with the Head and among themselves was too large a Note to fit no other Society but a true Christian Church Now if in restraining his Note he had understood Christ by the Head and by the Union of the Members to one another an Agreement in the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints this indeed would have served for the finding out of a True Church but then this was too large for the Cardinal's Purpose which was to find no other Church to be True but the Roman And therefore by the Head it was necessary to understand the Pope and by the Union of the Members an Agreement in all that Doctrine which is taught by the Roman Church For it was to be hoped that this would mark all the Roman Communion in but it would most undoubtedly mark all other Christians out of the only true Church For this is the admirable reasoning to which it leads That is the true Church which acknowledges the Pope for its Head and for its Faith professes the Doctrine whatever it be that is taught in the Church of Rome And from hence it must needs follow that the Church of Rome is the only True Church Quod erat demonstrandum And if the Cardinal had left the Matter thus in shorf he had in my mind done better for his Church and his reasoning had been less exceptionable than he has made it in the pursuance of his Enlargements When a Man has to do with an untractable piece of Matter it often happens that the more he strives to fashion it to his own Purpose the farther he is from it And so this great Man by labouring over-much to make this his Mark of Unity utterly unserviceable to any other Church has given it that Figure at last which makes it unfit for his own as we shall see in convenient place For I shall endeavour to make out these three things I. That the Unity here offer'd is no true Note of the Church II. That if it were yet the Roman Church has it not III. That that Unity which is indeed a Note of the Church we have and that in a much greater degree than they I. That the Vnity here offered is no true Note of the Church which I shall shew concerning both his Instances of it And First Concerning Vnion with the Pope as Head of the Church That this should be a Note of the Church is a pretence that hath neither Scripture Reason nor Antiquity for it but all against it 1. For Scripture the Cardinal offers not any proof from thence of his Presumption which yet had been very requisite to a point of so vast a Consequence if the Scripture had afforded any Testimony to his purpose That the Pope should be the Head of the Church and the Center of its Unity that Union to him should be an essential Character of the Church and the very Being of it depend upon him But that the Scripture should not give us the least intimation of it is a thing so perfectly unaccountable that the very silence of the Scripture in a matter of this high nature is to us a sufficient Argument that the Apostles knew nothing of any such Constitution Especially since they did not forget to make plain and frequent mention of another Head of the Church to which all the Members are to be united viz. our Lord Jesus Christ They tell us Eph. i. 20 22 23. That when God raised him from the dead he gave him to be HEAD over all things to the Church which is HIS BODY That as there are many Members in one Body so we being many Rom. xii 4 5. are ONE BODY IN CHRIST That as the Body is one and hath many Members so also is CHRIST 1 Cor. xii 12 27. i.e. Christ and the Church the whole being denominated from the Head for we are the BODY OF CHRIST We are told That he is the Head Eph. iv 16. even Christ Vers 23. from whom the whole Body is fitly joyned together c. That he is the Head of the Church and the Saviour of the Body That he is the Head of the Body the Church Col. i. 18. And much more to this purpose might be added Now when the Church is so frequently declared to be one Body and to this one Body one Head is so frequently assigned and no more What can any Man who is not possest with prejudice make of this but that there is no other Head of the Church besides him who is so often mentioned as such and that by the same Reason that any Man goes about to add another Head to the Church he might if he pleased find out another Church for the Head Nor does it help at all that they pretend the Pope to be but the Vicarious and Ministerial Head of the Church since if without Union to him we are out of the Church and have no part in Christ it was necessary that this pretended Vicarious Head should have been as plainly and frequently expressed as we know the True and Real Head to have been Nay it was something more necessary since a very slender intimation might have been sufficient to assure us that he who is the Image of the Invisible God Col. i. 15 18. by whom all things were created and by whom all things consist is also the Head of the Body the Church Ver. 14. That he in whom we have redemption through his Blood who is the Saviour of the Body and for our sakes humbled himself to the Death of the Cross should be also the Head of the Body and be exalted to be Head over all things unto his Church He I say in whom infinite Power and Goodness met But that there should be another Head given to the whole Church to be united to which was no less necessary than Union to Christ himself And that this Catholick Head should be no other than a sinful Man and he very often none of the best this was so far