means strengthned I acknowledg that Preachers do instruct the people That to make themselves acceptable unto God and to have a share in the Kingdom of Heaven they must refrain from these evil Passions and they build this Obligation upon the Precepts of the Gospel but men acting exceedingly more by the hope and fear of present good or evil than of that which is future the efficacy of all the loveliness of a God who gave this Precept of the hope of Paradice and fear of Hell becomes extreamly weakened in them by the ill Example of those who by their Habit and Condition seem and ought to make profession of a Life more pure and disengaged from the Interests of this World. For altho they embrace not formally this Opinion That there is neither God nor Heaven nor Hell and that on the contrary they hold these Doctrines to be very true yet nevertheless this ill Example makes them act as if they did wholly reject them this damnable Example having so mortal a poison in it that it makes them believe that their Teachers being able men would themselves live conformable to these Instructions if they thought them Divine and they themselves leading not this life 't is probable that they do not believe what they preach and teach The Scripture also in many places highly enveigheth against Pastors of an ill Life the disorder of their manners being a stumbling-block to those whom they have the care of But tho the Irregularities of Pastors did not make so ill an impression upon the minds of the people whilst persons who desire to be saved and are humbled when they perceive within themselves a repugnancy to follow those ways which the Gospel hath marked out hear speak of able men and of almost whole Orders whom for instance the Gospel enjoyns to be charitable know that no more is employed that way than what remains to him who spares no cost to appear Great and to keep up his Port according to the Custom of the World and other such like Interpretations of all the Precepts of Jesus Christ do not they find themselves inclined to embrace these Explications thereby satisfying their desires and thinking to quiet their Consciences Those who favour the Papacy shall tell you That the Pope is so far from ordering such pernicious Maxims to be taught that he doth abhor them and wish with all his heart that they would teach and promote contrary ones Besides that many Popes have themselves entertained ill Opinions I will grant it for the present but the Pope who pretendeth to be the only Head of the Church and that it belongs to him alone to judge absolutely of Eâ—clesiastical things and persons not reproving them nay oftentimes shutting the mouths of those who would oppose them who sow and spread abroad such dangerous Maxims doth uphold these pernicious Opinâ—ons which we have the greater reason to believe because he withdraws the Monks and many of the Clergy from the Jurisdiction of the Bishops If it be said That he cannot silence them by reason of their too great Authority it is then manifest that the Papacy such as it is doth suffer the ill Example and these pernicious Opinions and is not able to hinder them unless it be in matters of very small importance And thus far it is an Obstacle unto Piety since no body can apply a Remedy whilst the Pope shall be acknowledged the Head and Master of the Church The Second Argument which sheweth That the Papacy is an Obstacle unto true Virtue is that it makes use of such practices as promote a false and only seeming instead of true Piety Some Catholicks do teach That Contrition is necessary to make Confession valid But this Doctrine is not much followed That which hath the Vogue and reigns most in the World is that Attrition is sufficient which is only a simple Sorrow for having sinned and that too occasioned but by the fear of Hell. The people who are instructed in this Opinion believe readily that it is an easie matter to be justified before God and so think that after having sinned a great while they shall at their Death receive Absolution of their sins by saying a Peccavi For what man is there who is not afraid of being Damned The great multitude of Plenary Indulgences and others which are as common as Water doth also marvellously contribute to the casting men into Impenitence and to make them at the same time believe that their Consciences are in safety under pretence of observing those Exercises which pass for Pious tho they are not so I could produce many other Reasons to demonstrate the Truth of what I say but let these suffice The Pope pretending to be the only Soveraign Judge of Religion not silencing these false and pernicious Teachers nay not being able to do it if he would Is not then the Papacy an Obstacle unto true Piety since it introduces a false one in its place There are good people among the Catholicks I confess but the Papacy contributes nothing to that On the contrary those who