and it is not possible that Church can err or hath erred at any time in any point Rhem. Annot. on Mat. 23. 2. The twentieth Article of the Church of England Of the Authority of the Church THE Church hath Power to decree Rites and Ceremonies and Authority in Controversies of Faith And yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to Gods Word written neither may it so expound one place of Scripture that it be repugnant to another wherefore although the Church be a Witness and a Keeper of Holy Writ yet as it ought not to decree any thing against the same so besides the same ought it not to inforce any thing to be believed for necessity of Salvation The Presbyterians The Church has no Power to make any new Articles of Faith but ought simply to adhere to the Doctrine to which God has subjected all without exception It belongeth to Synods and Councils Ministerially to determine Controversies of Faith and Cases of Conscience to set down Rules and Directions for the better ordering of the publick Worship of God and Government of his Church To Receive complaints in Cases of male administration and Authoritatively to determine the same which Decrees and Determinations if consonant to the Word of God are to be receiv'd with Reverence and Submission not only for their Agreement with the Word but also for the power wherewith they are made as being an Ordinance of God appointed thereunto in his Word The Papists Hold that the Church hath Power to change the Sacraments ordain'd even by Christ himself as appears by this Decree of the Council of Trent This Holy Synod declares That the Church hath always had Power in dispensing the Sacraments their Substance being safe to appoint or change according to the variety of times and places such things as may most tend to the profit of the Receivers and greater Veneration of the Sacraments themselves and therefore though from the beginning of the Christian Religion the use of the receiving the Sacrament in both kinds was not unfrequent yet for certain grave and just Causes has approved the receiving only in one kind and decreed the same to be a Law The Church is to judge the Scriptures and not the Scriptures the Church The one and twentieth Article of the Church of England Of the Authority of general Councils GEneral Councils ought not to be gathered together without the Commandement and Will of Princes and when they be gathered together forasmuch as they be an Assembly of Men where of all be not governed with the Spirit Word of God they may err sometime have erred even in things pertaining to God wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to Salvation have neither Strength nor Authority unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture The Presbyterians For the better Government and further Edification of the Church there ought to be such Assemblies as are commonly call'd Synods or Councils As Magistrates may lawfully call a Synod of Ministers and other fit Persons to consult and advise with about matters of Religion so if Magistrates be open Enemies to the Church the Ministers of Christ of themselves by vertue of their Office or they with other fit Persons upon Delegation from their Churches may meet together in such Assemblies All Synods or Councils since the Apostles times whether general or particular may err and many have erred Therefore they are not to be made the Rule of Faith or Practice but to be used as an help in both Synods and Councils are to handle or conclude nothing but that which is Ecclesiastical and are not to intermeddle with Civil Affairs which concern the Common-Wealth unless by way of humble Petition in cases extraordinary or by way of advice for satisfaction of Conscience if they be thereunto required by the Civil Magistrate The Papists To the Popes it belongs to Appoint and direct general Councils Bulla Julii 3. Resumptionis Conc. Trid. A Diocesan Council is to be called by the Bishop a Provincial by the Archbishop a National one by a Patriarch or Primate but a general one the Pope can only call not the Emperour or any without the Popes Consent and approbation The Popes of Rome and not Christian Princes have the Authority and Power of making Laws Ecclesiastical and of calling Councils General Councils confirm'd by the Pope cannot err The two and twentieth Article of the Church of England Of Purgatory THE Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory Pardons Worshipping and Adoration as well of Images as of Reliques and also Invocation of Saints is a fond thing vainly invented and grounded upon no warrantry of Scripture but rather Repugnant to the Word of God The Presbyterians Purgatory is a mischievous Invention of Satan making void the Cross of Christ intollerably contumelious unto the Mercy of God and which shaketh and overthroweth our Faith The Bodies of Men after Death return to Dust and see Corruption but their Souls which neither dye nor sleep having an immortal subsistance return to God immediately who gave them the Souls of the Righteous being then made perfect in Holiness are received into the highest Heavens where they behold the Face of God in Light and Glory waiting for the full Redemption of their Bodies and the Souls of the Wicked are cast into Hell where they remain in Torments and utter Darkness reserv'd for the Judgment of the last day Besides these two places for Souls separated from their Bodies the Scripture acknowledgeth none The Papists Whereas the Catholick Church guided by the Holy Ghost out of the Holy Scriptures the ancient Tradition of the Fathers and lately in this Vniversal Synod hath taught that there is a Purgatory and the Souls there detained are help'd by the Suffrages of the Faithful especially by the acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar Therefore this Synod commands Bishops that they diligently study and use