and to refresh my spirit with writing I have written for my self Haec mihi cecini Musis si nemo Alius Audierit I have sung these things to my self and the Muses tho no body else should hear them Sure and Honest Means TO CONVERT ALL HERETICKS CHAP. I. That the Papacy hath no Divine Title The vanity and nullity of those which it draws from the Gospel WHosoever shall read the New Testament will there find that Jesus Christ alone is established as Head of the Church and that it is not said of any other that she should be his Body or Believers his Members that belonging to none but Jesus Christ who is also the only Spouse of the Church which would be adulterous should she submit to another and this other could not be but an evil person and a reprobate since that in taking the quality of Spouse of the Church he must renounce that of Son of the Church and so could not have God for his Father according to the Maxim That he who hath not the Church for his Mother hath not God for his Father Now no one person can be the Head the Spouse and Son of the Church at the same time Nevertheless it is certain that the Popes do assume these Titles to themselves by a vanity which exceeds all folly and without being able to produce any reason for it Divine or Humane But let us see what they say to maintain their pretensions They say that among the Jews one man only viz. Aaron had the conduct of Divine Service and was Head of the Levites and that by consequence there ought to be in the Christian Church an Authority like unto this Established over the whole Church and that the Bishops of Rome perform the Functions of this charge Whereupon there are many things to be said First of all it was not difficult for Aaron to acquit himself of this in so little a State as Judea and in one only City of this State which was Jerusalem and in one only Tâ—mple of that City for it was not allowed to perform Divine Service nor to Sacrifice elsewhere whereas Christianity is at this time spread over the whole world and therefore one single person only cannot perform these Functions every where It is as if a man should say that because France is well governed by one King he might as well govern all the States of the habitable Earth and yet it would be much more easie for him to do it than for one Bishop to govern the whole Church because as it is well known the Ecclesiastical Ministry cannot inflict Corporal punishments upon Delinquents as the Civil Government may and does Besides Aaron was no way the Figure of the Bishops of Rome for then the Type would have been more excellent than the Original but he was the Figure of our Great and Soveraign High Priest Jesus Christ. Furthermore Aaron was not the Monarch of the Levites but as the Doge is at Venice for according to all the Talmudists he was subject to the Jurisdiction of the Great Sanhedrim and to their Censure whereas the Popes pretend to be not only the Monarchs of the whole Earth but particularly of all the Clergy And besides all this there was an express institution of God for this charge and for the person of Aaron and of his Successors Whereas there is nothing like it for the Papacy nor for the persons of those who exercise it We see in the Old Testament the Institution of Aaron's Charge with many Ceremonies for his Installment and for his anointing many Ordinances for the Exercise of this Charge and for the Succession many Chapters which speak of the Subordination of Priests and Levites But on the contrary we find not one word in the Gospel of this pretended charge of Universal Head of the Church of Vicar-General of Jesus Christ and Successor of St. Peter nor any thing that hath any relation to it and yet it ought to have been there clear and evident since that this Ministry was to be of an extent a thousand times greater and the thing in it self is prodigious and appears quite contrary to the nature of the Messias his Kingdom and to the Gospel We see several Orders of Ministers of the Gospel there often spoken of but not one word that can any ways relate to the Pope when surely that was the place to have spoken of it especially if it be necessary to Salvation to be subject to him as they would have it and if he hath the power as they would perswade us as well over the Temporality as the Spirituality of the whole world St. Paul who without question was of as great ability as the Pope was not of these peoples humour who pretend to govern the whole Church since he who had not the thousandth part of Christians to take care of as the Pope would have according to their supposition declares that no Mortal man was sufficient to perform every thing that was necessary to be done in it and that he was himself overwhelmed with the care he took for all the Churches Nor had St. Peter the courage of our good Popes who believe themselves capable of governing the whole Church and they might do it without difficulty after the method they take