render it Unserviceable to their Cause And this I shall endeavour to do by this following Method I. I shall propose the Interpretation which the Advocates for the Pope's Supremacy put on these Words II. I shall give the True Sense of the Words and explain the meaning of every particular Phrase in the Text and thereby Answer all that is material in their Interpretation III. I shall consider the Power Authority and Priviledges hereby conferred on St. Peter which are either 1. Extraordinary or Personal 2. Ordinary or to be derived down to his Successors in which latter Branch I shall endeavour to Refute the Supremacy of the Pope as it is pretendedly Supported thereby I. I begin with the Romish Gloss and Interpretation Cajetan in locum The first I meet with is Cardinal Cajetan's literal Exposition In which we need not doubt to find the Doctrine of the Roman Church since he professes in his Epistle to Pope Clement the 7th that he submits it to the Apostolical Seat and that he accounts it not safe to Write any thing but what agrees thereto Thou Art sayes he and not only art Called a Rock and to this purpose thou art such that thou maist be the Foundation of the Church And the Pronoun This shews the Rock of which it is spoken for of no other is it said either Before or After that it is a Rock but of Peter As if Christ had plainly said Thou art a Rock and upon this Rock I will lay the Foundation of my Church Whereby he promises the Government of his Church to Peter since he was to be the same in the Church as the Foundation is in the Building So that Christ appointed his Church to be Supported and Susteined upon the Strength of St. Peter's Seat Against which the Gates of Hell should not prevail But he proceeds I will give thee Now he promises after his Resurrection he gave as Joh. 21.15 c. Feed my Sheep Which Text whether it prove what it is produced for it is not my Business at present to enquire Upon the Word Keyes he tells us That Christ by many Metaphors describes and explains the Supremacy of Peter As before by the Foundation in a Building so now by the Resemblances of Keyes For it is observable That when Princes come first to their Crowns or by Conquest gain new Towns the Keys are presented to them in Acknowledgment of their Supreme Authority In Conformity to which Custome Christ promises That he will give Peter the Keyes and thereby the Primacy in his Church And he adds That it is said Keyes in the Plural Number because the Supream Power consists of two things One is the Power of Discerning Judging and Defining those Things that belong to the Kingdom of Heaven and this is called The Key of Knowledge The Other is the Power of Doing and Executing what is so Defined and this is called The Key of Power What follows concerning the Kingdom of Heaven limits St. Peter's Power to Spirituals not admitting it in Temporals unless in Ordine ad Spiritualia As his Note afterwards upon Super Terram denyes St. Peter to have any Authority in Purgatory But these things concern not us let them Dispute them amongst themselves The next Assertor of St. Peter's Supremacy and consequently a Corrupter of this Text Bell. de Pont. Rom. cap. x. c. is Bellarmine who when he had concluded that Monarchy is the best sort of Government in the Church as indeed it is if all things be subjected to the Scepter of Christ proceeds to prove That St. Peter had this Power committed to him by this Place For sayes he this Power is delivered to him by this Double Metaphor The First is of a Foundation because the same as a Foundation is to the Edifice that the Head is to the Body a Governour to his City a King to his Subjects and a Father of a Family to his House The other Metaphor of Keys signifies thus much That to whomsoever the Keys are delivered the same is appointed King or Governour of the City who may Admit or Exclude whom he pleases And he very peremptorily calls them Hereticks who will not grant Peter to be the Rock nor by the Metaphors of the Foundation and of the Keys will allow Chief and Soveraign Ecclesiastical Authority to be given Concerning the Rock he sayes There are Four Opinions The First that of the Catholicks as they call themselves excluding us That it is Peter not as a Particular Person but as Pastor and Head of the Church The Second is Erasmus his That the Rock is every Faithful Christian The Third is Calvin's That the Rock is Christ The Fourth is Luther's That the Rock is the Faith of Peter and the Confession that he but now made As a Proof for the First of these he tells us That Cephas in the Syriack is Peter and a Rock too In Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie the same thing In Confirmation of it also he brings the Testimony of many Fathers whose Sense is so agreeable to the Protestant Doctrine That the Romish Cause is quite destroyed if they may be Judges as in due Place shall be seen I am not so much concerned for Erasmus's Opinion as to enter the Lists for it But let it pass with the same Remark that Bellarmine doth That if every Christian were the Foundation