man can say that there was never any exact forme of the Nicene Creed commended by that Councell to the use of the Church because that in the Councell of Chalcedon and in the works of Athanasius and St. Basil it is presented to us with some difference of the words and phrases Of which the most that can be said must be that of Binius idem est plane sensus sed sermo discrepans i. e. that the sense is every where the same though the words do differ In the third place it is objected that the Creed could not be written by the Apostles because there are therein certain words and phrases which were not used in their times and for the proof of this they instance in these two particulars first in our Saviours descent into hell which words they say are not to be found in all the Apostolical Scriptures and secondly in that of the Catholick Church which was a word or phrase not used till the Apostles had dispersed the Gospell over all the world And first in answer to the first we need say but this that though these words of Christ descended into hell be not in terminis in the Scriptures yet the Doctrine is which we shall very evidently evince and prove when we are come unto the handling of that Article And if we finde the doctrine in the book of God I hope it will conclude no more against the authority and antiquity of the Creed we speak of then that the word Homousion in the Nicene Creed did or might do against the authority of that Creed or Symbole because that word could not be found in all the Scriptures as was objected by the Arians in the former times And for the second instance in the word Catholica there is less ground of truth therein then in that before But yet because it hath a little shew of learning and doth pretend unto antiquity we will take some more pains then needed to manifest and discover the condition of it Know then that the Apostles might bestow upon the Church the adjunct of Catholick before they went abroad into several Countries to preach the Gospel not in regard that it was actually diffused over all the world according as it hath bin since in these later Ages but in regard that so it was potentially according to the will and pleasure of their Lord and Saviour by whom the bar was broken down which formerly had made a separation between Iew and Gentile and the Commission given of Ite praedicate to go and preach the Gospel unto every creature Catholick is no more then universal The smallest smatterer in the Greek can assure us that And universal questionless the Church was then at least intentionaliter potentialiter when the Apostles knew from the Lords own mouth that it should no longer be imprisoned within the narrow limits of the land of Iewry but that the Gentiles should be called to eternal life Without this limitation of the word I can hardly see how the Church should be called Catholick in her largest circuit there being many Nations and large Dominions which are not actually comprehended within the Pale of the Church to this very day I hope their meaning is not this that there was no such word as Catholick when the Apostles lived and composed the body of the New Testament If so they mean although they put us for the present to a needless search yet they betray therein a gross peece of ignorance For the discovery whereof we may please to know that the word Catholick is derived from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth in universum as that from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is totum all as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. that I may sum up all in brief And so the word is used by Isocrates that famous Oratour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say generally or in a word I shall endeavour to declare what studies it were fittest for you to incline unto But the proper signification of it is in that of Aristotle where he opposeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a general or universal demonstration to that which he calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is partial only or particular Hence comes the adjective 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. universal and so the word is taken by Quintilian saying Propter quae mihi semper moris fuit quam minimum me alligare ad praecepta quae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vocant i. e. ut dicamus quomodo possumus universalia vel perpetualia Thus read we in Hermogenes an old Rhetorician 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of usual and general forms of speech and thus in Philo speaking of the laws of Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he ordained a general perpetual law for succession into mens inheritances Take which of these three senses they best like themselves and they will finde at last it comes all to one If the word Catholick do signifie the same with universal it also signified the same in and before the times the Apostles lived in and how the Church might then be called universal we have shewn already If they desire rather to translate it general Pope Iulius will tell us how the Church might be called General in the first days and hours thereof Quia sc. generalis est in eadem doctrina ad instructionem because it generally proposeth the same doctrine for edification or if by that of perpetual rather there is no question to be made but that our Saviours promise to be with them to the end of the world did most sufficiently declare unto them that the Church which they were to plant was to be perpetual There is another meaning of the word Catholicus as it denotes an Orthodox and right believer which whether it were used in the Apostles