be warranted by the Church and to make his words good he produceth great Credentials from the Pope and many other great Men. This great and learned Prelate in his Exposition of the Catholick Faith c. hath these words We acknowledge a Head established by God Sect. 21. p. 50. to conduct his whole Flock in his paths which Head is the Pope as Successour to St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles and that the Papal Chair is the common Centre of all Catholick Unity Sect. 1. p. 2. And in another place he promiseth not to meddle with any thing but the Decrees of the Council of Trent because in them the Church hath given her decision upon these matters now in Agitation Which Council was called by the Pope's Authority only and the true sense of all its Decrees by the Bull of Pope Pius IV. reserved to be explained by him alone So that the great noise of the Catholick Church is at last dwindled into the Roman Catholick which we of the Church of England take to be a contradiction in Terminis the same with a particular Universal for they may as well say that the City of Rome is all the World as that the Church of Rome is the Catholick Church Besides this notion of the Catholick Church virtual is altogether new having no foundation either in the Holy Scriptures or in any Primitive and Authentick Antiquity and therefore we can by no means admit of it This is that Church by which and towards which we are charged with the guilt of the horrible sin of Schism And God be thanked it is no worse for from any Criminal Schism in this case I hope we shall without any great difficulty be able to acquit our selves 2. If we consider a Christian Church as it is particular then are we to understand it of a number of Men professing Christianity formed into a Society under lawfull Governours and governed by such Laws and Rules as are not different from but agreeable to the Laws and Rules of the Catholick Church And if any Man or number of Men who are Members of that Society shall without just cause separate themselves from the Communion thereof he or they so doing are certainly guilty of Schism Nor is every occasion which a capricious humour or discontent may suggest to us to be taken as a sufficient ground of Separation Nay though there be something really amiss or at least we are persuaded that there is so in the Doctrine or Discipline of that Church whereof we are Members yet ought we rather to suspect our own Judgments and suppress our own Sentiments than break the unity and peace thereof In a word unless such a particular Church shall make the terms of her Communion such as cannot be complied with without sin I do not know any other just ground of Separation therefrom Thus have I considered the subject of Schism in its greatest latitude And now let us see how far any thing that may be gathered from hence can affect the Church of England 1. If the Church of England hath made no defection from the Catholick Church diffusive i. e. from the One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church which compriseth all Men and all Societies of Men professing Christianity Nor from the Catholick Church representative i. e. the Prelates and Pastours of the Universal Church lawfully assembled in a Council that is truly free and general If she profess no other Doctrine nor exercise any other Discipline than what she hath received from Christ and his Apostles and was constantly profest and exercised by their Successours in the primitive Church If she be willing to submit all matters in difference between Her and any other Sister-Church to be tried by the Holy Scriptures the primitive Fathers and the Decisions of the four first General Councils Then can she not be justly charged with Schism upon that account And that she doth and is willing to doe all this that is here supposed we are ready to make good whenever our Adversaries shall give us the occasion so to doe 2. If their notion of a Church virtually Catholick be altogether new without any foundation either in the Holy Scriptures or in any primitive and authentick Antiquity then the power and privileges which the present Church of Rome challengeth upon that account are mere nullities and consequently the Schism which she chargeth of the Church England with upon that score a mere Chimera which vanisheth of it self If they think to avoid the force of this supposition they must produce some good and authentick Record which as yet hath not been discovered 3. If the Church of Rome be onely a particular Church and no otherwise Catholick than her Neighbours are who profess the same common Christianity If she can have no more power to censure us than we have to censure Her then can she not without great presumption and great injustice charge us with the sin of Schism 'T is true indeed we do not joyn in Communion with her and the reason why we do not I have given in the third Section But it is as true that we hold the Catholick Unity and for the sake of that they themselves will grant that we may lawfully depart from the Unity of any particular Church SECT V. III. Schism is a Separation from the Communion of a Christian Church AS the Act of Schism is Separation and the Subject thereof a Christian Church so the Object in and about which the Separation is made is the Communion of that Church Now there are three great Bonds of Communion viz. Faith Worship and Government and whosoever shall separate either from the Catholick or any particular Church whereof he is a Member in any of these I do not see how he or they so doing can be acquitted from the guilt of Schism unless the corruption in some one or more of these be so great as to render the Communion sinfull to him who knows it SECT VI. I. Of Faith as it is a Bond of Communion BY Faith here I understand the established Doctrine of the Church that common Christianity which we all profess to own and embrace For it is not every Doctrine that is received and taught in any particular Church that is properly the Bond of Communion but such Doctrine as is or ought to be received by all It is plain and our Adversaries themselves will acknowledge it that we may and ought to differ from particular Churches in some Doctrines Otherwise why do they differ from us from the Greek Church and indeed all other Churches besides their own in many things On this score is it that we cannot receive their new Articles of Faith those additions which are made unto and those alterations which are made in the old and common Christianity by their Council of Trent We believe all that is contained in the Holy Scriptures to be infallibly true all that was ever taught by Christ and his Apostles and their Successours
have been very dangerous For it is impossible Heb. 6.4 5 6. that they who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost And have tasted of the good word of God and of the powers of the world to come If they fall away that they should be renewed again by repentance seeing they crucifie again to themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame These Instances do plainly discover to us that before conviction though men be in errour yea though it be a dangerous and fundamental errour and industriously propagated by them yet may their case be pityable But when they are better informed or at least have means sufficient for their better information if after this they still remain stubborn and contumacious in their errour and persist in the defence and propagation thereof this their obstinacy will alter the nature of their crime and render their condition very dangerous if not desperate 1 John 3.20 21. For if our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things But if our heart condemn us not then have we boldness toward God saith the Apostle John. And Blessed is he who condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth Rom. 14.22 saith St. Paul. SECT X. The Church of England acquitted from the guilt of Heresie THIS notion of Heresie which hath been laid down and explained in the foregoing Sections being not only Ours but Theirs also being supported by so great and eminent Authorities as that of St. Aug. of their own Angelical Doctour and canonized Saint St. Tho. Aquinas of their great Martin Navarrus and of the most authentick Authority of their own Church at this day the Council of Trent in its Catechism ad Parochos Our Adversaries can have no colourable pretence to except against it And if it be admitted we are ready to joyn issue with them and contented to stand or fall by it The point in difference between us is briefly this Whether the guilt of Heresie according to this Notion be justly or unjustly charged upon the Church of England by the Church of Rome To acquit the Church of England is my task at present in order whereunto I shall take a review of what hath been said and as briefly as may be apply it to our present case 1. If it cannot be proved that the Church of England doth receive believe or teach any other Doctrine than what hath been received believed and taught by the Catholick Church nor broach any new Opinions thereby to divide the Church for any secular advantage to her self nor obstinately defend any false Opinions Then by St. Austin's rule before quoted she cannot be justly charged with Heresie But none of all this ever was or can be proved against her And therefore according to this Rule she is unjustly taxed with Heresie by the Church of Rome 2. If it cannot be made appear that the Church of England