noverit Vae illis iterum poeitentiam agant nec ament gloriam hominum magis quam gloriam Dei. P Vergerius in Annot in Catalogum Haereticorum p. 262. Dissemblers and Indifferents in Italy Spain and Portugal and even in Rome it self If a Mahumetan Pagan or Jew should argue thus against them as they argue against us they must either renounce their own Consequences or sink under the weight of them nay if an Atheist or Infidel of any other kind should take that advantage against Christianity from the Schisms and Divisions of it which they do against the best Church of Christendom the Church of England I appeal to their own Consciences whether they must not deny their own Conclusions or expose and betray the Cause of Christ The Pagans argued so against Christianity in the primitive Times because so many Sects grew up with it and therefore the variety of Heresies and Schisms which have sprung up in England since the Reformation can be no Argument against the Church It is no blemish to her to be in the same condition with the best and purest Churches in the best and purest Times it was so when the Apostles governed the Church and the Spirit of God bid the Christians Try all things and hold fast that which is good Hitherto I have proved that Divisions and Separations can be no good Argument or matter of just reproach against any Church because they are incident to all Churches as I have shewed by a sufficient Enumeration of Particulars and this will farther appear if we consider that they may be Arguments for as well as against a Church and a cause of just praise and commendation of it as well as of just reproach When they are just and reasonable then indeed they are good Arguments against the Church where they arise and give men just cause to reproach it but when they are not just and reasonable but proceed from mistake in those that make them or from worse Causes they they are good Arguments against the dividing Parties and just matter of reproach to them but none at all to the Church Wherefore it argues want of Ingenuity or great weakness of Judgement in men to exclaim against a Church upon the score of Divisions and Separations before they have examined whether the Church or the Separatists are in the fault In Reason and Charity this ought first to be done before either the Church or the Separators or both be condemned but our Adversaries of the Roman Church without any regard to the Case betwixt the Church of England and the Dissenters loudly defame her in all Places with the Dissentions and Separations and object to our People the great difficulty and uncertainty of finding out among so many opposite Churches and Religions which is the right if there be any such and therefore exhort them to take Sanctuary in that Church which is at unity in it self and looks so like the one Catholick Church But God be praised the People of the Church of England are generally better instructed then to be imposed upon with such loose Talk. They understand very well that as Separations from corrupt and impure Churches is a necessary duty so as long as there are Devils to tempt men there will also be unjust Separations from found and Catholick Churches and that therefore Separations and Divisions in the general can neither make for or against any Church They know very well that Churches like natural Bodies are of different Tempers and Constitutions and that when any of them chances to undergo a separation of Parts the particular nature and constitution of it must be examined before a man can safely conclude whether the blamable Parts went off or remained with the Church In the separation of Gold from the drossie and spurious Parts of Wine from the Lees of Wheat from the Chaff and of the excrementitious Parts from the Chyle and Bloud the base and impure and unprofitable Parts go off and the good and pure and profitable stay behind but in the separation of Wheat from Tares of Flower from the Bran and in all Chymical Separations the good the generous and spiritual Parts go off and the refuse and feculent stay behind I have made use of this familiar Comparison to shew how Separations and Divisions in the general can be no rational Argument for or against any Church until it be known what king of Body that Church was before the Separation sound or corrupt pure or impure Catholick or not Catholick Apostolical or un Apostolical And when this is once stated then it will appear whether the Divisions and Separations which were made from her make for her or against her I say when it is first known what kind of Church a divided Church was before the beginning of the Division then it may be known whether the Division objected against it be an Argument for or against the Trueness Soundness and Purity of it but to argue pro or con from Separations before this is stated is but to talk at Random which it doth not become men of Learning and Ingenuity to do According to this Rule the Divines of England first proved that the Communion of the Roman Church was not pure and Apostolical and thence justified the Separation of the Church of England from it as necessary and on the contrary they have proved that the Communion of the Church of England is pure and Apostolical and thence condemn the Separation of the Dissenters from it as needless They argue à priori against both on the one hand proving that the Wheat went off from the Tares and on the other that the Chaff went off from the Wheat But to argue à posteriori and in general against a Church meerly upon the score of Divisions before we examine the Constitution of the divided Church and state the Case between her and the Dividers doth become no men especially no Church-men but such as having a weak Cause must make use of popular for want of found Arguments and make the best they can of Sophistry when Reason is not on their side CHAP. III. That bare Vnity or want of Schisms and Divisions in Religion are no sound Argument of the Truth Goodness or Reputation of a Church III. HAving shew'd in the second Chapter That Divisions and Separations are no Argument against the Trueness or Reputation of any Church I proceed to shew in this That bare Vnity or want of Divisions is no Argument for the Trueness or Reputation of a Church and this I shall endeavour to demonstrate three ways First By shewing That it is not the Unity but the things in which a Church is united that truly recommend and justifie a Church Secondly That Church-Unity may be the effect of culpable Causes And thirdly That all Churches true or false Catholick or not Catholick are united in themselves and particularly that the Church of England hath more potential and actual Union in it then that of the Church of Rome
hath been done may be done again and upon supposition this should happen I would fain know of from the Roman Communion would be a good Argument against the Trueness or Goodness of the Church of Rome Wherefore methinks is point of Prudence they should not take up Arguments against us which they do not know how soon we may have occasion to retort upon themselves They should remember that they cannot secure their Church against Contigencies that are common to all Churches and that to flesh should glory in the presence of God who sometimes chooses the weak things of the World to confound the mighty and things that are not to bring to nought things that are It is his Prerogative to do whatsoever he pleaseth in Heaven and Earth and who knows his Counsels who knows what secrets of Providence are in the Wombs of their Causes ready for the birth In the next place I address my self to our dissenting Brethren whose Divisions and Separations from the Church of England and from one another are now become popular and plausible Arguments in the mouths of the R. Cs. to unsettle weaker judgments among us and bring them over to theirs which they call the one Catholick Church I beseech them therefore by the Sacred Names of Vnity and Charity to consider ho'w different the Church of England and her Children now appear from what they mis-apprehended them to be Great numbers of them took up an Aversion to the Church because they thought her Popish in her Constitution and her Children especially the Clergy Popish in their Affections but now seeing by Experience how much they were mistaken methinks they should be willing to make Reparation methinks the sense of their former mistake should help to overcome their present prejudice and make them willing to be better informed and bring their old Scruples with Minds desirous of satisfaction to the Test to see if indeed they are such as will justifie their separation from a Church which they acknowledge to be Orthodox in her Doctrine and which they could never yet prove enjoyned any one thing in her Worship which God and forbidden or to have forbidden any thing in it which he had enjoyned Is not this the time for them to peruse the Books that have been lately written with the greatest Candor and meekness for their better Information And doth not the Zeal which they have always professed against Popery oblige them to have a good opinion of her Divines who have all along been contending earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints Doth not God by the Voice of his Providence call upon them as plainly as if it were by a Voice from Heaven to consider whither their Divisions tend and should not the serious consideration of the dismal Effects that may follow upon them if they continue in them make them doubly afraid of the sinfulness of Schism What a dreadful account will they have to make at the Day of Judgment if it should then appear that the Church gave them no just occasion to separate from her They must then answer to God for all the direful Consequences of their Separation and therefore it concerns them all to look upon her whom they have pierced it concerns them all as they would not die in so fatal a Mistake and be responsable for the downfal of the Church to examine impartially if the Communion of the Church of England be not truly Catholick and whether she is not such a Church as hath fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ If she be such a Church as the Divines of all reformed Churches abroad will tell them she is then they must be guilty of Schism which is a separation without a just cause from the Church as a Church without any regard unto the State. For Schism or Separation without a just cause is a pure spiritual Crime and was reckoned a damnable Sin before the Church Christian was united to the Empire as also in those unhappy Intervals of Persecution when the Church and Empire were dis-united again For example it was a damnable Sin when St. Paul charged the Ephesians to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace because there was but one God and one Lord and one Faith and one Baptism and one Body of Christ It was a damnable Sin when he told the Corinthians That we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body and that as the natural body was made one by the union of many members in it so also was the body meaning the Body politick of Christ It was a damnable Sin when St. Ignatius taught the Churches That nothing should be done without the leave of the Bishop or in opposition to him and that that was only a valid Eucharist which was administred by him or by one licensed and appointed by him and that makers of Schism could not inherit the Kingdom of God. It was a damnable Sin when St. Cyprian called private Meetings in opposition to the publick Conventicles of the Devil and said that private Altars were no Altars and that if a Schismatick should die for Christ he could be no Martyr nor have any right to the Crown of Martyrdom for which he alledges the words of the Apostle Tho' I give my body to be burned and have not charity it prositeth nothing Dionysius Alexandrinus in his Ep. to the Arch-Schismatick Novatus writes unto him in this manner If thou wast constraind as thou saist against thy will to separate from the Church thou oughtest to declare the same by returning willingly to it again Thou shouldst have suffered any thing rather then rend the Church of God neither is that Martyrdom which a man shall suffer for refusing to rend the Church less glorious then that which Christians daily suffer for denying to sacrifice unto Devils Yea in my judgement it is a more glorious sort of Martyrdom for in the one a man suffers Martyrdom only for his own Soul but in the other for the Vniversal Church Wherefore perswade the Brethren or constrain them to return to Vnion such a meritorious act would be greater then the crime of seducing them and thou wouldest be more commended for that then ever thou wert censured for this However if thou canst not perswade the rebellious and disobedient to return to the Church at least save thine own soul by embracing Peace and Vnity thy self So great a Sin did the ancient Fathers account Schism before the happy union of the Church and Empire when the Meetings of the Schismaticks were as much tolerated by the State as the Meeting of the Catholicks and upon the same Principle Donatism and Arianism were counted as damnable Schism every jot under the Reigns of those Emperors who granted toleration to them as under the Reigns of those who made Laws against them Nay all the Laws which Constantius and Valens made in favour of Arianism and for the establishment of it did not alter its
