no evidence in Courts of Justice sufficient to ground a condemnatory Sentence upon Eye-witnesses tho' of the greatest integrity will be of no signification all will be left in a perfect state of Scepticism The grand pillars which support Religion will be utterly overthrown and demolished How can we be assured that there is a God but by his Word and Works And how can we perceive the Contents of his Word or be acquainted with his Works without using our Senses We cannot be sure that The Heavens declare the Glory of God or that this Proposition This is my Body is contained in the New Testament if we may not conside in our eyes Miracles the great Seals of Evangelical Verity are rendered insignificant if the Senses of those who were present when they were wrought may not be trusted to their attestation will be of no value Indeed we are told that the Sense is not deceived in the Sacrament The accidents of the Bread and Wine are its proper objects and they remain there according as they appear but as for the Substance that is miraculously changed and Sense is no competent Judg about it To which the reply is easie Accidents alone are not the proper objects of Sense but Accidents together with those material subjects in which they inhere It is matter which properly makes the impression upon our Nerves the Particles of it are under diverse modes and figures commonly stiled Accidents The Essence of these consists in inhesion Accidentis esse est inesse So that if they be separated they presently cease to be and by consequence have no power to make any impulse upon Sense They can have no more a solitary existence than the height breadth and length of a house with all the colours and modes of every room may remain after the whole fabrick is demolished If there be any miraculous change in the substance of the Bread and Wine nothing can be more sit to discern it than our Senses The essential effect of a Miracle is to work wonder and admiration and nothing can produce this but that which is manifest to our faculties Tho' the mode of doing is latent yet the thing done is clear and accommodated to the apprehension of every Spectator These four Topicks Scripture Antiquity Reason Sense standing in an irreconcileable opposition to the doctrin of Transubstantiation nothing is left to support it except these two pretences the Declaration of the present Church and an impossibility that what she declares should be an Innovation As for the first If by the Church we understand the Universal no such thing is done by her The Eastern Churches declare the contrary The Greeks in their Liturgies have nothing of this nature expressed They adhere to the seven first General Councils only which are wholly silent in this matter Tho' they have a proper word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to express Transubstantiation by yet they never use it when they speak of the Eucharist When they call the Bread the Body of Christ it is with an extenuating term as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi or the like After Consecration they give no adoration to it They deny that an unworthy Communicant receives the Body and Blood of Christ Cyril Patriarch of Constantinople says in the name of the Greek Church Vid. Hotting An. Appen p. 422. We confess and believe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the true and firm Presence of our Lord Jesus to wit that which Faith offers and gives us and not that which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the invented Transubstantiation doth inconsiderately teach These are his words in his Oriental Confession of the Christian Faith To say notwithstanding all this that Transubstantiation is the declared belief of the Universal Church is to cut off the Greeks from being any part of it altho' they receive the Holy Scriptures embrace the ancient Creeds submit to the seven first General Councils have an uninterrupted succession of Bishops If it be said That Schism and Heresie has deprived them and all other Churches of this priviledge and dignity who do not submit to the Papal Supremacy this may be as easily denied as asserted The Universality of jurisdiction contended for is a perfect usurpation which can never be legitimated by length of time against the institution of our blessed Lord who constituted all the Apostles in a parity No Man can with justice be charged with Schism or Heresie for not owning of that which bears an opposition to the appointment of the Supreme Head of the Church If we must believe the declaration of the present Church in the point under consideration what were those obliged to do who lived in the time of Pope Gelasius when there was a declaration diametrically opposite The present Pope declares That the Bread and Wine do not remain in the Sacrament Gelasius a person of equal Authority and every jot as Infallible declares That they do Both these we cannot be obliged to believe they being contrary one to the other If the present Church of Rome must be credited whensoever she thinks sit to declare her self How is this to be known She has no peculiar promise made to her That to the Universal is nothing to the purpose she being but a part and a very corrupt one too All that the promise imports is that there shall be always a people with their Pastors in the World retaining all the points which are fundamental and of peremptory necessity to Salvation which may be tho' the Community of Rome utterly cease As for any Universal Tradition about this matter it is but a futilous and vain pretence as is evident by the contests betwixt the Roman and African Bishops If the last had known of any such Tradition and believed the first to be infallible a sudden stop would have been put to all contradiction No man will dare to oppose a Church which he believes cannot err Neither are there any motives of Infallibility efficacious enough to induce us to receive this doctrin Bellarmine has reckoned up fifteen but they are so far from evincing that the Church of Rome is Infallible in her declarations that they will not amount to prove her a True Church as will be manifest in the Fourth Section As for the Second pretence the impossibility of Innovation it is in vain to alledge it against so much evidence as may be produced for the matter of fact The antient Church for many Centuries did assert That the substance of the Bread and Wine remains after Consecration as I have already proved The doctrin of the present Church of Rome is That it doth not remain Here is an undeniable change To set up an imaginary demonstration against so clear a matter of fact and to commend it to our belief with all the advantages of Art is a method not unlike to that of Pericles who when he had received a fair fall by his Antagonist attempted to impose upon his Spectators with his Rhetorical flourishes and
errour is charged in sacred Writ upon the Will as the original of it This doth not render Religion uncertain Fallibility and certainty are not inconsistent There may be an actual certainty where there is no absolute infallibility A Judge is not infallible and yet he may be certain that the sentence which he pronounceth is right A man may be sure of what he sees plainly demonstrated before him altho' he is not out of the power and influence of all deception When a foundation is laid and some build gold silver and precious stone upon it others wood hay stubble it is as easie for one who is not infallible to discern the difference betwixt these superstructures as to distinguish a wall of marble form that which is made of brick If there be no certainty without infallibility Scepticism must be admitted and a stop put to all proceedings of Justice No Man ought to be condemned to suffer a penalty except it be certain that he deserves it and who are there but fallible Men to give evidence and judge of his demerits If the Promises of Scripture have sâ—â—â—â— sence as is contended for how comes it to be known It is a received principle amongst those with whom we are concerned That they cannot be sure of the meaning of the Bible without the interpretation of an infallible Spirit and by consequence we must be sure that the Church is infallible before we can be sure of the Sence of Scripture and if so the promise cannot be alledged as an argument to prove infallibility for then there will be a perfect circle The sence of the promise is justified by the infallibility of the Church and the infallibility of the Church by the sence of the promise From hence it is apparent That the meaning of the promise may be known without the interpretation of an infallible Spirit and if so why not the sence of other places of Scripture If