says he not hearken to them who deny that the Church of God can remit all Sins Then follow the words quoted by the Discussor Therefore those wretched Persons while in Peter that is the Church they do not understand the Rock that is Christ and will not believe that the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven are given to the Church they themselves have lost them †Nec eos audiamus qui negant Ecclesiam Dei omnia peccata posse dimittere Itaque miseri dum in Petro Petram non intelligunt et nolunt credere datas Ecclesiae claves regni Coelorum ipsi eas de manibus amiserunt De Agone Christiano c. 31. They themselves have lost the Keys because they will not believe that they were given to the Church And why will they not believe this because in the Church they do not understand Christ in whom the Church is founded who hath committed the Keys to her The next Passage is quoted out of St. Austin contra 5 Haeres I suppose he means his Oration de quinque Haeresibus in which there is no such Passage and in case it were it would be altogether as impertinent as the former But that which comes next he is confident must gag us and make us as silenced Ministers as if the Wolves had first seen us viz. that St. Austin makes the Succession of the Bishops of Rome to be the Rock contra partem donati Numerate Episcopos ab ipsa sede beati Petri ipsa est Petra quam non vincunt superbae inferorum Portae * Pag. 107. It is well for them that this must silence us they will then for the future be no more troubled with disputing which is a Work they are very awkard at But if this will silence us how comes it to pass that we were not silenced long since this place having been often produced against us The truth is so far is it from stopping our Mouths that it furnishes us with a new Argument against Peter's Supremacy which when the Discussor shall consider he may perhaps be silenced himself or sneak away as it is said those Wolves do that are seen first by Men. Though if I should deny it the Discussor will not be able to prove that by the Rock is here meant the Succession of the Bishops of Rome yet as I have been all along liberal in my Concessions so should I for Argument sake grant him this also it will make nothing to the Advantage of his Cause For 1. If it be granted yet before the Discussor can hence infer the Bishop of Rome's or Peter's Supremacy he must prove that the Foundation of the Building is ever the supreme Lord of it 2. If it be granted yet the Succession of the Roman Bishops cannot by Virtue of these Words be the sole Rock or any more the Rock than the Succession of Bishops in any other Apostolical Church This will appear by restoring to the Text one little Word vel which the Discussor was so prudent as to leave out St. Austin's Words are these Numerate Sacerdotes VEL ab ipsa sede beati Petri et in ordine illo Petrum quis cui successit videte Ipsa est Petra quam non vincunt superbae inferorum portae From which Words these things are plain 1. That St. Austin here uses the very same Argument against the Donatists that Irenaeus Tertullian and several other Fathers had used before against the Hereticks of their times to prove the Catholick Doctrine viz. The Succession of Bishops in the Apostolical Churches †Iren. l. 3. c. 3. l. 4. c. 63. Tertul. de Praescript c. 32. Cyprian Ep. ad Lapsos Edit Pamel 27. 2. That he proposes the Church of Rome only as a single Instance instead of all those Apostolical Churches that might have been mentioned As Irenaeus before had done who because it would have been tedious to enumerate the Successions of all Churches brings for an example that of Rome which was the greatest and most famous * Sed quoniam valde longum est in hoc tali volumine omnium Ecclesiarum enumerare successiones maximae antiquissimae omnibus cognitae c. Iren. l. 3. c. 3. Is Casaub Exercit 15. p. 310. And therefore he says not simply Numerate Sacerdotes ab ipsa sede beati Petri c. But numerate Sacerdotes VEL ab ipsa sede c. Which is in effect to say with Irenaeus Because it would be too long to reckon the Successions of Bishops in all those Churches in which the Catholick Doctrine hath been preserved ever since the Apostles consult at least the Succession of the Church of Rome from the first Founder of it St. Peter And therefore 3. And consequently if it be the Succession of the Bishops of Rome that he here makes the Rock he implicitely affirms the same of any other Apostolical Church in which there had been a continued Succession of Catholick Bishops which is further confirmed in that he elsewhere arguing against the same Donatists joyns the Church of Jerusalem together with that of Rome and makes the Chair of the former no way inferior in Authority to the latter If says he to Petilian all the Bishops through the World were such as thou most falsely