this sober warning of De consecr dist 2. c 42. ego Bereng them Haec verba nisi sane intelligas in majorem incides Haeresin quam ipse Berengarius habuit i. e. Unless you understand these words in a sound sense you will fall into a greater Heresie than Berengarius was guilty of And upon the account of this pretended Infallibility I might add some Reflections upon those horrid Murthers Treasons and Rebellions which have been encouraged and carried on out of a belief of the Popes Supremacy and Power over Princes at least in ordine ad Spiritualia in order to Church-matters which must needs make a great flaw in their Allegiance What think you of the Popes Nnncio at the head of the Irish Army Sir if you will give your self the freedom impartially to consider the Answers that are made by the Romish Writers to excuse what is charged upon them for these and some other loose Doctrines and practices you will find it no Fable That their defences dwindle into mere evasions I shall now conclude your trouble and my own with a few Animadversions upon the whole matter First That how hot soever your Zeal may grow for the Church of Rome you might have done much better service for the Church Catholick if you had continued in the Communion of that part of it which is established in this Kingdom Secondly To use the word of the Ingenious Author of The Notion of Schisme that for any to desert the Church of England to communicate with that of Rome is such a frantick humor as for a man to quit the neatest appartment and exchange for the most sluttish Rooms in the same House Thirdly That you have given a scandal to your Brethren of the Church of England contrary to that Caveat and Admonition of the Apostle 1 Cor. 10. 32. And he Estius ad locum that gives offence to his Brother sins against God whose handy-work he destroys Rom. 14. 20. He sins also against Christ in destroying him for whom Christ died Rom. 14. 15. Fourthly and Lastly That by withdrawing your self from that subjection and obedience which by the Laws of the Catholick Church you owe to your own Bishop Primate or Metropolitan you run desperately into Schisme while you are superstitiously solicitous to avoid it For Schisma est contumax adversus Episcopum rebellio quâ quis ejus communionem deserit c. Schisme is a plain Rebellion against the Bishop whereby a man forsakes his Communion and endures no fellowship with him in Divine matters as Christian Lupus hath it upon Tertullian †Schol. ad cap. 6. de praescript Epist 65. And St. Cyprian in an Epistle ad Rogatianum Novensem who had been affronted by his Deacon saith thus Haec sunt initia Haereticorum c. By these means Hereticks are hatched and the endeavours of ill-minded Schismaticks promoted who that they may gratifie their humorsome whymsies do supercilionsly contemn him that is set over them thus men depart from the Church and set up a prophane Altar that is a Conventicle without the Communion of it Thus they make war upon the Peace left by Christ and rebel against Unity and the Ordinance of God And Epist 69. ad Florentium Pupianum writing in reference to himself he saith thus Inde Schismata Haereses abortae sunt oriuntur c. Hence Heresies and Schismes have their rise when as the Bishop who is but one and presides over the Church is most presumptuously contemned and the man dignified with a vocation from God is thought unworthy thereof by men That St. Cyprian writes thus not in reference to the Bishop of Rome but to himself and other Bishops of particular Churches is evinced by Goulartius in his Annotations ad Epist 55. n. 27. against Pamelius With great reason therefore did the Council of Nice decree Can. 6. Antiqui mores serventur c Let the Ancient customes and priviledges be preserved That the Bishop of Alexandria may have the Jurisdiction and power of them who are in Egypt Lybia and Pentapolis for so the Bishop of Rome hath customarily had over his Province Likewise also in Antiochia and other Provinces let their Priviledges be preserved inviolable to their respective Churches The Epitome of which Canon runs thus Super Aegyptum Lybiam Pentapolim Alexandrinus Episcopus potestatem habeat Romanus super Romae subditos Item Antiochenus aliique super suos i. e. Let the Bishop of Alexandria have V. Pandect à Guil. Beverege Edit in 1. Concil Nice Cā 6. Authority over Egypt Lybia and Pentapolis and the Bishop of Rome over the Subjects of Rome In like manner the Bishop of Antioch and all other Bishops over their Subjects in their respective Provinces And Alex. Aristenus hath this Gloss upon it Unumqnemque Patriarcharum Ibid. c. Every Patriarch ought to be content with his own priviledges and not to usurp upon any other Province which was not heretofore and from the beginning under his power and Jurisdiction for this is the pride of an unjust secular Dominion And in the Second General Council held at Constantinople Can. 2. it is decreed thus The Bishop shall not pass the bounds of their