AN Apologetical Vindication OF THE Church of England IN ANSWER To Those who reproach HER WITH THE ENGLISH HERESIES AND SCHISMS Or suspect HER not to be a Catholick Church Upon their Account London Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church yard MDCLXXXVII THE INTRODUCTION EVER since the Dissenters left the Church of England and formed themselves into Separate Churches the Roman Catholicks have not been wanting to take advantage from her sad Misfortune to expose her at home and abroad as a Church that amidst so many monstrous Sects and so many opposite and irreconcileable Communions can have no right to the glorious Title of Catholick nothing really answerable to the true Idaea of a Church nor any pretensions to the Promises of Christ especially those two of preserving his Church against the Powers of Hell and of sending his Spirit of Truth which is but one to guide her into all Truth They endeavour to make the World believe That a Church so over-run with Heresies and Schisms and so shatter'd and torn with intestine Divisions as ours is cannot be a true or good Church nay they will ask us by a figure of Reproach Where they shall find her among such a Crowd of Dissenters And thus using all manner of Artifice on the one hand in setting forth the many Divisions in Religion among us and on the other the great Unity in Doctrine and Worship among themselves they hope to unsettle us yet more and make our People suspect or believe that ours is not a part of the One Catholick and Apostolick Church It is now one of their Common Places to talk of our Schisms and argue from them upon all occasions in diminution of the Church of England They generally begin there when they first attack any of her Sons or Daughters and when ever we engage with them or they with us in a Dispute about the Two Churches we must be content to hear of our Divisions at both Ears Sometimes they seem to lament them sometimes to upbraid us with them and sometimes to dispute down-right upon them but be their Style and Method never so different when they speak or write of the English Heresies and Schisms their common Aim and Design is the same viz. to bring us out of conceit with our Church and perswade us that a Church so full of imbred Divisions in Religion hath not the Characters of Christ's Spouse no Marks of his Favour nor any Similitude with the Catholick Church that heavenly Hierusalem which is as a City that is at peace and unity in it self We are told That it is a sad thing to consider what a world of Heresies are crept into this Nation where every man thinks himself as competent a Judge of the Scriptures as the very Apostles themselves and that that part of the Nation which looks most like a Church dares not bring the true Arguments against other Sects for fear they should be turned against themselves Your Church saith another hath Unity or not if not then she is not the Church of Christ If she hath why are there so many Sects and Schisms among you Saith another who not long since was one of her Priests What would I have once given to have found such an Union among Protestants nay to have found one County in my own dear Countrey or perhaps one single Family so united a Brotherhood And in another place he professes That he cannot tell how the Church of England is able to find her self in an innumerable Huddle of ten times more Dissenters Dissemblers whereof he himself was many years one and Indifferents than her number is able to make At this rate and to this purpose they are also apt to talk in their private Conversation For where I live the Place rings with their Reflections on the Church of England upon the account of our English Separations and having not heard that any thing is yet published to help the People to defend themselves and the Honour of our Church against them I thought I could not better spend the Christmas Vacation than to write a short Tract on purpose to shew That the English Heresies and Schisms are in reality no diminution to the Honour of the Church of England and that the Consideration of them ought to scandalize no man against her or make us believe that she is in any degree less Catholick and Apostolick than her greatest Admirers take her to be This is the main Design of my present Undertaking and that I may omit nothing of moment which ought to be spoken of such a Subject in such a short Treatise I will proceed in the following Method I. I will shew from Reason and the History of the Christian Religion that all Churches are subject to the Misfortune of Schisms and Divisions II. That Schisms and Divisions and the consummation of them in opposite Communions are no good Argument against the Truth or Goodness or Reputation of a Church III. That bare Unity or want of Schisms and Divisions in Religion are no sound Argument for the Truth or Goodness or Reputation of a Church After I have demonstrated these three Propositions I will make enquiry into the true Causes of Schisms and Divisions