appear to be so in this that we were mistaken that we were over-nice and curious in refusing to worship Saints and Angels yet ours is a much more innocent and pardonable mistake then that which the church of Rome is guilty of if they should prove to be mistaken We are only wanting in some Religious courtship which we might innocently have given to Saints and Angels but which we were not bound to give as the Church of Rome will not say that we are by any express Divine Law and therefore it is no sin against GOD not to do it and when this neglect is not owing to any designed contempt and dis-regard of those excellent Spirits but to a great reverence for GOD and jealousie for his incommunicable glory if it were a fault we need not doubt but that GOD would pardon it and that all good spirits who have such profound veneration for GOD will easily excuse the neglect of some ceremonies to themselves upon so great a reason But if the Church of Rome be mistaken and gives that worship to creatures which is due only to the Supreme God they have nothing to pretend in excuse of it neither any positive Law of God which expresly forbids all Creature-worship as I doubt not to prove to the satisfaction of all impartial Readers nor the principles of Natural Reason which whatever Apologies it may make for the worship of Saints and Angels can never prove the necessity of it and it highly concerns the Church of Rome and all of her communion to consider whither if their distinctions and little appearances of reason cannot justifie their worship of creatures they will be able to excuse them from the guilt of so great a sin But not to insist on these things now I shall divide this discourse into three parts 1. I shall prove from the plain evidence of Scripture That God alone is to be worshipped 2. I shall examine what that worship is which is proper and particular to the Supreme God 3. I shall consider those distinctions whereby the Church of Rome justifies her worship of Saints and Angels and Images c. SECTION I. That GOD alone must be Worshipped TO make good the first point that we must worship Sect. 1. no other being but only GOD I shall principally confine my self to Scripture evidence which is the most certain authority to determine this matter For though I confess it seems to me a self evident and fundamental principle in natural Religion that we must worship none but that Supreme Beeing who made and who governs the World yet I find men reason very differently about these matters The Heathen Philosophers who generally acknowledge one Supreme and Soveraign Deity did not think it incongruous nor any affront or dimimition to the Supreme God to ascribe an inferiour kind of Divinity nor to pay an inferiour degree of Religious Worship to those excellent Spirits which are so much above us and have so great a share in the government of this lower world no more then it is an affront to a Soveraign Monarch to honour and reverence his great Ministers of State or peculiar Favourites And the Church of Rome as she has corrupted Christianity with the worship of Angels and Saints departed so she defends her self with the same Arguments and reasons which were long since alledged by Celsus and Porphyrie and other Heathen Philosophers in defence of their Pagan Idolatry And it must be confest that these Arguments are very popular and have something so agreeable in them to the natural notions of Civil Honour and respect which admits of great variety of degrees that I do not wonder that such vast numbers of men both wise and unwise have been imposed on by them For there is certainly a proportionable reverence and respect due even to created excellencies and every degree of power challenges and commands a just regard and we are bound to be very thankful not only to GOD who is the first cause and the supreme giver of all good things but to our immediate Benefactors also And therefore if there be a sort of middle Beeings as the Heathens believed and as the Church of Rome asserts between us and the Supreme God who take particular care of us and either by their power and interest in the government of the world or by their Intercessions with the Supreme GOD can and do bestow a great many Blessings on us it eems as natural and necessary to fear and reverence to honour and worship them and to give them thanks for their care and patronage of us as it is to court a powerful Favourite who by his interest and authority can obtain any request we make to our Prince and the first seems to be no greater injury to God then the second 2. Col. 18. to a Prince Thus St. Paul observes that there is a shew of humility in worshipping Angels that men dare not immediately approach so glorious a Majesty as God is but make their addresses to those excellent spirits which attend the Throne of God and are the Ministers of his Providence But then every one who believes that there is one Supreme God who made all other Beeings though never so perfect and excellent must acknowledge that as there is nothing common to God and Creatures so there must be a particular Worship due to God which no Creatures can challenge any share in It is no affront to a Prince to pay some inferiour degrees of civil honour and respect to his Ministers and Favourites because as the difference between a Prince and his subjects is not founded in nature but in civil order so there are different degrees of civil respect proportioned to the different ranks and degrees of men in the Common-wealth There is a degree of preheminency which is sacred and peculiar to the Person of the Prince and no Prince will suffer his greatest Favourite to usurp the Prerogative honours which belong to the Crown but while they are contented with such respects as are due to their rank and station this is no injury to the Prince for all civil honour is not peculiar to the Prince but only a supereminent degree of it and therefore inferiour degrees of honour may be given to other persons But though there are different degrees of civil honour proper to different ranks and degrees of men who all partake in the same nature and are distinguisht only by their different places in the Common-wealth yet in this sense there are no different degrees of Religious Worship All Religious Worship is peculiar to the Divine Nature which is but one and common only to three Divine Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost one God blessed for ever Amen Civil honor and Religious Worship differ in the whole kind and species of actions and have as different objects as God and Creatures and we may as well argue from those different degrees of civil honour among men to prove that there is an inferiour degree
nature but our equals however are not our Gods It is a state of liberty freedom and honour to be subject to God who is our natural Lord and Soveraign But to fall down to our fellow creatures and to worship them with Divine honours with all humility of address and sacred and awful regards is to debase our selves as much below the dignity of our natures as we advance them above it The excellency and perfection of reasonable Creatures principally consists in their Religion and that is the most perfect Religion which does most advance adorn and perfect our Natures but it is an argument of an abject mind to be contented to worship the most excellent creatures which is a greater dishonour then to own the vilest Slave for our Prince Mean objects of worship do more debase the Soul then any other the vilest submissions and the more our dependencies are and the meaner they are the more imperfect our â—tate and Religion is 3. The greatest perfection of Religion consists in the nearest and most immediate approach to God which I think these men cannot pretend to who fly to the patronage and intercession of Saints and Angels to obtain their Petitions of him Though we should allow it lawful to pray to Saints and Angels to meditate for us with God yet we cannot but own it a more perfect state to do as the Saints and Angels themselves do go to God without any other Advocat but Christ himself It is a great happiness to have a friend at Court to commend us to our Prince when we have no interest of our own but it is a greater priviledge to go immediately to our Prince when we please without any Favourite to introduce us This is the perfect state of the Gospel that we have received The adoption of Sons and because Gal. 4. 5. 6. we are Sons God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into our hearts crying Abba Father This is this Holy Spirit which dwells in us teaches us to call God Father and to pray to him with the humble assurance and confidence of Children This is the effect of Christs intercession for us That we may now come boldly unto the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy Heb. 4. 16. and find grace to help in a time of need The throne of Grace certainly is not the shrine of any Saints but the immediate throne and presence of God whither we may immediately direct our prayers through the merits and intercession of Christ Upon the same account the whole body of the Christians are called a Spiritual house that is the Temple of God where he is peculiarly present to hear these Prayers that are made to him An holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to GOD through Jesus 1 Pet. 2. 5. 6. Christ And a chosen generation a royal priesthood an holy nation a peculiar people This is a priviledge above what the Jews enjoyed they had a Priesthood to minister in holy things and to offer their Sacrifices to them but the whole Nation was not a Priesthood nor had such immediate access to God but now every Christian has as near an access to God as the Priests themselves under the Law had can offer up his Prayers and Spiritual Sacrifices immediately to GOD and that very acceptably too through Jesus Christ our great High Priest and Mediator and if our Prayers be acceptable to God by Jesus Christ we need no other Mediators or Advocats This is the only direction our Saviour gave his Disciples a little before his death to ask in his name with this promise If ye ask any thing in my name I will do it Hitherto have you asked nothing in my name ask and ye shall Joh. 14. 13 15. Joh. 16. 