where were the Building When I come to give the true Meaning of my Text I shall shew that both Calvin's and Luther's Sense may be admitted And that either of Them is a safer and truer Exposition of this Text than what they produce and doth stand Confirmed by the Authority of Antient Doctors The Cardinal understands by the Power of the Keys Supreme Power over all the Church which he endeavours to prove out of Isaiah 22.22 The Key of the House of David will I lay upon his Shoulder So he shall Open and none shall Shut and he shall Shut and none shall Open. This Power he sayes is so given to St. Peter as not to be kept by him alone but to be transferred to other Pastors by his Authority But as to the Extent of the Power of the Keys it is not agreed upon betwixt Cajetan Bellarmine The latter of which quarrels with the Other for saying That the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven are not the same thing with the Power of Binding and Loosing But that the Keys contain something beside Order and Jurisdiction Which Distinction as Bellarmine observes is more Subtle than True What is wanting in these two Cardinals for the support of St. Peters Primacy is supply'd by Stapleton and the Rhemish Interpreters to consider whose Glosses I now proceed In these words says Stapleton Upon this Rock will I build my Church Christ declares the Reason why he gave Simon the Name of Peter because he was to be the Rock on which the whole Church was to be Built The building
and Life are denyed to the Impenitent and Unbelievers Peter binds when he inflicts punishment as Excommunication Penance c. or refers to the dreadful Judgment of God he looses when he remits those Penalties and declares the sinner Absolved And this judgment past on Earth if according to the Rule proposed the Word of God is ratified and confirmed in Heaven To explain this Power here conferred Dr. Lightfoot gives us the Form of Ordination amongst the Jews which was in these or the like words Receive thou Power to Bind or to Loose So Christ when he confers on the Apostles the Ministerial Function Commands them to bind and to loose i. e. to Teach what is to be done or not to be done as will appear if you will observe with the same Author that this Power extends only to Things not to Persons So that according to him this is the sense of the Place The time is coming says Christ when the Law of Moses shall be in part abrogated and in part continued so that to Peter and the other Apostles Power is granted to confirm or abolish what seems good unto the Holy Ghost and unto them As they forbad Circumcision and other Rites Acts 15.28 29. and permitted Paul to purify himself Acts 21.24 and the same Author will not allow this power of Binding and Loosing to import as much as that given Joh. 20.23 of Remitting and Retaining sins For there sayes he it is treated of the Persons to be or not to be Punished Here of Doctrines and things Lawful or Prohibited that are subject to the determination of the Apostles But we must crave leave to differ from the judgment of this Learned and Reverend Author and declare with Calvin lib. Inst lib. 4. cap. 6. § 3. cap. 11. § 1. That Christ explained what He meant by binding and loosing when He gave the Apostles Authority to to remit or retain Sins He is said to remit sins who by Preaching the Gospel converts men to God he is said to Retain who declares that the obstinate sinner is reserved for everlasting Punishments From whence it follows To receive the Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven is not to be promoted to any Principality or Power over others but the Ministry of the Word Which is approved by St. Hierom when he sayes That the Apostles do Loose men by the Word of God by the Testimony of Scriptures and by the Word of Exhortation Which Sense is safe and plain and with the Jurisdiction here implyed and by Calvin not excluded is the entire meaning of the Place For the Power of Administring and Ruling the Church of God the Family of Christ is hereby conferred on the Apostles This primarily and independently belongs to Christ the Holy and True who hath the Key of David Rev. 3.7 Keyes are confessedly an Ensigne of Power But that Power is not all of one kind it is Greater or Less Principal and Independent or Inferior and Derivative And several Keyes are Emblems of these several Powers David was a King and independent from any on Earth and consequently the Key of David notes an Independent Supreme Power and that applyed to the Church belongs only to Christ But the Keyes of the House of David mentioned Isa 22.22 to which the Text seems to refer notes an Inferior Power that of a Steward in David's Family who being perfectly subordinate to him hath yet the Administration of the Affairs of his Family intrusted to him Now Christ is the Original and Prime Fountain of all Power over the whole Church that Spiritual Kingdom of David as to whom was given by the Father all Power in Heaven and Earth particularly that of Loosing or Remitting Sin on Earth Mat. 9.6 And this is by Christ communicated to his Apostles and their Successours the Bishops in the Church as so many several Stewards As St. Chrysostome observes That the Bishops are those Faithful Servants in the Parable whom the Lord sets over his House The Sense of the Words on both Sides thus given our Passage is clear to the Third and Last Thing proposed which was to consider The Power Honour and Priviledges hereby conferred on St. Peter which are 1. Extraordinary or Personal 2. Ordinary or to be derived down to his Successours I. I begin with the Extraordinary Power Honour and Priviledges of St. Peter Which I also call Personal not as Excluding the rest of the Apostles but their Successours In Discoursing of which I shall lay down these Two Things 1. VVhat the Extraordinary Power Honour and Priviledges of an Apostle are of which the succeeding Church did not partake 2. That in these Things St. Peter hath no Superiority over the other Apostles But that they were all Equal First I am to shew what the Extraordinary and Personal Power Honour and Priviledge of an Apostle is Christ while he had his Residence on Earth did not commit the Government of his Church into the Hands of others but Exercised the Office of Apostle and Bishop in his own Person Which Stile is given him Heb. 3.1 1 Pet. 2.25 But that he might shew himself Faithful in the House of God before he was to leave the World and return back to Heaven he did Ordain and Constitute several Officers who might in his Absence Conduct and Over-see the Affairs of the Church accordingly therefore He gave some Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers For the the gathering together of the Saints the Work of the Ministry and the Edifying of the Body of Christ Until we all meet in the Unity of the Faith and Knowledge of the Son of God into a Perfect Man even into the Measure of the Age of the Fulness of Christ Eph. 2.11 c. Amongst these the Apostles were Chief and Principal and as far in Office as Honour before all other Orders of the Church Having these Badges of their Power and Priviledges not communicable to any other Ministers of Christ Immediate Vocation and Election Infallibility of Judgement in delivering the Doctrines of the Kingdome of Heaven Generality of Commission comprehending all Places and Persons The Gift of Tongues enabling them to speak in all the Languages of the World and the Knowledge of all Secrets and Power to confirm their Doctrines by Signes and Miracles and by the Imposition of their Hands the Power of Bestowing the Miraculous Gifts of the Spirit to Others These Powers and Privileges even in the Times of the Apostles were not conferred on Any but Themselves The Evangelists and Prophets were not called Immediately by Christ but appointed by the Apostles neither were they led Infallibly into all Truth General Commission they had not but were taken into the Fellowship of the Apostles Labours to Assist their Presence and Supply their Absence to Build upon their Foundation and to Perfect what they Began And tho the Miraculous Gifts of Tongues and Working Miracles were not proper to the Apostles yet having them in such sort as by the
of the Church is not given but promised The Church is said to be built when it is Gathered Fed Taught and Ruled and when any Member is anew added to it or reconciled But in all this manner of building or gathering the Faithful into one Sheepfold The other Pastors are VVorkmen and wise Architects but Peter the Master of the Family the rest are Pillars Peter the Foundation on which they rely He allows Christ to be called in Scripture a Rock and therefore when he went away he left St. Peter his Successor and gave him the same Name because he was to be the Father and Prince of the Church even such a Foundation of it against which the Gates of Hell should not prevail Then he adds that by the Keys Christ gave the fulness of all Ecclesiastical Power only to St. Peter VVhich Power is to open and shut the Kingdom of Heaven whether by it is meant Life Eternal or the Communion of the Militant Church VVhich power of the Keys is greater as given to St. Peter than to the rest of the Apostles The power of binding and loosing is a partial and inferior Power which they have but his is to Govern to Teach to Dispose and Exercise all things which belong to the Office of General Pastor For as a King in his Kingdome hath the Sword given to him alone but he commits the use of it to Inferior Magistrates so St. Peter hath the Power of the Keys commited to him properly and principally but transfers the use of them in some inferior manner to Pastors of a lower Rank that are substituted by him In the Remish Translation that we may observe how great stress they put upon these words they are decyphered in a distinct Character and are rendred remarkable by being appointed the Gospel for so many Festivals as for St. Peter's day for the Cathedra Petri Romae Jan. 18. Antiochiae Feb. 22. for the Feast of Petri ad Vincula Aug. 1. and on the day of the Creation and Coronation of the Pope and on the Anniversary thereof What