your Policy found it expedient to imitate you as far as Truth and Christian Charity would permit them And this may suffice also to apologize for my using it in my Preface It now remains Sir that I speak to another thing which seem'd to disturb you which is Whether I am a Lay-man or a Clergy-man For I find you wavering about it and therefore I 'll endeavour to fix you tho' in a doubtful case Why should not Charity have inclin'd you that brag of so much to believe me when I profess my self a Lay-man Well but I speak so like a Clergy-man so almost in the very Words and Phrases of a Doctor of my Church and another Doctor mention'd in your Last Reâ—ly that you cannot but take what I say for Church-sence dropping through a Lay-Pen Sir I must needs thank you for the Honour you do me in taking me to speak like such great Men but I have not Vanity enough to believe that I do Yet thus much I 'll confess that I desire to live no longer than I can if not speak yet love and admire the Church of England-Sence But is it impossible for a Lay-man to speak like a Clergy-man Does Holy Orders make such a difference Or do you imagine I have never read any of our Churches Writers Why may not then my Mind be tinctured by them And so what I speak or write bear some resemblance to them Is there not many a Son like his Father And how do you know but I am the Son of a Clergy-man and so by Blood derive something of their way of Writing But to make an end I fancy Sir that you or whoever was the Author of the First Part of the Papist Misrepresented c. and some others of your Church have found to your Grief and Shame that either of these Doctors you speak of could if they had pleas'd to have undertaken so mean a Work have writ another sort of a Preface than I have done to the disadvantage of the French Popery now imitated in England Let the meanness of the Performance prevail over you to believe that neither of them made it But indeed you are injurious to them to fancy they would be guilty of such indirect dealing No no Sir the Divines of the Church of England have a better Cause they need use no Arts or Tricks no feign'd Miracles no bold Untruths no malicious Whispers and Slanders to support and defend it nor put Shams upon the World This Practice is none of theirs and if you please that may be added as a Mark to prove ours a True Church And indeed I could easily perswade my self to believe that your own Practice and that of your Party was in your Thoughts when this Fancy entred into your Brain But in a word and to put you out of pain about these two Doctors for I cannot blame you for dreading them I do assure you that neither of them made that Preface and once more that I who now write this Letter am a Lay-man and writ that Preface such as ' t is And if I could but be infallibly certain that the old Popery was alter'd in the point of Malice Revenge and seeking occasion against those who never so little oppose or hinder the Designs of Rome I would give you entire satisfaction in this Particular and not only tell you my Name but where I live But because I cannot get out of my Thoughts some late Actions and that hard Usage of the brave Author of Wholsom Advices c. I fear lest Old Popery may be practic'd upon me too and therefore think it but common Prudence to conceal my self For to tell you true I am not yet weary of that little Happiness I enjoy But Sir you make your Misrepresenter tell the World that I am dabling out of my Element by which one would think that after all you believ'd I am a Lay-man Well but how out of my Element May not a Lay-man tell Truth and do good to his Neighbour's Soul Is God's Spirit is all Knowledge limitted to Holy Orders Because there are some Functions appropriated to Clergy-men such as Administring the Sacraments c. does it therefore follow that a Lay-man may neither write nor discourse of any Matters of Religion Pray Sir does that Command Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self oblige Lay-men as well as Clergy-men If it does and since I may edifie my self why I beseech you not another And can a Man express his Charity to his Neighbour in a higher manner than in Spiritual Things But the Arguments are infinite which might be us'd in this Case And therefore I shall only ask you whether Tertullian and Origen and many other of the Ancient Fathers writ not about Religion when they were Lay-men Nay more did not Pope Adrian and Pope Nicholas admit Laymen into Councils And pray what was Picus Mirandula but an Earl and meer Lay-man and Sir Thomas More Lord Chancellor of England But above all what was that Prince who wrote against Luther for which the Pope thought fit to bestow the Title of Defender of the Faith upon him But indeed why should it seem strange that you and your Church should find fault with Lay-men's medling in Controversies of Religion especially against you when you dare totally bar Lay-mens reading the Holy Scriptures for which they have a Command from God Search the Scriptures and perswade them to put out their Eyes and throw away their Reason which God and Nature has given them to be their Guide through this deceitful World And yet I dare say that if a Lay-man would undertake so knotty a piece of Work as to write in Defence of your Church that you would not tell him that he was dabling out of his Element tho' he were no better than a Profligate Poet. I pass over your unhandsom Language and 't is below me to return it But I cannot but stand amaz'd to find a Member of the Church of Rome and a Maintainer of the Doctrine of Transubstantiation make his Misrepresenter say That the Protestant Teachers know the People they have to deal with That their discerning Faculties are stupify'd That they 'll pass over fifty Contradictions without once stumbling and that there 's no fear of enquiring How can this be No Sir the Teachers of the Church of England are not guilty of this Tyranny We are Members of a Church that invites all her Children to the highest Attainment of Knowledge and teaches them that a reasonable Service is the most acceptable to God and imposes nothing upon them that either destroys or contradicts their Reason and Senses that not only allows her Children to read the Holy Scriptures but beseeches them to do it provided they do it with a modest Dependence on their lawful Teachers for the sence of some Texts which may not be so clear to Persons who are unacquainted with the Proprieties of the Languages in which the Holy Scriptures were writ and the Customs