own Diocesses nor confound the priviledges of the Churches but govern themselves according to the Canons And if we observe the Canon prescribed concerning Diocesses it is clear that each Province shall be governed by the particular Synod of the same Province as it is decreed by the Council of Nice And Leo the Great had so great a veneration and zeal for the Authority and hononr of that Synod that in an Epistle to Anatolius Bishop of Constantinople blaming him highly amongst other miscarriages for invading the priviledges of the Churches of Alexandria and Antioch he writes thus I grieve not a little that you are fallen into so great an Error as to attempt the violation of the most sacred Constitutions of the Canons of Nice viz. In attempting to invade after Alexandria and Antioch the dignities and priviledges of all other Metropolitans And blaming him for endeavouring to wheadle the most Christian Emperour and the holy Synod called by his Authority for the extinguishing of Heresie and the Confirmation of the Catholick Faith to serve his ambitious designs he tells him That the Synod of Nice consisting of three hundred and eighteen Bishops was so Sacred and consecrated * Tanto divinitùs privilegio Consecrata Leo Mag. Epist 53. inter opera Paris 1623. with so great a priviledge from God that whatsoever was done by any of their Councils be they never so numerous who assembled in them it should be utterly void and of no Authority if it were differing from what was Ordained by those Holy Fathers †Quicquid ab iliorum fuerit Constitutione diversum Let the Pope of Rome consider well these weighty Letters of his great Predecessors And in his Epistle to Martianus the Emperour blaming the Ambition of Anatolius
Grammatical sense of these Articles yet he seems to allow a modest liberty without contention in putting the most favourable construction upon them The words are these Though some differences have been ill raised yet we take comfort in this that all Clergy-men within our Realm have always most willingly subscribed to the Articles established which is an Argument to Us that they all agree in the true literal meaning of the said Articles and that even in those curious points in which the present differences lie Men of all sorts take the Articles of the Church of England to be for them which is an Argument that none of them intend any desertion of the Articles established Where we see his Majesty took notice that men of all sorts took these Articles to be for them and he declares that he took comfort therein Which argues that the imposition was not strict and rigid as to the sense and meaning of the Articles And though in the Synod 1640. Can. 6. an Oath was enjoyned yet it was with as much modesty and tenderness as any sober and peaceable Subject can desire for thus it runs I A. B. do swear that I do approve the Doctrine and Discipline or Government in the Church of England as containing all things necessary to salvation Where two things are very observable 1 The assertion is only this That I do approve the Doctrine c. the 2 Only as containing all things necessary to salvation for which we are referred to the authority of the Holy Scripture by the Sixth Article as was observed before 3. As to the end of these respective Articles Those of Pope Pius are declared to be necessary to salvation not only Necessitate praecepti sed Medii necessary as well upon the account of a Means as of a Precept for the Pope declares Hane esse veram Catholicam fidem Extra quam nemo salvus esse potest That this is the true Catholick Faith without which no man can be saved But the Articles of the Church of England generally are intended for a decorum and order matters of necessary Faith being herein restrained to the Holy Scriptures to keep out disputes and vain jangling and to preserve peace and concord in her Communion Thus much is intimated in the very Title prefix'd to those Articles but much more clearly in his Majesties Declaration before mentioned where he saith We hold it most agreeable to our Kingly Office and our own Religious Zeal to conserve and maintain the Church committed to our charge in the unity of the true Religion and in the bond of peace and not to suffer unnecessary Disputations Alterations or Questions to be raised which may nourish Faction both in the Church and Commonwealth We have therefore thought fit to make this Declaration That the Articles c. do contain the true Doctrine of the Church of England agreeable to Gods word which we do therefore ratifie and confirm c. But this is more clear in a Book set forth 1571. called Liber quorundam Canonum Disciplinae Ecclesiae Anglicanae SS de Concionatoribus Where it is ordered thus Imprimis vero videbunt c. Let the Preachers take care that they teach nothing in their Sermons which they would have the People hold and believe as a matter of Religion but what is consonant to the Doctrine of the Old or New Testament and what the