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To which are added A Letter written to Dr. Burnet giving an Account of Cardinal Pool's Secret Powers The History of the Powder-Treason with a Vindication of the Proceedings thereupon An Impartial Consideration of the Five Jesuits dying Speeches who were Executed for the Popish Plot 1679. 40. A Dissertation concerning the Government of the Ancient Church more particularly of the Encroachment of the Bishops of Rome upon other Sees By WILLIAM CAVE D. D. Octavo An Answer to Mr. Serjeant's Sure Footing in Christianity concerning the Rule of Faith With some other Discourses By WILLIAM FALKNER D. D. 40. A Vindication of the Ordinations of the Church of England in Answer to a Paper written by one of the Church of Rome to prove the Nullity of our Orders By GILBERT BVRNET D. D. Octavo An Abridgment of the History of the Reformation of the Church of England By GILB BVRNET D. D. 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An Answer to THREE PAPERS lately printed concerning the Authority of the Catholick Church in matters of Faith and the Reformation of the Church of England Quarto A Vindication of the Answer to THREE PAPERS cocerning the Vnity and Authority of the Catholick Church and the Reformation of the Church of England Quarto Mr. Chillingworth's Book called The Religion of Protestants a safe way to Salvation made more generally useful by omitting Personal Contests but inserting whatsoever concerns the common Cause of Protestants or defends the Church of England with an exact Table of Contents and an Addition of some genuine Pieces of Mr. Chilling-worth's never before Printed viz. against the Infallibility of the Roman Church Transubstantiation Tradition c. And an account of what moved the Author to turn Papist wth his Confutation of the said Motives An Historical Treatise written by an AVTHOR of the Communion of the Church of Rome touching TRANSVBSTANTIATION Wherein is made appear That according to the Principles of THAT CHVRCH This Doctrine cannot be an Article of Faith. 40. The Protestant's Companion Or an Impartial Survey and Comparison of the Protestant Religion as by Law established with the main Doctrines of Popery Wherein is shewed that Popery is contrary to Scripture Primitive Fathers and
Councils and that proved from Holy Writ the Writings of the Ancient Fathers for several hundred Years and the Confession of the most Lerned Papists themselves 40. The Pillar and Ground of Truth A Treatise shewing that the Roman Church falsly claims to be That Church and the Pillar of That Truth mentioned by S. Paul in his first Epistle to Timothy Chap. 3. Vers 15. 40. The Peoples Right to read the Holy Scripture Asserted 40. A Short Summary of the principal Controversies between the Church of England and the Church of Rome being a Vindication of several Protestant Doctrines in Answer to a late Pamphlet intituled Protestancy destitute of Scripture Proofs 40. An Answer to a late Pamphlet intituled The Judgment and Doctrine of the Clergy of the Church of England concerning one Special Branch of the King's Prerogative viz. In dispensing with the Penal Laws 40. A Discourse of the Holy Eucharist in the two great Points of the Real Presence and the Adoration of the Host in answer to the Two Discourses lately Printed at Oxford on this Subject To which is perfixed a Large Historical Preface relating to the same Argument Two Discourses Of Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead The Fifteen Notes of the Church as laid down by Cardinal Bellarmin examined and confuted 40. With a Table of the Contents Preparation for Death Being a Letter sent to a young Gentlewoman in France in a dangerous Distemper of which she died By W. W. 120. The Difference between the Church of England and the Church of Rome in opposition to a late Book intituled An Agreement between the Church of England and Church of Rome A PRIVATE PRAYER to be used in Difficult Times A true account of a Conference held about Religion at London Sept. 29. 1687 between A. Pulton Jesuit and Tho. Tenison D. D. as also of that which led to it and followed after it 40. The Vindication of A. Cressener Schoolmaster in Long-Acre from the Aspersions of A. Pulton Jesuit Schoolmaster in the Savoy together with some Account of his Discourse with Mr. Meredith A Discourse shewing that Protestants are on the safer side notwithstanding the uncharitable Judgment of their Adversaries and that Their Religion is the surest Way to Heaven 40. Six Conferences concerning the Eucharist wherein is shewed That the Doctrine of Transubstantiation overthrows the Proofs of Christian Religion A Discourse concerning the pretended Sacrament of Extreme Vnction with an account of the occasions and beginnings of it in the Western Church In Three Parts With a Letter to the Vindicator of the Bishop of Condom The Pamphlet entituled Speculum Ecclesiasticum or an Ecclesiastical Prospective-Glass considered in its False Reasonings and Quotations There are added by way of Preface two further Answers the First to the Defender of the Speculum the Second to the Half-sheet against the Six Conferences A Second Defence of the Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England against the new Exposition of Mons de Meaux late Bishop of Conâom and his Vindicator The FIRST PART In which the Account that has been given of the Bishop of Meaux's Exposition is fully vindicated the distinction of Old and New Popery Historically asserted and the Doctrine of the Church of Rome in Point of Image-worship more particularly considered 40. The Incurable Scepticism of the Church of Rome By the Author of the Six Conferences concerning the Eucharist 40. Mr. Pulton Considered in his Sincerity Reasonings Authorities Or a Just Answer to what he hath hitherto Published in his True Account his True and full Account of a Conference c. His Remarks and in them his pretended Confutation of what he calls Dr. T 's Rule of Faith. By Tho. Tenison D. D. A Full View of the Doctrines and Practices of the Ancient Church relating to the Eucharist wholly different from those of the Present Roman Church and inconsistent with the belief of Transubstantiation Being a sufficient Confutation of CONSENSVS VETERVM NVBES TESTIVM and other Late Collections of the Fathers pretending to the contrary 40.
Writings of the Orthodox Doctors is as dubious and uncertain as the opinion of those Doctors is and that the doubts raised concerning it cannot be defined by Tradition it self In like manner George Rhodius 4 Neque scire potero Traditionem aliquam esse veram nisi vivens regula id definierit Rhod. de fide quaest 2. Sect. 5. § 1. affirms that no Tradition can be known to be true unless some living Rule shall so define it But that this matter being of no small moment may be the more manifest we may observe that our Adversaries require two things to make the testimony of the Fathers worthy to be relied on First that they consent and secondly that they do not meerly propose what seems most true to themselves but testifie moreover that what they teach was either delivered by Christ or is of Faith or which is all one the opposite of it heresie If either of these fail then their testimony is not secure The first condition is required by many and particularly by Alphonsus a Castro 5 Quarta est omnium SS Doctorum qui de re illâ scripserunt concors sententia Castr de justâ haeret pun lib. 1. cap. 4. who enquiring out the ways whereby a proposition may be convinced to be heretical in the fourth place assigns the unanimous consent of all the Fathers who have written upon that argument The latter condition is made necessary by many more Driedo 6 Non quia Hieronymus sic vel sic docei non quia Augustinus c. Dried de Eccles Dogm lib. 4. cap. 1. 6. tells us the authority of the Fathers is of no value any otherwise than as they demonstrate their opinion either from the Canonical Scriptures or the belief of the universal Church since the Apostles times and that they do not always deliver their sense as matters of Faith but by way of judgement opinion and probable reason Stapleton 7 Non enim omnibus eorum dictis haec authoritas datur sed quatenus vel Ecclesiae publicam fidem referunt vel ab Ecclesiâ Dei recepta approbata sunt Stapl de princip doctr lib 7. cap. 15. writeth that this authority is not allowed to all the sayings of the Fathers but either as they relate the publick belief of the Church or have been approved and received by the Church Gillius 8 Testimonium Patrum vel Doctorum Scholasticorum communiter asserentium ali pâ—id ad fidem vel Theologiam pertinens simpliciter tamen non indicando esse dogma fidei esse debet argumentum firmum Theologo sed citra infallibilitatem fidei Gill. de doctr Sacrâ lib. 1. Tract 7. cap. 13. lastly grants that the testimony of Fathers and Doctors unanimously asserting somewhat pertaining to Faith and Divinity if they simply assert it and do with all tell us it is an Article of Faith ought to be a firm Argument to a Divine but without Infallibity of Faith. Both conditions are required by Canus 9 Can. Loc. Theol. lib. 3. cap. 4. and Bannes 10 Bann in 2. quaest 1. art 10. Si quod dogma fidei Patres ab initio secundum suorum temporum successiones concordissimè tenuerunt hujusque contrarium ut haereticum refutârunt who laying down Rules whereby true Traditions may be discerned from false both assign this in the second place and in the same words If the Fathers have unanimously from the beginning all along the Succession of their times held any Article of Faith and refuted the contrary as heretical Bellarmine and Gretser 11 Bell. Grets de verbo Dei lib. 4. cap. 9. give this for their fourth Rule When all the Doctors of the Church teach any thing by common consent to have descended from Apostolical Tradition either gathered together in a Council or each one a part in their Writings Suarez 12 Licet Patres vel