suppos'd for private Interest to have dissembled their Religion either then or immediately before But if we look higher there is what is much more remarkable It is Famous there was a time when the (a) Tum haeresis Arrii prorupit totúmque Orbem invecto Errore turbaverat Etenim duobus Arriis acerrimishujus perfidiae Autoribus Imperator etiam depravatur Dúmque sibi Religionis Officium videtur implere vim persecutionis exercuit actique in Exilium Episcopi saevitum in Clericos animadversum in Laicos qui se ab Arrianorum communione secreverant Sulpic. Sev. Sac. Histor Lib. 2. World turn'd Arrian the Orthodox Profession being under Persecution After what has been said among such hazards such incident Biassings of the Affections and Judgment how unsafe must an Oral Tradition be i. e. the trusting of the great Concerns of Religion with Man's good Nature his Constancy and Faithfulness to Divine Truths through Ages But it may be it will be replyed to the mention of the Doctrines of Arrius and Pelagius and the bustle they made in the Christian world that yet the Catholick Doctrines did recover and pass to after-Ages And we are told that (a) Sure Footing p. 118 119. erroneous Opinions and absurd Practices tho' they may creep into the Church and spread there awhile yet can never gain any solid Footing in the Church Forasmuch as the Church is a Body of Men relying on Tradition or the Authority of Attesting Forefathers not on the Authority of Opinators c. In return to this 'T is confess'd that the Doctrines assaulted by Arrius and Pelagius were rescued and preserved But 1. In and about that time there was such a Constellation of Pious and Learned Lights of the Church as could scarce be parallell'd in the Ages before or afterwards This might be an especial Cause that those Truths out-liv'd their Opposition It may be questioned whether if the Errors of Arrius or Pelagius had been started and as vigorously manag'd in the Ignorant and Corrupt Ages which follow'd afterwards they might not have found as easy an Entertainment and have as generally prevailed as some other Errors did 2ly But how will it be prov'd that it was by the strength of Oral Tradition that these Truths were recovered and continued To speak only of the Divinity of Christ impugn'd by Arrius besides what has been said in the foregoing part 1. There was manifestly a Civil Cause interposing for the Restauration of a publick and free Profession of it For as the Frown of the Prince Constantius and his Party arm'd with force suppress'd the Orthodox Opinion So the contrary inclination and favour of succeeding Princes countenance from the secuâ—ular Power restor'd it So that this Resurrection of that Truth was not from Orel Traditions strength an impossibility of its sailure but was owed to Causes extrinsick and which might or might not have been For there was no necessity that the Emperers should be Orthodox or Favourers of the Orthodox Opinion and if they had continued still Arrian and Persecutors of the Orthodox and so there had been still the same Fears it is as likely that Arrianisme would still have been the general Profession as it is That the same Cause still existing and working after the same manner would produce the same Effect 2ly If we look after the Religious Cause why may we not ascribe the Revival of the Truth to Holy Scriptures For the Fathers had recourse to Them during it's Depression and after it (a) Vnum hoc ego per hanc dignationis tue sinceram audientiam rogo ut praesente Synodo quae nunc de fide litigat paucis me de Scripturis Evangelicis digneris audite Fidem Imperator quaeris audâ— eam non de novis chaâ—tulis sed de Dei libris Audi rogo ea quae de Christo sunt Scripta ne sub eis ea quae non Scripta sunt praediâ—entur Summitte ad ea quae de libris locuturus sum aures tuas In Libâ—o ad Constantium Augusâ—um propiùs â—â—em St. Hilary Truth 's great Champion against the Arrians is frequent in Citation of Scripture for it And in his Address to Constantius He entreats that Constantius would vouchsafe the Synod being present which debated about the Faith to hear him in a few words from the Evangelical Scriptures And soon afterwards Thou requirest my Faith O Emperor hear it not from new Papers but from the Books of God Where He opposes New Papers or Writings not to Antient Oral Tradition but to the Divine Books There is something more to the like Sense in the Margent After him (a) Nec ego Nicaenam Synodum tibi nec tu Arimenensem mihi debes tanquam praejudicaturus objicere Scripturarum authoritatibus res cum re causa cum causa ratio cum ratione concertet Contra Maxim Lib. 3 Cap. 14. St. Augustine tells the Arrian Maximinus He would not object to him the Synod of Nice nor should he urge to him that of Ariminum but he would have the dispute to be manag'd by Authority of Scriptures That which was thus us'd in Proof and Defence of this Article of Faith both under Persecution and after it why may not That deserve to have the honour of it's Preservation and Restitution viz. the Holy Scripture Especially when as Holy Scriptures being an unvaried and permanent Standard in all alterations of the Church's State have an aptitude for such a Purpose whereas Oral Tradition has no probable Energy for it For they of that Age when Arrianism was generally regnant either really changed their Judgment about the Consubstantiality of the Son with the Father and then according to our Adversaries Principle they would teach their Children as they judg'd and believ'd themselves and so the Arrian Opinion would have continued Or they smother'd and dissembled their Opinion out of fear and profess'd contrarily to their Judgment And in this Hypocrisie either their Children discover'd them or not If not then much the same Effect would follow If they did know it then they would scruple to believe them even in other Truths as Witnesses and Traditioners are no more than such For Hypocrisie weakens the Credit of a Witness and gets him this disadvantage that he will be the more hardly believ'd even when he speaks truth And in this particular Truth Children would have been put at the least to the stand For tho' the Posterity might satisfie themselves that the Age before the last generally embrac'd the Tenent contrary to the Arrian yet they might be tempted to doubt whether as their immediate Fathers made shew of believing the Opinion they secretly condemn'd so in remoter Ages Forefathers might not publickly profess the Divinity of Christ rather out of compliance with the humour of the Times they liv'd in than from their Hearts and so the Tenent might have stoln down through following Ages the manner of it's old reception and Hypocritical Profession being lost For why might not
