important a businesse as this is hope of saluation Yes will Bellarmine resolue you for though it be hereticall not to beleeue the Church in grosse yet is it not hereticall to mistake the acception of the Church which is in effect to beleeue a false Church for examples sake To take a Generall Councell without the Pope for the infallible Church inasmuch as wee see saith hee these tolerated by the Church which defend that opinion although it be erronious and next to heresie But alas replyes the poore man now that I am come so farre by your instructions as to know that the Pope is the Church which is a great deale farther than many of my ghostly Fathers are come yet because I perceiue a dissention amongst you and that you which hold this Tenent are not agreed when and in what matters it is that the Pope cannot erre I finde my conscience but a little eased by your resolution No matter for the Popes erring or not erring will Bellarmine answer for all Catholikes saith he doe accord in this that the Pope whether he may erre or no is yet to be heard with all obedience But what comfort will the man obiect can this be to me that liue haply in England or Spaine farre remote from Rome It is the present Pope you say vpon whose iudgement I am to depend whom I am neither able to heare neither doth your Cardinalship thinke it necessarie that hee should be a preacher to be heard Tush saith Bellarmine it is not materiall that you heare the Pope when as there bee Preachers in your owne Parish who may informe you But faith the man there is no promise made that whatsoeuer my Parochian teaches mee is forth with the true and vndoubted doctrine of the Church considering that he may erre and be deceiued Nor haue you will Bellarmine tell you more assurance of the Popes word if you and your whole Nation should trauaile to Rome to heare his resolution For asmuch as when he teacheth not the whole Church he is in as much possibilitie to erre as Innocent the eighth was when hee permitted the Norwegians to celebrate the Eucharist without wine What then is to bee done Greg. de Valentia in his third tome vpon Thom. 1. Disp makes this answer That if you finde but an Episcopall Synod or the consent of diuers Diuines onely affirming such a doctrine to be the sentence of the Church you are bound to beleeue it though it bee a lye But is it not a sinne will the man reply to beleeue a lye Gabriel Biel and Tolet the Iesuite to the end that we may see how both ancient and later Papists haue beene forced to the same streights will answere that if one heare his Bishop or Prelate preach contrarie to the Faith thinking that it is so beleeued by the Church such an one shall not onely not sinne but also in beleeuing that falshood shall commit an act meritorious It is no maruaile then if the Romanists boast so much of Visibilitie considering that their faith is built fiue stories high the Layties beliefe vpon his Pastor the Pastors vpon the common opinion of neighbour Diuines or an Episcopall Synod that Episcopall Synod vpon the Church the Church vpon the Pope and the Pope vpon Christ Wherin how skilfull Artizans soeuer the Iesuites are in other Trades I know not surely in architecture they shew but little skil hauing not prouided any thing to supply the roome of the Pope in the vacancie so that for a yeare and more sometimes the vpper stories must like Esops Towers bee seene to hang in the aire For howsoeuer those which hold the supreame authoritie to bee subiectiuely and formally in the Church and instrumentally onely in the Pope may supply the place of the dead Pope with a generall Councell yet the Iesuites and others which with open cry now adayes condemne this opinion as false and next to heresie may be challenged of more folly then hee which built his house vpon the sand SECT V. The obiections out of the Scriptures touching the Churches infallibilitie answered WHat now remaines but that we answer those arguments wheron our aduersaries seem to ground this supposed power of the Church in challenging absolute beliefe to what she affirmes The first rank of arguments containes such places of Scripture as concerne the priuiledges of the Church in generall As 1. Tim. 3. 15. That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to conuerse in the house of God which is the Church of the liuing God the piller and ground of truth I answer that the Church here mention'd is not that Church which the Papists make to be the Iudge of Controuersies that is either the Church representatiue which is a generall Councell or the Church virtuall which they imagine to be the Pope but the Church essentiall in whole or part which is the congregation of all faith full beleeuers and therefore not to the purpose For the Papists themselues doe discharge it in this sense from the office of defining because in part it is fallible and in whole it is avast bodie composed of parts farre asunder and wanting a speaker And that the Church in this place is so taken besides the confession of Bellarmine who acknowledgeth it the very circumstances of the place doe carrie it for Saint Paul tells Timothie here that hee wrote this Epistle vnto him that hee might know how to conuerse or behaue himselfe in the house of God which hee expounding to bee the Church it must on necessitie bee construed of the Church essentiall as consisting of the faithfull in grosse vnlesse one should be so absurd as to say that Saint Paul deliuered directions vnto Timothie in this Epistle how he should conuerse in a generall Councell whereof there were none in three hundred yeeres after or else which is more absurd how he should behaue himselfe discreetly and with circumspection in the Popes belly So Matth. 18. 16. And if hee will not heare them tell the Church and if hee will not heare the Church let him bee to thee as the Heathen and the Publican I answer that here be three degrees of admonitions and reproofes set downe by our Sauiour in case that one brother trespasse against another Viz. First corripiendus amore he is to bee reproued with loue verse 15. goe and rebuke him betweene thee and him alone Secondly corripiendus pudore hee is to bee reproued with shame verse 16. if hee will not heare thee ioyne with thee besides one or two Thirdly corripiendus timore he is to be reproued with feare verse 17. if hee will not heare them tell the Church So that I willingly grant this honour to haue beene here giuen by our Sauiour to his Church that the last resort and appeale vpon earth should be made vnto it but you must remember withall how farre this present case will besteed you
a beliefe of the Churches saying Stapleton notwithstanding would faine find an cuasion from this argument saying that to yeeld beliefe to the affirmations of the Church is the Theologicall sense of the Creede though it bee not the Grammaticall much like as Bellarmine who endeauouring to proue Purgatorie from these words of Christ Matth. 12. It shall not be forgiuen him neither in this world nor in the world to come Confesseth in the end that it followes not indeed according to the rules of Logicke but onely according to the rule of Prudence as if forsooth the Arts were contradictorie to Diuinitie and not subordinate vnto it and that one might not iustly suspect something to bee amisse in that house where the Mistresse and her hand maides are at variance Secondly I argue from the word Catholicke in the Creede which by the Tridentine Catechismes owne confession signifying the Flocke as well as the Pastors and excluding no time no persons nor any condition of men is not possible to be seene nor capable to be heard nor able to bee consulted with and therefore according to the sense which the Church beleeues in this place it is absurd to conceiue that these words Credo Ecclesiam I beleeue that there is a Church should bee equiualent to these Credo Ecclesiae I yeeld faith and beliefe to the Church But for breuities sake omitting other proofes as more behoofull for those which write large Tracts than for my selfe who desire to obserue as neere as I can the lawes of Catechising my third reason shall bee drawen from the word Church which being by the Papists inuolued with so many contrarieties and contradictions from it I thus argue That which is to be the foundation of my faith and to which I am to yeeld assent in all things that must be a thing certainely knowne and determined what it is It is not sufficient to be acquainted with the word but wee must also vnderstand the thing for faith is not verball but reall neither are we conueied to heauen by bare sounds as by Magicke spels but by truths and verities which are couched vnder them But according to the Papists owne assertions this Church which they here would make to be the foundation of their faith and to which say they we are to yeeld assent in all things is not to them a thing as yet certainely knowne and determined what it is which by these Gradations following I shall demonstrate SECT III. The Romanists distractions touching the Church set downe in eight Gradations THe Church is deuided by some of the Popish Doctors into the Church 1. Essentially which they make to be the Conuocation of all that beleeue in Christ 2. Representatiue