Scholastici in aliquâ sententiâ conveniant non asserendo illam esse de fide sed judicium suum in eâ proferendo non faciens rem de fide quia semper manent intra mensuram authoritatis humanae Suarez de fide disp 2. Sect. 6. writeth that although the Fathers and Schoolmen agree in any opinion not asserting it to be of Faith But delivering their Judgment in it they will not make it to be of Faith because they remain always within the limits of humane authority Filliutius 13 quae unanimi consensu Patrum tanquam de fide proponuntur Fill. in Decal Tract 22. cap. 1. reckoning up the seven degrees of things pertaining to Catholick verity assigns the Sixth degree to those truths which by the unanimous consent of the Fathers are proposed to be of Faith. Martinonus 14 Certum est nullum ex S S. Patribus vel Doctoribus seorsim sumptum esse Regulam Fidei jam de eorundem simul sumptorum consensu distinguendum Vel enim loquuntur ex proprio sensu non asserendo rem tanquam de fide judicium suum de eâ proferendo sic non Regula Fidei Mart. de fide disp 8. Sect. 3. that none of the Holy Fathers or Doctors taken separately is the Rule of Faith nor all yet together conjunctly unless they assert their common opinion to be of Faith and not meerly propose their own judgment Lastly Natalis Alexander 15 Cum omnes Patres in eandem sententiam conspirant eamque propugnant ac proponunt ut Apostolicam doctrinam Ecclesiae dogma Catholi eâ fide credendum tunc eorum authoritas necessarium argumentum sacrae doctrinae subministrat Alex. saecul 2 p. 1022. affirms that when all the Fathers conspire in the same opinion defend it and propose it as Apostolick Doctrine and an Article of the Church to be believed by Catholick Faith Then doth their authority afford a necessary argument of Sacred Doctrine Thus far these Writers And that the rest do not disagree from them we shall soon be perswaded if we consider how unlikely it is that a greater infallibility should be allowed even to an unanimous testimony of the Fathers than to Pope or Council or both together or the present Universal Church All which our Adversaries grant may erre in those things which they simply affirm or teach and define not to be of Faith. It sufficeth not therefore either that many Fathers deliver an opinion as of Faith or that all should simply teach it but not affirm it to be of Faith. Now if these two conditions be observed How few Articles of Christian Faith shall we receive from Tradition For the Fathers seldom all agree and more rarely admonisheth us that what they teach is of Faith. So that if you take away all Articles wherein either of these conditions is wanting it may well be doubted whether any one will remain Certainly if our Controversial Divines should so far make use of this observation as to reject all testimonies of the Fathers
doubt whether he be lawful Pope that possesseth the Chair and also whether an unlawful Pope enjoyeth the Priviledge of Infallibility I may then justly doubt whether I ought to assent to the Decree of every single Pope and can never be certain of it That the first is uncertain I have already shewed That the latter is not certain Our Adversaries will not deny For if any it must be the certainty of Faith which Duvall will never grant who denies even the Infallibility of a lawful Pope to be of Faith. If any one yet shall dissent from Duvall and contend that it is of Faith he may be convinced by the same Arguments which we produced against the rest He may be asked where God revealed it or the Church defined it He may be told that Defenders of the contrary Opinion were never yet accused or condemned of Heresie Lastly He may be put in mind of Stephen Romanus and Sergius who declaring Formosus to have been an unlawful Pope did also annull his Decrees But I need not insist upon refuting that which no man maintains So that we may conclude there is no certainty to be had in this matter and therefore that Faith cannot safely rely on the Pope's Sentence CHAP. X. Wherein is prevented an Evasion whereby Duvall endeavours to elude whatsoever hath been hitherto said concerning the Pope DVvall a Respondeo definitiones Pontificis non esse de fide donec universalis Ecclesia quam de fide est errare non posse eas acceptaverit Duvall de potest Pont. part 2. qu. 5. oppressed with so many Difficulties takes refuge in saying The Definitions of the Pope are not of Faith before he Church whose Infallibility is of Faith hath received them I might justly rest here ince Duvall hereby grants us all we desire viz. that faith cannot be founded upon the definition of the Pope alone Whether the Churches Authority adds certainty to it I shall enquire hereafter In the mean while that the Truth maybe on all sides more manifest and because many things now occur not proper for another place I will more accurately consider Duval's argument And first Duval hereby is not consonant to himself For if the Pope's Decrees be not of Faith till received by the Church then the Pope alone is not a Rule of Faith but an aggregate of Pope and Church together when as Duval in another place b Id. in 22. pag. 62. teaches there are five Rules of Faith the Church Scripture Tradition Council and Pope whereof every one is so independent and sufficient that whatsoever it shall propose is most firmly to be believed not to say that hereby the perfections of a Rule of Faith will appear much more eminently in the Church than in the Pope since the Church can direct our Faith without the Pope but not the Pope without the Church whereas Duval c Ibid. p. 215. teaches the quite contrary Herein therefore he is neither consonant to himself nor to the other Patrons of Papal Infallibility while he denies obedience to be due to the Popes Decrees till they be received and confirmed by the Church this being very near the opinion of the Sorbonists those great Enemies of the Popes Infallibility For the Faculty of Divinity d Facultatis dogma non est quòd summus Pontifex nullo accedente Ecclesiae consensu sit infallibilis proposed their opinion in the year 1663. in these words It is not the judgment of this Faculty that the Pope is infallible without the consent of the Church And the Clergy of France in the year 1682. determined e In quaestionibus fidei praecipuas Summi Pontificis esse partes ejusque Decreta ad singula Ecclesias pertinere nec tamen irreformabile esse judicium nisi Ecclesiae consensus accesserit That questions of Faith chiefly pertained to the Pope and that his Decrees concerned all Churches yet that his sentence was not irreformable unless the consent of the Church had supervened How little doth Duval's opinion differ from this who maintains that the Popes Sentence is indeed infallible before the reception of the Church but appears not so to be till then For if so whether fallible or infallible it signifies not in matter of practice it will be the same and assent will be equally denied to the Popes Decrees until they shall have been admitted by the Church In the next place this Answer accuseth of rashness and imprudence the far greater part of the Church of Rome which without expecting the approbation of the universal Church blindly receives the Papal Decrees howsoever yet uncertain But that is of less moment This I would gladly know whether the Church whose reception makes the Papal Decrees to become of Faith ought to receive them without any precedent examination or not till she hath accurately compared them with the Word of God. If the latter then we have no definition on which Faith can rely For I dare confidently affirm there is none which the Church hath thus examined and approved Few undergo that labour most blindly follow the Dictates of the Pope Not to say that this is intirely repugnant to that profound submission wherewith the Decrees of the Head of the Church ought to be received or that according to this Principle the Pope ought together with his Decree to transmit to several Bishops the reasons of it since without the knowledge of these they cannot be duly examined or that the Pope is highly unjust who without being first certified of their universal approbation excommunicates and punisheth the contemners of them I will only urge that by this means the supreme Power is translated from the Pope to the Church as which passeth the last and peremptory Sentence not only on things to be believed but even on the Decrees of the Popes themselves How this will agree with the Doctrine of our present Adversaries let them see to it Certainly Raynaudus and the Author f De Lib. Eccles Gall. lib. 7. cap. 17. of the Treatise of the Liberties of the Gallican Church think far otherwise of whom the latter bestows a whole Chapter to prove this very Proposition That the Papal Decrees are not therefore to be obeyed because confirmed by the Churches consent but therefore consented to by the Church because antecedently infallible But if the Pope's Decrees are to be received by the Church with a blind assent and without any previous examination I do not see of what weight such a reception can be which according to this supposal must be granted to false Decrees as well as true Besides such reception would not differ from Divine Faith such as is given to the most authentick Revelations and so this opinion would be repugnant to it self For it supposeth Faith is not to be yielded to the Papal Decrees antecedently to the Churches reception and yet requires the Church to receive them with a blind assent that is with Faith. Theophilus Raynaudus useth a not
