important a businesse as this is hope of saluation Yes will Bellarmine resolue you for though it be hereticall not to beleeue the Church in grosse yet is it not hereticall to mistake the acception of the Church which is in effect to beleeue a false Church for examples sake To take a Generall Councell without the Pope for the infallible Church inasmuch as wee see saith hee these tolerated by the Church which defend that opinion although it be erronious and next to heresie But alas replyes the poore man now that I am come so farre by your instructions as to know that the Pope is the Church which is a great deale farther than many of my ghostly Fathers are come yet because I perceiue a dissention amongst you and that you which hold this Tenent are not agreed when and in what matters it is that the Pope cannot erre I finde my conscience but a little eased by your resolution No matter for the Popes erring or not erring will Bellarmine answer for all Catholikes saith he doe accord in this that the Pope whether he may erre or no is yet to be heard with all obedience But what comfort will the man obiect can this be to me that liue haply in England or Spaine farre remote from Rome It is the present Pope you say vpon whose iudgement I am to depend whom I am neither able to heare neither doth your Cardinalship thinke it necessarie that hee should be a preacher to be heard Tush saith Bellarmine it is not materiall that you heare the Pope when as there bee Preachers in your owne Parish who may informe you But faith the man there is no promise made that whatsoeuer my Parochian teaches mee is forth with the true and vndoubted doctrine of the Church considering that he may erre and be deceiued Nor haue you will Bellarmine tell you more assurance of the Popes word if you and your whole Nation should trauaile to Rome to heare his resolution For asmuch as when he teacheth not the whole Church he is in as much possibilitie to erre as Innocent the eighth was when hee permitted the Norwegians to celebrate the Eucharist without wine What then is to bee done Greg. de Valentia in his third tome vpon Thom. 1. Disp makes this answer That if you finde but an Episcopall Synod or the consent of diuers Diuines onely affirming such a doctrine to be the sentence of the Church you are bound to beleeue it though it bee a lye But is it not a sinne will the man reply to beleeue a lye Gabriel Biel and Tolet the Iesuite to the end that we may see how both ancient and later Papists haue beene forced to the same streights will answere that if one heare his Bishop or Prelate preach contrarie to the Faith thinking that it is so beleeued by the Church such an one shall not onely not sinne but also in beleeuing that falshood shall commit an act meritorious It is no maruaile then if the Romanists boast so much of Visibilitie considering that their faith is built fiue stories high the Layties beliefe vpon his Pastor the Pastors vpon the common opinion of neighbour Diuines or an Episcopall Synod that Episcopall Synod vpon the Church the Church vpon the Pope and the Pope vpon Christ Wherin how skilfull Artizans soeuer the Iesuites are in other Trades I know not surely in architecture they shew but little skil hauing not prouided any thing to supply the roome of the Pope in the vacancie so that for a yeare and more sometimes the vpper stories must like Esops Towers bee seene to hang in the aire For howsoeuer those which hold the supreame authoritie to bee subiectiuely and formally in the Church and instrumentally onely in the Pope may supply the place of the dead Pope with a generall Councell yet the Iesuites and others which with open cry now adayes condemne this opinion as false and next to heresie may be challenged of more folly then hee which built his house vpon the sand SECT V. The obiections out of the Scriptures touching the Churches infallibilitie answered WHat now remaines but that we answer those arguments wheron our aduersaries seem to ground this supposed power of the Church in challenging absolute beliefe to what she affirmes The first rank of arguments containes such places of Scripture as concerne the priuiledges of the Church in generall As 1. Tim. 3. 15. That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to conuerse in the house of God which is the Church of the liuing God the piller and ground of truth I answer that the Church here mention'd is not that Church which the Papists make to be the Iudge of Controuersies that is either the Church representatiue which is a generall Councell or the Church virtuall which they imagine to be the Pope but the Church essentiall in whole or part which is the congregation of all faith full beleeuers and therefore not to the purpose For the Papists themselues doe discharge it in this sense from the office of defining because in part it is fallible and in whole it is avast bodie composed of parts farre asunder and wanting a speaker And that the Church in this place is so taken besides the confession of Bellarmine who acknowledgeth it the very circumstances of the place doe carrie it for Saint Paul tells Timothie here that hee wrote this Epistle vnto him that hee might know how to conuerse or behaue himselfe in the house of God which hee expounding to bee the Church it must on necessitie bee construed of the Church essentiall as consisting of the faithfull in grosse vnlesse one should be so absurd as to say that Saint Paul deliuered directions vnto Timothie in this Epistle how he should conuerse in a generall Councell whereof there were none in three hundred yeeres after or else which is more absurd how he should behaue himselfe discreetly and with circumspection in the Popes belly So Matth. 18. 16. And if hee will not heare them tell the Church and if hee will not heare the Church let him bee to thee as the Heathen and the Publican I answer that here be three degrees of admonitions and reproofes set downe by our Sauiour in case that one brother trespasse against another Viz. First corripiendus amore he is to bee reproued with loue verse 15. goe and rebuke him betweene thee and him alone Secondly corripiendus pudore hee is to bee reproued with shame verse 16. if hee will not heare thee ioyne with thee besides one or two Thirdly corripiendus timore he is to be reproued with feare verse 17. if hee will not heare them tell the Church So that I willingly grant this honour to haue beene here giuen by our Sauiour to his Church that the last resort and appeale vpon earth should be made vnto it but you must remember withall how farre this present case will besteed you