doth corrupt the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints nor teach any Doctrine contrary thereunto nor dissent from any known established Article thereof nor obstinately maintain any such dissent therefrom Then by the rule of their own Angelical Doctour she ought not to be charged with Heresie But none of all this ever was or can be made appear against her Therefore by this Rule she ought not to be charged with Heresie by the Church of Rome 3. If it cannot be made manifest by any publick Act or Record owned as Authentick by the Church of England that she hath renounced or forsaken that Faith into which she was baptized and of which she once made profession nor embraced any false and new Opinions which are contrary thereunto nor doth obstinately believe and maintain any such false and new Opinions Then by the Rule of their Navar. Doctour she cannot be justly charged with the guilt of Heresie But none of all this ever was or can be made manifest against her Therefore by this Rule she is unjustly charged with the guilt of Heresie by the Church of Rome 4. If it cannot be proved that the Church of England either doth or ever did neglect and despise the Authority of the holy Catholick Church or doth embrace and hold any wicked Opinions in despight and defiance of that Authority or with a wilfull and obstinate mind defend and maintain any such wicked Opinions Then by the judgment of the Council of Trent in their Catechism ad Parochos she ought not to be held guilty of Heresie But none of all this ever was or can be proved against her Therefore by the Judgment of that Council she ought not to be held guilty of Heresie 5. If there be not pregnant proof that the Church of England hath embraced some Opinions which are contrary to or at least not agreeable with that Faith and common Christianity which was taught by Christ and his Apostles or hath laid a new foundation i. e. made something to be Religion and an Article of Faith which really is not so being not built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets or doth openly teach any Fundamental Errours in Religion thereby to seduce and withdraw people from fundamental Truth and Holiness or doth stubbornly maintain and defend a fundamental Errour in Religion against repeated Admonitions and clear Convictions Then can she not if this Notion of Heresie be true be justly burdened with the guilt thereof But there is not nor indeed can be any pregnant proof of any thing of all this against her Therefore according to this Notion of Heresie she cannot be justly charged with the guilt thereof I am well aware that the Minor Proposition in all these will stiffly be denied by our Adversaries they will with great boldness and confidence tell the world that all this and more hath been and still may be proved against the Church of England But God be thanked though this may soon be said it can never be proved That they frequently call us Hereticks and both do and have all along endeavoured to represent us as such to the world we very well know and if they were allowed to be Judges it would go very hard with us we should not be able to acquit our selves at their Bar. But this we think to be a very unreasonable thing that they being Parties should be Judges too and therefore we appeal from them And if they ask whither we do appeal I answer we appeal to the Holy Scriptures to the primitive Fathers and to the four first General Councils But because this may seem to be either too tedious or too troublesome a way of trial I have made choice of one more short and easie I have here laid down a Notion of Heresie which is agreed upon both by them and us and therefore unexceptionable by this we are willing to be tried and by this to stand or fall I do not say in any of these Propositions that
they never charged us with any of these things for that I very well know they both do and have done but I do say that they neither have nor ever can prove any of these things against us And here now were a fit opportunity to examine the particulars of their charge and the validity of them but before I do that it will be requisite to make good our own ground and by giving you some account of these Propositions that either are or will be denied to make it appear that they are not the issue of a rash and inconsiderate zeal but the offspring of deliberate and well digested thoughts And though it be contrary to the Laws and Rules of Disputation to put one upon proving a Negative and therefore I need not doe it yet for once and to gratifie our Adversaries I will endeavour to doe a work of Supererogation To make it appear that none of all these things have been by our Adversaries proved against the Church of England though it would be no very difficult yet would it be a very tedious business For to doe it effectually I should be obliged to examine not only all the particulars of their charge but also the strength or weakness of every Argument which they have at any time brought to make it good which would take up so much time and paper as the designed brevity of this small Treatise cannot allow I shall therefore wave this and instead thereof take a more short and compendious but every way as effectual a course It is acknowledged by all that when an Adversary is pressed with an Absurdity which he cannot escape the Argument is conclusive against him If therefore I can make it appear that it is a thing impossible for our Adversaries according to their own Notion of Heresie to make good their charge against the Church of England I may safely conclude that they have never done it because they could not doe that which is impossible to be done A thing is then said to be impossible either when it is simply and absolutely so in it self or when it is so only upon supposition It is then said to be simply and absolutely impossible when it implies a contradiction or is altogether repugnant to the nature of the thing as for instance That one and the same Body may be in more places than one at one and the same time is a proposition so repugnant and contradictious to the nature of Bodies that he must be wilfully blind who doth not see an impossibility therein A thing may be also said to be impossible upon supposition of an incapacity or insufficiency either in the active or passive power in the Efficient or Matter that is to be wrought upon Though the thing be possible in it self yet if the Agent be not of sufficient power to produce the effect designed it is impossible upon that account As for instance if ten unarmed men should undertake to beat ten thousand well appointed and well disciplined Souldiers in open field it is possible indeed that those ten thousand may be beaten but not by those ten because they have not power sufficient to doe it Again a thing may be said to be impossible upon supposition of an incapacity in the passive power or matter that is to be wrought upon for if the subject matter be wholly incapable of receiving such an impression as the Agent would stamp upon it though there may be no defect in the active power yet in respect of the passive there is an impossibility Let us now apply this to the case in hand The Church of Rome chargeth the Church of England with the guilt of Heresie and the question is Whether they can make good this charge against her I do not question the power of our Adversaries to doe the thing if it were to be done but if it be not to be done then notwithstanding the sufficiency of their power there is an incapacity in the subject they are to work upon which renders their attempt impossible If therefore I do make it appear that it is impossible for them to prove this against us it will be a fair Justification of the Minor Proposition in all the foregoing Arguments and consequently a clear discharge of the Church of England from that foul aspersion so unjustly cast upon her by the Church of Rome Now this I shall endeavour to make good in this manner The Notion of Heresie here laid down I have made appear to be that which is allowed by them as well as us and therefore that must be the Standard we are to be tried by Their work therefore will be to make it manifest that there are some Doctrines received believed and taught by the Church of England which are Errours in the foundation of Religion and those obstinately defended and maintained by her Now the only way to know what Doctrines are received believed and taught by any Church or Society of Christians is to have recourse to the publick Acts and authentick Records of that Church or Society and that is no difficult task for ours are made publick and exposed to the view of all And if they know not what we own as authentick Records I shall here inform them 1. The Holy Scripture is the foundation of our Faith and the Rule of our Religion 2. The 39 Articles agreed upon by the Archbishops and Bishops of both Provinces and the whole Clergy in the Convocation holden at London in the year 1562 which are partly Positive and partly Negative where they declare the Faith and Religion of the Church of England they are positive and where they reject the Additions Alterations and Innovations of the Church of Rome they may be termed Negative 3. The Book of Homilies wherein the Doctrines of our Church briefly declared in the Articles are more largely explained These are the publick Acts and authentick Records wherein the Doctrines of the Church of England are to be found Art. 6. for she publickly declares That all things necessary to Salvation are contained in the Holy Scripture and that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation She also declares Art. 8. That the three Creeds the Nicene Creed Athanasius's Creed and that which is commonly called the Apostles Creed ought thoroughly to be received and believed for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture Unless therefore our Adversaries can find Heresie in the Holy Scripture or in the Articles of Faith summarily contained in the three ancient Creeds it will be impossible for them to find it in the Church of England because she doth not receive believe or teach any other Doctrine but what is contained therein or may be proved thereby This is that Faith and common Christianity which we received from Christ and his Apostles and
