Church condemns them as Hereticks and rejecters of Purgatory Secondly It 's undeniable that he did not hold the Purgation of sins after death no not by the fire of Grief much less material fire to be an undoubted truth or Article of Christian Faith De Purgat lib. 10. cap. ult as Bellarmin in that place affirmeth it to be But in regard the words of Saint Cyprian in his Epistle to Antonian are much urged by some as clearly confirming the Romish Doctrine of Purgatory where he writeth Aliud est statim fidei virtutis mercedem accipere aliud pro peccatis longo dolore cruciatum emendari purgari diu igne It's one thing presently to receive the reward of Faith and Vertue another for one being long tormented with grief for his sins to be cleansed and purged a great while in fire To answer this place we are first of all to observe the occasion of these words Saint Cyprian a little before takes notice of an Objection of the Novatian Hereticks against the receiving the Lapsi such as for fear in time of Persecution like Peter denied Christ They alledged that if such might be admitted to Absolution and the Communion of the Church none would be Martyrs or lay down their lives for the faith of Christ Saint Cyprian answers not so for altho a time of Penance and then Peace is granted to Adulterers yet Virginity and Continency did not languish or decay in the Church Then follow the words above mentioned Aliud est c. It 's evident enough then that the Fire here mentioned is not to be understood of any proper and material Purgatorian fire which Papists plead for but Metaphorical or of the fire of Grief as St. Austin expounds the Fire 1 Cor. 3. which place most probably Saint Cyprian here alludes unto in regard such as fell away in time of Persecution were not to be admitted to the peace of the Church until they had undergone the grief and shame of a publick As Bellarmin grants de Purgat lib. 1. cap. 5. long and severe Penance termed Exomologesis So much Saint Cyprian's own words intimate It 's one thing presently to receive as Martyrs did the reward of their Faith and Vertue a great encouragement to Martyrdom another to be cleansed longo dolore with long grief and which are Paraphrastical of his former words to be long purged with fire To this I shall add that it was the Opinion of many of the Ancient Fathers as Irenaeus Justin Martyr Tertullian Lactantius Biblioth l. 6. annotat 345. Ambrose with others quoted by Sixtus Senensis that none except Martyrs were immediately upon their death admitted admitted to the presence of God ad oscula Domini to receive the Crown of Eternal Glory but were kept in loco invisibili as Irenaeus or in abditis receptaculis in some secret invisible places until the day of Judgment sollicitously expecting then to receive their final Sentence this is pendere in die judicii ad sententiam Domini as Saint Cyprian there phraseth it Thus I hope I have given let the Learned Reader judge a true and fair interpretation of Saint Cyprian's words which do not import any proper fire to purifie Souls before the day of Judgment so that upon the view of what is abovesaid we may conclude that the Romish Doctrine of Purgatory is no part of the Antient Primitive and Apostolick Faith but in the Fifth Century in Saint Austin's days began to be a doubtful and uncertain Opinion only So much at present for Purgatory I should now make some enquiry in the Writings of the Antient Fathers after Indulgences the fuel that feeds this Purgatorian Fire Lib. 80. Tit. Indulgentiae De Indulgentiis pauca dici possunt per certitudinem quia nec Scriptura expressè de iis loquitur Durand l. 4. dist 20. qu. 3. Ambr. Hilar Aug. Hieronym minimè de iis loquuntur Idem ibid. Roffensis assert Luther confut art 18. But I am much discouraged in regard Alphonsus de Castro a learned and earnest Papist who lived near Luther's time and knew what was the first occasion of his opposing the Church of Rome to wit the abominable abuse of these Indulgences by the Pardon-mongers He I say in that very Book which he wrote against Heresies and Luther by name hath informed me Inter omnes est c. that amongst all the Points in dispute betwixt Protestants and Papists there is not one which the Scripture hath less clearly delivered and of which Antient Writers have spoken less than concerning Indulgences The Popes Martyr Roffensis confesseth the use of them was sero receptus in Ecclesia of late received by the Church Of Purgatory he saith there is especially amongst the Greek Writers ferè nulla mentio almost no mention of it Now Indulgences as is granted are grounded on Purgatory they must stand and fall together So long saith he as there was no care or fear of Purgatory no Man sought for Pardons for on it depends all the credit of Pardons Take away Purgatory and what use of Pardons When therefore Purgatory was so lately known and received in the Church who now can marvel at Pardons that in the beginning of the Church there was no use of them Pardon 's therefore began after that they had trembled a while at the pains of Purgatory Thus he Antoninus Sylvester Pierius Ostiensis the Lovain Divines Polydore Virgil Cajetan and others of whom more hereafter say as much so that it will be labour in vain to search for them in the Writings of the antient Authors Here I cannot but wonder our Adversaries do not blush to boast of their present Roman Faith and Church as if they were the same only the same with the antient Primitive and Catholick one and to accuse us Protestants of Novelty Heresie and setting up a new Faith and Church under the Banner of M. Luther whereas they not we are guilty of those Crimes by introducing new Articles of Faith Purgatory and Indulgences amongst the rest which we only protest against Art. 4 Concerning Invocation of Saints I now come to Invocation of Saints and Angels a grand Article of the Roman Faith according to Pope Pius his new Creed Eximium adorationts genus Bellarm. de Beat. Sanct. concerning which I shall in general take the boldness to say that for above three hundred years after Christ there cannot be produced out of the genuine Writings of one antient Father one clear and pertinent testimony for Invocation of Saints or Angels Besides my own little observation I have good Vouchers for this Assertion to wit the most Reverend and learned Primate Usher who read over all the Fathers and Mr. Mountague in his Treatise of Invocation of Saints V. Molinaeum de Novit Papis p. 388. apud Chemnit in Exam. p. 6. 13. Apol. 2. yea Cardinal Perron acknowledgeth this to be truth who as also Cassander never used in private Devotions to pray to