believe and live well it is God and not the Pope who is the Author of their Piety as well as of their Profession which is rather destroyed than maintained by the usual Pride and Impiety of the Popes from whence it comes that no man now a days believes but what he will so that the whole World is full of Deists Socinians Libertines and impious persons But they say That at least the Papacy doth maintain the External Vnity and that is a great Advantage Yet I deny that For what does it contribute to this outward Unity But besides that it serves only to cheat the World whilst there is no inward Unity If they mean the Unity in Ceremonies First of all this would be no great matter for Ceremonies make not the Essence of Religion but are only the out-side of it and besides they are very different according to the several Countries and the Popes are not the Authors of them If they were it were enough to condemn them Besides all this there are fewer Sects and Factions less Divisions and by consequence more Unity among the Greeks who have many Patriarchs than among us I acknowledge indeed that it is rather Ignorance that unites them than Reason or Piety Bâ—t they tell us that the Popes spare nothing for the Conversion of the Greeks and Protestants they bestow on them both Money and Benefices To that may be added That they have not spared even the Blood of Hereticks for their Conversion as History informs us But if it be their Conversion which they do heartily desire why do not they renounce the Authority which they have usurped in the Church and in the World Why do not they re-establish things in a Christian manner in the same State they were in in the days of the Apostles and of the Primitive Church Why do not they condemn the Blasphemies which are spoken in favour of
that is to say We read that the three first Patriarchs who sat in the Chair of Peter were he of Rome he of Alexandria and he of Antioch and with them all the Bishops who were under them Let a man read the Writings of Gregory of Gelasius and of Leo who were all Popes and he shall see that they all acknowledg that all good Bishops are Successors of St. Peter and altho they sometimes failed not to demonstrate suffiently their Ambition and the desire they had to make the other Bishops their subjects yet it was not in quality of Heads of the Church much less by vertue of any Text of Scripture And we find not that for the first six Centuries any man dared to bring so much as one passage of Scripture to establish the Primacy of the Bishoprick of Rome St. Ambrose is not at all favourable to them when he says Primatus Petri Confessionis erat non Honoris fidei non ordinis That the Primacy of Peter was a Primacy of Confession and not of Honourâ— of Faith and not of place St. Cyprian whom we have already mention'd says farthermore in another place Neque enim quisquam nostrum se Episcopum Episcoporum constituit ut Tyrannico tâ—rrore ad Obsequendi necessitatem collegas suos adigat cum habeat omnis Episcopus pro licentia libertatis Potestatis suae Arbitrium proprium tanquam judicari ab alio non possit cum nec ipse possit Alterum judicare sed expectamus Vniversi Judicium Dâ—mini nostri Jesu Christi qui unus solus habet potestatem praeponendi nos in Ecclesiae suae Gubernatione de Acâ—u nostro judicandi There is nâ—ne among us who pretendeth to be a Bishop of Bishops that by a Tyrannical power he may oblige any of his Colleagues to the necessity of being subject to him since that every Bishop being his own Master and independent on any other cannot be judged by another nor can he judg another but we ought all to expect the judgment of our Lord Jesus Christ who only hath the power of establishing us over his Church and of judging of our behaviour in it The same St. Cyprian calleth Stephen Bishop of Rome his Colleague Stephanum Collegam nostrum ut Cornelium nostrum co-Episcopum And Cornelius our Fellow-Bishop He speaks of two Bishops of Rome And in another place he shews that he thought he had as great a share in the Government of the whole Church as the Bishop of Rome Omnes enim says he deâ—et pro corpore totius Ecclesiae cujus per varias quasque Provincias membra digesta sunt excubare And in another place Divina Paterna Pietas in nobis Apostolatus ducatum contulit Vicariam Domini sedem coelesti dignatione ornavit That is to say The Goodness of God hath conferred upon us the conduct of the Apostleship and hath adorned by his Heavenly Grace the deputed See of the Lord which we hold And furthermore Christus dicit ad Apostolos ac per hos ad omnes praepositos qui Apostolis Vicaria Ordinatione succedunt Qui vos audit me audit Jesus Christ saith to all the Apostles and in the persons of them to all Bishops who succeed the Apostles being their Substitutes by Ordination Whosoever heareth you heareth me He shews in these places that he pretended that his Church was an Apostolick