is to be found in their Annotations more than what the Gentlemen already named have hinted is not much Only they are angry with the English Translators for not rendring the words thus Thou art a Rock and upon this Rock or Thou art Peter or Upon this Peter I will build my Church VVhich if it be a fault is likewise to be found in their so much adored vulgar Translation In the Exposition of the Keys they enlarge St. Peter's Power by ascribing to him the Authority and Chair of Doctrine Knowledg Judgment and Discretion between true and false Doctrine The height of Government the power of making Laws of calling Councils of the principal Voice in them of Confirming them of making Canons and wholsome Decrees of Abrogating the contrary of Ordaining Bishops and Pastors or deposing or suspending them finally the Power to dispense the Goods of the Church both Spiritual and Temporal and therefore by the Name of Keyes is given that Super-eminent Power which is called in respect of the Power granted to other Apostles Bishops and Pastors plenitudo Potestatis fulness of Power This is that Exposition on which the Advocates for the Popes Supremacy lay so great stress that they can by no means afford us any other it is the grand support of the Holy Chair the very bottom of all Papal Authority for on whatever Rock other parts of the Christian Church are founded yet this we are assured of that the Roman is built upon this and the greatness of it's Bishop must sink if we take away this only Prop of it By such meanes are the Waters of Life troubled but not by good Angels not to heal the VVounds and make up the breaches of the Church but to vex and widen them and when the Fountain is rendred so muddy we must expect nothing but putrid streams It is a great Argument of a sinking Cause when men catch at Straws for their support And we may conclude that the Scriptures are altogether silent in their Cause when upon this one Foundation they raise so many Structures as the Supremacy of the Pope the Infallibility and Visibility of their Church and the Power of Indulgences All which must of necessity fall to the Ground if the Rock on which they be Built be removed II. As it is certainly in our following Exposition the second thing propos'd whereby the Scriptures shall be so far vindicated from the sense already put on them to which they are rackt that they shall speak in their own proper Language and in it deliver Truth openly and clearly There are as you remember several Opinions concerning the Rock in the Text. The first whereof is that Peter is the Rock which because Bellarmine proves by the Authority of some Fathers I shall take off their Testimony The Authorities are St. Cyril lib. 2. cap. 12. com in Jo. That upon Peter as on a firm Rock his Church should be built The Next is St. Hilary In hunc Locum Oh happy Foundation of the Church in imposing thy new Name c. The last is St. Basil lib. de poenit Tho Peter be a Rock yet he is not a Rock as Christ is For Christ is the true and unmoveable Rock of himself Peter is unmovable by Christ the Rock Now we confess with Cyril Hilary and Basil that Peter was a Stone designed for the Foundation of the Church but so as all the Apostles are Stones upon which the Church is Builded Rev. 21.14 And though we are taught by the Apostles 1 Cor. 3.11 That other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Yet we do not exclude the Ministery and Laborers of his Apostles whom also we acknowledg to be Stones and Foundations of his Church not in respect of their Persons but of their Heavenly Doctrine whereby they became with the Prophets the Foundation Jesus Christ being the Corner Stone Ephes 2.20 So that we can safely allow that Peter may be stiled the Rock on which the Church is built if we take it in a qualified and Secundary sense He is that Apostle on whom in the Planting of the Church as on a chief stone in the Building there is great stress and weight laid He was already one of the most considerable Disciples of Christ sharing with James and John in many signal Favors which others enjoyed not He twice made Confession with greatest Alacrity and firmest boldness of Christ's being the Messias and the Son of God He first made known both to Jews and Gentiles the Truth of that which he here professes that Jesus is the Christ And as amongst the Hebrews all the Levites were in a common Notion of this Phrase called Stones of the Temple so he is called by way of Excellence such a Stone as relying on the Corner Stone was with the Rest of the Apostles a principal Stone in the Building of Christ yet not so as excluding