since he agreed with St. Paul that St. Paul should go toward the Gentiles and he towards the Jews and so they parted the Ministry between them At least the Popes after Aarons example ought to meddle only in Ecclesiastical and not in Secular affairs as they do pretending to Lord it over the whole world for we see that Aaron applied himself only to the Functions of his Charge and that in things Temporal and Civil he was subject to Moses and left the Absolute direction of them to him Instead of imitating Aaron the Head of the Levites in his Modesty the Popes pretend to be Lords not only of the Temporality but of the Spirituality of all the States of the world and will in this be Vicars of Jesus Christ tho he declared that his Kingdom was not of this world tho he taught his Disciples that he among them who would be the first should be the last though he fled away when they would have made him a King tho he payed Tribute to the Princes of the world when he was himself Lord both of Heaven and Earth tho he expresly forbad his Disciples to bear rule over any one whatsoever The Popes notwithstanding this will govern and pretend that our Saviour did amiss when he spoke thus and that they know better than he how to improve the rights of his Prerogative For my part I believe that such a King as Jesus Christ who holds the Earth in his hand according to the Prophet's expression who upholds all things by the power of his word as St. Paul says who knows the hearts of all men and governs the motions of all the creatures who is Almighty who knows and sees
upon them In St. Hilaries days they endeavoured to bring under the Bishops of France in such sort that St. Hilary opposed their Ambition which made Leo have the Impudence to write of it to the Bishops of the Province of Vienne However that did not hinder him from continually attacking him and his successors who found opposition enough from time to time they always gaining the Victory And we have a Letter which the Churches of France and Germany wrote together in the time of King Clouis to Anastasius the second Bishop of Rome where we see that they were not satisfy'd with the Ambition of that Bishop It is not say they without reason that the Bishops it being grounded upon many Authorities affirm that the Authority of Councils is above that of a Pope St. Paul the Apostle who tells us that we should be his followers resisted Peter the first of the Apostles to his face because he dâ—served reproof For our parts we understand not this new compassion which the Italian Physicians have for our Mâ—ladies of France They would cure our Bishops and are themselves sick of a continued Fever They are themsâ—lves blind and yet thâ—y offâ—r us light They forsake their own Flock suffering it to wander and pretend to lead our Pastors in the right way Thâ—y would make us believe that the Cure for Spiritual Diseases that is to say Absolution is to be found at Rome c. But if the Ark of the Covenant should fall in France it must be our Bishops and not theirs that must take it up again But if they be so rash as to pretend to touch the Ark of our Church they only draw evil upon themselves as well as Uzzah the Levite Let thâ—m fairly undeâ—stand this Sylâ—ogism If thâ—râ— be but one â—nly power in all Bishops it is also in one person alone Now there is one and the same power in all Bishops therefore it resides also in one single person But let us here observe by the by how much the Germans and French are degenerated from that Piety and Love for the Liberty which Jesus Christ hath acquired for his Church It is certain that Bishops were always equal in the first Ages of the Church It was some time after the Death of St. Cyprian before they thought of establishing in every Province one Bishop above the rest They thought it would be advantagious for removing the disorder that sprung up sometimes among them for concurrence and presidency He resided in the Capital City and was called the Metropolitan At first he had no Authority over the others but only the place but afterwards they conferred upon them the power of consecrating Bishops of the Province because they dwelt in the Capital Ciiy where every body came about their Affairs And it is from thence that Bishops became subject to their Metropolitans and have been distinguished from them by the Ordination which they receive from them These Metropolitans were called in the West Arch-bishops After this there was given them the power of calling Provincial Synods who for that Reason were assembled always in the Capital City That was brought in at first only as a Custom and because it looked as though the state of the Civil Government did require it But at length this Custom was confirmed by the Decrees of the Council of Nice and became a Law. After that for the maintenance of Unity among the Churches of divers Provinces it was further thought requisite to establish Exarchs or Primates over these