things of God would hugely hazard their proficiency in so large and clear a knowledge as might fit them to be Authentick Trustees in the Delivery of the Christian Faith from Generation to Generation What I have writ in this Section proceeds not in the least from an humour of reproaching any not from any contempt of the Laiety or as if I expected they should be Divines I pay Acknowledgment and Honour to many of the Laiety for their singular Accomplishments in Religious Knowledge and Virtue And it is out of question with me as much as with any that the rest of them may with their lesser measures of knowledge for they have not generally advantages for higher Attainments and the merciful God will not expect to Reap where he has not Sow'd live good Christians and be saved for ever My only aim and that in prosecution of my undertaking has been to shew how incompetent and very casual Traditioners the Laiety who are exceedingly the greater part of the Body of the Faithful generally are of Divine Truths in so full and distinct a manner as may be for their preservation and security against the emerging encroachments of the contrary Errors through all Ages So that by far the greatest weight and strength of Oral Tradition must lye upon the Clergy whose proper business Religion is whose Lips should preserve knowledge and the People should seek the Law at their Mouth Yet in that very place where it is thus said of the Priests it immediately follows But ye Priests are gone out of the way Mal. 2.7 8. ye have caused many to stumble at the Law c. Their performance had not answered their Duty But to say no more of that how little Clergy and Laiety both are to be relyed on as to an Oral indefectible Conveyance of Divine Truths shall be seen on a second account in the next Section SECT II. 2ly To an exact and constant steadiness of Tradition there is requisite an Integrity a clearness of Spirit an unencumbrance of Christians through all Ages with any thing which might sway them to a Belief or Profession contrary to that of the first Age. Now if we look abroad into the World we shall see that commonly Men take up this or that Profession side with this or that Party in Religion more upon the score of Education Example or Interest upon some extrinsick Motive or upon some short and confuse Apprehensions than upon an explicite knowledge or at the least a truly solid Conviction of those Tenents by which those Parties are distinguished But to proceed more particularly Among others there are four things which have an usual and powerful Operation upon Mens Belief and Profession to the changing or smothering their Persuasions and the corruption of their Practice 1. A wantonness of Reason is very incident to Mankind Man loves Variety and conversing here below with little but what is mutable in an unhappy kind of imitation learns to affect change and is apt to be cloy'd with old Truths as with a wontedness to all things else The hankering after some New things was not peculiar to the Athenians and Strangers among them but is an itch natural to all And to cherish this affection for Novelty there have not wanted Broachers of new Opinions in most Ages of the Church 2ly There 's an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ordinary enough a bending the stick too much the other way on pretence to make it streight a Recoile from one Extremity to another Out of keenness in contending for a Truth a Zeal for it it has not been unusual to over-do and to retreat from an Error too far on the contraty side Both (a) Illud interim cavenâ—um ne Erroris unius odio devolvamur in alium errorem Id si nullis fere veterum non accidit aliquâ ex parte equidem non deprecabor hominis ociosi notam qui haec admoneam Tertullianus dum nimis acriter pugnâ—t aaversus eos qui plus sat is tribuebant Matrimonio delatus est in alteram foveam Hieronymus tanto ardore pugnat adversus eos qui Matrimonium efferebant cum injuriâ Virginitatis ut ipse sub iniquo Judice vix possit suam tueri causam si reus fiat parum reverenter tractati Conjugis Digamiae Montanus dum ardentiùs oppugnat illâ—s qui passim dignis indignis aperiebant Ecclesiae fores plus satis taxatâ severitate disciplinae Ecclesiasticae in diversum incidit malum D. Augustinus advâ—â—sâ—s Pelagium toto studio dimicans aliâ—â—bi minus tribuit Libero arbitrio quà m tribuendum putant qui nunc in scholis regnant Theologicis Possem hujus generâ—s exempla permulta commemorare etiam ex recentioribus Sed praestat opinor in re odiosâ non esse admedum copiosum In Epistolâ praefatoriâ ad Opera Sti. Hilarti Erasmus and (b) Ardebant veteres Illi tanto sincerae pietatis Catholicae defensienis ardere ut dum unum errorem omnium virium conatu destruere annituntur saepe in alterum errorem oppositum deciderent vel quodammodo decidisse videantur Sic Dienysius Corinthiorum Antistes c. In Praefatione Lib. 5ti Bibliothecae Stae Sixtus Senensis have given us Instances of this in several of the Antients as may be seen in the Margent 3. It has not been