within her Governours all Triumphant without they had not defac'd Her Innocent Beauty and made Her Militant in the worst of Sences However they can no way be excused who think they can never be secure from Papal Supremacy but by demolishing the Evangelical Hierarchy and introducing a Presbyterian Parity into the Catholick Church and to avoid the Necessity of having an Infallible Judge leaving every private prepossessed Fancy to the Perspicuity of Scripture whereby men are often bewildred in a Labyrinth of Errors seduc'd into those by-paths which lead to the Pit of Destruction For notwithstanding that Beam of Divine Light which shines so bright in the Scriptures it seems some men have Eyes either so weak as to be dazled at the sight of it or else so blind with Pride or Malice as not to perceive it For St. Peter tells us there are in the Scriptures some things hard to be understood which unlearned and unstable men wrest unto their own Destruction And therefore the Unlearned should do well to consult their Teachers the Unstable those that are found in the Faith which brings me to my second general Consideration That though the Scriptures be clear in themselves yet Private men abandoning their Guides and following their own corrupt Fancies may deprave and distort them to their own destruction Who those Wresters were or what those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are wherewith St. Peter chargeth the Epistles of his beloved Brother Paul I shall not strictly inquire the Apostle having pass'd them over in a profound silence it will be difficult at this distance of time exactly to define yet 't is not improbable that either the Gnostick or Cerinthian Hereticks were here chiefly aim'd at who upon a mistake of some Predictions became the Founders of a Temporal Dominion of Christ after His Resurrection wherein His Followers in their New Jerusalem should wallow in sensual Lusts and Pleasures spend the space of a Thousand Years as in a Nuptial Festivity and enjoy the all that is in the World the Lusts of the Flesh the Lusts of the Eye and the Pride of Life in as ample and exquisite a manner as the most Epicurean Soul could effect or covet A Fancy in its first Original meerly Jewish afterwards entertain'd by some Judaizing Christians and finally rather rectified than abandoned by some of the Fathers in the Primitive times And if those sublime Wits who had all the Learning which either Jerusalem Athens or Rome could boast were nevertheless mistaken in their Expositions of some abstruse Texts of Scripture whilst they deliver'd their Opinions but as private Doctors what wonder if the unlearned and unstable wrest them to their own Destruction That they have de facto done this is manifest since 't will be hard to instance in any one Century which is not either chargeable with new Heresies or the reviving and improving of old And the most extravagant Opinions which ever yet saw the light have still shrouded themselves under the Patronage of Holy Writ What shall we say then shall we condemn the Scriptures of Sin Shall we say That the Scriptures are of themselves either productive of Error or not a sufficient Store-house of Truth God forbid The Scriptures are Holy Just and Good but private men wrest them to their own Destruction And this they do First By their Ignorance Secondly By their Instability I. First By their Ignorance where it will be presently objected that Ignorance is so far from being a cause of Error or Impiety that in a sober sence 't is truly the Mother of Devotion The Wisdom of this World is given in by Tertullian as the prime Cause of Heresie None were greater Tormentors of the Scriptures than the Philosophers for which Reason they are branded by the same Author with the Title of Arch-Hereticks Particularly the Valentinian Heresie concerning the portentous production of the Gods comes from the Platonists Marcion's Vnconcern'd and Lazy God was first set up by the Stoicks the Mortality of the Soul was the Doctrine of the Epicureans the Impossibility of the Resurrection of the Flesh of the whole stream of Philosophers The Apostle tells us Not many Mighty not many Wise not many Noble were chosen cautions his Proselytes against Philosophy and vain Deceit and concludes the Wisdom of this World Foolishness with God Wherefore by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Unlearned in this place we are not to understand Ideots and those who never knew Letters but we must understand those who will not be instructed by the Masters of Divine Wisdom the Nolentes discere those who refuse to hear the Church of the Living God which alone is the Pillar and Foundation of Truth And so their Learning like Julian's only qualifies them to deride the Doctrines of a Crucified God and by their Wisdom they become the more formidable Enemies of Christ's Kingdom Thus if Lucifer the Son of the Morning fall from his Allegiance whole Legions of the Heavenly Host are involv'd in the Rebellion That Heresie spreads like the Contagion of a Leprosie which hath an Arrius for its Founder and a Constantius for its Promoter And the Mahumetan Religion owes as well its monstrous Birth as its fatal Increase to the Malice