AN Apologetical Vindication OF THE Church of England IN ANSWER To Those who reproach HER WITH THE ENGLISH HERESIES AND SCHISMS Or suspect HER not to be a Catholick Church Upon their Account London Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church yard MDCLXXXVII THE INTRODUCTION EVER since the Dissenters left the Church of England and formed themselves into Separate Churches the Roman Catholicks have not been wanting to take advantage from her sad Misfortune to expose her at home and abroad as a Church that amidst so many monstrous Sects and so many opposite and irreconcileable Communions can have no right to the glorious Title of Catholick nothing really answerable to the true Idaea of a Church nor any pretensions to the Promises of Christ especially those two of preserving his Church against the Powers of Hell and of sending his Spirit of Truth which is but one to guide her into all Truth They endeavour to make the World believe That a Church so over-run with Heresies and Schisms and so shatter'd and torn with intestine Divisions as ours is cannot be a true or good Church nay they will ask us by a figure of Reproach Where they shall find her among such a Crowd of Dissenters And thus using all manner of Artifice on the one hand in setting forth the many Divisions in Religion among us and on the other the great Unity in Doctrine and Worship among themselves they hope to unsettle us yet more and make our People suspect or believe that ours is not a part of the One Catholick and Apostolick Church It is now one of their Common Places to talk of our Schisms and argue from them upon all occasions in diminution of the Church of England They generally begin there when they first attack any of her Sons or Daughters and when ever we engage with them or they with us in a Dispute about the Two Churches we must be content to hear of our Divisions at both Ears Sometimes they seem to lament them sometimes to upbraid us with them and sometimes to dispute down-right upon them but be their Style and Method never so different when they speak or write of the English Heresies and Schisms their common Aim and Design is the same viz. to bring us out of conceit with our Church and perswade us that a Church so full of imbred Divisions in Religion hath not the Characters of Christ's Spouse no Marks of his Favour nor any Similitude with the Catholick Church that heavenly Hierusalem which is as a City that is at peace and unity in it self We are told That it is a sad thing to consider what a world of Heresies are crept into this Nation where every man thinks himself as competent a Judge of the Scriptures as the very Apostles themselves and that that part of the Nation which looks most like a Church dares not bring the true Arguments against other Sects for fear they should be turned against themselves Your Church saith another hath Unity or not if not then she is not the Church of Christ If she hath why are there so many Sects and Schisms among you Saith another who not long since was one of her Priests What would I have once given to have found such an Union among Protestants nay to have found one County in my own dear Countrey or perhaps one single Family so united a Brotherhood And in another place he professes That he cannot tell how the Church of England is able to find her self in an innumerable Huddle of ten times more Dissenters Dissemblers whereof he himself was many years one and Indifferents than her number is able to make At this rate and to this purpose they are also apt to talk in their private Conversation For where I live the Place rings with their Reflections on the Church of England upon the account of our English Separations and having not heard that any thing is yet published to help the People to defend themselves and the Honour of our Church against them I thought I could not better spend the Christmas Vacation than to write a short Tract on purpose to shew That the English Heresies and Schisms are in reality no diminution to the Honour of the Church of England and that the Consideration of them ought to scandalize no man against her or make us believe that she is in any degree less Catholick and Apostolick than her greatest Admirers take her to be This is the main Design of my present Undertaking and that I may omit nothing of moment which ought to be spoken of such a Subject in such a short Treatise I will proceed in the following Method I. I will shew from Reason and the History of the Christian Religion that all Churches are subject to the Misfortune of Schisms and Divisions II. That Schisms and Divisions and the consummation of them in opposite Communions are no good Argument against the Truth or Goodness or Reputation of a Church III. That bare Unity or want of Schisms and Divisions in Religion are no sound Argument for the Truth or Goodness or Reputation of a Church After I have demonstrated these three Propositions I will make enquiry into the true Causes of Schisms and Divisions and more particularly into the Causes of these in England Then I will say something of the Prevention and Cure of them And in the Conclusion make such Addresses to the People of the Roman Communion to the People of the Church of England and to the Dissenters from it as I hope may become a good Christian and the Author of such a peaceful and charitable Discourse as I hope the Reader will find this to be AN Apologetical Vindication OF THE Church of England Chap. I. Shewing from Reason and the History of the Christian Religion that all Churches are subject to the Misfortune of Schisms and Divisions 1. I Will shew from Reason and the History of the Christian Religion that all Churches are subject to the sad misfortune of Schisms and Divisions and to the consummation of them in opposite Communions This to argue first from Reason is as demonstrable of Ecclesiastical as Civil or Military Societies men being as subject by their own evil Passions and the Temptations of the Devil to mutiny and make Insurrections in Churches as in Camps or Cities or other Fraternities of men Nay it being more for the Interest of Satan and also more easie to divide a Church then a Kingdom or a Camp men are so much the more in danger of being tempted to do the one rather then the other and accordingly we find that Churches are more infected with intestine Divisions then States and Kingdoms and whereas formerly one Emperor was able to quell many Mutinies and Rebellions a succession of Christian Emperors sometimes were not able to quell one Schism Wherefore to pursue my Argument as Christian Armies are subject to Mutinies because they consist of Souldiers which may be tempted to Mutiny and Christian
former Chapter how can they by their way of arguing maintain the Church of Antioch to have been Catholick in the Time of Paulus Samosatensis who revived the Heresie of Theodotus and taught that Christ by nature was no more then a meer man For this Reason he held Communion with the Followers of Artemon the Author of this damnable Heresie teaching that Christ was from the Earth and damning the Hymns which used to be sung in Churches to his honour as novel Composures and letting his Followers chant forth Hymns to his own praise in the Church and tell the People that he was an Angel sent from God. Was there ever such an heretical and blasphemous Archbishop in the Church of England since the Reformation as this But if there had been more then one such the Church of England nevertheless would have been a truly Catholick Church as this of Antioch then was in the judgement of the Council that deposed Paul. For in that excellent * Euseb H.E. l. 7. c 30. Epistle which the Council wrote to the Bishops and Presbyters of the whole Catholick Church under Heaven they tell them after a long recital of Paul's Impieties that they were necessitated to depose him and ordain another in his stead over the Catholick Church I might also ask them upon their way of treating the Church of England upon the score of the English Heresies and Schisms what they can say for the Church of Constantinople in the Time of Macedonius and Nestorius who were both Patriarchs of that Church and both fell into Heresie and Schism When a Bishop and much more a Patriarch leads the Flock into by-paths the Schism is more deplorable but yet it is not the Apostasie and Secession of one or two or more Bishops if that should happen that can destroy the Catholick and Apostolick nature of any Provincial Patriarchal or National Church For as I observed before it is not the number of Communicants but the cause or soundness of Communion that makes a true Church and therefore were there both for kind and number ten times as many more opposite Sects and Communions as there are in this Nation and Bishops at the Heads of them all yet upon supposition that the Church of England is sound and Apostolical in Doctrine Worship and Discipline that * Vna est pars in quâ sunt multi Episcopi sed ubi sunt multi illic sacra fides Christi violata est ubi verò paucissimi sunt fides Christi vindicatur Libell precum p 9 12 13. small number adhering to her Communion must be the true Church Nay if all the Bishops of England but one should fall away from the Church of England that †Non dubitandum est paucos Episcopos esle pretiosos merito consessionis inviolabilis sidei multos vero nullifieri merito haereseos in causâ religiouis sacrae fidei non numerus numero comparandus est sed pura illa Apostolica fides probata exiliis probata cruciatibus licet unlus Multorum infidelitatibus praeponenda est ibid. one Bishop and the Flock adhering to him would be the true Church of England and as true and Catholick a Church as if there were not one Dissenter in the Land. The learned Papists know this very well and therefore I wonder that men pretending to Letters and Ingenuity should argue against the Church of England from the English Heresies and Schisms Furthermore if this be a good way of arguing against Churches then the Church of the Jews was twice involved in the consequences of it once by the Schism of Corah and then by that of Jeroboam who set up a Priesthood and Altar a Bethel in opposition to that of Jerusalem and by the separation out off ten Tribes in twelve from the true Church of God. Nay if this modish way of arguing be true then the separation of th Church of England and other National Churches from that of Rome are as strong Arguments against it as the Sects and Schisms among us are against the Church of England There is no difference in the Case because they say that all the Protestant Churches are schismatical for falling off from them as we say the Congregational Churches are for falling off from ours and if ours indeed is not a Catholick Church but apparently under God's displeasure because forsooth they can tell us of the Presbyterians Independents Anabaptists and Quakers then we may by just consequence say as much of theirs because we can tell them of the Waldenses Albigenses and Wiccliffians of old and of late of the Lutherans Calvinists and Church of England-men who are all Separatists from the Communion of Rome As those we repute Schismaticks sprang out of our Church and Communion so those whom they repute Schismaticks sprang out of theirs and therefore would not any man wonder that they should so far forget themselves as to use such Arguments against the Church of England and make such Reflections upon it as may be easily retorted upon themselves to overthrow their own Pretensions to Catholicism and weaken the Cause and Reputation of their Church The Church of Rome say they is the Catholick Church and the Church which Christ left upon Earth and the Church of England hath separated from it and therefore say we in their loose way of discoursing the separation of the Church of England is a good Argument against the Goodness and Reputation of that Church which Christ left upon Earth Nay say they Christ can have but one Church upon Earth and we believe none can be that Church but that which is called the Roman Catholick Church but then say we a world of Heresies and Schisms have been bred in that one Church the Catholick Church of Rome and therefore it is long since this one Church of Christ was one or a true and good Church Your Church say the two late Converts to us hath Vnity or not if not then she is not the Church of Christ if she hath why are there so many Sects and Schisms among you Now not to provoke such Gentlemen to * A Net for the Fishers of Men p. 111. paint and rip up the Sores of Protestancy your Church may a Turk say to them hath Unity or not if not then she is not the Church of Christ if she hath why are there so many Sects among you You say you are the one Catholick Church but what shall we do to find it in such and buddle of Dissenters as are in the Empire France Great Britain Sweden Denmark and other Northern Countreys and of * Ex to ordine scilicet Cardinalium sunt quatuor aut quinque quorum nomina possum proferre si vellem quibus reverâ probetur nostra doctrina saltem magna ex parte Romana exosa sit Sed vae illis cum filius Dei enunciaverit fore ut is qui nôrit voluntatem Domini non fecâ—…it vapulet pluribus quam qui non
