follows 1. § 5 That the renowned Scribes and Doctors of the Jewish Church were all mistaken in their Interpretation of this place of Malachy That they and the whole Jewish Church had entertained a false Tradition in a matter of so great Consequence as the Fore-runner of their true Messiah for they all had embraced it as a Tradition That Elias was to come in Person before the first Appearance of the true Messiah Trypho apud Justin M. p. 268. they all interpreted that place of Malachy to that effect and thence concluded as they still obstinately do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That because Elias is not yet come in Person their Messiah was not come And yet this general Tradition of the Jewish Church gives no Assurance of the Truth of this Assertion or if it doth it must be then confessed that their Messiah is not yet come 2. Hence also we may learn how vainly Men pretend to absolute Certainty on the account of Oral Tradition for that Tradition was received as much as highly reverenced and regarded by the Scribes and Pharisees as by the Romanists I hope will easily be granted when we consider how zealous they were for the Customs and Traditions of the Fathers How they advanced the Tradition of the Elders even to the dissolution and making void the Law of God. And how frequent are such Maxims as these among them Vid. Leight in Matth. 15.2 The Words of the Scribes are more worthy than the Words of the Law and more weighty than the Words of the Prophets That the Words of the Elders are more weighty than the Words of the Prophets That they came from the Mouth of Moses as well as the written Law. That the written Law is narrow but the Traditional is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea. And yet these Patrons of Tradition had not only generally received such Traditions as made void the Law of God but also such Traditions touching their Messiah his Fore-runner his temporal Kingdom his glorious Reign on Earth c. as gave Occasion to their Rejecting of him when he came If then the Jewish Church might pretend to oral Tradition as much as that of Rome and yet receive such Falshoods as Tradition which did evacuate the Law of God and cause them to reject their Saviour why may not they of Rome receive such Falshoods for Tradition as do evacuate the Law of Christ If the People were deceived and abused by following their Traditions why may not others be equally deceived in following the supposed Traditions of the Church of Rome 3. § 6 Hence also it will follow That the Tradition of the Doctors of the Christian Church can be no certain Evidence in Matters of meer Speculation or of Interpretation of Scripture that what they thus deliver is the Truth for they have generally taught from the third Century That Enoch is to come in the last days to resist Antichrist and be slain by him without the least appearance of any Ground for this Tradition And they have taught more generally even from the Second Century That Elias the Tisbite is to come in Person before our Saviour's second Advent and grounded this their Doctrine upon the Words of Malachy and of St. Matthew against the plain Assertion of our Lord and the most clear convincing Evidence that John the Baptist and he only was that Elias which according to the Prophecy of Malachy was to come as the Fore-runner of our Saviour In a word the Tradition of the Millennium of the Appearance of Enoch and Elias seem to have had their Rise from the Jewish Converts zealous of the Tradition of their Fathers and from them not from the Apostles to have gain'd Reputation in the Christian Church And the Tradition of Prayers for the Dead seems to have had the same Original But now if a Tradition hath been very ancient § 7 and can by Reason be demonstrated to have derived from the Apostles or to be worthy of Acceptation upon rational Grounds then it is sit to be embraced as such For Instance First We have it from Tradition That presently after the Apostles times all Churches were governed by Bishops presiding over Presbyters and Deacons as their lawful Governors whence we inferr we have just Reason to believe this form of Government was Apostolical since otherwise the Government left in all Churches by the Apostles must in the immediate following Age have been not only changed but corrupted every where But that in the frame and Substance of the established Government of the Church a thing always in use and practice there should be so suddain a Change so universal a Corruption in so short a time and that all Christians without the least Opposition that we read of De praescript c. 28. should conspire in this Corruption is a thing morally impossible For as Tertullian argues in like Case Variasse debuerat Error doctrinae Ecclesiarum quod autem apud omnes unum est non est erratum sed traditum What all Christian Churches did so early agree in practising Vniformly came not by Error but Tradition Moreover it is clearly proved by the most learned Bishop of Chester L. 2. c. 13 prima Assertio p. 157 c. That the Writers of the Second Century distinctly mention the several Orders of Bishops and their inferior Presbyters in the same Church and thereby give us Reason to conclude that this Disparity was generally setled in that Age. Now how improbable it is that either such a Change as must be here supposed were this an Innovation should happen unadvisedly or thorough Negligence or that the whole Church should have conspired so early to swerve from the established Order by placing Bishops above Presbyters without Complaint or the Resistance of any single Person that we hear of will appear if we consider 1. The Subjects of this Constitution viz. The Persons appointed by the Apostles to govern and preside in every Church they being constant Objects of every Persons common Sence seen in every Assembly imploy'd in every ecclesiastical Affair publick and private in which all Christians Sick or Well Living or Dying were concerned we may reasonably conceive that which some of the Apostles to gain upon the Jews did observe the Christian Feast of Easter on the Fourteenth Day of the Moon others might have mistaken this compliance as if the Apostles had judged that the fittest time for Christians of succeeding Ages to observe it in or that when they heard of an Elias to come before the terrible Day of the Lord or of the Reign of Christ on Earth a Thousand Years represented to St. John in a Vision they might mistake the genuine import of those Scriptures and of others of like nature but in a matter of this kind which was the daily object of the Senses of all Christians we cannot easily conceive how they could possibly mistake and not perceive that such a change was made if really it
Command but being moved to it by the Light of Nature by which although they could not judge them necessary yet might they think them apt Testimonies of their Acknowledgment of God's Goodness to them and of their gratitude to him Now either in these Traditions the Fathers were mistaken or they were not if in these things delivered by them so unanimously they were mistaken this is a farther Argument of the uncertainty of Tradition if they were not mistaken then the Patriarchs before and since the Flood till Moses in their Religious Service were not led by Tradition much less by that alone but rather guided by the Light of Nature And to this Holy Scripture seems plainly to accord declaring That the Heathens had no positive Laws that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Knowledge of God was so revealed Rom. 1.19 20. by the Light of Nature to them That they became inexcusable in that they did not glorify him as God That the Ungodliness and Unrighteousness of Men was so revealed by the Light of Nature to them that they knew that they who did the evil Actions mentioned in the First of Romans were by God's righteous Judgment worthy of Death and that they were condemned in their own Consciences when they committed Sin V. 32. and were obnoxious to Tribulation Rom. 2.15 Wrath and Anguish from God's Justice for so doing though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their Iniquity was by no positive Law forbidden V. 9 12. V. 15. Rom. 12.17 Rom. 2.10 15. That they had the Work of the Law written in their Hearts directing them to what was good teaching them what was honest in the Sight of all Men testifying to them that they did well in the Observance of those things and promising Glory Honour and Peace to them who did them That albeit they were Gentiles V. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having no Law positive or written to direct them yet were they by this Light of Nature a Law unto themselves and did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 keep the righteous Precepts of the Law. Now is it likely V. 26. if God had given to the heathen World so many positive Laws as are here mentioned And if they had been then so to be guided by Tradition and bound under the pain of Damnation to receive such Traditions as the positive Laws of God and to conveigh them still as such to Posterity they should be represented still as without Law As for the Instances here mentioned § 3 and not yet considered some of them vainly are affirmed to be Traditions as V. G. The Doctrine of Original Sin imputed and the Means to be delivered from it The Eternity of Rewards and Punishments The Prohibition of Polygamy Birds in Sacrifice not divided Cleansing and changing of their Garments Some of them might be learned by the Light of Nature as far as it was needful they should know them as What Repentance they were to use viz. That which consisted in ceasing to do Evil That the Soul had a Subsistence when separated from the Body That they who would not submit to the Laws of their Society should be excluded from it or not admitted to the Privileges of that Society which is Excommunication That it was fit to have Times and Places set apart for God's Worship and to tender to him the First Fruits and Tythes of our Encrease to make and pay our Vows to God not to marry with Idolaters Some