and Practices that aggrieve us are at best but private opinions that may be laid aside This is it they ordinarily discourse to us to make us inclinable to themselves and this is in particular the sense and Soul of the Bishop of Condoms Treatise more openly indeed and more expresly in the Manuscript Copy and what hath been cited of the first Edition but yet clearly enough in the second On the other side the profession of Faith declares in so many words that we must believe and receive all the traditions all the institutions all the customs of the Roman Church which doth comprise generally all that is known and that is not known It saith yet more expresly that we ought to pray unto Saints to Worship their relicks have Images of Jesus Christ of the Virgin and of all the Saints and render them the honour and the Worship due unto them admit of Seven true Sacraments and embrace all the Council of Trent hath said and decided touching justification and by consequence the merit of Works satisfactions Purgatory and all the Doctrine of Indulgences believe the conversion of all the substance of the Bread into the body of Jesus Christ and the conversion of all the substance of the Wine into his bloud which is called Transubstantiation and that all Jesus Christ is intirely received and the true Sacrament under the one and the other of the two species Lastly that we are to believe that the Church of Rome is the Mistress of all other Churches to swear intire obedience unto the Pope of Rome and generally to receive all other things whatsoever that are taught by the Councillâ— and particularly by the Council of Treâ—â— which doth comprise generally whâ—â— a man will all that is in dispute Tâ—â—â— is what is formally required of thâ—â—â— that present themselves before the Câ—rate the Bishop or the great peâ—tentiary now let all these Articles 〈◊〉 Faith be compared with the stile 〈◊〉 the Bishop of Condoms Treatise and afterwards Let it be maturely judged if this be one and the same Doctrine For our parts being very far from aggravating the difference there is betwixt the one and the other or from having a mind to make a greater distance betwixt us and the Church of Rome than there is indeed We believe that there is nothing more to be desired for the good of Christian Religion and by little and little to bring mens Spirits mutually nearer that that all those of the Roman Church generally would at least accommodate themselves freely openly unto these sort of sweetnings that the Bishop of Condom doth and that instead of heightning the differences that there may be between his exposition and the Doctrine which they commonly profess they would Write on the contrary in the same sense that he doth and clearer and fuller yet than he hath Written that Lastly they would all say at least as he doth that this is alone the true Doctrine of the Roman Church Religion at least would find it self discharged and freed of a great many Doctrines and practises which do nothing but burthen consciences this would be in sundry points as one of those insensible changes which have come into the Church but a change for the better and an happy beginning of Reformation that might have much more happy consequences The BULL of our moâ—… Holy Lord Lord PIUâ— by Divine Providencâ— Pope the IV. of thaâ— Name Touching thâ— Form of the Oath 〈◊〉 Profession of Faith Translated out of Latine PIUS Bishop Servant of the Seâ—vants of God ad perpetuam 〈◊〉 memoriam for a perpetual record THE duty of our Apostoliâ— Charge which lies upon 〈◊〉 requires that those things which the Lord Almighty for the prudent guidance of his Church has vouchsafed from Heaven to inspire in the Holy Fathers assembled in his Name we make hast to put in execution without delay for his praise and glory Whereâ— therefore according to the Order of the Council of Trent all whom it shall henceforth happen to be set over Cathedral or Superiour Churches or to be provided for by any dignities or Canonries of the same or any other whatsoever Ecclesiastical benefices having cure of Souls are bound to make publick profession of the Orthodox Faith and to engage and swear that they will continue in obedience to the Roman Church We willing also that the same be observed by all whosoever shall be disposed of in Monasteries Convents Religious houses or other places whatsoever of whatsoever Regular Orders even of the Military ones by whatsoever name or Title and to this purpose that what concerns our care may not be the least wanting to any that a profession of one and the same faith may be uniformly exibited by all and that one certain form of it may be known unto all do by power Apostolick strictly injoyn and command by the tenour of these presents that this very form annexed to these presents be published and that it be received and observed all the World over by those by whom according to the decrees of the said Council it does belong and by all other persons aforesaid and that under the