as it is believed by all the Faithful both Clergy and Laity Either way taken our Adversaries contend it is a certain Rule of Faith to all private Christians for that nothing false can either be taught by a common consent of all the Pastors or be believed by all the Faithful But since it is one and the same Faith which is taught by the Pastors and believed by the Faithful it might suffice to consider either of them only and thence demonstrate that neither can be a Rule of Faith. Yet that our adversaries may not complain any thing is omitted I will treat separately of each and first that Faith cannot be founded upon the common consent of Doctors This may be evinced many ways First because it doth not appear who are those Doctors whose consent is required The whole foundation of this is thought to be a place of St. Paul 1 Ephes IV. where he asserts that Christ gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and teachers Doctors for the edifying of the Body of Christ c. But who these Pastors and Doctors are is uncertain It is enquired first whether the same be Pastors that are Doctors St. Hierom St. Augustin Isidorus Clarius Ben. Justinianus and Lud. Cellotius thought them the same Hilarius Diaconus Estius and Corn. à Lapide different Next who are designed by the word Pastors Many understand thereby Bishops and those only Cellotius 2 Rectè igitur Theodoretus Pastores Doctores eos dicit jui incivitate in pago erant deputati segregati Cell de Hier. l. 8. c. 6. Parsons only and cites Theodoret for his opinion Estius 3 Diâ—iprecipuè signisicari Episcopos nomine Pastorum nam generaliter hue etiam Parochi pertinent Est in loc understands both who also cites Theophylact. Now these questions are of great moment For if Pastors be the same with Doctors and by both names Bishops only be designed they only must be attended But if the Apostle understands Parsons too it is not enough to know what Bishops teach we must also enquire what Parsons teach Again if Professors of Divinity and Preachers be to be added we must further search out their Doctrine For if God annexed this privilege of insallibility to the four Orders of Bishops Parish-Priests Professours and Preachers taken all together we must not so follow one Order as to neglect the other For upon that supposition any one nay any three of them may err and truth remain only with the fourth However it be it is manifest that both ancients and modern differ in this point and that therefore nothing certain can be had therein much less what is of Faith which yet is necessary to assure us that we have an infallible Rule of Faith in the Governours of the Church But neither would that suffice if it were of Faith. Somewhat else would be yet necessary viz. to know certainly whether to give assent to the Doctrine of these Pastors and Doctors whosoever they be it be required that all should consent in their Doctrine every one of them which they call All Mathematically or whether the consent of All Morally that is almost all will suffice again who they are exactly that may be called All Morally and how great a part of the whole may dissent without prejudicing the infallibility of the rest whether the third or the fourth or the tenth or the hundredth c. Who shall desine this If All Mathematically must consent God would have appointed a Rule which never existed For so absolute a consent never was among the Governours of the Church But he which shall say it sufficeth that almost all consent ought not only to assirm but also to prove that he says But how shall so obscure a thing be proved Or what certainty can be had in it Yet grant it can be had it is still to be defined when almost all can be said to have consented for that hath a certain Latitude wherein some Men will think that number to be included which others hold excluded But not to seem too scrupulous let our Adversaries define this as they please and almost all be accounted to have consented when only a tenth twelfth or twentieth part shall dissent Let all this be as certain as it is indeed doubtful and uncertain I ask whether that consent which it shall have pleased our Adversaries to define necessary is always to be had If any one think so he must be a stranger to all Ecclesiastical History and never have heard of the prevailing Heresies of Arius Nestorius and Eutyches not to mention others But you will say they were Hereticks whereas we require only the consent of Catholicks Right but it did not sensibly appear they were Hereticks rather that was then the Question Who were Hereticks and who Orthodox For the Arians Nestorians and Eutychians took to themselves the name of Catholicks and branded the rest with the imputation of Heresie Now if this Question which was certainly a matter of Faith was to be determined only from the consent of Doctors it could never have been determined to the worlds end since that consent was never to be found But to deal liberally with our Adversaries have not those often dissented whom themselves acknowledge Catholick In the second and third Age the Asiaticks dissented from the Europeans about the celebration of Easter In the third Age all the Africans and many of the Asiaticks from the rest about the re-baptization of Hereticks In the fourth Age the followers of Theophilus Epiphanius and St. Hierom from the favourers of Origen about his Condemnation In the fifth Age the Greek from the Latin Church upon account of the Quarrels between the Roman and Constantinopolitan Sees In the sixth Age the Africans Dalmatians and Italians from the Greeks and Romans concerning the Condemnation of the Tria Capitula In the eight and ninth Ages the English French and Germans from the Greeks and many of the Italians about Image-worship The Eastern hath dissented from the Western Church now for many Ages about some points of Faith and Discipline The Western Church hath been divided for these three last Ages about the Power of Pope and Council And all these Dissensions proceeded even to breaking of Communion and pronouncing Anathema's against one another except the last which also did no less in the fifteenth Age. Now as often as this happens to which part can the Faithful securely adhere Think not that the most are then to be followed for besides that there are not always more Patrons of Truth than Error and that Canus 4 Nego cùm de fide agitur sequi plurimorum judicium oportere Can. loc Theol. l. 5. c. 5. and Bannes 5 Non negamus quin multi immò plures Sacerdotes Pastores possint errare Bann In 2.2 qu. 1. art 10. dub 3. expresly deny it It is impossible to number Suffrages and know which Party is most numerous They
might be numbred perhaps if the Church were included in one Province But now that it is diffused throughout the whole World no mean is left of knowing what is the Opinion either of all or most Our Adversaries I suppose will say that when the Governours of the Church dissent about any matter of Faith the Faithful must suspend their assent while the Controversie endureth and content themselves by an implicit Faith to believe in it what the Church believeth not enquiring in the mean while what the Church believeth but leaving that to be enquired by the Church her self To this I answer First that this grants us all we desire For we dispute here only of explicite Faith maintaining that our Adversaries have no certain Foundation for that If they flee to implicite they thereby forsake explicite Faith. Secondly almost all our Adversaries confess that there are some Articles which even the most ignorant Christians are bound to believe with explicite Faith and Connink 6 De actib sup disp 4. dub 9. asserts the contrary Opinion of some Canonists to be held erroneous and even heretical by the other Doctors Further all consent there are some points of Faith necessary to be believed by all with explicite Faith not only because commanded to be so but because the explicite belief of them is also the means without which Salvation cannot be obtained Wherefore Hosius 7 Hâ—s contra Prol. Brent lib. 3. in relating the known story of the Collier saith he did not make that Answer of believing as the Church believeth before he had entirely repeated the Apostles Creed and professed his adherence to it Now suppose the Bishops differ about some Article necessary to be believed with explicite Faith as happened in the times of Arianism Certainly the Faithful cannot at that time sulpend their assent if they do not together suspend their hopes of Salvation But not to insist upon that Example suppose a Controversie raised about doing somewhat which God in the Scripture expresly commands to be done such as we contend to be Communion under both kinds reading of the Scripture c. What is then to be done Must all action be suspended This were to deny obedience to God. We must therefore chuse one part and so reject the pretence of implicite Faith. Again implicite Faith is thus expressed I believe what the Church believeth It therefore supposeth the Faith of the Church Of what kind not implicite surely For that would be absurd in the highest degree Certainly then the Church could not justly be accounted the Keeper of Tradition which is nothing else in our Adversaries sence but that Doctrine which Christ delivered to his Apostles they to their Successors until it was derived down to us If this be true the Church of every Age must of necessity distinctly and explicitly know that Doctrine Otherwise it cannot faithfully and accurately deliver it to the succeeding Church Then how shall this Faith of the Church her self be expressed It can be by no other Form than this I believe what I believe than which nothing can be more absurd But I need not refute a Folly which our Adversaries do not espouse as appears from the words of Duvall 8 Quamvis aliqua successu temporis suerint in Ecclesiâ desinita de quibus antea eitra haeresin dubitabatur certum tamen est illa fuisse semper à nonnullis praedicata declarata Quòd autem ab aliis non crederentur istud tantùm vel ex oblivione vel ex ignorantiâ Scripturae aut traditionis proveniebat Duval in 2.2 p. 111. Although some things were in process of time defined by the Church which were before doubted of without the Crime of Heresie yet it is certain they were always preached and declared by some But that they were not believed by others arose