24. receive that your joy may be full and to give them the greater assurance of acceptance he acquaints them with Gods great and tender affection for them such as a Father has for his Children At that day ye shall ask in my name and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father ver 26 27. for you for the Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me and have believed that I came out from God a reason which equally extends to all those who shall believe in Christ to the end of the world And can we now imagine that when our Saviour has purchast for us this liberty of access to God he should send us round about by the shrines and Altars of numerous unknown Saints to the Throne of Grace When he will not assert the necessity of his own prayers for us while we pray in his name because our heavenly Father hath such a tender affection for all the Disciples of Christ can we think it necessary to pray to St. Paul and St. Peter and the Virgin Mary to pray for us This is none of our Saviours institution nor can it be because Christ by his death and sufferings and intercessions brings us nearer to God as the Heb. 10. 19 20 21 22. Apostle to the Hebrews speaks Having therefore Brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the vail that is to say his flesh and having an high Priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith But the worship of Saints and Angels removes us at a great distance from God as not daring to approach his presence without the mediation of some Favourite Saint And though the Church of Rome does sometimes pray directly to God only in the Name and Mediation of Christ as the Pagans themselves sometime did to their Supreme Deity yet it seems this is what they dare not trust to and therefore joyn the Meditation of Saints with their prayers to God and never pray to God without it SECT VIII 5. THat the Gospel of our Saviour has made no alteration in the object of our worship appears from that Analogy which there is and ought to be between the Jewish and Christian Worship The Jewish and Christian Church are but one Church and their worship the same worship only with this difference that the Jewish worship was in Type and Figure and Ceremony the Christian worship in Truth and Substance And therefore if this Evangelical worship be the same it must have the same object for the object is the most essential part of worship So that if it appear not only from the express letter of the Law of Moses but from all the Types and Figures of the Law that God only was to be worshiped by the Jewish Church if Christ was to fulfil all these Types and Figures in his own person and in the Evangelical worship then it is certain that the object of our worship must be the same still for if the Type was confined in its nature and signification to the worship of one God
excepting the Dispute between the Latin and Greek Church about the Filioque or the Holy Spirits proceeding from the Father and the Son received by all catholick churches to this day which is as compleat and perfect Succession as any Doctrine can have therefore when the Church of Rome asks us Where was our Religion before Luther we tell them it was all the World over all Catholick churches believed what we do though we do not believe all that they do they themselves did and do to this Day own our creeds and Articles of Faith excepting such of them as are directly opposed to their Innovations So that we are on a â—ure Foundation our Faith has been received in the catholick church in all Ages But now the church of Rome cannot shew such a Succession for her new Doctrines and Articles of Faith which were unknown to the Primitive church for many Ages which were rejected by many flourishing churches since the first appearance of them which never had a quiet possession in her own communion and were never formed into Articles of Faith till the packt conventicle of Trent This I think is a sufficient Answer to this Paper and it pities me to see so many well-meaning Persons abused with such transparent Sophistry FINIS A DISCOURSE About the Charge of NOVELTY Upon the Reformed CHURCH OF ENGLAND Made by the PAPISTS Asking of us the Question Where was our Religion before LVTHER LONDON Printed and Edinburgh Re-printed by J. Reid for T. Brown and G. Schaw and A. Ogston and G. Mosman Stationers in the Parliament Closs 1686. A DISCOURSE About the Charge of NOVELTY Upon the Reformed Church of England made by the Papists c. THe Christian Doctrine was once by the way of trust delivered by Christ and his Apostles unto the Saints Men of Care and Honesty and who should preserve it in its first purity and Spiritual intention only to prescribe methods unto Men by Faith and an Honest conversation how they might arrive at Heaven that this Religion might make a deeper impression upon their minds and memories and be more faithfully kept it was set down in plain and significant Terms and reduced into 2 Tim. 1. 13 14. Rom. 6. 17. 1. Tim. 6. 20. short summaries called a form of sound words that good thing that Form of Doctrine a depositum or trust and by the Church afterwards a creed That it might be believed and valued it was in its own Nature of the greatest importance confirmed with variety of the best of Arguments Miracles Prophecies innocent carriage and Death of its numerous Disciples and severe curses denounc'd against any that should add to or take from it till Gal. 1. 8. 9 Rev. 22. 18. their great Master And its Author Jesus should come from Heaven again Yet notwithstanding all this by the Malice and Subtility of the Devil the Designs and Passions of Men the Ignorance and Negligence of some the Cunning and Industry of others this plain and simple Religion began by degrees to be corrupted by the mixtures of Philosophy and niceness by the Rules of Stat Craft and Policy by idle Traditions and Inventions by the Melancholy of some and the gayety of others and the natural Face of it was so strangely changed that it seem'd another Gospel and you might seek Christianity in the Christian World and yet scarce find it Many Kingdoms and People were to blame in this being Teacherous to their Master and false to their trust suffering so Pure and chast a Religion to be corrupted 2. Cor. 11. 2 or Stolen away but the Church of Rome seems the most Guilty of them all especially upon her own grounds her Bishop being the Infallible Vicar of Jesus to whom are committed the Oracles of GOD once indeed renowned Cyp. Epist Ox. Edit p. 5. 6. Rom 18. Platina vitâ— Bon 7. p. 159. vide quaeso quantum degeneraverint c. for her Faith and Pious Governours but now as famous for their Degeneracy as well in Religion as in their Lives Whose Ambition or Interest prostituted the Faith to those Designs and made it Earthly and Sensual or their Negligence and Stupidity suffered the Enemy in the night of Ignorance to sow the tares which so grew up and choakt the Wheat that Faith was turn'd into Fables and Lyes Foppery and Superstition were Nick-nam'd Devotion Ridiculous Gestures and Habits past for Repentance and Mortification the Bible was shut up and contemned and the Legends open'd and praised Honest and Good Men were butchered and unknown Persons and Malefactors canonized Saints with their Pictures and Reliques were made Rivals to Christ in Mediation and Intercession Good Works were spoiled by Merit and Arrogance or done by way of composition for vices the fear of Hell was abated by the invention of Purgatory Christ was fetch from Glory by the Magick of a Priest and put into a Wafer or into a more sordid place riddles and quirks of their Schools were made Articles of Faith in short old truths were rooted up and new errors grafted on them Power and Profit were Stiled the church the court of Rome was brought into the Temple and called the Holy of Holies Such errours as these in the christian Faith came from Rome and infected our Ancient British church not at first planted by the Labours of the Romish Bishops of old but corrupted by their later Emissaries and lasted a long time among us being supported by Power twisted with Interest sutable to the pleasures and vices of Men incorporated into the Government having put out Mens reason to try and discern between Truth and Error and at length became Fashionable Legal Terrible with Fires and censures which made us Sick unto death absolute almost and beyond recovery Such was our condition here of Slavery and Ignorance but it pleased him that dwells between the Golden Candlesticks to dispel our Darkness and restore the Ancient light of Primitive Christianity His Wisdom and Goodness improving the passions and inclinations of some in temporal changes and concerns to Spiritual purposes encouraging the secret groans and desires of others putting many more upon search and enquiry after Truth and infusing courage for it at length came to a resolution of Arguing and Debating the Errors of the Romish Faith and manners of reforming the abuses in Discipline and Devotion and to call back True Christianity again and being dispossest of the Spirit of Rome which oft tore them and rent them till they foamed again are now cloath'd and in their Wits once more upon this account the Friends of Rome call us Hereticks Schismaticks and Innovators Discharge Censures and Excommunications and Eternal Damnation against us are full of Wrath and indignation and to shew a little Wit in their Anger And pretended reason pertly ask the Question where was our Religion before Luther This is the common and trite objection against our Religion very frequent not only in the Mouths of their Bellarmine Campian Smith more Ordinary
And they seem to acknowledge we do not and therefore to make up the matter pretend a Divine Authority in the Church to cast new Articles and Truths fere de fide almost fit for a Creed and some others of them confess that some of their Opinions as Image-Worship and others were not maintain'd in the first Ages of Christianity for fear of coming too near the Heathens Worship and out of other Prudential considerations so that whosoever doth compare the Doctrine of our Church with that of Christ and his Apostles must needs conclude that our Religion is Ancient Christianity and that the charge of Novelty is groundless 2. The Nature of Reformation which was not to found a New Church but correct an old one Christianity that Pearl of great price was hid with trash and Mat 13. 3. filth that the Romish Church had heap'd upon it our Reformers removed only what loaded and obscur'd it and restored it to its first Beauty and Lustre Such a Reformation indeed is later then their errors and it must needs be so it naturally supposing them before otherwise 't is not Reformation but a destructive change but Primitive Christianity which is our Religion was long before the Dâ—sease of Popery though the cure of this Disease was after or later then the disease it self but the sound Body of Christianity for which we are concern'd was before them both for 't is not Reformation barely that we are pleased withal no more then with a Pill or Potion but only as necessary to drive away an inveterate Disease and recover an old Religion to its â—ormer Health When Christ reformed the Jewish Religion from the false senses and glosses that the Scribes and Pharisees had put upon it and grafted Christianity upon the old stock will the Romanists call this a New Religion or rather an old one well amended and improved by Divine Authority Bellarmin doth allow this for Truth and saith that Christianity was rather a new State and Condition then a new church and he that can call our Religion New because 't is mended and made now what it was about 1600 years ago may affirm that Christ built a new Temple when he Whipt the buyers and sellers out of the old And that Hezekiah built a 2 Chron. 