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A43788
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The grand apostacy of the church of Rome, from her primitive purity and integrity with a vindication of the Church of England, in her separation from her, and the hazard of salvation in communion with her : discoursed in a sermon preached at St. Mary le Bow, London on Sunday the 28th of December, 1679 / by John Hill.
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Hill, John, d. 1709.
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1680
(1680)
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Wing H1996; ESTC R12819
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28,385
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79
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she can fulfil the Royal Law and so brave God in the face as if she needed no pardon from his hands O how sweet a Lesson is this to flesh and bloud even enough to make her run mad of Self-conceit 3. That of commending Ignorance as the Mother of Devotion And thus when they had taken away the Scriptures they set up Pictures in their room All their Religion is no other than a pack of Complements meerly outward and sensible adapted to the humour of their ignorant and sensual Votaries for homo est magis sensus quam intellectus to worship God in Spirit and Truth can no more be understood by them than an Eye can see Spirit How ridiculous are their superstitious Cuâ—toms Yet not to do what Fathers and Grandfathers have done is to profane their Canonized dust And indeed had not the Scripture foretold what an Eclipse would be upon the whole Church we should think it impossible that such ridiculous things should be taken up Because Christ is the Light therefore they have Light at Noon-day and because Christ said We must be like little Children therefore the Monks wear Cowls like childrens Swadling-clouts And one Pope made a serious Motion in the Conclave That he and his Cardinals might ride in a solemn day on Asses in imitation of Christs humility but the Conclave thought that the As too much rode the Pope already And thus you have had the several Instances and Causes of Rome Defection from her Primitive Purity and Integrity I now proceed to the third thing proposed to be shewn viz. III. The grounds of our Separation from and the impossibility of Reconciliation to that Church This I will consider 1. More generally 2. More particularly More generally and that by asserting these three things 1. The lawfulness of the Church of England's Separation from the Church of Rome 2. That this Separation the Romanists themselves cannot justly charge as Schismatical 3. That our Compliance with that Church is dangerous and borders on Ruine and Destruction I. The lawfulness of the Church of England's Separation from the Church of Rome The Church of Rome is confessed to be antient but not her Errours neither do we in any thing differ from her wherein she hath not departed from her self Here consider these two things 1. That the Church of Rome was never a Mother to our Church and we never had such dependance on her as the Romanists pretend we had Our Christian Faith came not from the seven Hills neither was it derived from Austin the Monk or Pope Gregory Britain had a worthy Church before either of them look'd into the world built on the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles And the account that Historians give of it is thus viz. That Christianity was propagated here immediately after the death of that Proto-Martyr St. Steven Which appears by divers passages out of Origen and Tertullian Gildas the Historian of our own Nation called Sapiens affimeth That in the time of Tiberius who died thirty seven years after Christ was crucified this Island of Britain received the Faith Some there are and not improbably who conjecture that St. Paul himself preached the Gospel here after his first Imprisonment at Rome which was quinto Neronis This is confirmed by a Passage of Venantius Honorius viz. Transit oceanum vel qua fuit Insula pontum Quasque Britannus habet Terras atque ultima Thule Beronius himself one of their own Authors cells us That he found it in a Manuscript in the Vatican Library that the Gospel was first preach'd in this Nation by Simon Zelotes and Joseph of Arimathea In what state Christianity stood afterwards appears not in any footstep of History till King Luoius time who is said to send to Eleutherius the then Bishop of Rome for some Pastors to instruct his People in the Christian Religion Fugatius and Damianus were the persons sent over with his Letters to the King which acquainted him That as Christ's Vicar he might settle matters for Religion a thing which his Successors will not now allow within his own Dominions And thus Christianity flourished for several hundred years here And notwithstanding all the affrightments of Pensecution that was then on the Church and the Heathen Princes spilt the bloud of the Christians like water yet those sanguine showers have ever since made the Church the more fruitful And in the Borders of this Island the Primitive Christian Religion had publick encouragement and profession even to the time of Austin the Monk who found here at his entrance one Archbishop seven Bishops and a Monastery at Bangor with twenty one hundred Monks in it So that several hundred years did intervene between the first planting of Christianity and Austin's coming hither I should not be so large in 〈◊〉 Historical Narrative but that I know 't is objected to us by the Romanists That we had our Religion from them and the Conversion of the English Nation was by Rome and her Agents We own that the Antient Roman Church was Sister to ours but no Mother there was neer Kindred but no Dependance But 2. Though we should grant them such a Dependance yet still we assert our Separation lawful because they have separated and departed from their first Purity We hold with the Antients from whom they are departed and we hold with them as far as they hold with Christ This will evidence it self if you consider these four things 1. That the Modern Papists maintain sundry Articles opposite to that which hath been formerly believed by the most eminent Doctors of the Roman Church as that of the merit of Condignity opposed by St. Bernard and Anselme and now defended by the Modern Jesuits Images at first were onely motivum objectum an inducing means to move people to adore the Samplar and no material Object of adoration which now is opposed by their present Church 2. Sundry Popish Assertions now obtruded are manifestly repugnant to the Teners of the Primitive Church as That the Popes Judgment is infallible That he is Lord over the whole World That publick Service doth bost edifie in an unknown Language That Lay-men must not read Scriptures c. 3. Many of their Opinions are improbable unreasonable and absurd as That the Scripture hath no greater authority to binde or loose the Faithful than the Church will That the definition of the Pope is as authemtiek as the facred Scripture That Fornication in the Clergie is a smaller offence than Marriage That to worship Images is meritorions With innumerable other such-like Absurdities 4. Some of our Adversaries more ingenuous than their fellows confess That we believe and hold the fundamental Truths of the Gospel the main and vital matter of Religion And if we do thus who is to be faulted the Church of Rome or the Church of England But herein she discovers her self to be that body of which Antichrist is the Head and that Whore and Mother of