either from the forgetfulness or from the ignorance of Scripture or Tradition Is it therefore this explicite Faith of the Church which serveth as a Foundation to implicite Faith So it ought to be and so I doubt not but our Adversaries will say it is But in this case wherein the Governours of the Church dissent about an Article of Faith it cannot be For that which the Church explicitly believes is no desinite Opinion but a meer Contradiction repugnant to it self and destroying it self For one part of the Church believeth the Opinion whereof the Controversie is raised to be true wholsom and revealed by God the other part believes it false pernicious and suggested by Men. Now to have the belief of the whole Church you must joyn both parts of the Contradiction together and so the Church believeth that Opinion to be true and false wholsom and pernicious revealed by God and suggested by Men. But this is not Faith but a deformed Monster consisting of contrary and repugnant parts CHAP. XXI That the consent of Doctors even when it can be had is more difficult to be known than that we can by the help of it attain to the knowledge of the Truth TO what we observed in the precedent Chapter our Adversaries may perhaps answer That when the Governours of the Church differ about a matter to be believed then indeed the Faith of private Christians cannot rely upon their Authority but that this dissent is not perpetual that they oftentimes consent in delivering the Doctrine of the Church and then at least may be securely believed in what they teach To this I reply First that hereby they must grant they have no certain and sixed Rule of Faith for many great and weighty points of Religion contrary to their continual boasts of the abundance of Rules whereby God hath provided for all the necessities of his Church Secondly the Governours of the Church have now for many Ages differed about some matters upon which according to our Adversaries depend the hopes of eternal Salvation For Example whether the true Church is to be found among the Greeks or among the Latins For of the five Patriarchates of the Church four are divided from the Church of Rome and accuse her of Heresie and Schism both which Accusations she retorts upon them Now this is a matter of great moment which may be justly doubted of and can never be determined by the consent of Doctors But to omit that this consent if it could be had is not so manifest and obvious as a Rule of Faith ought necessarily to be which by the confession of all must be clear evident and easie to be applied This Duvall 1 Secunda conditio eaque pariter essentialis est perspicuitas Nam si hee regula obseurè sidei mysteria proponeret regula fidei non foret Duvall in 2.2 p. 207. assigns for an essential condition of a Rule of Faith and acknowledgeth that if a Rule obscurely proposeth the Mysteries of Faith it would thereby become no Rule And for this reason our Adversaries so much exaggerate the obscurity of Scripture that they may thereby
he easily may It cannot be imagined that Doctor will tell the consulter the thing is not taught by the Church which himself thinks to belong to Faith. Or what if that Doctor be ignorant that others and those Learned Men teach the contrary as we proved might easily happen in the precedent chapter That answer surely cannot be sufficient to ground Faith upon which can be false For as Martinonus 4 Ad credendum fide indubitatâ infallibili qualis est fides divina requiritur argumentum infallibile Mart. de disp 3. sect 4. truly saith To believe with undoubting and Infallible Faith such is Divine Faith is required an Infallible Argument Lastly that the Cardinal meaneth it sufficeth that none in the World can shew the Parson teacheth what is repugnant to others I can never be induced to believe since a more foolish sence could not be invented For not the most sagacious Person much less a blind Man could make so diligent an inquiry as to be assured that none such can be found in the whole World. Add hereto that it is not more difficult to know directly whether any do teach otherwise than to know whether there be any who can shew that it is any where taught otherwise And so all our former Arguments will return with their full force against this answer But to omit all this I ask whether any ignorant Person using such diligence to inquire whether what is taught by his Parson is taught unanimously by all the other Governours of the Church as can be expected from a Man of his circumstances and capacity can be deceived therein If he cannot all those Learned Men whom I mentioned in the last Chapter will be guilty of a most intolerable negligence and supinity as being mistaken in that wherein even the most ignorant cannot be deceived If he can then he is not certain and therefore hath no Faith. For Faith must be certain CHAP. XXII That it doth not suffice it be known that any thing is taught Vnanimously by the Governours of the Church unless it appear that it is taught to be of Faith. But that this is most uncertain FRom what hath been said it is manifest that neither do the Governours of the Church always consent nor if they do can their consent be certainly known But suppose both The controversy is not yet ended For not whatsoever they unanimously affirm is to be received as the revelation of God and the Doctrine of the Church but only what they unanimously maintain to be of Faith. This Canus and Bellarmin plainly insinuate The first 1 Quiequid fidelem populum docent quod ad Christi fidem attineat Can. loc Theol. lib. 4. cap. 4. when he saith the Pastors of the Church cannot err in the Faith but whatsoever they teach the faithful People that it belongs to the Faith of Christ is most true Bellarmin 2 Id quod decent tanquam ad fidem pertinens Bell. de Eccl. lib. 3. cap. 14. that whatsoever all the Bishops teach as belonging to Faith is necessarily true and of Faith. Therefore Flor. Conrius defends himself against the unanimous consent of Doctors who taught 500. Years since that unbaptized Infants were not punished with the torments of fire by pretending that they did not teach or propose this as of Faith. And indeed it cannot but be absurd that the consent of Pastors should reach farther than the Infallibility of Pope or Council or the Universal Church which as we have before observed is acknowledged not to take place but in matters which they propose as of Faith. Lastly the Council of Trent Pius V. and divers Provincial Councils wished 3 Non tanquam sidem docuerint aut proposuerint Con. destatu pary cap. 19. that the Catechism of Trent might be admitted every where and be used by all Pastors in the instruction of their people Perhaps this is observed For why should it not be This whole Book then may be reckoned among those things which all Pastors propose to their flocks not as pertaining to Faith but as true and wholsom If therefore whatsoever all propose must necessarily be true there can be nothing false nothing uncertain in this Book Yet none will deny there are taught in it many Propositions false more uncertain and none which might not safely be denied if they received not their Authority from some other Fountain Wherefore it is no where admitted as of Infallible authority a manifest Argument that those things may be false which are not taught as of Faith although taught unanimously Before we believe therefore the Doctrine of the Governours of the Church we must consider how they teach it whether as of Faith if not we must suspend our assent Now Bishops Parsons and Preachers are wont to teach what seems true to them and agreing with Divine Revelation but very rarely to admonish whether what they teach be of Eaith or a consequent of Faith whether expresly revealed or cohaerent to things revealed This Holden acknowledgeth We never heard saith 4 In Doctrinâ Christianâ tradendâ nunquam audivimus Ecclesiam articulorum revelatorum divinarum institutionum Catalogum exhibuisse vel composuisse quo separatim dislinctè cognosci possent hujusmodi sidei dogmata ab aliis omnibus quae vel Ecclèsiasticae sunt inslitutionis vel certè quae revelationi divinae haud immediatè innitantur atque adeò omnia simul confusè indistinctè docuisse Hold. Anal. fid lib. 1. cap. 8. he that the Church in delivering the Christian Doctrine exhibited or composed a Catalogue of revealed Articles and Divine Institutions whereby these Articles of divine Faith might be separately and distinctly known from all others which are either of Ecclesiastical Institution or not immediately founded upon Divine Revelation but taught all together confusedly and indistinctly Hence even those Divines who agree in the truth of any Article often disser in judging whether it be of Faith as we saw before concerning the supreme Power of the Pope Wherefore Holden assirms there are much fewer Articles of Divine and Catholick Faith than Divines commonly think and therefore bestows the whole Latter part of his Analysis in composing a Catalogue of such Articles which would indeed have been very useful if it were received by all But he hath omitted some things which others contend to be of Faith and inserted others which some would have omitted Further in this matter I appeal to the experience of all Persons who if they shall ask any of our Adversaries what the Church teacheth concerning Image worship Invocation of Saints or the like will be convinced by their different answers That it is not easie to say what the Church teacheth And if this be dissicult to learned Men how shall it be possible to ignorant Persons Our Adversaries cannot justly pretend as many of them do that the Doctors may dissent in those things which are of Theological not Divine right and belong rather to the