of them being Matters of continual Practice might very easily be preserved by Tradition to Posterity as v. g. Circumcision not eating of Blood Oblation of First Fruits paying of Tythes though it is certain that they had then no Law for Tythes or offering of First Fruits the Distinction betwixt Clean and Vnclean Meats and Beasts And lastly most of those things which R. H. reckons up as positive Divine Laws are by the learned Dr. Spencer proved to be Customs received from the Gentiles into the Family of Abraham and taken up as things consonant to Reason though not commanded by it It is true also as R. H. observes That Abraham obeyed the Voice of God and kept his Charge his Commandments or moral Precepts Gen. 26.5 his Statutes touching the Service of the True God the Circumcision of his Family and his Laws or Judgments touching the doing Justice and Judgment and that he taught his Children so to do according as God himself had foretold of him Gen. 18.19 saying I know Abraham that he will command his Sons and his House after him to keep the Way of Jehovah to do Justice and Judgment But then it is as true In locum that Chrysostom referrs this Praise of Abraham to his Obedience to God's Voice in leaving of his Fathers House Custodia viae domini dictitur tempore Abrahae id quod cuique ex officio praestandum erat Seld. de jure Nat. l. 1. c. 8. p. 100. going he knew not whither and sojourning in a strange Land in offering his Son Isaac and in casting forth his Son Ismael and not to his observance of any positive and ceremonial Precepts delivered to him by Tradition The things which he conceives he was to teach his Children excepting Circumcision were likewise not of this nature but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to do no Injury to preferr nothing before Justice things taught them by the light of Nature Moreover it well deserves to be observed § 4 That when it pleased God that these and many other Precepts of like nature should be observed by the Jews knowing how little Tradition was to be trusted and how quickly the Progeny of Adam and of Noah had deviated from it in the highest Matters he very exactly prescribes these things in Writings still to be perused by or read unto his People that they might learn to do the things he had commanded The Apostolical Constitutions teach That when Men had corrupted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 8. c. 12. the Law of Nature God gave the Jews the written Law. St. Chrysostom informs us That God gave not his Law in writing to Noah Abraham and Job but finding their Minds pure gave them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Grace of his Holy Spirit instead of Books but when the People of the Jews fell into the Gulf of Wickedness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Matth. p. 1. then was it necessary for them to have the Tables and the written Law to keep them in remembrance of their Duty Theophylact in like manner saith Proem in Matth. That when Men became unworthy to be taught and guided by the Holy Spirit then God the lover of Mankind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gave them the Scriptures that by them they might be made mindful of his Will Declaring that they knew nothing of the derivation of God's positive Worship by Tradition only but thought it necessary that it should be made known unto them either by Writing or the immediate dictates of the
but never to Tradition the Prophets do exhort them for their direction to repair to the Law Esai 8.20.34.16 Mal. 4.4 and to the Testimonies to the Book of the Lord. To remember the Law of Moses which he commanded them in Horeb for all Israel with the Statutes and Judgments as their only certain Rule and Direction Now that the ordinary Succession of Prophets was to cease from the Days of Malachy to the Times of Christ whereas had Oral Tradition also been their Rule the Prophets must have had like reason to call upon them to remember that Moreover God only calls upon them by Moses To do all the Words of this Law which are written in this Book and promiseth his Favour and Acceptance of them upon that account saying If thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God Deut. 30.9 10. Vers 15. to keep his Commandments and Statutes which are written in this Book of the Law I will rejoice over thee for Good. See I have set before thee this day life and good and death and evil And David speaketh thus unto King Solomon 1 Kings 2.3 Keep the Charge of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways to keep his Statutes and his Commandments and his Judgments and his Testimonies as it is written in the Law of Moses that thou maist prosper in all that thou dost and whithersoever thou turnest thy self If then the Observation of what was written in the Law of Moses was sufficient to procure Life Favour Prosperity and Acceptance with God surely this written Law must be a perfect Rule and must sufficiently contain all that was needful to be believed or done unto those ends Hence is the King commanded to write him a Copy of this Law in a Book that he might learn to fear the Lord God Deut. 17.18 19. and to keep all the words of this Law and these Statutes to do them and to perform the words of the Covenant which are written in this Book 2 Chron. 34.31 is to keep God's Commandments his Testimonies and his Statutes with all the Soul and with all the Heart Whereas had Oral Tradition been any part of their Rule they must have been obliged equally to observe what was delivered by it and all God's Statutes and Commandments could not be written in this Book as it is so expresly and frequently declared that they were Our Saviour in like manner bids them Search the Scriptures Joh. 3.39 because they thought in them they had eternal Life in which apprehension had they been deceived as they must have been provided that there was another Law of Oral Tradition given to lead them unto Life eternal our Saviour doubtless would have informed them of this dangerous Error which yet he was so far from doing that when a Lawyer puts the Question to him What shall I do that I may inherit eternal Life Luk. 10.25 26. he Answers What is written in the Law how readest thou This do and thou shalt live Luk. 16.29 And sends the Jews to Moses and the Prophets that by hearing them they might avoid the coming to the Place of Torments but neither he nor his Disciples do ever send them to Tradition or speak one word in approbation of it which is sufficient Evidence that they knew nothing of this Rule of Mr. M. 2dly § 6 The Traditions concerning Doctrines generally believed and Practices needful to be performed among them after the Law was written by Moses and after God had given them a Charge upon the ceasing of the Succession of his Prophets to remember and stick close unto it I say the Traditions which obtained in the Jewish Church as far as we have any certain intimation of them were such as tended to the evacuating of the Law of Moses to the renouncing of the true Messiah and to the introduction of vain Worship and superstitious Observances whence it demonstratively appears that Oral Tradition was not then a certain Rule nor could the Jewish Nation be obliged by divine Precept to receive it as such To make this Evident consider 1. That our Saviour often sends the Jews to Scripture to Moses and the Prophets but never to Tradition 2. That he still represents the great Asserters of Tradition in the Jewish Nation Matth. 15.14.23.16 17 19. Mat. 15.10 11. to wit their Elders Scribes and Pharisees as blind Guides leading of the Blind as Fools and Blind confuteth their Traditions though generally received before all the People Mark 7. Mat. 12.7 Matth. 15.13 justifies his Disciples in the neglect and violation of them pronounces them Plants which his Father had not planted and therefore such as should be rooted up 3dly He plainly tells them That by these Traditions they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 transgress make void Mark. 7.10 and null the Commandment of God. He shews this by plain Instances in their evacuating the Fifth Commandment by their Traditions in observing and enjoining such Traditions touching the Observation of the Sabbatick Rest Matth. 12.7 Matth. 12.12 Luk. 6.9 Mark 3.5 Luke 13.15 Matth. 23.16 23. as contradicted that great Law of God I will have mercy and not sacrifice and made it unlawful to do good and preserve Life upon that day and which sufficiently demonstrated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the blindness of their Minds and their Hypocrisie and in absolving them from their Oaths out of an ignorance so Gross as knew not they were virtually made to God. He also charges them that by thus teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men Matth. 15.9 they rendered God's Worship vain 4thly It is extreamly evident that by virtue of some of these Traditions they rejected the true Messiah and stood obliged by them so to do For First It is most certain that the Jews had a Tradition generally received among them That their Messiah should be a Temporal Prince that at his Coming he should restore the Kingdom to Israel he should subdue the Nations under them and should erect a Temporal Dominion in the Jewish Nation over all their Enemies Trypho the Jew declares to Justin M. That Dial. p. 249. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Scriptures do compel us to expect a great and glorious Messiah who shall receive as the Son of Man from the ancient of Days an everlasting Kingdom In Celsum l. 2. p. 78. not such a mean despised one as was your Jesus The Jews saith Origen say That their Prophets represent their Messiah to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great Person and a Potentate and Lord of the whole Earth and of all the Heathens and their Armies De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 31. Josephus confesseth there was an obscure Oracle found in their S. Books 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That about that time one of Judea should govern the World. Suetonius and Tacitus say In Vespas c 4. Hist l. 5. That it was in the whole East Vetus constans opinio ut