305 New Sanctuary and Instituted a New Passover because he cleans'd the one and restor'd the other to its first Institution our Reformation did no more it only scal'd off the Leprosie that stuck to the Body of the Romish church it only pair'd off those Additions that Interest or Superstition Niceness or Foppery had glew'd to it what after remain'd was our Religion the same that Christ and his Apostles taught the world at first And if they can shew that any thing hath been added since pernicious to the Nature of the True and Old Religion our church is ready to remove it or that any thing is wanting that is necessary to its complement and perfection she is ready to entertain it with the same spirit of meekness and Wisdom and Regard to the Gospel that she used in the Reformation but hitherto upon good grounds and strict inquiry She is fully satisfied that Her Religion is absolute and compleat Christianity 3. We have many and impartial Judges on our side that our Religion is Pure and Old Christianity The particular church of Rome indeed that supports her self by a pretended Infallibility to be true to her Principle refuses to be tryed by any other Church but will be only Judge of her self and others too yet we that are certain and sure of the Truth of our Religion though not Infallible dare appeal to the Judgment of other Christian churches The Greek church condemns their half Communion the Doctrines of Purgatory Merit and Supererogation The Adoration of Images their locking up the Scriptures in an unknown Tongue their extreme Unction and sale of Masses and laughs at their Infallibility the thing that makes their errours in Faith incorrigible the Arminian Christians reject the Supremacy Baron Tom. 10. P. 256. of the Pope Transubstantiation Purgary and excommunicat those that worship Images The Jacobites the Indians of St. Thomas the Egyptian and Abassine Christians dissent from most or all of the Romish errours which we condemn We have all the truly ancient Christian Churches on our side and most of the Modern whom the busie Emissaries of Rome have not terrified or seduc'd into their Party Our Writters have appealed with great success to the Ancient Councils the holy Fathers and to the Learned and Pious Bishops and Priests of old and from thence discovered the Novelty of the Romish Faith and the good old way of the English Church And they dare not stand the trial when we desire to be determined by the best and infallible Judge the holy Scriptures exept they must give the meaning of them otherwise they load them with Ignominious Names of â— Lesbian rule mere Ink and Paper and a Nose of Wax Who will they be try'd by by a Council truly General No except it be called manag'd and Confirm'd by the Pope Will they be Judg'd by any that differ from them yet are men of good honest and unprejudic'd Judgements No they are out of the pale of the Church and stubborn Hereticks And the best reason they have for their assurance that they are in the right is that they are sure they are so and keep themselves safe in their Enchanted Castle of Infallibility The Arabian Philosopher was offended at and abhorr'd their barbarous Doctrine of Transubstantiation and eating of their God and resolv'd to stick to his Philosophical rather then be of such a Christian Religion The Roman Images and the Worship of them have laid a Stumbling block before the Jews who therefore approved our Sentence and condemnation of them having therefore such a number of good Testimonies and Judgements on our side we rise up and reverence the gray Hairs of our Religion which Rome once cloath'd in a wanton and phantastick dress and made it ridiculous which because we have pull'd off and put on its ancient habit and made it look manly with the Image of GOD and Christ upon it they call us Innovators Many of their own Writers have spoke in favour of the English Church and many of their distinctions in a fair sense have concluded for her Doctrine and shewn their dislike of many opinions of their own Church 4. That our Religion was long before Luther will appear from the oppositions that were made to the Papal corruptions which did not enjoy so quiet a life but were frequently disturb'd and cry'd oâ—t against not only by other Churches but by many honest and considering men in their own Communion Men they were not of Interest and Discontent Peevishness and given to change of little Learning and less conscience and not in the World but men eminent in their Generation men of Probity and Studies of Temper and consideration men that stood not alone
lay so much stress upon it Bellar. Tom. 2. p. 286. if these are Innovations creept into their Church who was the first Author of them when did he begin in whose Reign and in what place did he live who did oppose him what company believ'd on him and what his new Opinions were as they instance in Arrianism and other Heresies And because they fancy we cannot make all these particulars so absolutely plain therefore they say we have falsely charged the Romish Church with new errours and that their Faith is truly ancient and by an uninterrupted Succession of Infallible Bishops hath been convey'd down from Christ and his Apostles in its full purity to this present Age. To satisfie their curiosity the defenders of the Reformation have done this but suppose they could not have been so particular about the birth of these new Errours or had made some mistakes in the compass of time yet however the charge of Innovation against the Romish Church stands firm and good upon these accounts 1. That Reformation carries not so much a respect to the Errour when it began as to the Errour it self Not whither it be sooner or later but whither it be an errour contrary to the true Christian Faith It may serve some honest purposes to know the who and the when the where and the how and other circumstances of its begining and proceeding but the necessity of Reformation springs from the nature of the Errour which came from the invention of men and not the Authority of Christ And matters not much whither Simon Magus who was contemporary with the Apostles was the first Author of it or Pope Hildebrâ—â—d at so great a distance 'T is enough that we are certain and sure that the Popish Doctrines which we condemn by comparing them with the Scriptures are not Christs and his Apostles have none of their Images or Superscriptions upon them who only had full Authority to make them current and true Articles of Faith They have indeed indeed Christianity among them but like Joseph's coat so dipt in blood so over-laced with Fopperies and undecent Ceremonies and so many new pieces stitch'd to the old Cloath that the old Fathers if alive would scarce know it to be the true Joseph's and would not trouble themselves so much to ask the time when this came to pass as lament the sadness of the change And the Apostles did not so much care to tell the punctual time to the Disciples when Antichrist should discover himself as to make them stand upon their guard to defend that Faith which he would invade where and whensoever he should come or whosoever he was 2. The difficuity of knowing the precise and punctual times when Errours first began In many sorts of Changes or Innovations 't is hard to know the nice time of their beginning but some latitude of Judging is allow'd and why not in things especially relating to Religion Are there not wild Opinions left upon Record among the Pagan Writers whose Authors are either unknown or which are fasely fathered upon others and as hard to be known as the head of Nile Can the nicest Romanist tell us what Rabbi and in what place and age first superinduc'd the several false Glosses and Senses to the Law of Moses yet our Saviour though he knew them well thought it sufficient to tell them that in the beginning it was not so and by comparing the Mosaick Religion it plainly appears they were new additions to the good old way And how many Errours sprung up in times of Christianity of whose Original and other Circumstances both the Romanists and our selves are yet uncertain And how many things of this nature more near our own times are we puzled about and the difficulty of knowing them ariseth principally from this twofold account 1. From the subtilty of the contrivers of Errours Which many times are the cunning and the wise in their Generation which the necessity of their cause requires Truth being strong and Errour nuturally weak and that slie deceiving Spirits lends it his utmost assistance to serve the design Such men know how to disguise new Falshoods in the old habits of Truth to make them look ancient and venerable they feel and know the temper of the age and fit their Opinions to the interest and pleasure of it They prepare their errours to be received by degrees and one part must draw on the other and the whoâ—e must be insâ—â—sibly swallowed down So it hapned in the adoration and invocation of Saints and Images and the whole structure of the Romish Religion which by severall steps and in many ages advanc'd to its mighty bulk The cunning knew the consequences of their own positions how far theâ— would reach which the vulgar eye discern'd not they well foresaw how their Hey and Stuble variety of Phrases and changes of Syllables would at â—ength fire the Foundation of Religion yet being invented at first by the Angelical Doctours and leaders of an Age for fame and reputation sake they their followers first defended them for bare Truths afterwards for Sacred and Fundamental ones and things at first only piously believed soon after have been adopted into a Creed and men of Rashness and Superstition only great in Place and Office have vented opinions whose fatal conclusions they at first we hope did not know yet the cunning many times have hatcht what they left and improv'd it fatally to Religion the greatness of the man whither an Innocent or an Hildebrand gave the errour its first reputation and the cunning of others its strength and argument Many of the great and knowing heads of the World being corrupted unto the Roman side to defend those errours which had got footing in the Church But how can we unlock the secret methods of Rome or describe the wayes and policies by which the mystery of Iniquity works Yet we are sure it 's carried on by the windings and turnings of the Serpent and men that he imploys upon design to ruin truth for when the Apostle describes the sad Apostacies and defections from the Faith they are said to be wrought by men of Skill Eph. 4. 14. and Art who lie in wait to deceive 2 From the Passions and Infirmities of other men These give the false and busie deceiver an easie Victory When Opinions are so contriv'd as to serve the designs of Pride and Covetousness Ambition and Lust and other Vices they easily pass for mighty Truths their Original is not enquir'd into the Judgment is brib'd and they bear the title of ancient and Primitive or what the deceiver pleaseth For these Passions have effeminated the mind made it soft and slugâ—ish and any bold errour shall slip down rather then be at the charge of a farther search and enquiry to know whither these things be so or no. The Roman Religion being so well cut out in its different Doctrines to hit mens Vices and Passions Gaiety or Melancholy Enthusiasm or Fury