For among Catholicks some affirm it because there is no promise found of the contrary Others deny it because the whole Church would be otherwise in great danger of error To me neither seemeth sufficiently certain Yet it is probable that it becomes the Providence of Christ not to permit it In these words two things may be observed First That Suarez speaks of the Infallibility of Bishops not in believing but in teaching For he saith this in answer to an Objection That if all the Bishops could err then the other part of the Church the Laity might also err because they ordinarily follow the Doctrine of their Pastors and are bound to do it Now the People are bound to follow their Pastors not in what they think but in what they teach This also appears from the reason why some denied the consent of all Bishops in any error to be possible because if that should happen the whole Church would be brought into great danger of error But if Bishops should teach rightly although they thought erroneously there would be thence no danger of Error to the rest of the Faithful Secondly Of this Infallibility of Bishops in what they teach unanimously he saith three things 1. That some Catholicks deny it 2. That neither part seems certain to him 3. That it is probable All which singly prove That he thought it not to be of Faith. But who can imagine so great a Doctor could be ignorant of what was of Faith Theoph. Raynaudus differed not much from the Opinion of Suarez That the visible Head saith he 3 Vt seposito capite visibili membra omnia possint infici aliquo errore materiali vix potest contingere verisimillimum est Deo semper cordi futurum ne id accidat Si tamen accideret incont aminato capite nibil decederet de perpetuitate verae fidei in Ecclesiâ Rayn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 punct 5. being laid aside all the Members should be infected with any material error could scarce happen and it is most probable God will take care it should not Yet if it should happen the Head being uninfected the perpetuity of true Faith in the Church would suffer no loss Where he determines not absolutely this cannot happen but looks upon the contrary only as most probable and denieth the Infallibility of the whole Church to depend thereon which is so much urged by the maintainers of the contrary Opinion Rhodius speaks more plainly who affirms 4 Mortuo pontifice non est in Ecclesiâ ulla infallibilis authoritas ad condenda fidei Decreta Nullam e◠tempore infallibilitatem actualem proximam habet Ecclesia Rhod. de fide qu. 2. Sect. 5. §. 5. That the Pope being dead the Church hath no Infallible Authority to make Decrees of Faith as having no actual and immediate Infallibility at that time Hence is manifest that we want little of a Confession from our Adversaries that the Infallibility of the Governours of the Church is not of Faith. And indeed it cannot be For no Foundation of such a Faith is to be found Not Scripture or Tradition For not to say that these to make any Article become of Faith ought according to our Adversaries most evidently to contain it which evidence even they will not deny to be here wanting It would be most absurd that Papists should believe this Infallibility of the Pastors of the Church for the Authority of Scripture and Tradition when they believe neither of these but for the Authority of the Pastors Take away their Testimony and they will deny it to be known whether Scripture or Tradition be the word of God or what is the sence of either The same may be said of the Decrees of the Church Representative For besides that no such express Decree of it can be produced the Infallibility of the Representative Church it self is believed by every single Papist only because they hear it taught by their Pastors As for the belief of the Universal Church that ought not be produced For that is the thing now inquired why the Universal Church believeth so Will our Adversaries therefore say they believe their Pastors cannot err in teaching unanimously what is of Faith because they so teach themselves This they must recurr to for they have no other reason left of believing so Yet nothing can be more absurd For first it is the constant Opinion of all Mankind and a received Law among all Nations that none should be Witness or Judge in his own Cause Secondly As we believe not any Man to be true and honest till we be assured of his veracity and honesty from some other Testimony than his own So it would be the highest imprudence to esteem those Infallible who challenge that privilege to themselves until their Infallibility be known to us from some other Argument than their own Testimony Certainly our Adversaries will not permit even the Scripture which is the word of God and hath so many illustrious Characters of a Divine Original to be believed for its own Testimony and Christ openly professed that if he bore Witness of himself his Witness was not credible Why then shall that be attributed to the Governours of the Church which Christ denied to himself and our Adversaries deny to the Word of God Thirdly The Question will return whence the Pastors of the Church know that they cannot err For they will not say they know it because the Faithful believe it since as Hallier 5 Non ideo vera docent Pastores quia vera credunt Auditores sed ideo vera credunt Auditores quia vera docentibus assentiuntur F. Hallier de Hierarch l. 4. c. 2. well saith The Pastors do not therefore teach truly because the Auditors believe truly but the Auditors believe truly because they assent to the Pastors teaching truly They cannot say that they know it from Scripture or Tradition For the truth of these without the Authority of the Church is no more known to learned than to unlearned persons Think not saith Bagotius 6 Cave existimes unumquenquam etiam Theologum Doctissimum posse quicquam eredere sine authoritate Ecclesiae independenter ab eâ Bagot Instit Theol. l. 4. c. 1. §. 1. that any one even the most learned Divine can believe any thing without the Authority of the Church and independently from it And Hosius 7 Hos cont Brent goeth so far that he maintains it to be the best way that even the most learned Men should recurr to implicit Faith and believe only in general as the Church believeth Shall the Pastors therefore believe that they cannot err for their own Testimony This is the natural consequence of our Adversaries Doctrine and that most absurd For first there is none of the Pastors which believeth so because he teacheth so but all teach so because all believe so Again The Question will recurr upon what Foundation do they teach so Here either nothing or only
corda eorum per fidem charitatem gratiam mihi inseparabiliter connectendo ita ut omnes sint unum corpus mysticum unaque domus Carth. in Matth. XVI art 26. brings in Christ thus speaking I will build and confirm my Church that is the Congregation of the Faithful by inseparably uniting their hearts to me by Faith Charity and Grace so as all may be one mystical Body and one House J. Fr. Picus Mirandula 15 A propriâ vocabuli significatione recedendum ipse non putarem ut primò propriè principalissimeque Sancta Catholica Ecclesia diceretur quae omnes rectae Apostolicae fidei non fictae charitatis homines complecteretur Pic. Theor. 13. saith That we ought not to recede from the proper signification of the Word that so that might be called primarily properly and most principally the Holy Catholick Church which comprehendeth all men of a right and Apostolick Faith and unfeigned Charity Ferus upon those words Matth. XV. The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it saith 16 Sed loquitur de Ecclesiâ Secundùm spiritum quae solos electos complectitur Fer. in Matth. Christ speaks not here of the Church as it is commonly understood of the Collection of all Christians whether good or bad but of the Church according to the Spirit which comprehends only the Elect. Lastly Chr. Lupus 17 Ecclesia quae claves accepit non est universa fidelium in legitimis Sacramentis communio sed sola congregatio justorum seu Sanctorum communio Lup. in Concil tom 4. p. 818. affirms That the Church which received the Keys is not the universal Communion of the Faithful in the Lawful Sacraments but the sole Congregation of the just or the Communion of Saints Which he pursueth at large and proveth by many Testimonies of St. Augustine to which we might add many others no less cogent of other Fathers as St. Hierom Agobardus Bernard c. if our Argument consisted in the truth of this Opinion It sufficeth to shew it was received by many and consequently that our Adversaries do not agree in forming the Idea of a Church Now this Dissension is of great moment For if the second or especially the third Opinion be true the Doctrine of our Adversaries will be wholly overthrown For not to say that if Sinners be excluded out of the Church the Pope and whole Councils may perhaps not belong to it and so want that Infallibility which is appropriated to the true Church To omit this since we treat not now of active but passive Infallibilty I say That according to this Hypothesis the Faith of our Adversaries cannot rely upon the belief of the Universal Church For to conform themselves to this Rule of Faith they must first perfectly know it which cannot be if they know not what is that Church whose Faith they ought to follow But how shall they know the Church if that consist only of Pious Men whom none will deny to be known to God alone Canus was not ignorant of this who rejecteth this Opinion because saith he 18 Incerta erunt omnia si apud solos pios Ecclesia est Can. loc Theol. lib. 4. cap. 3. all things will be uncertain if the Church be limited to pious Men. Will our Adversaries therefore say that the first of these Opinions is certain the other undoubtedly false That is easter affirmed than proved Besides of what degree of certainty would they have their assertions to be Not certainly of Divine Faith unlessHeresie be imputed to all those Learned Men who maintained the second and third Opinions But no other degree of certainty can be obtained in these things nor will any