and more particularly into the Causes of these in England Then I will say something of the Prevention and Cure of them And in the Conclusion make such Addresses to the People of the Roman Communion to the People of the Church of England and to the Dissenters from it as I hope may become a good Christian and the Author of such a peaceful and charitable Discourse as I hope the Reader will find this to be AN Apologetical Vindication OF THE Church of England Chap. I. Shewing from Reason and the History of the Christian Religion that all Churches are subject to the Misfortune of Schisms and Divisions 1. I Will shew from Reason and the History of the Christian Religion that all Churches are subject to the sad misfortune of Schisms and Divisions and to the consummation of them in opposite Communions This to argue first from Reason is as demonstrable of Ecclesiastical as Civil or Military Societies men being as subject by their own evil Passions and the Temptations of the Devil to mutiny and make Insurrections in Churches as in Camps or Cities or other Fraternities of men Nay it being more for the Interest of Satan and also more easie to divide a Church then a Kingdom or a Camp men are so much the more in danger of being tempted to do the one rather then the other and accordingly we find that Churches are more infected with intestine Divisions then States and Kingdoms and whereas formerly one Emperor was able to quell many Mutinies and Rebellions a succession of Christian Emperors sometimes were not able to quell one Schism Wherefore to pursue my Argument as Christian Armies are subject to Mutinies because they consist of Souldiers which may be tempted to Mutiny and Christian
p. 416. perverted all Phrygia Cappadocia and Cilicia and afterwards their corrupt Doctrine went Westward as far as Constantinople it self The Novatian Schism began in Rome it self and was so called from Novatus whom the Greek Writers confound with Novatianus a Presbyter of that Church He * Euseb l. 6. c. 43. taught that it was not lawful to admit those who had fallen in the Decian Persecution upon their repentance to communion with the Faithful and getting himself ordained Bishop in a sinister manner he drove many under that pretence from the Church and then there was Bishop against Bishop Church against Church and Altar against Altar even at Rome it self Neither Cartwright nor Travers nor any other Presbyter of the Church of England did ever do her so much mischief as Novatus did the Church of Rome The Schism which he raised lasted 200 years and had not Cornelius been well assisted by the Catholick Bishops not only in Italy but over all the Christian World this pestilent Schism under the pretence of greater Purity would soon have driven him out of Rome The Schism of the Donatists first began in Carthage and they were so called from Donatus Casensis the Head of the Party which first erected Altar against Altar in that metropolitical City setting up Majorinus against Cecilian who was rightfully ordained Bishop of that Church Of all the Schisms upon record this was one of the most unreasonable dishonourable stubborn impudent and bloudy as will appear from this short Account thereof First It was very unreasonable because it was made by a Party which had nothing to object against the Doctrine Discipline or Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of Carthage but only against the Canonical Incapacity of Cecilian to be Bishop of it as one who was a traditor and worshipper of Idols in the Dioclesian Persecution which notwithstanding appear'd upon many Tryals to have been a malicious Accusation nothing of this having been laid to his charge when he was elected and ordained Secondly It was a most dishonourable and shameful Schism as having been begun and carried on by a rich proud and insolent * Lucilla Woman who was obnoxious to the Rod of Cecilian and corrupted Secundus the Primate of Numidia and many other African Bishops into a Faction against him together with those sacrilegious Presbyters whom Cecilian had called to account for the Plate and other Goods of the Church which had been committed to their Trust in the time of the Persecution Thirdly It was a most stubborn and prevalent Schism which would not yield nor submit to the Autority of the Emperor the Sentence of two †Romanun Arelatense Councils the Determination of the Proconsul of Africa nor the Judgement of the universal Church On the contrary the more it was condemned it grew the more insolent and powerful and oppressed not only the Church of Carthage where it first began but made almost the whole Church of Africa revolt Fourthly It was a most impudent Schism the Schismaticks esteeming themselves as the only pure People of the World and the Catholicks as Pagans and Idolaters plundering their Churches burning their Altars as polluted and treading their holy Sacraments which they found upon them under their feet They also denied them Christian Burial and re-baptized and