heard that Samaria had received the Word of God they sent unto them Peter and John. Doth this look like his being their Head or having supreme Authority over them Sure it would be esteemed a strange piece of presumption if the Bishops should undertake to do the like to the Pope St. Peter was required to render an account also of his Carriage Acts 11. 2 3. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem they that were of the Circumcision contended with him saying Thou wentest in unto Men uncircumcised and didst eat with them But Peter rehearsed the Matter from the beginning and expounded it by order to them He was also publickly reproved by St. Paul Gal. 2. 11. When Peter was come to Antioch I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed And vers 14. When I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel I said unto Peter before them all If thou being a Jew livest after the manner of the Gentiles and not as do the Jews why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews Was this very decent in Paul if St. Peter was his Head and chief Governor over all So that here is not the least Testimony or Sign of any such Supremacy or Power ever owned or acknowledged by St. Peter Note also that all Headship over the Church is always appropriated to Christ and that in such a manner that it cannot be delegated to St. Peter or any other Thus Ephes 1. 22 23. God hath put all things under the feet of Jesus Christ and hath given him to be Head over all Things to his Church which is his Body the fulness of him that filleth all in all Had it not been proper to have said And under the feet of St. Peter too and his Successors as Christ's Vicar if it had been so But as in the Body of Man there is but one Head so there is but one Head in the Church of which we are all Members Ephes 5. 23. The Husband is the Head of the Wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church and he is the Saviour of the Body Where the Apostle joins his being Head of the Church and Saviour together So that he that is not the Saviour of the Church cannot be the Head. And note that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church in the same manner as the Husband is the Head of the Wife So that as in the business of Marriage there is to be no Substitute so neither is Christ to have a Deputy or Vicar in his Church 1 Cor. 3. 11. For other Foundation can no Man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ But supposing that St. Peter was Head of the Church why must the Pope be so Or if it could be proved that there was such an Headship in St. Peter how doth it appear that this was any more than a personal Privilege in which therefore he was to have no Successor and an Honour conferred upon him out of particular respect and not from any universal necessity of such an Office in the Church A supreme Pastor they say is necessary to the Unity of the Church and therefore St. Peter was such a one and therefore he ought to have a Successor in that same Office. But is it sufficient to build so great a Pretension that can be rightly grounded upon nothing but a Divine Institution upon a mere humane reasoning of the expediency and necessity of the Thing Is it not more modest rather to argue the contrary that because there is no Divine Institution of such an Office that therefore it is not necessary however we may mistake the conveniency of it Shew the Institution and we will believe it or else though St. Peter should have been Prince of the Apostles and Head of the Church under Christ which yet is shown that it was not why may not we take this for a particular Honour and not for a necessary Office Cannot our Saviour who is God over all sufficiently dispence his Influences and provide for his Churches Welfare as far as he thinks meet in this military State by other Means and Church-Officers without such a Vicar Head Or how is it possible that a meer Creature should be capable of executing such an Office over all the Churches for their good at such remote and distant places or how could he be able to manage such a wide and mighty Empire But after all if it could be proved that St. Peter was vested in such an Office for the Time being yet how does it appear that he was to have a Successor in it or that it must be the Bishop of Rome rather than any other So that here we are altogether at uncertainty still and must build an Institution again upon meer humane Reasoning If because he himself was Bishop of Rome so was he said to be of Antioch too And why should not his Successor at Antioch claim this Privilege as much as he at Rome If because Rome was his last See when he died how doth it appear that his dying there transfers his Authority to the following Bishop unless it appears it was his last Will to have it so and that he had power to make such a Will But lastly doth it appear by the Scripture at all or certainly by ancient Record that ever St. Peter was at Rome much less Bishop there And if not how is the Pope his Successor at all See for this a late Discourse printed at London called A Modest Inquiry Whether St. Peter were ever at Rome c. So that here is nothing but uncertainty still to build all their glorious