their endeavours that the sound Doctrine of Purgatory delivered from the Holy Fathers and Sacred Councils be believ'd and heard of the Faithful of Christ and every where Taught and Preached And that the Suffrages of the Faithful living viz. Sacrifices of the Mass Prayers Alms and other works of Piety which are wont to be made by the Faithful for other Faithful People Deceased be piously and devoutly performed according to the Institution of the Church And that what is due for the same by any Persons Wills or otherwise shall not perfunctorily but diligently and accurately be paid and performed by the Priests and Ministers of the Church who are bound to do the same Seeing the power of bestowing Indulgences is by Christ bestowed on the Church and she even in the most ancient times hath used such Power given to her of God The most Holy Synod teacheth and commandeth that the use of Indulgences so wholesom for Christian People and approved by the Authority of Sacred
no longer they may remain in an Implicite Faith but read Consider and with understanding embrace what they before out of Compliance or Custom rather than Judgment seem'd to own and adhere to 2. There are many too That in words detest Popery yet not being throughly grounded in the Doctrines of the Church of England nor acquainted with those of the Church of Rome may be in danger of mistaking the one for the other and by Jacob's voice be deluded into Esau's hands and imbibe Poison unawares unless fortified against it by some such discriminating Antithesis 3. Hereby will appear the malice and falshood of these suggestions That the Dissenters stand at as great a distance from and are as much opposite to the legally Established Church of England as the Papists a mischievous conceit promoted by the Jesuites and other Factors for the See of Rome on purpose to divide and weaken us and consequently thereby to accomplish at last their own ends which are utterly to subvert and destroy all the Professors of the Reformed Religion whether Episcopal Presbyterial or under what ever other Denomination 4. I know not what could better tend to uniting us at least in affection amongst our selves than this demonstration That in the main and all essential Doctrinal points we are already agreed and since the other matters in Controversie are acknowledged to be indifferent what occasion is there for all this heat and violence unless the lesser our differences are the greater still must be our Animosities and Contentions about them 5. I do not despair but this small Treatise may be profitable to weak Capacities for instructing them in Fundamentals of Christian Religion since it contains a general Systeme of Faith rendered the more intelligible by the variety of Expressions though concurrent Sense of the Church-men and Protestant-Dissenters on the one side and the apparent Contradictions of the Papists on the other For Contraria juxta se posita magis Elucescunt contraries aptly compared illustrate each other Thus much for the End and general Intention of this Work As to the manner how it is perform'd I could indeed have wisht it might have come from some abler Hand whose Skill might have rendered it more useful and his Name more acceptable to the publick But rather a Mite than no Offering at all for the Churches Peace I have done what my small Reading and interrupted Leisure would permit and need only Advertise the Reader that here he shall find 1. The Nine and Thirty Articles of the Church of England agreed upon and Establisht Anno 1562. and never since altered but required by Law to be subscribed unto by all Ministers of our Church faithfully recited Verbatim and Printed in a different Letter 2. The Doctrines of those commonly called Presbyterians comprehending the Body of our Dissenters produc'd from the Confession of Faith agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines in the late Times and their Catechism and the Institutions of Mr. John Calvin 3. The Tenets of the Church of Rome delivered either in the Words of the Council of Trent or those of their great Champion Cardinal Bellarmine and the Annotations of their Colledge of Rhemes on the New Testament Other of their Authors sometimes but sparingly are Cited and never any but what are allowed by them and known to speak according to the common Dictates of that Church I knew not where to seek more Authentick Testimonies of each Parties Sentiments and can without Injury to Truth aver That I have not wilfully baulk'd added to detracted from or in any kind perverted the Sense of either side but fairly stated their Doctrines in their own words And generally without Reflections or Animadversions unless only where the matter is such that it could not justly be omitted Some may expect to have had added in a Fourth Comparison certain Notions advanc'd of late years by some Divines amongst us that seem to thwart these Articles of their Mother-Church which at their Ordination they solemnly subscribed But as the same have in part been already noted by others so my desire is rather to bring Balm than Vinegar to the too gaping wounds of the Church and without giving any such Exasperation shall hope That those Gentlemen will see and repent of such their Mistakes At least since Rectum est Index sui Obliqui A streight Line is the measure both of it self and of that too which is crooked I cannot despair but when once People are brought throughly to understand the Doctrines of the Church of England grounded on the Holy Scriptures without or contrary to which no Church in the World has any power to impose any Articles of Faith They will easily be able to discover such Aberrations and refuse them with a just Abhorrence though never so speciously obtruded But because there is such a noise raised and such heaps of Durt continually thrown on the memory of poor Mr. Calvin and those called Presbyterians whereby they would inflame us both to hardships towards dissenting Protestants at home and set us at odds with most of the Reformed Churches abroad I shall for the Information of the Vulgar Reader give a brief account here what esteem our Ancestors of the Church of England heretofore had both of John Calvin and those Neighbouring Churches and the Testimonies I shall avouch shall be of undoubted Authority both for Dignity and Learning The Reverend and Pious Dr. George Carleton Bishop of Chichester in a Book Intituled An Examination of those things wherein the Author of the late APPEAL holdeth the Doctrines of the Pelagians and Arminians to be the Doctrines of the Church of England Printed anno 1626 and Dedicated to King Charles the First p. 217 hath these Words Though the Church of England be the best Reformed Church yet it is not the only Reformed Church and it might seem no good Providence in us to stand so by our selves as to reject and disdain the Consent of other Churches though they do not agree with us in Discipline It is observed by Eusebius That Polycrates and Irenaeus did both reprove Victor because for matters of Ceremonies he was too much offended with other Churches which otherwise agreed with him in Doctrine Irenaeus doth admonish him That the ancient Bishops of Rome before Victor did keep Unity and Consent with the Eastern Bishops though in Ceremonies there was difference between them Omnes isti cum in Observantia vararierent inter semetipsos nobiscum semper pacifici fuerant Euseb l. 5. cap. 24. All those that varied in Observances yet were always peaceable both amongst themselves and with us He saith there also That the Dissonance in Ceremonies need not break the Consonance in Faith with those Churches which do not agree with us in Ceremonies if we seek the peace of the Churches that profess the same Doctrine or strugling as more like one sleeping than dying leaving with that noble Roman Aemilius Poverty with Honour to his Friends his Library and
Edification of the Christian Doctrine wresting the Scripture to his own Senses dare to interpret the Holy Scripture contrary to the Sense which Holy Mother Church whose Right it is to Judge of the true Sense of Sacred Scriptures hath held or doth hold or against the unanimous Consent of the Fathers though even such Interpretations be never intended to be Publisht Thus the very Words of that pretended Council wherewith agrees Bellarmine de Verbo Dei lib. 1. cap. 7 8 and 9. whereby it plainly appears That the Church of Rome not only Adds to Gods Word Six whole Books besides several parts of Books As the Epistle of Jeremiah the 13 and 14 Chapters of Daniel The Song of the three Children added to the 3d. of Daniel and an Appendix to the Third Chapter of Hester beginning v. 10. all which are in the Vulgar Latin more than the Church of England receives and holds her Accursed for not receiving them but also prefers the Vulgar Latin Edition the most Corrupt and Imperfect Edition extant before the original Texts in Hebrew and Greek And binds up all Christians to interpret Scripture in her own Sense and according to her Pleasure Nor is it any wonder That they should thus treat these Sacred Oracles if we Consider what Esteem they have of them This very Council you see accounts them Imperfect and not a sufficient Rule of Faith and Manners without Traditions and equals Traditions with them declaring They are to be received pari pietatis affectu reverentiâ with the very same Reverence and Pious Affection But the Council was subtlely modest For their Doctors cannot forbear to load the Word of God with Reproaches Scripturae sunt muti judices sunt veluti nasus quidam Cereus The Scriptures are dumb Judges and but like a Nose of Wax says Pighius de Ecclesia pag. 89 90. And Eccius calls them a Black Gospel and Inky Divinity Nor is Cardinal Bellarmine less hold For he maintains Scripturas sine Traditionibus nec simpliciter necessarias nec sufficienter Finem proprium praecipuum non fuisse ut esset Regula Fidei De Verbo Dei l. 4. cap. 4. and 12. That the Scriptures are not simply necessary nor sufficient without Traditions and that their proper and chief end was not That they should be a Rule of Faith And Eccius in his Enchiridion is very positive That the Scripture is not Authentick but by the Authority of the Church wherewith agrees Azorius Instit Mor. Part 2. l. 5. cap. 24. Scriptura Canonica non Agnoscitur aut habetur nisi Ecclesiae Authoritate probetur The Scripture is not own'd or esteem'd Canonical unless it be approved by the Authority of the Church In a Word nothing is more Common in the Works of Popish Authors than such Titles as these Of the Insufficiency of the Obscurity and of the Vncertainty of the Scripture c. Nor have their Practices been unsuitable For in the Bohemian Persecutions between the Years 1620 and 1630 the Papists were wont to say The Scriptures were the Fountain of Heresy and thereupon Nick-nam'd the Bible Wiblia which in the Bohemian Language signifies Vomit A thousand Bibles they burnt and destroyed some at the Market place as was done at Fulneck others brought them in Carts without the Walls as was done at Zalicum and Frutnovia others brought them in heaps to the Gallows as at Hadritium and so in great heaps burnt them The like was done in the Irish Massacre in 41. A plague on 't that damn'd Book has done all the Mischief said some of those Bloody Tories Nor do our English Papists want any thing but an Opportunity to Act the like Villanies For their Principle and Malice is the same as appears by one of their English Pamphlets Intituled The Reconciler of Religions Printed Anno 1663 and Dedicated to one Mr. Lawrence Dibusty Merchant of London in p. 26. we have these Words The Protestants and Sectaries saith he you see he makes no differencen the Case between the Church of England and Dissenters dash out for Apocrypha whole Books as Tobias Judith Ecclesiasticus Wisdom Maccabees Baruch c. whole Chapters as the 13 and 14 of Daniel from the 10 to the 16 of Esther Whole Histories as that of Susanna and the Elders of Bell and the Dragon c. All which the Vniversal Church of God receiveth for Authentical Holy and Canonical And thereupon p. 41. he concludes thus As the Protestant Bible is 't is no more the Word of God than is the Alchoran or Aesops Fables yea it is worse than Aesops Fables it 's a Diabolical Invention and an Heretical Labour and a Sacrilegious Instrument to Deceive and Damn all such poor Souls as Believe it and therefore worthy to be burnt with Fire in the middle of the Market at Noon and let all the People say Amen So be it I give you exactly his Words wherein you have the true Spirit of Popery others may politickly mince the Matter but this is their general Sentiment and accordingly they practice beyond the Seas where to have a Bible in the Vulgar Tongue is Capital And where is now the Man that hath the least Spark of Grace or Modesty that would rather be a Papist than a Presbyterian The seventh Article of the Church of England Of the Old Testament THE Old Testament is not contrary to the New For both in the Old and New Testament Everlasting Life is offered to Mankind by Christ who is the only Mediatour between God and Man being both God and Man wherefore they are not to be heard which feign that the Old Fathers did look only for Transitory Promises Although the Law given from God by Moses as touching Ceremonies and Kites do not bind Christian Men nor the Civil precepts thereof ought for necessity to be received in any Common-Wealth yet notwithstanding no Christian Man whatsoever is free from the Obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral The Presbyterians The Substance of this Article is Asserted and at large Explained and Proved by Calvin in the Second Book of his Institutions cap. 7. 9 10 and 11. too tedious here to Recite The Papists Two Clauses of this Article are Contradicted by the Papists First That of Christs being the only Mediatour between God and Man For they Assign Angels and Saints to be also Mediators and especially the Virgin Mary and pray to them accordingly But of this see more Article the 18 and 31. Secondly Whereas 't is said no Christian Man is free from the Obedience of the Commandements which are called Moral we know the Pope pretends he can dispense with the Moral-Law c. For we find in his Canon-Law Caus 15. q. 6. cap. 2. Auctoritatum in the Glosse are these Words Contra jus Naturale potest dispensare contra Apostolum The Pope can dispense against the Law of Nature and against the Apostles The eighth Article of the Church of England Of the three Creeds THE three Creeds
which be effectual because of Christs Institution and Promise although they be Ministred by Evil Men. Nevertheless it appeartaineth to the Discipline of the Church that enquiry be made of Evil Ministers and that they be accused by those that have knowledge of their offences and finally being found guilty by just Judgment be deposed The Presbyterians The Grace which is exhibited in or by the Sacraments rightly used is not conferr'd by any Power in them neither doth the Efficacy of a Sacrament depend upon the Piety or Intention of him that doth Administer it but upon the work of the Spirit and the Word of Institution which contains together with a Precept authorizing the use thereof a Promise of benefit to worthy Receivers The Papists The Sermons of Hereticks so they term all Protestant Ministers must not be hear'd though they Preach the Truth Their Prayers and Sacraments are not acceptable to God but are the howlings of Wolves The seven and twentieth Article of the Church of England Of Baptism BAptism is not only a sign of Profession and mark of difference whereby Christian-Men are discerned from others that be not Christned but it is also a sign of Regeneration or new Birth whereby as by an Instrument they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church the promise of the forgiveness of Sins of our Adoption to be the Sons of God by the Holy Ghost are vtsibly signed and sealed Faith is confirmed and Grace increased by vertue of Prayer unto God The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church as most agreeable with the Institution of Christ The Presbyterians Baptism is a Sacrament of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ not only for the solemn Admission of the party Baptized into the visible Church but also to be unto him a Sign and Seal of the Covenant of Grace of his ingrafting into Christ of Regeneration of Remission of Sins and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to walk in newness of Life which Sacrament is by Christs appointment to be continued in his Church until the end of the World Not only those that do Actually pro fess Faith in and obedience unto Christ but also the Infants of one or both believing Parents are to be Baptized The Papists Maintain 1. As to the Effects of Baptism That it takes away all Sin The Sacrament of Baptism doth it self wash away Sins and therefore doth not only signifie as the Hereticks affirm That our Sins be forgiven before or otherwise by Faith only remitted whereby the Churches Doctrine is proved to be fully agreeable to the Scriptures That the Sacraments give Grace ex opere operato that is by the force and Vertue of the Work and Word done and said in the Sacrament Not only is all Sin so taken away by Baptism as not to be imputed but it leaves no Sin Inherent nothing that can be imputed as a Sin to those Baptized 2. That Children dying without it are Damn'd The Church hath always Believed that Children perish if they depart this Life without Baptism As no Man can enter into this World nor have his Life and being in the same except he be born of his Carnal Parents no more can a man enter into the Life and State of Grace which is in Christ or attain to Life Everlasting unless he be born and Baptized of Water and the Holy Ghost whereby we see First This Sacrament to be called our Regeneration or second Birth in respect of our Natural and Carnal which was before Secondly That this Sacrament consisteth of an external Element of Water and internal vertue of the Holy Spirit wherein it excelleth John's Baptism which had the external Element but not the Spiritual Grace Thirdly That no Man can enter into the Kingdom of God nor into the Fellowship of Holy Church without it whereby the Pelagians and Calvinists be Condemned that promise Life everlasting to young Children that die without Baptism 3. As to the Minister of Baptism any Person may do it Therefore in case of necessity any Person Man or Woman may Baptize lawfully one may do it be he Jew or Pagan let but the matter and form be right with a due Intention 4. They add and practise several Ceremonies besides the Institution in and about Baptism As That the Priest must Exorcise or conjure the Devil out of the Party to be Baptized and Exsufflation as they call it that is a puffing hard upon the Party to le Baptized in token of outing the Evil Spirit and breathing in the Good in the room thereof putting Holy Salt into his Mouth annointing his Ears and Nostrils and pronouncing the word Epheta thatis be opened Anointing him upon the Crown with Holy Crism of the Bishops own making putting a lighted Taper into the Childs hand and a white Garment on its back to shew that he is translated out of Darkness into Light and denote the purity of his Soul with Several other the like Ceremonies to the Number of one or two and twenty reckon'd up by Bellarmine particularly in his First Book of Baptism Can. 25 26 and 27. All which though they have not the leastWarrant from Scripture they require to be punctually and necessarily observ'd For so their Council of Trent Sess 7. Can. 13. does Decree If any one shall say That the received and approved Rites used in the solemn Administration of the Sacraments may be contemn'd or at pleasure omitted by the Administrators without Sin or chang'd into any new ones by any Pastor of the Churches Let him be Anathema 5. Not yet herewith content They further have prophan'd this Ordinance by applying it to Bells which they Baptize thereby giving them as they imagine a vertue of cleansing the Air from Devils preventing the mischiefs of Lightning and saving from other Calamities that arise from Tempests of which Holy Christening Pope John the 14th hath the Honour of being first Author Sec Centuriatores Magdeburgenses Cent. 10. Cap. 6. 'T is true Bellarmine de Rom. Pontiff l. 4. cap. 12. being half ashamed of this Practice and no way able to find any colour to defend it would shuffle it off by alledging That not the Popes but common People apply the name of Baptism Metaphorically to the Benediction of the Bells with Holy naming of them and Prayers also all which he does acknowledge still in use But that there is or at least formerly was more in the Case appears by the hundred grievances of the Germans exhibited to the Popes Legate no longer ago than since Luthers time by the Princes of Germany at the Dyet of Norimberg where the one and fiftieth grievance is this That the Suffragans have invented that only themselves and none other Priest shall Baptize Bells for the Laity and the ruder People do believe by the Affirmation of the Suffragans that Bells so Baptized will drive away Devils and Tempests Wherefore Multitudes for
Papists agree to the first Part of this Article But as to the latter Part whereas the Church of England and Presbyterians do declare the Passion of Christ to have been a sufficient Sacrifice both for Original and Actual Sins They on the Contrary First by their Doctrine of the Sacrifice of the Mass Prayers unto Saints Popes Pardons and Purgatory do make void the Passion of our Blessed Saviour or that it puts away but Original Sin only See for this Article 31. Secondly They Teach Although our Saviour have Suffered for all Men in general yet both each man must suffer for himself in particular Rhem. Annotations on Rom. 8. 17. and that the Works of one Man may satisfie the Wrath of God for another Same Annotations on Coloss 2. 24. The third Article of the Church of England Of the going down of Christ into Hell AS Christ dyed for us and was Buried So also is it to be believed That he went down into Hell The Presbyterians Although by the Writings of the Ancients it appears That this Clause in the Creed was not so usual of Old Time in the Churches yet in delivering a Summary of Doctrine it is necessary As that which contains an useful and not to be slighted Mystery And so he proceeds to explain it of the Anguish and Internal Sufferings of Christ under a Sense of the Wrath of God for the Sins of Mankind when the Chastisement of our Peace as the Prophet speaks was upon him And Doctor Fulk on the Rhem. Testament Matth. 27. Sect. 3. expresly clears Calvin in this point The Assembly in their larger Catechism thus express their Sense Christs Humiliation after his Death consisted in his being Buried and continuing in the State of the Dead and under the power of Death till the Third Day which hath been otherwise expressed in these Words He descended into Hell So that the Article is agreed both by them and Calvin nor hath the Church of England thought fit particularly to explain it but left it free to be understood in any such sound Sense as is not contrary to Scripture or the Analogy of Faith Indeed there hath been great Diversity of Opinions between Men both Good and Learned about it Many there are that by Hell here understand the Grave and I think none will deny but the Word is capable of such a Sense but then the Sense must run thus He was Crucified Dead and Buried and Descended into the Grave which is a vain Repetition for if he were Buried he must be in a Grave And such a Tautology is not to be supposed in so brief a Summary of Faith But in my private Thoughts I have happen'd upon a Notion which avoids that Absurdity and that is this When our Blessed Lord was Crucified and Dead and his Body Buried his Humane Soul return'd to God in which Sense he saith to the Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise and afterwards when it came to re-enliven and be united to the Body in the Grave at his Resurrection why may not that be the Descent here intended And so the Sense be thus He was Crucified Dead and Buried He that is his Humane Soul at the time appointed descended into Hell that is the Grave and then the Third day he rose again c. Nor do I perceive that this Interpretation how new soever it may seem does in any kind Contradict the Analogy of Faith However I submit it to the Censure of the Learned Pious Reader But The Papists Teach a quite contrary Doctrine to all this viz. That the Souls of the Patriarchs and Holy Men that departed this Life before our Saviours Crucifixion were kept as in Prison but without pain in a certain Apartment of Hell which they call Limbus Patrum And that Christ that is the Soul of Christ did really go down into the Local Hell and deliver'd the said Captive Souls out of this Confinement and at his Ascension they accompanied him to Heaven Bellarm. de Christo li. 4. cap. 11 12 and 13. The Bosom of Abraham is the resting place of all them that died in perfect State of Grace before Christs time Heaven before being shut from Men. It is called in Zachary a Lake without Water and sometimes a Prison but most commonly of Divines Limbus Patrum for that it is thought to have been the Higher part or Brim of Hell the places of Punishment being far lower than the same which therefore be called Infernum Inferius the lower Hell Where this Mansion of the Fathers stood or whether it be any part of Hell St. Augustin doubteth but that there was such a place he nor no Catholick man ever doubted And the Fathers make it most certain That our Saviour descending into Hell went thither specially and deliver'd the said Fathers out of that Mansion which Truth though of all the Ancient Writers Confessed and Proved by Scripture yet the Adversaries they mean Protestants deny it as they doe Purgatory most Impudently The fourth Article of the Church of England Of the Resurrection of Christ CHRIST did truly Rise again from Death and took again his Body with Flesh Bones and all things appertaining to the perfection of Mans Nature wherewith he Ascended into Heaven and there sitteth until he Return to Judge all Men at the last Day The Presbyterians On the Third Day he Arose from the Dead with the same Body in which he Suffered with which also he Ascended into Heaven and there sitteth at the Right Hand of his Father making Intercession and shall return to Judge Men and Angels at the end of the World The Papists Seem in Words to own this Article but really deny it or Contradict themselves for they hold That the true Carnal Body of Christ is every day wherein Masses are said on Earth and at a thousand places at once Now if it be thus daily here how does it remain in Heaven and sit there till he return to Judge all Men at the last Day And if it be thus at so many places at an Instant must it not be a Fantastick Body And consequently do they not deny the Truth of Christs Resurrection or that he hath the same Body now which was Crucified Dead and Buried The fifth Article of the Church of England THE Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son is of one Substance Majesty and Glory with the Father and the Son Very and Eternal God Touching this Article there is no Dispute on either side The sixth Article of the Church of England Of the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation HOLY Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein or may be proved thereby is not to be required of any Man That it should be Believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation In the name of the Holy Scripture we understand those Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament
of whose Authority was never any doubt in the Church viz. Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalmes Proverbs Ecclesiastes Solomons Song Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi And the other Books as Hierom saith the Church doth Read for Example of Life and Instruction of Manners All the Books of the New Testament as they are commonly Received we do Receive and Account them Canonical The Presbyterians Under the Name of Holy Scripture or the Word of God Written are now Contain'd all the Books of the Old and New Testament which are these Genesis c. just as the Church of England reckons them All which are given by Inspiration to be the Rule of Faith and Life The Books commonly called Apocrypha not being of Divine Inspiration are no part of the Canon of the Scripture and therefore are of no Authority in the Church of God nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other Humane Writings The Authority of the Holy Scripture for which it ought to be Believ'd and Obey'd dependeth not upon the Testimony of any Man or Church but wholly upon God who is Truth it self the Author thereof and therefore it is to be Receiv'd because it is the Word of God We may be mov'd and induc'd by the Testimony of the Church to an High and Reverend esteem of the Holy Scriptures And the Heavenliness of the Matter the Efficacy of the Doctrine the Majesty of the Stile the Consent of all the Parts the Scope of the whole which is to give all Glory to God the full Discovery it makes of the only way of Mans Salvation the many other incomparable