else he betrayed the Cause by appealing to a Medium which could not evince it For either the Nicene Council decreed the Consubstantiality of the Son with the Father by Scripture without Tradition and then we have above three hundred venerable Fathers on our side or if they defin'd it in the strength of Tradition without Scripture or by Tradition sensing Scripture then St. August parting with the Council of Nice proceeding upon Tradition only or upon Tradition sensing Scripture left himself nothing or but the Letter of Scripture which according to our Adversaries wants all the properties of a Rule of Faith Sure Footing p. 29 to manage his Cause with By these Testimonies it is plain it cannot be that the Fathers should express themselves (a) Tho' some Fathers speak highly of Scripture as that it contains all Faith c. It is first to be mark'd whether they speak of Scripture sens'd or as yet to be sens'd and if the latter by whom c. Sure Footing p. 140. so highly of Scripture only so far as help'd and sens'd by Tradidition because as to the Being a Rule of Faith the Fathers separate Tradition from Scripture and set Scripture by it self Much more it is far from being (a) 'T is impossible they i. e. the Fathers should bâ—ld Scripture thus interpretable i. e. by other means thâ—n by Tradition the Rulâ— of Faith it being notorious that mâ—st Hereticks against whom they writ held it theirs And so had they held Scripture thus interpreted the Rule of Faith They could not have hâ—ld the Hereticks since they adbered stifly to that Root or Rule of Faith however they might err in many particular Tenents Ibid. p. 141. impossible that the Fathers should hold Scripture not interpreted by Tradition to be the Rule of Faith which yet is affirm'd And the Reason given is as weak as the Affirmation is untrue For if the Scripture not interpreted by Tradition could not be held to be the Rule of Faith because Hereticks adhering stifly to it as the Rule or Root of Faith could not be held as Hereticks then nor could Tradition be held to be the Rule of Faith because Hereticks as the (b) See Irenaeus quoted a little after Gnosticks and others sticking to Tradition as their Rule could not be held as Hereticks There 's a manifest parity of these Discourses and the latter is as concluding as the former But it is to accumulate injuries upon Scripture because the mistakes and perversness of Men abuse it by false glosses and compell'd deductions therefore to judge it fit it should forfeit its Authority Our blessed Lord who so condemn'd the Jewish Traditions held the Scripture of the Old Testament to be the Jew's Rule of Faith and the Sadduces who denied the Resurrection sure were held by him to be Hereticks and yet they disclam'd Tradition and adher'd stifly to Scripture only as the Root or Rule of Faith Certainly it is the impress and appointment from God which constitute a Rule of Faith make it to be such and Men prove Hereticks when they wilfully wrong pervert and wrest it but 't is wonderful that Hereticks acknowledging it to be the Rule of Faith i. e. paying to it what is due to it or a pretence that it favours their Errors which is a slander of it should unmake it a Rule of Faith render it impossible to be held to be such 2ly In enquiry about the second thing propos'd it must be consider'd that the word Tradition has more acceptions than one And that Tradition may be used to different Persons at different times in a divers manner and to several ends 1. Tradition is taken sometimes both in Scripture and Ecclesiastical Writers not for Oral delivery of Opinions and Practices to Posterity but for what is deliver'd by Writing and even in the Sacred Scriptures The Jew's Law and Rites are said to be such (a) Act. 6.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Moses Tradition'd and yet they were a part of the Old Testament St. Paul (b) 1 Cor. 15.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 delivered to the Christians which he had also received that Christ dyed for our Sins which was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Scriptures (c) De Spiritu Sto. St. Basil says that our Baptisme in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is according to the very Tradition of our Lord and yet this is (a) Matth. 