but even the Wollenbergii lately confess that the abuses therein have not only been offensive to us but to themselves too But what saith our Representer to them He believes it damnable to think there 's any Divinity in the Reliques of Saints or to adore them with Divine Honour But what is this adoring them with Divine Honour A true Representer ought to have told us what he meant by it when the whole Controversie depends upon it Is it only saying Mass to Reliques or believing them to be Gods Is there no giving Divine Honour by Prostration burning of Incense c. Nothing in expecting help from them Yes If it be from any hidden Power of their own But here is a very hard Question If a Man doth not believe it to be an intrinsick Power in the Reliques may a Man safely go to them Opis impetrandae causâ as the Council of Trent saith in hopes of Relief from them Is it not possible for the Devil to appear with Samuel's true Body and make use of the Relique of a Saint to a very bad end Then say I no Reliques can secure Men against the Imposture of Evil Spirits who by God's Permission may do strange things with the very Reliques of Saints But God hath visibly worked by them saith our Author by making them Instruments of many Miracles and it is as easie for him to do it now This is the force of all he saith To which I answer 1. It is a very bold thing to call in God's Omnipotency where God himself hath never declared he will use his Power for it is under his own Command and not ours But there is no Reason to deduce the Consequence of using it now because he hath done it formerly And that they may not think this is cavilling in us I desire them to read Pere Annaâ—'s Answer to the Jansenists pretended Miracle at Port Poyal viz. of the Cure wrought by one of our Saviour's Thorns There he gives another account of such Miracles than would be taken from us But where he saith It is as much for the Honour of God's Name to work such Miracles now their own Authors will tell him the contrary and that there is no such Reason now as in former times when Religion was to be confirmed by them and when Martyrs suffered upon the sole account of the Truth of it and therefore their Reputation had a greater Influence upon converting the unbelieving World 2. Suppose it be granted yet it proves not any Religious Worship to be given to them For I shall seriously ask an important Question Whether they do really believe any greater Miracles have ever been done by Reliques than were done by the Brazen Serpent And yet although that was set up by God's own Appointment when it began to be worshorshipped after an undue manner it was thought fit by Hezekiah to be broken in pieces What now was the undue Worship they gave to it Did they believe the Serpent which could neither move nor understand was it self a God But they did burn Incense to it And did that make a God of it Suppose Men burn Incense to Reliques What then are they made Gods presently Suppose they do not but place them upon Altars carry them in Procession fall down before them with intention to shew the Honour they do them are not these as much as burning a little Incense which could not signify so much Honour as the other do and it is hard then to make the one unlawful and not the other V. Of the EUCHARIST HE believes it lawful to commit Idolatry and makes it his daily practice to Worship and adore a Breaden God giving Divine Honour to those poor empty Elements of Bread and Wine Of these he asks Pardon for his sins of these he desires Grace and Salvation these he acknowledges to have been his Redeemer and Saviour and hopes for no good but what is to come to him by means of these household Goods And then for his Apology he alledges such gross contradictions contrary to all sense and reason that whosoever will be a Papist must be no Man Fondly believing that what he adores is no Bread or Wine but Christ really present under those appearances and thus makes as many Christs as many Redeemers as there are Churches Altars or Priests When according to Gods Infallible Word there is but one Christ and He not on Earth but at the right hand of his Father in Heaven HE believes it unlawful to commit Idolatry and most damnable to Worship or Adore any Breaden God or to give Divine Honour to any Elements of Bread and Wine He worships only one God who made Heaven and Earth and his only Son Jesus Christ our Redeemer who being in all things equal to his Father in Truth and Omnipotency he believes made his words good pronounc'd at his last Supper really giving his Body and Blood to his Apostles the Substance of Bread and Wine being by his powerful Words chang'd into his own Body and Blood the Species or Accidents of the Bread and Wine remaining as before The same he believes of the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist consecrated now by Priests That it really contains the Body of Christ which was deliver'd for us and his Blood which was shed for the remission of sins Which being there united with the Divinity he confesses Whole Christ to be present And him he adores and acknowledges his Redeemer and not any Bread or Wine And for the believing of this Mystery he does not at all think it meet for any Christian to appeal from Christ's Words to his own Senses or Reason for the examining the truth of what he has said but rather to submit his Senses and Reason to Christ's Words in the obsequiousness of Faith And that being a Son of Abraham 't is more becoming him to believe as Abraham did promptly with a Faith superiour to all Sense or Reason and whither these could never lead him With this Faith it is he believes every Mystery of his Religion the Trinity Incarnation c. With this Faith he believes that what descended upon our Saviour at his Baptism in Iordan was really the Holy Ghost though Senses or Reason could discover it to be nothing but a Dove With this Faith he believes That the Man that Ioshua saw standing over against him with his Sword drawn Iosh. 5.13 and the three Men that Abraham entertain'd in the Plains of Mambre Gen. 18. were really and substantially no Men and that notwithstanding all the information and evidence of Sense from their Colour Features Proportion Talking Eating and many others of their being Men yet without any discredit to his Senses he really believes they were no such thing because God's Word has assured him of the contrary And with this Faith he believes Christ's Body and Blood to be really present in the Blessed Sacrament though to all appearance there 's nothing more than Bread and Wine Thus not at all
they borrow thence and set them down for so many Articles of Popery They turn over every Pâ—pish Author and whatsoever light loose or extravagant Opinions whatsoever Discourses carried on either through Flattery Disgust or Faction appear in any of them they are all mark'd out for so many Articles of Popery And by these and such like means is finish'd at last a compleat Dâ—aught of Popery in which she is render'd so foul monstrous and abominable that there can be nothing raked from the very Sinks of Turcism nothing borrow'd from the wild Africans or barbarous Americans that can make her more odious or add to her deformity Why and is not Popery then such as 't is thus generally painted No 't is no more like it than Monarchy is to that which turbulent Republican Spirits shew for it when displaying to the multitude some Miscarriages of State Frailties in Persons in Dignities Abuses of Government c. they cry out Behold this is Monarchy By this means making it infamous among the People that they may more easily overthrow it And are not the Papists such as they are commonly Represented No They are no more alike than the Christians were of old under the Persecuting Emperors to what they appear'd when cloathed with Lions and Bears Skins they were exposed in the Amphi-theatre to Wild Beasts under those borrow'd Shapes to provoke their Savage Opposites to greater fury and that they might infallibly and with more rage be torn in pieces Let Monarchy be shewn in its own colours and the Christians be expos'd in their own form and one will have but few Maligners and the others will meet with a more tame Behaviour even from the wildest Beasts Let any but search into the Câ—uncils of the Church of Rome even that of Trent than which none can be more Popish let them peruse her Catechisms that ad Parochos or others set forth for Pastors to instruct their Flock and for Children Youth and others to learn their Christian Doctrine of which there is extant great variety in English let them examine Vernon's Rule of Faith and that set forth by the Bishop of Condan let them look into the Spiritual Books of Direction Those of Bishâ—p Sales the Following of Christ the Christian Rules the Spiritual Combat Granado's Works and infinite others of this sort which Papists generally keep by them for their Instruction And then let them freely declare whether the Papists are so ill principled either as to their Faith or Morals as they are generally made appear A little diligence in this kind with a serious inquiry into their conversation their manner of Living and Dying will easily discover that that of Beast with which they are commonly expos'd to publick is not theirs but only of the skin that is thrown over them The Papists own that there are amongst them Men of very ill Lives and that if every corner be narrowly sifted there may be found great abuses even of the most sacred things that some in great Dignities have been highly vilious and carried on wicked Designs That some Authors maintain and publish very absurd Opinions and of ill consequence But these things are nothing of their Religion they are Imperfections indeed the Crimes the Scandals of some in their Communion but such they are so far from being oblig'd to approve maintain or imitate that they wish with all their heart there had been never any such thing and desire in these Points a thorough Reformation Thô the Imprudences therefore the Failings the Extravagancies the Vices that may be pick'd up throughout the whole Society of Papists are very numerous and great and too too sufficient if drawn together for the composing a most Deform'd Antichristiaâ—-Monster yet the Popery of the Roman-Catholicks is no such Monster as 't is painted Those things which are commonly brought against them being as much detested by them as by the Persâ—ns that lay the charge of their dis-favour and having no more relation to them than Weeds and Tares to the Corn amongst which it grows or Châ—ff to the Wheat with which it lies mix'd in one heap A Papists therefore is no more than he is above Represented and whosoever enters that Communion has no obligation of believing otherwise then as there specified And thô in each Particular I have cited no Authorities yet for the truth and exactness of the Character I Appeal to the Council of Trent And if in any Point it shall be found to disagree I again promise upon notice publickly to own it And as for the other Part of the Papist Mis-represented it contains such Tenets as are wrongfully charged upon the Papists and in at many respects as it is contrary to the other Character in so many it is contrary to the Faith of their Church And so far they are ready to disown them and subscribe to their Condemnation And though any serious enquirer may be easily satisfied as to the truth of this yet for a publick satisfaction to shew that those Abominable Unchristian Doctrâ—nes are no part of their Belief however extravagant some men may be in their Opinions the Papists acknowledg that a Faith assenting to such Tenets is wholly opposite to the Honour of God and Destructive to the Gospel of Christ and do publickly invoke God Almighty's Iudgments upon that Church which teaches either publickly or privately such a Faith And since 't is lawful for any Christian to answer Amen to such Anathema ' as are pronounc'd against things apparently sinful the Papists to shew to the World that they disown the following Tenets commonly laid at their door do here oblige themselves that if the ensuing Curses be added to those appointed to be read on the first day of Lent They will seriously and heartily answer Amen to them all I. Cursed is he that commits Idolatry that prays to Images or Relicks or Worships them for God R. Amen II. Cursed is every Goddess Worshiper that believes the Virgin Mary to be any more than a creature that Honour her Worship her or puts his Trust in her more than in God that believes her above her Son or that she can in any thing command him R. Amen III. Cursed is he that believes the Saints in Heaven to be his Redeemers that prays to them as such or that gives God's Honour to them or to any creature whatsoever R. Amen IV. Cursed is he that Worships any Breaden God or makes Gods of the empty Elements of Bread and Wine R. Amen V. Cursed is he that believes that Priests can forgive Sins whether the Sinner repent or no Or that there 's any Power in Earth or Heaven that can forgive sins without a hearty repentance and serious purpose of amendment R. Amen VI. Cursed is he that believes there 's Authority in the Pope or any others that can give leave to commit sins Or that can forgive him his sins for a sum of Money R. Amen VII Cursed is he that believes that Independent of the
shall be used in Churches for no other End Was the Picture of Old Time ever consecrated or placed upon the Altar or elsewhere that it might be worshipped as the Roman Catechism speaks of their Images 2. They cure Distractions for they call back his wandring Thoughts to the Right Object What is this Right Object the Image or the Person represented And that must be either a Creature or God himself If it be a Creature doth not this imply that it is made a Right Object of Worship If God himself how doth an Image cure our Distraction in the Worship of an infinite invisible Being when the very Image is most apt to distract our Thoughts by drawing them down from his Divine and Adorable Perfections to the gross and mean Representations of an Image But are we yet to come to the utmost use of them No. But 5. He cannot but love honour and respect the Images themselves for the sake of those they represent Will this content them And will he promise to go no further It is hard to part upon Terms of meer Respect and decent Regard where there is no encroachment upon Divine Worship And here we are at a stand But he goes further 6. And so he is come at last to Veneration before Images And is this all Dares he deny Veneration to Images when the Council of Trent hath determined it Eisque venerationem impartiendam What is this Veneration before Images only Bellarmine hath a Chapter on purpose to prove that true and proper Worship is to be given to Images And was he a Misrepresenter Suarez saith It is an Article of Faith that Worship is to be given to them But if the Veneration be only before them why are they consecrated and set up in places proper for Adoration But 7. To satisfie any one that he is far from making Gods of his Images he is ready to break them into a thousand pieces What a Consecrated Image Dares he take a Crucifix from the Altar and tear it in pieces This doth not look like the Love Honour and Respect he mentioned before not to name Veneration And I am afraid this is a strain beyond true Representing Yet at length he hath found some pretty Parallels for the Veneration of Images themselves and so we are come at last to the main Point But this is not directly owned yet in the way of his Representing it is fairly insinuated by his Parallels 1. A Christian loves and honours his Neighbour because he bears the Image of God in his Soul But doth he therefore take him and set him before him when he kneels at his Devotion to raise his Mind and cure his Distractions Would he set him upon the Altar and burn Incense before him because of the Image of God in him Is there no difference between the Object of Christian Love and of Divine Worship Nor between a Spiritual Invisible Divine Image in the Souls of Men and a Material and Corporeal Representation 2. We may kiss and esteem the Bible because it contains and represents to Vs Gods Word But when we kiss and esteem the Bible we remember the second Commandment is in it and we dare not break his Law when we pretend to honour his Word But we think there is some difference between Reverence and Respect to the Bible and falling down before an Image The Circumstances of the one declare it to be meer Respect and a Religious Decency and if the other be not External Adoration we know not what it is 3. A good Preacher is loved because he minds Men of their Duty But what should we say to him that should therefore kneel down and say his Prayers and burn Candles and Incense before him out of a Respect to his good Doctrine Did S. Peter or S. Paul like this when Men would have worshipped them A good Preacher would tell them of their Duty as they did and take Men off from the Worship of any Creature animate or inanimate and direct them to worship God alone who made Heaven and Earth II. Of Worshipping Saints HE makes Gods of Dead Men such as are departed hence and now are no more able to hear or see or understand his necessities And tho' God be so good as to invite all to come unto him and to apply themselves to their only and infinite Mediator Jesus Christ Yet so stupid is He that neglecting and as it were passing by both God and his only Son and all their Mercies he betakes himself to his Saints and there pouring forth his Prayers he confides in them as his Mediators and Redeemers and expects no Blessing but what is to come to him by their Merits and through their hands And thus without scruple or remorse robs God of his Honour HE believes there 's only one God and that 't is a most damnable Idolatry to make Gods of Men either living or dead His Church teaches him indeed and he believes That it is good and profitable to desire the Intercession of the Saints reigning with Christ in Heaven but that they are Gods or his Redeemers he is no where taught but detests all such Doctrine He confesses That we are all redeem'd by the Blood of Christ alone and that he is our only Mediator of Redemption But as for Mediators of Intercession that is such as we may desire lawfully to pray for us he does not doubt but 't is acceptable to God we should have many Moses was such a Mediator for the Israelites Iob for his three Friends Stephen for his Persecutors The Romans were thus desir'd by Saint Paul to be his Mediators so were the Corinthians so the Ephesians so almost every sick man desires the Congregation to be his Mediators that is to be remembred in their Prayers And so he desires the Blessed in Heaven to be his Mediators that is that they would pray to God for him And in this he does not at all neglect coming to God or rob him of his Honour but directing all his Prayers up to him and making him the ultimate Object of all his Petitions he only desires sometimes the Iust on Earth sometimes those in Heaven to joyn their Prayers to his that so the number of Petitioners being increas'd the Petition may find better acceptance in the sight of God And this is not to make them Gods but only Petitioners to God 't is not to make them his Redeemers but only Intercessors to his Redeemer he having no hopes of obtaining any thing but of God alone by and through the Merits of Christ for which he desires the Saints in Heaven and good men on Earth to offer up their Prayers with his the Prayers of the Iust availing much before God But now how the Saints in Heaven know the Prayers and Necessities of such who address themselves to them whether by the Ministry of Angels or in the Vision of God or by some particular Revelation 't is no part of his Faith nor is it much