times may be doubted of it being half granted by Pacianus an antient writer sub Apostolis CHRISTIANOS non vocari Catholicos that Christians were not then called Catholicks But this at best being not the natural but an adventitious meaning of the word according to a borrowed metaphorical sense it neither helps nor hinders in the present business and in this sense we shall speak more of it hereafter when we are come unto the Article of the Catholick Church One more objection there remains and but one more which is worth the answering and is that which is much pressed by Downes namely that to affirm as Ruffinus doth that the Apostles did compose the Creed to be the rule or square of their true preaching lest being separated from one another there should be any difference amongst them in matters which pertain to eternal life were to suppose them to be guided by a fallible spirit and consequently subject unto Errour For answer whereunto we need say but this that the difference which Ruffinns speaks of and which he saith the Apostles laboured to avoid by their agreement on this sum or abstract of the Christian
dogmata many strange Doctrines broached by Luther and held forth by Calvin To which when Dr. Crackanthorp was commanded to make an Answer he thought it neither safe nor seasonable to deny the charge or plead not guilty to the bill and therefore though he called his book Defensio Ecclesiae Anglicanae yet he chose rather to defend those Dogmata which had been charged upon this Church in the Bishops Pamphlet then to assert this Church to her genuine Doctrines They that went otherwise to work were like to speed no better in it or otherwise requited for their honest zeal then to be presently exposed to the publick envie and made the common subject of reproach and danger So that I must needs look upon it as a bold attempt though a most necessary piece of service as the times then were in B. Montague of Norwich in his answer to the Popish Gagger and the two Appellants to lay the saddle on the right horse as the saying is I mean to sever or discriminate the opinions of particular men from the received and authorized Doctrines of the Church of England to leave the one to be maintained by their private fautors and only to defend and maintain the other And certainly had he not been a man of a mighty spirit and one that easily could contemne the cries and clamors which were raised against him for so doing he could not but have sunk remedilesly under the burden of disgrace and the feares of ruin which that performance drew upon him To such an absolute authority were the names and writings of some men advanced by their diligent followers that not to yeeld obedience to their Ipse dixits was a crime unpardonable It is true King Iames observed the inconvenience and prescribed a remedy sending instructions to the Universities bearing date Ian. 18. Ann. 1616. which was eight years or thereabout before the coming out of the Bishops Gag wherein it was directed amongst other things that young students in Divinity should be excited to study such books as were most agreable in doctrine and discipline too the Church of England and to bestow their time in the Fathers and Councels Schoolmen Histories and Controversies and not to insist to long upon Compendiums and Abbreviators making them the grounds of their study And I conceive that from that time forwards the names and reputations of some leading men of the forain Churches which till then carryed all before them did begin to lessen Divines growing every day more willing to free themselves from that servitude and Vassalage to which the authority of those names had inslaved their judgements But so that no man had the courage to make such a general assault against the late received opinions as the Bishop did though many when the ice was broken followed gladly after him About those times it was that I began my studies in Divinity and thought no course so proper and expedient for me as the way commended by King Iames and opened at the charges of B. Montague though not then a Bishop For though I had a good respect both to the memory of Luther and the name of Calvin as those whose writings had awakened all these parts of Europe out of the ignorance and superstition under which they suffered yet I alwayes took them to be men Men as obnoxious unto error as subject unto humane frailty and as indulgent too to their own opinions as any others whatsoever The little knowledge I had gained in the course of Stories had preacquainted me with the fiery spirit of the one and the busie humour of the other thought thereupon unfit by Archbishop Cranmer and others the chief agents in the reformation of this Church to be employed as instruments in that weighty businesse Nor was I ignorant how much they differed from us in their Doctrinals and formes of Government And I was apt enough to thinke that they were no fit guides to direct my judgement in order to the Discipline and Doctrine of the Church of England to the establishing whereof they were held unusefull and who both by their practises and positions had declared themselves to be friends to neither Yet give me leave to say withall that I was never master of so little manners as to speak reproachfully of either or to detract from those just honours which they had acquired though it hath pleased the namelesse Author of the reply to my Lord of Canterburies Book against Fisher the Iesuit to tax me for giving unto Calvin in a book licenced by authority the opprobrious name of schismaticall Heretick Had he told either the parties name by whom it was licenced or named the Book it self in which those ill words