rejoyee in my own Light and Glory and of my Kingdom there shall be no end This is the stile of Rome of Mystical Babylon let us then discern the true Babylon in the language of Rome and hear the voice of Rome in the stile of Babylon The second fault to be found with this pretence of Infallibility and eternal Duration is the multitude of gross Absurdities contained in it which we are here to lay open Absurdities contain'd in the doctrine of Infallibility First 't is supposed without any show of Reason that God hath divided the Infallibility necessary to salvation into two parts and cut off one half of it There are two ways which lead to Heaven Faith and Charity sound Belief and Good Works First an Infallibility in matters of Faith and not of Charity 'T is in vain to pretend to be infallible in the one if without being so in the other a man may perish and fall short of Heaven The Church of Rome hath not the Impudence to say she is infallible in the point of Charity and yet she would be thought so in matters of Faith. But on what foundation doth she build this Pretence Where do we read that God hath divided Faith from Charity as if the latter were less necessary than the former as if men might be saved who sinn'd against the Laws of Charity but might not be so if they offended against the Rules of Faith As if these two ways were not equally certain to guide us to eternal Life as if God might dispense with Crimes against Charity but could not bear with Errors against the Truth All or nothing both or neither The Church must be infallible in both or it is so in neither Whence comes this extravagant Division why dae not the Roman Church pretend to be infallible in Charity as well as Faith but because she is convinc't of an abominable Defection and Disorder in Manners and Practice but ought she not to be equally convinc't that she is fallen into Error because she worships Images An Error in the Faith every whit as palpable and notorious as the Sodomies of the Popes is against Charity Infallibility in points of Right and not in matters of Fact is ridiculous Another division of Infallibility is with respect to matters of Fact and those of Right The Church of Rome dares not pretend to the former but challengeth the latter at this rate she will not be infallible in the most important Articles All the Christian Religion is founded on matters of Fact. 'T is a question of Fact to know whether Jesus Christ be risen from the Dead whether the Apostles wrought any true Miracles whether there have been any Prophets and inspired writers who were the penmen of such and such books or not 'T is concerning a matter of Fact to enquire whether such a Proposition be recorded in the H. Scriptures or not If the Church of Rome be not infallible in matters of Fact in general she cannot be so in these and if she may err in matters of Fact wherein lies her Infallibility Lastly there is yet another division of Infallibility viz. as to Discipline and Doctrines The Roman Church pretends not to Infallibility concerning the latter What is that Discipline wherein she saith she is infallible 'T is in every thing that concerns the Government of the Church The Roman Hierarchy the constituting of a Pope to be the Head of the Church is a point of Government she may err concerning that which is a Principal point and why then may she not err in other matters The seat of this Infallibility connot be found This Infallibility is no less absurd if we consider the subject of it in whom it resides Where and in whom is this Infallibility plac't they know not what reply to make If it be said in the Pope we can produce an hundred Popish Witnesses who depose the contrary and maintain that the Popes may err We can produce with them numberless Instances wherein several Popes have actually err'd we can bring undeniable proofs to manifest that neither the Scripture nor the ancient Christian Church did ever imagine the Bishops of Rome or any other Bishop to have been infallible One part of the Romanists assert that this Infallibility is seated in the Councills We confute this Party with the reasons of the other for those Gentlemen are Infallible when they confute one another but speak nothing to the purpose when they go about to establish their own opinion for when they oppose one another they argue for the Truth but when they endeavor to prove their own Opinion concerning the seat of Infallibility they maintain a falshood So that the Pope is not Infallible neither the Councills their infallibility then is no where for if it be said it is in the Pope and a Councill united together we shall make use of their Arguments who say it is not in the Pope and their Reasons who deny it is in a Councill and will therupon argue that if it be not in either separated it is not in both when joyn'd together for both united are the same they were in the time of their separation they act by the same spirit make use of the same Tricks to deceive the same Injustice and Violence as when considered severally We know not where to stop as to the point of Infallibility Infallibility then is foolish and absurd whether we consider the subject about which it is imploy'd or the subject in whom it is thought to reside But let us view it a little in the general notion of it and in the general term of the Church which they make use of The Church is Infallible they say but how shall I be assured of this for should the Church be never so Infallible if I know it not and have no way to ascertain my self about it it can be of no use to me Is it a Principle so self-evident as needs no other proof to manifest and evince it Is it as plain that the Church is Infallible as that two and two make four or that the whole is greater than a part That is an Absurdity too gross and palpable to be affirm'd by any Romanist 'T is so far from being evident that the Church is infallible that on the contrary we must proceed against all appearances of reason to believe it For we see the Church of Rome doth judge by humane methods debate contest urge sollicit equivovate and deceive and imploy all the arts of Human Craft and Policy to overcome such or such an Opinion We see her oftentimes to change her sentiments and say that at one time which she did not and would not at another we see her contradict the H. Scriptures forbid that which is there commanded and command that which is there forbidden at least she seems to do so This appearance of opposing the H. Scripture will at least refute the evidence of her Infallibility and tell us
that it is not so plain but that 't is necessary it should be Prov'd Now from whence shall we fetch the Proofs of the Churches Infallability I must take them from her own mouth and believe her to be infallible because she tells me so and for that only reason because she saith it This is manifestly absurd for no man's bare word is to be taken in a business wherein he hath a particular Interest to be partial Hath a Turk right to oblige me to believe the Divinity of his Alchoran only because Mahomet hath said that the Angel Gabriel brought him the Alchoran from Heaven Must I then consult Tradition that is the Councils and the Writings of the Fathers this is another plain Absurdity because it is evident that this way cannot be made use of by three Quarters of the number of Christians and more who are ignorant of Greck and Latin and so cannot read the numberless volumns wherein this Tradition is to be found Or must every one believe his Curate or Pastor when he tells him that the Church is infallible This is another Absurdity for this Pastor must be infallible or I cannot build my Faith upon his Testimony He tells me there is an infallibility in the Church but how doth he Prove it which way soever I turn my self I fall into the former inconveniencies for if he saith I must believe it without proof he deals with me like a Brute and not as a Rational Creature If he gives me Tradition for Argument in this case I tell him I know nothing of it if he turns me over to the Church I ask where is this Church If he sends me to the Pope I tell him I cannot go thither and if I could I 'm told he is not Infallible If he send me to a Councill I say there is none now sitting If he send me to the Canons of former Councills I shall answer that I cannot understand 'em and if I could have no assurance that these Canons were really made by such a Councill If he proves that these Canons were not forged but really made by a Councill there remains another difficulty which I cannot get over viz. that several Good Catholicks maintain the fallibility of a Council There is then but one way left to satisfie my self concerning the infallibility of the Church and that is the Testimony of the H. Scriptures But how can any man make use of that according to the Principles of the Roman Church for I shall say that the Scriptures have no Authority without the Church I cannot believe the testimony of the Scripture till I know it to be divine and I cannot know it to be