may in time want snuffing and so may the most Apostolical Church in after-Ages need Reformation The second place is Matth. 18.17 Tell the Church if he neglect to hear the Church let him be to thee as a Heathen or Publican Now saith the Letter It were very hard to be condemn'd for a Heathen or a Publican for not hearing a Church that hath so closely lain hid that none could hear see feel or understand it for 900. years First I answer That these words prove not the Church visible or palpable to all men Heathens and Infidels enquiring after the true Church but at most to Christians only who live under the Church's government and submit to her Censures Secondly The words relate to a particular Christian Church of which a person is a member for it were absurd to imagine our Saviour should oblige any Christian if his Brother should offend him to tell the whole Catholick Church throughout the World his offence per literas Encyclicas Yea it 's plain and undeniable the place respects not the whole diffused number of Christians no not in any particular Church but the Governours only Now our Adversaries will not I hope say that any particular Church except their own much less its Rulers or Representatives shall be eminently visible and conspicuous to all Christians at all times Certainly our Saviour in this place does not promise any special privilege to the Church of Rome more than Antioch Ephesus or any other Apostolical Church to whom that Precept of telling the Church doth equally belong some of whom are long since utterly extinguished by the overflowing of Mahometanism How can they then from this place infer that any particular Church shall be perpetually visible and conspicuous to the World exercising Church-Government over its members Nay farther How could the Christians belonging to their Roman Church when under the persecution of Dioclesian or Constantius at which time the Shepherds being smitten the sheep were all scatter'd the Church dissipated and all Church-discipline interrupted tell the Church or make complaint to the Governours of it when they scarcely knew where they were to whom in case of offence and scandal to make complaint Our Saviour's Precept then supposes the free exercise of Church-government which in times of violent persecution cannot be exercis'd or supposed I might add Acosta de Temp. noviss lib. 2. cap. 15. Telesphorus de Magnit tribulat pag. 32. Aquipontanus de Antichrist pag. 23. That their own Writers Acosta Telesphorus the Hermite and others confess that when Antichrist cometh all Ecclesiastical Order and publick service of God shall be buried the Church-doors destroy'd the Altars forsaken the Church empty c. Now I appeal to the conscience of any man whether at that time it would be possible in case of Scandal to tell the Church when the Church shall be forc'd to hide it self and all Ecclesiastical Order is suppress'd and dissolv'd by the violence of Persecution Lastly Whereas 't is objected that the Protestant Church hath so closely lain hid for 900. years that no man could see or understand it this is very falsly affirm'd as I shall shew afterward unless such as profess'd the Religion of the Scriptures Ancient Fathers and Councils protesting against some new Roman additional Articles impos'd of late by Pope Pius and the Tridentine Council were no true visible Church of God. The last place viz. 2 Cor. 4.5 If our Gospel be hid c. is least of all to the purpose for there Saint Paul plainly speaketh not of the Church but of the Gospel or Christian Faith Hieronym in Nahum c 2. Chrysost Hom. 49. in Matth. Nunc nullo modo cognoscitur quae sit vera Ecclesia Christi nimirum ex quo obtinuit haeresis Ecclesias nisi tantummodo per Scripturas Irenaeus cont Haeres lib. 2. Quae praeconiaverunt pestea per Dei voluntatem scripserunt c Costerus Enchirid. cap. 1. Alphonsus de Castro cont Haeres grant this which is clearly deliver'd by the Scripture to which as St. Hierom and St. Chrysostom acknowledge we ought especially in times of Heresie and Persecution to have recourse for our establishment in the truth and if the Gospel first preached and afterwards written by the Apostles for what they first preached they afterwards by the will of God as Irenaeus saith wrote be hid to any it 's hid to them that perish whose minds the Devil hath blinded Doth not this place expresly confute our Adversaries who affirm that the Gospel as reveal'd by the Scripture is dark obscure and invisible to the Laity that so they may hang their faith by a blind and implicite obedience on the visibility and infallible Authority of their Church or Popes who may be as some of them have been notorious and manifest Hereticks So that these words of St. Paul can do them no service The Fathers alledg'd for the Roman visibility consider'd I come now to the Fathers quoted in your Letter and first for Chrysostom's saying * Hom. 30. in Matth. It is easier for the Sun to be extinguish'd than the Church to be darkned I wonder any sober men should require us to believe that on Chrysostom's Authority which they do not believe themselves For the Romanists Valentia and others as we have seen confess that the Church even their Roman Church may be obscur'd or darkned as it undeniably was under the Heathen and Arian Emperours in times of prevailing Heresie and Persecution So that Chrysostom must even by them be understood of a total not partial Eclipse or darkness for in that place he treateth of times of persecution wherein all grant the Church may be darkned and saith the Tyrants are gone and perish'd but the Church remaineth unconquer'd As to the places quoted out of Saint Austin Tract in Joan. de Unitate Ecclesiae Cap. 7. I answer That he speaketh of the state of the Christian Church as it was in his days in its external lustre and glory retaining the Primitive Faith without addition or detraction It was indeed strange blindness in the Donatists he writeth against not to see the true Church which as a Mountain or light on a Hill was then plainly visible before them all over Africa yea the whole World but to dare to restrain it to pars Donati the faction of Donatus as now the Jesuits restrain it to the Popish party was plain impudence Nevertheless St. Austin doth not say that the Church should always and in all after-Ages remain in that visible prosperous and illustrious state yea contrarily he confesseth that it is sometimes obscur'd thro the multitude of scandals Aliquando obscuratur Epist ad Vincentium 47. Ecclesia non apparâ—bit impiis tunc persecutoribus ultra modum saevientibus Epist 80. ad Hesychium Vide de Baptist contra Donatistas lib. 6 cap. 4. Enarrat in Psalmum 10. that it is like the Moon that may be hid that it shall not appear by reason of the