escaped me I must have been necessitated to disprove or confesse the action But being as it is a bare denyall is enough for a groundlesse slander And so I leave my namelesse Author a Scot as I have been informed with these words of Cicero Quid minus est non dico Oratoris sed hominis quam id objicere Adversario quod si ille verbo negabit longius progredi non possis Pardon me Reader I beseech thee for laying my naked soul before thee for taking this present opportunity to acquit my self from those imputations which the uncharitablenesse of some men had aspersed me with I have long suffered under the reproaches of the publick Pamphleters not only charged with Popery and Heterodoxies in the point of faith but also as thou seest with incivilities in point of manners and I was much disquieted and perplexed in minde till I had given the world in thee a verball satisfaction at the least to these verball Calumnies How far I am really free from these criminations I hope this following work will shew thee So will the Sermons on the Tears preached in a time when the inclinations unto Popery were thought but falsely thought to be most predominant both in Court and Clergy if ever I shall be perswaded to present them to the open view In the mean time take here such testimonies both of my Orthodoxie and Candour as this work affords thee In which I have willingly pretermitted no just occasion of vindicating the Antient and Apostolical Religion established and maintained in the Church of England against Opponents of all sorts without respect to private persons or particular Churches And as old Pacian used to say Christianus mihi nomen est Catholicus cognomen so I desire it may be also said of me that Christian is my name and Catholick my surname A Catholick in that sense I am and shall desire by Gods grace to be alwayes such a true English Catholick And English Catholick I am sure is as good in Grammar and far more proper in the right meaning of the word then that of Roman Catholick is or can be possibly in any of the Popish party And as an English Catholick I have kept my selfe unto the Doctrines Rites and formes of Government established in the Church of
also as before was shown Which if it may not be admitted in the Articles of the Catholick Church and the Communion of Saints with the rest that follow I see no cause why it should be admitted in the front of all which was to be the leading Case unto all the rest But other men of higher mark have seen this before me who give no other sense theâ—eof in this place of the Creed then to believe that there is one only eternal God the Maker of all things For thus the Book entituled Pastor and commonly ascribed to Hermes St. Pauls scholar Ante omnia unum credere Deum esse qui condidit omnia i. e. Before all other things believe that there is one God who made all things Origen thus Primum credendus est Deus qui omnia creavit i. e. In the first place we must believe that there is a God by whom all things were created S. Hilary of Poyctiers thus In absoluto nobis facilis est aeternitas Iesum Christum a mortuis suscitatum credere i.e. Eternity is prepared for us and made easie to us if we believe that Christ is risen from the dead And finally thus Charles the Great in the Creed published in his name but made by the most learned men which those times afforded Praedicandum est omnibus ut credant Patrem Filium Spiritum sanctum unum esse Deum omnipotentem i. e. the Gospel must be preached to all men that they may know that the Father Son and holy Ghost is one God Almighty Which resolution and authority of the antient Fathers is built no doubt upon the dictate and determination of S Paul himself who did thus lead the way unto them viz. He that câ—meth to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Where the first Article of the Creed I believe in God is thus expounded and no otherwise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I believe that God is that there is a God According to which Exposition of the blessed Apostle our Reverend Iewell publishing the Apology and Confession of the Church of England did declare it thus We believe that there is one certain Nature and Divine power which we call GOD c. and that the same one God hath created Heaven and Earth and all things contained under Heaven We believe that Iesus Christ the only Son of the Eternal Father when the fulness of time was come did take of that blessed and pure Virgin both flesh and all the nature of man c. that for our sakes he died and was buried descended into Hell c. We believe that the holy Ghost is very God c. and that it is his property to mollifie and soften the hardness of mens hearts when he is once received thereunto c. We believe that there is one Church of God and that the same is not shut up as in times past amongst the Iews into some one corner or Kingdom but that it is Catholick and Universal and dispersed throughout the whole world c. and that this Church is the Kingdom the Body and the Spouse of CHRIST c. To conclude we believe that this our self same flesh wherein we live although it dye and come to dust yet at the last shall return again to life by the means of Christs Spirit which dwelleth in us c. and that we through him shall enjoy everlasting life and shall for ever be with him in glory Which consonancy of expression being so agreeable to that observed before by the antient Fathers and that observed before by the antient Fathers so consonant unto the expression of S. Paul the Apostle is the last reason which I have for this resolution that the so much applauded explication of the phrase in Deum credere is not to be admitted in this place of the Creâ—d