uncommon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to have Mens Persons in admiration and that not alone for Advantage but for their Learning and Piety so highly to revere them as before Christians were aware to become over-credulous and to follow their Conduct Some Hereticks have been of sufficient Learning and appearing Sanctity and have been adhered to in the Church by no small number of Proselytes The Reputation for Virtue which once Pelagius had with St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine his several Works who were his Followers what noise his Opinions made in the Christian World and how the Relicks of them were continued among the Massilians or Semipelagians may be seen at large in (a) Historia Pelag. lib. 1. cap. 3.4 5 6 7. Vossius 4ly What a strong influence have Hopes and Fears upon Men Hopes of Ease Profit Preferment by their pleasing Insinuations gain great command over the Soul and are apt to bribe the Judgment Fear of Evil of Confiscations Imprisonments Gibbets and Stakes tho' they are no proper Topiques to convince the Reason yet work hugely upon the Passions And Men are often frighted from those Opinions out of which they could not have been fairly and quietly disputed It is the Observation of a Learned and Honourable (b) The Lord â—f Falkland in his Reply p 122. Person That in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth 's Reign of many thousand Livings which are in England the Incumbents of not an hundred chose rather to lose their Benefices for Popish Opinions than to keep them by subscribing to the Tenents of the Reformed Church of England All who for the greater part must be suppos'd for private Interest to have dissembled their Religion either
AN ENQUIRY WHETHER Oral Tradition OR THE SACRED WRITINGS Be the Safest Conservatory and Conveyance OF Divine Truths Down from their Original Delivery through all Succeeding Ages In Two PARTS London Printed for Robert Clavel at the Sign of the Peacock in St. Paul's Church Yard 1685. THE PREFACE DOubtless it would more conduce to the honour of Christ the Peace of Christendom and the Welfare of Souls if Christians would agree at the least in this rather to live as becomes the Gospel we all believe than curiously dispute Why we believe For nice tamperings with and eager contests about the Foundation of Religion are apt rather to shake than to strengthen the Superstructures It may prove a Snare to the profane or unstable who when they shall see the Ground of their Belief and Eternal Hopes not to be agreed on after so many Ages perhaps may be tempted to doubt whether their whole Profession be not aery and have no Basis at all Yet notwithstanding if some will attempt to displace the true One and to justle in a false and ruinous Ground of Christian Faith and Practice a due regard to a matter of so great Importance may justifie an appearance against so dangerous a Commutation The Basis of Christian Belief suffers from more than one sort of Adversaries The injuries done to the Sacred Oracles of God by the impious Drollings and perverse Disputings of Profane and Atheistical Men are too notorious The Foundation of Faith has no part in the Value and Care of those Men who scorn Believing But this Crew is abhorr'd by all who have any ordinary sense of Religion or have not debauch'd even their Reason Indeed the danger is more sly and spreading from those who seem to be more serious and Friends to Religion Among such the Enthusiasts undermine the Holy Scriptures by pretence to an extraordinary illuminating Conduct and Incitations by the Holy Spirit of God But the Mode of this Sect commonly suites but with the more Melancholy and Muzing Natures and the Experience of their follies and risques within a while exposes the Vanity of their Pretences The Romanists way is the more generally plausible and winning They present the World with a Conveyance of Religious Truths and a Rule of Faith Whose (a) Sure Footing in Christiaty Or rational discourses of the Rule of Faith p. 54. Virtue they say is grounded on a far stronger Basis than all material Nature Such they affirm the virtue to be by which Tradition regulates her Followers to bring down Faith unerringly And whereas as seems by Cardinal (b) De verbo Dei non Scripto L. 4. C. 3. In initio 1. dem Ibid. C. 12. Sect. Dico secundò Bellarmine they formerly divided the honour of being the Foundation of Faith between Holy Scripture and Tradition of later years Oral Tradition has quite carried away the Credit and has been by some Zealous Asserters cry'd up for the infallible Conveyance (c) Sure Footing p. 98. 