it As it was foretold that false Teachers should arise so every Age since hath seen that Prediction verified and for this Reason St. John exhorts Vulgar Christians as well as others to bring their Teachers Doctrines to the Trial (l) 1 Joh. 4. 1. Is it necessary that every one that is commission'd to teach should be so sincere as to deliver nothing but what he believes to be the Faith of Christ The Bishop of Minori in the Council of Trent thought otherwise he was afraid there might be many Priests who were real Infidels (m) Hist of the Counc of Trent l. 2. p. 241. And if the Representer be not satisfied with this we can produce those in this very Age who have taught that as a necessary Article of Faith which they were so far from believing necessary that they could not perswade themselves it was true But if the Priest be honest is he also infallible This the Representer must suppose or else he reasons at an absurd rate For thus he argues Was Mary Magdalen deprived of the Word of God who placed at her Saviour's Feet heard it from his own most sacred Mouth Were those People deprived of the Word of God to whom the Apostles were sent to preach for those several Years before any of the Gospel was in writing It is not writing we know that makes it the Word of God for all that Word of God that is now written was once unwritten But pray Sir tell me Is every thing taught by a Priest of the Church of Rome as certainly the Word of God as that which was taught by our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles Is every Parish Priest at length become Infallible If so what a shame is it that any Controversies are left among your selves when every Parish affords an infallible Interpreter of Scripture If not then they may teach that for the Word of God which is nothing less However all that we contend for is That the Vulgar may be suffer'd to read that Word which Mary heard for that she heard was the same that is now written and had it been then written from Christ's Mouth can any Man be so sensless as to imagine that after he had done speaking he would have forbidden her under severe Penalties to read it But let us now suppose That every Roman Teacher is both able and sincere will it hence follow that the People may not read the Scriptures Had St. Luke thought so he would never have commended the Bereans for searching the Scriptures whether those things that were spoken by St. Paul were so (n) Act. 17. 11. Had St. Paul himself thought so would he have proved what he said by Scripture for in doing so he put his Hearers upon the searching it and thereby taught all succeeding Pastors what they ought to do To which purpose the words of Origen are observable (o) In cap. 3. Epist ad Rom. If such and so great an Apostle did not suppose his Authority sufficient Warrant to his Sayings unless he made it appear that what he says is written in the Law and the Prophets how much more ought we little Ones observe this that we do not bring forth ours but the Sentences of the Holy Spirit Now I presume it will not be denied but St. Paul was as faithful and able a Teacher as any in the Church of Rome If it should yet doubtless it will be granted that our Saviour may compare with the best of them and he as we have heard before frequently sent his Hearers to the Scriptures And if we consult the Ancient Fathers especially St. Chrysostom who was as diligent a Pastor as any the Church can now boast of we shall find that notwithstanding his abundant pains in teaching he vehemently exhorted the People to read the Scriptures themselves and enforc'd his Exhortation by many powerful Arguments Omitting many others I shall reciet one Passage in his 10th Homily on the first Chapter of the Gospel of St. John Before I proued saith he to his Hearers to explain the words I will ask one favour of you which I beseech you not to deny me for it is nothing burdensom nothing hard to be done which I ask and much more profitable to you than to me What is it then which I desire That one Day in the Week at least on Saturday you take care to read that part of the Gospel which I am to explain to you that every one take it into his Hands repeat it often at Home consider the Scope of it mark what is clear and what obscure and what seems repugnant in it and weighing all things beforehand do you thus present your selves to hear This will bring no small profit both to you and to me For it will be no great labour to me to make you understand the force of the Gospel when you have before render'd it as to the words at least familiar to your selves at Home And you will be not only more quick and ready to hear and learn but also to teach others There are many here present who hear and endeavour to retain the words and what I say upon them who would receive no great benefit tho I should spend a whole Year in preaching upon them Why Because by the bye and only for a little time here they apply their minds to them c. I grant It was Preaching Teaching and Instructing by word of Mouth was the means appointed by Christ for planting his Gospel But what then doth it follow that when the Gospel was written it might not be read by the Vulgar No more doubtless than that it might not be read by the Learned for that was the Means used for planting it among both Nor can we well imagine how it could at first be otherwise planted because it was then to be confirm'd by Miracles And suppose it were true that the Apostles who were thus commanded to preach had never any Command to write Is not this as good a Reason why the Priests may not read the Gospel as why the People may not In the words following the Representer sums up his Argument viz. Since then the Papists are taught and instructed in the Word of God the very same way that Christ himself taught all those that followed him since they are instructed in it the same way the Apostles themselves observed and commanded by submitting to and obeying those that are over them Why do you say they are deprived of the Word of God I answer For these Reasons 1. Because that which they have of the Word of God is but very little in comparison of what they are deprived of 2. Because much of that little if taken with those glosses and understood in that sense which they put upon it is not the Word of God. 3. Because much of that little which in popular Discourse is delivered to them as the Word of God is nothing less This the Representer must be forc'd to grant unless he
Church has prov'd but ten Years before the Council of Trent And whosoever has read the History of that Council cannot but see that the denial of the Cup to the Laity was discovered to be an Error by many Learned Men of that Church Yea the great Article of Transubstantiation many of their most Learned Men both in the present and in foregoing Ages could never perswade themselves to believe How many more of their Errors have been discover'd and published to the World by Cassander Wicelius Erasmus Picus Mirandula and many other Learned Men who died in Communion with them I shall not stay to mention But shall only make this Inference that the Representer would never have argued at this rate had he not vainly thought that the Protestants are as little acquainted with the Writings of the Papists as the Papists generally are with those of the Protestants What follows concerning Mechanicks and Apron-strings the Anvil the Needle and the Ell I suppose he did not intend for Arguments but only for Ornaments and Imbellishments and therefore I pass them over He adds Is it probable that every Man amongst the Papists no sooner becomes Scholar but he turns Atheist No. That upon their search in the Bible they plainly see all the Errours of their Religion and yet are so bewitched as to go on boldly and jocondly to the Devil without speaking a word or moving a step to save their own Souls or their Relations u P. 53 54. I will not say that every Learned Papist sees all the Errours of their Religion It may suffice that many of them have discover'd many of their Errors have written boldly against them And for those who discover their Errors and yet profess to believe them it is not necessary they should be Atheists I hope those Gentlemen are no Atheists who for several years late past have believed with the Church of Rome and profess'd with the Church of England their Religion approves Equivocations and mental Reservation Tho I confess that very Argument is so great a Bar to my turning Papist that I cannot at present imagine that I can ever be reconciled to that Religion which allows such gross Hypocrisies I hope by this time the Representer sees how weak and ill-grounded his own Arguments are 2. But he asks What ground can there be for this Pretension at least here in England where the Bible in English or the Rhemes Testament is to be found in most Catholic Families If it be so who is to be thanked for it Not their Church-men For tho they are more indulgent to their People here in England yet it is because they dare not be otherwise since should they hold them