we should enter upon an examination of the particular Texts of Scripture which are pretended to favour the Infallibility which the Romanists contend for they would be found no way answerable to that purpose for which they are produced They are such as these If he neglect to hear the Church c. Lo I am with you to the end of the world He will guide you into all truth He that heareth you heareth me It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and to us The Church which is the pillar and ground of Truth He that will not hearken to the Priest shall die Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church I have prayed that thy faith fail not Feed my Sheep To all which we briefly answer in order 1. When we are commanded To hear the Church This Church may be the Greek or Protestant as well as the Roman and hearing doth not imply the infallibility of it Every Parishioner is commanded to hear the Minister which is set over him and yet no body from thence will infer that he is infallible This Church we are not to believe without making any scrutiny but lie under obligation to try all things and hold fast that which is good The command of the Church doth not free us from sin in our conformity to it The Jews contracted a deep guilt in compassing the death of our blessed Lord tho' they did it in obedience to their Governours Not only Pastors but the Sheep know the voice of their supreme Shepherd and are in a capacity to distinguish it from the voice of a stranger 2. When it is said I will be with you to the end of the world This assures us of the presence of Christ with his Ministers so long as the world endures but not that he will give the same measure of assistance which the Apostles did enjoy That which is sufficient in every Age is ascertained by this promise but not that which is efficacious to such a degree as will secure them from all errour for then every particular Pastour will be as Infallible as every Apostle was 3. When it is asserted That when the Spirit of Truth is come He will guide you into all truth it cannot be proved That this promise is made to any besides the Apostles The context plainly appropriates it to them I have many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now These words have an evident aspect upon the Disciples only If we should grant That not only the Apostles but their Successors are the objects of the promise what is intended to be proved will not follow namely Infallibility The direction of the Spirit may be opposed He gives in all ages a sufficient but not an irresistible guidance Many tho' they are put into a right way by him yet desert it and follow their own erroneous apprehensions 4. Those words He that heareth you heareth me are spoken of the Seventy Disciples not assembled in a Council but as going up and down from place to place to preach the Gospel So that if they be construed in such a fence as to favour Infallibility they will prove more than is desired namely That this priviledge of not erring belongs to every Preacher who has a lawful authority conferred upon him to publish the Gospel 5. Those words It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and to us do not argue That the blessed Spirit will infallibly assist in all future Councils They assert what was done at this present Convention but hold forth no promise of the same degree of assistance in all Ages The reason of this extraordinary aid was peculiar to those times The Apostles then were to lay the foundation to fix an unerring rule both for the converted Jews and Gentiles The rule being once setled the necessity of the continuance of the same degree of assistance did cease The Heavens did forbear to rain down Manna so soon as the Israelites were in possession of a Country furnished with all convenient provision It is no good consequence That because the Sanhedrim in Moses's time was endued with an extraordinary Spirit therefore the same favour must be indulged to all their Successours even to the Council which put the Lord of Life to death 6. In those words The Church of the living God the pillar and ground of Truth The word Church must import That in which Timothy is directed how to demean himself and that undoubtedly was the Church of Ephesus of which he had the Ecclesiastical inspection That Church did hold forth the True Doctrin of the Gospel in its publick Profession even as pillars upon which the Edicts of Princes are fastned expose them to the view of all that pass by The expression alludes to the Temple of Diana much celebrated for its magnificent Pillars upon which the rules of the Religion of that Goddess were inscribed The Apostle intimates That those Columns were the Pillars of falshood but the Church of Christ in the City the Pillar of Truth holding forth the True Doctrin of
who by a Divine appointment notwithstanding his notorious miscarriage was to joyn with the rest of the Apostles in teaching all Nations he is commanded by Christ as many times to feed his flock as he had denyed him All this will make it evident That the Church of Rome has no promise made to her in the Scripture of Infallibility As for Universal Tradition That will be as hard to be found as a Scripture-promise It imports the delivery of this doctrin from one age to another ever since the Apostles times and an acknowledgment and reception of it in all places by all true Christians The following particulars cannot be reconciled with such a Tradition Many Heresies did emerge in the first Ages by which the Church was exceedingly disquieted Yet we never read in any authentick Record that the Bishop of Rome did summon those which adhered to them to appear in his infallible Consistory If any such Judicatory had been then known it is incredible he should so far neglect his duty as not to attempt the reducing of them to a sober and orthodox mind by his unerring Authority The Bishops of that Church lived so near the Apostolical Age that they could not be ignorant of the power which Christ had left with them and they were so pious and good that it would be a manifest injury to their memory to think that they would not exert it in matter of such importance If these Hereticks were summoned altho' no such thing is rècorded and did refuse to submit to the Authority which is pretended it is unaccountable how it comes to pass that Irenaeus Epiphanius Theodoret who have composed Catalogues of Heresies with which the Church was then infested should be so forgetful as not to reckon That in the number which those were guilty of who would not acquiesce in the supposed Authority This is now reputed an errour of the first magnitude All others are esteemed but trifles in comparison If it had been so accounted then it would not have been passed by in so profound a silence The African Bishop's denial of a compliance with Sozimus Boniface and Celestine Cyprian's refusal of a submission to Stephanus Irenaeus's opposing the decree of Victor do manifestly declare That they knew nothing of the Tradition which is pretended Had they been acquainted with it their integrity would not have suffered them to be engaged in so much disrespect towards the Church of Rome When Tertullian and Vincentius Lirinensis apply themselves to prescribe the best method how to prevent the spreading of Heresie they speak not one syllable of an infallible Judicatory at Rome If it had been known in their days no doubt they would not have failed to mention it as the most sovereign expedient If a Man sets himself to write a Book concerning the best way how to cure the Plague and knows of one infallible remedy it is not consistent with the rule of common honestly to pass it by in silence and to entertain his Reader with some uncertain conjectures It was anciently decreed That Controversies should be determined in the Province where they did arise If it had been believed That there was then such an Oracular Judge as is now asserted this had been a very unjust decree What can be more injurious than to oblige men to acquiesce in the decision of those who may impose upon them when they might if left to their liberty have had recourse to one in whom there is no possibility of deception A belief of this infallibility would have drawn such respects upon the Bishop of Rome That no other would have dared to account himself his equal and yet S. Cyprian treats him in such terms as plainly import a parity He stiles him Frater Collega Co-episcopus S. Jerome says That all Bishops are of an equal merit and the same Priesthood wheresoever they are whether at Rome Eugubium Constantinople Rhegium c. In the Communicatory Letters no more respect is expressed to him than to others The primacy which