Points the very same Especially when the Third of those Councils held at Ephesus in the Time of Pope Celestine did expresly decree That it should not be lawful to utter write or compose any other Faith besides that which had been defined by the Holy Fathers congregated in the Holy Ghost in the City of Nice Ordering that all they should be punish'd who tender'd any other to such as had a desire to be converted to the Knowledg of the Truth whether they were Gentiles Jews or of any other Heresy Whereby 't is plain that the Fathers in this third Council did conclude that Creed to comprehend the entire Faith of a Christian And indeed a Man would think that the Council of Trent had in the Beginning of it been altogether of the same mind when of the same Creed it thus declared it self That it is that Principle wherein all that profess the Faith of Christ do necessarily agree and the Firm and Onely Foundation against which the Gates of Hell shall not prevail I may I think upon these Considerations without more ado be very well satisfied of the Safety of the Protestant Religion The Papists themselves must grant That whatsoever we believe or practise as of necessity to Salvation really is so and therefore that we do not err either in our Faith or Practice whilst we live according to our own Principles For if we err in either so far do they err also and not they only but all the Christian World. And here we may press them with their own way of Arguing and to much more purpose than they are wont to use it against us When they would convince us that their Religion is the safer they are wont thus to argue That Religion is the safer wherein by the Confession of both Sides a Man may be saved but both Sides confess that a Man may be saved in the Popish Religion and both Sides do not confess that a Man may be saved in the Protestant Religion therefore the Popish Religion is the safer Supposing now this way of arguing for the Safety of their Religion from the Confession of both Parties be of any strength as they must suppose it to be who so often and confidently use it then must the like Argument from the same Medium be altogether as strong for us I would only beg of them to grant me this and I hope they will not say my Request is unreasonable That that Religion is the safest all the Doctrines whereof are the truest If they will not grant me this they must grant it safer to hold some false Doctrines than all true But if they think this absurd then must they give me leave thus to argue That Religion is the safest wherein all Doctrines held or taught as necessary to Salvation are by the Confession of both Sides certainly true Now both Sides confess that all Doctrines held or taught in the Protestant Religion are certainly true and both Sides do not confess that all Doctrines held and taught in the Popish Religion are certainly true therefore the Protestant Religion is the safer The same Articles of Faith the same Rules and Precepts of Life the same Acts of religious Worship the same holy Sacraments the same holy Orders of Ministers which we have the very same have they also But they have many things of all these sorts which we have not no nor any other Christians but those of their own Communion And therefore to strengthen my Argument yet more I say If that Doctrine and Practice be the safest wherein all good Christians agree we are sure that ours is the safest because all good Christians do agree in them and that theirs is not safe because all good Christians do not agree in them Nay let me add this more Our Religion is either safe and true in all things pretended by us necessary to Salvation or there is no such thing as a safe and true Christian Religion in the World visibly professed and if so it will follow that Christ hath no true visible Church upon Earth which I am confident no Papist will say The Consequence is plain because all Christians all the World over that make any Figure of a Church hold the same both Faith and Practice with us in what we account necessary to Salvation the Church of Rome it self not excluded Tho it be very certain that we positively and affirmatively hold nothing in Faith or Practice as necessary to Salvation but what is held by the Church of Rome her self and all other Christian Churches yet will not the Men of that Church allow us any possibility of being saved whilst we are Protestants And he who of late hath been at some Pains to represent the Papist to us in his fairest Dress hath labour'd as hard in this Point as in any other to shew that his Church is not uncharitable in the Doctrine She delivers concerning our desperate Estate Now although I am not enquiring whether this Doctrine be charitable or uncharitable but only whether it be true or false yet for my better Satisfaction I will examine all that he saith to this purpose He tells us His Church doth nothing herein but what she hath learn'd of Christ and his Apostles And if he can shew me this I must needs be fully satisfied being verily perswaded they never taught any thing uncharitable or untrue To shew this he tells us how Christ Mark. 16. 16. hath said He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned And this is all his Church delivers in this Point If this be all She delivers we cannot call her uncharitable for it for we our selves willingly subscribe to this Sentence of our Blessed Saviour Only we think he did not here teach and authorise the Church of Rome to say That all who are not of her Faith and Communion shall be damn'd tho she knows they believe all that Christ sent his Apostles to teach them I do not find in the Roman Ritual that the Church of Rome in the Baptising either of Infants or adult Persons uses or requires any other Confession of Faith but that only of the Apostles Creed which is the same we use and if to beleive and be baptised in this Faith be enough for the Salvation of Papists why is it not enough also for Protestants And if the Additional Articles of the Trentine Faith and P. Pius his Creed be necessary to Salvation why is there no mention made of them in the Roman Order of Baptism He adds that of St. Paul 1 Tim. 4. 1 2 3. where foretelling of some who in later times would come and preach a Doctrine forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from Meats which God hath created to be received he brands them with the infamous Title of Men that depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils And several other Places of Scripture he then produceth to shew that Hereticks such
equally assured that as well what is unwritten as what is written was preach'd by them as necessary to the Salvation of Mankind I must needs also own an equal Obligation upon me to believe them all alike But neither of these could I ever see clear'd nor can I conceive any hope that I shall hereafter And seeing the proof of both lies wholly upon them who affirm both I cannot be obliged to believe them till by such proof they have convinced me In the mean time it seems enough to me that God himself was pleas'd to signifie to the World his Will in writing which I cannot imagine why He should do had he not intended we should learn his Will from what is written and not from any unwritten Tradition And I am the more confirm'd in this Opinion by this that he did not use this way of revealing his Mind unto Men at the first nor till after the World had had a very long time to discern by experience the Unfaithfulness of unwritten Tradition So that this and some other Considerations whereupon the Papists use to ground their Arguments against both the Necessity and Perfection of the Scripture seem to me very fully to evince both the one and the other and so to leave no room at all for their unwritten Traditions as any part of the Rule of Faith and Life Yet seeing they who are always preaching this Doctrine to us That there is no Salvation for them that are not of their Communion preach it not as a private Opinion of their own or of some few others in that Communion but as the generally received Doctrine of that Church which pretends to be no less than Infallible it concerns me so much the more to use all possible diligence to find out what Truth there may be in this Assertion And that not only because I shall thereby discern the necessity of changing my Religion to make sure of my own future Happiness but also because the Determination of this one Point will at once put an end as it seems to me to all the Disputes that are now between the Papists and Us. If I can find it true that no Man can be saved out of that Communion I shall be a Fool to trouble my self with the Study of the Scriptures and seeking out for my self in them a Way to Heaven when I may be sure by stepping over the Threshold out of the one Church into the other to meet with an Infallible Iudg whom if I do but follow I cannot go amiss And to dispute any longer with my self whether I should do so or not would but shew me fitter for Bedlam than for any Church seeing none but the maddest Man alive would dispute for Damnation On the other side if I shall find it false that a Man cannot be saved out of that Communion I must needs be convinced that the Roman Church which hath determined it for a certain Truth hath already err'd both in Faith and Charity and that having erred she is not Infallible and being not Infallible by her own Confession cannot be that One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church out of which there is no Salvation So that as this Assertion of that Church shall be found to be true or false even so will the Popish Religion appear also to be But here I meet with a very great Difficulty in my way as I am going to seek out the Truth or Falshood of this Assertion that however I may be able to satisfy my self yet I shall never for ought I can see be able to satisfy them who are the Authors of it any other way than by a total Submission of my own Iudgment and Conscience too to their Determination and a blind Obedience to their Will. The Dispute as is