after the seventh General Council of Constantinople which expresly condemned the Worship of Images But they say the second Council of Ephesus and the * This Council did not err in condemning the worship of Images seventh General Council Constantinople erred and decreed false Doctrine so say we of the Council of Trent and therefore let another Free and General Council be called to umpire the Controversie between the Church of England and the Council of Trent and if upon a fair tryal by the Scriptures Fathers and Councils such a Council shall condemn the Church of England then I will leave her Communion and own I have been guilty of Heresie and Schism I think no Son of the Church of England need scruple of say as much nor fear to promise to stand to the Determinations of such a Council as will freely and impartially try all Controversies by the ancient Touchstone of †In Ipsâ catholicâ Ecclesiâ magnopere curandum est ut id teneamus quod ubique quod semper quod ab omnibus creditum est Hoc ita demum fit si sequamur Vnisversitatem Antiquitatem Consentionem Vincent Lirin Cap. 3. Vide etiam Cap. 38. Vniversality Antiquity and Consent This was the Catholick Test of old and ought to be so still and to shew how indifferent I am between the two Churches I heartily beseech Almighty God that She may flourish and prevail which is most willing to undergo and best able to abide this Test The Conclusion HAving now finished the Apology which I undertook to make for the Church of England against those who love to ridicule Her with the English Divisions in Religion and lay an heavy Charge of undue Consequences upon her meerly upon their score I think I cannot answer the Design of my Undertaking better than in concluding with a practical and friendly Address to the Candid READER of what Perswasion soever whether he be a Roman Catholick or Church of England Catholick or a Dissenter from them both I shall first begin with the Roman Catholicks who have been the occasion of writing this Discourse and I humbly beg them to consider That it is not for their Honour to use such Arguments against the Church of England now as the Heathens of old used against Christianity nor for their Advantage to put us upon defending Her in the very same manner as they must be forced to defend the Christian Religion against the Mahumetans who are mightily prepossessed by the multitude of Sects among the Christians against the Truth and Goodness of Christianity it self Nay it is their Interest as much as ours to leave off this way of Arguing against the Church of England because the Atheists and Scepticks and irreligious persons of both Churches argue the very same way against the Truth of the Christian Religion they take advantages from the great number and variety of Sects in Christendom whereof every on a pretends to be the true Church to think that really there is no Religion and therefore methinks all serious and piously disposed persons among the R. Cs. into whose hands this Apology shall fall should so far become my Proselytes as hereafter to forbear this way of Arguing which gratifies the common Enemies of Christianity and concludes as severely against the Vniversal Church as they would have it do against ours Secondly I desire them to consider whether it be prudently done of them to reproach us with our Divisions when they do not know how soon we may have occasion to turn their own Reproaches upon them and do unto them if Christian Charity should not restrain us as they now do unto us They do not know how soon their Vnity of which they boast so much may be broken into Divisions and the Peace which they pretend to have among themselves be turned into a spiritual War. The Spirit of Strife and Contention and of setting up Altar against Altar may for all their present assurance come upon them as sorrow upon a Woman in travail and then whether the Sects which shall arise among them be real or only reputed Heresies and Schisms they will be taken in their own Snare and the full weight of their own Arguments against us will fall upon their own heads Let him that thinketh the standeth saith the Apostle take heed lest the fall and let the Church of Rome which perhaps the R. Cs. may think so secure in her Politicks of Vnion take heed she fall not into pieces and be broken in shivers like a Potters Vessel by him that ruleth with an Iron Rod. They should consider that God can send the Spirit of Luther upon their Monks the Spirit of Savanarola upon their Fryars the Spirit of Herman and Cranmer upon their Prelates the Spirit of Vergerius Contarenus upon their Nuncio's and Legates the Spirit of Cardinal †Vid. Vergerii Annotat in Catal Heret 261 262. Fregosius upon the Conclave the Spirit of * Of Brandenburg Albert †Of Saxony Frederic upon Soveraign Catholick Princes and the Spirit of Marcellus secundus upon the Pope himself They should remember especially the Learned among them from what a slight accidental occasion the Arian Schism began and God who was pleased to suffer an universal Conflagration to arise from such a small Spark can in a moment raise up many Arius's Rome and make the Princess of the Provinces sit solitary and all her Friends become her Enemies Nay he is able as it were by a Voice from Heaven to say unto her people Come out of her lest ye be partakers of her sins †Saltem Petrarchae parcerent Praesertim cum fuerit ex praelatorum numero parumque absuerit ut à Benedicto XII fuerit Cardinalis creatus Homo Italus atque idem ex praecipuis Praelatis unus summâ Eruditione sapientiâ vir quem Papa quem tota Apostolica Sedes quem tota Italia maximi facit atque colit PP Vergerius Annot. in Catal. Haer. fol. 259 260. Petrarch one of her most Eminent Writers in Prose and Verse who was the Pride and Glory of Italy and the Delight of Rome where he received the Laurel Petrarch one of her Celebrated Church-men who narrowly missed a Cardinal's Cap the Learned the Eloquent the Charming Petrarch applied this and many more such Texts unto Her in an * Part of which Epistle is translated and cited by Vergerius Ibid. fol. 259 260. Epistle wherein he Paraphrased the 17th Chapter of the Revelations and how do they know but God may make the people hear and obey the Voice of Petrarch and come out of her in as great numbers beyond the Alps and Apennines as they have done on this side of them The Pectilent Northern Heresie as one called it may soon scale the Mountains and invade the Southern Climates and they themselves do not know how suddenly God may make Province after Province and Nation after Nation fall off and separate from the Church of Rome What