divine but by the testimony of the Church as we are often told The Scripture then hath no Authority as to me without the Testimony of the Church and yet you would have me believe the Infallibility of the Church upon the Testimony of the Scripture you must therefore in the first place convince me that the Church is infallible without dependance on the Scriptures and then I shall believe the divinity of the Scriptures on the Testimony of the Church and after that I may be able to believe the infallibility of the Church on the Testimonies of the Scripture The absurdities of blind obedience If the Church be infallible a blind Obedience is my Duty to obtain this submission to the Church is the reason of asserting her infallibility I must blindly believe all that the Church affirms But till then I am not obliged to credit any thing which the Scripture saith or seems to say for I am not capable to understand the meaning and sense of the Scriptures without the Church so that until the Church hath declar'd that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God and equal with the Father I have leave to doubt of it There was a time when the Church had not deliver'd her opinion in this point there was then a time when I was permitted to be an Arrian Photinian or Socinian But on the other hand whenever it shall please the Church to determine that the Ark was of a square figure equal in length and breadth or that Aaron's Sandals were with or without latchets it will be necessary that I must believe this or be damn'd Can any man be unapprehensive of the absurdities of such a Doctrine according to which at one time we may Blaspheme God without the least danger and at another time lie liable to Damnation for the least mistake about that which the Church hath decided to be the Truth These Gentlemen tell us that we must believe without examination all that the Church declares And by the same reason the Heathens were obliged to believe all that their Priests told'um and the Jews to receive all that was taught in their Synagogues No you will say they were false Teachers and so not to be credited very well But the Pagans and Jews say the same concerning my Pastors that they are false Guides And if the Jews and Heathens are bound to examin the truth of what is told them by their Guides why are not Christians obliged to know and examin what is told them by the Church at least they ought to examin the Church it self and her Authority and then we fall into the same Difficulties which were mention'd before After all this if a short and easy way could be found out to convince me that the Church is infallible this were not enough to quiet my mind because I know not where to find this infallible Church I see a multitude of differing Sects in the East and West in Europe and Asia who all say that they are the Church and that all other parties of Christians are guilty of Schism The Latins say this of the Greeks and the Greeks are even with 'em and say the same of the Latins the Protestants charge it on the Papists and the Papists on the Protestants I must know which of all these is in the right and to find out this I am plung'd into an abysse of difficulties and how shall I find my way out or extricate my self for there is no way left but by the Scriptures and that way is forbidden me till I am assured of the Infallibility and Authority of the Church without which I cannot be certain that the Scripture is divine It may possibly be said that I may believe the Divinity of the Scriptures before I know in what Sect of Christians is the Church because the Scripture is receiv'd by all the several Sects It matters not may it be said which of them is the infallible Church since they all bear restimony to the Scripture and there is one among them that is infallible viz. the true Church for her where-ever she be the Scripture hath an infallible testimony But this remedy will serve to little or no purpose because 't is necessary that I should know which of these Sects is the true Church before I can understand the
conformable to the common Rule of all Christians let them not instance in the Unity of one God the adorable Trinity of Persons in the Godhead the Incarnation of the second person in our nature who is call'd J. Christ His death which was the Ransom and Redemption of mankind his Resurrection which hath ascertain'd ours his Ascension which hath open'd Heaven and made way for our admission his sitting at the Right hand of his Father who hath constituted him Lord and King of the Church and of the World his Intercession which procures for Believers all the good that is necessary to their Eternal Blessedness the Efficacy of the Redeemer's blood with respect to men The Life Everlasting the Resurrection of the dead and the last Judgment Let them not I say instance in any of these to prove the agreement of their Religion with the H. Scripture for 't is not to the purpose All that is Christianity and not Popery 't is my Religion as well as theirs We know very well that Christianity hath continued in the Papacy but we know likewise that Paganism hath been built upon it in the Church of Rome and this is that which makes it truly Antichristian Popery is that which constitutes a particular Sect and distinguisheth it from all others and this we assert hath no kind of Conformity to the Law of J. Christ The Sacrisice of the Mass hath no foundation in Scripture Let us instance in the Sacrifice of the Mass a point of very great importance if in any Religion there be any such because it concerns the sacrifice of a God unto God thereby to obtain Eternal Life the remission of sins and all the blessings of Heaven and Earth for mankind Because it treats of establishing a new Priesthood and new Priests and such as in the act of sacrificing are superior to their own God who is but a meer victim Now in making this Sacrifice I assert that they have altogether neglected and slighted the H. Scripture and had no regard at all to the revelation and Law of J. Christ After the establishment of this Sacrifice it was thought fit to search the Scripture for arguments to prove it but antecedent to such an establishment this was not thought of insomuch that the passages brought to prove the Sacrifice of the Mass seem to be collected and produc'd for no other end than to expose the Christian Religion to the scoffs of the Profane and the raillery of Infidels From the old Testament these words in the book of Genesis are quoted Genes 14. 1 Sam. 2.34 that Melchisedeck brought forth or offer'd unto Abraham bread and wine those words of God to Eli I will raise me up a Faithfull Priest who shall do according to that which is in my mind and in my heart And that which the wise man saith in the book of Proverbs Chap. 9.1 Wisdom hath built her an house c. she hath furnished her Table and the words of the Prophet Malachy In every place Incense shall be offer'd unto my name and a pure offering 1. C. 11. From the new Testament are alledged the words of our Lord to his Apostles Do this in Remembrance of me 26. Matth. And these of our Lord to the Samaritan Woman Believe me the hour cometh 4 John 21. when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father but they that worship him shall worship him in Spirit and Truth And those words of S. Luke 13 Acts. v. 2. And as they ministred to the Lord and those of S. Paul to the Corinthians You cannot drink the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devills you cannot partake of the Table of the Lord and the Table of Devills and in another place we have an Altar whereof they could not partake who served at the Tabernacle One would wonder how these Texts should be produc't as Proofs in this case Where is the Victim where is the Priest where are the Ceremonies the Consecration Elevation Adoration and Oblation of the Sacrifice where are the Introitus the Gradual the Canon the Offertory used by the Romanists If the Jews to maintain their worship their Sacrifices and the different orders of their Ministers who serv'd at their Altats their High Priest their Feasts their Pascal Lamb their Continual Sacrifice Morning and Evening their Scape-Goat their Ark their Mercy-seat their Cherubims their Distinction of Meats their Circumcision if I say to justifie these things the Jews had produced such Texts of Scripture and said these contain the Proofs of our Religion this is our Authority for it I 'am confident they would have past for Mad-men and if the World were once cured of their Prejudices they would say as much concerning the Papists This is one great point wherin Popery is not sollicitous to keep any agreement with the Scripture the common Rule of all Christians There is no Scripture Evidence for the Pope There is another Instance no less notorious than the former After the Sacrifice it naturally followes that we consider the Priest now Popery hath an High Priest and Head of the Universal Church a Vicar of J. Christ a Lieutenant of God on Earth This is the binding