re-confirmed as many of them as revolted to them and truly so general was the Revolt in all Parts of Africa that the Catholick Communions looked more like Conventicles then the Catholick Church Lastly It was a most bloudy and cruel Schism as appears by the Feats of the * So called quod circum cellas vagantur August T. 7. p. 76. G. T. 8. p. 334. M. T. 8.335 D. E. Circellians or Circumcellians whom the Donatists called Agonistici because they fought for them and destroyed the Catholicks in a most barbarous manner For they were the †Habebant Donatistae per omnes penè Ecclesias suas perditum hominum genus perversum ac violentum velut sub professione continentium ambulantes qui Circumcelliones dicebantur erant ingenti numero à turbâ per omnes ferè Africanas regiones constituti qui malis imbuti doctoribus audacia superbiâ termeritate illicitâ nec suis nec alienis aliquando parcebant contra jus fasque in causis interdicentes hominibus nisi obedissent damnis gravissimis caedibus afficiebant armati diversis telis bacchantes per agros villasque ad sanguinis effusionem accedere non metuentes intoberabiles persecutiones unitati Ecclesie compacti faciebant ipsisque sacerdotibus Catholicis ministris aggressiones nocturnas atque diurnas direptionesque rerum omnium vi inserebant Nam multos dei servos caedibus debilitaverunt Possidonius in vit August Vid. August Ep. 48. 50. De Haeresibus ad Quod-vult-deum Ep. 68. Contra Crescon l. 3. Enarrat in Ps 10. Zealots of the Faction who thought they did God good service in making havock of the Catholicks nay they were such furious Enthusiasts that when they had none to kill as St. Aug. saith they would kill themselves They laid wait for the Catholicks in the ways and murdered both the Clergy and the People they took them out of their Houses by force to kill them they beat them to death with Clubs poured Lime and Vinegar into their Eyes plundered and burnt their Houses and murdered Bishops and Priests at the very Altar and marched about day and night doing these horrible Exploits under the conduct of Donatist Bishops and Priests Nay the whole Sect was all Cruelty and Pride for a Catholick no sooner turned Donatist but he alter'd his temper and became impatient furious haughty and contentious and indeed the many Massacres and Devastations the whole Party committed shews they delighted in Cruelty and Bloud Such was the Schism of the Donatists and it deserves to be well considered by those who are apt to make uncharitable Reflections upon the Church of England or have a mean opinion of her Communion upon the account of the English Schisms The Arian Schism first began in Alexandria and had its Name from Arius a Presbyter of that Church At the first broaching of his Heresie he was opposed by Alexander his Bishop and part of the Clergy and People adhering to the Bishop and part siding with Arius from this small spark saith * Lib. 1. c. 6. Socrates came such a fire as made a Conflagration in the universal Church First It enflamed the Churches of Aegypt Lybia and the upper Thebais and from thence was blown into all the other Churches when as †De vit Constant l. 2. c. 62. Eusebius writes one might have seen not only Bishops contending with one another but the People rent into Factions some inclining to this Party and some to that and when the Pagans also took advantage from those Divisions of the Christians to expose Christianity in their Theatres and turn it into ridicule This sad estate of the
Vtreplerentur humano sanguine orationum loca Ruffinus and the Greek Historians out of whom I might have described it it caused a great deal of Bloudshed in Churches so dangerous that the Souls of many on the one side or other must needs have miscarried in it and so scandalous that it gave occasion to a †M. Marcellinus in loco supra citat Pagan Historian to make such Reflections as I wish for the honour of the Roman See and the holy Episcopal Office had never been made It happened in the year 366 and after the death of Pope Zosimus there happened another scandalous and horrible Schism between Boniface and Eulalius in the year 419 which caused such great and dangerous Tumults in the City that Honorius the Emperor who was then at Milan was not without apprehensions what might be the consequence of it and therefore to prevent and all present danger commanded both of them to be put out of Rome To pass over many intermediate Schisms in after Ages there happened many more of a very scandalous nature between contradictory Popes assisted by contradictory Parties and Councils who could not agree about the rightful Pope Thus in the year 891 the Church of Rome was miserably divided between Formosus and Sergius who were both chosen in Rome by different Parties and tho' Formosus prevailed yet Stephen the 6th his next Successor but one abrogated and nulled all his Orders and degraded all whom he had ordained and gave them new Orders In the year 965. there happened a great Schism after the death of John