penalties by the said Council enacted against offenders in this case the aforesaid Profession be Solemnly made according to this and no other form in this tenor IN. Do with firm Faith believe and profess all and every things and thing which are contained in the Symbol of Faith which the Holy Roman Church useth viz. Articles of Faith taken out of the Symbols of Nice and Con stantinople 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 onely begotten Son of God and brought forth of his Father before all Ages God of God Light of Light very God of very God begotten not made of the same substance with the Father by whom all things were made who for us men and our Salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and made man was also crucified for us under Pontius Pilat suffered and was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures and ascended into Heaven sitteth at the right hand of the Father and shall come again with Glory to judge both the quick and the dead of whose Kingdom there shall be no end And in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of Life who proceedeth from the Father and the Son who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified who spake by the Prophets And one Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church I confess 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 The Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions and the other observations Articles of Faith touching the matters in Cotroversie which the Romish Church hath added to the Antient and constitutions of the same
Church I most firmly admit and embrace Likewise I admit the Holy Scripture according to that sense which our Holy Mother the Church ever did and doth hold to whom it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures neither will I receive or interpret it but according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers I profess also that there are seven true and proper Sacraments of the new Law instituted by our Lord 〈◊〉 Christ and necessary 〈…〉 Mankind though not 〈…〉 person to wit Baptism 〈…〉 the Eucharist Pennance Extream Vnction Holy Order and Matrimony and that they do confer grace And of these â—â—â—t Baptism Confirmation and Order without Sacrilidge cannot be repeated The received and approved rites also of the Catholick Church in the Solemn administration of all the foresaid Sacraments I do receive and admit I do embrace and receive all and every points and point touching original sin and justification which have been defined and declared in the Holy Council of Trent I do in like manner profess that there is in the Mass offered up to God a true proper and propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead And that in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist after Consecration there is truly really and substantially the body and bloud together with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and that the whole Substance of bread is converted into the body of Christ and the whole substance of the Wine into his Bloud which conversion the Catholick Church calls Transubstantion I acknowledge likewise that under one kind onely all and entire Christ and a true Sacrament is taken I do constantly hold there is a Purgatory and that the Souls there detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful In Like manner that the Saints reigning with Christ are to be Venerated and called upon and that they offer up Prayers to God for us and that their Reliques are to be had in veneration I do most stedfastly affirm that the images of Christ and of the Mother of God alwayes a Virgin are to be had and kept and that due honour and veneration is to be given to them That the Power of Indulgences was left by Christ in the Church and that the use of them is most wholesom to Christian People I do acknowledge that the Holy Catholick and Apostolick Roman Church iâ— Mother and Mistress of all Churches I do promise and swear true obedience to the Pope of Rome Successour of St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles and Vicar of Jesus Christ I do likewise without doubting receive and profess all other matters that are delivered defined and declared by the Sacred Canons and the Oecumenical Councils and especially by the Council of Trent and I do likewise together condemn reject and Anathematize all things contrary and all whatsoever Heresies condemned rejected and Anathematized by the Church Here they lay their hand on the Gospels I the same N. do promise vow and swear that as far as lies in me I will take care that this self same true Catholick Faith out of which no man can be saved which at present of my own accord I profess and truly hold by Gods help be most constantly held and confest by me whole and inviolate to the Last breath of my Life and that the same be held taught and Preached by all that are under me or those the care of whom shall in my charge belong to me So God help me and