The Contrariety of POPERY TO THE Blessed Word of GOD Wherein may be seen that the DOCTRINE and PRACTICE OF THE Church of Rome Are not consistent with the SACRED ORACLES OF THE Old and New Testament Very fit now to be seriously minded by all Good PROTESTANTS when we have such Warnings of the Approach of Popery Written by DIGBY BULL M. A. and late Rector of Sheldon in Warwick-shire LONDON Printed for the Author and are to be Sold by J. Whitlock near Stationers-Hall 1695. I. The Fundamental Doctrine of the Romish Church That the blessed Apostle St. Peter was the Head and Governour of all the Apostles and of all the Church is not consistent with the sacred Scriptures but is flat contrary to them THIS grand Position of the Church of Rome whereupon all their pretended Power and Authority is built is altogether groundless and false and not consistent with the blessed Word of God as we may see by a multitude of places First We may see That the places of Scripture which are urged upon this account have no force at all to prove that St. Peter was the Universal Head and Governour of the Apostles and of the Church Great Matters are spoken of St. Peter but nothing at all that will prove this Matt. 16.18 Saith our blessed Lord to him Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it But this doth not prove that St. Peter was to be the sole Foundation of the Church and it is clear by other places of Scripture that this is not the meaning of this place For in this Similitude wherein the Church is compared to a Building Jesus Christ our blessed Lord is the sole and only Foundation and none can pretend to be a Foundation in such a high manner as he is so And this the Apostle St. Paul hath plainly taught us 1 Cor. 3.11 For other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Here when some were pretending to be of Paul and some of Apollos the Apostle doth positively affirm That Christ Jesus is the Foundation upon which the Christian Church was to be built and neither Paul nor Apollos nor Cephas or Peter are to stand in competition with him in this respect And when the Foundation is attributed to the Apostles they are mentioned together and Christ is called the chief Corner-stone Ephes 2.20 saith St. Paul And are built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone And in St. John's holy Jerusalem the Apostles are all equally concerned Rev. 21.14 And the Wall of the City had twelve Foundations saith he and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. The Apostles we see are all concerned in the Foundation of the Christian Church and it was to be built upon them all as Ministers in this Spiritual Building and in respect of the Doctrine and Foundation of Christ which they laid and St. Peter alone is not the Foundation of the Christian Church And not only St. Peter but others also are mentioned as Pillars of the Church Gal. 2.9 saith St. Paul And when James Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars perceived the grace that was given unto me James and John here are accounted as Pillars of the Church as well as Cephas that is Peter It is plain we see that St. Peter was not appointed to be the sole Foundation of the Christian Church and that nothing can be fairly urged from these words of our Saviour to him to prove him to be the Universal Head of the Church Again our blessed Saviour promiseth to St. Peter the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and power of binding and loosing Mat. 16.19 And I will give unto thee saith he to Peter the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Here we see that very great Power indeed is promised to St. Peter but yet this doth not at all prove him to be the Universal Head over all the Church For this seems not to be an actual Grant of this Power but only a Promise and the actual conferring of this Power doth clear this matter That it was not granted to St. Peter alone but to all the Apostles This may be clearly seen by these places Matt. 18.18 Verily I say unto you saith our Lord whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Here the Power of Binding and Loosing the same Power that St. Peter was to have is as firmly ratified and confirmed to all the Apostles as it is to St. Peter and he could pretend to no Power above his fellow Apostles And after our Saviour's Resurrection immediately before his ascension to Heaven when he most solemnly invested the Apostles with this Power he equally gave it to them all Joh. 20.21 23. Then said Jesus to them again Peace be unto you As my Father hath sent me even so send I you And when he had said this he breathed on them and said unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost Whose soever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whose soever sins ye retain they are retained Here we see this Power is actually and solemnly settled upon them all And the Commission is large bearing a correspondence with that which God the Father gave him As my Father hath sent me even so send I you in the plural number And the Commission is Universal Whos 's soever sins ye remit This great Power then we see plainly is actually settled upon them all and none hath a greater share of it than his Fellows And when St. Peter said unto our blessed Saviour in behalf of himself and his Fellows Matt. 19 27 28. Behold we have forsaken all and followed thee what shall we have therefore Our Saviour returned this answer And Jesus said unto them Verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his Glory ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel And saith he Luke 22.29 30 And I appoint unto you a Kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me That ye may eat and drink at my Table in my Kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel Here we see that it is equally granted to them all to sit upon Thrones and to judge the twelve Tribes of Israel And these places are understood to respect the Power that they were to have to govern Christ's Church here upon Earth after his departure to Heaven It is clear then that our blessed Saviour gave and left St. Peter no more Power and Authority than he did the rest of the holy Apostles Again the Care of Christ's Flock is