unmeasurable rage of ungodly persecutors yea so obscur'd that the members thereof shall not know one another This arguing then from the State of the Church of old in St. Austins days is just like theirs who would persuade us that the Church of Rome is now the only true Catholick and Apostolick Church because St. Paul 1600 years ago saith their Faith was commended throughout the World Rom. 1. ver 8. so was their Obedience also Rom. 16.19 But doth the Apostle say they should continue in that Faith more than Obedience unto the end of the World or that their Church alone should never corrupt the Faith or apostatize in any degree from it Tim. 4.1 He seemeth to say otherwise when he thus writeth to the Roman Church Rom. 8.18 19 20 21 22. Boast not against the branches thou bearest not the root but the root thee Because of unbelief they i. e. the Jewish Church were broken off and thou standest by Faith be not high-minded but fear for if God spar'd not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee And as to Christian Obedience De Pontif. in lib. 1. in Praefat. Genebrard Chronol lib. 4. seculo 10. Baronius in Ann. 912. num 8. in ann 985. num 1. it 's granted by Bellarmin Genebrard and others that some Popes have been so scandalously wicked that they were rather Apostatical than Apostolical and scarcely deserved to have their names register'd in the Catalogue of the Roman Bishops Concerning the Papists demanding the Names of such as professed the Protestant Religion before the Reformation As for the second Question wherein satisfaction is desir'd to answer Roman Catholicks when they demand the names of some Professors of the Protestant Religion before the Reformation it being to them strange that if Protestancy be from the Apostles and hath been in all Ages they can shew no Writings of some eminent Professors of it as well before the Reformation as many now since To this I reply first That altho the Apostles were not call'd by the name of Protestants as neither were they by the name of Catholicks or Papists yet they were really of that Religion Protestants do profess for from the Apostles and their Writings have we learn'd the Religion we maintain against additional Popish Errors and traditional or unwritten points of Faith. Such as these reckon'd up by Pope Pius as Articles of the Roman Catholick Faith which all Papists must swear to profess as necessary to salvation That there are seven Sacraments properly so call'd Transubstantiation Purgatory Invocation of Saints and Angels Worshiping Images and Reliques Indulgences the Bishop of Rome's Supremacy over all Christian Churches Real and proper Sacrificing of Christ in the Mass Communion in one kind c. All which are either not mention'd in the Apostles Writings or contradicted and condemn'd by them Secondly I answer That the Ancient Fathers and Councils for 4 or 500 years at least I might say more after Christ were not in the points above-mention'd of Pope Pius his Faith but either say nothing of them or testifie against them or at least speak doubtfully of them whence I conclude that they were of the Protestant not Popish Religion This I shall shew from their Writings Yea thirdly That some of the New Articles of Faith before named cannot be prov'd to be any part of the ancient Catholick belief by the Authority of any eminent Writers for above 1000 years after Christ particularly in the points of seven Sacraments Purgatory Indulgences Communion in one kind and some others Lastly That there is scarcely any point especially of them before rehears'd condemn'd by us in the present Roman Church but we are able to produce multitudes of eminent Writers and some of their own Communion who complain of them or protest against them as well as we in the Ages next before Luther To perform my promise I shall now prove 1. Assertion First That the Articles of the present Roman-Catholick Faith recited by Pope Pius and added by him to the Nicene Creed are either not mention'd at all in the Apostles Writings or refuted and condemn'd by them Seven Sacraments not taught by the Apostles First For their seven Sacraments The Apostles no where teach us to acknowledge seven Sacraments or that Matrimony Orders Extream Unction Confirmation Confession are such and as Bellarmin affirms Nec plura nec pauciora De Sacram. lib. 2. c. 24. Chrysost Ambros Austin c. only such Baptism and the Holy Eucharist we own flowing as the antient Fathers speak out of Christ's side whence came forth Water and Bloud which are answerable to the two only Jewish Sacraments Circumcision and the Passover as we read 1 Cor. 10.2 3 4. More we find not It 's true St. Paul discoursing of the Conjugal Union betwixt Christ and his Church termeth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ephes 5.32 a great Mystery The vulgar Latine translation renders it ambiguously and improperly magnum Sacramentum a great Sacrament Hence the Romish Church will needs have Matrimonv instituted by God in Paradise to be a proper Christian Sacrament but St. Paul declareth he meant no such matter In locum for as Cardinal Cajetan observes he immediately addeth But I speak of Christ and the Church St James also mentions Anointing the sick with Oil James 5.14 but that was in order to the miraculous gift of healing the Body as we may gather from Mar. So Cajetan expoundeth that place 6.13 It had no spiritual effect on the Soul as all Sacraments properly so call'd have and must have as is granted The forgiveness of sins was by Prayer to God not Oil ver 15. Nor Transubst Secondly The Apostles did not teach Transubstantiation Durand Biel Scotus Cameracensis Cajetan grant it canbe not evidently proved from the Scripture See below Matth. 26.26 1 Cor. 10.16 17. Card. Contarenus de Sacram l. 2. c. 3. Canus loc Theol. l. 3. c 3. Fisher cont Luther c. 10. say the same 1 Cor. 11.26 27 28. Verse 29. The Church is called Christs Body is it therefore his Natural Body in a literal sense 1 Cor. 10. John 15.1 Did Christ eat his own Body when the Sacrament was administred and taken by him So Chrysostom Hom 40 in Jean 3. or that by consecration the substance of the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper are annihilated or turned into the substance of Christ's body and blood Yea St. Paul expresly declares the contrary for he calleth it Bread and Wine even after consecration The Bread that we break but Christ first blessed and afterwards brake it is it not the communion of the Body of Christ The Cup of Blessing we bless is it not the communion of the bloud of Christ So that Bread and the Cup i. e. by a Figure or Metonymy as all must grant the Wine in the Cup remain in the Communion as means whereby we obtain the communion of Christ's Body and
yet renounced and with some reluctancy forsaken for Christ's sake and the Gospels Such a man saith St. Augustine is saved yet as it were by fire urit enim eum dolor for grief burneth him as Latin Authors speak So that by Fire in that place 1 Cor. 3. This learned Father did not so far as I can perceive understand any proper and material fire but Metaphorical onely Then he immediately adds Whether therefore in this life only men suffer these things i. e as I said before this figurative fire of grief or also after this life some such judicia judgments or punishments follow the sense of Saint Pauls words quantum arbitror as I think abhors not from truth So that Saint Austin doth not peremptorily assert it as a point of Catholick Faith to be believed necessarily to Salvation that there is any such to wit grief after this life but leaveth it uncertain and delivereth it as his opinion onely Thirdly It is worthy of our observation that they who held amongst whom Saint Jerom was one that all Christians In fine Comment in Isaiam not Hereticks or Schismaticks who professed faith in Christ should how wickedly soever they had lived and died be at last saved an Opinion detested by Saint Austin and earnestly confuted by him in several places of his Works did bring this very Text 1 Cor. 3. to prove it He that buildeth on this foundation i. e. faith in Christ and the p rofession of it wood bay stubble i. e. a wicked and barren life shall be saved yet so as by fire Saint Austin labouring to bring men off from this dangerous Error so plainly contradicted by the Holy Scripture in many places 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Forsitan verum est lib. 21. de Civit. Dei cap. 26. is sometimes not unwilling to grant that it is possible that some of the weaker sort of Christians departing out of this life under the guilt of some lesser sins might be purged some way or other from them after this life which the Greeks at this day who deny the Romish Purgatory grant but he is far from believing or urging it on others as an Article of Catholick Faith of which to be sure he would never have spoken in so doubting and uncertain a manner neither will any learned man deny but that some of the Ancient Fathers as Saint Chrysostom St. Jerom with others noted by Sixtus Senensis were of Opinion that men dying grosly wicked yea and Devils too saith Origen should at last be saved or might at least have their punishment in Hell mitigated by the Prayers and Alms of their surviving Friends which Tenet is now condemned even by the Papists themselves Fourthly It is considerable that Saint Austin ad Dulcitium expresly affirmeth that the Fire mentioned 1 Cor. Ergò utriusque opus probabit 3. is such as not onely he that buildeth on the foundation Wood Hay Stubble but also he that buildeth or layeth on Gold Silver precious Stones must pass through For Saint Paul immediately adds the fire shall try every mans work then he adds the tentation of tribulation ignis est is fire i. e. in a figurative and metaphorical sense as it is written Ecclesiasticus 27. The Furnace trieth the Potters Vessels and just men the tentation of tribulation which he explains thus He that mindeth the things of this life 1 Cor. 7. careth too much for them if yet for Christ's sake he be at last willing to forsake them shall be saved but quasi per ignem as it were by fire quia urit eum dolor rerum quas dilexerat amissarum sed non subvertit neque consumit fundamenti stabilitate munitum incorruptum because the grief of the beloved things he hath lost burneth him but subverts or consumes him not being preserved incorrupt by the stability of the foundation to wit Faith in Christ Then he adds Tale aliquid c. some such thing i. e. burning in the fire of grief for of it he before spake to happen also after this life non incredibile est is not incredible He saith not as Bellarmin must be believed under peril of damnation and whether it be so or no quaeri potest may be enquired after and either be found or lies hid to wit that some not all of the faithful by a kind of Purgatory or Purgative fire per ignem quendam purgatorium whether figurative or proper and material he resolveth not by how much the more or less they have loved these perishing good things shall by so much the sooner or later be saved but not such of whom it 's said by St. Paul 1 Cor. 6.9 they shall not inherit the Kingdom of God unless they be pardoned here upon their true repentance Can any ingenuous Person believe St. Austin took this Purgatory Doctrine whatsoever it be or our Adversaries will have his meaning to be for an undoubted Article of the Christian Faith Lastly St. Austin expoundeth that place the Romanists urge much in maintenance of their Purgatory Matth. 5.26 Thou shalt not come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing as Protestants do that is thou shalt never come out thence as donec until is taken Matth. 1. last and in other places So Dulcitius had interpreted that place which S. Austin approveth of and applieth to this present Controversie From all that hath been said I infer First That the Fire mentioned 1 Cor. 3. is not the Popish Purgatory fire neither did Saint Austin so understand it Secondly That the true sense of that place is as he confesseth very difficult dark and obscure Thirdly That whatsoever Saint Austin inferr'd from it Whether that there is after this life a proper or only a figurative fire of Grief it is no part of the Antient Catholick Faith but a truth if a truth which a true Christian may be ignorant of without peril of damnation Quaripotest It may be questioned or sought after and possibly never be found out but lie hid Fourthly That therefore Saint Austin was no Roman Catholick Lib. quarto Dialog cap. or of Pope Pius's faith I might add that even Pope Gregory the Great confesseth that the Fire 1 Cor. 3. may be understood of temporal affliction but I shall not descend so low at this time To these express places quoted out of Saint Austin Bellarmin replies 39. Apud Bellarm lib. 10. c. 5. de Purgatorio that he doubted not of Purgatory but of the quality of the punishment and sins there to be purged But it 's evident from his own words above recited First That he understood not the Fire mentioned 1 Cor. 3. the principal place alledged by our Adversaries in a proper and natural sense as they do but moral and Metaphorical not of material but figurative Fire the fire of Grief The Greeks in their Apology deny not Pardon or purgation of some sins after death tho not by material fire for which nevertheless the Romish
us any thing De praescript c. 8. Arnobius Lib. 3. contra Gent. The first God is enough to us in him we worship all that is to be worshipped Lactantius agreeth with him Invocatio supponit omnipraesentiam lib. 6. p. 183. Instit lib. 2. cap. 16. 17. for he adviseth all men to look up and adore nothing worship nothing but the Majesty of God our Father and Maker Eusebius Caesar Demonstr lib. 1. c. 5. lib. 3. c. 3. sheweth that the Jewish Church directed their Adorations to God onely and for Christians he affirmeth lib. 4. c. 6. that they prayed to God onely in the name of Christ not of Saints or Angels as their Mediator For seeing saith he it is peculiar to Christ as the great High Priest to frame for us spiritual Sacrifices in praises and thanksgivings and because as a Priest he hath offered up himself a perfect Sacrifice to God for us V. Origen supra Psalm 20. Si cultus tantum dicatur non soli Deo debetur sed religio c. Aug. de Civit. Dei l. 10. c. 1. De Praep. lib. 12. c. 7. hence we say to him let him remember all thy sacrifice c. Here we see Propitiation is the ground of Intercession As for Angels he granteth to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honour according to the dignity of their excellent nature so do we but reserveth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all religious honour or worship to God only This is the very Doctrine of Protestants The due honour of Saints he explaineth thus We go to their Sepulchres 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make Prayers not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ipsis to them as Trapezuntius falsly if not perfidiously translated it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at them which is another thing But let us hear the testimony of Athanasius the truly Great who every where in his Orations against the Arians Orat. tertia in Arian proveth as the rest of the Fathers unanimously do Christ to be true God by this argument especially because he is prayed to V. Novatian de Trinit c. 14. Si homo tantummodo Christus cur in orationibus invocaeur c. Quomodo adest ubique invocatus cum haec hominis natura non sit sed Dei which were of no force if any Creature Saint or Angel might be in any sense invocated Particularly in his fourth Oration against the Arians from that Prayer of Saint Paul God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you He inferreth Christ to be consubstantial with the Father For no man is a true Catholick which appeareth hereby a Papist is not would pray to receive any thing of God and Angels or any Creature Neither saith he hath any Christian as yet then Invocation of Saints or Angels was unknown and unpractised amongst all true Christians used this form of Prayer or words God and an Angel we may add Saint grant it you Laus Dec Virginique Mariae in fine Tom 2. 3. Bellarm. See Dr. Brevint's Saul and Samuel at Endor Whether Papists use not such forms of words in their Prayers is too notorious to be proved to any who are acquainted with their Books of Devotion Then taking notice of one of their chief Arguments now pressed by our new Roman Catholicks for proof of their Invocation of Angels to wit the words of dying Jacob The Angel that delivered me out of all my distresses bless the Lads Athanasius as the other Fathers unanimously expounds them not of any created Angel but of the Son of God who is God and the Angel of the Covenant whom Jacob saw face to face at Peniel and termeth God. So Euseb Hist lib. 1. cap. 2. Ambrose in Psalm 43. Novatian de Trinit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aug. Hi agnoscunt se esse creaturas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas Orat. 3. in Arian He addeth David prayed to none for deliverance but to God To thee O Lord have I cryed c. and concludes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is evident the Patriarch Jacob joined none in his prayer to God but the Word whom he therefore calleth the Angel because he alone revealeth the Father Do not they then willingly abuse themselves and others who take Athanasius for a Roman Catholick or Invocation of Angels for an Article of the antient Catholick faith held by all sound Christians in all Ages or that the Angel appearing to the Old Patriarchs was a created Angel I will add his Contemporary Saint Hilary who altho he granteth which Protestants deny not that the Angels pray for the Church Militant here on Earth yet he no where alloweth Invocation of them but on Psalm 29 and 124. he adviseth all Christians to pray to God in regard he is Omnipresent in all places ready to help which is not true of Saints or Angels In like manner on Psalm 140. he saith In maledicto est religio creaturae Hil. de Trinit l. 8. p. 106. Magnificentiae Dei est orari It pertaineth to the magnificence or Prerogative of God to be prayed unto Hitherto the Coast is clear and we have the unanimous consent of the Fathers for about 340 years after Christ against Invocation of Saints Angels or any Creature Whence we undoubtedly conclude that it is tho a part of the present Roman yet not of the true antient and Catholick Faith believed semper ubique apud omnes always in all places by all sound Christians for such Doctrines as Vincentius Lyrinensis rightly notes are onely truly Catholick that is Universal as the name it self Catholick signifies To proceed Basil the Great Hom. 3. in Hexaemeron all Honour Worship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is due to God onely In Psalm 7. he saith Our hope is to be placed in God onely In Psal 18. That if any man worship the Creature beside tho with the Creator he giveth not glory to God but the Creature and in Psalm 45. Instead of Saints and Angels he telleth us that in all our necessities God is our onely Refuge In his Funeral Oration on Gordius he acquainteth us with the true ends of those commendatory or commemoratory Solemnities observed on the Natalitia or Festivals of the Martyrs to wit to glorifie God and to stir up the people to imitation of their Virtues but no mention find we there of praying to them I am not ignorant that out of Basil Nazianzen Gregory Nyssen c. their Funeral Orations some Rhetorical Apostrophes to and Compellations of the Saints deceased are urged for Invocation of Saints by Bellarmine and others To which I answer First That in the most Primitive and antient Fathers we as we have seen find them not from the beginning it was not so Secondly That Rhetorical flourishes of Eloquence are no safe and sure grounds to build an Article of faith upon as Theodoret grants Non ego dogmatum regulam ea duco Dial. 3. quae in Ecclesia
Panegyricè dicantur The Fathers in their Panegyrical Orations and popular Sermons as Sixtus Senensis a Papist acknowledgeth spake often affectuum impetu orationis cursu rapti Biblioth lib. 6. Annotat 152. such things as taken according to the literal and strict sense cannot be justified To give one instance amongst many Nazianzen in his Funeral Oration on St. Basil saith of him Now in Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as I suppose for he was not certain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he offereth up Sacrifices for us Yet no Papist will say that he celebrated Mass or as we speak the Holy Encharist or consecrated it in Heaven as that phrase of Offering Sacrifice is sometimes used by the Fathers In like manner he saith of his Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he did in Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fight for his Flock on Earth Thirdly Many of their expressions are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prayers but rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wishes So Nazianzen in his Oration on Basil Thou Mountague of Invocation of the Saints O sacred and divine Head respice nos quaeso de caelo look on us from Heaven So Billius a Papist falsly translates it In the Greek the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O si or utinam nos de caelo respiceres O that or I wish thou mightest look down from Heaven on us So that it is rather a Wish than a true Prayer This is certain Nazianzen in the Oration above-mentioned no where prayeth to his own Father 4. They speak doubtfully and uncertainly so Nazianzen making an Apostrophe to the Soul of Constantius puts in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if thou hast any sense or knowledge of our affairs I am compelled to speak to him as present More plainly in his Oration on his Sister Gorgonia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If there be such a reward bestowed on pious Souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that thou hast any knowledge or regard of our affairs receive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not orationem my prayer for he no where prays to her or Saint Basil or his Father but my speech sermonem which certainly he would have done had he been a right Roman Catholick But who can imagine or believe that Nazianzen Basil and other of the antient Fathers would have spoken concerning the Saints departed their knowledge of humane affairs so doubtfully and uncertainly if they had in the least believed that Invocation of Saints in Heaven was an Article of Catholick Faith necessary to be believed under peril of Heresie and Damnation Credat Judaeus Apella non ego But before I go on I will take particular notice of a place quoted by Bellarmine out of Saint Basil's Oration on the 40 Martyrs in these words Qui aliquâ premitur angustiâ ad hos confugiat c. He that is in any affliction or strait let him fly to these i. e. these Martyrs To this I answer First That Bellarmine abuseth his Reader with a false Latin Translation which is not unusual with him In the Greek it is onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not let him but he doth fly to them Here is matter of fact or practice they did so But here is no approbation advice or counsel of Saint Basil that they should do so Secondly He exhorts them to join their Prayers unto and with the supplications of the Martyrs Here then we find Intercession by them not Prayer to them Thirdly It is to be considered that these 40 Martyrs were all Cappadocians of that Country Montague of Invocation of Saints and so being as I suppose not long since deceased might retain some particular remembrance of the place of their Nativity and near Relations There is not the same reason of praying to Saints who never knew us nor we them Fourthly In that very place Saint Basil affirmeth that these 40 Martyrs not severally but all together were at the same time with divers persons in distant places which whether it be a truth or no I appeal to the judgment of any learned Papist They in some things reject the sayings of the Fathers as well as we Lastly He speaketh only of the place and time of their annual Festivity which will not amount to a sufficient ground of Invocation in any place and at any time of need of any Saint I now pass on to St. Chrysostome who Hom. 44. in Gen. Hom. 5. in Matth. Hom. de Profectu Evang. and elsewhere exhorteth his Hearers not to rely on the Intercession of others but to go immediately to God themselves propounding to them the Example of the Woman of Canaan Hom. 12. in Matth. who was never the better for the Apostles Intercession who intreated not Peter or James to beg for her but went directly