Imposition of their Hands to Give the Spirit Enabling others to VVork Miracles was Peculiar and Proper to them Hence it is that St. Chrysostome concludes That tho Prophecy the Gift of Miracles and Expelling Devils the Orders of Pastors and Teachers were all Spiritual Powers and Ensignes of great Authority yet the Apostolical Eminency is far above all these VVhich therefore he calls a Spiritual Consulship An Apostle having as great Preheminence above all other Officers in the Church as the Consul had above all other Magistrates in Rome These were a few Select Men whom our Lord chose out of the rest of his Disciples to devolve Part of the Government on their Shoulders and to Depute them for the first Planting and Settling Christianity in the VVorld He chose Twelve whom he named Apostles Luk. 6.13 whom he Endowed with Extraordinary Gifts that they might more prevalently contend against the strong Prejudices of Pleasure and Interest The Power of Tongues and other Miraculous Effusions of the Holy Ghost being like VVatering to a Plant which when it hath taken Root and filled the Land could Subsist without those Extraordinary Helps VVhen Israel was brought into Canaan and Jacob into a Strange Land God in a most signal manner Fought against the Nations and Dispossest them But when his People were settled there God sends them not even in their greatest Distress such Remarkable Deliverances as he did before So Christ in the Establishment of his Church observes the same Methods of Providence The Powers of the Devil when free and instigating all Mankind against the Doctrine of Christ must be Resisted and Opposed by a Power superior to his own But when he was once Subdued by Christ and then by his Church there needs not the same Power to keep him in Bonds as at first to Conquer and Fetter him He may still rage and shake his Chain but he cannot break it He looks Terribly like the Souldiers of Tarentum to the Romans when they lay Dead with their Swords in their Hands He may affright but he cannot Hurt So that in this case the Holy Ghost acts not so Extraordinarily to Preserve as at first to Plant it because he that Opposes it is not now so Strong as he then was For a less Force can keep the Garrison than take the City St. Augustine gives a good Reason De Util. Credendi cap. 16. why it was not fit that these Miraculous Courses should still have continued Because the Liveliness of the Spring after a Dead Winter is no Wonder since acted every Year So the Strangeness of Miracles which moved at first would not now be regarded if continued c. This Power and Honour of the Apostle-ship conveyed by the Commission to the Apostles was equally conferred on all which is my Second Consideration They were all Chosen in the same Manner and at the same Time All equally Infallible in their Judgements and Determinations All sent to Preach and Baptize all Nations and intrusted with the Power of Binding and Loosing and All furnished with the necessary Gifts and Powers of the Holy Ghost Indeed the Fortunes of the Church of Rome depend upon a different Doctrine and the Tide of its Interest runs another way and it behoves the Patrons of the Pope's Supremacy to contend with mighty Zeal and Fierceness for St. Peter's For if the Original Right be questioned that which is derived from it must fall when it loses its Foundation There is nothing so certain as that Men want Good Arguments when they urge VVeak Ones and none but a Fool will Build his House upon the Sands that hath a Rock at hand for a Foundation So that when we hear Bellarmine reckoning up such Prerogatives of St. Peter as these are The Change of his Name The Fishing in his Ship Paying Tribute for Christ and Himself and such like We may conclude That he hath proved nothing but the Weakness of the Cause he maintains Indeed there is one Argument which is as Uncharitable as it is VVeak When St. Peter hath this Promise That the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against him By it the Cardinal understands not only the Perpetual Stability of the Universal Church but of the Rock on which it is Founded So that by a Special Priviledge it is promised to Peter That his Sea shall never fail Which Promise had it been made to the rest of the Apostles St. James's Seat had been still at Jerusalem St. John's at Ephesus St. Mathews in Aethopia and St. Andrews in Scythia But all these have yielded to the Gates of Hell VVere this a safe and honest way of Defending a Cause the Prosperous Villain is ever secure from the Imputation of Guilt and Success is as good an Argument for the great Turk of Constantinople as for the Pope of Rome If we consult the Fathers they tell us That all the Apostles were Equal as having equal Power committed to them in the Keys Tho it be said to St. Peter only in this Place That upon this Rock and To thee I give c. Yet in another Place the same Charge is committed to all the Apostles as Joh. 20. And all of them Receive the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Stability of the Church is fixt upon them All Hieronym Christ after his Resurrection gave Equal Power and Authority to all his Apostles and said to them all Whose Sins ye Remit c. Cyprian And in another Place What Peter was that were the rest of the Apostles having a Fellowship of the same Honour and Power Theophylact also intimates That the Church may be said to be Built upon Peter but no otherwise than upon the rest of the Apostles And he adds They who have obtained the Grace to be Bishops have Power