body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. Here we are plainly taught that it is still bread when it is eaten And our Saviour calls the wine the fruit of the vine Matt. 26.29 But I say unto you I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom Our Lord here shews us that this was the fruit of the vine and wine when he drank it And our eyes and hands and mouth do testify to us that the bread and wine in the Sacrament are bread and wine when we eat and drink them and it would be nonsense and madness to think that our blessed Saviour eat his own body and drank his own blood and gave them also to his Disciples that they might eat and drink them too We are taught that there is but one Christ and that he cannot be divided Ephes 4.5 6. One Lord saith the Apostle one faith one baptism one God and Father of all And 1 Cor. 1.13 saith he Is Christ divided Hereby shewing that he cannot be divided And Christ is the only begotten Son of God and is but one Joh. 3.16 But according to the Doctrine of the Romish Church that will have Christ to be wholely in every bit of the consecrated bread there will be millions of Christs directly contrary to the sacred Scriptures We are also taught that Christ is in heaven at the right hand of God and that he is to abide there till he shall come to judge the World at the last day Acts 1.11 This same Jesus said the Angels which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven And till we see him come in this visible and glorious manner we are to know that he is not bodily present here upon earth And saith the Apostle Act. 3.20 And he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you whom the Heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things And he tells us that he is at the right hand of God Rom. 8.34 And there we are to know that he is to abide until these times of restitution when and not before God will send him again to judge the World And therefore it is plain that Christ cannot be bodily present in such a multitude of places here upon earth at one time as the Papists would have him to be contrary to these places of Scripture and contrary to all the reason and understanding of man We are taught that Christ's body is glorified and spiritualized and made incorruptible Phil. 3.20 For our conversation saith the Apostle is in heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body And saith he again 1 Cor. 15.42 So also is the resurrection of the dead It is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body Our bodies are to be made glorious bodies like Christ's body and our bodies are to be made spiritual and incorruptible bodies which shews that Christ's body is such And he is to return no more to corruption as the Apostle saith Acts 13.34 And how then can the glorified and spiritual and incorruptible body of Christ be eaten by men and return to corruption again This Doctrine of the Church of Rome we see is flat contrary to the sacred Scriptures and to all the sense and reason and understanding of man And as for those Words of our Saviour Matt. 26.26 This is my body We may see that this is a very common and ordinary way of speaking to call things by the names of those that they signify and represent The Paschal Lamb is called the Lord's Passover Exod. 12.11 And ye shall eat it in haste it is the Lord 's Passover This was to signify and to be a Sacrament of the Lord 's passing over the houses of the Israelites when he saw the blood of this Lamb upon the Door-posts and not suffering the destroying Angel to enter into them but the Lamb was still flesh as is said ver 8 and could not be the Lord 's passing over the houses of the Israelites but only as a Sacrament and Rite to signify this Action of passing over them and shewing them Mercy when the Egyptians were destroyed Pharaoh's kine are said to be years of time Gen. 41.26 The seven good kine are seven years And the seven thin and ill-favoured kine that came up after them are seven years But these kine could not be years of time any otherwise than that they signified so many years of plenty and so many years of scarcity that were to come The bones which Ezekiel saw are said to be the whole House of Israel Ezek. 37.11 Then he said unto me Son of man these bones are the whole House of Israel behold they say our bones are dryed But here we see that no more is meant hereby but that this vision of bones was to represent and signify the House of Israel By these and many more Instances we may see that this is a common way of speaking And hereby it is plain that by these words This is my body we are to understand that this bread was to be a Sacrament and Signification of his Body For we see and are taught by the sacred Scriptures that it is bread still as I have shewed Again our Saviour saith that he is a door John 10.7 And men may as well argue for a Transubstantiation here as upon those other words of his But how ridiculous would a man make himself that should from hence affirm That Christ after he spake these words was turned into a perfect door and that his body was no more flesh and bones but changed into as real a door as ever moved upon hinges Our Saviour saith that he is a vine Joh. 15.1 And men may as well argue for a Transubstantiation from hence as from the other place and say that Christ after these words was no more a man but was then changed into as real a vine as ever grew in the ground and bore grapes But to talk after such a vain and whimsical manner as this is more fit for mad and distracted persons than for such as pretend to Sobriety and Understanding VIII Their worshipping of the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is contrary to the Word of God and gross Idolatry We see that the Bread and Wine are bread and wine still after Consecration tho' they be consecrated and set apart to a sacred use And our Saviour and his Apostles have given us no Command nor Example to worship them And this is to make them Idols and is contrary to a multitude of places in the sacred Scriptures This is flat contrary