these Gods Holy Gospels We will farther that these present Letters be read in our Apostolick Chancery according to the accustomed manner and to the end they may be the more easily known unto all that they be Registred in the Rolls thereof and that they be Printed And let no person whatsoever dare to infringe this declaration of our Will and commandment or by bold presumption to offend against it And if any one shall presume to attempt it let him know that he incurs the indignation of Almighty God and of his Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul Dated at Rome at St. Peters the Thirteenth day of November in the year of the incarnanation of our Lord 1564. And of our Popedome the Fift Fed. Cardinal Caesius Cae. Glorierius The Stationer hath in his hands the Attestation of Messieurs Claude de l'Angle Daillé and Allix shewing that they have seen this Answer and that they have not found any thing in it contrary to their Religion AN ANSVVER UNTO THE BOOK OF MONSIEUR The Bishop of CONDOM Monsieur the Bishop of Condom has too much justice to take ill the answering his Book Design of this Trea tise On the contrary he seemeth rather to invite us to the same in terms sufficiently express Page 187 And besides it is well known that defence is a natural and favourable right especially when it concerns a thing so dear as the interest of truth and Religion ought to be Page 187 He onely desires that in case aâ— one answer his Treatise he would not undertake to refute the Doctrine which 〈◊〉 contains Page 188 nor examin the different way that the Catholick Divines have used 〈◊〉 establish the Doctrine of the Council 〈◊〉 Trent nor the several consequences the particular Doctors have drawn thence Page 3. being things that are not necessarilâ— nor universally received Page 189 but that 〈◊〉 would chiefly hold himself to three things to prove that the Faith of the Churcâ— of Rome is not faithfully laid down iâ— his Book as he believes it is or thaâ— he would shew that this expositioâ— doth Leave all objections in their force and all the difficulties whole and intire or Lastly that it be made precisely appear wherein his Doctrine so explained doth overthrow the foundation of Faith Of these three things we will leave the first to be examined by those of his own communion because that is more properly their business and right than ours It belongs to them principally to consider if they would not be well contented and if it would not be very advantageous to them to reduce their belief in all matters of Controversie unto what is explained in that Treatise and to Lay aside all the consequences which their other Doctors have drawn from the Council of Trent and the means they have made use of to establish them as things that are not necessary and which nevertheless do clog Religion or do at Least in part hinder a matter which is so desireable as the uniformity of Worship and belief amongst Christians should be We will content our selves to observe by the Way several places where the Bishop of Condom uses an Art that is distant not onely from the Common belief of the Doctors of the Church of Rome and of the general practice of all the people of his Communion but also from the terms and the Doctrine it self of the very Council to the end it may be discerned wherein consist the sweetnings that the Bishop
and Order which are three of these seven Sacraments there is nothing of a visible sign unto which the blessing can be joined as there ought to be to make true Sacraments according to the Doctrine of St. Augustine As to their Efficacy we agree with the Gentlemen of the Roman Church and with the Bishop of Condom in particular in that we acknowledge as they do that the Sacraments are not onely signes or seales of the grace of God but instruments or means which he accompanies with his power to confer that very grace But there is this difference which is very considerable betwixt them and us that they will have it that the Sacraments do confer grace by virtue of the words which are spoken and by the action which is outwardly performed upon us Pag. 69 70. provided that we put no obstacle by any evil disposition which is what the Council terms conferring grace ex opere operato as it is also the language of the School that is to say by the action or by the bare celebration of the Sacrament it self And as for us we believe in truth that God doth accompany the Sacraments with his power and that they confer grace when they are received with Faith but not that they do confer it of themselves or by the words which are pronounced and by the outward action done upon us if they be not received with a true Faith The Church of Rome doth believe that this virtue is as it were inherent or affixed to the Sacrament and to the outward action which is in it performed though neither the Council nor the Bishop of Condom believed themselves bound to explain whether it be a Moral or Physical virtue so that according to their Doctrine this