in Christo manere ut in illo maneat Christus Sic enim hoc dicit tanquam diceret Qui non in me manet in quo ego non maneo non se dicat aut existimet manducare Corpus meum aut bibere Sanguinem meum De Civit. Dei lib. 21. c. 25. For neither are they to be said to eat the Body of Christ because neither are they to be accounted amongst his Members For to omit other things they cannot be both the Members of Christ and the Members of an Harlot Lastly himself saying He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him sheweth what it is to eat the Body of Christ and drink his Blood not by the Sacrament but verily and indeed for this is to dwell in Christ so as that Christ dwelleth in him For his speaking this was as if he had said He that dwelleth not in me and in whom I dwell not should not say or think that he eateth my Flesh or drinketh my Blood Now the Persons here spoken of were Christians of vicious Lives who yet received the Sacrament and continued in the Communion of the Church to the last But since St. Austin denying that they ate the Body of Christ in Truth even when they received the Sacrament does also affirm that Christ spake of receiving his Body in Truth only when he said He that eateth my Flesh c. it seems evidently to follow that when St. Austin wrote these Passages he did not understand those places in St. John of Sacramental Eating Finally by comparing this place with the former it is plain also that to eat and drink Christ Spiritually and to eat and drink him in Truth and Reality was in St. Austin's Judgment all one and consequently that we may really eat the Flesh of Christ and drink his Blood though we do it not corporeally These Passages of this Father I have the rather insisted upon because I have affirmed in the Notes that he would not allow that a wicked Man is truly a partaker of the Body and Blood of Christ which is evident from these Passages tho I have produced them chiefly to shew what his most deliberate Thoughts were concerning the sense of the sixth Chapter of St. John But after all though I verily think that I could make out a Title to the Consent of All the Fathers with vastly more probability than those who claim it for the other Opinion yet suppose that they have these three that are cited last and as many more as they can name with any colour what would they get by it if notwithstanding these Fathers did not believe that the Natural Flesh of Christ was properly eaten and his Blood properly drank by the Faithful in the Eucharist What if they believed the Substance of Bread and Wine to remain in the Sacrament and that Christ himself could be fed upon by the Mind only and therefore that these words themselves Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man c. though spoken of the Sacrament were not properly but figuratively to be understood If this be so they have lost their main Cause and have taken a great deal of pains to be where they were at first and this Dispute whether the Church has always understood the Eucharist to be directly intended by our Saviour in the mentioned Passages is lost as to any Advantage that Transubstantiation can get by it That the Substance of Bread and Wine remain after Consecration is manifest from (r) Epist ad Caecilium St. Cyprian and that Christ is fed upon by the Mind only from (s) In Isai cap. 3. St Basil to whom I refer you that I may not be over-tedious especially since for the present one Testimony of St. Augustin may serve the turn Observe therefore these words of his concerning the Exposition of Scripture-Phrases (t) Si praeceptiva est locutio aut flagitium aut facinus vetans aut beneficentiam jubens non est Figurata Si autem Flagitium aut Facinus videtur juberi aut utilitatem aut beneficentiam vetare Figurata est Nisi manducaveritis inquit carnem filii hominis sanguinem biberitis vitam in vobis non habebitis Facinus vel Flagitium videtur Jubere Figura ergo est praecipiens Passioni Domini esse communicandum suaviter atque utiliter in memoriâ recondendum quod caro ejus pro nobis crucifixa vulnerata sit De Doctrinâ Christianâ lib. 3. c. 16. If the Saying be preceptive either forbidding a wicked Action or commanding to do that which is good it is no figurative saying But if it seems to command any Villany or Wickedness or to forbid what is profitable and good it is Figurative This saying Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood ye have no Life in you seems to command a villanous or wicked thing It is therefore a FIGVRE enjoyning us to communicate in the Passion of our Lord and to lay it up in dear and profitable remembrance that his Flesh was crucified and wounded for our sakes The vast pains that have been taken to avoid this Testimony are a convincing Argument that Prejudice may grow to that strength as to be invincible You will confess I doubt not that this Passage so plainly shews St. Austin's perswasion in this matter that as it needs no words to illustrate it so it is capable of no Answer to the purpose To come to a Conclusion As I have shewn that several Fathers did not understand the mentioned Words of our Saviour as spoken of the Eucharist so I could shew that very many Doctors of the Roman Communion have declared against it amongst whom Cardinal Cajetan for his singular Merit and because I have referred to his Reasons in my Notes ought to be particularly remembred In his Commentary upon V. 53. Verily verily I say c. he comes to speak of a third Sence viz. of Sacramental eating by worthy Receivers And says he the Sence is this Except ye really eat the Flesh of the Son of Man in the Sacrament of the Host and drink his Blood in the Sacrament of the Chalice you have no Life in you So that according to this sence not only the Sacrament of Baptism but the Sacrament of the Eucharist also under both kinds is necessary to Salvation But the usage of the Church is repugnant to this sence since she does not give the Communion to Infants at all nor to the People under both kinds and not only the Usage but the Doctrine of the Church too because she teaches that 't is sufficient to Salvation to communicate under the Species of Bread And tho' this Authority be sufficient to shew that the Text does not deliver a Precept of receiving the Sacrament in both kinds and consequently that it does not deliver a Precept of eating and drinking the Sacrament of the Eucharist yet the Bohemians are not satisfied
