and Authority that he usurped or claimed over the rest of the Apostles Fourthly We may plainly see by the Acts of the Apostles and by the Epistles of St. Paul that St. Peter had no Power nor Authority over the rest of the Apostles When the Apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Gospel they sent Peter and John to them to confirm them therein and that they might receive the Holy Ghost Acts 8.14 Now when the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God they sent unto them Peter and John Here we see that St. Peter as well as St. John is sent by the Apostles to these new Converts at Samaria And herein they act as Ministers under the Apostles For as our Lord saith Joh. 13.16 He that is sent is not greater than he that sent him And hereby we see that St. Peter was not accounted their Superior no more than St. John The right hands of Fellowship were given to Paul and Barnabas by James and John and Peter himself too Gal. 2.9 And when James Cephas and John saith St. Paul who seemed to be pillars perceived the grace that was given unto me they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that we should go unto the Heathen and they unto the Circumcision Barnabas and Paul are not commanded by them as Ministers under them but taken into Fellowship with them and this is done by James and John as well as Peter and they are to take care of the Church of the Gentiles as the other were to take care of the Church of the Jews And this shews that St. Peter was not then accounted the Head of the Apostles And St. Paul we may see withstood St. Peter at Antioch Gal. 2.11 But when Peter was come to Antioch saith St. Paul I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed And ver 14. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel I said unto Peter before them all If thou being a Jew livest after the manner of Gentiles and not as do the Jews why compellest thou the Gentiles 〈◊〉 live as do the Jews St. Paul here shews that he knew of no Power and Superiority that St. Peter had over him and over the whole Church to be an Universal Head thereof Again St. Paul tells the Corinthians that he was in nothing behind the very chiefest Apostles 2 Cor. 11.5 For I suppose saith he I was not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles And 2 Cor. 12.11 saith he For I ought to have been commended of you For in nothing am I behind the very chiefest Apostles St Paul doth here clearly prove to us that St. Peter had no Power and Authority over all the Apostles For he mentions the chiefest Apostles in the plural number which shews that St. Peter alone was not exalted above all the rest and he affirms that he himself was not their Inferior Again where St. Paul reckons up the Orders of Men that God had constituted and appointed in the Church he plainly shews that St. Peter was not the Head of the Apostles and placed in an Order above them For he shews that the Apostles in general are the first Order of Men in the Church 1 Cor. 12.28 And God hath set some in the Church saith he first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers And Ephes 4.11 saith he And he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers For the perfecting of the Saints Apostles are the first that our blessed Saviour hath set and appointed in his Church as the Apostle here plainly shews and St. Peter was not set up as a Head above them all And we may see that St. Paul acted as wholly independent upon St. Peter He ordained Timothy Bishop of Ephesus and gave him Instructions and Commands how to carry himself and what Persons he should ordain 1 Tim. 3. And he gave him a solemn Charge to observe what he had written to him 1 Tim. 5.21 I charge thee saith thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect Angels that thou observe these things without preferring one before another He gave him Instructions and Commands and this solemn Charge to obsrve them but here is no mention of any Power derived from St. Peter or any account to be rendred to him He also ordained Titus Bishop of Crete and gave him Instructions how he should carry and demean himself Tit. 1.5 For this cause saith he left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and ordain Elders in every City as I had appointed thee Titus was to walk according to his Instructions and as St. Paul had appointed him and without any regard at all to St. Peter And St. Paul of himself without any Power or Direction from St. Peter gave Orders and Commands in all Churches where he came and planted the Gospel 1 Cor. 7.17 But as God hath distributed to every man saith he as the Lord hath called every one so let him walk and so ordain I in all Churches It is not St. Peter but St. Paul himself that doth thus ordain in all Churches And 1 Cor. 16.1 saith he Now concerning the Collection for the Saints as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia even so do ye And he sheweth that the Care of all the Churches lay upon him 2 Cor. 11.28 It is plain that St. Paul acted without any dependence upon St. Peter and that the Gospel of the Uncircumcision was committed unto him as the Gospel of the Circumcision was to St. Peter Gal. 2.7 In the Divisions at Corinth some affirmed themselves to be the Disciples of Paul and others of Apollos which shews that they knew nothing of St. Peter's being the Head over all the Church and had been instructed in no such point of Doctrine 1 Cor. 1.12 Now this I say that every one of you saith I am of Paul and I of Apollos and I of Cephas and I of Christ Is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you or were ye baptized in the Name of Paul And these Divisions St. Paul blamed and affirmeth that they were the Ministers of Christ and the Gospel and instructs them in no Supremacy of St. Peter's 1 Cor. 3.3 For ye are yet carnal saith he for whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions are yet not carnal and walk as men Who then is Paul and who is Apollos but ministers by whom ye believed even as the Lord gave to every man By these and such places it is clear that St. Peter was not exalted above the rest of the Apostles and that this Position and Doctrine of the Church of Rome That St. Peter was the Head and Governor of all the Apostles and of all the Church is not consistent with the sacred Scriptures but directly contrary to them II. Their Position and Doctrine That the