iis not necessary it self to be in a good disposition that is to say to have Faith or at least to exercise the acts in receiving the Sacraments It will suffice not to be in an evil disposition and thereby not to interrupt the virtue of the Sacraments or not to put an obstacle thereto for neither the Council nor the Bishop of Condom require any thing else But as for us we hold unto the Word of God which doth teach us in several places that it is by Faith onely that we partake of these graces God not affixing his power meerly unto visible things Pa. 154 as the Bishop of Condom himself confesseth in another place We reject the Doctrine of the Church of Rome upon this point with so much the more reason for that besides that it is very evil in it self there may be observed several considerable abuses which proceed from it 1. First This Doctrine is very evil in it self in that it doth tye the grace of God unto outward things 2. In that it carries men to neglect the acts and habits of Faith and of other Christian virtues teaching them that the Sacraments alone regenerate and sanctifie them without ever troubling themselves so much as to bring any good disposition with them which is a Doctrine whereof the bare Exposition doth disgust those who are not accustomed unto it From whence also proceeds that in the Roman Church they make the greatest part of devotion and piety to consist in causing to be said a great number of Masses and of going often to confession as they speak because they are taught that the action of the Priest and the words which he pronounces have the virtue to confer grace provided onely that they put not any obstacle on their part 3. This opinion hath served to introduce or establish the Doctrine of the Real Presence such as it is taught in the Roman Church which we believe to be very bad as we shall shew hereafter 4. From thence also is plainly come the Opinion of the necessity of giving the Eucharist unto Infants which is an Errour that reigned a long time in the Church and this other Errour of the necessity of Baptism which yet doth raign at this day in the Church of Rome 5. The same Opinion doth also give occasion to several other very wicked and superstitious acts insomuch that there have been some people who have imployed the matter of the Sacraments for Charms and for other most mischievous uses 6. To conclude the Council makes this Opinion a principle to establish thereby many others which we reject and which together do corrupt very much the purity of Christianity So that it is evident that this matter of the Sacraments in general which at the first sight appeared not very considerable ceaseth not nevertheless to be of great importance by reason of the consectaries which it drawes after it for that this is the nature of Errour to be fruitful in productions It were much to be desired that for an intire clearing of what is most considerable upon this Article the Bishop of Condom would have been pleased to have told us something of his thoughts upon the several Doctrines of the Council which he passeth over in silence and amongst others upon that of the Eleventh Canon which requires that the Priest which administers the Sacrament have an intention to consecrate and to confer grace without which there is nothing effected It is known that there are men to be found so wicked as to sport themselves with the Holy Mysteries as indeed of them there be but too many Examples Let them tell us in this case what ought to be thought of all those unto whom these wicked Cheates do pretend to give the Sacraments of Baptism and of the Eucharist of Pennance and of Absolution c. As to some have they not adored what was not adorable as to the others are they not deprived altogether of the effect of Baptism or of Absolution and so of the other Sacraments And as to all the necessary consequents of this principal Doctrine doe they not clearly shew that the Doctrine it self is very evil The Bishop of Condom not saying any thing unto these controverted matters would be content that here and elsewhere where he deales after the same sort his silence should be taken for a tacit consent that all these Doctrines howsoever established by the Canons of the Council are at least of the number of those things which may be waved The Bishop of Condom reduces all the Questions touching Baptisme Baptism unto that of the necessity of this Sacrament for Infants and indeed that is the chiefest All that he says herein consists in three things upon which it may be said at first sight that this haply is one of those places of his Treatise wherein he doth most of all swerve from his natural equity In the first place he condemnes those poor small creatures in terms more formal and severe than the Council it self doth Infants saith he not being able to supply the want of Baptism by the acts of Faith of Hope and of Charity nor by desire or vow of receiving this Sacrament we believe that if they receive it not