other suffice CHAP. XXV That our Adversaries have no way of knowing the true Church IT doth not appear therefore who they are that truly belong to the Church Yet suppose it is and that all Baptized Persons outwardly professing the true Faith are Members of it which Opinion most pleaseth our Adversaries and is most advantageous for them It is still to be enquired which out of so many Societies that challenge to themselves the name of the Church justly and truly claims it For not any one that first occurrs is to be admitted and preferred before the rest But here if any where a diligent and accurate Examination is to be used lest instead of the Church of Christ we follow the Synagogue of Satan and for Divine Revelations receive execrable Errors This especially becomes them who when they have found the Church give over any further enquiry and receive without Examination all the dictates of it They ought to be very vigilant and curious in the choice of their Guide lest if they haply mistake they incurr that Sentence of Christ If the blind lead the blind both will fall into the ditch Let us see therefore whether our Adversaries can boast they have made a just and accurate enquiry herein and most certainly found out the true Church There are chiefly three Methods of making this Enquiry 1. From the truth of the Doctrine professed by any Church and Conformity of that to the Word of God. 2. By Notes known only by the light of right Reason and independently from the Word of God. 3. By Notes which are marked out and taught in the Scripture Arriaga preferreth the first Method before all others I answer saith he 1 Respondeo veritatem doctrinae probari etiam posse non recurrendo ad Ecclesiam imò ante primam probationem verae Ecclesiae debere probari veritatem doctrinae Etenim cum Ecclesia ut Ecclesia definiatur per hoc quòd sit coetus profitentium veram doctrinam fidei repugnat in terminis me supponere aliquam congregationem esse veram Ecclesiam nisi dicam eo ipso ibi esse veram doctrinam Ergo non possum primò probare veram doctrinam ex verâ Ecclesiâ Arr. de fide disp 7. Sect. 5. that the truth of the Doctrine may be proved without recurring to the Church yea and that before the first Proof of the true Church the truth of the Doctrine ought to be proved He proveth both parts of his Assertion largely and in the second part of it maketh use of this Argument For since the Church as a Church is defined the Congregation of men professing the true Doctrine of Faith it is a contradiction in the very terms to suppose any Congregation to be the true Church unless I do for that very reason suppose there is the true Doctrine I cannot therefore first prove the Doctrine is true from the truth of the Church To this we willingly subscribe and approve this Method of Arriaga's only Not so the rest of our Adversaries who detest it and labour to render it both infamous and impossible pretending it to be full of inextricable difficulties and not to be surmounted by the most learned much less by illiterate persons Wherefore I need not endeavour to prove that the true
other is assigned in Scripture This the Cardinal himself admonisheth It is to be observed saith he 16 Method liv 1. chap. that although it doth not follow that Society which hath one of the Notes of the true Church is the true Church yet it follows that Society which wanteth one of these Notes is not the true Church Valentia had gone before him These are the Notes saith he 17 Non sunt notae Ecclesiae sigillatim sed conjunctim quia fieri possit ut una harum altera aliis conveniat Val. Anal. fid lib. 6. cap. 7. which we urge One Holy Catholick Apostolick These are not the Notes of the Church singly but conjunctly because it may be that one or two of them may agree to others And indeed it cannot be denied that the Greek Church hath many of these Notes If therefore from one or more of them we might argue affirmatively the Greek must be granted to be a true Church To conclude therefore that the Roman or any other is the true Church it is necessary that no note of the true Church be wanting to it and that it be evident no other note is assigned in Scripture besides those wherein she already glorieth While this is uncertain nothing can be securely concluded from any Notes whatever That an Infidel therefore be rightly instructed it is required that he read over the whole Scripture from one end to the other accurately weigh and examine all places that he may be ascertained none of those Notes have escaped his diligence But this besides that it is long and tedious and apt rather to discourage and deterr than allure an Infidel to the Christian Religion is impossible if our Adversaries Doctrine of the obscurity of Scripture be admitted For who can promise himself that nothing hath escaped his most sagacious enquiry amidst so much darkness and intricacy as our Adversaries pretend to be in Scripture Much less can an Infidel be assured of this whose Understanding is yet clouded with Errors and his Eyes with Blindness Yet if he be not certain that no one Note of the Church is unknown to him how many soever he hath by his search observed in vain doth he sweat since even according to our Adversaries many Notes contribute nothing to that Society to which any one is wanting And this is so much the more difficult because our Adversaries are not agreed about the number of the Notes Valentia and many others assign four Driedo six Medina ten Sanders and Pistorius twelve Bellarmin fifteen Bosius an hundred In so great variety of opinions what certainty can be expected But what if in this diligent reading of Scripture many things shall occurr whereby the Catechumen will be induced to believe there are many other Notes beside those which our Adversaries point out and those such as will divert him from embracing the Communion of the Church of Rome He will in the first place observe those words of Christ 18 John VIII 31 47. X. 27. If ye continue in my Word then are ye my Disciples indeed He that is of God heareth God's words My Sheep hear my voice Hence he will conclude that the truth of Doctrine and its conformity to God's word is the most certain Note of the true Church But our Adversaries will never permit that he should make use of this Note to find out the Church For that would introduce the first method so much hated by them and it were to be feared that the Catechumen comparing the Doctrine of the Church of Rome with the Scripture would find a manifest repugnance in many things Another Note of the Church he would find to be the observation of the Divine Precepts from the same places For he cannot be said to hear the voice of Christ that obeys it not And in other places Christ saith 19 John VIII 10 14. If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my Love. Ye are my friends if ye do what soever I command you God also foretold by his Prophets that under the new Covenant he would write his Laws in the hearts of Men and make them to walk in his statutes But can the Catechumen find this observation of the Divine precepts in the Church of Rome where the Cup is taken from the Laity Prayers performed in an Unknown Tongue and many other things used expresly contrary to the Divine Commands The Scripture oft-times calls the Church the most chast Spouse of Christ Now this Chastity consists in keeping her Faith to God and transferring no part of the Divine Worship due to him upon any other objects Otherwise God will implead her of adultery and give her a bill of divorcement Will the Catechumen then from this Note conclude the Church of Rome to be the Spouse of Christ by whom he perceiveth so many Creatures Saints deceased their Reliques the Cross Images and the Host to be worshipped and adored Meekness and Gentleness is also a note of the Church when her Children are frequently in the Scriptures called Sheep Lambs Doves Turtles Isaiah foretold all cruelty should be far from the Church of Christ 20 Isai XI 9. LXIII 25. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my Holy Mountain Christ left his Peace to his Disciples and said to them 21 Matth. XI 29. Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your Souls Who can then imagine the Church of Christ to be that Society which persecutes all dissenting from her with fire and sword and scarce useth any other arguments than Racks and Gibbets Of the same nature with this Note is another laid down by David He calls 22 Ps CX 3. the Church a willing People who are not retained in the Communion of their Saviour by force and fear but by a most free and that most fervent Love. Hence her most excellent Pastor is said 23 Zach. XI 7. to govern her with two staves one called Beauty and the other Bands but that you may not mistake those bands are 1 Hos XI 4. the cords of a Man and the bands of Love. Is Rome therefore this Church of Christ which wheresoever she commands hath no stronger bands to retain her People than the detestable Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition To these two last Notes is conjoined a sixth That she be free and not a Servant of Men especially of Pastors This the Scripture teacheth in many places particularly Gal. IV. 25 26. John VIII 32.36 2 Cor. I. 24. III. 17. IV. 5. 1 Pet. V. 3. Ja. I. 25. That therefore is not the Church of Christ which serveth the Pope whose Slave Cajetan expresly calls her Is that Church free upon which the Pope imposeth arbitrary Laws which none must call in question Can he be denied to be Lord of the Church who as the Canon Law 2 Decret part 1. dist 40. can Si Papa tells us although he should carry innumerable People by