41 and only Rule of Faith That from which we are to receive the (d) Ibid. p. 117. Sense of Scripture which without This would be (e) Ibid. p. 38. quite lost to all in the uncertainty of the Letter That which is undertaken in the ensuing Papers is an Enquiry after the Nature of Oral Tradition and its best strength especially in Religious Affairs as also the full Force of Writings especially of the sacred Scriptures in point of Conservation and Conveyance of what is committed to them Vpon which Enquiry it will appear which of them is the most sufficient and sure for that purpose And that of the (a) There being only two grounds or Rules of Faith own'd viz. Delivery of it down by Writing or by Words and Practices Ibid. p. 52. two which after Examination shall be found to be so preserves to us and materially considered is the Rule of Christian Faith forasmuch as bringing down to succeeding Times the Christian Faith unvaried and entire which was primitively committed to the Church by the divinely inspir'd Planters of it it may satisfie and command our Belief secures us from assenting to any thing but what is true Whereas that which approves not it self to be such a faithful Depository and Convoy provides us not with a Rule of Faith deserves not that Authority over our Souls may betray us to believe a lie Hence therefore Oral Tradition's errability and defectiveness in Conveyance which shall be proved disables it for being the over-ruling Standard of Christians Belief and Practice in all Ages And on the other side the sureness and safety of Conservation and Transmission of Divine Truths by the Holy Scriptures which shall be prov'd likewise qualifies them for the Trust and Honour of being the Rule of Christian Faith through all Generations The Author is sensible that the Competition between Oral Tradition and Scripture has been already so excellently manag'd by Reverend and Learned Persons that this present Vndertaking by an obscure man may be judg'd Supernumerary or worse But he has observ'd that it was (a) Sancta Augustini sententia est nota multis digna quae ab omnibus cognoscatur optandum esse ubi Haereses vigent ut quicunque aliquâ scribendi facultate praediti sunt ii scribant omnes etsi non modo de rebus iisdem scriptur◠fint sed eadem etiam allis verbis fortasse scripturi Expedit enim c. Bellarm. in Praefatione ad Lectorem Tom. 1. Edit Ingolstadii 1588. Cardinal Bellarmine's Opinion and he quotes and commends St. Augustine wishing that in the Church's danger all who in some measure could should Write tho' they wrote not only of the same thing but also the same in other words Fas est ab hoste doceri It may be fit sometimes to take Advice from an Adversary especially when he has so great and pious a Second This the Author hopes may be an excuse of his Adventure into the Publick and that even his Gleanings after others plentiful Harvest their Learned Labours and Success may yet be not altogether unacceptable or useless to the Christian Church THE CONTENTS PART 1. CHAP. 1. Of Tradition in general Pag. 1. CHAP. 2. Of Oral Tradition and as apply'd to Religion what is allow'd and what denied to it Pag. 17. CHAP. 3. Reasons against the Certainty and Safety of Conveyance of Divine Truths by Oral Tradition Pag. 26. CHAP. 4. Experience against Oral Tradition's being a certain Conveyance of Divine Truths Pag. 46. CHAP. 5. The Arguments alleg'd for Oral Tradition answer'd Pag. 111. PART 2. CHAP. 1. Sacred Scriptures prov'd to be the safest and most certain Conservatory and Conveyance of Divine Truths Pag. 157. CHAP. 2. Objections answer'd Pag. 203. AN ENQUIRY Whether Oral Tradition or the Sacred Writings be the safest Conservatory and Conveyance of c. PART I. CHAP. I. Of Tradition in general SECT I. MAN is an active capacious Creature fitted for and desirous of knowledge and furnish'd
Vntrustiness I shall proceed next to consider Tradition Oral Tradition more particularly and distinctly and as apply'd to Religion CHAP. II. Of Oral Tradition as it is apply'd to Religion and there what is allow'd to it what deny'd SECT I. I Come now nearer to the Question which being mov'd both of Oral Traditions and of the Sacred Writings Trustiness and Certainty of Conveyance of Divine Truths c. I shall give them a distinct Consideration And first I shall enquire How sure and safe an immediate Conservatory and Conveyance Oral Tradition is of Divine Truths more speculative or more immediately practical fundamental or others down from their first delivery to the Church through succeeding Ages And before further procedure it is granted that Oral Tradition is of use in Religion yet not so much solitary and by it self as in conjunction with Tradition Written 1. It is yielded that tho' there be many (a) Dr. Cosins the late Reverend Lord Bishop of Duresme in his Scholast History of the Canon of Scripture pag. 4 5. Ecclesia Testis est custos sacrarum Literarum Ecclesiae Officium est ut ver as germanas ac genuinas Scripturas a falsis supposititiis ac adulterinis dijudicet ac discernat D. Whitak de S. Script Controv. 1. Quest 3. Cap. 2. Article of Religion 20. internal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Arguments clear in the Scriptures themselves whereby we may be sufficiently assur'd that they were breath'd from a Divine Spirit and are truly the Word of God Yet as to the particular and just number of those Sacred Books every Verse and Sentence in them whether they be more or fewer we have no better External and Ministerial assurance than the Constant and Recorded Testimony of the Catholick Church from one Generation to another which is a Witness and Keeper of Holy Writ 2ly It is confess'd that there are many particular Truths which have had the universal continued Profession and Oral Attestation of the Christian Church from the Primitive to the present Times 3ly It is not deny'd but that if there had been no Scriptures yet Oral Tradition might have derived some Truths to Posterity 4ly Let any Points be recommended to us by so large an Approbation and Certificate from Tradition as Sacred Scriptures have and we shall receive them with all beseeming regard But then 1. We deny that Oral Tradition is sufficient to preserve to us and to ascertain us of the several particular Truths which concern Christian Belief and Practice together with the Sense of the Sacred Books 2ly Tho' there are several Divine Truths which have had the universal and continued Profession of the Church yet we deny it would have been so happy if there had been no Scriptures 3ly Though there had been no Scriptures Oral Tradition might have sent down some Truths to Posterity But they would have been but few and those too blinded with erroneous Appendages most would have been lost as in Hurricanes and among Rocks and Sands some Vessels may weather it out yet shatter'd but how many Perish 4ly As to the last thing sure our Adversaries can't justly charge us with the contrary there being no Point maintained by them and deny'd by us which has so ample a Recommendation But I shall resume the first Concession and the annex'd Denyal and shall add That there is a great difference between Tradition's Testification concerning the Scriptures and Tradition's conserving the many Divine Truths and Sense of them and the safe transmitting them to all succeeding times We may rely upon Tradition for the former which is a more general thing and in which Tradition was less obnoxious to Error and yet not trust it for the latter which abounds in such a variety of Particulars in which there is the greater liableness to mistake and failance The difference I urge may be illustrated thus Suppose one informs me of a Guide in my Journey I credit and accept of that Information and thank the Informant But I rest no farther on him but follow the Guide in the several Stages of my Journey Or suppose one directs me to a very Honest Man and a very knowing Witness in my Cause When he has done so it is not He but the Witness on whom I must depend for a success in my Suit Nay if the Witness should chance to depose against him I may rationally believe him and he can't refuse the Evidence because he himself recommended him to me as a very credible Deponent The Application is obvious The Church's Tradition testifies 2 Tim. 3.15 16 17. Isa 8.20 that the Scriptures are the Oracles of God These Oracles of God are a Guide a Witness in the things of God and which belong to Man's Salvation They affirm so much of themselves and because they are Divine Oracles and testified by the Church so to be they must be believed by us in that Claim Why now tho' we owe and pay Thanks to the Church's Tradition for the Preservation of Holy Scriptures and Direction of Us to Them yet we are not therefore bound to resign our Faith universally to the Tradition of the Church but we may trust our selves with Scriptures Guidance and Testimony in all particular Matters of Faith and Practice Yes and if these Scriptures Witness against the Church's Tradition against some Opinions and Practices of it for which Tradition is pretended we ought to believe the Scriptures and Tradition can't fairly decline the Testimony tho' against it self SECT II. But against this it is urg'd That there can be no Arguing against Tradition out of Scripture The reason is Sure Footing in Christianity p. 10◠because there can be no certainty of Scripture without Tradition This must first be supposed certain before the Scripture can be held such Therefore to argue against Tradition out of Scripture is to discourse from what is Tradition being disallow'd uncertain which can't be a solid way of Argumentation To this I reply Omiting that Tradition is not the only means of our Certitude about Scripture That the Exception does not invalidate what I have said for thus it is We do confess to receive the Scriptures upon the Church's universal Tradition and we allow this Testimony to be in it's kind very useful and sufficiently certain and this certainty of Tradition quoad hoc for the Intelligencing us concerning Scripture is supposed by us But then we do and may argue from Scripture thus supposed certain against Tradition i. e. against what is uncertain or false in it viz. Any such Points of Faith or Practice or such Senses of Scripture as it would obtrude upon us when as yet they are perhaps contrary to Scripture and the Tradition is far short of being Vniversal it may be is very narrow or feigned rather than real So that we do not proceed upon an Vncertainty but upon what is certain by Vniversal Tradition i.e. That the Books of the Old and New Testament in the Number that we have them
are the Holy Scriptures and Oracles of God against what is affirm'd and can be prov'd by us to be uncertain or false in Tradition As in a like case Scholars argue from what is true and clear in Reason against what is false or dubious tho' it have Reason pretended for it Thus discoursing from Reason against Reason i. e. from what is really such against what is such but in name and appearance The sum and result of the Premises is this That as we do not take Tradition's Word for all the Doctrines or Practices and Senses of Scripture it would impose on us though we accept of Tradition's Evidence concerning the Scriptures as was in the beginning of this Chapter acknowledg'd So nor are we oblig'd to the former by acknowledgment of the latter Having stated what may be allow'd and what is denyed to Oral Tradition Next it shall be examin'd what Reason and Experience suggest against its sureness and safety of Conveyance and likewise after that what either can pretend on it's behalf CHAP. III. Reasons against the Certainty and Safety of Conveyance of Divine Truths by Oral Tradition SECT I. IT is asserted That the Body of the Faithful from Age to Age are the Traditioners of Divine Truths Sure Footing p. 60.100 101. that in reality Tradition rightly understood is the same thing materially with the living Voice and Practice of the whole Church essential consisting of Pastors and Laiety Now before Reason can acquiesce in a Tradition by Pastors and Laiety it must according to what has been premis'd be well satisfied in the fitness of the Testifiers The Qualifications of Persons for a due Testification especially in so weighty a matter as Religion are 1. Good knowingness of Fathers and Ancestors in Religion as also due care and diligence of Fathers in teaching their Children together with good Apprehensions Memory and Tractableness in the Children and Posterity 2ly Such a measure of Integrity through all descents as may secure the successive Testifiers against all temptations unto swerving from what they received from Fathers Let these Qualifications be farther considered of 1. The first Requisites are good Knowingness of Fathers together with Care and Diligence as also Apprehension Memory and Tractableness in Children let us examine how far these may be found in the Laiety I believe that the value and zeal for Religion in the first and golden Age of the Church made Fathers diligent to teach and Youth to learn But I doubt that this Temper as is incident to Religious Fervors might cool afterwards and that when Emperors became Christians Ease and Prosperity might beget a restiveness and neglect both in Ancestors and Posterity How well Fathers of Families did perform their part and how docile Children have been throughout the many hundred years before us is out of our Ken. But if we may guess at times past as there is often a likeness in some measure of the ways of Men in one Age to those in another by the times present and nearer to us it is to be wished I fear rather than it will be found that all or most Fathers and Governors of Families were such as Abraham Gen. 18.19 Josh 24.15 and Joshua Religion is too little minded in too many Families The use of a Catechisme is too rare and That when us'd is often little understood and less remembred Commonly Parents teach their Children the Lords Prayer Creed and Ten Commandments and that is well But these Rudiments are too slender a stock for Children to set up with as qualified Conveyers of the Body of the Christian Faith And if even these should pass down long by word of Mouth and not be Written they would be in danger of Maims or Corruptions But it may be thought Dr. James in his Manuduction to Divinity p. 108. Ex. Jo. Avent Conc. Bas M. S. that Spiritual Fathers instruct Young and Old both and capacitate them better for being Oral Traditioners Yet when the Priests were Fools Stocks and slothful Beasts when they had neither Scientiam nor Conscientiam neither Knowledge nor Conscience as it was complain'd in Old time it is not likely that then the Clergy were very careful to instruct the Laiety or that the Laiety should learn much from such a Clergy When of far later years some in Ireland (a) The reverend Arch-Bishop Usher in a Sermon Preached before the King June 20. 1624. on Eph. 4.13 who would be accounted Members of the Roman Church being demanded what they thought of the Doctrine of Transubstantiation not only rejected it with indignation but wondred also that it should be imagin'd any of their side should be so foolish as to give Credit to such a senseless thing When throughout a County in England (b) Dr. J. White in his Preface to The way to the true Church the Vulgar Papists were unable to render an account of their Faith or to understand the Points of the Catechism and utter'd their Creed in a Gibberish ridiculous to others and unintelligible by themselves Then the Priests fail'd in teaching the People or the People in teachableness But perhaps it has been otherwise since and was then in those Countries where the Publick and Authoriz'd Profession of the Roman Religion gave their Clergy more freedom of Access to and of Conversation with the Laiety Yet there 's an Opinion of the Romanists which will not much forward the diligent instructing of the Laiety in the Religion of Forefathers viz. That (a) The Author of Charity mistaken c. In Dr. Potter 's Answer to it pag. 183. 200 201. it suffices the Vulgar to believe implicitely what the Church teaches And that by virtue of such an implicite Faith a Cardinal Bellarmine and a Catholick Collier are of the same Belief This implicite Faith makes quick work and supersedes a distinct knowledge of Divine Truths and then what much need is there of a careful Teaching them They who speak not so broadly yet (a) Azor Instit Mor. Part 1. Lib. 8. Cap. 6. Sect. Tertiò quaeritur Et Sect. Sed mihi probabilius verius say it is the common Opinion of Divines that it is necessary to believe explicitely no more than the Apostles Creed or the fourteen Articles as they speak Nay some hold too that if this explicite Belief be only of the substance of the Articles confusedly and generally it is sufficient But by leave of these Authors such an explicite Belief of the Apostles Creed only much less a confus'd and general Belief cannot be sufficient howsoever sufficient it may be for other purposes to qualifie the Laiety for that great Purpose which in these Papers I am treating of But let the utmost be suppos'd viz. That the Clergy now do and formerly did discharge their Pastoral Duty as amply and faithfully as is requisite yet the Peoples usual immersion in secular business and distractions their oscitancy in Religious matters slowness of Understanding frailty of Memory in the
did decline so soon how much more probable is it that it should grow yet more feeble and corrupt at such a far greater distance of time As Waters which arise clear and of qualities agreeing with their Fountain the farther they run do the more contract a new relish and gather a foulness from the Chanels through which they travel SECT V. I proceed to the Christian Churches since the more Primitive times and as they are commonly divided into the Eastern and Western Churches so I shall begin with the Eastern and there speak of the Greek Church only In which I suppose none will question but that Christian Religion was planted in a very ample and punctual manner such as might have secur'd a perpetuity of Primitive Truths among the Professors of them as well as among any other Body of Christians This Church administers the Eucharist to the Laiety in both kinds allows Married Priests denys Purgatory-fire to add no more In these things the Roman Church differs from them One of them therefore must err and have receded from what was delivered at the first to them We believe the Roman Church to be guilty of the Recess and they to be sure will deny it But yet which soever it be of the Churches which is in the wrong and one of them must be so Oral Tradition is guilty of Mal-performance of its Duty But moreover this Church holds that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and not from the Son Which is a Tenent condemned by Protestants and Romanists both And the Grecians misbelief in this Article was judg'd by Card. Bellarmine so criminous that he counted it meritorious of the sacking of Constantinople which hapned accordingly in his calculation at the Feast of Pentecost Bellarm. de Christo lib. 2. cap. 30. as a Judgment of God upon them for this error about the Procession of his Holy Spirit And he adds That many compare the Greek Church to the Kingdom of Samaria which separated from the true Temple and for that was punish'd with perpetual Captivity How far charitable in his Censure and right in his (a) Vossius de tribus Symboli in Addendis Chronology the Cardinal was let others judge But this is clear that they of that Communion as they are very numerous so do generally consent in this Opinion that there has been an entail of it upon Posterity through hundreds of years and that though their Reduction has been more than once attempted yet endeavours have prov'd succesless the wound may have been skin'd over but it has not been heal'd (b) Idem Ibid. Though at the Councils of Lyons and Florence it is said there was something of a Closure yet as soon as the Greeks return'd home there was presently a Rupture again and the Churches remain'd at as great a distance as before And they retain their old Error (a) Ricaut of the Greek Church to this day and are observed to defend it with a particular dexterity The same Greek Church denies the Pope's Supremacy that (b) Summa Rei Christianae Bellar In Praef. ad lib. de summo Pontifice Diana of the Romanists They may have yielded the Bishop of Rome a (c) See Nilus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Primacy of Order and yet that too not as enstated on him by Divine Right but indulg'd him by the favour of