shall yield an everlasting Profit and an Increase that he shall live upon it for ever But then says the Apostle Be not deceived God is not mocked for as a Man soweth he shall also reap Tho' a Cup of cold Water given to a Disciple in the name of a Disciple shall not lose its Reward i. e. when either more is not in the hand of him that gives or no farther need in him that receives yet so small a thing is Mockery where there is greater need on the one side and ability to answer it on the other This being remembred it remains true what our Saviour said He that receiveth and therefore he that relieveth a Righteous Man in the name of a Righteous Man or because he is a Righteous Man shall receive a Righteous Man's Reward For to him in some part the Righteous Man's Thankfulness to God and the support of his Faith and Dependence upon God and the making of his perseverance therein more easie and the rescuing him out of Temptation may in good measure be imputed Now Brethren we have in this Life only the opportunity of sowing to the Spirit in this manner and of making Friends to our selves of the Mammon of this World that when it fails we may be received into everlasting Habitations and of turning the things of this World which so often betray Men to Perdition into the Instruments of our Salvation Let us therefore often consider those Words and Exhortations of St. Paul and that when our Reckoning comes to be cast up at the end of our Lives there will be no longer any Profit or Comfort in what we have worn and eaten and drank but we shall find that to be true The Belly for Meats and Meats for the Belly but God will destroy both it and them But that the remembrance of the Good we have done to All Men and especially to the Houshold of Faith will be sweet and pleasant to us and that the Reward of it will endure for ever Therefore my beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the Work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your Labour is not in vain in the Lord. A LETTER CONCERNING Protestants Charity to Papists Published by W. Claget D. D. SIR I Find that the Translation of the Wholsom Advices from the Blessed Virgin c. which may have help'd to settle the Minds of others has something discompos'd yours For though you are not I dare say pleas'd with the Protestant Preface to it yet however you dissemble your pain Wise Men say that you bite that Preface for grief of the Translation I cannot but admire the Art of you Gentlemen of the Church of Rome in running down Books with bold Contempt which you know not otherwise how to deal with This Translation and Preface for some Reasons is an Eye-sore to you and chiefly for helping to spoil the new Fashion of maintaining Popery by Representing it Something therefore must be done with it and so a little part of the Preface which did not belong neither to the main Design of the Book must be singled out and be made an Example As for all the rest 't is sufficiently answer'd by saying Must I set up for Reader of Anatomy upon all the Pamphlets that come into the World I am highly obliged to you for the Kindness but I think the Scavenger has much the better Office who has nothing but Dirt and Sinks to deal with much less offensive than to be always raking into filthy Calumnies fulsom Incongruities and noysom Impertinencies Which kind of Language one would hardly use but out of a great desire to be unanswerable one way or other After this touch upon the whole you come to touch at some Particulars which seem to fall within your Province of Representing or rather to touch at something which you were the better provided to touch because you had in the very same manner toucht it before in your Fourth Vindication of the First Part. The Particular is That Papists allow no less a possibility of Salvation to Protestants than Protestants do to Papists Now although this is all that I am concerned to oppose yet I shall offer a few Words to your Preparatory Discourse in which you pretend to shew what good Reason you have to pronounce against the Possibility of Salvation amongst us or rather in the new fashion'd Phrase that we as Protestants are guilty of Sins inconsistent with Salvation inasmuch as we are separated from your Communion The short of what you say is That after most serious Considerations and the weighing of all Reasons the Papist believes the Roman Church in which he is to be that one only holy Catholick Church and therefore he does not question but what is truly affirm'd of the Church of the Apostles and succeeding Ages and those that fell from it is most true of the same Church now in being of which he is a Member and of all those who separate from it upon what Pretext soever Now it had been much more to the purpose to have produc'd those serious Considerations than to have spent so much time as you did to prove what none of us make the least Question of viz. That Christ establish'd a Catholick Church that he committed the Care of it to the Apostles that they were inspir'd with the knowledge of Truth that they left Pastors to govern and feed the Flock after their Decease and that the Promise of Salvation is made to Believers exclusively to Unbelievers This I say is all very true but not to your purpose unless you had prov'd also what you do but insinuate That we have separated our selves from the Doctrine and Government of the Church of Christ Which Words I wonder that you were not afraid to use when they lay so fair to be turn'd upon your selves For we are no less sure that many of your Doctrines are no parts of the Doctrine of that Church and that Rome's being the Mother and Mistress of all Churches was not the Government of that Church over which the Apostles were c. Overseers for their time than we are that such a Church was established in the World And therefore if they who separate themselves from the Doctrine and Government of the Church of Christ as it was first establish'd cannot hope for Salvation Pray look to your selves as to that Point instead of contending that you are the only Catholick Church out of which there is no hope of Salvation As to what you would insinuate that there must be in the Church a Succession of Pastors to the Worlds end who should no more err in teaching than the Apostles themselves did and that your Church has that Succession I must tell you as to the first that it is by no means proved from John 14. v. 16. since what is there promis'd to the Apostles is not promis'd to the Church of all Ages so as it was to the Apostles The Spirit of God abode