and Cunning of an Apostate Jew and a Renegado Christian And to give but one instance more but of a far more Modern Date and therefore of more dangerous consequence That unhappy man Socinus a person otherwise of singular Wit and Learning but being in this sense unlearned i. e. having entertain'd so slender a Notion of the Church as to date a general Defection from the very Deaths of the Apostles upon this Perswasion thought it not Robbery to make himself equal to the most Oecumenical Councils to contradict the most receiv'd Doctrines of the Church and from this contempt of his Mother to proceed to that daring pitch of impiety as to deny even the Lord that bought him so dangerous is it for private men to rely solely upon the perspicuity of Scripture or to measure the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Incarnation of the Godhead his Consubstantiality with the Father by the scantling of Humane Reason Cedat curiositas fidei gloria saluti was the Advice of as great a Wit as any Age hath bred Our Curiosity must give place to our Faith the thirst of Temporal Glory to the benefits of Eternal Salvation 'T is true by our Reason we are first dispos'd to be Christians for no Creature beneath the Rational is capable of Divine Revelation but when once we have given up our Names to Christ 't is by our Faith we are saved but if we assent to no Doctrines but such as our Reason fully comprehends this is no longer Faith but Science and so we may continue Infidels whilst we go under the Notion of Christians And since we live in such a knowing Age wherein all captivating the Vnderstanding though it be to the Obedience of Faith is made the subject of Grievance and Complaint And
that we have to deal with men of such a sceptical Genius as that they do not only inquire into the Grounds and Reasons of our Faith but moreover deny our very Creed with whom a Treatise of Humane Reason is of more Force than the Revelation of St. John the Divine To the Consideration of these Men I offer Two Things which I judge most proper I. First The Answer which Origen made to Celsus when 't was objected by that Calumniator against the Christians that their Religion was built on a very sandy Foundation which durst not undergo the Test of Reason but commanded its Converts not to Examine but Believe and their Faith should Save them In part he owns the Objection but wisely retorts it upon his Adversary by telling him that the Philosophers were the greatest Dictators in the World Witness the Ipse dixit of Pythagoras that their Systems contain'd some such secret Dogmata which their Disciples swallowed solely upon the Credit of their Masters And if the Masters of the Wisdom of this World which is either Foolishness or at best but Science falsly so called required so great submission from their Scholars how much greater is to be given to those Doctrines which are contain'd in the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles who were Taught of God and spake as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost II. Secondly I urge the Authority of my Lord Bacon whose if any methinks should be admitted by these Virtuosi in Religion The Divine Prerogative saith he extends it self to the whole Man and requires not only Obedience from our Wills but Submission from our Understandings And therefore as we are bound to obey the Divine Law though our Wills reluct never so much against it so are we obliged to believe whatsoever God hath reveal'd though never so improbable to our Understandings For if we believe no more than what we can demonstrate to be true we do not believe the Truth deliver'd for the Authors sake but the Author for the Truths sake and so we pay no more Respect to the Oracles of God than we do to the Writings of Men though never so much suspected by us The Faith which justified Abraham was conversant in a matter incredible to Reason And therefore the higher the Mysteries of Religion are above our Reason the greater is the exercise and triumph of our Faith and the Honour done unto God in Believing To conclude this Point Great is the use of Reason in Religion both as to the manner of interpreting the Scriptures and the deducing true Consequences and wholesom Conclusions from thence and if it be wholly suppress'd our Religion will degenerate into Superstition we shall be so far from paying God a Reasonable Service that we shall offer Him the Sacrifice of Fools But then it must be kept to a due temper for if it be not managed by prudent Guides 't is apt to grow wild and extravagant to hurry us on to a Belief of the Foulest Impostures to a Practice of the Grossest Impieties which either the prevalency of the World the domineering Enmity of the Flesh or the implacable Malice of Satan can propound to be believed or practis'd II. The second Reason of private Mens falling into Error is their Instability in not adhering to their Guides but forsaking them to go astray in the intricate paths of Error and Deceit Heresie being nothing else but an Excision from and Disobedience to the Church in points of Faith And therefore the Apostle pronounceth an Heretick Self-condemned one who hath want only chosen to himself those Opinions for an obstinate Defence whereof after full and plain means of Conviction he justly falls under the Censures of the Church is Excommunicated the Assembly of the Saints and so without Repentance and Reconciliation continues in a very dangerous estate if that of Heathens and Publicans be acknowledg'd such Not in vain then are those frequent Cautions against Falling away those repeated Admonitions to Perseverance those earnest Exhortations to hold fast the Profession and contend for the Faith which was once deliver'd those so much inculcated Commands of obeying those who are set Over us in the Lord Heb. 13.7 Remember them which have the Rule over you who have spoken unto you the Word of God whose Faith follow Ver. 17. Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls For in vain may those men commit themselves to the immediate Assistance of God who neglect to hear his Guides and violate His Commandments in hopes to procure His help and favour For from that very moment of time they cease to be Members of the Holy Catholick Church they are become Out-lawries in a Gospel-sense they have lost the Protection of the Heavenly King and they lay under the Deprivation of the Benefits belonging to the Subjects of that Jerusalem which is above And what wonder if being in this forlorn condition the Tempter take his advantage lead them into the Wilderness and there present to their disturb'd Fancies false Schemes of Religion suggest unworthy apprehensions of God and whatsoever is by him thus suggested is by them mistaken for new Light and holy Inspirations And because this Spirit of Delusion dares put forth among Christians no Doctrines but such as pretend to be founded on the Scriptures to this purpose they are wrested and tortur'd their Scope is mistaken their Sense abused their Periods miserably mangled their whole Design perverted to countenance every Wild Opinion which either a capricious Fancy can imagine or a malicious Wit invent And from hence it comes to pass that we have as many several sorts of Christians as there are different Humors or Interests of men and the Gospel with St. Paul though in a quite contrary sense is become all things unto all men And having made thus bold with the Scriptures it cannot be expected that they should deal more modestly with any Authority inferiour to that the most ancient Traditions must now give place to new Discoveries The Consent of the Catholick Apostolick Church be born down by the Dictates of a private I might say familiar Spirit Whereas there is all the reason in the World to believe that the Apostles best knew the mind of their Master that they faithfully and fully communicated their knowledge to their Successors and so by certain steps and degrees we may arrive at this fundamental Truth That as the Church is the most faithful Keeper so the most authentick Expositor of Scripture Which fairly ushers in my third and last Consideration That for the preventing Mistakes from rising and suppressing Errors when risen 'T is the duty of Private Men to submit their Judgments in matters of Religion to the Determinations of those whom God hath Constituted to be their Spiritual Guides and Governours unless it manifestly appear That such Determinations are contrary to Gods Word And this I shall assert very briefly both from the Qualifications of the Persons who
THE AUTHORITY OF Church-Guides Asserted in a SERMON Preach'd before our Late GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN King CHARLES II. At Whitehall Octob. 17. 1675. By Miles Barne D. D. Fellow of St. Peters Colledge in Cambridge and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Late MAJESTY Published by His Majesty's Special Command The Second Edition LONDON Printed for Richard Green Bookseller in Cambridge 1685. The Preface to the Reader Reader THIS Sermon being the last which I had the Honor to preach before our late Gracious Sovereign of blessed and immortal Memory and having been so well approv'd of by Him that I receiv'd his Commands twice for the printing of it and his Defence of it after it was published I now again present to publick View yet not without some apprehension of danger for if notwithstanding the Royal Command and Defence of that Sagacious Prince I could not at that time escape the severe strokes of some Potent Men who from the very moment it was first preach'd by secret Arts endeavour'd my ruine and became my Enemies for no other reason but because I told them the truth I have little reason to expect better usage now being to my unspeakable grief destitute of that Royal Patronage The Design of it is to vindicate that Church-Authority which our Lord before he went into his far Country in a most solemn manner conferr'd upon his Apostles and which was to descend upon their Successors and to be continued in the Governors and Guides of the Church unto the end of the World to lessen if not render useless this Sacred Authority especially that part of it which consists in expounding the Scriptures in teaching and guiding the Flock some modern Divine for reasons best known to themselves have advanc'd the Perspicuity of Scripture to that degree that not only the less difficult part thereof