a beliefe of the Churches saying Stapleton notwithstanding would faine find an cuasion from this argument saying that to yeeld beliefe to the affirmations of the Church is the Theologicall sense of the Creede though it bee not the Grammaticall much like as Bellarmine who endeauouring to proue Purgatorie from these words of Christ Matth. 12. It shall not be forgiuen him neither in this world nor in the world to come Confesseth in the end that it followes not indeed according to the rules of Logicke but onely according to the rule of Prudence as if forsooth the Arts were contradictorie to Diuinitie and not subordinate vnto it and that one might not iustly suspect something to bee amisse in that house where the Mistresse and her hand maides are at variance Secondly I argue from the word Catholicke in the Creede which by the Tridentine Catechismes owne confession signifying the Flocke as well as the Pastors and excluding no time no persons nor any condition of men is not possible to be seene nor capable to be heard nor able to bee consulted with and therefore according to the sense which the Church beleeues in this place it is absurd to conceiue that these words Credo Ecclesiam I beleeue that there is a Church should bee equiualent to these Credo Ecclesiae I yeeld faith and beliefe to the Church But for breuities sake omitting other proofes as more behoofull for those which write large Tracts than for my selfe who desire to obserue as neere as I can the lawes of Catechising my third reason shall bee drawen from the word Church which being by the Papists inuolued with so many contrarieties and contradictions from it I thus argue That which is to be the foundation of my faith and to which I am to yeeld assent in all things that must be a thing certainely knowne and determined what it is It is not sufficient to be acquainted with the word but wee must also vnderstand the thing for faith is not verball but reall neither are we conueied to heauen by bare sounds as by Magicke spels but by truths and verities which are couched vnder them But according to the Papists owne assertions this Church which they here would make to be the foundation of their faith and to which say they we are to yeeld assent in all things is not to them a thing as yet certainely knowne and determined what it is which by these Gradations following I shall demonstrate SECT III. The Romanists distractions touching the Church set downe in eight Gradations THe Church is deuided by some of the Popish Doctors into the Church 1. Essentially which they make to be the Conuocation of all that beleeue in Christ 2. Representatiue which they say are either the Bishops assembled in a generall Councell as most doe affirme or the Colledge of Cardinals as Siluester Prierias imagines 3. Virtually which they conceiue to be the Pope The first Gradation 1. NOw graunt the Church to be such a Pillar of truth that who so heares it cannot erre yet First it is not determined by Popish writers which is that Church to whose Oracles and definitiue sentence we are to listen 1. The Glosse vpon Gratians Decrees which containe the Popes owne lawes and constitutions asking the question what Church it is to be meant off when it is said that the Church cannot erre answeres that it is to be meant not of the Pope but of the Congregation of the faithful that is the Church Essentially 2. But this opinion of the Church is generally by almost all the Papists reiected for being the iudge of Controuersies and consequently the foundation of our faith the reasons are First because such a multitude dispersed farre and wide throughout the face of the earth cannot be so marshalled as to haue their opinions calculated Secondly because the greater part of these are Lay-people whose apprehensions oftentimes reach not vnto the matters controuerted Lastly because there is no promise made either to the flocke or to the Pastors and doctors of the Church that a greater part of them shal not erre but only that all of them shal not erre Wherefore though the whole Church in this sense cannot erre errore personali with a personall error yet Bellarmine in his fourth Booke De Rom. Pont. and fourth Chapter tels vs that we must seeke out for one that cannot erre errore iudicali with a iudiciall errour Some therefore of the Papists are of opinion that the Church in this sense as it is taken for the iudge of controuersies and foundation of faith is the Church representatiue in a generall Councell of Bishops no matter whether with the Pope or without him because the Pope say they though he be the head of all Christians and all Churches in seuerall yet is he not of all the Church assembled in a Councell togeather And of this opinion besides those which Bellarmine reckons vp as Cardinalis Cameracensis Ioh. Gerson Iacobus Almanus Nic. Cusanus Panormitanus Cardinalis Florentinus and Abulensis we may ioyne Ocham Driedo the Bishops assembled in the generall Councels of Constance and Basill and in a word the Vniuersitie of Paris as Coriolanus in his Preface to the Councels Praelud 5. doth confesse 3. But many of the later Papists and especially the Iesuites perceiuing that the former opinion touching the Authoritie of a generall Councell aboue the Pope howsoeuer the contrarie bee not yet determined doth indeed ouerthrow the verie faith of the Popes Primacie and finding as they say no promise made to a generall Councell without the Pope for that the Church is to be built vpon the rocke and not the rocke vpon the Church they doe concurre that the Church whose definitiue sentence wee are bound to beleeue is nothing else but the Church virtually that is the Pope whereby they delude and impose vpon the world more than euer for whilst they boast of the Church their Mother they meane and intend nothing else thereby but onely the Pope their father The second Gradation BVt secondly graunt for the Church at the Iesuites request that it be the Pope vpon which we are to relie yet is it not agreed vpon by them for the manner whether it bee the Pope alone or whether the Pope in an assembly of the Church representatiue and again whether this Church representatiue be the Colledge of Cardinals or whether a generall Councell 1. For no meane Writers amongst them doe hold that the Pope may erre if hee define without a generall Councell as besides many of the Parisiens Alphonsus a Castro and Pope Adrian the sixth doe auerre that we may see not onely priuate men but also Popes themselues to haue suspected the Papall authoritie in this point And here though Bellarmine vaunts that all Catholickes doe conspire in this that when the Pope defines any thing in a generall Councell hee is then out of danger of erring either in faith or generall