and Angels whatever fine excuses and Apologies may be made for it yet at least is not a more perfect state of Religion then to worship God alone For though God may not alwayes think fit to command the highest degrees of perfection yet there never can be any reason to forbid it But let us now consider the nature reason of the thing whither it be a more perfect state of Religion to worship God alone or to worship Saints and Angels c. together with the Supreme God Now the perfection of any acts of Religion must either respect God or our selves that they signifie some greater perfections in God or more perfect attainments in us and a nearer union and conjunction with the Deity Let us then briefly examine the worship of Saints and Angels both with respect to God and ourselves and see whither we can discover any greater perfection in this way of worship then the worship of the Supreme Bâ—eing alone without any Rival or partner in worship and if it appears that it is neither for the glory of God nor for the happiness and perfection of those who worship we may certainly conclude that our Saviour has made no alteration in the object of our worship for he made no alteration for the worse but for the better he fulfills and perfects Laws which I suppose does not signifie making them less perfect then they were before SECT VI. 1. THen let us consider whither the worship of Saints and Angels be more for the glory of God then to pay all Religious Worship to God alone Now if Religious Worship be for the glory of God then all religious worship is more for Gods glory then a part of it unless men will venture to say that a part is as great as the whole And yet whoever worships Saints and Angels though he be never so devout a worshiper of God also yet he gives part of Religious Worship to Creatures and therefore God cannot have the whole unless they can divide their worship between God and Creatures and yet give the whole to God If it be objected that those who worship Saints and Angels do not give that worship to them which is peculiar and appropriate to the Supreme God and therefore they reserve that worship which is due to GOD wholly to himself though they pay an inferiour degree of Religions Worship to Saints and Angels I answer what that worship is which is peculiar to the Supreme God I shall consider more hereafter but for the present supposing that they gave only an inferiour degree of worship to creatures is this Religious Worship or is it not If it be is a degree of Worship a part of Worship if it be then God has not the whole and therefore is not so much honoured as if he had the whole as to shew this in a plain instance Those who pray to Saints and Angels though they do not pray to them as to the Supreme God but as to Mediators and Intercessors for them with the Supreme God yet they place an inferiour degree of hope and trust and affiance in them or else it is non-sence to pray to them at all so that though God may be the Spreme Object of their relyance and hope yet he is not the only Object he has part and the greatest part but not the whole for they divide their hope and trust between God and Creatures and it be a greater glory to God to trust wholly in him then to trust in him in part then it is a greater glory to God to pray to him only then to pray also to Saints and Angels Nay it is more then probable that those who pray to Saints and Angels as trusting in their merits and intercession for them do not make God but these Saints and Angels to whom they pray the Supreme Object of their hope This it may be well be thought an extravagant charge against men who profess to believe that God is the Supreme Lord of the world and the sole giver of all good things but this is no argument to me but that notwithstanding this belief they may trust more in Saints and Angels then in God and consequently give the Supreme Worship to them For men do not alwayes trust most in those who have the greatest power but in those by whose interest and intercession they hope to obtain their desires of the Soveraign power Thus I am sure it is in the Courts of earthly Princes though men know that the King only has power to grant what they desire yet they place more confidence in a powerfull Favorite then in their prince and when they have obtained their requests pay more acknowledgments to their Patron for let the power be where it will our hope and trust is plac'd there where our expectations are And when mens expectations are not from the Prince who has the power but from the Favorite whose interest directs the influences of this power to them which otherwise would never reach them such Favourites have more numerous dependents more frequent addresses more formal courtships then the Prince himself And when men model the heavenly Court according to the pattern of earthly Courts and expect the conveyance of the Divine Blessings to them as much from the intercession of Saints and Angels as they do to to obtain their desires of their Prince by the mediation of some powerful Favourite no wonder if they love and honour and fear reverence and adore trust and depend on Saints and Angels as much or more then they do on the Supreme GOD. For there is not a more natural notion then to honour those for our GODS from whose hands we receive all good things whither we receive it from their own inherent power or not Deus nobis haec otia fecit Namque erit ille mihi semper Deus illius aram Saepe tener nosâ—ris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus Men may acknowledge GOD to be the Supreme Beeing and ascribe incommunicable perfections to him and yet may pray more frequently more devoutly more ardently with greater trust and affiance to Saints and Angels then to GOD as it is apparent many Devotoes of the Virgin Mary do and this is to give Supreme and Soveraign Worship to them without acknowledging them to be Supreme Beeings Indeed it is morally impossible but our Religious Worship and affiance must be at least equally shared between the Supreme God and our Mediator whatever he be as men do not less trust in the interest of their Patron then in the power of their Prince for it is not meer power but favour which is the immediate object of our trust and therefore God appointed his only begotten Son to be our Mediator as for other great and wise reasons so to prevent Idolatry by giving us a God incarnate who is a proper object of Religious adoration to be our Mediator that seing men will worship their Mediator they may have a God for their Mediator to worship
laid for it in mens Minds or constant Provision made for the due Exercise of it all necessary Encouragement given to it and a sutable strict and regular Practice of it observable among them And there are several things which are not at all insisted on by us which they of the Church of Rome boast of as serving to some or all of these puâ—poses which I shall represent as fairly as I can that we may see what there is in that Church that doth answer such great pretences For it is observed that they of the Church of Rome oftentimes insteed of dispute endeavour to work on our People and too often prevail by appealinâ— to matters of Practice visible to every ones Eye an Argument to which men need not use their Reason but their Sense and this will say they sufficiently convince any of the excellency of our way For here are several things used as Instances and Expressions of Devotion very acceptable to God and sutable to a good Christian Temper which are either not at all used in the Church of England or at least not in that Degree and Measure and yet all those that are used in the Church of England say they are used among us For we not only enjoyn and practise constant use of Prayers publick and private together with Reading and Preaching of the Word Sacraments and whatever is used in the Church of England but we have besides several things which are as well proper Expressions of Devotion as Helps and Assistances which are not used among the Protestants The Principal things which they urge are such as these 1. They blame the Reformation in general as well as the Church of England for the want of Monasteries and such other Religious Houses which are so numerous in the Popish Countries where Holy Men and Women being shut up and having bid adiew to the World live as in Heaven in constant Exercise of praising of God Night and Day and of praying to him for the Church and State and particular Christians as well as themselves and who are not only so beneficial to the World by the constancy of their Prayers but also by their Example putting others in mind of Religion and of doing likewise and by the severity of their lives as to Diet Garbe and other Circumstances live in a constant Practice of that self-denyal which is commanded in Scripture and was so practised by Holy Men almost from the begining of Christianity and are as it were constant Preachers of Holiness and Mortification who tho' they do indeed stay here in the World below yet converse not in it but are in some Sense out of it and live above it 2. They sometimes also boast of the extraordinary Charity and Liberality to all good and Holy Uses pressed and practised among them which is but sparingly used say they among the Protestants Especially their excessive Expence and Cost in building and endowing Monasteries erecting Churches Chappels and Crosses their so pompous adorning the places dedicated to the Worship of God besides their Charitable Assistance and relief which they afford to the Bodies of the Living and the Souls of the Dead and no Man can deny but Charity is a certaint Evidence as well as a great branch and duty of true Religion and