insinuated by St. Mark and published by St. James to confer grace and take away sins But it has been shewn that they give us no manner of good reason to believe any such thing either out of St. Mark or St. James but that there is very good reason to believe the contrary from both those Authorities And so much for their pretended Arguments out of Scripture OF EXTREME UNCTION PART II. That it is a late Innovation and has no ground in Antiquity SECT I. What anointings were used in the Antient Church SInce there are no Sacraments properly so called but those the Institution whereof is delivered to us in the Holy Scriptures we need not be sollicitous concerning the Testimony of the Antient Church after the Age of the Apostles Not so much at least for the sake of Truth as for the Honour of the Antient Christians from whom our Adversaries pretend to have received this their Sacrament of Extreme Unction But if any there be who conceive the Truth not to be so evident but that it will bear an Addition of light and strength from Antient Testimony we are far from envying them this means of satisfaction Whereas therefore (a) De Extr. Unct. cap. iv Bellarmin appeals to the Tradition of the Ancients I make no question but it will appear that this pretended Sacrament was unknown to the Church for above a thousand years that his instances to the Contrary are far from being proofs and that some of them in which he places his greatest confidence are against him But for more clear proceeding In the first place we make no difficulty to grant That there were several Anointings used in the Ancient Church and those too as so many Religious Rites But withal we say that the Unction of the sick now in fashion amongst the pretended Catholics was none of them Anciently they anointed the (b) Constit Apost lib. iii. c. 16. lib. vii c. 42 44. Catechumens that were ready for Baptism and this with simple Oil and (c) Tertull. de Bapt. c. x. Cypr. Ep. 70. Oxon. Syn. Arausic l. Can. 2. Resp ad Orthod Qu. 137. Hieron Tom. iv Com. in Lam. c. 11. Dionys Areop de Eccl. Hier. c. vii §. 8. Vide etiam Cotelerii notas in Patr. Apost p. 214. after Baptism they anointed them with Chrism or a compounded Oil which custom was very plentifully attested by Ecclesiastical Writers as every one knows that is in any degree conversant with them Some plain Testimonies to this purpose I have referred to in the Margin and that because I shall ere-long have occasion to remember That this usage tho it was the matter of no Divine Precept was frequently remembred by the Ancients They also anointed (d) Resp ad Orthod Qu. 14. in Just M. those who had been baptized by Hereticks when they came over to the Communion of the Catholicks and this with holy Ointment Such Unctions as these were all of them far enough from this Anointing Mystery of the Roman Church because they were not so much as Unctions of the sick And yet I grant that in the Ancient Church they did sometimes anoint the sick and infirm also But then the instances of that Unction are by no means favourable to the pretended Sacrament of Extreme Unction because altho they were sick persons who were anointed yet it was not a Sacramental Unction to prepare the sick for their passage out of this World but a Rite of the Gift of Healing the Gift of Healing I say which it pleased God to continue in the Church for some Ages after the Apostles Thus (e) Ad Scapulam cap. 4. Tertullian tells us that Proculus a Christian the Procurator of one * Euodus Euhoida was kindly entertained by Severus the Emperour to the day of his Death because he had once Cured him with Oil. (f) De Vitâ Hilarionis Tom. 1. p. 9. Colon. St. Hierom also reports that many Husbandmen and Shepherds stung with Serpents and venomous Beasts ran to Hilarion and were cured with holy Oil And that the same Hilarion saved the Lives of Constantia's Son-in-Law and her Daughter by anointing them with Oil. The like is affirmed by (g) Vit. Mart. c. 15. Sulpitius Severus of Martin Bishop of Tours that he Cured a Paralytick Maid by earnest Prayer and by Oil. And (h) De Civit. D. lib. 22. c. 8. St. Austin speaks of a Maid of Hippo that was dispossessed of a Devil by the Prayers of a Presbyter and by anointing her self with Oil into which he had let fall his tears Several instances of this kind are to be met with in (i) Vitae Patrum p. 211 343 451 c. Rosweid which I pass over to avoid tediousness I shall only add that the seventh Age was not without the Gift of Healing and that the use of Unction which referred to it was till then continued as appears by what (k) Vitae Cuthb c. 30. Bede reports of Cuthbert Bishop of Fern-Isle who died when Bede was about twenty years old Vide Dallaeum de Ext. Unctione p 85 86 87. Baron A C. 63. n. iv He tells us of a Holy Woman that was vexed with an intolerable pain in her Head and in one of her Sides whom Cuthbert after the