have offered up himself a propitiatory sacrifice before he was offered upon the Cross In a word the Contradictions involved in it are almost innumerable by which it equally choaks the learned and unlearned and as it hath made so it will for ever make Dissenters in great abundance and no man nor any Church can ever want a just pretence of dividing from the Church of Rome as long as it is an Article of her Faith. These two Principles without naming any more naturally tend to making of Divisions after Divisions among them notwithstanding all the actual Union of which they boast But the Church of England hath no such dividing Principles theoretical or practical in her Constitution nothing is required to Communion with her but what is primitive and Apostolical and how much soever she hath been or is broken and divided yet her Communion is truly Catholick and tends to Peace and Coalescence and even now her Wounds are closing apace and ready to heal of themselves And as the Church of England hath more potential Union in her then that of Rome so hath she more actual Union too for her Clergy and People have no such fierce and bitter Contentions among them as there are betwixt the Irish Remonstrants and Anti-Remonstrants the Molinists and Jansenists as well as Thomists and Scotists and Jesuites some of which opposite Parties will not communicate with one another And as for the Difference among them concerning the Judge of Controversies and whether the Pope be subject or superior to a general Council it tends naturally and by due rational consequence to the dissolution of their Communion and who knows but we may live to see the Comedy of Basil acted over again and one part of the Roman Church declaring for a general Council and the other for the Pope Nay I may say that at this present the Clergy of the Church of England have been and are united to Admiration and Envy and better then the Clergy often happened to be in the ancient Catholick Church Had our Bishops ever such Broils among them as happened betwixt the Bishops of the Eastern and Western Churches about no greater a Matter then the keeping of Easter And between Cpyrian and Dionysius and Firmilian three Metropolitans and their Adherents on the on side and the Bishop of Rome and his on the other about re-Baptization when they made no bones of * Vid. â—â— Firmiliani contra Ep. Stephani in cyprian edit Rigalt p. 143. taxing the Pope with Inhumanity Insolence and Folly Or had we ever reason to take up that Complaint against them which †H. E. l. 3. â— 1 Eusebius made against the Bishops of the Catholick Church before the Dioclesian Persecution That they were as it were at War among themselves and wounded one another with words as with Darts and Spears nay that they dashed and split like capital Vessels one upon another striving for preheminence and enlarging the bounds of their Diocesses which causes great Factions among the People Or to descend to more particular Instances Was there ever such a tragical Quarrel between any of our Archbishops or Bishops since the Reformation as happened between Theophilus Patriarch of Alexandria and John Chrysostom Patriarch of Constantinople Epiphanius who sided with Theophilus and Chrysostom ‖ Socrat. l. 6. c. .14 cursed one another * Socrat. l. 16. c. 17. much Bloud was s hed on both sides and the Cathedral Church of Constantinople with the Senate-house were burnt in the Quarrel down to the ground Sozom. l. 8. c. 21. Sozomen protests he was ashamed to tell many things which happened in this Quarrel lest Infidels should come to the knowledge of them and saith †An. 400. n. 31. Baronius going to tell the Story of it I shall now describe a cursed Persecution not of Pagans against Christians or of Hereticks against Catholicks or of wicked against good men but what is monstrous and prodigious of Saints and holy men one against another to proceed Did the Bishops of England since the Reformation ever accuse one another in written Libels before the King as the Å¿tar; Sozom. l. 1. c. 17. Bishop in the Nicene Council did before the Emperor Or is there now any occasion of using against them the words which †Vit. Nazianz. â—â—aeâ—ixa operibus Nazianz. Gâ—aeâ—è â—…tis Paris 1630. Nazianzen spoke in a Council of Constantinople which went about to depose him It is a shame my fellow-Pastors of Christ's Flock and not befitting you to fall to war among your selves while you are to teach others peace and perswade them to live in unity To conclude How many such sharp Contentions have happened among our Bishops as we read happened between Paul and Barnabas Acts 15. 39. and between Paul and Peter Gal. 2.11 where we read that because Peter was to be blamed he withstood him to his very face Had the Clergy and People of our Communion been long or often exercised by such Broils as these the R. Cs. would have had a fair pretence to reproach us with want of Unity but the God of Union be praised for it we have no such Feuds and Contentions among us but quite contrary are as fast cemented among our selves in Love and Union as I believe any Church of the like extent ever was in the World. CHAP. IV. An Enquiry into the True Causes of Schisms and Divisions HAving shewed from several Arguments in the foregoing Chapter That bare Vnity or want of Divisions is no Argument for the Trueness or Reputation of a Church I shall for the farther advantage of my Plea proceed in this to make enquiry into the Causes of Divisions and Schisms and more particularly into the Causes of these in England with which the Christians Roman Communion are pleased so to upbraid our Church Now in this enquiry into the Causes of Divisions and Schisms I should very much forget both the ancient Jewish and Christian Theology if I did not in the first place name the Devil by whom we are not to understand any single evil Spirit but the whole society of apostate Angels who are most malicious and implacable Enemies of God and of Man for God's sake and of the Church above all other Societies of Men. This Doctrine we have not only from the Scriptures of the Old and New. Testament but from the most ancient primitive Christian Writers who as it were with one voice ascribe unto the Devil Idolatry Persecution Heresie and Schism He is meant by the Enemy in our Saviour's Parable who took his opportunity while men slept to sowe Tares in the Field of the Church And accordingly St. Paul who was not ignorant of his devices calls Heresies the doctrines of Devils 1 Tim. 4.1 saith he The Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter days some shall depart from the truth giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils And in Ephes 6.12 saith he Put on the whole armour of God that ye
may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil for we wrestle not against flesh and bloud but against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickednesses or wicked spirits in high places All these are several expressions for that society of apostate Spirits which make up the kingdom of darkness as is plain from the 1 st and 2d Verses of the 11 th Chapter of the same Epistle where he saith Ye were dead in trespasses and sins wherein you walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience who cannot be perswaded to believe the Gospel Wherefore the Combates for which Christians are to fortifie themselves are not only against humane Enemies but the powers of darkness the whole society of Devils who were the Gods of the Gentile World. They are always plotting and contriving against the Church and when they cannot hurt it with Idolatry Polytheism or Persecutions then they strive to get Altar set up against Altar in it and distract it with Heresie and Schism Accordingly St. Ignatius in his Ep. to the Ephesians calls Heresies and false Doctrines Herbs or Plants of the Devil 's planting and tells them in the same Epistle That to meet often together and receive the holy Eucharist in peace and concord was the only way to weaken the powers of Satan and prevent the ruine and destruction he would otherwise bring upon them by Division and to convince them how malicious and vigilant an enemy he is to the Church he tells them That there were three Mysteries of the Christian