And this shall also serve for a justification of that gloss or Commentary which I have given on this first Article viz. that to believe in God the Father Almighty is only to believe that there is one Immortal and Eternal Spirit of great both Majesty and Power which we call GOD and that this God is the Father Almighty the Father both of IESVS CHRIST and of all mankinde who as a Father hath not only brought us into the world but hath provided us of all things necessary both for body and soul protecting us by his mighty power and governing us and our affairs by his infinite wisdome But against this there may be some objections made which must first be answered before we come unto the further explication of this Article For if Faith be no other then a firm assent to supernatural truths revealed the Reprobate as they call them may be said to have faith which yet is reckoned in the Scripture as a peculiar gift of God unto his Elect which is therefore called Fides electorum or the Faith of the Elect Tit. 1.1 2. If to believe in God the Father Almighty and in IESVS CHRIST his only Son c. be only to believe that there is a God and that all those things are most undoubtedly true and certain which be affirmed of IESVS CHRIST in the holy Scripture the Devil may be reckoned for a true believer S. Iames assuring us of this that the Devils do believe and tremble Iam. 2.19 And 3. if the definition and the explication before delivered be allowed for currant it will quite overthrow the received distinction of Faith into Historical temporary saving or justifying faith and the faith of Miracles so generally embraced in the Protestant Schools This is the sum of those objections which I conceive most likely to be made against me but such as may be answered without very great difficulty For that the Reprobate as they call them may have Faith in CHRIST is evident by many instances and texts of Scripture Of Simon Magus it is written in the Book of the Acts that he believed and was baptized and continued with Philip the Evangelist Adhaerebat Philippo saith the Vulgar he stuck so fast unto him that he would not leave him Ask Calvin what he thinks of this faith of Simons and he will tell you Majestate Evangelii victum vitae salutis authorem Christum agnovisse ita ut libenter illi nomen daret that being vanquished by the power and Majesty of the Gospel of Christ he did acknowledge him to be the Author of salvation and eternal life and gladly was inrolled amongst his Disciples And whereas some had taught and published amongst other things that Simon never did believe but counterfeited a belief for his private ends Calvin doth readily declare his dislike thereof acknowledging this faith of Simons to be true and real though but only temporarie Non tamen multis assentior qui simulasse duntaxat fidem putant quum minime credâ—ret I cannot yeild to them saith he which think
Ecclesia malignantium as the Psalmist calls it Or if you will we may by these behold the Church in her chief ingredients which are the sanctimony of life and conversation it is an holy Church and the integrity of her doctrine free from all Heresie and Error in the title Catholick For the word Catholick is not onely used to signifie Universality of extent but purity of doctrine also The first in the natural the second in the borrowed sense of the word In the first sense the Church is called Catholick in respect of place Thou hast redeemed us by thy blood out of every kinred and tongue and people and nation To which accordeth that of an Antient writer saying Ab ortu solis ad occasum lex Christiana suscepta est That the Gospel of Christ had been admitted from the rising of the Sun to the setting of it that is to say In all parts of the world And it is called Catholick too in respect of persons who are promiscuously and indefinitely called to the knowledge of Christ In whom there is neither Iew nor Gentile bond nor free male nor female but all called alike And so Lactantius telleth us also Universos homines sine discrimine sexus vel aetatis Minutius addes Aut dignitatis ad coeleste pabulum convocamus Lastly it hath the name of Catholick in respect of times as comprehending all the faithful since our Saviours days unto the age in which we live and to continue from henceforth to the end of the world Of which duration or extent of the Church of Christ the Angel Gabriel did fore-signifie to his Virgin-mother that he should reign in the house of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there should be no end And in this sense it doth not onely include that part of the Church which is now Militant on the Earth but also that which is Triumphant in the Heaven of Glories Both they with us and we with them make but one Body Mystical whereof Christ is Head and all together together with the Antient Patriarcks and other holy men of God which lived under the Law shall make up that one glorious Church which is entituled in the Scriptures The general Assembly the Church of the first-born whose names are written in the Heavens For the better clearing of which Vnion or Concorporation which is between these different Members of the Body Mystical the Fathers of the Constantinopolitan Council added the word One unto the Article reading it thus And I believe one holy Catholick and Apostolick Church Catholick then the Church may be rightly called in regard to extent whether it do refer to time place or persons and it is called Catholick too in respect of Doctrine with reference to the same extensions that being the true Catholick Doctrine of the Church of Christ Quae semper quae ubique quae ab omnibus credita est which hath always and in every