Physicians had given her over anointed with holy Oil that from that time she mended and in a few days was perfectly well Now it must be granted that so long as the supernatural Gift of Healing lasted there was as much reason to use the common Ceremony of such Healing as there was at first And as we confess this practice of anointing the sick to have been frequent in the first Ages of the Church so we grant it to have been an Apostolical Tradition For we find it agreeing with the practice of the Apostles in St. Mark and with the Custom of the Primitive Presbyters in St. James But then altho this was the Unction of the sick yet it was not Extreme Unction nor the Sacrament of the Dying For the direct end for which it was administred was That those who were anointed might not die but recover their health by the supernatural Gift of God And as I shall shew presently this practice proves Antiquity to be as much against the Roman Sacrament as St. Mark and St. James shew the Scripture to be so In the mean time I must observe That there was yet another Unction in the Ancient Church which seems to me to have been no otherwise a Religious Rite than that it becomes Christians especially who believe the Resurrection of the Body to interr their dead decently and honourably For it seems they Anointed the Dead So (l) Paedag. l. 11. c. 8. p. 176. Par. Clemens Alexandrinus tells us Nor was this to be wondered at in particular since the Jews had used this Rite before and the Christians were remarkable for this That they spared no cost to adorn the Funerals of those who died in
the End of his Epistle Pag. 36 § 7. Objections against our Interpretation answered Pag. 41 § 8. That St. James 's Text affords useful Admonitions though it is far from establishing a Sacrament of Extreme Vnction Pag. 45 PART II. That 't is a late Innovation and has no ground in Antiquity Sect. 1. What Anointings were used in the antient Church Pag. 49 § 2. That the Vnction of the Sick in the Antient Church confirms our Interpretation of St. Mark and St. James Pag. 54 § 3. That Extreme Vnction has not the Testimony of any Antient Pope Pag. 54 § 4. Nor of any Antient Council Pag. 73 § 5. Nor of any Antient Father Pag. 79 § 6. That the Silence of Antiquity and the Circumstances with which it is to be taken are a positive Proof that Extreme Vnction has not the Tradition of the Antients but is a notorious Innovation Pag. 87 § 7. Of the Occasions and Beginnings of Extreme Vnction How vast a Change it made from the Primitive Vnction and by what Degrees it was made Pag. 94 § 8. That this Innovation was not Vniversal the Vnction of the Greek Church at this day being not Extreme Vnction but that of the Antients Pag. 108 PART III. That the Appeal to Reason in behalf of this pretended Sacrament is altogether vain Sect. 1. THat the pretence to prove any thing to be a Sacrament by mere Reason is an absurd Presumption Pag. 110 § 2. That the Reason brought to prove that Extreme Vnction was fit to be instituted has not so much as any probability Pag. 116 § 3. That more congruous Reasoning may be offered against it than for it Pag. 123 § 4. An Apology for this Controversy about Extreme Vnction from the great moment of it Pag. 125 § 5. The Church of England and other Protestant Churches justified in not anointing the Sick at all Pag. 130 § 6. An Address to the Laity of the Roman Communion Pag. 134 ERRATA Pag. 96. line 10. for Sacred r. Second Pag. 103. for § ix r. § viii OF Extreme Unction PART I. That the places of Scripture produced for it are against it §. I. What the Doctrine of the Roman Church is concerning Extreme Unction HOW well soever they may agree in the practice of Extreme Vnction in the Roman Church yet as to the Doctrine of it their most celebrated Writers have (a) Vid. Dalleum de Extr. Unct. c. 2. fall'n so foully one against another that to know what it is from them would cost more pains than the Thing is worth And therefore we will be content and surely our Adversaries will be so too to take it as it is laid down by the Council of Trent Which Council has given too much advantage for us to desire any more from the Sentiments of private Authors which as they without cause complain we so often combat while we pretend all along to attaque the Established Doctrine of the Church But if the Reasons upon which the Council proceeded in its Decrees were not so convincing as to satisfy all of that Communion but very great Men amongst themselves have been of contrary Opinions concerning them this we have no Obligation upon us to dissemble how unwilling soever they may be to hear of it I know well enough that an undue Advantage may be made of the Testimonies of Authors and of the Concessions of Adversaries which are sometimes used to underprop a Cause that wants Truth at the bottom and has therefore no Foundation of its own But so long as the Arguments and the