Pretences upon And considering all I cannot but conclude as our Church doth Sermon of Obedience 3d. part The usurped Power of the Bishop of Rome which he most wrongfully challengeth as the Successor of St. Peter is false feigned and forged Neither is it necessary then to the being of a true Church to be united to the Pope as supreme Pastor and Governour over it as is pretended Catech. Roman par 1. de 9. Artic. Symbol sl 11. If no such Center of Unity be appointed by Christ who is the Lord and Bridegroom of the Church then it cannot be necessary to the Unity of the Faith to be united in it nor is that an essential Note of the True Catholick Church And so all those great Pretensions of the absolute necessity of Peoples being in Communion with the Church of Rome under the Pope as supreme Pastor upon the pain of Damnation for the guilt of Heresy and Schism in breaking this Union are meerly false and vain So that our Church may be a Member of the true Catholick Church and in Catholick Unity still though we have separated from them if there be nothing else to render our separation culpable besides this vain pretence The Apostle gives us an account of all other Church-Officers both ordinary and extraordinary that are appointed by
pure from Sin Psal 19. 13. Who can understand his Errors Psal 130. 2. If thou Lord shouldst mark Iniquities who shall stand Therefore Psal 143. 3. Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant O Lord for in thy sight shall no Man living be justified Job 9. 2. I know it is so of a truth For how should Men be just with God If he will contend with him he cannot answer him one of a thousand Job 15. 14. For what is Man that he should be clean or he that is born of a Woman that he should be righteous Isa 64. 6. For we are all as an unclean Thing and our Righteousness as filthy Rags 1 Joh. 1. 8. If we say that we have no Sin we deceive our selves Jam. 3. 4. For in many things we offend all none excepted Of Baptism CHAP. XXIV That Baptism is absolutely necessary to Salvation so that those who die without Baptism are damned Concil Triden Sess 7. Can. 5. Bellarm. de Amiss grat stat peccat lib. 2. cap. 6. THE Necessity of Baptism we constantly maintain and that it is a Law of Christ which he hath establish'd in the Gospel to be for ever observed But we think it very uncharitable to determine that all those that die without it are absolutely excluded from the Grace of Christ nor have all of the Church of Rome been of this uncharitable Opinion But it is supposed that Martyrdom or Penance and Acts of Faith Hope and Charity may supply the Defects of it But if Children which are not capable of these die without Baptism they very uncharitably hold that they are excluded from all part in Jesus Christ Which being the general Opinion the Sense of the Council of Trent is to be supposed to intend it But by what hath been said in the foregoing Chapter it appears that the Grace of God is not absolutely tied to the Sacraments but is rather presupposed unto them So that there is sometimes Sanctification Justification and the other Graces before the use of the Sacraments As Abraham believed and was justified before he was circumcised Rom. 4. 10. Cornelius received the Holy Spirit before he was baptized Acts 10. 19. And our Adversaries are forc'd to grant that there may be Acts of Faith and Hope and Charity without or before the Application of them As the Thief on the Cross believed though he was never baptized Luke 23. 42. Even after those words were spoken by our Saviour Except a Man be born again of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. Now if there may be this Grace of Faith without Baptism then so likewise there may be Salvation For John 3. 16. God so loved the World that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life So that if they may believe without Baptism then so likewise they may be saved as we see the Thief on the Cross was who entred into Paradise without being baptized Sacraments are Seals of Grace which they serve to increase and confirm as being before but they do not give Grace or Salvation any other ways than as they confirm the Covenant by which it is promised to them who are in it It is not the Sacraments then which make Children to have part in the Covenant of God and the Fruits thereof tho by these Rights they are visibly initiated into the fellowship of the Catholick Church But on the contrary they receive the Sacraments because they belong to the Covenant of God before Gen. 17. 7. God made a Covenant with Abraham for himself and his Seed to be a God unto thee saith he and thy Seed after thee and upon this they were to receive the Token of Circumcision as a Seal of the Covenant vers 11. So that Circumcision followed the Clauses of the Covenant and did not give them a right to it nor make them the Children of God out presupposed their being so So in the New Testament God hath taken Children into Covenant together with their Parents that believe so that their Children are holy already before they are baptized and that from the very Birth as being born within the Covenant of Grace 1 Cor. 7. 