See and that he was the Vicar of Jesus Christ as well as the other Bishops In his 55 Epistle he says that a man must be a fool or a mad man to believe that the Authority of the Bishops of Africa was less than that of the Bishop of Rome to whom abundance of profligate wretches did resort that so they might avoid the giving an account of their actions to the Bishops of Africa and the being punisht for their crimes After his death a Council assembled at Carthage did ordain Vt prima sedis Episcopus non appelletur princeps Sacerdotum aut primus Sacerdos sed tantum primae sedis Episcopus That the Bishop of the first See ought not to be called Prince or chief of the Priests or any thing of this kind but only the Bishop of the first See. And the Council of Nice marking out the bounds of the extent of each Patriarchal See says thus There is an ancient custom whereby the Bishop of Alexandria doth govern all the Diocesses of Egypt of Lybia and of Pentapolis as also it is a long time since that the Bishop of Rome hath presided over those which he now governeth and so likewise the Bishop of Antioch Upon which Cardinal Cusan makes this reflexion We see says he hâ—w much the Bishop â—f Rome haâ—h gotten against the Holy Constitutions by the long use of a submission which hath been given him and which was not due to him This Decree of the Council of Nice was since confirmed by the Councils of Antioch of Calcedon and of Constantinople Theodoret produceth a Letter of the Council of Constantinople which sufficiently shews the place which the Bishops of Rome held at that time it begins thus To our most Reverend and dear Brethren and Colleagues Damasus Ambrose Brillo Valerian and all the other Holy Bishops assembled together in the Great City Eusebius also relates to us another Letter which the Council of Antioch assembled against the Heresie of Paulus of Samosatenus writes to the Bishop of Rome which begins thus To Dionysius to Maximus and to all those who are Ministers with us Com-Ministris nostris throughout the whole world Bishops Priests Deacons and all the Church under Heaven Would a man now in good earnest in this corrupt age write thus to our Holy Father the Pope Theodoret relates to us in his Ecclesiastical History that the Emperour Constantius was very urgent with the Bishop of Rome Liberius to embrace the Communion of the other Churches which shews that he also knew not that Rome was the Mother of the other Churches The Emperors Gratian Valentinian and Theodosius in the year 380 proposed Rome and Alexandria for Models of the Orthodox Faith. Ordaining that all the world should follow the Faith of Damasus Bishop of Rome and of Peter Bishop of Alexandria And after the first Council of Constantinople as tho they would have the Center of Christian Communion in the East only they order without mentioning Rome that all Churches should be conferred upon those who joyned in Communion with Nectarius Bishop of Laodicea and Diodorus Bishop of Tarsus in the Diocess of the East with Amphilochus Bishop of Iconium c. If the Bishops of Asia of Cilicia and of Mesopotamia had believed that the Communion of the Bishop of Rome had been necessary for their Churches they would never all have been excluded from its Communion during 140 years as they were after that Victor Bishop of Rome had Excommunicated them for a Trifle for if they
to People that are condemned Nec quisquam dicat se injustè hâc ratione condemnari nec conqueratur do judicibus Ecclesiasticis vel de judicio Ecclesiae ita statuentis Nor let any Man say that he is condemned unjustly upon this account nor complain of the Ecclesiastical Judges or of the Church so ordaining These Hangmen will make the Church accessary to their Barbarities Sed si injustè condemnatus sit gaudeat potiùs quòd pro veritate mortem patiatur but if he be unjustly condemned let him rejoyce rather that he suffers Death for the Truth What could the Devil do worse if he were incarnate Yet this is the Churches Head the Vicar of Jesus Christ the Holy See the Apostolick See it is his Holiness who hath made and decreed these things They do yet worse than this to Kings and Princes for they make use of secret means for fear they should get notice of them and by their Power prevent their wicked Designs They employ ignorant Creatures that are loaden with Iniquity such as Ravilliac who was a Murtherer by Profession and a Sorcerer too as was commonly said they give these People Absolution from all their Crimes and promise them Paradise if they perish in the Execution or if they are taken after it They have for such purposes as these in Italy those whom they call Crocesegnati and in Spain los Familiares See in the Book of Francis Suarez the Spaniard called Defensio fidei Catholicae By the way we are very much obliged to this Loyal Loyolist for calling these Maxims the Catholick Faith. If what he said were true it