which they say are either the Bishops assembled in a generall Councell as most doe affirme or the Colledge of Cardinals as Siluester Prierias imagines 3. Virtually which they conceiue to be the Pope The first Gradation 1. NOw graunt the Church to be such a Pillar of truth that who so heares it cannot erre yet First it is not determined by Popish writers which is that Church to whose Oracles and definitiue sentence we are to listen 1. The Glosse vpon Gratians Decrees which containe the Popes owne lawes and constitutions asking the question what Church it is to be meant off when it is said that the Church cannot erre answeres that it is to be meant not of the Pope but of the Congregation of the faithful that is the Church Essentially 2. But this opinion of the Church is generally by almost all the Papists reiected for being the iudge of Controuersies and consequently the foundation of our faith the reasons are First because such a multitude dispersed farre and wide throughout the face of the earth cannot be so marshalled as to haue their opinions calculated Secondly because the greater part of these are Lay-people whose apprehensions oftentimes reach not vnto the matters controuerted Lastly because there is no promise made either to the flocke or to the Pastors and doctors of the Church that a greater part of them shal not erre but only that all of them shal not erre Wherefore though the whole Church in this sense cannot erre errore personali with a personall error yet Bellarmine in his fourth Booke De Rom. Pont. and fourth Chapter tels vs that we must seeke out for one that cannot erre errore iudicali with a iudiciall errour Some therefore of the Papists are of opinion that the Church in this sense as it is taken for the iudge of controuersies and foundation of faith is the Church representatiue in a generall Councell of Bishops no matter whether with the Pope or without him because the Pope say they though he be the head of all Christians and all Churches in seuerall yet is he not of all the Church assembled in a Councell togeather And of this opinion besides those which Bellarmine reckons vp as Cardinalis Cameracensis Ioh. Gerson Iacobus Almanus Nic. Cusanus Panormitanus Cardinalis Florentinus and Abulensis we may ioyne Ocham Driedo the Bishops assembled in the generall Councels of Constance and Basill and in a word the Vniuersitie of Paris as Coriolanus in his Preface to the Councels Praelud 5. doth confesse 3. But many of the later Papists and especially the Iesuites perceiuing that the former opinion touching the Authoritie of a generall Councell aboue the Pope howsoeuer the contrarie bee not yet determined doth indeed ouerthrow the verie faith of the Popes Primacie and finding as they say no promise made to a generall Councell without the Pope for that the Church is to be built vpon the rocke and not the rocke vpon the Church they doe concurre that the Church whose definitiue sentence wee are bound to beleeue is nothing else but the Church virtually that is the Pope whereby they delude and impose vpon the world more than euer for whilst they boast of the Church their Mother they meane and intend nothing else thereby but onely the Pope their father The second Gradation BVt secondly graunt for the Church at the Iesuites request that it be the Pope vpon which we are to relie yet is it not agreed vpon by them for the manner whether it bee the Pope alone or whether the Pope in an assembly of the Church representatiue and again whether this Church representatiue be the Colledge of Cardinals or whether a generall Councell 1. For no meane Writers amongst them doe hold that the Pope may erre if hee define without a generall Councell as besides many of the Parisiens Alphonsus a Castro and Pope Adrian the sixth doe auerre that we may see not onely priuate men but also Popes themselues to haue suspected the Papall authoritie in this point And here though Bellarmine vaunts that all Catholickes doe conspire in this that when the Pope defines any thing in a generall Councell hee is then out of danger of erring either in faith or generall
precepts touching manners yet it is not decided say Canonists of whom this generall Councell is to consist For as it is generally defined it imports an assembly of Bishops or holy Fathers met together out of all quarters of the earth But Bellarmine in his first Booke De Concil 17. Cap. saith that such a generall Councell neuer was nor possibly can bee since in the first generall Councell there were present but two Priests out of Italy one Bishop out of France one out of Spaine and one out of Africa In the second and third there were none out of the West and in the fourth onely the Legate of Leo which deliuered the consent of the other Bishops of Spaine France and Italy who had before sent the same in Writing vnto the Pope forth of their owne Prouinces And on the contrarie in Councels celebrated in the West few Easterne Bishops haue bin found What then thinkes the Cardinall best to bee done Why he tels vs it is enough if it be published and made knowne to all the greater Christian Prouinces neither matters it say Canus Turrecremata and Gregorie de Valentia that all bee Cited much lesse that all doe Come sufficient it is saith Bellarmine if no Bishop be excluded if out of the greater part of Christian Prouinces some doe appeare and if the foure chiefe Patriarchs which are besides the Bishop of Rome bee present either by themselues or by their substitutes though hee thinkes that this Condition bee not very necessarie at this day considering they are either Heretikes or Schismatikes So that here they commit mayne Contradictions For first they make a Councell to be generall and to represent the whole Church and yet to consist oftentimes of fewer Bishops than a Nationall and those for substance but of one Angle of the World onely the rest either not cited or not expected Secondly they iudge it sufficient for the Patriarchs which are absent to depute others in their roome the which was also practised by their Bishops at Trent and yet as Valentia and others well dispute in the Case of the Popes Legates the assistance of the holy Ghost is a thing personall and cannot bee delegated vnto another Wherefore to salue all sores with one playster Valentia and Turrecremata doe affirme that considering those difficulties the Popes owne authoritie it being vniuersall is capable to make a particular Councell to bee Vniuersall as it hath done in some of the Roman But see then a third contradiction no lesse misse-shapen than the former ascends the Stage for whereas Bellarmine in his first booke de Concil and fifteenth Chapter and others and endeuour to proue jure diuino by the Law of God that Bishops onely haue deciding voyces in a generall Councell and that the promise of deliuering the truth is made to them onely as being the sole Pastors of the Church they confesse notwithstanding in their writings and declare by the practise of the Tridentine Councell that Cardinalls Abbots and Generalls of Orders haue voyces there though not ordinarie and by right yet by priuiledge and custome whence it followes that either the Church hath that prerogatiue to assigne and appoint whom the holy Ghost shall assist or else that a major part in a Councell may bee made vp by those to whom the holy Ghost hath past no promise that they shall not erre 2. These absurdities therefore considered some of the Church of Rome doe abase that high esteeme which for a long time was conceaued of generall Councells making either their first originall to bee but humane as Albertus Pighius or their vse not absolutely necessarie as Bellarmine and others Hence it is that a second sort contracting the face of the Church into a lesser modell doe teach that the Church here disputed of to bee the Iudge of Controuersies is the Pope in the Church represented not by Bishops in a Councell but by the Colledge of Cardinalls in the Consistorie which opinion is recited by Greg. de Valentia in his Disputations vpon Thomas 3. But because the Colledge of Cardinalls seemes too compendious a walke wherein to impale the greatnesse of the Pope and a generall Councell too vncertaine a path to tread therefore the greater cry rings this peale that the Church wee talke of is the Pope himselfe whether with a Councell or without a Councell whether with the Cardinalls or without them as in the next Gradation shall appeare The third Gradation BVt thirdly grant for the manner that it bee the Pope himselfe which is this Church whether with a Councell or without a Councell whether with Cardinalls or without them yet is it not determined for the time when it is the Pope 1. For some teach that it is the Pope at all times in that hee cannot possibly be an Hereticke or publish a falshood and of this opinion is Albertus Pighius in his fourth booke de Hierarch eccles cap. 8. 