be so kind if not to me yet to your self to reconcile these Sayings with what you say viz. That there is no Papists but what will grant such Protestants hopes of Salvation who living piously and repenting sincerely of all Offences and through invincible Ignorance remain in that Communion Where 's the Truth and Honesty now of your Assertion That there is No Papist c. When I have already produced three and perhaps if I pleas'd could name three hundred What do you call this amongst you We call it contradicting one another Well however pray observe here 's two sorts of Popery But which must a Man rely on for Orthodox The Old or the New Popery I must confess I am inclin'd to believe the New to be the best but certainly the Old Popery is the true standing Doctrine of the Church of Rome But suppose we stood in need of the New what should we be the better for 't unless the Concession were stampt with the Fishers Seal For you that deal it out to the World are but a private obscure Man and your Church is no more bound to stand to what you say than mine is to what I say unless it be Truth This that you grant at best is but a sign that you have a better Opinion of the Protestant Religion than the generality of your Writers But to let this pass I will now prove this Truth beyond any possible Reply viz. That Papists deny Salvation to Protestants remaining such and that Protestants grant a Possibility of it to Papists remaining such And therefore by consequence the first must needs be on the uncharitable and the last on the charitable side And this I shall do by shewing that our Charity is so great to the Papists and their want of it so apparent to us that they have abus'd it into an Argument against us And this is so notoriously true that the Papists are not asham'd to boast of it in their Writings and Conversation thinking thereby to draw weak Persons that cannot consider where the Cheat of the Argument lies to be of their Church And with this deceitful Argument which they have fram'd from our Excess of Charity to them and their want of it to us I have heard them make a great noise and tell of the mighty Feats it has done But certainly it was amongst such as had thrown away all their Reason and Sense or else if there had been no other thing to recommend the Church of England they would have thought that to be the best and safest Church which eminently has the very Beauty and Form of Christian Religion viz. Charity which the Church of England so constantly and largely maintains and practises But the Argument is this You Protestants confess Salvation may be had in the Romish Church but we Papists utterly deny it to yours therefore by the Confession of both sides those that are in our Church are safe but there is great question concerning Protestants remaining such for none but themselves say they can be saved What think you now Sir of the Protestants Charity and the Papists want of it Is here any Provision made for poor Protestants by Invincible Ignorance If this does not prove that Protestants have some Charity for Papists and they none at all for us Protestants I do not know what can And that you could be ignorant of these things and this Argument so commonly us'd by your Men when they would deceive the well-meaning People of our Church you must excuse me if I cannot believe it With what Face then Sir could you tell the gaping Multitude as you think fit to call the poor honest People That Papists do not advance the Damnation of Protestants one Ace farther against them than the Protestants against Papists and that the Doctrine of Protestants in this affair is the same in reference to each other and the Protestants are as uncharitable Damners of the Papists as they are made to be of the Protestants And now the matter being brought to this Issue pray Sir tell me who are the uncharitable Damners Thunderers of Hell and Damnation Who imposes upon the People who are the injurious Slanderers And who is it that render the Papists black and odious for their Vncharitableness but the Papists themselves Certainly Sir if your Eye-sight had not been horribly indispos'd with the malignant Influence of Rome you would have seen that the unchristian Damners are the Papists only For shame learn tho' late to maintain your Cause by Truth and Charity or let it perish But I foresee that you may take it a little ill that our Charity extends not to the Learned and Judicious in the number of which I dare say you reckon your self Now for these Persons who are to consider whether they know or believe such and such things to be false which yet for Worldly Ends they maintain for Truths or after an honest diligent search cannot by any means discover them to be Errors hindred by Prepossession Education c. For these last Persons I cannot see why Invincible Ignorance will not comprehend them as well as the ordinary and unlearned People For I cannot tell what Invincible Ignorance is unless it be this That after all our best Endeavours according to our utmost Ability and Means we yet cannot discern which is Error and which is Truth But now for the first sort who maintain known Errors for Truths against their Conscience only for Secular Advantages in the number of which I pray God you be not what would you have us believe or say of them God Almighty Himself has made no Provision that we know of for bold wilful and impenitent Sinners We judge no Man that hath a Master to stand and fall to Charity hopeth all things And I must tell you my Mind freely for I have vow'd to follow Truth and Charity where-ever they lead me That I think it had been better and more like Christians if no Member of either Church had medled with the Events of things and leap'd into God's Judgmens-seat and pronounc'd final Sentence upon Souls That certainly being a Secret and Prerogative peculiar to God who only is the Searcher of Mens Hearts knows all things and has an absolute Dominion over his Creatures and can do all that his Justice his Goodness and his Mercy wills Had the Pastors of each Church done no more but barely and plainly done the Truths of God or what they sincerely believ'd to be so and left the Judgment of Persons to him that always judgeth right they had doubtless done their Duty But 't is evident the Men of your Church first us'd it to work upon Mens Passions and what they could not perswade their Understandings to for want of Truth and Reason they were resolv'd to do it by frighting of them For 't is too apparent that more are sway'd by Fear than Love more are drawn by their Affections and Passions than by their Reason and some of our Church-men to countermine