28.19 written with St. (b) Si ergo aut in Evangelio praecipitur aut in Apostelorum Epistolis aut Actibus continetur observetur etiam haec sancta Traditio In Ep. ad Pompeium Cyprian that is an holy Tradition which is either commanded in the Gospel or is contained in the Epistles and Acts of the Apostles 2ly It is observed that some of the Fathers had to do with such Hereticks as denied the Scriptures some part of them at the least and set up other writings in stead of them In dealing with such those Fathers were forc'd to have recourse to Tradition that so they might dispute with their Advesaries on such a Principle as they would allow and this in way of condescention 'T was thus with (c) Cum enim ex Scripturis arguuntur in accusationem convertuntur ipsarum Scripturarum quasi non rectà habeant neque sint ex autoritate quia variè sint dictae quia non possit ex his inveniri veritas ab his qui nesciant Traditioneâ— Non enim per literas traditam illam sed per vivam vocem ob quam causam c. Adversus baereses Lib. 3. Cap. 2. Irenaeus in his Contest with the Gnosticks Who says he when they are argued against out of the Scriptures accuse the very Scriptures themselves as if they were not right nor were of Authority sufficient and because their Sense is various and uncertain and because the Truth cannot be found in them by those who are ignorant of Tradition This made Irenaeus in opposition to their fictitious Tradition and pretended living Voice express himself the more respectfully of such Tradition as had brought down the Orthodox Doctrine from the Apostles in the several Churches Not that he preferr'd Tradition to Scripture for what his Judgment was of Scripture we have seen before and 't is the observation of (a) In Epist nuncupatoriâ Irenaeo praefixâ Erasmus that he fights against the Hereticks solis scripturarum praesidiis by the sole aid of Scriptures i. e. Scriptures were his chief Weapons and that if he took up Tradition 't was but occasionally upon the froward impudence of his Adversaries 3. We must distinguish of Times The Gospel was Preached before it was Written It was written too one part after another And when the whole was written the Copies could not presently be many and dispersed to all Christians especially the more new and remoto Converts Nay and had the Gospel never been written then the Church
did decline so soon how much more probable is it that it should grow yet more feeble and corrupt at such a far greater distance of time As Waters which arise clear and of qualities agreeing with their Fountain the farther they run do the more contract a new relish and gather a foulness from the Chanels through which they travel SECT V. I proceed to the Christian Churches since the more Primitive times and as they are commonly divided into the Eastern and Western Churches so I shall begin with the Eastern and there speak of the Greek Church only In which I suppose none will question but that Christian Religion was planted in a very ample and punctual manner such as might have secur'd a perpetuity of Primitive Truths among the Professors of them as well as among any other Body of Christians This Church administers the Eucharist to the Laiety in both kinds allows Married Priests denys Purgatory-fire to add no more In these things the Roman Church differs from them One of them therefore must err and have receded from what was delivered at the first to them We believe the Roman Church to be guilty of the Recess and they to be sure will deny it But yet which soever it be of the Churches which is in the wrong and one of them must be so Oral Tradition is guilty of Mal-performance of its Duty But moreover this Church holds that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and not from the Son Which is a Tenent condemned by Protestants and Romanists both And the Grecians misbelief in this Article was judg'd by Card. Bellarmine so criminous that he counted it meritorious of the sacking of Constantinople which hapned accordingly in his calculation at the Feast of Pentecost Bellarm. de Christo lib. 2. cap. 30. as a Judgment of God upon them for this error about the Procession of his Holy Spirit And he adds That many compare the Greek Church to the Kingdom of Samaria which separated from the true Temple and for that was punish'd with perpetual Captivity How far charitable in his Censure and right in his (a) Vossius de tribus Symboli in Addendis Chronology the Cardinal was let others judge But this is clear that they of that Communion as they are very numerous so do generally consent in this Opinion that there has been an entail of it upon Posterity through hundreds of years and that though their Reduction has been more than once attempted yet endeavours have prov'd succesless the wound may have been skin'd over but it has not been heal'd (b) Idem Ibid. Though at the Councils of Lyons and Florence it is said there was something of a Closure yet as soon as the Greeks return'd home there was presently a Rupture again and the Churches remain'd at as great a distance as before And they retain their old Error (a) Ricaut of the Greek Church to this day and are observed to defend it with a particular dexterity The same Greek Church denies the Pope's Supremacy that (b) Summa Rei Christianae Bellar In Praef. ad lib. de summo Pontifice Diana of the Romanists They may have yielded the Bishop of Rome a (c) See Nilus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Primacy of Order and yet that too not as enstated on him by Divine Right but indulg'd him by the favour of Princes and Ecclesiastical Canon But they would never grant him a Superiority of Power and Authority They will not (d) Ricaut of the Greek Church yet allow it him These Opinions of the Greek Church cannot in the Judgment of the Romanists who hold contrarily to both and are so especially concern'd in the latter descend from Christ and his Apostles Therefore they must confess that Tradition has miscarried And Traditions miscarrying among so great and formerly renowned tho' now afflicted a Society of Christians for so very long a time and in Points of such moment must needs decry it much below that value to which its friends have enhans'd it SECT VI. Next shall succeed a consideration of the Western Church And what Church in the West would be more taken notice of than the Roman VVhere we are to find the most accurate Tradition or to despair of meeting with it any where They of that Communion having dress'd up and strengthned the Cause of Oral Tradition with the