say they in our writings (e) Aug. de Orig an l. 4. c. 1. l. de bono persev c. 21. many things quae possent justo judicio culpari which justly may be blamed so that we would have no man so to embrace all our Sayings as to follow them save only in those things in which they do perceive they have not erred if then their sayings be of any credit and Authority 't is evident from their assertions that they ought not to be admitted as the Rule of faith as being men subject unto like ignorance and errors with us and if their sayings be of no credit much less can they be own'd as the pillars and the ground of truth and yet I find this doctrine laid down expresly by a concealed Heretick Sergius the Patriarch of Constantinople in his Epistle to Cyril where he saith that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Sexto Ep. ad Cyrum episcop Concil To. 6. p. 918. the doctrines of the Fathers are a Law to the universal Church and that we are bound to follow them and to hold all that they have written to the least tittle and evident it is That even from the Fifth Century the sayings of the Fathers began to be had in great Reputation and about the Eighth to be as it were Authentick and Articles of Faith were canvassed and determined both in the Second Nicene Council and in that of Florence chiefly by the pretended Sayings of the Holy Fathers to whose Testimony you very rarely if at all shall find this just Exception made That they were Men of like Infirmities and subject to like Errors as we are One Athanasius or Basil one Nazianzen or Nyssen one Chrysostom and Theodoret in the Eastern Church one Hilary and Ambrose St. Austin Jerom and St. Gregory in the Western Churches have for these six last Centuries signified as much or more than a St. Peter or St. Paul an Apostle or Evangelist and a sed contra Augustinus or sed contra est quod Augustinus dicit through the whole Summs and the whole Body of the Schoolmen hath passed for the Decision of a Question touching Faith or Manners How easy was it then for Errors to come in under the Vmbrage of these venerable Names especially if we consider how many spurious Pieces had usurped their Names which the great Ignorance of latter Ages could not distinguish from their genuine Works how many of their genuine works were horribly corrupted and how fruitful many of those Fathers were in there inventions and how positive they sometimes are in delivering that as the doctrine of the whole Church which was nothing less For instance who that reads St. Austin disputing against the Pelagians could doubt if he believed him that the Doctrine of the Imputation of Original Sin was universally received by all Christians and that on this account the whole Church Baptized Infants and yet Petavius iuforms us Dogm Theol. To. 4. pt 2. l. 14. c. 2. Haeret. Fabul l. 5. c. 18. p. 292. Quid festinat innocens aetas ad remissionem peccatorum Tertul. de Bapt. c. 18. that the Greek Fathers scarcely spake any thing about it yea in that very Age Theodoret expresly denies it putting the Question thus If this be the only work of Baptism to cleanse from Sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 why do we Baptize Children who are not guilty of it and in his Comment on Rom. 5.13 He adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That every one dies for his own Sin and not for that of his Fore fathers Chrysostom on the same place saith In v. 19. To. 3. Hom. 10. p. 73. That for us to be mortal on the occasion of the Sin of Adam is no absurdity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but how can it be that by his Transgression another should become a Sinner for if he did not personally sin Cap. 1. neither could he deserve Punishment Gennadius in his Book of Ecclesiastical Doctrines which passeth still among the Works of St. Austin placeth this as one That that Holy Spirit proceedeth from the Father and Son. Michael Psellus on the contrary saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cap. Theol. c. 10. p. 157. the Holy Catholick Church teacheth that the Spirit proceedeth only from the Father L. 2. c. 1. but not from the Son. To omit many other Instances collected by the learned Dally in that elaborate Treatise of the Use of the Fathers which makes it needless to discourse further on this Head For if the true Fathers were not only subject to many and great Errors in their private Sentiments but also unto manifold Mistakes touching the Doctrine of the Catholick Church if many of their Works have been unhappily corrupted and many spurious Pieces have been imposed upon them so that instead of their Authority Men often have relyed on an Impostor an ignorant Monk or perhaps an Heretick how easy was it in the dark Ages of the Church for Errors to come in at this Door when too much Veneration was by all given to them and their Dictates passed for Oracles Again § 8 New Doctrines and Practices might obtain by flying from the Scriptures to Miracles and Visions for the Establishment of Doctrines and Opinions in the Church That a prevailing Power doth attend these miraculous Operations even when they are performed only by Satan and his Ministers we shall be fully convinced if we consider that our Lord foretold of the false Prophets and false Christs that should come after him they should work Signs and Miracles so great as to deceive Matth. 24.23 if it were posible the very Elect. St. 2 Thes 2.9 Paul that the Apostacy of the Great Antichrist and his Followers should be effected by the coming of Satan with all power Signs Rev. 13.13 14. and lying Wonders St. John of the Apocalyptick beast that he should do great Signs and deceive the Inhabitants of the Earth by the Signs given him to do that at the first appearance of Christianity the Heathens did oppose it from this topick viz. The Signs and Wonders which had been performed by their Heathen Deities saying Frustra tantum arrogas Christo In vain you arrogate so much to Christ for we have often known that other Gods have given Medicines to and healed the Infirmities of many so the Heathen in (a) Arnob. l. 1. p. 28. Arnobius so (b) Apud Orig. l. 8. p. 407 416 417. Celsus so (c) Apud Minut p. 7. Caelius and comparing the Miracles of Apollonius Tyanaeus and of Apuleus with those of Christ (d) Lact. l. 5 c. 3. Aug. Ep. 4. Hieronim apud Euseb p. 512. Quorum majora contendunt esse opera And contending they were greater than any done by him That (e) Acts 8.9 10. Just in Apol 2. p. 69. Cyril Hier. cat 6. p. 53 54 c. Simon Magus mightily prevailed by them and obtained almost where-ever he came to be worshipped as a
evident from History and the Confessions of the Romish Doctors Com in Dan. 14. That as Lyranus saith In Ecclesia aliquando sit deceptio populi in Miraculis factis a Sacerdotibus The Priests of that Church sometimes deceived the People with Miracles Non obscurum est quot opiniones invectae sunt in Orbem per homines ad suum quaestum callidos confictorum miraculorum praesidio p. 188. Cap. 11. §. 11. De purg l. 1. c. 11. quarta Ratio De Sanctorum Beat. l. 1. c. 19. accedant l. 2. c. 12. Argument quartum De Sacr. Euch. l. 3. c. 8. postremum de poenit l. 3. c. 12. quarta Ratio done by them for temporal Advantage That according to the Passage cited by the Lord Faulkland from Erasmus or Sr. Thomas Moor many Opinions have been brought into the World by Men cunning to promote their Profit by the means of feigned Miracles I have already proved from the Testimonies of Romish Writers That by such Miracles they do endeavour to confirm their Doctrines we need no other Witness than their Bellarmine who proves Purgatory from the Apparition of Souls declaring they were in that Place That Saints are to be invoked and Images to be worshipped from the Miracles performed upon the Invocation of the First and the Worship of the Second The corporeal Presence of our Lord in the Sacrament and the jus divinum of Auricular Confession from the same Topick And yet some of their Writers have seen just Reason to confess that some of the Miracles produced to confirm these Articles In sum part 4. qu. 11. Art. 4. §. 3. were either humane or diabolical Impostures Thus Alexander of Hales saith That Flesh appeared in the Sacrament interdum humana procuratione interdum operatione Diabolica sometimes by humane Procurement and sometimes by Procurement of the Devil In Can. Miss lect 49. f. 127. b. And Gabriel Biel doth acknowledge that Miracles are done to Men who run to Images sometimes by the Operation of Devils to deceive those inordinate Worshippers God permitting it and their Infidelity exacting it And the same Verdict may with great Reason be passed upon all the rest they appearing in the World not only after that time when the Fathers tell us Miracles were ceased or not to be regarded and when they said the Power of working Miracles was to be given up to Satan but also after that the Goths the Vandals Longobards Franks and Saxons and other barbarous Nations had over-run the West and brought in a Deluge of most horrid Ignorance this dark and dubious Conjuncture was the very Season when these Romish Miracles began to swarm and fly abroad Then do we hear from Pope Gregory Gregory of Tours Bede and others of the Apparitions of sad Souls to acquaint others with their sad Condition underneath craving for Help from the Prayers Pilgrimages and Masses of the Living a Charity which neither Moses nor the Prophets Jesus Christ or his Apostles ever thought fit to mention or prescribe Then do we hear from the Second Nicene Council from Gregory of Tours and other later Writers of Images bleeding smiling or mourning as Occasion required Then do we read in Paulus Diaconus Paschasius and other Patrons of Transubstantiation of Flesh and Blood and of a little Child appearing in the consecrated Elements Now had such Miracles been truly wrought by divine Power and Assistance upon these Occasions they would have more especially been then performed when the Gift of Miracles continued in the Church and was confessedly common among Christians and done for Confirmation of the Faith and for Conviction of the Vnbeliever they being then more necessary for those great Ends for which they were at first designed nor would the Writers of the first Four Ages have been less careful to mention and appeal unto them than are the Romanists at present whose Histories are stuffed up with them especially they would have mentioned them in those Discourses and Apologies which were design'd on purpose to confirm the Christian Faith from the miraculous Operations done by Christians they being not less zealous to promote the Glory of their Lord the Interests of Christianity the Credit of their Institutions and the true Honour of their Saints than Romish Priests Whereas from the beginning of Christianity to the Days of Constantine we do not find in all the genuine Records of Antiquity one tittle of this Nature They are indeed very copious in relating the miraculous Cures and Operations then performed (a) Clem. Recogn l. 5. §. 