removed from self-Evidence or even Probability that it certainly needed very express mention if not frequent inculcation Now that he should be frequently mentioned as Head of the Church who in comparison needed not to be mentioned at all And that no mention at all should be made of another Head of the Church that needs it very much is for them to give an account of who make Union to this later Head no less necessary to a Part in the Body of Christ than Union to the former Which account will be much harder to be given inasmuch as there is no mention at all of this pretended Head where there was the most fair and inviting occasion for it that can be well imagined Thus St. Paul shewing what Gifts Christ bestowed upon his Church after his Ascension saith He gave some Apostles and some Prophets Eph. iv 11 12 c. and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the edifying of the Body of
and received as such when they were not to be so before and how then does that differ from making them Articles of Faith Bellarmine speaks plainly out tho against his own Note when he says The Church of latter time hath Power not only to explain and declare but constitute and command those things which belong to Faith †Tract de potest Sum. Pontif. If the present Church has a Power to make more Doctrines and Articles be believed as necessary to Salvation than were believed by the Primitive Church then it may make Additions to the Christian Faith and make that necessary to be believed at one time which was not at another if it has not this Power let them declare it and not count others Hereticks who receive all the ancient Creeds and hold the Faith of all the ancient Councils and believe all those Doctrines that the whole Primitive Church in all Places and at all times ever held Here with Lyrinensis we fix and set our Feet and here we resolve to stand and keep our Ground and not be moved with every Wind of Doctrine that shall blow out of a new Quarter and that a small part of the present Church shall declare to be an Article of Faith when It was never so declared by the Primitive To say that they have made no new Articles of Faith in their Church but only the same Articles made Explicit which were Implicit before in the Primitive Church is as if they should say there are no new Men in the World since Adam or Noah but only the same Men that were before Implicit in their Loyns are now explicitly born into the World. Thus the Church tho it be never so fruitful in producing Doctrines and Articles of Faith that never were before in the Church yet makes nothing new and however spurious its Doctrines may be and however degenerating from the Faith of our Forefathers yet it must be said to be of the same Kind and Species Faith it seems in the Primitive Church was but an Embrio or like a small Seed or Kernel implicitly containing all the Parts entire but in little but when it is grown up and enlarged by the explicit Declaration of the Church then it may swell into a mighty bigness and increase even into the largest Tridentine Bulk and be it never so unlike the former yet it must be called the same still But if this implicit Faith was sufficient for the Primitive Church why may it not be so for the present and what need have we of a more explicit Faith to save us now than they had to save them then All the essential Articles of Christian Faith are to be explicitly believed at all times and 't is strange that we must be now obliged to a more explicit Faith and a more implicit Obedience than the Primitive Church was ever acquainted with But after all I hope those Doctrines that are contrary to the Doctrines of the Primitive Church were not then implicitly believed by it and if they were not I am sure most of the Doctrines of the Roman Church as different from the Reformed were not her implicit Doctrines but unless Error may be folded up with Truth and one part of a Contradiction may be involved in the other the late Corruptions and Decrees of the Roman Church in her Trent Articles were no way contained in the quite different Doctrines of the Primitive Church And thus because I have gone too far with this Discourse I must abruptly take leave of Bellarmin and his Church tho I resolve by God's Grace to keep always to this his true Note of the Church and therefore to that Church in which I am which is the most agreeable to the Primitive of any in the World both as to Doctrine and every thing else THE END LONDON Printed by J. D. for Richard Chiswel at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1687. The Seventh Note of the CHURCH EXAMINED VIZ The Vnion of the Members among themselves and with the Head. Septima Nota est Vnio membrorum 〈…〉 inter se cum Capite Bellar. L. iv c. 10. de Notis Ecclesiae IMPRIMATUR May 26. 