the 12th betwixt Benedict the 5th and Leo the 8th Platina could not determine which was the right Pope but puts them both in his Lives but Onuphrius in his Annotations upon the Life of Benedict and in his Ecclesiastical Chronology faith expresly that Benedict was the Schismatick and Leo the lawful Pope * In anno 965. Tom. 10. Baronius is of the contrary opinion he makes Leo the Antipope and Benedict the Pope and †In Chron. p. 827. Genebrard confesses that their Historians are not agreed which of the two was the rightful Successor to St. Peter's Chair In the year 1080 the whole Peace of Christendom was disturbed by the Schism which happened betwixt Clement the 3d. and Gregory the 7th 8th and Gelasius the 2d and Gelasius dying it continued between Clement and Calixtus the 2d who was chosen in the room of Gelasius The Emperor was for Clement but the Kings of England and France were for Calixtus tho' the English Clergy and People were much divided in their opinions some maintaining the one and some the other and some again that neither Party was duly elected but Calixtus having taken his Rival prisoner by the help of a good Army put an end to that Schism After the death of Adrian the 4th in the year 1159 happended a grievous Schism betwixt * Maximum Ecclesiae Schisma oriri coepit quod xix annls miserabiliter duravis Orton Frising Chron. Lib. 7. Cap. ult Victor the 4th and Alexander the 3d. which for 19. years mightily disturbed the Christian World some of the †Cardinales in seditionem conversi geminâ electione scindunt Vnitatem Radevic Frisingensis L. 2. C. 43. Cardinals chose the one and some the other and after their respective elections both were ordained and sent out ‖ Id. I. 2. C. 50. 51. Circular Letters with contradictory protestations and remonstrances attesting God to the truth of what they said Alexander called God to witness in his Letters that he was chosen by all the Cardinals but three and yet the Cardinals of Victor's Party in a * Radevic Frising L. 2. Cap. 51. publick declaration protest that he was chosen by nine Cardinals The Emperour to put an end to this Schism calls a Council at Pavia and to that end wrote to Alexander and the Cardinals and also to the Tramontan Bishops to meet there The †Id. l. 2. c. 64 65 66 67. Council being met the Emperour made a speech to them to exhort them with Fasting and Prayers to commend the Cause of the Church to God and after seven days discussion of the Controversy between the two Popes they gave sentence in behalf of Victor and the Canons of St. Peter at Rome in a Letter to the Emperor and the Council did assure them that the uncorrupt and better part of the Cardinals were for him whereupon the Emperor ratified and confirmed his Election and by his Edict commanded he should be received as Pope He died after he had sate four years and was succeeded by Paschal the 3d. Callistus the 3d. and Innocent the 3d. all opposite Popes to Alexander the 3d. whom the Roman Writers affirm to have been the true Pope But the most grievous Schism of all the rest was that which began in the year 1378. between Vrban the 6th and Clement the 7th Vrban kept his Seat at Rome but Clement at Avignion and the Germans Hungarians English and part of Italy stood for the former and the French and Spaniards for the latter Vrban created 54 Cardinals and Clement 36. The Schism between these two Popes and their Successors lasted about 50 years or according to * History of Popish c. Mr. Foulis who accounts the Schism of Felix against Eugenius as a part of it because it sprung from it above 70 years during all which time excepting the interval between Clement and Felix the 4th there were two opposite Lines of Succession to St. Peter's Chair till Felix whom the Council of Basil set up against Clement upon the earnest entreaty of the Emperor resigned up all his Interest to the Popedom and left Nicolas the 5th Successor in the Line of Vrban sole soveraign Pontif in the Roman Throne Nay during the time of this Schism there were sometimes three Popes for the Cardinals thinking to end the Schism called a Council at Pisa where they deposed Gregory the 12th one of Vrban's Successors and Benedict the 11th one of Clement's Successors and chose Alexander the 5th who died before he had sate a year Alexander was succeeded by John the 23d who created 16 Cardinals and sate seven months till the Council of Constance perswaded him to recede and become a private man again A man would think that of all Christians in the World a Roman Catholick should be most backward to upbraid the Church of England with Schism considering what frequent and violent Schisms his own Church hath laboured under in former Ages Schisms that have rent the Union and split if not interrupted the Line of Succession in the one Catholick Church and brought it to such a sad condition that the secular Authority has been fain to determine of two or three Popes which was rightfully elected and which not Thus in the Reign of †2 3 Rich. 2. c. 6. A.D. 1378. Rich. the 2d the Parliament of England did declare in an Act for that purpose that Vrban the