Religion which were kept from his knowledge The Virginity of Mary her bringing forth or the Nativity of her Son and the Death of our Lord. Had Satan come to the knowledge of these Mysteries unless God had chained him and his evil angels up they would have made ill use of them against the great design of man's Redemption and accordingly many learned men have given his for one Reason of the obscurity of the Prophecies and why God was pleased so artificially to conceal many things in them lest Satan coming to the knowledge of them should endeavour to prevent or obstruct the fulfilling of them or enervate the certainty and demonstration of them after they were fulfilled Thus Justin Martyr in his first commonly called the second Apology observes That he did before-hand to the best of his skill teach and institute many things among the Pagans which had some semblance with the future Mysteries of the Christian Religion that so when they came to pass they might not seem such divine and wonderful Mysteries as indeed they are The like is observed by * Tertâ—ll depâ—â—â— script Haeres 〈◊〉 40. Tertullian after him and made out by many particular Instances to which I remit the curious Reader which shews That he hath a great and active spite against the Church of God more especially against such parts of it as are pure in Doctrine or Worship to sow Heresies and Schisms among them and divide the unity of their Communion And therefore the same St. Ignatius in his Ep. to the Trallesians bids them beware of Separations and Divisions as of the Snares of the Devil and in his Ep. to the Philadelphians he prays them in his wonted phrase to abstain from the evil Herbs which Christ never cultivated because they were not of his heavenly Father's planting meaning the Weeds of false Doctrines which Satan had sowed among them and which he saith did not only cause different Parties among them but a perfect separation of many from the Church So Justin * P. 403. Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho ascribes all the impious and blasphemous Doctrines which were then taught in the Name of Christ to the Inspirations of the unclean spirit of the Devil and accordingly when St. Polycarp met Marcion the Heretick he told him He knew him to be the eldest Son of the Devil as being a man who was acted with diabolical Impulse and Inspirations and Tertullian in the Book above-cited saith expresly That the Devil is the Author of Heresie as well as Idolatry The like is observed by St. Cyprian and Theodoret who ascribe all Heresies to the invention and artifice of the Devil and all the Histories of Heresies and Schisms in Ecclesiastical Writers are still ushered in with prefatory Complaints of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the envious and wicked Devil whose business hath been from the beginning to deceive and molest the Church of God. Nay the purer any Church is in Doctrine and Worship the more we may be sure he will stickle against it and endeavour to weaken and disgrace it by intestine Divisions and perswade the dividing Parties to form themselves into opposite Schisms Indeed where Churches are already corrupted in Doctrine and Worship and firmly adhere to those Corruptions 't is his interest to let them alone and not to hazard the Reformation of them by stirring up Contentions and Divisions in them but in Churches where the Doctrine and Worship are kept pure and Apostolical by the care and vigilance of the Pastors in Churches where the Scriptures are openly taught and read and the whole Worship of God but more especially the holy Sacraments are duly administred by lawful Ministers and the Communion of Saints carefully maintained In such pure and Apostolical Churches as these he hath no other game to play but to get them as far as he can extirpated by Persecutions or where that fails to make Mutinies and Divisions and Schisms in them and so to weaken the common Interest of the whole by dividing it into parts Where he cannot unite the Members of a Church in pernicious Doctrines and Practices he will labour hard to dissolve them by pernicious Schisms where he cannot unite them against Truth he will strive to divide them against Charity and where they will not agree he will make them if he can differ to their own destruction And therefore considering him as the principal Cause of Divisions all that can be concluded upon that Consideration against any particular Church is only this That the Members of it are subject like the Members of all other Churches to be deceived and drawn away by the Devil and if upon special enquiry it be found that she is pure and Apostolical in her Doctrine Worship and Discipline all that can then be concluded is no more then this That the Devil is become her particular Enemy and hath a particular spite against her upon the account of her Excellence and Worth. This is the worst Consequence that can be drawn from Divisions and Separations against such a Church as ours and we are willing to admit it we are willing to acknowledge that the Devil hates the Church of England more then many Churches and if those that object our Divisions to us
and over-inquisitive men who trusting too much to their own Understanding love as the Apostle speaks to intrude into things which they have not seen and are vainly puffed up with their fleshly Mind †De praescript Haeres § 14. Tertullian in his Tract against the Heresies of his Time complains grievously of these men who were always moving nice and curious Questions about things which it was better to be ignorant of then to know and who as his phrase imports loved to exercise the ‖ Quantumlibet quaer as tractes omnem libidinem curiositatis essundas whole lust of their Curiosity about doubtful and obscure things Their Curiosity as he complains was above their Faith and their vain-glorious affectation of being counted learned and witty above the care of their Souls and therefore they must search the Scriptures to find out new Doctrines and Opinions and if they cannot find them there they will be sure to bring them thither tho' never heard of before and never so contrary to the unanimous Tradition of all the Apostolical Churches These men he complains of for the great Adulterators of Scripture and of such as they were the Apostle is to be understood 1 Tim. 1.4 I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other Doctrine neither give heed to Fables and endless Genealogies which minister Questions rather then godly Edifying which is in the Faith. So in Chap. 6.3 4. If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesom words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which is according to Godliness he is conceited knowing nothing but doting about questions and disputes about words whereof cometh envy strife railings and surmisings So in his 2d Ep. 2.23 saith he unto him Avoid foolish and unlearned questions knowing that they gender strife And so in his Ep. to Titus Chap. 2.9 Avoid foolish questions and Genealogies and contentions for these are unprofitable and vain and a man that is an Heretick after the first and second admonition reject These over-curious and too inquisitive Wits who hunt after new Discoveries and rack their Inventions as well as the Scriptures to publish some new thing are well disposed by temper for Heresie They think indeed they know something but really they know nothing as they ought to know when