1687. Guil. Needham THE Church as the Cardinal observes is called in the Scriptures one Body one Spouse one Sheepfold But he that infers from hence that Unity is a proper Mark of the True Church ought to be very well assured that the Head and Members are united no-where but in the Body of Christ and that the Harlot cannot be One as well as the Spouse c. But the World has hitherto been persuaded that bare Unity is a Character to be found upon Societies of different Natures and contrary Designs that of it self it infers neither Good nor Evil and may belong to a Body of Rebels no less than to an Army of Loyal Subjects Unity is then indeed a good Mark when 't is a Duty as 't is a Duty when the Terms of Union are so For which Reason the Union of the Church is of all others the most excellent because all Men ought to follow that Truth and Goodness which are necessary to Salvation and these are best preserved and maintained by Union among those who follow them For which Reasons also 't is celebrated in the Gospel with variety of Expressions But to argue from hence that the Union of Members among Themselves and with their Head is a proper Note of the true Church is just as if I should conclude upon seeing a thousand Men marching in good Order and with equal Pace after their Leader that therefore of necessity they must be going to York Notwithstanding therefore this Argument from Vnity being attributed to the Church the Cardinal did not think fit to leave his Mark so very loose and common but slips into the mention of those things wherein the Unity of the Church consists as he pretends He tells us that the Head with which the Members are united is the Pope And as for their Union among themselves he afterwards proves that all Catholicks must needs agree in all Points of Faith since they all submit their own Sense to the Sense of one and the same chief Pastor guiding the Church from the Chair of Peter with the advice of other Pastors So that now we know what he means by the Union of the Members to their Head and among themselves that is to say the Union of the Members of the Roman Church to the Pope as to their Head and their Union among themselves in believing all that he teaches from the Chair of St. Peter c. Which Note does for its part make good what was observed at first concerning the general Design of these Notes which is not so much to describe to us the proper Characters of a true Christian Church as to prove that the Church of Rome is the only True Church Whatever the Cardinal insinuated at first he seemed to be very sensible that the Union of the Members
Christ and that we might grow up into him in all things which is the Head even Christ Now here we do not only find our Saviour represented as the Head of his Church and we as the Members of his Body but that amongst the several subordinate Members of which his Body consists there is no mention of that most necessary Member of all if I may call it a Member the Vicarious Head of the Church For it is not said that he gave first Peter to be Head of his Church and then Apostles c. But he gave first some Apostles and those not as Heads of his Church neither but as principal Members of it And in the Beginning of the same Chapter where he describes the Unity of the Church he says there is one Body and one Spirit one Hope of our Calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of all Now I would fain know whether the Cardinal would have omitted here one visible Head of the Church in which all ought to be united And then let any Man tell me why St. Paul did He had the like occasion in another Place where having said much concerning the Unity of the Body of Christ Ye are saith he the Body of Christ and Members in particular And God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondly Prophets 1 Cor. xii 27 28. thirdly Teachers c. Now I say if this visible Head of Unity had been elsewhere mentioned never so often he ought not to have been omitted in any of these three places much less if he were mentioned no where else But no notice being taken of this Head elsewhere nor here neither is little less than a Demonstration that that there was no such Head to be taken notice of When any one shall pretend to so high a Prerogative and vast a Dependence as this implies we may in Reason expect he should be able to produce some very good Evidence of his Right to it And therefore the meer silence of the Scripture is prejudice enough against the Pretence But the silence of the Scripture in such places as I have produced is a direct Argument against it Nay Lastly The Scripture is so far from giving the least intimation of any such Headship where the mention of it was unavoidable if it had been a Divine Constitution that it seems expresly to oppose it For St. Paul speaking against those Contentions which happened by one saying I am of Paul another I am of Apollos a third I am of Cephas he does not oppose Cephas or Peter to the rest as if it were lawful for them to say I am of Peter but not I am of Paul c. but utterly reproves all such Distinctions and requires them all to be united in Christ Is Christ divided says he Was Paul Crucified for you Or were ye Baptized in the Name of Paul Plainly shewing that to establish any mortal Man as the Center of Union in the Christian Church is in effect to divide the Authority of Christ and that if we unite our selves in such a Head we may as well be baptized in his Name and have him for our Saviour too 2. As little Foundation is there in Reason for this Headship of the Pope over the whole Body of Christ since it will necessarily require that all the Christian Churches in the World even those that are at greatest Distance from one another be reduced under his Government and depend upon his Authority the Administration of which vast Power and Trust is incompatible to any mortal Man. Being vested in a wise and good Man it could be but of little benefit to a Body so diffusive as the Catholick Church but in the Hands of a weak or vicious Person it would become the