stone of the Arch 't is the Center of the Union So capital an Affair that there is no salvation without adhereing to this High Priest and must we be put off to Tradition for the proof of such an Article as this what Title is there in the scripture to this great Office what Call to such a Charge This is alledged Thou art Peter and on this Rock will I build my Church and what thou hast bound on earth shall be bound in Heaven feed my sheep I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not All this is spoken by our Ld. to the Apostle Peter and this is the establishment of the office and Imployment of High Priest which the Pope claims as his peculiar I would that a meer Turk who is not prepossest with the sentiments of a particular sect might be our judge in this case Let him look upon the Infallible man at Rome with his Triple Crown on his head who pretends to be the Judge the King the Spiritual Soveraign of all Christians even of Kings themselves and examin those passages cited out of our Law in savour of his Pretentions 'T is manifest that this Turk would believe you mockt him Where is there any thing here would he say of the City of Rome where are the Cardinals where is there any appointment of this Soveraign Tribunal to which all the World must appeal If those words bestow any special priviledge upon S. Peter is it said he must have a Successor in those Prerogatives and if he was to have a Successor is there any one syllable that should make us imagine that this Successor must have his Seat at Rome 'T is certain they may say that S. Peter was at Rome that He did
the Church hath a Soveraign power to damn and save Eckius to make Articles of Faith to fetch Souls out of Purgatory c. The Church must be rich and wealthy and possess almost a third of the revenues of Christendom Bozius because S. Paul saith We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak Touch not mine anointed do my Prophets no harm i. e. All the Bishops and Priests tho they possess all the revenues Eckius yet ought not to bear any publick Charge Saints must be invoked because David saith Bellarm. Let the saints be joyful in glory They govern the world Eckius for David saith They shall have two-edged Swords in their hands They intercede for us in heaven for the Scripture saith For this shall every one that is godly Costerus pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found They know our Necessities for God saith to Moses I will make all my goodness pass before thee We must worship the Reliques of Saints for Christ saith to his disciples Not a Hair of your Heads shall perish Bozius The Hairs of your Head are numbred 'T is the B. Virgin which gives us Grace to grow in Faith for 't was said to Adam and Eve Be fruitfull and multiply The Church hath done very well in taking away the Cup from the Laity for God foretold to Eli that his Posterity should entreat the chief Priest to put them into one of the Priests Offices Eckius to eat a piece of bread Confession is of Divine Right and absolute necessity for S. Peter saith that Apostats are like a Dogg that returns to his Vomit Turrian pro Epistol Pontif l. 4. c. 17. The Authors gloss deserves the pains of transcribing it whole What is it to vomit up sins as a sick stomach doth We must follow the strain of the Metaphor Tell us where do we vomit but at the mouth why do we vomit but to ease and purge our selves Grant therefore that the Soul is purged by a certain secret vomiting of sins i. e. by secret Confession or else you give the Apostle the Lye. The Unmarried Life of Priests is of divine Right and of absolute necessity for S. Paul enjoyns a Bishop to be sober and chast Bellarm. Turrian and he reasoned before Felix of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come They who have a mind to see a greater number of these Abuses may find it in our Exceptions where we have cited both the Author and Book But here is enough to understand the Spirit of these Gentlemen In earnest we may say that they do very ill when they dispute with so much heat against the Scripture to maintain a certain other Rule of faith which they call Tradition They have good store of Scripture for with their Method there is nothing which they do not quickly and easily find there But if this Method of theirs be good for ought they must permit us to make some use of it and to conclude that by this they discover that they bear no respect to Scripture And that 't is not their fault if it be not accounted the most ridiculous Book in the world CHAPTER VI. The Conclusion of the fourth Character of Antichristianism which is found in the Papacy viz. the Affronts that it offers to the H. Scriptures both in words and actions THat which we have already discourst Exception 14. part 2. chap. 7 8. is enough to verisy that Oracle in which 't was foretold that the Papacy or Antichristianism should blaspheme God his tabernacle and his Saints For the greatest part of those Abuses of Scripture which we have mention'd are real Blasphemies But to finish this Character of Antichristianism we must add a third kind of Injuries which the Papacy offers to the Scripture these are the Affronts that it puts on them to take away all their Credit in the minds of men Here we clearly perceive that the Papacy carries it exactly like an Enemy to the Scripture Men employ against enemies Offensive and Defensive Weapons they strike at them and ward off the Blowes given by them 'T is exactly on this manner that the Papists act towards the Word of God on the one hand they perpetually ward off and repulse they distinguish and wrest it and on the other they accuse they vilify they destroy the Scriptures as much as lyes in their power First the Papists speak with the greatest Disrespect and Contempt of the H. Scriptures with respect to the Need we have of them They assert In the opinion of Papists the Scripture may very well be wanted that the Church may very well want them and with less inconvenience than in those Ages when 't is certain there was no H. Scripture After that these H. Books were written one part of them hath not only been layd out of the way but utterly lost thro the injurie of Wars and the Babylonish Captivities And yet the Church hath always been preserved in her Vigour Catechisme of W. Bayly by the aid of Tradition c. Thus even at this day The Church may be well enough preserved without the Scriptures Another famous Author tells us Costerus that 't is not the intention of God that his Church should depend on these Paper or Parchment Writings Another saith Lindanus That as long as the foundation of Apostolick Tradition remains intire the Church would have no loss if the Scriptures should be lost burnt or destroyed John Faber Vicar of the Bishop of Constance in the time when Zwinglius lived boldly asserted that the Old and New Testaments might well be mist And Cardinal Hâ—sius saith that it would go better with the Church if therâ— were no written Gospel I know not what name to give if these are not to be call'd Blasphemies The Papists charge Scripture with Obscurity The Second Affront which the Papacy puts on the Scriptures is an endeavour seeing it cannot abolish them to persuade men that 't is an Obscure Book good for nothing but to occasion heresies Every one saith Bayly the Jesuite makes the Scriptures go in the track of his own fancy All Hereticks make use of them as a Nose of Lead or of Wax The Scriptures saith Coster are very obscure and suffer themselves to be drawn any way like a Nose of Wax and to be applyed to any impious Opinion that you please as a leaden Rule 'T is a dead letter saith Pighius that endures every thing written with Ink and Paper which you may mangle and corrupt with false Expositions T is a Sheath that receives all kinds of Swords not only those of Steel but of Lead of Copper of Wood for you can with its own leave draw it to be on your party by interpreting it as you please We must saith one of these Gentlemen remember this not to refute the Hereticks by Scripture Men disputed against Luther with Scripture 't was this