evident is between two Churches the one whereof challengeth to it self the big-swoln Prerogative of being the Lady and Mother of all Churches a Sovereign Authority of prescribing to the Faith of all Christians the Right and incommunicable Priviledg of being the Sole and Infallible Iudg of all Controversies in Religion finally an unquestionable Power of defining and declaring to all the World the true and only Terms of Salvation Now that this Roman-Mother and Mistress-Church sole Commandress and Infallible Iudg having already in the fulness of Power determin'd it and by her Supreme Authority imposed an Oath upon her Subjects to maintain it That none out of her Communion can be saved should after all this in pure Condescension to Men declared Hereticks divest her self of her Authority lay aside her Infallible Definitions come down from the Tribunal and the Throne of Iudicature and Majesty and stand at the Bar submitting her self and the whole Cause to an indifferent and equal Trial is a thing as little to be hoped for as it is yet unagreed upon by what Law Iury or Iudg the Controversy should be decided And truly on the other side it seems to me altogether as unreasonable in her to accept That we Protestants of the Church of England tho we pretend to nothing of this Exorbitant Power over Her or other Churches or of determining Disputes for all the World should yet upon a naked Summons from Her whose Authority we question and see no reason to acknowledg forthwith subscribe to the Sentence of our own Condemnation without any fair and legal Process or indeed so much as yield to a Trial where our professed Adversaries must be at once the Law-makers Accusers Witnesses and yet this is most notoriously our Case What course now in this Case can be taken by us The Church of Rome tells us expresly and peremptorily We cannot be saved out of her Communion Must we believe her without any more ado That 's indeed the way to make a short end of all our Differences for then we must yield to be Her 's or else run headlong to Damnation But if we believe her not as for my part I know not how we can do till we see some reason why we should do so the Dispute for ought I can see is like to be endless For no such reasons can or ought she to give us if she will be constant to her self and stand to her own Principles as will plainly appear anon and if she desert her own Principles she must yield her self to be fallible and not the true Church and then in vain is all talk of Reasons why they that are not of her Communion should be damned However suppose it be pretended as indeed it is that we have had sufficient Reasons given us why we ought to believe her in this Point This then is the present Question between us Whether she hath given us sufficient reason for this or no. She confidently affirms it We as confidently deny it She calls us obstinate Hereticks for denying it and lays many a heavy Curse upon us We for this think her a very unreasonable and imperious Mistress usurping an Authority over us which God never gave
Liberius when through fear himself hâ—â— forgot he had any such thing and consented with the Arrians to the Condemnation of that holy Father St. Hierom seems not to have had any thoughts of the POPES's Supremacy when he said That whereever there is a Bishop whether at great ROME or petty Eugubium he is of the same Merit and Priesthood Neither did either he or St. Austin seem to have had a just esteem for the Church of ROME's Authority when they preferred that of the Eastern Church before it in receiving the Epistle to the Hebrews into the Canon of SCRIPTURE Above all what must I think of their Great Saint P. Gregory the First who called the Title of UNIVERSAL BISHOP a new Title which none of his Predecessors ever used a name of Vanity a Profane Name wicked and not to be uttered yea a Blasphemous saying that whosoever desired it shew'd himself to be the forerunner of Antichrist If I must believe this great POPE and SAINT I know well enough what to think of most of his Successors in the Infallible Chair If I must not believe Him why must I believe those who succeeded him Had not He and They one and the same Authority as POPES of ROME Believe both I cannot and disbelieving either as all PAPISTS no less than I must disbelieve the one I am no better than a Heretick and uncapable of Salvation Farther yet I find that the African Council but now mention'd did alledg for it self the Sixth Canon of the First General Council held at NICE which is this Let the old Custom be kept through Aegypt Lybia and Pentapolis so that the Bishop of ALEXANDRIA have power over all these because the Bishop of ROME hath also the like Custom By this Canon these two Bishops seem to be made equal in Power In the Fourth General Council held at Calcedon and Ninth Canon it is ordered That if any Bishop or Clerk have a Controversie with the Metropolitan of that Province they have recourse to the Primate of the Diocese or certainly to the See of the Royal City of Constantinople that the business may be ended there This Council seems hereby to make the Bishop of Constantinople equal to the Bishop of Rome and this it did notwithstanding great opposition made against it by P. Leo the First So that I must involve in the same Censure of Condemnation some of the most Famous General Councils that ever were This I am apt to think a very daring matter and not rashly to be attempted I have indeed been taught by our Blessed JESUS that God will not forgive us if we do not forgive our Brethren but I do not remember where he hath taught me that God will not SAVE us except we believe that no man but a PAPIST can be SAVED II. I have now consider'd sâ—â—â—e of the many Difficulties I am to struggle with before I can get through to the Church of ROME And truly they seem to me whatever men of more strength and courage may think little less than Insuperable And yet after all this if I may be convinced that the Authority of the ROMAN Church hath sufficient grounds of Scripture and Reason to support it I must confess no Difficulty in my way ought to dishearten me from breaking through it But then again if I must believe that there is such an uncontrollable Power in the Church in some One Church in the ROMAN Church by name yea in the Bishop of that Church and if I must so believe this that I must not leave in my Soul any room at all for the least Charitable thought of any man's Salvation who believes it not I think it no less than needful that I have the Clearest and most undeniable Evidence in the World for what I believe lest the Sentence of Condemnation should recoil upon my self for my Temerity and Uncharitableness Indeed if this Church may be allow'd to bear witness to its own Authority and such a Testimony be sufficient I cannot want it The Council of TRENT hath more than once call'd her the Mother and Mistriss of all Churches So Infallible in her Iudgment and Directions so Absolute in her Dominion and Command she must be that Her sole Authority must be warrant enough and nothing else any warrant without it for all things that belong to Christian Religion Whosoever saith Becanus in his Compendium in matters of Faith and Religion followeth the true Church of Christ which he there proveth to be the Roman Church only cannot err about Faith and Religion seeing the true Church of Christ is Infallible And this we are told continually as this Iesuit doth say that this is the shortest Compendium of all Controversies This then being to support the whole Fabrick of POPERY had need to stand on firm ground This ground I would now fain discover Why then must we believe that the ROMAN Church hath this Sovereign Authority in Religion I must confess my self one of those sturdy Hereticks that cannot believe without Reason When I hear that Church telling me she is Infallible and hath all Power over all other Churches I cannot believe it till I have some better reason for it than this That She must be all that which She is pleased to say of her self and therefore must be Infallible and Omnipotent too if She say it And I am a little troubled to say that this is all I can get out of her for my satisfaction lest even PROTESTANTS should think I say incredible things of her and that I have no other design but to make all the Learned Men of her Communion seem ridiculous in talking to us as to Children always childishly But it is not in my power to make their Arguments better than they are nor Civil in me to teach them what to say and I am sure my Temporal Interest cannot at this time tempt me to oversee the strength of their Reasons The very best Reasons I have yet met with with how much Artifice and Sophistry soever they are dress'd up amount to no more nor better in my opinion than her own honest Word that is her own Authority and Infallibility for proof of her Authority and Infallibility and therefore I must either believe them both before I can believe them even whilst I am enquiring for a reason why I should believe them or I must not believe them at all nor with her consent be saved The Missionaries tell us they are willing to undergo any Pains or Difficulty to rescue us from damning Error and whilst they proceed in this Method I have cause to believe them for I am confident to prove their Church hath this Authority they contend for is as great a Difficulty as they can meet with If they should here offer us what is so much talk'd of by them the Testimony of the Universal Church there is nothing more plain than that they do but Mock us For this can be nothing else but the Church of ROME's Testimony