Instrument of Pride Tyranny Oppression and Divisions A small Bishoprick requires the utmost Care and Prudence to manage it aright but what Ability without a Miracle could be sufficient for a tolerable discharge of so great a Trust as the Inspection and Government of the whole Church from one end of the Earth to the other But the Temptations to abuse such Power would be infinite and the Abuses themselves intolerable and hardly capable of Redress as we see also by no small Experience For after that that Power was pretended to at Rome and submitted to by the Western Church the Scandals Miseries of this part of Christendom grew to such an Extremity that it could not be dissembled Insomuch that the Cardinals and Prelats appointed by Pope Paul the Third to advise concerning the state of the Church Consil de Emend Eccl. in Richer l. 4. assured him that she was just falling head-long into Ruine and that the chief Cause was that the Pope's Will and Pleasure had been the Rule of all his Doings And he that shall consider what a lewd and filthy place Rome it self was grown by their own confession may observe from thence how likely it is that the Government of the Catholick Church should thrive in one Man's hand after another who are too busy to attend upon the Reformation of most scandalous and crying Disorders at home 3. Neither is there any colour in Antiquity for this Headship of the Pope altho they are the Primitive Fathers upon whose Authority chiefly they would support this Usurpation The Testimonies which the Cardinal has chosen for his Purpose are so far from it that one would wonder to see so weighty a Superstructure laid upon so weak a Foundation Thus because S. Irenaeus says that every Church i.e. the Faithful who are all about must needs resort to the Roman Church because of the more Powerful Principality i.e. because the Imperial City drew the Business of the World to it self and by consequence Christians in all parts had occasion of recourse to it therefore the Bishop of that City was the Head of all Churches in the World. Because S. Cyprian call'd the Roman the Principal Church from whence the Vnity of the Priests did arise and the Matrix and Root of the Catholick Church Therefore he could mean nothing else but that Union to the Bishop of Rome is absolutely necessary to a part in Christ and his Church Whereas it is most evident that elsewhere he did freely assert the Independence of other Bishops upon that Bishop and of other Episcopal Churches upon that Church And consequently that he called it the Principal Church as being constituted in the Principal City so Rigaltius acknowledgeth and the Spring of Sacerdotal Vnity and the Root of the Catholick Church because Bishops having occasion either to come up to Rome or to send thither from all parts did by their Unity with the Church there manifestly declare their Union to one another which was a convenience accruing to that Church and to all others from the Imperial City in which it was constituted but by no means inferring that other Churches were more obliged to Union with her than she with others Again because
we are all made to drink into one Spirit 4. There is also an Unity of Obedience to all the Institutions and Laws of Christ which is an Instance of Unity that ought by no means to be forgotten this being no less a common Duty than the Profession of the Faith the performance whereof uniteth us effectually to him as to our Head and maketh us living Members of his Body 5. There is the Unity of Christian Affection and brotherly Kindness of which our Lord spake when he said By this shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another Thus St. Paul 1 Cor. xii The Members should have the same care one of another c. 6. There is an Unity of Discipline and Government which is maintained chiefly by retaining for substance the same Form that was left in the Church by the Apostles by the Bishops and Pastors confederating together as much as may be for the edification of their Flocks by regarding every Regular Act of Authority in one Church as the Act of the whole and giving no occasion to breach of Christian-Communion by abusing a lawful or by claiming an undue Authority c. 7. There is likewise an Unity of Communion in the Service and Worship of God in glorifying God with one Mouth in joining in the same Religious Assemblies for Prayer and Sacraments for Acts of common Piety and Devotion according to the Rules of the Gospel I need not mention any more Instances of Christian Vnity since those that are more particular may be easily deduced from these Now to speak clearly there ought to be all these kinds and Instances of Unity in the Church but we see evidently that they are not all there I mean in every Part and Member of the Church And therefore they are not all necessary to the Being of a Church how necessary soever they may be whether to the Wellbeing of it or to the Salvation of those Persons whereof the Church consists But some of them are necessary to the Being of the Church and they are the acknowledgment of the one Lord the Profession of the one Faith and admission into the state of Christian Duties and Priviledges by one Baptism And this is all that I can find absolutely necessary to the Being of a Church inasmuch as the Apostle says That we are all baptized into one Body And therefore so far as Vnity in these things is spread and obtains in the