Catholick Fathers and Ancient Bishops have gathered out of the same And because those Articles of Christian Religion which were agreed upon by the Bishops c. are without doubt collected out of the Sacred Books of the Old and New Testament and do in all things agree with the heavenly Doctrine contained therein Also because the Book of Common Prayers and the Book of the Inauguration of Archbishops Bishops Priests and Deacons do contain nothing that is contrary to that Doctrine whosoever shall be sent out to teach the People shall confirm the authority and belief of those Articles as well by their subscription as in their Sermons Qui secus fecerit contrariâ doctrinâ Populum turbaverit excommunicabitur Whosoever shall do otherwise and disturb the People with any contrary Doctrine shall be excommunicated Here indeed the Clergy are implicitly enjoyned to preach up the belief and authority of these Articles But withal 1 The belief and authority of them is required not as grounded upon the Declaration and Sanction of the Ecclesiastical Governours though a hearty submission and obedience is due thereto in matters of Religion Discipline and Order upon the account of a Divine precept but upon their Congruity with the Holy Scriptures according to the sense of the Ancient Fathers 2 That such as transgress these Articles are punish'd for want of good manners as disturbers of the publick Peace Wherefore though the Author of the Guide in Controversies * Disc 3. cap. 7. hath made it his business to strain every Sentence Phrase and word in the Canons as well as the Articles of the Church of England to make those Articles seem to run parallel in the Charge of a new smposition of Faith with those in the Creed of Pope Pius the Fourth aforementioned yet by what hath been observed it is evident that the Articles of the Church of England were not intended as those of that Pope clearly were for an Addition to the Faith declared by the Fathers at Nice which with all Christian Churches we profess as Catholicks but for information to direct our publick discourses generally as occasion serves in matters of Religion as we are united in the Communion of the particular Church of England after a deliberate and sober Reformation which to attempt and perform as far as in them lies no doubt all Bishops are as well obliged in duty by Christ's Command Apoc. 2 3 Cap. as prescribed to do it orderly by the 34. of the Apostles Canons †Episcopos uniuscujusque gentis nosse oporter eum qui in eis est primus existimare eum ut caput nihil facere magni momenti praeter illius sententiam illa autem sola facere unumquemque quae ad suam paroeciam pertinent pagos qui ei subfunt To leave this long though not unnecessary digression This Infallibility in the latitude the Roman party pleads for is so very improbable that Mr. Cressey in his Neophytism was not able to swallow it till he had shrunk it up into an Indefectibility wherein we can heartily close with him And for all that great priviledge which make so much noise in the world I do very well observe that in many cases they are glad to rest satisfied with a probable Conscience And in spight of that Infallibility They must stand to the courtesie or hazard of a probable Opinion to secure themselves according to their practice from the peril of Idolatry And this is acknowledged by the Jesuite Ant. Terill our Countryman in his Tractate de Conscientia Probabili His words are these
THE RELIGION OF THE Church of England c. IN A PRIVATE LETTER SIR SInce I have known you so long I am sorry I knew you no better I assure you I intended to treat you as an entire Friend but you wrest my words to a harsh construction For Mr. S he was so far from giving any partial account that he did not so much as positively say you had left our Communion I confess upon a vehement suspicion for which we had other grounds I took the freedom to tell you what would fall under every ordinary apprehension that your departure would unavoidably expose you unto censure That some would impute it to a hot head others to a weak Judgment and a third sort perhaps to discontent that you were not gratified according to your great merits Herein Sir I only plaid the part of a Rehearsal For my own part in imputing what I had heard of you to a fit of the Spleen I gave an evidence of my Charity in regard you had formerly complain'd of such a fit as had unhing'd your faculties and stifled your Pen into a long silence and sure I could never reckon that for a fault in you which I knew to be your infelicity and affliction Hitherto therefore my carriage was very innocent And when I long'd so much to hear from you if I were a little impatient at the disappointment yet a little ingenuity would have given it a better interpretation than the want of common prudence and a fast Friend would have taken it for an argument of a sincere affection However I must lament my own loss that what you intended for my information was by such