accusest them to be yet what hath the Chair of the Church of ROME done in which Peter sate and in which at this day Anastasius sits or of the Church of JERVSALEM in which James sat and in which at this day John sits with which we are joyned in Catholick Vnity and from which you by a cursed Fury have separated your selves †Veruntamen si omnes per totum orbem tales essent quales vanissime criminaris Cathedra tibi quid secit Ecclesia Romanae in qua Petrus sedit in qua hodie Anastasius sedet vel Ecclesiae Hierosolymitanae in qua Jacobus sedit in qua hodie Johannes sedet quibus nos in Catholica Unitate connectimur a quibus vos nefario furore separastis Contra Lit. Petiliani l. 2. c. 51. And therefore 4. Nothing can hence be inferred for the Supremacy of Peter more than for the Supremacy of James or any other Apostle If any shall ask why St. Austin in case he did not ascribe some preeminence to the Church of Rome should mention that rather than the Church of Antioch of Jerusalem Or why he did not chuse to instance in the Church of Carthage rather than in any other The Answer is obvious To the first because the Church of Rome was at that time the most famous and of greatest esteem of any Church in the World To the second because the Donatists objected against the Church of Carthage and other African Churches that the Succession of Bishops had been in them interrupted by Traditors whereas they could not pretend this against the Church of Rome ‖ Is Casaub Exercit. 16. n. 149. P. 540. SECT II. All that the Discussor contends for
in it than they For instance the King promises to A in particular to give him a Captains place he afterwards promises the same Preferment to A B C D E F together A because the Promise was first made to him alone must either alone be made Captain and B C D E F excluded or if B C D E F be made Captains A because it was first promised to him must be made their Colonel or General These are good Consequences by the Discussor's Logick and therefore he spae more Truth than perhaps he was aware of when he said that Disputation was an Employment not only discordant to his Temper but surmounting his Abilities I have said enough to ruin the first Proposition Proposition II. The second is this that Peter received the Keys immediately from Christ but the other Apostles from or by him Peter says he did not receive them so as to retain them solely to himself but to communicate them to the other Apostles * Pag. 162. And again they then may be said to receive the Keys secondarily derivatively participatively by their associating adhering and communicating with him their Head †Ibid. The Falseness of which is so manifest that one would think none but a Man who had never read the New Testament could have the Face to offer it to those that have for can any thing be more evident than that these words Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven c. were spoken by Christ himself immediately to all the Apostles And when that Power was actually conferr'd that was here promised was it Peter or Christ that said to them As my Father hath sent me so send I you c. Whose Sins ye remit they are remitted and whose Sins ye retain they are retained Was it not Christ that said to them immediately Go into all the World and preach the Gospel to every Creature But instead of multiplying Proofs from Scripture I shall rather send him to his Master Bellarmine whom in this Point he deserts That the Apostles received their Jurisdiction immediately from Christ and not from St. Peter he proves by four Arguments 1st By those Words of Christ As my Father hath sent me so send I you Which place says he the Fathers Chrysostom and Theophylact so expound that they plainly say that the Apostles were made by these words the Vicars of Christ yea that they received the very Office and Authority of Christ 2dly By the choice of Matthias into the place of the Traitor Judas For we read Acts 1. that Matthias was not chosen an Apostle by the Apostles but his Election being begg'd and obtain'd from God he was numbred among the Apostles But surely if all the Apostles had their Jurisdiction from Peter that ought most especially to have been shewn in Matthias 3dly It is proved from St. Paul who professedly teaches that he had his Authority and Jurisdiction from Christ and thence proves himself to be a true Apostle Gal. 1. And that he might shew that he received not his Authority from Peter or the other Apostles he saith When it pleased him who separated me from my Mother's Womb and call'd me by his Grace to reveal his Son in me that I might preach him among the Gentiles immediately I conferr'd not with Flesh and Blood c. 4thly By evident Reason For the Apostles were made by Christ only as appears Luke 6. He call'd his Disciples and chose out of them twelve whom he named Apostles c. But that