Princes and Ecclesiastical Canon But they would never grant him a Superiority of Power and Authority They will not (d) Ricaut of the Greek Church yet allow it him These Opinions of the Greek Church cannot in the Judgment of the Romanists who hold contrarily to both and are so especially concern'd in the latter descend from Christ and his Apostles Therefore they must confess that Tradition has miscarried And Traditions miscarrying among so great and formerly renowned tho' now afflicted a Society of Christians for so very long a time and in Points of such moment must needs decry it much below that value to which its friends have enhans'd it SECT VI. Next shall succeed a consideration of the Western Church And what Church in the West would be more taken notice of than the Roman VVhere we are to find the most accurate Tradition or to despair of meeting with it any where They of that Communion having dress'd up and strengthned the Cause of Oral Tradition with the greatest advantages which their wit and learning can give it and claiming it as their (a) Sure Footing P. 116. Priviledge to be the most infallible Traditioners of any Church whatsoever Two things here may be considered 1. VVhat the Accord is of the Roman with the Antient Church 2ly VVhat her Harmony is with herself How well Oral Tradition has preserv'd her in both these respects First how little the Church of Rome comports in her Opinions and Practices with the most antient and purest Churches has been demonstrated by many Learned Protestants I shall insist but on one thing viz. The denyal of the Cup to the Laiety in the Eucharist by the Roman Church The Learned Cassander thought it could not be prov'd that (a) Non puto demonstrari posse totis mille ampliùs annis in ullâ Catholicae Ecclesiae parte sacrosanctum hoc Eucharistiae Sacramentum aliter in sacrâ synazi è mensâ Dominicâ fideli populo quà m sub utroque panis vinique Symbolo administratum fuisse De saerâ Comm. sub utrâque specie He is positive and large in this in his Consultation likewise Much to the same purpose Alphonsus a Castro Tit. Eucharistia Haeresi 13. For above a 1000 years the Sacrament of the Eucharist was otherwise administred to the faithful People than under the Elements of Bread and Wine both Several of our Adversaries give their suffrages with Cassander And the Greek Church administers to the Laiety in both kinds to the present Age. But let us come to that which will with our Adversaries be of more Authority The Council of (a) Praeterea declarat hane potestatem perpetuò in Ecclesiâ fuisse ut in Sacramentorum dispensatione salva illorum substantia ea statueret vel mutaret quae suscipientium utilitati seu ipsorum Sacramentorum venerationi pro rerum temporum locorum varietate magis expedire judicaret Quare agnoscens mater Ecclesia hanc suam in administratione Sacramentorum Anthoritatem licèt ab initio Christianae religionis non infrequens utriusque speciei usus fuisset tamen hanc consuetudinem sub alterâ specie communicandi approbavit pro lege habendam decrevit Sess 5. Can. 2. Apud Caran Trent confesses That from the beginning of Christian Religion the use of both Bread and Wine was not uncommon Yet licèt although such had been the Primitive and not uncommon usage the Council approv'd of Communicating under one kind and decreed it to be observed as a Law And this the Council did by virtue of a pretended Power of the Church to appoint and to
Authority of the Church is formally in the Prelates and therefore that the Church cannot err in defining matters of Faith and that the Bishops cannot Err are the same Thing From what has been quoted it seems that Dr. Cressy and whosoever else may be on his side are considerably oppos'd by others Indeed the Infallibility of the Roman Church and the great usefulness of it to them is better understood by them than to be parted with Upon a survey of the forementioned Dissentions among Romanists themselves the clear inference is that either Tradition is full and plain enough in the things disagreed about and if so then the Romanists themselves do not believe Tradition rest not in what their Fathers taught them and so transgress their own Rule of Faith or Tradition comes down so divided that it cannot unite them shines so dimly that they cannot see their way by it as (c) In the points of immaculate Conception and the Controversies between the Jesuits and the Dominicans c. Exomolog Ch. 82. Dr. Cressy says some learned Catholiques are of Opinion and so wander each Party in a Path by it self And this evinces Traditions impotency want of a sufficient plainness and certainty But here is a retreat to which our Adversaries must be followed There is a (a) Enchirid of Faith p. 17. 113. Some what to this purpose likewise Cressy speaks Exom Ch. 28. distinction made between the Faith and the Doctrine of the Church between Points which are de fide absolutè and such as are de fide sub Opinione Points of Faith strictly so call'd the denial of which would amount to Heresie and Points of Opinion rather than of Faith and Theological speculations only Now it will be said by our Adversaries that the Subject of their Home-differences are not of the former but of the latter kind matters of meer Opinion and therefore that their differences do not disparage Traditions care and sufficiency that being maintain'd to be a Rule of Faith only But to make such an Evasion useless a strict and close dispute about Points of Faith which are such and which not is with the more difficulty manageable betwixt our Adversaries and us because we differ about the Rule of Faith Accordingly they account of a Point as a (a) Enchirid of Faith p. 113. and to the like purpose Cresly Ibid Point of Faith or of meer Opinion as it is attested to or not attested to by a sufficient Tradition which they assert to be the rule of Faith but this is the thing in question between us Therefore as things stand the way will be to review the aforenamed Tenents controverted among the Romanists and to see what their tendency and importance is in Religion in the Judgment of any sober and unbïassed Christian as also what our Adversaries own Sentiments are concerning them Then 1. The freedom of the will in corrupted Nature the assistance of Divine Grace Predestination to an Eternal State the extent of the Redemption by the Death of Christ perseverance in Grace look like material concerns in Religion and the respective statings of the Questions arising on these Subjects are judg'd momentous by the controverting Parties (b) Les Provincia les Or the c. p. 45. 41. The Jansenists complain of sharp usage from the Molinists that a Proposition of theirs viz. That the Fathers shew us a just Man in the Person of St. Peter to whom the grace without which a Man cannot do any thing was wanting was censur'd by their Antagonists to be temerarious impious blasphemous worthy to be Anathematiz'd and Heretical and that their Persons have been traduc'd and defam'd in Books and Pulpits openly and publickly accus'd as Hereticks The Controversies between the Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants some of the principal also between the Lutherans and the Calvinists are much of the same kind with them contended about between the Jesuits and Dominicans the Jansenists and Molinists and yet sure the Romanists will have them to be more than matters of meer Opinion and Theological speculations only in us Protestants because they take occasion from these and some other differences of no higher a Complexion at the least can't be accus'd to be such by a Romanist to upbraid us with the (a) Câ—arity mistaken apuâ—â— Pâ—tter want of Charity 〈◊〉 charged c. p. 58. darkness and confusion of our Condition and that our bitter Contentions and Speeches declare us to be of different Churches and Religions But if these differences in Judgment and Heats be of so high a nature and of so desperate effects in us why not so in them also For suppose that some Protestants passions are more warm in these disputes yet there are also many moderate Men on both sides and to make them of different Religions there must be a contrariety of Judgments and even in matters of Faith and if these be Points of Faith in Protestants what just reason can be given why they should not be such in Romanists likewise 2ly (a) Les Previn 〈◊〉 Letâ—e◠〈◊〉 p. 92. The Doctrine of probable Opinions and That an Opinion is then call'd probable when it is grounded upon some reasons of consideration whence it sometimes comes to pass that the Opinion of one grave Doctor may render an Opinion probable Much of the Casâ—â—stical Divinity of the Jesuits their (b) Ibid. Lâ—tter 9. 186 c. easie Devotions their knack of (c) Ibid. Let. 7. p. 131 132 c. directing the Intention their Doctrine of (d) Ibid. Let. 9. p. 202 203 c. mental Reservation and of the sufficiency of (e) Ibid. Let. 10. p. 231 c. Attrition their Salvo's for (a) Ibid Let. 6. p. 115 and Let. 13. p. 285 286 c. Simony (b) Ibid. Let. 7. p. 134 c. Revenge and (c) Ibid. Let. 8. p. 171 c. Stealing with several Practiques of the like stamp certainly will be doom'd by any who are seriously Christians to be destructive of that fixedness and soundness in the Faith which is opposite to the levity of Children toss'd to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine c. Eph. 4.14 and of the Doctrine which is according to godliness 1. Tim. 6.3 3ly If Tenents may be thought to be de fide points of Faith by their influence on other Credenda and Agenda things to be believed and done and on the Peace of the Christian World then certainly those Tenents which relate to the Pope and were even now touch'd on must be Points of Faith and that of the first Classis For whosoever can see through things will judge that they are of vast inference that on the determination of them must depend the direction of the Pope in the exercise of his Power and of Christians in what and how far to obey him and his Commands as to belief and practice Prince's Crowns and their Subject's Loyalty are deeply concern'd in them and consequently the