36. Euseb Hist Eccl. l. 1. c. 13 p. 34. Iren. l. 2. c. 57. by Imposition of Hands (b) Tertull. ad Scap. c. 4. by anointing of the Sick with Oil (c) Just M. Apol. 1. p. 45. Dial. 247. Iren. l. 2. c. 56 57. Orig. in Cels l. 1. p. 7 20. by Prayer and invocation of the Name of Jesus (d) Just M. Dial. p. 302. Orig. l. 7. p. 334. Lact. l. 4. c. 27. by adjuration of evil Spirits by his Name but of miraculous Apparitions of Souls from Purgatory of Flesh and Blood appearing visibly in the Eucharist of Miracles performed at the Adoration of Images or at auricular Confession they speak not one Word these being Miracles designed for other Ends and reserved for times more worthy of them Thirdly Errors in Doctrine or in Practice Sect. 9 might exceedingly prevail by reason of the great Authority the Vogue and Reputation of those Men who either first began or else gave Countenance to them when begun by others St. Paul well understood what an Inlet to Schisms Contentions and Divisions it would be for Men to cry up Paul Apollo Cephas 1 Cor. i. 12. iv 6. and to be puffed up for one against another and therefore he endeavours to prevent that Evil in the Church of Corinth and in most of his Epistles he is constrained to magnify his Office 2 Cor. c. 10 11 12. and to commend himself in opposition to those false Apostles and deceitful Workers who made it their Business to depress his Authority and to procure Credit and Admiration to themselves It was the great Opinion which the Jews had both of the Scribes and Pharisees which caused them so readily to embrace and superstitiously to Reverence and stiffly to retain those Superstitions and Traditions by which they render'd vain God's Worship and made void his Law. Vide Cap. 11. §. 7. They saith Josephus had the popular Applause as being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most worthy of Credit in the Peoples Judgment and the best Interpreters of their Laws Mr. Wake 's Second Def. Part 1. p. 81. And we at present see how great a Grief it is to some that our Ministers are in the best Sence popular by living so as to deserve the good Opinion and preaching so as to deserve Attention from the People and gaining Reputation to their Doctrine by their Sincerity as well as Learning or in St.
it seems generally to have prevailed in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries yet doth it plainly seem to contradict the Testimony of the Holy Scriptures which teach That when the days of her Purification were accomplished Luk. ij 22 23 Puram aperiens vulvam according to the Law of Moses they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the Law of the Lord Every Male that openeth the Womb shall be called holy to the Lord. L. 4. c. 66. In partu suo nupsit ipsa patefacti corp lege Lib. de Carne Christi c. 23. vid. etiam c. 4. 20. Hom. 14. in Lucam Tom. 2. f. 101. According to the import of which Scripture Irenaeus doth expresly teach That our Lord at his Birth opened the Womb of the Virgin. Tertullian adds That she was a Virgin as not having known Man but was no Virgin quantum a partu at her teeming her Womb being then opened according to that saying Every Male that openeth the Womb c. Origen That Matris domini to tempore vulva reserata est quo partus editus the Womb of the Mother of our Lord was opened when she brought forth her Son. Clemens of Alexandria evidently shews that this was in his time only the saying of some Men attending to the Fable of the false Gospel of St. James That the Midwives after her delivery found by Inspection that she was a Virgin and that others held the contrary for saith he It seemed to many and yet seemeth that Mary was by the Birth of her Son a Woman properly delivered of a Child though she was not Strom. l. 7. p. 756. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Woman properly delivered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for some say that being inspected by the Midwives after the Birth of her Son she was found a Virgin. De Incarn l. 14 cap. 6. §. 1. He respects saith Petavius the Old Wife's Tale invented by some idle Trifler which we find in Suidas and in the Proto-Evangelium S. Jacobi which I could wish he had no otherwise related than by way of Contempt and Derision Thus we learn upon what Grounds this was believed by him against the Opinion of many others St. Basil grounds this Opinion upon another Story of like nature De human Christi Gener. Tom. 1. p. 509. The Story of Zacharias saith he proves that the Virgin Mary was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an entire Virgin for it is derived to us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from Tradition that Zacharias was slain between the Porch and the Altar for saying Qui hujusmodi Traditioni non credunt that Mary was a Virgin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the Birth of our Lord. Origen delivers the same thing in the like words In Matt. Hom. 26. f. 49. b. In Matth. 23.35 Venit ad nos Traditio quaedam Such a Tradition hath come down to us And Theophylact 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We have it from Tradition and yet Origen in the same place confesseth that this Tradition was not believed by others In locum and Jerom saith That it came Ex Apocryphorum Somniis From apocryphal Dreams and adds That Quia de scripturis non habet autoritatem eadem facilitate contemnitur qua probatur Because it hath no Authority from Scripture it is as easily condemned as approved of And thus we see the rise of this Tradition which afterwards prevailed over the Christian World. 3ly § 5 That our Lord lived above Fourty if not to Fifty Years Sicut Evangelium omues seniores testantur qui in Asia apud Joannem Discipulum Domini convenerunt id ipsum tradidisse eis Joannem L. 2. c. 39. is the express Assertion of Irenaeus and for this he produceth the Testimony of the Gospel and of all the Elders of the Church who met S. John the beloved Disciple of our Lord in Asia and declared that he delivered to them the same thing yea saith he some of them saw not only John but the rest of the Apostles and heard the same things from them testantur de hujusmodi Relatione and testifie the truth of the Relation To say with Feuardentius upon the place that he might have had this from Papias is a very unlikely thing for he speaks not of the Testimony of one Man but of all the Seniors not of Men who had never seen the Apostles as Papias had not but of them who had he cites not Papias as in the Case of the Millennium he did here therefore is a solemn Declaration of a Tradition received from the Mouth of the Apostles and attested by all the Seniors and yet so far from being in the Gospel as is pretended that by the Gospel it may be evidently confuted so far from being owned as such in after Ages that upon a very slight Ground even the saying of the Prophet Isaiah Vid. Feuard in Iren. p. 46. 188. That Christ was sent to Preach the Acceptable Year of the Lord many of the Fathers took up a contrary Opinion that our Lord Suffered in the Fifteenth Year of Tiberius and preached One Year only When Jesus came to his Baptism saith Clemens of Alexandria 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strom. 1. p. 340. he was about Thirty Years old and that he was to Preach but One Year is thus written He sent me to Preach the Acceptable Year of the Lord this both the Prophet and the Gospel according to the plain meaning of the Words averr say some in Origen Hom. 32. in Luk. f. 111. That our Lord Preached the Gospel but one Year and that on this account it was said Cap. 8. that he was sent to Preach the Acceptable Year of the Lord. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 L 1. c. 1. p. 16. Tertullian in his Book against the Jews saith That Christ suffered annos habens quasi triginta being about Thirty Years Old. Lactantius Africanus and others cited by Feuardentius say the same And yet this was no better than an Opinion first invented by the Gnosticks as we learn from Irenaeus and for which they produced the same Text and 't is as easily confuted by the Enumeration of the Passovers our Saviour Celebrated after his Baptism and before his Death Now if a Tradition could so generally obtain in the Fifth Century which had its rise from Fabulous Legends and Apocryphal Dreams against plain Words of Scripture and plain Assertions of the Fathers living in the former Centuries as that of our Lords coming out of the Womb of the Virgin without opening of it did why might not other Traditions pretended by some later Councils and the Church of Rome be of like nature Why may we not credit the Council of Frankford In lib. Carol. p. 3. c. 30. declaring that the Second Nicene Council for their pretended Tradition of Image-Worship had recourse ad Apocryphas quasdam risu dignas naenias to Apocryphal and Ridiculous Tales Comment