pronounce him to bee an Heriticke who after so great a pudder as hath beene kept about Saint Francis shall yet deny him to bee in heauen Secondly Turrecremata in his second booke de Ecclesia and Syluester in his summes do grant that the Pope may so farre as in him lyes endeà uour to establish his owne heresie and obtrude it vpon the Church nor doe Valentia and Bellarmine dissalow their position vnder these two prouiso's the one that if he doe it effectually then the contrary hath beene formerly determined by the Church so that the Church can then receiue no danger thereby of erring the other that if the contrary was neuer before determined then the Pope may indeed attempt it as did Ioh. 22. in a question touching the state of the soule after death but God in his prouidence will take such course as that he neuer shall accomplish it The fifth Gradation BVt fiftly grant for the matters that the Pope be this Church in determining any matter of Faith whatsoeuer yet is it not resolued clearely by them for the person in generall whether the Pope vpon which wee are so to relie bee the present Pope or whether the Popes deceased 1. For the voice of the Iesuites speakes this that it is the present Pope nay Gregorie de Valentia is so confident therein that neque Scriptura sacra saith hee neque etiam sola traditio si ab ea separes praesentem in ecclesia authoritatem est illa authoritas infallibilis magistra fidei c. that is neither the Scriptures nor yet traditions if you separat from the present authoritie in the Church is that infallible mistresse of Faith Iudge of controuersies So Bellarmine omnium conciliorum veterum omnium dogmatum firmitas pendet ab authoritate praesentis Ecclesiae the strength of all ancient Councells and all assertions doth depend vpon the authoritie of the present Church and their reasons alleadgedare for that without the authoritie of the present Church wee neither can be assured of the certainty of Traditions and Councells nor of the sense meaning of them 2. But contrariwise the case being put as you haue heard by Turrecremata and Siluester that the Pope may doe what lyes in him to propose an heresie both Valentia and Bellarmine grant the position not to be impossible vpon condition that the heresie haue beene condemned formerly by the Church for then according to their doctrine the Church is to examin the errors of the present Pope by truthes resolued by precedent Popes So that if in all points necessarie to saluation the truth haue beene already determined by former Popes as in 1600. yeeres space they haue had leasure enough to doe it the present Pope ceaseth to bee a competent Iudge in such matters hee may erre touching them hee may doe his best indeuour to obtrude vpon the Church heresies concerning them nay hee stands himselfe to bee arrained at the barre and Tribunall of his Clergie whether he be Orthodoxe or no and that by the prescripts of his predecessors The sixt Gradation SIxtly graunt for the Person in generall that it bee the present Pope which is the Church in that no danger can accrue from the Popes propounding an heresie if that heresie haue beene formerly condemned because as they say the Church may then know him not to bee their Shepherd but a Wolfe yet is it not agreed or determined sufficiently amongst them for the meanes how the Church may bee able to iudge or truly discerne him to be such an one 1. For they which hold a Generall Councell to be aboue the Pope and that it cannot erre as Gerson Cameracensis and others aboue mentioned doe hold likewise that the Pope so erring may bee iudged both for his person and doctrine by the church in a Generall Councell 2. But they which hold a Generall Councell not to be aboue the Pope but that wanting his companie it may erre euen in matters of faith as Bellarmine Valentia Cajetan Turrecremata and others these disable any for being competent Iudges of the Popes doctrine For howsoeuer they may pretend that the Councell proceeding according to former Popes declarations cannot erre yet because they teach that the certaintie sense of former Decrees depends vpon the iudgement of the present Pope I cannot see what meanes may according to their opinion be affoorded for the triall of the Popes doctrine if he should chance to erre The seuenth Gradation SEauenthly graunt for the meanes that the Church neuer neede to passe verdict vpon the Popes doctrine yet is it not agreed vpon by them for the See whether the Popedome bee necessarily vnited to the See of Rome so that the word Roman for ought they know assuredly is not conuertible with Catholike but that he which brags he is a Roman Catholike to day may if the Pope should chance to die prooue a Geneua Catholike tomorrow 1. For Dominicus a Soto vpon the fourth of the Senten saith that the Apostolicall seate and power of vniuersall Bishop is annext to the Bishoprick of Rome onely jure Ecclesiastico that is not by the Law of God but by the Churches constitution so that by the authoritie of the Church a Bishop of another See may be chosen Pope And Bellarmine graunts that it is no matter of faith that the Apostolicall seate may not bee separated from the Church of Rome forasmuch as neither Scripture nor Tradition doe auouch it 2. But Canus Driedo Turrecremata and Gregorie de Valentia doe hold the contrarie that the Bishop of Rome is Peters successor not onely by the constitution of the Church but also by the institution of Christ though Valentia confesseth varias hac de re doctorum sententias that the opinions of the Doctors be diuers in this point The eighth Gradation EIghtly for I shall not yet leaue them graunt for the See that the Bishop of Rome bee the ordayned Successour of Peter by the institution of Christ not onely in the Popedome but also in the particular See of Rome yet is it not certayne for the particular person of this or any present Pope whether hee bee the true and lawfull Bishop of Rome or no 1. For although Gregorie de Valentia doth thinke that Gods prouidence will alwayes secure the Church of a lawfull Pope 2. Yet hee confesseth that graue Doctors doe admit the case as possible and this according to them may fall out diuers wayes First if the Pope be promoted by Simonie and that this is not impossible Aquinas affirmes it 2a. 2a. q. 100. where hee saith Papa potest incurrere vitium Simoniae sicut quilibet alius the Pope may incurre the sinne of Simonie as well as any other The which opinion Cajetan and others vpon Thomas doe follow and it is moreouer a clause in the Bull of Pope Iulius the second That if any Pope happen to be chosen simoniacally the same