And from the bottom of my heart I give thanks to Almighty God that I have had my Education in the Communion of a Church which at the same time that it prescribes to me a Rule of Doctrine and Worship does give me full liberty to enquire all manner of ways whether she has dealt sincerely with me or not Under the Discipline of so honest a Church I trust that I have learn'd to be an honest Man For though I am as confident of the main Question as I desire to be yet I have and by the Grace of God always will have a quiet Reserve for better Information And I shall not count him an Enemy but a Friend that both can and will discover my Mistakes For which Reason I have obeyed your Advice and asked the leave of my Superiors to let these plain Thoughts go into the World And I let them go much rather desiring that they may meet with Contradiction than Approbation in any part where they ought to be contradicted Nay I will not refuse to make allowance for them who cannot oppose an Adversary without Huffing and Vanity If I can see that they offer though but a little Reason I will readily acknowledge it or if they offer none at all let them but seem to believe what they say and they shall not go without a Reply As for that Sense which I have not without good Authority offered of those Passages in this Chapter concerning the Father's drawing and giving Men to Christ if it does not equally please all Persons I hope they who are otherwise minded will not be displeased with me when I have declared that I shall no longer care for it when any Man shall lead my Understanding to a better Sir I have but one thing more to say Let you and I observe and follow the Moral Instructions of this Chapter which if all would do I am confident none of us should run into any dangerous Mistake about the meaning of any part of it Our Lord hath said it That if any man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God In paraphrasing our Saviour's Discourses here I could not but observe how apt it was to infuse a truly wise honest and godly Temper into the Minds of his Hearers And therefore for a Conclusion I added to the Paraphrase what I thought was a suitable Exhortation that whilst we may happen to dispute about the sense of some more difficult Passages in this Chapter we may not forget to make the great Design of it the Subject of our Practice And so I commend you to the Grace of God and rest Your most c. The Sixth Chapter of St. JOHN The ARGUMENT This Chapter begins with a Narrative of the miraculous feeding of Five Thousand in the Wilderness and consisteth wholly of those Passages that happened upon this occasion The People were so overjoyed with the Miracle that they resolved to make Jesus a King which he avoided and secretly went to Capernaum But they not so satisfied followed him thither the next day when he took another course to prevent their design and that by reproving their worldly-mindedness and by calling them off from the Cares and Pleasures of this Life to mind Heavenly Things and everlasting Life which so turned their Stomachs against him that they fell to cavil at his Sayings and to disparage his Miracles by setting up the Manna wherewith Moses had fed their Fathers against his feeding them the day before Whereupon he inculcated two things upon them with great Earnestness The one was this That they might gain eternal Life by Him and his Doctrine which he therefore called the Bread of Life and the Bread that came down from Heaven and therefore that it was a vain thing in them to challenge him with Moses's giving their Fathers that Bread from Heaven which served only to sustain a mortal Life The other was this That they had sufficient Evidence of his coming from God but that they believed not because of their worldly Prejudices against him Whereupon he tells them that God had committed no other Persons to his effectual Care to convince and save them but such only who were disposed to receive the Truth by an honest Mind and that himself was not bound to conquer the obstinacy of unteachable Men. Notwithstanding all which they proceeded to cavil at his Sayings and because in allusion to the Loaves he had multiplied and to that Manna which they boasted of he had called himself the Bread of Life and in pursuance of such Figurative Speeches he did also express believing in him and trusting in his Death c. by eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood They exclaimed against him as if he had in the literal sense offered his Flesh to be eaten some of his own Disciples also understanding him in that manner To whom indeed he explained himself But for all that upon his free Reproof of their insincerity they left him And then he proved the Constancy of his Twelve Apostles permitting them also to go if they were not willing to stay shewing withal that he understood who were sincere and who were not The Chapter V. 1. AFter these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee which is the Sea of Tiberias V. 2. And a great multitude follow'd him because they saw his Miracles which he did upon them that were diseased V. 3. And Jesus went up into a Mountain and there he sat with his Disciples V. 4. And the Passover a Feast of the Jews was nigh V. 5. When Jesus then lift up his eyes and saw a great company come to him he saith unto Philip Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat V. 6. And this he said to prove him for he himself knew what he would do V. 7. Philip answered him Two hundred penny-worth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one of them may take a little V. 8. One of his Disciples Andrew Simon Peters Brother saith unto him V. 9. There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes but what are they among so many V. 10. And Jesus said Make the men sit down Now there was much grass in the place So that men sat down in number about five thousand V. 11. And Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks he distributed to the Disciples and the Disciples to them that were set down and likewise of the fishes as much as they would V. 12. When they were filled he said unto his Disciples Gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost V. 13. Therefore they gathered them together and filled twelve Baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten V. 14. Then those men when they had seen the miracle which Jesus did said This is of a truth that Prophet which was to come into the world V. 15. When Jesus therefore perceived