to as strict terms here as they do where they are in full possession it might endanger their losing them Besides that it is impossible to keep the Bible here from those who have a mind to read it for if they have it not with their leave they can have it without it But yet to keep them as much as may be from it they endeavour to perswade them that it is a sin to read it without leave and many are so possessed with this Belief that they acknowledg they dare not read it nor any other Book offer'd to them by Protestants without leave first obtain'd from their Ghostly Father and were England as much in their Power as Spain and Italy are a Bible in the Vulgar Tongue would be as rarely found in any Family here as it is in those Nations tho I see no reason but they may freely allow them the Rhemes Testament because they have so transform'd it into their own likeness that one would think they need fear no danger from it But if says he the prohibition of the Bible be as you pretend in other Countries for fear of the Vulgar discovering the Errors of their Religion how comes it that they don't make this Discovery here Some may not make this Discovery because of those invincible Prejudices they are prepossess'd with Others may not make it because they do not see with their own Eyes but leave it to their Priests to see for them Yet 't is strange the Representer should ask How comes it they do not make this Discovery as if none had made it when to the great grief of their Church such vast numbers have long since made it Does he not know That one Objection against translating the Bible in in King Hen. VIII days was That if Lay-men had the Bible in their Mother Tongue it would make them all Hereticks Does he not know how far the Event has answered the Prediction that whereas before the whole Nation was generally of their Belief so many have forsaken them since that now perhaps one or two in an hundred are as many as they can challenge He says Many have quitted that Communion upon other Motives best known to themselves but never any one could I meet with left them yet by reading and following the Word of God. He has it seems met with few who have left them nor could it be expected he should meet with many for so many had left them before his time that few in comparison remain'd to leave them now And those who left their Communion in K. Hen. VIII days could not leave it upon worldly Motives because after he gave leave to print the Bible in English and encouragement to all Men to read it he not only continued a Member of the Church of Rome himself but a zealous Persecutor of those who forsook it But perhaps he meets with none who desert them now If he does not yet many others do and I presume those that forsake them now their only Motive must be to follow the Word of God. But if the reading the Scriptures is such a defeat to Popery as you give out is it likely those who have been bred up to the reading of the Bible and have made it their Study and Companion should ever embrace that Communion Not more unlikely than that those who have been bred up to the reading of the Bible should imbrace divers other Opinions and Practices that are utterly inconsistent with it which we frequently see some Men do Tho I question not but if he examine their Converts he will find but few of them such as have made the Bible their Study and Companion And for those who have been bred up to the reading it but never concern'd themselves to consider it it is not more unlikely that they should imbrace Popery tho never so plainly contrary to it than that those should who never so much as saw it I shall not pass a Censure upon their late Proselytes but I am perswaded the Representer himself will confess that some of them are such as they have no reason to boast of FINIS ERRATA PAge 4. Marg. for Mandeuent read Mandement P. 8. Marg. for Prosanes r. Profanes P. 11. l. 6. after that add it l. last for Acaia r. Achaia P. 16. Marg. l. 4. for it r. et P 19. Marg. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 2 and 3 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 P. 30. after reading add it P. 53. l. 27. for gosly r. grosly P. 69. l. 7. for reciâ—â— r. reciâ—â— P. 80. Marg. r. contempletur
THE Peoples Right To Read the Holy Scripture ASSERTED In ANSWER to the 6th 7th 8th 9th and 10th Chapters of the Second Part of the POPISH REPRESENTER LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVII IMPRIMATUR Hen. Maurice Rmo in Christo P. D. Wilhelmo Archiepiscop Cant. a Sacris Maii 27. 1687. The Contents Four Things proposed to be treated of I. WHAT the Practice of the Church of Rome in this this Matter is II. That this Practice is plainly contrary to the Will of God to the Reason of the Thing and to the Practice of the Christian Church for more than a thousand Years after Christ III. The Insufficiency of those Reasons by which the Representer endeavours to justify it IV. The Truth of those Inferences the Protestants draw from it Page 1 2. CHAP. I. THE Practice of the Church of Rome in this Matter represented Pag. 2 c. CHAP. II. THE Contrariety of this Practice to the Will of God to Reason and to the Practice of the Christian Church for more than a thousand Years Pag. 8 c. SECT I. It 's contrariety to the Will of God appears in that God 1. Caused the Scriptures to be written in a Language understood by the Vulgar Pag. 9. 2. Adress'd them to the Vulgar Pag. 11. 3. Commanded the Vulgar to converse familiarly with them Pag. 12. SECT II. It 's contrariety to Reason shew'd both from the Scope and End of the Scriptures and from the Testimonies of many Learned Men of the Church of Rome Pag. 14 SECT III. It 's contrariety to the Practice of the Christian Church proved by unquestionable Testimonies for twelve hundred Years downward p. 17 c. When and upon what occasion a Restraint was first laid upon the reading of the Scriptures p. 26 CHAP. III. THE Reasons the Representer offers to justify this Practice of the Church of Rome Pag. 27 SECT I. The general Reason viz. the Mischiefs that arise from the promiscuous reading of the Scripture consider'd and the absurdity of it exposed p. 28 c. SECT II. The Mischiefs objected are all of the same kind p. 33In particular these three 1. The Divisions that are among Christians 2. As many different Bibles as there are different Heads 3. Not only several Persons but the same Person many times hath different Bibles I. That the Divisions among Christians arise solely or principally from the reading of the Bible by the Vulgar 1. It is notoriously false 2. In case it were true it would not be of force to infer his Conclusion p. 36 It is notoriously false In that 1. There were Divisions among the ancient Guides of the Church ibid. 2. There have been and still are Divisions yea as many among the Learned of the Church of Rome as among the Protestants p. 37 The Learned Romanists are divided among themselves in all those Points in which they are divided from Protestants ibid. 4. Those very pernicious Doctrines and Practices which the Representer himself mentions are deriv'd from the Learned especially from the Learned of the Church of Rome p. 39 5. The Divisions among the Vulgar for the most part are not owing to themselves but to the Learned 41 If it were true that the Divisions among Christians arise from the reading of the Bible by the Vulgar yet it would not be sufficient Reason for denying the Bible to them p. 42 II. The second Mischief viz. If the Bible be allowed the Vulgar there will be as many different Bibles among them as there are Heads p. 43 That every difference in Sense makes not a different Bible p. 44 The vanity of this Reason appears in that 1. It is of equal force against the reading of the Scripture by the Learned yea of much greater p. 45 2. Where the Vulgar are not permitted to read the Bible there are as many different Bibles in the Representer's Sense as where they are p. 46 3. The Argument retorted p. 47 III. The third Mischief may also be objected with as much Reason against the reading of the Scripture by the Learned particularly by the Roman Bishops Cardinals and Popes p. 48 SECT III. The Reasons the Representer gives why the Vulgar so differ in the sense of Scripture are two viz. The Obscurity of the Scripture and the setting up every Man's private Reason to be judg of it p. 50 1. The Obscurity of the Scriptures ibid. What the Protestants affirm of the plainness of the Scripture is no more than what the Ancient Fathers what the Bishop of Rome formerly and what many Learned Romanists of this present Age have affirm'd p. 51 That the Disagreement about the sense of Scripture proceeds not from the obscurity of it p. 52 From whence this Disagreement proceeds p. 53 2. The setting up every Man 's private Reason to be judg of Scripture p. 54 The Protestants make not Reason judg of Scripture as the Socinians do ibid. They make Reason no otherwise Judg than as our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles have allowed commanded p. 55 The Clergy of the Church of Rome notwithstanding their loud Cry against private Reason make it Judg as much as Protestants p. 56 His Argument from the Oneness of the Christian Faith answered and retorted p. 57 58 c. His other Arguments from the Authority of the Church the Creed Heb. 13. 