IV. who was deposed by it If therefore a General Council confirmed by the Pope cannot err it is infallibly certain and according to the Principles of the Church of Rome an Article of Faith That the Reformation of the Church was necessary Should we now pass from the Clergy to the Laity from Bishops Cardinals Popes and Councils to Secular States Kings and Emperors we should find That they were also highly sensible of the Corruptions and Abuses Usurpations and Oppressions of the Church of Rome and many of them zealous and active in their endeavours to reform them What great complaints were made by many of our Kings of England against the Encroachments of Rome How often did they petition the Pope for a redress but finding no relief from thence Edward the Third and Richard the Second did in part right themselves and their Subjects by the Statutes of Provisoes and Praemunire * 27 Edw. 3. c. 1. 25 Edw. 3. 16 Rich. 2. c. 5. 13 R. 2. c. 3. See Cook upon these Statutes Institut par 3. c. 56. Charles VII King of France as a Fence to the French Church against the Mischiefs which flowed from the Court of Rome set up the pragmatick Sanction which when Pope Pius II. endeavoured to overthrow he appealed from him to a General Council (b) Richer Hist Concil general l. 4. par 1. c. 1. p. 36 37 c. Lewis XI was indeed decoyed by the Popes fair Promises to revoke that Sanction but soon after seeing his errour he commanded it again to be observed * Richer Hist Concil general l. 4. c. 1. s 13. After the death of Lewis the three Estates of the Kingdom assembled at Tours besought Charles VIII who succeeded him to maintain the Pragmatick in its full strength †Id. s 15. Which he not only consented to but resolved to make a further progress in reforming the Church and to that purpose consulted the College of Divines at Paris (c) Id l. 4. c. 2. Lewis XII who followed next coyned his Money with this Inscription Perdam Babylonis nomen I will destroy the name of Babylon (d) Thâ—ani Hist l. 1 p 11. by which he plainly declared what his Judgment then was of Rome The zeal of Sigismund the Emperour for the Reformation was abundantly manifest by his indefatigable pains in procuring the Council of Constance and assisting in it By protecting the Council of Basil against the attempts of Eugenius and by labouring with other Princes to promote it but especially by that Reformation he made in many things himself Maximilian I. made bitter Complaints of many scandalous Abuses of the Roman Court and commanded the redress of them under pain of his heavy displeasure (g) Fascic rerum expetend aâ— fugiend s 170. The Emperor Ferdinand proposed to the Council of Trent by his Embassadors twenty Points concerning Worship Manners and Discipline which he desired might be reformed (h) History of the Council of Trent l. 6. p. 513. and in a Letter to the Pope and another to his Legates in the Council earnestly pressed for an effectual Reformation (i) l. 7. p. 682. The Princes of Germany at the Diet at Nuremberg in the Year 1523. in their Answer to Cherogat the Popes Nuncio insisted upon the reforming of Abuses and correcting of many Errors and Vices which by long tract of time had taken deep root for the effecting of which they demanded a free and general Council And those intolerable burdens as they called them laid upon them by the Court of Rome they reduced to an hundred Heads (*) Sleid. com l. 4. Fascic rerum expetend ac fugiend History of the Council of Trent l. 1. which they called the Hundred Grievances of the German Nation and presented them to the Pope protesting that they neither would nor could endure them any longer To conclude this Head to so monstrous a deformed state was the Western Church degenerated that the Prince the Priest the Clergy the Laity Men of all Conditions and of all Nations Yea if the infallible Oracle Pope Adrian the Sixth spoke truth the whole World groaned after a Reformation (k) Richer l. 4. par 2. p. 130. Secondly The necessity of which will be further evident by taking a particular view of the Corruptions and Errors themselves which for methods sake and to avoid confusion shall be reduced to four general Heads 1. Corruptions in Doctrine 2. In Worship 3. In Manners 4. In Discipline In treating of which it will plainly appear that their Errors were not small and of light importance but so gross and in matters of such high moment that there was an absolute necessity of reforming them 1. Gross Corruptions in Doctrine Many Doctrines were imposed as Articles of Faith which have not the least Foundation in Scripture Reason or Primitive Antiquity and many others which are not only Strangers to all these but contrary to the common sense and Experience of Mankind I shall instance in some of them 1. The Infallibility of the Bishop or Church of Rome We have before seen that this Doctrine hath no Foundation in Scripture and by consequence can be no Article of Faith Yea that there is no pretence of Reason why the Bishop and Church of Rome should be infallible rather than the Bishop and Church of Constantinople and all those fine flourishes they are wont to make of the expediency of this Doctrine for the ending of Controversies and the safe conducting of Souls to Heaven may be as well accounted for by making the Church of England or any other Church infallible That no such Doctrine was owned by the antient Church we may be assured both because the Fathers in those many Heresies which in their times arose never betook themselves to this easie and compendious remedy for the suppressing of them but chose the more tedious and laborious way of confuting them by Scripture by Reason and Catholick Tradition and because the Asian and African Bishops did in some Points so resolutely dissent from the Roman Bishop and Church that they chose rather to break Communion than to comply with them therein Had any such thing in those dayes been believed would the African Illyrican and Dalmatian Bishops have renounced Communion with Vigilius Bishop of Rome for consenting to the condemnation of the three Chapters (a) Petrus de Marca dissertat de Epist Vigilii s 8. Would the blessed Polycarpus have dissented from Pope Eleutherius Irenaeus from Pope Victor S. Cyprian from Pope Stephen Can any Man who is not forsaken of his Reason imagine That such Men as these would have behaved themselves so towards the Pope as they did had they not thought themselves as infallible Judges as he But what need I contend for this when such great men of the Church of Rome as Nilus Archbishop of Thessalonica Gerson Chancellor of Paris Almain Alphonsus de Castro yea Pope Adrian VI. himself teach us as even
