That the Rule of Faith is fixed and terminated in the Books of the Prophets and Apostles It was the constant Opinion of this great Doctor of the Gentiles That the Scriptures were of themselves able to make Men Wise unto Salvation Neither is he alone for St. James assures us That they are able to save our Souls Jam. 1. 21. And therefore St. Peter calls 'em a more sure word of Prophecy than a Voice from Heaven and says That all Men would do well that they take good heed to 'em as unto a Light that shineth in a dark place 2 Pet. 1. 19. And our Lord himself in the Parable brings in Abraham telling the Rich Man in Hell That his Brethren had Moses and the Prophets whom let 'em hear says he for if they will not hear them neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the Dead Luk. 16. 29. 31. Upon which words St. Chrysostom's Inference was That we should believe the Scriptures Though the Dead should rise and though Angels should descend from Heaven we must prefer the Testimony of Scriptures before them According to the Apostle Gal. 1. 8. Though we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed All which I take to be Indications plain enough of the sufficiency of the Scriptures as to all things pertaining to Salvation But besides this I said they were also in themselves sufficient to determin Points of Controversie The Psalmist says of the Word of God That it is a Lamp to his Feet and a Light to his Path Psal 119. 105. And therefore it was that he so often speaks of ordering himself according to this Word and prays so earnestly to God to enable him to do it And thus the Prophet expostulates with the Jews Isa 8. 19 20. When they shall say unto you Seek unto them which have familiar spirits and unto wizards that peep and mutter Should not a people seek unto their God for the living to the dead To the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them It was the way of the Apostles on all occasions to have recourse to the Scriptures Thus St. Peter in his Sermon to Cornelius to confirm his Doctrin of the Messias says To him give all the Prophets witness that through his Name whosoever believeth on him shall receive remission of sins Act. 10. 43. And that it was the constant practice of St. Paul no Man can deny that has had the least converse with his Writings especially that great Axiom of his which has never been contradicted That the Scriptures are given by Inspiration of God and are profitable for Doctrin for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness is a more than ordinary instance of his Opinion in this particular And as it is written was the only refuge of those Primitive Builders of the Church And it was the very same method that our Lord himself took to reprove the Tempter Matth. 4. 4. It is written Man shall not live by bread alone c. And Vers 7. It is written Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And Vers 10. It is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. And thus he us'd always to bring the Testimonies of Moses and the Prophets against the impious Objections of the Jews very often telling them That he did not speak his own Words but the Word of him that sent him that is the Word of God. And now would it not be a thing to be wonder'd at if the Holy Fathers of the Church should be ignorant of this way of arguing Or if they did know it that they would not chuse to follow his Example whom they pretended to worship and obey But we have no cause to wonder at this but rather at their ignorance or wilful stubbornness who pretend to be acquainted with them and yet seemingly at least assert their Sentiments and Practice in this matter to be contrary to their Predecessors It was usual with Basil thus to express himsel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epist ad Eustath 80 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let the Scriptures which are divinely inspir'd be Judge between us For says he Whatsoever Idem Etb. Defin. 80. c. 22. 6. is contrary to them is not of Faith and therefore sinful Every Word or Cause ought to be tried and confirm'd by the Holy Scriptures Neither does St. Cyprian come behind him in this Cypr. ad Pomp. cont Steph. Pap. particular If says he the Pipes through which Water is conveyed into the City should be suddenly deficient should we not go presently to the Spring that thence we may know the cause of the defect whether the Spring it self is dry or whether the Pipes are stopt by any thing which may hinder the course of the Water And so the Pipes being clear'd the City may be supplied with Water as before So ought the Ministers of the Gospel to do In matters of Doubt they should go to our Lord and his Apostles that they may model their Actions by their Doctrin as the Fountain and Original of Divine Truth Tertullian likewise would accept of no Argument that was not drawn from the Scriptures And by this Tertul. de carne Christ Idem de Resur mort he confuted the Hereticks of his time For says he take away the Sophistry of the Heathen Philosophers which the Hereticks make use of and when they come to argue from the Scriptures they will not be able to stand St. Chrysostom says That if any thing is asserted without the authority of the Scriptures to back it on it leaves Chrys in Psalm 95. the Hearers in doubt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Clemens Alexandrinus We say nothing against the Scriptures Cl. Al. de Pet. Strom. lib. 6. Theod. dial 1. cap. 6. Id. Hist lib. 1. cap. 3. And Theodoret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I confide in the Scriptures only To which we may add his Testimony of the Saying of Constantine the Great That the Books of the Evangelists and Apostles and the Oracles of the the ancient Prophets do evidently teach us what we are to think of the Divine Power Therefore in every seditious Controversie let us discuss the Point in question by the Testimony of those divinely inspir'd Writings Whence we may see that all the Fathers are not against us in this matter I think Origen may come in for one on our side For in his Comment upon the Sixteenth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans having explained those Admonitions of the Apostle vers 17 18. and coming to vers 19. where the Apostle tells the Romans That their Obedience is come abroad unto all Men And that he is therefore glad on their behalf The Apostle says he therefore rejoyces over those that were obedient being sure that as he had taught them not to use that general Obedience which