The Contrariety of POPERY TO THE Blessed Word of GOD Wherein may be seen that the DOCTRINE and PRACTICE OF THE Church of Rome Are not consistent with the SACRED ORACLES OF THE Old and New Testament Very fit now to be seriously minded by all Good PROTESTANTS when we have such Warnings of the Approach of Popery Written by DIGBY BULL M. A. and late Rector of Sheldon in Warwick-shire LONDON Printed for the Author and are to be Sold by J. Whitlock near Stationers-Hall 1695. I. The Fundamental Doctrine of the Romish Church That the blessed Apostle St. Peter was the Head and Governour of all the Apostles and of all the Church is not consistent with the sacred Scriptures but is flat contrary to them THIS grand Position of the Church of Rome whereupon all their pretended Power and Authority is built is altogether groundless and false and not consistent with the blessed Word of God as we may see by a multitude of places First We may see That the places of Scripture which are urged upon this account have no force at all to prove that St. Peter was the Universal Head and Governour of the Apostles and of the Church Great Matters are spoken of St. Peter but nothing at all that will prove this Matt. 16.18 Saith our blessed Lord to him Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it But this doth not prove that St. Peter was to be the sole Foundation of the Church and it is clear by other places of Scripture that this is not the meaning of this place For in this Similitude wherein the Church is compared to a Building Jesus Christ our blessed Lord is the sole and only Foundation and none can pretend to be a Foundation in such a high manner as he is so And this the Apostle St. Paul hath plainly taught us 1 Cor. 3.11 For other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Here when some were pretending to be of Paul and some of Apollos the Apostle doth positively affirm That Christ Jesus is the Foundation upon which the Christian Church was to be built and neither Paul nor Apollos nor Cephas or Peter are to stand in competition with him in this respect And when the Foundation is attributed to the Apostles they are mentioned together and Christ is called the chief Corner-stone Ephes 2.20 saith St. Paul And are built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone And in St. John's holy Jerusalem the Apostles are all equally concerned Rev. 21.14 And the Wall of the City had twelve Foundations saith he and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. The Apostles we see are all concerned in the Foundation of the Christian Church and it was to be built upon them all as Ministers in this Spiritual Building and in respect of the Doctrine and Foundation of Christ which they laid and St. Peter alone is not the Foundation of the Christian Church And not only St. Peter but others also are mentioned as Pillars of the Church Gal. 2.9 saith St. Paul And when James Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars perceived the grace that was given unto me James and John here are accounted as Pillars of the Church as well as Cephas that is Peter It is plain we see that St. Peter was not appointed to be the sole Foundation of the Christian Church and that nothing can be fairly urged from these words of our Saviour to him to prove him to be the Universal Head of the Church Again our blessed Saviour promiseth to St. Peter the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and power of binding and loosing Mat. 16.19 And I will give unto thee saith he to Peter the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Here we see that very great Power indeed is promised to St. Peter but yet this doth not at all prove him to be the Universal Head over all the Church For this seems not to be an actual Grant of this Power but only a Promise and the actual conferring of this Power doth clear this matter That it was not granted to St. Peter alone but to all the Apostles This may be clearly seen by these places Matt. 18.18 Verily I say unto you saith our Lord whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Here the Power of Binding and Loosing the same Power that St. Peter was to have is as firmly ratified and confirmed to all the Apostles as it is to St. Peter and he could pretend to no Power above his fellow Apostles And after our Saviour's Resurrection immediately before his ascension to Heaven when he most solemnly invested the Apostles with this Power he equally gave it to them all Joh. 20.21 23. Then said Jesus to them again Peace be unto you As my Father hath sent me even so send I you And when he had said this he breathed on them and said unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost Whose soever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whose soever sins ye retain they are retained Here we see this Power is actually and solemnly settled upon them all And the Commission is large bearing a correspondence with that which God the Father gave him As my Father hath sent me even so send I you in the plural number And the Commission is Universal Whos 's soever sins ye remit This great Power then we see plainly is actually settled upon them all and none hath a greater share of it than his Fellows And when St. Peter said unto our blessed Saviour in behalf of himself and his Fellows Matt. 19 27 28. Behold we have forsaken all and followed thee what shall we have therefore Our Saviour returned this answer And Jesus said unto them Verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his Glory ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel And saith he Luke 22.29 30 And I appoint unto you a Kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me That ye may eat and drink at my Table in my Kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel Here we see that it is equally granted to them all to sit upon Thrones and to judge the twelve Tribes of Israel And these places are understood to respect the Power that they were to have to govern Christ's Church here upon Earth after his departure to Heaven It is clear then that our blessed Saviour gave and left St. Peter no more Power and Authority than he did the rest of the holy Apostles Again the Care of Christ's Flock is
any thing out of the sacred Oracles to countervail what is said of it Again we may see that it is an impossible thing for one spiritual Pastor to superintend and overlook the Affairs of the whole Church and to do it in such a Christian manner as it ought to be done There is no more likelihood that one Bishop should Rule and see to the whole Church than that one Temporal Prince should govern the whole World which hath never yet been done since it hath been overspread with Inhabitants It is altogether impossible for one Pastor to take Care of the Church that is scattered into the four quarters of the Earth and to administer Assistance to places a thousand or perhaps four or six thousand miles from him To such he can be nothing but an Inutile Pondus and hinder them of that speedier Help and Succour which otherwise they might have by having Pastors of their own that could act without waiting for his tedious Commissions And it is clear that particular and National Churches had Power to govern themselves without any dependance at all upon the Church of Rome The Epistles to the Corinthians do shew that they had Power to govern their own Church according to St. Paul's Direrections and Commands 1 Cor. 5.12 Do not ye judge them that are within saith the Apostle And by the Power of Christ were they to deliver over the Incestuous Person to Satan ver 4 