2. But others hold that it is the Pope then onely when hee publisheth a doctrine vnder this condition to bee beleeued by the whole Church as an Article of Faith and of this opinion is Bellarmine himselfe and by his account Thom. Aquinas Waldensis Ioannes de Turrecremata Driedo Caietan Hosius Eckius Ioannes a Louaine Petrus a Soto Melchior Canus besides Valentia Becanus and the whole fraternitie of Iesuites The fourth Gradation BVt fourthly grant for the time because haec est communissima opinio this is the most common opinion of all Catholicks saith Bellarmine that the Church is then the Pope when hee propounds a doctrine to bee beleeued by all men as an article of Faith yet is it not sufficiently resolued by them for the matters what matters they must bee in resoluing whereof his proposition is infallible 1. For you haue beene hitherto made beleeue that whensoeuer hee buckles himselfe to define any thing to bee beleeued as an Article of Faith that then hee is in his Chaire and then hee cannot erre and amongst other points in which they say that wee are to beleeue assuredly that the Pope cannot erre Bellarmine and Greg. de Valentia reckon vp the Canonization of Saints to be one and that the Pope is the successor of Peter to bee another 2. But on the other side it is first confest by Bellarmine and as hee saith by all Catholickes that the Pope may erre euen with a generall Councell at his elbow in matters of fact which depend vpon information and the testimonies of men and such is the question touching the legitimacie of the Pope confest to bee by Bellarmine And because the Canonization of Saints is of the same nature Valentia confesseth that the Popes infallibilitie therein is not so altogether deliuered by the Church and Canus in his fifth booke de locis theolog chap. 5. saith that it is not certaine de fide as a matter of faith neither will hee
suppose to bee infallible that Church being according to their supposition either the Pope in his chaire or a Generall Councell but are engaged altogether to the reports of particular Priests and Iesuites whom none will exempt from being subiect to error and deceit 2. To the second question if the exposition of the Church be not infallible how doe we know the sense and meaning of the Scriptures I answere that although all places of the Scripture are not alike perspicuous as all are not alike necessarie to saluation yet for the opening of the sense thereof so farre as is behoofefull for his Church God is the best Interpreter of his owne meaning expounding outwardly one place of the Word by another inwardly both opening ones eyes to discerne and enclining ones heart to assent vnto the truth As for those which cannot see but with the Popes spectacles and pretend the Scriptures to bee euery where throughout so ouershadowed with a mist that nothing presents it selfe cleerly to their view I wonder the lesse at them because their blindnesse is such that they cannot see to serue God without burning Tapers and lighted Candles at noone day Now on the other side I demand of them if one cannot know the certaine meaning and sense of the Scriptures vnlesse the exposition of the Church be infallible 1. Wherefore hath not the Church of Rome all this while publisht a set interpretation vpon any one book of the Bible considering that they say it is so necessarie and that the Popes Commentaries vpon it haue for so many Marts beene expected 2. How a man which cannot discerne the sense of the Scriptures in plaine places shall be able to shun the processe in infinitum and not runne his wits out of breath considering that according to the Papists themselues the voyce of the Church vttered in former Decrees requires the exposition of the present Church meaning the Pope and that the Churches Canons are inuol'd with no lesse if not more perplexeties than the Scriptures I could instance in ancient Councells as the Nicen and aske whether the sixth Canon wherein these wordes be Quoniam talis est Episcopo Romano consuetudo are to bee vnderstood according to the opinion of Ruffinus or Balsamon or Caranza or Bellarmine which foure are recounted by Bellarmine lib 2. de Rom. Pont. c. 13. But because I desire to confine my selfe to that which is pure Roman let 's cast the water of the Tridentine Synagogue and see whether that runnes so cleere as they pretend I aske therefore first touching the Canonicall bookes the number and names whereof the Fathers therein assembled were so carefull to set downe Sess 4. whether that which we call the Apocrypha Esther be there canonized as Bellarmine affirmeth lib. 1. de verbo Dei c. 7. or whether that booke and those which are called additaments bee there excluded from the Canon as Sixtus Senensis in lib. 1. 8. biblioth sanct doth auouch Secondly for the intention required by the Councell in him which administers the Sacrament Sess 7. I aske whether the wordes of the Councell be to be vnderstood according to Catharinus opinion in opusc or Bellarmines lib. 1. de Sacram in Gen. c. 27. Thirdly I aske how it comes to passe that Priscian and our old Grammarians will not serue to construe the text of the Councel if the Roman Church can endite with so perspicuous a stile but that Sess 7. Can. 8. Opus operatum must contrarie to the Grammar rules as Bellarmine confesseth lib. 2. de Sacram. c. 1. be vnderstood passiuely And that in the sixth Sess cap. 5. de iustif it is said Neque homo ipse nihil omninò agat wherein contrarie to Grammar are two negatiues expressed which cannot bee resolued into an affirmatiue Fourthly if the interpretations of the Church are so facile and easie whether was the Councell of Trents meaning concerning Originall sinne and Iustification the same that Dominicus a Soto affirms it to be or that which Ambrosius Catharinus attributes vnto it seeing both were present at the drawing of the Canons both presented books for proofe of their opinions to the Councell which are now extant and the Councell it selfe being appealed vnto could not decide the Controuersie nor agree what was her owne meaning therein To the third question if the tradition of the Church be not infallible how shall we know whether the Scriptures be perfect and entire or maimed and corrupted I answer that there is a double perfection of the Scriptures the one of integrall parts which appertaines to the perfection of each booke Chapter and verse in particular the other of essentiall parts which pertaine to the perfection of sauing knowledge If the question be of the integrall puritie and perfection how I know that there be copies of the Scriptures in the world by iudicious comparing whereof light may bee giuen to correct all manifest errors and defects crept into the Text whether by negligence or ignorance of the transcribers or otherwise I answer that I am assured thereof by the promises of God in generall to establish a perpetuitie of sauing knowledge and true beliefe in his Church and consequently by that firme foundation of his prouidence which appointing the end to witte eternall life will neuer suffer the meanes conducting thereunto either to perish or being disparaged by corruptions to become fruitlesse Neither doth Greg de Valentia run for farther proofes to secure the Popes legitimacie and salue the danger to which the Latine vulgar edition of the Bible is lyable by often impressions then this prouidence of God But if the question be of the essentiall puritie and perfection of the Scriptures how one may be assured that so much as contaynes points necesarie to saluation is preserued perfect and entire in them I answer that to resolue ones selfe herein he hath besides the generall promises of God and his neuer fayling prouidence an experimentall knowledge also springing from that amplitude of comfort and consolation which Gods Spirit effects by the Scriptures in the hearts and consciences of true beleeuers For such is the vnion and coherence of points necessarie to saluation on with the other that one workes not his proper effect where the other is not at least in some reasonable and conuenient measure knowne and beleeued Now on the contrarie I demaund of them if we cannot bee assured of the puritie and perfection of the Scriptures vnlesse the Tradition of the Church concerning it bee infallible how a man can euer bee resolued thereof from the Church of Rome Which first could neither heretofore preserue her Latine vulgar editions of the Bible which shee preferres before the originall from manifest Corruptions as may appeare by the corrections of Origen and Hierom nor at this day hath been able to Canonize any edition without permitting faults solecismes Barbarismes Misinterpretations Ambiguities Additions Substractions Transpositions Immutations Deprauations and the like which are confest by