is some times spoken is not of jurisdiction but order He living in the City where the seat of the Emperour was when he did convene with other Bishops some regard was signified upon the account of his relation to that place but none upon the account of any Infallibility and Oecumenical jurisdiction which he was believed to be invested with When applications were made to him by those who were in distress it was not done with an opinion That he was inspired with an unnerring Spirit to determine their case but because he was of the same Sentiment with them and had great advantages by reason of his residence in the Imperial City to procure their relief What he did in favour of such persons as S. Athanasius and Chrysostome was not done juridically but declaratively He did not act as an authorized Judge but a sincere and resolved Friend to that Truth for which they were oppressed The infirmity of these pleas for Infallibility makes the Defenders at last'to fly to the Motives to Credibility as the securest Sanctuary The chief of them are Antiquity Diuturnity Amplitude uninterrupted succession of Bishops agreement in Doctrin with the ancient Church union of Members holiness of Doctrin efficacy of Doctrin holiness of Life the glory of Miracles If we should enter upon a particular examination of these they would be so far from proving the Church of Rome infallible that they will not amount to prove her a True Church The Church of Rome in those points which are peculiar to her is not so ancient as is pretended The novelty of those things in which she differs from the reformed Church is notoriously manifest as Supremacy the Worship of Images Transubstantiation c. When she has screw'd every thing to the highest pin it will not appear That any point of difference was before the Mystery of Iniquity began to work Diuturnity may with as much efficacy induce us to believe That the Mahometans are a True Church for they have been a thousand years in the world much longer than some Articles in the Roman Creed Amplitude may as well prove the Community of Rome Apostatical as Apostolical Antichristian as Christian Antichrist is described as sitting upon many waters and those Waters are interpreted people and multitudes Rev. 17.1 15. Those who have taken the greatest care to survey the World assert That if it be divided into thirty parts nineteen are inhabited by Polytheists Of the eleven that remain six be Jews and Mahometans Of the space which is left the greatest part is possessed by those who refuse a submission to the Bishop of Rome as Protestants Greeks Nestorians Jacobites He who takes a deliberate view of the vast body of the first in Poland Transylvania Hungary Germany Sweden Denmark Britany France and Ireland Of the second in Achaia Epirus Macedon Thrace Bugaria Walachia Podolia Moscovia Russia Natolia Syria Of the third in Assyria Mesopotamia Parthia Media India Tartaria Of the fourth in
Properties and Attributes of the most high God 66 c. This truth acknowledged by all sorts of men the Primitive Christians 69. the Jews 71. the Heathen 72. Our not comprehending the difficulties of it no reason against it 73. Some considerations added to lead us thro' 'em ib. 4. Proposition This One God is to be Worshipped For First consider'd as essentially his nature and perfections justly challenge the deepest veneration 75. Then Secondly considered personally the Scriptures require him to be Worshipped 76. 5. Proposition This God only is to be Worshipped This shewn First from Scripture 78. Secondly from Reason 79. Thirdly from Antiquity 81. What the Papists say in opposition to this considered with respect to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Invocation of Saints and Images 84. 1. As to the Eucharist That the Papists pay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to it ib. and thereby put the greatest affront upon Scripture 91. upon the analogy of Faith 94. upon Antiquity 97. upon Reason 106. and upon Sense 108. The declaration of their Church in this matter and the impossibility of an innovation considered 110. 2. As to Invocation of Saints This injurious to the peculiar honour of God 115. and of Jesus Christ the only Mediator 116. and has not the same grounds and reasons as our praying to each other here below For First the Saints and Angels are at a distance 117. And then Secondly 't is the prerogative of Jesus Christ only to be our Mediator in Heaven 118. as the Primitive Christians thought 119. The Origine of Invocation c. 122. 3. As to Images 123. They who use them are of three sorts First such as say they use them only as memorials to quicken their devotions which has no kindly influence on Religion 124. Secondly such as say they give only inferiour worship to 'em which yet is either vain or sinful 125. Thirdly such as profess to give the same worship to the Image as to the Prototype in kind thô not in degree i.e. relative or respective worship only ib. the vanity of this distinction shewn 126. and that 't is Idolatry 128. contrary to the Second Commandment 132. and unknown to the Primitive Church 135. SECT III. Concerning the True Worshippers of God THE whole reduced to Three Inquiries 142. I. Enquiry Who they are that are obliged to Worship ib. And they are in general all rational Beings as Angels 142. and Men whether secular 143 or more especially Ecclesiastical and consecrated to the performance of Religious Offices 145. the necessity of these shewn ib. such have been in all ages 147. before the floud ib. between that and the Law 150. that the First-born then were Priests 151. such also there were from the giving the Law till Christ 154. as appears from the Priests and Levites ib. from the Schools of the Prophets 155. from their studies there 156 from their Ordination by imposition of hands 157 from the place where they exercised their function 159. such lastly there were under the Gospel ib. II. Enquiry How men are to Worship God 163. This shown in several Propositions 1. Prop. We are to Worship him with all our Soul and heart and strength ib. and 2. Prop. Outwardly with our Bodies 165. 3. Prop. All the modes of external Worship must be decent orderly and to edification ib. 4. Prop. Different deductions from this general rule are no just grounds for distinct Churches to differ among each other and so violate the Vnity of the Vniversal 166. 5. Prop. Yet in the same Church 't is very expedient and desirable That there should be the same external mode of Religion 167 but yet 6. Prop. If contests arise in the same Church about external modes a ready way to compose them is to appeal to Primitive Order and give the preference to those that come nighest to it 169. And 7. Prop. If it cannot be known what the Primitive Order therein was the next step to Peace is to make prudent condescensions on each side before Authority has made any determinations 171. Then 8. Prop. If condescensions cannot be had and yet a determination is necessary all both weak and strong are obliged to acquiesce in such a determination 173. which is neither against nor inconsistent with the perfection of Scripture as a rule 174. nor prejudicial to our Christian Liberty 175. nor yet induces any necessity of violating the Law about scandal 176. III. Enquiry What ends we are to propose in the acts of Religious Worship ib. This shewn in three particulars First and chiefly The Glory of God 177. Secondly The Salvation of our Souls 178. Thirdly The good of the Community 179. The tendency of Religious Worship to all these shewn under each SECT IV. Concerning Assistance relating to Divine Worship THE Introduction from the general and acknowledged depravation of our Natures whereby we want Light to direct and Strength to enable us in the Worshipping God a-right and Merits to render our Services acceptable 185. Against all these God has provided sufficient helps and remedies in that 1. We have the holy Scriptures to direct us 186 2. The Holy Spirit to communicate strength 186 3. The Merits of our Saviour to procure acceptance 186 All which are treated more largely of And 1. Of the holy Scriptures to direct us which that we have grounds to depend on shewn in several Propositions as First The Worshipping God is absolutely necessary to Salvation 187. Secondly Moses and the Prophets Christ and the Apostles did by Oral Tradition reveal all things necessary to this purpose ib. Thirdly What they spoke was evidenced to be the real mind of God by inward characters of Divinity and external miraculous operations ib. Fourthly This word of God thus evidenced was faithfully committed to writing 192. Fifthly This Writing is digested into 24 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New 193. Sixthly These Books have been transmitted to us without corruption 194. Two opinions inconsistent with what has been said considered 1. That the Church of Rome as being infallible is to be our guide in matters of Religion 206. 2. That every one ought to rely upon the conduct of his own reason ib. As to the First Proved that the Pope is not infallible 207. nor a Council ib. nor the body of the People 210. nor all these together ib. nor are the reasons they urge here sufficient such as first The peremptory necessity of such a Guide 211. nor secondly their having all reasonable evidence that the Church of Rome is such a Guide 216. For they have not first The evidence of Scripture ib. shewn as to the chief places they urge 221. nor secondly Vniversal Tradition 228. nor yet thirdly the motives of credibility 232. shewn particularly as to Antiquity Diuturnity Amplitude ib. uninterrupted Succession of Bishops 235. Agreement in doctrine with the Primitive Church 236. Vnion among themselves 237. holiness of doctrine 239. efficacy of it 240. holiness of life 242. Lastly the