17. 1 Tim. 3. 15. Mat. 18. 17. answered p. 61 62 c. CHAP. IV. THE false Constructions or wrong Inferences as the Representer calls them which the Protestants make from this Practice are three 1. That the Vulgar Papists are deprived of the Word of God. 2. That they take up all their Belief upon trust 3. That the Reason why they are not permitted to read the Bible is for fear least they should discover the Errors of their Religion p. 65 SECT I. The first Protestant Inference justified and the Representer's Reasons to the contrary shew'd to be idle and insignificant p. 65 66 67 c SECT II. That the Vulgar Papist takes all his Belief upon trust p. 7â— This shew'd in each of those Heads mentioned by the Representer And the absurdity of his Reasons to the contrary maâ— manifest p. 71 72 7â— SECT III. The third Inference vindicated and his two Reasons â— it shew'd to be of no force p. â—â— No thanks to them that the Bible is not denied the Learned p. â—â— That it is the Bible it self they look upon as mischievous p. â—â— Some Learned Men not so well qualified to discover their â—â—rors as some of the Vulgar p. â—â— Many of their Learned Men have discovered their Errors p. â—â— Why more liberty is given to their Vulgar here in Englaâ—â— than in other Countries p. â—â— That the Vulgar here in England have discovered their Errâ—â— p â—â— The Peoples Right to read the Holy Scripture asserted THough it is as evident as that the Scripture is in Print that the free Use of it is by the Roman Clergy
by him he says there are infinite other p Pag. 52. Those infinite other I can say nothing to because I know not what they are If he please to tell us some of them for we cannot expect he should ennumerate all because they are infinite they shall be considered All those he is pleased to mention are of the same kind viz. the Divisions that are among Christians from the different Senses they put upon the Scripture thereby making as many Bibles as there are Men. The unhappy Divisions says he which are among Christians sufficiently inform him that to such Readers as St. Peter calls unwary and ignorant how ever wise they may think themselves Arianism may be as obvious in this Book as Christ's Divinity and that when such an one undertakes the interpretation of it 't is an hazard whether at the end he comes out Quaker Anabaptist Presbyterian Independent Muggletonian Socinian or Atheist 'T is a venture whether the Trinity shall have place in his Creed or no Whether he 'll allow of Baptism or any Sacrament and whether Cruelty cutting of Throats Oppression Tyranny Dethroning of Kings and Murder of Princes shall not with him become a necessary Duty and a true serving of the Lord c. q Pag. 52. And in another place the Reason he gives why the Holy Scriptures are not generally allowed to the Vulgar is this That there may not be as many different Bibles among them as there are Heads r Pag. 54. Which is in effect the same with the former And in a third That it is not only thus in SEVERAL PEOPLE but even the SAME PERSON many times hath the faculty of multiplying the Word of God s Chap. 9. pag. 57. That is by reading the Scriptures Men are not only divided one from another but the same Person is at different times divided from himself by putting one Sense upon them at one time and another at another I shall observe one thing by the way before I come to expose the Folly of this way of Reasoning Had not this Gentleman vainly presumed that the Vulgar of our Communion are as ignorant as those of his own in other Countries he would not have laid so great stress upon these Words of St. Peter the unlearned and unstable and repeated them thrice within the compass of one half Sheet tho perhaps for a disguise in the words now cited he puts unwary and ignorant instead of unlearned and unstable since they are so far from proving what he designs that they are a fair Argument for the contrary For as I before observed could the unlearned have wrested the Scriptures had they not read them And if because they wrested them they were to be forbidden to read them would not the Apostle when the matter requir'd it have told them so and given this in charge to the Pastors of the Church Had he been of the same judgment with his Successors at Rome for the last three or four hundred years was it possible he should have forgotten this I appeal to the Representer's own Conscience Does he think it was St. Peter's intention that this Epistle of his should not be read by those to whom he wrote it If not he intended it should be read by the Vulgar for 't is certain it was written to such I shall now proceed to the particular consideration of these Mischiefs Which tho all as I said before of the same kind yet because to make the greater shew the Representer hath put them into a different dress of words and discoursed of them apart in three several Chapters t Chap. 7. 8 9. lest I should be thought to wave any thing material to his purpose I shall also speak to them severally and they are these I. The many Divisions that are among Christians u Chap. 7. p. 52. II. As many different Bibles as there are different Heads w Chap. 8. p. 54. III. Not only several People but even the same Person many times has the faculty of multiplying the Word of God x Chap. 9. p. 57. Mischief I. I. Having just before spoken of the many unhappy Divisions among Christians he says That these and infinite other Mischiefs arise from the free permitting the Bible among the Multitude y Pag. 52. Now if he speaks to the purpose his meaning must of necessity be That all these many unhappy Divisions arise from this cause only or at least from this cause principally And therefore no more is here needful than to discover the falseness of this Assertion However I shall be more liberal and shew these two things 1. That what is here affirm'd is notoriously false 2. That in case it were true it would not be of force to infer the Conclusion viz. That the reading of the Bible ought to be denied to the Vulgar First It is notoriously false That all the unhappy Divisions among Christians take their rise either ONLY or CHIEFLY from the free permitting of the Bible among the Multitude This will be evident by considering these five things 1. That there were Divisions among the Ancient Guides or Pastors of the Church 2. That there have been and still are Divisions yea as many among the Learned of the Church of Rome as among the Protestants 3. That the Learned Romanists are divided among themselves in all those Points in which they are divided from Protestants 4. That those very pernicious Doctrines and Practices which the Representer himself mentions are derived from the Learned and especially from the Learned of the Church of Rome And therefore 5. That the Divisions among the Vulgar for the most part are not owing to themselves but to the Learned 1. There were Divisions among the ancient Guides and Pastors of the Christian Church and in matters of as great moment as those are in which the Protestants are divided As between St. Irenaeus and Victor St. Cyprian and Stephen St. Chrysostom and Theophilus St. Jerom and Ruffinus St. Cyril and Theodoret the Bishops of the Council of Nice and those also of Sardica c. I wish those Divisions and many other among the ancient Bishops were not too well known to need any Proof Now can the Representer say That these Divisions sprang from permitting the Bible to the Multitude I trow not 2. There have been and still are Divisions yea as many among the Learned of the Church of Rome as among the Protestants Almost every Schoolman is the Head of a Sect and the Controversies between the Lutherans and the Calvinists are not so many as between the Thomists and the Scotists The Dissentions between the Regular and Secular Priests have lasted already for some Ages and are likely still to continue so many several Orders so many Sects in Religion you may find among the Regulars and the Remonstrants and Anti-monstrants will as soon unite as the Dominicans with the Jesuits or the Franciscans Yea the Popes themselves the Centre of their Unity are
often divided among themselves and their Definitions plainly contradictory one to another Witness Pope Gregory I and Pope Boniface III. The former condem'd the Title of Vniversal Bishop as abominable and Antichristian z Lib. 4. Epist 32 33 36 38. the later ambitiously affected and obtain'd it from the Tyrant Phocas a Plat. in vit Bonifacii III. Sabellic Ennead 8. l. 6. Pope Innocent I. held the Eucharist was necessary for Infants b Aug. Contr. duas Epist Pelag. l. 2. c. 4. Binii Concil Tom. 1. p. 769. Pope Pius IV. denounced an Anathema against those that held it c Conc. Trid. Sess 21. Can. 4. And certainly neither do these Divisions take their Rise from the reading of the Bible by the common People 3. The Learned Romanists are divided among themselves in all those Points of Doctrine in which they are divided from Protestants I shall instance in some viz. The Popes Infallibility and Vniversal Pastorship his Power over Princes and Dominion in Temporals the Canon of Scripture and Traditions of the Church the Sacrifice of the Mass and Communion in one kind the Worship of Images and Invocation of Saints the Doctrines of Purgatory and Indulgences to which I shall add but one more viz. Transubstantiation Tho they seem pretty well agreed to burn or hang those that deny it yet there is not one question about it in which they are at an agreement among themselves To borrow the Words of a learned Bishop of the Church of Ireland No sooner says he was this fatal Sentence given he means the Definition of Transubstantiation in the Lateran Council but as if Pandora's Box had been newly set wide open whole swarms of noisom Questions and Debates did fill the Schools Then it began to be disputed by what means this Change comes whether by the Benediction of the Elements or by the repetition of those Words of Christ THIS IS MY BODY Then was the Question started what the demonstrative Pronoun HOC signifies in these Words THIS IS MY BODY Whether this thing or this Substance or this Bread or this Body or this Meat or these Accidents or that which is contain'd under these Species or this Individuum vagum or lastly which seems stranger than all the rest this nothing c. Then it began to be argued whether the Elements were annihilated Whether the Matter and Form of them being destroyed their Essence did yet remain Or the Essence being converted the Existence remain'd Then the Schoolmen began to wrangle what manner of Change this was Whether a material Change or a formal Change or a Change of the whole Substance both Matter and Form And if it were a Conversion of the whole Substance then whether it was by way of Production or by Adduction c. (d) Bp. Bramh. Answ to the Epist of M. de la Militiere This is only a short taste of what the Reader may find in the Book quoted in the Margin Nor do they only quarrel about the Manner but some of their greatest Men do not believe and others plainly deny the Article it self as any one may see who will but take the pains to consult the learned Preface to a Discourse of the Holy Eucharist in the two great Points c. and a Treatise written by an Author of the Communion of the Church of Rome touching Transubstantiation It is probable that if all the Disputes upon all Points controverted among Protestants were put together they would not amount to a greater number than those of the Papists in this one Article To conclude this Let any Learned Romanist tell me what his Judgment is in any one Point controverted between them and us and I will engage upon short warning to produce another Learned Romanist who shall contradict him And are not Men so entirely united in Judgment among themselves excellently qualified to upbraid Protestants with their Divisions 4. In that he says To such Readers as St. Peter calls Vnwary and Ignorant Arianism may be as obvious in this Book as Christ's Divinity It is a sign that he expected no other than such unwary and ignorant Readers For he must be ignorant indeed in these Matters who does not know That not the Ignorant but the Learned not the Laity but the Clergy were the Persons to whom Arianism was in this Book so obvious Witness the Councils of Sirmium of Milan and Ariminum I need not tell him That one or two of the Bishops of Rome either grosly dissembled or Arianism was for a time more obvious to them in this Book than Christ's Divinity And whereas he says That when such an one viz. one that is Unwary and Ignorant undertakes the interpreting of this Book 't is a hazard whether in the end he comes out Quaker Anabaptist Presbyterian Independent Muggletonian Socinian or Atheist He had spoken nearer the Truth if he had said When such an one takes this Book as interpreted to him by a Popish Priest or Jesuit in the disguise of a Quaker Anabaptist c. We know who have been imploy'd to sow and foment Divisions among us to draw our People into separated Meetings upon the pretence of a more pure and spiritual way of Worship We can tell him of great numbers instructed in Handy-craft Trades trained up to dispute one for Presbytery another for Independency a third for Anabaptism sent over hither by order from Rome so that when the deluded People have thought they had heard a gifted Tradesman they have heard a Romish Priest in that disguise We can acquaint him with those who have been detected exercising their Talents in several sorts of Meetings But that which follows is most surprising That it is a venture whether Cruelty cutting of Throats Oppression Tyranny dethroning of Kings murder of Princes shall not with him viz. the ignorant Reader become a necessary Duty and a true serving of the Lord. This I say is most surprising and doubtless he rubb'd his forehead hard before he wrote it since he knows That all these have for some hundreds of Years been taught and practised by the greatest Men of his own Church and therefore it is not a venture but beyond all peradventure that when Place and Time serve they will be so again He well knows what the great Cardinals Bellarmine Baronius Perron c. What the Learned Jesuits Suarez Lessius Azorius c. What his own Country-men Cardinal Allen Father Parsons Creswel c. have written for the deposing and murdering of Kings He knows what Pope Gregory VII Gregory IX Innocent III Innocent IV Boniface VIII Paul III Pius V Sixtus V Gregory XIII have not only taught but acted in pursuance of these Doctrines He knows there was a Holy League among those who had not the Bible in their Banners as well as a Solemn League and Covenant among those who had And he knows or at least may soon know if he please That the chief Weapons of the Rebellion in Forty two were setch'd from Rome
be true of many of the Vulgar is it not also as true of many of the Learned yea of many of the most Learned in the Church of Rome May it not as truly be said how many may be found among your Bishops Cardinals and Popes who according to their different humours as their Interest changes espouse different Doctrines and Perswasions Witness in elder times Pope Liberius and Vigilius who were either Hereticks or Catholicks as their Interest changed And for later times witness the Cardinal of Cusa who one while more zealous than he for the Authority of a General Council above the Pope But when he expected to be made a Cardinal who more zealous for the contrary Doctrine Upon which Richerius his Words are observable By this saith he we are given to know that very many who have defended the Truth in a state of Poverty have deserted the same out of hope of Dignities and a more plentiful Fortune and especially out of an ambition of being made Cardinals (l) Hist Concil general l. 3. p. 479. Witness Aeneas Sylvius who vehemently opposed that Doctrine when he was Pope which he had before as vehemently maintained when he was Clerk to the Council of Basil And that it was interest that gave him this new Light not I but Richerius and Maimbourg plainly assert (m) Richer Hist Concil general l. 4. parte 1. c. 6. Maimb Prerog Of the Church of Rome c. 25. p. 338. Yea the Pope himself in his Bull of Retractation says in effect as much for speaking of the Disputes between him and Juliano Cardinal of St. Angelo he confesses the Doctrine he forsook was the ancient and that he embraced was new (n) Tuebamur antiquam sententiam ille novam defendebat Witness the Cardinal of Lorrain Does not he he himself confess that his Interest being turn'd he turned with it (o) Hist of the Counc of Trent l. 8. p. 767. Was not his Perswasion different according to the different Impressions he received from the Pope and the Queen of France When he first came to Trent how contrary his Sentiments in several Points were to those he had afterward when the State of affairs in France was altered and he had been caressed by the Pope and his Holiness had gain'd his good Opinion may sufficiently appear by comparing the places quoted in the Margin (p) Hist of the Counc of Trent ps 659 692 703 704 712 733 743 744 767 782 813. It 's too well known to need to be mentioned how that Gardiner Bonner and all the Popish Bishops Fisher only excepted espoused different Doctrines and Perswasions as their Interests changed and according to the different Impressions they received either from the King or the Pope And don't you now see how to these same Bishops Cardinals and Popes the Word of God was not always the same but alter'd according to Seasons and Times That it was one Word of God that directed Aeneas Sylvius while he was Secretary to the Council of Basil another while he was Pope That in King Henry VIII's and King Edward VI's Reigns the King's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Affairs was in Gardiner's and Bonner's Bibles in Queen Marie's Reign the Pope's was found instead of the King 's The Conclusion hence is unavoidable That if all Men are to be denied the reading of the holy Scriptures who according to their different Humours as their Interest changes espouse different Doctrines and Persuasions they must be denied to many more than the Vulgar unless their Bishops Cardinals and Popes are to be placed in that rank SECT III. In the next place the Representer gives us his Reasons why the Vulgar so differ in the sense of the Bible which are two one of them imply'd the other expressed That which is imply'd is the Obscurity of the Scripture That which is express'd is the setting up every Man 's private Reason to be Judg of Scripture (q) Chap. 9. p. 58. Reason I. I. The Obscurity of the Scripture For if it be so plain and easy says he how comes it there is so little agreement in the understanding it When the Protestants affirm that the Scripture is plain and easie they mean it is so to those only who read it with honest Hearts who sincerely desire to know the Truth and to direct their Lives answerable to it and they mean that it 's so not simply in all things but in all things necessary to Salvation And when they affirm this they affirm no more than St. Austin did Believe me saith he whatsoever is in those Scriptures speaking of the Scriptures of the old Testament which are more obscure than those of the new it is high and Divine they contain nothing but what is true and that Doctrine which is most fit for the repairing and restoring of Souls and so disposed that there is no Man but may draw thence that which is sufficient for him provided he comes devoutly and piously affected as true Religion requires (r) Quicquid est mihi crede in Scripturis illis altum divinum est inest omnino veritas reficiendis instaurandisque animis accommodatissima disciplina plane ita modificata ut nemo inde haurire non possit quod sibi satis est si modo ad hauriendum devotè ac piè ut vera Religio poscit accedat De utilitate credendi c. 6. They affirm no more than what St. Chrysostom did for he says That all things necessary are manifest (s) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. 3. in 2. ad Thess They affirm no more than what the Bishop of Rome did formerly For the Holy Scripture saith Pope Gregory as I find him quoted by the Authors of the Preface of the Mons Testament is as a great River which runs always and which will run to the end of the World. The little Children and the Men of full Stature the strong and the weak do there find that living Water that springs up even to Heaven It offers it self to all and it suits it self to all It hath a simplicity that abases it self to the most simple Souls and a height that exercises and raises the most lofty †P. 9. Nay they say no more than what many learned Romanists of this present Age have said The Bishop of Vence speaking of the new Testament says The Son of God hath in it taken care to teach us CLEARLY and DISTINCTLY our whole Duty to him as well as our whole Duty to our Neighbour and our selves This is that which the Gospels contain The Epistles of the Apostles are a Comment upon it and an Explication more enlarged and distinct which leave not any thing in the Christian Life we ought to live upon Earth unexplain'd (t) Preface of Mr. Arnaud And Mr. Arnaud says That the holy Fathers have noted that one of those things which shew the Divinity of the holy Scriptures and in which they excel all the Writings of Men
find out or afterward to comprehend And if this be to make private Reason the Rule of Scripture we need not be ashamed to own it For this is no more than what our Blessed Saviour allowed to private Persons He frequently appealed to the Scriptures of the Old Testament but he left it to every man's Reason to judge whether they were for him or against him Yea did he not severely reprove the promiscuous Multitude for not judging even of themselves what was right (b) Luk. 12. 57. For to the Multitude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 54. these words were directed This is no more than what the Apostles of our Lord have laid as a Duty upon private Christians St. Paul commands them to prove all things (c) 1 Thes 5. 21. and thought the common Christians of the Church of Corinth wise enough to judg what he said (d) 1 Cor. 10. 15. St. John requires them to try the Spirits whether they be of God (e) 1 Joh. 4. 1. And can they do this if they may not judg of the sense of the Scripture This is no more than what St. Chrysostom frequently exhorted the People to and sharply reproved their neglect of it Yea notwithstanding the loud cry they make against private Reason and the private Spirit the Roman Clergy themselves are forced to appeal to it For when to draw Men over from us to them they produce so many Scriptures and so many Reasons such as they are fetch'd from Scripture Do they not make every Man's Reason Judg whether these Scriptures and these Reasons are to the purpose If they say a Man must use his Reason to judg which is the true Church but having once found it he must then take the sense of Scripture upon the Church's word nothing can be said more absurd Because a Man must judg of thesense of the Scripture before he can discern which is the true Church since that can no otherwise be known than by those Characters the Scripture gives of it Besides one of their own Marks of the true Church is the Holiness of its Doctirne (f) Bell. de Notis Eccles l. 4. c. 11. A Man therefore must know what the Doctrine of a Church is before he can know it to be a true Church and how shall a Man know this but by first examining her Doctrine by Scripture A Man must therefore know the sense of Scripture before he can know the true Church But if it should be granted that when a Man once knows the true Church he must then understand the Scripture as the Church does yet tell me why he must do so Is it because he hath Reason or no Reason so to do You will not say because he hath no Reason for you your self give Reasons why he must And if it be because he hath Reason he then makes his Reason Judg of the sense of Scripture as well as the Protestant But Christian Faith he says is but one that 's granted And all Christians are directed to meet in this ONE Faith to be of ONE SPIRIT and ONE MIND to say all the same thing This is also granted Now can you imagine it possible says he for all Christians to concur in the same Belief while the Scripture being but ONE which they read their private Judgments give differing and contrary Interpretations of it and carry them several ways (g) Chap. 9. P. 58. And will it be possible for all Christians to concur in the same Belief if the Scriptures be denied to the Vulgar For do not the private Judgments of the Clergy give as differing and contrary Interpretations of it and carry them as many several ways And therefore are there not as many Divisions among your selves as has been shew'd as there are among Protestants And is it not ridiculous so often to insist upon that as a sovereign Remedy of Divisions which is so ineffectual that the Disease is as prevalent where it is used as where it is not The Representer may perhaps say That their Differences are not in matters of Faith If not then neither are ours since theirs are in matters as considerable as ours are But the best on 't is if notwithstanding their Differences among themselves they are still of one Faith then the Protestants also may be of one Faith not only among themselves but with them too and therefore are no Hereticks since Protestants differ no more from them than many of them do one from another Tho therefore it be the Duty of Christians to be all of one Mind and to speak the same things and tho I see no reason to question but God hath afforded such helps in order thereunto which if they were not wanting to themselves in the use of they might attain to this Vnity Yet we have already seen that the withholding the Scripture from the Vulgar is none of those means and tho some who will be wiser than God have thought fit to make trial of it yet they have hitherto found it unsuccesful And for those means which God hath vouchsafed as little Reason have we to expect that they should by all Christians be faithfully used and applied and they thereby be brought to this perfect Unity as to expect that all Men should become sober and just and charitable and devout which God has made no less their Duty and for the effecting of which he hath vouchsafedas powerful means But now let us again try whether this long Harangue be not of equal force against the reading of the Scripture by the Learned as by the Vulgar If the different Sects in Religion proceed from the reading of the Scripture by the Vulgar how comes it that there are so many different and contrary Divisions Sects and Perswasions among you Romanists How comes it that even in those things that by the differing Parties are reckon'd Matters of Faith there hath been and at present is so great Diversity The business is you suffer every Learned Man's private Reason to be Judg of Scripture which when put to the test proves in thousands and thousands to be no better than Passion Prejudice Interest Imagination Guessing or Fancy Don't you find by experience that there 's no Proposal made but presently the Learned are divided about it as they were in almost every Question in the Council of Trent nor could the Controversies be decided by the Fathers but they were forc'd to make many of their Decrees in such general Terms for the gratifying of the contending Parties as might be interpreted to contrary Senses Don't you see again That almost every Scholar's Reason is different as their Capacity Parts Education Temper Inclinations Impressions are different That as every one has a Head of his own so he has generally a Reason or way of reasoning of his own Nay are not the Learned so inconstant even to themselves too that what is Reason to them at one time is unreasonable at another How then can you permit a thing
the Church of Rome doth And tho Protestants never refuse to yield assent to all such Doctrines as the Church truly Catholic hath in all Ages taught yet they can see no reason to pin their Faith upon the Church of Rome there being as vast a difference between the Church of Rome and the Church Catholick as between the Church of York and the Church of England But St. Paul Heb. 13. 17. commands all to obey and submit to those that are over them 'T is true and I grant that by those that are over them he means Ecclesiastical Superiors But does not the same St. Paul command Children to obey their Parents and Servants to obey their Masters Would he therefore have all Children and Servants to take their Faith upon trust from their Parents and Masters He also commanded every Soul to be subject to the Higher Powers and yet I am pretty confident that his meaning was not that every Christian should then believe as the Roman Emperor did But he commands to obey and submit not only as to External Government but as to Truth and Belief Then those who had Arian Bishops as a great part of the Church for some time had were bound to believe that Christ was not God and those who had Donatist Bishops were bound to believe that the Church of Rome was so far from being the Catholick Church that it was not so much as a Part of it But how does the Representer prove That the People ought absolutely to submit their Faith to those that are over them because the Apostle says v. 7. whose Faith follow And does he not say Chap. 6. 12. Be ye Followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises Are we therefore bound to believe as every deceased Christian hath believed In both places the Apostle speaks of Christians departed this Life in the later of Christians indifferently in the former of Christian Bishops And the words should be render'd Remember them which have had the Rule over You which have spoken to You the Word of God such for instance as James Bishop of Jerusalem who had witness'd the Faith by his Death whose Faith follow And the meaning is this Imitate them in their Constancy and Perseverance in the Christian Profession and Practice notwithstanding all the Persecutions you meet with in the World. The Pillar and Ground of Truth 1 Tim. 3. 15. may relate either to Timothy himself or to that Summary of Christian Doctrine that follows But suppose it relate to the Church that particular Church was primarily meant in which Timothy was directed how to behave himself and I think no Romanist says That a Man is bound to believe as every particular Church believes The words of Christ Matth. 18. 17. If he hear not the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen Man and a Publican are also impertinent because he speaks there not of Matters of Faith but of Fact and directs what course is to be taken for the ending of private Quarrels between Man and Man tho had he spoken of Matters of Faith they would not have been to the purpose because by the Church can be meant no other than that particular Church of which the offending Brother was a Member I need say no more to shew how unconcluding those Reasons are by which he would perswade us to abandon our Reason and to take the sense of Scripture upon trust from his Church CHAP. IV. I Proceed now to the fourth and last Head viz. The false Constructions as the Representer calls them which the Protestants make of this Practice of the Church of Rome or the wrong Inferences they deduce from it Which are these three 1. That the Vulgar Papists are deprived of the Word of God. 2. That they take up all their Belief upon trust 3. That the Reason why they are not permitted to read the Bible is for fear lest they should discover the Errors of their Religion Whether these are Misconstructions or no I shall leave the impartial Reader to judg after I shall have consider'd those Reasons by which he endeavours to prove that they are so SECT I. The first Protestant Inference is That the Vulgar 〈…〉 Papists are deprived of the Word of God of the Food of their Souls (i) Chap. 6 p. 43 44 4◠To prevent Cavils and Evasions I premise this The Protestant does not say that the Vulgar Papists have nothing of the Scripture allow'd them He very well knows that some shreds of it are now and then given them in Sermons and some small parcels in their Catechisms and Manuals of Devotion But what then Will it hence follow that it is false to say they are deprived of the Scripture Will not every Man say That he is deprived of his Father's Will who is allowed no more than the sight of here and there a Line transcrib'd from it Or that a Man's Inheritance is detain'd from him who has no more than a small Pension given him out of it One may a little wonder that this should be reckon'd a false Inference What! are they not depriv'd of the Word of God who are not suffer'd to read it or so much as to have it in a Language they understand No says the Representer The Vulgar of our Communion have more of this Holy Food than those of any other Perswasion whatsoever (k) P. 45. This is yet more wonderful That they should not be permitted to have it and yet that they should have more of it than those who have the whole of it in their Hands and daily read it How shall we unriddle this Why They are taught it by their Pastors Be it so Does it thence follow that they have more of it than those of other Perswasions who are taught it by their Pastors as well as they For whereas he presently suggests That the Protestants are for leaving their Pastors that they may teach themselves that 's a Calumny Tho the Protestants read the Scriptures themselves yet they do not reject their Pastors They do not think the use of the one does render the other needless now any more than it did in the first Ages of the Christian Church when they both went together and were both thought necessary But that they who are taught it by their Pastors only should have more of it than those who are both taught it by them and have the whole of it in their own possession is as true as that a part is more than the whole But the Representer will say Their Pastors teach them all that is necessary for them to know How shall the Vulgar know this We can tell them of Pastors who have concealed from their People some of the most necessary Points of the Christian Faith but I need not name them to the Representer But how are the People assur'd that what they teach them is indeed the Word of God and not their own Inventions when they are not suffered to examine
to forbear the reading of the Scriptures who do not understand them Secondly That they who thus read them with a pious Mind shall be graciously accepted and rewarded by God. These Inferences are not mine but both of them St. Chrysostom's It follows Since therefore the Papists in delivering the Scriptures come nearest to this method commanded by God in the Old Law prescribed and practised by Christ and his Apostles in the New c. If he mean that this was the only Method commanded by God in the Old Law and prescribed by Christ in the New I have already shew'd it to be false If he mean that this was one Method then how widely remote the Conclusion is from the Premisses will appear only by setting them together One Method commanded by God in the Old Law was that the Priests and Levites should read the Law and explain it to the People the like Method was prescribed and practised by Christ and his Apostles in the New Law Therefore the Papists in withholding the Scripture from the Common People come nearest to the Method commanded by God in the Old Law and prescribed by Christ and his Apostles in the New. Where lies the Connection And yet I confess it follows as clearly as this That the Scriptures were not in the Vulgar Tongue because St. Paul said to Timothy Thou hast learned the Holy Scriptures from a Child (a) Ledesma de Script Divinis quavis lingua non legendis c. 5. I should have thought the quite contrary had followed had I not been taught otherwise by one that follows the guidance of the Infallible Church Had the Representer spoken the whole Truth in the Premisses the Conclusion had been unavoidable for the Protestants who in delivering the Scripture to the People observe the same Method that God appointed under the Law and Christ and his Apostles under the Gospel What follows upon this Head we have had before SECT III. That which the Representer reckons as another Misconstruction Inference 3. of the Protestants is this That the Reason why the Vulgar Papists are not permitted to read the Bible is for fear lest they should discover the Errors of their Religion (g) Chap. 8. p. 53. 'T is true the Protestants assign this for one Reason but when he brings in the Protestant saying I can apprehend no other he misrepresents them because they assign others tho they take this to be the chief Now this he says is a Misconstruction that lies so open that there needs no more than a glimpse of Reason to discover it Let us therefore see whether there be so much as a glimpse in those pretended Reasons he brings to confute it which are these two 1. That tho the Vulgar and Vnlearned of the Papists have not in some Countries the Bible promiscuously allow'd amongst them yet that in those same Countries and all others there 's no College Vniversity Community or place of Learning but where the Scriptures are publickly read and expounded (h) Ibid. 2. That there can be no ground for this Pretension at least here in England where the Bible in English or the Rhemes Testament is to be found in most Catholic Families (i) P. 54. 1. That in all Popish Countries there 's no College Vniversity Community or place of Learning but where the Scripture is publickly read and expounded Now if they viz. the Protestants should consider this is it possible says the Representer for them to believe that that Restraint is upon the Vulgar for fear they should see into the Follies of their Religion It is possible and because we see a Papist can believe contrary to Sense and Reason I add that it is not only possible but there is great Reason for Protestants to believe this And that 1. Because even Papists themselves believe it So did the Bishops that met at Bononia to consult about the establishment of the Roman Church For having given it as their last and weightiest Advice to Julius III That he labour to the uttermost that as little as may be of the Gospel especially in the Vulgar Tongue be read in the Cities that were under his Dominions and that that little might suffice which is wont to be read in the Mass They add This in short is the Book which besides others hath raised those Tempests and Whirlwinds which we are almost carried away with And the truth is if any Man shall diligently consider this Book and then view in order one after another the things which are wont to be done in our Churches he will see that there is a very great difference between them and that this our Doctrine is altogether diverse from that and oft-times even contrary to it which as soon as Men understand being stirred up by some Learned Men of our Adversaries they never give over clamouring against us till they have render'd us odious to all Men k Hic ille est liber qui praeter caeteros hasce nobis tempestates ac turbines concitavit quibus prope abrepti sumus Et sane si quis illum diligenter expendar deinde quae in nostris fieri Ecclesiiis consueverunt singula ordine contemplatur videbit plurimum inter se dissidere hanc doctrinam nostram ab illa prorsus diversam esse ac saepe contrariam etiam Quod simul atque homines intelligunt à docto scilicet aliquo Adversariorum nostrorum stimulati non ante clamandi in nos finem faciunt donec re tandem pervulgata nos invisos omnibus reddiderint Consil de Rom. Eccles Stab Of the same Belief was Peter Sutor as appears by these words Since many things are deliver'd to be observed which are not expresly in the Holy Scriptures will not the Vnlearned observing these things be ready to murmur complaining that so great Burdens are laid upon them by which their Gospel-Liberty is sorely abridged And will they not be easily withdrawn from observing the Constitutions of the Church when they shall see that they are not contain'd in the Law of Christ l Sed cum multa palam tradantur observanda quae Sacris in literis expresse non habentur nonne Idiotae haec animadvertentes facile murmurabunt conquerentes cur tantae sibi imponantur Sarcinae quibus libertas Evangelica ita gravicer elevatur Nonne facile retrahentur ab observantia Institutionum Ecclesiasticarum quando eas in lege Christi animadverterint non contineri De Translat Bibl. c. 22. Fo. 96. To which may be added all those which make a vast number who as the Cardinal Rodolpho Pio di Carpi believe that if the Bible be in the Vulgar Tongue all Men will become Hereticks m Soave 's Hist of the Counc of Trent l. 5. p. 460. For who do they usually mean by Hereticks but those who by reading the Bible do first discover and then renounce their Errors Now tho I confess there are some things believed by Papists which I think it
impossible for a Protestant to believe yet I doubt not but the Representer will grant that the belief of this is as easy to a Protestant as it is to a Papist And that since it is believed by Papists there is very good reason why Protestants should believe it 2. Since they allow the Vulgar the Ten Commandments in their own Tongue what probable Reason can be given why they leave out this part Thou shalt not Tho to stop their Adversaries Mouths they now put these words into the English Catechisms make to thy self any graven Image c. but this that they dare not let their Laity compare their Doctrine and their Practice with this Scripture It is I know commonly said that this is done in compliance with the weak Memories of the People But he must be of a weak understanding who is satisfied with this Reason especially considering how tedious some of their Offices of Devotion are which are composed for the use of the Laity 3. It is no Thanks to them that the Bible is not denied to the Learned because it is impossible it should be kept from them as long as it is suffer'd in any Language But it is plain they are afraid of them in that they do not allow them however learned and pious but at the Bishop's discretion to read any Versions of the Old Testament Nor do they give the Bishop leave to permit any Man how learned soever to read any Versions of the New made by those who are censured by their Church but confine them to the Vulgar Edition n Reg. 3. â— Trid. And to make as sure of them as they can they tie them up as close as they are able from giving any such Interpretation of it as may be prejudicial to their new Faith. And yet not trusting to this Security they endeavour as much as may be to conceal from them those Scriptures which are repugnant to their Doctrine Which is 4. A plain Argument That it is the Bible it self they take to be mischievous to them Why else 1. Did they blot those words out of the Margin and Index of Rob. Stephen's Bible which were the same with those in the Text For Example Abraham was justified by Faith. He that believeth in Christ shall not die for ever They that blotted these out of the Index that the Reader might not thereby be directed to find them would they not if they durst have blotted them out of the Text too 2. Why else have they purged not only out of the Ancient Fathers but many late Learned Writers of their own Church many Passages of the Scripture it self 3. Why was it commended as a most meritorious Act in John Della Cava Arch-bishop of Benevento That tho he had not openly and expresly condemn'd the Gospel yet obscurely and covertly he had because in his large Catalogue of Hereticks he had reprobated a great part of that Doctrine which is contain'd in the Gospel especially some certain Heads which were most opposite to the Church of Rome p Consil de Rom. Eccles Stab The Representer proceeds If their Religion be so contrary to Scripture as you pretend is it not more likely the Learned should make this discovery in their reading the Bible than the Vulgar if they had the like liberty c. To which I return these two Things 1. If the Learned are as free from Prejudice Pride Vain-glory Covetousness and other evil Affections which darken Mens Minds it is more likely they should make this Discovery than the Vulgar if not the Vulgar are better qualified to make it than they For tho Learning when joyn'd with a sincere love of Truth is a great advantage for the discovery of it yet when destitute of this it is as great a hinderance The Learned among the Jews in the days of our Saviour are a demonstrative Proof of this Tho Moses and all the Prophets bore Testimony to him yet the Scribes and Pharisees were not able to see it Why because they were prepossessed with the Prejudices of a Pompous Messias they sought Glory of Men they had carnal Affections and a worldly Interest to serve tho therefore all the Characters of the Messias were visible in him yet because he was not a Messias for their turn they could not discern them I say not only they did not but without first laying aside their corrupt Affections they could not And so our Saviour himself says Ye cannot hear my Word q Joh. 8. 