pronounce him to bee an Heriticke who after so great a pudder as hath beene kept about Saint Francis shall yet deny him to bee in heauen Secondly Turrecremata in his second booke de Ecclesia and Syluester in his summes do grant that the Pope may so farre as in him lyes endeà uour to establish his owne heresie and obtrude it vpon the Church nor doe Valentia and Bellarmine dissalow their position vnder these two prouiso's the one that if he doe it effectually then the contrary hath beene formerly determined by the Church so that the Church can then receiue no danger thereby of erring the other that if the contrary was neuer before determined then the Pope may indeed attempt it as did Ioh. 22. in a question touching the state of the soule after death but God in his prouidence will take such course as that he neuer shall accomplish it The fifth Gradation BVt fiftly grant for the matters that the Pope be this Church in determining any matter of Faith whatsoeuer yet is it not resolued clearely by them for the person in generall whether the Pope vpon which wee are so to relie bee the present Pope or whether the Popes deceased 1. For the voice of the Iesuites speakes this that it is the present Pope nay Gregorie de Valentia is so confident therein that neque Scriptura sacra saith hee neque etiam sola traditio si ab ea separes praesentem in ecclesia authoritatem est illa authoritas infallibilis magistra fidei c. that is neither the Scriptures nor yet traditions if you separat from the present authoritie in the Church is that infallible mistresse of Faith Iudge of controuersies So Bellarmine omnium conciliorum veterum omnium dogmatum firmitas pendet ab authoritate praesentis Ecclesiae the strength of all ancient Councells and all assertions doth depend vpon the authoritie of the present Church and their reasons alleadgedare for that without the authoritie of the present Church wee neither can be assured of the certainty of Traditions and Councells nor of the sense meaning of them 2. But contrariwise the case being put as you haue heard by Turrecremata and Siluester that the Pope may doe what lyes in him to propose an heresie both Valentia and Bellarmine grant the position not to be impossible vpon condition that the heresie haue beene condemned formerly by the Church for then according to their doctrine the Church is to examin the errors of the present Pope by truthes resolued by precedent Popes So that if in all points necessarie to saluation the truth haue beene already determined by former Popes as in 1600. yeeres space they haue had leasure enough to doe it the present Pope ceaseth to bee a competent Iudge in such matters hee may erre touching them hee may doe his best indeuour to obtrude vpon the Church heresies concerning them nay hee stands himselfe to bee arrained at the barre and Tribunall of his Clergie whether he be Orthodoxe or no and that by the prescripts of his predecessors The sixt Gradation SIxtly graunt for the Person in generall that it bee the present Pope which is the Church in that no danger can accrue from the Popes propounding an heresie if that heresie haue beene formerly condemned because as they say the Church may then know him not to bee their Shepherd but a Wolfe yet is it not agreed or determined sufficiently amongst them for the meanes how the Church may bee able to iudge or truly discerne him to be such an one 1. For they which hold a Generall Councell to be aboue the Pope and that it cannot erre as Gerson Cameracensis and others aboue mentioned doe hold likewise that the Pope so erring may bee iudged both for his person and doctrine by the church in a Generall Councell 2. But they which hold a Generall Councell not to be aboue the Pope but that wanting his companie it may erre euen in matters of faith as Bellarmine Valentia Cajetan Turrecremata and others these disable any for being competent Iudges of the Popes doctrine For howsoeuer they may pretend that the Councell proceeding according to former Popes declarations cannot erre yet because they teach that the certaintie sense of former Decrees depends vpon the iudgement of the present Pope I cannot see what meanes may according to their opinion be affoorded for the triall of the Popes doctrine if he should chance to erre The seuenth Gradation SEauenthly graunt for the meanes that the Church neuer neede to passe verdict vpon the Popes doctrine yet is it not agreed vpon by them for the See whether the Popedome bee necessarily vnited to the See of Rome so that the word Roman for ought they know assuredly is not conuertible with Catholike but that he which brags he is a Roman Catholike to day may if the Pope should chance to die prooue a Geneua Catholike tomorrow 1. For Dominicus a Soto vpon the fourth of the Senten saith that the Apostolicall seate and power of vniuersall Bishop is annext to the Bishoprick of Rome onely jure Ecclesiastico that is not by the Law of God but by the Churches constitution so that by the authoritie of the Church a Bishop of another See may be chosen Pope And Bellarmine graunts that it is no matter of faith that the Apostolicall seate may not bee separated from the Church of Rome forasmuch as neither Scripture nor Tradition doe auouch it 2. But Canus Driedo Turrecremata and Gregorie de Valentia doe hold the contrarie that the Bishop of Rome is Peters successor not onely by the constitution of the Church but also by the institution of Christ though Valentia confesseth varias hac de re doctorum sententias that the opinions of the Doctors be diuers in this point The eighth Gradation EIghtly for I shall not yet leaue them graunt for the See that the Bishop of Rome bee the ordayned Successour of Peter by the institution of Christ not onely in the Popedome but also in the particular See of Rome yet is it not certayne for the particular person of this or any present Pope whether hee bee the true and lawfull Bishop of Rome or no 1. For although Gregorie de Valentia doth thinke that Gods prouidence will alwayes secure the Church of a lawfull Pope 2. Yet hee confesseth that graue Doctors doe admit the case as possible and this according to them may fall out diuers wayes First if the Pope be promoted by Simonie and that this is not impossible Aquinas affirmes it 2a. 2a. q. 100. where hee saith Papa potest incurrere vitium Simoniae sicut quilibet alius the Pope may incurre the sinne of Simonie as well as any other The which opinion Cajetan and others vpon Thomas doe follow and it is moreouer a clause in the Bull of Pope Iulius the second That if any Pope happen to be chosen simoniacally the same
election shall bee actually void although inthronization protraction of time and adoration of the Cardinalls haue established him in the See Secondly if the person elected by the Cardinalls bee not of the masculine gender as not a few of their owne writers doe affirme to haue beene sometimes experimented Thirdly if the partie chosen Pope were neuer truly baptized and of this by their Tenents one can neuer be assured For the Papists doe make the Sacraments to depend vpon the intention of the Priests and therefore Bellarmine in his third booke de Iustif. and eight chapter disputing against Ambrosius Catharinus concerning the certaintie of grace Neque potest quis esse certus certitudine fidei se percipere verum sacramentum cum sacramentum sine intentione ministri non conficiatur intentionem alterius nemo videre potest that is no man can by the certaintie of Faith be assured that he receiues the true Sacrament seeing that the Sacrament without the intention of the Priest is not made and the intention of another doth no man see To these Ioh. de Turrecremata addes that the Pope is deposed by God euen for mentall heresie which we know is a thing not liable to the sense Whereby wee may behold into what laborinths the Papists doe cast themselues by proiecting their faith vpon the Pope For if he haue intruded vpon the Papacie by Simonie or be of the wrong Sexe or that the Priest at his baptisme owing his parents a spight or his wits being a wooll-gathering intended not to baptise him nay put the case that hee bee rightly baptised yet if the Bishop which conferred priest-hood vpon him or those which baptised or ordayned that Bishop missed their right intention or farther if any of his predecessor Popes which either made Lawes for the forme and manner of electing the Pope or created so many Cardinalls as might make a major or exclusiue part in the election of succeeding Popes fayled by reason of the forenamed Cases or lastly according to Turrecremata if being truly elected hee chance to fall into mentall heresie then is not such a man by their owne positions true Bishop of Rome that supposed Bishop of Rome not lawfull Pope that Pope hath not the spirit of infallibilitie annext vnto him and yet this may happen nay by some it is proued to haue happened and yet the Church neuer the wiser For howsoeuer Franciscus Longus in his late Summes of the Councells finding that their faith must needes stagger which depend altogether vpon the infallibilitie of the Pope if it may not bee certainly knowne who is true and lawfull Pope makes this assertion De fide est dicere hunc numero Papam viz. Gregorium XV. esse verum successorem Petri Christi Vicarium that is That it is an article of faith to say this very Pope in particular to wit Gregorie the fifteenth is the true successor of Peter and Vicar of Christ yet by his leaue I should hardly graunt that priuiledge to a priuateman which is not due to a Generall Councell and the Pope himselfe or thinke it equitie to impose any thing vpon men to be beleeued as an article of faith concerning which the Doctors of the Church and the Bishops of Rome themselues may erre and be deceiued Now who knowes not that Pope Stephen the sixt in a Councell of Bishops did disanull the acts of Formosus his predecessor and commanded those which had beene ordayned by him to bee reordayned againe as not acknowledging him