his concern it should be determin'd For his part he does not doubt but that God who acquainted the Prophets with the knowledge of things that were yet to come many hundred years after That inform'd Elijah of the King of Syria's Counsel tho' private resolv'd on in his Bed-chamber and at a distance 2 Kings 6.12 can never want means of letting the Saints know the desires of those who beg their Intercession here on Earth Especially since our Saviour tells That Abraham heard the Petitions of Dives who was yet at a greater distance even in Hell and told him likewise the manner of his living while as yet on Earth Nay since 't is generally allow'd that even the very Devils hear those desperate wretches who call on them Why should he doubt that Saints want this Priviledge in some manner granted to sinful men and to wicked Spirits who tho departed this life are not so properly dead as translated from a mortal life to an immortal one where enjoying God Almighty they lose no Perfections which they enjoy'd while on Earth but possess all in a more eminent manner having more Charity more Love and being more acceptable to God than ever becoming like Angels And as these offered up their Prayers for Ierusalem and the Cities of Iudah Zach. 1.12 so undoubtedly they likewise fall down before the Lamb having every one of them Harps and golden Vials full of Odours which are the Prayers of the Saints Apoc. 5.8 II. Of Worshipping Saints FOr the clear stating this Controversy these things are to be premised 1. We do not charge them that they make Gods of dead men i. e. that they believe the Saints to be Independent Deities For this our Author confesses were a most damnable Idolatry 2. We do not say that the State of the Church of Rome with respect to the Worship of dead men is as bad as Heathenism For we acknowledge the true Saints and Martyrs to have been not only good and Vertuous but extraordinary Persons in great Favour with God and highly deserving our Esteem and Reverence as well as Imitation whereas the Heathen Deified Men were vile and wicked Men and deserved not the common Esteem of Mankind according to the Accounts themselves give of them And we own the common Doctrine and Advantages of Christianity to be preserved in the Church of Rome 3. We do not deny that they do allow some external Acts of Worship to be so proper to God alone that they ought to be given to none else besides him And this they call Latria and we shall never dispute with them about the proper signification of a Word when the Sense is agreed unless they draw Inferences from it which ought not to be allowed To this Latria they refer not only Sacrifice but all that relates to it as Temples Altars and Priests so that by their own Confession to make these immediately and properly to the Honour of any Saint is to make a God of that Saint and to commit Idolatry 4. They confess that to pray to Saints to bestow Spiritual or Temporal Gifts upon us were to give to them the Worship proper to God who is the only giver of all good things For else I do not understand why they should take so much pains to let us know that whatever the Forms of their Prayers and Hymns are yet the Intention and Spirit of the Church is only to desire them to pray for us and to obtain thngs for us by their Intercession with God But two things cannot be denied by them 1. That they do use solemn Invocation of Saints in places of Divine Worship at the same time they make their Addresses to God himself with all the Circumstances of External Adoration with bended Knees and Eyes lifted up to Heaven and that this Practice is according to the Council of Trent which not only decrees an humble Invocation of them but declares it to be impiety to condemn mental and vocal Supplication to the Saints in Heaven 2. That they do own making the Saints in Heaven to be their Mediators of Intercession but not of Redemption although Christ be our Mediator in both senses And upon these two Points this Controversy depends Let us now see what our Representer saith to them 1. His Church teaches him indeed and he believes that it is good and profitable to desire the Intercession of the Saints reigning with Christ in Heaven but that they are either Gods or his Redeemers he is no where taught but detests all such Doctrine There are two Ways of desiring Intercession of others for us 1. By way of Friendly Request as an Act of mutual Charity and so no doubt we may desire others here on Earth to pray for us 2. By way of Humble Supplication with all the external Acts of Adoration and we cannot think St. Peter or St. Paul who refused any thing like Adoration from men would have been pleased to have seen men fall down upon their Knees before them and in the same posture of Devotion in which they were praying to Almighty God to put their Names into the middle of their Litanies and so pray them then to pray for them But how are we sure that their Church teaches no more than this I have read over and over the Council of Trent and the Roman Catechism about it and I can find no such limitation of their sense there where if any where it ought to be found The Council of Trent mentions both the Prayers and the Help and Assistance of the Saints which they are to fly to If this Help and Assistance be no more than their Prayers why is it mentioned as distinct Why is their reigning together with Christ in Heaven spoken of but to let us understand they have a Power to Help and Assist For what is their Reigning to their Praying for us But I have a further Argument to prove the Council meant more viz. the Council knew the common Practices and Forms of Invocation then used and allowed and the general Opinion that the Saints had power to Help and Assist those who prayed to them If the Council did not approve this why did it insert the very words upon which that Practice was grounded They likewise very well knew the Complaints which had been made of these things and some of their own Communion cried shame upon some of their Hymns Wicelius saith one of them Salve Regina c. is full of downright Impiety and horrible Superstition and that others are wholly inexcusable Lud. Vives had said He found little difference in the Peoples opinion of their Saints in many things from what the Heathens had of their Gods These things were known and it was in their power to have redressed them by declaring what the Sense of the Council was and that whatever Forms were used no more was to be understood by them but praying to them to pray for them Besides the Council of Trent in the very same
of this distance between him and them Now it is hardly possible to keep it up if in the Publick Offices of Religion in the solemnest postures of Devotion with Eyes lifted up to Heaven they do make Addresses both to God and to his Creatures 3. Men are sure when they pray to others on Earth to pray for them that they do no more than they can justifie in point of Discretion when they speak or write to those that can understand what their desire is But no man on Earth can be certain that the Saints in Heaven can do it For it is agreed they cannot do it without Revelation and no Man can be assured there is a Revelation and it is not reasonable to expect it for they pray to Saints to pray to God for them and they cannot tell what they pray for unless God to whom they are to pray reveal to them what it is they must pray to him for Is it not then the better the safer the wiser way to make our Prayers to him who we are sure is able to hear and help us and hath promised to grant what we ask in his Son's Name But there is no other Name either under Heaven or in Heaven whereby we can be saved or our Prayers accepted but his alone But our Author saith It is no part of his Faith how the Saints in Heaven know the Prayers and Necessities of such who address themselves to them But how comes it to be any part of his Faith that they know them However he doth not doubt but God can never want means of letting the Saints know them And is this a sufficient ground for solemn Invocation of Saints God doth not want Means to let the Emperor of Iapan know a Request any one here hath to make to him but is this a reasonable Ground for him at this distance to make it to him God doth not want Means to let the Pope know what a mighty Service it would be to the Christian World to make a wise and truly Christian-Reformation in the Church but would this be a Ground sufficient for me at this Distance to make a Speech to him about it I knew a Man who understood not a word of Latin but yet would needs go to hear a Latin Sermon some asked him afterwards what he meant by it and the chief Reason he gave was much like this God did not want Means to let him know what the Preacher meant But after all Suppose God should make known to the Saints what is desired of them I ask Whether this be sufficient Ground for solemn Invocation when Socinus was not able to defend the Invocation of Christ himself supposing that he could know our Hearts only by Relation And he had nothing material to say but only that there was a Command for it which can never be so much as pretended in this Case As to what he alledges of the Elders falling down before the Lamb having Vials full of Odours which are the Prayers of the Saints Apoc. 5.8 It must be strained hard to be brought to this purpose when both Ancient and Modern Interpreters take it for a Representation of what was done upon Earth and not in Heaven And if it were in Heaven Prophetical Visions were never intended for a Measure of our Duties If the Angels do pray for Mankind Zech. 1.12 Doth it therefore follow we must pray to them But we say as the Angel did to S. Iohn Revel 19.10 in a like Case See thou do it not worship God III. Of Addressing more Supplications to the Virgin Mary than to Christ. HE believes the Virgin Mary to be much more powerful in Heaven than Christ and that she can command him to do what she thinks good And for This reason he honours her much more than he does her Son or God the Father For one Prayer he says to God saying ten to the Holy Virgin HE believes it damnable to think the Virgin Mary more powerful in Heaven than Christ Or that she can in any thing command him He honours her indeed as one that was chosen to be the Mother of God and blessed amongst all Women And believes her to be most acceptable to God in her Intercession for us But owning her still as a Creature and that all she has of Excellency or Bliss is the Gift of God proceeding from his meer Goodness Neither does he at any time say even so much as one Prayer to her but what is directed more principally to God because offered up as a thankful Memorial of Christ's Incarnation and an acknowledgment of the Blessedness of Iesus the Fruit of her Womb. And this without imagining that there 's any more dishonouring of God in his reciting the Angelical Salutation than in the first pronouncing it by the Angel Gabriel and Elizabeth Or that his frequent Repetition of it is any more an idle Superstition than it was in David to repeat the same words over twenty six times in the 136 Psalm III. Of Addressing more Supplications to the Virgin Mary than to Christ. HEre is no need of farther starting the Question this only relating to the extraordinary Service of the Blessed Virgin And therefore we are presently to atttend his Motions He believes it damnable to think the Virgin Mary more powerful in Heaven than Christ or that she can in any thing command him But in good earnest Is is not damnable unless a man thinks the blessed Virgin more powerful than Christ Suppose one should think her to have an equal share of Power with Christ Is this damnable or not Is it not setting up a Creature equal with God But what thinks he then of those who have attributed an universal Dominion to her over Angels Men and Devils What thinks he not only of Psalters but of a Creed Litany and all the Hymns of Scripture being applied to her All which was done by a Canonized Saint in their Church and the Books printed out of the Vatican Manuscripts and dedicated to the Pope And there we find something more than an Ora pro nobis in the Litany for there is Parce nobis Domina Spare us good Lady and Ab omni malo libera nos Domina From all evil Good Lady deliver us What thinks he of another Canonized Saint who said these two Propositions are both true All things are subject to God's Command even the Virgin and all things are subject to the Command of the Virgin even God Was this damnable in a Canonized Saint What thinks he of the noted Hymn O felix Puerpera nostra pians scelera Iure Matris impera Redemptori Was not this damnable And I have not only seen it in the old Paris Missal but Balinghem a Jesuit saith it was in the Missals of Tournay Liege Amiens Artois and the Old Roman I could produce many other Passages cited by him out of the old Offices to the same purpose but I forbear But I cannot omit the Approbation given
Permissu Superiorum and we thank them for the seasonableness of it in helping us in true Representing what their allowed Doctrines and Practices are 2. That this is published in English that our People as well as theirs may be convinced how far we have been from unjust charging them as to such things as these 3. That at the same time they plead for keeping the Bible out of the hands of the People wherein their Discretion is so far to be commended since the Scripture and this new Scheme of Devotion can never stand together There being not one word in the Bible towards it but very much against it and the Psalms and Hymns must be burlesq'd to found that way But what saith our Author to their Rosaries wherein there are ten Ave Maries to one Pater noster which is accounted a special piece of Devotion and great things are said of the Effects of it by Alanus de Rupe and many others 1. As to the Ave Maries he saith there is no more Dishonour to God in reciting the Angelical Salutation than in the first pronouncing it by the Angel Gabriel and Elizabeth But it may not be altogether so pertinent But doth he really think they said the whole Ave Maria as it is used among them Did the Angel and Elizabeth say Sancta Maria Mater Dei ora pro nobis peccatoribus nunc in hora mortis nostrae If not to what purpose are they mentioned here 2. As to the Repetition that he saith is no more an idle Superstition than David 's repeating the same words 26 times in the 136. Psalm But what is this to the Question why more Supplications to the blessed Virgin than to Christ And not one word of Answer is given to it But Alanus de Rupe answers it roundly Because the blessed Virgin is our Mediatrix to Christ the Mother of Mercy and the special Patroness of Sinners This is indeed true representing IV. Of paying Divine Worship to Relicks HE believes a kind of Divinity to remain in the Relicks of his reputed Saints and therefore adores their roâ—ten Bones their corrupted flesh their old Rags with Divine Honour kneeling down to them kissing them and going in Pilgrimage to their Shrines and Sepulchres And he is so far possess'd with a conceited Deity lying hid in those senseless Remains that he foolishly believes they work greater Miracles and raise more to life than ever Christ Himself did HE believes it damnable to think there 's any Divinity in the Relicks of Saints or to adore them with Divine Honour or to pray to their rotten Bones old Rags or Shrines or that they can work any strange Cures or Miracles by any hidden Power of their own But he believes it good and lawful to keep them with a Veneration and give them a Religious honour and respect And this he thinks due to them in as much as knowing himself oblig'd to respect and honour God Almighty from his heart he looks upon himself also oblig'd to respect and honour every thing that has any particular Relation to him But this with an inferiour Honour as the Iews did to the Ark to the Tables of the Law to Moses's Rod to the Temple to the Priests So we generally allow to the Bible because it contains Gods Word to the Church because it is Gods House to Holy Men and Priests because they are Gods Servants And so he does to Relicks because they appertain to Gods Favourites and being insensible things are yet very sensible Pledges and lively Memorials of Christ's Servants dead indeed to us but alive with him in Glory And more especially because God himself has been pleas'd to hnour them by making them Instruments of many evident Miracles he has visibly work'd by them as is manifest upon undeniable Record And this he believes as easie for God Almighty now and as much redounding to the honour of his holy Name as it was in the Old Law to work such miraculous effects by Moses's Rod by Gideon's Trumpets by Elia's Mantle after he was taken up into Heaven 2 Kings 2.14 Eliseus's Bones 2 Kings 13.21 and infinite other such like insensible Things And also in the New Law by the Hem of his own Garment Mat. 9.21 by the Shadow of St. Peter Acts 5.15 by the Napkins and Handkerchiefs that had but touch'd the Body of S. Paul casting out Devils and curing Diseases Acts 19.12 and such like And thus by having a Veneration and Respect for these he honours God And does not doubt but that they that contemn and profane these do the like to God as much as they did who profan'd the Bread of Proposition the Temple and Vessels that belong'd to it IV. Of paying Divine Worship to Reliques FOR the right understanding this Controversie we are to consider 1. That there is a due Veneration to the Bodies of Saints and Martyrs allowed on both sides and there is an undue Worship of them which is disowned on both sides The due Veneration is a Religious Decency to be observed towards them which lies in avoiding any thing like Contempt or Dishonour to them and using all such Testimonies of Respect and Decency which becomes the Remains of Excellent Persons provided we are satisfied of their Sincerity without having recourse to Divine Omnipotency to prove them which Ferrandus the Jesuit runs so much to to prove the Truth of many Reliques worshipped in the Church of Rome in many places at once But that it is possible to exceed in the Worship of true Reliques even Bellarmine confesseth who says that God took away the Body of Moses lest the People should give Divine Worship to it And S. Ierom as hot as he was against Vigilantius yet he utterly denied giving any Adoration to the Reliques of Martyrs It seems then it is very possible to exceed that way 2. The Question then is Whether those Acts of Worship which are allowed in the Church of Rome do not go beyond due Veneration For it is unreasonable to suppose those who give it to believe those Reliques to be Gods and therefore it must be such a Worship as is given to them supposing them to be only Reliques of such Persons The Council of Trent decrees Honour and Veneration to be given to them but never determines what is due and what not it forbids all Excesses in drinking and eating in the visiting of Reliques but not a word of Excesses in worshipping of them unless it be comprehended under the name of Superstition But Superstition lies in something forbidden according to their notion of it therefore if there be no Prohibition by the Church there can be no Superstition in the Worship of them And if they had thought there had been any in the known Practices of the Church they would certainly have mentioned them and because they did not we ought in reason to look on them as allowed And yet not only Cassander complains of the great Superstition about them