that we partake of Jesus Christ very really indeed but spiritually nevertheless the Bishop of Condom correcting the term of real presence which he imputed unto us leaves the same consequences which he had seemed upon this Idea prejudging that the belief of the real participation ought to have the same effect as if we believed the presence it self This is called to take away the Foundation and leave the Building in the air or at best but to underprop it by putting in some other support in the place of the Foundation 13. In the First among the many consequences that he draws from our believing a real participation after having said that it must needs be that besides the spiritual communion of the Body of Christ c. we must admit of a real communion of the Body of the same Saviour Pag. 100. he concludes that the Church of Rome would be satisfied would we make this confession which is of very great consequence because that this conclusion doth free us from Transubstantiation and shelter the Lutherans that believe the reality In the latter some other consideration made the Bishop of Condom stifle this opinion pa. 112. and put another altogether different in the place they will never saith he explain this truth in any the least solid manner if they do not return unto the opinion of the Church pag. 109 14. In the First the word Transubstantiation is seen in the Margin in form of a title or article as well as in the Last to mark out the matter of Controversie treated of in that place but throughout the Exposition there is nothing in any place of the Article nor the term of Transubstantiation nor this Proposition that the Bread and Wine are changed into the Body and Bloud of Jesus Christ In the latter pag 124 after these words the true Body and the true Bloud of Jesus Christ he hath added into which the Bread and the Wine are changed which is that that is called Transubstantiation pag. 115. 15. In the First speaking of the Mass he concludes onely that it may reasonably be called a Sacrifice which implies also that one may safely forbear giving it that name In the latter he changeth this conclusion into another far different for he affirms strongly that there is nothing wanting in the Mass to be a true Sacrifice which yet are two consequences very different to be drawn from one Doctrine that is to say that what the Bishop of Condom proposes in this place for the proving that the Mass is a true Sacrifice doth prove no more than that it may reasonably be called by this name 16. In the First p 132 treating of the belief of them who are called Lutherans the Bishop of Condom speaketh generally of the whole Party that they reject the adoration of the Sacrament which is true In the latter pag. 148. he reduces this general Proposition unto a particular one which destroyes the former for he onely saith that some Lutherans reject the adoration without the appearance of any ground which should oblige him to the making such restriction 17. In the First pag. 113. he draws this consequence from the Doctrine of the real presence that he that can endure the reality which saith he is the most important and most difficult point may easily digest the rest In the latter he bethought himself that this rest comprehends Transubstantiation Adoration the Sacrifice of the Mass and the taking away the Cup and that they are not things so easily believed wherefore he speaks a little slacker that enduring the reality we ought also to endure the rest pag. 165. 18. In the First touching the authority of the Holy Chair he saith that their profession of Faith doth oblige them to acknowledge the Church of Rome as Mistriss and to tender true obedience unto the Pope as Sovereign In the latter he wraps up this Soveraign power in more general terms which conclude nothing positively we acknowledge saith he this Sovereignty speaking of St. Peter in his Successors unto whom is due for this reason the submission and obedience that the holy Councils and Fathers have alwayes taught 19. Upon the same point he saith in the First Edition that the rights of pretensions of the Popes which the Reformed Ministers are alwayes alledging to make that power odious are not of the Catholick Faith nor at all set down in the Profession of Faith In the latter he saith in more indefinite termes that as to those matters of which there is dispute in the Schools c. it is not at all necessary to speak thereof seeing they are not â—f the Catholick Faith 20. To conclude pag. 518. in the First Edition the Bishop of Condom drawing to the conclusion of his Treatise saith that the Fundamentals of Salvation are the adoration of one only God Father Son and Holy Ghost and a belief in one Saviour c. In the Latter he recalls this so absolute Proposition plainly seeing that the allowing this Maxime is to acknowledge that it is us properly who have the fundamentals of Salvation for our Doctrine reduces it self unto these two Heads and we have nothing contrary unto them neither in reality