an unfortunate misadventure cast into the common lot of waste Paper But whatever the conception was which those Letters miscarried with these give me an intimation of your present change And to question whether this were Mutatio dextrae Altissimi a change wrought by the right hand of the Most High were no doubt in your Judgment to make a breach upon Charity and Prudence both together Yet seeing you applaud your self as all such Proselytes use to do that you have changed Opinion into Faith and Doubtfulness into Infallibility give me leave for once to enquire into the real advantage you flatter your self to have purchased by your Separation from us In order hereto I pray resolve me where the Infallibility is lodged which you so much boast of I presume you will not say you have it in your own bosom for that would smell a little too rank of arrogance if you say 't is lodged in the person of the Pope that is rendred very improbable because it was not long since one of them professed that he was no Theologue and consequently not fit to determine a point of Faith and if we may believe some of the Roman Writers besides Schism Heresy Infidelity and Atheism have been found amongst them And this Doctrine is so false and scandalous that Mr. White makes it more criminal and damnable than deflouring of holy Virgins upon the Holy Altar †Vide Tabulae Suffragiales 2. If you place your Infallibility in the diffusive body of the Clergy or of Christians in general That will be of no more advantage to the determination of Controversies than the private Spirit that is utterly unprofitable and useless for why may we not find it then in Bishop Andrews as well as in Bellarmine in Bishop Sanderson as well as in Cajetan and in Dr. Hammond as well as in Stapleton 3. If you lodge it in General Councils there we are ready to joyn issue with you For those which are truly such we have the greater veneration for And I will give you one instance in matter of Faith that shall make it evident beyond contradiction for matter of Jurisdiction afterward In the Third general Council held at Ephesus Decrevit Sancta Synodus Concil 3. Generale Ephes habit Can. 7. Justell Codex Canon Eccles Univers Can. 177. non licere cuiquam aliam fidem afferre vel scribere vel componere praeter eam quae à Sanctis Patribus Nicaeae Congregatis in Sancto Spiritu definita est c. The Holy Synod hath decreed That it shall not be lawful for any one to bring in or alledge to write or compose any other Faith besides that which is defined by the Holy Fathers assembled at Nice with the assistance of the Holy Ghost This Canon which the Church of England observes inviolable the Church of Rome doth egregiously prevaricate witness the Faith composed after the Council of Trent by Pope Pius the Fourth which is solemnly sworn by all the Clergy in the Church of Rome at this day If you say this was not another Faith nor any addition to the Ancient Creed but only an explication of it the very letter of that Symbol will evince the contrary and to use your own expression that defence dwindles into more Evasion Let the Reader judge by the matter of Fact and the Observations following The Confession of Faith by Pope Pius according to the Council of Trent set forth 1564. I A. B. do stedfastly believe and profess all and singular the Contents of that Symbol of Faith which the holy Roman Church useth That is to say I believe in one God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth and of all things visible and invisible and in one Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God begotten of the Father before all worlds God of God light of light very God of very God begotten not made being of one substance with the Father by The Council of Nice consisted of 318 Bishops from all parts of the World East and West and was held in the year 325. And of Constantine M. the Tenth The Council of Trent was not held till the year 1545. and ended not till 1563. wherein were in all with Legates Cardinals Abbots and Proctors but 255. and most of them Italians the Popes Creatures Lud. Bail Sum. Cōcil Tom 1. p. 600. B. 1. Edit Paris 1659. whom all things were made who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate he suffered and was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures and ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father and he shall come again with Glory to judge both the quick and the dead whose Kingdom shall have no end And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of life who proceedeth from the Father and the Son who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified who spake by the Prophets And I believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins and I look for the Resurrection of the dead and the life of the World to come Amen
