be warranted by the Church and to make his words good he produceth great Credentials from the Pope and many other great Men. This great and learned Prelate in his Exposition of the Catholick Faith c. hath these words We acknowledge a Head established by God Sect. 21. p. 50. to conduct his whole Flock in his paths which Head is the Pope as Successour to St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles and that the Papal Chair is the common Centre of all Catholick Unity Sect. 1. p. 2. And in another place he promiseth not to meddle with any thing but the Decrees of the Council of Trent because in them the Church hath given her decision upon these matters now in Agitation Which Council was called by the Pope's Authority only and the true sense of all its Decrees by the Bull of Pope Pius IV. reserved to be explained by him alone So that the great noise of the Catholick Church is at last dwindled into the Roman Catholick which we of the Church of England take to be a contradiction in Terminis the same with a particular Universal for they may as well say that the City of Rome is all the World as that the Church of Rome is the Catholick Church Besides this notion of the Catholick Church virtual is altogether new having no foundation either in the Holy Scriptures or in any Primitive and Authentick Antiquity and therefore we can by no means admit of it This is that Church by which and towards which we are charged with the guilt of the horrible sin of Schism And God be thanked it is no worse for from any Criminal Schism in this case I hope we shall without any great difficulty be able to acquit our selves 2. If we consider a Christian Church as it is particular then are we to understand it of a number of Men professing Christianity formed into a Society under lawfull Governours and governed by such Laws and Rules as are not different from but agreeable to the Laws and Rules of the Catholick Church And if any Man or number of Men who are Members of that Society shall without just cause separate themselves from the Communion thereof he or they so doing are certainly guilty of Schism Nor is every occasion which a capricious humour or discontent may suggest to us to be taken as a sufficient ground of Separation Nay though there be something really amiss or at least we are persuaded that there is so in the Doctrine or Discipline of that Church whereof we are Members yet ought we rather to suspect our own Judgments and suppress our own Sentiments than break the unity and peace thereof In a word unless such a particular Church shall make the terms of her Communion such as cannot be complied with without sin I do not know any other just ground of Separation therefrom Thus have I considered the subject of Schism in its greatest latitude And now let us see how far any thing that may be gathered from hence can affect the Church of England 1. If the Church of England hath made no defection from the Catholick Church diffusive i. e. from the One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church which compriseth all Men and all Societies of Men professing Christianity Nor from the Catholick Church representative i. e. the Prelates and Pastours of the Universal Church lawfully assembled in a Council that is truly free and general If she profess no other Doctrine nor exercise any other Discipline than what she hath received from Christ and his Apostles and was constantly profest and exercised by their Successours in the primitive Church If she be willing to submit all matters in difference between Her and any other Sister-Church to be tried by the Holy Scriptures the primitive Fathers and the Decisions of the four first General Councils Then can she not be justly charged with Schism upon that account And that she doth and is willing to doe all this that is here supposed we are ready to make good whenever our Adversaries shall give us the occasion so to doe 2. If their notion of a Church virtually Catholick be altogether new without any foundation either in the Holy Scriptures or in any primitive and authentick Antiquity then the power and privileges which the present Church of Rome challengeth upon that account are mere nullities and consequently the Schism which she chargeth of the Church England with upon that score a mere Chimera which vanisheth of it self If they think to avoid the force of this supposition they must produce some good and authentick Record which as yet hath not been discovered 3. If the Church of Rome be onely a particular Church and no otherwise Catholick than her Neighbours are who profess the same common Christianity If she can have no more power to censure us than we have to censure Her then can she not without great presumption and great injustice charge us with the sin of Schism 'T is true indeed we do not joyn in Communion with her and the reason why we do not I have given in the third Section But it is as true that we hold the Catholick Unity and for the sake of that they themselves will grant that we may lawfully depart from the Unity of any particular Church SECT V. III. Schism is a Separation from the Communion of a Christian Church AS the Act of Schism is Separation and the Subject thereof a Christian Church so the Object in and about which the Separation is made is the Communion of that Church Now there are three great Bonds of Communion viz. Faith Worship and Government and whosoever shall separate either from the Catholick or any particular Church whereof he is a Member in any of these I do not see how he or they so doing can be acquitted from the guilt of Schism unless the corruption in some one or more of these be so great as to render the Communion sinfull to him who knows it SECT VI. I. Of Faith as it is a Bond of Communion BY Faith here I understand the established Doctrine of the Church that common Christianity which we all profess to own and embrace For it is not every Doctrine that is received and taught in any particular Church that is properly the Bond of Communion but such Doctrine as is or ought to be received by all It is plain and our Adversaries themselves will acknowledge it that we may and ought to differ from particular Churches in some Doctrines Otherwise why do they differ from us from the Greek Church and indeed all other Churches besides their own in many things On this score is it that we cannot receive their new Articles of Faith those additions which are made unto and those alterations which are made in the old and common Christianity by their Council of Trent We believe all that is contained in the Holy Scriptures to be infallibly true all that was ever taught by Christ and his Apostles and their Successours
the Primitive Church and in the Canons and Constitutions of the four first General Councils But if by Government we understand the Government of particular Churches then is it lodged in the Pastours and Governours of those Churches and is to be administred by them according to such Laws and Rules as are agreeable to those of the Catholick Church And in this case it can have no influence from one National Church to another for as such they are equal and Equals have no power over one another But whosoever is a Member of any such Church and refuseth all due obedience to the Pastours and Governours thereof doth thereby contract the guilt of Schism Now whether the Church of England or the Church of Rome by the violation of all these Bonds of Communion have disturbed the Peace of the Christian Church broken the Unity of the Universal and of all particular Churches and thereby incurred the guilt of Schism you may take a prospect in this short parallel which I shall now lay before you 1. As for Faith considered as a Bond of Communion What the Church of England believes and what she is ready and willing to comply with I have told you in the 6th Sect. But the Church of Rome not contented therewith added to the sacred Canon some Apocryphal Books which were never before received either into the Jewish or Christian Canon And as if the revealed Will of God were an imperfect Rule she undertakes to supply the defects of it by groundless Traditions She makes new Creeds witness the Trent Creed and that both without the consent of the present and against the Doctrine and Practice of ancient Churches Now which of these hath violated this Bond of Communion Judge ye 2. As for Worship considered as a Bond of Communion I have given you our Sentiments of it and told you wherein it consists in the 7th Sect. Now how far the Church of Rome hath corrupted that pure Worship of God both by her subtractions and additions I shall briefly acquaint you As for Prayer it must be performed in publick in an