greatest advantages which their wit and learning can give it and claiming it as their (a) Sure Footing P. 116. Priviledge to be the most infallible Traditioners of any Church whatsoever Two things here may be considered 1. VVhat the Accord is of the Roman with the Antient Church 2ly VVhat her Harmony is with herself How well Oral Tradition has preserv'd her in both these respects First how little the Church of Rome comports in her Opinions and Practices with the most antient and purest Churches has been demonstrated by many Learned Protestants I shall insist but on one thing viz. The denyal of the Cup to the Laiety in the Eucharist by the Roman Church The Learned Cassander thought it could not be prov'd that (a) Non puto demonstrari posse totis mille ampliùs annis in ullâ Catholicae Ecclesiae parte sacrosanctum hoc Eucharistiae Sacramentum aliter in sacrâ synazi è mensâ Dominicâ fideli populo quà m sub utroque panis vinique Symbolo administratum fuisse De saerâ Comm. sub utrâque specie He is positive and large in this in his Consultation likewise Much to the same purpose Alphonsus a Castro Tit. Eucharistia Haeresi 13. For above a 1000 years the Sacrament of the Eucharist was otherwise administred to the faithful People than under the Elements of Bread and Wine both Several of our Adversaries give their suffrages with Cassander And the Greek Church administers to the Laiety in both kinds to the present Age. But let us come to that which will with our Adversaries be of more Authority The Council of (a) Praeterea declarat hane potestatem perpetuò in Ecclesiâ fuisse ut in Sacramentorum dispensatione salva illorum substantia ea statueret vel mutaret quae suscipientium utilitati seu ipsorum Sacramentorum venerationi pro rerum temporum locorum varietate magis expedire judicaret Quare agnoscens mater Ecclesia hanc suam in administratione Sacramentorum Anthoritatem licèt ab initio Christianae religionis non infrequens utriusque speciei usus fuisset tamen hanc consuetudinem sub alterâ specie communicandi approbavit pro lege habendam decrevit Sess 5. Can. 2. Apud Caran Trent confesses That from the beginning of Christian Religion the use of both Bread and Wine was not uncommon Yet licèt although such had been the Primitive and not uncommon usage the Council approv'd of Communicating under one kind and decreed it to be observed as a Law And this the Council did by virtue of a pretended Power of the Church to appoint and to
Authority of the Church is formally in the Prelates and therefore that the Church cannot err in defining matters of Faith and that the Bishops cannot Err are the same Thing From what has been quoted it seems that Dr. Cressy and whosoever else may be on his side are considerably oppos'd by others Indeed the Infallibility of the Roman Church and the great usefulness of it to them is better understood by them than to be parted with Upon a survey of the forementioned Dissentions among Romanists themselves the clear inference is that either Tradition is full and plain enough in the things disagreed about and if so then the Romanists themselves do not believe Tradition rest not in what their Fathers taught them and so transgress their own Rule of Faith or Tradition comes down so divided that it cannot unite them shines so dimly that they cannot see their way by it as (c) In the points of immaculate Conception and the Controversies between the Jesuits and the Dominicans c. Exomolog Ch. 82. Dr. Cressy says some learned Catholiques are of Opinion and so wander each Party in a Path by it self And this evinces Traditions impotency want of a sufficient plainness and certainty But here is a retreat to which our Adversaries must be followed There is a (a) Enchirid of Faith p. 17. 113. Some what to this purpose likewise Cressy speaks Exom Ch. 28. distinction made between the Faith and the Doctrine of the Church between Points which are de fide absolutè and such as are de fide sub Opinione Points of Faith strictly so call'd the denial of which would amount to Heresie and Points of Opinion rather than of Faith and Theological speculations only Now it will be said by our Adversaries that the Subject of their Home-differences are not of the former but of the latter kind matters of meer Opinion and therefore that their differences do not disparage Traditions care and sufficiency that being maintain'd to be a Rule of Faith only But to make such an Evasion useless a strict and close dispute about Points of Faith which are such and which not is with the more difficulty manageable betwixt our Adversaries and us because we differ about the Rule of Faith Accordingly they account of a Point as a (a) Enchirid of Faith p. 113. and to the like purpose Cresly Ibid Point of Faith or of meer Opinion as it is attested to or not attested to by a sufficient Tradition which they assert to be the rule of Faith but this is the thing in question between us Therefore as things stand the way will be to review the aforenamed Tenents controverted among the Romanists and to see what their tendency and importance is in Religion in the Judgment of any sober and unbïassed Christian as also what our Adversaries own Sentiments are concerning them Then 1. The freedom of the will in corrupted Nature the assistance of Divine Grace Predestination to an Eternal State the extent of the Redemption by the Death of Christ perseverance in Grace look like material concerns in Religion and the respective statings of the Questions arising on these Subjects are judg'd momentous by the controverting Parties (b) Les Provincia les Or the c. p. 45. 41. The Jansenists complain of sharp usage from the Molinists that a Proposition of theirs viz. That the Fathers shew us a just Man in the Person of St. Peter to whom the grace without which a Man cannot do any thing was wanting was censur'd by their Antagonists to be temerarious impious blasphemous worthy to be Anathematiz'd and Heretical and that their Persons have been traduc'd and defam'd in Books and Pulpits openly and publickly accus'd as Hereticks The Controversies between the Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants some of the principal also between the Lutherans and the Calvinists are much of the same kind with them contended about between the Jesuits and Dominicans the Jansenists and Molinists and yet sure the Romanists will have them to be more than matters of meer Opinion and Theological speculations only in us Protestants because they take occasion from these and some other differences of no higher a Complexion at the least can't be accus'd to be such by a Romanist to upbraid us with the (a) Câ—arity mistaken apuâ—â— Pâ—tter want of Charity 〈◊〉 charged c. p. 58. darkness and confusion of our Condition and that our bitter Contentions and Speeches declare us to be of different Churches and Religions But if these differences in Judgment and Heats be of so high a nature and of so desperate effects in us why not so in them also For suppose that some Protestants passions are more warm in these disputes yet there are also many moderate Men on both sides and to make them of different Religions there must be a contrariety of Judgments and even in matters of Faith and if these be Points of Faith in Protestants what just reason can be given why they should not be such in Romanists likewise 2ly (a) Les Previn 〈◊〉 Letâ—e◠〈◊〉 p. 92. The Doctrine of probable Opinions and That an Opinion is then call'd probable when it is grounded upon some reasons of consideration whence it sometimes comes to pass that the Opinion of one grave Doctor may render an Opinion probable Much of the Casâ—â—stical Divinity of the Jesuits their (b) Ibid. Lâ—tter 9. 186 c. easie Devotions their knack of (c) Ibid. Let. 7. p. 131 132 c. directing the Intention their Doctrine of (d) Ibid. Let. 9. p. 202 203 c. mental Reservation and of the sufficiency of (e) Ibid. Let. 10. p. 231 c. Attrition their Salvo's for (a) Ibid Let. 6. p. 115 and Let. 13. p. 285 286 c. Simony (b) Ibid. Let. 7. p. 134 c. Revenge and (c) Ibid. Let. 8. p. 171 c. Stealing with several Practiques of the like stamp certainly will be doom'd by any who are seriously Christians to be destructive of that fixedness and soundness in the Faith which is opposite to the levity of Children toss'd to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine c. Eph. 4.14 and of the Doctrine which is according to godliness 1. Tim. 6.3 3ly If Tenents may be thought to be de fide points of Faith by their influence on other Credenda and Agenda things to be believed and done and on the Peace of the Christian World then certainly those Tenents which relate to the Pope and were even now touch'd on must be Points of Faith and that of the first Classis For whosoever can see through things will judge that they are of vast inference that on the determination of them must depend the direction of the Pope in the exercise of his Power and of Christians in what and how far to obey him and his Commands as to belief and practice Prince's Crowns and their Subject's Loyalty are deeply concern'd in them and consequently the
Vnity and Welfare of all the Churches and States in Christendom But Card. Bellarmine himself speaks high enough Says he (a) De quâ re agitur cùn de primâ—â—u pâ—ntificis agitur bâ—e issime dâ—cam de summà rei Christianâ—e Id enim quâ—eritur debeatne Fâ—â—lesia diutiùs consistâ—â—e 〈…〉 dâ—ssolâ—i con 〈◊〉 â—â—d eniâ— alâ—ud est 〈◊〉 an eporteat ab â—dificio fuâ—◠〈◊〉 nâ—uâ—nâ—r moâ—ere a greâ—e pasterem â—b exercitu imperatorem solâ—mâ—ab astris caput a corpore quà m an oporteat aedifictum ruere gâ—egem dissipari eâ—â—câ—um sued◠〈◊〉 obsâ—uâ—ari corpus iâ—cere Bellarm. In Praefatiâ—ne ad Libros de suâ—nmo pontifice habitâ in Gymnâ—sio Romano Anno. 1577. clica initium What Subject is treated of whilest the Primacy of the Roman Pontife is treated of I will tell you very briefly It is discours'd of the sum of Christianity For it is discuss'd whether the Church must longer remain entire or fall asunder and perish He goes on as in the Margent Why now if the Pope have a Power given him by Christ of Governing the Vniversal Church of Christ as was the definition of the Council of Florence apud Caranzam and the Christian Church be so infinitely concern'd in the Pope and his Government as is affirm'd then it can't be rationally questioned but that our Blessed Saviour and Lord the Head of the Church did declare his Pleasure concerning the true state of the Papal Office and Power to his Apostles and charg'd them to Communicate it to the Church to be preserved through all Ages The reason is because it can't be conceiv'd consistent with our Lord's Wisdom and Goodness to have established an universal Empire over Christians in Peter and his Successors and yet not to have determined and given a punctual Scheme of that Power and Jurisdiction and consequently of Christians due obedience and dependance seeing that as is pretended such a Power was design'd for the guidance and preservation of all Christians in Truth Holiness and Peace For the Papal Power without such a clear stating of it would be utterly insufficient for attaining such glorious Ends. That which was intended to prevent and to compose differences would be it self an unhappy occasion of the greatest ruptures as it proves to be at this day Forasmuch then as the Papacy is so transcendent an Interest of the Christian Church in the claim of our Adversaries and that in plain reason the fixation and certainty of the Pope's Inerrability and of the just latitude of his Power is so necessary to a fit discharge of the Papal Office for the behoof of the Church and that therefore Christ was not wanting in the Revelation and Communication of it to his Apostles and Church Hence it follows that because the Romanists are so uncertain disagree so much about it therefore they differ among themselves not in Theological Quodlibets or meer speculative niceties but in very grave and substantial Points let them call them Points of Faith or by what other names they please and which the Church was at the first instructed in 4ly Between the infallibility of the Church which the (a) Suprà Trent Catechism affirms in which are contain'd the (b) Sacrae Synodi decreto Catechismus consâ—ribitur certaque formula ratio Christiani populi ab ipsis fidei rudimentis instituendi In Epist dedicat grounds and principles of the Roman Faith and which (c) Bellarm. suprà all Catholicks teach and the Authority of the Church only which was (d) Suprà Cressie's belief in which he was confirm'd (e) Exomol Cap. 41. by very Learned Catholicks there is a very wide difference and there are consequent very divers obligations and effects For if the Church cannot err then what it proposes ought to be believ'd as soon as it is made known and understood But if the Church may err and have an Authority only then its Articles and Canons may be soberly examin'd by some standard which is infallible and accordingly as they shall be found to agree with it or to contrariate it to yield or to suspend Belief quietly and without more noise than what a meek submission to the Church's censure makes or also Obedience to the Church's Authority may be a disobedience to the higher and supreme Authority of God who commands Christians Orthodoxy of Belief as well as holiness of Life I must not omit that even about this so weighty Subject which we are now upon viz. Oral Traditions being the only Rule of Faith the Romanists are not at accord among themselves as I touch'd in the Preface (a) De verbo Dei non scripto Lib. 4. Cap. 12. Sect. Dico Secundò Bellarmine held that the Word of God or Revelation made by God was the whole and entire Rule of Faith And this he says is divided into two partial Rules Scripture and Tradition If Scripture be in Part a Rule and Tradition a Rule but in Part then in the judgment of Bellarmine Tradition is not the onely Rule of Faith And no question but still there are those who are of Bellarmines mind There 's a Confession of (b) The Title of the 9th Par. of the 3d Dialo is that the dissention of the Catholique Doctors concerning the Rule of Faith doth not hurt the certainty of Tradition Rushworth that there is a Dissension of the Catholique Doctors concerning the Rule of Faith but he says that this does not hurt the certainty of Traditions To clear which and to satisfy the Nephews Scruple grounded on this Dissension the Vncle says Truly Cousin your Objection is strong yet I hope to content you For I see no great matter in the variety of Opinions amongst our Divines c. See what follows in the Margent (c) For you see they seek out the Decider of Points of Doctrine i. e. by whose mouth we are to know upon occasion of dispute what and which be our Points and Articles of our Fà ith to wâ—t whether the Pope or a Council or both Which is not much Material to our purpose whatever the truth be supposing we acknowledge no Articles of Faith but such as have descended to us by Tradition from Christ and his Apostles Rushworth Ibid. But under savour this variety of Opinions is very Material For tho' suppose all Romanists should agree to acknowledge no Articles of Faith but such as have descended to them by Tradition from Christ and his Apostles should agree to acknowledge this in general yet if they are still to seek if it be still unresolved among them who is the decider of Points of Doctrine i. e. by whose mouth they are to know upon occasions of dispute what and which determinately be their Points and Articles of Faith then there must be an uncertainty among them about the Points and Articles of Faith For the belief of Articles of Faith can be no more certain no more fix'd and uniform than the Deciders and Mouths are by which
they are to know what and which be their Points of Faith But that Decider and Mouth is yet confessedly unagreed on Hence it must follow that Tradition is hurt is sorely wounded in its certainty in that it does not either bring down primitive Truths so cleerly that there needs no dispute about them or at the least certainly determine who shall be the Decider and infallible Mouth from which to receive the Decision of them but leaves them when disputes arise to wrangle it out among themselves as well as they can From the account which has been given it is manifest that the Points in which the Romanists dissent from one another are Points of Faith or else that those about which Protestants differ are not such the Tenents disagreed about among the Romanists being as material and influential as those controverted among the Protestant formed Churches or rather much more considerable Thus in the foregoing pages Oral Tradition has been tryed by Reason and by Experience the few passages of Scripture quoted being not intended for Proof of the Thing in Controversie but only us'd incidentally and in a sense which is obvious and is found guilty of so much uncertainty and failure that it deserves to be judg'd too insufficient to be trusted with the Conveyance of divine Truths down from their first Delivery through all succeeding ages But it may happen sometimes that there may be Arguments against a Thing so plausible and which may have so strong a seemingness of Demonstration as to engage the Judgment against it and yet there may be Arguments too for it so far more cogent and convincing as upon a weighing both to preponderate the other and to determine the Understanding to the affirmative part Let us see then whether the like may fall out in Oral Tradition and having alleged the proofs against its sureness and safety of Conveyance let us next consider what and how rational the Pleas are on its behalf and whether they are weighty enough to turn the Scales CHAP. V. The Arguments alleg'd for Oral Tradition SECT I. THE Defences brought for the certainty and infallibility of Oral Tradition are such as follow 1. It is pleaded that Oral Tradition is a (a) Sure Footing p. 114. Principle Self-evident to all Mankind who use common Reason that (b) Ibid. p. 53. Man's Nature is the Basis of it according to those faculties in him perfectly and necessarily subject to the Operations and Strokes of Nature i. e. his Eyes his Ears handling c. that the (c) Letter of thanks c. p. 87. 88. way of Tradition is as efficaciously established in the very grain of Man's Nature as what seems most natural the propagation of their kind that (d) Sure Footing p. 54. the virtue by which Tradition regulates her followers to bring down Faith unerringly is grounded on a far stronger Basis than all material Nature Answ Indeed a Principle Self-evident deeply founded and radicated in Man's very Nature and more strongly grounded than all material Nature deserves to be heedfully attended to and preserved inviolate But let these high strains be considered of 1. As to Self-evidence First Principles most properly are Self-evident being indemonstrable not borrowing but shining by a light of their own Such are It is impossible for the same thing to be and not to be The whole is greater than any Part. But in this Sense Tradition tho' the Author of Sure Footing calls it a (a) p. 114. first Principle is confess'd not to be Self-evident for he undertakes to demonstrate it as well a (b) p. 57. Priori as a Posteriori Therefore he says that there are Principles (c) Letter of thanks c. p. 24 25 26. Self-evident in an inferior manner not as incapable of demonstration but because they need none being presently assented to by all who have the use of their faculties the notions of them stealing universally into Mens understandings and there gaining a fix'd entertainment undiscernibly The Instances given are That in a square space 't is a neerer way to go from one corner to that which is opposite by the Diameter than to go by the two sides Or that things look less afar off and bigger nearer hand 'T is affirm'd that Tradition is a Self-evident Principle of this latter kind But Tradition is not a Self-evident Principle even of this latter kind That Testimony and Authority and Oral Tradition which is one sort of (a) That vast Testification we call Tradition Sure Footing p. 54. Testimony has room among the Topiques and is a seat of dialectical argumentation is evident enough its use and necessity in some cases have been acknowledg'd But That Oral Tradition is a certain infallible Medium That (b) Sure Footing p. 115. Councils general and provincial nay particular Churches are infallible by proceeding upon it is deny'd by Protestants to be Self-evident evident or but true And tho' it is not material what Protestants affirm or deny in other Points disputed between them and the Romanists farther than they can prove yet in this business their very denial is much sufficient because the Question is driven up to this viz. whether they are Owners of so much Reason as is common to all Mankind And let all judge who have had conversation with them whether as they are no inconsiderable part of Mankind so they have the use of Common Reason or no and as one Argument of this whether they deny such plain Propositions as were before instanc'd in or any the like which are the Sentiments generally of Mankind 2ly Which is of some kin to the former consideration forasmuch as the knowledge of first and Self-evident Principles is in some Sense natural Let Oral Tradition's Foundation in nature be examin'd 'T is confess'd that the Faculties of Seeing and Hearing the Memory Understanding Will and Affections are from Nature are natural to us that according to a Method of Nature outward Objects do excite the Faculties into Acts proper to each That they being in motion do influence upon one another The Senses inform the Understanding the Understanding trusts the Memory and gives impulses to the Will and Affections Suitable to this procedure in Nature I grant that Tradition strikes upon the Senses and those strokes are derived to the inward Faculties and cause variety of impressions there This is all which I can understand by the Faculties perfect and necessary subjection to the operations and strokes of Nature or by Traditions being grounded and engrain'd in Man's Nature But now how short is all this of a Proof that Tradition is infallible in the strength of any Basis it has in the Nature of Man Tho' our Faculties and their way of Operation be Natural yet the Operations or Exercises of them are not beyond a possibility of Error and mistake Sure all will allow that the very Senses are not undeceivable nor the Vnderstanding inerrable that the Memory is frail and leaky and that
been said it is more than likely that there may have been Obreptions points of Faith and Religious Practice may have been materially changed and yet no great Tumult have been rais'd in the Christian Common-weal no Schisme because perhaps the Innovations rush'd not in the whole at once but convey'd themselves into the Church in a Climax insinuated themselves by sly and gradual Transitions therefore with the less if any observations especially might this surprize be undiscern'd in blind and irreligious Ages 2. Secondly as for notice of the changes of Opinions and Practices from Church-Histories So great is the use of Ecclesiastical Histories that we may with reason wish we could rather boast of a plenty than complain of their scarcity which yet Learned Men do especially considering the great extent of the Christian Church for Time and Place which necessarily afforded as huge a variety of Events and Revolutions (a) Is Casaub in Proleg ad Exercitat For above 200 years after the Apostles till Eusebius Pamphilus there was none who did more than begin to designe some History of the Church rather than seriously set about it For a considerable while after the six hundreth year that (b) Idem Ibid. Learned Man quoted in the Margent doubts whether to call those Ages 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Times of Portentiloquie or of Ignorance But there are those who say as much or more and were Sons of the Church of Rome The great (c) Nulla res ita hactenus negligi vis est ac rerum Ecclesiasticarum gestarum vera certa exactâ diligentiâ perquisita Narratio Baron in Praefatione ad Annal. Tom. prim Annalist confesses That nothing seem'd to have been so much neglected as a true and certain and exact History of Ecclesiastical Affairs And before Him it was acknowleg'd by (d) Maximum saepenumero dolorem cepi dum ipse mecum reputo quà m diligenter Acta verò Apostolorum Martyrum deinque Divorum nostrae Religionis ipsius sive crescentis Ecclesiae sive jam adultae opâ—rta maximix tenebris ferè ignorari Fuere qui magna pietatis loco ducerent mendacia pro religione confingere Lib. 5. de Trad. Discipl .. Ludovicus Vives That the Acts of the Apostles of the Martyrs and of the Saints and the Concerns of the Church both growing up and grown were unknown being conceal'd under very great darkness In this penury of Ecclesiastical History how much of the Changes in the Church with an abundance of other very memorable accidents must have perished In those Histories which were Written and are still extant we can expect no more than the most remarkable Occurrents in the respective Ages of which the Authors wrote if all those That a Change in the Church should be remarkable it was requisite that it should raise a Storm cause a Publick disquiet and Breach of Communion which yet might not have hapned tho' there were an Alteration in material Points as has been shewn above and therefore Church-Histories if we had more of them to speak might be silent of it And yet notwithstanding Protestants can say more viz. That Ecclesiastical Writings are not so wholly unintelligencing but that they do report when and how several Points of the Romanists controverted between them and us got into the Church how and by whom they were observ'd and resisted in the several Ages of the Church For which among others (a) Way to the true Ch. p. 195 196 c. Dr. J. White may be seen But I am not engag'd necessarily to insist on this having said what is sufficient before SECT V. Scriptures Councils and Fathers were (b) Sure Footing p. 126 c. once drawn into the Field to engage in the defence of Oral Tradition but upon after thoughts a Retreat is sounded to Two of them For the Author of Sure Footing says That he Discourses from his Scriptural Allegations but (c) Letter of thanks p. 106. Topically and that in Citation of them he proceeds on such Maximes as are ut'd in Word-skirmishes on which account he believes that those Texts he uses sound more favourably for him than for us But in Word-skirmishes i. e. Appearances ministred from Words which may afford to a pleasant Sophister an opportunity of making passages seem to favour his Hypothesis when really they do not so I have no inclination to deal and I conceive such a wordy velitation to be below the Gravity of the Cause depending between us and our Adversaries Next the Author disclaims his Quotations of (a) Ibid. p. 105. Councils to be intended against Protestants if so then I am not obliged to take notice of them As for the Fathers I know all Protestants do declare that they do highly value the Fathers to such a degree as can be justly demanded from them and as the Fathers themselves were they now living would require from them And concerning their Testimonies both of Holy Scripture and of Tradition something shall be said in the Second Part and there on a particular occasion I have now dispatch'd the First Part of my Undertaking and have evinc'd from the Nature of Oral Tradition from Experience or Event and also by Answer to the Defenses brought for it That it is a very unsafe and insufficient Conveyance of Divine Truths down from their Original Delivery unto us And here I might rest thinking that I had compleated my work if I might be allow'd to discourse after the manner of the * P. 52. Author of Sure Footing with the change only of a few words and to say There being only two grounds or Rules of Faith own'd namely delivery of it down by Writing and by Words and Practices which we call Oral and Practical Tradition 't is left unavoidably out of the impossibility that Oral and Practical Tradition should be infallible as a Rule that Sacred Scriptures must be such and therefore that they are the surest Conveyance of faith But I shall not so crudely conclude my enquiry but shall in a Second Part prove Holy Scriptures to be the most safe immediate Conservatory and Conveyance of Divine Truths down from their first Delivery unto all after Ages Only having been large in the First Part I suppose I may be the briefer in the Second PART II. Sacred Scriptures are the safest Conservatory and Conveyance of Divine Truths down from their Original Delivery through succeeding Ages CHAP. I. SECT I. IF we may collect the Judgment of Mankind from their Practice we may believe that in the Conveyance of Matters of Moment to Posterity they judge the Precedence due to Writings about Oral Tradition because they so commonly commit things of that nature to Books tho' they know the Books themselves must be trusted with Tradition and Providence How much more should this Practice take place in Religion which concerns Men as highly as their Blessedness does And besides common Practice there 's great reason why the