which we resolve by God's grace to hold fast This is that which hath been always held and taught by the One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church This is the foundation upon which our Religion is built viz. upon the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone And therefore unless they can shake this Foundation unless they will impeach Christ and his Apostles unless they will charge the whole Church of God with the guilt of Heresie all their attempts and batteries levelled against us will be vain and fruitless The Church of England will still stand like a Rock against which those waves may break themselves whilst she remains unbroken by them Thus you see how impossible it is for our Adversaries to make good their charge against the Church of England and if they cannot doe it we may safely conclude they have not done it and if they neither have nor can doe it then is it a foul aspersion by them unjustly cast upon us For which their unjust uncharitable and unchristian censure I pray God forgive them Having thus secured that Post which was most likely to be attacqued by the Enemy I shall now take the boldness to make a short Sally upon them and take an account of their strength by considering some of the most material Arguments which have been offered by their Champions to make good their charge Arg. 1. Pope Nicholas as I find him cited by Bishop Jewel in the defence of his Apology p. 2. makes short work of it and very magisterially doth at once determine the whole matter For saith he Whoso denieth the privilege and supremacy of the See of Rome hath renounced the Faith and is an Heretick De Major Obed. unam Sanctam Dist 22. Omnes Ans To this I answer 1. If the privilege and supremacy of the See of Rome be an Article of Faith we desire to know in which of the three Creeds or in what part of the Bible we may find it for we would not willingly be wanting in our compliance with any Article of Faith. 2. If this be so then the Council of Chalcedon consisting of 630 Bishops and Reverend Fathers gathered together from all parts of the world was a pack of Hereticks for they gave equal privileges to the See of Constantinople with that of Rome 3. If this be so then Pope Gregory the great and I take him to be altogether as infallible as Pope Nicholas was an Heretick for he calleth him who usurps such an arrogant style the forerunner of Antichrist 4. If subjection to the see of Rome be a necessary part in the Definition of Heresie then all the Christians in the world except those of the Roman Communion are Hereticks for all of them as well as we do unanimously oppose the Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome Arg. 2. Their Angelical Doctour and Canonized Saint S. Tho. Aquinas thus argueth 22. q. 11.2.3 When a matter is once determined by the Authority of the Catholick Church if any one shall obstinately gainsay such Determination he is to be reputed an Heretick which Authority saith he doth principally reside in the Pope Ans This Argument is founded upon several false Suppositions viz. 1. That the Church of Rome is the Catholick Church which we cannot consent to because we cannot believe that a part is the whole 2. That the Determinations of that Church are obligatory to all other Churches This we cannot agree with him in because Par in parem non habet imperium Equals have no authority over one another 3. That the Authority of the Catholick Church is principally lodged in the Bishop of Rome This we cannot believe because we have no warrant for it either from the Holy Scriptures or from the four first General Councils or from any authentick Antiquity Arg. 3. Protestants are Hereticks because they oppose divers Truths propounded for divine by the visible Church Ans This Argument is also supported by these false Suppositions 1. That to oppose any Truth propounded by the Church is Heresie This we deny We grant indeed that to oppose any Truth howsoever or by whomsoever propounded is an Errour but it cannot be called an Heresie unless it be such a Truth as is an Essential part of the Gospel of Christ 2. That the Doctrines of the Church of Rome which are opposed by Protestants are divine-Truths This we take to be a false Supposition for we do not oppose any Truth much less any divine Truth that is held by them but only such false and new invented Articles as are by them superadded to the Catholick Faith. 3. That whatsoever is propounded by the Church of Rome is propounded by the visible Church This we cannot allow because we know that the Church of Rome is but a part and God knows a corrupted part too of the visible Church Arg. 4. The visible Church is Judge of Controversies and therefore Infallible To oppose her therefore is to oppose God. This Protestants doe and therefore are guilty of Heresie Ans It is here taken for granted 1. That the visible Church is Judge of Controversies 2. That she is Infallible 3. That the Roman Church is this visible Church 4. That to oppose her is to oppose God. All which Suppositions are matters of Dispute between us and yet undetermined and therefore very insufficient grounds to build such a charge upon Arg. 5. Want of Succession of Bishops and Pastours holding always the same Doctrine and of the Forms of Ordaining Bishops and Priests which are in use in the Roman Church is a certain mark of Heresie But Protestants want all these things Therefore c. Ans We deny the Major For 1. Nothing but want of Truth and holding Errour can make or prove a Man or Church to be Heretical 2. Because it is not a Succession of Persons but of Doctrine that can secure a Church from Heresie And to such a Succession there are two things necessary 1. That there be an agreement with the Apostles Doctrine 2. That there be an uninterrupted conveyance of it down to them who challenge it Both which we have Arg. 6. Protestants have forsaken a Church confessedly very ancient and besides which there could be demonstrated no other visible Church of Christ upon earth Therefore c. Ans To this I answer 1. That against God and Truth there lies no prescription and therefore it is great wisedom to forsake ancient Errours for more ancient Truths 2. That there are many other visible Churches of Christ upon earth besides the Roman These are the most material Arguments I have yet met with by which our Adversaries have attempted to make good their charge of Heresie against us and how rotten a foundation these are to build such a mighty Superstructure upon I shall now leave to the impartial Reader to judge And because I design brevity and am unwilling to draw out this discourse to too great a length I shall now hasten to a conclusion The CONCLUSION IN this Discourse I have laid down such a Notion of Heresie as is generally received and owned by our Adversaries themselves and by that have strictly examined the Charge which they bring against us and I hope have made it very plain and manifest That the imputation of Heresie to the Church of England is a soul aspersion and cannot without great injustice be cast upon Her. Which is the only thing I have undertaken to make good in this short Treatise I am heartily sorry that there should be any occasion for a Discourse of this nature I am a great lover of Peace and Truth and do greatly abhor both Schism and Heresie by the former of which the Church's peace is disturbed and her Members crumbled into parties and factions and by the latter of which her Truth is fullied her Doctrine perverted and the whole frame of Religion put out of order And therefore I do earnestly pray as my dear Mother the Church of England hath taught me that all those who have erred and are deceived may be brought into the way of truth and that Unity Peace and Concord may flourish in all Nations I have no pleasure in strife and debates and if I were not commanded to contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints should be very unwillingly drawn to engage in them But when I meet with a loud and ungrounded clamour branding those who embrace and endeavour to hold fast the holy Catholick Faith with the odious names of Schismaticks and Hereticks I cannot forbear according to my poor ability to stand up in the defence of injured Innocency and abused Truth This is that which I did design and have attempted to doe in both the Parts of this discourse and if our Adversaries be angry with me for it I cannot help it nor am I much concerned at it But if through weakness or inadvertency I have failed in my design or not defended the Church of England so well as I ought and as one more able might have done from those foul Aspersions which have been so unjustly cast upon her I humbly beg her pardon and do freely submit both my self and undertaking to her censure well knowing that she is an indulgent Mother and will put a favourable construction upon what was well meant I shall conclude all with a passionate intreaty and earnest request both to those of the Roman and those of our own Communion that they would all devoutly joyn with me in this humble and hearty prayer to Almighty God From all Sedition privy Conspiracy and Rebellion from all false Doctrine Heresie and Schism from hardness of Heart and contempt of thy Word and Commandment Good Lord deliver us FINIS ADVERTISEMENTS SOme Queries to Protestants Answered And an Explanation of Roman Catholick's Belief in Four Great Points considered 1. Concerning their Church 2. Their Worship 3. Justification 4. Civil Government Also lately printed A Seasonable Prospect for the View and Consideration of Christians Being a brief Representation of the Lives and Conversations of Infidels and Heathens as to Religion and Morality in our Age. Together with some Reflexions thereupon in Relation to us who profess Christianity Written by a Gentleman Both Printed for Luke Meredith at the King 's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard
A VINDICATION OF THE Church of England From the foul Aspersions of Schism and Heresie Unjustly cast upon Her by The Church of Rome In Two Parts After the way which they call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets Acts 24.14 LONDON Printed by J. H. for Luke Meredith at the King's Head at the West End of St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVII IMPRIMATUR Ex Aedib Lambeth Nov. 30. 1686. Guil. Needham RR mo in Christo P. ac D. D. Wilhelmo Archiepisc Cantuar. a Sacr. Domest Advertisements of Books lately Printed BIshop Taylor 's Opuscula The Measures of Friendship With Five Letters to persons changed and tempted to a change in their Religion To which is now added his Moral Demonstration proving that the Religion of J. Christ is from God. Price bound 1 s. Two Treatises The First concerning Reproaching and Censure The Second An Answer to Mr. Serjeant's Sure-Footing To which are annexed Three Sermons Preached upon several Occasions and very usefull for these Times By the late Learned and Reverend William Faulkner D. D. Some Queries to Protestants Answered and an Explanation of the Roman Catholicks Belief in four great Points considered 1. Concerning their Church 2. Their Worship 3. Justification 4. Civil Government Price stitch'd 6 d. The Creed of Pope Pius the Fourth Or a Prospect of Popery taken from that Authentick Record With short Notes A VINDICATION OF THE Church of England c. The INTRODUCTION THere is nothing more frequent among those of the Romish Communion than to charge those of the Reformation with the guilt of Schism and Heresie They blacken us with those odious names of Schismatick and Heretick and though we do publickly declare our abhorrence of those Crimes and disavow both the name and thing yet must we be represented as such and under that Character be exposed to the World. Whether this Charge be just or unjust will appear by the sequel of this Discourse But whethersoever it be certain it is that it is generally taken for granted among them that we are such A late Authour of theirs in answer to this Question Why are you a Catholick having as he thinks charged these Crimes home upon Protestants at length summs up his harangue in these words p. 12. Now it being impossible for Protestants to excuse much less to justifie their manifest Schism to what purpose is it to enter into debate with them about particular points of Doctrine As long as the Charge of Schism subsists uncleared by them and this Schism grounded on pretended dangerous errors in the Catholick Church being Schismaticks they are Hereticks too and so condemned by themselves and consequently not to be hearkned to when they will raise particular Controversies since this one general Controversie determines against them all particular debates And now who would not think that here were a fair end put to all debates between the Church of Rome and us for if we be really Schismaticks and our Schism so manifest that it will admit of no excuse much less of any justification then this Gentleman is in the right that it is to little purpose to enter into debate with us about particular points of Doctrine But if we be not only Schismaticks but Hereticks too then ought we not to be hearkned to in any particular Controversie whatsoever But if this Gentleman should happen to be mistaken in all this and that we are neither Schismaticks nor Hereticks but that our Separation from the Church of Rome is not only excusable but justifiable too being grounded not on pretended but really dangerous errors not in the Catholick Church but in the particular Church of Rome then I hope we may stand upon even ground with them and be admitted to debate the matter in difference between us which if we be as they hitherto have done so I hope they always will find us ready to stand the shock and make good our ground As for the Crimes they charge us with we have as great it may be a greater abhorrence of them than they have let them draw them in the most frightfull shapes imaginable let them expose them under the most black and dismal Character that is possible yet can they not represent them worse than we already think of them So far are we from owning either the name or thing We believe they are most horrible sins so dangerous and destructive that Men are thereby out of the ordinary ways and means of Salvation they tear in pieces the Mystical Body of Christ and are an inlet to all those mischiefs that do or can happen to the Church of God. And after such a Declaration as this can we be thought to believe our selves guilty of them We are thus far agreed that Schism and Heresie are dangerous sins destructive of the peace and order the well-being at least if not the Being of God's Church and such sins as without a true and timely Repentance will unavoidably and eternally ruine those that are guilty of them It will therefore greatly concern all Persons as well Papists as Protestants to clear themselves of these Crimes To wipe off this scandal which is so unjustly thrown upon the Church of England and those in Communion with her is the design of these Papers And to effect this I know no better way than by laying open the nature and true notion of these two Crimes viz. Schism and Heresie and then considering to whom they are applicable This I shall endeavour to doe as briefly and as plainly as I can But because they are different Crimes to avoid confusion I shall consider them apart and in the first place shall begin with that of Schism SECT I. Of Schism in general THE word Schism in its original signification imports no more but only a Division Rent or Breach and is more properly applicable unto things than Persons I could if it were necessary produce several instances out of prophane Authours where it is thus used but waving these I shall at present offer you only one instance in which our Blessed Saviour thus applies the word No Man saith he puts a piece of new Cloth into an old Garment for that which is put in taketh from the Garment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Rent or Breach is made worse Matt. 9.16 When therefore we meet with this word applied to Persons it is not properly but Metaphorically used importing a Division among them occasioned by misunderstanding diversity of opinions discontent or otherwise Now forasmuch as every Division supposes an Unity and that Unity broken it cannot be applied to single Persons but Persons in Society who live in Communion with one another and are obliged so to doe by some common Ties and Obligations There are two great and eminent Societies in the World viz. the Civil and Ecclesiastical and both these are the Subjects of Schism i. e. they are both liable to have their Unity broken their Peace
the Primitive Pastours and Governours of the Church we readily comply with We believe all the Articles contained in those three ancient Creeds viz. that commonly called the Apostles the Nicene and the Athanasian We are willing to submit to all the Decisions and the Determinations of the four first General Councils and to any Council that is lawfully called and truly free and general We are ready to receive all Traditions that are truly Apostolical and we are willing to embrace any other truth as yet unknown to us whensoever or by whomsoever it shall be duly made out to be so And whilst we this doe we cannot truly be charged to have broken Communion with the Catholick Church nor justly reputed Schismaticks therefrom And as for the Church of Rome she being only a particular Church hath no jurisdiction at all over the Church of England and consequently no more power to censure us than we have to censure her for in this case the rule holds Par in parem non habet imperium Equals have no Authority over one another And therefore for her to impose her new Articles of Faith upon the Church of England and because she refuseth to receive them and joyn Communion with her upon those terms presently cry out Schism Schism is so idle so vain so unaccountable a Clamour as I am perswaded the Learned among them cannot but disapprove it For whilst we hold the Catholick Faith entire and maintain Communion with the One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church therein though we differ from the Church of Rome or any other