3. 2. In many things we offend all And if a just man falleth seven times a day Prov. 24. 16. Who can boast of being righteous over much Nay where is there a Man so good as that he may number his offences Holy David could not though a man after God's own heart We read of but one man throughout the whole Book of God who was without sin and that was the man Christ Jesus yet it was never said of him that he did more than fulfil the Will of his Father And for us born in sin and conceived in corruption to say we can do more I cannot express the Folly and Nonsense of it By so doing we should make God our Debtor who is Debtor to no Man. If they of the Church of Rome can brag of any works of Supererogation they are such as these The hallowing Daggers for the cutting off Princes that are not for their turn The sacrificing all they please to call Hereticks The denying the Scriptures in a tongue understood by the Vulgar And several others which might be named concerning which they may indeed be ask'd Who hath required these things at your hands But we of the Church of England know of nothing to be done more than what is our duty to do We know the Preachers Doctrin was Whatsoever thy hand findeth for thee to do do it with thy might Eccl. 9. 10. And our Lord and Master's Advice is when we have done all we can to acknowledge our selves but unprofitable Servants having done only what was our duty to do Luk. 17. 10. For no Man lives and sins not If therefore we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us 1 Joh. 1. 8. Nay we make God a Liar who hath said there is not one that doth good Psal 14. 1 3. In a word if there is a Devil to tempt we are still in danger of sinning And if every thought will be brought in to Judgment who can call himself Inncent 'T is my opinion that instead of thinking we can do more than our Duty Every Man should rather repent of the sins as well of Omission as Commission he is daily guilty of and with the Psalmist cry out Who can understand his Errors cleanse thou me from secret faults Psal 19. 12. For our Saviour's censure on the most righteous is Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Luk. 13. 3 5. To conclude this first Quere if it were possible for any Man to over-do his Duty I would ask any reasonable Man Whether when he has done more than he ought to have done he would not commit a great sin in thinking so and a greater in saying so If the Affirmative holds good then the poor Man has still some part of his Duty to perform viz. to repent of that sin and so in infinitum II. The second Enquiry proposed was Whether a Man by his own Works can merit Heaven Here Madam be pleased to consider with me these few following Texts Deut. 9. 4. Speak not thou in thine heart after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee saying For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this Land but for the wickedness of these nations c. The Land of Canaan of which this Text speaks is generally looked on as a Type of Heaven And then this is plain enough Job 9. 30. If I wash my self with snow-water and make my hands never so clean yet thou shalt plunge me in the ditch and my own cloaths shall abhor me c. And Chap. 15. 14. What is man that he should be clean and he which is born of a woman that he should be righteous Verse 16. How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water All spoken by one whose Fellow was not to be found upon the Face of the Earth for Vertue and therefore if any could boast he might Psal 130. 3. If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquities O Lord who should stand But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared And Psal 143. 2. Enter not into judgment with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Isai 53. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all And Chap. 64. 6. But we are all as unclean things and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags and we do all fade as a leaf and our iniquity like the wind hath taken us away Rom. 3. 10. As it is written There is none righteous no not one there is none that understandeth there is none that seeketh after God they are all gone out of the way they are altogether become unprofitable there is none that doth good no not one Their throat is an open sepulchre with their tongues they have used deceit the poison of asps is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness their feet are swift to shed blood destruction and misery are in their ways and the way of peace have they not known there is no fear of God before their eyes All this is spoken of all Mankind in general both Jews and Gentiles and if it be true what can any Man find in himself to challenge Heaven as his due Rom. 6. 23. Eternal Life is called The gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now if Eternal Life be a Gift I would fain know how a Gift can be Merited And if it be for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord I would know whether the same Gift can be said to be Merited by him for us and by us for our selves too if this is affirmed then something to this purpose must follow That the Passion and Death of Christ are Significant and partly not because a Man as a Christian at least may Merit and consequently enjoy Heaven by his own Works without the Application of Christs Merits which would be very Absurd to say no worse of it But if it be denyed then the Consequence will be this That let a Man merit what he will he must be beholding to the Merits of Christ for his Admission into Heaven at last 2 Cor. 4. 4. For I know nothing by my self yet am I not hereby justified but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Let us then suppose a Man to be in the Apostles Case in my Opinion such a Man could have but little Comfort from his own Merits if he being so perfect as not to know any evil by himself should not for all that be certain of his Justification I would ask one of these Meritorious Gentlemen in the Words of the Apostle at the seventh Verse of the same Chapter Who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it Eph. 2. 8. For by grace
so far about for Mercy and Forgiveness when they may have it nearer home Here 's a Merchant has Indulgences to sell at reasonable Rates by virtue of which a Man may gratifie the Lusts of his Flesh here and when he Dies a small Matter towards Building or Repairing some religious Conventicle will purchase Masses enough to deliver him out of Purgatory and then let any judge if such a Man is not far wiser than a sneaking Heretick who lives in ignorance of these Catholick Helps and Salvo's But for all that if we may be allow'd to believe the Scriptures we have no such by-ways to Heaven the way that leads thither is strait as well as narrow So then let others trust to Indulgences and so be cheated of their Souls and Money too while we tread in the Path which is made plain before us and tho' we may want a little Elbow-room yet t is better travelling so in a clean and safe way than by rambling out of it for more liberty to trust to the Promise of a false Guide that we shall come into it again and so follow him through Boggs and Rivers in danger of Drowning every step of the way 'T is evident enough that the Son of God is our only Sacrifice for the Apostle says 1 Cor. â—â— 7 Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us And the Scriptures sufficiently testifie that by one Oblation of himself once offer'd he made sufficient Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World. And then what need have we of farther Sacrifices nay what warrant can be brought from the Word of God to justifie the Sacrifice of the Mass which is the only new one contended for The Apostle Rom. 12. 1 Exhorts us to present our Bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God as our reasonable Service Which Text Bellarmin thinks sufficient to the purpose and thus he argues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Sacrifice properly so call'd that is an External Oblation made only to God wherein by a lawful Minister some sensible Substance is by Mystical rites consecrated and so chang'd or in reference to what it was before destroy'd But Christians have no such Sacrifice to offer to God but the Mass Neither are the Romans here commanded to Kill themselves for that wou'd be an heinous Sin. Therefore the Mass must be the Sacrifice here spoken of And farther 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the word here used by the Apostle is that Sacrifice which is offer'd by a lawful Minister But no Sacrifice is among Christians offer'd by the Minister but the Mass Therefore the Mass is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a proper Sacrifice Now not to say the Mass is no sensible Substance which he makes the main condition of a Sacrifice I shall at present thus examine the Argument 1. The Apostle does not speak here of the office of a Minister but the Duty of the Ministers and People both All are to present their Bodies a living Sacrifice I beseech you therefore Brethren c. 2. Therefore supposing the Mass was a sensible Substance yet the Apostle can't intend that because that is to be offer'd by the Minister only 3. Granting all he wou'd have in reference to the Mass's being a Sacrifice yet the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as properly us'd by the Apostle in reference to the Sacrifice of a Man's Body as of the Mass For 't is confess'd that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an Oblation made to God only wherein some sensible Substance is by mystical Rites consecrated and so chang'd or in reference to what it was before destroy'd Accordingly the Apostle advises us to present our Bodies a living Sacrifice unto God and in the next Verse Be not conformed to this World where by our renouncing the World we consecrate our Bodies to God's Service and so as the Apostle farther exhorts us we are transform'd or chang'd by the renewing of our Mind and our Bodies in reference to what they were before corrupted and polluted by Sin are destroy'd 4. So then the Apostle here makes use of a Metaphor to express a reasonable Duty as a Sacrifice is laid on the Altar kill'd and cut in pieces so we must die to sin and mortifie our Members which are upon the Earth cut off all Affections to this World keep our Bodies under and bring 'em into subjection to the Will of God and so being transformed from what we were before Servants and Sacrifices to Sin we become holy Sacrifices and acceptable to God. Whence 5. Let us enquire what are the proper Sacrifices of Christians because he says that they have no other but the Mass St. Peter 1 Ep. c. 2. v. 5 says we as lively Stones are built upon a spiritual house an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ And what those spiritual Sacrifices are we may be inform'd by other places of Scripture The Psalmist Psal 4. 5. advises us to offer to God the Sacrifices of Righteousness And Psal 50. 23 Whoso offereth Praise glorifieth God. And 51. 17 19 The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit and the Lord will be pleas'd with Sacrifices of Righteousness And Psal 141. 2 Let my Prayer be set before thee as Incense and the lifting up of my hands as the evening Sacrifice These are great Expressions from one under the Law when the Morning and Evening Sacrifices were so absolutely necessary But what have we from those that were under the Gospel Our Blessed Saviour of right challenges the first place who in his own Person blames the Pharisees for not knowing the meaning of this I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice Matth. 12. 7. The Apostle is very plain to the purpose Phil. 4. 15 c. Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the Gospel when I departed from Macedonia no Church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving but ye only For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity Not because I desire a gift but I desire fruit that may abound to your account But I have all and abound I am full having receiv'd of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you an Odour of a sweet smell a Sacrifice acceptable well-pleasing to God. From all which the Sacrifices of Christians are Mercy Alms-Deeds Prayer Praise Contrition and all Christian Duties And these are the Sacrifices which are to be offer'd up to God by every living Christian for himself But I can find no such Sacrifice as the Mass nor indeed any other than those above-mention'd For Christ Jesus is the Sacrifice for all Christians in general and these are Sacrifices which every Christian must offer to God for himself in particular And thus I have briefly given my Opinion of the Mass which amounts to this in the general that Christ being our Sacrifice and Propitiation we have no reason to think of any other and he having offer'd himself once to God for all