and his and are under a political oeconomy of the same nature and he that understood it very well said That Satan was not divided against Satan because if he were his kingdom could not stand But it hath stood firm and undivided ever since it was first formed before the sensible Creation it was never yet shaken with intestine Divisions there was never two or three opposite Soveraigns at one time in that cursed Hierarchy nor two or three Pretenders to the Chair of Lucifer And therefore I hope bare Unity or want of Divisions will never hereafter pass among considering men for a mark of a truly Catholick Church And as it is among Spirits so 't is among men The worst Fraternities have sometimes the firmest Union as we of this Nation very well remember the Time when those of the great Rebellion boasted that God had united the Hearts of his People in his Cause as one Man nevertheless those pretended People of God whose Hearts and Hands were so united that we could not break their Bonds of Union asunder were no better then a Band of Rebels and their Cause downright Rebellion against God and the best of Princes tho' they acted in it as if they had been all informed with one common Soul. The like hath often happened in Ecclesiastical Societies The Samaritans who had neither Sadduces nor Pharisees nor Essenes nor Herodians nor Cabalists nor Carraites among them for that Reason had a firmer Union among themselves then the Church of the Jews had and yet they were not the true Church So among the ancient Christians the Novatians lived in perfect Peace and Unity among themselves when there were many Feuds and Contentions among the Catholicks Which shews that bare Unity is not a good Test whereby to try Churches or if it were I am confident the Church of England upon a fair tryal would carry the Garland from the Roman and appear to be the more Catholick Church Could there be found any fit and indifferent Judge between them I durst as far as I am concerned put the merit of the Controversie between us and the R. Cs. upon this single point of Union and would engage to render my self a Proselyte if their Church carried the Cause Perhaps they may think his a very bold Challenge because of the great number of Sectaries that have gone out from us but then they are to consider that as the Protestants which in several Parts of Europe under several Denominations have gone out from them are now nothing unto them so neither are the Congregational Sects which went off from us any thing or of any account to us But take our Church and theirs as they are precisely in themselves without any regard to their respective Separations and I am very confident for all their boastings of Union that the Church of England will be found to have both more potential and actual Union in it then the Church of Rome For first as to potential Union however the Church of Rome is actually united it hath the seeds of Division in its Bowels and as Rebeckah once had different Nations so has she different Churches struggling in her Womb. The Principle of the Pope's Supremacy is it self sufficient were there no more to cause continual Feuds and Factions in the Popedom and * In his excellent Tracts De causis dissentionum in Ecclesiis de primatu Papae ad calcem Salmasii de primatu Papae Nilus Bishop of Thessalonica did most judiciously assign it for the cause of all the Divisions that then tore the Catholick Church into pieces the Bishops of Christendom not being able to endure the Usurpation nor other Churches contrary to their fundamental Liberty to be Subjects to the Roman Church The exercise of this usurped Power of the Pope's being the supream ordinary of the Universal Church is that which makes the Roman Bishops themselves sigh and murmur in private and say with Spalatensis where they can say it safely Frater noster ille est Collega Coepiscopus nobiscum and however they conceal their Resentments as the Spanish Prelates did before the Council of Trent yet they are willing upon the first opportunity to assert their Apostolical Equality and like the English Prelates at the time of the Reformation will be glad when they can do it with a prospect of success to cast off the Yoke which makes Christendom groan and which neither they nor their Predecessor were able to bear Let but Christian Princes say the word and then we shall see what the Bishops will do or let there be but a free and general Council indeed and then let us see if the Pope shall not be told in both ears That the Church Universal is a great Colledge and the Government of it Aristocratical that the Episcopat is one but that it is divided among all Bishops whereof every one hath his share that the Apostles received equal Power and Authority from the same Masters that the Bishops were their Successors and that the other Bishops receive their Authority no more from the Successor of St. Peter then he doth from them but that all receive it alike from Jesus Christ When it shall be safe the Bishops of the Roman Church will talk and write as much to this purpose as ever the English Divines did who in asserting this Doctrine follow the Example of their Ancestors before the Reformation I mean the Saxon Bishops one of whom in his Advice to his Clergy speaks thus * Ge sceolon eac Æ¿itan þat eoÆ¿re hades syndan þa aesteran hadar aester urum hadum and us þa nystan gelice þa biscopas syndan ongeÆ¿rixle þara Apostola on þaere haligþa gesomnunge sÆ¿a syndan þa maesse preostas on þam geprixle â—pister þegna þa Bâ—scâ—opas Aapones and þa maesse preostas Æ¿one had his suna Spelm. Concil uol 1. p. 586. Ye ought to know that your Order is next after and next to ours for as the Bishops are in the place and stead of the Apostles over the holy Church so are the Priests in the place of the Disciples The Bishops are of the Order of Aaron and the Priests have the Order of his Sons This Doctrine in all likelihood will one day revive against the Soveraign Pontif for the Spirit of the Archbishop of Granata will for ever be upon the learned Prelates who like Elastick Bodies under pressure are under a constant inclination to recover their liberty and will recover it as soon as they can The next dividing Principle in the Church of Rome is The Doctrine of Transubstantiation which is a Doctrine more full of Contradictions then perhaps any other which Men or Angles can invent It is contrary to all the Senses and Reason of Man to the plain and obvious sense of those very words upon which it is grounded to the Belief of the ancient Catholick Church to the Principles of almost all Sciences It multiplies the hypostatical Union it makes Christ to
may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil for we wrestle not against flesh and bloud but against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickednesses or wicked spirits in high places All these are several expressions for that society of apostate Spirits which make up the kingdom of darkness as is plain from the 1 st and 2d Verses of the 11 th Chapter of the same Epistle where he saith Ye were dead in trespasses and sins wherein you walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience who cannot be perswaded to believe the Gospel Wherefore the Combates for which Christians are to fortifie themselves are not only against humane Enemies but the powers of darkness the whole society of Devils who were the Gods of the Gentile World. They are always plotting and contriving against the Church and when they cannot hurt it with Idolatry Polytheism or Persecutions then they strive to get Altar set up against Altar in it and distract it with Heresie and Schism Accordingly St. Ignatius in his Ep. to the Ephesians calls Heresies and false Doctrines Herbs or Plants of the Devil 's planting and tells them in the same Epistle That to meet often together and receive the holy Eucharist in peace and concord was the only way to weaken the powers of Satan and prevent the ruine and destruction he would otherwise bring upon them by Division and to convince them how malicious and vigilant an enemy he is to the Church he tells them That there were three Mysteries of the Christian Religion which were kept from his knowledge The Virginity of Mary her bringing forth or the Nativity of her Son and the Death of our Lord. Had Satan come to the knowledge of these Mysteries unless God had chained him and his evil angels up they would have made ill use of them against the great design of man's Redemption and accordingly many learned men have given his for one Reason of the obscurity of the Prophecies and why God was pleased so artificially to conceal many things in them lest Satan coming to the knowledge of them should endeavour to prevent or obstruct the fulfilling of them or enervate the certainty and demonstration of them after they were fulfilled Thus Justin Martyr in his first commonly called the second Apology observes That he did before-hand to the best of his skill teach and institute many things among the Pagans which had some semblance with the future Mysteries of the Christian Religion that so when they came to pass they might not seem such divine and wonderful Mysteries as indeed they are The like is observed by * Tertâ—ll depâ—â—â— script Haeres 〈◊〉 40. Tertullian after him and made out by many particular Instances to which I remit the curious Reader which shews That he hath a great and active spite against the Church of God more especially against such parts of it as are pure in Doctrine or Worship to sow Heresies and Schisms among them and divide the unity of their Communion And therefore the same St. Ignatius in his Ep. to the Trallesians bids them beware of Separations and Divisions as of the Snares of the Devil and in his Ep. to the Philadelphians he prays them in his wonted phrase to abstain from the evil Herbs which Christ never cultivated because they were not of his heavenly Father's planting meaning the Weeds of false Doctrines which Satan had sowed among them and which he saith did not only cause different Parties among them but a perfect separation of many from the Church So Justin * P. 403. Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho ascribes all the impious and blasphemous Doctrines which were then taught in the Name of Christ to the Inspirations of the unclean spirit of the Devil and accordingly when St. Polycarp met Marcion the Heretick he told him He knew him to be the eldest Son of the Devil as being a man who was acted with diabolical Impulse and Inspirations and Tertullian in the Book above-cited saith expresly That the Devil is the Author of Heresie as well as Idolatry The like is observed by St. Cyprian and Theodoret who ascribe all Heresies to the invention and artifice of the Devil and all the Histories of Heresies and Schisms in Ecclesiastical Writers are still ushered in with prefatory Complaints of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the envious and wicked Devil whose business hath been from the beginning to deceive and molest the Church of God. Nay the purer any Church is in Doctrine and Worship the more we may be sure he will stickle against it and endeavour to weaken and disgrace it by intestine Divisions and perswade the dividing Parties to form themselves into opposite Schisms Indeed where Churches are already corrupted in Doctrine and Worship and firmly adhere to those Corruptions 't is his interest to let them alone and not to hazard the Reformation of them by stirring up Contentions and Divisions in them but in Churches where the Doctrine and Worship are kept pure and Apostolical by the care and vigilance of the Pastors in Churches where the Scriptures are openly taught and read and the whole Worship of God but more especially the holy Sacraments are duly administred by lawful Ministers and the Communion of Saints carefully maintained In such pure and Apostolical Churches as these he hath no other game to play but to get them as far as he can extirpated by Persecutions or where that fails to make Mutinies and Divisions and Schisms in them and so to weaken the common Interest of the whole by dividing it into parts Where he cannot unite the Members of a Church in pernicious Doctrines and Practices he will labour hard to dissolve them by pernicious Schisms where he cannot unite them against Truth he will strive to divide them against Charity and where they will not agree he will make them if he can differ to their own destruction And therefore considering him as the principal Cause of Divisions all that can be concluded upon that Consideration against any particular Church is only this That the Members of it are subject like the Members of all other Churches to be deceived and drawn away by the Devil and if upon special enquiry it be found that she is pure and Apostolical in her Doctrine Worship and Discipline all that can then be concluded is no more then this That the Devil is become her particular Enemy and hath a particular spite against her upon the account of her Excellence and Worth. This is the worst Consequence that can be drawn from Divisions and Separations against such a Church as ours and we are willing to admit it we are willing to acknowledge that the Devil hates the Church of England more then many Churches and if those that object our Divisions to us
please very much more then the Church of Rome We are willing to look upon the many Heresies and Schisms among us as the effects of his Revenge against her for the damage he hath sustained by her as * Videns ille idola derelicta per nimiùm credentium populum sedes suas as templa deserta excogitaverit novam fraudem ut sub ipso Christiani nominis titulo fallat incautos hereses invenit schismata quibus subverteret sidem veritatem corrumperet scinderet unitatem Cyprian de Vnit Eccles St. Cyprian thought the Heresies and Schisms of his Time were purposely invented by him to be revenged of the Christian Religion for destroying his Worship among the Gentiles All this we are willing to admit upon the Theory that ariseth from considering the first Cause of Divisions and Separations and let those who love to reproach the Church of England with the English Divisions Religion make the best of it they can But then to proceed farther in this Enquiry After we have found out the principal we must look after the instrumental Causes of Divisions and Separations and they according to the Ancients who spoke what they knew to be true by long Experience and Observation were ignorant over-curious ambitious covetous and contentious men These are the proper Instruments by which the Devil acts in broaching false Doctrines and making Divisions and Separations He is a sagacious Spirit and can find out the weak and blind side of every man where he will be sure to ply him with Darts of Temptation as a skilful General will be sure to attack the weakest part of the Wall or that part of it which is least defended when he storms a Town The first Instrument then by which Satan works in making Schisms and Divisions are ignorant men or men ignorant in the Scriptures whose Ignorance makes them confident and think they understand the Scriptures when for want of knowing the received sence of them they do not This St. Chrysostom complains of in one of his Sermons * Hom. 37 T. 5. p. 245. Saith he The ignorance of the Scriptures is a dangerous Precipice and a deep Gulf of destruction and a great betrayer of mens Salvation It is that which hath brought forth Heresies and which turns all things upside down So in his †T. 3. p. 1. Preface to St. Paul's Ep. to the Romans saith he A thousand Evils come from ignorance of the Scriptures and the manifold sorts of Heresies have sprung from thence To this purpose speaks a more ancient Author in Answer to this Query Why God if he was able to do it did not root out all Errors and Heresies ‖ Author respons ad Orthodoxos in resp ad 1. Quaest Saith he When God abrogated Judaism he introduced the New instead of the Old Testament and if all those who embrace Christianity do not agree in thier Opinions but some believe right and some otherwise this is not the fault of God nor to be ascribed to any defect of care or power in him but the fault of their own carelessness and negligence nor ought any man to be offended at the small number of orthodox Christians because it is written That many are called but few chosen and that streight and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it It is observable that these ancient Fathers did not lay the blame of Heresies and Schisms upon the free and common use of the Scriptures but upon the careless and negligent reading of them and to ignorant mens presuming they understood them when they did not The fault was not in the Scriptures but in those who through ignorance abused them the Scriptures were always common in all Churches and Languages and I dare say boldly saith * De praescript Heret § 39. Tertullian That the Scriptures are so contrived by the will of God that they should afford occasion for Heresies because I read that there must be Heresies and Heresies cannot be without the Scriptures What I have observed out of these ancient Fathers is no more in effect then what St. Peter observed of the Epistles of St. Paul which are one great part of the Scriptures Saith he Account that the long-suffering of the Lord is salvation even as our beloved Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you as also in all his Epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures unto their own destruction The Scriptures it seems suffered very much by unlearned men in the Time of St. Peter and yet he did not order them to be kept from the People neither in the Church of Rome nor any other Churches He knew that they were holy true just and good and were designed by God for publick use and benefit and if ignorant men by the instigation of the Devil and their own natural Enthusiasm did misuse them and draw false Doctrines from them it was at their own peril and the fault was in their own giddiness and presumption and not in the Word of God. They should have only meddled with the plain Passages of them which contain all things necessary to Salvation and not with those which are hard to be understood No! if they had had a mind to understand the difficult Places of them they should have consulted the Apostles or those whom the Apostles set over them about the Apostolical Doctrine or Tradition and if they did not but as ignorant men are apt to do would precipitate themselves into Errors and make Doctrines to themselves which the Church never taught that was their own fault and could not without very much harm to Christianity supersede the use of the Word of God. God in his great wisdom intended it for the common Rule or Canon of the ancient Catholick Faith and if unlearned men will be so head strong and Enthusiastical as not to try their Conceptions by it but it by their private Conceptions it nevertheless remains a Standard and Rule and no less then their Souls must be the price for their Heresies and Schisms The Devil understands this very well and therefore being a subtil and cunning Spirit he is never wanting to tempt Sciolists and men that want true Learning especially those who are by nature powerfully enclined to Enthusiasm to wrest the Scriptures * Sequamur universitatem antiquitatem consentionem Vincent Lirin adversus Haeres c. 3. against the consent of universal Antiquity to their own admired Notions and that being done it is no difficult matter to perswade them to set up for Teachers altho' they have really need that one teach them again which be the first Principles of the Oracles of God and are such as have need of Milk and not of strong Meat The second sort of Instruments by which Satan works are over-curious
person striving to have his own will and humour doth thereby form a Schism Thus have I shewed the instrumental Causes which the devil uses in sowing Differences and Divisions and making Separations and Schisms in Churches And perhaps of such men acted and inspired by the Devil as much as of the Devils themselves St. Peter is to be understood 1 Ep. 5.8 where he exhorted the Christians to be sober and vigilant because their adversary the devil as a roaring lion walked about seeking whom he might devour whom saith he resist steadfast in the faith If the Devil had so many Instruments of dividing the Catholick Church then methinks it should not seem strange that he hath so many now Nay methinks the Gentlemen of the Roman Communion out of the particular Veneration they have for St. Peter whom the whole Christian World ought to honour should not so delight to upbraid the Church of England with the English Heresies and Schisms it being evident from this and other Passages in his Catholick Epistle cited in the first Chapter that there were almost as many and altogether as great Division while he governed in the Church as there are now in England and most other Parts of the Christian World. Wherefore all that can justly be concluded upon the Church of England from the English Heresies and Schisms if we consider the instrumental Causes of them is no more then this That there are and have been many ignorant over curious ambitious convetous and contentious men among us which as I shewed before hath been the common Calamity of all Churches and what is common to all Churches at least according to our Logick can be no just matter of reproach against any one I am so confident that there is no Inconsequence in this way of Apologizing for the Church of England that I believe our Adversaries cannot find a better way of Apologizing for the Divisions that have formerly risen or may hereafter arise in the Church of Rome If they were reproached by others as they reproach us they could not but say that the Causes of Divisions are common to all Churches and therefore craving leave to set the Church of England in the midst of all other Churches I desire that Church may cast the first Stone at her which hath remained from the beginning a pure Virgin without Heresie or Schism If there be a Church in any corner of the Earth which is exempted from the common Causes of Divisions or of so happy a Constitution as not to be capable of suffering by them let that Church come forth and reproach the Church of England with the English Heresies and Schisms but let not the Church of Rome do it which hath so many old Scars to shew and so many and great Rents yet visible in many parts of her Coat as none of her most curious Workmen with all their art and skill will probably ever be able to make up I have said thus much by way of Apology for the Church of England from considering the general Causes of Church Divisions and Separations and shall find yet more to plead for her upon making a more particular Enquiry into the Causes of our English Heresies and Schisms Now in this Enquiry no man that knows the state of Great Britain betwixt the beginning of the great Rebellion and his late Majesty's happy Restauration but must needs look upon the ruine of the Church and State to have been such a Cause of Heresies and Schisms as perhaps never happened before to any Church in the World. Was it any wonder to see Errors and Heresies and Blasphemies abound among us in a Time of such strange Disorder and Confusion when there was no King nor Priest in Israel Can we imagine the Devil should be idle in such an Opportunity Or can our Adversaries imagine that the like would not happen in any other Church or Kingdom of the Roman Religion should God in judgment dissolve the