Christ's speaking to them so much about it as he did For if it was not their own fault that they were not inwardly prepared and if it was impossible for them to do any thing considerable towards it his Reproof had seemed something unreasonable and unjust and if they had so understood it they had not been wanting to tell him so 41. But the People were by no means pleased with what Jesus said for they expected he would give them Bread from Heaven as Moses had done for their Fathers v. 34. but now they plainly perceived that by the Bread of Life coming down from Heaven which he spake of he meant Himself and his Doctrine v. 35. and that instead of feeding their Bodies he promised them everlasting Life which they were not greatly concerned about And upon this disappointment they again set themselves to disparage him all they could 42. And said one to another Why does this Man whom we know to be the Son of Joseph and Mary pretend such high things of himself How could he come from Heaven who was born into this World as other Men are and in as mean Circumstances as the most 43. To these Cavils Jesus answered Do not lose time by raising Difficulties about my Person and Doctrine There is another Work that lies upon your Hands which is at present more seasonable and necessary for you than to strain for Objections against what I say and that is to mend your Tempers to shake off your worldly Spirits to make eternal Life your End and sincerely to desire the Knowledge of that Way which leads to it 44. For if you are not thus qualified all my Sayings and Works will never convince you of the Truth For the Father did not send me into the World with any other Charge than that I should do what is abundantly sufficient to save Men of plain Honesty and sincere Intention which Dispositions therefore you should endeavour after and if by the Grace of God you obtain them then you will readily understand and embrace the Truth But till then you do but entangle your selves to no purpose And therefore I advise you to leave off objecting and disputing till you have learnt plain Duties and to become honest Men. And I tell you again I will take care that no such Persons shall want abundant means of Conviction and Salvation but they shall be my peculiar Charge from the time that they are so disposed till I shall raise them up at the last Day V. 44. St. Chrysostom observes that upon this saying the Manichees confidently affirmed that nothing was in our own Power For said they If a man comes to him what needs he to be drawn But says he this does not take away all power over our own Actions but rather shews that we stand in need of God's help and that not every negligent Person but he that takes great pains with himself will come to Christ The true sence of this Verse is more largely expressed in the Paraphrase and in Notes upon V. 37. 45. And these Admonitions I give you are warranted by the Prophets who have foretold that when the Kingdom of Christ shall begin to be established upon the Earth Men shall not want any reasonable means of Conviction for the saving of their Souls because God will then vouchsafe to appear more remarkably to instruct Men than ever he did since the World began And therefore if any Man remains in Unbelief or refuses to obey it cannot be for want of means to make him wise unto Salvation but for want of an humble and an honest Mind and a sincere Intention without which God's speaking to Men by his own Son will have no success upon them but will leave them as bad as they were before But because God is a Master in whom nothing can be wanting to instruct every one that desireth to know the Truth and to be saved will submit to the Doctrine of his Son and become his Disciple V. 45. The 54th Chapter of Isaiah containeth a Description of God's gracious Care and Providence over his Church one Instance whereof v. 33. is this And all thy Children shall be taught of God Which must needs imply these two things 1. That God would reveal that Truth which the Church should profess and this was eminently done by the Son of God himself coming down from Heaven to make it known and by the Holy Ghost inspiring the Apostles afterward 2. That God would abundantly satisfie Men by Divine Testimonies that he had sent his Son into the World for that purpose For these Reasons all that believe in Christ are taught of God Now the force of our Saviour's Argument from this Prediction lies in this If God hath promised to reveal to Men the knowledge of saving Truth and to convince them that he doth reveal it then no Man to whom this Revelation is made shall want sufficient means of Instruction and Conviction and consequently every Man that is not under the power of worldly Lusts and Interests will be effectually wrought upon by them And this freedom from such Prejudices our Lord here calls hearing and learning of the Father which is the same with being given or drawn to Christ the Phrase used before and this intimates that it is something we do towards the preparing our selves and that we may also hinder it For Hearing and Learning are voluntary Actions A Man may stop his Ears against Instruction and alienate his Mind from what is suggested to him Therefore something Men may do to attain that honest Heart which the Divine Inspiration worketh They may also quench this Work of the Holy Spirit The meaning of the whole is as if our Lord had said You must have God for your Master before you can be the Disciples of the Son You must be prepared by those qualities which there is no need of a new Revelation to teach you before you are fit to receive that Doctrine which the Son brings And now it is plain that these very Speeches and Reasonings of our Saviour tended to prepare them for Conviction and Faith For by shewing them the great need of a teachable Spirit in hearing and learning of God and what Blessings the want of this Disposition would bereave them of and by repeating and inculcating upon them that great Concernment of the Resurrection at the last Day he did what was most proper in it self to dispose them to a better Mind to weaken their Prejudices and to make them attend to those Testimonies of his coming from God which they had already seen instead of desiring more Signs which in the temper they were in at present would have done them no good if they had been granted 46. The meaning of which Scriptures is not that any Man shall be immediately taught by the Father For the Will of the Father is not thus to be manifested to any of you it being the Priviledge of the only begotten Son intimately to know his Mind