her Who I wonder shall now be thought fit to decide this Dispute She will be tried and judg'd by no other but her self for She is resolv'd to be Sole and Infallible Iudg in all Controversies of Religion That is in plain terms She will accuse us and she will leave us no room for our own Defence She will condemn us and she will not permit us to question the Iustice of her Sentence She tells us we are bound to believe her and obey her or else we must die eternally for it We desire some reason may be brought to convince us of this Duty and she tells us again she is our Supreme and Infallible Mistress and Mother and Iudg and so the Conclusion is We must believe she hath this Supreme Authority and Infallibility because she is Supreme and Infallible which we can yet see no reason to believe and therefore cannot believe and because we cannot believe it we are declared to be Hereticks and in a State of Damnation Seeing then that the Church of Rome will by no means recede from her Claim to this Supremacy and Infallibility it seems plain to me that there is no possibility of satisfying her any way whatsoever but by yielding my self up intirely to her without any farther dispute But because I cannot do this without violence to my Conscience and incurring that very Damnation which she would persuade me thereby to prevent I must of necessity leave her a while to satisfy her self about the Truth and Charity of this Doctrine as she can whilst I for my own private Satisfaction take into a very serious Consideration these two things I. Whether I can discern any solid ground to hope that I may be saved as I am now a Protestant of the Church of England II. What more hopeful way to Salvation the Church of Rome can me put into should I enter into her Communion If the result of this double Enquiry shall be that I really think my self in a fair way to Salvation where I am already and cannot discern any more hopeful way to it in the Church of Rome I must needs accout my self bound in Conscience and under the Penalty of Damnation to steer my course according to the best Light I shall be able by such a diligent and impartial Inquiry to attain unto and content my self with that Religion which seems best and safest to me till some better and safer can be found SECT I. The first thing I am to inquire into is What good ground of hope I can discern that I may be saved as I am a Protestant And here the first thing I am to consider is what I mean by the Name of Protestant as it is own'd by the Members of the Church of England and as I can heartily answer to it By a Protestant I understand no other but a Christian adhering firmly both in Faith and Practice to the written Word of God and protesting against both the Faith and Practice of the Papists and all others whatsoever so far only as they are either repugnant to the Holy Scripture in any thing or ungrounded on the same in things pretended by them necessary to Salvation Such Protestants do we of the Church of England profess our selves to be as is apparent unto all from the 6 th of our XXXIX Articles affirming That the Scriptures contain all things necessary to Salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any Man that it should be believed as an Article of Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation This is our very first Principle as we are called Protestants and such an one I do heartily profess my self neither see I yet the least cause to doubt of my Salvation whilst by the Grace of God I live answerably to this Profession For that the Protestant Religion built upon this Principle is a safe Religion is I think altogether as plain as that Christianity it self pure and unmix'd is the Way to Salvation because 't is plain that this Religion we profess holding to this Principle can be nothing else but pure and unmix'd Christianity being that and no other which is contained in the Holy Scripture Is then the holy Scripture the Word of God or not Was it given unto us of God to be the Rule of our Religion that is of our Faith Worship and holy Conversation or was it not If Bellarmine may be credited this is the Declaration of the Catholick Church both in the third Council of Carthage and also in that of Trent The Books of the Prophets and Apostles are the true Word of God and the sure and stable Rule of Life And as he shortly after adds The most sure and safest Rule Now whether it be the compleat perfect and adequate Rule as we constantly affirm or only a partial Rule or but some part of it as the Papists contend it self when diligently consulted will be best able to inform us For it is on all hands granted to be the Word of God which cannot lie and therefore unquestionably true in all things what soever it teacheth us and of those many excellent things which it very plainly teacheth its one Perfection and Sufficiency is one and for my present Satisfaction very considerable I find in the first place that God himself writ the Ten Commandments the compleat Rule of Piety and Iustice with his own Finger Exod. 31. 1 18. Deut. 9. 10. 10. 2 4. That he commanded them to be written on the Posts and Gates Deut. 6. 9. 11. 20. That Moses wrote all the Words of the Lord Exod. 24. 4. and deliver'd the Writing to the Priests to be read unto the People Deut. 31. 9. And that the King was to have by him a Copy of it for his Direction Deut. 17. 18. I find many Curses denounced against the Breakers of it Deut. 28. 58. and Blessings promised to them that keep it Deut. 30. 10. I find it was expresly forbidden to add unto it or to aiminish from it Deut. 4. 2 12 32. To turn from it to the right-hand or to the left Josh. 1. 7. And that the good Kings were careful to order all things according to it and to reform what had been amiss by it 1 Chron. 16. 40. 2 Kings 22. 13. And therefore I do not wonder to hear the Psalmist saying The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul Psal. 19. 7. nor to find Isaiah sending Men to the Law and to the Testimony saying If any speak not according to this Word it is because there is no Light in them Isa. 8. 20. Again I find our Blessed Saviour himself and his Apostles after him very frequently appealing and referring their Hearers to that which had been written in the Books of Moses in the Psalms and in the Prophets They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them saith Abraham in the Parable Luk. 16. 29. Search the Scriptures saith Christ
Responses The learnedst of the Romish Church are not yet well agreed about it and if the English Representer or French Expounder have had the luck to hit it I am sure that many heretofore who thought themselves as wise as either of them have strangely miss'd it Or else that Council and the Religion call'd Popery hath several Faces for several Times and Countries and in one place and time shall look like it self and in another shall be made to look as like the Protestant Religion as the Artificial Painter dares make it But that which here put us to a stand in this That as the Pope at first taught that Council to speak so hath he reserved the Interpretation of its Decrees to the See Apostolick or himself only and He is not always pleas'd in plain terms to let us know his Mind and if he should for once speak out plainly it will be a little hard for him to assure us that none of his Successors shall hereafter contradict him unless he can satisfy us that he has as well the Gift of Prophesying as that of defining and interpreting However it is for not believing the new Articles of Trent that we are accounted Hereticks and out of the way to Heaven And the reason is because these Articles are supposed to be as firmly grounded on the Word of God as any of those old ones which we believe For the Word of God saith the Council of Trent is partly contain'd in the Books of Scripture and partly in Traditions unwritten these are to be received with the same affection of Piety and Reverence and therefore he that disbelieves any Article grounded upon unwritten Tradition is no less a Heretick than he that disbelieves what is written in the Books of Scripture If I knew how to be satisfied concerning the Authority of this Council I could easily tell what Credit I should give to this which it so confidently affirms But so long as I cannot discern the reason of it's pretended Authority I am a little apt to suspect that it was not the clearness of this Principle that moved it to make so many either unscriptural or antiscriptural Decrees but rather the desire it had of vindicating its unscriptural Doctrines and Practices that made it necessary to espouse such a Principle And indeed when I well consider it I am not a little comforted by it that this equalling unwritten Tradition with Scripture which is the very Basis of the Romish Religion is one of the most incredible things in the World of it self and as destitute of any tolerable Evidence whence it may gain any Credit to it self It must needs seem very strange to any considering Man That the wise God should leave us a Rule in writing on purpose to direct us how to honour Him and attain to Salvation and give it this Commendation that it is able to make wise unto Salvation and yet omit a great many things altogether as necessary to those ends as those that are written and without the Belief and Practice whereof those that are written can no whit avail us and yet never so much as once tell us in all that Writing whither we should go to seek and learn them Nay that he should omit therein the principal Point of all and without which all that is either written or unwritten can signify nothing that is to tell us That the Roman Church is the only true Church the only sure and Infallible Interpreter of all that is written and the only faithful Keeper of all that is unwritten from the Mouth whereof we must receive all saving Truth This I think is a thing that must needs be very hard for any one to believe that believes the Infinite Wisdom Goodness and Veracity of God. And how it can ever be made evident that there are such necessary unwritten Traditions or that these which the Church of Rome holds are they I think no Man living can imagine I am sure if the Papists way of reasoning be good it 's safer not to believe this For all Sides consent that the Scripture which we have is the certain Word of God but all Sides are not agreed that unwritten Traditions are the Word of God therefore it is safer to believe the Scripture only to be the Word of God and not Traditions We hold us to Scripture and the Papists grant that to be the safest Rule their greatest strength lies in unwritten or as they are wont to speak Oral and Practical Traditions which in plain English is no more but Report and Custom and whether there can reasonably be thought any certainty in these equal to that of the written Word of God given by Divine Inspiration can be no hard matter for a very weak Understanding to determine That which makes these unwritten Traditions of the less Credit with me is the assurance I have that a pretence to them and a vain confidence in them hath produced much Error and Division in the Church 'T is well known how far and how long the Errors of the Millenaries and of administring the Eucharist to Infants to mention no more prevail'd on this account And the early Schisms betwixt the Roman and Asian Churches about the keeping of Easter and the hot Contests between the Roman and African Churches about rebaptizing Hereticks were occasion'd and upheld by Pretences on all hands to Tradition This was the only Refuge of old for Hereticks when they were confounded by the Scripture to take shelter under Tradition whence Tertullian call'd them Lucifugas Scripturarum Men who shunn'd the Light of the Scriptures Again saith he They confess indeed that the Apostles were ignorant of nothing and differed not among themselves in their preaching but they will not have it that they revealed all things to all for some things they deliver'd openly to all some things secretly and to a few and that because St. Paul useth this saying to Timothy O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust And again that good thing which is committed to thee keep Irenaeus also makes mention of Hereticks who affirm'd That out of the Scriptures the Truth could not be found out by them who understood not Tradition because it was not deliver'd by Writing but by living Voice for which cause also St. Paul said we speak Wisdom among them that are perfect St. Augustine in his 97th Tract upon Iohn saith that all the most foolish Hereticks who desire to be accounted Christians used to colour their audacious Fictions with a pretence from that Sentence of the Gospel Joh. 16. 10. I have many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them now Thus did the Hereticks of old both plead Tradition and sought to strengthen their Plea by such places of Scripture as these which are the very same that the Papists produce to the same purpose as may be seen in Bellarmine and others But I find that the Orthodox Fathers of the Church were of another Mind The
unreasonable or can produce no Reason for it self or is so lodged in Obscurity as it cannot be found I. I cannot leave the Communion of the Church of England and enter into that of Rome in obedience to an Authority which commands me to do things unreasonable agreeing neither with the Nature of Mankind nor with the undoubted Principles of Religion If therefore the Church of Rome require such things of me I must be a Protestant still and protest against that Authority which She pretends to And for ought I can yet see I cannot submit to her Authority but upon the hardest and most unreasonable Terms in the World. I must renounce my Reason and my Iudgment I must no longer trust my Senses I must either lay aside or learn to speak dishonourably of God's Word I must not believe a Word that God hath spoken without that Church's Leave I must embrace a Religion for which according to that Church's Principles no Reason can be given to convince me and when I have thus learn'd to do all things without Reason I must do what with Reason I can never do believe all Men whatsoever and how piously soever they otherwise live if they be not of the Roman Communion to be in a State of Damnation If I be deceiv'd in any thing of all this I shall be very glad to know it and I have only this to say for my self that they were Roman Catholicks who should know their own Religion best that have deceived me and if I may be deceiv'd by hearkening to them whom that Church sends abroad to make us Converts I shall be the less encouraged hereafter to embrace her Communion upon their Perswasions Whether all who are already of her Communion either own or know all this it concerns not me to enquire but I think it a Debt of Charity that I owe them to think till they tell me the contrary that they do not and that if they did they would not long continue where they are However till they who taught me these things shall either confess their own Error or shew me my Mistake I must needs think them all true and therefore also account it much safer for me to continue a Protestant than to turn Papist whatever it may seem or be to others First I think nothing can be plainer than that it is more safe to act like understanding and discreet considering Men than otherwise or that the Religion which alloweth Men so to do is safer than that which doth not allow it Now the Protestant Religion alloweth Men to make use of their Reason and Iudgment to discern between Truth and Falshood Good and Evil which the Roman Religion as it seems to me will not allow and therefore it must needs be the safer Religion Christ certainly came not into the World to save Sinners by destroying but rather by restoring and perfecting Human Nature His business was not to deprive us of the use of the most noble Faculty which God had given us but to rectify that and all the rest after they had been depraved by Sin. His Gospel was not preached to close up the Eye of the Soul the Understanding and so to lead Men blindfold to Heaven but to open Mens Eyes and to furn them from Darkness to Light Act. 26. 18. The Apostles preach'd to teach us how to offer unto God a Reasonable Service Rom. 12. 1. And Christ expects that his Sheep should be able to discern the voice of him their Shepherd from the voice of Strangers and avoiding them to follow him only Iohn 10. 4 5. St. Peter exhorts Men to be always ready to give a Reason of the Hope that is in them 1 Pet. 3. 15. And St. Paul bids Men prove all things and hold fast that which is good 1 Thess. 5. 21. And St. Iohn exhorts not to believe every Spirit but to try the Spirits whether they be of God 1 Joh. 4. 1. How any Man shall be able to do all this and much more which as a Christian he is obliged to do and not be allow'd the free use of his Reason and judging Faculty I am sure no Man can tell me neither indeed how he can be of any Religion at all for before he can really be of any Religion he must choose it and choose it he cannot till he have rationally consider'd and judg'd of it and of the Reasons which must move him to the choice of it And in Truth to deny a Man the free use of his Reason and Iudgment in Religion is to turn him into a Beast where he should be most a Man and either to make it impossible for him to be of any Religion at all and to serve God like a Man or else to say in effect That Christian Religion is altogether a most unreasonable thing and proper only to unreasonable Creatures Now the Writing Men of the Roman Church tell us nothing more frequently than that no private Man ought to be allow'd to judg for himself in matters of Faith that to allow this is to set the Gate wide open to all Heresies that every Man is bound to sumbit and captivate his Understanding and Iudgment to the Iudgment of the Church that is to all the Definitions of as they call it the Roman-Catholick Church Whatsoever this Church affirms we must believe to be true and whatsoever She commands we must chearfully obey seem the thing to our own private Reason never so false or never so wicked We must not dare to examine the Truth or Lawfulness of her Decrees or Determinations tho Reason and Scripture too seem to us to be against them as we have been lately taught by the Representer for as we receive from Her the Books so from Her only we are to receive the Sense of Scripture Hence it is that they define a Heretick to be one that obstinately opposeth the Sentence of the Church The Doctrines of Fathers Bellarmine some-where tells us may be examined by Reason because they teach but as private Doctors but the Church teaches as a Iudg with all Authority and therefore no Man may dispute the soundness of her Doctrine This then is the first step I must take if I will go over to the Church of Rome I must resolve to see no longer for my self with my own Eyes but give my self up to be led by the Church never questioning the Way I am to go in so long as she leads me And truly so far as I am yet able to discern with my Protestant Eyes it is but needful to close the Eye of Reason before-hand when I am about to go where I must otherwise see such things as no Reason can indure It was therefore very ingenuously spoken as I have heard of Mr. Cressy when he said that the Wit and Judgment of Catholicks is to renounce their own Judgment and depose their own Wit. Yet if this be true I must beg his Pardon if I dare not yet imitate his Example or
have the least Zeal for God's Honour I am verily oerswaded that the good Language they bestow upon the Scripture hath kept more out of their Church than ever their Arguments yet won I will not now take notice of those too well known Encomiums bestow'd upon it by some of their Communion calling it a Nose of Wax a Leaden Rule a dead Letter unsens'd Characters and I am ashamed to say what more I shall only observe what is ordinarily taught us and endeavour'd with much Art to be prov'd by their best most modest and generally approved Authors as That the Scripture is not Necessary that it hath no Authority as to us but from the Church that it is an imperfect an insufficient Rule that it is an obscure Book and finally a very dangerous one to be read by the People I know very well That the Representer and others of them tell us That the Papist believes it damnable in any one to think speak or to do any thing irreverently towards the Scripture and that he holds it in the highest Veneration of all Men living I know also that most of them even whilst they are industriously proving all that I but now said do yet labour to mollify and sweeten their own harsh Expressions which they know must needs grate the Ears of all pious Persons I am also verily perswaded that many Papists have a very venerable esteem for the Scripture and are not a little troubled to hear it reproachfully used And yet I cannot see that highest Veneration for it or that they speak not very irreverently of it who speak no worse of it than the Representer himself hath taught them viz. That it is not fit to be read generally of all without License tho he gives this very good reason for it Lest they should no longer acknowledg the Authority of the Roman Church or in his own words No Authority left by Christ to which they are to submit As tho Men might be taught by the Scripture to be disobedient to any Authority which Christ hath set up in his Church I cannot see any great Veneration he hath to the Scripture in saying They allow a restraint upon the reading of the Scriptures for the preventing of a blind ignorant Presumption or the casting of the Holy to Dogs or Pearls to Swine such too is his respect for Christians That he hath no other assurance that they are the Word of God but by the Authority and Canon of the Church That almost every Text of the Bible and even those that concern the most essential and fundamental Points of the Christian Religion may be interpreted several ways and made to signify things contrary to one another That it is altogether silent without discovering which of all those Senses is that intended by the Holy Ghost and leading to Truth and which are erroneous and Antichristian That a Man may frame as many Creeds as he pleases and make Christ and his Apostles speak what shall be most agreeable to his Humour and suit best with his Interest and find plain Proofs for all That it alone can be no Rule of Faith to any private or particular Person Certainly they who talk of the Scripture at this rate have not the highest Veneration for it of all Men living They that say and labour to prove that the Scripture is not necessary may well be supposed to think that the Church of God might do well enough without it And tho to lessen the Odiousness of this Assertion they are forced to confess it is a Lie without the help of some such mental Reservation as this So that God could not if he pleas'd preserve his Truth among Men some other way than by writing it yet doth not this speak in them the like Veneration for the Scripture as Protestants have who down-rightly affirm it to be necessary And it must needs sound ill to say That the All-wise God hath been very careful to leave and preserve in his Church an unnecessary thing Yea 't is altogether as absurd to say the Scripture is not necessary because God could if it had seem'd good to him have preserv'd his Church and Faith without it As it would be to say that Plowing and Sowing or Eating and Drinking are not necessary because God could if he pleas'd make the Ground bring forth without the one and preserve Man's Life without the other Nor can it be imagin'd that any Man upon this account only would venture to say and attempt to prove the Scripture not to be necessary in a sense wherein no Man ever affirm'd it if he were not so zealously bent upon lessening the Esteem which we have for it that he will chuse rather to say nothing to the purpose and dispute against no Body than to be silent and say nothing that sounds ill of it and that he thinks it needful for the ends of his Church so to do In like manner when they contend that the Authority of the Scripture is from the Church which is the thing whereof at every turn they are forward enough to mind us they are forced again to make some Abatements to make it seem a Truth 'T is true they say that consider'd in it self alone it hath its Authority from God whereby they can mean no more but that God is the Author of it but in relation to us it hath its Authority from the Church Now I would fain know what any Man can understand properly by the Authority of the Scripture but its relation to us or the Power it hath to command our Faith in it and Obedience to it as the Word of God. And if it have all this Power from the Church as is confidently affirm'd then tho it self be of God yet all its Authority is from the Church and it must needs be true which was said by one of them That it is of no more Authority than Livy or Aesop ' s Fables without the Churches Declaration Thus is the Authority of God's Word made to depend upon the Authority of Men and all our Faith is no more but humane Faith resting upon humane Testimony And if the Authority which it hath to oblige us be from the Church I would know by what Authority it doth oblige the Church it is not sure by any Authority from Her for then I see no reason why the Church may not chuse whether she will receive it or no whilst yet I think that it is only by the Authority of the Scripture that she can pretend to be a Church and to have any Authority at all However this I am sure of that they who say the Scripture is to be receiv'd for the Churches Sake have not so high a Veneration either for it or the Author of it as they who say it is to be receiv'd for God's Sake And in the next place whether we who say the Scripture is a perfect and sufficient Rule of Faith and Manners containing all things necessary to Salvation or they
Children understand God's Word Why first She keeps it in the Latin Tongue only whereof the far greater number of them understand not one Syllable Why secondly She doth not give them some Infallible Translation Interpretation or Comment of the Scripture a thing very easie for an Infallible Interpreter to do and therefore in my Opinion must argue a great defect in her Charity and much unfaithfulness in the discharge of her Trust if she do it not I am loath to ask such Questions as these because I find it goes so much against the Hair to answer them Indeed I think she doth not the latter for a very good Reason because she cannot and 't is only her vain pretence to such a Power that makes her inexcusable if she do it not And the former she is concern'd to do that they who have the Word of God only in a Language which they cannot understand may be constrain'd of necessity to depend upon her Instruction and never to question her Authority nor discern her Errors Whilst they have nothing of the Word of God but from her mouth they can have no more of it than what she gives them leave to have and therefore can neither believe a Word of what GOD speaks nor indeed that he hath spoken any thing but by her leave God speaks very plainly and intelligibly enough in the second Commandment forbidding the Adoration of Images as plainly as he forbids to commit Adultery or to Steal And Christ spake very plainly and as intelligibly saying Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Matt. 4. 10. And again when he said of the Eucharistical Cup Drink ye all of it Matt. 26. 27. as when he said Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy Neighbour as thy self St. Paul very plainly ordereth that the publick Worship of God be perform'd in a known Tongue and sheweth the great absurdity of using an unknown Tongue in God's Worship 1 Cor. 14. And he speaks intelligibly enough when he saith Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup 1 Cor. 11. 28. To say no more we think it plainly enough said of them that die in the Lord that they rest from their labours Rev. 14. 13. In all these things we hear God speak and would fain believe him But here the Church of ROME comes in with her Authority and tells us That tho GOD have said He only is to be worshipped we must believe that not he only but also the Cross Images Saints and Angels are to have a share in our Religious Worship And say CHRIST and his Apostles what they please to the contrary we must believe that not all but the sacrificing Priest ought to drink of the Cup that God's publick Worship is well perform'd in an unknown Tongue that we neither eat Bread nor drink Wine in the Eucharist that all who died in the Lord do not rest from their labours but that the most of them go into most dreadful torments At this rate for ought I can see must I believe the Word of God when I have once submitted to the Authority of the Church of ROME Fifthly It seems very hard for me to conceive how I should be bound under penalty of Eternal Damnation to espouse a Religion and submit to an Authority for which no convincing Reason can be given me by them that invite me to it What is it in any Religion which can commend it before others to a man's Choice but its Truth and Goodness And how should the Truth and Goodness of any Religion commend it to my Choice till they be discover'd unto me and I be rationally convinced that it hath them Whatever Truth and Goodnoss there may really be in the Religion called POPERY I am sure they can be no motives to me to embrace it till they be clearly laid open to my Understanding and Iudgment that I may plainly discern them and therefore if any PAPIST will take an effectual course to Convert me to it he must by rational means convince me first that his is the true Church and her Doctrines sound and good How he can do this upon his own Principles I see not yet but rather think it a very gross absurdity in him to attempt it He tells me often that no private Person such as I am ought to judg for himself in Points of Faith or therein to follow his own private Iudgment tho to him grounded both on Reason and Scripture He must not therefore in disputing with me according to his own Doctrine bring either Reason or Scripture to convince me for I must not trust my own private Iudgment and I know no other that I have tho as it seems to me grounded both on Reason and Scripture I must not judg for my self by either of them whether what he commends to me by them be true or no and then I cannot imagine to what end he useth them in any dispute with me He must resolve therefore for ought I can see whenever he would convert me to judg for me too as well as dispute with me and then if I cannot make a right Choice for my self he may do it for me tho after all whether his private Iudgment be any more to be trusted in such a case than my own I may possibly doubt Either it is a matter of Faith That the Church of ROME is the only true Church and that She hath this Authority of determining for all Christians which is the saving Faith of CHRIST or it is not If it be not I may be safe enough tho I believe it not and 't is ill done of PAPISTS to terrify me with these big Words which are as false as terrible That I cannot be saved without believing this If it be a matter of Faith then must I either be allow'd to judg for my self by my own private judgment in a matter of Faith or all the PAPISTS endeavours to persuade me to believe it are altogether vain unless it be reasonable for me to believe a thing against my Reason and Iudgment When he useth Arguments I should think he meant thereby to convince me in my private Iudgment but it seems 't is only to drive me out of it and that if I may use it at all it is only to this end that I may conclude I have no use of it All the Arguments in the World cannot convince me till I judg of them and therefore no PAPIST can offer me a Reason why I should embrace POPERY but he must contradict himself and give me as strong a Reason why I should not embrace it because its Principles are false It will be all one as if he should say I ought to be convinced by Reason and yet I neither ought nor can be convinced by it In urging his Reasons upon me he intends they should convince me in denying me the Liberty of judging for my self by
I know not how to serve God without it Yet if I should dare to venture thus far may I now have leave to take my rest here If my dimsighted Reason help me to stumble into my Mother's lap may I yet think my self safe there Not till I have learn'd her Charity too as well as her Faith which the REPRESENTER tells us She learn'd of Christ and his Apostles Therefore Lastly I must believe that all other Christians but PAPISTS are in a state of Damnation The Decree of P. BONIFACE the VIIIth as now it stands in the common Extravagants is well known to be this We declare say define and pronounce That it is altogether of necessity to SALVATION that every Creature be subject to the POPE of ROME P. PIUS the II. in his Bull of Retractation tho he was not altogether of the same mind as it seems before whilst he was Aeneas Sylvius saith He cannot be saved that doth not hold the Unity of the ROMAN Church If so lusly a Decree and so preremptory a Declaration of two POPES be too little there is abundance more to this purpose to be met with by him that has a mind to search for it I only take notice at this time that P. LEO the X th in his Lateran Council and his Bull therein read and pass'd saith We do renew and approve that same Constitution viz. of P. BONIFACE but now mentioned the present Sacred Council also approving it And Lastly P. PIUS the IV th in his Bull wherein he confirms the Council of TRENT imposeth an Oath upon Ecclesiastical Persons wherein they swear That the HOLY CATHOLICK and APOSTOLICK ROMAN Church is the MOTHER and MISTRESS of all Churches and that this is the true CATHOLICK FAITH without which no man can be SAVED Here 's enough in all Conscience for us PROTESTANTS to hear and too much a great deal as I think for any man to believe I think my self bound in Charity to have the best Opinion I can of all men and therefore I dare not think that all they who are called ROMAN CATHOLICKS have throughly learn'd this Doctrine There seems to me to be so much of Ill-nature in it that I should think my self the worst natur'd man in the World if I could believe that any considerable numbers of them besides the Priests are guilty of it Many piously disposed Souls are not so happy as to have always the clearest Understandings or the sincerest Teachers but have better Hearts than either Heads or Guides Their Zeal is too great for both their opportunities of Learning and Patience to consider their earnestness of SALVATION a thing very laudable in them puts them into too much haste to deliberate long and gives an advantage to some who watch for it to abuse them Either a cunning JESUIT or a canting FANATICK will hope to make an easy Prey of such Persons for it matters not greatly of which sort the Tempter be whilst the Temptation is the same The Fish minds not the Fisher but the Bait Every Argument from either is edged with a mighty Zeal and Importunity and sharpned with the sinest and most penetrating Expressions of a most tender Compassion for perishing Souls SALVATION is as confidently promised as earnestly desired and whether it be to be had in the ROMANISTS Infallible Church or in the SEPARATISTS purg'd and unmix'd Congregation all 's a case when once the man is made to think it cannot be had in the Church of ENGLAND If they who are so easily Proselyted either way would take time to look before they leap and could but see into the consequents of those very Arguments which most prevail with them and are made the Traps to catch them in they would stand off a little and ask a few Questions more for their better Satisfaction before they could endure to think of entring into a Communion which would oblige them as ever they hope to be saved themselves to believe that CHRIST hath no faithful Followers upon Earth but a few Subjects of the POPE of Rome I can easily perceive by divers Books written by them who call themselves Converts that the main Motive of their going over to the ROMAN Church was this That they could not hope to be saved in any other And I find that most Arguments of late used to persuade us to that Religion look the very same way And it is this Doctrine alone that hath put me upon this Enquiry for my own Satisfaction For I must needs confess that this Doctrine which some acount so powerful a Persuasive to Popery has always with me had the quite contrary effect to what I find it hath in them and has been and is at this present to me as strong a Dissuasive from it If I can never be a PAPIST till I can believe it I am very confident I shall never be one I would leave the Church of ENGLAND the next Minute should she require of me to believe that all out of her Communion were in a state of Damnation and truly I think that most PROTESTANTS are of my mind When therefore I found the REPRESENTER in good earnest to vindicate his Church in this one Point I presently concluded that he had writ his whole Book to no purpose for let him spend all his Oyl and Colours in painting POPERY to the best advantage so long as this one Spot appears in her Face she may possibly seem in her new Dress less terrible but not one jot more lovely Having told us That no one can arrive to the true knowledg of the Catholick Faith but by receiving it as proposed and believed by the Church of CHRIST and that the ROMAN CATHOLICK is the only true Church that whosoever denies any Article of her Faith denies so much of CHRIST's Doctrine That whosoever hears Her hears CHRIST and whosoever obstinately and wilfully is separated from Her is in the same distance separated from CHRIST himself and finally That God addeth to this Church daily such as shall be saved He hath told us enough to persuade us that no PROTESTANT in the World could have done that Church a greater diskindness than he hath done nor by any Misrepresentation of her have worse Represented her When the PAPISTS are pleas'd to ask us that unanswerable Question as they account it Where was your Religion before LUTHER They wish us withal to take into our Serious Consideration the state of our Forefathers who lived and died in the Religion of the Church of ROME asking us if we dare think that they were all damn'd We need not trouble our heads with shaping an Answer to so frivolous a Question because we durst never yet be so hardy as to affirm that all are damn'd who live and die in the Communion of the Church of ROME but do openly declare to the World that tho we think our own Religion the safest yet many of that Communion have been heretofore and many also are at this day under such
than the Scripture till he Interprets for us is hard to say So that all returns to this still That we have her honest Word for her Authority and this is the sole Foundation that I can discover of this prodigious Faith which we must all have or else perish eternally III. And now in the last place seeing it is come to this for ought I see that I must rest upon her own Word or nothing for the Truth of her Sovereign Authority and must upon peril of my own Damnation take upon me this invidious Profession to believe all men damn'd but PAPISTS that I may enjoy the Blessing of my Mother I should be glad to know that She her-self as Infallible as she is could but probably assure me where this Word of her's may certainly be found The REPRESENTER indeed in his confident way hath told me That all the Members of his Religion however spread through the World agree like one man in every Article of their Faith. And if we would know for our learning by what happy means this wonderful Agreement is effected he tells us It is by an equal Submission to the Determinations of their Church that is as I understand it by taking her bare Word for every thing No one of them saith he tho the most learned and wise ever following any other Rule in their Faith besides this of unanimously believing as the Church of God or ROMAN Church believes And if this be so I wonder to what purpose their Learning and Wisdom can serve them any more than their Iudgment and Wit which they have renounced and deposed However if this be true Representing I shall not I hope find it difficult to find out the Church's Word and Authority on which my Faith must stand Every Member of it tho he have no more than the old Collier's Faith can help me to it in any part of the World for all agree like one Man in