Arch-bishops according to the Idea of the Civil Government These Primates were the Bishops of the chief City of some great Province or of a Diocess that comprehended many Provinces At first they acknowledged no Superior but by little and little they of Constantinople of Antioch of Alexandria and lastly he of Rome did first attempt their Rights and after came the Council of Calcedon who established over these Metropolitans four Patriarchs of Rome of Alexandria of Antioch and of Constantinople to whom afterwards he of Jerusalem was also added for the Honour of that City but he lasted not long The two principal were he of Rome and he of Constantinople because those were two Seats of the Empire and at last they took upon them the Quality of Oecumenical Bishops against all Reason Divine or Humane and against the Decrees of many Councils Since those times every thing hath gone worse and worse It is no hard matter to prove that the Presidence of the Bishop of Rome was purely in consideration of the Dignity of that City The Second Canon of the Council of Constantinople shews it sufficiently where it is said That the Bishops who are established over a Diocess shall not go beyond the bounds which have been set them but that the Bishop of Constantinople shall have the Honour of the Primacy after the Bishop of Rome and not before him because that City is not so ancient as that of Rome After the same manner the 9 th Canon of the Council of Antioch ordains That the Bishops of great Cities shall have the pre-eminence because all men of business repair to the Capital City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And the Council of Calcedon in its 16 th Act gives no other Reason for the City of Rome's having the first place The Fathers says this Council have also given these Priviledges to the See of Old Rome by reason of the Empire of that City c. And for this very reason they have given the same priviledges to the most Holy See of New Rome judging very ratiâ—nally that a City honoured by the Senaâ—e and the Empire ought to enjoy the same priviledges as the Ancient Rome and have the same pre-eminence in Ecclâ—siastical Affairs and be the second after her And the Council of Turin in its first Chapter hath these words That Bishop who can prove that his City is the Capital of the whâ—le Province let him have the honour of the Primacy and the Faculty of conferring Orders upon others And we must not judge of this matter by what we now see For Example That Paris and London which are the Capital Cities of two great States have not the Primacy over the other Bishops of these Kingdoms for besides that they here received the Christian Faith later than the others did the Court of Rome and its Favourers have managed this very politickly not suffering that any great City shoulâ— have this Honour lest the Bishop of it should become their Rival and should cast off their yoke as we see they had all the difficulty in the World to subdue the great City of Milan For in the year 1059. Nicholas the Second having sent thither Peter Damien Bishop of Ostia to make them lay aside the Ambrâ—sian Service and take up the Roman both the Clergy and People answered vigorously That they had never been subject to the Roman Laws and that the Bishop of Rome had
nothing to do to meddle with what concerned them That it would be a thing unworthy of their Church which had been always free to become subject by their own cowardize to another Church and that if they did it it would bring an eternal shame upon them It is true the Cardinal did corrupt the Arch-bishop who received the Roman Service but the Clergy and the People soon shook off the Yoke till Gregory the Seventh's time who by cunning practices and by cruelty oppressed them In the same manner at Toledo the Popes were forced to shed a great deal of blood before they could compel that Town to receive the Roman Service and at last to appease the People they were forced to allow that they should retain the Gallican Service in Six Parishes of the City of Toledo Ravenna also resisted for some time couragiously because they had tasted somewhat of their Spiritual as well as of their Temporal Dominion We see it by the 54 th Epistle of Adrian Ad Carolum Magnum de Leone Episcopo Ravennate qui non vult Obedire Adriano His Predecessor Sergius had done the same thing and so did John his Successor and many others See Cardinal D' Ailly in his book of the Reformation Guicciardin also confirms it The Church of Ravenna says he disputed with Rome for the Primacy because the Seat of Religion hath been accustomed to follow the Power of the Empire and its Arms which by the way also proves the Usurpations of the Bishops of Rome Durand also tells us That Charlemayne was intreated by the Pope Adrian to abolish the Ambrosian Service throughout all Germany and France and that he found great resistance as against an unheard of Tyranny The Emperor says he did