with the Apostles for ever that is so long as they liv'd to guide them into the knowledge of Truth and by them to guide the Church in all After-Ages There are many things in this Discourse of our Saviour to his Apostles which cannot be applied to any Age of the Church after theirs And therefore what is and what is not limited to them must be argued out from the Nature of the things themselves which are said And lastly though you will not have this Promise limited to the Persons of the Apostles but annext to their Function as in some sence I grant it may be yet you ought to have taken notice that the Promise is however limited by a Condition even in the Words foregoing and following the Promise If ye love me keep my Commandments and there the Condition is once express'd For it follows And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of Truth And now mark once again what follows Whom the World cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him Where if by the World be meant worldly and wicked Men as I believe you will grant you see here is no absolute Promise of such a Guidance to a Succession of Pastors as shall make it at any time of the Church Heresie to contradict whatsoever they teach or Schism to withdraw from their Obedience As to the last If you had prov'd such a Succession of Infallible Teachers as you speak of yet I tell you once more that the hardest part of your Task would be still behind which is to prove That you have had all along and still have that Succession which I desire you to do in your next if you can if it be but for the Instruction of a Lay-man that desires to be led into all Truth necessary or even profitable for his Salvation And because I would not have you lose your labour I will open my greatest Difficulty against this Belief I am sure you cannot go about this Work without taking Scripture in to furnish out your Argument Now I desire you to bring me such Scriptures which shall at least make it as evident that your Church was always to have a Succession of Infallible Teachers as it is to me from divers other Scriptures evident that your Pastors have most certainly contradicted the Doctrine of the Scriptures And when you have done this you shall hear farther from me In the mean time your loose Affirmations concerning the Catholick Church have been so often answered that you need not wonder that a Lay-man of our Church can tell what to say to them But to come to that wherein I am particularly concern'd You are disturb'd at my saying That the Worship Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome are so extreamly dangerous that nothing but Invincible Ignorance of which God only can judge can give us any reasonable hopes of their Salvation who live and die in their Communion Now surely the uncharitableness of this does not lie in supposing that Invincible Ignorance will be pleadable in this Case for 't is a Plea which will go a great way amongst those of the Roman Communion which I say with the more Confidence because in the Romish Countries where I have been the People seem to me to have the fairest Claim to the benefit of Ignorance that can be well imagin'd amongst Christians Now since at last you are brought in this Pamphlet of yours to agree with Protestants that Ignorance will save Men and that we yield the greatest part of the People have an indisputable Right to it are not the Protestants charitable to a high degree If this will not please you I do not know what will Surely Sir you do not expect that Protestants should believe and say that you with all your Errors about you are in as safe a way to Salvation as they themselves who have renounced them If this could be what I pray ye made our Fore-fathers suffer themselves to be separated from your Communion or make us that we cannot joyn with you Certainly this was and is still nothing but want of sound Faith purity of Doctrines and Worship And I know nothing else can or ever was pretended to justifie our Separation And this alone one would think might be sufficient to vindicate my Assertion from being uncharitable But perhaps I may do it more by and by But you 'll tell me that nevertheless Protestants are as uncharitable as Papists and come not an Ace behind them Indeed I should be very sorry this were true And though it is I know an untoward Question to Papists yet I must ask How do you prove this Sir Why thus Protestants only allow Salvation to Papists upon Invincible Ignorance and Papists do the same to Protestants I must confess that in this Paper of yours you grant Salvation to Protestants who live piously and repent sincererely of all Offences and through invincible Ignorance remain in that Communion Now whatever Truth there is in the Saying it self yet from you we look upon this Concession as a piece of New Popery The Old Popery was Protestancy unrepented of Damns Neither Invincible Ignorance nor Piety nor any Repentance that included not a leaving the Protestants Communion and joining with the Romish could Save But here we take notice that of this as well as of all the other unreasonable Pieces of Old Popery you begin at last to be asham'd or at least to think it for the Interest of your Design on foot to deny them or disguise and soften them that so they may go the better down with those People who are not so well read in your Controversies and suspect no Snake in the Grass But to go on with my Point Did not the Author of Charity Mistaken and Charity maintain'd Charity maintain'd p. 1. c. 7. Sect. 6. and in divers other places of that and Charity Mistaken which produc'd that incomparable Book of Mr. Chillingworth stiffly and boldly assert That all Roman Catholicks not one excepted Do with unanimous Consent believe and profess that Protestancy unrepented destroys Salvation Did not the Jesuite in his Relation of Bishop Land's Conference swear upon his Soul That there was but one saving Faith and that is the Roman And now in our days has not a * Lucilla and Elizabeth late Paper endeavour'd to make us as great Schismaticks as the Donatists And according to you can Schismaticks dying such go to Heaven And does not that Author force St. Austin to tell us in plain Terms That whosoever is separated from the Catholick Church by which against all Modesty and Truth you always mean your own particular Church how laudably soever he thinks himself to live for this only Crime that he is disjoyn'd from the Unity of Christ that is to say in your Language the Pope he shall not have Life but the Wrath of God abideth on him Pray Sir
