and Man They should nevertheless upon the very brink of Eternity Wittingly and Willingly cast Themselves Head-long into an Assured Damnation and this at a Time when they might have saved both Bodies and Souls by meerly Discharging a good Conscience in acknowledging the Truth and becoming Honest Men. This I say is Inhumane and contradictory to all Sense and Reason to believe Now therefore I am come to what you so often and so earnestly press me to viz to satisfy the World and clear my Self my Fellow-sufferers and my Religion from the Imputation laid upon Us on pretence of such Principles by a True and Candid Explanation of my Belief and Judgement in the Main Points of Faith and Loyalty Controverted between Catholicks and Protestants as they severally Relate to God and the King PARAGRAPH I. Of the CATHOLICK FAITH and CHURCH in General 1. THE Fruition of God and Remission of Sin is not attainable by Man otherwise then in and by the Merits of Jesus Christ who gratis Purchased It for Us. 2. These Merits of Christ are not applyed to Us otherwise than by a Right Faith in Christ 3. This Faith is but One Entire and Conformable to its Object being Divine Revelations to all which Faith gives an undoubted Assent 4. These Revelations contain many Mystcries transcending the Natural Reach of Humane Wit or Industry Wherefore 5. It became the Divine Wisdom and Goodness to provide Man of some Way or Means whereby he might Arrive to the Knowledge of these Mysteries Means Visible and Apparent to all Means proportionable to the Capacities of all Means Sure and Certain to all 6. This Way or Means is not the Reading of Scripture Interpreted according to the Private Reason or Spirit of every Disjunctive Person or Nation in Particular But 7. It is an Attention and Submission to the Doctrine of the Catholick or Vniversal Church established by Christ for the Instruction of all Spread for that end throughout all Nations and visibly continued in the Succession of Pastors and People throughout all Ages From which Church Guided in Truth and secured from Error in Matters of Faith by the promised Assistance of the Holy Ghost every one may and ought to Learn both the Right Sense of the Scripture and all other Christian Mysteries and Duties respectively necessary to Salvation 8. This Church thus Spread thus Guided thus visibly Continued in One Vniform Faith and Subordination of Government is that Self-same which is termed the Roman Catholick Church the Qualifications above-mentioned viz. Vnity Indeficiency Visibility Succession and Vniversality being applicable to no other Church or Assembly whatsoever 9. From the Testimony and Authority of This Church it is that We Receive and Believe the Scriptures to be Gods Word And as She can assuredly tell Us This or That Book is Gods Word so can she with the like Assurance tell us also the True Sense and Meaning of it in Controverted Points of Faith The same Spirit that Writ the Scripture Enlightning Her to Understand both It and all Matters Necessary to Salvation From These Grounds it Follows 10. All and only Divine Revelations deliver'd by God unto the CHURCH and proposed by Her to be Believ'd as such are and ought to be esteem'd Articles of Faith and the contrary Opinions Heresie And 11. As an Obstinate Separation from the Vnity of the Church in known declared Matters of Faith is Formal Heresie So a wilful Separation from the Visible Vnity of the same Church in Matters of Subordination and Government is Formal Schism 12. The Church proposeth unto Us Matters of Faith First and chiefly By the Holy Scripture in Points plain and Intelligible in it Secondly By Definitions of General Councils in Points not sufficiently Explained in Scripture Thirdly By Apostolical Traditions deriv'd from Christ and his Apostles to all Succeding Ages Fourthly By her Practice Worship and Ceremonies Confirming her Doctrine PARAGRAPH II. Of Spiritual and Temporal Authority 1. GEneral Councils which are the Church of God Representative have no Commission from Christ to Frame New Matters of Faith these being sole Divine Revelations but only to Explain and Assertain unto Us what anciently was and is Received and Retained as of Faith in the Church upon arising Debates and Controversies about them The Definitions of which General Councils in Matters of Faith only and proposed as such Oblige under pain of Heresie all the Faithful to a Submission of Judgement But 2. It is no Article