to Christ herself and received a better answer from him Then he addeth V. Ambrose infra There is no need of Intercessors with God. I come to Theodoret who in his Comment Coloss 2. hath these words which give a deadly blow to this new point of Faith to wit worshipping Angels mentioned and condemned by Saint Paul in that Chapter v. 18. They saith he who defended the Law persuaded the Colossians to worship Angels saying that the Law was given by them Observe their reason is not because they were Gods or Creators of the World but deliverers of the Law as Saint Stephen noteth Acts 7. This Errour saith he remained a long time in Phrygia and Pisidia wherefore the Synod of Laodicea not far distant from Colosse forbid by a Law or Canon praying to Angels and to this day adds he are to be seen the Oratories not of any Heathenish Idol but of Saint Michael the Arch-Angel This they advised pretending or under a shew of voluntary humility for they said God himself could not be seen or comprehended neither could be approached unto and we must gain his favour through the Angels Thus Theodoret. Here we have the Original of the worshipping of Angels to wit certain Hereticks condemn'd by Saint Paul by the Council of Laodicea and Theodoret. We may note also that the Argument used by the Romanists to establish this pretended Article of Faith is borrowed from Hereticks to wit that God being infinite and incomprehensible it becometh not the humility of sinful Creatures to make immediate addresses to him but to use the Intercession of Angels the favourites of God. Cardinal Baronius is so netled with this testimony of Theodoret that notwithstanding his pretended reverence of the Fathers he saith plainly Theodoreti pace dictum sit non assequitur mentem Pauli Ad Ann. Christi 60. sect 17 22. Let it be spoken by the good leave of Theodoret that he understandeth not St. Paul 's meaning But by Baronius his leave I think Theodoret though no Cardinal understood St. Paul's meaning as well yea far better than he The Canon of the Council of Laodicea related to by Theodoret we find expressed in these words It becometh
named by the Priest but not invocated In the Canon of the Mass Commemorantes memoriam facientes Prayer is directed to God onely In his 8th Book de Civit. Dei cap. 17.22 27. Nos Martyribus non Templa sicut Diis sed Memorias sicut hominibus mortuis fabricamus c. Aug de Civit. Dei lib. 22. c. 10. similiter lib. 8. cap. ultimo Charitate non servitute Ibid. he affirmeth expresly That whatsoever religious Services were performed at the Tombs of the Martyrs as Prayers Sacrifices Thanksgivings were offered not to them but to God. So contra Faust lib. 20. c. 21. Quicquid offertur Deo offertur In his Epistle to Maximus the Grammarian Know saith Saint Austin that of Catholicks true Catholicks not Roman no dead man is worshipped And in his Book of True Religion c. 55. Our Religion stands not in worshipping the dead They seek not such honour This they would have that we with them worship one God according to the Angels admonition Revel 22.9 Martyrs are to be honoured as Origen Cyril Epiphanius granted for imitation not adored for Religion or as he expresseth it Cont. Faustum l. 20. c. 21. colimus Martyres c. we worship or honour Martyrs with a worship of love and fellowship with which the Saints in this life are worshipped Is any religious Worship properly so called to be given to Saints or religious Persons by us in this life Let our Adversaries consider this Lastly in his Book De Cura pro mortuis cap. 10.11 12. He overthroweth the principal grounds and reasons on which Invocation of Saints is built For first He judgeth it very probable at least that the Saints or Martyrs did not really and personally appear to their Friends although it was believed by many Compare Basil M. in Mamantem but in imagination or appearance onely Secondly He proveth which he saith he knew would be ill taken by some that the souls of the departed Saints are in a place where they see or know not what is done by or happens to their nearest Relations from Gods Promise to Josiah 2 Chron. 34.18 That he should not see all the Evil he would bring on his People as also from those words of Esaiah Isai 63.16 Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel knows us not Whence he infers si tanti Patriarchae c. If such great Patriarchs were ignorant of what happened to the People who sprang from them how are the dead interessed or concerned in knowing and helping their Friends He confirmeth his conclusion thus If the dead were interested in the affairs of the living or spake to us in Dreams my dear Mother would no night he absent from me But it 's true as in the Psalm My Father and my Mother have forsaken me c. If our Parents have forsaken us who else among the dead know what we do or suffer Now our Adversaries grant that unless the Saints departed know our particular state and wants it is vain and to no purpose to pray unto them Thirdly He answers an Objection drawn from Dives his desiring Abraham to send to his Brethren on Earth wherefore he knew what they did To this he replieth Dives had such or so great a care of the living although he knew not what they did as we have of the dead although what they do we know not in particular It was onely a general care or well wishing But Abraham knew they had Moses and the Prophets To this he answereth that he might know it by the information of Lazarus Fourthly He enquireth how the Saints come postea afterwards so that this knowledge cometh too late to ground Prayer to Saints in present extremities and sudden dangers He answereth Possunt ab Angelis possunt Deo revelante cognoscere they may know it by Angels who are conversant with us or by Revelation from God they may he saith not positively that they do Fifthly He maketh a difference which Romanists take little notice of between Martyrs and other Saints and denies that because Martyrs per Divinam potentiam miraculously or by special dispensation are sometimes here on Earth in their Temples therefore we are to think the same of all dead Saints generally or that they can come to us quando volunt when they will as Bellarmine determines D. Sanct. Beatit lib. 1. c. 20. But miraculous Dispensations are no safe Rule for ordinary supplications to all Saints promiscuously Lastly supposing it true that the living are helped some way or other by Martyrs prayed unto he saith Whether it be by their being present in so many distant places at the same time where their memories i. e. Monuments or Churches are or which no doubt he could not but think more probable whether they being in some place remote from humane converse are yet generally praying for such as pray not to them but God who might employ Angels in answering their requests as we pray in the general for the dead although we know not where they are or what they do definire non audeo I dare not resolve From all which we may easily discern how uncertain Saint Austin was concerning the presence knowledge and assistance of Saints departed afforded to some not who pray to them but to God from whence we may certainly conclude that Invocation of dead Saints was no part of St. Austin's Creed but at utmost a probable and doubtful Opinion onely as we have seen before from the writings of the Greek Fathers Nazianzen Basil and others I know well our Adversaries urge much Nazianzen's Oration on Cyprian and how a Virgin assaulted by the Devil prayed to the Virgin Mary to help her But Gelasius with the Authority of the Roman Church condemns that Book of the Conversion of Saint Cyprian which Nazianzen supposed to be genuine as false and supposititious neither is it at all probable that Saint Cyprian was ever a Magician of which neither himself in the relation of his conversion Lib 2. Epist 2. nor Pontius in his life nor any more antient creditable Writer maketh any mention They glory also much in those words of Saint Chrysostome Hom. 66. ad Popul Antioch He that is Emperour standeth praying to the Saints to the Tent-maker and Fisherman Peter and Paul to intercede with God for him To which I first oppose Saint Austin's words Epist 42. non Petro sed Deo. De script Eccl. ad ann 398. Hom 39. in 1 Cor. 15. Sixtus Senens The Emperour at the Tomb of Peter prayeth not to Peter but God. Secondly The Homily is supposititious for as Bellarmine himself granteth the true Homilies of Chrysostome ad Popul Antiochen were but 21. Thirdly Chrysostome held that Christian Saints departed are not till the Resurrection admitted to the sight of God and consequently knowledge of our Prayers Of which Opinion were many of the antient Fathers quoted for this Invocation by our Adversaries Art. 5 Concerning Image-worship I come to
Gangrene or Leprosie spreading it self by degrees over it the cutting of this Wen the curing this Gangrene the cleansing and removing this Leprosie our Adversaries most unreasonably and absurdly condemn as destroying the antient Catholick Faith and setting up a new Church under the Banner of Luther which we detest and abhor Contrarily we not they contend earnestly for the antient true Catholick Faith once and once for all delivered to the Saints in opposition to their late subintroduced Novelties of Transubstantiation Image-worship Purgatory c. which as we see by Pope Pius his new Creed they will needs add as Articles of the Antient Primitive and Catholick Faith to the Nicene Creed necessarily to be believed and professed by all Christians under peril of Heresie and Damnation If the Pope and Church of Rome may make as many Articles of Faith as they please surely in time we may have a Creed as large as Aquinas his Sum. I shall only add my earnest Prayer that God would enlighten you with his Holy Spirit that you may see the truth and renouncing all secular ends and private interests cordially embrace it Theodoret de curand Graecor affect Serm. 1. in regard as an Antient Father long since said It becometh not wise Men rashly to give up themselves to their Fathers Customs but to endeavour to find out the Truth Amen Your faithful Friend FINIS Books lately printed for James Adamson I. A Treatise of the Celibacy of the Clergy wherein its Rise and Progress are Historically considered In Quarto II. A Treatise proving Scripture to be the Rule of Faith writ by Reginald Peacock Bishop of Chichester before the Reformation about the Year 1450. III. Doubts concerning the Roman Infallibility 1. Whether the Church of Rome believe it 2. Whether Jesus Christ or his Apostles ever Recommended it 3. Whether the Primitive Church Knew or Used that way of Deciding Controversies IV. The Salvation of Protestants asserted and defended in Opposition to the Rash and Uncharitable Sentence of their Eternal Damnation pronounced against them by the Romish Church by J. H. Dalhusius Inspector of the Churches In the County of Weeden upon the Rhine c. V. The present State of the Controversie between the Church of England and the Church of Rome or an account of the Books written on both sides in a Letter to a Friend In Quarto VI. Two Discourses of Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead In Quarto VII Clementis epistolae duae ad Corinthios Interpretibus Patricio Junio Gothofredo Vendelino Joh. Bapt. Cotelerio Recensuit notarum spicilegium adjecit Paulus Colomesius bibliothecae Lambethanae curator accedit Tho. Brunonis Windsoriensis dissertatio de Therapeutis Philonis His subnexae sunt Epistolae aliquot singulares vel nunc primum editae vel non ita facile obviae In Quarto VIII Pauli Colomesii Observationes sacrae Editio secunda auctior emendatior accedunt ejusdem Paralipomena de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis passio sancti Victoris Massiliensis ab eodem emendata editio quarta ultima longe auctior emendatior Octavo IX The Travels of Monsieur de Thevenot into the Levant in three Parts viz. 1. Into Turky 2. Persia 3. The East-Indies In Folio A brief Historical Account of the Behaviour of the Jesuits and their Faction for the first twenty five Years of Queen Elizabeths Reign with an Epistle of W. Watson a Secular Priest shewing how they were thought of by other Romanists of that time Quarto The Argument of Mr. Peter de la Marteliere Advocate in the Court and Parliament of Paris made in Parliament in the Chambers thereof being assembled An. Dom. 1611. for the Rector and University of Paris Defendants and Opponents against the Jesuits Demandants and requiring the Approbation of the Lectors Patent which they had obtained giving them power to read and to teach publickly in the aforesaid University translated out of the French Copy set forth by publick Authority and printed at London 1612. Quarto