Answers which we produce in this Cause are good ones I hope they will not be thought worse of if some of them seemed good also to some Men of no mean Figure in the Church of Rome And now let us see in the First place what the Doctrine of the Church of Rome is concerning this pretended Sacrament The Council of Trent (b) Sess 14. has delivered it in this manner First of all concerning the Institution of this Sacrament the Holy Synod declares and teaches that our most gracious Redeemer who would have his Servants at all times provided with Saving Remedies and Defences against all the Weapons of all their Enemies as he has by other Sacraments supplied Christians with those mighty Aids by which they may in the Course of their Life keep themselves unhurt by all the greater Mischiefs that can happen to their Souls so by the Sacrament of Extreme Vnction he has set a most sure Guard about them to make good the end of their Life For tho our Adversary does all our Life long seek and catch at every occasion by any means to devour our Souls yet there is no time when he strains more vehemently to exert the utmost of his Craft to ruine us utterly and if he can possibly to bereave us of all Trust in the Mercy of God then when he perceives the end of our Life to be at hand But this Holy Vnction of the Sick was Instituted by our Lord Christ as a Sacrament of the New Testament truly and properly so called Insinuated indeed by St. Mark but recommended and published to the Faithful by St. James the Apostle and Brother of our Lord. Says he Is any one Sick c. In which Words as the Church has learned by Apostolical Tradition delivered from hand to hand he teaches the Matter the Form the proper Minister and Effect of this Saving Sacrament For the Church has understood the Matter thereof to be Oil Blessed by a Bishop For this Vnction does most fitly represent the Grace of the Holy Ghost by which the Soul of the sick Person is invisibly annointed And that the Form thereof is this By this Holy Vnction and by his most Holy Mercy God forgive thee whatsoever Sin thou hast committed by seeing by hearing by tasting by smelling and by touching Amen Which Form is repeated severally in anointing the seat of each Sense and according to the (c) Decret Eugenii IV. in Conc. Florent Catech. ad Paroc de Extr. U. §. 21. Florentine Fathers in anointing the Feet also for the Sins of walking and the Reins for the Sensuality that reigned there Moreover the thing signified and the effect of this Sacrament is explained in these Words And the Prayer of Faith shall save the Sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if he have committed Sins they shall be forgiven him For the thing here signified is the Grace of the Holy Ghost whose anointing cleanseth from Transgressions if any yet remain to be expiated and from the Reliques of Sin and easeth and strengthneth the Soul of the sick Person by exciting in him a great confidence in the Divine Mercy whereby he is in that manner supported that the Trouble and Pain which he sustains by his Sickness becomes more tolerable and he resists more easily the Temptations of the Devil now closely lying in wait for him and sometimes when it is expedient for the Welfare of
set a most sure Guard about Christians to make good the end of their Life For what reason therefore does the same Council tell us that the sick Person having been anointed does sometimes when it is expedient for the welfare of the Soul obtain the Recovery of his Bodily Health Why I say do they in the Doctrine of this their Sacrament mention an accident so impertinent to the Nature and Design of it as the Recovery of Bodily Health I answer because they are driven to it by an extreme necessity of feigning some resemblance between the use of their Vnction and of that in St. James For 't is so plain that St. James promises bodily Health upon what he prescribes to be done that the Wit of Man is not able to disguise it And therefore it was absolutely necessary to give some hint of the same thing in their Doctrine about Extreme Vnction tho he must either have no Eyes or wink hard who sees not that 't is thrust in most impertinently and against the whole tenour of their Doctrine and Practice which plainly shew that 't is not administred by them for the prolonging of Life but for the Assistence of the Soul at the Hour of Death Which these Men are so sensible of that they dare not venture their Cause upon this weak Attempt of bending their Sacrament to the Text by pretending some regard in their Unction to the Recovery of Bodily Health but find themselves obliged also to bend the Text as unreasonably to their Sacrament by pretending that St. James does not speak of restoring Health only in those Words of saving the Sick and raising him up but of cleansing and strengthning the Soul too as Bellarmin and Estius would make us believe By which Artifice