Devotion 3. Sometimes they glory in the great number of Saints commemorated in their Church and dying in the Communion of it and urge them as a forcible Example to others and a mighty incentive to Devotion they think also it redounds much to the Honour and Commendation of their Church to have had such glorious Members of it and twit us as they think severely when they ask us what Saints we have of our Church and wonder especially that we should observe so few Festivals and Holidayes whereas the very many dayes set apart in their Church in memory of their several Saints they think not only afford proper Occasions for all Acts of Religion but are a sign of their being less addicted to this World when so great a part of their time is spent in the Service of God and that Piety and Devotion are a considerable part of their Business and Imployment 4. They urge also the multitude of Pictures and Images of several Famous Men and Women who have in an eminent manner served and pleased God and been instrumental in converting the World as very proper assistances of a Mans Devotion instructing some they being the Books of the Unlearned and sensibly affecting and alluring all to the Imitation of the Persons whom they represent 5. Sometimes they commend their Church for the Fastings and other Acts of severity and Mortification used not only by the Monks and Regulars but by all sorts of Men according to the Rules of their Church on set dayes of the Week or Seasons of the Year as well as such Austerities as are enjoyned by their Confessors by way of Penance their going bare-foot and bare headed in Processions their whipping and lashing themselves their drawing great Chains and Weights after them as great and proper Instances of Self-denial and Devotion 6. They place also a great Deal of Religion in Pilgrimages which the more Devout sort take and spend their Estates and sometimes their Lives in to Jerusalem Rome Loretto Mount-ferrdt to St. Thomas at Canterbury St. Winefrid's Well or some such other places where some extraordinary Person hath lived or some strange Relique is left or where they reckon God hath on some Occasion or other wonderfully manifested himself and they reckon that the very visiting or kissing these are either an Argument of truly Devout Minds or that which will make them so And their Manuals or Books which their Priests give into the peoples hands do not fail by all the art imaginable to endeavour to screw up Mens Devotion even to rapture and extasie in Commendation of these Practises and Orders even as if they would have us believe that there is no true Religion and Devotion without these and that where there are these things practised it is a certain sign that the mind is affected as it ought Piety flourisheth in the highest Degree And besides these Matters of Practice their are also several Doctrines and Opinions peculiar to themselves which they reckon do naturally tend to the advancement of true Devotion As 7. Their Doctrine concerning the Intercession of Saints for us and the Advantage of Invocation or prayer to them and that we of the Church of England want one of the greatest Encouragements to Prayer and Devotion that can be who neither own nor make use of these Helps and therefore that we cannot have such hope of Success and Blessing as they have 8. Their Doctrine concerning the Merit of Good Works and Supererogation is of the same Nature in their esteem For the more Worth you suppose in any Action the greater Incouragement is there to the performance of it and therefore surely it must be a most irresistible motive to
matter of them they are such as God himself hath required to be served by are significant of that disposition of Mind which we know God accepts and have an aptnesâ— to the producing of that temper in us which God intends to work us up to by them We use all the Instances of Devotion which they of the Church of Rome use if they be either necessary or fit though indeed often to other and better purpose We pray constantlie but only for the living for we look on the Dead as past the means of Grace and consequentlie past the benefit of our Prayers We praise God for his Excellencies in himself and thank him for his Goodness to others as well as to our selves We practise Confession of Sins to God in publick and in private and advise it to be made also to the Ministers of Gods Word when it is necessary for Ghostly Council and Advice for the satisfying of their Consciences and the removal of Scruple and Doubtfulness but we cannot say it is necessary to be made to Men in order to the Pardon of God We reckon it rather as a priviledge or advantage then a Duty And if Men will not make use of this priviledge as often as there is Occasion unless we tell a lye to advance the credit of it we cannot help that We enjoyn Fastings and disallow not of Penances but advise People to take an holy revenge on themselves when they have sinned but not as the Papists do to satisfie for their sins or merit at Gods hand but to shew the sincerity of their Repentance and to strengthen their Resolutions of amendement for it is our amendement and not our punishment which God is pleased with And we take care that all these things be performed in a due measure proportionably to the strength of the Person and the Nature and Design of the Duty but are afraid of straining them too high lest men should be altogether deterred from them or acquiesce only in the outward Action or render our selves and our Cause ridiculous by an imprudent management We have the Sacraments duly administred as our Saviour commanded them we reckon our Baptism with Water perfect without Oyl or Spittle We grutch not the cup to the Laity nor celebrate solitary Communions nor admire whispering to God in the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ but as we have received from Christ so we teach and administer without Addition or Diminution of any thing essential or material In short in the holy Offices themselves and the behaviour which our Church requires they be celebrated with there is alwayes a great propriety observable agreeable to the command of God in Scripture and the practice of the Apostles and first Ages of the Church proper to the several parts of divine Worship expressive of our Sense consonant to Reason and the use of the World especial respect being alwayes had to the exciting of Piety and Devotion in the minds and carriage of our fully afforded and pressed on Men. For we not only have all our Service in a Language which the meanest People understand but have it so contrived by frequent Responses that every Person bears a part in that Worship which he is so much concerned in and doth not only hear the Priest speak to God Almighty but prayes for himself and is required to joyn his assent to every short Prayer by a distinct Amen With us the same Service and Rules of Life are enjoyned to all all Men having the same Concern in another Life however different their Circumstances and Concerns are in this Life We have constant Prayers in every Parish weekly at least in many dayly with the blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ frequently administred nay every Sunday not only in Cathedrals but in â—everal Colledges and private Parish Churches And we appeal to all Men whither there be any where more practical Sermons fitted to the Cases of Men without Vanity and Superâ—â—ition then among us Whither good and free Learning be any where more encouraged or where better care is taken foâ— the due instruction of the People The Scriptures being in every oneâ—s hands with us and other excellent Books made according to the Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures instead of Legends and Lives of Saiâ—â—â— St. Bonaventure's Psalter and other such Books which are really Libels against Christianity and yet are the principal books which the Priests of the Church of Rome commend to their People For as for the Bible if any one of them hath happened to read in it who is not licensed to that purpose he must own it as sin to his Priest at his next Confession And as there are such blessed Opportunities afforded so constantly and such Prudent provision made for all Cases Ordinary and Extraordinary so I thank God we can say that our people are generally very diligent in the use of these Means and would be more so were it not for the Division which they of the Church of Rome especially raise among us For they may easily perceive that we urge no more on them then their own good and the commands of God require of them â— though our church knows her Power very well yet she makes use of it only to ensorce the Laws of God to explain illustrate and apply them to particular Cases but never to set up her own commands in Opposition to them as the Church of Rome doth and therefore though we teach our People to dread an Excommunication it being sammum futâ—ri Judicii Praejudicium as Tertullian calls it a foretast or forestalling of the last Judgment and not for a World to lye under it though it were inflicted only for contempt yet we warn them in the first place to avoid the Cause and Occaâ—ion of Excommunication and therefore not to value what Censures of the Church of Rome we are under they being so very unjust and Groundless Fourthly and lastly as only the true Object of Devotion is here worshipped only proper Expressions allowed all usefull Helps afforded so also the greatest stresâ— is laâ—d on the practice of it agreeable to the true Nature End and design of it The principal ends of Devotion are to pay a Homage to God our great Creatâ—â— and Benefactor to get his Blessing and to work our selves up to a better temper of â—â—indâ— And to this end we are in our service importâ—â—ate without Vanity or Impertinency long without Tediousness or Idle Repetitions Only we use the Lord's Prayer often that no part of our service may be without that perfect form and also in Consideration of the great Comprehensiveness of it and of the Distraction of Men's Minds which seldom can attend to the full sense of it all at one time And we teach our People that every Man must work for himself for he that prayes only by a proxy it is very just that he should be rewarded only by a Proxy too we put our People in mind that