unknown tongue which the People understand not So that they must not know what they pray for and consequently cannot with any true devotion say Amen It must be offered to Saints and Angels and not immediately to God who glories to be styled a God hearing Prayers and this we take to be an Act of Religious Worship due to the Creatour only but by them paid to Creatures As for the reading of Holy Scriptures if any portion of them be read in publick it must be in Latin a Language not understood by the People and therefore impossible for them to be instructed by it It is true indeed they sometimes interpret some portion of Scripture by preaching in the Vulgar language but then the People must take all they say upon trust they must not without special leave be allowed the Bible in their own Language no not in private lest with the Noble Bereans they should examine whether those things be so or no. As for the Sacraments they have added five that were never instituted by Christ and taken away half of one of those which they cannot but own was of his Institution i. e. they deprive the Laity of the Cup in the Lord's Supper besides those many Superstitions which they have intermix'd and therewith corrupted the pure and primitive Worship of God. Now let any indifferent Person judge whether they or we have violated this Bond of Communion and consequently which of us may be charged with Schism 3 As for Government considered as a Bond of Communion What our thoughts are of it you may see in the beginning of this Sect. Now how far the Church of Rome doth differ not only from us but from the Catholick Church both ancient and modern and from all other particular Churches in this point will appear if we consider That she usurps a Dominion condemned as Antichristian by one of their own Popes disowned by the whole Church at that time and which we at present cannot own without betraying the Liberty of the Church That by virtue of this Usurped Power she imposeth unreasonable and unlawfull conditions of Communion and for non-compliance therewith excommunicates not only the Church of England but as some will tell you three parts of the Christian World besides Now if the Church of Rome by setting up and exercising this Exorbitant Power hath broken this Bond of Communion then who is chargeable with the Schism judge ye SECT IX IV. Schism is a voluntary and causeless Separation from the Communion of a Christian Church THese are the two conditions of Schism it must be voluntary and causeless and from these two conditions it receives its greatest aggravation and becomes a sin of the deepest dye and greatest guilt 1. It must be a Voluntary Separation I call it Voluntary to distinguish sin from punishment Schism from excommunication for though by the latter a man be cast out of the Church and made no member thereof yet strictly speaking he is thereby separated from the Church and doth not separate himself 'T is true that every sin is a voluntary act in the sinner but doth that excuse him or rather doth it not aggravate his guilt If a man be separated from the communion of the Church by some pressing necessity this may be his misfortune and not his fault Or if a man be under a constraint and have a force put upon him if he be frighted with threats and menaces or wheadled with promises and allurements if his fears and hopes those two prevalent passions in man be raised to that height as to darken his understanding and overpower his will these circumstances may extenuate though they cannot altogether excuse his guilt But when a man doeth an evil action not by chance but of choice not by force but by inclination not rashly and inconsiderately but deliberately and advisedly this makes his sin to be exceeding sinfull For thereby the Schismatick puts himself out of the ordinary way and means of salvation divideth the body of Christ despiseth and condemneth the Church of God and breaketh the bond of peace which ought to be kept intire and inviolate And therefore do I make this a Condition of Schism because if we can suppose a Separation from the communion of the Church to be involuntary it will not deserve that name SECT X. II. It must be a Causeless Separation c. THAT Schism in it self is a great and grievous sin and in its consequences extremely mischievous to the Church of God and to the Schismatick himself is agreed on all hands But how much greater must the sin needs be when thereby all this guilt is contracted and all this mischief done without any cause i. e. without any sufficient cause Now a Separation may be considered either as it relates to the Catholick or Particular Churches And then a Separation from the Catholick Church taken in the most comprehensive
disturbed and their Communion rent and shattered if not dissolved by evil Members As for the former viz. the Civil State when by some factious and seditious Members Feuds and Animosities are somented and by that means the Unity is broken and the Body divided into several Parties then doth it labour under a dangerous Schism We have an eminent instance hereof in Holy Writ 1 Kings 12. v. 16. The Ten Tribes of Israel being violently rent and torn from the House of David in the days of Reboboam Nor are we without as great an instance in our own memories and in this Kingdom But this is not the Schism we are now to treat of As for the other viz. the Ecclesiastical State it is no less subject to it than the Civil And hath been so much pestered therewith that from the first foundation thereof untill this day we can hardly name a time I am sure no long time in which it did ever enjoy perfect Peace and Tranquillity How much the Church of God is broken and divided and crumbled into parties and factions at this day is but too apparent and who can look upon those wounds and bruises which she hath received thereby without melting into tears and being overwhelmed with grief and sorrow How great and crying their sin is who have been the occasion thereof they will one day find and severely suffer for it unless with the tears of true and unfeigned Repentance they do in time wash off the guilt of it and by that means find favour with God. I pray God give us all grace seriously to consider what share we have in the Church's Sufferings and in our several places to make it our great and only business to restore Peace and Unity thereunto SECT II. Of Schism in the Church THIS is the Crime which by our Adversaries is laid to our charge and this is that which I have undertaken to vindicate the Church of England from And it is high time to doe it for on that account they begin to look very scornfully upon us and esteem us no better than Heathens and Publicans And we are roundly told that whilst our Schism subsists uncleared it is to no purpose to enter into debate with us about any particular points of Doctrine nor are we to be hearkned to in any particular Controversie But if a bare accusation without proof be a sufficient Conviction they may doe well to look to themselves for there are those who will not stick to charge them with the same Crime and perhaps upon better grounds than they charge us and if so then their Argument may be retorted upon themselves But I do not think a bare Re-crimination sufficient either to clear us or burthen them and therefore I have chosen another method viz. by laying open the Nature of Schism and stating the Notion of it in so large plain and comprehensive terms that it may easily be applyed to those who are guilty of it And in pursuance of this method I shall now present you with a Definition of Schism Definition of Schism Schism is a voluntary and causeless Separation from the Communion of a Christian Church of which we are Members This I take to be as large and comprehensive a Definition of Schism as they can justly require By this we are willing to be tryed and if found guilty to submit to the Censure due to Schismaticks and would willingly hope though as yet we have no great reason for it that our Adversaries will be so ingenuous too To put the matter therefore upon trial I shall take this Definition in pieces and having laid the several parts before you proceed to discourse of them severally 1. Schism is a Separation i. e. a breach of Unity and dividing of some well compacted Body 2. It is a Separation from a Christian Church i. e. from such a Society between which and us there either is or ought to be a Religious Union and Conjunction for between Christians and Jews or Turks there can be no Schism because they are not joyned together in any Religious Society 3. It is a Separation from the Communion of that Church in Faith Worship and Government under that Notion as they are bonds of Communion 4. It