particular Church in some Doctrines Yet is it impossible that we should be guilty of a Schismatical Separation either from her or them SECT VII II. Of Worship as it is a Bond of Communion BY Worship here I mean Publick Worship and that considered only in its Substantials and Essentials not as it is clothed with particular Modes Rites and Ceremonies Otherwise it can be no Bond of Communion The substantial and essential Parts of Publick Worship I take to be these viz. Prayer reading the Holy Canon interpreting the same and the administration of the blessed Sacraments Now these in divers Churches may be performed in different Manners and with different Rites and Ceremonies and yet those Churches notwithstanding this may still hold Communion with the Catholick Church and consequently be guilty of no Schismatical Separation therefrom nor from one another But if we by Worship understand the established Publick Worship of a particular Church then are we to consider it not as abstracted from but clothed with such Modes Rites and Ceremonies as are thought convenient by that Church And if any one who is a Member of such a Church shall upon any pretended offence taken against any such Modes Rites and Ceremonies separate himself from the Publick Worship I do not see how he can be acquitted from the guilt of Schism And this I take to be the case not only of the Protestant Dissenters from the Church of England as they call themselves but of English Roman Catholicks too For that they did hold actual Communion with us many years together in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's Reign and neither then nor ever since did pretend to take any offence at the Substantials of our Worship is very plain and evident And that it was not we that separated from them but they that separated from us is as manifest and therefore it will concern them more than us to clear themselves from the sin of Schism And for this I know no other Plea they can make use of than their obedience to the Universal Pastour of God's Church which Plea is to be considered under the next great Bond of Communion viz. Government SECT VIII III. Of Government as it is a Bond of Communion THat our great and Universal Pastour the Lord Jesus Christ did found and constitute a Church and that he did not leave it without Laws and Rules to be governed by nor without proper Governours invested with Power and Authority to exert and execute those Laws we stedfastly believe But that he ever did delegate all his Power to any One or substitute any One Person to be the Universal Pastour of the Church after him we cannot believe because we have no ground for it either in Scripture or in any primitive and authentick Antiquity And indeed how should we for till the Bishops of Rome and Constantinople began to envy one another's Greatness and to strive for Supremacy which was about 600 years after Christ the Church was never acquainted with any such name or thing as is now claimed And no sooner did it adventure to peep abroad but warning was given against it as Antichristian and that by one of their Popes And when afterwards it was publickly usurped it was condemned by a General Council and they are not yet agreed among themselves where to fix it And therefore they cannot in reason expect that we should build our Faith upon such an uncertain Foundation or make that a Bond of Communion in the Church which the Church from 600 years and upwards knew nothing of That Government is a Bond of Communion in the Christian Church we acknowledge and that it was never lodged in the hands of any one Person since our Saviour I think is very plain and evident But where then doth it reside This will best be known by considering how it is derived That it was united in the Person of our Blessed Saviour will be acknowledged on all hands and where he left it there we are to look for it Now that he left it with his Apostles and made them equal sharers therein I think is very plain notwithstanding that pretence which is made by our Adversaries that it was lodged in Peter alone a pretence which hath been so often and so miserably baffled and which if it were true would doe them no service that I wonder they are not ashamed to bring it upon the stage any more And that from the Apostles it was derived to their Successours the Bishops and Pastours of God's Church is the received opinion of all Antiquity Episcopatus unus est cujus à singulis in solidum pars tenetur Cypr. de Vnitate Ecclesiae Edit Oxon. p. 108. And that it now lies dispersed among all the Pastours and Bishops of particular Churches unless they be lawfully called and assembled in Synods or Councils under the Power Protection and Assistance of Civil Authority we verily believe This is the notion we have of the visible and external Government of the Catholick Church and as it hath been so if there were occasion for it may it still be made appear to have been the very notion that all the World except those who have submitted to the Usurpation of Rome ever had and still have of it to this day Now the Laws and Rules by which this Government is administred are to be found in the Holy Scriptures in the Usages and Customs of
sense is not Schism but Apostasie and it will be impossible for any man to find a sufficient reason for that But if it be considered as a separation from the communion of some particular Church then it is implied that possibly there may be such cause given as may justifie the Separation and if so then the guilt of Schism will lie at the door of that Church which gives such cause and not at his or theirs who separate therefrom Now I have already told you that I know no cause which can justifie such a Separation save onely this when a Church makes the terms of her Communion such as cannot be complied withall without sin And in this case methinks it is very plain That it cannot be sin to separate when it is sin to communicate for no Laws of Men can abrogate or dissolve the obligation of the express Laws of God. But if there be no such cause then to break communion with any Christian Church upon any other account will amount to a Causeless Separation and consequently incur the guilt of Schism If therefore the Church of England ever did or now doth forsake the communion of the One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church or if she ever did or now doth voluntarily and causelesly break communion with any particular Christian Church then may there be some colour to charge her with the sin of Schism but if none of all this can be made appear against her then ought she to be acquitted of that charge Now whether any such thing can be made out against her or whether the whole charge will not fall heavy upon the Church of Rome will appear in the sequel of this Discourse SECT XI V. Schism is a Separation from the Communion of that Church of which we are Members THis is the last part of our Definition and I add these words of which we are Members because Schism imports a Division of some united and well compacted Body or a making two of that which before was but one On this score is it that we cannot charge Turks Pagans and Jews with Schism because they never were of the Christian Church nor joyned with her in any Religious Society And here the Church will be at a great loss how to fix the guilt of Schism upon the Church of England for if we neither are nor ever of right ought to have been under the Government of that Church then hath she no Jurisdiction over us nor do we owe her any subjection and obedience and consequently cannot be guilty of Schism towards her nor hath she any power to censure us for it We own her to be a Sister-Church and a true though unsound Member of the Catholick Church and so far as she holds the Catholick Faith and Worship we are ready and willing to hold Communion with her But we cannot submit to her Usurpations nor communicate with her in those Errours Abuses Superstitions Additions Subtractions and Alterations by which she hath so grosly corrupted the pure and primitive Faith and Worship of God's Church SECT XII The Church of England acquitted from the Scandal of Schism IF this Definition of Schism be allowed as I see no cause why they should disown it and not applicable to the Church of England then is she unjustly charged with the guilt of Schism by the Church of Rome Now whether it be applicable to the Church of England will appear by taking a review of the several parts of it 1. Schism is a Separation i. e. a breach of Unity or a dividing of some well compacted Body And here we are charged for breaking the Unity and dividing the Body of the Roman Catholick Church as they call it To which I answer if that Church were truly Catholick either in respect of place or Doctrine this charge would lie heavy upon us but being neither we shall be able with less difficulty to answer this Objection It must be acknowledged that the Church of Rome at the time of the Reformation and some long time before that had usurped a certain Power and Dominion over us and had exerted the same in such extravagant impositions as at last became too heavy for us to bear That Church had indeed by a long custome gained such an ascendent over our Fore fathers that she had enslaved their Judgments and obtruded what she pleased upon them she had unawares led them into many Errours in Doctrine many Superstitions in Worship and almost swallowed up their Liberty in Point of Government At length it pleased God to open the Eyes of