that kindled the flame which burns to this day 'T is a prodigious blindness in which there is somthing supernatural that men should come so far as to utter such Blasphemies and that at this day men should not be afraid to repeat them Scripture insufficient The Third Affront tho Papists offer to the Scriptures is their asserting them to be insufficient and imperfect and that they cannot serve as a Rule of Faith. They employ their greatest Engins to establish this Principle Councill of Trent Ses 4. that Traditions ought to be regarded with the same reverence and veneration that is given to the Scripture Yea that Traditions excell the Scriptures because the H. Scriptures cannot subsist unless confirmed by Tradition Baron Tom. â— Annal. whereas Traditions keep their strength intire without the H. Writings We stand more in need of Tradition than of Scripture for the Scriptures only furnish us with a dead and dumb letter But Tradition as the Church holds it forth helps us to the true sense which is not indeed distinctly layd down in the Scripture yet is the real word of God. W. Bayly Nothing is more injurious to the Scripture than this Nothing is more contrary to the intention and wisdom of God than to suppose that he hath given a Rule of Faith which cannot regulate Faith which is too short by more than three quarters which is crooked dubious flexible and altogether useless without the aid of another Rule that is unknown to all Christians excepting a small number of Learned men who alone are capable of consulting it Scripture hath no Authority The fourth Affront that Popery offers to the Scriptures relates to their Authority They have no Authority without the testimony of the Church Without the Authority of the Church Bayly we should have no more Obligation to believe the Scriptures than the History of Titus Livius The Scripture Hosius if deprived of the Churches testimony have no more Authority than Esops Fables How know we say they that the Writings which go under the name of Moses are his seeing we never had a sight of the Originals And if we should who could assure us that they were writ by Moses's own hand Again if we could be assured of this what certainty have we that what Moses writ is true Who shall assure us that the Evangelists were Witnesses to all that they report But tho we should believe that they saw and heard all the Actions and Discourses of J. Christ which they report yet they might forgett and lye as every man may deceive and be deceived How can we again know with certainty Pighius that what goes under their names are their true Writings and not corrupted or forged I know not what kind of Temper a man must be of who can read and hear such things without trembling He that should speak at this rate of the Alcoran at Constantinople would be impaled alive An Infidel cannot say more to destroy all the Authority of the Holy Scriptures The several ways used by Papists to take away the Credit of the scripture 'T is not enough to these Gentlemen to affront the Scriptures by these four Accusations 1. That they are not necessary to the Church 2. That they are obscure 3. That they are defective 4. That they have no Authority as to us without the Church there is no Method imaginable which they employ not to dishonour them They tell us that they were writ only Occasionally and not at all with any design to make them a Rule of Faith. An Evangelist or an Apostle wrote a Gospel or an Epistle at random by chance and on particular private designs Afterward the Church collected those loose writings into one Book But seeing these were not writ by one or several persons writing in concert we cannot find in them a System of Faith. Can any thing be said more affronting to the H. Spirit who ordered the pens of these Writers and the occasions that obliged them to write The Papists talk just as if the Apostles had writ meerly on their own designs without any Inspiration But did not the H. Spirit who moved them to write design their writings collected together should be the true Rule of Faith To lessen the Credit of the Canonical books that are truly divine Popery hath joyn'd with them fabulous books a tale of Tobit a Romance of Judith of Bel and the Dragon of Susanna This tends to dispose the minds of men to believe whatever they have a mind to propose seeing the veriest Fables when authoriz'd by the Church ought to be received as Truth and the greatest Truth destitute of the Churches Testimony may be rejected as a Fable This is not yet enough the more effectually to abolish the holy Books and their Authority they affirm that at this time we have not the H. Scriptures compleat Many Books say they are lost we have not the Book of the Wars of the Lord mention'd in the Book of Numbers We have not the Books of Gad and of Iddo Solomon wrote concerning plants from the Cedar even to the Hyssop and I know not how many thousand Parables and Songs which we have not S. Paul wrote a third Epistle to the Corinthians which is lost one to the Church of Laodicea and perhaps many others which are not to be found and who knows whether in all these writings that we have not there were not innumerable things which would have made the Rule of Faith more compleat Perhaps what is come down to us are only some Planks escap'd from a Shipwrack which hath swallowed up the Vessel All the sacred Books of the Old Testament were burnt at the sacking of Jerusalem under Zedekiah Afterward Ezra gather'd what he could of the scatterd pieces There are Popish Authors who discourse at this rate Yea they go further Those Books of Holy Scripture that are preserved are yet corrupted and alterd The Jews out of hatred to the Christian Religion have corrupted the Originals at the best these Originals are lost and the Copies have felt the injuries of Time and the fate that is inevitable to all antient Books having for above three thousand years past thro the hands of so many ignorant persons many things may have been changed in them Besides they are dead Languages in which these Books are written such as we understand not we are not skill'd in their Grammar we know not the signification of their words This is what they discourse at this day Lastly to compleat the Affront they pull away these books out of the peoples hands they affright them with these as if they tended to ruin their souls They tell men that it never was the intention of God to abandon his Scriptures to the indiscretion of the Laity And on this pretence the Scripture is become a secret Book hid under a barbarous Language to which none is allowed to approach unless he is aforehand initiated in their
forc'd King John to possess it only as his subject and as the Vassal of the Church One Innocent IV. who was summon'd before the tribunal of God saith Matthew Paris and accused to have render'd the Church of Christ abject and Contemptible as a despicable Servant to have made it a shop of exchange to have overturn'd both Faith and Manners destroyed Justice and concealed the Truth 'T was this Pope who told his Kindred at his death wherefore do you Weep ye wretches shall I not leave you Rich we also meet with one Martin IV. whose Encomium was this that he had the outside of a Shepherd but within was a Wolf 't was he that among other Wishes made this one that all Germany might be turr'd into a Pool of Blood One Boniface VIII who entred into the Popedom as a Fox liv'd there as a Lion and left it as a Dog inrag'd and desperate One Benedict XII who bought the Sister of Petrarkus not of Petrarque himself who abhorr'd the Popes their Persons and their Lives but of Gerard his Brother One John XXII who was deposed in the Councill of Constance as an Heretick Simoniack Perjured Murderer Poisoner Adulterer and Sodomite After the Councill of Constance we find Alphonsus Borgia Pope under the name of Calistus III. An. 1455. who pillag'd all Europe under pretence of solliciting the Princes to make War against the Turk An. 1458. To him succeeded Pius II. who confesses his debaucheries in the Books we have yet extant of his and for the Reward of his Good Works he dyed with this Testimony that he was without faith and without Piety Quickly after comes Paul II. An. 1464. declared enemy of all honest men especially men of learning a Simoniack who sold all Ecclesiastical Preferments a meer brute and yet Proud and stately a great Lover of Jewels and precious Stones wherof he had heapt together a vast quantity An. 1471. After this we meet with Sixtus IV. who from being a Cordelier got to be Pope whose character Baptista Mantua hath left us he saith in short that he was Luxurious Debaucht a Drunkard Adulterer and whatever can be imagin'd that was abominable T is concerning him that we read in History Wesselius Croning Tract Thes Indulg that when the family of the Cardinal of S. Lucy presented him with a Request to have permission to use Sodomy during the three hot moneths of the year that he wrote at the bottom of the request so let it be as is desired To this Sixtus succeeded one Innocent VIII who was Lascivious beyond measure and left eight Bastard Sons and as many Daughters besides this he was a Glutton Covetous and excessively Idle so that no Vice was a Stranger to him Immediately after this we find Alexander VI. An. 1484. Guiccardin whose Enorimities were sufficient to efface the memory of all those of his Predecessors He purchased the Popedom with money he liv'd there in Incest with the famous Lucretia who was his own daughter whom he married to his own Son Caesar Borgia She was therefore his daughter his wife his daughter in law Pontificis filia sponsa nurus He Poyson'd many that were Rich to get their Estates and after he had acted a thousand Villanies was kill'd by that Poyson which himself had prepared for Cardinal Adrian After him comes Julius II. a Proud Head-strong man Turbulent and Cruel who acted the Souldier and fill'd all Europe with Confusions This was