is a voluntary and causeless Separation i. e. being neither forced thereunto nor having any sufficient cause or ground for so doing 5. It is a Separation from that Church of which we are Members i. e. which hath a jurisdiction over us and to which we owe subjection and obedience SECT III. I. Schism is a Separation THE word Schism naturally imports a Separation and the word Separation as naturally implies a breach of Unity in which consists a good part of the Nature of Schism Yet are they not terms convertible for though every Schism be a Separation yet every Separation is not a Schism in the strict notion of it unless it be attended with all those other requisites of a Schism There may be a good and lawfull as well as an evil and sinfull Separation if a Separation be grounded upon good reason and managed to good ends and purposes then is it not only good and lawfull nor only excusable but very well justifiable too But if there be no good ground for it nor any good end promoted by it then is it evil and unlawfull and by no means excusable much less justifiable The former of these seems to be warranted by the express Doctrine of St. Paul who tells us That there can be no fellowship between righteousness and unrighteousness 2 Cor. 6. v. 14 15 16 17. nor any Communion between light and darkness nor any concord between Christ and Belial nor any participation between a believer and an infidel nor any agreement between the Temple of God and Idols And thence concludes Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean things and I will receive you And the other seems to be as plainly condemned by the same Apostle who commands us to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace Eph. 4.3 This may be farther illustrated by some familiar instances Suppose a Society of Thieves and Robbers or any other sort of wicked men united and linked together by some common ties rules and laws framed and devised by themselves for the support of their wicked Community if any one should separate himself from that Company and thereby not only break the Unity but do what in him lies to dissolve the Society it self would this be imputed to him as a Crime Or would it not rather be looked upon by all mankind as a good and generous and in a sober sense as a meritorious Act Or suppose any particular Society of Men though legally established yet making the terms of their Communion such as could not in honesty and justice be complied with if any one should separate himself from that Society would it be a Crime in him Or ought he
sense is not Schism but Apostasie and it will be impossible for any man to find a sufficient reason for that But if it be considered as a separation from the communion of some particular Church then it is implied that possibly there may be such cause given as may justifie the Separation and if so then the guilt of Schism will lie at the door of that Church which gives such cause and not at his or theirs who separate therefrom Now I have already told you that I know no cause which can justifie such a Separation save onely this when a Church makes the terms of her Communion such as cannot be complied withall without sin And in this case methinks it is very plain That it cannot be sin to separate when it is sin to communicate for no Laws of Men can abrogate or dissolve the obligation of the express Laws of God. But if there be no such cause then to break communion with any Christian Church upon any other account will amount to a Causeless Separation and consequently incur the guilt of Schism If therefore the Church of England ever did or now doth forsake the communion of the One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church or if she ever did or now doth voluntarily and causelesly break communion with any particular Christian Church then may there be some colour to charge her with the sin of Schism but if none of all this can be made appear against her then ought she to be acquitted of that charge Now whether any such thing can be made out against her or whether the whole charge will not fall heavy upon the Church of Rome will appear in the sequel of this Discourse SECT XI V. Schism is a Separation from the Communion of that Church of which we are Members THis is the last part of our Definition and I add these words of which we are Members because Schism imports a Division of some united and well compacted Body or a making two of that which before was but one On this score is it that we cannot charge Turks Pagans and Jews with Schism because they never were of the Christian Church nor joyned with her in any Religious Society And here the Church will be at a great loss how to fix the guilt of Schism upon the Church of England for if we neither are nor ever of right ought to have been under the Government of that Church then hath she no Jurisdiction over us nor do we owe her any subjection and obedience and consequently cannot be guilty of Schism towards her nor hath she any power to censure us for it We own her to be a Sister-Church and a true though unsound Member of the Catholick Church and so far as she holds the Catholick Faith and Worship we are ready and willing to hold Communion with her But we cannot submit to her Usurpations nor communicate with her in those Errours Abuses Superstitions Additions Subtractions and Alterations by which she hath so grosly corrupted the pure and primitive Faith and Worship of God's Church SECT XII The Church of England acquitted from the Scandal of Schism IF this Definition of Schism be allowed as I see no cause why they should disown it and not applicable to the Church of England then is she unjustly charged with the guilt of Schism by the Church of Rome Now whether it be applicable to the Church of England will appear by taking a review of the several parts of it 1. Schism is a Separation i. e. a breach of Unity or a dividing of some well compacted Body And here we are charged for breaking the Unity and dividing the Body of the Roman Catholick Church as they call it To which I answer if that Church were truly Catholick either in respect of place or Doctrine this charge would lie heavy upon us but being neither we shall be able with less difficulty to answer this Objection It must be acknowledged that the Church of Rome at the time of the Reformation and some long time before that had usurped a certain Power and Dominion over us and had exerted the same in such extravagant impositions as at last became too heavy for us to bear That Church had indeed by a long custome gained such an ascendent over our Fore fathers that she had enslaved their Judgments and obtruded what she pleased upon them she had unawares led them into many Errours in Doctrine many Superstitions in Worship and almost swallowed up their Liberty in Point of Government At length it pleased God to open the Eyes of our Fore-fathers to see the slavery and bondage they were in and how far they were gone from the Unity of the Catholick Church both in Faith in Worship and in Government To retrieve themselves many Efforts were made and great Endeavours used for a Reformation But none of those prevailing they at last bethought themselves of casting off the Roman yoke which by the assistance of the Civil Authority not in tumultuary but in a regular way was effected and when that was done then upon mature deliberation they reform those other abuses which were crept in among them Whether this broke Catholick Unity or no let the World judge If this be a Schism we must own our selves guilty of it but we see no reason to own it to be so yet for in all this we have done nothing but what we are able to justifie before all the World. For even our Adversaries themselves will not deny but that a National Church hath power in it self to reform abuses within it self But it may be they will tell us that we are not a Church but a faction or party made up of Schismaticks and Hereticks broke loose from the Church If this were true we should have little to say for our selves but a bare accusation is no proof They may do well therefore to recollect themselves and consider that before Austin the Monk set his Foot in England there was a Christian Church settled here under lawfull Governours which Church opposed the proceeding of that proud Monk and denyed obedience to the See of Rome for which they severely suffered If notwithstanding all this our Adversaries shall as they frequently do revive that old thred-bare question so often baffled Where was your Church before the Reformation Our answer is ready it was where it is the same for substance now that it was then It is indeed reformed and repaired but not made new There is not one stone of a new foundation laid by us the old Walls stand still only the overcasting of those ancient stones with the untempered Mortar of new inventions displeased us and that we washed off Durand Ration l. 1. What their own Durandus saith of material Churches is very applicable to the Spiritual If the wall be decayed not at once but successively it is judged still the same Church and upon reparation not to be reconsecrated but only reconciled If therefore our Church be the same for