adhering and yet not promised to bee petra virtute a rocke for vertue in sustayning So that to conclude there may be as you see in many things a likenesse betweene petrus petra this rocke and that stone yet not so much as that a reasonable lapidarie may not distinguish them SECT VI. The obiection drawne from the question how wee may know the authoritie sense puritie and perfection of the Scriptures handled and resolued THe last forme of argumentation which they vse is drawne from the dependancy which they say the Scriptures haue vpon the Church though not absolutely in themselues yet in respect of vs our discerning of them Whence they thus argue if the testimonie of the Church be not infallible how shall we be resolued in these three interrogatiues The first is touching the Scriptures authoritie whether they be the vndoubted Word of God or no The second touching their interpretation what their sense and meaning is The third concerning their puritie and perfection whether they be perfect and entire or maymed and corrupted To prepare the way for the resoluing of these questions we are to note that as to the right apprehension of an obiect by the sense so to the due comprehension of the Scriptures by the soule three things are ordinarily required Viz. 1. First that the Scriptures bee an obiect capable to be apprehended and discerned 2. Secondly that there bee organs and faculties as those of the bodie so these of the soule fitly disposed and qualified to receiue and discerne that obiect 3. Thirdly that there bee a medium that is a middle instrument or meanes to conuey present and vnite the obiect to the organ 1. For the first wee agree that to the end the Scriptures should bee an obiect capable to bee seene and discerned it is requisite that they should be endowed with such remarkable properties and notes as may distinguish them from other writings For we take not to taske to teach vnreasonable creatures as did Saint Francis neither doe we dreame of fanaticall inspirations imagining that God reueales things vnto vs ouer and besides the Word but wee inuite you to looke vpon the markes and characters of the Word and we say as Philip did to Nathaniel Ioh. 1. Come and see Now these properties notes and Characters by which the Word of God becomes an obiect distinct and capable to be knowne by vs are Either 1. Outwardly accompanying it as antiquitie miracles fulfilling of prophesies testimonies of Martyrs and the like which doe onely procure attention and prepare men to beleeue probably and with lesse difficultie 2. Inwardly imprinted in it as first the diuine and spirituall matters therein contayned surpassing all humane wisedom being things which neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard neither haue entred into the heart of man Secondly The forme of the stile void of affectation yet transcending in quicknesse maiestie and fulnesse the Master-peeces of the most polite and elaborat Orators Thirdly The sweet harmonie and consent of parts with parts Lastly The efficacy and vertue which it hath to produce the loue of God and our Enemies to procure the peace of our Consciences to alienate a man from the delights of the Flesh and the World to make him reioyce in afflictions to triumph ouer Death all which doe necessarily conclude the diuine authoritie of the Scriptures seeing nature it selfe is thereby vanquisht and a strong man cannot be bound but by a stronger than himselfe 2. For the second wee agree that seeing wee are not able to discerne the Scriptures by any naturall habit or inbred qualitie of our owne For the naturall man as the Apostle speakes receiueth not the things of the Spirit of God because they are foolishnesse vnto him neither can he know them for that they are spiritually discerned 1. Cor. 2. that therefore wee are enabled thereunto by faith and by the inward enlightning and perswasion of Gods Spirit But I neede not insist vpon a point which Bellarmine himselfe labours so to proue in his 6. lib. de Grat. lib. Arbit cap. 1. 2. and is confirmed by the Tridentine Councell in the 6. Sess 3. Can. 3. For the third which is the medium wee are not of Democritus opinion who thought that if the aire which conueyes the beames of the Starres vnto vs were away one should bee able to spie a pismire in heauen but rather with Aristotle we thinke wee should then see nothing according to that axiome in philosophie In vacuo per vacuum nulla fit visio wee conseut therefore that God hath appointed an ordinarie meanes to conuey and present such celestiall obiects as the Word of God to our view and this ordinarie meanes wee say is the Church to which wee willingly attribute these two ordinarie vses in that imployment Viz. 1. First of a witnesse testifying the authoritie and sense of the Scriptures vnto vs wherein for the effect the papist and wee differ but this that wee say it produceth a faith no more than humane they lesse than diuine 2. Secondly of Gods instrument by whose ministerie in preaching expounding the Scriptures the holy Ghost begets a diuine Faith and other spirituall graces within vs. So that the question betweene vs is not whether we are to exclude the ordinarie ministerie of the Church testifying and propounding the Scriptures vnto vs for this wee doe not Nor on the other side Whether the authoritie of the Church be a sufficient argument of it selfe to produce a diuine assent vnto the same for this the learneder sort of them as anon you shal heare will not affirme But this Whether to the end that we may by the assistance of Gods Spirit and those inward notes and properties found in the Scriptures discerne the Word propounded by the Church vnto vs to be the Word of God infallibilitie be a requisite condition in the Propounder As if in playner termes one should say whether to the end that I may by the visage gesture and garments discerne my friend approaching towards me to bee such an one it bee needfull that the aire which conueyes those formes to my eye bee neuer and at no time capable by reason of mists or other accidents to represent false and deceitfull formes Or this whether to the end that a Gold-smith may by his touch-stone discerne a piece of gold deliuered him to bee good and currant it bee required that the parties credit which sells it him should bee vnquestionable This is that which in effect they affirme and this we denie To resolue therefore the difficultie We graunt that where the Propounder is the principall finall and onely cause for whose sake we beleeue a thing there if the Propounder bee liable to error and deceit a firme and vndoubted beliefe of such a thing cannot be had As for example if one onely Trauailer haue beene in the Indies and brings relation by word of mouth touching the commodities of the Countrie and