and Manners of the People and Countries where they were penn'd In a Word the Church of England allows a private Liberty of examining all things she propounds and does not expect that Men should follow her blindfold She requires indeed Obedience in those few Points which are absolutely necessary to Salvation because they are so plain that it is impossible for an honest and sound Mind to question them But for things of an indifferent Nature she only desires that for the sake of Peace and Vnity Order and Decency that her Children would not dispute about them In fine she is very sure that they and they only are her true Children her most sincere Members who are the most obedient to Scripture and most ready to yield to the Evidence of them and Reason and Sense And thus Sir I have endeavoured to restore Peace to your Mind by shewing that Protestants are not at all uncharitable but that Papists are and that I am a Lay-man and yet may meddle in Divinity and not be dabling out of my Element And now I hope you 'l be no longer in a Fright of those two Doctors you hinted for assure your self that unless there be occasion to defend a poor Lay-man of their Church as far as the Truth and the Religion of it are concern'd for you may possibly hear from me upon some other Point these two Doctors are better employ'd than to trouble themselves with you But if against this plain Proof that the Papists are the only uncharitable Persons you will yet rub your Forehead and make Protestants as bad what Remedy Truth will be Truth still And however it fares with us we have over and above this Satisfaction and you know the Testimony of an Enemy proves much that to give us our due you say we are the most Gentile and courtly Damners that can possibly be met with Now for the Reward of this frank Acknowledgment I wish with all my Soul Protestants could say so much of Papists But the continual sound of Pestilent Hereticks Damn'd Schismaticks and such rude and unchristian Names every where heard will not possibly permit them To conclude all I shall only desire you for prevention of more Trouble than needs be and I have known a great Controversie to arise from a matter less liable to a Mistake to take notice that the very Point in difference is not Whether the Religion of Protestants or Papists is the Truest or Safest For he that believes the Second Commandment was given by God and that it is not lawful to worship any Being but only God who gave being to all Things need not be to seek in that Neither is it whether the Protestants or Papists are the most uncharitable But in Truth the present Question is Whether the Papists are not the only uncharitable Persons And I think I have fully prov'd that they are so even from the Papists themselves Sir I heartily wish you and your Party would before it would be too late shew so much Charity to your selves and others to leave off deceiving the poor Souls and disturbing the Peace of Mankind tho' by succeeding in your Enterprize you might arrive to the highest Temporal Felicities and by desisting suffer the greatest of Humane Miseries And I am Your very humble Servant A POSTSCRIPT by the Author of the Answer to the last Reply of the Representer HAving leave to fill up this place I use it to rectifie an Error in the 119th Page of the last Answer to the Representer where an c. to Cochleus was omitted without Correction and so he is brought in for the Reporter of those Famous Fictions about Luther's Death whereas his part in it is the least the rest being reported by others particularly by Pontacus Lindan and our Country-man W. Reinolds Cochleus himself with the Epistle concerning Luther's latter End published by him fol. 298. of his History tells the manner of his Death otherwise But Thyraeus a Jesuit was the Man whom I had in my Mind for contradicting those with whom he agreed in the general Design of Defamation For he says That day when Luther died those possessed Persons in a Town of Brabant where there were very many who expected deliverance by the Patronage of St. Dymna of which for many years many had experience were delivered from the Devils and a little after were again possessed For the Case was this that the cruel Spirits again tormenting those miserable persons being asked where they had bestowed themselves the day before answered That by the Command of their Chief they were called forth to the Funeral of the New Prophet and their faithful Fellow-worker Luther and had been present at it Which matter was confirmed by a Servant of Luther who was with him while he was dying miserably For as he was looking out of the Casement for fresh Air he was greatly affrighted to see more than once I know not how many black ugly Spirits skipping and dancing not far off And this also was confirmed by the Crows which with a fearful noise accompanied the Body of Luther as it was carried to Wittemberg Which wise Tale De Demoniacis par 1. n. 99. is also abetted by Flor. Raemundus de Orig. Haeres l. 3. p. 40. but does by no means agree with what Reinolds reports in his Calvino-Turcismus lib. 4. p. 957. that Luther after a merry Supper was in the Night suddainly strangled by his Wife This Business as they have severally reported it is a very notable Instance how early they began the Trade of Misrepresenting matters of Fact But more of this when there is more occasion I shall only add that the Authority I have for saying that they spread such like lewd Stories of Luther's Death before he was dead is indeed the Authority of Protestant Writers and chiefly of Phil. Lonicerus in his Theatrum Historicum nor could it be expected that we should have any other FINIS Some Books lately Printed for J Robinson BIshop Hopkin's Practical Exposition on the Ten Commandments Six Sermons on Acts 26.28 Dr. Bates's Vol. of Sermons on several Occasions Mr. Edwards Enquiry into several difficult Texts of Scripture His Discourse on the Authority Style and Perfection of the Holy Scriptures Directions for our more Devout Behaviour in the time of Divine Service with a short Rationale on the Common Prayer The Curate's Advice to his Parishioners for the keeping Holy the Lord's Day c. The New State of England under Their Majesties King William and Queen Mary in Three Parts The Second Edition with great Improvements viz. A Geographical and Historical Account of the Principality of Wales a Concise History of the late Revolution a List of the Baronets c. Books Printed for Tho. Newborough at the Golden Ball in St. Paul's Church-yard A Critical History of the Text of the New Testament wherein is firmly establish'd the Truth of those Acts on which the Foundation of Christian Religion is laid By Rich. Simon Priest 4to A Critical History of the Version of the New Testament By Richard Simon With a Refutation of such Passages as seem contrary to the Doctrine of the Church of England 1692. The New-years-gift Compleat in Six Parts Composed of Prayers and Meditations for every Day in the Week with Devotions for the Sacrament Lent and other Occasions 12o A Sermon Preach'd before the Queen at Whitehall Feb. 12. 1691. By William Fleetwood Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties A Sermon Preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen at St. Mary le Bow on Friday the 11th of April 1692. being the Fast-Day By W. Fleetwood Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties