THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND Evidently proved the HOLY CATHOLICK CHURCH By Peter Berault the Author of the Church of Rome prov'd Heretick If he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen man and a Publican Mat. 18. 17. He shall not have God for his Father who will not have the Church for his Mother Aug. de symb ad Cathec lib. 4. c. 10. LONDON Printed by T. Hodgkin for the Author 1682 TO His HIGHNESS Prince RVPERT Count Palatine of the Rhyne Duke of Bavaria and Cumberland Earl of Holderness Constable of the Royal Castle of Windsor Knight of the Noble Order of the Garter One of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council c. May It please your Highness THe two small Books which I did presume to present unto your Highness were so kindly accepted that having no otherway in any measure to acknowledge this favour but the Dedication of this I thought I could do no less than to dedicate it unto so good so wise meek and generous a Person as your self being not only a true and sincere Protestant nor only a living Member but also an unmoveable Pillar of the holy Catholick Church and though Jesus Christ said that the Gates of Hell should not prevail against it yet the Devil having a root of Evil and enmity in himself night and day seeks its destruction To effect which he subtilly Proteus-like appears in different forms assaulting it several ways either by raising against it those of the Church of Rome insinuating that we being separated from them are excluded all hopes of Salvation and that they are bound with fire and sword to seek our utter ruine and destruction or insinuating to other Dissenters from the Church of England that to live up to the strict Rule and Principles of the Christian Religion they are obliged to separate themselves from it This Maxime is received in Philosophy Sublatâ causâ tollitur effectus the Cause being removed the Effect ceaseth therefore when I have made appear that those Insinuations of Satan are deceitful and that the belief and practice of the Church of England is conformable to the holy Scripture I hope I shall be able to bruise the head of that old Serpent and to procure the Church's peace especially having for my Patron so vertuous a Prince so great a lover of Peace so good a Member and so strong a Pillar of the holy Catholick Church I do not here intend any Panegyrick knowing your Highness takes much greater pleasure in doing good than in hearing the repeated Ecchoes of your Princely Merits looking on your Noble Virtues as a fitter Subject for the Records of Honour in which your Highness will be praised to all succeeding Ages There your brave and warlike Actions Wisdom Prudence Goodness piercing and solid Understanding in all Sciences and Affairs discreet Conduct and diligent Cares for the maintenance of the true Protestant Religion and Catholick Faith against all Superstitions Errors Idolatries and cruel Persecutions of the Church of Rome will be much better described than I could here have done with my Pen. There every one may read that at 13 years of Age your Highness march'd to the Siege of Rhynberg At the Age of 18 Commanded a Regiment of Horse in the German Wars in 1642 came into England fought and defeated Colonel Sands near Worcester routed the Rebels Horse at Edge-hill took Cirencester raised the Siege of Newark recovered Litchfield and Bristol fought the great Battle at Marston-moor and in 1666 being joyned Admiral with the Duke of Albemarle attackt the whole Dutch Fleet in such a bold resolute but prudent and discreet way that you soon put the Enemy to the flight And though we live in an Age wherein every one seems to be free to speak what he will and not to spare even those whom they have no reason to speak against yet nothing can be said but in your Praise and Commendation I conclude this Epistle humbly begging of your Highness to accept of this small Treatise I could have enlarged it had I not known that Princes who are commonly incumbred with several important Affairs have no time to read great Volumes When your spare-hours will allow to make a perusal of this which though little yet contains much I hope your Highness will receive some satisfaction and see that my whole intention is to wish the Peace of this Nation the Glory of God Almighty the good of his holy Catholick Church the Salvation of the Souls of men and the reducing of the wandring sheep whether Popish or other Dissenters into Uniformity which is heartily desired by Your Highnesses Most humble most obedient and affectionate Servant Peter Berault TO THE READER Unprejudiced Reader AS it is not enough to depart from evil but we are obliged to do good Even so it is not enough to have prov'd the Roman Church Heretick but also to make appear that the Church of England is the holy Catholick Church But if in reading what I have written thou sayest I have not done well because thou dost not understand it blame my Discourse not my Faith It may be another might speak more clearly upon this Subject nevertheless no man did ever speak so that in all things he could be understood by all Persons alike Therefore let him who is not pleased herewith see whether he understands others better when they speak or write concerning the same things And if he doth let him shut my Book yea let him throw it into the fire and employ his time in reading those that he understands better However let him not think I was bound to be silent because I have not written so clearly as those which he understands for all that is written doth not fall into the hands of every man and it may be also that those which read what I have written may not find any Books wherein such Questions are handled more clearly Wherefore it is good to have several Books of a different style though not of a different Faith concerning the same Questions because the same thing is oftentimes by some conceived one way by others another But if he that complains he doth not understand these things could not comprehend them when others have disputed about them with subtilty let him desire God that he would be pleased to enlighten his Spirit and cease to blame me and to say it had been better for me to be silent But should the Reader object I very well understand what is written but what is written is not true let him prove his Opinion and let him confute mine which if he doth with charity and truth and makes it appear unto me I shall confess my self very much obliged unto him and think my Endeavours in composing this small Treatise sufficiently rewarded I know Opinions concerning Religion being many in this Nation I cannot be without a great many Foes but if they consider that I have no other intention than to manifest the Truth and procure
Adam and Eve when they were first created because in that state they saw no strangers in their Family These words were especially related to the ancient Israelites who had lived in Aegypt like strangers to the end they might learn when they should possess the Land of Promise to deal with all the World otherwise than the Aegyptians had dealt with them And therefore the aforementioned cannot be understood ex Jure naturali as belonging to the Moral Law it being alike and the same among all Nations Fourth Answer The next words For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and allthat in them is and rested the seventh day do not infer in themselves an indispensable necessity for no body doubts but that God could create this great World with all its perfections in a less time yea in a moment if he had pleased and consequently that he could appoint another day than the seventh to be kept holy as for Example the third if on that day he had finished the Creation of the World But being finish'd in six days the Question is whether the seventh be of an indispensable necessity Wherefore I Answer Fifthly That the day assigned by God for his Worship was Symbolical Mystical and Ceremonial and consequently ought to be abolished and so was not of an indispensable Necessity and therefore did not belong to the Moral Law That the institution of the Sabbath day was such may be seen clearly because Adam the first of all men was able by the strength of his natural Reason in the state of Innocency to comprehend what belonged to the Natural and Moral Law but by the strength of his Reason he could never understand why the seventh day ought to be kept holy rather than another Therefore the Reason of it was the good Will of God which Adam could never understand of himself wanting a special Revelation or positive Commandment wherein the Reason of it might be manifested unto him And it signifies nothing to say that it is written we are bound to keep holy the seventh day for ever because by the word for ever is meant only a long space of time assigned by God as it appears in these Texts Exod. 21. 6. Exod. 32. 13. Levit. 24. 8 9. Numb 18. 19. Numb 25. 13. Wherein though the word for ever be used yet we say it belongs to the Ceremonial Law and consequently ought to be abolished under the Gospel where the body of these things whereof they were but a shadow is made manifest And that the Institution of the seventh day reduplicativé ut sic could be abolished appears by the words of the Prophet Ezekiel I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifie them An by the other words of St. Paul to the Colossians Let no man judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or of the new Moon or of the Sabbath days which are shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ. Now seeing the Plural Number contains all Singulars Sabbaths being taken in the Plural Number it followeth that that contained in the Decalogue and which is here in Dispute is also included therein Otherwise St. Paul would not have failed to make an exception The Sabbath saith Christ was made for man and not man for the Sabbath therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath Now he that is the Lord of any thing can dispose of it as it seems good unto him therefore the Son of man being Lord also of the Sabbath he may dispose of it as he pleaseth and therefore might abolish it and consequently it doth not belong to the Natural or Moral Law which cannot be changed even by God himself And it signifies nothing to say that Jesus Christ himself and his Apostles have kept and sanctified the seventh day for they did keep it as they did some other Commandments of the Ceremonial Law which were all abolished in their convenient time to the end that they might not offend the Jews among whom they were born and to whom especially they were to preach the holy Gospel but might convert them to Christian Religion and call them that were predestinated and might by all means save some and so propagate the more the Kingdom of God Which doth not consist in meat and drink or in distinction of sabbaths but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost From whence it follows that the Sanctification of the seventh day reduplicativé ut sic did not belong to the Moral Law and consequently might be abolished I say the Sanctification of the seventh day ut sic for in reference of that which is Moral I mean the true Piety and Worship due unto God it could not be abolished and no man in the World in whatsoever dignity yea nor God himself can dispense with Now the Worship due unto God may be considered in two respects inwardly or out wardly Considered in the first sence it respects our Confidence in God our Obedience to his Commandments our Invocation Praises and Thanksgivings Considered in the latter it respects places where are publick Meetings wherein the Word of God is preached and his Sacraments are administred In reference to the outward Worship due unto God it is necessary to avoid Confusion from whence proceed great evils to establish some Order and to appoint certain days and hours to meet together that we might praise and worship our Lord call upon his holy Name and give thanks for all his unmeasurable mercies Now the Church to which Christ gave his Authority and Power and whose Ordinances he will have us to keep as it appears by these words If he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a Publican had good and sufficient Reasons to change the seventh into the first day of the week First Because being Typical and Mystical and not belonging to the Moral Law as I have made it appear it might be abolished as all the other Precepts of the Ceremonial Law were For Christ blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his Cross Secondly The Sanctification of the seventh day being ordained unto us to the end we might remember the day and benefit of our Creation as it appears by the words of the 11th verse For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth c. The Church which we ought to obey in all things not contrary to the holy Scripture finding that the day of our Redemption was very considerable yea much more excellent than that of our Creation as it appears by the words of Jesus Christ concerning Judas Good were it for that man if he had never been born And finding that in the first day of the week Jesus Christ