substance now that it was before the Reformation then it is plain that by our Reformation we made no Separation from the Church we only laid aside the corruptions i. e. those unsound and unwholsome additions which the Church of Rome had made to the ancient Structure of Christ's Religion and when those were removed the Church which was by them obscured appeared again in her primitive Lustre and Beauty Now if the Church be the same still it will necessarily follow that we who are of that Church do now hold the same Communion in all the Substantials and Essentials of Religion with all other Christian Churches that we did before For as to all the Essentials of a Church we hold the same Faith the same Worship and the same Government now that we did before the Reformation and which now is and always hath been owned by the Catholick Church in all Ages And if so then can we not possibly be guilty of any Schismatical Separation 2. Schism is a Separation from a Christian Church i. e. from such a Society between which and us there is or ought to be a Religious Union and Conjunction That we cannot upon that score be justly charged with any Schismatical Separation either from the Catholick or any particular Christian Church I hope is sufficiently made out in the 4th Sect. of this Discourse to which I refer the Reader being unwilling either to give him or my self an unnecessary trouble 3. Schism is a Separation from the Communion of a Christian Church in Faith Worship and Government considered as Bonds of Communion And here we are roundly charged by the Church of Rome with a Schismatical Separation from her and a manifest breach of all these great Bonds of Communion But having in the beginning of this Sect. I hope sufficiently vindicated the Church of England from any Schismatical Separation from the Catholick or any other Christian Church in her Reformation and cleared her innocency as to the breach of any of these great Bonds of Communion in the 5th 6th 7th and 8th Sections I shall not need to say any more of it here There is only one thing which as yet I have taken no notice of and with which they often twit us viz. The Derivation of our Orders from them Mr. Harding in his answer to Bishop Jewel's Apology doth mightily triumph in this telling us That a Church cannot subsist without lawfull Pastours and Governours that there can be none such without lawfull Ordination by imposition of hands that we neither have nor ever had any such but from the Church of Rome that those who received that power from her becoming Schismaticks and Hereticks by their Separation from her forfeited that power and could not convey it to others that therefore we have now no such thing as lawfull Priests and Bishops among us without which we cannot be a Church that herein we have broken the great Bond of Communion viz. Government by departing from that Church from which ours had its Being and therefore cannot be excused from the sin of Schism To this B. Jewel hath given a long learned and full answer to which I shall refer the Reader He may find it in the second part of the defence of the Apology of the Church of England Chap. 5. Division 1. But to shew you in how empty and insignificant a show this mighty triumph ends I shall here offer some few things to consideration 1. That the conferring of Orders giveth no Power or Jurisdiction to him or them by whom they are conferred over him or them on whom they are conferred For do we not know that the Bishop of Rome is always consecrated by the Bishop of Hostia and yet I hope they will not say that the Bishop of Hostia is therefore above the Bishop of Rome 2. Let it be granted that we derive our Orders from the Church of Rome not as from the Fountain or Original of Orders but as from the conduct or means of conveyance I would ask this question do they believe their Orders to be good and valid or not If not why do they presume to exercise those high and holy Functions to which they are admitted thereby If they do then our Orders must be good and valid too and we have as good right as they have to that Succession which they so much boast of 3. That the Bishops and Pastours of the Church of England are true and rightfull Successours to those that have been before them being elected consecrated confirmed and admitted in as an effectual a manner as they were If their Predecessours were deceived in any thing they succeed them in Place but not in Errour For though they were indeed their Predecessours in Office yet were they not the Rulers and Standards of their Faith. And it cannot be denyed but that a Succession in Faith and Doctrine is far more considerable than a Succession of Persons and that God be thanked we are able to make good from the pure and uncorrupted Fountain In Doctrine therefore we succeed the Church of Rome as the Day succeedeth the Night as the Light succeedeth Darkness and as Truth succeedeth Errour 4. That those Bishops and Pastours who have once been duly elected consecrated confirmed and admitted in and to those sacred Functions do not by departing from the Errours and Superstitions of any other Church though it be that from which they received their Orders lose the power that was thereby committed to them but are still in a capacity to convey the same unto others 5. That the Bishops and Pastours of the Church of England being legally possessed of having duly exerted and constantly and regularly exercised this power the Orders conferred by them by virtue thereof are to all intents and purposes good and valid and consequently our Church cannot be said to want true and lawfull Pastours and Governours 6. That though the Church of England in her Reformation have cast off the Usurpations and laid aside the corruptions of the Church of Rome yet hath she not thereby broken any Bond of Communion with the Christian Church and therefore cannot justly be charged with the guilt of Schism For whilst she holds fast those three great Bonds of Communion viz. Faith Worship and Government in all the substantial and essential Parts thereof the guilt of that horrid Schism which hath so much bruised and wounded rent and torn the Church of God can never be laid at her door These things I thought good to offer to consideration and when they are seriously and deliberately weighed I do not doubt but that the ingenuous Reader will so well improve them as to satisfie himself and others that all this mighty triumph is no more than a vain and empty show 4. Schism is a voluntary and causeless Separation from the Communion of a Christian Church i. e. When men have full liberty to make their own choice having no force nor constraint put upon their inclinations nor any cause or
occasion given to justifie their Separation then may they be truly said to act voluntarily and without cause And if this be our case we must confess our selves guilty of Schism but if not then are we unjustly charged with it That our recession from the Church of Rome was not a voluntary act in us but a necessity upon us occasioned by force and violence constraint and compulsion is plain and evident We did not attempt a Separation but only desire a Reformation that so we might walk together in the House of God as friends If they would have hearkned to us and removed those errours and abuses those Superstitions and corruptions that tyranny and usurpation which they had introduced into the Faith Worship and Government of Christ's Church we had still peaceably continued in Communion with them But so far were they from hearkning to these our just desires that instead thereof we were menaced with fire and fagot with imprisonment with confiscation of our Estates with all kind of sufferings and even death it self if we refused to comply with their Corruptions and innovations And therefore we may truly say with the Learned Causaubon Causaub ad Peron Non fugimus sed fugamur We did not run away from them but were driven away by them But yet notwithstanding all this force and violence if we had not sufficient cause to justifie our recession we must still be criminal Eusch l. 6. c. 44. for we are of opinion with Dionysius Alex. in his Epistle to Novatus That any thing must rather be born than that we should