he who had such famous Quarrells with Lewis XII King of France named the Father of the People On which occasion that King coyn'd a Medal on which was a Pope with a Tripple Crown and on the reverse these words Perdam Babylonis nomen I 'le destroy the name of Babylon Leo X. succeeded him 'T was in his Reign that the famous Revolution of the Reformation hapned He had not a dram of Religion as every body Grants A meer Worldling that minded nothing but to make a Figure to spend high and heap together Moneys to serve his Luxury 'T is notorious that he did not so much as believe a God and one day told Cardinal Bembo that this Fable of J. Christ hath done us good service Adrian VI. succeeded him they say he was an honest man but a bad Pope Thus the Papists themselves speak of him and so confess that a skilful Pope and an Honest Man are inconsistent Clement VII comes next Guicchardin tells us he was a Bastard a Knave a Hypocrite a Coward Credulous a Slave to his Domesticks and yet Proud Restless always aspiring to new Greatness Paul III. succeeded him Never was the Memory of any man loaded with more heinous Accusations He had sold his sister Julia Farnese to Alexander VI. for a Cardinals Hat. He lay with another of his Sisters and out of jealousie poyson'd her Laura Farnese his Niece was his Miss He endeavourd besides to debauch another Niece which was young and hansom He lay with his own daughter Constantia and poysoned Bosius â—fortia her husband and consequently his Son-in-law A Book that came out after his death accuseth him of all this if but a quarter be true 't would be enough John Maria de Monte was chosen Pope by the name of Julius III. the most Voluptuous Man in the World. He was suspected of Sodomy with a strange young Boy call'd Innocent whom he made a Cardinal But Sodomy in a Pope is a meer triste there is scarce an Italian who is free from it Paul IV. was the proudest Creature in the world He would stamp with his Foot and say I 'le bring down all the Kings under this Foot. He fill'd all Italie with Commotions and made himself so odious to the people that no sooner was his Breath gone but his Statues were pull'd down and thrown into the Sewers Pius IV. who finisht the Council of Trent was Wise as to the World one of the most cunning Politicians of that Age His Policy was tryed to purpose with the difficulties he met with in managing that Councill in order to the keeping up his Soveraignty and hindring it from doing any dammage to the Court of Rome Pius V. was a cruel Persecutor of the Truth Gregory XIII approved of the Massacre at Paris he orderd that Tokens of publick Joy should be made at Rome for it And to perpetuate the Memory of it as of the most gallant act which was performed in his Reign he coyn'd a Medal on one side was himself on the reverse a representation of the Massacre with these words Hugonotorum strages the slaughter of the Hugonots This Massacre was an abominable Fact and whoever approves of it must either be Antichrist or the Son of Antichrist Sixtus V. who succeeded was the Patron of the League he set all France in a flame This proved that he must have been a very good friend of the Spaniards And yet they have told the World that he was a Conjurer and made a Compact
care to give an account to Monsieur the Bishop of Agen formerly Bishop of Tulle and known under the name of Father Mascaron About 8 or 10 days after the preaching of the first sermon this Father at the close of another told the people that having understood that some had been offended without cause at his Sermon on our Ladies day he had given the Bishop an account of it who did perfectly approve all that he had said Whereupon the Curate replied with a loud voice in the presence of the whole Assembly that it was not so and that he himself could produce Letters to the contrary Here is the copy of a Lr. which that Prelate writ to this Preacher who calls himself Father Dom Gabriel The Bishop of Agen to the Reverend Father Dom Gabrië I Am troubled my Father at that which hath lately past at Duras and I could have wisht that as good and catholick soever as your sermon might be and I doubt not but it was that nevertheless you had not preacht it J. Christ told his Apostles multa habeo vobis dicenda sed non potestis portare modò I have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them yet For the present we must keep to the just bounds which the sixth Council hath set us concerning the Invocation of Saints that it is good and profitable to invoke them that they hear our Prayers and that we receive many Favors by their Intercession But we ought to stop there When the new converts shall be better setled and establisht in this Faith of the Church they will not stumble or be startled at certain Expressions which now they are afraid of Make a peaceable end of this affair my Father and without any affectation endeavor to mollifie and temper the business Return my Lr. if it please you assoon as may be to M. the Curate and make my excuses to Father de la Mercy if I do not answer him I am so opprest with business that I can scarce find a time to breath I desire to be recommended to your Prayers and am with all my heart Your most humble and most affectionate Servant Julius Bishop and Count of Agen. And by a Postscript I am just now inform'd by L rs receiv'd this day that you should have said that I gave you order to preach this Proposition that our whole Heart must be given to Mary to make a Temple for her and that the Eternal Father consulted with the Virgin about the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ that no Evil can befall us without the permission of Mary that she made the Rocks to cleave asunder by her Sorrow They add that you gave your Auditory to understand that there were four Persons in the Trinity and that the Virgin made the fourth I know very well that a good construction may be made of all this but you cannot acquit your self from the greatest indiscretion to start such kind of Questions among the New Converts who ought to be dealt with very tenderly as those that are weak in the Faith. I have undertaken to send Father Meladon a Jesuite to moderate and reconcile matters and to reduce both parties to that just medium from whence you have swerv'd by your Passions and I beseech you to yield to the Truth and to ask pardon of God for your great Imprudence for 't is inexcusable must an whole Church be put into a Combustion because you made such a Sermon This is not according to Order Remember that in strictness and rigor of Faith as to particular persons the Invocation of Saints and of the H. Virgin ought necessarily to be approv'd but the exercise and practice is not of necessity for every Individual and when they are at service they ought not to separate from those who pray to Saints or disapprove their Prayers The Character of this Bishop is well known that of all men in the Kingdom he hath the greatest contempt and scorn for the monkish Devotions and yet you see how he talks how he saith that the Impious Expressions of that Monk had and might have a very good sense He doth not require of the Monk to retract those Blasphemies he would only that they should be reserv'd till another more convenient Time that these things should be kept for thorough pac'd Catholicks who have been instructed in all their Mysteries What is the import and meaning of this Caution and conduct it plainly signifies thus much that these Devotions are still the Religion of the People in the Papacy that they would not have 'em scandaliz'd by disapproving them and that they durst not oppose the Monks who have the multitude as yet on their side In a word we must reckon that all Spain all Italy and all the States of Germany under the Emperor and all the Ignorant Devout People in France are still of this mind And consequently that the Papacy stands convicted of Idolatry by the testimony of all the wise and Intelligent men of her own Communion as many of the most considerable of 'em have freely owned to me before several witnesses CHAPTER XVI The Tenth Character of Antichristianism found in the Papacy that it is a reviv'd Paganism built upon Christianity whose Worship is neither Spiritual nor Rational According to the Prophecies the Kingdom of Antichrist is to be Idolatrous 'T Is certain that according to the Idea which the Prophets give us of the Antichristian Kingdom that it must not be a sort of Judaism as the Papists suppose without the least proof but a reviv'd Paganism This is manifest by the preceding Character that of Idolatry Pagan and Idolatrous are one and the same that which partakes of Paganism partakes of Idolatry but without making use of Consequences we have an express Text which tells us that Antichristianism is to be a sort of Paganism Apoc. 11. c. v. 2. Apoc. chap. 11. v. 2. But the court that is without the Temple leave out and measure it not for it is given unto the Gentiles and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two moneths The term of Forty Two Moneths makes it evident that he speaks of the Antichristian Kingdom for all Interpreters of the one Communion and th' other do agree that the three years and half so often mention'd in the Apocalypse under the names of forty two moneths and 1260. days are the duration of the Kingdom of Antichrist Now this Empire of 42 months is given to the Gentiles to the Pagans Antichristianism then must be a sort of Heathenism not pure Paganism but such a one as is erected upon Christianity and not separated from it For those Gentiles are to tread under foot the Holy City They must then possess it how else can they tread it under foot This is that which is also foretold expresly by the Apostle Paul that the Man of Sin shall sit in the Temple of God. Antichristianism therfore is not to be a pure and simple Paganism
