consigned to Writing By which means the Word written and unwritten were not Two different Rules but as to all necessary matters of Faith one and the same And the unwritten Word so far from losing its Authority that it was indeed the more firmly Establish'd by being thus delivered to us by the holy Apostles and Evangelists We receive with the same Veneration whatsoever comes from the Apostles whether by Scripture or Tradition provided that we can be assured that it comes from them And if it can be made appear that any Tradition which the Written Word contains not has been received by All Churches and in All Ages we are ready to embrace it as coming from the Apostles Monsieur de Meaux therefore ought not to charge us as Enemies to Tradition or obstinate to receive what is so delivered Our Church rejects not Tradition but only those things which they pretend to have received by it But which we suppose to be so far from being the Doctrine of the Apostles or of All Churches in All Ages that we are perswaded they are many of them directly contrary to the Written Word which is by Themselves confessed to be the Apostles Doctrine and which the best and purest Ages of the Church adhered to ARTICLE XXV Of the Churches Authority THE Church i. e. The Vniversal Church in All Ages having been Establish'd by God the Guardian of the Holy Scriptures and of Tradition we receive from her the Canonical Books of Scripture It is upon this Authority that we receive principally the Song of Solomon as Canonical and reject other Books as Apochryphal which we might perhaps with as much readiness otherwise receive By this Authority we reverence these Books even before by our own reading of them we perceive the Spirit of God in them And when by our reading them we find all things conformable to so Excellent a Spirit we are yet more confirmed in the belief and reverence we before had of them This Authority therefore we freely allow the Church that by her hands in the succession of the several Ages we have received the Holy Scriptures And if as universal and uncontroverted a Tradition had descended for the Interpretation of the Scriptures as for the receiving of them we should have been as ready to accept of that too Such a declaration of the sense of Holy Scripture as had been received by all Churches and in all Ages the Church of England would never refuse But then as we profess not to receive the Scriptures themselves only or perhaps principally upon the Authority of the Roman Church which has in all Ages made up but a part and that not always the greatest neither of this Tradition so neither can we think it reasonable to receive the sense of them only from her though she profess never so much to invent nothing of her self but only to declare the Divine Revelation made to her by the Holy Ghost which she supposes has been given to her for her direction Whilst we are perswaded that neither has any Promise at all been made to any particular Church of such an infallible direction and have such good cause to believe that this particular Church too often instead of the divine Revelations declares only her own Inventions When the dispute arose about the Ceremonies of the Law Acts 15. the Apostles assembled at Jerusalem for the determination of it When any Doubts arise in the Church now we always esteem it the best Method to decide them after the same manner That the Church has Authority not only in matters of Order and Discipline but even of Faith too we never deny'd But that therefore any Church so assembled can with the same Authority say now as the Apostles did then Acts 15.28 It has seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to Vs This we think not only an unwarrantable presumption for which there is not any sufficient ground in Holy Scripture but evidently in its self untrue seeing that many such Councils are by the Papists themselves confessed to have erred Hence it is that we cannot suppose it reasonable to forbid Men the Examination of the Churches Decisions which may err when the Holy Apostles nay our Saviour Christ himself not only permitted but exhorted their Disciples to search the Truth of their Doctrine which was certainly Infallible Yet if the determination be matter of Order or Government as not to Eat of things offered to Idols c. or of plain and undoubted Precept as to abstain from Fornication and the like Here we fail not after the Example of Paul and Silas to declare to the faithful what her decision has been and instead of permitting them to judg of what has been so resolved teach them throughout all places to keep the Ordinances of the Apostles Acts 16.4 Thus is it that we acquiesce in the judgment of the Church and professing in our Creed a Holy Catholick Church we profess to believe not only that there was a Church planted by our Saviour at the beginning that has hitherto been preserved by him and ever shall be to the end of the World but do by consequence undoubtedly believe too that this Vniversal Church is so secured by the Promises of Christ that there shall always be retain'd so much Truth in it the want of which would argue that there could be no such Church We do not fear that ever the Catholick Church should fall into this entire Infidelity But that any particular Church such as that of Rome may not either by Error lose or by other means prevaricate the Faith even in the necessary Points of it this we suppose not to be at all contrary to the Promise of God Almighty and we wish we had not too great cause to fear that the Church of Rome has in effect done both It is not therefore of the Catholick Church truly such that we either fear this infidelity or complain that she hath endeavoured to render her self Mistress of our Faith But for that particular Communion to which Monsieur de Meaux is pleased to give the Name tho she professes never so much to submit her self to the Holy Scripture and to follow the Tradition of the Fathers in all Ages yet whilst she usurps the absolute Interpretation both of Scripture and Fathers and forbids us to examine whether she does it rightly or no we must needs complain that her Protestations are invalid whilst her Actions speak the contrary For that if this be not to render her self Mistress of our Faith we cannot conceive what is In a word tho we suppose the Scriptures are so clearly written that it can very hardly happen that in the necessary Articles of Faith any one man should be found opposite to the whole Church in his Opinion Yet if such a one were evidently convinced that his Belief was founded upon the undoubted Authority of Gods Holy Word so far would it be from any Horror to support it that it is at this day
day scandalizes not only so great a number of Christians but even our common Enemy the Jew Turk In a word which is so far from being commanded by God that it needs many nice Distinctions to render it not directly opposite to an express Prohibition and is therefore if not down-right Idolatry to those who know how to direct their Intention aright yet to the Simple and Ignorant that is to the much greater number and the most zealous practioners of this Service so very near it that the Generality of the wisest Papists no less than We complain of it For the honour that is due to Reliques no Protestant will ever refuse whatever the Primitive Church paid them or may be fit to express the Honour we ought to retain for those Bodies that by Martyrdom have been made Sacrifices to God Almighty If this be all Mr. de Meaux desires of us we are ready to profess our Opinion that we judg it to be neither offensive to God nor fit to be scrupled by any good Man We believe that according to the Circumstances of the Times the Church may testify this Honour by more or less outward Signs and Marks of Respect And we do with satisfaction read that Declaration of Mr. de Meaux That we ought not to be servilely subjected to these outward Ceremonies but to be invited by them to offer up to God that reasonable service in Spirit and in Truth which he requires of us And if this be the State of the Question we confess the Explication of it has taken away a great part of the difficulty But what then means the Council of Trent to tell us That we are not only to honour them but to worship them too That by doing so we shall obtain many Benefits and Graces of God That these sacred Monuments are not unprofitably revered but are to be sought unto for the obtaining their help and assistance to cure the Sick to give Eyes to the Blind Feet to the Lame and even Life to the Dead How comes it to pass that their Church not only honours them which we could allow but carries them in Processions makes Offerings to them gives Indulgences to such as shall go to visit them prescribes Pilgrimages to them swears by them touches their Beads or Hankerchiefs with them to sanctify them thinks to obtain one Blessing by virtue of this Relick another from that and the like superstitious usages which we suppose we have good reason with our Chnrch to conclude to be fond things vainly invented Art xxii and grounded upon no Authority of Holy Scripture but indeed repugnant thereunto When therefore all these Abuses which we have named and which Monsieur de Meaux seems content to allow with us to be such shall be corrected When in the matter of Images 1. The Hymns and Addresses that teach us so contrary to the Spirit of Christianity to demand Graces of them and to put our Trust in them shall be reformed St. Thomas and his Abettors censured and all other Marks of an unwarrantable Worship be forbidden 2. When the Pictures of God the Father and of the holy Trinity so directly contrary both to the second Commandment and to St. Paul's Doctrine shall be taken away and those of our Saviour and the blessed Saints be by all necessary Cautions rendred truly the Books not Snares of the Ignorant When in points of Relicks 3. they shall be declared to have no sanctifying Virtue in them 4. Nor that they ought to be sought to for any Assistance Spiritual or Temporal to be expected from them 5. When it shall be resolved to be no matter of Merit to go to visit them 6. Nor any more extravagant Indulgences be set forth for Pilgrimages unto them When all these things which Monsieur de Meaux passes over and which yet are undeniably their Practice and our Scandal shall be corrected Then will we both believe and submit to the rest which he desires of us We will honour the Relicks of the Saints as the Primitive Church did we will respect the Images of our Saviour and the Blessed Virgin And as some of us now bow towards the Altar and all of us are enjoyned to do so at the Name of the Lord Jesus so will we not fail to testify all due Respect to his Representation In the mean time if the Outcries of their own Church at these Abuses cannot prevail with them to redress them yet at least they will confirm us in the Reformation we have made of them and whilst we find Hezekiah commended in the holy Scripture for destroying the Brazen Serpent thô made by God's express Command and in some sort deservedly honourable for that great Deliverance it brought to the Jews 2 King 18. Because the Children of Israel offered Incense unto it We shall conclude our selves to be by so much the more justifiable in that the Images we have removed were due only to the Folly and Superstition of Men and have been more scandalously abused to a worser and greater dishonour of God ARTIC V. Of Justification THE Doctrine of Justification is one of those Points that deserves our careful Consideration as being not only one of the chiefest of those Points wherein we suppose the Church of Rome to have prevaricated the Faith but as Monsieur de Meaux remarks one of the first that gave occasion to that Reformation that was made from it It is not necessary to say to what an Extravagance the business of Pardons Indulgences and other means of satisfying the Divine Justice was arrived and how much more confidence the People generally put in the Inventions of Men than in the Merits and Satisfaction of Christ If they have been somewhat better instructed since they may thank the Reformation for it tho we fear all the difference is that they are somewhat more reserved in exposing these Follies now but yet still retain the Foundation of that Doctrine upon which they are built We willingly allow Monsieur de Meaux this honour that he has reduced the long Decrees of the Council of Trent to a short and easie Debate and proposed the things which contain our Difference with such tenderness as might invite us to close with a great part of it did not the Decrees of the Council seem too plainly to refuse Monsieur de Meaux's Exposition of them We believe with him That our Sins are freely forgiven by God's Mercy through Christ and that none of those things which precede our Justification whether our Faith or our good Works could merit this Grace We are perswaded that our Sins are not only covered but are entirely done away by the Blood of Jesus Christ We confess that the Righteousness of Jesus Christ is not only imputed but actually communicated to the Faithful through the operation of the holy Spirit in so much that they are not only reputed but made just by his Grace We deny not that this Righteousness is a true Righteousness even in
are the Principles which we suppose to have been an unwarrantable derogation to the Grace of God and directly opposite to the nature of Justification by Faith in Christ before established And tho this point was far from being the only cause of our Separation from their Communion yet let Mr. de Meaux himself please to say whether such a Doctrine of Merits as this were not sufficient if not to engage us wholly to leave a Church that taught such things yet at least to dissent from her in these Particulars ARTIC VII c. Of Satisfactions Purgatory and Indulgences THE whole of this Point we think to be the advancement of a Doctrine grounded upon no Authority of Holy Scripture but on the contrary derogatory to God's Mercy in Jesus Christ and as the Doctrine of Merits before considered inconsistent with the nature of that Justification we before establish'd Monsieur de Meaux was pleased there to tell us of God's justifying us freely for Christ's Merits That our Sins are not only covered but entirely done away by his Mercy and the Sinner not only reputed but made just by his Grace We cannot but be troubled to see our selves so soon deprived of this excellent Hope and required our selves to satisfy God's Justice here which he assured us was entirely done for us by Christ before When Christ says Monsieur de Meaux who alone was able to make a sufficient Satisfaction for our Sins See above p. 66. died for us having by his Death abundantly satisfied for them he became capable of applying that Satisfaction to us after two very different manners Either by giving us an entire Forgiveness of our Sins without reserving any Pains for us to undergo for them or in changing only a greater Pain into a lesser the Eternal Torments of Hell into a Temporal Punishment The former of these being the more entire and the more agreeable to the Divine Goodness he accordingly makes use of it at our Baptism But we suppose he gives the second only to them who after Baptism fall again into sin being in a manner forced to it through the Ingratitude whereby they have abused his former Gifts so that they are to suffer some Temporal pain tho the eternal be remitted to them This is a very great Doctrine and ought certainly to have some better Proof of it than barely We suppose However it be our Church has declared its self of an opinion directly contrary That since the absolute forgiving of sin is Confessed to be the more perfect way and more becoming the Divine Goodness and that God has never that we know of revealed any other but rather has constantly encouraged us to expect his Pardon after the largest and most ample manner that it is possible for words to set forth We are persuaded that accordingly whenever God do's pardon it is in that way which is the most suitable to his Divine goodness and which alone he hath declared to us that he do's it intirely for Christs merits not for any Works or Sufferings of our own In vain therefore does Monsieur de Meaux labour to reconcile this Doctrine with Christ's absolute Satisfaction We confess that we ought not to dispute with God the manner of his Dispensations Nor think it at all strange if he who shews himself so easie at our Baptism is afterwards more difficult for those sins which we commit being Baptized There is nothing in all this but what we could most readily allow of were there but any tollerable Arguments to establish the Doctrine that requires it But whilst this is so destitute of all Proof that it is acknowledged to introduce a manner of forgiveness neither so intire nor so befitting Gods mercy as a total remission of the Punishment together with the Guilt whilst we have the Sufferings of Christ to rely upon which are so far from needing any addition of our own that they are Confessed to have been Super-abundant to whatever the divine Justice could require of us Tho we can and do practice the same Discipline for the other benefits of it viz. To shew our Indignation against our selves that we have offended and to keep us from sinning for the future yet we cannot be so forgetful of our dear Master as to pretend to any part in that Redemption but only to enjoy the benefits of that forgiveness which by his alone Merits he has intirely purchased for us nor do we see any reason to believe that Gods Justice will require any more than what has been Super-abundantly paid upon the Cross for the Iniquities of mankind 'T is true Monsieur de Meaux tells us That the necessity of this Payment does not arise from any defect in Christ's Satisfaction but from a certain Order which God has establish'd for a salutary Discipline and to keep us from offending This indeed were something would either Monsieur de Meaux have been pleased to shew us this Establistment or had not the Council of Trent declared more Concil Trid. Sess 14. c. 8. viz. That the Justice of God requires it and that therefore the Confessors should be charged to Proportion the Satisfaction to the Crime From whence Cardinal Bellarmine concludes L. 1. de purg c. 14. That it is We who properly satisfie for our own sins and that Christs Satisfaction serves only to make ours Valid This is an Exposition somewhat different from Monsieur de Meaux's who will have the Church of Rome believe That we do not our selves satisfie in the least for our sins but only apply the infinite Satisfaction of Christ to them Upon the whole it appears 1. That these Penances are not only a Salutary discipline but a Satisfaction too 2. They change the Mercy of God into a forgiveness that is confessed neither to be in its self Perfect nor so becoming the Divine goodness as an intire remission of sin the Punishment as well as Guilt would be 3. Their Establishment depends only upon a humane Supposition of its fitness and derogates from the very Foundation of that Covenant God has entred into with us by Christ Hebr. c. 8. v. 12. That he will be merciful to our unrighteousness and our Sins and our Iniquites he will remember no more Upon all which accounts tho we Practise this Discipline for many other benefits of it and wish it were universally Established not only in a more perfect manner than either in Ours or Their Church it is Catech conc Trid. but even in a strictness equal to what they tell us it is fallen from yet we cannot believe that by any of these things we are able to make a true and proper Satisfaction to God for sin which he only could do who Himself bore our sins in his own Body upon the Cross and by that one suffering Hebr. 10.14 for ever perfected them that are Sanctified ARTICLE VII Of INDVLGENCES THE Doctrine of Indulgences the Council of Trent has asserted only not explained Monsieur
understood and better answer'd if it may be than they have ever hitherto been For to resume yet once more some few of our differences You think you ought to invocate the Blessed Virgin and the Holy Saints Article 3. Now not to repeat what we have before said of the Vnlawfulness of it This we suppose to be first needless because we know we have a more excellent and powerful Mediator that has commanded us to come to him and next Vncertain because you are not able to tell us how nay not to secure us that by whatever way it be our Prayers do always and certainly come up to them If we are mistaken at least we run no hazard in it We address our selves continually to the Throne of Grace where we are secure that we shall be both heard and answer'd But now should you err consider we beseech you how many Prayers you every day lose and what a dishonour you put upon your divine Mediator And if you please consider too how unjust you are to damn us for not joyning with you in a practice that has so great danger so little assurance and not any advantage You suppose we ought to fall down before your Images Not to do this is to be sure no sin Article 4. you dare not say it is To do it may be and you can never secure us it is not abominable Idolatry odious to God and contrary to that holy Faith into which we have been Baptized You damn us for doubting of the number of your seven Sacraments Has God revealed it to you Article 10. Have the Holy Scriptures defined it Or even Tradition its self delivered it to you If it be true Can you yet escape the charge of rashness and uncharitableness to damn whole Churches for so needless a matter should it be false how will you escape that Anatheema your selves you have then so falsely as well as uncharitably denounced against us You require us to believe that children dying unbaptized are excluded the Grace of Christ for ever Article 10. To what purpose this For what benefit Were it as evident as it is indeed uncertain and we are perswaded false our modesty is safe in deciding nothing the Errour of such among us as believe it not is charitable founded upon the sure Mercies and Goodness of God who never inflicts any punishment where there is no fault and in a word has not any the least ill consequence upon it We take as great care to Baptize our Infants as you can do who most believe it But now if your Opinion should be false What answer will you ever be able to make to God for peremptorily defining what was so uncertain and uncharitable and for damning us only because we dare not venture to cut off those from Christ for whom he died and whom we hope he will in mercy receive to him Lastly Article 23. You deny us the entire Communion you pronounce an Anathema against us because we will not confess that one part alone is sufficient Is it not certain that if we err we have yet both Christs Institution and the practice and Opinion of many Ages to absolve us But have you any thing to excuse you if you are mistaken To take it as we do you confess can have no danger are you sure that to deny it as you do may not be a Sacriledge And what shall I say more For the time would fail me to speak of every one of those other points Monsieur de Meaux mentions much more to add many others and of no less consequence which he has thought fit to pass by In all which we have at least this undenyable advantage over you that besides the clearest Arguments that we are in the right the hazard we run is not very great if we should not be Whereas for you neither is there any tolerable proof of the contrary Errours and an infinite danger should you chance to be mistaken These things as both the Character of the Book we have now examined and the Style of many other your latter most considerable Authors give us cause to hope begin to be no longer totally hid from your Eyes so shall we never cease in all our Prayers to make mention of you that you may be perfectly enlightned to discern and impartially disposed to receive and to embrace the Truth In the mean time whilst both you and we mutually address our selves to the Eternal Truth for his assistance whilst as we ought we implore his mercy that he would give us a right understanding in all things remembring this that we are all but Men and that it is not therefore impossible for either of us to err That it may be strength of Passion or prejudice of Education or even vehemency of affection more than the light of Reason has hitherto kept us in a too fond partiality for our own Opinions Let us at least we beseech you agree in that mutual Charity which alone can secure us amidst all our Errours which will both best dispose Gods mercy to shew us what is right and will best incline our Minds to that sincerity which we all pretend to and I hope all really have to embrace it If we cannot yet agree in all the points of our Religion let us consider that neither are the dearest friends entirely of the same opinion in every thing Let us wait Gods pleasure if it be his will to reveal even this also unto us Philip. 3.15 16. Nevertheless whereunto we have already attain'd let us walk by the same rule let us mind the same thing We believe in the same God we rely on the same Redeemer we embrace the same Creeds we attend the same hopes of an Everlasting Salvation And in all these amidst all our other Differences have at least an entire agreement in what is most necessary and shall we hope to the Honest and sincere among us be sufficient for our Eternal Security Let these things engage us to have the same love too to be more sparing in our Anathema's and more zealous in our Prayers for one another to seek and to maintain the Truth but to do it so as not to violate our Charity In a word whether we write or speak to do both as Men who in a little time expect to be brought before a divine Tribunal where we must render a severe account for all these things and one Word spoken with this excellent spirit to close those Divisions that so long have seperated us shall be preferred to ten thousand Volumes of endless and uncharitable controversies that serve only to widen our breaches and heigthen our Animosities FINIS AN ADVERTISEMENT Of Books lately Printed for Richard Chiswell THE APOLOGY of the Church of England And an Epistle to one Siginor Scipio a Venetian Gentleman concerning the Council of Trent Written both in Latin by the Right Reverend Father in God JOHN JEWEL Lord Bishop of Sarisbury Made English by a Per on of Quality To which is added The Life of the said Bishop Collected and Written by the same Hand 8o. The LETTER writ by the last Assembly General of the Clergy of France to the Protestants inviting them to return to their Communion Together with the Methods proposed by them for their Conviction Translated into English and Examined by GILBEBT BVRNET D. D. 8o. The Life of WILLIAM BEDEL D.D. Bishop of Kilmore in Ireland Together with Certain Letters which passed betwixt him and James Waddesworth a late Pensioner of the Holy Inquisition in Sevil in matter of Religion concerning the General Motives to the Roman Obedience 8o. The Decree made at Rome the second of March 1679. condemning some Opinions of the Jesuits and other Casuists A Discourse concerning the necessity of Reformation with respect to the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome 4o. A Discourse concerning the Celebration of Divine Service in an Unknown Tongue 4o. A PAPIST not Misrepresented by PROTESTANTS Being a Reply to the Reflections upon the Answer to A Papist Misrepresented and Represented 4o.
de Meaux has stated it after a manner so favourable to us that I am persuaded he will find more in his own Church than in ours to oppose his Doctrine It was the discipline of the Primitive Church when the Bishops imposed severe Penances on the Offenders and that they were almost quite performed if some great cause of pity chanced to arrive or an excellent Repentance or danger of death or that some Martyr pleaded in behalf of the Penitent the Bishop did sometimes Indulge him that is Did relax the remaining part of his Penance and give him Absolution Monsieur de Meaux having this Pattern before his Eyes frames the Indulgences now used in the Church of Rome exactly according to it When the Church says he imposes upon sinners hard and laborious Penances and that with Humility they undergo them this we call satisfaction and when having regard either to the fervour of the Penitents or to some other good works which she prescribes she relaxes some part of the Punishment yet remaining This is called Indulgence But to pass by for the present those abuses that are every day made of these Indulgences and which both the Council and Monsieur de Meaux seem willing to have redressed such essential differences we conceive there are between the Indulgences of the Primitive and those of the Roman Church that tho we readily enough embrace the One yet we cannot but renounce and condemn the Other In the Primitive Church these Indulgences were matters of meer discipline as the Penances also were the One to correct the sinner and to give others caution that they might not easily offend the Other to encourage the Penitent to honour the Martyr that interposed for his Forgiveness or to prevent his dying without Absolution In the Church of Rome they are founded upon an Errour in Doctrine that as their Penance is not matter of Discipline only to correct the sinner but to be undergone as a satisfaction to be made to God for the sin so their Indulgence is not given as Monsieur de Meaux expounds it upon any consideration had of the fervour of the Penitent to admit him to Absolution which he has already received but by the application of the Merits of their Saints who they suppose have undergone more temporal punishments than their sins have deserved to take off that pain which notwithstanding their Absolution the sinner should otherwise have remained liable to In the Primitive Church the Bishop received the Penitent to Absolution and the exemplariness of his Repentance or the intercession of the Martyr that supplicated for him was the only consideration they had for the Indulgence In the Church of Rome the Indulgence is to be had from the Pope only in whose hands the merits of their Saints lye the overplus of which are they say the Treasure of the Church to be dispensed upon all occasions to such as want and upon such terms as his Holiness shall think fit to propose In the Primitive Church these Indulgences were very rare given only upon some special occasions and the Bishop never relaxed the remainder of the Penance he had imposed till the Penitent had performed a considerable part of it and shew'd by his contrition that it had obtained the effect of bringing him to a sense of his sin and a hearty repentance for it which was the end they designed by all In the Roman Church they are cry'd about the Streets hung up in Tables over every Church Door prostituted for Money offer'd to all Customers for themselves or for their Friends for the dead as well as the living and to visit three Churches say a Prayer before this Altar at the other Saints Monument in a third Chappel is without more ado through the extraordinary Charity that Church hath for sinners declared sufficient to take off whatever such Punishment is due for all the sins of a whole Life And here then let Monsieur de Meaux in conscience tell us Is all this no more than to release some part of the remaining Penance in consideration of the fervour of the Penitent in performing the rest Such Pardons as these we do certainly with Reason conclude To be fond things See our 22d Artic. vainly invented and grounded upon no Authority of Holy Scripture but indeed repugnant to Gods Word But for the rest We profess our selves so far from being enemies to the Ancient Discipline of the Church that we heartily wish to see it revived And whenever the Penances shall be reduced to their former practice we shall be ready to give or receive such an Indulgence as Monsieur de Meaux has described and as the Primitive Ages of the Church allow'd of ARTICLE VIII Of PVRGATORY BUT the Temporal Pains which they suppose due to sin has yet another Error consequent upon it That since every man must undergo them according to the proportion of his sins if any one chance to dye before he has so done he cannot pass directly into Heaven but must undergo these punishments first in the other Life and the place where these Punishments are undergone they call Purgatory So that the Doctrine then of Purgatory relies upon that Satisfaction which we our selves are to make for our sins besides what Christ has done for us And according to the measure that that is either true or false certain or uncertain this must be so too Since therefore Monsieur de Meaux tells us only that the Church of Rome supposes the former to be true they can only suppose the latter in like manner and therefore till they are able certainly to assure us of that we shall still have reason to doubt of this That the Primitive Church from the very second Century made Prayers for the dead we do not deny But that these Prayers were to deliver them out of Purgatory this we suppose Monsieur de Meaux himself will not avow it being certain that they were made for the best Men for the Holy Apostles the Martyrs and Confessors of the Church nay for the Blessed Virgin her self all which at the same time they thought in happiness and who the Papists themselves tell us never toucht at Purgatory Many were the private Opinions which the particular Christians of old had concerning the Reason and Benefit of Praying for the dead Some then as we do at this day only gave thanks to God for their Faith and their Examples Others prayed for them either for the Bodies Resurrection or for their acquitting at the final Judgment as supposing it to be no way unfit to pray to God for those very Blessings which he has absolutely promised and resolved to give Some thought an Increase of Glory might be obtained to the Righteous by their Prayers All believed this that it testified their hope of them and manifested their Faith of that Future Resurrection which they waited for and in the mean time maintained a kind of Fellowship and Communion between the Members of Christ yet alive
the greatest glory of S. Athanasius that he stood up alone against the whole World in defence of Christs Divinity when the Pope the Councils the whole Church fell away Conclude we therefore that God who has made us and knows what is best and most proper for us as he has subjected us to the Government and Direction of his Church for our Peace and Welfare so to secure our Faith he has given us his Holy Word to be the last resort the final infallible Rule by which both we and the Church its self must be directed And from this therefore if any one shall endeavour to turn us aside or preach any other Gospel unto us than what we have therein received Gal. 1.8 9. tho he were an Apostle from the Grave or even an Angel from Heaven let him be Anathema ARTICLE XXVI The Opinion of the Church of England as to the Authority of the Church FOR the two last Articles of Monsieur de Meaux's Exposition I might very well have pass'd them by The Church of England whose Doctrine I pretend to explain is but very little concerned in them Therefore only in a word That we allow the Church a just Authority in matters of Faith both the declaration of our xxth Article and the subscription we make to the whole 39 shew Such a deference we allow to her decisions that we make them our directions what Doctrine we may or may not publickly maintain and teach in her Communion In effect we shew whatever Submission we can to her Authority without violating that of God declared to us in his Holy Scriptures Whatsoever deference we allow to a National Church or Council the same we think in a much greater degree due to a General And whensoever such a one which we much desire shall be freely and lawfully assembled to determine the Differences of the Catholick Church none shall be more ready both to assist in it and submit to it ARTICLE XXVII Of the Authority of the Holy See and of Episcopacy FOR the Pope's Authority tho' we suppose no good Consequence can be drawn from that Primacy we are content to allow St. Peter among the Apostles for that exorbitant Power which has of late been pretended to Yet when other Differences shall be agreed and the true Bounds set to his Pretences we shall be content to yield him whatsoever Authority the Ancient Councils of the Primitive Church have acknowledged and the Holy Fathers have always taught the faithful to give him This Monsieur de Meaux ought to be contented with who himself absolves us from yielding to those pretences that have indeed very justly rendred this Authority not only odious but intolerable to the World Let those who are Enemies to Episcopacy and who deny any due respect to the Chair of St. Peter answer for themselves The Church of England has both retain'd the one and will be ready according to what we have before declared when ever it shall be requisite to acknowledge the other THE CLOSE SUCH is the Doctrine of the Church of England in those points which Monsieur de Meaux has thought fit to propose as the principal matters in debate betwixt us May it please the unprejudiced Papist to say what he can find in All these to warrant that bitter and unchristian hatred they have conceived against us To cut us off as much as in them lies from the Communion of Christs Church on Earth and to deny us all part of his promises in Heaven We firmly believe the Holy Scriptures and whatsoever they teach or command we receive and submit to as to the Word of God We embrace all the ancient Creeds and in them all that Faith which the Primitive Christians supposed and which the Religious Emperors by their Advice decreed should be sufficient to intitle us to the common name of Catholicks What new Donatists Gentlemen are you to presume to exclude us from this Character And may we not justly demand of you what S. Augustin once did of them on the same occasion You say that Christ is Heir of no Lands De unitate Eclesia c. 6. but where Donatus is Co-heir Read this to us out of the Law and the Prophets out of the Psalms out of the Gospel out of the Sacred Epistles Read it to us and we will believe We accept the Tradition of Primitive Antiquity truly such with a Veneration we dare confidently say greater than your selves We have shew'd that the very grounds of our difference is that you require us to believe and practise such things as the Holy Scripture forbids us and the Primitive Church never knew You command us to worship Images See Article 4. Is it not evident that both the Law and the Gospel have forbid it and is it not confess'd that both the Apostles and their Successors abhorred the very name You command us to communicate only under one kind That is in our Opinion nay it is in yours too Article 23. to contradict the Institution of our Blessed Saviour and the practice of the very Roman Church for above a Thousand years and of all other Christians to this very day You command us to pray to Saints and Angels Article 3. Col. 2. v. 18. Rev. 19.10 22.9 Does not St. Paul forbid it Did not the holy Angel twice refuse it from St. John And many Centuries pass without One probable Instance of any that did it You command us under pain of your Anathema to believe Transubstantiation Article 19. Do you your selves understand what you mean by it Is it any where written Was it ever mention'd for above a Thousand years You bid us Adore the Holy Sacrament Article 19. Has Christ prescribed it Have his holy Apostles written it Did not here also above a Thousand years pass before any one attempted it You require us to believe the blessed Eucharist to be a true and real Propitiatory Sacrifice for the sins and satisfactions both of the Dead and of the Living Article 20. Have ye any probable proof of it Are ye yet or ever like to be agreed among your selves about it Do not your own principles evidently shew the contrary Men and Brethren Consider we conjure you these things And if you please consider us too what we are and what our Manners and Conversation among you has been Believe us at least that we have no other End but Truth in these Enquiries No other Interest but to save our souls and go the surest and directest way to Heaven The Proofs we offer they are not vain Conjectures they are clear we think convincing Arguments And though the design of this little Treatise has been rather to shew you what our Doctrine is than to give a just account of those Reasons that detain us in it Yet perhaps even in this there may be somewhat to shew that we do not altogether build in the Air but deserve certainly to have our Articles and our Canons both better