nor in appearance I pass over some other alterations that are less considerable especially if looked on each apart but all together do sufficiently speak the trouble the Bishop of Condom had to put his Treatise into the condition it is now in The only thing to be added in this regard is that though it may plainly be perceived that the Bishop of Condom proposed to himself two principal ends in his Treatise the one to insinuate the Doctrine of the Church of Rome diminishing as much as he could what she holds that is most violently offensive the other to oppose ours principally upon two points in which he believed he could have put us unto great difficulties namely the reality of the Body of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and the authority of the Church nevertheless it appears that it is only upon the positive Doctrine of the Roman Church that the Bishop of Condom hath stagger'd that he hath touched and retouched withdrawn diminished or added and finally that he hath made all the alterations above mentioned Now from whence could proceed this kind of variation in an Exposition of Faith for it is known how well the Bishop of Condom is qualified and the great clearness and readiness he hath in expressing himself It cannot be said but that he understood perfectly not only the grounds of the Doctrine of the Church of Rome but of ours also four yeares past when his Manuscript Copy was dispersed amongst us or ten moneths since when he caused his Treatise to be printed the first time as well as he knows it at this present Therefore it must needs be that these difficulties do proceed from the very nature of the Opinions that he laies down which have no certain foundation which
with the Holy Ghost and with Fire is also taken for a Spiritual Purification under the figure of Fire And so much the rather because the occasion it self on which Jesus Christ speaks thus to Nicodemus is but indeed a particular occasion where there is not the least appearance that our Saviour had any thoughts neither expresly nor by consequence to establish the necessity of Baptism The second thing wherein the Bishop of Condom here recedes from his natural equity is this that he would take a false and indirect advantage against us by what he saith That the Lutherans do believe with the Church of Rome the absolute necessity of Baptism for Infants and that never any man before Calvin dared openly to call in question this truth it was so strongly imprinted in the minds of the Faithful For in the first place the Council it self doth not impose this necessity so absolutely as doth the Bishop of Condom it saith not so positively as doth the Bishop of Condom that Infants have not any part in the Redemption of Jesus Christ or with Jesus Christ The Council doth not condemn those who say that Baptism is not altogether necessary to Salvation Sess 7. de Bapt. Can. 5. Si quis dixerit Baptismum liberum esse hoc est non necessarium ad salutem Anathema sit Heming in via vitae Calixt de Bapt. Coâ—â— Dieter de Bapt. and if it did that would not infer an absolute necessity It condemns onely those who would have Baptism indifferent or unnecessary as the Council it self explains it which is very much different from this necessity that the Bishop of Condom makes so absolute And it is much to be admired that he who is naturally inclined to sweetness and who seemes to remit somewhat upon other Questions doth on the contrary discover more severity upon this point which yet is one of the most favourable Further if he oppose the Lutherans to us as bâ—ing of a contrary judgement to ours in this point besides that the Bishop of Condom ought not to impute unto the whole body of the Lutherans what is constantly rejected by the most eminent Divines of their Communion we will alledge produce against him the Ethiopians and Christians of St. Thomas which are very ancient Churches where at this day they do not baptise their Children upon any account * Males 4â— days Females 80 days after until whole months after their birth Not to speak any thing here of the Testimony of Tertullian who advised to defer Baptism until years of discretion nor of Gregory Nazianzen of St. Ambrose of St. Austin of Paulin Bishop of Nole and many others which were not baptised till far gone in age As for Calvin's part to whom the Bishop of Condom imputes it to have been the first that denied this absolute necessity it is very easie to shew the Bishop of Condom how much he is mistaken in this matter not oâ—ely by what we have just now alledged of those Christian Churches of Tertullian and of others who were named but also by Hinemar Archbishop of Reims in the Ninth Age and since by Catharin Gerson Gabriel Biel Cardinal Cajetan Tilman de Sigebert Cassander and many others that were roman-Roman-Catholicks who have all denied this necessity before Calvin For Hinâ—mar did teach In Ep. 55. cap. 482. pa. 572. that the Faith of Fathers and of Godfathers might serve for