troups as Slaves to Hell to be with himself for ever tormented yet no mortal must presume to reprehend his faults because he is to judge all to be judged of none Who not to mention obsolete Stories but lately commanded all to believe there is five heretical propositions in Jansenius and yet although humbly intreated by many Doctors would not declare in what part of Jansenius his Book they might be found What is this but to account Christians as most vile Slaves The seventh Note of the Church consists in this 3 John IV. 23. That she worship God in Spirit and in Truth The ancient Church of the Jews indeed used a gross and sensible kind of Worship and was employed about the mean and beggerly Elements of the World but it is the peculiar glory of the Christian Church to worship God in a way most consentaneous to the simplicity of his being and the holiness of his nature Not so the Church of Rome which observeth so many diverse and difficult ceremonies that in comparison of them the Mosaick Rites are both few and easy This you will soon acknowledge if you compare the fourth or at most the third part of the Pentateuch for no more is taken up with ritual matters with so many vast volumes the Ceremonial Pontifical Ritual Missal Gradual and others which prescribe the external part of the Roman Service Lastly the true Church is that which neither usurpeth nor disturbeth the civil Government Therein imitating Christ her Master who offered heavenly things to all earthly to none professed his Kingdom was not of this World withdrew himself unto the Mountains when sought for by the multitude to be made a King and refused to be a Judge in a matter of inheritance The true Church observeth the Apostles precept 4 Rom. XIII 1. of being subject to the higher Powers And that other 5 Ibid. v. 7. of rendering to all their due tribute to whom tribute custom to whom custom fear to whom fear honour to whom honour Not so the Church of Rome whose Head the Pope deposeth Kings at his pleasure absolveth their Subjects from their Oath of Allegiance and pretends to a Sovereign Dominion over the whole World. I might produce many other like Notes of the Church out of Scripture but these suffice to shew how great danger they expose the Church of Rome to who out of those Holy Writings permit a judgment to be formed of her Truth and Purity I will now proceed briefly to demonstrate that not even from those Notes which the Church of Rome assigns can it be known that she is the true Church Card. Richlieu assigns four Antiquity Amplitude Perpetuity and Succession Amplitude shall be considered afterwards the other three I will now briefly touch Antiquity consists solely or chiefly in this that the Church which is called Ancient have preserved the same Faith Worship and Religion from the beginning While the Church of Rome therefore glorieth in Antiquity she meaneth that she now professeth the same Faith which Christ formerly instituted and his Apostles taught But to know this there is no other way than to compare the present Doctrine of the Church of Rome with the Ancient Monuments of Christian Religion of which Scripture is the Chief Now this in nothing differeth from the first method which we only approve and our Adversaries reject If then the Church cannot be known by that method neither can it by that which our Adversaries propose The discussion of perpetuity is yet more difficult For therein is to be proved not only that the present is the same with the first and original Doctrine but also that it was so in every Age and that this profession of the old Religion was never once interrupted Now how vast and unexhausted a knowledge of antiquity doth this require No ancient monument must be neglected infinite Volumes both Printed and Manuscript must be read through This few Men can attend to or if they could one Age would not suffice Yet this accordding to Richlieu's method must be done by any Infidel who is a Candidate of Christianity The same may be said of Succession That is twofold of Doctrine and of Persons The first is coincident with antiquity and perpetuity the second in Gretser's judgment is of little moment Without Truth of Doctrine saith he 6 Sine veritate doctrinae successio Pastorum est exigui ponderis De verb. Dei lib. 4. cap. 9. Succession of Pastors is of small weight But suppose it of the greatest moment What is more laborious and difficult to say no more than to prove that in a long series of Succession continued through XVI Ages there never happened the least interruption Thus much of the Notes singly As for all taken together it is manifest that even in our Adversaries opinion they cannot be certain since they are found in the Greek Church The Cardinal denies that of Antiquity because the Church of Constantinople cannot demonstrate her claim of being founded by St. Andrew Let it be Certainly the Churches of Hierusalem Antioch Ephesus Corinth and Athens which are parts of the Greek Church were founded by Apostles and the first even by Christ himself Again the Cardinal denieth the Succession of the Greek Bishops because their Patriarchs were heretical But first it matters not what the Patriarchs are if the other Bishops be Orthodox Secondly this very thing may be brought against the Succession of Popes for some of them have been condemned by General Councils Lastly if heresie interrupts succession it will be no more certain that the Succession of Popes was never interrupted than that no Pope was ever an Heretick But how shall this be ascertained especially to an Infidel of whom we now treat who may consider that many in the Church of Rome openly teach the contrary To this may be added That it is absurd in this case to pretend Heresy against the Succession of any Church For that is the very thing now inquired by this Infidel which Society of Christians is the true Church and consequently which of them are Hereticks or Schismaticks This method therefore can never certainly teach us That the Church of Rome is the true Church CHAP. XXVI That it is uncertain what the Vniversal Church believeth IF after all this we should grant That our Adversaries may certainly know which is the true Church it were yet to be inquired what this Church believeth But how shall this be known For first it doth not suffice to know what the greater or lesser part of the Universal Church believeth unless we know what is the Faith of the whole For our Adversaries confess That the greater part of it may erre So Tostatus answering to those who from the Universal corruption of the translations of the Bible before S. Hierom's time argued That the whole Church then erred replyed That all the Copies indeed of the Latin Church were corrupted but in the Greek Church were preserved entire Now saith he
a right to sit in Councils This is indeed a great Question upon which depends the validity of all Councils There were some as those of Basil Constance Pisa and the Lateran by the testimony of Alemannus an Eye-witness in which Presbyters had a decisive Vote but far more even all the rest from which they were excluded If they have a right all these last Councils are unlawful if not all the first Concerning Abbots there arises another doubt They have sat in Councils now for many Ages by Priviledge The first who obtained it as Lupus n Lup. Tom. 1. p. 865. observeth was that most wicked Barsumas who made no small bawling in the Ephesine Latrocinium But it is inquired who had Power to give them such a Priviledge Certainly that Spirit which revealeth Truth and as our Saviour tells us bloweth where it listeth cannot be obliged by any humane Grant to confer Infallibility on those to whom he never promised it The Monarchists themselves acknowledge the Pope cannot confer on his Legates the priviledge of not erring How then shall either Pope or Council give it to Abbots But if they cannot then are unlawful all those Councils wherein Abbots sat those especially wherein they exceeded the Bishops in number as the Council of Lateran under Innocent III. in which by Bellarmin's o Bell. de Con cil lib. 1. cap. 5. 7. computation were present 1283 Prelates of which only 473 Bishops and that of Constance which among a 1000 Fathers had no more than 300 Bishops The same Question is moved concerning Procurators of Bishops For 't is justly doubted whether Bishops can delegate that Power of defining matters of Faith without danger of Errour and transfer it upon others that are no Bishops For if not all those Councils will be invalid wherein these Procurators were admitted Now that they cannot seemeth probable For to omit that the Monarchists affirm the Pope cannot communicate his Infallibility and that Bishops should be able to do more than the Pope seems incredible I urge that this Procuration is not allowed even in temporal Causes Judges are not permitted to substitute others who may give Judgment and pronounce Sentence in their stead And if this be thought inconvenient in judging the frail and momentany things of life how much more will it be in defining matters that relate to eternal Salvation Lastly delegated Judges can never subdelegate another unless the Delegant shall expresly grant Power of doing it Let our Adversaries therefore either shew where God hath given Bishops power to constitute Procurators to sit in Councils in their Name or confess it to be uncertain whether those Councils are lawful in which these Procurators sit They will plead Prescription perhaps for this and urge that it is not probable a Custom received and approved by so many Ages should not be lawful But they have no Right to make use of this Argument For Widdrington p Aliud est facere de facto aliud determinare quòd ita possit fieri de jure Widd. contra Schulck pag. 241. in replying to that Objection of the Assertors of the deposing Power That Kings and Emperours have been deposed by the Church and therefore may be so answers out of Sylvester That it doth no way follow it being one thing to do withing another to determine that it may be done lawfully And Richerius q Apol. ax 38. freely reprehends many things observed in the Councils Lastly Holden r Theologi passim affirmant posse quodammodo errare Synodes omnes etiam Oecumenicas in legibus ad Eccles disciplinae