Excellencies and the entire Perfection thereof are Arguments whereby it doth abundantly Evidence it to be the Word of God yet notwithstanding our full Perswasion and Assurance of the Infallible Truth and Divine Authority thereof is from the Inward Work of the Holy Spirit bearing Witness by and with the Word in our Hearts The whole Council of God concerning all things necessary for his own Glory Mans Salvation Faith and Life is either expresly set down in Scripture or by good and necessary Consequence may be deduc'd from Scripture unto which nothing at any time is to be added whether by New Revelations of the Spirit or Tradition of Men nevertheless we do acknowledge the Inward Illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are Revealed in the Word and that there are some Circumstances concerning the Worship of God and Government of the Church Common to Humane Actions and Societies which are to be ordered by the Light of Nature and Christian prudence according to the general Rules of the Word which are always to be observed The Old Testament in Hebrew which was the Native Language of the People of God of old and the New Testament in Greek which at the time of the Writing of it was most generally known to the Nations being immediately inspir'd by God and by his singular Care and Providence kept pure in all Ages are therefore Authentical so as in all Controversies of Religion the Church is finally to Appeal to Them But because these Original Tongues are not known to all the People of God who have Right unto and Interest in the Scriptures and are Commanded in the Fear of God to Read and Search them Therefore they are to be Translated into the Vulgar Language of every Nation unto which they come that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all they may Worship him in an acceptable manner and through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures may have hope The Infallible Rule of the Interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture it self and therefore when there is a question about the true and full Sense of any Scripture which is manifold but one it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly The Supream Judge by which all Controversies of Religion are to be Determined and all Decrees of Councils Opinions of Ancient Writers Doctrines of Men and Private Spirits are to be examined and in whose Sentence we are to rest can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture The Papists The Decree of the Council of Trent touching the Canonical Scriptures Session the Fourth The Holy Oecumenical and General Tridentine Council lawfully Congregated in the Holy Spirit the three Legats of the Apostolick See presiding therein considering That the Purity of the Gospel as to Truth and Discipline is contained in Books Written and in Traditions not Written which received by the Apostles from the Mouth of Christ himself or by the Apostles by the Dictates of the Holy Ghost delivered as from Hand to Hand have come down even unto us following the Example of the Fathers does with an equal Affection of Piety and like Reverence receive and regard as well all the Books of the Old and New Testament since one God is Author of both as such Traditions pertaining either to Faith or Manners the same being dictated either Orally by Christ or by the Holy Spirit and Conserv'd by a continual Succession in the Catholick Church and as touching the Books of Holy Scripture that none may doubt which they are which by this Sacred Synod are received an Index of them is annexed and they are as follows Of the Old Testament five Books of Moses that is Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth Four Books of Kings under that name they include the two Books of Samuel two of Chronicles the first of Esdras and the Second which is called Nehemias Tobias Judith Esther Job David's Psalter of 150 Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes the Canticles Wisdom Ecclesiasticus Isaiah Jeremiah with Baruch Ezekiel Daniel Twelve lesser Prophets viz. Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonas Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechary and Malachi and the First and Second of the Maccabees Of the New Testament the Four Evangelists Matthew Mark c. as we reckon them And if any Person shall not receive all the said whole Books with all their Parts as they have wont to be read in the Catholick Church and as they are in the old Vulgar Latin Edition for Sacred and Canonical or knowingly shall contemn the aforesaid Traditions Let him be Anathema or Accursed And the said Sacred Council does also Appoint and Declare That the said old Vulgar Latin Edition which hath by the long use of so many Ages been approved of in the Church shall in all publick Readings Disputations Preachings and Expositions be esteemed Authentick And that none on any pretence whatsoever shall dare or presume to Reject the same And for the restraining of wanton Wits does likewise Decree That no one Person leaning on his own Prudence shall in matters of Faith and Manners pertaining to