of the priuiledge of trafficke which the King thereof tenders to our countrimen in this case if the Relators credit bee suspitious it were dangerous to build vpon his report because here he is the principall and only cause vpon whose sole affirmation we can finally rest In like manner if two persons onely bee present at the death of a friend and depose that in this or that manner he bestowed legacies in this case if they be of doubtfull repute it will be hard to determine positiuely what is the truth because that here they are the principall and onely witnesses and there are no other authentike proofes whereby their depositions may be examined But where the Propounder is onely the instrument by whose meanes wee are brought to see proofes of an higher nature and by whose ministerie arguments of greater importance doe display themselues as if the Trauailer shall bring letters of Credence vnder the Hand Seale of the Prince confirming his Relation or if the persons present at the death of their friend shall besides their owne testimonie produce a formall will subscribed by the hands of lawfull witnesses and strengthened by an authentike seale here the possibilitie of erring in the Propounder takes not away the certaintie of the things propounded by him because in this case the same may be supplyed by other more sufficient demonstrations vpon which as the principall causes of our beliefe wee may finally rest Now to apply this to the Church I say that if the Church were the principall or onely Cause for whose authoritie our faith doth finally assent to the mysteries propounded by her then and vpon this supposition it were to be acknowledged that if the Church might erre and that her testimonie were not infallible the assured truth of things so assented vnto could not bee attayned by vs. But wee say that in working an vndoubted assent vnto the mysteries propounded and deliuered vnto vs the Church though it bee one cause to wit an inductiue or preparatiue yet is it not the onely no nor the principall or finall vpon which wee lastly depend The principall and finall causes for whose sake we firmely beleeue those truths which the Church propounds vnto vs touching the Scriptures are two The one the Word of God it selfe with the properties notes and characters aboue mentioned imprinted in the letter thereof which serue as the hand-writing and Deed of the great Maker produced by the Church in confirmation of what shee vtters The other the inward testimonie of Gods Spirit enlightning the eyes of our vnderstanding to discerne the Scriptures by those notes and perswading vs what we discerne stedfastly to beleeue seruing as a seale which confirmes to the consciences of the Elect the Deed to bee lawfull and authentike The former which is the Word it selfe and the notes thereof cannot bee denyed by an ingenious Papist to bee there found for howsoeuer some of them by a iust iudgement of God for being iniurious to the Scriptures in branding them with obscuritie imperfection c. haue beene so blinded by the Prince of darknesse that setting aside the iudgement of the Church no reason to them hath appeared wherefore Aesops Fables should not as well as the Scriptures themselues bee thought Canonicall yet others as Bellarmine Greg. de Valentia Gretser c. doe acknowledge these distinguishing notes to be in their kinde argumentatiue and to shine in them as the excellency of the Doctrine concord efficacie and the like whereby may be verified of the whole Booke of God what the Officers sent by the Pharisies and Priests said of our Sauiour Ioh. 7. Neuer man spake like this man Nor is the later which is the inward testimonie of the Spirit denyed by the learneder sort of Papists to possesse another chief place in the discouerie of the Scriptures For although in popular aire they seeme to vent the contrarie yet when they are called to giue a more sober account in writing they vtter the same in effect which we doe The Church saith Stapleton by reason of her ministerie and mastership receiued of God doth make vs to beleeue but yet the formall reason wherefore we beleeue is not the Church but God speaking within vs. Againe The minde of a faithfull beleeuer saith hee doth rest in the iudgement but not by the iudgement of the Church but by the inward grace of the holy Spirit So Gregorie de Valentia The infallible proposition of the Church saith he is as obscure to vs as any other article of faith whatsoeuer alleadging out of Canus That if a man should aske wherefore he beleeues the Trinitie he should answer incommodiously in saying because the Church doth infallibly propose it And Canus giues the reason Because the last resolution of faith saith he is not into the testimonie of the Church but into a more inward efficient cause that is into God inwardly mouing vs to beleeue If therefore addes Becanus you be asked wherefore you beleeue that God reuealed such a thing and you answere that you beleeue it for the authoritie of the Church it is not the assent of a theologicall faith but of some other faith of an inferiour ranke Many more testimonies might bee added it being a firme position amongst the Schoolemen that principles of faith such as the Scriptures are cannot bee beleeued as they ought to bee but by infused faith But I will conclude where I began with our Countriman Stapleton because he layes downe the very fundamentall reason vpon which this Doctrine is grounded There is the same faith saith hee in the rest of the whole Church which is in the Prophets Apostles and all those who are immediately taught of God They haue one and the same formall reason of their act of beleeuing But the faith of the Apostles and Prophets which was by immediate reuelation was lastly resolued into God alone the Reuealer and did end and rest vpon him onely as the supreme and last cause of beleeuing therefore the faith of the rest of the whole Church hath the same formall obiect These foundations being laid it shall not be hard to shape distinct answeres to the seuerall questions aboue propounded To the first if the testimonie of the Church bee not infallible how shall wee vndoubtedly knowe the Scriptures to bee the Word of God I answere that wee may know them to bee so partly by the light of the Word that is the diuine notes and characters therein imprinted and partly by the enlightning and perswading grace of Gods Spirit enabling vs to see and mouing vs to beleeue what wee see Now on the contrarie I demand of them If one cannot bee assured of the certaintie of the Scriptures propounded by the Church vnlesse the proposition of the Church bee infallible how the lay Papists in this Land doe know any article of faith to be infallibly true considering that few or none of them euer heard the voyce of that Church which they