Government of them as he did that of ours I refer the candid Roman-Catholick Reader to Mr Edwards his Gangraena for an Account of the Errors Heresies Blasphemies Sects and Opinions that sprung up in the British Isle In a few years after the Church of England was pulled down and her Liturgy cast out of the Churches and Liberty of Conscience as they called it was set up in its stead He was a Minister of the Presbyterian Party and a mighty Bigot for the Cause and yet he could not but acknowledge that there came in a Deluge of Heresies and Impieties after the removal of the Prelates and I appeal to any man of Ingenuity if it be Reasonable or Christian or Gentile to reproach our Church with Sects that arose among us when she was fast bound in misery and the Iron entred into her Soul. Were not her Pastors driven from their Flocks when the Wolves entred in and all the time she was in the House of Bondage was it not a time of Liberty for every man to do what was good in his own Eyes Nay I desire those that are most petulant in upbraiding us with our Divisions to tell me truly if they do not think that as many and as monstrous Swarms of Errours and Heresies would breed in Spain or Italy as there did in the late Times of Confusion in England if the Divine Providence which God prevent should suffer the same Tragedy to be acted in those Countries that was acted in ours How would Sects verminate any where in Twenty Years of such Confusion Methinks our Adversaries should have the Ingenuity to consider this but since they seem not to do it I hope they cannot find fault with us for putting them in mind of it by way of Apology for our Church There are many other special Causes of our English Divisions which might fall under consideration but for brevity sake I shall mention but one which is this That we have reason to suspect that our Divisions both in the beginning and progress of them may have been influenced from abroad I do not know whether this will pass for mis-representing but some Observations have been made to this purpose And if the Gentlemen of the R. Communion know or believe it to be true I beseech them by our Common Saviour Jesus Christ they would no longer upbraid the Church of England with the English Heresies and Schisms In Foxis and Firebrands in Ravialac Redivinus p 72. of the 2d Edition fol. 1682. And in several Letters which passed between the Archbishop of Armagh and other eminent persons which may be seen in a late printed Collection of Letters If the Tares which were sowen in the Field of our Church were indeed brought from other Places then I hope they will grant that it is not ingenuous for them of all other Christians to reproach us with them but rather to blame those who sowed them and who transplanted those strange Plants which are not of our heavenly Father's planting into the Vineyard of
Vtreplerentur humano sanguine orationum loca Ruffinus and the Greek Historians out of whom I might have described it it caused a great deal of Bloudshed in Churches so dangerous that the Souls of many on the one side or other must needs have miscarried in it and so scandalous that it gave occasion to a †M. Marcellinus in loco supra citat Pagan Historian to make such Reflections as I wish for the honour of the Roman See and the holy Episcopal Office had never been made It happened in the year 366 and after the death of Pope Zosimus there happened another scandalous and horrible Schism between Boniface and Eulalius in the year 419 which caused such great and dangerous Tumults in the City that Honorius the Emperor who was then at Milan was not without apprehensions what might be the consequence of it and therefore to prevent and all present danger commanded both of them to be put out of Rome To pass over many intermediate Schisms in after Ages there happened many more of a very scandalous nature between contradictory Popes assisted by contradictory Parties and Councils who could not agree about the rightful Pope Thus in the year 891 the Church of Rome was miserably divided between Formosus and Sergius who were both chosen in Rome by different Parties and tho' Formosus prevailed yet Stephen the 6th his next Successor but one abrogated and nulled all his Orders and degraded all whom he had ordained and gave them new Orders In the year 965. there happened a great Schism after the death of John the 12th betwixt Benedict the 5th and Leo the 8th Platina could not determine which was the right Pope but puts them both in his Lives but Onuphrius in his Annotations upon the Life of Benedict and in his Ecclesiastical Chronology faith expresly that Benedict was the Schismatick and Leo the lawful Pope * In anno 965. Tom. 10. Baronius is of the contrary opinion he makes Leo the Antipope and Benedict the Pope and †In Chron. p. 827. Genebrard confesses that their Historians are not agreed which of the two was the rightful Successor to St. Peter's Chair In the year 1080 the whole Peace of Christendom was disturbed by the Schism which happened betwixt Clement the 3d. and Gregory the 7th 8th and Gelasius the 2d and Gelasius dying it continued between Clement and Calixtus the 2d who was chosen in the room of Gelasius The Emperor was for Clement but the Kings of England and France were for Calixtus tho' the English Clergy and People were much divided in their opinions some maintaining the one and some the other and some again that neither Party was duly elected but Calixtus having taken his Rival prisoner by the help of a good Army put an end to that Schism After the death of Adrian the 4th in the year 1159 happended a grievous Schism betwixt * Maximum Ecclesiae Schisma oriri coepit quod xix annls miserabiliter duravis Orton Frising Chron. Lib. 7. Cap. ult Victor the 4th and Alexander the 3d. which for 19. years mightily disturbed the Christian World some of the †Cardinales in seditionem conversi geminâ electione scindunt Vnitatem Radevic Frisingensis L. 2. C. 43. Cardinals chose the one and some the other and after their respective elections both were ordained and sent out ‖ Id. I. 2. C. 50. 51. Circular Letters with contradictory protestations and remonstrances attesting God to the truth of what they said Alexander called God to witness in his Letters that he was chosen by all the Cardinals but three and yet the Cardinals of Victor's Party in a * Radevic Frising L. 2. Cap. 51. publick declaration protest that he was chosen by nine Cardinals The Emperour to put an end to this Schism calls a Council at Pavia and to that end wrote to Alexander and the Cardinals and also to the Tramontan Bishops to meet there The †Id. l. 2. c. 64 65 66 67. Council being met the Emperour made a speech to them to exhort them with Fasting and Prayers to commend the Cause of the Church to God and after seven days discussion of the Controversy between the two Popes they gave sentence in behalf of Victor and the Canons of St. Peter at Rome in a Letter to the Emperor and the Council did assure them that the uncorrupt and better part of the Cardinals were for him whereupon the Emperor ratified and confirmed his Election and by his Edict commanded he should be received as Pope He died after he had sate four years and was succeeded by Paschal the 3d. Callistus the 3d. and Innocent the 3d. all opposite Popes to Alexander the 3d. whom the Roman Writers affirm to have been the true Pope But the most grievous Schism of all the rest was that which began in the year 1378. between Vrban the 6th and Clement the 7th Vrban kept his Seat at Rome but Clement at Avignion and the Germans Hungarians English and part of Italy stood for the former and the French and Spaniards for the latter Vrban created 54 Cardinals and Clement 36. The Schism between these two Popes and their Successors lasted about 50 years or according to * History of Popish c. Mr. Foulis who accounts the Schism of Felix against Eugenius as a part of it because it sprung from it above 70 years during all which time excepting the interval between Clement and Felix the 4th there were two opposite Lines of Succession to St. Peter's Chair till Felix whom the Council of Basil set up against Clement upon the earnest entreaty of the Emperor resigned up all his Interest to the Popedom and left Nicolas the 5th Successor in the Line of Vrban sole soveraign Pontif in the Roman Throne Nay during the time of this Schism there were sometimes three Popes for the Cardinals thinking to end the Schism called a Council at Pisa where they deposed Gregory the 12th one of Vrban's Successors and Benedict the 11th one of Clement's Successors and chose Alexander the 5th who died before he had sate a year Alexander was succeeded by John the 23d who created 16 Cardinals and sate seven months till the Council of Constance perswaded him to recede and become a private man again A man would think that of all Christians in the World a Roman Catholick should be most backward to upbraid the Church of England with Schism considering what frequent and violent Schisms his own Church hath laboured under in former Ages Schisms that have rent the Union and split if not interrupted the Line of Succession in the one Catholick Church and brought it to such a sad condition that the secular Authority has been fain to determine of two or three Popes which was rightfully elected and which not Thus in the Reign of †2 3 Rich. 2. c. 6. A.D. 1378. Rich. the 2d the Parliament of England did declare in an Act for that purpose that Vrban the
6th and not his Antagonist Clement was duely chosen Pope and ought to be accepted and obeyed in this Realm I never saw the Original but shall set down the Abridgment of it out of Sir R. Cotton's Exact Abridgment of the Records in the following words An Act that Pope Urban was true and lawful Pope and that the Livings of all Cardinals and other Rebels to the said Pope shall be seized in the King's hands and the King to be answered by the Profits thereof and that whosoever within this Realm shall procure or obtain any Provision or other Instrument from any other Pope then the said Urban shall be out of the King's protection Serjeant Rastall hath another Abridgment of this Act somewhat different in one passage but in all the rest to the same effect An. 2 R. 2. c. 7. It was agreed that Urban was duely elected Pope and ought to be obey'd as Head of the Church and that all Benefices and Possessions of Cardinals and other the King's Enemies should be seized And it was enacted Râ—slalâ—'s Statutes Tit. Provision and Praemunire p. 356. 8. that if any purchased by provision any Benesice or Grace by any other named Pope then of Pope Urban or be obedient to any other Person as Pope he should be out of the King's protection and his Goods seized I should not have brought this Act upon the Stage but that the Gentlemen of the Roman Communion are so apt to miscall our Church a Parliamentary Church and our Religion a Parliamentary Religion only because our Laws confirm and establish the Sanctions of the Church of England as the Imperial Laws and Edicts formerly did the Decrees of general Councils particularly as * The external Bishop of the Church Constantine the Great who sate in the Nicene Council confirmed the Nicene Creed and all other things that were ordained by the Council of Nice when he was but a Catechumenus or Learner of the Christian Religion He said of himself that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ' E 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and after his death the Fathers surnamed him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Equal to the Apostles and whosoever will take the pains to run over but with a cursory eye the Novels of Justinian the Nomocanons and Basilicks the Capitularia of the old French Spelm. concil vol. 1 and the Laws of our Ancient Saxon Kings will find that our religious Princes since the Reformation have intermedled no more with the Affairs of the Church then Christian Princes formerly did But to return thither where I broke off I desire the Reader to take notice That of 29 or * Onuphrius reckons so many 30 Schisms in the Church of Rome I have taken notice but of nine and that if it were requisite to say more of the Roman Schisms and Differences I could add another Account of Anti Cardinals and Anti-Councils to this short one of the Anti-Popes CHAP. II. Shewing That Schisms and Divisions and the consummation of them in opposite Communions are no good Argument against the Truth or Goodness or Reputation of a Church II. HAving in the former Chapter I hope clearly