is usually more violent than that which ariseth from a diversity in Civil The pretence of a Sacred Institution communicates an edge to the Spirits of those who are concerned for them They are easily induced to believe That they are engaged in the quarrel of the Deity and that their zeal for them will render the Divine Power propitious to them This consideration pushes them forward and makes them as fierce as the Poet represents the Combites to be against the Tentyrites An old grudge to immortal hatred turn'd Juv. Sat. 15. Betwixt the Tentyrites and Combites burn'd A wound in those adjacent towns past cure Because that neither people could endure Their neighbours Deities or would have more Held to be Gods than they themselves adore Such heats are frequently attended with very direful consequences Rev. 8.5 They produce strong Convulsion-fits in the Community Thundrings Lightnings and an Earthquake are represented as proceeding from the Fire of the Altar The Fire which consumed the Senate-House in Constantinople began in the Church Socr. p. 727. Nothing can be safe when Men are inflamed with a zeal for their own private Sentiments They think every one is under an obligation to submit to them The want of power is the only thing which gives a temper to their deportment So soon as they are numerous and prevalent enough nothing will satisfie but a complete Conquest all must stoop to their perswasions They account it an evidence of weakness if they cannot and of irreligion if they will not settle that which they conceive to be best And they believe they are not secure in the enjoyment of their power except they suppress others and bend them into a compliance with them 6. If Contests arise in the same Church about external modes a ready way to compose them is to appeal to Primitive Order and give the preference to those who come nearest to it If we view it as it lies in the Holy Scriptures and those undoubted Records which are next in Antiquity we shall find it to be not pompous and theatrical but grave and comely not calculated for the gratification of the Sensitive but Intellectual part not apt to divert the Intention from the import of Worship and yet sufficient to secure it against the assaults of Rudeness and Contempt The Ministerial part was appropriated to Three Orders of Men Apostles Elders and Deacons persons sound in Doctrin Sober and unspotted in their Conversation Presbyters were ordained in every Church and City The solemn time for Sacred Conventions was the first of the week In the Assemblies The Men were uncovered the Women veiled The Minister began with Prayer This he directed to God with the most important expressions of Devotion without the help of such a Prompter as the Ethnick Priests use to have lest they might forget the names of any of their Gods which were very numerous After this were read the Writings of the Apostles and Prophets And because some things are hard to be understood and those which are easie ought not only to be entertained in the Head but the Heart in the next place followed Preaching with the most pathetical Exhortations to Practice When the Sermon was finished all did rise from their seat and joyn in Prayer After this succeeded the celebration of the Holy Communion in which the President poured forth Thanksgiving and Supplication with all his might the People expressing their concurrence by saying Amen All was concluded with a contribution for the relief of the Poor Besides these circumstances There were some Symbolical Rites in use namely The Love-Feasts the Holy Kiss As the laying of these aside in some time doth plainly express That the Church did not believe they were grounded upon a perpetual institution but taken up upon Prudential Considerations in a Conformity to the general rules of Scripture So the Practice of them in the purest Age when Christian Simplicity was in its greatest vigour doth manifestly teach us That we have no just grounds to condemn our own Church because she retains some Rites not burdensome in their number and as innocent in their meaning as They were 7. If by reason of paucity of records or any obscurity in those which are extant it cannot be agreed what was the Primitive Order The ready way to Peace before Authority has made any determination is for the several Members of the Church to make prudent Condescensions one to another so as none may be nourished in their errour nor any have any just reason of offence administred to them This was the condition of the Romans when S. Paul did address his Epistle to them Their contests were violent Authority had not yet interposed The Counsel of the Apostle has an entire aspect upon this purpose Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not and let not him who eateth not judge him who eateth One man esteemeth one day above another another man esteemeth every day alike Let every man be fully perswaded in his own mind Matters were not then ripe enough in that Church for a decision The converted Jews had not a full insight into the liberty which Christ purchased for them Therefore S. Paul doth not determine the case on either side but adviseth every member to a prudent demeanour and To follow the things which make for peace and things with which one may edisie another The Apostle suspending the exercise of his authority in these circumstances cannot be brought into an argument against all determinations about things which are adiaphorous for he in other Churches did decide this matter as appears by his Epistles to the Galatians and Colossians How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage ye observe days months times and years Gal. 4.9 10. Let no man therefore judge ye in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or of the New Moon or Sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ Col. 2.16 17. Certainly if the Apostle had believed That all Churches are to enjoy a freedom equal to that in which he left the Romans he would not have been so positive as he is with these eminent Churches 8. If Condescensions cannot be procured and circumstances become such That Rulers believe it prudential to make a determination both weak and strong are bound to acquiesce in the decision Such a determination is within the Sphere of humane authority God has commanded all that is Good and interdicted all Evil. The only things which are left to be the immediate object of Sublunary Power are those which are neither They may become useful or not useful as circumstances happen but in their own nature they are neither good or evil If any apply themselves to the doing of them for the sake of some intrinsick bonity which they fansie to be in them and others stand at a distance from them upon the account of some