Chalcedon Can 1. Can. 2. and afterwards by that in Trullo and therefore was allowed by the whole Church of God. St. Cyril of Jerusalem instructs his Catecumen That the Apostles and James the Bishop of Jerusalem had writ a Catholick Epistle to the Gentiles to teach them to abstain from things offered to Idols things strangled and from Blood and then he adds Catech. 4. p. 34. c. de cibis That they who licked up the Blood of Beast and spared not to eat things strangled were like to wild Beasts and Dogs these saith he are the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Institutions touching Meats which it behoves you to observe In the Fifth Century St. Jerom declares In Ezek. 45. p. 245. That according to the Letter the Decree contained in the Fifteenth of the Acts obligeth every Christian not to eat the Flesh of any dead Sheep or Cattle quorum nequaquam sanguis effusus est whose Blood is not poured forth And Chrysostom on the place saith These Constitutions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though they concern the Body yet are they necessary to be kept In the Sixth Century the Second Council of Orleans declares A. D. 536. can 20. That they who eat of that which is choaked by any Disease or Chance or killed by the bitings of Beasts shall be excluded from the Communion of the Church and if any person after this diligent Sanction Can. 22. doth not observe these things reos se divinitatis pariter fraternitatis judicio futuros esse cognoscant let them know they shall be guilty both in the Judgment of God and of the Brotherhood In the Seventh Century this was Decreed by the Sixth General Council held in Trullo in these words Can. 67. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Holy Scripture hath commanded us to abstain from Blood things strangled and from Fornication he therefore who attempts to eat the Blood of any Creature any way if he be a Clerk let him be deposed Cap. 18 19. if he be a Lay-man let him be Excommunicated In the Penitential of Theodorus Archbishop of Canterbury we have this Rule prescribed Hast thou eaten that which died of it self or was torn by Beasts thou must do penance Forty Days if thou hast eaten Blood thou must do likewise Now of this Theodorus Rabanus doth inform us Ep. ad Humbert apud Regin de discip Eccl. l. 2. c. 200. That he was fully instructed in the Customs both of the Eastern and the Western Churches and that he could be ignorant of nothing which was then observed by the Greeks or Romans and therefore we may rationally conclude that what he thus prescribed was only that which was observed both in the East and Western Churches In the Eigth Century Gregory the Third who was made Pope A. Can. poenit c. 30. D. 731. puts this among his penitential Canons That he who hath eaten that which died of it self if he did this ignorantly shall do Penance Twenty Days if knowingly Forty Days And Bede informs us That he who comes to penance must be asked Can. de diversis causis c. 14. Whether he had eaten that which died of it self or was torn by Beasts and if so he must do Penance Forty Days and the like must be done by him who hath eaten Blood. Novel 58. Bals in Syn. Trull can 67. Leo the Emperor made a Law to punish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those who did eat any kind of Blood. In the Ninth Century Regino doth not only produce out of the Penitentials the same Canons against eating things strangled and Blood De discipl Eccles l. 2. c. 369 373. De discipl Eccles l. 2. c. 374. but adds moreover that admonendi sunt fideles ut nullus praesumat sanguinem manducare the Faithful are to be admonished that none of them do presume to eat Blood for this was forbidden in the beginning when first God gave Men liberty to eat Flesh and it is also forbidden in the New Testament where things strangled and Blood are compared with Fornication and Idolatry to teach us quantum piaculum sit sanguinem comedere what an heinous thing it is to eat Blood. In the Eleventh Century Humbertus plainly shews that this was then esteemed unlawful both in the Eastern and the Western Churches Apud Baron Tom. 11. p. 986. For we saith he of the West do not defend against you Greeks the eating of things strangled and Blood Antiquam enim consuetudinem seu traditionem Majorum retinentes nos quoque haec abominamur For retaining the ancient Custom or Tradition of our Ancestors we also do abominate these things imposing grievous Penance upon them who do this without great peril of Life and this we do especially quia antiquas consuetudines traditiones Majorum quae non sunt contra fidem leges Apostolicas arbitramur because we judge the Ancient Customs and Traditions of our Ancestors which are not opposite to the Faith to be Apostolical Laws And yet when Transubstantiation was once fully established in the West as it was in the Twelfth and the beginning of the Thirteenth Centuries then they perceived they could no longer with any truth assert as did the Ancient Fathers that they did ab humano sanguine cavere abstain from eating humane Blood but believing they did eat Blood with the Flesh in the Sacrament they gave all Men liberty to do it elsewhere Whence Balsamon in the Twelfth Century speaks thus In Can. 67. Concil Trull 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Latins do indifferently eat things strangled and if in this instance that which in the Eleventh Century was by the Western Churches held in abomination and worthy of most grievous Penances as being opposite both to the Laws of the Apostles and the Traditions of the Ancients might in the next Century be generally allowed and practised as a thing indifferent why might not a like change happen in the same Church in a like space of time touching the Doctrine of the corporeal Presence or any other Article of Christian Faith. Thirdly § 7 The Ancient Church unanimously and constantly declared it was a thing plainly repugnant to Scripture and to true Religion and proper unto Hereticks to punish any man with death for his Religion or his Heresie and she refused Communion with them that did so And 1. They declared this practice opposite to our Lord's precept Not to gather up the Tares by themselves Matth. xiij 29 30. but let them both grow together till the Harvest He introduceth his Servants saying Wilt thou that we pluck up the Tares that he might tell them saith St. Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Locum that it was unlawful to cut them off He forbids Wars and Blood and Slaughters to be made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for it is not lawful to cut off the Heretick Christ here forbids not to stop their Mouths restrain and hinder their boldness of Discourse dissolve
Latina Ecclesia Presbyteris licuisse uti conjugio That even in the Latin Church it was sometimes Lawful for Priests to use Matrimony Scotus confesseth that it is very true Sent. 4. dist 37. qu. 1. Art. 1. That Secundum consuetudinem primitivae Ecclesiae according to the Constitution of the primitive Church it was lawful to use Matrimony contracted before Orders Cap. 4. De invent rerum l. 5. c. 4. p. 344. Clictovaeus in his Discourse of the Celebacy of Priests and Polydore Virgil do with one Voice affirm That Pope Syricius who held that See A.D. 387. was the first who imposed the Law of Celebacy on the Clergy It remains saith Cassander That this Law should be relaxed to those who shall hereafter be ordained Et more veteris Ecclesiae Consult Art. 23. p. 199. huc usque Orientalium Ecclesiarum And that after the Custom of the Ancient Church and of the Eastern Churches to this Day Honest Husbands should be admitted to the Ministry of the Church and out of the Time of their Ministry should be allowed the use of their Wives according to the Canon of the Sixth General Synod Wicelius in his Via Regia Apud Calixt de conjug cler p. 457. declares that the Marriage of Priests was unforbidden In primitiva Christi Ecclesia tam Orientis quam Occidentis in the Primitive Church both of East and West and that it agrees not only with the Gospel but also cum Veterum Synodorum Constitutionibus cum exemplis Veteris Ecclesiae with the Constitutions of Ancient Synods with the Examples of the Ancient Church yea even with the Examples of the Church of Rome such as she was Five hundred Years ago CHAP. XI Answer is given to the Arguments of Mr. M. for the Infallibility of Tradition as v. g. 1. That the World had no other Rule for the first Two thousand Years § 1. Answered 1st by shewing that this proves not the thing in Question which is not Whether nothing can come down unto us by Tradition but Whether in long tract of time Men may not add to the Traditions which truly they received others which falsly they pretend to be such and Whether pretences to Tradition may not be justly scrupled when ancient Records not only do say nothing of but plainly contradict them Ibid. 2dly That this Argument contradicts the Tradition of the Jews touching the Precepts of Noah only imposed upon the World before and of the Christians generally teaching Men were then guided by the Law not of Tradition but of nature § 2. The Instances contained in this Argument considered § 3. 3dly It is proved that both the Antediluvians and they who lived after the Flood were very prone to Idolatry and that God therefore would not trust them with any positive Precepts but such as were Recorded in a written Law § 4. Mr. M ' s. Second Argument That for above Two thousand Years more from Moses to Christ 's time the Church was governed partly by Writing and partly by Tradition Answ 1. The contrary is proved both from the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament § 5. 