A DISCOURSE Concerning the NECESSITY OF REFORMATION With Respect to the Errors and Corruptions OF THE Church of Rome AMONG the many Errors of the Church of Rome there is one especially that puts a baâ— not only to the Reformation of her self but of all other Churches which depend upon her and that is the Doctrine of her Infallibility If she cannot err neither she nor any other Church that follows her conduct can stand in need of being reform'd for where there can be no Error there can be nothing amiss and where there can be nothing amiss there can be no need of Reformation 'T is therefore needful to remove this Prejudice in order to the clearing of the way to the ensuing Discourse When the Romanists assert that their Church is Infallible and theirs only we may in reason expect that they should produce good Proof that their Church is so highly privileged above all other Churches This they say they do and their Proofs they tell us are so convincing that they may pass for no less than Demonstrations But alas when we come to examine them we find our selves strangely disappointed instead of Demonstrations we meet with nothing that amounts to so much as Probability Their pretended Proofs are taken from Scripture from Reason and from the Authority of the ancient Church I. Those from Scripture are many but all of them as impertinent as that of their Angelical Doctor to prove that all men are not equally bound to have an explicite Faith because 't is said Job 1. 14. that the Oxen were plowing and the Asses were feeding besides them For First They do not prove that any Church now in being is Infallible Secondly Much less that the Church of Rome is First They do not prove that any Church now in being is Infallible I say now in being because we grant that there was a time when even particular Churches were in their Guides Infallible viz. while the Apostles liv'd and took upon them the Government of particular Churches And many of those Scriptures which the Romanists produce for the Infallibility of their present Church peculiarly relate to that time and to those Persons For instance these Promises The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name he shall teach you all things John 1â— 26. and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you I have many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now Howbeit when the Spirit of Truth is come he shall guide you into all Truth for the shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall Joh. 16. 12 13. hear that shall â—e speak and he shall shew you things to come 'T is plain that these Promises are to be limited to the Apostles and those Disciples only who personally convers'd with our Saviour because they were made to those to whom he himself had spoken and to whose remembrance the Holy Ghost was to bring those things he had before told them to those to whom he had many more things to say which they were not yet able to bear to those who had been with Christ from the beginning to those from whom Christ was now going away and whom he had before told of his departure to those to whom the Holy Ghost was to shew things to come a Privilege which the present Roman Church does not I think so much as pretend to And for those other Scriptures which extend to succeeding Ages tho they do for the most part concern the Catholick only and not any particular Church yet they neither assert nor promise any such thing as absolute Infallibility Let it be supposed that St. Paul calls the Church the Pillar and Ground of Truth for these words may as well be connected with 1 Tim. 3. 1â— and apply'd to that Summary of Christian Doctrine which follows must the meaning needs be that the Church cannot err May it not justly lay claim to this Title 1. If it do not actually err tho it is fallible and may err If nothing may be call'd a Pillar that is capable of any defect St. Peters Church in Rome will have no Pillar left to support it Or 2. If it doth not err in things necessary to Salvation That may be truly call'd a Pillar that upholds all that is needful to the being of the House tho it do not support every little part but suffers here and there a Tile or a Stone to fall to the ground Or 3. If together with all necessary Truths it gives support to some Errors As we frequently see those Pillars that uphold the Building together with it they also support other things that are laid upon it and are no better than a nusance and incumbrance to it And such a Pillar of Truth the Romanists must be forc'd to grant the Universal Church hath sometimes been for has it not for some ages maintain'd those Doctrines which the present Church of Rome condemns as erroneous Tho the truth is the Church here spoken of was that in which Timothy was directed how to behave himself and that was the Church of Ephesus or in the largest sense that of Asia of Mr. Rycaâ—t's present State of the Greek Church p. 54. which Ephesus was the Metropolis and that this Church hath fundamentally err'd must needs be granted there being not one family of Christians now to be found in Ephesus From that Promise of our Saviour that the gates of Hell shall Matth. 16 18. not prevail against his Church They can by no means infer Infallibility till they have first prov'd that the gates of Hell prevail against every society yea against every person that is not infallible And when that shall be once prov'd the gates of Hell will be so largely extended and those who enter in at them so numerous that 't is to be fear'd St. Peter will never more be put to the trouble of opening the gates of Heaven for any man 'T is true Christ hath promised to be with his Church always even Matt. 28. 20. to the end of the World But if all those with whom Christ is present are infallible then every sincere Christian in the world is so and then what will become of the Popes Prerogative When the poorest Mechanick in case he be but an honest Christian will be as infallible a Guide of Controversies as he is now by his Flatterers pretended to be And as little to this purpose is that other Promise of our Saviour Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them For if Christ's being in the midst of Matt. 18. 20. them does make them infallible since 't is sure he will never be worse than his word 't is also certain that if but two or three only shall meet together in his name in London they will be when so met together infallible And if Infallibility may be had at home and at
that he should be clearly known If there be then such a Judge is not necessary for that means cannot be necessary without which the end may be attained 1. If Controversies which create disturbance to the Church cannot be determin'd without an infallible Umpire 't is also necessary for the determining of them not only that there be such an Umpire but that we be assured who he is for in this case not to be known and not to be are in effect the same thing so that let there be Judges infallible never so many our Controversies will be never the nearer an end unless we are able to discern who they are Now I cannot imagine at present how they can be known except one of these two ways only either by being clearly revealed by God in Scripture or by God's bearing witness to their Infallibility by Signs and Wonders But God hath neither expresly nor by evident consequence declared in Scripture that he hath any where constituted such a Judge much less hath he told us who he is and where we may find him till therefore they who pretend to it prove their Infallibility by unquestionable Miracles let them not expect that we should take them for such Nor can they in reason blame us for this since the disagreement in this point is so great among themselves that of all other questions it seems most to stand in need of an infallible Judge to determine it 2. If Controversies may be decided by other means then what need of an infallible Judge That cannot be necessary to an end without which the end may be obtain'd And that Controversies may be otherways determin'd is certain because they have been How were all the Controversies decided and the Heresies suppress'd which sprang up in the early Age of the