they begin to despise the Simplicity of the Christian Religion and the Doctrine and Tradition of the Elders and by the wantonness of their Wits and Understandings give occasion to Satan who observes all mens Tempers to tempt them into Heresie and Schism * Longum est universa ipsus opera commemorare quibus profecto summis Aedificatoribus Ecclestae par esse potuisset nisi profanâ illâ haereticae curlositatis libidine novum nescio quid invenisset quo cunctos labores suos velut cujusdam Leprae admixtione soedaret cap. 16. Vincentius Lirinensis observes that Apollinaris fell into Heresie through this lust of Curiosity and that †Tantus ac talis dum gratiâ dei insolentiûs abatitur dum ingenio suo nimium indulger sibique satis credit cum parvi pendit antiquam Christiane religionis simplicitatem dum se plus cunctis sapere praesumit dum Ecclesiaticas traditiones verterum magisteria contemnens quaedam Scripturarum capitula novo more interpretatur meruit ut de se quoque Ecclesia dei diceret Si surrexerit in medio tui propbeta Origen also through too great a confidence in his own Parts and too much fondness and indulgence for his own Notions of the greatest Doctor the Church ever had became plainly such a one to whom one might justly apply those words of Moses Si surrexerit in medio tui propheta If there arise among you a Prophet saying let us go after other Gods thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that Prophet for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul The next sort of Instruments which the Devil makes use of in inventing and propagating Hercsie and Schism are ambitious and aspiring men who would fain be Governours in the Church and sit in the Thrones of the Apostles and when they cannot compass their Designs then out of Envy and Revenge they strive to turn all things topsie-turvy and bring confusion upon the Church Such as these was Diotrephes who loved to have the preeminence He would fain have had St. John's Chair and to that end raised Sedition against him prating against him with malicious words and perswading the Church not to receive him Such also was Thebuthis the first Heretick and Schismatick in the Church of Jerusalem as I have shewed in the first Chapter Such also were Montanus Novatus Arius Natalis the Confessor and almost all the famous Heresiarchs in the ancient Church Such also was Melitius a Bishop of Aegypt who being deposed from his Bishoprick for denying the Faith and sacrificing unto Daemons in the Dioclesian Persecution became the Head of that which from him took the Name of the Melitian Heresie and Schism He loaded Achilles his Superior who deposed him with all manner of Calumnies and Reproaches as also his Successors Peter and Alexander who ratified the Deprivation of him and conspired with Arius against the latter that he might be revenged on the Church For Pride and Ambition is the Mother of Envy Revenge and Discontent it was the original Sin of the Devil and when he meets with proud men after his own image his work is half done and it will cost him but little trouble to tempt them to break the Peace and divide the Unity of Churches whereof they are Members So an ancient * Responsâ—ad orthodox quaest 〈…〉 Author in Answer to this Question Whether it is just to damn Hereticks who do their best Endeavours to know the Truth and cannot Saith he It is manifest that all Heresies arise from a vain affectation of Glory and study of opposition in the Authors and Ring leaders of them and therefore the Apostle calls them grievous Wolves And saith St. Chrysostom in his first Homily upon the first Epistle to Timothy Because they do not love their Brethren they envy those that have a good Report and from this Envy proceeds a desire to be above them and to rule and from this desire to rule come Heresies So saith Theophylact on Galat. 5. The desire of Ruling is the Mother of all Heresies And saith another * Isidorus Pelusiota p. 441. ancient Writer From affectation of Government and getting above others which are two domineering Passions I think most Heresies arise for those who do not love to be in the rank of Subjects sow new Doctrines that they may be Chief of a new Sect. And indeed this was the temper of Simon Magus the first Heretick and false Apostle he affected to be a great man and to have the People from
AN Apologetical Vindication OF THE Church of England IN ANSWER To Those who reproach HER WITH THE ENGLISH HERESIES AND SCHISMS Or suspect HER not to be a Catholick Church Upon their Account London Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church yard MDCLXXXVII THE INTRODUCTION EVER since the Dissenters left the Church of England and formed themselves into Separate Churches the Roman Catholicks have not been wanting to take advantage from her sad Misfortune to expose her at home and abroad as a Church that amidst so many monstrous Sects and so many opposite and irreconcileable Communions can have no right to the glorious Title of Catholick nothing really answerable to the true Idaea of a Church nor any pretensions to the Promises of Christ especially those two of preserving his Church against the Powers of Hell and of sending his Spirit of Truth which is but one to guide her into all Truth They endeavour to make the World believe That a Church so over-run with Heresies and Schisms and so shatter'd and torn with intestine Divisions as ours is cannot be a true or good Church nay they will ask us by a figure of Reproach Where they shall find her among such a Crowd of Dissenters And thus using all manner of Artifice on the one hand in setting forth the many Divisions in Religion among us and on the other the great Unity in Doctrine and Worship among themselves they hope to unsettle us yet more and make our People suspect or believe that ours is not a part of the One Catholick and Apostolick Church It is now one of their Common Places to talk of our Schisms and argue from them upon all occasions in diminution of the Church of England They generally begin there when they first attack any of her Sons or Daughters and when ever we engage with them or they with us in a Dispute about the Two Churches we must be content to hear of our Divisions at both Ears Sometimes they seem to lament them sometimes to upbraid us with them and sometimes to dispute down-right upon them but be their Style and Method never so different when they speak or write of the English Heresies and Schisms their common Aim and Design is the same viz. to bring us out of conceit with our Church and perswade us that a Church so full of imbred Divisions in Religion hath not the Characters of Christ's Spouse no Marks of his Favour nor any Similitude with the Catholick Church that heavenly Hierusalem which is as a City that is at peace and unity in it self We are told That it is a sad thing to consider what a world of Heresies are crept into this Nation where every man thinks himself as competent a Judge of the Scriptures as the very Apostles themselves and that that part of the Nation which looks most like a Church dares not bring the true Arguments against other Sects for fear they should be turned against themselves Your Church saith another hath Unity or not if not then she is not the Church of Christ If she hath why are there so many Sects and Schisms among you Saith another who not long since was one of her Priests What would I have once given to have found such an Union among