Nice Creed Athanasius Creed and that which is commonly called the Apostles Creed ought throughly to be Received and Believed for they may be proved by most certain Warrants of Holy Scripture The Presbyterians Say the very same thing For in the Confession of Faith of the French Reformed Church who are well known to be Calvinists Article the Fifth these are the Words Suivant Cela nous Advouans les Trois Symboles Ossavoir des Apostres de Nice d'Athanase pource qu'ils sont Conformes a la Parole de Dieu We avow the three Symbols viz. That of the Apostles that of Nice and that of Athanasius because they are agreeable to the Word of God The Papists Profess likewise to Believe these three Creeds but not upon the same Grounds which the Church of England and the Presbyterians do For they Believe and Embrace those Summaries of Faith because they are agreeable to and may be proved by Holy Scripture Whereas the Papists Believe them for the Authority of Tradition or of those Councils that made or Confirmed them And touching that called The Apostles Creed They tell this Story The Apostles before they departed one from another the time whereof is not certainly known all Twelve Assembled together and full of the Holy Ghost each laying down his Sentence agreed upon 12 principal Articles of the Christian Faith and appointed them for a Rule to all Believers which is therefore called and is The Apostles Creed not written in Paper as the Scripture but from the Apostles delivered by Tradition The ninth Article of the Church of England Of Original Sin ORiginal Sin standeth not in the following of Adam as the Pelagians do vainly talk but it is the Fault and Corruption of the Nature of every Man that naturally is Ingendred of the Off-spring of Adam whereby Man is very far gone from Original Righteousness and is of his own Nature inclined to Evil so that the Flesh lusteth always contrary to the Spirit and therefore in every Person born into this World it deserveth Gods Wrath and Damnation and this Infection of Nature doth Remain yea in them that are Regenerated whereby the Lusts of the Flesh called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some do expound the Wisdom some the Sensuality some the Affection some the desire of the Flesh is not subject to the Law of God And although there is no Condemnation for them that Believe and are Baptized yet the Apostle doth Confess that Concupiscence and Lust hath of it self the Nature of Sin The Presbyterians Our first Parents being seduced by the Subtilty and Temptation of Satan sinned in eating the forbidden Fruit This their Sin God was pleas'd according to his Wife and Holy Counsel to permit having purpose to order his own Glory By this Sin they fell from their Orignal Righteousness and Communion with God and so became dead in Sin and wholly defiled in all their Duties Faculties and Parts of Soul and Body They being the root of all Mankind the Guilt of this Sin was imputed and the same death in Sin and Corrupted Nature conveyed to all their Posterity descended from them by ordinary Generation From this Original Corruption whereby we are utterly indisposed disabled and made opposite to all Good and wholly inclined to all Evil do proceed all Actual Transgressions This Corruption of Nature during this Life doth Remain in those that are Regenerated and although it be through Christ Pardoned and Mortified yet both it self and all the Motions thereof are truly and properly Sin The Papists If any one shall deny that the Guilt of Crignial Sin is remitted by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ which is Conferred in Baptism or shall Assert That the whole thereof which has any true and proper Nature of Sin is not thereby taken away but shall say That the same is only Pruned or weakned or not Imputed Let him be Accursed Yet this Holy Synod Consesses and Believes That even after Baptism Concupiscence radix peccati the Root of Corruption does remain but it being left for Tryal or Exercise does not any way hurt those that Consent not thereunto This Concupiscence the Apostle sometimes calls Sin Rom. 6. 6. and 7. 5. But this Holy Synod does declare That the Catholick Church never understood it to be called Sin because it is truly and properly Sin in the Regenerate but because ex peccato est It is of Sin and inclines to Sin And whoever shall think otherwise Let him be Anathema So that once more the Church of England nay the Apostle too himself is not only Diametrically contradicted but expresly Cursed The tenth Article of the Church of England Of Free Will THE Condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own Natural Strength and good Works to Faith and calling upon God Wherefore we have no power to do good Works pleasant and acceptable to God without the Grace of God by Christ preventing us that we may have a good will and working with us when we have that good will The Presbyterians Man in his state of Innocency had freedom and power to will and to do that which was good and well pleasing to God but yet mutably so that he might fall from it Man by his fall into a state of Sin hath wholly lost all Ability of Will to any Spiritual Good accompanying Salvation So as a natural Man being altogether averse from that good and dead in Sin is not able by his own strength to Convert himself or to prepare himself thereunto When God converts a Sinner and translates him into the state of Grace he freeth him from his natural bondage under Sin and by his Grace alone inables him freely to will and to do that which is Spiritually good yet so as that by reason of his remaining Corruption he doth not perfectly nor only will that which is Good but doth also that which is evil The Will of Man is made perfectly and immediately free to Good alone in the state of Glory The Papists If any one shall say That the Free Will of Man moved and excited by God does not Co-operate by assenting to God exciting and calling whereby it prepares and disposes it self to obtain the Grace of Justification Let him be Accursed The eleventh Article of the Church of England Of the Justification of Man WE are accounted Righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith not for our own works and deservings Wherefore that we are justified by Faith only is a most wholesom Doctrine and very full of Comfort as more largely is expressed in the Homtly of Justification The Presbyterians Those whom God effectually Calleth he also freely Justifieth not by insusing Righteousness into them but by pardoning their Sins and by accounting and accepting their Persons as Righteous not for any thing wrought in them or done by them