Armenia Aegypt Aethiopia will be under no temptation to believe That the Romanists have any such great cause to value themselves upon the account of the amplitude of their Community I know that it will be said That all these are cut off from the Church by Heresie But the best way to try whether it be so or no will be to examine the Confessions of their Faith and compare them with the unerring rule of Scripture Upon an impartial inquiry it will be found That the worst of them has a much better consistency with the Primitive Standard than the Creed of the Romanists has The greatest fault which is found with the Protestants is their compliance with the advice of S. John Little children keep your selves from Idols with the Greeks The believing the words of our Saviour which evidently import an equality among the Apostles and their refusing to stoop to the imaginary Supremacy of S. Peter Indeed the denial of the procession from the Son is pretended which altho' it be an errour yet was never accounted fundamental The Pope has done with the Church of Christ as the Jews say Herod did with the Temple of Solomon enlarge the foundation If the errour of the Greeks be fundamental it is not because it is opposite to the foundation which a greater than Solomon laid but the additional laid by the Bishop of Rome Filióque in the Nicene Creed is believed to be inserted by Nicolaus the first about eight hundred and fifty years after Christ when the animosities betwixt him and Photius Patriarch of Constantinople were very high Sguropulus has given assurance enough That what was done in the Council of Florence was brought to pass by the collusion of the Roman party The Greeks being forced by their necessities and tempted by the most alluring promises into such concessions as their whole Church was highly dissatisfied with As for the Nestâ—rians it is evident by their Confessions that they have abandoned that errour which was condemned by the Council of Ephesus the Jacobites Breerw Iâ—quâ— p. 15.4 altho' they retain their denomination from Jacobus Sanzalus a defender of the Eutychian Heresie yet they renounce his doctrin Leonard Legate of Pope Gregory the Thirteenth in those parts of the World where the Jacobites live hath recorded that their Patriarch professed to him That tho' indeed they held but one personate nature in Christ resulting of the unity of the two natures not personated yet they acknowledge those two natures to be united in his person without any mixtion and confusion and that they themselves differ not in understanding but in terms from the Latin Church From all this it is evident That the Romanists have no reason to insist upon their amplitude as a character of the Truth or Infallibility of their Church the next Motive is the uninterrupted succession of Bishops by which is meant the coming of one Bishop into the place of another from S. Peter to the present Bishop of Rome without the interposition of any unduly qualified Such a Succession they are never able to demonstrate For those who are rightly qualified according to their own Principles must be no Symonists no Schisinaticks no Hereticks Men and not Women And yet it is confessed That some of them have obtained their dignities by Symoniacal contracts as Alexander the Sixth Sextus the First Others have been under the guilt of Schism The Council of Pisa deposed Benedict the Thirteenth and Gregory the Thirteenth under that notion and elected Alexander the Fifth who continued in the place without deposition the Council of Basil deposed Eugenius upon the like account And yet after the Council was ended he recovered his dignity without any Conciliary Act And from him all to the present Bishop of Rome are descended So that whether the Pope be above a Council or the Council above the Pope the Succession is interrupted Some of them have been under the imputation of Heresie Liberius was an Arrian Anastasius a Nestorian Vigilius an Eutychian and it is believed by some That one of them was a Woman For this we have the unanimous consent of all the Romanists till Luther's time They were so ingenuous as to confess the thing till the Protestants began to urge it to their prejudice To all this I may add That those Churches which have as good a Succession as they contend for are notwithstanding branded with the infamy of Heresie as our own and the Greek Church Therefore their Succession which is only personal and not doctrinal can be no motive to induce us to believe That they are a True much less an Infallible Church As for their agreement in Doctrin with the ancient Primitive Church This would be a motive indeed could they demonstrate any such harmony Till they have reconciled their Doctrin of withholding the Cup from the Disciples of Christ with the words of our Saviour drink ye all of it Concerning Prayer in an unknown Tongue with the words of the Apostle If I pray in an unknown tongue my understanding is unfruitful Concerning the Worshipping of Images with the Second Command and the Primitive Christians not allowing so much as the making of them we shall not easily believe that there is a consent in all things betwixt their doctrin and the doctrin of the ancient Apostolical Church The next Motive is the Union of the Members amongst themselves He who well considers the Schisms betwixt the Anti-Popes as Novatianus and Cornelius Foelix and Liberius Vrsinus and Damasus Eusebius and Bonifacius the second Vigilius and Sylverius c. with many others Six and Twenty in Bellarmine's account Thirty according to Onuphrius and thinks fit to enlarge his Meditations with the consideration of the divisions betwixt the Emperours and Popes the last pretending a power from Christ to devest the former of their Authority and with the differences betwixt the Popes and the Bishops about their Power Whether it be derived immediately from the Pope or from Christ the Bishops and Regulars these pleading an exemption from their jurisdiction the Regulars and the Parochial Priests with all the diversities betwixt the Jansenists and Molinists Franciscans and Dominicans the Sorbonists and the followers of the doctrin of Lombard and Anquinas together with the grand contest about the fundamental Article Infallibility some making it Canonical some absolute some saying it is in the Pope some in a Council will not find himself under any strong inclination to believe That the Concord so much boasted of is so perfect as is pretended Indeed they say Tho' they be not actually agreed yet they have the most ready way that leads to it They all acknowledge one visible Head in whose judgment all are to acquiesce So that when differences arise they have nothing to do but to speak with him But this is nothing to the purpose For the Motive is not potential but actual Union not what may be but what is It is no good consequence that they are United because they
of that Church which he is the Head of Indeed it is said That the man of Sin is the same with him who is stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and he is expressed to be one who denies the Father and the Son which cannot be affirmed of him who is the great pretender to infallibility To which we reply That tho' he owns them in words yet in reality he denies them by authorizing that Worship which is peculiar to them to be given to created Beings Tho' a Subject does verbally own his True Sovereign yet if he pays that homage to another which is due only to him he does in truth deny him and will be treated by the Law as such a person Actions are more faithful indications of the mind than verbal expressions As all this argues the agreeablenss of the Character of the Man of Sin to the great pretender to Infallibility So we know of no other to which it can with so much reason be applied Three are pretended to have an interest in it Caius Caligula Simon Magus and a Jew of the Tribe of Dan. As for Caius Caligula He cannot be the person Tho' he was a Man of Sin yet he was not the Man which the Apostle had his eye upon He was come and gone before the writing of the Epistle to the Thessalonians Baronius Capel Appen aed Histor Aposto p. 3913. which was about the end of the Ninth or the beginning of the Tenth year of Glaudius his Successor and we must not so interpret S. Paul as to make him prophesy of that which was already past The same exception lies against Simon Magus He was in his altitude and greatness about the beginning of Claudius His flying in his fiery Chariot and being brought down headlong by the Devotion of S. Peter are usually believed to have happened about the Second Year of his Reign about Eight Years before the Prophecy was extant The Man of Sin was hindred from appearing in those times by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Secular Power of Rome as Tertullian S. Chrysostome and S. Austine assert The first calls it Romanum Statum the second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The third Romanum Imperium This was not taken away till some Hundreds of Years after and then the great pretender to Infallibility did display himself in his proper colours Indeed the Mystery of Iniquity began to work in the Apostles dayes There were then many Antichrists As Christ had his Types to represent him before his Manifestation in our Nature So had his great Antagonist In the number of these Simon Magus may be reckoned but to make him the person which the Apostle has in his eye in his prediction concerning the Man of Sin cannot be reconciled to any good reason Lastly