angels and Arch-angels by the Patriarchs and by the Prophets and by his own infirmity by the Apostles and by the Martyrs and then after all this if the Devil will not come out he must tarry there still till the next Exorcism in which The Exorcist must rail at the Devil and say over agaiâ— the Names of God and then ask him questions and read over the sequences of the Gospels and after that tell him that he hath power over him for he can transubstantiate bread into Christs body and then conjure him again and call him damn'd Devil unclean Spirit and as bad as he can call him and so pray to God to cast him out of the mans mouth and nose lips and teeth jaws and cheeks eyes and forehead eye-brows and eye-lids his feet and his members his marrow and his bones and must reckon every part of his body to which purpose we suppose it would be well if the Exorcist were well skill'd in Laurentius or Bauhinus his Anatomy And if he will not go out yet there is no help but he must choose till the third Exorcism In which besides many prayers and conjurations in other words to the same purpose the Exorcist must speak louder especially if it be a deaf Devil for then indeed it is the more necessary and tell the Devil his own and threaten him terribly and conjure him again and say over him about some twenty or thirty names or titles of Christ and forbid the Devil to go any whither but to the centre of the world and must damn him eternally