2. That the Traditions which obtained in the Jewish Church were such as tended to the Evacuation of the Law of Moses the Introduction of vain Worship and the renouncing of the true Messiah § 6. This is farther demonstrated from the Scriptures of the New Testament and Josephus § 7. Mr. M's Third Argument That when the Scriptures were given to the Jewish Church all other Nations were guided only by Tradition and yet had many true Believers among them as Job c. Answ 1. That the Scripture manifestly declares that the Heathens generally were guilty of Idolatry and that God had given them a Law not of Tradition but of Nature § 8.2 That Job and his Friends believed in one God not by Tradition but the Light of Nature according to the Fathers § 9.3 That when Christianity appeared the great Plea of the Heathens for it was Tradition which they pleaded after the manner of the Romanists § 10. The Answer of the Christians to this Plea is a full Justification of the Protestants and a demonstration that they were not Roman Catholicks in this Matter § 11. For 1st They represent it as the greatest folly to preferr Custom before Reason 2ly They add That their Ancestors were prone to receive Fables and monstrous Opinions for Truths which also Romanists confess of the Writers of their Histories 3dly That this was the Rise of all their Errors that they followed their Fathers without consulting Truth 4thly That they who pleaded Antiquity were themselves the greatest Innovators 5thly That there was a time when the Heathen Religion was New Ibid. In defence of their own Proceedings they declare 1st That it is the property of wise Men not to be enslaved to their former Opinions 2dly That their Adversaries ought not to run them down with prescription or the belief of their Ancestors but fairly come to the Merits of the Cause § 12. 3dly That they ought not to be run down with multitude that being no mark of the true Religion 4thly That they ought not to be called to yield a blind assent to the dictates of other Men without using their own Judgments 5thly That their Separation from their fore-Fathers must be acknowledged Just and Righteous because they could shew wherein they had erred Lastly That their Religion was not New but only it was lately that they knew it to be the true and old Religion § 13. Obj. 4. That before the New Testament was written and divulged all Christians were governed by Tradition only § 14. Answ 1. That the Four Gospels which were always judged sufficiently to contain the Christian Doctrine were writ soon after the Preaching of the Gospel 2. That till then the Apostles Preached only out of the Old Testament and exhorted their Hearers to attend to it as their Rule Ibid. 3. That the Tradition of the Primitive Church declared it necessary that Scriptures should be written to be to us a Rule of Faith § 15. Mr. M ' s. Fourth Argument that the Traditions of the Church of Rome may be as fully proved as it can be proved to one that never saw London that there is such a City and that it is the Capital City of this Kingdom shewed to be highly vain § 16. HAving thus shewed the uncertainty of Tradition in many Cases and proved that the Doctrines of the Church of Rome have not descended by Tradition from the Apostles or the Primitive Church I now proceed to Answer what Mr. M. doth offer to prove the certainty of Oral Tradition in the General and of some Romish Doctrines in Particular And § 1 1. Mr. M. saith That all the Faith which true Believers had in those Two thousand Years before the Scriptures of the Old Testament were written Pag. 335. had no other Ground than the Revelation of God as proposed
by the Tradition of the Church present to all Believers in every Age in which those Believers lived That the whole World was governed by Tradition only for the first Two thousand Years And he is so exact as to enumerate the very Tenets which they held by Tradition viz. The fall of Adam and their Conception in Original Sin. The means to be used to free themselves and their Children from it The immortality of the Soul and that the Rewards and Punishments of the next Life lasted for ever What Repentance they were to use That they were to stand fast to their Traditions and account it a damnable Sin to forsake them The Observation of the Sabbath the Precept of not eating Blood obliging all the World the distinction betwixt clean and unclean Meats and Beasts the Precept of Circumcision observed Four hundred Years by Abraham 's Posterity by Tradition the Covenant God made with Abraham that he should be the Father of many Nations Disc p. 91. and that the Messiah should be born of his Seed R. H. informs us of other Positive Divine Laws viz. Those of Sacrifice Firstlings Holocausts Peace-Offerings Birds in Sacrifice not divided mention of the Holy Times Places Persons Prophets of Tythes paid to the Priest Purifyings Cleansings changing their Garments Vows Prohibition of Polygamy contracting Marriages with Vnbelievers Excommunication And these Laws saith he we may presume were received from an external infallible Proponent and were preserved by the Ecclesiastical Superiors and Teachers of these Laws in such a manner as those delivered since and for the certainty of their Religion there seems an Infallibility in these as necessary if not more for solving the great doubts arising therein before as after the times of a written Law. Such Arguments as this and those that follow are not worthy of any consideration by reason of their great impertinency were it not upon this account that it is easie to evince they are so far from being Arguments for that they are certain Demonstrations against the certainty and the Infallibility of the Traditions disputed betwixt us and the Church of Rome and plainly overthrow the Cause they were designed to maintain To make this evident let it be noted First That the Controversy betwixt us and the Church of Rome is not this Whether any thing may be derived down to Posterity by Tradition for this we have confessed in many Cases and where Tradition from the beginning can undoubtedly be had we own it But the Question is Whether they who own or have Tradition for their Rule may not add many things to that which truly was received by Tradition pretending falsly that they also were derived by Tradition to them For if this may be so the Church of Rome may also own at present Tradition for her Rule and yet with the like falshood may pretend that many Doctrines and Practices descended by a Primitive Tradition to her and the Traditions here enumerated may also truly bear that name and yet the very same persons may have handed down at the same time many other Practices and Doctrines under the same pretence which tended to corrupt the Faith and Manners of those very Ages Secondly The great Enquiry is Whether in tract of time viz. the space of Sixteen hundred Years such Doctrines and practices may not be admitted and owned as Primitive Traditions by a prevailing party of Gentiles Jews or Christians which were nothing less than so For if this hath been actually so before and after the writing of the Law of Moses and also since the publication of the Gospel then may the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome in so long tract of time be thus admitted and yet be nothing less than Primitive Traditions And Thirdly Whether Pretences to Tradition may not justly be suspected when ancient Records which had equal reason to take notice of them and could not have condemned what the whole Church received as a Divine Verity not only do say nothing of but plainly contradict them Having premised these things I answer Fourthly § 2 That these great Pretenders to Tradition in this Assertion contradict both the Tradition of the Jews and of the Ancient Fathers The Tradition of the Jews Selden de jure Nat. l. 1. c. 8. p. 102. c. 10. p. 116. ad p. 126. who unanimously declare That the Law given to the World after the Fall of Adam was only that of the Precepts of Noah against Idolatry 2. Blasphemy 3. Murther 4. Vnlawful Copulation 5. Theft 6. The Law concerning Civil Government all which are Laws of Nature And 7. The Law forbidding to eat Blood. The Fathers also generally assert Vid. Seld. ib. l. 1. c. 8. p. 98 99. Apol. 2. p. 83. That before the written Law men lived according to the Law of Nature So Justin Martyr That God admonished them Per naturalia praecepta quae ab initio infixa dedit hominibus nihil plus ab iis exquisivit by the natural Precepts from the beginning implanted in their Hearts and required nothing more of them So Irenaeus That it was Reason L. 4. c. 28. or Philosophy which before the coming of our Saviour was necessary to make them Righteous and that it was their Schoolmaster to bring them to Christ Strom. 1. p 282. So Clemens of Alexandria That they were guided by the Law written In Naturalibus tabulis De Cor. Milit. c. 6 Adv. Jud. c. 2. in the Tables of their Heart which was the common Law of the World and that it was this Law of Nature which à Patribus custodiebatur was observed by the Fathers and by which Noah Abraham and Melchizedeck were Righteous Praepar Evang l. 7. c. 7. So Tertullian That before the written Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were adorned with the Virtue of Piety by right Reason so Eusebius That God led the Heathens to Piety 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Law of Nature Serm. 1. Contr. Graec. ad Sylberg p. 20. and of the Creation so Theodoret. Particularly they inform us That before Moses the Patriarchs observed not the Sabbath That without the Observation of it all the just Men forenamed viz. Adam Abel Enoch Lot Noah and Melchezedeck Dial. cum Tryph. p. 236.245 L. 4. cap. 30. Adv. Jud. c. 2. 4. Hist Eccl. l. 1. c. 4. Praep. Evang l. 7. c. 6. Demonstr Ev. l. 1. c. 6. pleased God and after them Abraham and his Posterity till Moses so Justin Martyr That Abraham was justified Sine observatione Sabbathi without the Observation of the Sabbath so Irenaeus Non Sabbatizabant The Patriarchs did not keep the Sabbath saith Tertullian They took no care of Circumcision or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Observation of the Sabbaths saith Eusebius Secondly of Sacrifices they affirm that Abel Noah Qu. Resp ad Orthod qu. 83. Const Apost l 6. c 20 p. 284. and others offered them not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Divine