rend asunder the Church of God. But alas we had too great cause for what we did The Church of Rome had corrupted the Faith of God's Church with her unwarrantable additions and alterations The primitive beauty and purity of God's Worship she had defaced with Superstitions That goodly and well compacted structure of Government which had been erected and established in the Church of God she had quite demolished and instead thereof had erected an unheard of tyrannical Government unknown to the Primitive Church and condemned by all other Churches ever since it appeared in the World. In a word she had made the terms of her Communion such as could not be complied with without sin and when it is sin to communicate it cannot be sin to separate Thus much I hope may suffice to satisfie any indifferent and unprejudic'd Reader that the recession of the Church of England from that of Rome in her Reformation was neither owing to a dividing humour nor without just cause And therefore she is unjustly charged with the guilt of Schism by the Church of Rome upon that account 5. Schism is a voluntary and causeless Separation from the Communion of a Christian Church of which we are Members i. e. which hath a Jurisdiction over us and to which we owe Subjection and Obedience Schism imports a breach of Unity a dividing of that Body which before was but one it implies the casting off of a lawfull Jurisdiction to which we were obliged to yield Subjection and Obedience Now if we neither are nor ever were of right Subjects of that Church if we neither are nor ever were such parts of that Body as are to depend upon the Head of it then can we not justly be charged with breaking the Unity of that Church or dividing of that Body because that Church or that Body doth still remain the same it was notwithstanding our recession therefrom And if it neither hath nor ever had any lawfull Jurisdiction over us then we neither do nor ever did owe any subjection or obedience thereunto and therefore cannot without great injustice be charged with a Schismatical Separation therefrom To prove this Negative would require a much longer Discourse than is now designed and therefore at present I shall only say that this we insist upon That the Church of England neither is nor ever was by any divine Authority bound to be in obedience to the Church of Rome And whenever they please to make their claim we are ready to defend our selves against it In the mean time till they make this good they have no reason to brand us as hitherto they have unjustly done with the odious Names of Schismaticks and Hereticks Thus have I taken a review of the several parts of the Definition which if it be allowed will fairly acquit the Church of England from the guilt of Schism And now let us see whether the Church of Rome can so well discharge her self of it SECT XIII The Church of Rome guilty of that Shism with which they charge the Church of England IT is a rule generally allowed that the Cause makes the Schism If the Church gives cause of Separation there is the Schism if not the cause of Schism is in the Separatist So that where the cause is found there the charge of Schism resteth If therefore the Church of Rome hath given just cause of Separation from her then is she causally guilty of that Schism and I am afraid will hardly be able to acquit her self from being so of almost all other Schisms in the Church Their ingenuous Cassander confesseth Cass de Offic. boni viri c. that the Roman Church is not a little changed from her ancient beauty and brightness and that she is deformed with many diseases and vicious distempers And being thus sick Bernh de vita solit St. Bernhard undertakes to be her Physician and prescribes her a Diet which he tells us must be profitable though unpleasing i. e. she ought to be reproved and a Reformation required And if thereupon an offence be taken Bernh ad Hug. de Sancto vict Epist 77. the same Saint Bernhard shall acquaint you where the scandal will rest When saults are taxed and scandal grows thereupon He is the cause of the scandal who did that which was worthy to be reproved not he that reproved the ill doer And that the Church of Rome hath given occasion both to the reproof and scandal let their own President in the Council of Trent inform you Who saith Orat. praes Concil Trident Sess 11. That the Depravation and Corruption of Discipline and Manners in the Church of Rome was in a great measure the Cause and Original of all those Schisms and Heresies which then troubled the Church But that it may appear that I have a desire to deal fairly and friendly with them I shall here present them with a Copy of their Charge and give them time to plead to it The Charge was long since drawn up by two great men of our Church viz. Bishop Hall and Bishop Bramhal and never yet pleaded to that I know much less cleared Bishop Hall in a little Book intituled The Old Religion dedicated to his Diocess of Exeter chap. 4. lays down their Charge in these five particulars 1. Nothing can be more plain than that the Roman is a particular Church as the Fathers of Basil
well distinguish it not the Universal though we take in the Churches of her subordination or correspondence This truth we might make good by authority if our very senses did not save us the labour 2. No particular Church to say nothing of the Universal since the Apostolick times can have power to make a fundamental point of Faith It may explain or declare it cannot create Articles 3. Onely an Errour against a point of Faith is Heresie 4. Those Points wherein we differ from Romanists are they which only the Church of Rome hath made fundamental and of Faith. 5. The Reformed therefore being by that Church illegally condemned for those Points are not Hereticks This I take to be a fair discharge for the Church of England from that foul aspersion which hath been cast upon her by the Church of Rome But Bishop Bramhal chargeth them more home and particularly in five Articles more and lays the sin at their door 1. The Church of Rome usurps an higher place and power in the Body Ecclesiastical than of right is due unto her 2. Se separateth both by her Doctrines and Censures three parts of the Christian World from her Communion and as much as in her lies from the Communion of Christ 3. She rebelleth against general Councils 4. She breaks or takes away all the lines of Apostolical Succession except her own and appropriates all Original Jurisdiction to her self 5. She challenges a temporal power over Princes either directly or indirectly which draws Sedition and Rebellion after it and is no small aggravation of their Schism These are the things we charge them with if they can truly plead not guilty thereunto then are we criminal But if they cannot if these things be really true then are they causally guilty of that Schism with which they would charge us and the whole weight with all the dreadfull consequences thereof will lie at their doors and be an heavy burthen upon them SECT XIV The Conclusion THat there is and for a long time hath been a great and grievous Schism in the Church and that those who have been guilty of it have miserably rent and torn and even eaten out the Bowels of their common Mother What considering Person can be ignorant and who can know it without tears of pity and prayers to God for the restoration of the Church's Peace and Unity This would much better become us than disputing about it and this I declare should have been my Province had not the daily and loud Clamours of the guilty Party so unjustly assaulted the Church of England and forced me from my Privacy to undertake this necessary and just Defence of my dear Mother It hath for a long time been matter of debate and a ball of contention where the cause of the Schism was to be sound The Church of Rome with great confidence and assurance hath laid it at the door of the Church of England and that Church upon better grounds hath charged the Church of Rome with it I pray God open both their and our Eyes that we may all see and know the things that belong unto our Peace that laying aside all rancour and animosity we may at last joyn hearts and hands to promote Truth and Holiness and study nothing more than to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace For my own part I have so great an abhorrence for the sin of Schism that I do seriously profess if I were convinced that the Church of England were guilty of the Schism I would rather chuse to suffer any thing elsewhere than continue in it but God be thanked I am otherwise perswaded and so well satisfied therein that as I have lived so I hope I shall die in the Communion of that Church But alas Perfect Peace and