it is said That a Jew of the Tribe of Dan is the Person aimed at by the Apostle who will abolish the Mass oppress the Church subdue the whole World in Three Years and a half and then presently shall be the comeing of Christ to the last judgment But this is as easily denied as affirmed There is not the least intimation of any such matter in the Holy Scripture Gen. 49. Num. 2. Jer. 8. Rev. 2. The Texts which have been sometimes produced are so irrelative That the wisest of our Adversaries are ashamed to alledge them The Person which the Apostle aims at must be a Christian in Profession who in reality makes a great defection from the Doctrine of our Saviour which cannot be asserted of a Jew who is and was always an open and professed enemy to it There is an impossibility in the thing That one should subdue all the World in Three Years and a half It would be very difficult for him to visit every part tho' very well mounted in so short a time much more to conquer it In the times immediately preceding the last day there will be worldly joy in the greatest altitude Eating and Drinking Marrying and giving in Marriage which cannot be consistent with that Sorrow which must be an inevitable product of the universal oppression and tyranny of an insatiable Conqueror It does not appear That there is any preparation for any such matter in any part of the Universe The Tribe of Dan for any thing we know is utterly extinct There is not a Jew now that takes his denomination from it It is strange That the Mystery of Iniquity should begin to work in the Apostles daies and now altogether cease to make any progress The infernal Spirit is as active as ever It is his chief design to set up the person whom the Apostle describes He cannot be imagined to be wanting in his endeavours to accomplish so grateful a purpose The Jews to requite the Advancers of this Hypothesis say That Antichrist shall be begotten in Rome and his name called Armillus Buxt Rab. Lex in voc Armillus Hitherto I have considered the first Opinion That the Church of Rome must be our Guide The Second is That this priviledge belongs to every Man's Reason By the Reason of every Man we must understand That Light which every one has in his Intellect Tho' this be the immediate Guide yet it is not the Supreme and is no farther valuable for conduct in Religion but so far as it is conformable to the Supreme Rule This rule is the revelation of God contained in the Scripture This was given to be a Lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths Those Texts which respect our Salvation and promise to us a security against the revenger of blood like the Cities of Refuge in Palestine are placed upon Hills and made very conspicuous There is no need of Four Hundred Camels as the Jews speak loaden with Commentaries to give them light Matters of Faith and Worship necessary to the enjoyment of a future state of happiness are clear in them When it is said That every Man must be guided by his own reason if the meaning is That he must be ruled by the light of his Intellect from whatsoever Topic it is derived without any limitation many ill consequences will be unavoidable 1. Such conduct will necessarily produce an effect very disagreeable to the mind of the Supreme Being If it be allow'd there will be as great a diversity of opinions and practices in Religion as there is of tempers educations and interests These usually mould the Intellect and make the most prevailing impressions upon it From hence commonly proceeds the Light which the generality pretends unto This variety will certainly suffocate the Spirit of Christian love Men in their several apartments are naturally propense to meditate their own defence and the justification of their separation They usually believe That the most compendious way to it is to weaken the reputation of those who differ from them This creates on both sides the hottest jealousie the most sinister interpretation of each others actions an exchange of the greatest unkindness and an utter
of that inclination which is in Men to believe That the inward acts of the Soul are no further sinful but as they break out into external it is the wisdom of the supreme Law-giver in the conclusion of those Laws which are intended as a perpetual rule of righteousness to annex one relating to these inward acts on purpose to undeceive and to leave us without the least pretence if we be not concerned in the reformation of them All this being duly considered it will be evident That the Sabbath of the Fourth Command One in Seven is therefore perpetual because it is a part of the Decalogue which is designed to be a rule of our obedience in all ages It is said indeed That this Precept cannot have the same priviledge with the rest to bind always Because to all mankind it can import no more than a circumstance of time which is not of such consequence as to challenge a place amongst the Moral Laws of God Whereas to the Jews it did import the Creation of all things by the True God and their deliverance out of Aegypt The maintaining the Morality of it gives a scandal to those who have been seduced by it to keep Saturday as their Sabbath It is plainly a ceremonial Law the Rest of it was instituted to commemorate the Aegyptian servitude and the deliverance from it Deut. 5.15 We cannot be bound to the Precept and not to the same measure of rest which the Precept limiteth It forbids not only servile work such as was prohibited on the first and last days of the Passeover but all work such as kindling fire dressing meat which ought to be done on the Passeover-day To all which I will reply in order 1. Mankind may be divided into Jews and Gentiles Gentiles are such as are converted to the Christian Faith or not converted Those who are be the persons here concerned Whatsoever did make the Fourth Command a matter of moment to the Jews will make it of the like importance to them As for the Creation of the World by the True God they are every jot as much concerned in it and do as sincerely believe it as the Jews As for the deliverance out of Aegypt if it be considered That they are accounted as Abraham's Seed ingrafted into the same stock with the Jews and become one people with them the partition-wall being taken down by Christ it will follow if the Jews were concerned in that mercy the converted Gentiles must be so too Tho' they were aliens formerly yet after a naturalization is passed upon them their concernments are the same with those who were born subjects The Christian Church is divided into Twelve Tribes Dial. cum Tryph. p. 353. Rev. 7.4 Justin Martyr speaking of himself and others which keep the Commands of Christ says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. We are called p. 365. and are the true children of Jacob and Israel and Juda and Joseph and David and God and afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are the true stock of Israel Lactantius gives the reason quia in illorum locum adoptione successimus because we succeed L. 4. de verâ Sapient p. 277. and come into their place by adoption 2. The maintaining of the morality of the Fourth Precept gives no scandal If there be any in the case it is taken and not given What if they who keep Saturday for their Sabbath ground their practice upon the perpetuity of it Must we believe the ground is not good because that which is built upon it by such persons is bad An infirm house may stand upon a good soil Had the Apostle any reason to dislike his foundation because some did build wood hay and stubble upon it If any scandal be given upon inquiry it will be found that the contrary doctrin doth administer it in far greater measures Those who defend the Morality of the Command deny Saturday to be contained in it Their reasons I have already laid down The Epilogue which denies the Morality asserts that Saturday is expresly contained in it Now when those who are inclined to keep Saturday as a Sabbath find it granted to their hand That that very day is enjoyned by the Precept and then consider That this very Precept is placed in the very heart of those Laws which were immediately given by God written upon Tables of Stone preserved in the Ark confirmed by Christ Bellar. l. 4. de just c. 6. p. 930. and commended by the Apostles received by the Church and inserted into her Liturgy and Catechism It is more than an even wager That they will instantly fall upon the observing Saturday as their Sabbath It had been good That the contriver of this objection had considered the words of Origen before he had so deeply charged his adversary L. 6. cont Cel. p. 313. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is a very great fault in disputing if any accuse others of opinions as unsound when their own Sentiments are chargeable with the same crime 3. The Fourth Command is no ceremonial Law I willingly grant That the Jewish day was Typical but no such thing appears concerning the Sabbath enjoyned by this Precept The reason taken from the bondage of the Israelites in Aegypt and their deliverance from it Deut. 5.15 doth not demonstrate any such thing All that can be concluded from thence is That the rest required is a commemoration of that condition and their being taken out of it The thing commemorated being past and a ceremony a shadow of a thing to come The rest of the Fourth Precept cannot be ceremonial upon this account If it be said That the deliverance out of Aegypt was Typical and therefore the rest designed to commemorate it must be so too I answer That blessings may be considered in a twofold respect either as a benefit which was past or as a shadow of that which was to come The rest commanded was to commemorate the deliverance in the first sence For the Law being given to all certainly the end of the rest was to commemorate the benefit which was obvious to all and not the shadow which was understood by few or none in comparison at that time Now this deliverance as a real mercy being of concernment to the Gentiles after their inoculation into the Jewish stock I cannot see how the command is in danger of being discharged upon the account of its relation to this favour Upon the same ground we may say That the whole Decalogue is annulled because this kindness is expressed in the Preface of it as a motive to Obedience The reasons of the Fourth Command are either Primary or Secondary The Primary is That God may have a fit time for his Solemn Worship The Secondary are to commemorate the Creation and deliverance out of Aegypt The first is essential to it and cannot be divided from it The secondary are extrinsecal and separable and therefore the whole command is said to be
glory of Miracles 247. Nay greater motives of credibility on our side That there is no such infallible Guide as First 'T is no where revealed by Jesus Christ 251. Secondly 'T is inconsistent with the nature of an intellectual Being 252. 'T is Thirdly destructive of True Virtue 253. Fourthly It can be of no advantage in our present circumstances ib. Fifthly 'T is not reconcileable to the divine intention in giving the sacred Oracles 255. Sixthly All the testimony for it comes only from the Church of Rome her self 256. Seventhly The Primitive Constitution of the Church plainly intimates that no one Guide was designed supream over all the Churches of the World 257. Eightly No provision made of an infallible Guide in a case of like importance 260. Ninthly Such a Guide not easily reconcileable with the constitution of Civil Empires 262. Tenthly and lastly There is a plain prediction in Scripture of one that would pretend to be that infallible Guide 264. Thus much in answer to the first opinion Then as to the 2 Opinion inconsistent with the Scriptures being our Guide namely That we ought to rely entirely upon the conduct of our own reason shewn First that it would have its effects with respect to Religion and the Church 269. Secondly That 't is not consistent with the interest of humane Society 270. Thirdly disagreeable to the propensity of humane Nature 273. Fourthly Prejudicial to the Souls of Men 276. For speculative error in Religion is no such indifferent thing as some think in that First Error is inclusive of disobedience 278. Secondly Errors in Religion are not unavoidable 279. Thirdly 'T is no uncharitableness to say Error is danmable ib. Fourthly The reason why a just Catalogue of errors can't be given is because one error may be damnable in one that is not so in another 280. Fifthly The fault may be known by the guilty if they take care to look back and fully examine things ib. Sixthly God doth not put us here into a state of mere probability 281. Seventhly An erroneous Conscience is not God's True Vicegerent 282. 2. As to the assistance God affords us by his Holy Spirit to enable us to Worship him This is either general or special so as to leave men inexcusable 283 as is more largely proved to p. 293. 3. Lastly As to God's affording us the merits of our Saviour to procure the acceptance of our performance This cleared by the following steps First The acceptance of our Worship and Service is not upon its own account 294. Nor Secondly Vpon account of the favour of God without the interposal of satisfaction for sin 295. This agreeable to Scripture ib. and the propensity of God's nature 296. and clear'd from the objections against it 297. Thirdly This necessary satisfaction Christ has performed 300. for First He suffered the punishment of our sins ib. Secondly What he suffered was in our stead 311 whether it be considered as a Sacrifice ib. or as a Ransom 316. Thirdly By what be suffered in our stead the damage done by sin is repaired und God appeased and reconciled to us on the conditions of the New Covenant 319. Crellius here answered 322. Fourthly Our acceptance with God is upon account of his meritorious satisfaction 325. And Fifthly and lastly upon acaccount of that only 326. SECT V. Concerning the Place of Divine Worship THIS Threefold according to the threefold capacity of Man may be considered in First any solitary place whatever as he is one single private person 331. or Secondly The family of which we are members ib. Such family-worship reasonable ib. practised by the Heathen 332. agreeable to the Old Testament ib. and the New 333. Thirdly Churches or places of Publick Worship as such are members of an Ecclesiastical Community 334. The reasons for such Assemblies shewn from the nature of a Church ib. and from the practice of God's people in all ages as before the Law 336. under it ib. and after it 340. SECT VI. Concerning the Time of Divine Worship BEsides our worshipping God daily 348. and upon particular occasions and emergencies by fastings and thanksgivings 349. there ought to be solemn set times peculiarly devoted to his honour 350 as will be better understood by considering I. God requires not only an inward but an outward Worship 351. II. This external Worship must not be only in private but in publick too 352. III. The time for this publick worship ought to be stated ib. IV. It is expedient it should be taken out of some part of the week ib. V. This part of the week can't in reason be less than one whole day 353. whether we consider the Object of our Worship ib or the Nature of it ib or the pattern of the Triumphant Church 354 or the practice of the Militant ib or the early division of time into weeks 355 or lastly the writings of the Heathens 358. VI. 'T is highly reasonable to believe the setting out the just time should be left to God himself 361. VII This time is determined by God in the Fourth Commandment to one day in seven as a proportion perpetually to be devoted to Religious Worship 363. For First It is one in seven and not the seventh from the Creation which is enjoyned by the Fourth Commandment ib. Secondly The Sabbath of the Fourth Command One in Seven is perpetual 372 for 't is part of the Decalogue which obliges in all ages ib as may be gathered First from its being distinguish'd in the Old Tastament from those Laws which the time of Reformation has put a period to ib Secondly from many intimations in the New that the Decalogue as delivered by Moses is to continue as a perpetual Rule to Christians 373 all which is agreeable to the opinions of the Primitive Fathers 378 and of our own Church 379 some Objections answered 380 c. and others 385 c. Thirdly This proportion of One in seven is by the Command to be devoted to Divine Worship and not only to bodily rest 395. shewn from the order of the Commandments of the First Table ib. from God's blessing the Sabbath day 396. and from the practice of the Israelites and the modern Jews upon the Sabbath ib some Objections by the Author of the Epilogue considered 397 c. VIII Propos This proportion One in Seven was determined to the Jewish day by another Precept which was to oblige only till the Jewish Oeconomy had a period put to it 403. IX Propos When the last of the Week had a period put to it the First was substituted in the room of it 414. as appears probable from the Law ib. the Prophets 415. our Blessed Lord 420. the holy Apostles and Disciples 425. and Lastly the Testimony of the following Ages 429. ERRATA PAge 20. line 16. read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 58. l. 12 13. r. in sensible p. 84. l. 22. r. contrived p. 189. l. 30. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 190. l. 6. r.