demonstrated that the universal Church and all the particular Members of it are subject to Heresies and Schisms I proceed in this to shew that they are no Argument against the Trueness or Goodness or Reputation of any Church because what is incident to the whole Church and all the parts of it cannot be a good Argument against any one If the Body may lose an Arm it can be no disparagement to the Hand to have a Finger drop off or if a Tree to which St. Cyprian compares the Catholick Church may have a Bough rent off from its Body it can be no disgrace to a Bough to lose a rotten Branch or to a Branch to lose a rotten Twig If the Hand cannot in reason or prudence upbraid the Foot with the loss of a Toe because it may lose a Finger then certainly nothing ought to be concluded from a common Affection of all Churches to the prejudice or dishonour of this or that particular Church When our Saviour was told of the Galileans whose bloud Pilate mingled with their Sacrifices Suppose ye saith he unto those that told him of it that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish or those eighteen upon whom the Tower in Siloe fell think ye that they were sinners above all the men that dwelt in Jerusalem I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Our blessed Redeemer teacheth us from these Examples how unreasonable and uncharitable it is to censure particular Persons when the common Misfortunes of Mankind fall upon them For the Galileans who were murdered by Herod at their Devotion were no greater Sinners then other men and those upon whom the Tower in Siloe fell were it seems as good as their Neighbour tho' the Jews were so apt to think and speak hardly of them for their Misfortune contrary to the Doctrine of their own Scriptures which taught them that there is one Event unto all and that no man can know the Love or Hatred of God by all that is before him All things saith the Preacher come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not And as it is with particular men in reference to the common Misfortunes of Mankind so it is with particular Churches in reference to Divisions and Separations which are common Accidents to all Churches good or bad true or false pure or corrupt Catholick or un-Catholick that are called by the Name of Christ They are all alike subject to Divisions and sub Divisions in Religion and therefore those who argue against any Church upon that score treat her in the time of her Calamity as Job's Friends treated him who turned his Misfortunes which might have fallen upon themselves into Arguments against him to prove that he was an Hypocrite and not pure and upright as he pretended to be But in the primitive Times men were not such miserable comforters of Churches afflicted with Divisions Then they were better Logicians and better Christians than to think a Church was not Catholick or in the favour of God because Heresies and Schisms arose in it as appears from the Salutations which St. Paul gave unto the Church of Corinth when it abounded with Heresie Faction and Dissentions as I shewed in the former Chapter In the beginning of both his Epistles he salutes them in this manner Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ unto the Church of God which is at Corinth It was still the Church of God tho' there were Hereticks and factious Parties of men in it nay so far was he in his infallible judgement from unchurching the Flock of Christ there upon
the account of Divisions that he in effect apologized for them and for the goodness and wisdom of God that suffered them for saith he there must be * Ac si diceret ob hoc haereseôn non statim divinitùs eradicantur authores ut probati manifesti siant id est unusquisque quam tenax fidelis fixus Catholicae fidei sit amator appareat Vincent Lirin heresies among you that those who are approved may be made manifest So St. Clement begins his Epistle to the same Church which was written upon the occasion of a great Schism in this manner The Church of God at Rome to the Church of God at Corinth It seems the Church at Corinth rent and torn as it was with intestine Divisions was the Church of God as well as that of Rome in which there were then no Divisions at all St. Peter's next and immediate Successor bewailed the sad Misfortune of the Corinthians but he did not unchurch them for it he told them how it occasioned their venerable and illustrious Name to be evil spoken of but nevertheless he called them the * §. 1. elect of God. And so Constantine the Great in an Epistle which he wrote to the Alexandrians when they were very infamous upon the account of the deadly Feuds and Separations which divided their Communion salutes them in these words †Socrat. H. E. 〈…〉 9. Constantine the Emperor to the Catholick Church of Alexandria Not long after when the Arian Bishops ‖ L. 1. c. 27. conspired against Athanasius to get the Emperor to depose him and his Majesty upon hearing his Cause found their Accusations to be false he wrote a Letter in his behalf to the Alexandrians of which this is the Title * Athan opera vol. 1. p. 779. Constantine the great Emperor to the People of the Catholick Church which is at Alexandria When he wrote this Letter to the People of Alexandria it abounded with Melitians and Arians who had formed themselves into opposite Communions and yet those schismatical opposite Communions were in the judgement of that learned Emperor no Argument against the Alexandrian Church So Constantine junior shortly after his Father's death before he assumed the Title of Augustus directed Letters to the Church of Alexandria in favour of Athanasius with this Superscription †Socrat. H. E. l. 2. c. 3. Constantine Caesar to the People of the Catholick Church of the Alexandrians Notwithstanding all the Sects and Sectaries of Alexandria the Church still remained Catholick in the Communion of the Faithful who retained the ancient Apostolical Doctrine and Discipline These wise Emperors considered that the Tares could not alter the property of the Wheat and therefore tho' there were a World of Hereticks and Schismaticks in Alexandria and all the Regions round about it yet they called the Church a Catholick Church It was every jot as Catholick then as it was before the Melitian and Arian Schisms when the People were of one mind and one Communion for it is not the great number of Church members is any Diocess Province or Patriarchat but the cause and nature of the Communion that makes a true Church Otherwise if Churches must be no longer reputed truly Catholick and good then all the Members which are or ought to be of it are unanimous and communicate together then it must follow that both the Church universal and every particular Member of it long since lost their Catholick nature and were no true Churches in the eyes of God. What for instance became of the Church Catholick after the Council of Ariminum when almost the whole Christian World became Arian except a very * Libellus precum p. 8 9 10 11. Vincent Lirin c. 6. small number of Bishops who stuck to the profession of the Catholick Faith More particularly what became of the Church of Rome when Pope Liberius embraced the Arian Communion and subscribed to the Sentence of the Arian Bishops against Athanasius as †Eccles Ann. T. 3. p. 761 762 763. Baronius acknowledges tho' he endeavours to prove that he never subscribed to the Arian Confession or Heresie Nay what became of it especially upon their Principle when Pope ‖ Vid. Nili Archiepiscop Thessalon de primatu Papae lib. qui est ad calcem Salmas de primatu Papae p. 33 34 35 p. 61. Honorius the 1st fell into the Heresie of the Monothelites for which he was condemned by the 6th General Council and anathematized for it after his death by the 2d Council of Nice which they receive for the 7th General Council Nay if Heresies and Schisms are good Arguments or just matter of Exception against any Church what shall we say to the Church of Rome upon the account of the Novatian and all the other Antipapal Schisms mentioned in the former Chapter Or to go farther back into Antiquity what Apology shall we make for her when * Euseb H. E. l. 5. c. 15. Blastus and Florinus a degraded Roman Presbyter raised a great Schism in Rome endeavouring to introduce new Doctrines which †C. 20. Irenaeus confuted in Books written for that purpose Their Doctrines were very absurd as well as inconsistent with the Faith and Tradition of all Churches and yet they drew away many from the Church of Rome and enticed them to embrace their Opinions Nay what shall we do to defend her in the Time of Pope Victor and Zephyrinus when she was infested with the Heresie Euseb H.E. l 5. c 28. which asserted our Lord to be a meer man This damnable Heresie was first taught at Rome by Theodotus no better a man then a Tanner for which he was excommunicated by Pope Victor and afterwards in the Time of his Successor Zephyrinus it came to a perfect Schism when the Hereticks made Natalis the Confessor a Bishop of the Heresie and settled a Maintenance upon him One of the Scholars of Theodotus the Tanner was another Theodotus a Banker a great promoter of the Schism and therefore I cannot but wonder that any Roman Catholick who understands Antiquity should upbraid the Church of England with the Preaching of Mechanicks and Tradesmen when a Tanner and a Banker in the 2d Century were the Ring-leaders of such a pestilent Heresie in the Church of Rome and as an Author of that Time reports impudently took upon them to adulterate the Scriptures and reject the Canon of the primitive Faith. Why should men pretending to Sense and Learning use and Argument that is so easily retorted upon themselves and when it is pursued into all its Consequences makes it impossible for them to defend either the Church Universal or any particular Member thereof What will they say for the primitive Church by way of defence against the Gnostical Heresies if they argue against that as they are wont to argue against the Church of England Or to pass over the Schisms of which I have given some Account in the
First then It is not bare Vnion but the things in which a Church is united that must truly recommend and justifie it to the Christian World and prove it to be the Church of God. This is a self-evident Proposition which all the Churches in the World will admit at first hearing and the very Test by which when Disputes arise they must be content to be tryed For as to this Particular it is just in Ecclesiastical as it is in Civil Law and Government where it is not the Union but the Things or Cause in which men are united that distinguish lawful from unlawful Societies and Meetings otherwise if bare Union and Agreement how strict soever were a Sign of or a good Argument for the true and Catholick Church then Aaron the high Priest at the Head of that Congregation which worshipped the golden Calf was the true Church of the Jews He was their supream and lawful Pastor and they were very unanimous in making the Calf after his direction and in building an Altar before it and in oftering up Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings to use the new phrase in the presence of it They sate down to eat and drink before it and said with one unanimous Acclamation These be thy Gods O Israel which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt I believe there never was a more perfect Union and Agreement in the Church of Rome then among the Communicants of this sinful Congregation nevertheless it was no Schism to divide from them because they united in a sin Their Union was their Crime because the object of it was highly criminal and God was provoked to consume them because they agreed in a thing that was so abominable in his eyes So the Corahites were as firmly united under Corah as the true Church was under Moses and Aaron Two hundred Princes of the Assembly with a great number of People were firmly united together in a Cause wherein they stuck together to the death even till the Earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and they went down alive into Hell. So likewise the ten Tribes were as firmly united at Bethel as the two were at Hierusalem they had number as well as union to plead but notwithstanding both their number and union they were but a great Schism because they united in Innovations contrary to the will of God. So to pass from the Jews to the Christians there hath been at several times as strict an Union among Hereticks and Schismaticks as among the Catholicks The Novatians in particular were