Noise of Damnation dashing against them and therefore I will pursue things no further than to shew That neither the Judgment of our Adversaries nor any thing wherein both Churches disagree any ways endangers our future Happiness But that as to the securing the eternal Welfare of our immortal Souls ours is to be preferred before the Roman Communion A DISCOURSE shewing c. THE Concerns of Eternity being so tremendous and many not so well instructed as they should 't is no wonder if some Men are frighted with the fearful Sentence pronounced against them by the Zealots of the Roman Party To any Man serious or timorous Threats of Damnation are terrible even in the Mouth of a Mortal Creature Though it only betrays the Presumption of any sinful Man that dares sit on the Tribunal of his Almighty Judg yet because some are so tender and so weak in this Point as to be much disordered and dismayed to see themselves adjudged to Hell though it were but a Dream or a melancholy Fancy therefore it may be worth the while briefly to state the Case and consider on what Grounds they proceed that so freely pronounce our Doom And I doubt not but to make it appear that we want only their good Word or also their good Will when for Safety and a sure Foundation we are at least as well as they It may surprize and startle to see one stare and with great Confidence denounce that you are a dead Man that cannot live an Hour but having recovered your self and reflected upon 't you pass by without further Harm and smile at the Humour There is one Law-giver who is able to save and to destroy Who art thou that judgest another Our intire dependence is upon God as well for the state of Eternity as for the present We do not fall when we go hence under a new or an unknown Power neither are left to Mens Mercy but the same God by whom we were taken out of our Mother's Womb and to whom we were left when we hang'd yet upon her Breasts he that took care of us and provided for us here upon Earth is still to dispose of us in our future State And we shall be judged by him by whom we were made and redeemed This God whom we now serve and under whose Almighty Dominion we must ever remain is infinitely good He would have all Men to be saved and to come to the knowledg of the Truth Therefore he doth not seek Advantages against them nor lay Snares in their Way nor wrap up his Saving Light in Obscurity but deals with them in much Mercy making that Grace of his which bringeth Salvation appear unto all Men that they may know the Way to Life and clearly see what they must do to obtain Eternal Happiness This God shews Men by that Revelation he hath made of his blessed Will how they ought to walk and to please him Therein all things necessary are very plainly exprest that they may be understood of all And for a further Help and a greater Security to Men of all Capacities a Summary of Divine Truths such as are fundamental and needful was by times made and propagated together with the Christian Religion over all the World So that we have the Word of God and the Apostolick Creed both of them always attested by the whole Christian Church as two firm Pillars whereon to repose our selves That we might be strong and immoveable in the Faith assured that we are not imposed upon by our Guides and that length of Time hath made no Alteration but that we hold now the same things which were taught by Christ and received of his Church and that we make nothing necessary to Salvation which from the Beginning was not so First then The Word of God contained in the Holy Bible is by Consent of all that Saving Truth of God by which we must live and by which we shall be judged so that whatsoever is there written is to be embraced as certain and as coming from God Whether it relates to the Creation and the Government of the World or to the many Wonders which God wrought in former Ages to deliver his People and to confirm and attest his Revelation or to the Fall of Man and the Promise of a Saviour or to his Mission into the World and his accomplishing the great Work of our Redemption or to the Gospel-Promises and Doctrines and Mysteries or to Laws and Rules of Righteousness and Institutions of Divine Worship whatsoever it relates to it is to be embraced with an humble and obedient Faith Nothing is to be questioned that is contained in the Bible all humane Authorities and humane Reasonings must submit to it for the Bible is the Word of God Go into all the World and you shall find all Churches every where assert the same as well as we The Jews concur with us in the Divine Authority of the ancient Oracles before our blessed Lord's Coming But all Christians in every Part and in every Age of the Church embrace and reverence both the Old and New Testament as the Book of God wherein are contained the Declarations of his Will and the Words of eternal Life If you enquire what they thought of it in the first or second Ages after our Saviour or at any other time or