sufficient meanes of Calling besides to supply the Pastors negligence and default as first profitable parcells of Gods Word read in the Church and the whole bodie of the Scriptures at hand which though it were in Latine yet many might vnderstand it and this our Sauiour pointed at when hee brings in Abraham in the Parable thus speaking to the rich man touching his brethren habent Mosen Prophetas they haue Moses and the Prophets Secondly The Writings and Commentaries of the Fathers to whose interpretations their Councells binde them to adhere and out of whom diuers of the Papists both ancient and moderne doe confesse as you haue heard that many of the chiefe articles of Poperie were not for a long time brought into the Church nor beleeued Thirdly Schoolemen and others of their owne side which taught publikely in their Vniuersities our very doctrine not I confesse so entirely as they should but some in one point others in another whereby there was both pregnant meanes to know the truth and strong reasons to thinke at least the doctrines so controuerted and diuersly resolued to be in the Popish sense at most no article of faith Lastly there were no Councells generally receaued by all and not excepted at by some which so expresly deliuered the grounds and Tenets of Poperie as now they are vntill the Councell of Trent So then who can denie that they were ours by Calling ours by Ordination by institution and admission ours and why should any doubt but that some were by practice and obedience ours surely God which called Iob amongst the Heathen and the Queene of the South by the bare report of Solomon would not suffer this Calling to be stil in vaine the Ordination to be wholly vnprofitable or that Admission in baptisme to be alwayes frustrate that is to be the sauour of death vnto death and in none the sauour of life vnto life For if sheepe in a pasture where venemous herbes are mixt with wholsome can by the instinct of nature make choise of that which is proper for them and abstaine from the contrarie what maruaile is it if the flocke of Christ who know the voyce of the true Shepheard from the voyce of strangers should by the guidance of Gods assisting Spirit doe the same Who can denie that God hath his Temple where Antichrist hath his Throne seeing Antichrist as the Apostle tells vs is to sit in it or that some of Gods people may bee in Babylon seeing such are warned by the Spirit to come out of her and it were in vaine to command a man to depart a place if he were not there Now if any shall thinke these motiues and considerations of ours especially touching the last sixe hundred yeeres not to be altogether so exact as the Papists require who challenge vs to produce the names of such visible Protestants in all ages as professed the same entire doctrine in all respects that we doe I answere first that it is not our hold that the Church neuer erreth or discordeth from it selfe in minoribus in matters of lesse moment and therefore it is sufficient for vs to shew who professed our faith entirely in majoribus that is such points as of themselues are fundamentall Secondly we say that whereas wee finde a twofold state of the Church in the Apocalypse the one before the loosing of Satan whilest the old Dragon was shut vp in the bottomlesse pit for a thousand yeeres the other after his loosing when the Deuill was to be let free to goe and deceiue the Nations not in one pettie Hamlet but in the foure quarters of the earth that is as Saint Austen expounds it vnder the reigne and tyrannie of Antichrist We are not bound to giue so strict a reckoning and account of our Professors vnder the second state of the Church as vnder the first The reason is because the Church in her first estate was glorious to behold appearing like a Woman clothed with the Sunne But in the latter shee was to be vnder the thraldome of Antichrist and our Aduersaries themselues tell vs that then wee are not to enquire for visible Professors of the true faith or for the publike exercise of Religion so Suarez Bellarmine and others In a word then was the time that the Church was to flee into the wildernesse as was foretold Reuel 12. Now to expect multitudes of people frequent cities pompous splendor affluence of foode and prouision in a wildernesse were extreame madnesse this were to suppose a wildernesse to be no wildernesse In Deserts there may be assemblies of men but they are rare there may be foode but we know it is but little and such happily as is but absolutely necessarie for the life of man and there may be buildings edifices but through the thickets of trees and shades of leaues hardly to bee discerned And so did it fare with the Church vnder the tyrannie of Antichrist There were some alwayes of it but few there were assemblies but not so euident to the eye of the world and there was the foode of the Word and Sacraments but not so plentifull nor euery where so pure as before times But who would thinke that the Iesuites were all this while but in iest and that they are conscious to themselues that the taske which they require to bee performed on our part is not fesable on their owne For let mee but question them from their owne grounds whether the entire articles of faith which the Church of Rome now holds are found mentioned by Writers in all ages The Cardinall and others of the Iesuites ingeniously confesse they were not and namely Indulgences the Churches treasurie the Popes canonizing of Saints c. onely they answer that it followes not that they were not beleeued because they are not mentioned Bee it so but if their articles of faith be not mentioned how will they make it appeare by the testimonies of writers in all ages as they vndertake to doe that such Tenets were from the time of the blessed Apostles held without interruption Bellarmine therefore answeres that the concurrent testimonies of some Writers of greatest note affirming such a Doctrine to haue beene professed beleeued by the Church in all ages none gaine-saying it will serue the turne But here besides that they stand not to their first bargaine which was to produce the testimonies of Writers in all ages I demand of what ages they meane that their writers shall bee to whose concurrent iudgement they will adhere if of the primatiue Church we accept the offer but this will little aduantage them for neither are many points of difference betweene vs and them mentioned by those writers as aboue was specified much lesse affirmed to bee Apostolicall Traditions neither are those which are mentioned allowed of in that sense which they deliuer If the writers of the after Church and namely the Schoolemen let them heare Gregorie de Valentia's owne