they have not done their Cause so much Service as they have discovered good will to it since we cannot but observe that themselves were conscious how impossible it is to make the Text and their Sacrament meet without forcing both the one and the other by an unnatural Representation And yet even thus much violence will never bring them together so long as 't is manifest that to the use of this Rite of Anointing in St. James as it is by him required the Recovery of Bodily Health is absolutely promised which they can with no Face pretend to be the constant or even frequent effect of their Extreme Unction since their Doctrine and Practice proclaim it to be the Sacrament of the Dying As for the forgiveness of Sins mentioned in the following Words of St. James it was promised upon a supposition that the sick Person had committed Sins And if he had committed Sins they shall be forgiven him Which plainly seems to be the supposition of a Case that was not common to all that were healed upon receiving the Vnction mentioned by the Apostle And that even this Promise does not afford the least ground for the Vnction of the Roman Church will appear when I come to explain the several Expressions in the Text. In the mean time to shew that the Power of Truth does sometimes prevail upon Men of the best note in the Church of Rome I shall close this Point with the Confession of no meaner a Man than Cardinal Cajetan who determines thus upon this place of St. James It neither appears by the Words nor by the Effect that he speaks of the Sacrament of Extreme Vnction but rather of that Vnction which our Lord appointed in the Gospel to be used upon sick Persons by his Disciples For the Text does not say Is any Man sick unto Death but absolutely Is any Man sick And it makes the effect to be the recovery of the Sick and speaks but conditionally of the forgiveness of Sins Whereas Extreme Vnction is not given but when a Man is almost at the point of Death and as the Form of Words then used sufficiently shews it tends directly to the forgiveness of Sins This was said like an honest Man and if all Men of sense would say what they think this Controversy with many more would soon be at an end §. 3. The true Interpretation of St. James 's Words THO what hath been said is enough to deprive the Roman Vnction of all relief and support from this place of Scripture yet for the benefit of those who possibly have not well considered the Text of which we have been speaking I shall first offter the plain meaning of it and shew for what end and purpose anointing with Oil was prescribed by St. James and then confirm the Interpretation by those Arguments that led me to it and by such Answers as may be sufficient to remove our Adversaries Objections against it We say then that several extraordinary Gifts were by the Spirit dispersed amongst the first Believers for the establishing of Christianity in the World and that one kind of these were the (g) 1 Cor. xii 9 28 30. Gifts of Healing That they who had this Power were directed by the Impulse of the Spirit when or upon what Persons to exert it That being thus directed they called upon the Name of the Lord with assurance of the Event and the Sick were accordingly restored to their Health That sometimes they did in this manner heal the Sick upon whom Diseases had been inflicted as a Punishment for some Sins they had been guilty of That in this Direction of St. James Is any Man sick c. he refers to these extraordinary Gifts of Healing and that he prescribes Anointing the sick Person with Oil in that case only when the Elders knew by the Spirit that the Gift of Healing was to be shewn and that the Lord would raise him up So that in case of Sickness St. James directs the sick Person to send for the Elders of the Church and adds a particular motive so to do from the Gift of Healing which then flourished in the Church viz. that if it seemed good to God which the Elders would assuredly know by the Instruction of the Spirit he should by their praying over him be restored to his Health In which case to signify the Supernatural Gift of God in raising him up they were accordsng to Custom to anoint him with Oil. Whereupon the Event would shew that their Prayer was not the Prayer of vain Confidence but of Faith and that they had not in vain anointed the Sick with Oil in testimony of their assurance of his Recovery for as he says the Prayer of Faith shall save the Sick and the Lord shall raise him up And to advise the sick Man more effectually to take this Religious Course he adds another Motive that if that Sickness were sent to punish him for some Sins that he had committed even that should not hinder his Recovery any more than if it had been inflicted only for the trial of his Faith and Patience for his Sins should be forgiven him In which Interpretation the main point of Controversy that remains between us and