Unity are too great Blessings to be hoped for in this sinfull World they may be Objects of our Prayers but hardly of our Hopes However if we are what we pretend to be i. e. humble and obedient Christians it would well become us in our several Stations to observe the Apostle's Rule which bids us Follow Peace with all Men and Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord Heb. 12. v. 14. Now the God of Peace who brought again from the Dead our Lord Jesus the great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Bloud of the Everlasting Covenant make us all perfect in all good Works to doe his Will working in us that which is pleasant in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be praise for ever and ever Amen Heb. 13. v. 20 21. FINIS A VINDICATION OF THE Church of England From the foul Aspersions of Schism and Heresie Unjustly cast upon Her by The Church of Rome PART II. After the way which they call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets Acts 24.14 LONDON Printed by J. H. for Luke Meredith at the King's Head at the West End of St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVII A VINDICATION OF THE Church of England c. The INTRODUCTION HEresie is a crime of so crimson a dye so heinous in it self and of so dangerous and destructive consequence both to the Heretick himself and to others that without great plain and pregnant proof to charge any Christian or Society of Christians therewith doth evidently betray a rash censorious malicious and unchristian temper in them that doe it I cannot but wonder therefore that the Church of Rome upon so light and insufficient grounds should be so liberal in bestowing this Character upon the Church of England and those of her Communion De corrupt artib Ludovicus Vives one of their own Men did long since complain of this saying Haeresis nomen rebus levissimis impingitur c. The name of Heresie is laid upon every light matter so would the Scotists deal with the Thomists if the custome of the Schools had not made the name so familiar It is a good caution and worthy to be attended to which Alphonsus de Castro De Haeres l. 1. c. 7. p. 79. another of their own Doctors gives in this case Idcirco fit c. Therefore it happeneth that they who so rashly pronounce and call every thing Heresie not considering what or whereof they speak are often smitten with their own dart and fall into the same pit which they themselves had digged for others For this I should rather call Heresie to advance the Writings of Men unto the same degree of honour with the Word of God which they do who think it altogether as impious to dissent from them as from the Scriptures of God. We freely confess with St. Austin Errare possumus We may mistake and be in an errour but we as fully resolve with that holy Father Haeretici esse nolumus We will never be guilty of Heresie We have too great an abhorrence for it and are too well acquainted with the mischief of it to run our selves
Ibid. n. 3. ad calcem Augustine in Ps 49. for it telling us that by Church we are to understand the faithfull people dispersed through the whole world Though none of these will perhaps pass for an exact Definition Aug. ad Quodvult Deum Epist 2. if examined according to the strict rules thereof nor it may be were ever intended as such for as for St. Aug. he freely confesseth That to express by a regular Definition what Heresie is or what thing it is that makes an Heretick in his judgment is either impossible or very difficult yet may they pass for good Descriptions whence we may learn what notion they had of Heresie in those days and what it was that in their judgment did make a man an Heretick From St. Aug. we may learn that there are three things necessary to make up an Heresie 1. To believe such things as are not believed by the Catholick Church 2. To broach those false and new opinions and thereby endeavour to make a party for some secular advantage especially for the sake of ones own glory and grandeur 3. To defend those false and new opinions with obstinacy From their own Angelical Doctour we may learn that there are four things necessary to make a man an Heretick 1. He must be one that professeth the true Faith. 2. He must corrupt the Doctrines of that Faith. 3. He must dissent from some known established Article of the Faith. 4. His dissent must be maintained with obstinacy From their Navar. Doctour we may learn that there are three things necessary to make an Heretick 1. He must be one that is baptized i. e. admitted into the membership of Christ's Church and who by himself or others or both hath made profession of the holy Catholick Faith. 2. He must be one that hath embraced some false and new opinions which are contrary to that Holy Catholick Faith. 3. He must be one that doth believe and maintain those false and new opinions with obstinacy From their Trent Catechism we may learn who may properly be called an Heretick 1. He must be one that doth neglect and despise the Authority of the Church 2. The Authority which is neglected or despised by him must be the Authority of the Catholick Church diffusive Ecclesia est populus fidelis per universum orbem dispersus are the words of that Catechism quoted out of St. Augustine in Ps 49. 3. He must be one that holdeth and defendeth wicked opinions in despight and defiance of that Authority 4. He must hold and defend those wicked opinions with a wilfull and obstinate mind Thus far may we learn the nature of Heresie from these Authorities which are such as I suppose our Adversaries will not disown and if upon any of these severally or all of them joyntly they think fit to implead us we are ready to join issue with them and if by any of these they can make it appear that we are guilty we do solemnly promise that by God's grace assisting us we will repent and amend and I would willingly hope that they would be so ingenuous on their parts as to doe the same But before we proceed any farther let us see what is more to be learn'd of the nature of Heresie out of the Holy Scriptures St. Paul writing to the Church of Corinth tells them that there must be Heresies among them 1 Cor. 11.19 that they which are approved may be made manifest The rise of which Heresies is intimated in the verse immediately preceding V. 18. where he saith For first of all when ye come together in the Church I hear that there are dissensions among you c. Dissension is the first and greatest evil being the Source and Original of all others for from thence proceed strifes debates envyings evil-speaking and all manner of contention by means whereof the Unity of the Church is broken her peace disturbed and her Members crumbled into parties and factions Then doth every party set up for it self and for the sake of its own glory and grandeur endeavours to inlarge its bounds by alluring others to joyn with it This it can never hope effectually to accomplish without having something new to present them with and therefore all Heads are at work to forge and foment some new and plausible though false opinion which being once broached must obstinately be defended and so commenceth Heresie Thus we see the rise and original of Heresie the dangerous and destructive consequence whereof the same Apostle acquaints us with who in his Epistle to the Church of Galatia reckoneth Heresies among the works of the Flesh and tells us Gal. 5.19 20 21. that they who doe such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. And on this account is it that St. Peter gives them that dreadfull Epithet calling them damnable Heresies For saith he 2 Pet. 2.1 There were false Prophets also among the People even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction From this Text it is plain that the Introducers of Heresie and the Ringleaders of Hereticks are false Teachers and these false Teachers in the time of the Gospel are compared to false Prophets in the time of the Law. To know therefore and rightly understand who those false Prophets were and what they did to deserve that title may possibly afford us some light by which to discover those false Teachers who privily bring in these damnable Heresies and not onely so but in some measure also acquaint us with the nature of those Crimes He who by signs and lying wonders sought to turn away the People from the way Deut. 13.1 2 c. which the Lord their God had commanded them to walk in or perswade them to pay their Religious Service and Worship to any other Being but onely the true God was thereby known to be a false Prophet not to be attended to but severely punished Whosoever shall presume to speak a word in the Name of God Deut. 18.20 which God hath not commanded him to speak or shall speak in the Name of other Gods the same is a false Prophet and by the sentence of Almighty God adjudged to death Those who come unto you in sheeps clothing Matth. 7.15 1 Tim 4.2 but inwardly are ravening Wolves Who speak lies in Hypocrisie having their Consciences seared with an hot Iron 2 Tim. 3.5 Who have a form of Godliness but deny the power thereof They are false Prophets and to be rejected by us Those who cause divisions and offences Rom. 16.17 18. contrary to the Doctrine which we have learned they serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own Belly and by good words and fair speeches deceive the simple These are false Prophets or false Teachers and ought to be marked and avoided by us Thus have I given you a short Character of