Hope which reflects vpon the future blisse and the ioyes of the World to come For excitement whereunto two customes were entertayned the one pointing at that happinesse which the Saints enioy immediatly after their departure hence the other at the fulnesse of glory which they shall participate at the end and cosummation of the World That which pointed at the ioy and blisse which the Saints enioy immediatly after their departure hence consisted partly in thankesgiuings vnto God for the glory bestowed vpon them partly in other remembrances to excite and stirre vp men from consideration of their reward to bee imitators of their Vertues For deeper impression whereof there were wont to be yeerely Solemnities at their Sepulchres Commemorations of their names and Orations made in their prayses Now it being the custome of them which fell in persecution to implore the Prayers of Martyrs in Prison for them Saint Cyprian vpon supposition that Saints departed hence doe pray for the particular behoofe of those whom they know they left behind them did desire some Martyrs and others not after but before their deaths that if they preuented him and went before him into their Masters presence that then they would not forget to remember him vnto God This soliciting of Martyrs before their deaths brought in the next Age a custome to call vpon them after their deaths and this calling vpon them after it howsoeuer it may bee accounted rather amongst the straines of Rhetoricke being done in their Aniuersarie Declamations then the Aphorismes of Faith yet by Gregory the Greates time it weaued Prayers into the Lyturgie that God would heare their Intercessions but afterwards when the Glasse of the Trinity was perfected wherein the Schoolemen conceiue the Saints to see whatsoeuer is done vpon earth then these Prayers to God to heare the Intercessions of the Saints were changed into Prayers to the Saints to heare our Intercessions thēselues which is the practise of the present Church of Rome and came in saith Bellar. consuetudine non lege by a custome not a law The other Custome that aymed at the fulnesse of glory which the Saints shall enioy at the end and consummation of the World was performed by Prayers for their glorious Resurrection and their publike acquittall in the last Day the one being an exemplification of the Petition Thy Kingdome come the other of that which followes after it Thy will be done For the greater solemnitie whereof Oblations at Funerals and sometimes yeerely by the friends of the deceased were made not as some Popish Writers doe conceiue of the Eucharist but as Albaspinus notes of common Bread or other things of which the Congregation eating and communicating acknowledged the deceased by that action as a signe of Communion to bee co-members with them of the same mysticall Bodie the Church and interested in the Common Prayers touching the last day The which produced sundry opinions amongst the Ancients for Iustin Martyr Tertullian Clemens Romanus Lactantius and others were from hence of opinion that no particular iudgement passeth vpon the Saints vntil the last day but the church following being loth as it seemes to put off this particular iudgement wholly vntill then and yet not willing to determine that it should be giuen immediately vpon the passage hence but allowing an indefinite time for the same did apply the Churches prayers and well-wishes besides their former reference to the finall iudgement to this interim also alotted for the particular in the which they thought they might accompanie them to Gods Tribunall and pray for their deliuerance from hell and the iawes of the Lyon At last the doctrine of purgatorie which as I shall now declare for a long time passed as an vncertaine or particular opinion amongst priuate men getting sway the selfe same prayers were interpreted neither of a generall nor of the particular iudgement but of the iayle deliuery of soules out of purgatorie and so established in the Florentine Councell celebrated An. 1438. Another opinion which the oblations and prayers for the publicke acquittall of the dead wrought amongst some of the ancients was that seeing few dyed which by the bountie of their friends enioyed not that honour more or lesse all men good and bad were either at the generall Iudgement or before to bee purged by fire the payne whereof if need were should by these prayers of the liuing be either diminished or taken away And hence it is that purgatorie got entrance into the Church which being at the first like the vnknowne land at the South of America called terra del fogo was by Origen vpon misconstruction of the prayers aforesaid and an ouerweening opinion of aduancing the mercie of God translated out of their Academie of Plato into the Schooles of Christians Long it was ere this mishapen Monster could bee brought into any probable forme For Origen who first embraced it taught that the Deuills themselues should be saued by it Others to correct that extremitie said not the Deuills but yet all men A third not all men but all Christians and such as are baptised A fourth not all Christians nor all such as are baptised yet all such as haue beene once in their liues true beleeuers A fift not all such as haue beene once in their liues true beleeuers but yet all such as perseuere in the Orthodoxe faith vntill their death A sixth not all that perseuere in the Orthodoxe faith vntill their death but yet all such as perseuering doe giue almes for these say they how great sinners soeuer they bee otherwise shall haue iudgement with mercie A seauenth not all that shew mercie but yet all that haue Christ for their foundation that is all that dye in the state of grace which opinion is attributed vnto Saint Ambrose Hierome Rupertus and others Saint Austen who complaines that his age was full of presumptions being not able to resist the streame of these ouerflowing errors thought yet to vse the same policie touching purgatorie which he did in other points as prayer for the dead inuocation of Saints and the like that is either to moderate it or make it doubtfull thinking by degrees to make it incredible Sometimes therefore he seemes to allow it but yet by the Papists owne consession vnder this prouiso that if any such place should bee yet it is vncertaine what end or effect it hath whether to satisfie Gods Iustice for the sinne past or whether to diminish as temporall paynes vse to doe the euill affections of sin still remaining Againe sometimes hee denyes the thing it selfe sometimes hee doubts of it Nor is it yet agreed amongst the Papists either for the fire or the place or the time of it only thus farre they seeme at length to concurre that soules doe therein satisfie both for veniall sinnes and for the guilt of punishment due vnto mortall sins when the guilt of the sinne it selfe is remitted and forgiuen which how contrarie both