43. And how can ye believe which receive Honour one of another r Joh. 5. 44. How wife and prudent soever they were in other Matters they were not capable of the Truths of the Gospel and therefore they were hid from them while they were revealed to Babes s Mat. 11. 25. Now how few in comparison of the Learned in the Church of Rome have not some carnal Interest to serve How few are not prepossess'd with some such false Principle that be the Scripture never so clear against them will so blind their eyes that they shall not be able to discern it Should the Church of Rome teach Murder and Adultery to be Vertues he who makes it a Fundamental Article of his Faith that she cannot err would not be able to see that they are Sins but would find out some other sense of these Commandments than the words plainly import In short this Argument the Learned Jews made use of against our Blessed Saviour Have any of the Pharisees believed on him But this People who know not the Law are curs'd t Joh. 7. 48 49. As much as to say Were he the true Messias the Learned Pharisees who study the Law would certainly know it since therefore they do not believe on him no heed is to be given to the ignorant Multitude Were therefore this Argument of force it would have justified the Vulgar Jews in rejecting of Christ But 2. Many of their Learned Men have made this Discovery How many such were the chief Instruments of the Reformation and they doubtless discover'd the Errors of their Church before they forsook it How many continually since have forsaken their Communion in spite of all worldly Motives to the contrary How many who have not left their Communion have given abundant Testimony by their Writings that they were convinced of their Errors some in one thing some in another Cardinal Cajetan and Cardinal Contarenus will be owned for as Learned Men as most of their Time and they discover'd the Error of Prayer and Service in an Unknown Tongue Erasmus in the last Age and Arnaud and his Brethren the Jansenists in this have exposed to all the World the Error I now write against The Learned Men of the Church of Rome who have rejected the Apocryphal Books from the Canon of Scripture are too many to be particularly mentioned for that they are no part of the Canon was Catholic Doctrine at Rome it self as a Learned Bishop of our own
so slippery so weak various wavering changeable inconstant as you see the private Reason of the Learned is to be rely'd on by them as their Guide in expounding of Scripture How can you imagine it possible for all Christians to concur in the same Belief while the Learned who read and expound the Scripture give differing and contrary interpretations of it For as long as the Scripture is no otherwise in their Heads and Hearts than by the interpretation they make of it their Faith must necessarily be as various as their Interpretation And is not the Story of the Manna which follows as applicable to the Learned For was not the taste of the Manna as different to the Priests as it was to the People Did it not relish according to that kind of Meat that was most grateful to every Priest's Palate Now if the Priests in Canaan had receiv'd a Command of bringing forth that sort of Meat whose taste should be like that of the Manna they ate in the Desert was it possible they should all agree in their Dish Since tho the Manna was the same they all fed on yet the Relish was as different as their Tempers and Palats Don't you therefore see that Men will never be of one Spirit and one Mind until the reading of the Scripture be prohibited to the Learned and not to some but to all his Holiness as Infallible only excepted For if it be allow'd to the Cardinals notwithstanding their Eminences above others together with his Holiness they will never agree in the sense of it For I can tell you of many Cardinals who have differ'd from his Holiness and among themselves too about the sense of it Is it not then as plain as Demonstration that there will be no end of Controversies as long as the Scriptures are read by any Man in the World besides the Pope And perhaps not then neither for since he is not infallible but when he speaks from his Chair which seldom happens at other times he may chance to contradict himself and give one sense of Scripture this Year another the next It were therefore most advisable could it possibly be effected that the Book it self were utterly abolished Let not any Man interpret this to the disparagement of Learning since nothing can be more evident than that the Learned have vast Advantages above the rest of Mankind for attaining to the true meaning of the more obscure Texts of Scripture provided they sincerely search after Truth and are so humble so sensible of their own liableness to mistake that they daily implore the Divine Assistance But if they be destitute of these Qualifications they are not only as subject to err but to err more dangerously than others In the beginning of the 10th Chapter the Representer talks again at the same impertinent rate so agreeable to him is this way of reasoning that he naturally falls into it in every Chapter But the Vanity of it lies so open that it need not be further exposed If any Man please to consult the place I shall leave it to himself to judg whether it be not every whit as applicable against permitting the Scripture to the Learned as the Vulgar But the Representer may say The Church of Rome does not allow the Learned to interpret Scripture according to their own private Reason For the Council of Trent has decreed That no Man presume to interpret Scripture contrary to the sense of the Church or the unanimous consent of the Fathers And has not the Church of England her Confession of Faith contrary to which she allows none of her Members to interpret Scripture Does she not admit all such Traditional Interpretations as can be derived from the Fountain And for all such Texts as are obscure and doubtful does she not direct the Vulgar to consult their Guides Tho it is true she does not command them to believe that White is Black or that Vice is Vertue if the Priest says that it is But however the Church of Rome denies them the liberty of interpreting the Scripture in their own sense it is certain that they commonly take it else how comes it that they give such different senses of the same Scripture How comes it that many of the Learned expound the sixth Chapter of St. John of the sacramental eating of Christ's Flesh and many as learned as they say that no such matter is there intended How comes it when so many tell us that these words This is my Body are so plain for Transubstantiation that he must be quite blind who does not see it that others whose sight is as good as theirs tell us they are not able to see this in them Do these Learned Men in their Exposition of the Scripture give us the sense of the Roman Church or do they not If not they follow their own private Reason if they do their Church gives contrary senses of Scripture and is as far from being one in this respect as it is from being Catholic He confesses p. 63. That some of the Protestants to keep up the Face of the Church do speculatively contend for Authority and Guides But then he says In Fact they defeat all these their Pretensions How do they in Fact defeat them Because they own no Authority so great or safe but it is to be subjected to the controul of every private Examiner They own an Authority so great as to Matters of External Government as to be subject to the controul of no Man who lives in Communion with the Church But he means an Authority so great that whatsoever the Church commands and prescribes to be receiv'd as the Truth and Faith of Christ it ought to be received But can the Church have no Authority unless Men are bound to believe without examination whatsoever she prescribes to be believed If so then had she no Authority in our Saviour's and his Apostles days no nor for several Ages after them For if any such Authority had been own'd in the fourth Century how came it to pass that after the Nicene Council the Arian Heresy spread more than it had done before If this be to open a Gate to all the Fanaticisms and Quakerisms in the World 't is certain the Protestants did not first open it but it was long before open'd by our Blessed Saviour when he gave this Command to his Disciples Call no Man Father upon the Earth for one is Your Father which is in Heaven neither be ye called Masters for one is Your Master even Christ (h) Mat. 23. 9 10. As much as to say There is none upon Earth by whose sense a Christian is to be absolutely determin'd his Faith is not to be resolv'd into any Man's Authority But by the Creed all Christians are bound to believe the Holy Catholic Church Yes That there is such a Church and that this Church teaches all Truths necessary to be known But it is one thing to believe this another thing to believe as