place been received as Orthodox and that too by all manner of men according to the Golden Rule of Lerinensis Catholick in this sense is the same with Orthodox a Catholick Christian just the same with a true Professor by which the Doctrine is distinguished from Heretical and the men from Hereticks Iustinian in the Code doth apply it so Omnes hanc legem sequentes Christianorum Catholicorum nomen jubemus amplecti That for the persons the Professors it followeth after for the Doctrine Is autem Nicenae adsertor fidei Catholicae Religionis verus cultor accipiendus est c. A National or Topical Church may be called Catholick in this sense and are often times entituled so in Ecclesiastical Authors For Constantine the Emperor writing to the Alexandrians superscribed his Letters in this form 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. To the Catholick Church of Alexandria And Gregory Nazianzen being then Bishop of Constantinople calls himself in his last Will and Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. The Bishop of the Catholick Church in the City of Constantine Of this word Catholick in this sense there hath been different use made as the times have varied The Fathers of the purest times made use of it to distinguish themselves from Hereticks according to that so celebrated saying of Pacianus Christianus mihi nomen est Catholicus cognomen Christian saith he is my name and Catholick my sirname by the one I am known from Infidels by the other from Hereticks And so long as the main body of Christianity retained the form of wholesome words and kept the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace it served exceeding fitly for a mark distinctive to known an Orthodox Professor from those who followed after Heretical and Schismatical Factions But when the main Body of the Church was once torn in peeces and every leading faction would be thought the true Church of Christ they took unto themselves the names of Catholicks also as if the truth was not more Orthodoxly held by the soundest Christians than it was by them And this hath been a device so stale and common that the Nestorians in the East though antiently condemned for Hereticks in the Third General Council do call their Patriark by the name of Catholick that is to say The Catholick or Orthodox Bishop as Leunclavius telleth us very rightly not Iacelich as the Copies of Brochardus and Paulus Venetus do corruptly read it In the same Error are our great Masters in the Church of Rome who having appropriated to themselves the name of Catholicks and counting all men Hereticks but themselves alone First cast all others out of the Church by the name of Hereticks who do not hold communion with them in their sins and errors and then defend themselves by the name of Catholicks from having dealt unjustly with their Fellow-Christians men every way more Orthodox than they be themselves Just so the Collier justified himself for a true Believer because he believed as the Church believed though he knew not the doctrine of the Church and the Church believed as he believed though the Church troubled not it self about his opinions I know the great Cardinal presumes very much on the name of Catholick making it to be one of the signs of the true Church now because an adjunct of the true Church in the Primitive times And wonder it is that we are grown so prodigal of late as to give it to them A courtesie which they receive with a great deal of joy and turn the bare acknowledgement to their great advantage there being no Argument more convincing than that which is drawn from the confession of an adversary Upon this ground doth Barclay build his Triumph for the cause of Rome Adeo probanda est ecclesia nostra à nomine Catholicae quod extorquet etiam ab invitis hareticis as he brags it there For my part as I never gave it them in writing nor in common speech as thinking
was said out of Austin formerly that whosoever contradicted that which was there delivered Aut haereticus aut a Christi fide alienus was either an Heretick or an Infidel If none of these particulars may be justly quarrelled it must be then that the Apostles thought not fit to commit it to writing but left it to depend on tradition only And yet St. Augustine saith the same Catholica fides in Symbolo nota fidelibus memoriaeque mandata c. The Catholick faith contained in the Creed saith he so well known to all faithful people and by them committed unto memory is comprehended in as narrow a compass as the nature of it will bear St. Hierome no great friend of Ruffines as I said before is more plain then he who tels us that the Symbolum of our faith and hope delivered by Tradition from the Apostles Non scribitur in charta atramento sed in tabulis cordis was not committed in those times to ink and paper but writ in the tables of mens hearts Irenaeus cals it in plain tearms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the Greek word for Tradition and Tertullian fetcheth it as high as from the first creating of the Gospel Hanc regulam ab initio Evangelii decurrisse as expressely he Compare these passages of Irenaeus and Tertullian whereof the first conversed with Polycarpus the Apostles Scholar with that which is told us by Ruffinus of Majores nostri that the relation which he makes came from the Tradition of their forefathers and we shall finde as strong as constant and as universal a Tradition for the antiquity and authority of the Creed in question as for the keeping of the Lords-Day or the baptizing of Infants and it may be also for the names and number of the Books of Canonical Scripture And yet behold two witnesses of more antiquity then Irenaeus and Tertullian The first Ignatius one of the Apostles scholars and successour unto St. Peter in the See of Antioch who summeth up those Articles which concern the knowledge of CHRIST IESVS in his incarnation birth and sufferings under Pontius Pilate his death and descending into Hell his rising on the third day c. as they stand in order in the Creed The second is Thaddeus whom St. Thomas the Apostle sent to Abgarus the King or Toparch of Edessa within few years after the death of our Redeemer who being to instruct that people in the Christian faith gives them the sum and abstract of it in the same words and method as concerning CHRIST in which we finde them in the Creed at this very day Nor shall I fear to fare the worse amongst knowing men for relying so far upon Traditions as if a gap were hereby opened for increase of Popery For there are many sorts of Traditions allowed of and received by the Protestant Doctors such as have laboured learnedly for the beating down of Popery and all Popish superstitions of what kinde soever Chemnitius that learned and laborious Canvasser of the Councel of Trent alloweth of six kindes of Tradition to be held in the Church with whom agreeth our learned Field in his fourth book of the Church and 20. chapter Of these he maketh the first kinde to be the Gospel it self delivered first by the Apostles viva voce by preaching conference and such ways of lively expressions Et postea literis consignata and after committed unto writing as they saw occasion The second is of such things as at first depend on the authority and approbation of the Church but after win credit of themselves and yeild sufficient satisfaction unto all men of their divine infallible truths contained in them and of this kinde is that Tradition which hath transmitted to us from time to time the names and number of the Books of Canonical Scripture The third is that which Irenaeus and Tertullian speak of and that saith he is the transmission of those Articles of the Christian faith quos Symbolum Apostolicum complectitur which are contained in the Apostles Creed or Symbol The fourth touching the Catholick sense and interpretation of the Word of God derived to us by the works and studies of the FATHERS by them received from the Apostles and recommended to posterity The fifth kinde is of such things as have been in continual practise whereof there is neither precept nor example in the holy Scripture though the grounds reasons and causes of such practise be therein contained of which sort is the Baptism of Infants and the keeping of the Lords-Day or first day of the week for which there is no manifest command in the Book of God but by way of probable deduction only The sixt and last sort is de quibusdam vetustis ritibus of many antient rites and customs which in regard of their Antiquity are usually referred unto the Apostles of which kind there were many in the Primitive times but alterable and dispensable according to the circumstances of times and persons And of this kinde are those Traditions spoken of in our Book of Articles where it is said that it is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one or utterly like in that at all times they have been divers and may be changed according to the diversity of countreys times and mens manners so that nothing be ordained against Gods Word So that the question between us and the Church of Rome is not in this as many ignorant men are made believe wheâ—her there be or not any such Traditions as justly can derive themselves from the Apostles or whether such Traditions be to be admitted in a Church well constituted I know no moderate understanding Protestant who makes doubt of either The question briefly stated is no more but this that is to say whether the Traditions which the Church of Rome doth pretend unto be Apostolical or not Now for the finding out of such Traditions as are truly and undoubtedly Apostolical there are but these two rules to be considered the first St. Austins and is this Quod universa tenet Ecclesia that whatsoever the Church holdeth and hath alwayes held from time to time not being decreed in any Councel may justly be believed to proceed from no other ground then Apostolical authority The second rule is this and that 's a late learned Protestants that whatsoever all or the most famous and renowned in all Ages or at the least in divers ages have constantly delivered as from them that went before them no man gainsaying or doubting of it without check or censure that also is to be believed to be an Apostolical Tradition By which two rules if we do measure the Traditions of the Church of Rome such as they did ordain in the Councel of Trent to be imbraced and entertained pari pietatis affectu with the like ardor of affection as the written Word What will become of prayer for the dead and Purgatory the Invocation of the Saints departed the worshipping of Images adoration