the Primitive Pastours and Governours of the Church we readily comply with We believe all the Articles contained in those three ancient Creeds viz. that commonly called the Apostles the Nicene and the Athanasian We are willing to submit to all the Decisions and the Determinations of the four first General Councils and to any Council that is lawfully called and truly free and general We are ready to receive all Traditions that are truly Apostolical and we are willing to embrace any other truth as yet unknown to us whensoever or by whomsoever it shall be duly made out to be so And whilst we this doe we cannot truly be charged to have broken Communion with the Catholick Church nor justly reputed Schismaticks therefrom And as for the Church of Rome she being only a particular Church hath no jurisdiction at all over the Church of England and consequently no more power to censure us than we have to censure her for in this case the rule holds Par in parem non habet imperium Equals have no Authority over one another And therefore for her to impose her new Articles of Faith upon the Church of England and because she refuseth to receive them and joyn Communion with her upon those terms presently cry out Schism Schism is so idle so vain so unaccountable a Clamour as I am perswaded the Learned among them cannot but disapprove it For whilst we hold the Catholick Faith entire and maintain Communion with the One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church therein though we differ from the Church of Rome or any other particular Church in some Doctrines Yet is it impossible that we should be guilty of a Schismatical Separation either from her or them SECT VII II. Of Worship as it is a Bond of Communion BY Worship here I mean Publick Worship and that considered only in its Substantials and Essentials not as it is clothed with particular Modes Rites and Ceremonies Otherwise it can be no Bond of Communion The substantial and essential Parts of Publick Worship I take to be these viz. Prayer reading the Holy Canon interpreting the same and the administration of the blessed Sacraments Now these in divers Churches may be performed in different Manners and with different Rites and Ceremonies and yet those Churches notwithstanding this may still hold Communion with the Catholick Church and consequently be guilty of no Schismatical Separation therefrom nor from one another But if we by Worship understand the established Publick Worship of a particular Church then are we to consider it not as abstracted from but clothed with such Modes Rites and Ceremonies as are thought convenient by that Church And if any one who is a Member of such a Church shall upon any pretended offence taken against any such Modes Rites and Ceremonies separate himself from the Publick Worship I do not see how he can be acquitted from the guilt of Schism And this I take to be the case not only of the Protestant Dissenters from the Church of England as they call themselves but of English Roman Catholicks too For that they did hold actual Communion with us many years together in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's Reign and neither then nor ever since did pretend to take any offence at the Substantials of our Worship is very plain and evident And that it was not we that separated from them but they that separated from us is as manifest and therefore it will concern them more than us to clear themselves from the sin of Schism And for this I know no other Plea they can make use of than their obedience to the Universal Pastour of God's Church which Plea is to be considered under the next great Bond of Communion viz. Government SECT VIII III. Of Government as it is a Bond of Communion THat our great and Universal Pastour the Lord Jesus Christ did found and constitute a Church and that he did not leave it without Laws and Rules to be governed by nor without proper Governours invested with Power and Authority to exert and execute those Laws we stedfastly believe But that he ever did delegate all his Power to any One or substitute any One Person to be the Universal Pastour of the Church after him we cannot believe because we have no ground for it either in Scripture or in any primitive and authentick Antiquity And indeed how should we for till the Bishops of Rome and Constantinople began to envy one another's Greatness and to strive for Supremacy which was about 600 years after Christ the Church was never acquainted with any such name or thing as is now claimed And no sooner did it adventure to peep abroad but warning was given against it as Antichristian and that by one of their Popes And when afterwards it was publickly usurped it was condemned by a General Council and they are not yet agreed among themselves where to fix it And therefore they cannot in reason expect that we should build our Faith upon such an uncertain Foundation or make that a Bond of Communion in the Church which the Church from 600 years and upwards knew nothing of That Government is a Bond of Communion in the Christian Church we acknowledge and that it was never lodged in the hands of any one Person since our Saviour I think is very plain and evident But where then doth it reside This will best be known by considering how it is derived That it was united in the Person of our Blessed Saviour will be acknowledged on all hands and where he left it there we are to look for it Now that he left it with his Apostles and made them equal sharers therein I think is very plain notwithstanding that pretence which is made by our Adversaries that it was lodged in Peter alone a pretence which hath been so often and so miserably baffled and which if it were true would doe them no service that I wonder they are not ashamed to bring it upon the stage any more And that from the Apostles it was derived to their Successours the Bishops and Pastours of God's Church is the received opinion of all Antiquity Episcopatus unus est cujus à singulis in solidum pars tenetur Cypr. de Vnitate Ecclesiae Edit Oxon. p. 108. And that it now lies dispersed among all the Pastours and Bishops of particular Churches unless they be lawfully called and assembled in Synods or Councils under the Power Protection and Assistance of Civil Authority we verily believe This is the notion we have of the visible and external Government of the Catholick Church and as it hath been so if there were occasion for it may it still be made appear to have been the very notion that all the World except those who have submitted to the Usurpation of Rome ever had and still have of it to this day Now the Laws and Rules by which this Government is administred are to be found in the Holy Scriptures in the Usages and Customs of