Infants by the grace of God whose Spirit bloweth where it listeth and all the others have also expresly declared themselves for the possibility of the Salvation of Infants departed without Baptism To conclude the Bishop of Condom doth here again recede from his natural equity when he saith in terms too severe Pag. 73. That the pretended Reformers are not afraid voluntarily to let their children dye like children of infidels without bearing any badge of Christianity and without having received any grace if their death doth precede the day of their publick Assembly We are very far from suffering willingly our Children to dye without Baptism contrary to what he says nothing is more against our wills for though we do not believe that Baptism is necessary unto salvation by an absolute necessity such as is that of the Bishop of Condom's no more than the participating of the Eucharist yet we find very great comfort in celebrating the Sacraments and suffer not that they be slighted or neglected We do what we can possible to supply the want of ordinary Assemblies by condescending to them who demand this comfort with greater importunity But it is also true that we do not believe for all that that the grace and goodness of God is tyed unto sensible things nor unto the outward Acts that is to say to the words that are pronounced and unto the exteriour action that is done upon us as it hath been before set forth and we not onely believe that God can but that he will supply this defect by the operation of that Holy Spirit which bloweth where it listeth as Hinemar cites it out of the Gospel To conclude we believe as the Prophets that God is the Father of our Children as the Apostles that the Children of Believers are holy as we have already observed and that so to be born and dye in Christianity is not to dye in Adam or out of the Covenant of Jesus Christ As for Confirmation Confirmation we do not onely not believe it to be altogether necessary but we cannot believe it to be a true Sacrament instituted by God and so far are we from being a-one in this Opinion as the Bishop of Condom alledgeth that we can make good the quite contrary by the Testimony of Authours even of his own Communion Zaga Zabo Alvares Guido Carme Soto Armachanus Gouvea Jarric lib. 6. c. 9 12. to wit the Eastern Churches had not nor to this day have for the most part any knowledge of Chrisme or of the Confirmation of the Roman Church Amongst the Greeks themselves who have a kind of Chrisme it is the Priest and not the Bishop that gives it with Baptism as making it a part of Baptism and by consequence on the contrary there is none but the Church of Rome alone who have made Confirmation to be a particular Sacrament It is true that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and his Apostles who had the gift of miracles laid their hands sometimes upon the sick sometimes upon the Baptised and sometimes upon them whom they sent to preach the Gospel at the same time communicating unto them extraordinary and miraculous graces But besides that there is not to speak properly any imposition of hands in the Confirmation used in the Roman Church which might ground it upon this practice of the Apostles and that the use of Chrisme that is to say of Oyl with Balm is a thing unknown in the First Ages we find not that either Jesus Christ or the Apostles ever said Go lay your hands upon
full liberty of advice and suppose that it had been found that the Deputies had yielded unto something at the conference against the judgement of our Churches it would not onely have been disapproved but blamed and censured If on the contrary it had been found that they had done their duty as it ought to be presumed they would that the Form of confession whereupon they had agreed had contained all the essential fundamental Articles of what is believed amongst us and that there had been no Article in this Form of confession which had destroyed our fundamental Articles in this case we should have praised God for so full and happy a re-union The Synod would have approved and ratified it they would have framed an Act that should have contained the motives the grounds and principal reasons of their decree and the Deputies of Provinces would have been enjoined to obtain also the final acquiescence of the Churches by their silence Let it now be judged whether there be any thing in all this that in the least tends to establish that infallibility and absolute dominion which the Church of Rome attributes either to Popes or Councils which is the onely thing here in question whether there be the least pretext to accuse us as the Bishop of Condom doth of a feigned niceness and of an abandoning of our Belief or whether this be not a trick of expression not so equitable as should be to cast a foul insinuation on a great body without any ground XXI The authority of the Pope and Episcopacy There now remains onely for finishing this Answer to the Bishop of Condom's Treatise that we