if you go to the Eastern or African Churches or any the most remote Place where Christianity is profest you shall find all agreed in this that the Bible contains the Doctrine of eternal Salvation and is the Word of God This is not a thing wherein the Greeks differ from the Latins or Protestants from the Papists but is the firm Belief of all This is a most constant and invariable Tradition which for Extent of Time and Place is universal and therefore of the greatest Credit altogether unquestionable So here is a very great Number of Divine and undoubted Truths agreed upon by all the Christian World even all the plain and clear Propositions contained in Holy Scripture Although they be of things not seen that are past or to come yet being there revealed they are assented to by all And he that should deny any of them would be condemned by Christians of all Communions his refusing to acknowledg the Truth of any Contents of the Bible would be interpreted a Denial of God's Veracity because they are all perswaded that the Bible is the Word of God written by the Guidance and the Inspiration of his Holy Spirit He that rejects this Foundation on which all Christians are grounded ought never to concern himself in the Differences among them nor pretend to be of any Church for by his denying the Truth of that Revelation which they all own to be Divine and whereon they rely he makes himself an Infidel and a Party against them all And yet if we could see to the bottom of Things I doubt not but it would appear that the Disputes and Contentions which are among Christians
that those things are from God which are proposed to our Faith so that persuaded as we are we might for Temporal Designs play the Hypocrites and dissemble but we can never become Proselytes to the Church of Rome And whilst we have reason to believe that those Articles of Faith which are peculiar to that Church are rather contrary to God's Revelation than contained in it and so think it our Duty to disown their Roman Creed We are so far from apprehending our selves to be in danger of Damnation for so doing that we rather believe we should incur that Danger if against our Persuasion and Conscience we should solemnly protest and declare those things to be our Belief and our Faith which indeed are not so How just and material are our Objections against each particular Doctrine which Rome would impose upon us is to be seen in many of the late Treatises upon those Subjects So here I shall give no further Account why we reject the Roman Creed than by making upon it these three general Reflections which alone might be sufficient to prove that it can in no wise be necessary to Salvation 1. That the Roman Creed seems to be calculated for the Meridian of This World rather than for the obtaining the Happiness of That which is to come The Christian Creed doth make no Man greater or richer here on Earth it is a Profession of our Faith in God Father Son and Holy Ghost which unites us to him engageth us to love and to serve him and to confess Christ before Men and obey his Gospel the end of it is to make us hope well and live well to give us Comfort against all Sorrows and Strength against all Temptations But the Roman Creed makes the Roman Court very great and very rich and makes Men have a great dependence upon it It establisheth those Opinions which much advance the Roman Dominion making Rome to be the Mother and Mistress of all Churches engaging Men to submit intirely to her in embracing all her Traditions and Constitutions and obliging all hers that have any Power to use it to the utmost to bring all Men as they are able under her Obedience Then for Gain you have several Articles the Doctrine of Purgatory and of Indulgences the Worship of Saints and Images which doth not exclude Gifts and Oblations to them and the Sacrifice of the Mass offered as they are paid for it for the living or for the dead besides all the Appeals to Rome and the Bulls and Expeditions from it Read their whole Creed over again and you will clearly see that it all makes for the Empire or the Profit of Rome 'T is a shrewd Suspicion that they that have made it and impos'd it upon the World did therein regard their own Advantage more than the Truth of Christian Religion When the old universal Christian Creed makes all for the Honour of God and for the Sanctification and Salvation of human Souls and this new particular Creed is all for the Glory and the Power of Rome who that hath not resign'd up his reason but will be forc'd to think that the one is to bring Men to Heaven and the other to bring Profit to Rome 2. A Man will be so much the more confirm'd in this Opinion when he shall observe that the Roman Zeal is all turned this Way The Endeavours of their Zealots are much greater to make Men of the Roman Persuasion as to the controverted Points than to make Christians in what we are all agreed and amongst them a Man that believes the Bible and the ancient Creeds is as