of Faith to believe That General Councils cannot Err either in Matters of Fact or Discipline alterable by Circumstances of Time and Place or in Matters of Speculation or Civil Policy depending on meer Humane Judgement or Testimony Neither of these being Divine Revelations deposited in the Catholick Church in regard to which alone she hath the promised Assistance of the Holy Ghost Hence it is deduced 3 If a General Council much less a Papal Consistory should undertaâ—◠〈◊〉 depose a King and absolve his Subjects from their Allegiance no Catholick as Catholick is bound to submit to such a Decree Hence also it followeth 4. The Subjects of the King of England lawfully may without the least breach of any Catholick Principle Renounce even upon Oath the Teaching Mantaining or Practising the Doctrine of deposing Kings Excommunicated for Heresie by any Authority whatsoever as Repugnant to the fundamental Laws of the Nation Injurious to Sovereign Power Destructive to the Peace and Government and by consequence in His Majesties Subjects Impious and Damnable Yet not properly Heretical taking the Word Heretical in that connatural genuine sense it is usually understood in the Catholick Church on account of which and other Expressions no wise appertaining to Loyalty it is that Cathoclicks of tender consciences refuse the Oath commonly call'd the Oath of Allegiance 5. Catholicks believe That the Bishop of Rome is the Successor of S. Peter Vicar of Jesus Christ upon Earth and Head of the whole Catholick Church which Church is therefore fitly stiled Roman Catholick being an universal Body united under one visible Head Nevertheless 6. It is no matter of Faith to believe That the Pope is in himself Infallible separated from a General Council even in Expounding the Faith By consequence Papal Definitions or Decrees though ex Cathedra as they term them take exclusively from a General Council or Vniversal Acceptance of the Church oblige none under Pain of Heresy to an interior Assent 7. Nor do Catholicks as Catholicks believe that the Pope hath any direct or indirect Authority over the Temporal Power and Jurisdiction of Princes Hence if the Pope should pretend to Absolve or Dispence with His Majesties Subjects from their Allegiance upon account
An Objection Answered The Intent of this Epistle Redemption in Christ a Eph. 2. 8. 1 Cor. 15. 22. applicable by Faith b Mark 16 16. Heb. 11. 6. Which is but One c Eph. 4. 4. c d Jam. 2. 10 Supernatural e 1 Cor. 1. 20. Mat. 16. 17 By the Divine Providence to be Learnt f Isa 38 8. g Joh. 9. 41 h Mat. 11 25. i John 15. 22. Not from private Interpretation of Scripture k 2 Pet. 3. 16. Pro. 14. 12. Mat. 29. 29 l 1 Joh. 4. 1. 6. m Matth. 18. 17. Luk 10. 16 n Psal 2. 8. Isa 2. 2. c. cap. 49. 6 Matt. 5. 14 o Isai 59. 21. Joh. 16. 13. Eze. 17. 26 Eph. 5. 25 c. 1 Tim. 3. 15 Mat 16. 18 p Mat. 28 20. Joh. 14. 16. and guided by the Holy Ghost for that end q Deu. 17. 8. c. Mat. 23. 2. This Church is the same with the Roman Catholick r Can. 6. 8. Joh. 10. 16. Rom. 15. 5. Joh. 17. 22. Philip. 2. 2. From the Testimony of which we receive the Scripture to be Gods Word s Mat. 16. 18 1 Tim. 3. 15 Mat. 18. 17 t Isai 59. 21. Joh. 14. 26. Divine Revelations only Matters of Faith Divine Revelations only Matters of Faith What Heresie what Sckism u 1 Cor. 11. 19. Mat. 18. 17 x Tit. 3. 10 1 Cor. 1. 10 cap. 12. 25 How Matters of Faith are proposed by the Church y Joh. 5. 39 z Acts. 15. per tot a 2 Thes 2. 15. cap. 3. 6. 2 Tim. 2. 2. b Jam. 2. 18. What is the Authority of General Councils Gal. 1. 7 8. a Deu. 17. 8. Mat 18. 17. Act. 15. per tot Lu. 10. 16. Heb. 13. 7. 17. An Explanation of the same Authority b 1 Tim. 6. 20. c Jo 14. 16. A Deduction from thence concerning Allegiance A second Deduction concerning the same Declar. fac Sorb Of the Oath of Allegiance The Bishop of Rome Supreme Head of the Church but not Infallible d Mat. 16. 17. Lu. 22. 31. Jo. 21 17. e Eph. 4. 11 c. Nor hath any Temporal Authority over Princes 1 Pet. 2. v. 12 c. The Church not responsible for the Errors of particular Divines King-Killine Doctring Damnable Heresie Conc. Const Sâ—ss 15. Personal misdemeanours not to be imputed to the Church No Power on Earth can authorise Men to Lie Forswear Murther c. Equivocation not allowed in the Church 2 Cor. 1. 12 Of Sacramental Absolution a Ez. 18. 21. 2 Cor. 7. 10 b Ps 32. 5. Pro. 28. 13. c Act. 19. 18. 1 Cor. 4. 1. d Lu. 3. 18. Jam 5. 16. e Joh. 20. 