World so far and no farther is the Body of the Church propagated because it is one by this Unity But then indeed there ought to be a farther Unity an Unity of observing all the Institutions of our Lord Jesus an Unity of Christian Charity and good Will an Unity of Government and Discipline an Unity of Communion in Religious Assemblies to which I will add also that there ought to be an Unity of Care to keep out of the Communion of Christians all dangerous Errors and unlawful Practices And when such begin to appear much more if they have taken root and are grown to a scandal to root them out again But Unity in these things does not run through the whole Church or through that Body which is one in the three former Respects and therefore it must necessarily be granted that the Church is not one Body in those later Respects tho it ought to be so But because these are proper Instances of Church-Unity tho not absolutely necessary to the Being of the Church therefore it cannot be denied that those particular Churches which keep Unity in these Respects better than others do have the Mark of Ecclesiastical Unity in a higher Degree than those others inasmuch as they have not only that Unity which is a Mark of a true Church but that also which is the Mark of a pure Church and are not only one Body in those things without which they could not be Parts of the Catholick Church but one also in those things wherein all other Parts of the Church ought to be one with them We therefore according to Truth allow the Church of Rome to be a Part of the Catholick Church because she holds that one Lord that one Faith that one Baptism which we hold without which there were no Church at all And thus far she maintains Catholick Unity But inasmuch as she hath violated the Institution of our Lord Jesus concerning the other Sacrament as in other Respects so by withholding the Cup from the People notwithstanding he said Drink ye all of this and that the Apostle said We are all made to drink into one Spirit even all that belong to the Body of Christ she has departed from Catholick Unity the Unity of Obedience Because she will not be content to be a Sister but claims to be the Mother and Mistress of all other Christian Churches and has advanced her Bishop to be Head and Monarch of the whole Church and will have Commuion with no other Christian Society but such as will be content to become her Subjects and will allow no Act of Ecclesiastical Authority to be valid but in a State of Dependence upon her she has therefore departed from the Catholick Unity of Government and Discipline Because she has brought the Sacrifice of the Mass Transubstantiation Purgatory Invocation of Saints c. into her Creed and Practices suitable to such false Doctrines into her Worship she has departed from that Purity of professing the Faith c. in which all Churches should be one And because she will have no Communion with us but upon these Terms which are impossible she has departed from the Unity of Catholick Communion Finally Because she has pursued all Christians that dare to open their Mouths against these Innovations with Anathema's c. and sacrificed the Lives of innumerable Christians to her resentments she has departed from the Unity of Catholick Charity With these things the Church of England cannot be charged nor with any such things as these not truly and justly I am sure In her Worship and Aministration of the Sacraments she transgresseth not the Institutions of the Lord in her Government she encroaches not upon the Liberty of other Churches To her Creed she hath added no Novelties To her Communion she hath annex'd no unlawful Conditions she doth not unchurch those Parts of Christendom that hold the Unity of the Faith no not that Church it self the Church of Rome which has added thereunto so many enormous Innovations She hath not embroiled the World nor wasted Countries with violence Upon such accounts as these she hath the Mark of Christian Vnity incomparably more than the other Church From such distinct notions of Vnity as I have laid down it is evident that nothing can be more idle than to seek for a Church by that Mark of Unity which the Cardinal lays down which comes to no more than this that Men be all of a mind that there be no Divisions among them c. since it is not
meerly Unity that is a Mark of the true Church but Unity in the true Faith nor is Unity the Mark of a pure Church unless it be upon Terms of Obedience to God of Charity to one another of keeping the Faith unmixed with Errors and Innovations and the Worship of God free from material Defects and forbidden Practices From hence also the Folly of that conceit may be easily discerned that in this divided State of Christendom there must be one Church which is the only Church of Christ exclusively to all the rest that are not in Communion with her Which is as much as to say that because there is not that Unity amongst Christians which there ought to be therefore there is none at all and because they are not united in one Communion therefore they are not united in one Lord one Faith one Baptism That fond Principle now mentioned is advanced by the Romanist for the sake of this Inference that because we grant the Church to be but one and withall acknowledg them to be a true Church therefore we being divided from them can be no true Church our selves That is to say because we acknowledg that they have that