Father Crasset treats those who are incredulous as to these things As to other Miracles such as Curing diseases opening the Eyes of the Blind and the Ears of the Deaf restoring broken Limbs or paralitick wither'd Members or when half hath been lost c. These are little inconsiderable things which the Legend hardly thinks it worth while to take notice of I know not whether the Reader will not be weary of such stuff for my own part my patience is almost tired and I shall here conclude the Chapter of the Fables and Romances made in favor of the Invocation of Saints and pass to the Fabulous History of their Reliques CHAPTER XXI The fabulous History of Reliques of Images of the real Presence of the Adoration of the Host of the Sacrifice of the Mass of Purgatory of Founding the Orders of the Monks MOnks Adoration of Reliques and the Spirit of Lying came into the Church in the same Age. The Monks are those Cheats and Impostors who according to St. Paul's prediction were to set on foot the Worship and Doctrine of Demons or secondary Mediators And Reliques were the first step that led men to the diâ—iâ—al Superstitions which we have spoken of in the preceding Chapters If we should undertake to write the Annals of Reliques of their discovery of their Translations and Miracles down from the sourth Century they alone would make a vast Library but withal a very monstrous one for this is one of the most filthy and shameful Raggs which Popery hath sewed to Christianity Yea the very drawing up an Inventory of their Reliques would suffice to shew the filth of this piece of Popery One might sind at Rome an inexhaustible spring of Reliques and Cheats which is called the Catacombs These are Caves and Sepulchres Catacombs at Rome whence Reliques are now taken where the Romans of old buryed their Slaves and arterward all their dead When they gave over the Custom of Burning them which was after the time of the Antonins These Catacombs that were once the Sepulchres of Heathen Slaves are become the Quarries where the Gods of Christians are digg'd From thence some Bones are taken and baptiz'd with the name of some Saint who often never was in the world and are distributed into all Countreys Even those Papists who retain any Common Reason do abhor and deride them Marolles Abbot of Villeloin who dyed but a few years ago said That if a Church or a Community wanted Reliques they needed only to address to the Pope and most humbly desire his Holiness to give them some Who takes out of the Catacombs as many as he pleaseth and after an exact Tryal made he baptizeth them as they call it and giveth them their proper name whether by inspiration or because he hath a mind to do so is no matter Witness the chests fill'd with Reliques that were taken out of these Catacombs and which Pope Alexander VII and his Successor Clement the IX sent into France as a rich present Head of â—â—â—tunatus that was made of â—â—â—â—â—oard Among which was that miraculous Head of St. Fortunatus which the Physicians found to be made of Pastboard and the body of St. Ovidius which at this day worketh so many Miracles in the Convent of the Capuchius What a Pity it is that this Saint who was never known in the Martyrologies or History hath lost his time so sadly for twelve or fifteen Ages together what Miracles are lost which had been wrought if they had digg'd him up sooner Reliques of the Virgin. If we designed to make an Inventory of Reliques we ought to begin with those of the Virgin before we come to those of her Son. But since her Body as well as Soul is in Heaven these Gentlemen her Devoto's are deprived of the grand help to their Devotion because they can shew none of her Bones But to make amends for this they have made a curious Collection of her Linnens and little Cloaths They have her Girdles her Ropes her Sandals her Quoifs her Shifts her Wast-coats They have her Hair the Parings of her Nailes and her Milk in great quantity All this was never heard of till the sixth and seventh Centuries yea the most of these Reliques of the Virgin were not known a long time after But God who intended to honour these blessed Reliques with Altars and Adoration did carefully preserve them in little Corners that none knew of and after eight or ten Ages brought them to light to warm again the cold devotion of the Church They have good Warrant and Sureties for the truth of these Reliques for the Virgin hath taken care to assure some honest Monk or some boly Nunn by Dreams and Revelations If this will not serve they have a sure way to confirm their Faith as to these things viz. the Miracles that have been done by these Reliques And lastly If all fail they have Holy Tradition that cannot lye and this assureth us of the truth of these holy Reliques Reliques of J. Câ—rist His Foreskin Jesus Christ being also alive in Heaven with his Body we have not his Bones But this is no great loss for excepting these the Church hath almost every thing which she could desire She hath the glorious Foreskin of the Lord Jesus Christ The Physicians say that there can be no more than one but in favour of the Devout God hath made several Foreskins of Christ for there is one at Rome in the Lateran Church formerly there was one at Antwerp one in the Abby of Charrone another at Langres but as to this last the Abbot of Ville-loin dare not be very positive This multiplying of the Foreskin of Jesus Christ is not the thing that most troubleth the learn'd men of the Roman Church but 't is a question among them whether our Lord can have left his Foreskin on Earth for if he hath the Body of Jesus Christ in Heaven is not compleat and intire About this these Gentlemen have many pretty imaginations which may be seen in Suarez But the Devoto's who trouble not their heads with these deep and knotty questions do most piously adore all these Foreskins They mean well and this is enough They cannot want the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for he shed it on several occasions at his Circumcision as his bloody Sweat in the Garden of Gethsemene in Caiphas's Hall when he was Scourged on the way to Calvary at his crowning with Thorns and lastly on Mount Calvary where we must not doubt the Holy Women had brought Vessels on purpose to preserve his Blood. I say Holy Women for the Men have always been less devout Perhaps there did not run much Blood out of his Wounds for three or four nails which stop up the Wounds made by them do not leave much space for the Blood to run out which also presently congeles at the Orifices 'T was this which made the death of the Cross tedious and lingring For if the Blood had
us by the Titles of the Beast the City and the Empire by which 't is represented to us V. 5. And there was given to him a mouth Rev. 13. â— speaking great things and Blasphemies and power was given to him forty and two moneths i. e. twelve hundred and sixty years to reign and have Authority in V. 7. She hath glorifyed herself Chap. 18. and lived deliciously She saith in her heart I sit a Queen and shall see no sorrow The Church must be meaâ— and afflicted On the contrary every Body knoweth the Holy Scripture represents the true Church as a Society that must be persecuted afflicted under the Yoke and under oppression until the end of the sixth Period The faithful Witnesses must prophecy clothed in Sackcloth during the 1260 years of Antichrists Reign The Woman which had brought forth the Man-child must be hid in the Wilderness for the space of three Prophetick years and a half Let us now see to whom this Character of a long and constant prosperity belongs It doth not to the Christian Church of the three first Centuries for she was always in flames and blood It doth not belong to the Church of the fourth and fifth which kept as yet some purity for in those Ages the Church was cruelly persecuted by the Arrians and other Hereticks But as soon as the Church of Rome began to be corrupt and became Antichristian she began to have rest If she was opposed by some she did in conclusion rid herself of 'em she hath kill'd burn't and dispatch't those who had a mind to oppose her Doctrines and her Tyranny And she had the most desirable success