for a true and lawfull Pope Againe how Iohn the ninth disanulled the acts of Stephen the sixth and approued the acts of Formosus yet farther how Sergius the third re-established the acts of Stephen and made void the acts of Formosus and by consequence those of Iohn both which notwithstanding all succeeding Popes haue receiued as right and vndoubted successors of Peter in the Papall Throne Nor doth Bellarmine otherwise defend these errors of the Popes then by saying that they erred in quaestione facti non iuris in a question of fact not of right and concludes that the chiefe question was whether Formosus were lawfull Pope or no in which kinde of questions saith he we denie not but the Popes may erre and that Stephen Sergius erred indeed In like manner did not Iohn the three and twentieth sit fiue yeeres as Bishop of Rome and moreouer in that ranke which is esteemed by the Iesuites to bee the right Line yet Bellarmine tells vs that hee was not a certaine and vndoubted Pope and therefore not needfull to bee defended considering that there were three at the same time neither could it be easily decided amongst so many learned Patrones which each of them had whether of them was legitimate And if it bee true which the Cardinall tells vs in another place disputing the deposing of this Iohn that dubius Papa habetur pro non Papa a doubtfull Pope is held for no Pope surely of whose election wee may any way doubt his decisions wee may iustly feare and the validitie of his pardons prouidently suspect SECT IIII. The palpable abuse offered the Laytie by obtruding the Church vnto them as their soueraigne Iudge displayed by the present practice of the Iesuites NOw by this which hath beene alreadie spoken touching the Church and the Pope may appeare what sophistrie is currant in the Romish pale and what legerdemayne is practised in popish markets whilest one thing is shewed and another sold the Title of the Church being vsed but as a clowd wherein they carrie poore people whilest the mysterie of iniquitie more couertly workes which being reuealed it will appeare that a lay-papist whose faith is lapt vp in the implicite beliefe of the Church being defined will proue no better than a creature that beleeues hee knowes not what and credits it hee knowes not why resembling somewhat the patient which receiued this precipe of his physician Si vis sanari de morbo nescio quali Accipias herbam qualem sed nescio vel quam Ponas nescio vbi sanabere nescio quande To make this the more palpable and euident to the sense I will wade a little into the practicall part of this doctrine and shew to what miserable shifts the learnedst of the Romish side are driuen by vndertaking the defence of the Churches preeminency in matters of faith Imagine therefore a poore papist thus tormented in his conscience I am saith hee enioyned by my Confessor to ground my faith and beliefe vpon the authoritie of the Church Now woe is mee what shall I doe Our Masters which should bee lights to the blinde and informe vs which is that Church whereon we are to depend they are distracted in their opinions one saith a Generall Councell although without the Pope another a Councell and the Pope together a third that it is the Pope alone and surely there is but one Truth besides which can there possibly be in so
times and places In respect of its forme so likewise it hath sundrie considerations for the forme of it is Either 1. Internall which is the misticall vnion which the members thereof haue with Christ and through Christ one with another which vnion is wrought by faith 2. Externall which is the vniformity the parts haue one to another in the profession of the truth and the right administration of the Sacraments which truth and right administration wee say must be if not in all points whatsoeuer yet at least in all points fundamentall and necessarie to saluation Now to bring this home to my argument the Church Catholick of these foure wayes that it may be considered is not visible at all three wayes and the fourth it is not alwayes so clearely visible as that the visibilitie should serue for a note whereby to come to the knowledge of the vniuersalitie and perpetuitie of the Church It is not visible at all First in respect of its matter taken in the full Latitude thereof excluding no times no places nor any condition of men In which sense by the Tridentine catechismes owne confession it is taken in the Creed For nothing is visible which is not present I may remember times past or read of men absent or coniecture things to come but I can see onely those things which are present Secondly it is not visible at all in respect of its inward forme which is the misticall vnion of the members with Christ and one another wrought by faith for this is rooted in the heart and the heart of man God onely seeth Thirdly not in respect of its outward forme which as it enters the Creed is not onely an outward profession of a Doctrine or Discipline but a profession of the same vnder the notion of truth and that the Church in this sense is inuisible Gregorie de Valentia confesseth in his 3. Tom. vpon Thomas and 1. disput and Bellarmine in his 3. booke de Eccles and 15. chap. where he saith In Ecclesia aliquid videri aliquid credi videmus eum caelum hominum qui est Ecclesia sed quod isle caetus sit ipsa vera Christi Ecclesia non videmus sed credimus That is in the Church something is beleeued and something seene wee see that companie of men which is the Church but that this company is the true Church wee doe not see it but beleeue it Againe the Church considered in her most fauourable sense for the Papists that is according to her matter which are men and that againe in a limitted acception not as shee is taken in her Latitude and extent for the whole but in respect of her parts onely with reference to their proper times and places yet in this sense I say is not so cleerely visible at all times as to haue her visibilitie to serue for a note whereby to know it to be Catholicke and vniuersal For Not a sufficiens ac propria ad dignoscendum Ecclesiam omnino necesse est vt sit omni hominum generi atque conditioni accommodatum it is Gregorie de Valentia's own rule in the place aboue cited q. 1. punct 7. § 15. that is that for a sufficient and proper note to know the Church it is necessarie that the note bee fit for all sorts and conditions of men and that all men bee qualified and capable to discerne the Church by it But the Church euen in this sense by his owne confession in the 16. § is sometimes so tost with the flouds of error schismes and persecutions that to the vnskilfull and such as cannot prudently weigh the reasons of times and circumstances it is hard to bee knowne so that by consequence the Visibilitie of it is not alwaies so apparant vnto all sorts of men as to serue for a note or proofe of the Church as Catholicke To make our argument yet more pregnant let vs but aske where the Church was in the time that the Arrian heresie ouerspread and hee will tell you out of Hierom that the ship of it was almost sunke and out of Hilarie that it was then non in tectis exteriori pompa querenda sed potius in carceribus speluncis not to be sought for in buildings or outward pompe but in Prisons and Caues Aske Turrecremata and others where the Church was in the passion of our Sauiour and they will tell you that it remayned only in the Virgin Marie which they say is signified in the Church of Rome by the putting out of all the Tapers saue one onely in the celebration of the passion Nay Bellarmine though hee oppugnes this opinion of Turrecremata's the most hee can yet he is contented to concurre with Abulensis in this that howsoeuer the Apostles might beleeue yet he thinkes that the Virgin Mary onely had fidem explicitam an explicite beliefe of Christs resurrection without which the Apostle saith that our faith is vaine we are yet in our sinnes 1. Cor. 15. Now grant that the Apostles beleeued as well as Marie yet if their beliefe was but implicit their profession could not be visible idem est non esse non apparere it is all one not to bee and not to appeare in this case Nay aske Bellarmine but how the Church shall be in the dayes of Antichrist and he will answer in his third booke de Rom. Pont. and seuenth chap. that it is certaine the persecution then shall bee so great that all publike ceremonies of Religion and Sacrifices shall cease How vniustly then doe the Papists deale with vs in this question touching modum cognoscendi the manner of knowing the Church to bee Catholike that is vniuersall and perpetuall by tying vs to proue it a posteriori instancing who were the Professors who the Pastors what their Names where they abode in all Ages as if ignorance of a thing were a Cause sufficient to make it not to be or Gods promise were not a gage strong enough for such an incredulous generation as theirs is vnlesse there were Registers to shew how and in what manner he kept his word Certainly if God in his wisedome had thought these kinde of proofes necessarie for his Church hee would haue erected an Office and Officers for the purpose now hee hath giuen vs indeed his Royall promise that it shall be so but no promise hath he giuen that there shall be Scribes in all Ages to commit to writing the names and persons of those by whom it came to be so If therefore a Papist should in this manner question me Where was your Church before Luther or what Professors of your doctrine were there or what assemblies of men professing the same faith that you doe euer since the time of our Sauiour vntill this present I would thus answere him out of the Creed That the Church of which I am a member was before Luther that there were assemblies of men professing the same faith that I doe and that