much damn'd and hated as if he were a meer Turk or Heathen Their Proceedings against them whom they call Hereticks have been more bloody and violent than against meer Unbelievers as if owning the same God and Saviour and the same Articles of Hope and Redemption were nothing except we also own the same Submission to Rome It may be reckoned as an Instance of their great Earnestness to progagate their Creed that their later Miracles for more than these five hundred Years are all in the behalf of it The Faith once delivered to the Saints was evidenced by those ancient Miracles recorded in the Bible But this Growing Faith of Rome is recommended to Peoples Belief by later Wonders such as their Legends and Breviaries and many Books of Devotion contain I need not say that many of those Miracles here in the Western Church are so dubious and ill-contriv'd that they make little for the Credit of those Doctrines which they are design'd to vouch I only note that they are all intended for to make credible those Points of the Roman Faith which are destitute of the Testimony of God's Word and of the Universal Church and that if we had not better Miracles and much better attested for the Proof of that Religion that came from Jerusalem than they have for that which came from Rome Libertines would not want an advantageous Plea to justify their Infidelity And 3. We may add that this Roman Creed is both new and confin'd whereas the Christian is as Catholick as the Church it self that is is equally extended to all Times and Places was ever every where receiv'd and is now profest in all Churches and in all Parts of the World Instead of this Universality for Ages and Extension the Roman Creed bears date 1564 and being dated from Rome is profest by none but those of that Communion which are but few in comparison with the rest of the Christian World So that if you pass into the African or Greek or Eastern Churches which are vast and numerous you shall find no other Creed but that of the Apostles explained by the Nicene and the Athanasian if in some of these Places they have some of the Roman Opinions or some of their own as doubtful and new yet they have no other Confession of Faith than as we have in our Reformed Churches in the West Nay even in the Church of Rome in the third Session of the Tridentine Council 1546 they made a Decree that according to the Example of the Fathers they would make a Confession of that Faith which in ancient times had been an impenetrable Shield against all Heresies which alone had been used for the Conversion of Unbelievers for the Confusion of Hereticks and for the Confirmation of the Faithful and then repeated the Nicene Creed and no more declaring That that was the express and formal Faith of the Church of Rome that Faith which is the Principle of Christian Unity and the sure and only Foundation against which the Gates of Hell shall never prevail Happy had it been for the Christian World if this matter had so remain'd and the Roman Articles under Pius 4. eighteen Years after had not been made a necessary and essential Part of the Catholick Faith However 't is to be observ'd further that even now in the Roman Church when they baptize Children or grown Persons
whatever Countries or Communions they be and may establish a sure Hope of eternal Happiness to his own Soul if he doth heartily profess and obey those undoubted Truths which are embrac'd and acknowledged by all Christian Churches He that is fully persuaded of the Truth of Christianity and willing to depend for his Salvation upon that plain and essential Part of it which is confessed by all and to lay the great Stress of his Hopes and of his Obedience upon his Creed rather than upon controverted Points he hath what will comfort his Soul and encourage him to live well and he is safe peaceable and unmoveable in the midst of all Divisions he may be doom'd and called Names by them that would impose their Opinions as Articles of Faith but it doth him no harm whilst he stands firm upon the Rock of the Christian Creed and the Christian Life together These two are acknowledged of all sides to be both requisite and sufficient to Salvation Faith and Works together making up the whole Condition of that Gospel-Covenant to which is annexed the Promise of eternal Life Therefore in enquiring why they are all condemn'd as Reprobates that are not of the Roman Communion we must consider what are the Advantages peculiar to that Party I. Whether their Faith be more ancient and Catholick II. Whether their Worship be purer more conformable to God's Word III. And whether their Righteousness exceeds that of all others I. I begin with that Faith which is peculiar to Rome and is at large set down in the Introduction It indeed contains more Articles than that of any other Church and it may still receive further Encrease whilst their Popes and Councils can make and impose new Definitions as necessary but we believe that Saving Truths are