to Remit and Bind as well as Peter For altho it were said to Peter alone I will give to thee yet the Keys were granted to all the Apostles This was the Doctrine of the Primitive Church To which agrees the Judgement of a Pope in those Times Greg. Epist lib. 4. Ep. 34 38. who was very severe upon the Patriarch of Constantinople for affecting a Supremacy over the whole Church And so little did he think of putting in his own Plea that he Condemns it as Intrenching upon the Prerogative of Christ To these Authorities which plainly destroy the Roman Cause there must be some Answers given by Bellarmine and Stapleton which are very indifferent tho the best they could afford Stapleton tells us That the same Power is not conferred by Mat. 18. Joh. 20. as in my Text Which St. Jerome affirms and we have already proved To the other Part of St. Jerem's Testimony Bellarmine grants That all the Apostles are equally the Foundation of the Church but they as Messengers and Ambassadors Peter as Ordinary Pastor What he means shall be presently considered Thus he also endeavours to silence St. Cyprian's Testimony by telling us That the Apostles were all Equal in respect
Instruct the People in the Principles and Duties of Religion to Administer the Sacraments to confer Orders by the Imposition of Hands to constitute and appoint Guides and Officers who should Bind and Loose Sinners by Ecclesiastical Censures and finally to exercise the Discipline and Government of the Church And in these they are Succeeded by the ordinary Rulers and Ecclesiastick Guides who are to super-intend and discharge the Affairs and Offices of the Church to the end of the World It is not my Business at present to defend the different Orders of the Church from the Cavils of those whose Interest or Malice would bury it in Confusion Neither am I concerned to prove the Succession of Pastors against them who by pretence of an immediate and extraordinary Call leap into and invade the Offices of the Church These are not the men with whom I now intend I shall prove That the Pope as St. Peter's Successor hath none of those Extraordinary Gifts which will qualifie him for the Oecumenical Pastorship For granting not only that St. Peter was at Rome but that he was Bishop there that for Five Twenty years together tho the Antients attribute the founding the Episcopacy and Government of that Church equally to Peter and Paul making the one as much concerned in it as the other yet what would this make for the unlimited soveraignty and universality of that Church unless a better Evidence could be produced than this Succession to St. Peter for its uncontroulable Supremacy and Dominion over the whole Christian World For had not the same Peter a Successor at Antioch and the other Apostles in their several Sees and yet none of these pretended tho they seem to have equal Right to this Power But here we are told That immediate Vocation the seeing Christ in the Flesh power to write Canonical Books of Scripture and other priviledges extraordinarily conferred on the Apostles were fitting to the first beginnings of Christianity and so not of Perpetual use and Necessity But that Universality of Jurisdiction and a kind of Infallibility of Judgment are perpetually necessary and therefore these were to pass from Peter to Others tho the rest of the Apostolick Pre-eminencies were not Which I shall examine and then conclude That the Roman is a Patriarchal Church and the Bishop of it hath Prime Place amongst other Bishops of the World would never be denyed him would he rest contented with that But it must by no means be granted that he is an Universal Bishop having Jurisdiction over the whole Church that is such a Bishop in whom all Episcopal Jurisdiction Power and Authority is Originally Invested from whom it is derived to Others and who may Limit and Restrain the Use of it in Others as seemeth good unto Himself For every Bishop hath in his place and keeping in his proper Station the Episcopal Power and Authority immediately from Christ which is not to be Limited and Restrained by any but by the Company and Suffrages of Bishops Wherein tho one be Chief for Order sake and to preserve Unity in the Church yet he can do nothing without the Concurrence of the Rest When the Constantinopolitan Patriarch affected this Title as I before hinted Gregory then Pope compares him to Lucifer who despising the Angels his Companions sought to climb up to that Heighth that he neither might seem to be Under any nor any be found Over whom he was not As for Infallibility of Judgement pretended to as perpetual and necessary in the Church and as they would have it derived down from St. Peter to his Successours at Rome If it be granted to them that there is a kind of Infallibility or Non-deficiency rather in the Universal Church they presently confound the Notion and apply it to whom they please Accordingly there is this Distinction of a Church 1. A Church Essential which is the whole Multitude of Believers 2. The Representative The Assembly of Bishops in a General Council