until the last Age when the fatal ruin of the Papacy began Yea even after the Wound that she got a hundred and fifty years ago she is so recovered and hath got such strength that she was scarce ever more glorious She hath subdued new Kingdoms instead of those that were taken from her She hath persecuted at her old rate and always overcome she hath made others bear the Cross but hath boâ—n none herself Is this the Character of Christianity or of Antichristianism I ' le make the Bishop of Meaux Judge in the case Let us hear him speak The Bishop of Meaux confesseth that the Cross is inseparable from the Church The most peculiar Law of the Gospel saith he is the command of bearing the Cross The Cross is the true evidence of Faith the true foundation of Hope the perfect resining of Charity in one word the way to Heaven Jesus Christ dyed on the Cross he bore his Cross all his life On these terms he biddeth us follow him He makes this the price of Eternal Life The first to whom he particularly promised the Rest of the next World is a Companion of his Cross This day saith he to him thou shalt be with me in Paradise As soon as he was hung on the Cross the Vail that conceal'd the Sanctuary was rent in two from the top to the bottom and Heaven was opened to holy Souls 'T was presently after the enduring of the Cross that he appeared to his Apostles glorious and a Conqueror of Death to let 'em know that himself must enter into glory by the Cross and that he had told his Children of no other way thither Thus in the person of J. Christ was set before the world the Idea of acomplete Virtue that hath nothing and expects nothing upon earth which men require only with continual persecutions which â—easâ—th not to do 'em good and draweth on itself the last and worst punishments by its own benefits Jesus Christ dyeth not finding gratitude in these whom he had obliged nor fidelity in his Friends nor equity in his Judges His innocence tho it was confessed did not save him yea his Father in whom alone he had put all his trust withdraweth all the tokens of his Protection The just one is given up to his enemies and dyeth forsaken of God and men c. The wisest of the Philosophers searching after the Idea of Virtue concluded that of all wicked men he is the worst who can so conceal his wickedness as to pass for an honest man and by this means enjoys all the credit that virtue can bestow And on the other hand he is without doubt the most vertuous whose virtue by its perfection draweth on him the jealousy of all men so that he hath none to befriend him besides his own Conscience and seeth himself exposed to all sorts of injuries and even to the death of the Cross whilest his virtue cannot do him the small kindness of exemting him from such a punishment Is it not probable that God inspired the mind of this Philosopher with this marvellous Idea of Virtue intending to give an instance of it in the person of his Son and to let us know that the Righteous man hath another Glory another Rest and another Happiness than that which can be had on earth Behold how his heart speaks when he is not on his guard against the Calvinists when he frameth his Idea's from Reason Gospel and Experience It must be granted that these Reflexions would a little better fit the mouth of a persecuted Protestant than that of a person who liveth at the greatest ease in a persecuting Court. However I stand to the Decision of the Bishop of Meaux That the most peculiar Law of the Gospel is that of bearing the Cross But let 'em shew me what Cross the Church of Rome hath born from the time that she hath made material Crosses of Wood Stone and Metal the objects of Worship Where are her Martyrs where are her Persecutions Is it not a prodigy that for these seven or eight hundred years past she lives at the greatest ease always victorious Or if she hath endured any shakings her own restlesness Ambition Covetousness and Cruelty have caused ' em If she will have the honour of bearing the Cross and of reckoning the Persecutions that she hath suffer'd she must bring into her account the troubles she hath endured from the Emperors of Germany the oppositions they have made to her grandeur the bounds they endeavour'd to set to her pride the Arms they were forced to take up for repressing her insolencies I know of no other sufferings that the Papacy hath endured Indeed you shall hear Cardinal Baronius and his fellows tell us very seriously that the Emperors the Henries the Fredericks the Lewis's of Bavaria were cruel Persecutors of the Church and that under them the Church was miserably afflicted because sometimes they undertook to chastise the Ambition of the Popes 'T is true if they make Martyrs of all those who dyed in the Wars against those Emperors and of all the Guelfes who were slain by the faction of the Gibellines they will not want Confessors and Confession But I doubt whether they of Monfr de Meaux's principles do like these Martyrs and believe that the destiny of the Church
that such a bright Light should shine forth in so dark a night to shame those of after-ages who should Idolize this Antichristian Power 'T is a great reproach to the Princes of our days that they see not that which was so plainly seen by their predecessors in an age of ignorance and of superstition After this Passage I shall mention no other because I can produce none so good That light was not extinguisht but continued and increast till it broke forth with a more than ordinary lustre in the beginning of the last Century This famous passage of Eberard is as the Text to which every thing ought to be referred that hath since or then been said by others for instance the remarkable passage of Honorius of Autun who in the same age passing thro all the orders and degrees of people in the Church Princes Judges Ecclesiasticks Priests Men Women c. discovers the marks of Babylon every where even in his time In the same Age William de St. Amour a Parisian Doctor disputing against the Mendicant Friars the creatures of the Pope and the Court of Rome makes no scruple to say and prove that they are the Ministers of Antichrist and serve the Beast which hath seven heads and ten horns In the fourteenth Century Marsilius of Padua who vindicated the Emperor Lowis of Bavaria against the Court of Rome and the famous Petrarque whose reputation is to this day so considerable in the Roman Church have plainly proved by the very same predictions which we make use of in our time and Eberard the Bishop of Saltsbourg did in his that the Court of Rome is the Kingdom of Antichrist An Historian of that age tells us that a certain Carmelite had the courage to paint the Court of Rome and its Cardinals with all the colours of the Beast and of the Whore in the Apocalypse it was written to the Pope himself and affixt on the most publick places of Rome and Avignon You may see these Testimonies cited in our Legall Exceptions with those of S. Brigit of Nicholas of Clemangis Gregory of Heymbourg and many others So that we may say this light hath from age to age been diffused in all places men have allways either foreseen or seen it that Rome is the seat of Antichrist and that the Bishop of Rome who calls himself the Prince of Priests is the Man of Sin and the Apocalyptical Beast I here conclude what I intended to say to prove the Papacy to be Antichristianism and I repeat what I have said in other places that they who endeavour to darken this Truth are criminal against Christianity it self and they who see it not are prodigiously blind and stupid No wonder if Grotius and such as he be of that number these Gentlemen seem to design to overturn the Holy Scriptures and the Christian Religion Ought we to think it strange that those men who can find the Prophet Jeremy instead of Jesus Christ in the 53 Chapter of Isaiah cannot find the Pope in the book of the Revelations or in the Prophesies of Daniel I have said it elsewhere and I say it again that they who cannot discern the Pope in the Prophesies of the New Testament will never be able to find our Messiah in the predictions of the Old. Experience confirms this for the same men who exclude the Papacy from being intended in the Apocalypse do exclude Jesus Christ from almost all the Prophesies and Types of the Old Testament I would fain know how any man can make it out to a Jew that Jesus is the Messiah if he yeilds to him that all that which is spoken of the Passion of Christ in the 53. Isaiah may be applied to the Persecutions and sufferings which the Prophet Jeremy endur'd Where are there any Prophecies that may not as easily be turned to another sense as those If it be granted that he saith nothing for our opinion in this point shall any wonder that we are offended at so learned a man Who can with any justice complain of it since we have so much reason to complain of him who hath as much as he could by his Commentaries taken from us the strongest Arguments we had to confute both the Jews and Socinians He is the Patriarch and the