neither made by Mens Authority nor evidenced by Number We are contented with that Faith once delivered by Christ and his Apostles and from the Beginning received by the whole Church and for this are declared Hereticks and adjudged to Perdition That Roman Faith about which we differ is made so essential and so necessary that their Converts are appointed by the Roman Pontifical in answer to the Bishops Questions that reconciles him to make an express Profession of it and if he were a noted Heretick even to swear to it condemning all to Damnation that embrace not the same and promising that if ever he acts or believes any thing contrary to that Oath he takes with both his Hands on the holy Evangils he will submit himself to the Severity of the Canons Although we be so far agreed with the Church of Rome as hath been seen before yet they lay so great a Stress upon their new Creed and derive so much of their Devotions from it That it is an astonishing and formidable Change to pass from our Church into theirs Besides the Surprise of their publick Worship which by a great Variety of Ceremonies Images and the Latin Tongue appears very strange They have a prescribed Form of reconciling Hereticks to which none can submit but they that are fully persuaded that those Opinions which became a Creed since the Council of Trent are Part of that Saving Truth of God which must be believed and profest under Pain of eternal Damnation It is not as some may fancy or perhaps are told when solicited to change that they shall find it very easy and be received upon what Terms they please But the Church of Rome as all other wise Societies hath its fixt Rules and Forms and follows them without taking Notice of the Talk or Thoughts of private Persons There is nothing can justify the Change or make it tolerable to a Man of Conscience but the being convinc'd of the Truth and Necessity of these Roman Doctrines which thitherto were no Part of his Creed When he hath search'd and us'd all proper means to understand the Points in Dispute and to satisfy himself and finds himself thoroughly persuaded that there is no Salvation in our Church and that the Belief and Worship peculiar to the Church of Rome are truly Christian and the necessary Terms of our Acceptance with God then is he oblig'd to follow his Light and to make Profession of what he believes to be Truth But till a Man be thus convinc'd his forsaking ours to joyn with the Church of Rome is a great Prevarication against God and Men that will make him odious to both and be inexcusable here and hereafter The formal Abjuration of all that the Roman Church doth condemn and the solemn Profession with a sacred Oath of all her Religious Doctrines and Practices in their full Latitude as is pretended in the Roman Pontifical should make every doubting Person amonst us very serious and very inquisitive cleerly to know what he doth leave and what he must embrace if he resolves to forsake ours and embrace the Roman Communion The case will be much more tolerable with them that were born and educated in that Persuasion if they are in a Mistake they having never profess'd nor perhaps had means to know any thing else is a Plea of which they are not capable who grown to Years of Discretion turn from one Church to another These had need take great Care that they deal uprightly and examine to the Bottom of things otherwise they mock God and Men and must expect to fare accordingly I do not deny but that Persons of Understanding and Sincerity may be prevail'd upon to pass from ours into the Roman Church for whilst Men are mortal they may err and be impos'd upon And may they all obtain Mercy that truly fear God and embrace what they judg to be his Truth though they be mistaken I only say that no Man educated amongst us that really believes his Christian Creed and would not throw his Soul away can make Profession of the Roman Faith till he becomes fully convinc'd of its Truth and Necessity For now it is not as it was before the Council of Trent when the Church of Rome it self had no other Confession of Faith but only the Christian which is common to all Churches and those Opinions which have since become Articles of the Roman Faith needed not be explicitly profest if they were but let alone and not disputed against Whereas now since Pius the 4th Hereticks so called that become Proselytes must make a solemn and express Declaration that they believe every thing that the Church of Rome doth either teach or practise and that they will submit and conform intirely to all that she prescribes either for Faith or for Divine Worship This I say no Man of Conscience or Honour can do till he become equally persuaded of the Truth and Necessity of the Roman as of the Christian Creed Confidence proves nothing and makes nothing to be really Divine and we all know that Religion is not what some Men will call so neither can we believe as we would or as we are bid we must have sufficient Reasons