Protestants nay to have found one County in my own dear Countrey or perhaps one single Family so united a Brotherhood And in another place he professes That he cannot tell how the Church of England is able to find her self in an innumerable Huddle of ten times more Dissenters Dissemblers whereof he himself was many years one and Indifferents than her number is able to make At this rate and to this purpose they are also apt to talk in their private Conversation For where I live the Place rings with their Reflections on the Church of England upon the account of our English Separations and having not heard that any thing is yet published to help the People to defend themselves and the Honour of our Church against them I thought I could not better spend the Christmas Vacation than to write a short Tract on purpose to shew That the English Heresies and Schisms are in reality no diminution to the Honour of the Church of England and that the Consideration of them ought to scandalize no man against her or make us believe that she is in any degree less Catholick and Apostolick than her greatest Admirers take her to be This is the main Design of my present Undertaking and that I may omit nothing of moment which ought to be spoken of such a Subject in such a short Treatise I will proceed in the following Method I. I will shew from Reason and the History of the Christian Religion that all Churches are subject to the Misfortune of Schisms and Divisions II. That Schisms and Divisions and the consummation of them in opposite Communions are no good Argument against the Truth or Goodness or Reputation of a Church III. That bare Unity or want of Schisms and Divisions in Religion are no sound Argument for the Truth or Goodness or Reputation of a Church After I have demonstrated these three Propositions I will make enquiry into the true Causes of Schisms and Divisions and more particularly into the Causes of these in England Then I will say something of the Prevention and Cure of them And in the Conclusion make such Addresses to the People of the Roman Communion to the People of the Church of England and to the Dissenters from it as I hope may become a good Christian and the Author of such a peaceful and charitable Discourse as I hope the Reader will find this to be AN Apologetical Vindication OF THE Church of England Chap. I. Shewing from Reason and the History of the Christian Religion that all Churches are subject to the Misfortune of Schisms and Divisions 1. I Will shew from Reason and the History of the Christian Religion that all Churches are subject to the sad misfortune of Schisms and Divisions and to the consummation of them in opposite Communions This to argue first from Reason is as demonstrable of Ecclesiastical as Civil or Military Societies men being as subject by their own evil Passions and the Temptations of the Devil to mutiny and make Insurrections in Churches as in Camps or Cities or other Fraternities of men Nay it being more for the Interest of Satan and also more easie to divide a Church then a Kingdom or a Camp men are so much the more in danger of being tempted to do the one rather then the other and accordingly we find that Churches are more infected with intestine Divisions then States and Kingdoms and whereas formerly one Emperor was able to quell many Mutinies and Rebellions a succession of Christian Emperors sometimes were not able to quell one Schism Wherefore to pursue my Argument as Christian Armies are subject to Mutinies because they consist of Souldiers which may be tempted to Mutiny and Christian
Cities and Kingdoms to Rebellion because they consist of Subjects that may be tempted to rebel so all Christian Churches are subject to Schisms and Heresies because they consist of Members that may be drawn in to begin and carry on Heresie and Schism The Catholick Church notwithstanding its holiness and all the particular Churches in it are Bodies politick that like other Corporations consist of peaceable and unpeaceable dutiful and undutiful Members and it is really no stranger that a Diotrephes Montanus or Novatus should prove a Schismatick then that Judas should prove a Thief and a Traitor or the lustful Corinthian commit Incest in the Church of God. What hinders that this or that Member of a Church may not become a Schismatick as well as a Murderer Drunkard or Adulterer Is it not consistent with the wisdom of God or the honour and oeconomy of the Catholick or a Catholick Church to leave the Members of it in a capacity to commit Schism Fieri vero haec dominus permittit patitur manent propriae libertatis arbitrio ut probatorum sides integra manifeslâ luce clarescat Cypr. de Vnit Eccles Doth the nature of a true Church require or hath God any where promised to over-rule the free wills of orthodox Christians so that they shall not fall into Schism as well as other sins Hath he either made them impassible as to this single vice or restrain'd the Devil from tempting them to it If he hath let those who upbraid us with our Divisions shew it and if he hath not then it must follow that the Clergy and Laity of all the Churches in the World being left as free to commit Schism as Rebellion or any other wickedness all Churches whatsoever must be subject to the sad misfortune of Heresie and Schism The natural Body is not more subject to Diseases then the Body politick of the Church is subject to Divisions though she have the honour to have Christ for her Head yet is she not exempted from having her Peace broken or her Unity divided That is only the priviledge of the Church triumphant where Charity is perfected and therefore to pass from Reason to the History of the Christian Religion we find as many Cautions and Exhortations in the Scriptures against Heresies and Schisms as against any other mortal sin What an excellent Admonition against Schism did St. Paul give the Bishops and Presbyters of Ephesus or rather all the Bishops of Asia Minor assembled at Miletus Take heed saith he unto your selves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers For I know that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears The Apostle knew very well that God in his wisdom thought it not fit to prevent Heresies and Schisms in the most Apostolical Churches by his Almighty power but to suffer them as well as other sins for the manifestation of the good from the bad and that in such a mixture as a Church must be they were necessary to sift the Wheat from the Tares to separate the Gold from the Dross and distinguish those that are sincere stedfast and genuine Sons of any Catholick Church from those that are not Thus in his 1. Ep. to the Church of Corinth which I suppose was a very Apostolical Church he tells them that God thought fit to let Heresies and Divisions arise among them that the faith and constancy of some and instability vanity and hypocrisie of others might be made more evident I hear saith he that when you come together into the Church there are divisions among you and I partly believe it for there must be also heresies or dividing into Sects among you that they which are * Avolent quantum volent paleae levis fidei quocunque afflatu tentationum co purior Massa frumenti in horreâ domini reponetur Tertull de praescript Haer. 3. approved may be made manifest among you So saith St. John of the Antichrists which in his time arose in the Catholick Church They