but even the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 themselves are become easie and intelligible to every Mechanick Reader And it may seem strange that this pretended Clearness of Scripture unknown to those Illustrious Fathers who writ in the first and succeeding Ages of Christianity who with indefatigable Labour painful Watchings and incessant Recourse to the Spirit of Truth endeavoured to explain the deep Mysteries thereof should never be discovered until these last Centuries and then made use of to usher in and support those pestilent Schisms which happened in the Western Churches and is indeed set as a fatal Bar to frustrate all the Methods of Re-union and yet stranger that these Discoverers should be so wilfully blind as not to discern that nothing is more clearly reveal'd or more expresly set down in Holy Writ than the Authority here contended for if the infallible and concurrent Testimony of the Evangelists may be thought of any moment in the case God forbid the Bread of Life should be denied to the Children of the Gospel Covenant but whether the great Master of the Houshold has not appointed Spiritual Fathers to be the Stewards and Dispensers of this Heavenly Food or left the Children to be their own Carvers ought to have been more maturely consider'd for this Bread of Life which is the Word of God is by St. Paul compar'd to a two-edged Sword and if that be put into the hands of unskilful Managers it may prove both fatal to themselves and destructive to others I shall not here trouble you with a review of those Complaints occasioned by the dire Heresies which soon followed upon the first Translation of the Bible into the English Tongue since the Divine Writings cannot be translated into too many Languages and since after the Translation the Supreme Authority might have hindred the mischiefs which insued by restraining the promiscuous reading of them and indulging that Priviledge to those only who should be licens'd thereunto by the Governours of the Church But certainly those men had no very good Design nor a due Honour for the Divine Oracles who first expos'd their mysterious meaning to the Judgment of every vulgar Capacity and yet I would willingly entertain so much Charity for them as to believe the first Inventors did not foresee the dangerous Consequences of their own Principle for from hence it naturally follows in the First place That there is no necessity of Church-Guides for directing Christians in necessary Faith Secondly From hence follows a contempt of their Function at least as to this part of it for who will regard that Authority which is made useless Thirdly An Innundation of all those wild Opinions which either Malice or Ignorance can betray men into Fourthly The multiplying of Sects and Heresies without any due Means left for the suppressing them since every sincere Endeavourer may equally plead the Truth of Scripture in justification of his Opinion This one Principle has turned our Jerusalem which was once a City at Vnity within it self into a Babel not of Languages but what is worse a Confusion of the grossest Errors which ever infested the Church since the Foundation of Christianity and since Latitudinism in Principles is evermore accompanied with Libertinism in Practice Schism in the Church begets Sedition in the Monarchy and an Erastian in the one proves a Republican in the other To this one Principle may be chiefly ascrib'd all the Fatal mischiefs of the late unnatural Wars and the dreadful Confusions intended by the last Fanatick Conspiracy which we so narrowly escap'd that we can scarce yet think our selves secure from the danger of it for since the Translation of the Bible into our Language and the promiscuous Reading of it what Schismatick ever wanted a Text of his own interpreting to countenance his Schism or Rebel to authorize his Rebellion The Peace and Vnity of the Catholick Church ought to be dearer to every good Christian than the greatest temporal Blessings or even Life it self How far this has been obstructed by the envenom'd Writings and Erastian Principles of some modern Controvertists I wish we had not too just cause to lament and that in their Transports of indiscreet Zeal and even inhuman◠Passions they had not wounded the Catholick through the sides of the Roman Church for not contented t◠throw off an Vniversal Supremacy unduly challenged by St. Peter's Successors as the Prerogative of the first Apostolical See they have denied that Primacy of Order that Exordium Unitatis which is both consistent with St. Cyprian's Hoc erant utique caeteri Apostoli quod fuit Petrus pari consortio praediti honoris potestatis c. allow'd by the most genuine Sons of the Church of England and which is necessary for the supporting the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy and without which that Vnity of the Church which the Holy Father so earnestly contends for cannot so well be preserv'd not contented with this Degradation of his Holiness they have proceeded further and made him the Antichrist the Man of Sin the Son of Perdition notwithstanding all the Phaenomena of the Apocalyptical false Prophet do so exactly agree to Mahomet as the ingenious