Thus far is the Faith of the Council of Nice to which the Pope adds these Articles following I do stedfastly admit and embrace Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions with the rest of the Observations and Constitutions of the same Church I admit also of the holy Scripture according to that sense which hath been held and is held by the holy Mother the Church whose office it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures Nor will I ever receive or interpret the same but according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers I profess also that there are seven Sacraments of the new Law truly and properly so called instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord and necessary to the Salvation of Mankind though all of them be not necessary for every man That is to say Baptism Confirmation the Eucharist Penance Extreme Unction Orders and Matrimony and that they do confer Grace and amongst these that Baptism Confirmation and Orders cannot be repeated without Sacriledge I do also receive and admit all the received and approved Rites of the Catholick Church in the solemn administration of all the aforesaid Sacraments I do receive and embrace all and singular the things which were defined by the holy Synod of Trent concerning Original Sin and Justification I profess likewise that in the Sacrifice of the Mass there is offer'd unto God a true proper and propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and dead and that in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist there is verily really and substantially the Body and Bloud together with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and that there is made therein a change of the whole substance of the Bread into his body and of the whole substance of the Wine into his bloud which change the Catholick Church calls Transubstantiation I do also confess that Christ whole and entire and the true Sacrament is received in either kind alone I do stedfastly hold that there is a Purgatory and that the Souls detained therein are relieved by the Suffrages of the Faithful Likewise also that the Saints reigning together with Christ are to be worshipped and prayed unto and that they do offer up prayers unto God for us And that their Reliques are to be had in veneration I do most stedfastly affirm that the Images of Christ of the Blessed Virgin the Mother of God and of other Saints are to be had and kept and a due honour and veneration to be given unto them Also that the power of Indulgences was left by Christ unto his Church and I affirm that the use of them is very salutary and beneficial to Christian people I acknowledge the holy Catholick and Apostolick Roman Church to be the Mother and Mistress of all Churches And I promise and swear true obedience to the Pope of Rome successor to B. Peter Prince of the Apostles and the Vicar of Christ I do also undoubtedly receive and profess all things else which are delivered defined and declared by the sacred Canons and general Councils and especially by the most holy Synod of Trent And I do likewise condemn reject and anathematize all things that are contrary and all Heresies whatsoever which are condemned rejected and anathematized by the Church This true Catholick Faith without which no man can be saved which at this present I do freely profess and truly hold by Gods help I will most constantly to the very last breath of my life intirely and inviolably hold and confess the same and take care as much as in me lies that the same shall be held taught and preached by all my Subjects or all those under my care and charge in respect of my Function This I A. B. do promise vow and swear So God be my help and these his holy Gospels This is the Creed of Pope Pius according to the Council of Trent Now betwixt these Articles and those of the Church of England there is a vast difference both 1. In the matter and 2. In the imposition and 3. In the end of them 1. For the Matter of these Articles Those of the Church of England are not to be believed as Articles of Faith no further than they can approve themselves to be contained in the holy Scriptures for thus we are taught in the Sixth of these Articles Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby * Licet interdum à fidelibus ut pium conducibibile ad ordinem decorum admittatur In the Margin of that Article is not to be required of any man that it should be belived as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation But amongst the Articles of Faith enjoyned by Pope Pius some are quite beside the Holy Scripture some against it some are mere speculations of the Schools and others but probable and matters of doubtful disputation For instance 1 The multiplication of Advocates and Ghostly Patrons 2 The Sacrifice of the Mass 3 The Adoration of the Host 4 The power of Indulgences as they are maintained and practised in the Church of Rome These are at least besides the Holy Scripture 1 The Invocation of Saints and veneration of Images as practised generally by the Common people according to their Books 2 The publick