Christian Church Were the Gnosticks the Valentinians the Novatians the Macedonians the Donatists the Arians suppress'd by those who took upon them to be Infallible No such thing was in those days talked of the Bishops and Councils that confuted them did not so much as pretend to any such Privilege The only means they had recourse to was the infallible Rule the Holy Scriptures this was the Judge to which in all their Questions they appeal'd and those who are so perverse as not to be determin'd by it should Elias come and take the Chair neither will they be determin'd by his Sentence for nothing can be objected to render the Scripture ineffectual to this end but the same may with equal force be objected against the Definitions of an infallible Judge And therefore 3. An infallible Judge is no such infallible means for the ending of Controversies as is by the Romanists supposed For 1. When there was such a Judge in the Jewish Church I mean our Blessed Saviour Did his Authority put an end to the Disputes between the Pharisees and the Sadduces and other Sects among them Yea did not that Church then fall into the most damnable Error by rejecting this infallible Teacher 'T will be said the reason of that was because they did not own his Infallibility Be it so and may not then any other infallible Guide be rejected Can it be imagin'd that any other Person 's Infallibility should ever be attested with more unquestionable Credentials than his was But 2. Neither those who have been own'd for Infallible have been so successful to this purpose among them who have own'd them under this Character For 1. The Apostles were thought Infallible by those Churches which they planted and yet Errors and Heresies sprang up in them and they were divided into Parties And tho St. Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians had endeavour'd to reduce them to Unity yet we find by his second Epistle that that had not put an end to their Divisions Those who know they have a Guide that cannot err may go astray as much as others in case they refuse to follow his conduct 2. The Romanists tell us that their Church cannot err and if they do indeed believe what they profess it will be as effectual for the ending of Differences among themselves as if it were indeed Infallible And yet are there not many Controversies among them And tho they upbraid us with our Divisions are not theirs as many And some of them such as are by the differing Parties reckon'd even Matters of Faith If then their Infallibility were such a Sovereign Cure of Divisions how comes it to pass that no Reconciliation is made between the dissenting Parties among themselves The truth is so far is their pretended infallible Judge from lessening that he encreases their Controversies for no sooner was he talked of but instead of deciding those that were already many were raised that were never before heard of And therefore 3. Such a work of the Holy Spirit upon mens Hearts as would make them meek and humble and charitable and heavenly minded sincere Lovers of Truth desirous to know the will of God and resolv'd to do it would be an expedient much more available for the healing of our Divisions and promoting of Peace than Infallibility of Judgment For from whence come Wars and Fightings among us come they not hence even from our Lusts Scarce ever was any Error broach'd that created disturbance to the Church but 't is manifest it took its rise from and was foster'd and maintain'd either by the Lust of the Flesh or the Lust of the Eye or the Pride of Life Let but mens fleshly worldly and devilish Lusts be once mortified and our Differences will be composed or if any remain they will be such as will be destructive neither of Peace nor Charity Should we therefore argue at the same absurd rate that our Adversuries do might we not as fairly conclude that God hath made every man Pious and Humble and a Doer of his Will as that he hath made one Man or one Church Infallible But now if that which is supposed by the Romanists were all granted If it were necessary to the Peace of the Church that all Controversies should be decided if they cannot be decided without some infallible Umpire and if it were certain that such an Umpire would give a final determination to them yet doth it hence follow that the Church of Rome must be that Umpire Suppose the Church of England were Infallible might it not be as serviceable to these Intents and Purposes III. This pretended Infallibility of the Church of Rome hath as little support from the Doctrine of the Antient Christian Church as it hath from Scripture and Reason Tho the Romanists are wont among those who will take their word to boast much of the Authority of the Fathers yet that they are not able to produce so much as one who speaks to their purpose may be reasonably concluded from the Performances of Cardinal Bellarmine in this matter * Bell. de Rom. Pontif. l. 4. c. 4. all whose Allegations are so impertinent that the very reading of
them may be sufficient to satisfie an impartial person that nothing can be found in Antiquity that really favours this pretence Yea that the Fathers were of a contrary Judgment and thought that the Church of Rome had no such paramount privilege above other Churches will afterward appear by plain and undeniable proofs If what the Romanists slily suppose and make great advantage of in this Question were true viz. that the Roman is the Catholick Church it would not do their work For tho the Catholick Church is infallibly led by the Holy Ghost into all things necessary to be believ'd and practis'd yet we have no assurance either from Scripture or Reason that she shall not err in other matters But that the Roman and Catholick are the same is an opinion not only condemn'd by the first Council of Nice (a) Can. 6. and which is more was wholly a stranger to the first eight general Councils (b) Novem primis seculis quibus octo universalia concilia habita sunt nunquam auditum aut lectum Romanam Ecclesiam aliâ notione aut significatione sumptam quam pro singulari particulari Ecclesia atque primo membro Ecclesiae universalis Richer l. 1. c. 13. p. 754. ColoÌ„ 1683. that is unknown to the Christian World for 900 years after Christ But 't is moreover as absurd in it self as to say that the part is equal to the whole that the Church of London is the Church of England And till they have prov'd the latter we shall hardly be perswaded to believe the former In the mean time let them take it for a favour that we grant the Church of Rome to be a part of the Catholick Church it being a part so miserably corrupted I thought it needful to premise what hath been said because when we charge the Church of Rome with Errors and for proof of that charge produce many particular Instances her Advocates think it a sufficient answer to tell us alas Sirs you are grosly mistaken as for those Opinions and Practices which you take to be Errors 't is your selves only that err in thinking them to be so for the Church of Rome is so highly privileged that Christ and his Apostles may as soon err as She. Having therefore remov'd this Obstacle out of the way I now proceed to that which I mainly design which I shall comprise under these following heads of Discourse I. That the Church of Rome is not only fallible but hath actually err'd II. That her Errors were not slight and in matters of small moment but so gross and