there is no other Church wherein we can be saved but the holy Catholick Which is confirmed by the Fathers Whosoever saith Chrysostome divides the unity of the Church the mystical Body of our Lord he shall not incur a less punishment than those have done who pierced mangled and tore his Body Sola Catholica Ecclesia est quae verum cultum retinet Hic est Eons veritatis hoc est domicilium fidei quo si quis non intraverit vel à quo si quis exierit à spe vitae ac salutis aeternae alienus est He shall not have God for his Father saith Austin That would not have the Church for his Mother So the fourth Council of Carthage declares that out of the Catholick Church there is no Salvation And Fulgentius speaks thus Sicut in Hiericho quisquis extra illam domum fuit nullum potuit adipisci vitae subsidium sic extra Ecclesiam Catholicam nullus accipiet indulgentiam peccatorum Extra hanc Ecclesiam nec Christianum nomen aliquem juvat nec baptismus salvat nec mundum Deo sacrificium offertur nec peccatorum remissi accipitur nec aeternae vitae foelicitas invenitur As in Hierieho whosoever was out of that House could not obtain the benefit of Life so out of the Catholick Church none shall receive the pardon of sins Out of this Church neither the Title of Christian secures any one neither doth Baptism confer Salvation neither doth any man offer a Sacrifice agreeable unto God nor receives the Remission of his sins nor finds the happiness of Eternal Life And in another place he saith Firmissimè tene nullatenus dubites quemlibet Haereticum sive Schismaticum in nomine Patris filii Spiritus sancti baptizatum st Ecclesiae Catholicae nonfuerit aggregatus quantasque eleemosinas fecerit etsi pro Christi nomine etiam sanguinem fuderit nullatenus posse salvari Omni enim homini qui Ecclesiae Catholicae non tenet unitatem neque baptismus neque Eleemosina quaelibet copiosa neque mors pro nomine Christi suscepta proficere poterit ad salutem quandiu in eo Haeretica vel Schismatica pravitas perseverat quae ducit ad mortem Hold this most firmly and doubt not of it in any wise that every Heretick and Schismatick whatsoever baptized in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost if he be not reunited to the Catholick Church let him bestow never so many Alms yea though he should shed his blood for the Name of Christ he cannot obtain Salvation For neither Baptism nor Alms how great soever nor death suffered for the Name of Christ shall profit unto Salvation to any man that holds not the Vnity of the Catholick Church If he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen man and a Publican Therefore since those who separate themselves from the holy Catholick Church are Schismaticks and out of hope of Salvation as I have made it appear evidently the Church of England being the holy Catholick let now the Reader draw the Conclusion I know what I said just now concerning those who are out of the Catholick Church will be granted to be true but the Reader will object again the Question is to know which is the holy Catholick Church for if we will believe some Fathers it seems that the most part yea none of those that you blame in this Treatise are out of it For Fulgentius in the place aforementioned saith that There is one only Church which is this wherein the Trinity is believed one God of one Nature and Substance wherein nothing is attributed to the Son more than to the Holy Ghost wherein one and the same honour and worship is rendred to the Trinity who is true God This is the only true Church which believing and publishing one Essence in Trinity dares not esteem one Person above th' other Vna est Ecclesia in qua Trinitas unus Deus unius naturae atque substantiae creditur in qua nec Filio nec Spiritui sancto contumelia minorationis ingeritur in qua unus atque idem Cultus honor unus uni Trinitati quae Deus verus est exhibetur Haec est una vera Ecclesia quae sic credit praedicat unam Trinitatis Essentiam ut in tribus unam quamlibet non audeat praeferre alteri personam Athanasius is of that Opinion Whosoever saith he will be saved before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholick Faith and the Catholick Faith is this that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Vnity And Lactantius saith Sola Catholica Ecclesia est quae verum cultum retinet This is the only Catholick Church which keeps the true Worship And three or four times after he speaks thus Quia singuli quique Coetus Haereticorum se potissimum Christianos suam esse Ecclesiam Catholicam putant sciendum est illam esse veram in qua est Confessio poenitentia quae peccata vulnera quibus subjecta est imbecillitas carnis salubriter curat That is Because every Congregation of Hereticks think to be especially Christians and their Church the Catholick they must know that that Church is the true wherein is Confession and Repentance that cures the sins and wounds which the weakness of the Flesh is subject to Therefore according to Fulgentius and Athanasius the Arians only are out of the Catholick Church and according to Lactantius we are not able to determine any Person out of it Every one pretending to keep the true Worship and granting Confession and Repentance to be necessary Christ himself in his answer to the young man who asked him What good thing shall I do that I may have Eternal Life Did not bid him to believe in the Trinity nor in the Consubstantiality of the Son with the Father nor in the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son nor in the Incarnation of the Son of God nor in his Resurrection nor did tell him that he was to be baptized or to keep the Sabbath c. but If thou wilt enter into Life keep the Commandments and the young man having asked him which were they Jesus specified them unto him saying Thou shalt do no Murther thou shalt not commit Adultery thou shalt not Steal thou shalt not bear false Witness honour thy Father and thy Mother and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self If then according to Christs words he that keeps these Commandments here described is saved we must conceive him to be in the Catholick Church or what some Father 's said that out of the Catholick Church there is no Salvation is false And as in what Sect soever every one pretends to keep the true Worship and by God's Assistance to perform his Commandments even so every one pretends to be saved and consequently to be in the holy Catholick