5 In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ saith St. Paul when ye are gathered together and my spirit with the Power of our Lord Jesus Christ To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus In this weighty Matter which was to be done in such a solemn manner there was no need of any Authority from St. Peter or Rome but they might act of themselves with the Power of Christ And saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 14.40 Let all things be done decently and in order By this Chapter and other places in his Epistles to the Corinthians we may clearly see that St. Paul doth give them full Power to govern and rule their own Church without any dependance at all upon Rome or any other Church And the Epistles to Timothy and Titus do plainly shew that they had Power to do so too And our Lord as I have shewed before hath expresly declared that no one of his Disciples should Lord it over the rest as the Kings of the Gentiles did Matt. 20.25 And this plainly shews that all the Pretences of the Roman Church of this kind are vain and groundless and not at all consistent with the Gospel of Christ But farther It is our Lord's Prerogative and Peculiar to be the Chief Shepherd and the Universal Head of all the Church and those that do assume such a Title invade his Prerogative and Right This the Apostles shews that our blessed Saviour Christ is the Supreme Head of the Church and the Chief Shepherd thereof Ephes 1.20 Which he wrought in Christ saith the Apostle when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all Principality and Power And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church which is his Body And saith he Ephes 5.23 For the husband is the head of the Wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church And again Col. 1.18 And he is the Head of the Body the Church who is the beginning the First-born from the dead that in all things he might have the preeminence And St. Peter sheweth that Christ is the Chief Shepherd 1 Pet. 5.4 And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear saith he ye shall receive a Crown of glory that fadeth not away And he tells the dispersed Jews to whom he wrote that they ought not to Lord it over God's Heritage ver 3. Neither as being Lords over God's heritage but being ensamples to the flock We see that no Bishops are to Domineer over the Church and that it is our Lord 's Right and Peculiar to be the Head and chief Shepherd of the Church and that no one ought to invade this Right and Prerogative of his And no one ought to be forward to give such Supremacy and Preeminence to any earthly Bishop and think it a light thing to do so Lastly Those that keep not the Doctrine of the Gospel pure and uncorrupt but fall to gross Errors and Heresies can be no true Governors of the Church at all much less the supreme Governors thereof This the sacred Scriptures plainly shew A Bishop must be blameless saith St. Paul Tit. 1 7-9 as the Steward of God Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound Doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers And such men as act flat contrary to the Gospel of Christ do make void their Authority Matt. 5.19 saith our blessed Saviour Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandments and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven And Joh. 15.6 If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned No one must pretend to be a Pastor under our blessed Lord that doth not carefully observe his Doctrine and Commands but must then expect to be cast out like a withered branch that is to be cast into the fire and burned And St. Paul sheweth that an Apostle or an Angel that should pretend to come from Heaven which should preach contrary to the Doctrine of the Gospel is not to be heard and heeded but to be accounted accursed Gal. 1.8 But tho' we saith he or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be Accursed As we said before so say I now again if any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed But it is plain by these Papers that Popery is another Gospel in that they make the Pope the supreme Head of the Church and allow him a Power to over-rule and disannul the sacred Commands of our blessed Lord at his own pleasure and to set up his own Commands in the room of them And how can the Bishops of Rome then that establish another Gospel and whom the Apostle here pronounceth accursed for so doing How can they I say be any Pastors at all of Christ's Church And what good Christian then that is zealous for our blessed Lord and his sacred Commandments can comply in such a sinful Religion as Popery is And saith St. John 2 Joh. 9 Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God If there come any unto you and bring not this Doctrine receive him not
not trouble themselves with the Divine Laws and Commands of Almighty God but that they must mind the Commands of the Romish Church and take great care to keep them If this be not sinning with an high hand let any Man of reason and understanding judge This sure looks like that Man of Sin 2 Thess 2.6 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God And if Saul was rebuked as a Rebel against God because he did not execute all God's Command 1 Sam. 15.22 well may the Romish Church be deemed such that is so far from keeping God's Commands that it doth set it self industriously to keep all others from keeping of them And they may justly fear that that Wo of our Saviour that he denounced against the Scribes and Pharisees may light upon them also Matt. 23.13 But wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men for ye neither go in your selves neither suffer ye them that are entring to go in This seems to be their practice and they have just cause to fear this Doom And their Practice in imposing a blind Belief upon their Proselytes and Members requiring them to believe as their Church believeth without examining is not agreeable with the sacred Word of God We are to examine things by the Word of God and not to take all for Truth and Right that Seducers and others would impose upon us for such This is peculiar to the brute Beasts to be led wholly by the guide and conduct of Man and never to consider whether the things be Good or Evil Right or Wrong that they do But Men of all Ranks are endowed with Reason and Understanding and are made Masters of their own Actions and every one of us must give an account of himself to God Rom. 14.12 and therefore they are not to be led thus blindfolded by others like Beasts that are void of reason And the sacred Scriptures which are to be our Rule of Faith and Obedience do shew that we ought not to be led so blindly by others This our blessed Lord sheweth Matt. 23.8 9 But be not ye called Rabbi saith he for one is your Master even Christ and all ye are brethren And call no man your Father upon the earth for one is your Father which is in Heaven No one is to take upon him to be our Master in such a high manner as our blessed Lord is so And we are to own no one for our Father in such a high manner as God is so to command our Faith and Obedience in such a high manner as he may and we are to account no one our Father in any way of competition with him And the Apostles themselves disclaimed the having any dominion over Men's Faith as St. Paul sheweth 2 Cor. 1.24 Nor for that we have dominion over your faith but are helpers of your joy The Apostles claimed no such Power over Men to make them believe what they pleased but only what God required them to believe And we are often told both by our blessed Lord and the Apostles that there would come Impostors and Deceivers and are warned to have a great care that we be not seduced by their Heresies and Errors And this plainly shews that we are not to be led blindly by others but to examine every thing carefully by the sacred Scriptures Matt. 7.15 Beware of false Prophets which come to you in sheeps clothing but inwardly they are ravening Wolves saith our Lord. And saith the Apostle Acts 20.29 For I know this that after my departing shall grievous Wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them Therefore watch And 1 Tim. 4.1 Now saith the Apostle the Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils speaking lyes in hypocrisie And saith St. Peter 2 Pet. 2.1 But there were false Prophets among the people even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies And Rev. 2.9 saith our Saviour by St. John And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan And ver 20. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that Woman Jezebel which calleth her self Prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto Idols And Rev. 3.9 Behold I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not but do lye And again Rev. 18.4 And I heard saith St. John another voice from Heaven saying Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues By all these frequent Warnings and such like to have a care that we be not seduced by false Prophets and Teachers it doth plainly appear that it is our duty not to be led blindfoldly as the Romish Church would have us but to be very circumspect and careful who and what we give credit to And some of these places as I have shewed do respect the Romish Church and do particularly warn us against the Errors thereof And we are also cautioned by our blessed Lord and the Apostles to be very circumspect and careful herein and not to let Men impose upon us what they please Mar. 4.24 And he said unto them Take heed what you hear And Luk. 8.18 Take heed therefore how ye hear And saith St. Paul 1 Thess 5.21 Prove all things hold fast that which is good And saith St. John 1 Joh. 4.1 Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God And saith St. Paul Ephes 5.6 Let no man deceive you with vain words By these and such Admonitions and Exhortations we see that it is our duty to try and examine all things well before we believe and practise them and not blindly to believe and follow others in matters of weight and moment And we may see that when people believe and follow a false Prophet or a false Guide it is at their own Peril and Hazard and that this will not excuse them and free them from the danger that they run in going a wrong way And this also will clearly prove to us that we are to look well to our selves and not to be led blindly by others without proof from the Word of God The People that heeded the false Prophets did it to their sorrow Jer. 14.16 And the people to whom they prophesie shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the Famine and the Sword and they shall have none to bury them And they that follow a blind Guide are like to speed as he doth
body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. Here we are plainly taught that it is still bread when it is eaten And our Saviour calls the wine the fruit of the vine Matt. 26.29 But I say unto you I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom Our Lord here shews us that this was the fruit of the vine and wine when he drank it And our eyes and hands and mouth do testify to us that the bread and wine in the Sacrament are bread and wine when we eat and drink them and it would be nonsense and madness to think that our blessed Saviour eat his own body and drank his own blood and gave them also to his Disciples that they might eat and drink them too We are taught that there is but one Christ and that he cannot be divided Ephes 4.5 6. One Lord saith the Apostle one faith one baptism one God and Father of all And 1 Cor. 1.13 saith he Is Christ divided Hereby shewing that he cannot be divided And Christ is the only begotten Son of God and is but one Joh. 3.16 But according to the Doctrine of the Romish Church that will have Christ to be wholely in every bit of the consecrated bread there will be millions of Christs directly contrary to the sacred Scriptures We are also taught that Christ is in heaven at the right hand of God and that he is to abide there till he shall come to judge the World at the last day Acts 1.11 This same Jesus said the Angels which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven And till we see him come in this visible and glorious manner we are to know that he is not bodily present here upon earth And saith the Apostle Act. 3.20 And he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you whom the Heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things And he tells us that he is at the right hand of God Rom. 8.34 And there we are to know that he is to abide until these times of restitution when and not before God will send him again to judge the World And therefore it is plain that Christ cannot be bodily present in such a multitude of places here upon earth at one time as the Papists would have him to be contrary to these places of Scripture and contrary to all the reason and understanding of man We are taught that Christ's body is glorified and spiritualized and made incorruptible Phil. 3.20 For our conversation saith the Apostle is in heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body And saith he again 1 Cor. 15.42 So also is the resurrection of the dead It is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body Our bodies are to be made glorious bodies like Christ's body and our bodies are to be made spiritual and incorruptible bodies which shews that Christ's body is such And he is to return no more to corruption as the Apostle saith Acts 13.34 And how then can the glorified and spiritual and incorruptible body of Christ be eaten by men and return to corruption again This Doctrine of the Church of Rome we see is flat contrary to the sacred Scriptures and to all the sense and reason and understanding of man And as for those Words of our Saviour Matt. 26.26 This is my body We may see that this is a very common and ordinary way of speaking to call things by the names of those that they signify and represent The Paschal Lamb is called the Lord's Passover Exod. 12.11 And ye shall eat it in haste it is the Lord 's Passover This was to signify and to be a Sacrament of the Lord 's passing over the houses of the Israelites when he saw the blood of this Lamb upon the Door-posts and not suffering the destroying Angel to enter into them but the Lamb was still flesh as is said ver 8 and could not be the Lord 's passing over the houses of the Israelites but only as a Sacrament and Rite to signify this Action of passing over them and shewing them Mercy when the Egyptians were destroyed Pharaoh's kine are said to be years of time Gen. 41.26 The seven good kine are seven years And the seven thin and ill-favoured kine that came up after them are seven years But these kine could not be years of time any otherwise than that they signified so many years of plenty and so many years of scarcity that were to come The bones which Ezekiel saw are said to be the whole House of Israel Ezek. 37.11 Then he said unto me Son of man these bones are the whole House of Israel behold they say our bones are dryed But here we see that no more is meant hereby but that this vision of bones was to represent and signify the House of Israel By these and many more Instances we may see that this is a common way of speaking And hereby it is plain that by these words This is my body we are to understand that this bread was to be a Sacrament and Signification of his Body For we see and are taught by the sacred Scriptures that it is bread still as I have shewed Again our Saviour saith that he is a door John 10.7 And men may as well argue for a Transubstantiation here as upon those other words of his But how ridiculous would a man make himself that should from hence affirm That Christ after he spake these words was turned into a perfect door and that his body was no more flesh and bones but changed into as real a door as ever moved upon hinges Our Saviour saith that he is a vine Joh. 15.1 And men may as well argue for a Transubstantiation from hence as from the other place and say that Christ after these words was no more a man but was then changed into as real a vine as ever grew in the ground and bore grapes But to talk after such a vain and whimsical manner as this is more fit for mad and distracted persons than for such as pretend to Sobriety and Understanding VIII Their worshipping of the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is contrary to the Word of God and gross Idolatry We see that the Bread and Wine are bread and wine still after Consecration tho' they be consecrated and set apart to a sacred use And our Saviour and his Apostles have given us no Command nor Example to worship them And this is to make them Idols and is contrary to a multitude of places in the sacred Scriptures This is flat contrary
of our Saviour and the Apostle XI The Practice of the Romish Church in respect of Marriages is not agreeable to the Word of God First The prohibiting the Marriage of Clergy-men is not agreeable to the Word of God The Word of God alloweth them to marry as well as other men if they see good cause for it and it is great Tyranny and an evil thing to deny them this Liberty The Law of God allowed the Priests and even the High Priests to marry as we may see Lev. 21.7 and in several other places They shall not take a wife that is a whore or profane neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband for he is holy unto his God And ver 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity The Priests might marry notwithstanding God accounted them holy to himself and would not suffer them to profane themselves in many other respects wherein the Common People might profane themselves And we see that Aaron and his Sons were married men and yet were the High Priests of the Jews and that they married as they saw good observing only the limitations of the Law of God And the Gospel doth allow all men liberty to marry that see good cause for it And it doth require that those should marry that have not the gift of continency and cannot well otherwise keep themselves chast but it tolerates no whoredom at all 1 Cor. 7.2 saith St. Paul Nevertheless to avoid fornication let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband Here is no exception but all may marry that see need for it And saith the Apostle Heb. 13.4 Marriage is honourable in all and the bed undefiled but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge And St. Paul doth plainly shew that Bishops and Deacons might be married men 1 Tim. 3.2 A Bishop then said he must be blameless the husband of one wife He that had not married one Wife and put her away and married another as the Jews sometimes did but had married but one Wife he might be a Bishop And so might the Deacons be married men as we may see ver 8 And St. Paul alloweth Bishops and Elders to be married men in his Instructions to Tit. 1.5 And it doth appear that St. Peter the Apostle was a married man mention being made of his Wives Mother Matt. 8.14 Mar. 1.30 1 Cor. 9.5 And the Apostle tells us that it is better to marry than to burn 1 Cor. 7.9 But if they cannot contain let them marry for it is better to marry than to burn Such as are in danger to be tempted to wickedness are not only allowed but advised to marry and keep themselves pure and not to fall to Whoredom And the Apostle sheweth that the forbidding of Marriage is a sinful and evil thing 1 Tim. 4.1 Now the Spirit speaketh expresly saith he that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils Forbidding to marry This is one thing that these sinful men would do And hereby we see that it is an unlawful thing to prohibit marriage and to keep any Order of men from their liberty herein which God hath granted to all The Practice of the Romish Church is not agreeable to the sacred Scriptures in not suffering the Clergy to marry To prohibit Marriage and to tolerate Whoredom is flat contrary to the sacred Word of God Secondly The Romish Church doth tolerate Incestuous Marriages and the Popes do grant Dispensations for such Marriages as are forbidden by the Word of God God hath forbidden all Incestuous Marriages in the Book of Leviticus and told us what persons we are to marry Lev. 18.5 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him to uncover their nakedness I am the Lord. And the several degrees of persons that we are not to approach to are mentioned in this Chapter and in the twentieth Chapter of this Book And here we may see that the marrying a Brother's Wife is unlawful Lev. 18.16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife it is thy brother's nakedness And Lev. 20.21 And if a man shall take his brother's wife it shall be an unclean thing And John Baptist told Herod that it was not lawful for him to have his Brother's Wife Matt. 14.3 For Herod saith St. Matthew had laid hold on John and bound him and put him in prison for Herodias sake his brother Philip's wife For John said unto him It is not lawful for thee to have her But notwithstanding these plain and positive Commands of God the Popes at their pleasure will grant Dispensations for the marrying of such persons as are here forbidden and for marrying a Brother's Wife Thirdly The Practice of the Romish Church in dissolving of lawful Marriages is not agreeable to the Word of God When a Marriage is lawfully contracted and duely solemnized it is not to be dissolved but only upon the account of Fornication This is our Saviour's determination in this Matter Matt. 5.31 It hath been said whosoever shall put away his wife let him give her a writing of divorcement But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife saving for the cause of fornication causeth her to commit adultery and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery And Matt. 19.3 The Pharisees came unto him tempting him and saying unto him Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause And he answered and said unto them Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female And said for this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder And again Mar. 10.8 And they twain shall be one flesh so then they are no more twain but one flesh What therefore God hath joined together let no man put asunder This we see is a sacred Knot and a work that God hath done when it is lawfully done according to his order and not to be dissolved by man except in the case of Fornication And saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 7.10 11. And unto the married I command yet not I but the Lord Let not the wife be separated from her husband But and if she be separated let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband and let not the husband put away his wife Christians are not to put away their Wives but were even to keep their Heathen Wives if they would live with them and not leave their Husbands because they were Christians But notwithstanding Marriage is so sacred a thing and we are commanded not to dissolve it yet the Church of Rome doth dissolve the Marriage of all Priests and we see that the Marriage of the Clergy is as lawful as the Marriage of other men This we
Spirit in Noah and other pious men perhaps too For it was the Spirit of Christ that was in Noah and the Prophets But they being then disobedient and abusing God's Mercy and Long-suffering and refusing to amend their sinful lives are now in hell eternally damned and not in Purgatory and the Long suffering of God doth now no longer wait for their repentance and here is no proof that Christ preached to any such spirits in prison after his death And it doth appear that these sinners are like to perish for ever from 2 Pet. 2.4 For saith he if God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment And spared not the old World but saved Noah the eight person a preacher of righteousness bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly Here we see that these wicked and ungodly men are reckoned with the Angels that sinned and are cast down to hell And from hence it doth appear that they are like to perish for ever and that they are not in any Purgatory out of which they are like to be delivered Here in this place of St. Peter 1 Pet. 3.19 there is nothing that looks like the Popish Purgatory out of which men are to be delivered by Prayers and Masses and Popish Absolutions Again saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 3.15 If any man's work shall be burnt he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire And this some Papists would have to be the fire of Purgatory But it is clear that the Apostle asserteth no such thing as Purgatory here The Apostle here doth shew that this was to be a fiery Tryal to try every man's work of what sort it was and that if a man's work should be burnt in this Tryal and be found to be nought he should very narrowly escape and be saved as by fire He doth not here positively affirm that he shall be saved by fire but useth it as a similitude to express the difficulty of such a man's being saved That he shall be saved just as a man is saved by or out of the fire when his house is on fire about him and there is but one step between him and death Ver. 11 saith St. Paul For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Now if any man build on this foundation gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble Every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward If any man's work shall be burnt he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire Here it is clear that the Apostle speaketh of some day of Tryal some such Judgment as came upon the Jews as seems probable And here we see that those that built upon the foundation of Christ sound Doctrines and good pious works according to the Gospel of Christ such as would abide the fiery Tryal of this Day and the strict examination of Almighty God as gold and silver will abide the fire those we see were to receive a reward and were like to speed well and here is no mention made that they should escape and be saved as by fire in such a hazardous and difficult manner But those that should build corrupt Doctrines and sinful Works upon this foundation such as would not abide the fiery Tryal of this Day as Wood and Hay and Stubble will not abide the fire such men were like to suffer loss and be in extreme danger and their deliverance would be like the delivering a man out of the fire when he is just ready to be swallowed up with destruction To escape by or out of the fire is a common expression to signify a narrow escape out of some great danger Psal 66.12 saith the Psalmist We went thorow fire and thorow water That is not thro' Purgatory as is clear enough because it was in this World but thro' great hardships and dangers And Amos 4.11 I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and ye were as a firebrand pluckt out of the burning That is ye were preserved from destruction just when it was seizing upon you like as a brand or stick is preserved from being burnt when it is snatched out of the very fire And so Zee 3.2 Is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire And saith St. Jude ver 23 And others save with fear pulling them out of the fire That is delivering them from the great danger that they were in And to be saved by fire is to be saved from perishing by it as St. Peter useth the like expression of being saved by water that is from perishing by water 1 Pet. 3.20 While the ark was a preparing wherein few that is eight souls were saved by water That is from being destroyed with the Flood which drowned the old World And so St. Paul useth by fire here in this place When such a Day of Tryal and Judgment cometh upon men God of his great Mercy may deliver some from the fire of Destruction when they have deserved and are ready to perish by it who will afterwards be truly thankful for such a Mercy and make a good use of it and have not provoked him in such a high degree and sinned so presumptuously against him as others have done In all these places that are alledged for the proving of the Romish Purgatory we see that there is nothing like it and that these very places do plainly prove to us that there is no such place as Purgatory where men are tormented and from which men are to be delivered by Masses and Prayers and Papal Absolutions Secondly We may see that this is confirmed by many places more in the Sacred Scriptures that there is no such place as Purgatory And 1. We may see that our work is to be done and completed here in this world in order to our eternal Salvation and is not to be done by us in the Romish Purgatory after death and therefore it is manifest that there is no such place as Purgatory where men are to be tormented and fitted for Heaven and Happiness Eccles 9.10 saith the Preacher Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whether thou goest Here the Divine Preacher sheweth that all our work is to be done and compleated here in this World and that there is no place for work or action in the grave after death And said he Eccles 11.3 If the tree fall toward the south or toward the north in the place where the tree falleth there it shall be And hereby he seemeth to intimate unto us that men at
Subjects are strictly commanded to be subject and obedient to their lawful Governors and are like to perish if they rise up against them And to command them to rebel and rise up against their lawful Governors is to command them to break these sacred Commands of the Gospel and to do that for which they are like to perish and be damned Rebellion Perjury and Murder are very great and black Crimes and for such are men like to go to the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone as St. John shews Rev. 21.8 Murderers and all Lyars are to have their part therein and perjured Persons may be reckoned in the front of Lyars To command men to do these things is to command men to do things which are extraordinary sinful and wicked and to be the great Firebrands of the world And yet such is the Practice of the Church of Rome to do these things flat contrary to the clear Commands of the Gospel of Christ and to the destroying of whole multitudes of men both here and hereafter too XV. Their debasing and vilifying of the blessed Word of God as obscure and dangerous and insufficient and productive of Errors and Heresies And their making their oral Traditions of as great Authority as the Word of God and letting them take place of it is sinful enough and inconsistent with the sacred Scriptures We are to believe that the Wisdom and Goodness of God hath taken sufficient care that the Canon of the sacred Scriptures should be perfect and compleat and that there should be no defect in them And we are to believe that they are plain and clear enough to direct all men to eternal Life that will diligently read them and hear them read and preached and carefully practise what they are taught therein And this is St. Paul's testimony of them 2 Tim. 3.15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation thro' faith which is in Christ Jesus These sacred Writings will furnish all men with sufficient Instructions for Salvation And saith he ver 16 All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness That the man of God may be perfect thorowly furnished unto all good works St. Paul doth here shew that the sacred Scriptures are sufficient to make men perfect and thorowly furnished with Instructions to all good works Tho' some places in them are somewhat dark and difficult to be understood yet such as will carefully mind these sacred Writings may there clearly see their duty and what they are to do that they may obtain eternal Life and there are no Instructions compararable to them And we may see that oral Traditions ought not to be had in as great a veneration as the sacred Word of God and be made of as great Authority For this would be little less than adding to the Word of God to make such Traditions as sacred and of as great Authority as it And this we are commanded not to do Deut. 4.2 Ye shall not add unto the Word which I command you neither shall you diminish ought from it that ye may keep the Commandments of the Lord your God which I command you And Deut. 12.32 What thing soever I command you observe to do it thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it Thus strictly did God command that nothing should be added to or diminished from his sacred Word and Commandments And the Jews are sharply rebuked by our blessed Lord for making void the Commands of God by their Traditions Matt. 15.3 But he answered and said unto them Why do you also transgress the Commandment of God by your tradition For God commanded saying Honor thy father and mother and he that curseth father or mother let him dye the death But ye say whosoever shall say to his father or his mother It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me and honor not his father or his mother he shall be free Thus have ye made the Commandment of God of none effect by your Tradition And saith he Mar. 7.7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men For laying aside the Commandment of God ye hold the tradition of men The Jews are sharply rebuked for setting up their Traditions so high and making the Word of God void by them and yet they pleaded as much for their Traditions as the Church of Rome can for her's And here we see how vain a thing it is for men to pretend to serve God while they teach for doctrines the commandments of men and follow their own vain traditions and make them of equal authority with the Word of God and prefer them before it And saith St. Paul to Titus Tit. 1.13 Wherefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the Faith not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth The Commandments of men if they once come to vie with the sacred Word of God are utterly to be rejected By these places and what hath been said before we may see that it is great wickedness to set up any thing in competition with the sacred Word of God The Practice of the Church of Rome in undervaluing the blessed Word of God and setting up of Traditions in competition with it and preferring them before it is repugnant to the sacred Scriptures and a very great Crime XVI Lastly the bloody Cruelty of the Romish Church is not at all consistent with the Gospel of Christ The bloody Wars that have been raised by the Papists against the Protestants and such as refused the Communion of the Romish Church upon the account of Religion the cruel Inquisitions that have been set up in the Popish Countries the merciless Massacres that have been committed and perpetrated by them and the horrid and hellish Burnings that they have used towards the Protestants are not at all agreeable to the sacred Scriptures The Persecutions of the Romish Church exceed all the Persecutions of the Pagan Emperors and more Christian Blood hath been shed by Papists than ever was shed by the Heathen Emperors But such bloody Cruelty and such treacherous Murdering and destroying of men by thousands is not at all agreeable to the Gospel of the blessed Jesus the Prince of Peace that came to save mens Lives and not to destroy them When Solomon's Temple was built it was built without the noise of hammers and axes and iron tools 1 King 6.7 And the Gospel was introduced without the noise and use of iron-weapons Our blessed Saviour and his Apostles practised no such Cruelty and commanded no such thing to be practised by Christians but the quite contrary Our Saviour gave no positive command to his Disciples to take up the Sword as I conceive by those Words Luk. 22.36 And suffered St. Peter to cut off Malcus's ear ver 50 only that
Bishops of Rome do succeed St. Peter in such a Supreme Power and Authority and are now the Head of all the Christian Church is not consistent with the sacred Scriptures but directly contrary to them This is proved by what hath been said already For if St. Peter had no such Universal Power and Authority over the Apostles and all the Church as it is clear that he had not then the Roman Bishops have no ground to pretend to succeed him in such a supreme Power and Authority This is altogether vain seeing there is no truth in the former And there is no proof at all that they should be St. Peter's Heirs and Successors and be the only Masters of that Power and Authority which he had in the Church And how then can they assume such an Universal Power and Authority which he had not Heb. 5.4 And no man taketh this honour unto himself saith the Apostle but he that is called of God as was Aaron And how then can the Bishops of Rome justly assume to themselves such a supreme and universal Power over all the Church till they can shew some Divine Commission for it And for such Authority they have no Plea nor Colour from the sacred Word of God There is no clear place in the sacred Scriptures to prove that ever St. Peter was at Rome and he wrote no Epistle to them to confer any Power upon them and in those Epistles that he wrote he makes no mention of any such Power and supreme Authority that they were to have St. Peter was chiefly the Apostle of the Jews as St. Paul sheweth Gal. 2.7 And how then can the Roman Gentiles pretend that all his Power is devolved upon them St. Peter was much at Jerusalem and the Bishops of that place might have had a better Title to be his Successors in a higher manner than others if any were to have been so than the Bishops of Rome can have because he was chiefly and primarily the Apostle of the Jews St. Peter was also at Antioch some time Gal. 2.11 And the Bishops of that place may alledg as good a Plea to be his Successors as the Bishops of Rome can Again St. Paul writes an Epistle to the Romans and several Epistles from Rome but no intimation in them that the Bishops of that place only were to be St. Peters Successors and to have an universal Power and Authority over the whole Church And from hence we may see that St. Paul knew nothing of any such universal Power that the Roman Bishops were to have For if he had known that our blessed Lord had designed them to be the Universal Pastors over all the Church we may be sure that he would not have been wanting to have instructed the Churches to which he wrote in this great Point of Duty and to have let them know where the Supreme Power of the Church was lodged that they might have had recourse to it in all weighty Concerns The Apostle commandeth Christians Heb. 13.17 To obey them that have the Rule over them and to submit themselves but not a word of obeying the Roman Bishop nor any regard that is to be had to him more than to another Again if any place should have been Invested with such a Supreme Power over all the Christian Church we may well conclude that Jerusalem should have been the place For more is said of that place tending this way than of any place in the whole World besides This is the place that is renowned above all others in the sacred Word of God and the Bishops of this place might have pleaded the most of all for a Divine Right of Governing the Universal Church of Christ For this was the Holy City as St. Matthew calls it Matt. 4.5 This was the City of the Great King as our Saviour himself calls it Matt. 5.35 Neither by Jerusalem saith he for it is the City of the Great King This was the City of the Lord of Hosts the Great King of all Kings This was the place where Christ the Great Shepherd of all did exercise the Power that God the Father gave him over all the Church and for whose sacred Temple he shewed so much Zeal and was so much concerned Mar. 11.15 Within the jurisdiction of this City and among the Jews who had a dependence upon this City as their great Metropolis did our Lord do all his Miracles and exercised his Pastoral Office This was the great Metropolis of the whole World and here had Almighty God recorded his Holy Name Psal 87.2 3 The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob Glorious things are spoken of thee O City of God Great Matters were spoken and predicted of this City This was to be the City of Truth Zac. 8.3 Thus saith the Lord I am returned unto Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth and the Mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy Mountain This was the place from whence the Law was to go forth according to the predictions of the Prophets Isa 2.3 And many people shall go and say Come ye and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths For out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem And Micah 4.2 For the Law shall go forth of Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem From this place was the Law and Word of God to go forth This is the place where God is said to dwell for ever and he promiseth to cloath her Priests with Salvation Psal 132.13 14. For the Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his habitation This is my Rest for ever And ver 16. I will also cloath her Priests with Salvation This is said of this place and the Priests thereof Here the Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost Acts 2. Here was held the first Council Act. 15. And St. James that was Bishop of Jerusalem was President of this Council of Apostles and Elders And if all this and much more be said of this place in the Word of God we may be sure that Jerusalem should have been the place of Supremacy and Power over all the Church if any place should have been so We may be sure that the Bishops of this place should have been the Universal Head of the Church if there should have been any such Head For more may be said for a Divine Right of Ruling over all the Church for Jerusalem than for any place in the whole World besides But seeing Jerusalem has no such Superiority and doth not exalt it self over all other places we may be sure that no other place ought to do so For Rome or any other place cannot stand in Competition with it for Superiority or urge