13 14. The unbelieving Husband is sanctified by the Wife and the unbelieving Wife is sanctified by the Husband else were your Children unclean but now are they holy By which he cannot understand Legitimate in opposition to Bastardy for so they would have been being born in Matrimony though neither of their Parents had believed But he means they are holy to God by virtue of the Covenant by which he is the Parent 's God and the God of their Posterity Gen. 17. 7. And if the Lord be the God also of Children and if they be holy being sprung from the Righteous Seed how can they possibly perish though they die unbaptized For though it be a federal Holiness only which can be directly argued from words yet it must be supposed to be such a federal Holiness as intitles them to saving Benefits contained in the Covenant which therefore if they die before their actual breach of the Covenant they shall not fail to attain Mat. 19. 14. Our Saviour therefore â—aith Suffer little Children to come unto me for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven Note that as the Crown which is put on the Head of the Children of Kings doth not acquire to them a right to the Kingdom but because the Kingdom belongs to them the Crown which is the Symbol thereof cannot be denied them So Baptism doth not acquire to Infants a right to the Kingdom of Heaven but because the Kingdom of Heaven is obtained for them by the Blood of Jesus Christ Baptism which is the Sacrament thereof is administred to them But the Promise of God for not being sealed with the outward Sacrament is never the less true nor less constant Baptism succeeded Circumcision and cometh in the room of it and is of the same use to us as Circumcision to the Jews as the Apostle teacheth Col. 2. 11 12. And Circumcision was as necessary to the Israelites as Baptism is to us But now behold the Ordinance of Circumcision Gen. 17. 12. Every Child that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you Luke 12. 3. In the eighth day the Flesh of his Foreskin shall be circumcised It was not to be done before the eighth day there is no exception made in case of necessity Yet shall we say that if they died before the eighth day being uncircumcised that then they were not saved What a cruel Law had that been then to limit Circumcision to the eighth day David's Child died on the seventh day and therefore before it was circumcised 2 Sam. 12. 18. And yet he doth not doubt of the Child's Salvation vers 23. I shall go to him but he shall not come to me Sure he doth not mean in Limbus or in Hell but in the place of the Blessed And many of the Children of Israel in
contrary to all those places before which assert the perfection and sufficiency of Christ's one Offering made on the Cross Besides there can be no Propitiation made by any Offering without the destruction of the Offering in the stead of him for whom the Offering is made But now in the Sacrifice of the Mass there is no destruction of the Offering as our Adversaries themselves allow Heb. 9. 22. Almost all things are by the Law purged with Blood and without shedding of Blood there is no remission But now in the Mass there is no shedding of Blood for they say That is an unbloody Sacrifice And how can that be a Sacrifice for Propitiation and Remission then An unbloody undestroyed Sacrifice and yet a propitiatory Sacrifice cannot stand together but are inconsistent And the Apostle argues vers 25 26. That it was not needful that Christ should offer himself often as the high Priest entreth into the holy Place every Year with the Blood of others quite contrary to what the Church of Rome pretends which teacheth that Christ doth offer himself often by the hands of the Priest in the Mass the very self-same Offering too that he offered himself upon the Cross for then must he often have suffered since the Foundation of the World. Offering and Suffering are join'd together so that if there be an Offering there must be a Suffering and if there be no Suffering of Christ in the Mass then there can be no Offering But now saith the Apostle Once hath he appeared in the end of the World to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself And as it is appointed to all Men once to die but after this the Judgment so Christ was once offered when he suffered and died as a Sacrifice to bear the Sins of many and unto them that look for him he shall appear the second time without Sin or suffering for Sin unto Salvation So that the time of Christ's Suffering is past and so therefore is the time of his Offering to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself And there is no more Offering of Christ to be to the end of the World because there is no more dying or suffering The propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass then is a meer vain pretence Neither hath Christ instituted a Priesthood upon Earth to offer such a Sacrifice as is pretended for he himself is the only Priest Heb. 7. 