remarkable for their Concord Unity and Unanimity So were the Arians generally all of one Communion and very unanimous against the Homousian Doctrine and yet they were but a great prevailing Schism when they were at the highest and had almost gained the whole Christian World. From these Examples it is plain that in passing judgement upon Churches we are not to look at the Union so much as the Cause in which they are united We are to consider if their Doctrine and Discipline be Apostolical and their terms of Communion truly Catholick and if they be so then their Union in them is holy and laudable and such as makes them true Churches of God. A concurrence of these things is the genuine badge of a * Ad bane it aque for mam probabuntur ab illis Ecclesiis quae licet nullum ex Apostolis vet Apostolicis Autorem suum proserant ut multò posteriores quae denique quotidie instituuntur tamen in câdem fide conspirantes non minùs Apostolicae deputantur pro consanguinitate doctrinae Tertull. de praescript Haeres truly Catholick and Apostolical Church and if those of the Roman Communion would have us admire their Union and be made Converts by it they must first make it appear to us that they are united in these things Otherwise their Unity instead of being an Argument for their Church is a strong Argument against it to prove that it is but a Conspiracy and an over-grown Schism from the one Catholick and Apostolical Church But secondly Church-unity may be the effect of culpable Causes and by culpable Causes I mean only such as in a great measure make the embracing of any Religion an inspontaneous or unwilling action and these are only two Ignorance and Compulsion when men either are of a Religion which they would not be of if they knew the faults of it or when knowing the faults of it they would certainly forsake it were they not under force but left to their own free choice First then Church-unity may be the effect of Ignorance which was one great cause of the Unity and Agreement of almost all Mankind in Paganism and therefore their ignorance of the Gentiles is called darkness in the New Testament as where our Lord is compared to the Day-spring or Sun-rising which gave light to them that sate in darkness and in the shadow of death So the Apostle of the Gentiles told them It was their duty to shew forth the Praises of him who had called them out of darkness into his marvellous light and truly their spiritual darkness was so great that God did in some measure excuse their gross error in thinking that the Godhead could be like unto Gold or Silver or Stone graven by Art or man's device Tho' men who were worthy and absurd Idaea's of him yet as the Apostle told the Athenians The times of their former ignorance God winked at but then commanded all the Gentiles every where at their utmost peril to repent There never was a more strict and general Union among the Jews or Christians then there was among the Greeks For Paganism was become the Catholick Religion or Superstition as Catholick signifies universal and was spread far and wide upon the Earth and yet as the Apologetical Writers replied to the Greeks when they argued from the extent of their Religion and the consent of Mankind in it their great agreement in Idolatry was the effect of their Ignorance as plainly appeared from the preaching of the Gospel upon which they forsook those dumb Idols unto which they were carried even as they were led and turned from their former Vanities and Superstition unto the living God. They worshipped the Gods and observed their impure Rites because they knew no better but when their Understandings came to be well informed then they made a new and manly choice such as proceeded from all the Principles of humane Actions and plainly shewed that Ignorance had hitherto been the Mother of their Idol-devotion and by consequence that the choice of their former Religion wanted a sufficient measure of knowledge to make it a rational and truly willing choice I wish those who pride themselves so much in the Unity of the Roman Catholicks would consider how far the Sons and Daughters of the Church of England may use this Plea in their own defence against their so much celebrated Union It is certain that upon the Preaching and Writing of the
have offered up himself a propitiatory sacrifice before he was offered upon the Cross In a word the Contradictions involved in it are almost innumerable by which it equally choaks the learned and unlearned and as it hath made so it will for ever make Dissenters in great abundance and no man nor any Church can ever want a just pretence of dividing from the Church of Rome as long as it is an Article of her Faith. These two Principles without naming any more naturally tend to making of Divisions after Divisions among them notwithstanding all the actual Union of which they boast But the Church of England hath no such dividing Principles theoretical or practical in her Constitution nothing is required to Communion with her but what is primitive and Apostolical and how much soever she hath been or is broken and divided yet her Communion is truly Catholick and tends to Peace and Coalescence and even now her Wounds are closing apace and ready to heal of themselves And as the Church of England hath more potential Union in her then that of Rome so hath she more actual Union too for her Clergy and People have no such fierce and bitter Contentions among them as there are betwixt the Irish Remonstrants and Anti-Remonstrants the Molinists and Jansenists as well as Thomists and Scotists and Jesuites some of which opposite Parties will not communicate with one another And as for the Difference among them concerning the Judge of Controversies and whether the Pope be subject or superior to a general Council it tends naturally and by due rational consequence to the dissolution of their Communion and who knows but we may live to see the Comedy of Basil acted over again and one part of the Roman Church declaring for a general Council and the other for the Pope Nay I may say that at this present the Clergy of the Church of England have been and are united to Admiration and Envy and better then the Clergy often happened to be in the ancient Catholick Church Had our Bishops ever such Broils among them as happened betwixt the Bishops of the Eastern and Western Churches about no greater a Matter then the keeping of Easter And between Cpyrian and Dionysius and Firmilian three Metropolitans and their Adherents on the on side and the Bishop of Rome and his on the other about re-Baptization when they made no bones of * Vid. â—â— Firmiliani contra Ep. Stephani in cyprian edit Rigalt p. 143. taxing the Pope with Inhumanity Insolence and Folly Or had we ever reason to take up that Complaint against them which †H. E. l. 3. â— 1 Eusebius made against the Bishops of the Catholick Church before the Dioclesian Persecution That they were as it were at War among themselves and wounded one another with words as with Darts and Spears nay that they dashed and split like capital Vessels one upon another striving for preheminence and enlarging the bounds of their Diocesses which causes great Factions among the People Or to descend to more particular Instances Was there ever such a tragical Quarrel between any of our Archbishops or Bishops since the Reformation as happened between Theophilus Patriarch of Alexandria and John Chrysostom Patriarch of Constantinople Epiphanius who sided with Theophilus and Chrysostom ‖ Socrat. l. 6. c. .14 cursed one another * Socrat. l. 16. c. 17. much Bloud was s hed on both sides and the Cathedral Church of Constantinople with the Senate-house were burnt in the Quarrel down to the ground Sozom. l. 8. c. 21. Sozomen protests he was ashamed to tell many things which happened in this Quarrel lest Infidels should come to the knowledge of them and saith †An. 400. n. 31. Baronius going to tell the Story of it I shall now describe a cursed Persecution not of Pagans against Christians or of Hereticks against Catholicks or of wicked against good men but what is monstrous and prodigious of Saints and holy men one against another to proceed Did the Bishops of England since the Reformation ever accuse one another in written Libels before the King as the Å¿tar; Sozom. l. 1. c. 17. Bishop in the Nicene Council did before the Emperor Or is there now any occasion of using against them the words which †Vit. Nazianz. â—â—aeâ—ixa operibus Nazianz. Gâ—aeâ—è â—…tis Paris 1630. Nazianzen spoke in a Council of Constantinople which went about to depose him It is a shame my fellow-Pastors of Christ's Flock and not befitting you to fall to war among your selves while you are to teach others peace and perswade them to live in unity To conclude How many such sharp Contentions have happened among our Bishops as we read happened between Paul and Barnabas Acts 15. 39. and between Paul and Peter Gal. 2.11 where we read that because Peter was to be blamed he withstood him to his very face Had the Clergy and People of our Communion been long or often exercised by such Broils as these the R. Cs. would have had a fair pretence to reproach us with want of Unity but the God of Union be praised for it we have no such Feuds and Contentions among us but quite contrary are as fast cemented among our selves in Love and Union as I believe any Church of the like extent ever was in the World. CHAP. IV. An Enquiry into the True Causes of Schisms and Divisions HAving shewed from several Arguments in the foregoing Chapter That bare Vnity or want of Divisions is no Argument for the Trueness or Reputation of a Church I shall for the farther advantage of my Plea proceed in this to make enquiry into the Causes of Divisions and Schisms and more particularly into the Causes of these in England with which the Christians Roman Communion are pleased so to upbraid our Church Now in this enquiry into the Causes of Divisions and Schisms I should very much forget both the ancient Jewish and Christian Theology if I did not in the first place name the Devil by whom we are not to understand any single evil Spirit but the whole society of apostate Angels who are most malicious and implacable Enemies of God and of Man for God's sake and of the Church above all other Societies of Men. This Doctrine we have not only from the Scriptures of the Old and New. Testament but from the most ancient primitive Christian Writers who as it were with one voice ascribe unto the Devil Idolatry Persecution Heresie and Schism He is meant by the Enemy in our Saviour's Parable who took his opportunity while men slept to sowe Tares in the Field of the Church And accordingly St. Paul who was not ignorant of his devices calls Heresies the doctrines of Devils 1 Tim. 4.1 saith he The Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter days some shall depart from the truth giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils And in Ephes 6.12 saith he Put on the whole armour of God that ye