by the Romanists own Confession are of this opinion and though they should be mistaken as their great Cardinal thinks they were and endeavours to prove yet 't is enough to our purpose that they did not hold the one and therefore could neither teach nor practice the other 2. One chief Argument which the Primitive Fathers used to prove the Divinity of the Son and the Holy Ghost against the Arrians and Macedonians was the Catholick practice of the Church in Praying to them which would not have been of any force had they believed that any Creatures though never so highly exalted in Nature and Condition might have had that Honour payed unto them They tell us frequently in their writings that when the Gospel directs us to invocate the Son and Holy Ghost in conjunction with the Father it proves them Orig. l. 8. in Epis ad Rom. c. 10 Athan. Orat. 4. contr Arrianos to be true God that Invocation supposing them every where to be present when they are invock'd and that Omnipresence being the sole property of God For the same reason when the Arrians who conceived Christ to be no more then an excellent and Godlike Creature did yet Pray unto him the Catholicks accused them of Idolatry Had the Catholicks at the same time practised the Invocation of Saints the charge might have been returned with greater force upon themselves and whatever could have been thought of by the Catholicks to excuse themselves from that guilt might with more strength have been urged by the Arians in their behalf Had the Catholicks replied as the Romanists do now that though they did Pray to the blessed Spirits yet they did not do it with that Soveraign direct and final Prayer nor with those Sublimest Thoughts and intentions of Honour wherewith they did address to God but only with indirect subaltern and relative Prayer and with no higher intentions of Honour to them then what is proportioned to the excellencies of their finite nature the Arrians might have returned upon them with great advantage even after the same manner Sirs and with the same due limitations do we Invocate the Man Christ Jesus and whilst we do no more but so we have more reason for what we do then you can have since Christ is confessedly superiour to all Creatures and consequently deserves at least as great an Honour to be paid to him as unto any the highest amongst them though we do not think him God equal with the Father yet the Scripture assures us he is exalted far above all Angels Principalities and Powers and every name which is named in Heaven and Earth and though we may not Honour the Son in the same high degree with an as of equality as we do the Father yet the Scripture enjoyns us to do it with the same kind of Honour with an as of similitude and likeness and this is more then can be said in defence of that Honour and Invocation you offer to Saints and Angels 3. Because the Fathers condemned the Heathens as guilty of Idolatry for Invocating their Doemons or inferiour Deities which in a manner is the same with the Romish Invocation of Angels and Saints This has been invincibly proved Dean of St. P. against G. against the Romanists by a great Light of our Church who hath made the Parity and Agreement betwixt them to be very obvious as 1. In the Object of their Invocation the Heathens had one Supreme God and a multitude of Inferiâ—uâ— Deities the Romanists have also besides one God above all a multitude of Angels and Saints departed It may be the Vulgar and Ordinary People might mistake for their Gods Jupiter of Crete Mars Venus Vulcan Bacchus Persons that had been famous for Lewdness and Adulteries and if they did 't is to feared not much better an account can be given of many of the Canonized Saints in the Church of Rome but the Wiser sort had farr different apprehensions of their Deities they said and believed the same of the Supreme God as Christians do That he made the whole Plot Enn. 5. l. 9. c. 5. Laert. in Vit. Thal. p 24. Senec. Ep. 83 World and sees all things that he wants neither Power nor Will nor Knowledge to make his Providence concerned in the least things that neither the Actions nor the very thoughts of Mens minds can be hid from him Accordingly we find St. Paul affirming of the Heathens that they knew God ascribing to the Heathens Jupiter he being the Creator of all things so he told the Athenians Him whom ye Ignorantly Worship declare I Acts. 17 unto you God that made the World and the being the Father of all Mankind when he said in the words of one of heir Poets for we are all his off-spring And then for their Inferiour Deities there is so very little disparity betwixt them and the Angels and Saints Invocated by the Church of Rome that it seems to be only in name Accordingly St. Austin Confest that the Platonists did affirm the same things of their good Daemons as Christians St. Aust de civit Dei l. 9. c. 23. did of the blessed Angels did they distinguish their Inferiour Deities into such Spirits as were by Death delivered from the Body and such as never had any into such as alwayes lived in Heaven and such Apul. de Deo Socr. p. 50. cic de leg l. 2. whose merits had advanced them thither how exactly doth this sute with the difference given by Romanists betwixt Angels and Saints departed and the reason of their Worshiping of them The spiritual and Heavenly Nature of the one and the Merits of the other 2. In the Office ascribed to them The imployment the Heathens put upon their Daemons was to Aug. de civ Dei l. 8 e. 18. carry up the Prayers of Men to God and what they had obtained to bring back to Men imagining the Supreme God to be of too pure and sublime a Nature immediately to converse with Men they look'd upon these as Advocates and Mediators betwixt God and Men and as Intercessors and Procurers of their desired blessings and is not this the same thing the Church of Rome sayes touching the Office of Angels and blessed Spirits in the behalf of Men such as do solicite God for them and by their more prevailing merits and interest in God obtain of him what they themselves Pray for 3. In that which they make the Foundation of their Worship and Invocation to them viz. a middle sort of excellency betwixt God and Men so said the Heathens that there were a sort of Beeings between God and Men that participated of both Natures and that by means of those intermediate Beeings an intercourse was maintained betwixt Heaven and Earth and as God was to be Worship'd for himself so the others to be Loved and Honoured for his sake as being Gods by way of participation as likest to him as his Vicars and as Reconcilers betwixt them And is
verily eat and drink the natural flesh and bloud of Christ And what can any man do more unworthily towards his Friend How can he possibly use him more barbarously then to feast upon his living flesh and bloud It is one of the greatest wonders in the World that it should ever enter into the minds of men to put upon our Saviours words so easily capable of a more convenient sense and so necessarily requiring it a meaning so plainly contrary to Reason and sense and even to Humanity it self Had the ancient Christians owned any such Doctrine we should have heard of it from the Adversaries of our Religion in every page of their writings and they would have desired no greater advantage against the Christians then to have been able to hit them in the teeth with their feasting upon the natural flesh and bloud of their Lord and their God and their best Friend What endless triumphs would they have made upon this Subject And with what confidence would they have set the cruelty used by Christians in their Sacrament against their God Saturn's eating his own children and all the cruel and bloudy Rites of their Idolatry But that no such thing was then objected by the Heathens to the Christians is to a wise man instead of a thousand Demonstrations that no such Doctrine was then believed 3. It is scandalous also upon account of the cruel and bloudy consequences of this Doctrine so contrary to the plain Laws of christianity and to one great end and design of this Sacrament which is to untie christians in the most perfect love and charity to one another Whereas this Doctrine hath been the occasion of the most barbarous and bloudy Tragedies that ever were acted in the World For this hath been in the church Rome the great burning Article and as absurd and unreasonable as it is more christians have been murther'd for the denial of it then perhaps for all the other Articles of their Religion And I think it may generally pass for a true observation that all sects are commonly most hot and surious for those things for which there is least Reason for what men want of Reason for their opinions they usually supply and make up in Rage And it was no more then needed to use this severity upon this occasion for nothing but the cruel fear of death could in probability have driven so great a part of mankind into the acknowledgment of so unreasonable and senseless a Doctrine O blessed Saviour Thou best Friend and greatest Lover of mankind who can imagine thou didst ever intend that men should kill one another for not being able to believe contrary to their senses for being unwilling to think that thou shouldst make one of the most horrid and barbarous things that can be imagined a main Duty and principal Mystery of thy Religion for not flattering the pride and presumption of the Priest who sayes he can make God and for not complying with the folly and stupidity of the People who believe that they can eat him 4. Upon account of the danger of Idolatry which they are certainly guilty of if this Doctrine be not true and such a change as they pretend be not made in the Sacrament for if it be not then they worship a Creature instead of the Creatour God blessed for ever But such a change I have shewn to be impossible or if it could be yet they can never be certain that it is and consequently are alwayes in danger of Idolatry And that they can never be certain that such a change is made is evident because according to the express determination of the Council of Trent that depends upon the mind and intention of the Priest which cannot certainly be known but by Revelation which is not pretended in this case And if they be mistaken about this change through the knavery of crosness or the Priest who will not make GOD but when he thinks fit they must not think to excuse themselves from Idolatry because they intended to worship God and not a Creature for so the Persians might be excus'd from Idolatry in worshipping the Sun because they intend to worship God and not a Creature and so indeed we may excuse all the Idolatry that ever was in the world which is nothing else but a mistake of the Deity and upon that mistake a worshipping of something as God which is not God II. Besides the infinite scandal of this Doctrine upon the accounts I have mentioned the monstruous absurdities of it make it in supportable to any Religion I am very well assur'd of the grounds of Religion in general and of the Christian Religion in particular and yet I cannot see that the foundation of any revealed Religion are strong enough to bear the weight of so many and so great absurdities as this Doctrine of Transubstantiation would load it withall