euer since the time of our Sauiour vnto this present I doe beleeue with the same faith and vpon the same grounds that I beleeue the Catholike Church because I beleeue our Church of England to be a member of the Catholike and this I beleeue a priori that is for the promise sake made in the Scriptures that it shall bee so But where our Church was before Luther or who were the Professors of it euer since the time of our blessed Sauiour vntill this present is no part of my Creed There is not a syllable in it which inuites me to proceed that way Doe I say I beleeue the vniuersalitie of Christs Church and must my foundation be such onely as can breed in me but an opinion or naked hope doe I begin in Faith and with the Galathians must I end in the flesh that is with sense Doe I build with one hand a Church Catholike which cannot bee seene and with the other must I draw it in a Map or point it out to the eye Nay set the Church as Catholike aside and consider it but in her parts which consideration of it belongs not to the Creed yet in this sense also is the Church at sometimes so obscured that by our Aduersaries owne confession none but the prudent and wise are able to discerne it The Church is I confesse compared in the Reuelation to a woman clothed with the Sunne in Isaiah to a Citie built vpon an Hill and by the Fathers to the Moone the Sunne the Moone and a Hill are things most easie to be discerned yet we know this Sunne may be obscured with a Clowd an Hill may be hid with a mist and the Moone as Saint Austen in his 119. Epist alluding to the Church obserueth hath her wanes and eclipses in the time of her peregrination SECT II. The second way whereby one may know the Church to be Catholike or Vniuersall IF any should mistake me and thinke that pressing so earnestly the preeminencie of knowing the Church to be Catholike and Vniuersall a priori that is from the promises made vnto it in the Scriptures we doe suspect our proofs a posteriori from the Professors of our Religion in all Ages to be either none or weake let them know that we want not those who haue scored out varietie of sufficient paths to proceed this way also which howsoeuer they bee not like the testimonie of our Sauiour to beget a faith yet are they like the testimonie of the Samaritan woman to induce a credulitie For not to tyre you with large discourses which were to exceed my limits onely for satisfaction herein to the reasonable and impartiall Hearer let vs take along with vs these few considerations 1. The first that we are to distinguish betweene our affirmatiues that is such things as are purely affirmed by vs and our negatiues such as in whole or in part we denie betweene which there is a great difference to be made in all sciences For affirmatiue propositions onely are the proper parts and ingredients of a discipline Negatiues are admitted say Logicians not so much by way of Precept as of Cautell and of Commentaries to vindicate the other from misconstruction 2. The second that such affirmatiues of ours as are established by our Church of England at least such as concerne the foundation of faith haue beene in all ages professed by the Church of Rome it selfe For explication whereof we are to obserue that the Popes Arithmetick which he vseth in calculating the articles of faith is not substraction but addition what wee purely affirme the Popish writers for the most part doe affirme the same the difference is that they affirme somewhat more then wee doe They denie not so much that our affirmations are truth as that they say we affirme not all the truth wherevpon they vsually stile vs in their writings Negatiuists For example sake Wee agree on both sides the Scriptures to be the Rule of Faith the Bookes of the old Testament written in Hebrew to bee Canonicall that we are iustified by Faith that God hath made two receptacles for mens soules after death Heauen and Hell that God may bee worshipped in spirit without an Image that wee are to pray vnto God by Christ that there be two Sacraments that Christ is really receaued in the Lords Supper that Christ made one oblation of himselfe vpon the Crosse for the redemption propitiation and satisfaction for the sinnes of the whole world In a word where they take the Negatiue part as in with-holding the Cup from the Laytie forbidding the administration of the Sacraments in the vulgar tongue and restrayning the marriage of Priests yet euen in these they condescend vnto vs for the lawfulnesse of the things in themselues and in respect of the Law of God and oppose them onely in regard of their necessitie and conueniencie and for that the Church of Rome hath otherwise ordayned But see our affirmations content them not To the Scriptures they adde and equalize vnwritten Traditions To the Hebrew Canon the Apocrypha To Faith in the act of Iustification Workes To Heauen and Hell Purgatorie Limbus Patrum and Limbus Puerorum To the worship of God in spirit Images To prayer to God by Christ inuocation and intercession of Saints To Baptisme and the Lords Supper fiue other Sacraments To the realitie of Christ in the Sacrament his corporall presence To the sacrifice of Christ vpon the Crosse the sacrifice in the Masse with other like and these we denie 3. The third that our affirmations by the iudgement of the Church of Rome haue beene in all ages deemed sufficient to saluation so that our Negatiues take not away any doctrine the explicit beliefe whereof is absolutely necessarie For first in regard of knowledge the Schoolemen hold that much lesse is needfull to bee explicitly beleeued then what is contayned in our affirmations For whereas wee entertayne and embrace amongst our affirmatiue articles not onely the doctrine of the three Creedes but also sundrie other assertions as may appeare by the booke of Articles and Homilies established in our Church Albertus Magnus on the contrarie with Bonauenture Richardus and Durandus thinke that so much onely of the Creed is necessarie as the Church solemnizeth in her holidayes Thomas Aquinas Scotus Gabriel Biel and Pope Adrian the sixth which goe farther thinke it needfull to beleeue but the whole Creed and Alexander ab Hales which goes farthest thinkes that one need but adde to the Apostolicall Creed the Nicen and Athanasian to make a compleat beleeuer quanquam hoc nimis durum videtur though this seemes too hard an imposition saith Gregorie de Valentia in his third Tom. vpon Thom. 1. disp although one wade no farther therein then the proper sense and haue no great distinct knowledge of the matters Nay Bellarmine is so confident in this point that he sticks not to say that the Apostles themselues neuer vsed to preach openly
Hope which reflects vpon the future blisse and the ioyes of the World to come For excitement whereunto two customes were entertayned the one pointing at that happinesse which the Saints enioy immediatly after their departure hence the other at the fulnesse of glory which they shall participate at the end and cosummation of the World That which pointed at the ioy and blisse which the Saints enioy immediatly after their departure hence consisted partly in thankesgiuings vnto God for the glory bestowed vpon them partly in other remembrances to excite and stirre vp men from consideration of their reward to bee imitators of their Vertues For deeper impression whereof there were wont to be yeerely Solemnities at their Sepulchres Commemorations of their names and Orations made in their prayses Now it being the custome of them which fell in persecution to implore the Prayers of Martyrs in Prison for them Saint Cyprian vpon supposition that Saints departed hence doe pray for the particular behoofe of those whom they know they left behind them did desire some Martyrs and others not after but before their deaths that if they preuented him and went before him into their Masters presence that then they would not forget to remember him vnto God This soliciting of Martyrs before their deaths brought in the next Age a custome to call vpon them after their deaths and this calling vpon them after it howsoeuer it may bee accounted rather amongst the straines of Rhetoricke being done in their Aniuersarie Declamations then the Aphorismes of Faith yet by Gregory the Greates time it weaued Prayers into the Lyturgie that God would heare their Intercessions but afterwards when the Glasse of the Trinity was perfected wherein the Schoolemen conceiue the Saints to see whatsoeuer is done vpon earth then these Prayers to God to heare the Intercessions of the Saints were changed into Prayers to the Saints to heare our Intercessions thēselues which is the practise of the present Church of