the Apostles had Jurisdiction is manifest by the Acts of St. Paul who 1 Cor. 5. excommunicates and 1 Cor. 6 7 11 13. and frequently elsewhere makes Laws and also because the Apostolical Dignity is the first and supreme Dignity in the Church as is manifest 1 Cor. 12. Ephes 4. c. I think Bellarmine hath said more than enough for the Confutation of the second Proposition ‖ De Rom. Pontif l. 4. c. 23. I therefore proceed Proposition III. That the Power of the Keys communicated to the other Apostles was inferior and subordinate to a higher degree of it in St. Peter so says the Discussor I shall here only maintain the inequality inferiority and subordination of this Power in the other Apostles to an higher sublimer and compleater degree of it in Peter * Pag. 162. But that there was no such inferiority or subordination in the other Apostles as he vainly fancies will soon appear by consulting that place where the power of the Keys before promised was actually given to St. Peter The words by which it was conveyed are these As my Father sent me so send I you and he breathed on them and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost whose soever Sins ye remit they are remitted and whose soever Sins ye retain they are retained †John 20. 21 22 23. In which words we have these two things First That the power of the Keys is here given to the Apostle Secondly That this Power is here given equally to Peter and the other Apostles that is in as high a degree to the other Apostles as it was promised to Peter Matth. 16. 19. First That the power of the Keys is here given all those who own the Doctrine Authority of the Church of Rome and by consequence the Discussor himself will be forced to grant 1. Because this is expresly taught by the Fathers 2. Because it is also taught by the Roman Catechism and the Council of Trent 1. This is no new Conceit of Hereticks but it is expresly taught by the Fathers whose unanimous Judgment in the interpreting of Scripture every Priest of the Church of Rome as I said before is by solemn Oath obliged to follow If that which is said says Origen I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven be common why not all the rest BUT IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN OUR SAVIOUR GIVING THE HOLY GHOST BY BREATHING SAYS RECEIVE YE THE HOLY GHOST ‖ Tractat. 1. in Matth. The Lord says Cyprian speaks to Peter I say unto thee And altho to all the Apostles after his Resurrection he gives equal Power and says AS MY FATHER SENT ME SO SEND I YOU * De Unitat. Eccles All the Apostles says Gaudentius upon Christ's Resurrection receive the Keys in Peter nay rather they receive with Peter from our Lord himself the Keys of the Heavenly Kingdom when he saith to them Receive ye the Holy Ghost whose Sins ye remit c. †Postea vero pro commisso scelere jam damnato Juda omnes Apostoli Christo surgente in Petro claves accipiunt Quinimo cum Petro caelestis regni claves ab ipso Domino accipiunt quando ait illis Accipite Spiritum sanctum c. Tract quem prima die ordinat quorund Civ Notarii accep That ye may know says Austin that the Church received the KEYS of the Kingdom of Heaven hear in another place what the Lord says to all his
sententiam nimis subtiliter probando perdidit In loc Is not the word used in Scripture in both numbers without any the least difference in sense For instance St. Matthew says when Jesus was baptiz'd the Heavens were opened ‖ Matth. 3. 16. St. Luke says the Heaven was opened * Luke 3. 21. Yea the same Evangelist uses them both indifferently In the Lord's Prayer the word is plural in the Introduction singular in the third Petition both in St. Matthew and Luke and in both used in the same sense And so far were the Fathers from making any difference between them that they on the contrary frequently express Matth. 18. 18. in the plural Number and Matth. 16. 19. in the singular as Chamier hath proved at large †Panstrat Cathol tom 2. de Oecum Pontif. l. 11. c. 13. But granting his Argument to be nothing yet it is evident from hence says the Discussor that Origen did believe Peter to be more eminent and to surmount the rest in the Power of the Keys ‖ Pag. 163. This is not more evident than it is from the place immediately before-cited that he believed the contrary But suppose as Maldonate says that he was in this a Dissenter from all the other Fathers as in many other Points he was shall his sole Judgment and that grounded upon a childish Error be of more Authority with us than the more solid Judgment of all the rest And why should we value his Judgment in this more than the Romanists do in that which immediately follows viz. That by how much the better any Man is by so much the greater power he hath of binding and loosing which in the Church of Rome is no less than Heresy But the Truth is this place of Origen is nothing to the Purpose For he doth not here compare Peter to the rest of the Apostles to whom he supposed the Power of the Keys was equally given Matth. 