21 c Mat 18. 18. f Tit. 3. 5. Of Satisfaction by penitential works g 2 Cor. 3. 5. h Act. 26. 20. Jonas 3. 5. c. Psa 102. 9. c. Ps 109. 23. Dan. 9. 3. Joâ—â— 2. 12. Luk 11. 41. Act. 10. 44. i 1 Pe. 2. 5. Indulgences are not Remission of Sins but only of Canonical Penances k 1 Cor. 5. 3. c. l 2 Cor. 2. 6. Abuses herein not to be charged on the Church There is a Purgatory or State where Souls departing this Life with some blemish are purify'd m Numb 14. 20 c. 2 Sam. 12. 13. c. n Pro. 24. 16. Ma. 12. 36. and cap. 5. 22. 26. o Mat. 5. 26 1 Cor. 3. 15. p Rev. 21. 27. Prayers for the Dead available to them q 1 Cor. 15 29. Coll. 1. 24. 2 Mac 12. 42 c. 1 Jo. 5. 16. Superfluous Questions about Purgatory r Jo. 15. 5. 16. Of the merit of good Works through the merits of Christ s Mat. 16. 27 Cap. 5. 12. Cap 10. 42. 2 Cor 5. 10 2 Tim. 4. 8. Christ really present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist t Mat. 26. 26. Mar 14. 22. Lu. 22. 19. 1 Cor. 11. 23. c. Cap. 10. 16. But after a supernatural manner Whole Christ in either species Hence Communicants under under one kind nowise deprived either of the Body or Bloud of Christ u Jo. 6. 48 50 51. 57. 58. Acts 2. 42. Of the Sacrifice of the Mass x Luk. 22. 19 c. y 1 Cor. 11. 26. z Heb. 13. 10. a Lu. 22. 19. b Mal. 1. 11. Woâ—ship of Images wrongfuly Imposed on Catholicks Yet there is some Veneration due both to Pictures c Luk 4. 8. d Ex. 25. 18. 1 Kin. 6. 35 Luke 3. 22. Num 21. 8. Acts 5. 15. And other sacred things e Jos 7. 6. Exod. 3. 5. f Jo. 12. 26. Psa 99. 5. Phil. 2. 10. g 1 Pet. 2. 17. Luk. 3. 16. Act. 19. 12. Ron. 13. 7. Prayer to Saints lawful h Rev. 5. 8. i Lu. 15. 7. k 1 Cor. 13. 12. l Ex. 32. 13 2 Chron. 6. 42. m Romons 15. 30. Yet so as not to neglect our Duties n Jam. 2. 17. 30 c. o Rom. 13 14. p Ro. 12. 2. q Gal. 5. 6. r Joh. 14. 6 A Conclusion from the Premimises An Objection Answered A second Objection Answered Catholicks suffer for their Religion Their Sufferings not unlike to those of Christ our Lord. a Luk. 23. 2 b Jo. 11. 48 c Matt. 26 60 Rom. 8. 29 Ver. 17.
Roman-Catholick PRINCIPLES In Reference to God and the King Explained in a LETTER to a Friend And now made Publick to shew the Connexion between the said PRINCIPLES And the Late POPISH PLOT The Third Edition Revised Matth. 22. v. 21. Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's and and unto God the things that are God's John 11. v. 48. If we let him thus alone all men will believe on him and the Romans shall come and take away both our Place Nation Printed in the Year 1680. SIR I Find your last as full of Doubts and Inquietudes as your former was of Heat and Zeal Whether meer Compassion hath altered your Judgement or that You Fear your own Turn may be next I cannot tell But I easily percieve You and the greatest part of Honest Thinking Protestants as well as You begin tho late to suspect That Catholicks have Wrongfully Suffered the loss of their Fame their Goods their Fortunes and many their Lives Nor do I wonder to see you touch'd with some Concern at our Miseries For besides the sad Spectacles of Bloodshed which I mention without any Resentment or Disrespect to the Government the Prisons have been filled with Us whole Families Ruined and Exiled poor Widows and Innocent Orphans have Perished through Distress the very Woods and Desarts have not wanted Men Dying with Cold and Hunger And all this upon account of a PLOT Horrid indeed and Detestable in it self but which could never yet be Prov'd against Us by any One Credible Witness or Probable Circumstance evincing the Crime True it is Dr. Oates Captain Bedloe and others of Debauch'd Lives and Desperate Fortunes have Positively Sworn if bare Positive Swearing without any other Probability of Truth may stand for good Evidence to a multiplicity of Particulars But these Men have been and still are so notoriously stigmatiz'd with all sorts of Vice and Infamy Their Oaths have been Confronted with so many Self-contradictions Their Forgeries accompanyed with such Incredible such Impossible Circumstances Their Lies and Fables so stuffed with Absurdities Non-sense and Follies The Crime of Perjury so often and so plainly prov'd against them In short both their Past and Present Villanies are now become so Apparent and Perspicuous that the greatest part of the Nation hath an Abhorrence of Them But You tell me and You are in the right That the Thing which hath rendred Credible the Testimony