Rome and came in saith Bellar. consuetudine non lege by a custome not a law The other Custome that aymed at the fulnesse of glory which the Saints shall enioy at the end and consummation of the World was performed by Prayers for their glorious Resurrection and their publike acquittall in the last Day the one being an exemplification of the Petition Thy Kingdome come the other of that which followes after it Thy will be done For the greater solemnitie whereof Oblations at Funerals and sometimes yeerely by the friends of the deceased were made not as some Popish Writers doe conceiue of the Eucharist but as Albaspinus notes of common Bread or other things of which the Congregation eating and communicating acknowledged the deceased by that action as a signe of Communion to bee co-members with them of the same mysticall Bodie the Church and interested in the Common Prayers touching the last day The which produced sundry opinions amongst the Ancients for Iustin Martyr Tertullian Clemens Romanus Lactantius and others were from hence of opinion that no particular iudgement passeth vpon the Saints vntil the last day but the church following being loth as it seemes to put off this particular iudgement wholly vntill then and yet not willing to determine that it should be giuen immediately vpon the passage hence but allowing an indefinite time for the same did apply the Churches prayers and well-wishes besides their former reference to the finall iudgement to this interim also alotted for the particular in the which they thought they might accompanie them to Gods Tribunall and pray for their deliuerance from hell and the iawes of the Lyon At last the doctrine of purgatorie which as I shall now declare for a long time passed as an vncertaine or particular opinion amongst priuate men getting sway the selfe same prayers were interpreted neither of a generall nor of the particular iudgement but of the iayle deliuery of soules out of purgatorie and so established in the Florentine Councell celebrated An. 1438. Another opinion which the oblations and prayers for the publicke acquittall of the dead wrought amongst some of the ancients was that seeing few dyed which by the bountie of their friends enioyed not that honour more or lesse all men good and bad were either at the generall Iudgement or before to bee purged by fire the payne whereof if need were should by these prayers of the liuing be either diminished or taken away And hence it is that purgatorie got entrance into the Church which being at the first like the vnknowne land at the South of America called terra del fogo was by Origen vpon misconstruction of the prayers aforesaid and an ouerweening opinion of aduancing the mercie of God translated out of their Academie of Plato into the Schooles of Christians Long it was ere this mishapen Monster could bee brought into any probable forme For Origen who first embraced it taught that the Deuills themselues should be saued by it Others to correct that extremitie said not the Deuills but yet all men A third not all men but all Christians and such as are baptised A fourth not all Christians nor all such as are baptised yet all such as haue beene once in their liues true beleeuers A fift not all such as haue beene once in their liues true beleeuers but yet all such as perseuere in the Orthodoxe faith vntill their death A sixth not all that perseuere in the Orthodoxe faith vntill their death but yet all such as perseuering doe giue almes for these say they how great sinners soeuer they bee otherwise shall haue iudgement with mercie A seauenth not all that shew mercie but yet all that haue Christ for their foundation that is all that dye in the state of grace which opinion is attributed vnto Saint Ambrose Hierome Rupertus and others Saint Austen who complaines that his age was full of presumptions being not able to resist the streame of these ouerflowing errors thought yet to vse the same policie touching purgatorie which he did in other points as prayer for the dead inuocation of Saints and the like that is either to moderate it or make it doubtfull thinking by degrees to make it incredible Sometimes therefore he seemes to allow it but yet by the Papists owne consession vnder this prouiso that if any such place should bee yet it is vncertaine what end or effect it hath whether to satisfie Gods Iustice for the sinne past or whether to diminish as temporall paynes vse to doe the euill affections of sin still remaining Againe sometimes hee denyes the thing it selfe sometimes hee doubts of it Nor is it yet agreed amongst the Papists either for the fire or the place or the time of it only thus farre they seeme at length to concurre that soules doe therein satisfie both for veniall sinnes and for the guilt of punishment due vnto mortall sins when the guilt of the sinne it selfe is remitted and forgiuen which how contrarie both
sufficient meanes of Calling besides to supply the Pastors negligence and default as first profitable parcells of Gods Word read in the Church and the whole bodie of the Scriptures at hand which though it were in Latine yet many might vnderstand it and this our Sauiour pointed at when hee brings in Abraham in the Parable thus speaking to the rich man touching his brethren habent Mosen Prophetas they haue Moses and the Prophets Secondly The Writings and Commentaries of the Fathers to whose interpretations their Councells binde them to adhere and out of whom diuers of the Papists both ancient and moderne doe confesse as you haue heard that many of the chiefe articles of Poperie were not for a long time brought into the Church nor beleeued Thirdly Schoolemen and others of their owne side which taught publikely in their Vniuersities our very doctrine not I confesse so entirely as they should but some in one point others in another whereby there was both pregnant meanes to know the truth and strong reasons to thinke at least the doctrines so controuerted and diuersly resolued to be in the Popish sense at most no article of faith Lastly there were no Councells generally receaued by all and not excepted at by some which so expresly deliuered the grounds and Tenets of Poperie as now they are vntill the Councell of Trent So then who can denie that they were ours by Calling ours by Ordination by institution and admission ours and why should any doubt but that some were by practice and obedience ours surely God which called Iob amongst the Heathen and the Queene of the South by the bare report of Solomon would not suffer this Calling to be stil in vaine the Ordination to be wholly vnprofitable or that Admission in baptisme to be alwayes frustrate that is to be the sauour of death vnto death and in none the sauour of life vnto life For if sheepe in a pasture where venemous herbes are mixt with wholsome can by the instinct of nature make choise of that which is proper for them and abstaine from the contrarie what maruaile is it if the flocke of Christ who know the voyce of the true Shepheard from the voyce of strangers should by the guidance of Gods assisting Spirit doe the same Who can denie that God hath his Temple where Antichrist hath his Throne seeing Antichrist as the Apostle tells vs is to sit in it or that some of Gods people may bee in Babylon seeing such are warned by the Spirit to come out of her and it were in vaine to command a man to depart a place if he were not there Now if any shall thinke these motiues and considerations of ours especially touching the last sixe hundred yeeres not to be altogether so exact as the Papists require who challenge vs to produce the names of such visible Protestants in all ages as professed the same entire doctrine in all respects that we doe I answere first that it is not our hold that the Church neuer erreth or discordeth from it selfe in minoribus in matters of lesse moment and therefore it is sufficient for vs to shew who professed our faith entirely in majoribus that is such points as of themselues are fundamentall Secondly we say that whereas wee finde a twofold state of the Church in the Apocalypse the one before the loosing of Satan whilest the old Dragon was shut vp in the bottomlesse pit for a thousand yeeres the other after his loosing when the Deuill was to be let free to goe and deceiue the Nations not in one pettie Hamlet but in the foure quarters of the earth that is as Saint Austen expounds it vnder the reigne and tyrannie of Antichrist We are not bound to giue so strict a reckoning and account of our Professors vnder the second state of the Church as vnder the first The reason is because the Church in her first estate was glorious to behold appearing like a Woman clothed with the Sunne But in the latter shee was to be vnder the thraldome of Antichrist and our Aduersaries themselues tell vs that then wee are not to enquire for visible Professors of the true faith or for the publike exercise of Religion so Suarez Bellarmine and others In a word then was the time that the Church was to flee into the wildernesse as was foretold Reuel 12. Now to expect multitudes of people frequent cities pompous splendor affluence of foode and prouision in a wildernesse were extreame madnesse this were to suppose a