the account of Divisions that he in effect apologized for them and for the goodness and wisdom of God that suffered them for saith he there must be * Ac si diceret ob hoc haereseôn non statim divinitùs eradicantur authores ut probati manifesti siant id est unusquisque quam tenax fidelis fixus Catholicae fidei sit amator appareat Vincent Lirin heresies among you that those who are approved may be made manifest So St. Clement begins his Epistle to the same Church which was written upon the occasion of a great Schism in this manner The Church of God at Rome to the Church of God at Corinth It seems the Church at Corinth rent and torn as it was with intestine Divisions was the Church of God as well as that of Rome in which there were then no Divisions at all St. Peter's next and immediate Successor bewailed the sad Misfortune of the Corinthians but he did not unchurch them for it he told them how it occasioned their venerable and illustrious Name to be evil spoken of but nevertheless he called them the * §. 1. elect of God. And so Constantine the Great in an Epistle which he wrote to the Alexandrians when they were very infamous upon the account of the deadly Feuds and Separations which divided their Communion salutes them in these words †Socrat. H. E. 〈…〉 9. Constantine the Emperor to the Catholick Church of Alexandria Not long after when the Arian Bishops ‖ L. 1. c. 27. conspired against Athanasius to get the Emperor to depose him and his Majesty upon hearing his Cause found their Accusations to be false he wrote a Letter in his behalf to the Alexandrians of which this is the Title * Athan opera vol. 1. p. 779. Constantine the great Emperor to the People of the Catholick Church which is at Alexandria When he wrote this Letter to the People of Alexandria it abounded with Melitians and Arians who had formed themselves into opposite Communions and yet those schismatical opposite Communions were in the judgement of that learned Emperor no Argument against the Alexandrian Church So Constantine junior shortly after his Father's death before he assumed the Title of Augustus directed Letters to the Church of Alexandria in favour of Athanasius with this Superscription †Socrat. H. E. l. 2. c. 3. Constantine Caesar to the People of the Catholick Church of the Alexandrians Notwithstanding all the Sects and Sectaries of Alexandria the Church still remained Catholick in the Communion of the Faithful who retained the ancient Apostolical Doctrine and Discipline These wise Emperors considered that the Tares could not alter the property of the Wheat and therefore tho' there were a World of Hereticks and Schismaticks in Alexandria and all the Regions round about it yet they called the Church a Catholick Church It was every jot as Catholick then as it was before the Melitian and Arian Schisms when the People were of one mind and one Communion for it is not the great number of Church members is any Diocess Province or Patriarchat but the cause and nature of the Communion that makes a true Church Otherwise if Churches must be no longer reputed truly Catholick and good then all the Members which are or ought to be of it are unanimous and communicate together then it must follow that both the Church universal and every particular Member of it long since lost their Catholick nature and were no true Churches in the eyes of God. What for instance became of the Church Catholick after the Council of Ariminum when almost the whole Christian World became Arian except a very * Libellus precum p. 8 9 10 11. Vincent Lirin c. 6. small number of Bishops who stuck to the profession of the Catholick Faith More particularly what became of the Church of Rome when Pope Liberius embraced the Arian Communion and subscribed to the Sentence of the Arian Bishops against Athanasius as †Eccles Ann. T. 3. p. 761 762 763. Baronius acknowledges tho' he endeavours to prove that he never subscribed to the Arian Confession or Heresie Nay what became of it especially upon their Principle when Pope ‖ Vid. Nili Archiepiscop Thessalon de primatu Papae lib. qui est ad calcem Salmas de primatu Papae p. 33 34 35 p. 61. Honorius the 1st fell into the Heresie of the Monothelites for which he was condemned by the 6th General Council and anathematized for it after his death by the 2d Council of Nice which they receive for the 7th General Council Nay if Heresies and Schisms are good Arguments or just matter of Exception against any Church what shall we say to the Church of Rome upon the account of the Novatian and all the other Antipapal Schisms mentioned in the former Chapter Or to go farther back into Antiquity what Apology shall we make for her when * Euseb H. E. l. 5. c. 15. Blastus and Florinus a degraded Roman Presbyter raised a great Schism in Rome endeavouring to introduce new Doctrines which †C. 20. Irenaeus confuted in Books written for