23 24. They truly under the Law of Moses were many Priests because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death But this Man Jesus Christ because he continueth for ever hath an unchangeable Priesthood That is The Levitical Priests were a number of Men succeeding one another by which Succession provision was made for the continuation of the Priesthood which otherwise must have expired through the mortality of the Priests But Christ hath no Successor in his Priesthood which does not pass from him to any other for that is the meaning of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here rendred unchangeable because he himself is not mortal but continueth for ever So that as he continues for ever so he continues the only Priest for ever Vers 25. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them The Salvation which he works is not by virtue of any new Sacrifice or the repetition of what he hath offered but by virtue of his Intercession which is founded upon the Sacrifice which he offered on Earth He ever living to make this Intercession thereby obtains and applies to us the infinite Merit of his Death without the repetition of the Sacrifice for our Salvation And it is the Spirit of Christ which he hath obtained by his Sacrifice and Intercession to be his Vicegerent now upon Earth in his absence that by his Grace enables us to believe and so applies to us the benefit of our Saviour's Death without which ten thousand Sacrifices repeated would be of no value to us It is to be observed that while the Chief Priest was in the Sanctuary there was never any Sacrifice offered Levit. 16. But now Jesus Christ is in Heaven prefigured by the Sanctuary Heb. 9. Therefore whilst Christ is in Heaven there is no other true and proper Sacrifice to be offered for now the Offering is ceased The Sacrifices now are Prayers and Praises which Christ hath made all his People Priests so far as to offer these Spiritual Sacrifices 1 Pet. 2. 5. Rev. 1. 6. and Rom. 12. 1. the Sacrifice of Christians consists in offering themselves to God by an holy Life and not in offering Jesus Christ who having offered himself over upon the Cross is now at the right Hand of God where he makes intercession for us but is never more to be offered for us As for Melchisedeck's pretended Offering of Bread and Wine which they say did but typify the Offering of Christ under the Species of Bread and Wine in the Sacrament and so is to be continued by it Gen. 14. 18. 'T is plain that he brought forth Bread and Wine not to offer to God but to refresh Abraham's Men. What he did as a Priest was in his priestly blessing of Abraham The Apostle makes not the least mention of his Offering when he compares him with Christ but makes Christ to be of his Order upon other accounts Besides tho Christ himself be a Priest after the Order of Melchisedeck yet it is plain before that Christ had no Successor in his Priesthood but is the only Priest himself after this Order From 1 Cor. 10. 16 17 18 19 20. it cannot be inferred that in the Sacrament there is an Altar and Sacrifice as there was among the Jews and Heathens but only that they who partake of the Lord's Supper have as truly Communion with him and thereby do testify their Communion with him and owning his Religion as they who fed upon the Sacrifices of the Gentiles that were offered to Devils did thereby testify their Communion with Devils The Comparison is made not between the things themselves which are in themselves of a different Nature but between the Actions of the Men and their signification which is the same in both sides and bears the same construction CHAP. XXVII That the Host is to be worshipped in the Sacrament with Divine Worship and to be solemnly carried about and shewed to the People to be worshipped Council of Trent Sess 13. Chap. 5. Can. 6. WE do not deny but that Christ may be lawfully adored and worshipp'd by us in the time of the celebration of the Lord's Supper but this doth not serve the turn of the Church of Rome which defines that Adoration be given to the Sacrament That the Sacrament is nevertheless to be adored because it was instituted to be received And the Adoration is not fix'd in the Person of Christ as separate from the Host but as making one Object of Worship together with it
Christ for the edifying of the Church Ephes 4. 11 12. He gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ till we all come in the Vnity of the Faith c. But not one word of such an Office as that of supreme Pastor or universal Sovereign over all Which we may be sure he would not have omitted if such an Office had been so necessary to the aforesaid Ends as is pretended CHAP. IX That the Pope hath power over Kings to Excommunicate and Depose them and can give Power to resist Soveraign Princes and can absolve Subjects from their Allegiance And that all Ecclesiastical Persons are exempted from the Jurisdiction of Secular Courts The 3d General Council of Lateran Cap. 27. 