And to make this evident I shall not insist upon those gross contradictions of the same Body being in so many several places at once of our Saviour's giving away himself with his own hands to every one of his Disciples and yet still keeping himself to himself and a thousand more of the like nature But to shew the absurdity of this Doctrine I shall only ask these few Questions 1. Whither any man have or ever had greater evidence of the truth of any Divine Revelation then every man hath of the falshood of Transubstantiation Infidelity were hardly possible to men if all men had the same evidence for the Christian Religion which they have against Transubstantiation that is the clear and irresistible evidence of sense He that can once be brought to contradict or deny his senses is at an end of certainty for what can a man be certain of if he be not certain of what he sees In some circumstances our senses may deceive us but no Faculty deceives us so little and so seldom And when our senses do deceive us even that errour is not to be corrected without the help of our senses 2. Supposing this Doctrine had been delivered in Scripture in the very same words that it is decreed in the Council of Trent by what clearer evidence or stronger Argument could any man prove to me that such words were in the Bible then I can prove to him that bread and wine after consecration are bread and wine still He could but appeal to my eyes to prove such words to be in the Bible and with the same reason and justice might I appeal to several of his senses to prove to him that the bread and wine after consecration are bread and wine still 3. Whither it be reasonable to imagine that God should make that a part of the Christian Religion which shakes the main external evidence and confirmation of the whole I mean the Miracles which were wrought by our Saviour and his Apostles the assurance whereof did at first depend upon the certainty of sense For if the senses of those who say
granted as any one must who reads that that unless in Boileau's Phrase a Homo opiniosus cui tenacit as Error is sensum communem abstulit Boil p. 159. he be such a Bigot whose tenaciousness of his Errour has quite bereaved him of common sense which is an unlucky Character of his own Friends that Doctrine is false and therefore that the charge of Idolatry in this matter is by their own confession true But there are some more cautious and wary men amongst them who out of very just and reasonable Fears and suspicions that Transubstantiation should not prove true and that they may happen to be mistaken in that have thought of another way to cover and excuse their Idolatry and that is not from the Truth but meerly from the Belief of Transubstantiation As long say they as we believe Transubstantiation to be true and do really think that the Bread and Wine are converted into the substance of Christs body and blood and so Worship the Sacrament upon that account tho' we should be mistaken in this our belief yet as long as we think that Christ is there present and design only to Worship him and not the bread which we believe to â—e done away this were enough to free us from the charge of Idolatry To which because it is the greatest and the best Plea they have and they that make it have some misgivings I doubt not that Transubstantiation will not hold I shall therefore give a full Answer to it in the following Particulars 1. All Idolatry does proceed from a mistaken belief and a false supposal of the mind which being gross and unreasonable will not at all excuse those who are guilty of it there were never any Idolaters but might plead the excuse of a mistake and that not much more culpable and notorious one would think then the mistake of those who think a bit of Bread or a wafer is turn'd by a few words into a God They all thought however blindly and foolishly that whatever it was they worship'd ought to be worship'd upon some account or other that it was a true and fit Object and that Adoration rightly belong'd to it Idolatry tho' it be a great sin and a great injury and affront to God yet arises not so much from the malice of the will as the blindness and darkness of the understanding there were hardly ever any such Idolaters as maliciously and designedly intended to affront the true God by worshipping false Gods or Creatures as if a subject should pass by his Prince out of ill will and of purpose to affront and defie him and give the Reverence and Homage that was due to him to a Rebel or fellow Subject standing by him but they did this because they mistook the person and thought this to be the Prince that was not or that he was there where he was not or that that which was there ought to be worship'd for his sake still falsly supposing that they ought to worship that wrong Object which they took to be right or in that false manner which they took to be true for if a mistake will excuse it will excuse in one as well as another 2. Tho' they do not only think and believe that which they worship to be a true Divine Object but it really be so in it self and that which they have in their Thoughts and intentions to worship be right yet they may still be guilty of Idolatry for so were the Jews in the Idolatry of the golden Calf whereby they intended not to throw off the worship of the true GOD the God of Israel who brought them out of â—e land of Egypt for they appointed the Feast Exod. 32. 4. 5. to him under that Title and under the Name of Jehâ—vah at the same time and so in the Idolatry of the Calves set up by Jeroboam they were not designed to draw off the peopâ—e from 1 K. 12. 27. 28. worshipping the same God who was worship'd at Hierusalem but only to do it in another place and after another manner but still as T. G. a Cath. no Idol p. 330. sayes of the Roman Idolaters so it may be said of these Jewish That what they had in their Minds and Intentions to Worship was the true God and what ever was the material object of their Worship he was the formal for they did no more think the Gold then the Papists think the bread to be God So the Maniâ—hees in their Idolatry which St. Austin often mentions b Contra Faustum Manicheum l. 1. c. 3 Tom. 1. de Genesi contra Manich. l. 2. c. 25. Tom. 3. Epist 74. ad Deuterium Solem etiam Lunam adorant colant of adoring the Sun and Moon the Object which they had in their Minds and Thoughts and Purposes to Worship was CHRIST as much as the Papists have in the Eucharist I would only ask if a persons having a right Object in his mind in his thoughts and purposes to adore which T. G. c catholiks no Idolaters p. 329. 330. so often pretends would excuse him from Idolatry then suppose a person should before consecration worship the Sacramental Elements to prevent which they generally keep them from being seen yet in the Thoughts and Intentions and purposes of his mind design to worship CHRIST then supposed tho' falsly to be there as they worship him afterwards whither this would be Idolatry in him or no If not then they may worship the unconsecrated Elements as well as consecrated even whilst they believe they are Bread if it be then having a right Object in our Thoughts and Purposes and Intentions will not excuse from Idolatry 3. Whatever was the material Object of Idolatrous worship it was nor worship'd for it self no more then the Bread or its Accidents are by the Papists in the Eucharist but as they say of the Host because they believed that the true Object of worship was really present in it or in an extraordinary manner united to it a Deos velect is sedibus propriis non recusare nec fugere habitacula inire terrena quinimo jure dedicationis impulsos simulahcrorum coalescere inunctioni Arnob. contra gent. l. 6. so did the Gentiles who thought the Gods themselves or at least a Divine Power was brought into their Images by their consecrations and that it resided and dwelt there and they worshipped their Images only upon this account b Deos per simulachra Veneramur Ib. Now if they had tâ—ought this of the true God himself that it was he and noâ— any false God that was thus present in their Images this would have been nevertheless Idolatry Thus the Manichees who worship'd the Sun did not worship it for it self but because they believed CHRIST had placed his Tabernacle in the Sun so the more Philosophical Idolaters among the Heathens who worship'd the several Things of Nature as parts they thought of the Great See Voss de
exomologunmeoi ta ptaismata bemon dakrysomen ta oâ—keia penthyntes kaka ekteneis euch as apodom en to Theo meta tes prosekonses entaxias hos to Basilei prosiontes ton ouranon Chrysostom in serm 31. in natal Dom Stomen emphoboi kai entromoi katâ— neuontes to omma anâ— de ten psychen stenazontes aphonos alalazomen te kapdia Johan Hieros apud Chrysost apud Boil p. 44. enthymetheti hoti ge ou kai spodos haima kai Christu metalamb antis Chrys Ib. adoring his Saviour who died for him upon the Cross prostrating his Soul and his Body before him and exercising the highest acts of Devotion to him and with Tears in his Eyes and sorrow in his heart standing like a Penitent before him trembling and afraid as sensible of his own guilt with his Eyes cast down and with dejected Looks considering that he is but Dust and Ashes who is vouchsafed to this Honour and inwardly Groaning and sighing and Panting in his Soul saying Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof and the like And thus they may find all devout Communicants in our Church behaving themselves during the whole solemnity and celebration of that blessed Sacrament in which Mystery they alwayes adore Christ and that Flesh of Christ which was crucified for then as St. Ambrose and St. Austin speak when their minds are all the while inflamed with the most devout Affections and they are performing all the inward and outward Acts of the highest Devotion to God and their Saviour then they are upon their Knees offering up most ardent Prayers and Thanksgivings but not to the sacred symbols which are before them or the Sacrament it self as the object to which but as the circumstance at and in which all this Devotion and Worship is performed And there is a great deal of difference from all this in the Church of Rome when they direct all this to the Sacrament it self and to the consecrated Elements when they terminate their Worship upon what is before them and direct their Intentions to that as an Object and therefore when ever they have this Object appear to them they immediately fall down and worship it not only in the time of the Communion when it finds them at their Devotion but at all other times when they are standing or walking in the streets and are in no present Temper or Posture of Devotion yet all of a sudden as soon as they see the