one Faith in which all that are united belong to the Church therefore we are out of the Church our selves who have the Unity of that Faith too and moreover the Unity of observing all the Institutions of Christ and the Unity of Catholick Terms of Communion c. which they have not If some part of the Church gives just cause of Offence or if another takes Offence where none is given this is indeed contrary to the Duty of the Members of the Church but not utterly inconsistent with their being Members of it And if St. Paul was in the right when he said If the Foot shall say because I am not the Head I am not of the Body is it therefore not of the Body It will be also true that tho the Foot should say to the Hand thou art not of the Body because thou art not the Foot the Hand would be of the Body for all that As for the Unity of Communion which they boast so much of in the Church of Rome I say 't is an Unity of Communion among themselves but 't is not the Catholick Unity of Communion because the Terms of it are many of them unjust and unlawful whereas we of the Church of England having as much Unity of Communion among our selves as they have this also to say as we have abundantly shewn that the Terms of our Communion are every one of them just and lawful and therefore ours is a Catholick Unity If there are some Protestants that will not communicate with us it is no more our Fault than that the Papists refuse to do so And tho in point of Interest this tends to weaken yet in Controversy it cannot prejudice the common cause of Reformation That part of the West that has left the Church of Rome may labour under Discords that affect their very Communion while she her self does not and yet in the Cause against her they may be all in the Right Where Truth is maintained against a corrupt Church there may yet be Disobedience to Authority overvaluing Questions of no great moment a greater stress laid upon Opinions and Practices than the Cause will bear and this shall be sufficient to break Christian Communion And at the same time gross Errors may be maintained and with one consent imposed upon the World by the other Church and all the while the Differences how weighty soever that happen by the bye may be so over-ruled by Force and Power and the sensible Interests of this World that they shall not affect their Communion with one another But for the Reasons already laid down it were a fond thing to chuse a Church by the Mark of such Unity In short If we would in all Respects keep within the Unity of the Church this must be done by professing true Doctrine by leading good Lives by a charitable Spirit and Behaviour towards all Christians by frequenting Prayers and Sacraments and by submitting to the Authority of our lawful Guides in all things of Indifference and Expedience And then we may be sure that whatever others do we keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace And though the Church after all is not that one Body in all Respects which it ought to be and which it would be if all Men did their Duty yet that we our selves are such Members of that one Body as we ought to be and as all others ought to be likewise Now all this Unity we may keep in the Communion of the Church of England but we cannot keep it all in the Communion of the Roman Church as the Terms thereof now stand But if this Unity be not enough when once the Romanists can prove that Union to the Pope as Head of the Church and Union to the Roman Church in all that she believes and teaches is also necessary to our Being of the Church or even to our maintaining that Unity which ought to be amongst all Christians we will also acknowledg the Pope's Supremacy and believe as the Roman Church believes but not till then THE END LONDON Printed by J. D. for Richard Chiswel at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1687. The Eighth Note of the CHURCH EXAMINED VIZ Sanctity of Doctrine Octava Nota est Sanctitas Doctrinae Bellar. de Notis Ecclesiae L. iv c. 11. IMPRIMATUR June 4. 1687. Hen. Maurice SEeing the New Covenant is the Charter upon which the Church of Christ is founded and all the Blessings which this Covenant promises are appropriated to that Sacred Society to be in Communion with it is doubtless a matter of vast importance to the Souls of Men and it being so it is not to be imagined but that the blessed Jesus the most concerned and careful Friend of Souls that ever was hath been sufficiently mindful to leave such plain and easy Directions behind him how we may find his Church and satisfy our selves whether we are in Fellowship with it or no as that neither the Learned nor Unlearned may be left in the dark for resolution in such a momentous Enquiry But how much the Church of Rome hath made it her Business to snarl and perplex several Points of Religion which our Saviour left plain and obvious enough to all Capacities is too notorious and in nothing more than in this how to discover and find out the true Church In order to which her most Learned Doctors and particularly Cardinal Bellarmin have given us certain Notes by which as they pretend the true Church may be distinguished by honest and diligent Enquiries from all false Churches whatsoever But how far these Notes are from performing what is promised for 'em hath been sufficiently proved upon a very fair Examination of the Seven first of ' em I proceed therefore to the Eighth viz. Sanctity of