Service of the Church in an unknown Tongue The administration of the Lords Supper ordinarily to the people but in ine kind And that the Church of Rome is the Mother and Mistress of all other Churches These are against Scripture 3 Transubstantiation whatsoever it signifies more than a Real presence and the benefits which flow from it with the unaccountable hypotheses which depend upon it And Purgatory as it is blown up into Climaerical flames by the Schoolmen with the means and manner of deliverance out of it are no better than Scholastical speculations And many of the rest valued but as probabilities or matters of doubtful disputation 2. For the imposition of these respective Articles the difference is vast For those of Pope Pius we have not only I receive admit and embrace this Faith not only I do affirm and aknowledge constantly hold and most stedfastly assert it not only I do with a stedfast Faith believe and profess it but under the high and solemn obligation I do promise vow and swear to hold teach and preach the same to the very last breath of my life and to procure all others under my charge to do the like But to the Articles of Religion in the Church of England subscription is only required without any obligation to teach profess or assert them further than they are contained in the Holy Scripture or may be proved thereby to be Articles of the Faith or admitted for discipline and good order And it is moreover to be observed That his Majesty in his Declaration before these Articles printed 1630 though he forbids the offering violence to the liberal and
tears into what a weak and infirm condition the state of the Church does daily dwindle And St. Bernard in his time Hodie serpit putida tabes c. Now-a-days an infectious and spreading Consumption hath seized the body of the Church which the further it is dilated the more desperate it grows and it is so much the more dangerous by how much the more inward And after him the Cardinal Petrus de Aliaco in a publick Sermon at the Council of Constans Manifestum esse saith he c. 'T is apparent that the Church hath of a long time been in several respects deformed and not only hath in time past but doth now extreamly want a reformation as well in Faith as Manners The like complaints are made in these our days not against the corrupt Manners of wicked men only but against the New Extravagant and pernicious Doctrines which do lead to and incourage such ill Manners witness what was lately written by Macarius Havermans Canon of the Church of St. Michael Ordinis praemonstratensis in his Tyrocinium Christianae Moralis Theologiae †Printed at Antwerp An. 1674. Where in his Epistle Dedicatory to the Abbot writing of the unhappily fertile Age into which we are fallen he saith thus Quot Theologias Morales non edidit c. How many Systems of Moral Divinity hath this Age brought forth which are as so many whimsical fictions and opinions of Divines grounded upon philosophical Arguments swelling with curious and exquisite probabilities and big with humane inventions And in his Preface to the Reader he complains of the Arrogance of these new Doctors in preferring their own Sentiments before the Doctrine of the Ancient Fathers Councils and Holy Scriptures Hinc vix ullum saith he c. Whence it comes to pass that in their Writings you shall scarce find any place of Sacred Scripture or the Ancient Councils or Holy Fathers alledged but they weigh every thing in the ballance of their own understanding And thus for Christian Divinity whose conclusions concerning God and his Attributes c. ought to be deduced from the unerring and uncontrollable Doctrine of Gods word and from the most secure Decrees of the Holy Fathers they set up a Natural Theology or Philosophy grounded upon the Principles of Aristotle and his Followers whose Authority they alledge more frequently than that of St. Ambrose Jerome Austin or any other Holy Father not to say they do more value them nay so devoted are they to their own Inventions that a plausible Reason of their own shall be preferr'd before the gravest Sentiments and Maxims of the Holy Fathers Hereupon Caramuel breaks out into that ingenuous acknowledgment I spend not much time or rather lose it not in turning over the Writings of the Ancients And gives us his reason elsewhere Because saith he as to Manners the Opinions of the Moderns are to be preferr'd to those of the Ancients For as a late Writer hath it in novae libertatis explicatione the Modern Schoolmen had a greater insight into things than the former And have also thought fit to reject whatsoever they approved or looked upon as not improbable And saith he now who sees not at the first glance that those exorbitant Tenents are so abhorring from the Decrees of Antiquity that they need no confutation but that barely to mention them is to confute them So that to speak with St. Austin I think them fitter to be bewailed by Believers than disputed against by me Their