went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us And our Blessed Lord who was the Founder of the Church and may be presumed to have best understood the nature of it had no other notion thereof then as of a Body Corporate that was subject like other Societies to the great inconvenience of intestine Divisions and falling into opposite Sects and Schisms It must needs be saith he considering the nature and future estate of the Church that offences come but wo unto the man by whom the offence cometh And in his Sermon on the Mount saith he unto his Disciples Beware of false Prophets which come to you in sheeps-cloathing but inwardly they are ravening wolves And in the 24th Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel ‖ Memores simus tam dominicarum praenuntiationum quà m Apostolicarum literarum quae nobis faturas haereses praenuntiarunt sugiendas praefinierunt Tertull. ibid. Instruit dominus multos esse venturos sub pellibus ovium rapaces Lupos ibid. he foretold the sad condition of the primitive Church before the destruction of Jerusalem that about that period there should arise false Christs and false Prophets and should shew great signs and wonders and deceive if it were possible the very Elect. This prediction of the Blessed Jesus was fulfilled in the time of the Apostles who were all infallable Guides of the Church for St. Paul in his 2. Ep. to the Thessalonians saith That the mystery of iniquity was then a working and the wicked one to be revealed whose coming was after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceitfulness to bring them that perish to commit unrighteousness because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved So St. Peter in his 2. Ep. general to the Catholick Church tells the Christians That as there were false Prophets in the Church of the Jews so there should be false Teachers among them who should privily bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and that many should follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the truth should be evil spoken of Every one that is versed in Ecclesiastical Story knows that these Apostles mean Simon Magus who was baptiz'd by Philip and the rest of the Ring leaders of the Gnostical Heresies who were all Magicians as well as Hereticks and wrought wonders to prove that Jesus was not the Christ For this Reason they are called * Johannes in Ep. eos maximè Antichristos vocat qui
the account of Divisions that he in effect apologized for them and for the goodness and wisdom of God that suffered them for saith he there must be * Ac si diceret ob hoc haereseôn non statim divinitùs eradicantur authores ut probati manifesti siant id est unusquisque quam tenax fidelis fixus Catholicae fidei sit amator appareat Vincent Lirin heresies among you that those who are approved may be made manifest So St. Clement begins his Epistle to the same Church which was written upon the occasion of a great Schism in this manner The Church of God at Rome to the Church of God at Corinth It seems the Church at Corinth rent and torn as it was with intestine Divisions was the Church of God as well as that of Rome in which there were then no Divisions at all St. Peter's next and immediate Successor bewailed the sad Misfortune of the Corinthians but he did not unchurch them for it he told them how it occasioned their venerable and illustrious Name to be evil spoken of but nevertheless he called them the * §. 1. elect of God. And so Constantine the Great in an Epistle which he wrote to the Alexandrians when they were very infamous upon the account of the deadly Feuds and Separations which divided their Communion salutes them in these words †Socrat. H. E. 〈…〉 9. Constantine the Emperor to the Catholick Church of Alexandria Not long after when the Arian Bishops ‖ L. 1. c. 27. conspired against Athanasius to get the Emperor to depose him and his Majesty upon hearing his Cause found their Accusations to be false he wrote a Letter in his behalf to the Alexandrians of which this is the Title * Athan opera vol. 1. p. 779. Constantine the great Emperor to the People of the Catholick Church which is at Alexandria When he wrote this Letter to the People of Alexandria it abounded with Melitians and Arians who had formed themselves into opposite Communions and yet those schismatical opposite Communions were in the judgement of that learned Emperor no Argument against the Alexandrian Church So Constantine junior shortly after his Father's death before he assumed the Title of Augustus directed Letters to the Church of Alexandria in favour of Athanasius with this Superscription †Socrat. H. E. l. 2. c. 3. Constantine Caesar to the People of the Catholick Church of the Alexandrians Notwithstanding all the Sects and Sectaries of Alexandria the Church still remained Catholick in the Communion of the Faithful who retained the ancient Apostolical Doctrine and Discipline These wise Emperors considered that the Tares could not alter the property of the Wheat and therefore tho' there were a World of Hereticks and Schismaticks in Alexandria and all the Regions round about it yet they called the Church a Catholick Church It was every jot as Catholick then as it was before the Melitian and Arian Schisms when the People were of one mind and one Communion for it is not the great number of Church members is any Diocess Province or Patriarchat but the cause and nature of the Communion that makes a true Church Otherwise if Churches must be no longer reputed truly Catholick and good then all the Members which are or ought to be of it are unanimous and communicate together then it must follow that both the Church universal and every particular Member of it long since lost their Catholick nature and were no true Churches in the eyes of God. What for instance became of the Church Catholick after the Council of Ariminum when almost the whole Christian World became Arian except a very * Libellus precum p. 8 9 10 11. Vincent Lirin c. 6. small number of Bishops who stuck to the profession of the Catholick Faith More particularly what became of the Church of Rome when Pope Liberius embraced the Arian Communion and subscribed to the Sentence of the Arian Bishops against Athanasius as †Eccles Ann. T. 3. p. 761 762 763. Baronius acknowledges tho' he endeavours to prove that he never subscribed to the Arian Confession or Heresie Nay what became of it especially upon their Principle when Pope ‖ Vid. Nili Archiepiscop Thessalon de primatu Papae lib. qui est ad calcem Salmas de primatu Papae p. 33 34 35 p. 61. Honorius the 1st fell into the Heresie of the Monothelites for which he was condemned by the 6th General Council and anathematized for it after his death by the 2d Council of Nice which they receive for the 7th General Council Nay if Heresies and Schisms are good Arguments or just matter of Exception against any Church what shall we say to the Church of Rome upon the account of the Novatian and all the other Antipapal Schisms mentioned in the former Chapter Or to go farther back into Antiquity what Apology shall we make for her when * Euseb H. E. l. 5. c. 15. Blastus and Florinus a degraded Roman Presbyter raised a great Schism in Rome endeavouring to introduce new Doctrines which †C. 20. Irenaeus confuted in Books written for that purpose Their Doctrines were very absurd as well as inconsistent with the Faith and Tradition of all Churches and yet they drew away many from