enormous when the Reformation was set on foot that there was a necessity of reforming them III. That no hope was left that the Church of Rome would either reform these Errors in her self or give consent to the reformation of them in any other Church that communicated with her IV. That every particular national Church had a right to reform it self without her leave V. That this right of the Church of England in particular was most unquestionable And therefore as a necessary Conclusion from these Premisses VI. That the Church of England was indispensably bound to reform her self notwithstanding the prohibition of the Church of Rome I. That the Church of Rome not only may err but hath actually err'd This cannot be denied if those in that Church have err'd who as they themselves assert are the only persons that cannot err For if their supposed infallible Guides have mistaken their way how can it otherwise be but that those who blindly follow them must go astray too Now let them place their Infallibility where they please either in the Pope or in a general Council or in both united 't is as certain that they all have err'd as that both parts of a contradiction cannot be true 1. For their Popes 't is a common thing with them to rescind each others Decrees and to make Definitions as opposite one to another as Yea and Nay Thus Pope Stephen VI. abrogated the Decrees and null'd the Acts of Formosus I. (a) Platina in vita Steph. Pope Romanus I. did the like kindness for Stephen (b) Id. in vita Romani Pope John X. reprobated the Acts of Stephen and restor'd those of Formosus (c) Id. in vita Johannis X. Pope Sergius III. was so great an Abhorrer of Formosus and his Acts that he compell'd those Priests who had received orders from him to be re-ordain'd nor would he suffer his dead Body to rest but commanding it to be taken up set it in the Pope's Seat adorn'd with Priestly Robes and pass'd Sentence upon him as if he had been alive and then pulling off the Sacred Vestments and cutting off the three fingers with which he was wont to give his Blessing commanded it to be thrown into Tiber as unworthy of humane Burial (d) Id. in vita Sergii Luitprand l. 1 de reb Imp. Reg. c. 8. Pope Nic. I. decreed that it was not fit for Clergy-men to bear Arms (e) Nam cum discreti sint milites seculi à militibus Ecclesiâ— non convenit militibus Ecclesiae militare secule per quod ad effusionem sanguinis necesse sit pervenire Gratian. Dist 50. c. 5. Pope Vrban the II. exhorted the Bishops to fight against the Amalekites viz. the Turks (f) Baron an 1095. n. 49. and Pope Boniface VIII shewed himself to the people at the Jubilee in an imperial Habit and had a naked Sword carried before him Nor have they only contradicted one another but the same Pope hath contradicted himself too So did Pope Vigilius again and again in the Controversie about the three Chapters (g) Pet. de Marca dissert de decret Vigilii So did Pope Martin V. he confirm'd that Decree of the Council of Constance which set a general Council above the Pope and he set the Pope above a Council in publishing a Bull against Appeals from the Pope to a Council (h) Richer Hist Concil general l. 2. c. 3. s 21 23 25. So did Eugenius IV. Paul III. and many more Nor have they err'd only in points of small importance but even in matters of Faith Pope Liberius consented to the Arian Heresy as S. Athanasius (i) In epistola ad solitariam vitam agentes p. 837 Par. S. Hilary (k) Haec est perfidia Ariana Anathema tibi à me dictum â—iberi sociis tuis iterum tibi Anathema tertio praevaricator Liberi Hil. in Prag col 426. and S. Jerom (l) In Catalogo vir illustr inform us Pope Honorius defended the Heresy of the Monothelites and was condemned for a downright Heretick by the Sixth (n) Richer hist Concil general l. 1. c. 10. s 23 24. Seventh (o) Id. l. 1. c. 11. s 10. and Eighth (p) Id. l. 1. c. 12. s 21. general Councils All which Councils were confirmed by Popes The sixth by Leo II. the seventh by Adrian I. the eighth by
habere seu Matrimonia contrahere penitus interdicimus contracta quoque Matrimonia ab hujusmodi personis disjungi Grat. dist 27. â— 8. Pope Innocent III. pronounced such marriages null and the Council of Trent anathematizes those who say they are valid (d) Sess 24. Can. 9. But one would think that God had sufficiently declared his approbation of such Marriages in that the whole World hath by his appointment been twice peopled by two married Priests first by Adam secondly by Noah And we are sure the Holy Scripture tells us That Marriage is honourable in all f Heb. 13. 4. And places it among the Qualifications of a Bishop That he be the Husband of one Wife having faithful Children (g) Tit. 1. 6. which saith S. Chrysostom The Apostle prescribed to this end That he might stop the Mouths of Hereticks who reproached Marriage declaring thereby That Marriage is no unclean thing but so honourable that a married Man may be exalted to the sacred Throne of a Bishop (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Hom. 2. in c. 1. ad Tit. And well might he think it not unbecoming a Bishop when our Lord thought it not unbecoming an Apostle no not the Prince of the Apostles as the Romanists will have him for it is without doubt that S. Peter was married in that the Scripture makes mention of his Wife's Mother (i) Matt. 8. 14. And Clemens of Alexandria tells us That it was certainly reported that when he saw his Wife led to death he rejoiced and having exhorted and comforted her he called her by her name and bid her remember the Lord (k) Clemens Alex Stromat l. 7 p. 736. Lut. 1629. and that he was not only married but begat Children the same Clemens in another place affirms (l) Stromat l. 3 p. 448. Yea that S. Philip and S. Jude were also married and had Children Eusebius is witness (m) Euseb Eccles Hist l. 3. c. 20 31. In like manner we find That many of the primitive Bishops were married so were Chaeremon Bishop of Nilus S. Spiridion S. Gregory Nazianzen S. Gregory Nyssen S. Hilary and many more Nor can it be said that they took Wives while they were Laymen and after they took upon them the sacred Ministry were separated from them since the Canons commonly called the Apostles did prohibit either Bishop Priest or Deacon to put away his Wife upon pretence of Religion (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 5. and if any such shall abstain from Marriage as in it self abominable command that he be corrected or deposed and cast out of the Church (o) Canon 50. which Canons though not made by them whose name they bear yet they are of greater Antiquity than the first Nicene Council And when in that Council it was moved That Bishops and Priests Deacons and Subdeacons might not cohabit with their Wives which they had taken before Ordination the Motion was presently dashed by the famous Paphnutius who was himself a single person (a) Socrat. Ecclesiast Hist l. 1 c. 11. Yea a long time after this Council we meet with many Popes who were Sons of Bishops and Priests Pope Theodorus Silverius and Gelasius I. were the Sons of Bishops Pope Boniface I. Felix II. and Agapetus I. were the Sons of Priests (b) Grat. dist 56. c. 2. Platina in vitis eorum And that we may not think this strange Gratian himself informs us That the Marriage of Priests was in those days lawful in the Latin Church as it was at that time when he writ in the Eastern Church (c) Dist 56. c. 13. Nor is this Doctrine to be rejected only as contrary to Scripture and to Primitive and Apostolical Practice but because of the abominable Fruits produced in the Church of Rome by it For when their Clergy might not have Wives which God allowed instead of them they took Whores which wickedness so far prevailed in that Church that no less a Man than the Cardinal of Cambray informs us That many Clergymen were not ashamed publickly and in the face of the World to keep Concubines (d) De reform Eccles And the Gloss upon Gratian says That it is commonly said That a Priest may not be deposed for simple Fornication because there are few Priests to be found without that fault (e) Communiter autem dicitur quod pro simplici fornicatione quis deponi non debet cum pauci sine illo vitio inveniantur Dist 81. c. 6. in Gloss And therefore Pope Pius II. had great reason to say That though Priests were by the Western Church forbid to marry for good reason yet there was stronger reason to restore Marriage to them again (f) Father Paâ—â—s History of the Council of Tâ—ent l. 7. p. 680. This many in the Council of Trent were sensible of Who alledged the great Scandal given by incontinent Priests and that there was want of continent persons fit to exercise the Ministry (g) P. 679 680. And therefore the Emperor and the Duke of Bavaria required That the marriage of the Priests might be granted (h) P. 514 526. And the Archbishop of Prague and the Bishop of five Churches desired that married persons might be promoted to holy Orders But this request would not be granted because if the Clergy once come to be married they will no longer depend on the Pope but on their Prince (i) P. 680 747. 6. The Doctrines of the number of the Sacraments of the Character impressed by them and of the necessity of the Priests intention defined by the Roman Church as necessary Points of Faith are such as cannot be derived from Scripture or from the Tradition of the Church as is freely acknowledged by many learned Men of their own Communion As the Word Sacrament is ambiguous so it is sufficiently known That the Fathers as they took it in a more strict or large sense so they either encreased or lessened the number of them And Cassander hath observed That we scarce meet with any Man before Peter Lombard who reduced them to a certain number (k) Consâ—lt Cassand Art 13. And that the number Seven hath no colour either from Scripture or the antient Church we may be assured by those goodly Reasons upon which it was established by the Council of Trent viz. There are seven Vertues seven capital Vices seven Defects which came by original Sin seven Planets and I know not how many sevens more (l) History of the Council of Trent l. 2. p. 234 235. and therefore there are seven Sacraments neither more nor less Risum teneatis As to the Character impressed by three of them viz. Baptism Confirmation and Order 't was so little understood by the Trent Fathers that they could not agree what it meant or where to place it One would have it to be a Quality another to be a Relation and of those who made it a Quality some said
1. Besides I say these and many other insuperable prejudices that lye against it as the matter is managed in the Church of Rome it wholly defeats its own design For what Man will be ashamed to do that which is done upon course by the best Men in their Church the Priest the Bishop yea the Pope himself not excepted And who will be afraid of the most formidable Sin when the Penance imposed for it is usually trifling and next to nothing so far from giving check that it is one of the strongest provocations to sin For what greater encouragement can a Man desire than to purchase a pardon upon such easie terms 10. I need not shew that the Doctrine of Purgatory as taught by the Church of Rome cannot derive its Pedigree either from the Scripture or the primitive Fathers because it is freely confessed by many of her own Members that it hath no foundation in either of them Yea a late learned Writer of that Church hath proved by great variety of Arguments that it is plainly repugnant to Scripture to Reason and to the judgment of the antient Church and exposed the vanity of those pretended Proofs which are commonly brought for it (d) Tho. Aug. ex Alâ—iâ—◠〈◊〉 Saxon. de media Animaâ—um statu And yet it is no wonder that the Romish Clergy so zealously contend for it that the Council of Trent hath established it and that Pope Pius IV. hath put it into the Roman Creed (e) Bull. super formam Jurament Confess Fidei because this is that by which they make spoil of the people and enrich themselves This alone hath erected and richly endowed many fair Abbies and Monasteries this hath founded many Colleges Chappels and Chantryes this hath set up and maintained the gainful Trade of Indulgences and Masses Let the people be once disabused and rightly informed in this Point Masses for the Dead will grow out of fashion and Indulgences will be despised as nothing worth For 11. The Doctrine of Indulgences is another new Article of the Roman Creed This is generally owned by the learned Romanists themselves In particular Durandus one of their famous Schoolmen acknowledges That little that is certain can be said concerning them because the Scripture speaks not expresly of them and the holy Fathers S. Ambrose S. Hilary S. Augustine and S. Jerom make no mention of them (f) De Indulgentiis pauca dici possunt per certitudinem quia nec Scriptura expresse de eis loqultur sancti etiam ut Ambrosius Hil. Aug. Hierom. minime loquuntur de Indulgentiis Durand l. 4. dist 20. q. 3. And Cardinal Cajetan grants That no sacred Scripture no Authority of the antient Doctors Greek or Latin hath brought the Original of them to our knowledge (g) De ortu Indulgentiarum si certitudo haberi posset veritati indagandae opem ferret verum quia nulla sacrae Scripturae nulla priscorum Doctorum Graecorum aut Latinorum authoritas scripta hanc ad nostram deduxit notitiam Opusc Tom. 1. Tract 15. c. 1. And no wonder because their Original bears a much later date than either the Sacred Scripture or the Authority of the antient Doctors for the learned Romanist before mentioned tells us That for ought he could find Indulgences were not thought on before the Age of the Schoolmen (h) De his Indulgentiis ante Scholasticorum aetatem quod sciam â—nspicio nulla De mâ—dio Animarum statu Demens 27. That is till twelve hundred Years after Christ and therefore no mention is made of them by Gratian or the Master of the Sentences It is true That in the Primitive Church severe and long Penances were imposed upon scandalous Offenders the rigour of which upon weighty Considerations was sometimes moderated by the Bishop and this Relaxation was called by the name of Indulgence But the Popish Indulgences are quite of another nature for they suppose a Treasure in the Church made up of the Merits of Christ and the Saints the Saints must be added to supply the defect of Christ's Merits which is wholly at the Popes disposal which therefore he dispenses to others as he thinks fit to discharge them from those Temporal Punishments to which they are obnoxious for their Venial Sins in Purgatory Nor are these Indulgences as the Practice of their Church is limited to the Souls in Purgatory and to those Punishments which are due to venial Sins only but granted to all Persons indifferently who will pay for them and for all Sins be they never so enormous To such an excess of Abomination were the Doctrine and Practice of Indulgences grown about the time of the Reformation such an intolerable Reproach were they to our Holy Religion that the more sober Romanists themselves cry'd shame on them (i) Espencaeus in cap. 1. Ep. ad Tit. Onus Ecclesiae c. 15. Eras l 30. Ep. 57. 12. Another Error and that which is indeed the main Foundation of many of those already mention'd and of many more which follow under the next Head is this That unwritten Traditions ought to be added to the Holy Scriptures to supply their defect and ought to be receiv'd as of equal Authority with them Whereas the Scriptures themselves which the Romanists acknowledge to be an infallible tho but an imperfect Rule do frequently bear witness of their own Sufficiency as to all Matters necessary to Salvation (a) Psal 19. 7. John 20. 31. 2 Tim. 3. 16. I say all Matters necessary to Salvation because we do not assert that all things belonging to Rites and Ceremonies and to the external Polity of the Church are contain'd in them except only in general Rules by which the particular Determination of them is committed to the Discretion of our Governors but we affirm that there is no Article of Faith or Rule of Life that is necessary to be believ'd or practis'd that is not either in express words contain'd in them or by evident consequence may be deduced from them so that supposing them to be the Word of God we need no other Rule in such Matters And 't is certain that the ancient Fathers were of the same Judgment I shall produce the words of S. Austin only In those Matters saith he which are plainly placed in Scripture all those things are found which contain Faith and the Manners of Holy Living viz. Hope and Charity (b) In iis quae aperte in Scriptura posita sunt inveniuntur illa omnia quae continent fidem moresque vivendi spem sc atque Charitatem De doct Christiana l. 2. c. 9. In which words he affirms not only that all things belonging to Faith and Manners are contained but that they are plainly contain'd in the Scripture And in another place the same Father says If an Angel from Heaven shall preach to you any thing concerning Christ or his Church or concerning any thing which belongs to Faith or Life besides what you have received in the Writings
Witnessing to become Vertues Which is indeed no more than the Church of Rome does For to break Faith with Hereticks to rob and falsely accuse them yea and to murther them too are in their Divinity great Virtues and necessary Duties So far were the Primitive Christians from worshipping of Images that many of the most learned of them thought it was a sin so much as to make them and others who did not scruple the making them yet thought it unlawful to have them in Churches though for no other use than Ornament And when some in the fourth Century thought they might be permitted in Churches they notwithstanding abhorred the thoughts of giving any manner of Worship to them All which are so fully proved by learned Men of our own Church (b) Bishop Taylor Dr. Stillingfleet c. that I forbear to insist upon them Though it is a matter that needs not proof because it is confessed by Cassander That the antient Christians had a great abhorrency for all Veneration of Images (c) Cassand Consult Art 21 It is certain the Pope himself was an enemy to Image-Worship for six hundred Years after Christ for Gregory the Great to a certain Recluse who desired the Image of Christ expresly answered That Images were not to be worshipped And in his Epistle to Serenus Bishop of Marseilles though he blame him for breaking the Images in pieces yet he praises him for that he would not suffer them to be worship'd he thought they might be of use for the instruction of the Ignorant but would not endure that they should be adored For it is one thing saith he to adore a Picture another thing to learn by the History of the Picture what is to be adored If any Man will make Images do not forbid him but by all means avoid the worshipping of them (e) l 9. Epist 9 But after that they were once brought into Churches Men came by little and little to worship them till at length it was established for a Law in the second Council of Nice that they were to be set up in Churches to the end that they might be worshipped and that with true and proper Worship and all those were anathemized who durst say the contrary which Decree was confirmed by the fourth Council at Constantinople and afterwards by the Council of Trent And though the Worship decreed by that Council was of an inferior nature yet in process of time it was advanced by the Church of Rome to that supreme Worship which is proper to God himself For before Luther's time the approved Doctrine of that Church was That the very same Worship was to be given to the Image that was to be given to the person represented by it and therefore to the Images of God and of Christ the Worship of Latria that is That Worship which belongs to God over all blessed for ever And such as their Doctrine was such was their Practice insomuch that Cassander complains That their Worship of Images and their vanity in making and adorning them was nothing inferior to that of the Heathens (f) Consult Cassand Art 21. de Imagin Simulachris We may add If there was any difference between Heathen and Christian Rome it seems to be this that the latter hath outdone the former in this piece of Idolatry Add to this 8. Their solemn Prayers to Saints departed and that not to intercede for them but to bestow upon them those Temporal and Spiritual Blessings they stand in need of which was the practice of the Church of Rome and made a part both of their private and publick Devotions long before the Reformation Now were it so good and profitable to invoke the Saints as the Council of Trent teaches it is strange that so great a Lover of Mankind as S. Paul when he so frequently commands us to pray and hath left so many directions concerning Prayer should wholly forget to teach us this Lesson Can it be supposed a Worship so pleasing to God when God hath not given us the least intimation in his Word that it is so For that it hath no foundation in Scripture we may be assured when so great a Man of the Church of Rome as Cardinal Pâ—rron acknowledges that neither Precept nor Example is there to be found for it and when other learned Doctors of that Church not only confess the same but also give us several Reasons why no mention is made of it either in the Old or New Testament But this is not all There is not only nothing in Scripture for it but much against it For we are there frequently taught to offer up our Prayers to God alone through that one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus And had the Fathers been of opinion that Saints might be invoked could they have thought the Invocation of Christ a good Argument to prove his Divinity Would they have accused the Arians of Idolatry for worshipping him because they supposed him to be no more than a Creature Could they be so sottish as to deride the Heathens for worshipping dead men had they themselves worshipped such And would not the Heathens have retorted their Sarcasms When Heathens and Jews both so often reproached the Christians for worshipping one that was crucified had they worshipped not only him but his Apostles and Disciples too would they not much more have reproached them for that But what need of Arguments to prove it when the Fathers themselves plainly tell us that they made their Prayers to God alone (b) Clemens Alexand. Stromat l. 7. p. 721. Paris Edit 1629. Tertull. Apol. c. 30. Aug. de Civit. Dei l. 8. c. 27. 