compel all the Ecclesiasticks both by Threats and Punishments to burn the Books of the Ambrosian Service He could not force the Men of Milan to it who yet kept it near 300. years And we see in the 6 th Chapter of the Capitularies of Charlemayne that this Emperour made this Ordinance in the Year 806 that the Service should be sung in Churches according to the Use and Custom of the Roman Church These Villains who owe so much to this Emperour make but very little acknowledgment and have shewed but small consideration to his descendants I do not think it necessary to prove that the Bishops of Rome presided in the Councils no more than other Bishops that it was the Emperours who called the Councils that were to approve and make them to be observed There is no man but knows that our Kings have assembled many and have presided in them even when the Bishop of Rome hath had a Deputy or Legate present We have a remarkable Example in the History of the Gallican Councils which it were to be wished that our great King would follow that is of the Council of Leptine assembled in the Name of Carloman Duke and Prince of the Francks under Chilperie the third First of all you there see that it was Carloman who presided though the Bishop of Rome had his Deputy there present See how he there speaks In the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ I Carloman Duke and Prince of the Francks in the Year from the Incarnation 742 the Second of the Calends of May have assembled a Council by the advice of the Servants of God and the Lords of our Court that is to say Boniface and Burchard Bishops with their Clergy to advise concerning means whereby the Law of God and the Ecclesiastical Religion which is fallen to decay in these latter Ages may be re-established and how Christian People may attain to the Salvation of their Souls and not be destroyed by the deceits of false Teachers This is a true Idea of the present State of the Church but with this difference that the disorder is now much greater and would it would please God to touch the heart of some great Prince in our days to do as Carloman did Under the same King Chilperie Pepin who was yet only Duke of the Francks called also another Council at Soissons where he also presided The Preface begins thus I Pepin And at the end it is said Whosoever shall contradict these Decrees Established by 23. Bishops and other Servants of God by and with the consent of Prince Pepin and of the Lords of France shall be judged either by the Prince or by the Bishops And the Council is signed Pepin The Bishop of Rome is no more mentioned in all this than the Mufti though they were already arrived to a great height because it was near two hundred years since they had been declared Heads of the Church by the Emperor Phocas The first who took upon him this Quality was one Bâ—niface the third who for having protected Phocas who had killed the Emperor Maurice to settle himself in his place was by him in recompence honoured with the Title of Universal Bishop Many Authors do relate the History of it but one only shall suffice who is Beda who reports Phocam Imperatorem rogante Bonifacio secundo Gregorii Mâ—gni Successore statuisse sedem Romanae Apostolicae Ecclesiae Caput esse Omnium Ecclesiarum quia Constantinopolitana Primam se Omnium Ecclâ—siâ—rum scribebat And since that time they are become the Vicars General of Jesus Christ upon Earth because they are the worthy Successors of Simon Magus who as St. Epiphanius reports pretended to be the Vicar of Christ. And the Divine Power for the Government of the Church Being thus far advanced no man need wonder that they govern the Church so well for as Tacitus observes Neâ—â—â—nquam Imperium flagitio quaesitum bonis Artibus Exercuit Since this Consecration of Phocas they have always had the Wind in their Stern and Fortune hath by little and little greatly advanced them They were never at a loss to find people who would assist them to get a share in the Plunder Prima Principatus initia Ardua ubi sis ingressus adesse Studia Ministros And I may say that which the same Tacitus says in an other place with respect to the Ancient Grandeur of Rome That Fortune prepared them in many places of the World means and occasions of establishing their Empire Struebat jam Fortuna in diversa parte Terrarum initia caususque Imperio Papatui It is now not very long since that the Emperors did elect and depose the Popes They made use of them in their Affairs in Embassies they punished them when they had committed any Crime and sometimes even with Death Theodorie King of Italy for Example sent John Bishop of Rome in an Embassy to the Emperor Justinian and having afterwards re-called him he put him to death in Prison Belisarius Lieutenant of the Emperor Justinian in the year 538 drove away Silverius Bishop of Rome and put Vigil in his place whom he afterwards drew through the Town with a Rope about his Neck as Platina