Host coming by they must put themselves into one and Adore that very Object that appears to them The Fathers alwayes speak of Persons as coming to the Sacrament and partaking of it and worshipping Christ and the Body of Christ in the Celebration of those Divine Mysteries but it never enter'd into their minds or thoughts to perswade or encourage their hearers in their most devout Discourses to Adore the Host as the Church of Rome does either in or especially out of the time of that sacred Solemnity and tho' it be very easie to make a Book out of the Fathers and to heap Authorities out of them to little purpose yet it is impossible to prove by all the places produced out of them by T. G. * Chap. 1. Of the Adoration of the blessed Sacrament or more largely by Boileau that they meant any more then what we are very willing to joyn with them in that Christ is to be worship'd in the Sacrament as in Baptism and the other Offices of our Religion and that his Body and Flesh which he offered for us and by which we expect Salvation is also to be adored as being alwayes united to his Divine Naâ—ure and that the Sacrament it self as representing the great Mystery of our Redemption is to be highly reverenced by us and that we should come to receive it with all Humility and in the most decent Posture of Worship and Adoration as the Primitive Christians did But that the Sacrament it self is to be adored as well as Christ that which the Priest holds in his hands or lies upon the Altar before us that this is to be the Object of our Worship and to have all manner of Latria both of Body and Soul directed to that as to God himself that the consecrated Elements or the sacred Symbols of Christs Body and Blood are to be worship'd by us when we receive them or when without receiving them we see them set upon the Altar or carried about in Procession this which is the Controversie between us not one Father sayes but above three hundred of them together in a council say †concil sept constant Act. 6. Ten eikona hylen exaireton egoun arâ—u ousian prosetaxe prospheresâ—hai me schematizusai anthropu morphen hina me eidololatreia pareisachthe That to prevent Idolatry Christ appointed an excellent Image and Representation of himself in the Sacrament without any manner of humane shape even the plain and simple substance of Bread But they resolve that Idolatry shall not be prevented but they will be so sottish as to commit it with that which was designed to prevent it and which one would think ' should not in the least tempt any man to it with a bit of Bread The Absurdities of which upon a general view of the whole I shall now for a conclusion represent and offer as the last Argument against it and tho' that alone might be sufficient since God never imposes any thing that is really foolish and ridiculous to be believed or practised by his Creatures yet I thought it the fittest to be produced after we are well assured that neither Scripture nor Antiquity have required any such thing And however unwilling Bellarmine * Bell. de Sacram. Euchar. l. 3. c 10. is to admit of Arguments of this nature from the Absurdity of the thing as knowing how very liable the Church of Rome was to them and tho' 't is the most unjust Reflection upon Christianity to say that any thing that is a part of that is so which they are too ready to insinuate and so bring a reproach upon the common Christianity rather then part with their own ridiculous Opinions yet after we have thoroughly informed our sâ—lves that there is nothing of a Divine Authority as one can hardly think there should be for what is so absurd in it self then an Argument from the folly and unreasonableness of the thing must be allowed to be very proper and till men have lost all their Reason it will alwayes be very cogent and here it is so very strong and presses so hard upon their Adoration of the Host that 't is no wonder that they love to set by and except against reason when ever this matter is to be tryed but it is most sad to consider that they should have so little regard and concern for the Credit and Reputation of the Christian Religion as by this means so shamefully and notoriously to expose it to the Reproach and Contempt of
have fallen into sin after Baptism not that we can give them Pardon of their sin but that by our Ministry they may be brought to a knowledge of their sin and directed into a right course to obtain Pardon at the hands of God The other is of Theodorus Arch-Bishop of Canterbury whose words are these Confessio quae soli Theod. Cantuar. Apud Beat. Rhen. in praeâ— ad Tertul. de poeâ—it Deo fit purgat peccata Ea vero quae Sacerdoti fit docet qualiter purgentur Confession to God properly obtains the Pardon of Sin but by Confession to Men we are only put into the right way to obtain pardon Thus they But now in the church of Rome the case is otherwise there the Priest sustains the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ himself and is not so much his Delegate as his plenipotentiary and his pardon is as full and good as if the Judge of the World had pronounced it pro Tribunali so that if the most lewd and habitual sinner have but the good fortune to go out of the World under the Blessing of his Ghostly Father that is to say either death came so soon after his last Absolution or the priest came so opportunely after his last sin that he hath not begun a new score he is sure to go Heaven without more ado This I represent as the first mischief attending their Doctrine and practice of Auricular confession But this is not all for Secondly It corrupts and debauches the very Doctrine and Nature of Repentance which the whole Gospel lays so much stress upon Making Attrition which is but a slight sorrow for sin or a dislike of it in contemplation of the Wrath of God impendent over it pass for contrition which implies an hatred and detestation of it for its own moral evil and deformity with a firm resolution of amendment This they many of them are not ashamed to teach and their practice of Absolution supposes and requires it The Jesuites in particular who have almost ingrost to themselves the whole Monopoly of confessions avow this as their principle Father Baâ—â—y Bscâ—â—â— and Sâ—â—râ—z declare their Judgment that the Priest ought to absolve â— Man upon his saying that he detests his sin although at the same time the confessor doth not believe that he does so And Caussiâ— saith if this be not true there can be no use of confessions amongst the greatest part of Men. These things it'â— true are disliked by some others of the Romanists and the Curees of France are so honest as to cry shame of it before all the World for say they Attrition is but the work of Nature and if that alone will serve for pardon then a Man may be pardoned without Grace But therefore say the others the Sacrament of penance doth it alone and this is for the Honour of the Sacrament greatly for the Honour of it say I that it is of greater power then our Lord Jesus Christ and his Gospel which cannot help a wicked Man to Heaven whilest he continues so but this Sacrament it seems can Nor can they excuse this matter by saying these odioâ—â— assertions are but the private Opinions of some Divines For they are plainly favoured by the determinations of the council of Treâ—t I consess that council delivers it self warily and cunningly Conc. Trident. Sess 14. Cap. 4. in this point as it uses to do in such cases yet these are their words Illa vero contritio imperfecta quae attritiâ— dicitur quaâ—â—vis sinâ— Sacramento poenitentiae per se ad justificationem perducere peccatorem nequeat tamen eum ad Dei Gratiam in Sacramento Poenitentiae impetrandam disponit c. Which is as much as to say though Attrition or a superficial Sorrow for sin barely alone and without confession to a Priest will not justify a Man before God yet Attrition and confession together will do it for then they are as good as true Repentance And in this sense Melchior Canus long since thought he understood the council well enough Thirdly This business of Auricular confession as it is practised in the church of Rome is so far from being a means to prevent and restrain sin as it highly pretends to be and I am sure as it ought to be if it be good for any thing that contrariwise it is either lost labour and a meer ceremony or it greatly incourages and imboldens and hardens Men it both by the Secrecy the Multitudes and the Frequency of these Confessions by the cursory hypocritical and evasive ways of confessing by the slight penances imposed and the cheapness easiness and even prostitution of Absolutions It were easy to be copious in instances of all these kinds but it is an uncomfortable subject and I hasten to a conclusion therefore I will only touch upon them briefly 1. For the privacy of these confessions In the Ancient Church as I have noted before the Scandalous sinner was brought upon the Stage before a great Assembly of Grave and Holy Men he lay prostrate on the ground which he watered with his Tears he crept on his Knees and implored the Pitty and Prayers of all present in whose countenances if for shame he could look up he saw aâ—horrence of his fact indignation at God's dishonour conjoined with compassion to his Soul and joy for his Repentance his Confession was full of remorse and confusion the remedy was as sharp and disgustful to Flesh and Blood as the Disease had been pleasant and the pain of this expiation was able to imbitter the sweet of sin to him ever after Or if the Confession was not made before the whole Church but to the Penitentiary only yet he was a Grave and Holy Person chosen by the Church and representing it a Person resident in that Church and so able to take notice of and mind the future Conversation of those that addressed themselves to him a Person of that Sanctity and Reverence that he could not choose but detest and abhor all base and vile actions that should come to his knowledge Now it must needs be a terrible cut to a sinner to have all his lewdness laid open before such an one and then to be justly and shaâ—ply rebuked by him to have his sins aggravated and to be made to see his own ugly shape in a true glass held by him besides to be enjoined the performance of a strict Penance of Fasting and prayer and after all if this do not do â—o have the Church made acquainted with the whole matter as in the case of the Deacon aforesaid This course was likely to work something of remoâ—se in the sinner for what was past and to make him watchful and careful for the time to come But what is the way of the Church of Rome like to this Where a Man may confess to any Priest to him that knows him not and so cannot observe his future life and carriage nay perhaps that knows not how to value the