'T is unreasonable to say that the Fathers speak of supream Worship only which the Romanists themselves reserve to God while they allow an inferior Worship to others Because they were not aware of any such difference of Worship All religious Worship was in their account such as was due to God alone The distinctions of worship into supream and subordinate absolute and relative terminative and transient as they have no foundation in Scripture so the Christians of the first Ages were ignorant of they having no such different objects of Religious Worship to which these different Degrees were to be suited And forasmuch as the Romanists themselves make sacrifice proper to God it seems very absurd to make Prayer common to him with others For Sacrifices were not only accompanied with vocal Prayers and Thanksgivings but were themselves real Prayers and Praises they being sacred Rites by which they offered up their Petitions and Thanks to God as their very names Euctical and Eucharistical teach us And when Prayer and Sacrifice are considered apart and compared the one with the other God sets the higher value upon Prayer and desires that rather than Sacrifice (c) Psalm 50. If therefore Sacrifice be a Worship peculiar to God it follows à fortiori that Prayer must be so too As will be
six hundred years after Christ and shews how at its first rise it was disallow'd and condemn'd not only by particular Persons but by some Councils (f) Cassand Consult de Solit Missis 'T is plain that it was not in use in the Church of Rome in ancient times and that it cannot be reconcil'd with the Roman Office as it now stands in which the Priest prays and gives thanks not only for himself but for the Communicants And what a mockery is it for the Priest to say The Lord be with you lift up your hearts and let us give Thanks to the Lord God when he hath not so much as one that partakes with him And therefore the Church of England hath upon good grounds abolish'd it and ordain'd that there shall be no Celebration of the Lords Supper except there be a convenient number to communicate (g) Rubrick after the Communion 4. Another instance of gross Corruption in Worship is the half Communion That Christ instituted and administer'd the Eucharist under both kinds and that it was likewise so administer'd by the Primitive Church I need not prove because it is expresly granted by the Council of Constance which sacrilegiously forbad the Cup to the Laity For tho saith the Council Christ instituted and administer'd to his Disciples this venerable Sacrament under both kinds of Bread and Wine and although in the Primitive Church it was receiv'd by the Faithful under both kinds yet notwithstanding for the avoiding of some Dangers and Scandals this Custom is upon reasonable grounds introduc'd that it be received by Lay people under the kind of Bread only And then commands that no Priest shall administer it in both kinds to any Lay-man under pain of Excommunication (a) Concil Const Sess 13. It may be presum'd that the Scandals were great and the Reasons weighty that mov'd the Council to make a Decree in plain defiance to Christ's Institution I shall therefore mention them and leave them to the judgment of the Reader John Gerson who was himself present at the Council in a Treatise which he writ in defence of that Decree hath told us they were these 1. The danger of spilling the Wine 2. The danger in carrying it from place to place 3. In defiling the Vessels which ought to be kept as Sacred things by being touch'd and handled by Lay-men 4. In the long Beards of the Lay-men 5. In keeping the consecrated Wine for the use of the Sick because Vinegar may be generated in the Vessel and so the Blood of Christ would cease to be there and pure Vinegar would be administer'd for the Blood of Christ tho by the way if the consecrated Wine be transubstantiated it seems strange that it should degenerate into Vinegar Besides in Summer Flies may be generated and sometimes it may putrefie and become loathsome and some might loath to drink it because many others had drank of it before 6. Wine would be chargeable especially in such places where it is scarce There would be moreover danger of freezing in Winter and there would be further danger in giving occasions many ways to the People to believe that which is false As that Lay-men as to the receiving of the Sacrament are of equal Dignity with Priests (b) Gerson Tract contra haeres de Commun sub utraque specie These were the frightful Dangers and horrible Scandals which they supposed might arise from permitting the Cup to the Laity And is it not strange that such Reasons as these should move the Council to depart from Christ's Institution especially when confirm'd with that emphatical command drink ye all of it (c) Mat. 26. 27 and when that command had been inviolably observ'd not only by the Primitive but by the whole Church both Greek and Latin Eastern and Western for twelve hundred years after Christ For Cardinal Bona grants that the whole Church both Lay and Clergy for about one thousand two hundred years received in both kinds even in the Church of Rome it self (d) De Rebus Liturgicis l. 2. c. 18. p. 491. And Gregory de Valentia tho a Jesuit tells us that the Custom of communicating in one kind began to be generally received even in the Latin Church not long before the Council of Constance (e) Coepit autem ea consuetudo in Ecclesia Latina esse generalis non multo ante tempore Concilii Constanâ—iensis in quo tandem pro lege ab omnibus eam consuetudinem esse habendam decretum est Greg. de Valent. de legitimo usu Eucharist c. 10. which began in the year 1414. And that this Innovation might be remov'd and the whole Sacrament administer'd according to Christ's Institution was earnestly desired not only by Protestants but by many Popish Princes and Churches as is manifest by their requests to that purpose made to the Pope and the Council of Trent The French Embassador besought the Pope in the name of the King the Church and Prelates of France that he would grant the Communion of the Cup to the People (f) History of the Council of Trent l. 5. p. 4â—9 The Duke of Bavaria at the Council of Trent demanded by his Embassador the Administration of the Eucharist under both kinds and that not for the Sectaries sake to reduce them but to retain those who as yet continued in Communion with them The Bavarian was seconded by the Emperors Embassadors who represented to the Council that not only the Kingdom of Bohemia would never be satisfied without the Cup but that there were Catholicks in Hungaria Austria Moravia Silesia Carinthia Carniola Stiria Bavaria Suevia and other parts of Germany who desired the Cup with great Zeal that therefore his Majesty demanded it not for the Hereticks but for the Catholicks only (g) P. 528 529. Tho these already mentioned are Corruptions which loudly called for a Reformation yet behold greater Abominations than these As 5. The giving Divine Worship to the consecrated Bread in the Eucharist This the Church of England hath declared to be abominable Idolatry (h) The Sacramental Bread and Wine remain still in their very natural Substances and therefore may not be adored for that were Idolatry to be abhor'd of all faithful Christians Rubrick after the Communion And that it can be no less is granted by many learned men of the Church of Rome in case the Bread and Wine after Consecration be not really changed into the natural Body and Blood of Christ but remain the very same for substance that they were before And that there is no substantial Change wrought in them we are fully assured by Sense by Reason by Scripture and by the Authority of the ancient Church and if these are not sufficient Grounds of assurance we can be assured of nothing but for ought we know even we our selves and all that is in the World may be nothing but Phantasm and Delusion But suppose that upon due Consecration of the
further evident from the very nature of the thing because Prayer is an acknowledgment of those Excellencies in the Person pray'd to and a payment of those Duties to him which are the sole Prerogative of God For what are the incommunicable Perfections of God himself If not to be present in all places to know the Secrets of our Hearts and to be able to supply the wants of all those that call upon him And all these must be supposed to be in him to whom Prayers are addressed by all Persons from all distant places of the World And what Homage can be more proper to him who is infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness than to submit our selves to him To hope and trust in him and to cast all our care upon him And all these Duties we pay to that Being to whom we make our Prayers And therefore the Church of England had great reason to charge them with Idolatry who put up their Prayers to Saints because in so doing they give that Worship to the Creature which is due to God alone (d) Homily against peril of Idolatry 9. I might largely insist upon the Worship which the Church of Rome gives to the Reliques of Saints which is more absurd than that which they give to the Saints themselves By their Reliques they understand not only their dead Bodies and all the parts of them their Nails and Hair not excepted but all those things that any way appertained to them Yea whatsoever they touched and whatsoever touched them by virtue of that Touch it becomes Sacred Upon which account no things are had in greater Honor with them than those by which our Blessed Lord was put to shame The Thorns that gored him the Nails that pierced him the Cross he was nailed to because they touched his Sacred Body divine Honour must be given to them as the great Oracle of their Church hath determined and by consequence to the Judas that betray'd him Tho with this difference that not only to the true Cross on which our Saviour hung but to the Image of it Divine Worship is to be paid but not to the Images of the Nails and Spear but only to those very Nails and that very Spear that pierced him (a) Crux Christi in qua Christus crucifixus est tum propter repraesentationem tum etiam propter membrorum Christi contactum Latria adoranda est Crucis vero effigies in alia quavis materia priori tantum ratione Latria adoranda est Quantum ad rationem contactus membrorum Christi adoramus non solum Crucem sed omnia quae sunt Christi Aquin. pars 3. quaest 25. Art 4. And which is yet more monstrous tho 't is certain that these pretended Reliques if not all yet are most of them counterfeit unless that which is but one can be a multitude because the same is pretended to be shewed in many places yet the same worship is given to the false that is given to the true Reliques and so the Body of a Malefactor is sometimes worshipped for that of a Saint and the Bones of a Beast for those of a Martyr But suppose they are true are they not goodly objects of Worship Garlick and Onions the Egyptians Deities may justly be accounted Gods right worshipful when compared with Thorns and Nails and Chips and many other of the Romish Gods So ridiculous are the Follies and Impieties that are often practised in this Relique-worship that nothing equal was ever found among the most sottish Heathen I shall therefore spare the pains of shewing that it is condemn'd by Scripture by Reason and that nothing like it was practised by the Primitive Christians for more than three hundred years and shall only tell you what censure a learned and famous man of their own Church hath passed upon this sort of worship It is manifest saith he that in later times too much hath been attributed to the Memories and Reliques of Saints so that even by such good men as have a pious Zeal the Summ as it were of Religion is thought to consist in getting of Reliques and adorning them with Gold and Jewels and in building sumptuous Temples and Memories for the Martyrs and also by wicked men a false trust is placed in the needless worship of Reliques And out of covetousness saith he false Reliques are forg'd and feigned Miracles are published by which Miracles the Superstition of the People is nourished that they are rather transported into admiration of the Miracles than provoked to the imitation of the Saints or the amendment of Life But sometimes by the Craft and Illusion of the Devil abusing mans superstitious Conceits by Dreams and Visions new Reliques were revealed and by his operation Miracles seemed to be wrought Also very many are found who make merchandize of the Reliques of Saints whether true or false so that almost every where they are carried about by Pedlers and the vilest of men and with many Lyes are recommended to the ignorant Vulgar But since at this day when every where all places seem to be full of the Reliques of Saints it is to be feared that if Bishops and Princes would take that pains which they ought in searching out and judging of true Reliques great and detestable Cheats would be discovered And after some other things of the like import he concludes Since therefore the true and known Reliques of the Saints especially in these Provinces are very few and many of those which are shown may be justly suspected and since the frequenting and Veneration of them does not serve Piety much but very much serves Superstition and Gain it seems much more adviseable that no Reliques should be shewn and that the People should be provoked to worship the true Reliques of the Saints that is to imitate the Examples of their Piety and Virtues which are extant either in their own Writings or in the Writings of others concerning them (a) Consult Cassand Art 20. p. 973. To conclude this Head we reverence the Memories of the Saints especially of the ancient Martyrs and should we meet with any unquestionable Remains of their Bodies we should pay more than ordinary respect to them We bless God for their exemplary Lives and triumphant Deaths but we dare not worship them and make them our Gods I proceed now to the next general Head of Corruptions 3. Corruption of Manners which at the time of the Reformation and long before was grown to that excess that the great men of the Church of Rome before cited who called for a Reformation thought it especially necessary in regard of Manners And some of them did not stick to publish to the World that either the ruin of the Church or some dismal Plagues were near approaching unless prevented by a speedy Reformation in their Morals This was the main design of Gerson's Treatise concerning the Signs of the Ruin of the Church And I am bold to say says the Cardinal of Cambray in the Preface to