that purpose Their Doctrines were very absurd as well as inconsistent with the Faith and Tradition of all Churches and yet they drew away many from the Church of Rome and enticed them to embrace their Opinions Nay what shall we do to defend her in the Time of Pope Victor and Zephyrinus when she was infested with the Heresie Euseb H.E. l 5. c 28. which asserted our Lord to be a meer man This damnable Heresie was first taught at Rome by Theodotus no better a man then a Tanner for which he was excommunicated by Pope Victor and afterwards in the Time of his Successor Zephyrinus it came to a perfect Schism when the Hereticks made Natalis the Confessor a Bishop of the Heresie and settled a Maintenance upon him One of the Scholars of Theodotus the Tanner was another Theodotus a Banker a great promoter of the Schism and therefore I cannot but wonder that any Roman Catholick who understands Antiquity should upbraid the Church of England with the Preaching of Mechanicks and Tradesmen when a Tanner and a Banker in the 2d Century were the Ring-leaders of such a pestilent Heresie in the Church of Rome and as an Author of that Time reports impudently took upon them to adulterate the Scriptures and reject the Canon of the primitive Faith. Why should men pretending to Sense and Learning use and Argument that is so easily retorted upon themselves and when it is pursued into all its Consequences makes it impossible for them to defend either the Church Universal or any particular Member thereof What will they say for the primitive Church by way of defence against the Gnostical Heresies if they argue against that as they are wont to argue against the Church of England Or to pass over the Schisms of which I have given some Account in the
former Chapter how can they by their way of arguing maintain the Church of Antioch to have been Catholick in the Time of Paulus Samosatensis who revived the Heresie of Theodotus and taught that Christ by nature was no more then a meer man For this Reason he held Communion with the Followers of Artemon the Author of this damnable Heresie teaching that Christ was from the Earth and damning the Hymns which used to be sung in Churches to his honour as novel Composures and letting his Followers chant forth Hymns to his own praise in the Church and tell the People that he was an Angel sent from God. Was there ever such an heretical and blasphemous Archbishop in the Church of England since the Reformation as this But if there had been more then one such the Church of England nevertheless would have been a truly Catholick Church as this of Antioch then was in the judgement of the Council that deposed Paul. For in that excellent * Euseb H.E. l. 7. c 30. Epistle which the Council wrote to the Bishops and Presbyters of the whole Catholick Church under Heaven they tell them after a long recital of Paul's Impieties that they were necessitated to depose him and ordain another in his stead over the Catholick Church I might also ask them upon their way of treating the Church of England upon the score of the English Heresies and Schisms what they can say for the Church of Constantinople in the Time of Macedonius and Nestorius who were both Patriarchs of that Church and both fell into Heresie and Schism When a Bishop and much more a Patriarch leads the Flock into by-paths the Schism is more deplorable but yet it is not the Apostasie and Secession of one or two or more Bishops if that should happen that can destroy the Catholick and Apostolick nature of any Provincial Patriarchal or National Church For as I observed before it is not the number of Communicants but the cause or soundness of Communion that makes a true Church and therefore were there both for kind and number ten times as many more opposite Sects and Communions as there are in this Nation and Bishops at the Heads of them all yet upon supposition that the Church of England is sound and Apostolical in Doctrine Worship and Discipline that * Vna est pars in quâ sunt multi Episcopi sed ubi sunt multi illic sacra fides Christi violata est ubi verò paucissimi sunt fides Christi vindicatur Libell precum p 9 12 13. small number adhering to her Communion must be the true Church Nay if all the Bishops of England but one should fall away from the Church of England that †Non dubitandum est paucos Episcopos esle pretiosos merito consessionis inviolabilis sidei multos vero nullifieri merito haereseos in causâ religiouis sacrae fidei non numerus numero comparandus est sed pura illa Apostolica fides probata exiliis probata cruciatibus licet unlus Multorum infidelitatibus praeponenda est ibid. one Bishop and the Flock adhering to him would be the true Church of England and as true and Catholick a Church as if there were not one Dissenter in the Land. The learned Papists know this very well and therefore I wonder that men pretending to Letters and Ingenuity should argue against the Church of England from the English Heresies and Schisms Furthermore if this