Heaven The words do not speak the indefectibility of that Church but the present state only This Pillar began to decay in Domitián's time Rev. 2.5 and is at this day utterly demolished If it be granted That the words under consideration have an aspect upon the Universal Church no advantage will from thence accrue to the plea for Infallibility She is not represented as the ground and pillar of all Truth but of Truth in general which may be limited to that which is fundamental Tho' she cannot fail in this particular for then she will lose her essence and cease to be yet she may in other points very useful to be known If by Truth we understand all Truth the words may set forth the duty of the Church what she ought to do and not the actual performance what she always does When the Disciples are stiled the salt of the earth this doth not argue an invincible quality in them whereby they are secured against the danger of losing their savour but a constant obligation upon them to retain it and season others with it 7. When it is said Dent. 17.12 That man that will not hearken to the Priest shall die no advantage will from thence redound to the Bishop of Rome except he can make it appear That He is Successour to the High Priest under the Law and vested in the same priviledges which he will never be able to do If this was so it would not amount to prove him infallible The high Priest with the whole Sanhedrim was liable to mistake as appears by the Sacrifice appointed for the expiation of their errour Lev 4.13 He that would not hearken was to die not because he was of a different opinion from the Priest but by reason of his Pride and contempt of the Supreme Authority which is plainly intimated in those words That Man which will do presumptuously c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is a common case in all Communities In superbia where there is no such thing pretended to as Infallibility When a cause is under debate and the Law requires the last appeal to be made to the Supreme Authority and the person concerned so to do turns his back upon it arrogantly refuses a submission and by consequence evidently endangers the Peace and Security of the whole Community this is a fault of the first magnitude and justly deserves the most severe animadversion If it could be proved That the Bishop of Rome with a Council called by him has as good Authority over All the Churches of the World as the high Priest with the Sanhedrim had over the National Church of the Jews Tho' from thence it would not follow That he is exempt from errour yet none would doubt to assert That his power is not to be treated with contempt 8. That Text Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it is no more propitious to the Infallibility contended for than those which have been already considered It is not agreed Whether by the Rock is to be understood Peter himself or Jesus Christ who is stiled a Rock or the confession which Peter made The ancient Fathers incline to the two last If they be preferred the Church of Rome can from thence reap no advantage If we should grant That S. Peter is the Rock spoken of it will not argue any Infallibility promised to him but the declaration of a Divine purpose to make him a firm and successful instrument in the propagation of the Gospel as the rest of the Apostles were and many of their Successours Here is nothing peculiar to S. Peter The other Apostles are represented to be as intimately concerned in the foundation of the Church as he Eph. 2.20 Rev. 21.14 The following words the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it rather prove That the Church shall never cease to be than any universal indefectibility It is certain That there shall be a Church upon the Earth teaching all truth of peremptory necessity to Salvation until the coming of our blessed Lord But that it shall be exempt from errour in all matters of Faith is contrary to experience It was once received as a truth That Infants ought to have the Eucharist administred to them and now it as unanimously exploded for a grand mistake 9. The Prayer of Christ That the faith of Peter might not fail argues rather his not finally falling away than a total exemption from errour He was under great misapprehensions after these words had been spoken to him He believed That Christ would continue upon the Earth and in those dayes restore the Kingdom to Israel That the Gentiles were not to be called in and made partakers of the like priviledges with the Jews If it should be granted That the Petition of our Lord did secure an Infallibility to Peter this would be of no advantage to our adversaries in the present controversie It cannot be made to appear That the Bishop of Rome is concerned in all the Prayers which were made for S. Peter There is in them no mention of any Successour If there had it would be difficult to prove That the Pope is the person Some doubt whether S. Peter was ever at Rome The Scripture is silent in this matter The first Asserters were but of a mean reputation Many figments were devised to support the credit of their relation The common fame which by degrees did grow out of these beginnings cannot be accounted a demonstration so long as there are Catalogues of errours which not only the Vulgar but Persons of Learning have been surprised with To erect Infallibility upon such a fluid foundation is as if an attempt should be made to build a Castle in the Air. If S. Peter was at Rome and left the Bishop of that place to succeed him this might be only in his ordinary power and not in his extraordinary qualifications as personal Infallibility a power of doing Miracles There is as much reason for the Pope to challenge to himself the last as the first and yet I cannot understand that he pretends to it The Miracles in the Church of Rome are usually attributed to some persons that cannot easily be spoken with in order to the knowing the truth If this power had been ascribed to the Pope daily experience would have given the Asserters a flat contradiction 10. Those words Feed my sheep c. do not import the conferring upon Peter any priviledge above the rest of the Apostles but only the insuring to him his interest in the general Commission given to them They were commanded to teach all nations It might lie as an objection against him That he was not included in the number of those who were thus commissioned By his denial of Christ he had in appearance forfeited his right to the Apostleship as Judas by betraying him fell really from it To give him and others assurance That he was one