14. The 4th of Lateran Can. 3. de Haereticis Can. 43. Council of Lions Ann. 1245. Council of Constance Sess 17. Council of Trent Decret de Reformat Cap. 12. THis vast and exorbitant Power being founded upon the Pope's Headship over the Church which is refuted before there needs no new Arguments here for the confutation hereof For it is not pretended that the Pope hath a proper and direct temporal Soveraignty but as a necessary Consequent to and appendix of his Spiritual and for the promoting the Ends thereof The Pope can change Kingdoms take them from one and give them to another as the soveraign spiritual Prince if this be necessary to the Salvation of Souls Which are the words of Bellarmiâ—◠〈◊〉 Rom. Pontif. lib. 5. cap. 6. So that the same Arguments produced before to refute the spiritual Soveraignty serve also to overthrow the temporal and more strongly this having only relation to the former and inferr'd from it by far-fetch'd Consequences without the least intimation from Scripture And the exemption of all Ecclesiastical Persons from the Temporal Power is grounded likewise upon the same Papal Headship For he being supposed to be their supreme Governor and Soveraign is to take cognizance of all Causes that have relation to them as their proper Judg. And this being the Consequent of such a Principle the Principle being overthrown the Consequence must also fall with it And then there remains no other Power upon Earth to which the Clergy are to be subject as their supreme Governor under God and Christ but soveraign Princes and States in their several Dominions But yet this pretended Exemption of the Clergy may be likewise farther confuted from the following Texts Rom. 13. 1 2. Let every Soul be subject unto the higher Powers meaning the supreme Civil Authority whatsoever it is whether Emperor King c. in their several Dominions Here 's an universal Assertion respecting all Persons under such Authorities and no exemption of any For there is no such Power lawfully constituted but of God The Powers that be are ordainded of God. Wherefore he that resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation So that there is no Power whatever that can absolve Subjects from their Allegiance to the supreme Magistrate or free them from his Jurisdiction lawfully constituted For he beareth not the Sword in vain 't is his part to bear and wield and Sword of Justice For he is the Minister of God to execute Wrath upon him that doth evil and to punish Offenders And therefore Ecclesiastical Persons as â—ell as others if they do evil against the Laws of God and a lawful Government are liable to the just execution of punishments inflicted by such Governours But it is well known that the Republick of Venice was put under an Interdict for having began a Process against an Abbot and a Canon who were notoriously criminal and punishable 1 Pet. 2. 13 14. See also St. Peter ' s Judgment Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as Supreme or unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil Doers and for the praise of them that do well He doth not say Submit your selves to me as the supreme Head of the Church neither saith he Submit your selves from time to time to my Successor in Rome but submit your selves to the King as Supreme And how could he more manifestly teach subjection which all Persons of whatsoever Condition and Quality should render unto him For he makes no exception of the Clergy but this Epistle is directed to them as well as others See Chap. 5. Tit. 3. 1. See here again to the same purpose St. Paul Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers and to obey Magistrates Who were these that Titus was to put in mind to be subject but those who by St. Paul's direction were committed to his care and teaching among which we find the Elders and Bishops of the Churches Chap. 1. 4 5. these were some of those then whom Titus was to put in mind to be subject Aaron was Elder Brother to Moses and chief Priest yet nevertheless he was subject to Moses and called him his Lord Exod. 32. 21 22. And Moses said unto Aaron What did this People unto thee that thou hast brought so great a Sin upon them viz. of the Golden Calf of which they spake And Aaron said Let not the Anger of my Lord wax hot thou knowest the People that they are set on mischief And Numb 12. 11. Aaron said unto Moses Alas my Lord lay not this Sin upon us wherein we have done foolishly and wherein we have sinned for he and Miriam had murmured against Moses The chief Priests were subject to the Kings of Israel For which you need but read the Books of Kings See one Example hereof to which no reply can be made 1 King. 2. 26 27. Vnto Abiather the Priest said King Solomon Get thee to Anathoth unto thine own Fields for thou art worthy of Death but I will not at this time put thee to death because thou bearest the Ark of God before David my Father c. So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being Priest unto the Lord. But now under the New Testament saith Cardinal Bonaventure the Temporal Rule is subject to the Priesthood and Popes may now degrade Kings and depose Emperors as this hath often come to pass But wherein is the difference and where is the proof of this impious Assertion St. Paul pleadeth his cause before Felix a secular Judg and doth not except against the Jurisdiction of the Court Acts 24. And so again before Festus Acts 25. But now the meanest Priest and the poorest Monk of them all where he can refuseth to appear before the secular Judges And it is a received Maxim The Pope ought to judg all the World and be judged himself of no Body Distinct 40. Can. Si Pape At last St. Paul appeals unto Cesar Acts 25. 10 11. Then said Paul I stand at Cesar