recommended to St. Peter Joh. 21 15-17 Jesus saith to Simon Peter Simon Son of Jonas lovest thou me more than these He saith unto him ye Lord thou knowest that I love thee He saith unto him Feed my Lambs He saith to him again the second time Simon Son of Jonas lovest thou me He saith yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee He saith unto him Feed my Sheep And so a third time But this doth not prove that St. Peter had any Power and Authority granted him over the rest of the Apostles by our blessed Saviour And we may see that our blessed Saviour hath recommended the Care of his Church to all the Apostles and commanded them all to preach the Gospel and to baptize Matt. 28 18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them saying All Power is given unto me in heaven and in earth Go ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you Here our Saviour tells his Apostles that all Power was given him in Heaven and in Earth and therefore because he had received this full Power he sends them all forth with Power to preach and baptize and grants not this Commission to St. Peter alone And Mar. 16.15 And he said unto them Go ye into all the World and preach the Gospel to every Creature The same Commission we see is granted to them all indifferently without any manner of prelation And accordingly they all went about the execution of it ver 20 And they went forth and preached every where the Lord working with them And St. Paul tells us that the Gospel of the Uncircumcision that is of the Gentiles was committed unto him in like manner as the Gospel of the Circumcision that is of the Jews was committed to St. Peter Gal. 2.7 But contrarywise saith St. Paul when they saw that the Gospel of the Uncircumcision was committed unto me as the Gospel of the Circumcision was unto Peter And saith he in the following verse v. 8 For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of the Circumcision the same was mighty in me towards the Gentiles Thus we see that St. Paul had the same Commission to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles that St. Peter had to preach it to the Jews and that God wrought Wonders by him for the Conversion of the Gentiles as he did by St. Peter for the Conversion of the Jews which farther shews that the sole Care of the Church was not committed to St. Peter alone It is manifest then that by these words Feed my Lambs and feed my Sheep no Superiority and Authority is granted to St. Peter over the rest of the Apostles Again St. Peter seems sometimes to be the Mouth of the Apostles and the chief Speaker amongst them But this can argue no Superiority over them because St. James seems in a more eminent manner to do so than he And passeth Sentence in the whole Assembly of the Apostles and Elders when St. Peter himself also was present For in that remarkable Synod at Jerusalem when the Apostles and Elders came together to consider of this matter viz Whether it was needful that the Gentiles should be circumcised after the manner of Moses or not and after St. Peter had declared how God shewed his approbation of them by granting them the gift of the Holy Ghost St. James here seems to be the Chair-man and President of this Assembly and gives the definitive Sentence which was followed by them all Acts 15 13-20 And after they had held their peace James answered saying Men and Brethren hearken unto me Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a People for his Name And to this agree the words of the Prophets Wherefore my sentence is That we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God But that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of Idols and from fornication and from things strangled and from blood In this eminent manner doth St. James and not St. Peter pass Sentence in this Assembly of the Apostles and Elders And this we see is followed by them all ver 22-29 Then pleased it the Apostles and Elders with the whole Church to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas St. James was President here and chief Speaker in a more eminent manner than ever we read that St. Peter was and it may as fairly be argued that he was Superior in Authority as it may that St. Peter was so Again St. Peter is oft named first in the Catalogues of the Apostles in the Gospels But this can be no good argument to prove that he had a Superiority over them In all Catalogues some one must be named first and for his Age or because he was an active and forward man among the Apostles or for some such reason St. Peter may be first named But to shew that nothing of Superiority can be proved from hence we may see that St. Paul useth no such constant order Gal. 2.9 It is James Cephas and John where Cephas which is another name of Peter is set after James And 1 Cor. 1.12 he nameth Paul and Apollos before him And so 1 Cor. 3.22 This Priority of Order in the Gospels will prove nothing of Superiority that he had over them These are the chief places of Scripture that are urged to prove that St. Peter was the Head and Governor of the Apostles and had Authority over them But any impartial Reader may see that these places will prove nothing at all to this purpose parallel places shewing as much concerning the rest of the Apostles Secondly We may see by other places in the Gospels that St. Peter was not made the Head and Governor of all the Apostles and of all the Church and that none of them was to be such a Head and Governor of all the rest It was not St. Peter but St. John that was the beloved Disciple above the rest and whom our blessed Lord favoured most and admitted to a greater familiarity than the rest And if any was to have been set over the rest it may seem probable that our blessed Saviour would have bestowed that Honour and Dignity upon his beloved Disciple Joh. 21.7 That Disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter And Joh. 13.23 24. Now there was leaning on Jesus bosom one of his Disciples whom Jesus loved Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake St. John is the beloved Disciple as we may see by the end of his Gospel And St. Peter himself had recourse to him desiring him to ask our Lord concerning this matter when he was fearful to ask him himself And when our blessed Lord was upon the Cross he recommended his Mother to St. John's Care and not to