our Fore-fathers to see the slavery and bondage they were in and how far they were gone from the Unity of the Catholick Church both in Faith in Worship and in Government To retrieve themselves many Efforts were made and great Endeavours used for a Reformation But none of those prevailing they at last bethought themselves of casting off the Roman yoke which by the assistance of the Civil Authority not in tumultuary but in a regular way was effected and when that was done then upon mature deliberation they reform those other abuses which were crept in among them Whether this broke Catholick Unity or no let the World judge If this be a Schism we must own our selves guilty of it but we see no reason to own it to be so yet for in all this we have done nothing but what we are able to justifie before all the World. For even our Adversaries themselves will not deny but that a National Church hath power in it self to reform abuses within it self But it may be they will tell us that we are not a Church but a faction or party made up of Schismaticks and Hereticks broke loose from the Church If this were true we should have little to say for our selves but a bare accusation is no proof They may do well therefore to recollect themselves and consider that before Austin the Monk set his Foot in England there was a Christian Church settled here under lawfull Governours which Church opposed the proceeding of that proud Monk and denyed obedience to the See of Rome for which they severely suffered If notwithstanding all this our Adversaries shall as they frequently do revive that old thred-bare question so often baffled Where was your Church before the Reformation Our answer is ready it was where it is the same for substance now that it was then It is indeed reformed and repaired but not made new There is not one stone of a new foundation laid by us the old Walls stand still only the overcasting of those ancient stones with the untempered Mortar of new inventions displeased us and that we washed off Durand Ration l. 1. What their own Durandus saith of material Churches is very applicable to the Spiritual If the wall be decayed not at once but successively it is judged still the same Church and upon reparation not to be reconsecrated but only reconciled If therefore our Church be the same for
well distinguish it not the Universal though we take in the Churches of her subordination or correspondence This truth we might make good by authority if our very senses did not save us the labour 2. No particular Church to say nothing of the Universal since the Apostolick times can have power to make a fundamental point of Faith It may explain or declare it cannot create Articles 3. Onely an Errour against a point of Faith is Heresie 4. Those Points wherein we differ from Romanists are they which only the Church of Rome hath made fundamental and of Faith. 5. The Reformed therefore being by that Church illegally condemned for those Points are not Hereticks This I take to be a fair discharge for the Church of England from that foul aspersion which hath been cast upon her by the Church of Rome But Bishop Bramhal chargeth them more home and particularly in five Articles more and lays the sin at their door 1. The Church of Rome usurps an higher place and power in the Body Ecclesiastical than of right is due unto her 2. Se separateth both by her Doctrines and Censures three parts of the Christian World from her Communion and as much as in her lies from the Communion of Christ 3. She rebelleth against general Councils 4. She breaks or takes away all the lines of Apostolical Succession except her own and appropriates all Original Jurisdiction to her self 5. She challenges a temporal power over Princes either directly or indirectly which draws Sedition and Rebellion after it and is no small aggravation of their Schism These are the things we charge them with if they can truly plead not guilty thereunto then are we criminal But if they cannot if these things be really true then are they causally guilty of that Schism with which they would charge us and the whole weight with all the dreadfull consequences thereof will lie at their doors and be an heavy burthen upon them SECT XIV The Conclusion THat there is and for a long time hath been a great and grievous Schism in the Church and that those who have been guilty of it have miserably rent and torn and even eaten out the Bowels of their common Mother What considering Person can be ignorant and who can know it without tears of pity and prayers to God for the restoration of the Church's Peace and Unity This would much better become us than disputing about it and this I declare should have been my Province had not the daily and loud Clamours of the guilty Party so unjustly assaulted the Church of England and forced me from my Privacy to undertake this necessary and just Defence of my dear Mother It hath for a long time been matter of debate and a ball of contention where the cause of the Schism was to be sound The Church of Rome with great confidence and assurance hath laid it at the door of the Church of England and that Church upon better grounds hath charged the Church of Rome with it I pray God open both their and our Eyes that we may all see and know the things that belong unto our Peace that laying aside all rancour and animosity we may at last joyn hearts and hands to promote Truth and Holiness and study nothing more than to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace For my own part I have so great an abhorrence for the sin of Schism that I do seriously profess if I were convinced that the Church of England were guilty of the Schism I would rather chuse to suffer any thing elsewhere than continue in it but God be thanked I am otherwise perswaded and so well satisfied therein that as I have lived so I hope I shall die in the Communion of that Church But alas Perfect Peace and Unity are too great Blessings to be hoped for in this sinfull World they may be Objects of our Prayers but hardly of our Hopes However if we are what we pretend to be i. e. humble and obedient Christians it would well become us in our several Stations to observe the Apostle's Rule which bids us Follow Peace with all Men and Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord Heb. 12. v. 14. Now the God of Peace who brought again from the Dead our Lord Jesus the great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Bloud of the Everlasting Covenant make us all perfect in all good Works to doe his Will working in us that which is pleasant in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be praise for ever and ever Amen Heb. 13. v. 20 21. FINIS A VINDICATION OF THE Church of England From the foul Aspersions of Schism and Heresie Unjustly cast upon Her by The Church of Rome PART II. After the way which they call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets Acts 24.14 LONDON Printed by J. H. for Luke Meredith at the King's Head at the West End of St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVII A VINDICATION OF THE Church of England c. The INTRODUCTION HEresie is a crime of so crimson a dye so heinous in it self and of so dangerous and destructive consequence both to the Heretick himself and to others that without great plain and pregnant proof to charge any Christian or Society of Christians therewith doth evidently betray a rash censorious malicious and unchristian temper in them that doe it I cannot but wonder therefore that the Church of Rome upon so light and insufficient grounds should be so liberal in bestowing this Character upon the Church of England and those of her Communion De corrupt artib Ludovicus Vives one of their own Men did long since complain of this saying Haeresis nomen rebus levissimis impingitur c. The name of Heresie is laid upon every light matter so would the Scotists deal with the Thomists if the custome of the Schools had not made the name so familiar It is a good caution and worthy to be attended to which Alphonsus de Castro De Haeres l. 1. c. 7. p. 79. another of their own Doctors gives in this case Idcirco fit c. Therefore it happeneth that they who so rashly pronounce and call every thing Heresie not considering what or whereof they speak are often smitten with their own dart and fall into the same pit which they themselves had digged for others For this I should rather call Heresie to advance the Writings of Men unto the same degree of honour with the Word of God which they do who think it altogether as impious to dissent from them as from the Scriptures of God. We freely confess with St. Austin Errare possumus We may mistake and be in an errour but we as fully resolve with that holy Father Haeretici esse nolumus We will never be guilty of Heresie We have too great an abhorrence for it and are too well acquainted with the mischief of it to run our selves
