be confined to any Methodical Creeds or Articles but be left in that latitude of phrase wherein the Scriptures have delivered it 't is manifest that they look with indifferency on the things signified by those words and forms 't is manifest that they make way for growing Atheisme and Socinianisme 't is manifest that they overthrow the Constitutions of the Church of England whose Articles make use of those significant terms transmitted from the Fathers to our Schools and subvert the Basis of our Religion as it is represented in our Laws to consist of an owning of three Creeds and four Councils besides the Holy Scripture Thus primo Elizabethae cap. 1. The four General Councils are mentioned after the Scripture Canonical and that is to be adjudged Heresie which hath been adjudged ordered and determined to be Heresie by the Authority of the Canonical Scripture or by the first four General Councils The same is averr'd by King James in his Letter Rex Ecclesia Anglicana quatuor prima Concilia Oecumenica quum admittant And that King challengeth the Title of Catholick as due to him Qui tria Ecclesiae Symbola Concilia quatuor Oecumenica prima agnosceret This is evident to all that know any thing of our Church and 't is as manifest and whosoever writes otherwise repugnes to our Laws and whatever he subscribes unto or professeth is no true Son of the Church established in England Histor. R. S. pag. 362. The grounds whereon the Church of England proceeds are different from those of the Separists and also of the Church of Rome and they are no other but the Rights of the Civil power the imitation of the first uncorrupt Churches and the Scriptures expounded by Reason This last clause is so far from being true that 't is directly contrary to the constitutions of our Church and better becomes a Socinian from Poland or Amsterdam then a Divine of our Church not that I say that our Church did ever expound the Scripture against Reason but that our Church did never relie upon Reason as it is opposed to Authority of the Ancient Fathers in the determining of the will of God revealed in Scripture If the Historian meant nothing else but that the actions of men are alwayes rational and that the assent we yield to any thing is never so blind and implicite as to be destitute of all motives and inducements thereunto so that we resign our selves up to Authority upon the score of Reason If he meant no more then this why doth he speak in the language rather of a Socinian than a Protestant This expression is dangerous as it is worded because the Socinians may derive advantage from it and the Orthodox may think and find themselves injured especially in these times when the Socinians multiply upon us by it amongst the unwary as if there were no use of the Fathers but that we were without researching of Antiquity to consult the grounds of Reason such as are commonly found in men and bred in them either Naturally or from the contemplation of the ordinary course of things Physical and Moral in this World Whence what confusion will arise when all holy Sobriety is cast of any man knows who hath but inquired into the controversies of these last Centuries when the Scripture hath not been made by men the Rule of Faith or formal object thereof but only accommodated to the phansies and imaginations of prejudicate prepossessed men Upon this account the Church of England hath by her Canon in which she follows the Council in Trullo tied her Doctors as much as the Council of Trent does to expound Scriptures according to the sense of the Ancient Fathers This Bishop Taylor avows in the Introduction to his second Dissuasive This Doctor Heylyn in his Cyprianus Anglicus pag. 52. doth aver and I shall here set down the Canon of our Church Concilium Trullanum sive Synodus quinisexta Canon 19. edit per Francisc. Ioverium Parisiis A. D. 1555. Quod oportet eos qui praesunt Ecclesiis in omnibus quidem diebus sed praecipuè Dominicis omnem Clerum populum docere pietatis ac rectae religionis eloquia ex divinâ Scripturâ colligentes intelligentias judicia veritatis non transgredientes jam positos terminos vel divinorum patrum traditionem Sed si ad Scripturam pertinens controversia aliqua excitata fuerit ne eam aliter interpretentur quà m quomodò Ecclesiae luminaria doctores ex suis scriptis exposuerunt majorem ex iis laudem assequantur quà m si quae à se dicuntur componant Liber Canonum quorundam Londini 1571. Concionatores Inprimis verò videbunt nequid unquam doceant pro concione quod à populo religiosè teneri credi velint nisi quod consentaneum sit doctrinae veteris aut novi Testamenti quodque ex illâ ipsâ doctrinâ Catholici Patres veteres Episcopi collegerint Thus K. Charles I. in his third Paper to Mr. Henderson If the practice of the Primitive Church and the universal consent of the Fathers be not a convincing Argument when the Interpretation of Scripture is doubtful I know nothing for if this be not then of necessity the interpretation of private spirits must be admitted the which contradicts S. Peter 2 Pet. 1.20 Is the Mother of all Sects and will if not prevented bring these Kingdoms into confusions Histor. R. S. pag. 414 415. The Wit that may be borrowed from the Bible is magnificent and as all other Treasures of Knowledge it contains inexhaustible This may be used and allowed without any danger of Profaneness The ancient Heathens did the same They made their Divine Ceremonies the chief subject of their phansies By that means their Religions had a more awfull impression became more popular and lasted longer in force than else they would have done And why may not Christianity admit the same thing if it be practised with sobriety and reverence What irreligion can there be in applying some Scripture-expressions to Naturall things Why are not the one rather exalted and purified then the other defiled by such applications The very Enthusiasts themselves who are wont to start at such wit as Atheistical are more guilty of its excesses then any other sort of Men for whatever they alledge out of the Historical Prophetical or Evangelical writings and apply it to themselves their Enemies or their Country though they call it the mind of God yet it is nothing else but Scripture-comparison and similitude It is to be observed that this passage is inserted into a discourse concerning Wit as it discovers it selfe in the ordinary conversation and writings of the Railleurs and is founded on certaine images as our Historian phraseth it which are generally known and are able to bring a strong and a sensible impression on the mind It is an Humour that hath generally possessed the Gallantilloes of this age whereby they endeavour to recommend
represented as such by our Historian The third Proposition therefore carries something of prevarication in it So those Advocates which would betray the causes of their Clients propose a wrong state of the Case the vanity whereof being once discovered renders the Plaintiff contemptible in the sight of all men and reduces him to a necessity of complying with the injured Defendant There is a great deal of ignorance and intricateness the Consequent thereof in the Proposition of our Author as it is by him worded for Infallibility and a sovereign Dominion over our Faith are not equipollent Termes nor termes indifferently used No Papist did ever ascribe unto the Bishop of Rome except some Parasitical Canonist whose Credit is little in that Church a sovereign dominion over our Faith He that is Sovereign knows not any Superior nor any coercive Law but his will the objects about which his power is conversant are liable to what alterations he pleaseth and he rules by the Lex Regia but what Divine did ever ascribe such a power to the Pope in matter of Faith Place the Chair where and how you will none of that Church ever assumed so much nor did that Church ever attribute so much to the Bishop of Rome There have been those that have taught that if by way of supposal it could be imagined that all the Pastors of the Church Catholick should erre in a Decree of Faith the Laiety were bound to submit thereunto but such a Sovereignty in matters of faith none except some Iesuits and Parasites ascribe unto the Pope's person his Briefs and Decretals have not that credit amongst the Romanists as to authenticate such Assertions nor is the belief thereof a necessary condition to communicate with that Church upon If we look upon the contests in Germany that introduced Protestancy at first we find the erroneous doctrine about Indulgences to be the primary occasion there In Switzerland and in France and Holland abuses and Idolatrous practises or false Doctrines are the first subjects of Disputes and occasion the Reformation there Transubstantiation Communion in one kind the propitiatory sacrifice of the Masse Image-worship praying to Saints and such like Controversies are the first and most fiercely debated In England under Henry the VIII the Pope's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical causes and appeals to Rome c. give the the first occasions of discontent and that change which was afterwards carried on to a total Reformation of the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England then came in question the power of the Bishop of Rome the nature of his Primacy the Authority and Fallibility of General Councels the power of National and provincial Churches to reforme themselves during the interval of Councels or without dependance thereon whether the Scripture were the sole rule of faith how obligatory were Traditions the interest and influence of the Civil Magistrate in ruling Ecclesiastical Affairs these came next into agitation The usurpation of Infallibility and a pretended Sovereignty in matters of faith to be lodged in the Pope was neither the occasion of the Protestant separation nor a material part of the first controversies though perhaps some Italianated persons and Canonists might assert some such thing and since the growth of the Iesuites tenets of that nature have been much advanced thereby to justifie their Vow of blind obedience to the Papal commands The memory of the Councils of Basil and Constance was fresh in the minds of men and the superiority of a Council above the Pope a common and authorized tenet in that Church The personal infallibility and the supremacy of the Bishops of Rome had of old received too great a check in the cases of Vigilius and Honorius and in the declared sentences of the Councils of Pisa Constance Basil and of the Universities of Paris Loven Colen Vienna and Cracovia not to mention particular Writers to be the occasion of that rupture The Sorbone to this day continues its former judgment and even the present King of France hath asserted the liberties of the Gallick Church in that point See Arrest de la Cour de Parliament portant que les propositions contenues en la declaration de la Faculte de Theologie de Paris c. Da. 30. May. 1663. And Declaration du Roy pour l' Enregistrement des six propositions de la Faculte de Sorbonne c. A Paris 4. d' Aoust 1663. What the Popish Church now holds and requires amounts not to any such Authority as our Author asserts if you will believe Cardinal Perron before our Virtuoso Scribis de Romano Pontifice nolle te verba facere quum vel mediocriter in Historiâ Ecclesiasticâ versatis compertum sit primorum seculorum Patres Concilia Imperatores Christianos primas illi semper detulisse praecellentis dignitatis praerogativam in omnibus negotiis ad religionem aut Ecclesiam spectantibus atque hoc solum exigere Ecclesiam vestram pro articulo fidei credendum ab iis qui communioni suae se adjungunt If this Cardinal understand any thing the Romish Church demands no more of her Members then that they own the Pope's primacy not Supremacy or Infallibility nor have the the books of such as derogate from the excessive greatnesse of the Papal power been ever called in or censured in that Church or communion denied to the Assertors of the infallibility of Oral Tradition or of General Councils in opposition to the personal Infallibility of the Bishop of Rome It was and is still a common opinion amongst the Papists that the Pope may be an Heretick I learn'd it from Franciscus Victoria in his Relections Haereticus potest esse non solum Presbiter sed Pontifex etiam summus ergo caput Ecclesiae And Bellarmine himself doth not assert the Infallibility of the Pope no not though He be assisted with a provincial Council In libr. 2. de concil c. 5. fatetur hanc propositionem scilicet Concilia particularia à summo Pontifice confirmata in fide moribus errare possunt non esse fide Catholicâ tenendam ejus tamen contradictoriam temerariam erroneam pronunciat Nay the same Writer in his solemn Lectures at Rome teacheth that it is true the Pope maybe an Heretick But it is probable and godly to be thought that he cannot be an Heretick In the conference betwixt Dr. Raynolds and Hart I find this passage Raynolds The Pope may not onely erre in doctrine but also be an Heretick which I hope you will not say that Peter might Hart. Neither by my good will that the Pope may Raynolds But you must no remedy It is a ruled case Your Schoolmen and Canonists Ockam Hostiensis Turrecremata Zabarella Cusanus Antoninus Alphonsus Canus Sanders Bellarmine and others yea the Canon Law it self yea a Council a Roman Council confirm'd by the Pope
ad prophana quaeque convertantur torquentur verba sententiae sacrae Scripturae ad scurrilia scilicet fabulosa vana adulationes detractiones superstitiones impias diabolicas incantationes divinationes sortes libellos etiam famosos mandat praecipit ad tollendam hujusmodi irreverentiam contemptum ne de caetero quisquam quomodolibet verba sacrae Scripturae ad haec aut similia audeat usurpare ut omnes ejus generis homines temeratores violatores verbi Dei juris arbitrii paenis per Episcopos coerceantur What there is amongst the ancient Canons what in the Fathers prohibiting this usage I do not now remember after so great a discontinuance of those studies but that Dionysius Areopagita or whosoever Writ those works is as severe in some places as if he had continued the Court amongst Christians and that the mystery of Christian Godliness were as much to be reverenced as the Eleusinia Sacra this I am sure of Whether there be any prohibition amongst the rules of our Church I know not perhaps it may be in this case the Church of England is silent and with as much of Prudence as that State was which made no law against Parricides being not willing to think any humane creature capable of such barbarity or by inhibition to put them in mind of such an horrid fact But since the Railleurs have met at last with an Advocate who teacheth them that they may boldly take the sacred Word of God into their mouths though they hate to be reformed and that they may innocently apply it to their civil entertainments discourses though it be notorious that it is a vain talking neither for the glory of God nor edification nor decency nor without great scandal and yet the precaution of the latter and a constant regard to the former is an indispensable Command and at all times obligatory though it be manifest that whosoever useth the utmost extent of his Liberty approacheth very near to a vitiousness of acting that this Holy Raillery hath given occasion to most prophane Burlesque and that 't is the subject matter not words which hallow a conversation Oh! that any Divine should be ignorant of this or expect a contrary issue It is time that publick Authority interpose and that our Church concern her self seeing that our concern for the sacredness of Scripture ought to be much greater in point of Prudence then that of the Papists with whom the Canonical Books are but a part of Sacred Tradition and no further a Rule of Faith and Authenticate then their Church delivereth and expoundeth them so that if the repute thereof were extinguished yet would not their Church fall we have no foundation but the Apostles and Prophets upon this we are built this is our hope in this we doubt not to find Eternal Life And how this foundation will be sapped and undermined by the project of our Virtuoso I do submit unto the serious consideration of the Church of England If any one would understand what is particularly meant by this application of Sacred Writ to vulgar discourse and the manner of this Holy Raillery deduced from Scripture let him read Mr. Cowley's Poems especially his Mistresse such as this where he detests long life without enjoying his Mistress Th' old Patriarchs age and not their hapiness too Why does hard fate to us restore Why does Love's fire thus to Mankind renew What the Flood wash'd away before Resolv'd to be Beloved Thou shalt my Canaan be the fatal soyle That ends my wandrings and my toyle I 'le settle there and happy grow The Country does with milk and hony flow The Welcome Go let the fatted Calf be kill'd My Prodigal's come home at last With noble resolutions fill'd And fill'd with sorrow for the past No more will burn with Love or Wine But quite has left his Women and his Swine My Fate Me mine example let the Stoicks use Their sad and cruel doctrine to maintain Let all Praedestinators me produce Who struggle with eternal bonds in vain This Fire I 'm born to but 't is she must tell Whether 't be the Beams of Heaven or Flames of Hell These and such like Instances as they frequently occurre in those Poems so they are to be allowed by our Virtuoso for a Treasury of magnificent sober innocent Wit for when Mr. Cowly died he desired him to revise his Works and to blot out whatever might seem the least offence to Religion or good manners FINIS Hist. of the R. S. p. 47. Socrates Histor. Eccles. l. 6. c. 3. M. Fr. Wendelin Chr. Theolog System Mai. l. 1. c. 24. Council of Trent l. 1. pag. 52. Communio inter fideles in publicis maximè pietatis exercitiis est posita atque hoc est optatae bonis unionis vel praecipuum coaguluÌ„ Casaubon resp ad Card. Perâ—on 5. 6. Edw. 6. c. 1. 3. as also the Act of Qu. Eliz. for Uniformity See also the Act for Uniformity premised to the English Liturgy Chillingworth ch 5. §. 45. Causabon ' resp ad Card. Perron I grant that Papal Infallibility were there such a thing would oblige us to an assent but not inforce us Sovereignty imâ—lies power but Infallibility doth not so Let a man but inquire into the Papal power to nature and management in Cajetan Victor a Panormitan Turâ—ecremata Gerson and others that write about the power of the Pope's briefs in France or Spain c. and he will find that the Papacy is no Sovereignty either in matters of faith or of lesser importance It is true that long before the Reformation when the Guelphs and Gibellines contested there were some especially Canonists that did attribute to the Pope and some Popes challenged a Sovereignty over the Christian faith to make new Creeds and Articles of faith even such as might contradict the old but these were not agitated at the Reformation and are no more to be imputed indefinitely to the Bishops of Rome then the extravagant claims of some Princes are to the Monarchies they hold See the conference betwixt Raynolds and Hart. c. 9. divis 4. pag. 582. where you will find that before the Reformation the consent of the Doctors and Pastors throughout all Christendom except the Italian faction had condemned the usurped Monarchy of the Pope The Lateran Council never gave it him and whatever for his Supremacy not Infallibility were defined or acted at Trent yet it was opposed there and the Authority of that Council together with the tenet rejected in France at this day without a Schisme Casaubon resp ad Cardin. Perron Fr Victoria relect 5. de pot Eccles. sect 1. §. 6. Davenant de judice norma fidei cap. 21. a Opinio verae est posse esse Haereticum b Probabile est piè credi potest haereticum esse non posse See the Conference ch 7. divis 2. pag. 236. a In dialogo part 1. lib. 6. cap. 1.