would be no great advantage to be a Catholick It would be perfect Manicheisme a Man must believe two contrary Principles good and bad God and the Devil at the same time There is a certain Author called Guliel Nubrigensis who relates the Story of a Monk who dethroned his natural Prince and sat himself in his place he had engraved upon his Seal Ferus ut Leo mitis ut Agnus This Monk was Villain enough thus to usurp the Authority of his Prince but he was a thousand times better than any of these Thieves at Rome For my part I will all my Life-time hold Communion with the Catholick Gallican Church but for the Bull de Coenâ Domini the Inquisition the Superiority of the Pope above the Council and the Morals now in fashion I declare I do detest it as a thing dangerous to Salvation to hold Communion with them who believe and maintain these things and that I believe them as far from being saved as the Mahometans Who can believe that Jesus Christ who gave himself for the Salvation of us all and who is all Charity it self can approve of it that People should be put to death for Religion or that he does not detest the Barbarities which these Monsters exercise under the Name of Vicars of Jesus Christ How contrary are these Practices to those of Jesus Christ and of his Apostles See after what manner our merciful Saviour spoke to his Apostles who would have forsaken him What and will you also leave me upon which St. Chrysostom makes this Reflection * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He asks them saying Will ye also go away which was the voice of one taking away all force and compulsion And in truth they did all abandon him yet after his Resurrection he received them as kindly as tho they had followed him to the very Cross and we see that when he gave his Apostles the Power of the Keys he ordered them only to teach Men and not to compel them by force and on that occasion when the Apostles were discontented with the Samaritans and would have called down Fire from Heaven upon them he says to them Ye know not what Spirit ye are of the Son of Man is not come to destroy Mens Lives but to save them But the Popes who make a quite contrary use of this Power are come to destroy both Souls and Bodies too We see that the Apostle St. Paul followed these holy Rules of Charity when he wrote to Titus teaching him the Duty of a Bishop he says to him only A Man that is an Heretick after the first and second Admonition reject He says not do him Injustice kill him ruin him by Violence or by Craft break your word with him according to the Maxims and Practices of the Court of Rome According to these Principles St. Chrysostom says these words Apud nos non cogendo sed suadendo id agendum est ut qui malus est melior evadat neque enim ad coercendos peccatores Potestatis jus nobis datum est si datum maximè esset locus non esset juris istius exercendi cum Deus coronet non eos qui necessitate sed qui voluntate liberâ à malo abstinent We must not endeavour to make a bad Man better by Force but by Perswasion For we have no Authority to compel Sinners and if we had we ought not to make use of it seeing God crowns not those that abstain from Evil out of meer necessity but those that do it out of free choice And hence it comes that St. Hierom comparing a King to a Bishop says Ille nolentibus praeest hic volentibus The one rules over those that are unwilling the other over those that are willing And Gregory Bishop of Rome writing to the Bishop of Constantinople says to him Nova est inaudita ista praedicatio quae verberibus exigit fidem That is a new and unheard-of sort of Preaching that requires Faith with Blows The Fathers abhorred not only that Men should be put to death but that any Injustice should be done to them upon the account of Religion for to make this use of Religion is to betray it and it is a sure means to make Hereticks more obdurate for it is certain that they who do thus have only the Name of Christians and People readily believe that a Religion is nothing worth which they are forced to embrace by such ways as these St Athanasius speaking of the Religion of the Arrians who persecuted the Catholicks driving them out of all Employs depriving them of the means of getting their Living prohibiting them the Exercise of their Religion and doing them many other Wrongs by Violence and Fraud and by groundless Accusations even to the bringing some of them to Death says very well Atque seipsum quà m non sit Pia nec Dei cultrix manifestat and shews it self how it is neither pious nor worshipping God. The same thing may be said of the English at present St Chrysostome also says Errantis poena est doceri the Punishment of the erroneous is to be instructed The Emperour Antoninus tho a Pagan was much more a Christian than the Popes and their Inquisition when in his 9 th Book he says Si potes meliora doce si non potes memento in hoc tibi