Master of those Literal Interpreters of our days who undervalue all the Mysteries of the Bible and destroy the very Spirit and Spirituality of the Holy Scriptures Because they have taken some pains to discover some parts of Jewish or Pagan learning that their labors may not be lost all the Sacred Texts of the Old or New Testament must be understood with a relation to some Pagan rites or some Customs of the Synagogue and have nothing in 'em of spirit Mystery or depth Every one of these Gentlemen hath his own Idol one of 'em finds that the Gnosticks began to discover themselves in the time of the Apostles and for that reason we must meet with the Gnosticks in all the Apostolical Writings Another hath studied the Egyptian Antiquities and to prove that his time was well imploy'd we must find some of the Egyptian Rites in all the Mosaick Institutions Another believes he hath good Skill in the Traditions of the Jews and therefore the most spiritual part of the New Testament must be interpreted with respect to some of the Dreams and Fancies of the modern Jews We know very well that this sort of Learning Jewish and Pagan is not unuseful for the understanding of some part of Scripture but 't is in such places where some Heathenish Customs are treated of or in Historical matters But by going too far this way much mischief is done to Religion we shall soon abolish all the Types and destroy the Spirituality of the Law and make nothing to be contained in it but a bare Superficies We nevertheless respect and honour the learning and merit of the men we speak of but it were to be wish't that they had better imployed their parts and learning and we hope that they themselves will at length be sensible of it and perceive that their writings are not at all to edification However far be it from us to impute the particular Errors and Fancies of some few to any of the Protestant Churches to which they join themselves we know of no Christian Church in the West except the Church of Rome that doth not discern the Papacy to be the Antichristianism that is Prophetically described in the New Testament Therefore let it not be said that such or such a Church is not of this opinion for the sentiments of a few particular men here and there are not the Sentiments of the Church in which they live We must seek for those in their Confessions of Faith and the Annotations of the Bible authoriz'd by the Laws Now among all the Reformed Churches there is none we are so much obliged to for the discovery of the Mystery of Iniquity as to that 〈◊〉 England The most
most Holy Virgin Mary the Mother of God almost every thing which is in the H. Bible In prosecuting this design the Virgin Mary must be found in the first word of the Bible By the Heavens which God created in the beginning we must understand the Empyreal Heaven i. e. the Lady of the World the V. Mary When God said Let there be Light the meaning is Let Mary be begotten and born Every thing that is Great and Singular in the Antient History is Mary She is the Altar which Noah built to God after the Deluge the Holocaust in which God will smell a sweet savour is the Prayers of the same Virgin the Virgin is the Bow in the heavens of which 't is said when I bring a cloud over the Earth the bow shall be seen She is the mystical Ladder which Jacob saw in a Dream for by her the Son of God descends to us and by her we ascend to him she is the Gate thro which we enter into the Kingdom of God 't was of the Virgin that Jacob spoke when he said how dreadful is this place 't is the House of God the Gate of Heaven The Jewish Tabernacle and all its parts did respect the Virgin. She is the Ark of the Covenant that is gone into Heaven before us to prepare us a place there She is the Mercy-seat of pure Gold because she was sanctifyed above others in her Mothers womb She is also the Altar of Burnt-offerings because she is the Reconciler and hath taken this Office at her going into Heaven We may judge of the whole piece by these small shreds A thousand and a thousand Copies have been taken from these two famous Originals the antient Preachers of the Roman Church adorned their discourses with these excellent flowers For example in Solomons Song they found a large field for these profane applications There the H. Spirit in a mysterious manner sets forth the Wonders of the Union between J. Christ and his Church by the Emblems of a Bridegoom and a Spouse These profane wretches apply all this to the Virgin as if the Mysteries of our Redemption and Union with J. Christ were verifyed and fulfill'd in her And to give greater authority to all these shameless applications they were brought even into the Hymnes of the Roman Church In them they say to the Virgin Tu quoe furentem Leviathan serpentem tortuosumque c. Thou bruisest under thy feet the furious Leviathan and the crooked Serpent an Elogy which the Oracle in Genesis gives to the Blessed Seed i. e. to J. Christ Another hymn speaks thus to her Scala Jacob ora pro nobis Jacobs Ladder pray for us Nor is less done to the other Saints every one of 'em hath his proper Votaries especially the modern Saints are much more feasted and caressed than the old The book of the Conformities between S. Francis and J. Christ is full of these Abominations That Author will have that God had his eye on S. Francis when he Created the first man. For to him those words ought to be applyed Let us make man in our Image after our Likeness and let them have dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl c. There are none who have been so extravagant in abusing the H. Scripture as the Preachers of the Papacy For they have adopted all these profanations and over and above have peculiar ones of their own 'T was their profession to make the Scripture ridiculous and absurd by impertinent Expositions by expressions fit for the Stage and by the language of a Farce which they still used in all their discourses If any should dare to deny this we have at this day enough to convince the incredulous in the Sermons of Menot of Maillard of Barelette V. Exceptions from which we have made considerable citations and the consulting them will be useful to let us see the Character of Popery Tho their Preachers are not so sottishly extravagant in this age yet 't is certain that the same Character is to be discern'd in those who are newly come out of the Convent and have not convers'd with the world The Writers of Controversy Scripture abused by Controversial writers ought to be much more exact and circumspect in the using of the H. Scripture Preachers and those who write Books of Devotion have some Priviledge in this matter and may take some liberty in their Applications of Scripture provided that these applications are sutable to bring the soul unto God. But when we alledge Scripture as an evidence to decide a Controversy we must keep close to the true Intent of the H. Spirit Nevertheless one would pity and blush for the Controversial writers of the Church of Rome who boldly abuse and wrest the Scripture to prove their Doctrines We have ground already to say that all the proofs she brings from Scripture are real Abuses of it And what we have discoursed above to prove that the Papacy is not in the least sollicitous to have a conformity to the Rule of Christians might be repeated here But besides those abuses which the Papists are forced to employ otherwise they must in plain terms grant that the Scripture is not their Friend besides those I say we may find others which they could have spared Are not the words of Christ to S. Peter Thrust out a little from the land Panigarola and Launch out into the deep an excellent proof that S. Peter was first to erect his Episcopal Seat at Antioch and afterward to erect the Popes See and the Soveraign Tribunal of the Church in the City of Rome Psal 110.2 The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thy enemies Behold an express Text to prove the same thing viz. that Rome is to be the Metropolis of the Church the Queen of the world Christ saith to Peter Bozius Follow thou me i. e. Go and place thy Seat and that of my Kingdom at Rome Behold I lay in Ston for a foundation a tryed stone a pretious Corner stone i. e. I will establish the Pope to be the Lieutenant of God and the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth Bellarmin There is one Lord i. e. The Pope is the only Soveraign of the world Where two or three are gatherd together in my name Panigarola there I will be in the midst of them i. e. The Pope alone hath Authority to call general Councils Bellarmin Let a man so account of us as stewards of the mysteries of God i. e. There is a Treasure of Indulgences in the Popes keeping which he may dispense as he pleaseth Verily I say unto you Eckius this generation shal not pass away till all these things be fulfilld This signifieth that there shall be a constant succession of Bishops in the Roman Church Loose him and let him go did Christ say concerning Lazarus And this denotes that