clamours will sooner be drowned by Prayers and Tears than by the noise of Arguments And without doubt we shall do more advantage for such persons if with our Prayers we endeavour their reformation lest they perish with their great Wits or ruine others with their damnable presumption Moreover this slighting of the Holy Fathers is like to be very pernicious to the Church for if their Authority be so disesteemed and undervalued in matter of Manners and that by Roman Catholick Writers who can blame the Hereticks for not valuing their Authority in matters of Faith for why should they be valued in matters of Faith more than in matters of Manners Are not Manners to be directed by the Authority of Divine Tradition as well as Faith Are not the Faithful as well Trustees of the Tradition of Manners as of Faith And a little after he exhorts his Reader thus Pro paradoxo ergo reputamus c. Wherefore let us account that of a late Writer for a mere paradox viz. Tota Theologia Moralis est nova All Moral Divinity is wholly New For if it be New then it was not delivered by Christ nor by his Apostles nor by the Holy Fathers And consequently neither Christian nor Apostolical nor Orthodoxal and that which is more neither is it true nor genuine but spurious and adulterate and for that reason not to be applauded but condemned not to be embraced but banished not to be alledged but exploded Tantum enim à veteri simplicitate c. as it follows a little after For we have so far started from the Primitive simplicity and Obedience that there is scarce any Law but is rendred useless by the glosses of the Schoolmen as it may appear if we please to trace them in some particular Laws Of what great efficacy I pray will that Ecclesiastical Law be concerning Anniversary Confession and Communion if it may be satisfied by a bare external though sacrilegious Communion and Consession Nevertheless that a man may satisfie that Precept by such a sacrilegious Communion many Schoolmen de facto do still teach Again of what force is that Law about hearing the Sacred Offices on the Lords day and other Holy-days if that Command may be satisfied only by an external presence of the body although during the whole time of the Sacrifice a man suffers his mind voluntarily to wander and be distracted and taken up with impure and filthy Cogitations And yet many Schoolmen teach this Doctrine The Law for the observation of Fasting how unprofitable it is rendred is very notably set forth by Marchantius in the Complaint of his personated St. Jejunium * Querimonia S. Jejunii by Marchantius The like may be shewed in other Instances Thus far Havermans By all which we see the fruits of this great priviledge of Infallibiâ—ity in the Church of Rome viz. by their own Confession they have entertain'd a new Moral †See Montaltius's Provincial Letters with Wendrochius's Notes upoÌ„ them Latinè Colon 1678. and not the Primitive for matters of Practice and in our observation they have done the like in matters of Faith and Speculation And when we find so great a variation we must needs conclude That either the Ancient Church was not then or else That the present Church which differs so much from it is not now Infallible And now the Question may be put Which particular Church is in the more safe condition In the Church of England we have The Faith of our Lord Jesus
Christ as St. James calls it James 2. 1. we have St. Peters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Peter 3. 15. his Rationale of the Christian hope We have St. Paul's Depositum 1 Tim. 6. Quid est Depositū id est quod tibi creditum est non quod à te inventum Quod accepisti non quod excogitasti Rem non ingenii sed doctrinae Non usurpationis privatae sed publicae traditionis Rem ad te perductam non à te prolatam in qua non Author debes esse sed Custos non institutor sed sectator non ducens sed sequens Vincent Lirinensis 20. and form of sound words 2 Tim. 1. 13. And it is undoubtedly St. Judes Faith we contend for which as Beza very well notes upon the place was once and at once so delivered to the Saints that it ought never to be changed That Faith which the Fathers of the Council of Nice professed we do very heartily embrace we keep this Faith whole and undefiled But from receiving any other we are deterred by the Sentence of the Synod of Ephesus forementioned Qui aliam fidem audent componere c. Whosoever shall dare to compose alledge or introduce any other Faith if he be a Bishop or Clergy-man he shall be degraded if a Lay-man excommucated If the Faith thus delivered were sufficient for their salvation in genere fidei why not for ours And herein without all doubt we are no less Infallible than the Church of Rome And to the Ancient Fathers in the most Sacred Councils this was their †Lud. Bail Sum. Concil Tom. 1. in decreto de Symbolo Sess 3. m. pa. 522. Shield against all Heresies Quo solo c. Through whose attractive power alone they have in times past drawn unbelievers to