16. but to those private Christians only who should thrice admonish their offending Brother he supposing the Words Matth. 18. 18. to be directed to those alone who told their Brother of his fault as will be evident to every one who shall impartially consider the place The next Father he quotes is St. Hilary And how does it appear that he gives a larger Portion of the Keys to Peter than to the other Apostles Thus that whereas he calls the other Apostles Janitores Coeli the Door-Keepers of Heaven he calls Peter by way of Transcendency O Beatus Coeli Janitor O blessed Door-Keeper of Heaven Is not this Demonstration It might pass for such with the Discussor had not St. Hilary in another place unluckily given the same Title and another too as high to all the Apostles You O HOLY AND BLESSED MEN who for the merit of your Faith have obtained the KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN c. * Vos O sancti et beati viri ob fidei vestrae meritum claves regni Coeloruin sortiti et ligandi atque solvendi in Coelo et in terra jus adepti de Trinitat l. 6. Col. 74. Edit Paris 1631. What is this but to call them all the Holy and Blessed Door-Keepers of Heaven But the Discussor says He likewise affirms him advanced above the rest Advanc'd in what If he speak to the Purpose in the Power of the Keys How does he prove it By these Words Quia solus respondit caeteris Apostolis silentibus supereminentem fidei suae Confessione locum promeruit But what if the Word locum be not in Hilary What shall I think of his foisting in one Word for another Was not the Action unworthy and disingenuous in him especially who pretends so much to Truth and honest Dealing The best Palliation I can make for him is that he found it in Bellarmine †De Rom. Pontif. l. 1. c. 12. St. Hilary's words are these Qui in cunctorum Apostolorum silentio Dei silium revelatione Patris intelligens ultra humanae infirmitatis modum supereminentem Beatae Fidei suae confessione Gloriam promeruit ‖ De Trinitate l. 6. col 78. How wide is the difference between these words and those of the Discussor It was pity he omitted the word Beatae because from thence he might have observ'd the transcendency of Peter's Faith. But that which I observe is That instead of Locum St. Hilary hath Gloriam Now since he was of opinion though different from all that went before him that Peter alone at that time knew the Divinity of Christ by a special Revelation from God what can he mean by this supereminent Glory but that he obtained the honor of confessing Christ's Divinity while the other Apostles were as yet ignorant of it But it is observable that whereas he affirms the other Apostles to have received the Keys of Fidei suae meritum he asserts in his Comments on Matth. 13. Petrum fide caeteros anteisse From whence he infers That he having a greater portion of Faith consequently had a larger power of the Keys But nothing can be more evident than that Hilary does not mean by anteisse that Peter had a greater Portion of Faith than the rest but that his Faith was before theirs in time the words immediately following being these For the rest not knowing it he first answered Thou art the Son of the living God * Nam ignorantibus caeteris primus respondit Tu es Filius Dei Vivi Comment in Matth. Can. 14. But is it the Doctrine of the Church of Rome that a Bishop hath the power of the Keys more or less in proportion to the measure of his Faith If so then supposing Peter had a Supremacy of Power the Pope cannot succeed him therein unless he succeed him also in the Supremacy of his Faith And I fear the Discussor will be hardly put to it to name any one Pope whose Faith hath surmounted that of all other Bishops The five next Testimonies viz. those of St. Ambrose though no such words as those he quotes are in Serm. 66. Cyril Basil Chrysostom Cyprian are all impertinent because they only affirm simply that the Keys were given or entrusted to Peter So Ambrose He it is that received the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven So Cyril Peter bearing the Keys of Heaven c. There is nothing of comparison in any of these Quotations between Peter and the other Apostles nothing to insinuate that he hath the Keys in a higher degree than they If any thing be hence inferr'd it must be this That Peter had the Keys solely because they seem to speak exclusively of the other Apostles But that this cannot be their meaning the Discussor himself grants †Pag. 158 159 161 162. That they cannot mean that he had this Power in a higher degree than the other Apostles is as evident because the very same Fathers make him and the rest equal in this Power What then is the reason why they speak