Ibid. n. 3. ad calcem Augustine in Ps 49. for it telling us that by Church we are to understand the faithfull people dispersed through the whole world Though none of these will perhaps pass for an exact Definition Aug. ad Quodvult Deum Epist 2. if examined according to the strict rules thereof nor it may be were ever intended as such for as for St. Aug. he freely confesseth That to express by a regular Definition what Heresie is or what thing it is that makes an Heretick in his judgment is either impossible or very difficult yet may they pass for good Descriptions whence we may learn what notion they had of Heresie in those days and what it was that in their judgment did make a man an Heretick From St. Aug. we may learn that there are three things necessary to make up an Heresie 1. To believe such things as are not believed by the Catholick Church 2. To broach those false and new opinions and thereby endeavour to make a party for some secular advantage especially for the sake of ones own glory and grandeur 3. To defend those false and new opinions with obstinacy From their own Angelical Doctour we may learn that there are four things necessary to make a man an Heretick 1. He must be one that professeth the true Faith. 2. He must corrupt the Doctrines of that Faith. 3. He must dissent from some known established Article of the Faith. 4. His dissent must be maintained with obstinacy From their Navar. Doctour we may learn that there are three things necessary to make an Heretick 1. He must be one that is baptized i. e. admitted into the membership of Christ's Church and who by himself or others or both hath made profession of the holy Catholick Faith. 2. He must be one that hath embraced some false and new opinions which are contrary to that Holy Catholick Faith. 3. He must be one that doth believe and maintain those false and new opinions with obstinacy From their Trent Catechism we may learn who may properly be called an Heretick 1. He must be one that doth neglect and despise the Authority of the Church 2. The Authority which is neglected or despised by him must be the Authority of the Catholick Church diffusive Ecclesia est populus fidelis per universum orbem dispersus are the words of that Catechism quoted out of St. Augustine in Ps 49. 3. He must be one that holdeth and defendeth wicked opinions in despight and defiance of that Authority 4. He must hold and defend those wicked opinions with a wilfull and obstinate mind Thus far may we learn the nature of Heresie from these Authorities which are such as I suppose our Adversaries will not disown and if upon any of these severally or all of them joyntly they think fit to implead us we are ready to join issue with them and if by any of these they can make it appear that we are guilty we do solemnly promise that by God's grace assisting us we will repent and amend and I would willingly hope that they would be so ingenuous on their parts as to doe the same But before we proceed any farther let us see what is more to be learn'd of the nature of Heresie out of the Holy Scriptures St. Paul writing to the Church of Corinth tells them that there must be Heresies among them 1 Cor. 11.19 that they which are approved may be made manifest The rise of which Heresies is intimated in the verse immediately preceding V. 18. where he saith For first of all when ye come together in the Church I hear that there are dissensions among you c. Dissension is the first and greatest evil being the Source and Original of all others for from thence proceed strifes debates envyings evil-speaking and all manner of contention by means whereof the Unity of the Church is broken her peace disturbed and her Members crumbled into parties and factions Then doth every party set up for it self and for the sake of its own glory and grandeur endeavours to inlarge its bounds by alluring others to joyn with it This it can never hope effectually to accomplish without having something new to present them with and therefore all Heads are at work to forge and foment some new and plausible though false opinion which being once broached must obstinately be defended and so commenceth Heresie Thus we see the rise and original of Heresie the dangerous and destructive consequence whereof the same Apostle acquaints us with who in his Epistle to the Church of Galatia reckoneth Heresies among the works of the Flesh and tells us Gal. 5.19 20 21. that they who doe such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. And on this account is it that St. Peter gives them that dreadfull Epithet calling them damnable Heresies For saith he 2 Pet. 2.1 There were false Prophets also among the People even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction From this Text it is plain that the Introducers of Heresie and the Ringleaders of Hereticks are false Teachers and these false Teachers in the time of the Gospel are compared to false Prophets in the time of the Law. To know therefore and rightly understand who those false Prophets were and what they did to deserve that title may possibly afford us some light by which to discover those false Teachers who privily bring in these damnable Heresies and not onely so but in some measure also acquaint us with the nature of those Crimes He who by signs and lying wonders sought to turn away the People from the way Deut. 13.1 2 c. which the Lord their God had commanded them to walk in or perswade them to pay their Religious Service and Worship to any other Being but onely the true God was thereby known to be a false Prophet not to be attended to but severely punished Whosoever shall presume to speak a word in the Name of God Deut. 18.20 which God hath not commanded him to speak or shall speak in the Name of other Gods the same is a false Prophet and by the sentence of Almighty God adjudged to death Those who come unto you in sheeps clothing Matth. 7.15 1 Tim 4.2 but inwardly are ravening Wolves Who speak lies in Hypocrisie having their Consciences seared with an hot Iron 2 Tim. 3.5 Who have a form of Godliness but deny the power thereof They are false Prophets and to be rejected by us Those who cause divisions and offences Rom. 16.17 18. contrary to the Doctrine which we have learned they serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own Belly and by good words and fair speeches deceive the simple These are false Prophets or false Teachers and ought to be marked and avoided by us Thus have I given you a short Character of
17. but only the holy Scriptures These we are told are able to make us wise unto salvation and to make the man of God perfect And what can we desire more Heresie therefore must be such an Errour in Religion as is against the truth of God's word being neither contained therein nor to be proved thereby And whosoever is guilty of such an Errour and proceedeth openly to teach and obstinately to defend the same the whole guilt of Heresie and all the mischievous consequences thereof will lie at his door And now let us see how far this first part of the Definition doth affect the Church of England Doth she not embrace the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints Is it not that which she doth so earnestly contend for doth she not profess that common Christianity which she hath received from Christ and his Apostles doth she not own Jesus Christ to be the authour and finisher of her Faith and the holy Scripture to be the rule of her Religion Doth she teach any Doctrine that is not agreeable to the Word of God or profess any Errour that is contrary to the Truth thereof If she do let her Adversaries implead her and if she cannot defend her self she will be so far from being obstinate that she will readily own her fault and by God's assisting grace repent and reform But if they cannot justly charge her with any of these things let them for shame forbear their ungrounded clamour against her as an Heretical Church The Innocency of the Church of England in this point will manifestly appear if we consider what she doth publickly profess and teach her Children to believe in her Articles of Religion 1. She doth declare her Belief Art. 6. That the holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation 2. That whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation 3. That the three Creeds viz. The Nicene Art. 8. the Athanasian and that which is commonly called the Apostles Creed ought thoroughly to be received and believed because they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy Scripture And after such a Declaration as this with what face can the Church of Rome charge her with the guilt of Heresie The Church of England indeed is so modest as not to challenge to her self an Infallibility as that of Rome unwarrantably doth She is willing to acknowledge that she may err but she as firmly resolves that she will never be obstinate in an errour and therefore cannot be justly burdened with the guilt of Heresie SECT III. II. Heresie is an Errour in the Foundation of Religion THE Church of God is said to be built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Eph. 2.20 Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone Where by the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets St. Lyr. in loc Paul means as their own Lyra informs us the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets the one foretelling and the other preaching Christ Jesus And the same Apostle tells us That 1 Cor. 3.10 As a wise Master Builder he had laid the foundation i. e. saith Lyra the Faith of Christ and none other which Faith worketh by love And in another place he saith 2 Tim. 2.19 The foundation of God stands sure i.e. saith Lyra Fides Resurrectionis the Faith or Doctrine of the Resurrection These Scriptures will help us to explain what we mean by the foundation of Religion in this part of the Definition viz. some principal and fundamental point or points of Faith or as their own angelical Doctour styles them Th. Aq. 22. qu. 11. art 2. c. some Article or Articles of Faith or some Doctrines which necessarily follow therefrom And by