the Faith resisted and rooted out Hereticks and confirm'd the Faithful as the Fathers of the Council of Trent do acknowledge If there be any other points of Faith needful to salvation our ignorance thereof after a long and diligent search is both involuntary and invincible and that will totally excuse us For that superfaetation of Articles by Pope Pius the Fourth we were never Baptized into them nor can we answer for them The truth is the Faith of the Church of England the Romanists can never justly reprehend being more pure more Primitive and more Catholick than their own and was professed intirely by all Christian Churches before some Articles of the present Church of Rome were ever known to have had a being And for part of this we have a pregnant acknowledgment in the Council of Trent where they set down this Symbolum fidei totidem verbis Lud. Bail ubi supra quibus in omnibus Ecclesiis legitur In the same words in which it is read in all Churches And this they set down as that principle wherein all that do profess the Faith of Christ do necessarily agree and as that firm and only foundation against which the gates of Hell shall never be able to prevail This Faith I say we do keep whole and undefiled but it seems it was a foundation too narrow to bear up the Popish superstructures of Hay and Stubble but yet being the only foundation as they consess and so firm that the gates of Hell shall never prevail against it we do stedfastly rest upon it building our selves thereon as St. Epist Jude v. 20 21. Jude directs us in expectation of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to Eternal life Towards the accomplishment whereof our Charity is so much more Catholick than theirs that with some craft and sophistry though with little reason they take an Argument from thence to delude the weak and make them Proselytes to their party For our Agenda or matters of Practice we have a Liturgy that is full solemn and intelligible we have all Sacraments and Sacramentals that are generally necessary or of any efficacy to salvation And besides all publick Offices for private devotion and use we have Institutions and forms of Christian piety no part of the Christian Church better Our Priesthood and Government you cannot with any truth or reason deny to be Apostolical and if our Discipline be in some instances collapsed from the severity which it obtained in the practice of the Ancients that of the Church of Rome is so likewise And if we reflect upon the many disadvantages and perils which are in Their Communion they will warrant the security in ours to be far the greater Amongst the disadvantages on that side I reckon their half Sacraments against the express letter of our Saviours Institution * Mat. 26. 26. 1 Cor. 11. 23 c. and their Service in an unknown Tongue contrary to the express discourse of the Apostle †1 Cor. 14 Amongst the perils I must account 1 That of Idolatry in the adoration of the Host 2 The veneration of Images 3 And the invocation of Saints Secondly Such as arise from the abuses in the matter of Confession and Penances of Indulgence and Dispensation with many delusions under pretence of Revelations Thirdly Such as arise from several of their Doctrines viz. That the Sacrament does conferr Grace ex opere operato from the Act performed without any worthy or moral disposition in the Receiver That Attrition for fear of Hell is sufficient without Charity to obtain Grace and pardon in the Sacrament of Penance That in a case of Conscience I may follow a probable opinion which is more benign and gentle and reject that which is more safe if it be more severe and rigid That a man is not obliged to decline and avoid Proximam occasionem peccandi the immediate danger of sinning though he has had sad experience of his own frailty and recidivation That the precept of Repentance does not bind presently but only in the time of sickness or at the point of death These Doctrines are taught and practised without any the least check of his Infallible Holiness Nor is the danger small which ariseth from the perswasion of their Infallibility For from thence proceeds a belief that whatsoever they take upon them to define is as true as Gospel And what sad work this hath made in the Church of God we may observe from that single instance about the Sacrament In a Council at Rome under An. Dom. 1059. Nicholas the Second Berengarius was enjoyned a form of Recantation wherein he professed and swore That the Bread and Wine which are set upon the Altar after Consecration are not only a Sacrament but also the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ And that the said Body is not in Sacrament only but in truth N. B Sensualiter manibus Sacerdotum tractari frangi fidelium dentibus atteri i. e. sensually handled by the Priest broken and torn by the teeth of the Faithful Expressions so gross to unfold an inexplicable mystery that the Author of the Gloss upon Gratian gives his Reader