Holy Spirit dwelling in their Hearts They also add that this written Law was given 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Constit Apost ibid. p. 349. to supply the defects of the Law of â—â—ature by that God who would not suffer them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be seduced clearly insinuating that Tradition without this written Law was not sufficient to supply the defects of that of Nature or to preserve them from Error As will be farther evident if we consider That both the Antediluvians and they who lived after the Flood and before the Writing of the Law of Moses had generally corrupted their ways and deviated from that Tradition which they undoubtedly received from Adam and from Noah touching the Worship of the true and only God. For even whilst Adam was alive In Gen. 4.26 and had not passed half his days Men began saith the Chaldee Paraphrast to prophane the Name of the Lord Ainsw in Gen. 4. v. 26. by ceasing to pray to him The Hebrew Doctors tell us That in the Days of Enosh the Sons of Adam erred with great Error and the Counsel of the Wise Men of that Age became Brutish and their Error was this They said forasmuch as God hath Created these Stars and Spheres to govern the World and set them on high and imparted honour to them and they are Ministers that Minister before him it is meet that Men should Laud and Glorifie and give them Honour for this is the Will of God that we magnifie and honour whomsoever he magnifies and honoureth When this thing was come up into their Hearts they began to build Temples to Stars and to offer Sacrifice to them and to Laud and Glorifie them with Words and to Worship before them that they might in their evil Opinion obtain favour of the Creator and this was the Root of Idolatry Ibid. And hence in the ancient Commentaries of the Hebrews the Age of Enosh is represented as a wicked Age. In the time of Enoch and before the death of Adam wickedness had mightily prevailed even among the Sons of God or Members of the Church for Enoch is mentioned as the only Man who adhered perfectly to God and of him it is said Wisd 4.10 Vers 11 14. That he lived among Sinners and that God took him away from among the wicked least their evil Example should corrupt his Righteous Soul. After his Assumption we find that Men had generally declined to iniquity that all Flesh had corrupted their Ways Gen. 6.12 excepting Noah and his Family that they had forsaken God and given up themselves to Idolatry saying to God Job 22.17 Depart from us and what can the Almighty do for us About an Hundred Years after the Flood they set themselves with one Consent to build the Tower of Babel in opposition to God and in which say the Hebrews Ainsw ibid. they designed an Idol Temple Nahor and Tharah the Progenitors of Abraham were Idolaters Gen. 31.30 53. and after the Call of Abraham they continued so to be In the Family of Isaac Esau and his Wives were a bitterness of Spirit to Isaac and Rebecca because they served God with strange Service saith the Jerusalem Tergum that is with Idolatry In the Family of Jacob Gen. 31.22 Gen. 35.2 Rebecca steals her Fathers Images In his House were worshippers of strange Gods and Retainers of Idols When the Israelites lived in Aegypt they so complied with their Rites Praepar Evang. l. 7. c. 28. saith Eusebius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as to forget the Piety of their Fore-fathers They learned in Aegypt Serm. 2. adv Graec. p. 492. saith Theodoret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to worship many Gods with them They committed Whoredom in Aegypt saith Ezekiel Ezek 23 2-19 they multiplied the Whoredoms they had committed in the Land of Aegypt Whence Joshua speaks thus unto them Josh 24.14 Put away the Gods which your Fathers served in Mesopotamia and in Aegypt Here then is Evidence sufficient First That the first Ages of the World were not abandoned only to the uncertainty of Tradition but were guided partly by the Light of Nature and partly by immediate Revelation Tradition being by Divine Wisdom judged a more imperfect Guide than the dim Light of Nature Secondly That when it pleased God to give his People Positive and ceremonial Laws he would by no means leave them to the uncertainty of Tradition but commanded that they should be written in a Book for a Memorial to and for a Testimony against them and should thence be read by and to them that they and the Generations to come might learn them And Thirdly That the Service of the one true God received by Tradition from Adam Enoch and others before the Flood from Noah Melchizedeck Abraham and the Patriarchs after the Flood was presently corrupted and utterly defaced by Idolatry to let us see how insufficient meer Tradition is since even in the Days and Lives of them who lived so long and who delivered this Fundamental Article of Worshipping the one true God unto their Off-spring they saw them running headlong to Idolatry and adding many corrupt Inventions and vain Imaginations of their own unto that Worship they had received by Tradition from them Secondly § 5 Object 2 Mr. M. adds That for above Two thousand Years more P. 415. P. 231. from Moses until Christ's time the Church was governed partly by Writing and partly by Tradition For the Jews had at least two undeniable Traditions For they knew only by Tradition what remedy was to be used to free their Female Children from Original Sin as also to free their Male Children in danger of Death before the Eighth Day This Remedy they knew and observed and were bound to know and observe and yet they infallibly knew it without having any Scripture expressing to them the knowledge of this Remedy or of their Obligation to use it or that it was so necessary for the Salvation of their Children whom they did believe to be in Original Sin and by that debarred from Salvation unless some Remedy were applyed Some Remedy surely was as necessary for the Female as Circumcision for the Male. Shew me this Remedy in Scripture 2. They truly believed some of those bloody Sacrifices to have been appointed to them by God for the expiation of their Sins but they could not believe truly that these Sacrifices could expiate their Sins by their own Virtue they believing then that these Sacrifices had their expiative Virtue from the Merits of Christ Shew me any Text in which this was then written 1. Reply That the Jewish Church until Christ's time was governed partly by Tradition or that Tradition was their partial Rule of Faith in reference to any necessary Doctrines or Rules of Manners will appear a vain Imagination if we consider that in the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament they are still sent unto the written Word to learn their Duty
derive some of these Malmon port Mosis p. 36 37 38. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Traditions down from Moses and their own Writers do expresly teach That they were Traditions received from the Mouth of Moses They therefore must be taught whilst these Church Guides and Rulers were infallible and the true Judges of Tradition if ever they were so and if the Jewish Doctors might so generally mistake in Fathering these Traditions upon Moses why may not others do the like in Fathering theirs on the Apostles Thirdly Observe that the Jewish Worship and Religion was then thought partly to consist in them and partly in the written Law Gal. 1.14 for St. Paul tells us That he profited much 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Jews Religion being zealous for the Traditions received from his Forefathers And besides his being a strict observer of the Law he adds in the same place That he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of that Sect of Pharisees which joined Traditions to the Law of Moses Antiq. Judaic l. 18. c. 2. of whom Josephus saith That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whatsoever was Divine whether respecting Prayers or the performance of things Sacred were done according to their Expositions or Traditions Moreover these Traditions were saith our Saviour taught for Doctrines they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 belonging to their Laws saith Josephus the neglect of the Observance of them was look'd on as an high Transgression they being say their own Records equal to if not more weighty than the Law. The Jews were therefore in this Matter true Roman Catholicks receiving these Traditions as part of their Rule of Faith Pari pietatis affectu with like affection as the written Word And Lastly These Traditions were generally received by the Jewish Nation no Man gainsaying the Observance of them but some few Sadduces who in reality were Hereticks and by the Jews reputed Schismaticks Cap. 7. v. 3. Antiq. Judaic l. 13 c. 18. For the Pharisees and all the Jews held the Tradition of the Elders saith St. Mark Josephus informs us That the Pharisees had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the multitude on their side That they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Persons which seemed to the People most worthy of Credit and the best Interpreters of their Laws They were the Men saith Christ who sate in Moses's Chair and their very Question Mark 7.5 Why walk not thy Disciples according to the Tradition of the Elders insinuates that it was a new and a strange thing among them to find any one of Reputation who transgressed their Traditions Let then the Roman Doctors tell us how vain and false Traditions might thus generally obtain among the Jews and pretend to be derived from Moses and even to be part of the Instructions he received from God when they were nothing less and we will tell them how the like Traditions might by them be receiv'd as Apostolical or let them say why we must be esteemed Hereticks and Schismaticks for rejecting such Traditions as our Dear Lord's Disciples with his own approbation did reject and which he taught even the Common People to contemn And now to Answer directly to his Instances First To that of Original Sin. We call upon him to prove 1. That they had any knowledge of the Imputation of it Dogm Theol. Tom. 4. part 2. l. 14. c. 2. and well we may when his own Petavius confesseth That the Greek Church hath spoke very rarely of it Secondly We desire him to prove that Circumcision was necessary for the