be a good way of arguing against Churches then the Church of the Jews was twice involved in the consequences of it once by the Schism of Corah and then by that of Jeroboam who set up a Priesthood and Altar a Bethel in opposition to that of Jerusalem and by the separation out off ten Tribes in twelve from the true Church of God. Nay if this modish way of arguing be true then the separation of th Church of England and other National Churches from that of Rome are as strong Arguments against it as the Sects and Schisms among us are against the Church of England There is no difference in the Case because they say that all the Protestant Churches are schismatical for falling off from them as we say the Congregational Churches are for falling off from ours and if ours indeed is not a Catholick Church but apparently under God's displeasure because forsooth they can tell us of the Presbyterians Independents Anabaptists and Quakers then we may by just consequence say as much of theirs because we can tell them of the Waldenses Albigenses and Wiccliffians of old and of late of the Lutherans Calvinists and Church of England-men who are all Separatists from the Communion of Rome As those we repute Schismaticks sprang out of our Church and Communion so those whom they repute Schismaticks sprang out of theirs and therefore would not any man wonder that they should so far forget themselves as to use such Arguments against the Church of England and make such Reflections upon it as may be easily retorted upon themselves to overthrow their own Pretensions to Catholicism and weaken the Cause and Reputation of their Church The Church of Rome say they is the Catholick Church and the Church which Christ left upon Earth and the Church of England hath separated from it and therefore say we in their loose way of discoursing the separation of the Church of England is a good Argument against the Goodness and Reputation of that Church which Christ left upon Earth Nay say they Christ can have but one Church upon Earth and we believe none can be that Church but that which is called the Roman Catholick Church but then say we a world of Heresies and Schisms have been bred in that one Church the Catholick Church of Rome and therefore it is long since this one Church of Christ was one or a true and good Church Your Church say the two late Converts to us hath Vnity or not if not then she is not the Church of Christ if she hath why are there so many Sects and Schisms among you Now not to provoke such Gentlemen to * A Net for the Fishers of Men p. 111. paint and rip up the Sores of Protestancy your Church may a Turk say to them hath Unity or not if not then she is not the Church of Christ if she hath why are there so many Sects among you You say you are the one Catholick Church but what shall we do to find it in such and buddle of Dissenters as are in the Empire France Great Britain Sweden Denmark and other Northern Countreys and of * Ex to ordine scilicet Cardinalium sunt quatuor aut quinque quorum nomina possum proferre si vellem quibus reverâ probetur nostra doctrina saltem magna ex parte Romana exosa sit Sed vae illis cum filius Dei enunciaverit fore ut is qui nôrit voluntatem Domini non fecâ—…it vapulet pluribus quam qui non
have offered up himself a propitiatory sacrifice before he was offered upon the Cross In a word the Contradictions involved in it are almost innumerable by which it equally choaks the learned and unlearned and as it hath made so it will for ever make Dissenters in great abundance and no man nor any Church can ever want a just pretence of dividing from the Church of Rome as long as it is an Article of her Faith. These two Principles without naming any more naturally tend to making of Divisions after Divisions among them notwithstanding all the actual Union of which they boast But the Church of England hath no such dividing Principles theoretical or practical in her Constitution nothing is required to Communion with her but what is primitive and Apostolical and how much soever she hath been or is broken and divided yet her Communion is truly Catholick and tends to Peace and Coalescence and even now her Wounds are closing apace and ready to heal of themselves And as the Church of England hath more potential Union in her then that of Rome so hath she more actual Union too for her Clergy and People have no such fierce and bitter Contentions among them as there are betwixt the Irish Remonstrants and Anti-Remonstrants the Molinists and Jansenists as well as Thomists and Scotists and Jesuites some of which opposite Parties will not communicate with one another And as for the Difference among them concerning the Judge of Controversies and whether the Pope be subject or superior to a general Council it tends naturally and by due rational consequence to the dissolution of their Communion and who knows but we may live to see the Comedy of Basil acted over again and one part of the Roman Church declaring for a general