the Church of Rome and enticed them to embrace their Opinions Nay what shall we do to defend her in the Time of Pope Victor and Zephyrinus when she was infested with the Heresie Euseb H.E. l 5. c 28. which asserted our Lord to be a meer man This damnable Heresie was first taught at Rome by Theodotus no better a man then a Tanner for which he was excommunicated by Pope Victor and afterwards in the Time of his Successor Zephyrinus it came to a perfect Schism when the Hereticks made Natalis the Confessor a Bishop of the Heresie and settled a Maintenance upon him One of the Scholars of Theodotus the Tanner was another Theodotus a Banker a great promoter of the Schism and therefore I cannot but wonder that any Roman Catholick who understands Antiquity should upbraid the Church of England with the Preaching of Mechanicks and Tradesmen when a Tanner and a Banker in the 2d Century were the Ring-leaders of such a pestilent Heresie in the Church of Rome and as an Author of that Time reports impudently took upon them to adulterate the Scriptures and reject the Canon of the primitive Faith. Why should men pretending to Sense and Learning use and Argument that is so easily retorted upon themselves and when it is pursued into all its Consequences makes it impossible for them to defend either the Church Universal or any particular Member thereof What will they say for the primitive Church by way of defence against the Gnostical Heresies if they argue against that as they are wont to argue against the Church of England Or to pass over the Schisms of which I have given some Account in the
please very much more then the Church of Rome We are willing to look upon the many Heresies and Schisms among us as the effects of his Revenge against her for the damage he hath sustained by her as * Videns ille idola derelicta per nimiùm credentium populum sedes suas as templa deserta excogitaverit novam fraudem ut sub ipso Christiani nominis titulo fallat incautos hereses invenit schismata quibus subverteret sidem veritatem corrumperet scinderet unitatem Cyprian de Vnit Eccles St. Cyprian thought the Heresies and Schisms of his Time were purposely invented by him to be revenged of the Christian Religion for destroying his Worship among the Gentiles All this we are willing to admit upon the Theory that ariseth from considering the first Cause of Divisions and Separations and let those who love to reproach the Church of England with the English Divisions Religion make the best of it they can But then to proceed farther in this Enquiry After we have found out the principal we must look after the instrumental Causes of Divisions and Separations and they according to the Ancients who spoke what they knew to be true by long Experience and Observation were ignorant over-curious ambitious covetous and contentious men These are the proper Instruments by which the Devil acts in broaching false Doctrines and making Divisions and Separations He is a sagacious Spirit and can find out the weak and blind side of every man where he will be sure to ply him with Darts of Temptation as a skilful General will be sure to attack the weakest part of the Wall or that part of it which is least defended when he storms a Town The first Instrument then by which Satan works in making Schisms and Divisions are ignorant men or men ignorant in the Scriptures whose Ignorance makes them confident and think they understand the Scriptures when for want of knowing the received sence of them they do not This St. Chrysostom complains of in one of his Sermons * Hom. 37 T. 5. p. 245. Saith he The ignorance of the Scriptures is a dangerous Precipice and a deep Gulf of destruction and a great betrayer of mens Salvation It is that which hath brought forth Heresies and which turns all things upside down So in his †T. 3. p. 1. Preface to St. Paul's Ep. to the Romans saith he A thousand Evils come from ignorance of the Scriptures and the manifold sorts of Heresies have sprung from thence To this purpose speaks a more ancient Author in Answer to this Query Why God if he was able to do it did not root out all Errors and Heresies ‖ Author respons ad Orthodoxos in resp ad 1. Quaest Saith he When God abrogated Judaism he introduced the New instead of the Old Testament and if all those who embrace Christianity do not agree in thier Opinions but some believe right and some otherwise this is not the fault of God nor to be ascribed to any defect of care or power in him but the fault of their own carelessness and negligence nor ought any man to be offended at the small number of orthodox Christians because it is written That many are called but few chosen and that streight and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it It is observable that these ancient Fathers did not lay the blame of Heresies and Schisms upon the free and common use of the Scriptures but upon the careless and negligent reading of them and to ignorant mens presuming they understood them when they did not The fault was not in the Scriptures but in those who through ignorance abused them the Scriptures were always common in all Churches and Languages and I dare say boldly saith * De praescript Heret § 39. Tertullian That the Scriptures are so contrived by the will of God that they should afford occasion for Heresies because I read that there must be Heresies and Heresies cannot be without the Scriptures What I have observed out of these ancient Fathers is no more in effect then what St. Peter observed of the Epistles of St. Paul which are one great part of the Scriptures Saith he Account that the long-suffering of the Lord is salvation even as our beloved Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you as also in all his Epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures unto their own destruction The Scriptures it seems suffered very much by unlearned men in the Time of St. Peter and yet he did not order them to be kept from the People neither in the Church of Rome nor any other Churches He knew that they were holy true just and good and were designed by God for publick use and benefit and if ignorant men by the instigation of the Devil and their own natural Enthusiasm did misuse them and draw false Doctrines from them it was at their own peril and the fault was in their own giddiness and presumption and not in the Word of God. They should have only meddled with the plain Passages of them which contain all things necessary to Salvation and not with those which are hard to be understood No! if they had had a mind to understand the difficult Places of them they should have consulted the Apostles or those whom the Apostles set over them about the Apostolical Doctrine or Tradition and if they did not but as ignorant men are apt to do would precipitate themselves into Errors and make Doctrines to themselves which the Church never taught that was their own fault and could not without very much harm to Christianity supersede the use of the Word of God. God in his great wisdom intended it for the common Rule or Canon of the ancient Catholick Faith and if unlearned men will be so head strong and Enthusiastical as not to try their Conceptions by it but it by their private Conceptions it nevertheless remains a Standard and Rule and no less then their Souls must be the price for their Heresies and Schisms The Devil understands this very well and therefore being a subtil and cunning Spirit he is never wanting to tempt Sciolists and men that want true Learning especially those who are by nature powerfully enclined to Enthusiasm to wrest the Scriptures * Sequamur universitatem antiquitatem consentionem Vincent Lirin adversus Haeres c. 3. against the consent of universal Antiquity to their own admired Notions and that being done it is no difficult matter to perswade them to set up for Teachers altho' they have really need that one teach them again which be the first Principles of the Oracles of God and are such as have need of Milk and not of strong Meat The second sort of Instruments by which Satan works are over-curious