which we resolve by God's grace to hold fast This is that which hath been always held and taught by the One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church This is the foundation upon which our Religion is built viz. upon the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone And therefore unless they can shake this Foundation unless they will impeach Christ and his Apostles unless they will charge the whole Church of God with the guilt of Heresie all their attempts and batteries levelled against us will be vain and fruitless The Church of England will still stand like a Rock against which those waves may break themselves whilst she remains unbroken by them Thus you see how impossible it is for our Adversaries to make good their charge against the Church of England and if they cannot doe it we may safely conclude they have not done it and if they neither have nor can doe it then is it a foul aspersion by them unjustly cast upon us For which their unjust uncharitable and unchristian censure I pray God forgive them Having thus secured that Post which was most likely to be attacqued by the Enemy I shall now take the boldness to make a short Sally upon them and take an account of their strength by considering some of the most material Arguments which have been offered by their Champions to make good their charge Arg. 1. Pope Nicholas as I find him cited by Bishop Jewel in the defence of his Apology p. 2. makes short work of it and very magisterially doth at once determine the whole matter For saith he Whoso denieth the privilege and supremacy of the See of Rome hath renounced the Faith and is an Heretick De Major Obed. unam Sanctam Dist 22. Omnes Ans To this I answer 1. If the privilege and supremacy of the See of Rome be an Article of Faith we desire to know in which of the three Creeds or in what part of the Bible we may find it for we would not willingly be wanting in our compliance with any Article of Faith. 2. If this be so then the Council of Chalcedon consisting of 630 Bishops and Reverend Fathers gathered together from all parts of the world was a pack of Hereticks for they gave equal privileges to the See of Constantinople with that of Rome 3. If this be so then Pope Gregory the great and I take him to be altogether as infallible as Pope Nicholas was an Heretick for he calleth him who usurps such an arrogant style the forerunner of Antichrist 4. If subjection to the see of Rome be a necessary part in the Definition of Heresie then all the Christians in the world except those of the Roman Communion are Hereticks for all of them as well as we do unanimously oppose the Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome Arg. 2. Their Angelical Doctour and Canonized Saint S. Tho. Aquinas thus argueth 22. q. 11.2.3 When a matter is once determined by the Authority of the Catholick Church if any one shall obstinately gainsay such Determination he is to be reputed an Heretick which Authority saith he doth principally reside in the Pope Ans This Argument is founded upon several false Suppositions viz. 1. That the Church of Rome is the Catholick Church which we cannot consent to because we cannot believe that a part is the whole 2. That the Determinations of that Church are obligatory to all other Churches This we cannot agree with him in because Par in parem non habet imperium Equals have no authority over one another 3. That the Authority of the Catholick Church is principally lodged in the Bishop of Rome This we cannot believe because we have no warrant for it either from the Holy Scriptures or from the four first General Councils or from any authentick Antiquity Arg. 3. Protestants are Hereticks because they oppose divers Truths propounded for divine by the visible Church Ans This Argument is also supported by these false Suppositions 1. That to oppose any Truth propounded by the Church is Heresie This we deny We grant indeed that to oppose any Truth howsoever or by whomsoever propounded is an Errour but it cannot be called an Heresie unless it be such a Truth as is an Essential part of the Gospel of Christ 2. That the Doctrines of the Church of Rome which are opposed by Protestants are divine-Truths This we take to be a false Supposition for we do not oppose any Truth much less any divine Truth that is held by them but only such false and new invented Articles as are by them superadded to the Catholick Faith. 3. That whatsoever is propounded by the Church of Rome is propounded by the visible Church This we cannot allow because we know that the Church of Rome is but a part and God knows a corrupted part too of the visible Church Arg. 4. The visible Church is Judge of Controversies and therefore Infallible To oppose her therefore is to oppose God. This Protestants doe and therefore are guilty of Heresie Ans It is here taken for granted 1. That the visible Church is Judge of Controversies 2. That she is Infallible 3. That the Roman Church is this visible Church 4. That to oppose her is to oppose God. All which Suppositions are matters of Dispute between us and yet undetermined and therefore very insufficient grounds to build such a charge upon Arg. 5. Want of Succession of Bishops and Pastours holding always the same Doctrine and of the Forms of Ordaining Bishops and Priests which are in use in the Roman Church is a certain mark of Heresie But Protestants want all these things Therefore c. Ans We deny the Major For 1. Nothing but want of Truth and holding Errour can make or prove a Man or Church to be Heretical 2. Because it is not a Succession of Persons but of Doctrine that can secure a Church from Heresie And to such a Succession there are two things necessary 1. That there be an agreement with the Apostles Doctrine 2. That there be an uninterrupted conveyance of it down to them who challenge it Both which we have Arg. 6. Protestants have forsaken a Church confessedly very ancient and besides which there could be demonstrated no other visible Church of Christ upon earth Therefore c. Ans To this I answer 1. That against God and Truth there lies no prescription and therefore it is great wisedom to forsake ancient Errours for more ancient Truths 2. That there are many other visible Churches of Christ upon earth besides the Roman These are the most material Arguments I have yet met with by which our Adversaries have attempted to make good their charge of Heresie against us and how rotten a foundation these are to build such a mighty Superstructure upon I shall now leave to the impartial Reader to judge And because I design brevity and am unwilling to draw out this discourse to too great a length I shall now hasten to a conclusion The CONCLUSION IN this Discourse I have laid down such a Notion of Heresie as is generally received and owned by our Adversaries themselves and by that have strictly examined the Charge which they bring against us and I hope have made it very plain and manifest That the imputation of Heresie to the Church of England is a soul aspersion and cannot without great injustice be cast upon Her. Which is the only thing I have undertaken to make good in this short Treatise I am heartily sorry that there should be any occasion for a Discourse of this nature I am a great lover of Peace and Truth and do greatly abhor both Schism and Heresie by the former of which the Church's peace is disturbed and her Members crumbled into parties and factions and by the latter of which her Truth is fullied her Doctrine perverted and the whole frame of Religion put out of order And therefore I do earnestly pray as my dear Mother the Church of England hath taught me that all those who have erred and are deceived may be brought into the way of truth and that Unity Peace and Concord may flourish in all Nations I have no pleasure in strife and debates and if I were not commanded to contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints should be very unwillingly drawn to engage in them But when I meet with a loud and ungrounded clamour branding those who embrace and endeavour to hold fast the holy Catholick Faith with the odious names of Schismaticks and Hereticks I cannot forbear according to my poor ability to stand up in the defence of injured Innocency and abused Truth This is that which I did design and have attempted to doe in both the Parts of this discourse and if our Adversaries be angry with me for it I cannot help it nor am I much concerned at it But if through weakness or inadvertency I have failed in my design or not defended the Church of England so well as I ought and as one more able might have done from those foul Aspersions which have been so unjustly cast upon her I humbly beg her pardon and do freely submit both my self and undertaking to her censure well knowing that she is an indulgent Mother and will put a favourable construction upon what was well meant I shall conclude all with a passionate intreaty and earnest request both to those of the Roman and those of our own Communion that they would all devoutly joyn with me in this humble and hearty prayer to Almighty God From all Sedition privy Conspiracy and Rebellion from all false Doctrine Heresie and Schism from hardness of Heart and contempt of thy Word and Commandment Good Lord deliver us FINIS ADVERTISEMENTS SOme Queries to Protestants Answered And an Explanation of Roman Catholick's Belief in Four Great Points considered 1. Concerning their Church 2. Their Worship 3. Justification 4. Civil Government Also lately printed A Seasonable Prospect for the View and Consideration of Christians Being a brief Representation of the Lives and Conversations of Infidels and Heathens as to Religion and Morality in our Age. Together with some Reflexions thereupon in Relation to us who profess Christianity Written by a Gentleman Both Printed for Luke Meredith at the King 's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard