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A58090
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Religio laici, or, A lay-mans faith touching the supream head and infallible guide of the church : in two letters to a friend in the country / by J. R. a convert of Mr. Bays's.
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J. R., Convert of Mr. Bays's.
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1688
(1688)
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Wing R30; ESTC R16164
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20,013
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32
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but Asses would venture so much as to chaw them by reason of their pricking and choaking quality But to give the Devil his due I must needs own Mr. Bays has a most powerful and luxurious hand at Satyr and may challenge all Christendom to match him for indeed I never in my slender Province met with any that was to compare with him unless that unknown but supposed worthy Author that writ to him upon his at last turning Roman Catholiâ—k for Bays like the Vicar of Bray in Henry the 8th Edward the 6th Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth's days was resolved to keep his Place and the quoting an Author to the purpose is the same thing the Learned say as if it was his own and that will I hope excuse my putting them down here Thou Mercenary Runnegade thou Slave Thou ever Changing still to be a Knave What Sect what Error wilt thou next disgrace Thou art so lude so scandilâ—â—sly Base That Antichristian Popery may be Asham'd of such a Proselite as thee Not all thy Rancor or Felonious spite Which animates thy lumpish Soul to write Could ha' contriv'd a Satyr more severe Or more disgrace the Cause thou wouldst prefer Yet in thy favour this must be confest It suits with thy Poetick Genius best There thou To Truths disus'd mayst entertain Thy self with Stories more fanciful and vain Then e're thy Poetry could ever fain Or sing the Lives of thy own fellow Saints 'T is a large Field and thy assistance wants Thence Copy out new Opera's for the Stage And with their Miracles direct the Age. Such is thy Faith if Faith thou hast indeed For well we may suspect the Poets Creed Rebel to God Blasphemer o' thy King Ah tell whence cou'd this strange Complyance spring So mayst thou prove to thy new Gods as true As thy old Friend the Devil has been to you Yet Conscience and Religion 's your pretence But Food and Drink the Methologick Sence Ah how perswasive is the want of Bread Not Reasons from strong Box more strongly plead A Convert thou 't is past all believing 'T is a damn'd scandal of thy Foes contriving A Jest of that malicious monstrous Fame The Honest Lay-man's Faith is still the same And so much for Mr. Bays for he has already detain'd me a little too long from what I chiefly intended but since his Arguments were so strong and pertinent to my purpose I judg'd it not amiss to have my Opinion favour'd by so Eminent an Author of their own which I made use of only as an Introduction to the more serious and useful part namely what I promis'd in the beginning of the Letter viz. the Examining those Places of Scripture which the Papists do most insist on for proving their Church or the Pope no matter which Infallible But I fear I have already transgress'd the Bounds of a Letter and therefore I shall reserve the rest till another opportunity in the mean time I shall Subscribe my self Sir Yours to Command so far As in the power lyes of your oblig'd J. R. THE SECOND LETTER SIR I Have Receiv'd yours and am not a little proud at your gracious Acceptance of my last which gives me no small Encouragement of giving you the trouble of a second which I hope will give you a full satisfaction of what my poor Sentiments are touching the Doctrine of Infallibility which indeed is the second Part to the same Tune only with this difference Neither Mr. Bays nor his Banter Of his Milk white Hind and Panther is at all concern'd in this for though Bays's Reasons and Arguments are strong and to the purpose yet with those of our Saviours and the Apostles I did not judg it necessary they should be Transcrib'd in one Letter no more than I thought them fit to be nam'd in the same day and that was the Reason Sir of my giving you a double trouble but without any more Preamble I will endeavour to make good my Promise in my last viz. the examining those Places of Scripture which are made use of for the proving the Doctrine of Infallibility and likewise those Places which all Honest and sincere Protestants ought to consider that plainly prove the contrary I will begin first with those Places or rather that Place for I can find but one that seems so much as to favour the Point in Hand which is Matthew the 16. and the 17 18 and 19. Verses Then Jesus answer'd and said unto Peter blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in Heaven And I say unto thee thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it and I will give unto thee 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 In which words the Romanist do believe St. Peter to be made the Infallible Head of the Church c. as sure as the Wafer after Consecration is transubstantiated into the Corporeal substance of our Blessed Lords Body and upon that account it is the pretended Successors of St. Peter has Lorded it over not only their Fellow Bishops but all Christian Princes and Crown'd Heads but upon what Grounds this more than Sovereign Authority has been set up and practised I shall now inquire and I do not question but to make it appear from our Saviours own words that he neither meant or intended any such Power and Authority to be set up by his Disciples and Followers as is at this day exercised by some body in the World c. and that will plainly appear if we consider the occasion of those words of our Saviour to St. Peter which was the Question our Saviour ask'd not St. Peter but all the Disciples Matt. the 16. and 13. ver When Jesus came into the Coasts of Cesarea Philippi he asked his Disciples saying Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am Now it is not to be supposed that our Saviour asked them because he did not know as well as they what the Peoples thoughts were concerning him but in all probability it was to draw a Confession of their own Opinion of him for in the 15. ver He saith unto Them but whom say Ye that I am then we find ver the 16th And Simon Peter answer'd and said thou art Christ the Son of the living God upon which account it was that our Saviour in the next verse said Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church c. so that it is plain our Saviours words had Relation to all the rest of the Disciples whose Answer it was though St. Peter like a Foreman of a Jury deliver'd it as the Belief and Sentiments of them all for we find as I before observ'd the question was put to them all but it would be
what manner our Saviour both before and after his Resurrection took notice of St. Peter more than of the rest of his Disciples in Relation to his being the Chief and Head of the Church But the better to understand this Infallible Point which is of so great concern that if gain'd it would be like a General 's taking the Metropolis of a Kingdom all the little Towns and Villages would fall in in course I will go one step further and inquire whether the Apostles themselves did know or believe any such thing in their Time for certainly if St. Peter had been invested with any such Power they could not be ignorant of it and that time viz. after Christs Ascension into Heaven and sending the Holy Ghost was the most proper to have put it in Execution But in the prosecution of this I shall make two Inquiries First Whether St. Peter did assume or take upon him any such Power and Authority above the rest of the Apostles And secondly Whether the rest did give Place or any Preheminence to St. Peter as believing him to be their Chief and Head and if neither of these two things do appear I hope it will sufficiently clear the Point in hand I will begin with the first Whether St. Peter did assume any such Power c. after the Disciples return from seeing our Saviour taken up into Heaven Acts the 1. and 13. verse we thus read And when they were come in they went up into an upper-room where abode both Peter and James and John and Andrew Philip and Thomas Bartholomew Matthew James the Son of Alpheus and Simon Zelotes and Judas the Brother of James which indeed is all the Eleven but without any manner of distinction which certainly would have been a great fault in St. Luke the supposed Author of the Acts had he known St. Peter to have been the Head c. And again when the Apostles met to chuse one in the room of him which betrayed our Lord verse the 23. and 24. And they appointed two Joseph called Barsabas who was surnamed Justus and Matthias And they prayed and said Thou Lord which knowest the Hearts of all men shew whether of these two thou hast chosen And verse the 26. THEY gave forth their Lots and the Lot fell upon Matthias and he was number'd with the eleven Apostles From which it is evident St. Peter did not assume any Power above the rest in this matter though it was of so great concern as the chusing an Apostle but did only act equally with the rest as appears by those words before recited viz And THEY appointed and THEY gave forth their Lots c. So that from hence 't is reasonable to suppose that neither St. Peter nor the rest of the Apostles did so much as dream of such a Power lodg'd in any one of them for if they had one would think then it had been as proper a time to have made use of it as any since and then upon such an occasion it had been rational for the Evangelist to have given the Account of that matter thus viz. St. Peter the Chief of the Apostles and Head of the Church c. did Summons the Rest to attend and be present at HIS Chusing or Consecrating a Person whom HE judg'd sit to be Ordain'd a Witness with them in the room of Judas of our Blessed Lords Resurrection This as it would have been to the purpose so likewise it would have been highly necessary at that time for then the rest of the Apostles wou'd not only have known this great Prerogative of St Peter but likewise how to have behav'd themselves accordingly and also to have instructed their Followers in the like Obedience to him and his Successors But to proceed in the second of the Acts we read of the Holy Ghost's descending verse the 3. and 4. And there appeared unto THEM Cloven Tongues like as of Fire and it sat upon I pray mark not one St. Peter only but EACH of THEM and THEY were ALL filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other Tongues as the Spirit gave THEM utterance where by the way we may take notice the Evangelist still keeps to his Rule of giving an impartial account for in this place also he tells us the Holy Ghost made no distinction notwithstanding St. Peter's being present but sat upon EACH and THEY were ALL filled c. And in the third of the Acts verse the 6. we find St. Peter cure a Man that had been lame from his Mothers Womb yet St. John's being present he does not assume as if he only in the Name of Jesus had done it but makes St. John a Copartner and instrumental in it as you may observe upon the Peoples being gather'd together ver the 11. and 12. And when Peter saw it he answer'd unto the People Ye men of Israel why marvel ye at this or why look ye so earnestly on VS as though by OVR own Power or Holiness WE had made this man to walk In which Place no less than three times he speaks in the Plural Number viz. VS OVR and WE c. which plainly shews that neither St. Peter's humble Temper nor Spirit does reign in his pretended Successors And so much shall serve for the first Inquiry whether St. Peter did take upon him or assume any such Infallible Power c. The second is Whether the Apostles did give Place or Preheminence to St. Peter as believing him to be their Chief and Head of the Church c. When the High-Priest and those that were with him which was the Sect of the Sadduces had laid hands on the Apostles and put them into the Common Prison the Angel of the Lord by night opened the Prison-doors and brought them forth and said go stand and speak in the Temple to the people all the words of this Life And when THEY heard it THEY enter'd the Temple c. as you may read Acts the 5. from the 17. to the 22. verse in all which we do not find any difference but an equal Power and Authority was deliver'd to them all But 't is possible the Romanist may object against the Commission given by this Angel and say 't is the same that St. Paul gave them caution of saying If an Angel from Heaven preach any other Doctrine than Infallibility c. let him be accurs'd But what they will say to the Holy Ghost and Spirit of God for not taking notice of the Prerogative given as they say by our Saviour to St. Peter I cannot imagin but I suppose the next General Council that 's call'd by his supposed Successor something may be done to be even with Him. But to go on After the Church began to increase we read Acts the 6. and the 1. verse And in those days when the number of the Disciples was multiplyed there arose a murmuring of the Graecians against the Hebrews because their Widows were neglected in the daily ministration