our Church I confess it is very good Policy to divide us that they may weaken us but then it should be remembred that no Humane Policy nor the greatest Advantage that can follow upon it can justifie the Dividing of any Church though never so Heretical by inventing new Doctrines The Catholicks formerly durst take no such course to divide the Arians they remembred that Anathema which St. Paul laid upon the Apostles themselves and the very Angels of Heaven if they should teach any other Doctrine and I wish for the Honour of Christianity others would do so too CHAP. V. Of the Cure of Schisms and Divisions AFter this Enquiry into the Causes of Schisms and Divisions and more particularly into those of our own Country I proceed to say something concerning the Prevention and Cure of them where to keep close to the design of my Apology for the Church I must declare upon a serious reflection of what I have hitherto written that I know no sure and infallible way that is lawful of preventing them where they are not or of curing them where they are First then I know no sure way that is lawful of preventing of them but some unlawful ways I confess there are which are inconsistent with the Design of the Gospel and the Rules of Christian Charity but then the Remedy in such cases is worse than the Disease and accordingly we see that the state of Christianity is much more deplorable in some Countries where Divisions are prevented by such methods than in England where no such methods have been taken to prevent them but of lawful and justifiable means which are consistent with the reputation and well-being of Christianity I believe there are none that will absolutely prevent Divisions and Schisms I confess Humane Fore-sight and Diligence may by God's blessing prevent them in a great measure but it will not always nor altogether do so But as Diseases will happen to the Natural Body notwithstanding all the care and endeavours to prevent them So Divisions and Schisms will happen to the Body Politick of Christ and all the Parts and Members of it notwithstanding all that man can lawfully do to prevent them as is evident from the state of the Church while it was governed by the Apostles For they were most holy most wise and most vigilant Pastors and therefore the greatest holiness and wisdom of the most vigilant and diligent Pastors are not sufficient to preserve Unity and prevent Schism Nor are Miracles joyned with the Sanctity and Endeavours of the most vigilant Pastors able to prevent it for the Apostles and their Assistants wrought Miracles and yet in the miraculous age of the Apostles there were Heresies and Schisms even in Churches where God bore them witness with Signs and Wonders and divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost Nay Miracles are so far from having a Soveraign Vertue to prevent Schisms that in the Church of Corinth which abounded with miraculous Gifts there were Envyings Strifes Contentions and Divisions Nay as I shewed in the First Chapter many of those who had he gift of Miracles in the Apostles time wilfully fell away from Christianity to which they had born witness and did thereby despite unto the Spirit of Grace And as Miracles joyned with the utmost Sanctity Wisdom and Diligence of Pastors are not sufficient to prevent Divisions so neither is Infallibility added to all the rest for the most holy the most wise and most vigilant Apostles were all infallible Judges certainly endow'd by God with the personal Gift of Infallibility and yet in their time there were as many and as great Heresies and Schisms as perhaps have been since in any age of the Church To use some of the emphatical words of another Author every one of them was such a Judge of Matters Spiritual from which there needed no Appeal every one of them had Authority and Ability to Interpret the Scriptures and decide in Matters of Conscience and yet there were as many Controversies and Differences about Matters of Conscience and Religion then as are now to be seen in England or herhaps any other Country of the Christian World. Do what the Apostles of the Circumcision or Vncircumcision could they could not prevent the Enemy from sowing of Tares nor the Tares from growing up to the great prejudice and detriment of the Wheat Heresies and Offences would come notwithstanding the Infallibility of S. John who lay in our Lord's Bosom and of S. James who was his Brother and of S. Paul who was rapt into the third Heaven and of St. Peter to whom Christ said Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church The R. Cs. may see from this little which I have said that if they had an infallible Judge his Infallibility would be no certain Remedy against Heresies and Schisms if they had no other ways that would not hinder but that Divisions might multiply among them as much as in the days of the Apostles or as much as they are now multiplied in England where the Church professeth to have no infallible Judge I say if they had an infallible Judge his Infallibility would not be able to secure them against Divisions but alas they have no infallible Judge for though they are all agreed that their Church is infallible yet they differ about the Seat of the Infallibility they cannot tell us for certain where it is lodged and truly to have an Infallible Judge and not to know who or where he is is in effect to have none at all What then is there no certain way of preventing Heresies and Schisms Certainly there is no lawful way certain which Consideration alone methinks might be Apology enough for the Church of England against the reproach which she now suffers upon the account of the English Heresies and Schisms And as there is no certain way of preventing Heresies and Schisms where they are not so there is no certain way of curing them where they are Provincial and General Councils where all emergent Differences may be freely and fairly debated have by experience been found to be the best means which God hath been pleased to bless with success but tho' they are very good means and have often proved very successful yet as we learn from the History of Councils they are not always infallible Remedies as is evident from the first General Council in which the Apostles and Elders and Brethren met at Jerusalem to determine whether or no it was needful for the Gentile Christians to be Circumcised and keep the Law of Moses St. Peter after much Dispute on both sides first stood up and declared That to oblige the Gentile Disciples to the Mosaical Observances was to put a Yoak upon their Necks which neither the Jews nor their Fathers were able to bear then James having first heard Barnabas and Paul declared it was his sentence that the Gentile Christians should be troubled with no more Jewish Observances but to