Christ at York but the Priest there doth it therefore the Body of Christ at London is different from that at York or else the Conversion at London would be into the Body as at York But if not what is the substantial Term of this substantial Change where nothing but an accidental Mode doth follow If there be any such Term whether that must not be a production of something which was not before and if it be so Christ must have as many new Bodies as there are Consecrations 8. This makes that which hath no particular Subsistence of its own to be the Subject of a substantial Change for this is the condition of Christ's Body whatever its manner of Existence be after the Hypostatical Union to the Divine Nature For when Bellarmin Petavius and others of their greatest Divines undertake against Nestorius to explain the Hypostatical Union they tell us it consists in this that the human Nature loseth its proper Subsistence and is assumed into the Subsistence of the Divine Nature From whence I infer That the Body of Christ having no proper Subsistence of its own there can be no substantial Change into that which hath no proper subsistence but into that which hath and consequently the Change must be into the Divine Nature principally from whence it will follow the Elements losing their Subsistence upon Consecration the Divinity must be united hypostatically to them as to the human Nature and so there will be as many Hypostatical Unions as there are Consecrations And so this Doctrine not only confounds Sense and Reason but the Mysteries of Christ's Incarnation too Which I think is sufficient for this Head VI. Of Merits and Good Works HE believes Christ's Death and Passion to be ineffectual and insignificant and that he has no dependance upon the merits of his Sufferings or the Mercy of God for the obtaining Salvation but that he is to be sav'd by his own Merits And for this reason he is very zealously busie in fasting in whipping himself in watching in going in Procession in wearing Hair-shirts and using a thousand such like Mortifications And having done this he thinks himself not at all beholding to God for his Salvation and that to give him Heaven will be no favour It being now his due upon the account of his own meritorious Atchievements without any God-a-mercy to Christ's Passion or his Makers Goodness HE believes it damnable to say that Christ's Death and Passion is ineffectual and insignificant And that 't is the Doctrine of Devils to belive That he has no dependance for his Salvation upon the Merits of Christ's Sufferings or the Mercy of God but only upon his own Merits and good Works 'T is his Faith to believe That of our selves we are not sufficient so much as to think a good thought that the Grace by which we are justified is given us purely gratis upon the account of Christs Merits moreover that no Man how just soever can merit any thing either in this life or in that to come independant on the Merits Passion of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless that through the Merits of Christ the good Works of a just Man proceeding from Grace are so acceptable to God that through his Goodness and Promise they are truly meritorious of eternal Life And this he has learn'd from the Apostle 2 Tim. 4.8 where he is taught that there is a Crown of Justice which our Lord a just Judge will render at the last day not only to Saint Paul but also to all those that shall have fought a good sight and consummated their course kept the Faith and lov'd his coming Knowing therefore that at the day of Judgment he is to receive according to his Works He endeavours by good Works to make his Vocation and Election sure And in following this Counsel he thinks he no more offends against the fulness of the Merits of Christ's or God's Mercy than the Apostle does in giving it VI. Of Merits and good Works FOr the true stating this Controversie we are to observe 1. That we do not charge those of the Church of Rome That they belive Christ's Death and Passion to be ineffectual and insignificant and that they have no dependence on the Merits of his Sufferings or the Mercy of God for attaining Salvation but that they are to be saved only by their own Merits and Good Works as the Misrepresenter saith 2. We do not charge them with denying the Necessity of Divine Grace in order to merit or with asserting that they can merit independently thereupon 3. We do by no means dispute about the Necessity of Good Works in order to the Reward of another Life or assert that Christ's Merits will save Men without working out their own Salvation but do firmly believe that God will judg Men according to their Works The Question then is Whether the Good Works of a just Man as our Author expresses it are truly meritorious of eternal Life Which he affirms but qualifies with saying That they proceed from Grace and that through Gods Goodness and Promise they are truly meritorious But the Council of Trent denounces an Anathema against those who deny the Good Works of justified Persons to be truly meritorious of the increase of Grace and of eternal Life Here then lie the Points in difference 1. Whether such Good Works can be said to be truly meritorious 2. Whether those who deny it deserve an Anathema for so doing As to what relates to Gods Acceptance and Allowance and his Goodness and Promise we freely own all that he saith about it and if no more be meant what need an Anathema about this matter There must therefore be something beyond this when Good Works are not only said to be truly meritorious but we are cursed if we do not say the same To make any thing truly meritorious we must suppose these Conditions requisite 1. That what we pretend to merit by be our own free act 2. That it be not defective 3. That there be an Equality between it and the Reward due to it 4. That there be an Obligation in point of Justice to give that Reward to him that doth it And from these Considerations we deny that good Works even of justified Persons can be truly meritorious 1. It is granted by themselves That what is truly meritorious must be a free Act of the Person who doth it Now the good Works of justified persons cannot be said to be their own free Acts if the Power of doing them depend upon Divine Assistance and there was an antecedent Obligation upon them to perform them So that they can do nothing but what they are bound to as God's Creatures and their very Power of doing it is from the Grace of God If Men pretended to merit at anothers hands by what God gives there were some colour for it but to merit from God himself by what he gives us seems very incongruous If I ow a Man an 100 l.
firm purpose of amendment and an hearty resolution of turning from his evil ways may from them receive Absolution by the Authority given them from Heaven and not doubt but God ratifies above the sentence pronounced in that Tribunal Loosing in Heaven whatsoever is thus loosed by them on Earth And that whosoever comes without the due preparation without a Repentance from the bottom of his heart and real intension of forsaking his sins receives no benefit by the Absolution but adds sin to sin by an high contempt of God's Mercy and abuse of his Sacraments VII Of Confession WE do not charge the Church of Rome that in the power of Absolving they make Gods of Men as our Misrepresenter pretends 2. We do not deny That Christ gave to the Bishops and Priests of the Catholick Church Authority to absolve any truly penitent Sinner from his Sins which he therefore needlesly proves out of Scripture and that such Absolution is ratified in Heaven 3. We are glad to find that our Author declares That no Man receives benefit by Absolution without Repentance from the bottom of his Heart and real intention of forsaking his Sins by which we hope he means more than Attrition But yet there are some things which stick with us as to the Doctrine and Practicee of the Church of Rome in this matter which he takes no notice of 1. That Secret Confession of Sins to a Priest is made so necessary to Salvation that an Anathema is denounced against all that deny it when they cannot deny that God doth forgive Sins upon true Contrition For the Council of Trent doth say That Contrition with Charity doth reconcile a Man to God before the Sacrament of Penance be actually received But then it adds That the desire of Confession is included in Contrition Which is impossible to be proved by Scripture Reason or Antiquity For so lately as in the time of the Master of the Sentences and Gratian in the 12 th Century it was a very disputable Point whether Confession to a Priest were necessary And it is very hard for us to understand how that should become necessary to Salvation since which was not then Some of their own Writers confess that some good Catholicks did not believe the necessity of it I suppose the old Canonists may pass for good Catholicks and yet Maldonat saith That all the Interpreters of the Decrees held that there was no Divine Precept for Confession to a Priest and of the same Opinion he grants Scotus to have been But he thinks it is now declared to be Heresie or he wishes it were And we think it is too much already unless there were better ground for it 2. That an Anathema is denounced against those who do not understand the words of Christ Whose Sins ye remit they are remitted c. of the Sacrament of Penance so as to imply the necessity of Confession Whereas there is no appearance in the words of any such Sense and themselves grant that in order to the Remission of Sins by Baptism of which St. Matthew and St. Mark speak in the Apostles Commission there is no necessity of Sacramental Confession but a general Confession is sufficient And from hence the Elder Iansenius concludes That the Power of Remission of Sins here granted doth not imply Sacramental Confession Cajetant yields There is no Command for Confession here And Catharinus adds That Cajetan would not allow any one Place of Scripture to prove Auricular Confession And as to this particular he denies that there is any Command for it and he goes not about to prove it but that Cajetan contradicts himself elsewhere viz. when he wrote School-Divinity before he set himself to the study of the Scriptures Vasques saith That if these words may be understood of Baptism none can infer from them the Necessity of Auricular Confession But Gregory de Valentia evidently proves that this place doth relate to Remission of Sins in Baptism not only from the Comparison of places but from the Testimonies of Saint Cyprian Saint Ambrose and others 3. That it is expressed in the same Anathema's that this hath been always the Doctrine and Practice of the Catholick Church from the beginning We do not deny the ancient practice either of Canonical Confession as part of the Discipline of the Church for publick Offenses nor of Voluntary Confession for ease and satisfaction of the perplexed Minds of doubting or dejected Penitents but that which we say was not owned nor practised by the Church from the beginning was this Sacramental Confession as necessary to the Remission of sins before God It is therefore to no purpose to produce out of Bellarmine and others a great number of Citations to prove that which we never deny but if they hold to the Council of Trent they must prove from the Fathers that Sins after Baptism cannot be forgiven without Confession to men which those who consider what they do will never undertake there being so many Testimonies of undoubted Antiquity against it And it is observable that Bonaventuâ—e grants that before the Lateran Decree of Innocentius 3. it was no Heresie to deny the necessity of Confession and so he excuses those who in the time of Lombard and Gratian held that Opinion And all other Christians in the World besides those of the Church of Rome do to this day reject the necessity of particular Confession to a Priest in order to Remission as the Writers of the Church of Rome themselves confess So Godignus doth of the Abyssins Philippus à SS Trinitate of the Iacobites Clemens Galanus of the Nestorians who saith They made a Decree against the use of Confession to any but to God alone And Alexius Meneses of the Christians of St. Thomas in the Indies The Greeks believe Confession only to be of Positive and Ecclesiastical Institution as the late Author of the Critical History of the Faith and Customs of the Eastern Nations proves And the very Form of their Absolution declares that they do not think particular Confession of all known Sins necessary to pardon for therein the Priest absolves the Penitent from the sins he hath not confessed through forgetfulness or shame And now let any one prove this to have been a Catholick Tradition by Vincentius his Rules viz. That it hath been always received every where and by All. VIII Of Indulgences HE believes that his Holy Father the Pope can give him leave to commit what sins he pleaseth especially if he can make him a present of a round Sum of Mony he never need doubt of an Indulgence or Pardon for himself and his Heirs for ever for all sorts of Crimes or Wickedness he or any of his Posterity may have convenience of falling into And having this Commission in his Pocket under the Popes Broad Seal he may be confident that Christ will confirm and stand to all that his Vicar upon Earth has granted and not
call him to any account for any thing he has done although he should chance to die without the least remorse of Conscience or Repentance for his sins HE believes it damnable to hold that the Pope or any other Power in Heaven or Earth can give him leave to commit any sins whatsoever Or that for any Sum of Mony he can obtain an Indulgence or Pardon for sins that are to be committed by him or his Heirs hereafter He firmly believes that no sins can be forgiven but by a true and hearty Repentance But that still there is a Power in the Church of granting Indulgences which concern not at all the Remission of sins either Mortal or Venial but only of some Temporal Punishments remaining due after the Guilt is remitted So that they are nothing else but a Mitigation or Relaxation upon just causes of Canonical Penances which are or may be injoyn'd by the Pastors of the Church on penitent sinners according to their several degrees of demerit And this he is taught to be grounded on the Judiciary Power left by Christ in his Church of binding and loosing whereby Authority was given to erect a Court of Conscience to assign Penalties or release them as circumstances should reguire And this Authority he knows S. Paul plainly own'd 2 Cor. 2.6 where he decreed a Penance Sufficient says he to such a man is this punishment And 2 Cor. 2.10 where he released one For your sake speaking of the Penance injoyn'd the incestuous Corinthian I forgive it in the Person of Christ. And what Mony there is given at any time on this account concerns not at all the Pope's Coffers but is by every one given as they please either to the Poor to the Sick to Prisoners c. wherefore they judge it most Charity And tho' he acknowledges many abuses have been committed in granting and gaining Indulgences through the default of some particular Persons yet he cannot imagine how these can in Justice be charg'd upon the Church to the prejudice of her Faith and Doctrine â—specially since she has been so careful in the retâ—enching them As may be seen by what what was done in the Council of Trent Dec. de Indulg cum potestas VIII Of Indulgences 1. THey must be extreamly ignorant who take the Power of Indulgences to be a Leave from the Pope to commit what Sins they please and that by virtue thereof they shall escape Punishment for their Sins without Repentance in another World Yet this is the sense of the Misrepresentation which he saith is made of it And if he saith true in his Preface That he hath described the Belief of a Papist exactly according to the apprehension he had when he was a Protestant He shews how well he understood the Matters in difference when I think no other Person besides himself ever had such an apprehension of it who pretended to be any thing like a Scholar 2. But now he believes it damnable to hold that the Pope or any other Power in Heaven or Earth can give him leave to commit any Sins whatsoever or that for any Sum of Mony he can obtain any Indulgence or Pardon for Sins that are to be committed by him or his Heirs hereafter Very well But what thinks he of obtaining an Indulgence or Pardon after they are committed Is no such thing to be obtained in the Court of Rome for a Sum of Mony He cannot but have heard of the Tax of the Apostolick Chamber for several Sins and what Sums are there set upon them Why did he not as freely speak against this This is published in the vast Collection of Tracts of Canon Law set forth by the Popes Authority where there are certain Rates for Perjury Murder Apostacy c. Now what do these Sums of Mony mean If they be small it is so much the better Bargain for the Sins are very great And Espencaeus complains that this Book was so far from being called in that he saith the Popes Legats renerred those Faculties and confirmed them It seems then a Sum of Mony may be of some consequence towards the obtaining Pardon for a Sin past tho' not for a Licence to commit it But what mighty difference is there whether a Man procures with Mony a Dispensation or a Pardon For the Sin can hurt him no more than if he had Licence to commit it 3. He doth believe there is a Power in the Church to grant Indulgences which he saith concern not at all the Remission of Sins either mortal or venial but only of some temporal Punishments remaining due after the Guilt is remitted Here now arises a material Question viz. Whether the Popes or the Representer be rather to be believed If the Popes who grant the Indulgences are to be believed then not only the bare Remission of Sins is concerned in them but the plenary and most plenary Remission of Sins is to be had by them So Boniface the 8 th in his Bull of Iubilee granted Non solum plenam largiorem imo plenissimam veniam peccatorum If these words had no relation to Remission of Sins the People were horribly cheated by the sound of them In the Bull of Clement the 6 th not extant in the Bullarium but published out of the Vtrecht Manuscript not only a plenary Absolution from all Sins is declared to all persons who died in the Way to Rome but he commands the Angels of Paradise to carry the Soul immediately to Heaven And I suppose whatever implies such an Absolution as carries a Soul to Heaven doth concern Remission of Sins Boniface IX granted Indulgences à Poenâ à Culpâ and those certainly concerned Remission of Sins being not barely from the temporal Punishment but from the Guilt it self Clement VIII whom Bellarmine magnifies for his care in reforming Indulgences in his Bull of Iubilee grants a most plenary Remission of Sins and Vrban the 8 th since him not only a Relaxation of Penances but Remission of Sins and so lately as A. D. 1671. Clement the 10 th published an Indulgence upon the Canonization of five new Saints wherein he not only grants a plenary Indulgence of Sins but upon invocation of one of these Saints in the point of Death a plenary Indulgence of all his Sins And what doth this signifie in the point of Death if it do not concern the Remission of Sins 4. Indulgences he saith are nothing else but a Mitigation or Relaxation upon just Causes of Canonical Penances which are or may be enjoyned by the Pastors of the Church on penitent Senners according to their several degrees of Demerits If by Canonical Penances they mean those enjoined by the Penitential Canons Greg. de Valentia saith This Opinion differs not from that of the Hereticks and makes Indulgences to be useless and dangerous things Bellarmin brings several Arguments against this Doctrine 1. There would be no need of the Treasure of the Church which he had proved