an Errour in this Foundation I understand not only a dissenting therefrom but also a making of something to be Religion or an Article of Faith which really is not so And whether we be guilty of such an Errour I leave to the impartial Reader to judge when he hath carefully perused these Papers That the Church of England is not guilty of any such Errour methinks is very plain For she doth publickly declare Art. 6. That whatsoever is not read in the holy Scriptures which contain the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets and the Faith or common Christianity which was once delivered to the Saints nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation She also receiveth the three ancient Creeds Art. 8. and teacheth her Children to receive and believe every Article therein And whilst she doth this with what colour can the Church of Rome brand her with Heresie or charge her with an Errour in the foundation of Religion A general charge without any particular instances will not doe to such an one this general answer may suffice and when our Adversaries think fit to descend to particulars they may be further considered SECT IV. III. This fundamental Errour must be openly taught THE Church cannot and therefore doth not pretend to take cognizance of the thoughts of mens hearts that is the sole prerogative of Almighty God who is the searcher of hearts and trier of reins By the law of God a false Prophet or dreamer of dreams was to be slain but then he must be such an one as had endeavoured thereby to seduce the people from the worship of the true God Deut. 13.1 2 3 c. And our Saviour tells us of some who should be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven i. e. should have no place in the Church but be cast out of it as rotten and unsound members And that we may not be ignorant what sort of men these are he describes them to us telling us They are those who break his commandments and teach men so Matt. 5.19 And St. Peter tells us of some who should privily bring in Damnable Heresies and these he calls False Teachers 2 Pet. 2.1 And St. Pauls tells us of some who caused divisions and offences in the Church whom he warns us to avoid but how shall we shun them unless we know them He therefore gives us their character telling us they are such as by good words and fair speeches deceive the simple Rom. 16 17 18. These instances may sufficiently justifie this expression and shew you that it is not without cause that I have given it a place in the Desinition of Heresie For though a man have not only a kindness for some heretical opinions or fundamental errours but do heartily espouse and embrace them yet so long as he keeps all this lockt up in the cabinet of his own breast he is not censurable for it nor can any one without great rashness pronounce him an
Heretick for not to be and not to appear in foro Ecclesiae are the same Heresie then which is so great and heinous a crime an errour so mischievous to the Church of God and of so dangerous consequence to the Heretick himself ought certainly to be very well proved and made mighty clear and manifest before it be charged upon any man or any society of men who profess Christianity For though every Heresie be an Errour yet every Errour is not Heresie It must be an Errour in Religion and in the foundation of Religion too and that fundamental Errour must be divulg'd and openly taught i. e. there must be an endeavour to instill the poison of it into others thereby to seduce and withdraw them from fundamental Truth and Holiness and all this must be own'd stoutly and maintain'd obstinately before it can merit the name of Heresie Till therefore the Church of Rome by plain and undeniable Arguments hath proved all this particularly upon the Church of England she cannot without great rashness and presumption charge her with it A general imputation without particular proofs will amount to no more than a malicious scandal which will betray a great want of true Christian charity in them and the weight thereof will at last fall heavy upon their own heads Alphonsus de Castro de Haer. l. 1. c. 7. p. 79. For as one of their own Doctours saith Those that so rashly pronounce and call every thing Heresie not considering whereof they speak are often stricken with their own dart and fall into the same pit that they themselves had digged for others So far is the Church of England from openly teaching any fundamental errour in Religion that she neither is nor can be proved guilty of any such as is made appear in the preceding Section She teacheth nothing but the pure Word of God nor receiveth any thing as an Article of Faith or necessary to Salvation but what is contained in holy Scripture or may be proved thereby and therefore cannot be justly charged with the guilt of Heresie upon this account SECT V. IV. This fundamental Errour must be obstinately defended and maintained THIS is the last part of the Definition and that which gives spirit and life to all the rest for though we should be guilty of Errour and of Errour in Religion yea though that Errour should be a fundamental one and openly taught by us yet if we be not obstinate therein but upon fair and full conviction are willing to reform our Judgments and relinquish the same we cannot be justly burdened with the guilt of Heresie Such is the modesty of the Ch. of England that she doth not believe much less boast her self to be infallible as the Ch. of Rome unwarrantably doth As the Church of Jerusalem Alexandria and Antioch have erred so she or any other particular Church may err but such is her piety and humility that she is very desirous of and always ready to receive better information and thereupon to reform and amend her Errours She is and ever hath been willing to submit all her Doctrines to be tried by the touchstone of God's Word by the primitive Doctours and Pastours of Christ's Church and by the four first General Councils and therefore without great injustice cannot be thought to be obstinate or contumacious To make a Fundamental Errour become Heresie two things you see are required 1. That Fundamental Errour must be defended 2. It must be defended with obstinacy SECT VI. I. Of Defending a Fundamental Errour TO be guilty of a fundamental Errour in Religion is a great and dangerous crime but to persist in it and undertake the defence of it renders it yet greater and more dangerous for Religion is that upon the due observance of which depends all our happiness here and all our hopes of happiness hereafter and therefore to mistake therein is like an errour in War which is hard to be retrieved but to go on in so doing and set our wits upon the rack to invent arguments to maintain it is to form weapons against our selves with which to batter down all our hopes of future felicity Yet even this may admit of some alleviation for if those who embrace those errours be fully perswaded that they are that Faith which was once delivered to the Saints then are they obliged earnestly to contend for them or if in the defence thereof they do not contend so much for victory as for truth being ready upon better information to relinquish them or if by the misfortune of an ill education or otherwise they be prepossessed therewith and only hold them till they are better instructed not being averse to hearken thereto such an Errour or such a defence of it will not amount to Heresie But God be thanked the Church of England hath no need of any excuse in this case for she receiveth nothing as an Article of Faith but what is contained in holy Scripture nor defends any Doctrine but such as may be proved thereby and therefore it is a manifest injury and malicious scandal in those who charge her with the defence of any fundamental Errour in Religion 'T is true she contends earnestly but it is for the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints She strenuously defends the Religion which she professeth but it is because she hath received it from Christ and his Apostles and because it is well warranted by the Word of God. And if this be Heresie then is she guilty of it if not then is she unjustly charged with it by the Ch. of Rome SECT VII II. Of defending a fundamental Errour with Obstinacy HOW dangerous it is to espouse a fundamental Errour in Religion and how much more dangerous it is to engage in the defence and maintenance of such an errour I have already told you But if that defence be managed with stubbornness and obstinacy it renders the matter not only more dangerous but very desperate Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit Prov. 26.12 there is more hope of a fool than of him saith the wise Solomon If a fool offend it is usually out of ignorance but the sin of the other commonly proceeds from malice a fool sometimes will be counselled but he that is wise in his own conceit shutteth both his eyes and his ears against all advice and instruction And of such St. Hilary saith well They i. e. Hilar. de Trin. l 6. fools forasmuch as they know not the Truth may have their salvation in safety if afterward they believe but all hope of salvation is shut from thee i. e. who art wise in thy own conceit because thou deniest that thing which thou canst not chuse but know This is the case of him who obstinately defends a fundamental errour in Religion and it is this stubbornness and obstinacy that doth complete and perfect his Heresie and by reason whereof he is justly styled an Heretick But to make a man so obstinate