Council and the other for the Pope Nay I may say that at this present the Clergy of the Church of England have been and are united to Admiration and Envy and better then the Clergy often happened to be in the ancient Catholick Church Had our Bishops ever such Broils among them as happened betwixt the Bishops of the Eastern and Western Churches about no greater a Matter then the keeping of Easter And between Cpyrian and Dionysius and Firmilian three Metropolitans and their Adherents on the on side and the Bishop of Rome and his on the other about re-Baptization when they made no bones of * Vid. â—â— Firmiliani contra Ep. Stephani in cyprian edit Rigalt p. 143. taxing the Pope with Inhumanity Insolence and Folly Or had we ever reason to take up that Complaint against them which †H. E. l. 3. â— 1 Eusebius made against the Bishops of the Catholick Church before the Dioclesian Persecution That they were as it were at War among themselves and wounded one another with words as with Darts and Spears nay that they dashed and split like capital Vessels one upon another striving for preheminence and enlarging the bounds of their Diocesses which causes great Factions among the People Or to descend to more particular Instances Was there ever such a tragical Quarrel between any of our Archbishops or Bishops since the Reformation as happened between Theophilus Patriarch of Alexandria and John Chrysostom Patriarch of Constantinople Epiphanius who sided with Theophilus and Chrysostom ‖ Socrat. l. 6. c. .14 cursed one another * Socrat. l. 16. c. 17. much Bloud was s hed on both sides and the Cathedral Church of Constantinople with the Senate-house were burnt in the Quarrel down to the ground Sozom. l. 8. c. 21. Sozomen protests he was ashamed to tell many things which happened in this Quarrel lest Infidels should come to the knowledge of them and saith †An. 400. n. 31. Baronius going to tell the Story of it I shall now describe a cursed Persecution not of Pagans against Christians or of Hereticks against Catholicks or of wicked against good men but what is monstrous and prodigious of Saints and holy men one against another to proceed Did the Bishops of England since the Reformation ever accuse one another in written Libels before the King as the Å¿tar; Sozom. l. 1. c. 17. Bishop in the Nicene Council did before the Emperor Or is there now any occasion of using against them the words which †Vit. Nazianz. â—â—aeâ—ixa operibus Nazianz. Gâ—aeâ—è â—…tis Paris 1630. Nazianzen spoke in a Council of Constantinople which went about to depose him It is a shame my fellow-Pastors of Christ's Flock and not befitting you to fall to war among your selves while you are to teach others peace and perswade them to live in unity To conclude How many such sharp Contentions have happened among our Bishops as we read happened between Paul and Barnabas Acts 15. 39. and between Paul and Peter Gal. 2.11 where we read that because Peter was to be blamed he withstood him to his very face Had the Clergy and People of our Communion been long or often exercised by such Broils as these the R. Cs. would have had a fair pretence to reproach us with want of Unity but the God of Union be praised for it we have no such Feuds and Contentions among us but quite contrary are as fast cemented among our selves in Love and Union as I believe any Church of the like extent ever was in the World. CHAP. IV. An Enquiry into the True Causes of Schisms and Divisions HAving shewed from several Arguments in the foregoing Chapter That bare Vnity or want of Divisions is no Argument for the Trueness or Reputation of a Church I shall for the farther advantage of my Plea proceed in this to make enquiry into the Causes of Divisions and Schisms and more particularly into the Causes of these in England with which the Christians Roman Communion are pleased so to upbraid our Church Now in this enquiry into the Causes of Divisions and Schisms I should very much forget both the ancient Jewish and Christian Theology if I did not in the first place name the Devil by whom we are not to understand any single evil Spirit but the whole society of apostate Angels who are most malicious and implacable Enemies of God and of Man for God's sake and of the Church above all other Societies of Men. This Doctrine we have not only from the Scriptures of the Old and New. Testament but from the most ancient primitive Christian Writers who as it were with one voice ascribe unto the Devil Idolatry Persecution Heresie and Schism He is meant by the Enemy in our Saviour's Parable who took his opportunity while men slept to sowe Tares in the Field of the Church And accordingly St. Paul who was not ignorant of his devices calls Heresies the doctrines of Devils 1 Tim. 4.1 saith he The Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter days some shall depart from the truth giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils And in Ephes 6.12 saith he Put on the whole armour of God that ye