mischief to Christianity as this one And under a vain pretence of preventing farther inconveniences endeavours to deprive all of this Spiritual comfort of this Divine Food of this Heavenly Light that so being kept in darkness they may be also preserv'd in ignorance and Damn'd Eternally HE believes it damnable in any one to think speak or do any thing irreverently towards the Scripture or by any means whatsoever to bring it into dis-repute or disgrace He holds it in the highest Veneration of all men living he professes it to be the Dew of Heaven Oracles of God Fountain of Eternal Life that to profane it is to incur the guilt of Damnation And that we are rather bound to lose our lives than concur any way to its profanation 'T is true he does not think it fit to be read generally by all without Licence or in the Vulgar Tongues Not for any disrespect to it But I. Because he understands that private Interpretation is not proper for the Scripture 2 Pet. 1.20 II. Because that in the Epistles of St. Paul are certain things hard to be understood which the unlearned and unstable deprave as also the rest of the Scriptures to their own perdition III. Because God hath given only some to be Apostles some Prophets other-some Evaâ—gelists and other-some Pastors and Doctors Eph. 4.11 For these Reasons he is taught That 't is not convenient for the Scripture to be read indifferently to all men but only such as have express Licence and good testimony from their Curates that they are humble discreet and devout persons and such as are willing to observe directions in the perusing this Sacred Volume That is take notice of all Godly Histories and imitable examples of Humility Chastity Obedience Mercy to the Poor c. and all such places as are apt to provoke and stir up the hatred of Sin fear of God's Judgments love of Virtue c. and in all Hard Obscure and Disputable Points to refer all to the Arbitrement of the Church to the judgment of those whom God hath appointed Pastors and Doctors Never presuming to contend controul teach or talk of their own Sense and Phansie in deep Questions of Divinity and high Mysteries of Faith but expecting the sense of these from the Lips of the Priest who shall keep knowledge and from whose mouth they shall require the Law Mal. 2.7 And this caution is used lest that the Scripture coming into the hands of a presuming sort of proud curious and contentious people be abused and perverted who make it their business to enquire into Dogmatical Mystical High and Hidden secrets of God's Counsels into Predestination Reprobation Election Pre-science and other such incomprehensible Mysteries and upon the presumption of I know not what Spirit immediately become Teachers Controllors and Iudges of Doctors Church Scripture and all and acknowledging no Authority left by Christ to which they are to submit under pretence of Scripture and God's Word make way for all sorts of Profaneness Irreligion and Atheism So that 't is not for the preserving Ignorance he allows a restraint upon the reading the Scriptures but for the preventing a blind ignorant Presumption And that it may be done to edification and not to destruction and without casting the holy to dogs or pearls to swine X. Of Reading the Holy Scripture 1. HE believes it damnable in any one to think speak or do any thing irreverently towards the Scripture or by any means whatsoever to bring it into disrepute or disgrace but not being contented with this he adds That he holds it in the highest Veneration of all Men living Now here we must desire a little better Representation of this Matter For certainly those who derive its Authority from the Church who set Traditions in equal esteem with it who complain so much of its Obscurity can never be said to hold in equal Veneration with those who maintain its independent Authority its Sufficiency and Perspicuity And these are known and material Points in Controversy between us and them therefore let them not say they hold it in the highest Veneration of all men living tho those thought themselves thorough Catholicks who have compared it to a Nose of Wax to a Lesbian Rule to a dead Letter unsensed Characters and to other things not fit to be repeated But we are well pleased to find them express such Veneration for it Wherefore then are the people to be kept from reading it 2. He saith It is not out of disrespect to it But why then 1. Because private Interpretation is not proper for the Scripture 2 Pet. 1.20 One would think the Scripture were not kept oâ—ly from the people by such a Sense being put upon it for any one that would but consider that place will find it must relate to the Prophets themselves and doth he think the Prophets were to be debarred from reading the Scriptures But this is playing with Scripture and not reasoning from it 2 Because in the Epistles of S. Paul are certain things hard to be â—nderstood which the unlearned and unstable deprave as also the rest of the Scriptures to their own Perdition 2 Pet. 3.16 Now in my Opinion such men deserve more to be debarred from medling with the Scripture who make such perverse Inferences from it than ordinary Readers And if they use all other places as they do this they cannot be excused from depraving it It is granted there were then unlearned and unstable men who misunderstood or misapplied the Writings of St. Paul and other Scriptures And what then There are men of all Ages who abuse the best things in the World even the Gospel it self and the Grace of God Doth it hence follow that the Gospel must not be preached to them or the grace of God made known to them for fear of mens making ill use of it If this had been the just consequence would not St. Peter himself have thought of this But he was so far from making it that he adviseth those persons he writes to to have a mighty regard to the Scriptures even to the Prophetical Writings as to a Light shiâ—ing in a dark place 1 Pet. 1.19 According to this way of deducing Consequences St. Peter should have argued just contrary The Prophetical Writings are dark and obscure therefâ—râ— meddle not with them but trust your Guides Whereas the Apostle after he had told them what the Apostles saw and heard he adds That they have a more sure Prophetical Word as the Rhemists translate it How could that be more sure to them unless they were allowed to read consider and make use of it 3. Because God hath given only some to be Apostles some Prophets other some Evangelists and other some Pastors and Doctors Ephes. 4.11 Doth it hence follow that the People are not to read the Scriptures In the Universities Tutors are appointed to interpret Aristotle to their Pupils doth it hence follow that they are not to read Aristotle themselves It is no
other Latin one whatsoever Beza in his Preface to the New-Testament Anno 1559. blames Erasmus for rejecting it Paulus Fagius cries out against all that disallow it Cap. 4. Vers. Lat. Paraph Chald. Ludovicus de Dieu with admiration confesses it to be most Faithful in Not. ad Evang. Praef. Causabon prefers it before the Greeks Text now in use and acknowledges that it agrees with the Ancient Manuscripts in Not. ad Evang. Act. Grotius professes to the World that he highly esteems it for that it contains no erroneous Opinions and is very Learned nulla dogmata insalubria continet multum habet in se eruditionis Prâ—f Annot. in vet Test. And for this reason he refers his Annotations generally to this Translation as he declares himself So that seeing this Version is deliver'd to him with the approbation of his whole Church and is commended by most Learned Adversaries he thinks he has great reason to receive it and that he may peruse it without any danger that can come to him from any Corruptions or Falsifications And because he has not the like assurance of the English Translation allowed by Protestants or any other made since the Reformation by any of that Perswasion but sees that there has been almost as many different Translations made and published by these as there had been men of different Humours different Spirits and different Interests whereof none have ever approv'd the Versions of any of the rest but cry'd out against and Condemn'd them of many Alterations Additions Detractions and Forgeries Bucer and the Osiandrians exclaiming against Luther Luther against Munster Beza against Castaleo Castaleo against Beza Calvin against Servetus Illyricus against Calvin and Beza Our English Ministers against Tindal and his Fellows And this not upon the account of some oversights or like mistakes or the following of different Copies but accusing one another of being Absurd and senseless in their Translations of obscuring and perveâ—ing the meaning of the Holy Ghost of Omissions and Additions of perverting the Text in eight hundred forty and eight pieces of corrupt and false Translations all which in express Terms has been charg'd by great Abbetters of the Reformation against a Bible yet us'd in England and ordered to be read in all Churches by Queen Elizabeth and to be seen in the Abridgement of a Book deliver'd by certain Ministers to King Iames pag. 11.12 in Mr. Burges's Apology Sect. 6. Mr. Broughton's Advertisement to the Bishops And in Doctor Reynold's refusing before the King at Hampton-Court to subscribe to the Communion-Book because it warranted a corrupt and false Translation of the Bible For these and such other reasons he is commanded not to read any of these Translations but only that which is recommended to him by the Church XII Of the Vulgar Edition of the Bible 1. WE do not dispute about the Vulgar Edition whether it may not be preferr'd before modern Latin Editions because of its great Antiquity in some parts of it and its general Reception since the time of Gregory I. But our dispute is whether it be made so Authentick since the Council of Trent that no Appeals are to be made to the Originals i. e. whether that Council by its Authority could make a Version equal to the Originals out of which it was made Especially since at the time of that Decree the Vulgar Edition was confessed to be full of Errors and Corruptions by Sixtus V. who saith he took infinite pains to correct them and yet left very many behind as appeared by Clement VIII who corrected his Bibles in very many places and grants some faults were left uncorrected still Now how was it possible for the Council of Trent to declare that Edition Authentick which was afterwards so much corrected And whether was the correct Edition of Sixtus V. Authentick or not being made in pursuance of the Decree of the Council If not how comes Clement his Edition to be made Authentick when the other was not since there may be Corruptions found in that as well as the other and no one can tell but it may be reviewed and corrected still as some of their own Writers confess it stands in need of it 2. Our Controversy is not so much about the Authority of the Vulgar Latin above other Latin Versions to those who understand them but whether none else but the Latin Version must be used by those who understand it not And here our Representer saith That he is commanded not to read any of these Translations speaking of Tindal's and that in Queen Elizabeths time but only that which is recommended to him by the Church If this relate to the Vulgar Latin then we are to seek why the common people should have none to read but what they cannot understand if to Translations of their own then we doubt not to make it appear that our Translations allowed among us is more exact and agreeable than any they can put into their hands XIII Of the Scripture as a Rule of Faith HE believes it lawful nay that it is his obligation to undervalue the Scripture and take from it that Authority which Christ gave it For whereas Christ left this to the World as the Rule of Faith and as a Sacred Oracle from whence all his Followers might be instructed in the Precepts of a good Life learn all the Mysteries of their Faith and be resolv'd in all difficult and doubtful Points of Religion He is taught flatly to deny all this and to believe that the Scripture is not capable of deciding any one point of Controversy or reconciling the different Sentiments of Men in Religion And thus demeans himself towards the word of God in a manner most unbecoming a Christian. HE believes it damnable to undervalue the Scripture or take from it the Authority given it by Christ. He gives it all respect due to the Word of God he owns it to be of greatest Authority upon Earth and that it is capable of leading a Man to all Truth whensoever it is rightly understood But to any one that misunderstands it and takes it in any other sense than what was intended by the Holy Ghost he believes it to such a one to be no Scripture no word of God that to such a one it is no Rule of Faith nor Iudge of Controversies And that what he thinks to be the Doctrine of Christ and Command of Heaven is nothing but his own Imagination and the suggestion of the Devil And since by the experience of so many thousand Heresies since our Saviour's time all pretending to be grounded on Scripture he finds that almost every Text of the Bible and even those that concern the most Essential and Fundamental Points of the Christian Religion may be interpreted several ways and made to signifie things contrary to one another and that while thus contrary meanings are by several Persons drawn from the same Words the Scripture is altogether silent without discovering
deny that they pretend them to be of Divine Original 2. We do not deny but the Apostles might deliver such things by Word as well as by Epistle which their Disciples were bound to believe and keep but we think there is some difference to be made between what we certainly know they delivered in Writing and what it is now impossible for us to know viz. what they delivered by word without writing 3. We see no ground why any one should believe any Doctrine with a stedfast and divine Faith which is not bottom'd on the Written word for then his Faith must be built on the Testimony of the Church as Divine and Infallible or else his Faith cannot be Divine But it is impossible to prove it to be Divine and Infallible but by the Written word and therefore as it is not reasonable that he should believe the Written word by such a Divine Testimony of the Church so if any particular Doctrine may be received on the Authority of the Church without the Written word then all Articles of Faith may and so there would be no need of the Written word 4. The Faith of Christians doth no otherwise stand upon the Foundation of the Churches Tradition than as it delivers down to us the Books of Scripture but we acknowledg the general Sense of the Christian Church to be a very great help for understanding the true sense of Scripture and we do not reject any thing so delivered but what is all this to the Church of Rome But this is still the way of true Representing XVI Of Councils HE believes that the Faith of his Church may receive new Additions every day And that he is not only oblig'd to believe what Christ taught and his Apostles but also every Definition or Decree of any General Council assembled by the Command of the Pope So that as often as any thing is issued out by the Authority of any of these Church-Parliaments and order'd to be believ'd he thinks himself under pain of Damnation immediately bound to receive it and having added it to his Creed to assent to it with as Firm Stedfast and Divine a Faith as if it had been Commanded by Christ himself and Decreed in the Consistory of Heaven And by this means he never comes to understand his Religion or know what he is to Believe but by the continual Alterations Additions Diminutions Interpretations of these Councils he is preserv'd in a necessary Confusion and tho he changes often yet he fondly thinks himself always the same HE believes that the Faith of his Church can receive no Additions and that he is oblig'd to believe nothing besides that which Christ taught and his Apostles and if any thing contrary to this should be defin'd and commanded to be believ'd even by Ten thousand Councils he believes it damnable in any one to receive it and by such Decrees to make Additions to his Creed However he maintains the Necessity and Right of General Councils lawfully Assembled whose business it is not to coin new Articles of Faith or devise Fresh Tenets but only as often as any Point of Receiv'd Doctrine is impugned or call'd in question to debate the matter and examine what has been the Belief of all Nations who are there present in their Prelates in that Point And this being agreed on to publish and make known to the World which is the Catholick Doctrine left by Christ and his Apostles and which the new-breach'd Error And by this means to prevent the loss of infinite number of Souls which might otherwise be deluded and carried away after new inventions not being capable by their own knowledge and abilities to distinguish betwixt Truth and Falshood and discover the subtilties of every crafty Deceiver And in this case he believes that he is oblig'd to submit and receive the Decrees of such a Council the Pastors and Prelates there present being by Christ and his Apostles appointed for the decision of such Controversies They having the care of that stock committed to them over which the Holy Ghost has made them Overseers to feed the Church of God Acts 20.28 and to watch against those men who should arise from among themselves speaking perverse things tâ— draw Disciples after them Ib. vers 30. And he having receiv'd Command as likewise the whâ—le Flock of Christ to obey their Prelates and to be subject to them who watch and are to render an account for their Souls Heb. 13.17 with an assurance That He that heareth them hearch Christ and he that despiseth them despiseth Christ Luke 10.16 And withal being taught that as this way of the Ancients of the Church and Prelates meeting in case of any danger threatning their Flock or any new Doctrine arising was the means instituted by Christ and practised by the Apostles in the first planting of the Church for the preventing Schisms and preserving Vnity among the Faithful and that they should speak and think the same thing and be perfectly joyn'd together in the same mind and same judgment 1 Cor. 1.10 So it ought to be the means in all succeeding Ages for the preventing Divisions and conserving Vnity among the Faithful And that therefore as that Controversy concerning the necessity of Circumcision Act. c. 15. arising in the Apostles times was not decided by any private Person nor even by Paul and Barnabas who nevertheless had received the Holy Ghost and one would have thought might have pretended to the Spirit and a Heavenly Light but by a General Meeting of the Apostles and Elders of the Church at Ierusalem who were consulted by Paul and Barnabas about this Question So all other Disputes and Difficulties of Religion arising in succeeding Ages ought to be referr'd to the Successors of the Apostles whose Charge Dignity and Office is to continue to the end of the World tho' they are dead in Person who are to consider of the matter Acts 15.6 as the Apostles did while all the Multitude keeps silence ver 12. without any one presuming on any Learning Gift Virtue Prayers or Inspiration to intermeddle in the Dispute or put an end to the Question This being none of their business or obligation but only with all Patience and Humility to expect the Determination of their Prelates and Elders and receive it with the same expressions as those good Christians did heretofore who rejoyced for the Consolation Acts 15.31 And unless this that the Apostles did and their Obsequious Flock be taken as a Pattern in all Ages for the ending such-like difficulties he believes 't is impossible that Believers should stand fast in one Spirit with one Mind Philip. 1.27 and be not carried away with divers and strange Doctrines Hebr. 13.9 XVI Of Councils 1. WE are glad to find so good a Resolution as seems to be expressed in these words viz. That he is obliged to believe nothing besides that which Christ taught and his Apostles and if any thing contrary to this should be defined
Sacrifice of the Mass which has been observ'd perform'd frequented by the Faithful in all Agâ—s attested by the General Consent of ancient Canons universal Tradition Councils and the practâ—ce of the whole Church mention'd and allow'd of by all the Fathers Greek and Latin and never call'd into question but of lâ—te Years being that pure Offering which Malachy Prophecying of Christ foretold should be offer'd among the Gentiles in every place Mal. 1.11 as it is understood by several Fathers and particularly S. Cypr. l. 1. c. 18. advers Iud. S. Ierom S. Theodoret S. Cyril in their Commentaries upon this Text S. Augustine l. 18. c. 15. de Civit. S. Chrysost. in Psal. 95. and others Of the MASS UNder this Head which is thought of so great consâ—quence in the Roman Church I expected a fuller Representation than I here find as about the Opus Operatum i. e. how far the meer Act is effectual About their Solitary Masses when no Person receives but the Priest about the People having so little to do or understand in all the other parts of the Mass About the Rites and Ceremonies of the Mass how useful and important they are About reconciling the present Canon of the Mass with the present Practises About offering up Masses for the honour of Saints All which we find in the Council of Trent but are omitted by our Representer Who speaks of the Mass as tho there were no Controversie about it but only concerning the Sacrifice there supposed to be offered up and which he is far from true Representing For the Council of Trent not only affirms a true proper propitiatory Sacrifice to be there offered up for the quick and dead but denounces Anathema's against those that deny it So that the Question is not Whether the Eucharist may not in the sense of Antiquity be allowed to be a Commemorative Sacrifice as it takes in the whole Action but whether in the Mass there be such a Representation made to God of Christ's Sacrifice as to be it self a true and propitiatory Sacrifice for the Sins of the Qâ—ick and the Dead Now all that our Representer saith to the purpose is 1. That Christ bequeathed his Body and Blood at his last Supper under the species of Bread and Wine not only a Sacrament but also a Sacrifice I had thought it had been more proper to have offered a Sacrifice than to have bequeathed it And this ought to have been proved as the Foundation of this Sacrifice viz. That Christ did at his last Supper offer up his Body and Blood as a Propitiatory Sacrifice to God And then what need his suffering on the Cross 2. He gave this in charge to his Apostles as the first and chief Priests of the New-Testament and to their Successors to offer But Where When and How For we read nothing at all of it in Scripture Christ indeed did bid them do the same thing he had there done in his last Supper But did he the offer up himself or not If not How can the Sacrifice be drawn from his Action If he did it is impossible to prove the necessiâ—y of his dying afterwards 3. This Sacrifice was never questioned till of late years We say it was never determined to be a Propitiatory Sacrifice till of late We do not deny the Fathers interpreting Mal. 1.11 of an Offering under the Gospel but they generally understand it of Spiritual and Eucharistical Sacrâ—fices and although some of them by way of Accommodation do apply it to the Eucharist yet not one of them doth make it a Propitiatory Sacrifice which was the thing to be proved For we have no mind to dispute about Metaphorical Sacrifices when the Council of Trent so positively decrees it to be a True Proper and Propitiatory Sacrifice XXIII Of Purgatory HE believes contrary to all Reason the Word of God and all Antiquity that besides Heaven and Hell there is a third place which his Church is pleas'd to call Purgatory a place intended purely for those of his Communion whâ—re they may easily have admittance after this Life without danger of falling into Hell for that though Hell was designed first for the punishment of Sinners yet that now since the blessed discovery of Purgatory Hell may easily be skip'd over and an eternal Damnation avoided for an exchange of some short Penalty undergone in this Pope's Prison where he never need fear to be detained long for that if he has but a friend left behind him that will but say a few Hail-Maries for his Soul or in his Testament did but remember to order a small sum to be presented to some Mâ—ss Priest he never need doubt of being soon releas'd for that a Golden Kâ—y will as infallibly open the Gates of Purgatory as of any other Prison whaâ—soever HE believes it damnable to admit of any thing for Faith that is contrary to Reason the Word of God and all Antiquity and that the Being of a Third Place call'd Purgatory is so far from being contrary to all or any of these that it is attested confirm'd and establish'd by them all 'T is expresly in the 2 d. of the Maccabees c 12. where Money was sent to Hierusalem that Sacrifices might be offered for the slain And ' â—is recommended as a Holy Cogitation to Pray for the Dead Now though these Books are not thought Canonical by some yet St. Augustine held them as such and says they are so received by the Church l. 18. de Civit. But whether so or no one thing is allow'd by all viz. That they contain nothing contrary to Faith and that they were cited by the Antient Fathers for the Confutation of Errors forming of good Manners and the explication of the Christian Doctrine Thus were they us'd by Origen for Condemnation of the Valentinian Hereticks Orig. in cap 5. Ep. ad Rom. thus by St. Cyprian Lib. de Exhor Mart. c. 11. thus by Euseb. Caesariensis Lib. Praepar Evang. 11. c. 15. thus by St. Greg. Naz. Ambros. c. And he is in a manner certain that the Books would never have been put to this Use by these Holy and Learned Fâ—thers they would never with such confidence have produc'd their Authority nor would they have been read by the Church in those Golden times had this Doctrine of a Third Place and of Prayers for the Dead which they maintain been any idle Superstition a meer Dream contrary to Reason the Word of God and Antiquity or had it been any Error at all The being also of a Third Place is plainly intimated by our Saviour Matth. 12.32 where he says Whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this World neither in the World to come By which words Christ evidently supposes that though these shall not yet some sins are forgiven in the World to come which since it cannot be in Heaven where no sin enters nor in Hell whence there is no Redemption it must necessâ—rily be
understood a word that he spoke Does any one think that those Holy Women who follow'd their Lord in these sad Passages and were Witnesses of his Sufferings wanted Holy Affections in their Souls because he spoke not or were they scandaliz'd at his silence Was not their Faith in him that suffer'd by which they believ'd him to be Christ Iesus true God and Man laying down his life for the Redemption of Man sufficient to excite in their Souls all the Passions due from a sinful Creature to his bleeding Redeemer to his Crucified Iesus The like Faith also is sufficient to fill him with Devotion when he is present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass For believing that Christ is there really present before him under the Species of Bread and Wine and that He that lies upon the Altar is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World What need of more to quicken in his Soul all the Affections of a Devout Lover Can he behold his Redeemer before him and not break forth into Love and Thanksgiving Can he see him that gives sight to the Blind health to the Sick and life to the Dead and yet stand still senseless and un-mov'd without putting any Petition to him without asking any thing for his blind sick and sinful Soul Can he believe that he that gives his life for the World and died for our sins is there before him and not be touch'd with sorrow and contrition for his Offence Can he see commemorated every doleful passage of his Saviour's sufferings in the several Mysteries of the Mass and yet not be fill'd with grief and compassion Is not Iesus welcome to a devout Soul although he come in silence Is not the Presence of Christ a more forcing motive to a Christian than any Humane Words could be And if he must needs have Words let him behold with the eye of Faith the gaping Wounds of his Redeemer and see if those speak nothing to his Soul If they do not 't is because he wants Faith It nothing therefore concerns his Devotion that the Mass is said in Latin If the Church has order'd it thus so to preserve Unity as in Faith so in the External Worship of God and to prevent alterations and changes which it would be expos'd to if in Vulgar Languages and other good Reasons What 's that to him He should receive but little advantage if it were in his Mother Tongue For besides that the greatest part is said in so low a Voice that it is not possible he should hear it the Words do not belong to him That 's only the Priest's Office and the Obligation is to accompany the Priest in Prayer and Spirit to be a joint-Offerer with him to contemplate the Mysteries there represented and to excite in his Soul Devotions according to the exigency of every Passage according to the Directions he finds in his English Prayer-Books of which there are extant great variety set forth for the help of the Ignorant by which they are taught the meaning of every Part and Ceremony of the Mass and how to apply their Devotions accordingly And if at any time he be present at other publick Devotions as the Church Offices the Litanies solemn Thanksgivings Exequies c. which are all perform'd in Latin or should say any private Prayers or sing an Hymn in the same Language which he understands not yet is he taught that this may be done with great benefit to his Soul and the acceptance of God if at these occasions he does but endeavour to raise his thoughts to Heaven and fix his Heart upon his Maker For that God does not respect the Language of the Lips but of the Heart does not attend the motion of the Tongue but of the Mind and if these be but directed to him in Thanksgiving in Praeising in Petitioning in Humiliation in Contrition and such like Acts as Circumstances require he need not doubt but that God accepts his Prayers and Devotions It being an undeniable thâ—ng that to say Prayers well and devoutly 't is not necessary to have attention on the Words or on the Sense of the Prayers but rather purely on God Of these three Attentions this last being approv'd by all as of greatest Perfection and most pleasing to God And this he can have whether he understands the Words or no it being very usual and easie for a Petitioner to accompany his Petition with an earnest desire of obtaining his suit tho the Language in which it is worded be unknown to him XXIV Of Praying in an unknown Tongue THE Qâ—estion in short is Whether the Church Service at which Persons are bound to assist ought not to be in a Language understood by those who are bound to assist For our Author grants That a Papist is bound to assist at the Church Service and to hear Mass but he is not bound to understand the Words there spoken This is a plain state of the case and one would have thought St. Paul's Discourse about Edification in the Church-Service and a known Tongue and the Primitive Practice had desâ—rved a little consideration but not a Word is said to either of them and the whole is so managed as tho there had been no Rule or any appearance of Practice to the contrary But I must consider what he doth say 1. The Mass is a Sacrifice And what then Have they no other Church-Service but the Mass What then becomes of their Breviaries Litanies and all other Offices But suppose the Priests Office in the Mass be to offer the Sacrifice are there no Prayers in the Canon of the Mass wherein the People are concerned Why must not they understand what they are required to assist in Prayer for If they have English Books as he saith to teach them every part and Ceremony of the Mass why not as well the Prayers in the Mass wherein they are to joyn They tell us It is unseasonable then for the People to say their Beads and other Devotions And I suppose as unseasonable to talk or think of other matters Why then should not they know what it is they are to do and what Petitions they are then to make to God Are there no Responses to be made No Lessons to be read No Creed to be professed Doth not the Priest speak to the People to pray and they answer him Is there no Thanksgiving after the Communion which the People is concerned in We are as much for their Devout Affections as they can be but we think they are not hindred by understanding what they are about We cannot but wonder that any man should say That it nothing concerns his Devotion that the Mass is in Latin if he understand it not Is it no part of Devotion to joyn in the publick Prayers not merely by rote but from a due apprehension of the matter contained in them He requires That they accompany the Priest in Prayer and Spirit And why not in understanding also But
the Church hath so ordered it And that is the thing we complain of as done against St. Paul against the Primitive Church against the natural sense of Mankind who think it is sit for them to know what they do especially in the Worshâ—p of God But it is to preserve Unity Methinks however Unity in Spirit and Understanding is better than without it There are other good Reasons I know not one good one and if there were more he would have produced them The greatest part is said in a low Voice that it is not possible he should hear it And to what purpose should it be spoken louder if they are not to understand it But why so low in publick Yet the People might have Books and joyn if they understood what was said But why should not the rest be understood which is spoken as if it were 2. As to other Offices he saith He is taught that he may perform them in a Language which he understands not with great benefit to his Soul and the acceptance of God if at those occasions he endeavours to raise his Thoughts to Heaven and fix his Heart upon his Maker But the Question is not Whether a Man may not have devout Thoughts at that time but whether he can perform his part in the publick Offices with true Devotion without Understanding for the publick Offices of Devotion were designed for the uniting the Hearts and Desires of the People in the same things It is not whether one Man may not pray for Heaven and another for fair Weather and another for pardon of his Sins and a Fourth for Patience and so on in the same place and at the same time for all this may be done as well in a silent Meeting where not a Word is spoken But there being one Form of Prayer for all to joyn together in that with the united force of the whole Congregation their Petitions may go up to Heaven The matter now in dispute is Whether it be not necessary in order to this united Devotion that the People all know what they pray for And one would think nothing need to be said to prove this But what our Author adds in Justification of this overthrows all publick Devotion for he saith It is not necessary to have attention on the Words or on the Sense of Prayers but rather purely on God Which is to make all publick Forms unnecessary and to turn all Devotion into Prayer of Contemplation For if this be true all Forms whatsoever are not only useless but burthensome and by the stinting the Spirit do hinder the nimbler flights of the Soul in pure silence towards God And this Principle must lead men to Enthusiasms and unintelligible Unions and make them despise Forms as a mean and dull Dispensation But at last he saith A petitioner may accompany his petition with an earnest desire of obtaining it though the Language in which it is written be unknown to him Very true if he indâ—ted the matter of the Petition and trusted another to put it into that Language which the Person to whom he makes it doth understand but not his own But all Languages are alike to God's Infinite Wisdom and so there can be no pretence on that account to keep only to some particular Tongues tho unknown to the Party and if it were so to all men no man would have a Petition presented in a Language which he did not know But in Prayer to God the design of it is not to acquaint him with something which he knew not but to excite the Hearts and Affections of men to an earnest desire of the things which are fit for them to ask Now let any man undertake to prove thâ—t mens affections are as easily moved by Words they do not understand as by those they do and I will give up this Cause XXV Of the Second Commandment HE is kept in Ignorance as to an Essential part of his Duty towards God never being permitted to know the Commandments but by halves For in the Books deliver'd to him for his Instruction such are Catechisms and Manuals the Second Commandment is wholly left out And he by this means Superstitious Worship and is taught to fall into all sorts of down right Idolatry And then the Commandments he does learn are in such disorder by a confusion of the two first into one and a cutting the last into Two by putting only three in the first Table and seven in the second That no reason can be able to justifie this mangling and chopping in opposition to all Authority and Antiquity HE is instructed in his whole Duty towards God and most especially in the Ten Commandments He is taught to understand them all and every one that there 's an Obligation of observing them under pain of eternal Damnation and that whosoever breaks any one of them loses the Favour of God and as certainly hazards the loss of his Soul as if he broke them all And tho in the short Catechisms and Manuals in which the whole Christian Doctrine is deliver'd in the most compendious and easie method in condescendence to weak Memories and low Capacities the Second Commandment as 't is reckon'd by some be wholly omitted yet it is to be seen at length in other Catechisms and Doctrinal Books to be met with every where in great plenty And if any one should chance not to see any of these yet would he be out of all danger of falling into any Superstitious Worship or Idolatry for that having read his First Commandment Thou shalt have no other Gods before me he is taught that by this he is commanded to Serve Love Adore and Worship one only True Living and Eternal God and no more That 't is forbidden him to Worship any Creature for a God or to give it the Honour due to God and that whosoever Worships any Idols Images Pictures or any graven thing whatsoever the Object be whether in Heaven above in the Earth beneath or in the Waters under the Earth for God breaks the Commandment by committing Idolatry and stands guilty of an inexcusable and most damnâ—ble sin Now having been taught that this is the intent of the first Precept of the Decalogue he thinks there can be but little danger of his becoming Superstitious in his Worship or an Idolator for want of the Second there being nothing in this but what he is fully and expresly inctructed in by having learn'd the First it being rather an Explication of this than any New and distinct Precept And for this reason he finds them in his Books put together as One or rather as the first Commandment with its explication by which means it comes about that there are only Three in the first Table teaching him his Duty towards God and seven in the latter concerning his Duty to his Neighbour which is the Division assign'd by St. Augustine And tho St. Hierom observes not this method but divides them into Four and Six yet there
Mother-Tongue of Instruction and Devotion wherein is explâ—cated the whole Duty of a Christian every Mystery of their Faith and all the Offices and Ceremonies perform'd in the Church that they must be very negligent or else very meanly parted who do not arrive to a sufficient knowledge of theâ—r Obligation in every respect And whosoever has seen the great pains and care some good men take abroad in Explicating on Sundays and Holy-days in their Churches and on Week-days in the Streets the Christian Doctrine to the crowds of the ignorant and meaner sort of People not omitting to reward such as answer well with some small gifts to encourage Youth and provoke them to a commendable Emulation will never say that the Papists keep the poor people in Ignorance and hide from them their Religion but rather that they use all means for instructing the Ignorant and omit nothing that can any ways conduce to the breeding up of Youth in the knowledge of their Faith and letting them see into the Religion they are to profess Neither does it seem to him even so much as probable that if the Church-Offices and Service c. were perform'd in the vulgar-tongue that upon this the now-ignorant and blinded People would immediately discover so many idle Superstitions sensless Devotions and gross Errors that they would in great numbers upon the sight become deserters of that Communion in which now they are profess'd Members For since there is nothing done but in a Language which the Learned Judicious and Leading Men of all Nations do every where understand and yet these espy no such Ridiculosities which fright them from their Faith but notwithstanding the seeing all thro' and thro' they yet admire all for solid holy and Apostolical and remain stedfast in their Profession how can it be imagin'd that the vulgar weak and unlearned sort did they but understand all as well as they would espy any such Errors and Superstitions which these others with all their Learning and Judgment cannot discover No he thinks there 's no reason to fear that what passes the Test among the Wise and Learned can be groundedly call'd in question by the Multitude XXXIV Of breeding up People in Ignorance THE Misrepresenter charges them with this on these accounts 1. By keeping their Mysteries of Iniquity from them 2. By performing Divine Service in an unknown Tongue 3. By an implicite Faith To which the Representer answers 1. That they give encouragement to Learning and he instances in their Universities and Conventual Libraries But what is all this to the common People But their Indices Expurgatorii and prohibiting Books so severely which are not for their turn as we have lately seen in the new one of Paris argues no great confidence of their Cause nor any hearty love to Learning And if it could be rooted out of the World their Church would fare the better in it but if it cannot they must have some to be able to deal with others in it 2. As to the common People he saith They have Books enough to instruct them Is it so in Spain or Italy But where they live among Heretâ—cks as we are called the People must be a little better instructed to defend themselves and to gain upon others 3. If the People did know their Church Offices and Service c. they would not find such faults since the Learned approve them Let them then try the Experiment and put the Bible and their Church-Offices every where into the Vulgar Tongues But their severe Prohibitions shew how much they are of another Opinion What made all that Rage in France against Voisins Translation of the Missal Such Proceedings of the Assembly of the Clergy against it such Complaints both to the King and the Pope against it as tho all were lost if that were suffered Such an Edict from the King such a Prohibitâ—on from the Pope in such a tragical Stile about it Such a Collection of Authors to be printed on purpose against it Do thâ—se things shew even in a Nation of so free a temper in Comparison as the French any mighty Inclination towards the encouraging this Knowledg in the People And since that what stirs have there been about the Mons Testament What Prohibitions by Bishops besides a Bull from this very Pope against it What vehement Opposition by others So that many Volumes have already been written on the occasion of that Translation And yet our Author would perswade us That if we look abroad we shall find wonderful care taken to keep the People from Ignorance but we can discern much greater to keep them in it XXXV Of the Uncharitableness of the Papists HIs Church teaches him to be very uncharitable it being her constant Doctrine that none out of her Communion can be saved So that let a man be never so honest in his Dealing never so just to his Neighbour never so charitable to the Poor and constant in his Devotion to his Maker yet all this shall avail him nothing if he be not a Member of his Church 'T is not enough for him to believe in Iesus Christ to confess him his Redeemer to believe that he died for our Sins that he rose again and ascended into Heaven unless he believes and assents to every Article and Tenet declar'd by any of his General Councils for that obstinately to deny any one of these does as certainly place him at the Left Hand of the Judge as if he perversly stood out against the truth of Christianity and denied Jesus Christ to be God And by this means as many as by his Church are mark'd out for Schismaticks or Hereticks are to expect nothing but Damnation or rather are condemned already HIs Church teaches him no uncharitableness at all and the Doctrine she delivers concerning the desperate Estate of Hereticks and Schismaticks is nothing but what she has learnt from the mouth of Christ and his Apostles Among the last advices recommended by our Saviour at his Ascension is found the Sentence of Doom pronounced against all such as would not receive the Doctrine preach'd by the Apostles Preach the Gospel says Christ Mark 16.16 to every Creature he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned And this is all his Church delivers in this point repeating the same Sentence of condemnation against all such as will not receive and believe the Doctrine left by Christ and preached by his Apostles And if among those that believe not she comprehends not only Infidels and Heathens but also all Hereticks and Schismaticks 't is nothing but what she has receiv'd from the Apostles who did not only shake the dust off their Feets in witness against those who denied them entrance and refused to believe in Jesus but also denounc'd such of the Brethren to stand guilty of damnation who notwithstanding their belief in Jesus that he died for the Redâ—mption of Man and that rising again he Ascended into
were obâ—ig'd to receive his Prescriptions but with a prompt submission accepted his Orders not doubting but since it was God's Will to place Rulers and Governours over them it must be God's Will that they should be obedient to them in following their Decrees and observing their Constitutions And with this Doctrine of Obedience Humility and Submission all the Primitive Christians were train'd up by the Apostles who zealously laboured by this means to preserve them in Peace and Unity that so they might think all the same thing and be of one mind and one judgment and without Divisions insomuch that there is not any one thing so often repeated in their Writings as Exhortations to this Obedience and Submission See how going through the Cities they deliver'd to them the Faithful the decrees for to keep that were ordain'd by the Apostles and Elders which were at Ierusalem Acts â—6 4. See how St. Paul commands the Thessalonians to hold fast the Traditions they had been taught by word or by Epistle 2 Thess. 2.15 See how he commands the Hebrews Obey them that have the rule over you Remember them which have the Rule over you Heb. 13.7.17 See with what earnestness St. Iohn urges this He that knoweth God heareth us he that is not of God heareth us not 1 Joh. 4.6 hereby know we the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error And then again does not St. Paul commend the Corinthians for their Obedience Now I praise you Brethren that you remember me in all things and keep the Ordinances as I deliver'd them to you 1 Cor. 11.2 And then having given them directions as to their Behaviour in their Assemblies he adds But if any man seem to be contentious We have no such custom neither the Churches of God 1 Cor. 11.16 And now it being thus evident that the Church of Christ in the Apostles time was founded and preserv'd by a Submission and Obedience of the Flock to their Pastors the Papists teach and believe that what was taught and commanded by the Apostles to the Faithful then living ought to be receiv'd as a Doctrine necessary for all succeeding Ages and that Submission and Obedience ought to have been as much the Duty of Believers ever since as it was then the Commands and Practice of that time being undoubtedly the best and only Pattern for the Faithful for all times even to the end of the World And they do not only teach this Doctrine of Submission in their Books and Sermons but also observe it in their Lives having in all Ages depended on their Elders and Prelates in all matters touching the Discipline and Government of the Church leaving Rule to those whose Charge and Office it is to Rule and never believing that they who are under Charge and Command expresly by St. Paul to Remember and Obey those who have the Rule over them can upon any pretence whatsoever nay thô an Angel from Heaven should come and Preach otherwise be discharg'd from this Christian Obligation and be exempted from Remembring and Obeying whom thus by God speaking by his Apostle they are Commanded to Remember and Obey And upon this ground it is that in things concerning the Order to be observ'd in the Divine Service in all Ceremonies Holy Rites Ecclesiastical Constitutions and Ordinances they have neither Nill nor Will of their own but always receive and think that the best which is Order'd and Appointed by those to whom by Divine Law they owe this Submission and Obedience and to whom the Ordering and Appointing these things appertains And therefore if these appoint a Day of Humiliation for imploring God's Mercy or averting his Judgments they never scruple to observe it if a day of Thanksgiving in memory of some signal Benefit they likewise Obey If these judge it fit that on every Friday should be commemorated the Death and Passion of our Redeemer in Fasting and command Lent to be observ'd in remembrance and imitation of our Lord 's 40 days Fast in the Desart they think it their obligation to do so If these order such and such days to be set apart and kept holy in Remembrance and Thanksgiving for the Incarnation Nativity Circumcision Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and for other such like Intentions they esteem it sinful to oppose it If these judge it decent that the Faithful shou'd bow at the Name of Iesus stand at the reading of the Gospel prostrate or incline themselves at the Confession If they appoint Tapers and Lamps to be used in Churches to represent our Saviour who came to enlighten the World and Incense to be used to mind the People that their Hearts and Prayers should lâ—ke the Smoak ascend dâ—rectly toward Heaven If in the Administration of the Sacraments in Exorcisms in the Offices and the Celebration of the Mass these determine several Rites and Ceremonies to be observ'd for more Decency greater Solemnity and that by such exteriour helps the minds of the Faithful may be moved to the contemplation of the Sacred Mysteries and rais'd more sensibly to the Apprehension of the Majesty of God in whose Honour all is peâ—form'd they look upon themselves bound to allow and embrace all these things without Reluctance or Opposition always thinking that to be most proper which is instituted by such who have the Rule over them And if any endeavour to raise Disputes and be contentious concerning the Necessity of these Institutions they have no such Custom neither the Churches of God One thing they know to be necessary that is that they should be Obedient and that in the Service of God they must not honour him as the Iews did Isa. 58.13 by doing their own ways finding their own Pleasure and speaking their own words but as Christians are commanded in a true Self-denial a sincere Humility and Obedience submitting to those whom God has left to rule and govern the Flock Neither is there any danger of falling back into the Iewish Law by approving the allow'd Ceremonies of the Church it being certain that in the Abrogation of the Old Law all Ceremonies were not at the same time extinct but only such as were mere Types and Figures of things to come in the New Law which are now fulfill'd Whilst others fit for the raising Devotion and expressing the affections of the Soul and other such ends are still commendably retain'd as lawful and equally necessary now as heretofore such are Kneeling Fasting lifting Hands and Eyes to Heaven Sighing knocking the Breast days of Humiliation Thanksgiving Watching Hair-cloth Singing Impositions of Hands Benedictions using Oyl Spittle Breathing c. all which â—re as lawful convenient and necessâ—ry for Christians as they were for Iews and no more to be neglected because they were us'd in the Old Law than praying meeting Reading the Law Singing Psalms Humility and Obedience c. are to be laid by and disown'd by Christians because they were observed by the Iews especially since these with many others have been
from the Papist as to what he is in himself The One is so absurd and monstrous that 't is impossible for any one to be of that Profession without first laying by all thoughts of Christianity and his Reason The Other is just contradictory to this and without any farther Apology may be expos'd to the perusal of all prudent and unpassionate Considerers to examine if there be any thing in it that deserves the hatred of any Christian and if it be not in every Point wholly conform to the Doctrine of Christ and not in the least contrary to Reason The Former is a Papist as he is generally apprehended by those who have a Protestant Education such as whensoever reflected on is conceiv'd to be a perverse malicious sort of Creature Superstitious Idolatrous Atheistical Cruel Bloody-minded Barbarous Treacherous and so Prophane and every way Inhumane that 't is in some manner doubted whether he be Man or no. The Other is a Papist whose Faith is according to the Proposal of the Catholick Church which by Christ's Command he is oblig'd to believe and hear and whose whole design in this World is for obtaining Salvation in the next And is it not strange that these two Characters so directly opposite so wholly unlike one the other that Heaven and Hell is not more should agree to the same person 'T is certainly a strange piece of Injustice and yet not at all strange to those who know that they that follow Christ shall be hated by the World that those who study the Wisdom of Heaven shall have the repute of Fools and that as many as attend the Lamb shall be painted in the Livery of Satan Our Fore-fathers were so before us all the Primitive Christians the Apostles and even the Lamb himself our Redeemer Calumny ever follow'd them Mis representation waited upon them and what wonder that Infamy was their constant Attendance And now if the Orthodox Christians have thus in all Ages had their double Character one of Justice exactly drawn from what they really believ'd and practis'd the other of Malice copied from them as Mis-represented 't is not at all strange to find it so now in our days when Calumny Malice Ignorance c. are as powerful as ever who though from the beginning of the World that is above five thousand Years they have made it their chief business to Paint Copy and Represent Things and Persons yet they never did it with so much injury so altogether unlikely as they do now to the Papists there being scarce any one Point of their Faith and Profession which they do not blindly mistake or basely disguise The Papists believe 't is convenient to pray before Holy Images and give them an inferiour or relative Respect These describe the Papists Praying to Images and Worshipping them as Idols The Papists believe 't is good to desire the Prayers of the Saints and Honour them as the Friends of God These paint out the Papists as believing Saints to be their Redeemers and Adoring them as Gods The Papists believe that Christ left a Power in the Priests of his Church to absolve all truly Penitent Sinners from their Offences These Representing the Papists as believing That the Priests can infallibly forgive all such as come to Confession whether they Repent or no. The Papists believe there 's Power in the Supreme Pastor upon due Motives of granting Indulgences that is of releasing to the Faithful such Temporal Penalties as remain due to their past Sins already remitted as to their guilt on condition they perform such Christian Duties as shall be assign'd them i. e. humble themselves by Fasting confess their Sins with a hearty Repentance receive worthily and give Alms to the Poor c. These make the Papists believe That the Pope for a sum of Money can give them leave to commit what Sins they shall think â—it with a certain Pardon for all Crimes already incurr'd and that there can be no danger of Damnation to any that can but make a large Present to Rome at his death The Papists believe That by the Merits of Christ the good Works of a just Man are acceptable to God and through his Goodness and Promise meritorious of eternal Happiness These report That the Papists believe they can merit Heaven by their own Works without any dependance on the work of our Redemption The Pâ—pâ—sts worshâ—p Christ really present in the Sacrament true God and Man These say they fall down to and worship a piece of Bread Some Papists maintain the Deposing Power These will have it to be an Article of their Faith and that they are oblig'd to 't by their Religion Some Papists have been Traytors Rebels Conspirators c. These make these Villanies to be Meritorious among the Papists and that 't is the Doctrine of their Church And thus there is scarce any one thing belonging to their Faith and Exercise of their Religion which is not wrong'd in the describing it and injuriously Mis-represented And if any be so curious as to desire to be satisfied how this comes about let him but stand by any of the Undertakers while they are taking the Copy of Popery and observe their Method and he may soon come to the bottom of the Mystery He may see them seriously viewing some of her Tenets and upon a short Consideration immediately to fall to the making Inferences and deducing Consequences then down go these for so many Articles of Popery They go on and see other of her Tenets and these containing Mysteries such as Reason cannot reach to when Faith is not an Assistant they are presently follow'd with variety of Absurdities and seeming Contradictions And down go these to the former for so many Articles of Popery They pâ—ssâ—on to others and these being not conform to the Principles of their Education several Misconstructions are presently rais'd upon them and down go these for so many Articles of Popery They look forward and seeing others in the practice of which many Abuses have been committed then down go the Abuses for so many Articles of Popâ—ry Heâ—ce they turn to the Court of Rome and as many Dâ—sorders and Extravagances as they find there so many Articles of Popery They enquire into the Actions and Lives of her Pastors and Prelates and as many Vices as many wicked Designs they discover there so many Articles of Popery They examine the Behaviour of her Professors and whatsoever Villanies whatsoever Treasons and Inhumanities they find committed by any that own themselves Members of that Communion down they all go for so many Articles of Popery They hear the Reports of such as have deserted her Authority and tho through thâ—â—r Extravagancies and rashness they deserve not credit even in a trifle yet their whole Narrative shall be accepted and all their idle Storâ—es be summ'd up for so many Arâ—icles of Popery They peruse every scurrilous Pamphlet and abusive Libel and such ridiculous Fâ—bles as are only sit for a Chimney-corner
of the Bible before any other and not allowing any Translations into a Mother-Tongue to be ordinarily read 14. In believing that the Scripture alone can be no Rule of Faith to any private or particular Person 15. In relying upon the Authority of the present Church for the sense of Scripture 16. In receiving and believing the Churches Traditions as the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles and assenting to them with Divine Faith just as he doth to the Bâ—ble 17. In believing that the present Guides of the Church being assembled in Councils for preserving the Unity of the Church have an Infallible Assistance in their Decrees 18. In believing the Pope to be the Supreme Head of the Church under Christ being Successor to S. Peter to whom he committed the care of his Flock 19. In believing that Communion in both Kinds is an indifferent thing and was so held for the first four hundred years after Christ and that the first Precept for Receiving under both Kinds was given to the Faithful by Pope Leo I. and confirmed by Pope Gelasius 20. In believing that the Doctrine of Purgatory is founded on Scripture Authority and Reason 21. In believing that to the saying of Prayers well and devoutly it is not necessary to have attention on the Words or on the Sense of Prayers 22. In believing that none out of the Communion of the Church of Rome can be saved and that it is no Uncharitableness to think so 23. In believing that the Church of Rome in all the new Articles defined at Trent hath made no Innovation in mat ters of Faith Our Reasons against it in the several Particulars 1. THou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image or any likeness of any thing in Heaven or Earth c. Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them Which being the plain clear and express Words of the Divine Law we dare not worship any Images or Representations lest we be found Transgressors of this Law Especially since God herein hath declared himself a Iealous God and annexed so severe a Sanction to it And since he that made the Law is only to interpret it all the Dictinctions in the World can never satisfy a Mans Conscience unless it appear that God himself did either make or approve them And if God allow the Worship of the thing Represented by the Representation he would never have forbidden that Worship absolutely which is unlawful only in a certain respect 2. We have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous 1 John 2.1 And one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Iesus 1 Tim. 2.5 For Christ is entered into Heaven it self now to appear in the Presence of God for us Heb. 9 24. And therefore we dare not make other Intercessors in Heaven besides him and the distance between Heaven and us breaks off all Communication between the Saints there and us upon Earth so that all Addresses to them now for their Prayers are in a way very different from desiring others on Earth to pray for us and if such Addresses are made in the solemn Offices of Divine Worship they joyn the Creatures with the Creator in the Acts and Signs of Worship which are due to God alone 3. Call upon me in the day of Trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psâ—l 50.15 When we pray to Our Father in Heaven as our Saviour commanded us we do bâ—t what both Natural and Christian Religion require us to do But when men pray to the Blessed Virgin for Help and Protection now and at the hour of Death they attribute that to her which belongs only to God who is our Helper and Defender And altho Christ knew the Dignity of his Mother above all others he never gives the least Encouragement to make such Addressâ—s to her And to suppose her to have a share now in the Kingdom of Christ in Heaven as a Copartner with him is to advance a Creature to Divine Honour and to overthrow the true Ground of Christs Exaltation to his Kingdom in Heaven which was His suffering on the Cross for us 4. And no man knoweth of the Sepulchre of Moses unto this day Deut. 34.6 Why should God hide the Body of Moses from the People if hâ— allowed giving religious Honour and Respect to Relicks Why should Hezekiah break in pieces the Brazen Serpent because the Children of Israel did burn Incense to it 2 Kings 18.4 especially when it was a Type or Representation of Christ himself and God had wrought many Miracles by it 5. Whom the Heaven must receive until the times of the Restitution of all things Acts 3.21 And therefore in the Eucharist we adore him as sitting on the right hand of God but we dare not direct our Adoration to the Consecrated Host which we believe to be the Substance of Bread and Wine tho consecrated to a Divine Mystery and therefore not a fit Object for our Adoration 6. The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ 1 Cor. 10.16 This is spoken of the Bread after Consecration and yet the Apostle supposes it to be Bread still and the Communion of his Body is interpreted by the next Words For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all Partakers of that one Bread v. 17. Which is very different from the Bread being changed into the very Body of Christ which is an Opinion that hath no Foundation in Scripture and is repugnant to the common Principles of Reason which God hath given us and exposes Christian Religion to the Reproach and Contempt of Iews Turks and Infidels 7. When you shall have done all those things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable Servants we have done that which was our Duty to do St. Luke 17.10 And therefore in no sense can our best Works be truly meritorious of Eternal Life Which consisting in the enjoyment of God it is impossible there should be any just Proportion or due Commensuration between our best Actions and such a Reward 8. And the Son said to him Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight S. Luke 15.21 Where Confession to God is required because the Offence is against him but it is impossible for any Man upon Earth to forgive those whom God doth not forgive And he alone can appoint the necessâ—ry conditions of Pardon among which true Contrition and Repentance is fully declared but Confession to a Priest thô it may be useful for the ease of the Penitent is no where in Scripture made necessary for the Forgiveness of Sin 9. I said I will confess my Transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin Psal. 32.5 If God doth fully forgive the Guilt of sin there remains no Obligation to Punishment for where-ever that is the guilt remains It is true God may not sometimes fully pardon but he may reserve some temporal Punishment here for his own
published Anathema's with Authority he ought to have printed those of the Council of Trent viz. such as these Cursed is he that doth not allow the Worship of Images Cursed is he that saith Saints are not to be Invocated Cursed is he that doth not believe Transubstantiation Purgatory c. 2. Because he leaves out an Anathema in a very material point viz. As to the Deposing Doctrine We do freely and from our Hearts Anathematize all such Doctrines as tend to dissolve the Bonds of Allegiance to our Sovereign on any pretence whatsoever Why was this past over by him without any kind of Anathema Since he seems to approve the Oxford Censures Why did he not here shew his zeal against all such dangerous Doctrines If the Deposing Doctrine be falsly charged upon their Church let us but once see it Anathematized by publick Authority of their Church and we have done But instead thereof we find in a Book very lately published with great Approbations by a present Professor at Lovain Fr. D'Enghien all the Censures on the other side censured and despised and the holding the Negative as to the Deposing Doctrine is declared by him to be Heresie or next to Heresie The Censure of the Sorban against Sanctarellus he saith was only done by a Faction and that of Sixty Eight Doctors there were but Eighteen present and the late Censure of the Sorban he saith was condemned by the Inquisition at Toledo Jâ—n 10. 1683. as erroneous and schismatical and so by the Clergy of Hungary Oct. 24. 1682. We do not question but there are Divines that oppose it but we fear there are too many who do not and we find they boast of their own numbers and despise the rest as an inconsiderable Party This we do not Misrepresent them in for their most approved Books do shew it However we do not question but there are several Worthy and Loyal Gentlemen of that Religion of different Principles and Practices and it is pity such be not distinguished from those who will not renounce a Doctrine so dangerous in the Consequences of it 3. Because the Anathema's he hath set down are not Penned so plainly and clearly as to give any real Satisfaction but with so much Art and Sophistry as if they were intended to beguile weak and unwary Readers who see not into the depth of these things and therefore may think he hath done great matters in his Anathema's when if they be strictly examined they come to little or nothing as 1. Cursed is he that commits Idolatry An unwary Reader would think herein he disowned all that he accuses of Idolatry but he doth not curse any thing as Idolatry but what himself thinks to be so So again Cursed is he not that gives Divine Worship to Images but that prays to Images or Relicks as Gods or Worships them for Gods So that if he doth not take the Images themselves for Gods he is safe enough from his own Anathema 2. Cursed is every Goddess worshiper i. e. That believes the Blessed Virgin not to be a Creature And so they escape all the force of this Anathema Cursed is he that Honours her or puts his Trust in her more than in God So that if they Hâ—nour her and trust in her but just as much as in God they are safe enough Or that believes her to be above her Son But no Anathema to such as suppose her to be equal to him 3. Cursed is he that believes the Saints in Heaven to be his Redeemers that prays to them as such What if men pray to them as their Spiritual Guardians and Protectors Is not this giving God's Honour to them Doth this deserve no Anathema 4. Cursed is he that worships any Breaden God or makes Gods of the empty Elements of Bread and Wine viz. That supposes them to be nothing but Bread and Wine and yet supposes them to be Gods too Doth not this look like non-sense And yet I am afraid our Author would think it a severe Anathema in this matter to say Cursed is he who believes Nonsense and Contradictions It will be needless to set down more since I have endeavoured by clear stating the several Controversies to prevent the Readers being imposed upon by deceitful Anathema's And yet after all he saith Cursed are we if in answering and saying Amen to any of these Curses we use any Equivocations or Mental Reservations or do not assent to them in the common and obvious use of the Words But there may be no Equivocation in the very Words and yet there may be a great one in the intention and design of them There may be none in saying Amen to the Curses so worded but if he would have prevented all suspicion of Equivocation he ought to have put it thus Cursed are we if we have not fairly and ingenuously expressed the whole meaning of our Church as to the Points condemned in these Anathema's or if we have by them designed to deceive the People And then I doubt he would not so readily have said Amen The CONTENTS  Papist Protestant  Page Page THE Introduction and Answer 1 10 Of Praying to Images 19 20 Of Worshipping Saints 28 29 Of Addressing more Supplications to the Virgin Mary than to Christ. 36 37 Of Paying Divine Worship to Relicks 42 43 Of the Eucharist 46 47 Of Merits and Good Works 57 57 Of Confession 61 62 Of Indulgences 65 66 Of Satisfaction 68 69 Of Reading the Holy Scriptures 70 71 Of Apochryphal Books 74 75 Of the Vulgar Edition of the Bible 77 79 Of the Scripture as a Rule of Faith 80 81 Of the Interpretation of Scripture 82 83 Of Tradition 85 86 Of Councils 87 89 Of Infallibility in the Church 90 93 Of the Pope 95 97 Of Dispensations 100 102 Of the Deposing Power 105 107 Of Communion in one Kind 111 113 Of the Mass. 116 118 Of Purgatory 119 122 Of Praying in an unknown Tongue 127 129 Of the Second Commandment 132 133 Of Mental Reservations 134 136 Of a Death-Bed Repentance 137 138 Of Fasting 139 140 Of Divisions and Schisms in the Church 142 143 Of Fryars and Nuns 145 147 Of Wicked Principles and Practices 148 151 Of Miracles 153 154 Of Holy-Water 156 158 Of Breeding up People in Ignorance 159 161 Of the Vncharitableness of the Papists 162 166 Of Ceremonies and Ordinances 168 173 Of Innovations in Matters of Faith 173 180 The Conclusion and Answer to it 182 188 FINIS Apog c. 2. Sp. Anno 286. Par. 5. (a) Spond An. 362. (b) Id. Anno 66. (c) Apo. c. 40. (d) Apo. c. 3. (e) P. 1. pag. 936. Bulla Pii 4 â—i super Confirmat Concil Tridentini The venoâ— Voyâ—ge 〈◊〉 Inâ—es p. 188. Bernier Memoirs Tom. 3. p. 172. Suarez iâ— 3. perâ— Qu. 2â— Disp. 53. §. 3.2 â—◠〈◊〉 â—5 § 5. Bellarmine de Imag. l. 2. c. 2. â— Conâ—il Trident Sess. 25. Moyâ—nâ— Surs 〈…〉 Coâ—version de toâ—s les Hereâ—iquâ—s To. 2. p.
and another knowing me unable to pay it gives me so much to pay the Debt this is no more than what may be called strict Payment as to the Creditor but if the Creditor himself gives me this 100 l. to pay himself with will any Man call this strict Payment He may call it so himself if he pleases but that only shews his Kindness and Favour but it doth not look very modestly or gratefully for the Debtor to insist upon it as true legal Payment Just so it is in good Works done by the Power of God's Grace which we could never have done without it and therefore such cannot be truly meritorious 2. What is truly meritorious must not be defective because the Proportion is to be equal between the Act and the Reward due to it which being perfect requires that there be do Defect in the Acts which merit it But this can never be said of Good Works of justified Persons that they have no Defects in them We do not say they are not Good Works but they are not exact and perfect for although the Grace of God as it comes from him be a perfect Gift yet as it acts upon Mens Minds it doth not raise them to such a degree but that they have Imperfections in their best Actions And whatever is defective is faulty whatever is faulty must be forgiven whatever needs forgiveness cannot be truly meritorious But not only their Good Works are defective but if they would merit they ought to have none but Good Works whereas the mixture of others renders the good uncapable of being meritorious because there is so much to be pardoned as takes away all claim of Merit in the good they perform And themselves do not pretend that Men can merit the Grace of Remission but it is very strange that those who cannot deserve to be forgiven should deserve to have an infinite Reward bestowed upon them 3. There must be an exact Proportion between the Act and the Recompence for to merit is to pay a Price for a thing and in such Acts of commutative Justice there must be an Equality of one thing with another But what Equality can there be between the imperfect Good Works of the best Men and the most perfect Happiness of another World especially when that consists in the fruition of the Beatifical Vision For what Proportion can there be between our Acts towards God and God's Acts towards the Blessed in Heaven Let the Acts be of what Person soever or of what Nature soever or from what Principle soever as long as they are the Acts of finite imperfect Creatures it is impossible there should be any Equality or exact Proportion between them and the Eternal Favour of God which is the Reward promised 4. Where Acts are truly meritorious there follows an Obligation of strict Justice to pay the Recompence due to them But what strict Justice can there be between the Creator and his Creatures to recompence the Service they are bound to perform when their very Being Power to act Assistance in acting and Recompence for it are all from his Bounty and Goodness But our Author would avoid all this by saying that though Good Works are truly meritorious yet it is through the Merits of Christ and as they proceed from Grace and through his Goodness and Promise that they are so i. e. they are truly meritorious because it appears from all these things they neither are nor can be meritorious For 1. How come the Merits of Christ to make good Works truly meritorious Are the Merits of Christ imputed to those Good Works Then those Good Works must be as meritorious as Christ's own Works which I suppose he will not assert Or is it that Christ hath merited the Grace whereby we may merit But even this will not make our personal Acts truly meritorious and the Nature of Merit relates to the Acts and not to the Power 2. How comes the Power of Grace to make them truly meritorious when the Power of Grace doth so much increase the Obligation on our side If it be said That the state of Grace puts men into a capacity to merit we might more reasonably infer the contrary that it puts them out of a capacity of meriting because the Remission of Sins and the Favour of God are things for which we can never make him any recompence 3. How comes a Divine Promise to make Acts truly meritorious For God's Promise is an Act of meer kindness which is very different from strict Justice and although by the Promise God binds himself to performance yet how come those Acts to be more meritorious of Heaven than the Acts of Repentance are of Remission of Sins Yet none will now say that there can be any Acts meritorious of that Yet certainly there is a clear promise of Pardon upon Repentance as there is of Heaven upon Good Works And if the Promise in the other case doth not make Repentance meritorious of Pardon how can it make Good Works truly meritorious of Eternal Life But notwithstanding we do not deny God's Fidelity to his Promise may be called Iustice and so God as a Righteous Iudge may give a Crown of Righteousness to all that follow St. Paul's Example without making Good Works to be truly meritorious VII Of Confession HE believes it part of his Religion to make Gods of Men foolishly thinking that these have power to forgive sins And therefore as often as he finds his Conscience oppressed with the guilt of his Offences he calls for one of his Priests who are commonly more wicked than himself and falling at his feet he unfolds to him the whole state of his Soul and having run over a Catalogue of his Sins he asks of him Pardon and Forgiveness And what is most absurd of all he is so sillily stupid as to believe That if his Ghostly Father after he has heard all his Villanies in his Ear does but pronounce three or four Latin words making the sign of a Cross with two fingers and a thumb over his head his sins are forthwith forgiven him although he had never any thoughts of amendment or intention to forsake his wickedness HE believes it damnable in any Religion to make Gods of Men. However he firmly holds that when Christ speaking to his Apostles said Ioh. 20.21 Receive ye the Holy Ghost whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven and whose sins you shall retain they are retained He gave to them and their Successors the Bishops and Priests of the Catholick Church Authority to absolve any truly penitent sinner from his sins And God having thus given them the Ministry of Reconciliation and made them Christ's Legates 2 Cor. 5.18 19 12. Christ's Ministers and the Dispensers of the Mysteries of Christ and given them power to loose on Earth whatsoever was to be loosed in Heaven Mat. 18.18 he undoubtedly believes that whosoever comes to them making a sincere and humble confession of his sins with a
Heaven did make Divisions amongst the Faithful or Preached any new Doctrine contrary to what they had deliver'd St. Paul is very express in this who foretelling Timothy 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3. of some who in latter times would come and Preach a Doctrine Forbidding to Marry and commanding to abstain from Meats which God hath created to be received brands them with the infamous Title of Men that depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils In these words plainly letting him understand that though these Men would not deny Christ yat that their false Doctrine in those two other Points were enough to make them Seducers Deserters of Christ and Leaders to the Devil And does not he as expresly in his 2 d Epistle to Timothy c. 2. v. 16 17 18. condemn Hymeneus and Philetus for prophane and vain bablers increasers of Ungodliness and overthrowers of the Faith who concerning the Truth erred only in one Point saying that the Resurrection is past already By which ' â—is manifest to him that the Doctrine now taught him by his Church is nothing but what she has learnt from St. Paul and the rest of the Apostles it being deliver'd by them that he is a Lyar who denieth that Iesus is the Christ 1 Ioh. 2.22 And that every spirit that confesses not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God ib. c. 4. v. 3. And not only this but likewise A man that is an Heretick after the first and second admonition reject knowing that he that is such is subverted and sinneth being condemned of himself Tit. 3.10 11. With this weighty advice to the Brethren in which they are commanded in the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ to speak all the same thing that there be no divisions among them but thet they be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement 1 Cor. 1.10 For that having strife and divisions among them they will shew themselves to be Carnal and to walk as Men ib. c. 3. v. 3. That therefore there being but one Body and one Spirit one Lord one Faith and one Baptism they should endeavour to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace and not be tossed to and fro like Children and carried about with every Wind of Doctrine by the slight of men and cunning Craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive Ephes c. 4. v 3 4 5 14. Who transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ are false Apostles deceitful Workers 2 Cor. 11.13 But certainly accursed for that troubling the Faithful they would pervert the Gospel of Christ. and preach another Gospel than that which had him preach'd by the Apostles Gal. 1.7.8 And this is the Sum of the Doctrine of his Church which believing that Faiâ—h is necessary to Salvation it being impossible without Faith to please God Heb. 11.6 teaches likewise that the Faithful ought to hold fast the profession of their Faith without wavering for that not only they lose it who deny Iesus Christ to be God as some have done but also all those who endeavor to pervert the Gospel of Christ and in any point of Faith obstinately deny or teach otherwise than was taught by Christ and his Apostles as Hymeneus and Philetus did so that that Christian makes but a very imperfect and lame profession of his Faith who can only say I believe that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh and that he is God and Man the Redeemer of the World unless he can with truth add this likewise I also believe the whole Gospel that he preach'd and every point of Faith that he has taught and deliver'd to us by his Apostles there being the same Obligation to obey his Precepts and hearken to his Words as to acknowledg the Divinity of his Person and it being a sin of the same blackness obstinately to oppose any point of his Doctrine as to deny the truth of his Persâ—n 'T is not therefore any uncharitableness in his Church to declare plainly this miserable unhappy state of all such who wilfully oppose and separate from the Doctrine of Christ deliver'd by the Apostles and continued in the Catholick Church and of such who disobey and seperate from the Government of the same Church which Christ has Commanded all to hear and obey But 't is her Zeal so to do and the same solicitude for the salvation of Souls which mov'd the Apostles heretofore to Preach the like Doctrine to their Flock as also the Primitive Christians to expel their Communion and Anathematize all such who by broaching erroneous Tenets contrary to any point of Receiv'd Doctrine or by disobedience did wilfully divide themselves from the Belief or Discipline of the Catholick Church Such as were Marcion Basilides and Bardesanes who were Condemn'd in the First Age for opposing that Article of our Faith in which we believe the Resurrection of the Dead such the Archonticks Condemn'd likewise for denying the necessity of Baptism Such Tatianus c. for Preaching Marriage to be unlawful Such the Millenarians for maintaining a thousand Years Reign of Christ upâ—n Earth with his Saints in sensual pleasures And so in all Ages others were condemn'd upon the like account It having been always a received Custom even in the purest time of the Gospel for the Elders and Prelates to whose charge Christ committed the care of his Flock to oppose all those that by new Doctrine or by making Schisms and Divisious did disturb its peace and not to permit any that by such like means dâ—d endeavour to destroy his Unity so much desired and recommended by the Apostles So that they were equally declar'd Enemies of Christianity who denyed Christ and they who confessing Christ did yet contradict and reject any part of his Doctrine And this upon the Principle that Christian Faith ought to be entire For that every Article Mystery and Point of it being deliver'd by the same hands and recommended by the same Authority whosoever did oppose any one Point of it was immediately judg'd guilty of all in discrediting the Authority on which the whole stood equally grounded And this is that great Truth proclaimed above thirteen hundred years ago and now every where read in St. Athanasius's Creed Whosoever will be saved before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholick Faith Which Faith except every one do keep Whole and undefiled without doubt he shall perish everlastingly By which words was made known to the Christian World the Sense and Doctrine of the then pure and unspotted Church as receiv'd from Christ and his Apostles That it is vain for any one to hope for Salvation unless he first believe the Catholick Faith and that whosoever does not believe it Whole and undefiled shall certainly perish everlastingly Which is a Doctrine like that deliver'd by the Apostle conceâ—ning the observance of the Laws of God that as whosoever fails in one is made guilty of all so also