commanded to do And the same we may see is required under the Gospel that the common People should still be instructed in the Law and Word of God Our blessed Lord hath taught us this both by his own Practice and by positive Command For he himself read the Scriptures in the Synagogues and commanded his Apostles to teach all Nations his Precepts and Commands Luk. 4.16 And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was he went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read And there was delivered unto him the Book of the Prophet Isaias This we see he usually did and hereby he hath shewed us that it is our duty to do so and to do what we well can to instruct all People in the Word of God and not to keep them in ignorance of it And our Saviour bid the Jews to search the Scriptures and from thence to instruct themselves Joh. 5.39 Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life And saith he Matt. 13.9 Who hath ears to hear let him hear And he commanded his Apostles and Ministers to go and teach all Nations to observe all his Commands and not their own Matt. 28.19 20 Go ye therefore saith he and teach all Natitions Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you And Mar. 16.15 And said unto them Go ye into all the World and preach the Gospel to every creature The Gospel and Word of God is to be preached to every Creature and no one is to be kept in ignorance and deprived of it that would hear it And St. Paul gives command that his Epistles should be read to all the Church and not be kept from the common People Col. 4.16 And when this Epistle saith he is read amongst you cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea And saith he to the Thessalonians 1 Thess 5.27 I charge you by the Lord that this Epistle be read unto all the holy Brethren Such order and such a charge doth he give that his Epistles should be read unto all Christians that all might hear them and that they should not be kept from the knowledge of any persons And he commands Timothy to be diligent in reading the Word of God to those under his care 1 Tim. 4.13 Till I come saith he give attendance to reading to Exhortation to Doctrine He is to give attendance in reading the Word of God to his Flock as well as in Exhortation and Doctrine By these and such places we may plainly see that it is the Will and positive Command of Almighty God that his blessed Word should be made known to all Men even to the common People and that it is a chief part of the Office of all Pastors and Governors to take diligent care to instruct those that are under them herein And God did in an extraordinary manner enable the Apostles to speak strange Languages for this very end and purpose That they might preach his Word to all People in their own Tongues which they understood as we may see in the Acts of the Apostles And this also shews that all men ought to have the Word of God in their own Language that they understand We may also see that the Scriptures were written for Instruction Admonition and Comfort and that the ignorance of them is the cause of Error Rom. 15.4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime saith St. Paul were written for our learning that we thro' patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope And 1 Cor. 10.11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come But how can the common People and the generality of Men receive Instruction Admonition and Comfort by them if they are industriously kept from them flat contrary to the design for which they were written And saith our Lord Matt. 22.29 Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures We may also see that the sacred Scriptures are recommended to us as the surest Guide of our Lives as the only Book of Wisdom and that a Blessing doth await all those that carefully read them with a hearty desire to learn and practise what they read therein Psal 19.7 The Law of the Lord is perfect saith the Psalmist converting the Soul The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart The commandment of the Lord is pure enlightning the eyes And Psal 119.9 saith the Psalmist Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way By taking heed thereto according to thy word And ver 98. Thou thro' thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies for they are ever with me And ver 105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path The Word of the Lord when well read and minded will enlighten the eyes and make Wise the simple and Foolish and is to be read and known by them And St. Paul commendeth Timothy for his knowledge of the holy Scriptures from a Child 2 Tim. 3.15 And that from a child saith he thou hast known the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation thro' faith which is in Christ Jesus This early knowledge of the holy Scriptures had Timothy and hereby we see that Children are to learn them And all good men are to make them their daily study and Meditation Psal 1.1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night And saith St. John Rev. 1.3 Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this Prophecy and keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand By these and such places we may clearly see that all men ought to know and understand the blessed Word of God and not be kept in ignorance of it and that the Word of God is not to be kept in an unknown Tongue from them that the common People cannot read it This is but to put out People eyes that they may lead them more easily at their own pleasure and to keep them from seeing their gross Errors And this is a grand piece of wickedness against Almighty God for the Romish Church to take upon them to over-rule his Divine Commands and to disannul the Decrees of Heaven at their own pleasure This I think can well be deemed no other but flat Hostility and open Rebellion against Almighty God himself Thus to intercept and seize upon his Divine Laws and Commands and to suppress them that they may not become known to Men that they may fulfil them And instead thereof to issue out their own Commands that they may be observed and kept To tell men that they must