the sin against the Holy Ghost or utterly past hope of pardon Nor is the case much better if we read it wilfully though better with some sort of men than it is with others For miserable were the state of us mortal men if every sin that is committed wilfully which too often hapneth either against the truth of science or the light of conscience should make a man uncapable of the mercy of God as one that blasphemed or sinned take which word you will against the power and vertue of the Holy Ghost A doctrine never countenanced in the Primitive times the Church extending her indulgence to the worst of Hereticks and opening both her arms and bosom unto those Apostataes which with true sorrow for their sins did return unto her condemning the Novatians for too rigid and severe in their bitter Tenet touching the non-admittance of them unto publick penance and after that unto the Sacraments of the Church again Which being premised the meaning of the Text will appear to be onely this That they who willingly offend after they have received the knowledge of the truth and Gospel must not expect another Christ to die for them or that he who died once for their sins should again die for them St. Ambrose and St. Chrysostom do expound it so Out of whom Clictoveus in his Continuation of St. Cyrils Commentaries upon the Gospel of St. Iohn informs us That the Apostle doth not hereby take away the second or third remission of sins for he is not such an enemy to our Salvation but saith onely that Christ our Sacrifice shall not be offered any more upon the Cross for the man so sinning And this is further proved to be the very meaning of the Apostle in the place disputed out of the scope and purpose of his discourse which was to shew unto the Iews that it was not with them now as it was under the Law For under the Law they had daily Sacrifices for their sins but under the Gospel they had but one Sacrifice once for all Every Priest saith he doth stand daily ministring and offering often times the same sacrifice but this man JESUS after he had offered one sacrifice sate down for ever at the right-hand of God than which there cannot be a clearer explanation of the Text in question Though Sacrifices were often reiterated in the times of the Law Hic vero nec baptismus repetitur neque Christus bis nisi cum ludibrio mori pro peccato yet neither is Baptism to be reiterated in the times of the Gospel nor can Christ be exposed for sin to a second death without a great deal of scorn as Heinsius hath observed from Chrysostom Some light doth also rise to this Exposition from the words immmediately succeeding where the Apostle speaks of a certain expectation of a fearful judgment Which joyned unto the former verse have this sense between them That he which doth not put his whole trust and confidence in the sufficiency of the Sacrifice already offered but for every sin expects a new Sacrifice also must look for nothing in the end but a fearful judgment which most undoubtedly first or last shall fall upon him The third and last place which is commonly alleged for proof that there are some sins irremissible in their own nature is that of St. Iohn If any man saith he see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death he shall ask and God shall give life for them that sin not unto death There is a sin unto death I do not say he shall pray for it In which words we finde two sorts of sins a sin to death and a sin that is not to death a sin which is not unto death for the remission of the which a man is bound to pray in behalf of his Brother a sin to death concerning which it seems unlawful for one man to pray for another And yet it doth but seem so neither For the Apostles words I do not say he shall pray for it amount not to a Negative that he shall not pray for it as the fautors of the contrary opinion would full gladly have it 〈◊〉 â—ather to a toleration that they might pray if they would the business being of 〈◊〉 a nature that the Apostle had no minde to encourage them in it because he could not promise them the success desired but leaving every man to himself to pray or not to pray as his affections to the party or Christian pity of the case might induce him to That by peccatum ad mortem somewhat more is meant than ordinary mortal sins is a thing past question but what it is is not so easie to discover St. Augustine will have the sin which is here called a sin unto death to be that sin wherein a mam continueth until his death without repentance but addes withal That in as much as the name of the sin is not expressed many and different things may be thought to be it Pacianus an old Catholick writer interprets it of peccata manentia Such sins as men continue in till the hour of death St. Ierom reckoneth such men to commit this sin Qui in sceliribus permanent who abide in their wickedness and express no sense nor sorrow of their lost estate The Protestant writers do expound it generally of the sin against the Holy Ghost For which say they no man ought to pray because our Saviour hath testified it to be irremissible And to this end they do allege a place from Ierom affirming Stultum esse pro eo orare qui peccaverit ad mortem That it is a foolish thing to pray for him which sins unto death because the man that is marked out to some visible ruine nullis precibus erui potest cannot possibly be reprieved by prayer But herein Ierom is not consonant to himself elswhere for in another place he telleth us with more probability that nothing else is here meant but that a prayer for such a sin whatsoever it be is very difficulty heard And this I take to be the truer or at least the more probable meaning of the Apostle who saith immediately before This is the confidence which we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us 1 Iohn 5.14 And therefore lest we should conceive that this holds true in all Petitions whatsoever which we make for others he addes That if it be a great sin such as is not ordinarily forgiven but punished with death I dare not say that you can either pray with confidence or that I can give you any great hopes of prevailing in it According as God said to the Prophet Ieremy Pray not for this people for I will not hear thee And though St. Augustine sometimes thought this sin to be final impenitency or a continuance in sin till death without repentance yet in his Book of Retractations he resolves the contrary affirming That