every Article and therefore sure in this most fundamental one But what now shall I think after this if it should so fall out that hardly one in a hundred of these Members know either where this Church of theirs is to be found or what those Determinations of hers are unto which they so unanimously submit Nay what if their Church it self cannot tell them this When She hath said all She can to inform both them and us suppose it be still two to one that we shall be mistaken in it whatever we take to be the ROMAN Church or her infallible Word This is it that I am now for a Close to inquire into It must needs seem more than a little absurd and exceeding hard to tye a man under pain of Damnation to believe he knows not what and what no body can certainly shew him I mean a Power in the Church of ROME which all men deny but they of her Communion and about which even they who are of her Communion are so divided among themselves that I do not see how ever they can agree about it Is there no Dispute in that Church about this Power Have they not been even at Daggers drawing among themselves about it Is the Controversie yet decided Or can any one promise me that it ever shall There is a great Diversity among the Schoolmen saith our REPRESENTER in their Divinity-Points and Opinions of such matters as are no Articles of Faith and have no relation to it but as some Circumstance or Manner which being never defined by the Church may be maintain'd severally either this way or that way without any breach of Faith or injury to their Religion I will not stay here to ask him what greater diversity he can find amongst the Members of our Church than he here grants to be amongst PAPISTS nor why our Divisions being no greater than theirs nor more nearly related to any Article of Faith should be less consistent with the Unity of the Church as is commonly objected against us than theirs are But I ask whether the Supreme Authority of the ROMAN Church be an Article of the ROMAN Faith or no And again whether all the Members of that Church be as one man unanimously agreed about it or no He will say it may be about the Article they are as to the Substance of it tho not as to all Circumstances But now if it appear that these Circumstances of the Power about which they differ are such as the thing it self will be as good as nothing without them or if they be not as certainly known and believ'd as the Power it self I think it will follow that all their agreement about the Thing is as good as nothing too till these Circumstances be also agreed upon Thus it is then I must for my Salvation believe that there is such a thing as a Supreme Power over all Churches in the Church of ROME and in this all PAPISTS as one man unanimously agree but about the Circumstances of this Power there is a great diversity of Opinions among them yet is this no injury to their Religion Tho without a better agreement about these Circumstances no man in my opinion can be able to satisfie me what their Religion is for these Circumstances about which they differ are no more but such inconsiderable things as these Whence this Power is whether it be of God or of Men of Divine or Human Right only whether it extends over all the World or over all Christians only to Spiritual concerns only or to Temporals also where it resides and is lodg'd in the Church-Diffusive or all Christians especially the Pastors or in the Church-Representative or General Councils or in the Church Virtual or the POPE of ROME These petty Circumstances they differ about and the Church it self knows not how to agree them but what 's all this to the Article it self most firmly believ'd by all that is a Supreme Power in the Church All their Religion rests on the Determinations of their Church all the force of these Determinations to oblige the Faith of men depend on this Supreme Power May not a man however well enough be assured of his Religion tho no man can tell him Whence this Power is Over what it is or Where it is Indeed what other men can do I know not but for my own part I must needs think it a very hard matter to believe this Power and to have any certainty of the Religion founded on this Power without some better Information about these Circumstances of it and therefore before I can yield to be of that Religion I must beseech that Church which will not allow us to be saved without an absolute Submission and Resignation of our selves to her Authority to tell us if not Whence which is yet the most material Circumstance of all the rest yet at least What and Where it is There is challeng'd by this Church a Power of over-ruling our Faith by her Infallible Iudgment and a Power of commanding our Obedience by
have this Infallibility or Iudgment to be in the Council and not in the POPE And Bellarmin tells us That this Opinion is not properly Heretical and for this good Reason which if it should not hold they would lose a great part of their Church because they that hold it are tollerated in the Church yet it seems erroneous and next a kin to Heresie It should seem by this that an Error tollerated by the Church of ROME is no Heresie but if not tollerated it is Indeed I know not well how ever she can Err Heretically at this rate unless she will grow so unkind to her self as not to tollerate her own Errors The same Iesuit tells us again That it was the Opinion of Albertus Pighius and whether he was singular in it or no I shall not now ask That the POPE can by no means be a Heretick or teach Heresie publickly altho himself alone define any thing without a Council And this Opinion he acknowledges to be probable yet not certain But I think 't is very certain that POPES have been Hereticks either as condemned by or condemning one another for Heresie Lastly he saith the most common Opinion and that for which he brings a multitute of Authors is this That whether the POPE can be a Heretick or no yet he cannot any way define any Heretical thing to be believ'd by the whole Church This he calls the most sure Opinion tho they who are of it seem not very well agreed among themselves about it For some of them say simply The POPE cannot err Others speak it with this limitation Proceeding maturely with the advice of his Council But now suppose he should be too hasty and define something rashly of his own head Oh! That cannot be saith Bellarmin for God will not suffer it And yet I wish he could tell us Why God may not as well suffer an Heretical POPE to define rashly or indeed rather deliberately according to his own Heretical Iudgment as suffer him to whom he hath committed the Charge of the whole Flock to fall into Heresie However considering this variety of Opinions in the Church of Rome concerning this Infallible Iudg to which all must be subject in Matters of Religion I begin to think with my self with what satisfaction of Conscience I shall be able to live in that Communion I must obey the Infallible Iudg or else be damn'd And who is this Infallible Iudg whom I must obey It is the Church of ROME this all can tell me with one consent but tho this were true yet am I no wiser for it that whole Church never yet met to Iudg or Determine of any thing Who is it then in this Church to whose Iudgment I must submit It is the POPE alone say some and yet these some are not agreed whether he may not define some things rashly without due advice at least when he is a Heretick as some Popes have been if Popes themselves may be believed and it seems not impossible that an Heretick obstinate in Error may define something rashly and unadvisedly It is not the POPE but a General COUNCIL say others and why these deserve not as much credit as the former I know not for they are tolerated by the Church and surely the Infallible Church will not for shame tolerate any dangerous Error 'T is neither the One nor the Other saith a Third Party but a POPE in COUNCIL or a COUNCIL confirm'd by a POPE and yet whether the Determinations of such a Church-Representative be of full virtue till they have been universally receiv'd is made a Question by a Fourth Party Where are we now after all this to seek our Infallible Iudg Suppose a COUNCIL should define it as a matter of Faith that the POPE himself is subject to a COUNCIL and again that a POPE yea a POPE in COUNCIL define the contrary that the COUNCIL is subject to the POPE This is no idle Supposition of an impossible or unlikely thing for whosoever knows what was done in the Councils of CONSTANCE and BASIL consisting of as many Patriarchs Archbishops and Bishops as most of the Councils ever did and again what afterwards pass'd in the Councils of FLORENCE and the LATERAN under P. LEO the X th must know that such a thing at least once came to pass Suppose then this which once was and if the POPE could endure to think of a Free Council might be again what should I have to ground any certain Faith upon I must still under Pain of Damnation submit my Faith to the Iudgment of the Church It is not neither I believe ever will or can be agreed upon which is the Iudgment of the Church that of the COUNCIL or this of the POPE or the other of POPE and COUNCIL The Contest is between those that will admit of no Iudg and therefore of no Decision Their Determinations already extant are directly contrary one to another yet both pretended to be of Faith. That both cannot be so is plain and it may be neither is so And whether the one or neither be so if I would determine for my self I make my self the Iudg of the Church's Definitions even of those to which I must submit my Iudgment or be damn'd The other Branch of Power claim'd by this Church is that of giving Laws to all Christians unto which all that will be saved must yield Obedience About this I find no better Agreement among them than about the former There is so great a dispute among the Doctors saith one of them about the fulness of Ecclesiastical Power and unto what things it extends it self that in this matter few things are secure Yet that such a Power there is we must believe or perish tho none can certainly tell us what kind of Power it is whether purely Spiritual or Temporal also And an Universal Power it must be tho we cannot learn how far it reacheth whether to all or but some either things or persons It is held by many saith Bell. that the POPE hath by Divine Right a most full Power over the whole World in Matters both Ecclesiastical and Civil And for this Opinion he names Augustinus Triumphus Alvarus Pelagius Panormitan and others with whom their Angelical Doctor Thomas of Aquine seems to consent In the POPE saith he is the Top-height of both Powers Others say That the POPE as POPE hath no Temporal Power at at all neither can any way command Secular Princes or deprive them of their Kingdoms and Principalities tho otherwise they deserve to be deprived of them For this Opinion he names not so much as one of their own Communion why I know not unless it were because he knew it to be an Opinion very unwelcome at ROME or because he thought there were but a few inconsiderable PAPISTS that held it And therefore he fathers it upon the Hereticks whose Loyalty to their Princes will better bear it The REPRESENTER here tells us He knows that the
Deposing and King-killing Power has been maintained by some Canonists and Divines of his Church and that it is in their Opinion lawful and annex'd to the Papal Chair And that some Popes have endeavour'd to act according to this Power Yet is he not willing that Hereticks of any sort should carry away the Honour which Bellarmin bestow'd upon them of a Loyal Religion but saith That there are of his Communion three times the number that publickly disown all such Authority that some Universities and Provincial Councils have condemn'd it and that Popish Princes sit as safe on their Thrones as others Yea and he will engage that all Catholick Nations in the World shall subscribe to the Condemnation of all such Popish Principles and Doctrines and shall join with all good Protestants for the extinguishing them with all that profess and practice them and utter rooting them out of his Majesties three Kingdoms and the whole Universe I must do him right notwithstanding all this for he hath not said That the whole Church of ROME or any General Council hath condemn'd this Doctrine or that it is by publick Authority for the offence it gives rased out of the Canon-Law nor the LATERAN Council nor that Protestant Princes can sit as safely in Popish Countries as Popish Princes may in Protestant Countries And when he tells us That the Sentence of the Supreme Pastor is to be obey'd whether he be Infallible or no altho I have a great Opinion of the Loyalty of many PAPISTS I durst hardly engage for his if there should chance to be such a POPE again as himself confesseth some have been But what saith Bellarmin A third sort there is that takes a middle way and he names not a few of them himself being one of the number These hold that the POPE as POPE hath indeed no Temporal Power directly and immediately but Spiritually only And such as he makes it there needs no more for it will serve his Holiness as well and the Hereticks as ill to all intents and purposes yea even to the deposing of Princes as the greatest Temporal Power in the World. For saith he by reason of this Spiritual he hath also at least indirectly a Temporal Power and that no less than the highest And even as the Spirit or Soul hath Power over the Flesh to Chastise and even to deliver it up to Death in order to the Spiritual ends of the Soul So also may the POPE tho not as an ordinary Iudg yet as an extraordinary in order to spiritual Ends change Kingdoms taking them from one and giving them to another abrogate the Civil Laws of Princes and determine of their Rights This I am sure is more than ever St. Peter had by Virtue either of the Rock or Keys or Pastoral Staff and I am confident he never thought of half this when he charged all Men to submit to the King as SUPREME 1 Pet. 2. 13. Nor when v. 17. bidding us Honour all Men love the Brotherhood fear God honour the King he omitted to mind us of the great Duty of all the Subjection we must yield to his Successors the Bishops of ROME especially when he might well suppose we should have been much apter to have learn'd it of himself than of any of his Successors 'T is time for me now I think to consider into what a Labyrinth I must run my self by going over to the Church of ROME and how I can behave my self when I come there I am going into a Church out of which I am told there is no Salvation yet I cannot foresee that this Church her self can tell me surely how I may be saved in it Of this Church I am told I cannot be a Member to any purpose if I be not in all things Subject and Obedient to the Supreme Head of it the POPE And subject to him I cannot be if I actively obey not his Commands for passive Obedience is now become the despised Badg of a Heretick But what the POPE's Power to command is I can meet with no Body that can certainly inform me It is an absolute Power over all the World say some No say others but only over Christians and in things Spiritual Well says the third Party tho it be directly and immediately only Spiritual yet it is no less for that but in order to Spirituals it reacheth over all both Temporal Persons Laws and Iudgments All this Power is in me only saith the POPE You are too hasty Sir say some Councils and the Doctors of France for the chief Power is by Christ himself given to the Council and even to put down and set up POPES as they would deal with Kings and Emperors Which of these now must I believe and obey The Prince under whose Government I live may command me one thing and the POPE my Spiritual Father may command the contrary How must I now do to bear my self evenly betwixt two such Masters I consult my Spiritual Guides and take the best Advice I can get some say one thing and some another and which to believe I stand in need of another Guide to direct me nay the Church it self knew I where to find her so visible is She could not tell me which is in the right If I believe those who tell me the POPE has no Power in Temporal matters then is my Prince in all such Matters to be obey'd say the POPE what he will to the contrary If I hearken to them that tell me the POPE has a fulness of Power in all both Temporal and Spiritual matters I must obey my Prince in nothing without the POPE's leave If I listen to them who say The POPE's Power in Temporal matters is indeed the highest Power yet indirectly only and in order to Spiritual ends then am I so far to obey it and no farther And here I am at as great a loss as ever for who shall judg for me whether his Commands be needful for Spiritual ends or no It is very unlikely that my Prince and the Pope should agree in the Determination of this Point and the difference being between them two and their Commands to whose award will they stand I must here necessarily be left to the Direction of my own or some other private Iudgment and which side soever I take it is an even Wager whether I can be saved I have been considering all this while for my self alone and the satisfaction of my own Conscience I presume not to judg for nor of others They who have more Light and better Eyes may go on more confidently 't is all my care to go safely for my self and as inoffensively as I can to all others I see many Wise men among ROMAN-CATHOLICKS and I dare not say the contrary but that they are of another Religion than I because they are Wiser and better able to chuse than I. If I chuse as wisely as I can for my self I cannot do any better for my self and I doubt not of being saved whilst I do so well And if it should prove so that I chuse the worse he hath no reason to be angry with me to whom I leave and do not grudg the better I cannot yet think it necessary to Salvation to believe that Church Infallible which not only in my opinion but in the Iudgment of all other Christians and they are 〈…〉 and more hath often Erred and doth very grosy 〈◊〉 many things and which if we ask her can her sâ—lf only tell us who they be in her Communion that can Err but not who they be that cannot Nor can I think it safe to be of that Church where I may not be allow'd to judg or try whether Error be taught me or no. I cannot think I am bound to Judg either my self or others in a state of Damnation for not denying our Senses or captivating our Iudgments to the Iudgment of an Infallible Church which could never determine where her Iudgment or Infallibility is certainly to be found Or for not obeying the Head of that Church which hath sometimes no Head sometimes many Heads and is always uncertain which is her Head or where it stands If I must thus believe and thus obey no body can tell me what and declare I do all this or in the Judgment of that Church which must be believ'd Infallible be no better for turning PAPIST then I verily think I am much safer as I am a poor PROTESTANT I am sure I may as safely as I can freely captivate my Iudgment both in Faith and Practice to the Doctrine and Laws of the Blessed JESUS whom all Christians unanimously acknowledg both the SUPREME and INFALLIBLE HEAD of the Universal Church I will no longer lose my labour in seeking an Infallible Guide which almost every body can tell me of but no man can certainly shew me Instead of an Ecclesiastical Monarch on Eâ—â—â—h I will content my self with that Blessed and only Potentate King of kings and Lord of lords whom his Father hath made Sole HEAD of the CHURCH which is his Body who long since told us that his Kingdom is not of this World as I fear the POPE's too much is FINIS * De verb. Dei. l. 1. c. 1. Tertul. de Praesct c. 25. Iren. cont Haer. l. 3. c. 2. Tert. adv Hermog c. 22. Iren. l. 3. c. 1. Aug. l. 2. cont Donat Pap. Repr p. 35. Ibid. p. 37 38. Bel. de Eccles l. 3. c. 5. Bonacin de Lensur D. 2. q. 5. p. 1. from Vasquez and others Tol. Instruct Sacerd l. 4. c. 3. Instr. Sacerd l. 1 c. 18. Prefat de Rom. Pontif. Stapleton Tripl c. 15. De Rom. Pont. l. 1. c. 10. Almain de Auth. Eccles. c. 3.