speak a word in particular touching the authority of the Pope and of Episcopacy This is again one of those places where the Bishop of Condom is as it were upon thorns In the first Impression of his Treatise after having said as in passage that God had instituted the Primacy of St. Peter pa. 165 to preserve unity he adds This is the reason that our confession of Faith obliges us to acknowledge the Church of Rome as the Mother and Mistress Magistram of all other Churches and to render a perfect obedience to the Soveraign High Priest Successour of St. Peter and Vicar of Jesus Christ And it is true that the profession of Faith made by Pius the IV. in execution of the Decree of the Council doth contain the same thing in so many words But in the second Edition the Bishop of Condom recalls what there was strongliest spoke in the former to wit these terms of Mistress Soveraign Vicar of Jesus Christ and perfect obedience which is due unto him whether it be that he would not engage to maintain these expressions in the extent of them or whether he was loath to anger us or in fine for some other reason that he had Now behold what he has put in stead of what he took away We acknowledge New Edition 〈…〉 saith he this same Primacy speaking of that of St. Peter which we have said that he supposed in the Successours of the Prince of the Apostles unto whom is due for this reason the submission and obedience which the Holy Councils and Fathers have alwayes taught So that in stead of explaining to us the Doctrine of the Council as he promised he would do by his Exposition for all the instruction and all the light he 'l give us he remits us to the Fathers and Councils and keeps himself yet in terms more general more obscure and more doubtful than the profession of Faith of the very Council it self It is true the Bishop of Condom here again covers his silence with this pretext that as to things which are disputed of in the Schools though the Ministers incessantly alledge them to render this power of the Pope odious it is not necessary to speak of them because saith he they are not of the Catholick Faitb But in all likelihood by these things which are disputed the Bishop of Condom here onely means the abuse of dispensations and of Indulgences the power of deposing Kings and to absolve Subjects from the Oath of Allegiance and such other matters as are truly odious but for those things which precisely regard the submission that the Popes pretend due whether in matters of Faith or of Government Ecclesiastical though they are disputed as well out of the Schools as in the Schools if the Bishop of Condom avers that they are no more of the Catholick Faith we demand no more herein it may be said that the greatest part of the authority of the Popes contains nothing of great moment As to what remains it were easie to shew in this place that the Fathers and Councils unto whom the Bishop of Condom refers us have not alwayes taught that the Church of Rome was to be acknowledged as the mother and mistress of all others nor the Bishop of Rome as Soveraign High Priest sole Head and onely Successour of the Prince of the Apostles and Vicar of Jesus Christ nor that in this quality the submission and obedience which he at this day claims of all the World is due unto him Those who are but the least verst in History and judge without prejudice do well know Dist 22. ca. Constantinopolitanae that 't is onely the preheminence of the City of Rome once the chief City of the World and the Seat of the Empire which hath given occasion to the exalting the Holy Chair as they speak not onely above other Episcopal Chairs but above Kings and Emperours themselves It might also be shewed very clearly by the Scripture that the very pretended Primacy of St. Peter upon which the Authority of the Pope is grounded is not it self founded upon any thing for St. Peter had no more but his function of an Apostle like the rest It is said in the Eighth of the Acts that the Apostles which were in Jerusalem sent Peter and John to Samaria a passage which doth not intimate Gal. 2.9 Gal. 2.11 that St. Peter did attribute to himself any dominion over his Fellow Labourers The others are called pillars of the Church as well as he St. Paul saith himself that he withstood him to the face and if it were true that St. Peter had some primacy amongst the Apostles either because of his age or of his zeal as indeed it appears he spake first on several occasions who sees not that it can be at most but a primacy of order and rank in his own person such as there must needs be in all Assemblies and which would make no more for the Bishop of Rome than for those of Jerusalem and in general for all the Bishops and Pastours of the Church but this is also one of those Controversies upon which there are whole Volumes written and the Bishop of Condom passing so lightly over this matter as he does this is not a place neither to search deeplier into it We have onely to add for a conclusion