of otherwise Incredible Witnesses against Us and which hath Invalidated all contrary Evidence given in our behalf is a Persuasion many Protestants have That the Catholick Religion is made up of Traiterous Principles Destructive to Peace and Government You say You have been Inform'd by Common Report by Printed Books Nay by some Ministers in their very Pulpits That Catholicks hold it an Article of Faith to Believe That the POPE can Depose KINGS Absolve their Subjects from their Allegiance and Dispose of Kingdoms to whom He pleases That to Murder Protestants and Destroy the Nation by Fire and Sword for propagation of the Catholick Faith are Works of Piety and Meritorious of Heaven These and the like Horrid Aspersions together with I know not what Feigned Idolatries Superstitions and Abuses are as you have rightly Intimated laid to the Charge of Roman Catholicks whereby to render both their Faith and Persons Odious to many otherwise Well-meaning People who not sufficiently examining the Truth of Things but taking all for granted Judge nothing Ill enough can be said or done against Men so Principled And is it not Strange and Severe That Principles and those pretended of Faith too should be Imposed upon Men which They Themselves Renounce and Detest If the Turk's Alcoran should in like manner be urg'd upon Us and We hang'd up for Mahumetans all we could do or say in such a Case would be patiently to Die with Protestation of our own Innocence And this is the Posture of our present condition We Abhor We Renounce We Abominate such Principles We Protest against them and Seal our Protestations with our Dying Breaths What shall We say What can We do more To Accuse Men as Guilty in Matters of Faith which They never own'd is the same thing as to Condemn them for Matters of Fact which they never did You press the Question and say some of our General Councils several Papal Decrees and many of our Doctors and Divines assert the fore-mentioned Principles Sir I have been Instructed in the Articles of my Faith and I acknowledge the Lawful Authority of General Councils Yet I profess I never learnt or found asserted in any of them any such Principles And I propose unto You this plain and short Dilemma Either the above-named Principles are esteem'd by Us â—â— Matters of Faith or not If they be what further can be required of Us than to Deny and Forsake such a Faith And this We constantly do But if They be not Matters of Catholick Faith nor owned by Us as such why are Catholicks as Catholicks punished for them Why is Our Religion Persecuted on that account Let those in Gods Name if any there be of what Religion soever who hold such Tenents suffer for them Why should the Innocent be Involv'd with the Guilty There is neither Reason nor Justice in it Hereunto some Persons I hope out of Zeal and Misinformation rather than Malice stick not to say That Dispensations and I know not what Indulgences and Pardons wereby to Legitimate the Crimes of Lying and Forswearing when the Interest of our Church requires is a main part of our Religion And by Consequence the Denyal of our Principles is no sufficient Justification of our Innocence I answer First It is in the highest measure Censorious in any one to Impose upon all Our Ancesters and the greatest part of Mankind who are or have been Members of our Religion such an Excess of Folly and Wickedness as must needs have perverted all Humane Society Secondly If We could Lawfully Deny the Principles of our Faith when Interest requires Why have We lost Our Estates Our Liberties Our Lives for the Profession of it To what purpose are Oaths and Tests devised to intangle Us How Impertinently is the frequenting the Protestant Church and Receiving the Communion proposed unto Us and Refused by Vs Thirdly Though many Men may be induced to Lie and Forswear when they have some Hopes or Prospect thereby of Temporal Advantage Yet that Persons Dying for their Conscience and Religion as divers have done and those no Fools even by the Confession of our Adversaries should be so stupendiously Sottish and Mad either to imagine that Lies and Perjuries for concealment of Treason Murder Massacre and Destruction of others by Fire and Sword should be Acts of Virtue pleasing to God Dispensable by the Pope and Meritorious of Heaven Or that on the contrary Knowing and Believing as needs They must such Monsters and Horrours to be Odious and Detestable in the sight both of God