wildernesse to be no wildernesse In Deserts there may be assemblies of men but they are rare there may be foode but we know it is but little and such happily as is but absolutely necessarie for the life of man and there may be buildings edifices but through the thickets of trees and shades of leaues hardly to bee discerned And so did it fare with the Church vnder the tyrannie of Antichrist There were some alwayes of it but few there were assemblies but not so euident to the eye of the world and there was the foode of the Word and Sacraments but not so plentifull nor euery where so pure as before times But who would thinke that the Iesuites were all this while but in iest and that they are conscious to themselues that the taske which they require to bee performed on our part is not fesable on their owne For let mee but question them from their owne grounds whether the entire articles of faith which the Church of Rome now holds are found mentioned by Writers in all ages The Cardinall and others of the Iesuites ingeniously confesse they were not and namely Indulgences the Churches treasurie the Popes canonizing of Saints c. onely they answer that it followes not that they were not beleeued because they are not mentioned Bee it so but if their articles of faith be not mentioned how will they make it appeare by the testimonies of writers in all ages as they vndertake to doe that such Tenets were from the time of the blessed Apostles held without interruption Bellarmine therefore answeres that the concurrent testimonies of some Writers of greatest note affirming such a Doctrine to haue beene professed beleeued by the Church in all ages none gaine-saying it will serue the turne But here besides that they stand not to their first bargaine which was to produce the testimonies of Writers in all ages I demand of what ages they meane that their writers shall bee to whose concurrent iudgement they will adhere if of the primatiue Church we accept the offer but this will little aduantage them for neither are many points of difference betweene vs and them mentioned by those writers as aboue was specified much lesse affirmed to bee Apostolicall Traditions neither are those which are mentioned allowed of in that sense which they deliuer If the writers of the after Church and namely the Schoolemen let them heare Gregorie de Valentia's owne
censure concerning them Whatsoeuer all the Fathers saith hee doe vniformely deliuer that is to bee held for the opinion of the Doctors of all times because the Schoolemen doe follow the holy Fathers as their guides But not on the contrarie whatsoeuer the Schoolemen doe deliuer vniformely is to bee thought to haue beene beleeued by the Doctors in all ages because the Schoolemen haue added many things more explicatly to the doctrine of the Fathers Seeing therefore neither ancient writers will serue their turne no latter may be admitted I demand by what other authoritie they hope now to make good their bragge By what doe the Iesuites answere but by the testimonie of the Church and chiefly the present affirming such a doctrine to haue beene vniuersally beleeued in all ages And this indeed is their last refuge whereby it may plainely appeare that after they haue so lowdly dared vs to shew the perpetuitie of our Church in all ages a posteriori by producing the names of our seuerall Professors they can bee contented quietly to relinquish that title themselues and to flie to the testimonie of the Church which being with them the foundation and principle of their faith is not properly to argue a posteriori but a priori the difference betweene our arguing in that kinde and theirs being but this that we proceed descending downwards from the Scriptures they ascending vpwards from the present Church But I aske now will the Churches testimonie in this case serue their turnes to proue that whatsoeuer is held at this present as an article of faith in the Roman Consistorie was alwayes so beleeued in the Church No doe Bellarmine Valentia and other Iesuites informe vs for some points say they were not heretofore defined by the Church in which to erre was then no heresie which now are and Thomas tells vs that the Pope may make a new Creed But wee aske then how their articles of faith were held in all ages They reply that these new additions of theirs though they were not as then made articles of faith nor beleeued by the Fathers explicitly yet were they implicitly beleeued But this plungeth them then into another gulfe for if implicitly onely then the profession thereof was not visible for an implicit beliefe is like seed buried in the ground and cannot serue for any of those proofes whereby the visibilitie of the Church which is in question may be tried But haply will some say those points which in former times were not mentioned or not expresly beleeued or not defined are but matters of lesse moment and such as the present Church of Rome makes not to be fundamentall No doe the Iesuites answer for they are euen such as are by the Tridentine and other Generall Councells commanded vnder paine of an Aâ—athema to bee beleeued and to denie the which is by their Constitutions made damnable heresie Thus whatsoeuer they pretend they finde no harbour but in their present Church and that like the Sirtes too troublesome and tempestious For our parts God hath affoorded vs a quiet Hauen where in to anchor the holy Scriptures which teach vs that if we cannot discerne the Church Catholike fide oculorum with the faith of our eyes and say videmus wee see it wee should yet apprehend it oculis fidei with the eyes of our faith and say credimus we beleeue it Credo Ecclesiam Catholicam I beleeue the Catholike Church Vnde Zizania THE ORIGINALL AND PROGRESSE of Heresie Handled and applyed before his late MAIESTIE at THEOBALDS An. Dom. 1624. By EDWARD CHALONER Dr. in Diuinitie and Principall of ALBAN Hall in OXFORD LONDON Printed by William Stansby Vnde Zizania The Originall and Progresse of HERESIE MATTH 13. 27. So the Seruants of the Housholder came and said vnto him Sir Didst not thou sowe good Seed in thy field From whence then hath it Tares THe Progeny of Heresies begotten by the Prince of darkenesse and conceiued in the conclaue of Hell cannot be seene by mortall eyes but in aenigmate in a riddle or Parable and therefore most fitly in a Parable is heere set forth the originall and progesse of them First You haue their Antecedent to wit the sowing of good Seed before them For howsoeuer Heresies may be antiqua ancient yet they are not prima the first and most ancient and therefore is Christ the Husbandman first presented in the Narration as seminans sowing good Seed in his field before the Enemie is produced reseminans resowing the same Acres with vnprofitable graine Secondly their Efficient or Authour the Deuill who is pointed out by two remarkable properties his malice in that he is tearmed inimicus the Enemy and his subtiltie which appeared by those aduantages which he took in sowing The first was the opportunitie of the time for he wrought not his mischiefe in the face of the Sunne whilest the Seruants of the Husbandman might beare him witnesse but in the dead of night not whilest the Husbandman himselfe slept for he which keepeth Israel neither slumbreth nor sleepeth but Cum dormirent homines saith the Text whilest men slept that is whilest the Pastors and ouerseers of the flock those to whom the Master had let out his Vineyard were supine and negligent in their charge The second was the nature of the graine which hee sowed sympathising and according with the good Seed in the manner and likenesse of growth that is Heresies bearing the Image and Superscription of Truth Hee tooke not therefore Acornes or Mast or Kernels or Fruit-stones but Tares nor set them with their stalke or bulke but buried them in the Seed that they might appeare with a Copie of old-age being not espied till they had taken roote and then displaying themselues gradatim by little and little The third was the conueniencie of the place for such a purpose beeing free from suspition among the Wheate and the last his hypocriticall couering of his action abijt hee went away id est latuit saith an Interpreter he lay hid vnder the faire penthouse of zeale and seeming deuotion For had either his venome spawn'd in any other soyle then where the Husbandman had bestowed his Wheate or had he beene spied trauersing the field in his proper shape and complexion the seruants of the Housholder could not haue bin so surprized with admiration so soone as the first bud had saluted the light they would haue said behold Tares behold the Enemy now that the field had beene manured and cultiuated with Gods Husbandrie the earth made to trauell with the fruits of his Garner and the Enemies footings vndiscerned these second seedes must spring vp those sproutes become to blade that blade bring forth fruit ere the seruants will beleeue the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or quod as Logicians speake that they are Tares and yet for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or propter quod that is the Authour and Sower of them they are still ignorant they come to the Housholder and say vnto him