representing the whole Body of the Church from the several Parts whence they come 3. The Virtual Church by which they understand the Bishop of Rome who being by Christ's Appointment as they suppose Chief Pastor of the whole Church hath in himself Eminently and Virtually as great Certainty of Truth and infallibility of Judgement as is in the whole Church upon whom dependeth all that Certainty of Truth that is found in it Of these we affirm That the Church in the first Notion cannot erre or fall away In the Second That it may Erre In the Third tho we also deny the Notion That it doth Erre And against Matter of Fact as I take it there can be no Proof Of which I could give many Instances were it not Loss of Time to do so The Supremacy of the Pope so much contended for and so meanly supported is the greatest Intrenchment in the Exercise of it that was ever made upon the Prerogative of Princes and the Authority of Bishops The Crown and Mitre being swallowed up in this Plenitude of Power So that it is the Interest as well as Duty of Church and State of Prince and People of Pastors and their Flocks to oppose what is so much against the Wellfare of all Civil and Christian Societies I shall not urge the Inconveniencies only but the Injustice of such a Subjection whereby all Bonds Natural Civil and Christian are broken if it please him who usurps such a Supreme Power over Mens Consciences It is the Prerogative of God alone to set up his Throne in the Conscience of Man and by the Laws of right Reason to lay such a Restraint upon it as all Humane Powers cannot be able to gain say or resist to cancel or disanul Nothing but an express Dispensation from God himself can acquit the Subject or Child from the Obedience he ows his Prince or Parent Nature which is God's Law being herein so plain and positive must never upon the Interposition of any Humane Power be transgrest So that we must be very earnest to assert our own Liberty and our Superiours Authority against that Forreign Prelate who by his Emissaries doth dayly disturb the Peace of this our Syon and draw off many from their Duty and Obedience to God the Church their Country and their Prince Our own Nation is at present the Theatre wherein most Hideous Villanies are Plotted and Designed and it is much to be feared that the Actors are not yet gone off the Stage And all this not without a manifest Respect to and in direct Pursuance of this most Pernitious Doctrine Which is a strong Argument to us how far blind Zeal can transport and what a wicked Principle can inspire into their Breasts who thus obstinately adhere to it For if by such a pretended Power a King be declared an Heretick upon that Declaration be Excommunicated upon that Excommunication be deprived of his Dominions and Condemned to Death And if his Subjects at the same time be not only absolved from all Allegiance to him but bound in Conscience to Depose and Destroy him and Execute that direful Sentence against his Life What Security can any Prince or People expect from those that maintain such Principles as tend in so direct a Consequence to the Confusion and Subversion of Church and State when-ever it shall please this Supreme Power to pronounce such a Sentence But some have gone farther and absolved all Subjects from their Allegiance if they are resolved in Conscience that their Prince is Heretical The other is bad enough I need not trace this any farther This Doctrine which by them that maintain it hath been sometimes accounted Scandalous is not confined to Theory but hath been often reduced to Practice It hath not only been Disputed of in Schools but Preach't in Pulpits maintained in Press and confirmed by Actions From hence is apprehended all our Danger and from hence springs all our Mischief That the Subjects of any Prince or whoever else shall come under the Protection of his Laws and Government who for the time are to be reckoned Subjects shall presume to own any Power under Heaven Superior to him and by vertue of Commission from that Forreign Power shall endeavour to disturb and subvert the Laws and Government Establisht This is the First Mover in the Roman Sphear that hurryes all Inferior Orbs The Spring that gives Motion to the Papal Machin When this is swallowed down there is nothing can oppose or hinder any of the Designs of Rome Wherefore tho other Doctrines are pitcht upon as more Absurd yet in my Judgement and I think I have the Experience of this Nation to confirm the Truth of it this is of most fatal and pernitious Consequence And with its Infallibility annext throws down all that can oppose it self against the Holy Chair The latter makes Men stick at no Absurdities The former encourages and commands them to commit all Villanies Let us therefore fortify our Reason against the One and strengthen our Arms against the Other Let us put on the whole Armor of God and with them joyn our Prince's too that we may be able to stand against these Adversaries of both And then we shall not only fight with Honour and Praise but come off with Success and Glory FINIS