Salvation of the Male and his Justification from Original Sin this is another School Notion with which the ancient Church of God was not acquainted yea which they most expresly do gainsay they having solemnly declared that Abraham received it for a Sign but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just M. Dial. cum Tryph. p. 241. not for Justification b Non in salutis praerogativam Tert. adv Judaeos c 2 3. not for Salvation c Non quasi consummatricem justiciae Iren. l. 4. c. 30. not for the Consummation of Righteousness d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Hom. 39. in Gen. p. 321 322. not for the Freedom of the Soul for it availeth nothing for the advantage of the Soul and that because it was administred to Children who could receive no Spiritual advantage and no Justification by it that it hath e Pseud Ambros in 4. ad Rom. nothing of Dignity in it but is barely a Sign And had it been prescribed as the School-men dream for a Remedy against Original Sin what Remedy had they for it before the Institution of the Ceremony of Circumcision Were all their Children damned in Aegypt or in the Wilderness because they were not Circumcised To his Second Instance of the Relation which their Sacrifices had to the Expiation to be made by the Death of Christ I Answer 1st That it appears not that they had any knowledge of this Mystery and 2dly That if this was a Tradition at any time made known to them it is a demonstration that Tradition is no sure preserver of things most needful to be known it being certain that before our Saviour's time they had quite lost this Notion for they believed not that their Messiah the Son of David was to die much less that he should shed his Blood as a propitiatory Sacrifice for their Sins they had learn'd out of the Law interpreted by the Scribes Joh. 12.34 Mark 9.32 Luk. 9.45.18.34 That Christ abided for ever and therefore wondered to hear our Saviour speak of his being lifted up and when his own Disciples heard him speak of his being delivered up to Death they understood not that Saying 3. § 8 Mr. M. farther adds That the Scriptures written by Moses were given only to the Church of Israel Obj. 3d. P. 337. all other Nations as they had then several true Believers among them when Abraham was separated from them so there is not the least mention of their Total decay of Belief after that separation All they then still believed upon Tradition and so true Faith might be preserved among many who never heard of Scripture till Christ's time P. 338. That Job and his Friends lived not among the Progeny of Abraham and yet Job was most eminent in Vertue and true Faith and his Friends believed in one God held the Resurrection of the Flesh and that God should judge all Men according to their Works and divers other Points relying still only upon Tradition Whereas Mr. M. declares Repl. 1. That there is not the least mention of the Total decay of the belief of other Nations when they were separated from Abraham and when the Scriptures were given by Moses to the Jews it it already proved that Abraham at his Separation left his Kindred under Idolatry And as for all the Nations round about the Jews and even under the whole Heavens Moses informs us Deut. 4.19 Ps
135.15 Ps 96.5 That they worshipped the Host of Heaven The Psalmist That their God's were Silver and Gold the works of Mens hands That all the Gods of the Nations were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Daemons or wicked Spirits In the New Testament we are taught That God suffered all Nations in time past Acts 14.16 1 Cor. 1.21 Rom. 1.21 Gal. 4.8 to walk after their own ways That they knew not God nor did they glorifie him as God That they became vain in their Imaginations and their foolish Hearts were darkened That they served them who by nature were no Gods yea even in the time of Moses the Gods of the People round about the Jews whether nigh unto them Deut. 13.17 or far from them from the one end of the Earth unto the other end thereof were other Gods and yet 't is certain That their Ancestors must have some time or other received from their Forefathers the Worship of the true and only God which therefore is a Demonstration of the uncertainty of Doctrines received only by Tradition and that Men are exceeding apt to corrupt what they do thus receive Moreover the Scripture in plain Opposition to Mr. M. declares That God made known his Godhead and eternal Power to the Heathens Rom. 1.19 20. not by Tradition but by the visible things of the Creation that he left not himself without a Witness not by giving them Traditions Acts 14.17 but in affording to them fruitful Seasons That they had a Law not of Traditions written in their Memories but of Nature Rom. 2.14 15 16. written in their Hearts by which they did pass Sentence of Approbation or Condemnation of their Actions and by which they were to be judged at the last Day That as for their Traditions Coloss 2.8 they were vain Deceits and the Traditions of Men 1 Pet. 1.18 Traditions received from their Fathers which rendered their Conversation vain so far were these inspired Persons from believing that true Faith was preserved among the Heathen by Tradition Secondly That Job and his Friends believed in one God c. § 9 not by Tradition but by the Light of Nature Chrysost Caten in Job p. 2. the Fathers do inform us saying that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he by Nature did the things required by the Law using his untaught Knowledge And that the Notions by which he was directed were Ibid. p. 391. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 congenial to his Nature and such as God had planted in his Mind And whereas Mr. M. aslerts That he believed the Resurrection of the Flesh of which he could not be informed by the Light of Nature I answer This cannot be proved from those Words of Job For I know that my Redeemer liveth Job 19.25 26. c. seeing the Import of them may be only this I know that my Redeemer who always liveth can hereafter deliver me out of this miserable Condition and though the Worms which have eaten my Skin should proceed to consume my Flesh yet I feel my Soul inspired with a comfortable Belief that before I die I shall see my self restored by the Mercy of God to an happy Estate and in this Uncertainty the Ancients leave this Passage saying That he may be conceived here to assert that God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cat. p. 341. will raise him out of the Earth by a Resurrection or that delivering him from his Disease he will again renew his Skin corrupted with it and that this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deliverance from his Troubles might be called a Resurrection Thirdly § 10 When Christianity was first preached to the Heathen World and Christians called upon the Heathens to turn from their dumb Idols to the living God and from their vain Customs received by Tradition from their Fathers to the pure and spiritual Worship of the Deity the Heathens pleaded for their Superstitions and Idolatries by the very same Arguments which Mr. M. and others of his Party use for the Defence of their own Superstitions against the Protestant Religion saying That it was the Religion delivered to them from their Fathers their Divines and Guides on whose Discretion and Judgment it became them to depend That it became them to receive as true what was thus handed down unto them from their Ancestors and that Men ought not to be permitted to examine it by their own private Reason but to believe it upon so long and General Tradition though they saw no Reason for it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 57. Clemens Alexandrinus tells us their Plea was this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is not reasonable that we should change the Customs delivered to us from our Fathers Tertullian saith Apol. c. 6. That this was their Apology for their Worship That they did Fidelissime tueri a patribus traditum most faithfully adhere to the Tradition of their Fathers Praepar Evang l. 1. c 10. p. 40. Eusebius saith That the Heathen Worship still obtained upon the Score of keeping 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Depositum committed to them and handed down by their Forefathers through many Ages and that they look'd upon it as Irreligious 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 L. 1. c. 2. p. 5. to relinquish the Customs delivered to them from their Fathers and to desert those Gods which were received 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the Beginning both by the Greeks and the Barbarians This saith he was with them a fixed Rule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That every Man ought to worship according to the Custom of their Country to walk by and follow the Piety of his Forefathers and to adhere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Customs and Determinations which had obtained of old Thus in Pseudo-Clemens Recogn l. 5. c. 30. they conclude it Impious to prevaricate in the Religion delivered to them from their Ancestors and not to worship those Gods Quae nobis tradita sunt a Majoribus nostris which were delivered to us by the Tradition of our Ancestors If you ask them a Reason of their Perswasion saith Lactantius they can give you none L. 5. c. 19. p. 517. Sed ad Majorum judicium confugiunt but they fly to the judgment of their Ancestors saying they were wise Men they knew what was best They persevere saith he pertinaciously to desend their Religions as being a Majoribus traditae delivered by their Ancestors not considering the Quality of them Sed ex hoc probatas veras esse confidunt quod eas Veteres tradiderunt tantaque est Authoritas vetustatis ut in eam inquirere scoelus esse dicatur but being confident that they were true and to be approved because their Ancestors delivered them and so great with them is the Authority of Antiquity that they esteem it a Wickedness to enquire into it imbracing that as a known Truth which they had thus received We must believe saith Plato Apud Theodoret Serm.