to reason and the ancient purgatorie of the Fathers it is I leaue to the iudicious to consider It was first confirmed in the Florentine Councell aboue mentioned Charitie succeedeth for the maintenance and encrease whereof they vsed the best policie they could to plant Vnitie and Concord both in the Church Vniuersall and also in particular Churches that so if possibly they could all schismes and contentions amongst Christians might be remoued the bond of peace might bee kept inuiolable For the preseruation hereof in the Church vniuersall it was thought good that according to the secular diuision of the Empire the Church should be diuided into certaine Diocesses whereof there were at the first by Berterius account thirteene in number who vnder the names of Patriarchs and Bishops of the first Seas should ioyne in care and counsell for the good of the Christian Common-wealth Amongst these three were in regard of the Cities wherein they resided more eminent then the rest and began to encroach vpon the others iurisdiction to wit Rome Alexandria and Antioch to which in the second generall Councel was added for the same cause Constantinople and afterwards Ierusalem though this last had indeed vntill the fift generall Councell but a title without substance as being subiect to Caesaria his Metropolitan and in last resort vnto Antioch Now because all things should be done in order it was thought fit that the Pope because hee was Bishop of Rome the imperiall Citie should haue the precedencie though not of authoritie super reliquos ouer the rest yet of place inter reliquos amongst the rest This precedencie of place wan him in time a precedencie in power but it was at the first but potestas honoraria a kinde of courtesie authoritie not long after it came to be claymed as ordinaria as an ordinarie power and so was confirmed in the Florentine Councell Lastly this ordinarie power bare sway awhile because the Pope was great in generall Councells but now since the last Lateran Councell vnder Leo the tenth the Iesuites will haue it to beare sway by another title because the Pope is great ouer generall Councells which addes a farther degree to his greatnesse that whereas hee was heretofore heard de facto in deed for that he was iudged Orthodoxe hee now challengeth to be beleeued de iure of right because hee cannot be hereticall For the preseruation of vnitie and concord in particular Churches there was a kinde of Communion amongst the Ancients which they celebrated by Eulogies that is by Bread not consecrated for the vse of the Sacrament but otherwise blessed by the Bishop the which howsoeuer it was not at the beginning exported forth of the Church where it was offered yet afterwards it came to bee sent vpon solemne festiualls from the Mother Church vnto the Parishes and Villages thereto belonging by communicating whereof as by a liuely symboll the fellowship and communion betweene all the faithfull of the same Diocesse was represented and the people acknowledged themselues to compose the same body of Christ together Now some being possest as Albaspinus obserues with a religious conceit of this ceremonie began to deale in like manner with the Eucharist as may bee gathered out of the fourteenth Canon of the Laodicean Councell where the practice thereof is expresly forbidden But partly the custome which some particulars in the time of persecution especially Hermites who seldome had the opportunitie of receauing tooke vp of carrying part of the Sacrament home with them to partake thereof when they pleased and partly the charitie which in some places was shewed in like manner to the sick bringing vnto them the remaynder of the Bread and Wine in token of their Communion with the rest preuayled so farre at length with the Roman Church that what was then but voluntarie and sprang from priuate deuotion is now made necessarie and enioyned by publike injunction and what then was vsed sacramentally and for a signe of Communion is now ordayned for other vses as circumgestation adoration and the like Thus hauing giuen a taste of some principall errors in Poperie which sprang from that part of Church discipline which consisted in the conseruation of the soules health it followes that something should bee said of that which belonged to the restoring of the same in such as had impaired it by their falls This part consisted in two principall ingredients Corrasiues and Lenitiues The Corrasiues were such medicines as were applyed to those that fell for purging out of the old corruption and keeping of others from the like infection the which was performed partly by confessions and partly other satisfactions Confessions were nothing else at the first but publike recognitions for publike scandalls which being found vsefull to Penitents made Origen and others to perswade men to doe the like to their Ministers for priuate offences to the end that making knowne their griefes they might haue plaisters for their wounds But these publike confessions through the abating of zeale and auoyding of shame being turned into priuate some began to confound the one priuate confession which was imposed by Church discipline with the other which was voluntarie and so in time of Consilium Ecclesiasticorum an aduice of Church-men it became Praeceptum Ecclesiae the precept of the Church and this againe which beforetime was onely a Confession of sinnes quoad substantiam for their substance was by the Lateran Councell vnder Innocent the third farther clog'd with an Inquisition of sinnes etiam quoad circumstantias euen together with all their particular circumstances Satisfactions which properly come vnder the Law of Church Discipline were certaine outward remonstrances of sorrow and repentance wherewith for the tryall of Penitents and example of others the Primitiue Church did exercise those that fell before they restored them to the same state of Communion wherein aforetimes they did stand Diuers of the Fathers that they might breed a willingnesse in men to vndergoe them spake somewhat Hyperbolically in their commendations saying that offences were thereby redeemed purged and expiated which being vnderstood as the Master of the Sentences expounds them not of purgations from the offence as it is an offence to God or from the punishment due to sinne both which are opposed vnto Iustification but onely of the macula or spot which the Schoolemen making to consist in an habituall prauity is opposed chiefly to Sanctification can little aduantage the Popish cause For who doubts but that Repentance and Sorrow though they are not meritorious causes yet are instrumentall whereby grace takes her speedier effect in diminishing the euill affections and vaine desires which dwel in vs But the anciēt rites of Satisfaction degenerating with the Times the Schoolmen beginning to cōfound Iustification with Sanctification First by adding the purgation of the macula or spot vnto that which is truly termed Iustification as a Species of it afterwards forgetting to distinguish