our Church I confess it is very good Policy to divide us that they may weaken us but then it should be remembred that no Humane Policy nor the greatest Advantage that can follow upon it can justifie the Dividing of any Church though never so Heretical by inventing new Doctrines The Catholicks formerly durst take no such course to divide the Arians they remembred that Anathema which St. Paul laid upon the Apostles themselves and the very Angels of Heaven if they should teach any other Doctrine and I wish for the Honour of Christianity others would do so too CHAP. V. Of the Cure of Schisms and Divisions AFter this Enquiry into the Causes of Schisms and Divisions and more particularly into those of our own Country I proceed to say something concerning the Prevention and Cure of them where to keep close to the design of my Apology for the Church I must declare upon a serious reflection of what I have hitherto written that I know no sure and infallible way that is lawful of preventing them where they are not or of curing them where they are First then I know no sure way that is lawful of preventing of them but some unlawful ways I confess there are which are inconsistent with the Design of the Gospel and the Rules of Christian Charity but then the Remedy in such cases is worse than the Disease and accordingly we see that the state of Christianity is much more deplorable in some Countries where Divisions are prevented by such methods than in England where no such methods have been taken to prevent them but of lawful and justifiable means which are consistent with the reputation and well-being of Christianity I believe there are none that will absolutely prevent Divisions and Schisms I confess Humane Fore-sight and Diligence may by God's blessing prevent them in a great measure but it will not always nor altogether do so But as Diseases will happen to the Natural Body notwithstanding all the care and endeavours to prevent them So Divisions and Schisms will happen to the Body Politick of Christ and all the Parts and Members of it notwithstanding all that man can lawfully do to prevent them as is evident from the state of the Church while it was governed by the Apostles For they were most holy most wise and most vigilant Pastors and therefore the greatest holiness and wisdom of the most vigilant and diligent Pastors are not sufficient to preserve Unity and prevent Schism Nor are Miracles joyned with the Sanctity and Endeavours of the most vigilant Pastors able to prevent it for the Apostles and their Assistants wrought Miracles and yet in the miraculous age of the Apostles there were Heresies and Schisms even in Churches where God bore them witness with Signs and Wonders and divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost Nay Miracles are so far from having a Soveraign Vertue to prevent Schisms that in the Church of Corinth which abounded with miraculous Gifts there were Envyings Strifes Contentions and Divisions Nay as I shewed in the First Chapter many of those who had he gift of Miracles in the Apostles time wilfully fell away from Christianity to which they had born witness and did thereby despite unto the Spirit of Grace And as Miracles joyned with the utmost Sanctity Wisdom and Diligence of Pastors are not sufficient to prevent Divisions so neither is Infallibility added to all the rest for the most holy the most wise and most vigilant Apostles were all infallible Judges certainly endow'd by God with the personal Gift of Infallibility and yet in their time there were as many and as great Heresies and Schisms as perhaps have been since in any age of the Church To use some of the emphatical words of another Author every one of them was such a Judge of Matters Spiritual from which there needed no Appeal every one of them had Authority and Ability to Interpret the Scriptures and decide in Matters of Conscience and yet there were as many Controversies and Differences about Matters of Conscience and Religion then as are now to be seen in England or herhaps any other Country of the Christian World. Do what the Apostles of the Circumcision or Vncircumcision could they could not prevent the Enemy from sowing of Tares nor the Tares from growing up to the great prejudice and detriment of the Wheat Heresies and Offences would come notwithstanding the Infallibility of S. John who lay in our Lord's Bosom and of S. James who was his Brother and of S. Paul who was rapt into the third Heaven and of St. Peter to whom Christ said Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church The R. Cs. may see from this little which I have said that if they had an infallible Judge his Infallibility would be no certain Remedy against Heresies and Schisms if they had no other ways that would not hinder but that Divisions might multiply among them as much as in the days of the Apostles or as much as they are now multiplied in England where the Church professeth to have no infallible Judge I say if they had an infallible Judge his Infallibility would not be able to secure them against Divisions but alas they have no infallible Judge for though they are all agreed that their Church is infallible yet they differ about the Seat of the Infallibility they cannot tell us for certain where it is lodged and truly to have an Infallible Judge and not to know who or where he is is in effect to have none at all What then is there no certain way of preventing Heresies and Schisms Certainly there is no lawful way certain which Consideration alone methinks might be Apology enough for the Church of England against the reproach which she now suffers upon the account of the English Heresies and Schisms And as there is no certain way of preventing Heresies and Schisms where they are not so there is no certain way of curing them where they are Provincial and General Councils where all emergent Differences may be freely and fairly debated have by experience been found to be the best means which God hath been pleased to bless with success but tho' they are very good means and have often proved very successful yet as we learn from the History of Councils they are not always infallible Remedies as is evident from the first General Council in which the Apostles and Elders and Brethren met at Jerusalem to determine whether or no it was needful for the Gentile Christians to be Circumcised and keep the Law of Moses St. Peter after much Dispute on both sides first stood up and declared That to oblige the Gentile Disciples to the Mosaical Observances was to put a Yoak upon their Necks which neither the Jews nor their Fathers were able to bear then James having first heard Barnabas and Paul declared it was his sentence that the Gentile Christians should be troubled with no more Jewish Observances but to
damnable nature in the judgement of the Catholicks neither indeed is the obliquity of Schism alterable by humane Laws and Constitutions as being a transgression of a divine positive Law which God hath made for the preservation of the Body politick of his Church to which Schism is as destructive in its nature as Rebellion is to the State. The being and well-being of the Church are incompatible with it and it is not only evil because God hath forbid it but God hath forbid it because he knew it was evil and pernicious in its nature to his one Catholick Church The Roman Catholicks themselves will joyn with us in this Principle and acknowledge this Doctrine to be true and if our Dissenters are either afraid or convinced of the truth of it it concerns them as they tender their own Salvation to enquire into the nature of their respective Separations whether they the Schisms or no They all profess great tenderness of Conscience and they will but act according to their pretensions to be very scrupulous in embracing those Communions which if they be not yet look so like Schism Methinks they should be as much afraid of sinning one way as another methinks their Consciences should boggle as much at a suspected Communion as at a suspected Ceremony and be very much afraid of making damnable Separations as they will assuredly do if the Church of England from which they do or shall separate be a true and sound Member of Christ I entreat them for the sake of their own Souls to set the Terror of this Consequence before their eyes especially I desire those among them to consider it who by their occasional Communion as they call it with the Church of England have declared to all the World that they think if such a Church to which men may joyn themselves without sin Shall the expectation of a little temporary Preferment or the fear of a little temporal Punishment bring them to Church and perhaps to the highest act of Communion in it and shall not the fear of Damnation and the foresight of the dismal Events which are like to happen upon their Separations not make them do the same If it be sinful to communicate with the Church of England in her Ordinances why did they ever do it And if it be not why do they not do it always according to the Doctrine of the Apostle who beseeched the Corinthians by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that they should all speak the same thing and be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and judgement that there should be no Schisms nor Divisions among them I beseech our dissenting Brethren by the same saving Name and for the sake of the Gospel for which they pretend to have so much zeal not to divide Christ any longer among us nor grieve the holy Spirit of Union by their causless Separations but to return to the Fold from which they have wandred as lost Sheep that so we may become one Fold under one Shepherd and one Building framed together into an holy Temple unto the Lord. They know there is nothing wanting to any Christian man's Salvation in the Church of England they may be as holy and unblamable in the Communion of it as the most holy Saint or Martyr if it be not their own fault and certainly Jacob would rejoyce and Israel would be glad may I dare say there would be joy among the very Angels in Heaven to see them return to their Mother whom they have forsaken and compass her Altars in Sincerity and Truth This would be the way for them to atone for their former Mascarriages and undo all the Injuries they have formerly done the Church which upon their Return would be beautiful as Tirzah comely as Jerusalem and terrible as an Army with Banners and provoke her Adversaries who now insuit over her Divisions to confess that she is the very Beauty of Holiness and that God was in us and among us of a truth In the last place I address my self to my Brethren of the Church of England for whose Satisfaction I have written this Apology That seeing how Heresies Divisions and Schisms have been incident to the best Churches in the best and purest Ages the Age of the Apostles and the Age next unto them they should neither be offended nor discouraged to see so many Altars erected in this little Isle all opposite to one another and to the Church I have shewed them that her condition is neither new nor singular and that as many and great Divisions have been made from the Churches of Jerusalem Antioch Alexandria Constantinople Rome Carthage and all the famous Churches in the World. Nay I have shewed more particularly of the Church of Rome that very shameful and scandalous Schisms have formerly arisen in her and that not withstanding her pretended present Union the Church of England in the midst of all the English Divisions hath more potential and actual Union then she I have had good success in private with a shorter Discourse of this nature in confirming of some who began to have mean and despicable thoughts of the Church of England upon the score of our English Schisms and to suspect whether or no the were a true and good Church They were made believe of all Churches she was most deserted by God and that he seemed to have very little savour for her and then while they were casting about for Reasons why God should seem as they were taught to have so little care of her it was easily suggested that he was displeased at her and left her to her self because she had left the Church of Rome And as I have known some so I have heard of others who have been just so affected and it is for curing such Fears and Suspicions where they are and preventing them where they are not that I have made this Apology which I hope my Brethren will accept as a Work well intended with all its imperfections and defects I know it is but a very indifferent Performance in comparison to what others have done and are a doing but such as it is I offer it with all submission to the whole Houshold of God in the Church of England which as it now stands without any farther emendation is I verily believe as sound and pure a Church both for Doctrine and Worship as ever was established in any Province or Nation of the World I heartily thank Almighty God by whose good providence I have been bred up in her Communion and am called to the great Honour of being one of her Priests and I beseech him of his infinite goodness to give all her Clergy and People Grace to live up strictly to her Principles to her Principles of Piety towards God of Loyalty to the King of Justice and Charity to others and of Temperance and Sobriety towards themselves I am sure it must be ours and not her fault if we be not the best Christians the best Subjects and the best Friends and Neighbours in the Worlds and I shall confirm my own Opinion of her with the Testimony which a late * S. L. J. great and good and learned Man gave of her in his last Will and Testament saith he I do declare That by the grace of God I die a Christian in the Communion of the Church of England as it is now established by God's Providence and the Laws in force I do believe this Church to be a true and sound Member of Christ's Catholick Church which he hath purchased with his Bloud Cloath her O Lord with a strict and examplary Holiness in her Priests and People and maintain her in her Truths Peace and Patrimony unto the Worlds end Amen FINIS