regimen spectantibus Hold. Anal. fid l. 2. c. 3. tells us That all Synods even Oecumenical may in some measure err in matters of Ecclesiastical Discipline as most Divines hold If in those then surely in things which they neither command nor define but only tolerate The Presidents of the Council of Trent were very much perplexed with this Question and knew not well what to do in it Cardinal Palavicini Å¿ Hist Concil Trid. lib. 21. cap. 1. relates how they consulted the Court of Rome and the ablest Canonists and employed Learned men Scipio Lancelottus and Michael Thomasius to write concerning it The Question proposed was Whether to Procurators were of Right due a decisive Suffrage in the Synod This they determined in the Negative as well because it was not a matter of contract or private business 〈◊〉 which these Procurators were employed but the common concern of the whole Church as because they bore not that Office in the Church to which God had promised the assistance of the H. Ghost in Oecumenical Synods But because the custom of the Church was contrary and some shew of Arguments appeared on the other side the Legates thought not sit to determine this Question themselves but expected to know the pleasure of the Court of Rome Thus much for the third condition Gelasius t Secundùm Scripturas sec traditionem Patrum sec Ecclesiasticas regulas pro side Catholicâ communione 〈◊〉 ad Episc Dard. epist 13. assigns many together while treating of the difference of lawful and unlawful Synods he defineth a lawful Synod to be that which acteth aocording to the Scriptures Tradition of the Fathers Eccâ—â—â—astical Rules and in defence of Catholick Faith and Communion that to be unlawful which acteth contrary I inquire not now whether all these conditions be necessary I only say that it will be very difficult this way to distinguish lawful from unlawful Synods For how few can compare the Decrees of them with Scripture Fathers and Ecclesiastical Rules Maximus requireth much fewer things For he would have nothing else inquired but only whether the Council decreed rightly For to Theodosius Bishop of Caesarea objecting That the Lateran Synod held at Rome under Pope Martin was not received because not held by the Emperour's Command he thus replieth u Si Synodos quae sactae sunt jussiones Imperatorum firmant non sua fides recipe Synodos quae contra homoousion factae sunt c. Omnes enim has Imperatorum jussio aggregavit Attamen omnes damnatae sunt propter impietatem infidelium dogmatum ab eis confirmatorum illas novit sanctas probabiles Synodos pius Ecclesiae Canon quas rectitudo dogmatum approbavit Et dixit Theodosius It a est ut asseris dogmatum quippe rectitudo Synodos roborat Disp Maximi cum Theod. inter Anastasii Collectanea à Sirmondo edita Paris 1620. p. 161 162. If the Commands of the Emperour and not their holy Faith makes Synods valid then must you receive the Synods held by the Command of Princes against the Doctrine of Consubstantiality as those of Tyre Antioch Seleucra c. For all they were called by the Emperours but all condemned by reason of the impiety of the heretical Doctrines confirmed in them For the pious Rule of the Church acknowledgeth only those for holy and lawful Synods which the truth of
their Decrees have approved To which Theodosius rejoyned So it is as you affirm for the truth of their Doctrines makes Synods valid So they and with them Launoy above cited Which if it be admitted the Controversie is at an end None of us will deny those Councils are to be assented to which have decreed rightly But how shall we know whether they have decreed rightly Here lyeth the difficulty our Adversaries especially being Judges who are averse to all discussion and affirm it to be above the capacity of the people Which way soever therefore they turn themselves they cannot deny it to be very difficultly known which are lawful Councils and consequently which although confirmed by the Pope can afford certainty and firmness to our Faith. CHAP. XV. That tt is uncertain whether any Councils have been Free. FReedom is so necessary to the being of an infallible Council that all assign it as a condition none omit it and herein those two great Antagonists Edmund Richerius and Andrew Duval agree of which the first makes this his XXII axiom a Libertatem ferendi suffragii esse conditionem essentialem ad celebrationem Synodorum penitus necessariam c. That the Liberty of Voting is an essential condition wholly necessary to the Celebration of Synods and so necessary that without it the H. Ghost presides not over Ecclesiasticks met in Council For the Apostle b 2 Cor. iii. 17. saith Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty and an Anonymous Author c Numerosissima Concilia qualia fuêre c. propter hanc libertatis carentiam illegitima sunt pronunciata of a Tract offered to the Assembly of the French Clergy saith That most numerous Councils such as those of Ariminum and the II. of Ephesus for want of this liberty have been pronounced unlawful On the other side Duval d Caruit libertate Conciliis necessarià Duvall de potest Pont. part 4. quaest 6. speaking of the Council of Ariminum saith It wanted the Liberty necessary to Councils and afterwards of the II. Ephesine Council that although lawfully called yet it proceeded unlawfully being over-awed by violence of Dioscorus in like manner as the Council of Ariminum had been by Constantius The same saith Melchior Canus e Can. Loc. Theol. lib. 5. cap. ult The Antients consent hereto St. Hilary f Incipio definitio Catholica habita ab omnibus Catholicis Episcopis priusquà m per terrenam potestatem territi haereticorum consortio sociarentur Hil. in fragm giveth this Inscription to the first Decree of Ariminum This is the Catholick definition composed by all the Catholick Bishops before that terrified with the Secular Power they were joyned to the Society of Hereticks And St. Athanasius having rejected g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athan. Epist ad Episc Afric the Decrees of this Council of Ariminum because extorted by contention and force and desiring a lawful Council Let an Ecclesiastical Synod saith he h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. Epist ad Solit. be held far from the Palace where neither the Emperour is at hand nor his Commissioner intrudes himself nor any Judge threatens but where the sole fear of God and institution of the Apostles sufficeth St. Basil i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil Epist 52. ad Athan. thought the meer relation of the violence used in the Council of Ariminum enough to invalidute all the acts of it Lastly Facundus k Nusquam coactum concilium nisi falfitati subscripsit sicut in Arimino c. Fac. lib. 12. cap. 3. saith Never did any forced Council subscribe to any thing but Errour as happened in those of Ariminum and Ephesus That a lawful Synod therefore ought to be free is on all sides confessed But we are not to imagin that this freedom is taken away only by Stripes Imprisonment and the like There are other more secret and no less efficacious means to obtain the same end Among these Canus and Richerius reckon threats St. Ambrose the favour of Princes when he saith l Dum Imperatoris gratiam sequuntur Dei gratiam perdiderunt qui cum placere potentibus aucupantur maledicto se perpetuo subdidere Ambr. in Luc. 6. of the Fathers of Ariminum That seeking the favour of the Emperour they lost the favour of God and desiring to please great Men subjected themselves to a perpetual curse Richerius m Vi aut minis vel aliis studiis aut fabricis prensationibus immoderatis vel gratiâ pecuniâ aut pretio vel rebus pecuniâ aestimabilibus Rich. Apol. axiom 22. asserts this liberty is hindred by force threats or other Factions and Plots by immoderate making of Parties favours giving of Money or any other Gifts Card. Perron n Du Perron Repliq. liv 1. chap. 28. saith the desire of pleasing hath often crept in among Princes and spoiled and corrupted the judgment of Synods Holden o Absque suffragiorum ambitu aut sollicitâ prensatione Hold. Anal. fid lib. 2. cap. 3. requireth that all things be maturely discussed in the Synod without any begging of Votes or sollicitous making of Parties Lastly Estrix p Haec illi inquies vi terrore compulsi Fateor sed qui terrore compelli potuerunt ad approbandam haeresin quidui potuissent delabi eodem aliis rationibus aut â—â—piditate pravâ impellente Estr Diat assert 43. having said that the Bishops of the II. Ephesine Council were forced by the violence of Dioscorus to subscribe to Heresie hath these words But you will say this they did compelled by Force and Terrour True but those who can be compelled by Terrour to approve Heresie why may they not be induced to the same by other Reasons or any inordinate Desire From what hath been said I gather four things I. That liberty in voting is a condition absolutely necessary to a lawful and Infallible Council II. That this liberty is infringed not only by open force but also by threats promises gifts solliciting of Votes or any other secret Arts. III. That this may not only be but hath actually been done and that more than once IV. That these things are so certain that they are acknowledged by our Adversaries both Sorbonists and Monarchists But if these be true as most certainly they are we can never safely assent to the Decrees of a Council till we be assured that no methods of Violence or Corruption either manifest or secret were used to infringe its liberty But since none can know this but God alone it is thence most evident that we are not only not obliged to a blind assent to the Definitions of any Council but that it would be a most gross folly and manifest danger of Errour to do it because none but free Councils are Infallible and no man can possibly know which are free Melchior Canus q Ita â—re◠〈◊〉 nullius Synedi explorata authoritas habeatur Can. loc -Theol l. 5. c. saw this