so many Places at one time and yet no Place Flesh and no Flesh several Members without distinction a substance without quantity and other accidents or substance and accidents that cannot be seen felt or perceived So that they make their saviour either a Monster or Nothing 2. In overthrowing the Perfection of Christs Satisfaction for if all be not paid how hath Christ satisfied If temporal punishments in Hell be yet due how is all paid And if these be paid by us how are they satisfied by Christ 3. In presumptuously mangling Christs sacred Institution by which they sacrilegiously rob his people of one half of that heavenly Provision which he left as his last and dearest Legacy to his Church As if Christs Ordinance were superfluous or any shaveling Priest could be wiser than his Redeemer 4. In imposing heavier burdens than ever Christ designed Hence the conscience of their Proselytes are overladen with infinite unnecessary Traditions far more than ever Moses commented on by the Jewish Rabbies they imposing them with no less Authority and exacting them with far more Rigour than any of the Royal Laws of their Maker And this brings me to the third thing considerable viz. As III. It is a bloudy and cruel Religion to all that have and do oppose her Even since Cain set the Knife to Abet's throat the Churches Veins have bled Rome was first of all founded in Bloud and still endeavours to erect its self by the same method of Serpentine Designes and Dragon-like Rage and Gruelty This will clearly appear unto you by taking a view of her either in her Principles or Practices First her Principles in these seven things 1. In asserting the Power of the Pope over all Temporal Princes and Kingdoms for he like his Father the Devil will shew all the glory of a Kingdom and give it to some Creature of his own if he will fall down and worship him They account it not onely lawful but meritorlous to murder a Protestant Prince whom they call heretical hereby to introduce a Popish Successor and advance the interest of their own Cause throughout the world 2. That an Heretick for Heresies sake and in point of Conscience though he troubles not the State ought to be put to death This also causeth the effusion of much Bloud and when the Pope hath anathematiz'd a Nation or Person nè brut a essent fulmine they inflame Kings and provoke them to destroy all with Fire and Fagot And these we have sadly found to be their Arguments both to enlighten our Vnderstandings and inform our Judgments in the Popish Religion For as one ingeniously observed They convince by a Dagger and enlighten by a Faggot Hence they call an utter Desolation a Restauration and the subversion of three Kingdoms no other than the conversion of them How much Protestant Bloud this Doctrine hath shed in France and Germany and how many English throats have bled by this Knife is not easie to judge 3. That no publick Faith is to be kept with Hereticks as if Christiana Fides and Punica were all one The Heathens by the Rush-candle of Nature could perceive that Truth in mens words and promises is the best Ligament in a body politick and the very joynts and nerves of all Civil Constitutions How much admired is that Roman who kept his Faith with Carthage though he knew it would be his very ruine But Johannes a Roman Priest could say That in the destruction of the Lutherans Judges were not bound to follow either Law Promise or Reason How sad is it that Romana Fides might be depended on when Rome was Heathenish but not now it is become Christian ‑ and that the moral Honesty of the poor blinde Heathens should so much exceed the Piety of these Catholick Pretenders 4. That mental Reservations and Equivocations are lawful This must needs overthrow Civil Constitutions were they almost Adamantine For what delusions of Magistrates what evasions of righteous Judgments what ensnaring of innocent men what doubting in Oaths will there be by this means How can an Oath be the end of Strife and Controversie if this be allowed O ye holy Martyrs lay aside your glorious Robes of Immortality You died like fools and were guilty of your own Blood whenas you might have denied and forsworn all by mental Reservations and Equivocations 5. A fifth bloudy Position of theirs is An absolute necessity of concealing all things revealed in Auricular Confession This Doctrine hath been a private back-way to let in the most horrible Conspiracies and Murders Hence 't is a received Maxime amongst them That Nullum lantum malum esse potest cujus vitandi causa Confessionem prodere liceat That Confession is not to be revealed whatever punishment be endured Bellarmine praiseth Garnet the Jesuit that would not reveal the Gunpowder-Treason because as he saith Confession is Jure Divino and Temporal Authority Jure Humano And Casanbon tells us That it was a Jesuits Speech to him De Jure humano leviori damno Reges omnes quot-quot sunt occiderentur quam vel una Confessio revelaretur That it was a far less Offence to destroy many Princes than to reveal one Confession I wonder whether they would hide it if there were a Conspiracy against the life of their Triple-crowned Monarch But there was one that escaped well in this matter of Confession viz. Father Aubigney who in the bloudy fact of Ravilliack being called in question and demanded what was revealed to him in Confession he replied That God had given him this grace That whatsoever was revealed to him in Confession he presently by a miracle forgot it and for all the world could not remember it again I think if this Answer saved him it was the best Grace that ever God bestowed on him 6. That the Clergy are exempted from subjection and so cannot be guilty of treasonable practices Clerici rebellio in Regem non est Crimen bâ—â—sae Majestatis quia non est Subditus Regi The rebellion of a Priest against his Prince is not Treason because he is not his Subject for they are by her affirmed to be so the Inheritance and Portion of God that they are exampt from all Temporal Jurisdiction to Civil Princes and States If so what wickedness may not be committed by such men How doth the Pope herein oppose the Apostle Rom. 13.1 Let every soul be subject to the higher powers And it is a known Explication of Chrysostom's Every Soul though he be a Monk a Priest though he be never so Spiritual as they call it is here understood and cannot draw his shoulder from the yoak of Allegiance 7. That blinde obedience unto Governours is necessary And let in this once upon a People and you let in the Trojan Horse full of armed Enemies in his bowels For whatever the Pope and his Officers shall command to be done be it to destroy a whole Kingdom nay subvert three Kingdoms at one time must not be disputed but