Scripture or in the Doctrine and Practice of the Ancient Christian Church any Command or Example for the Worship of Images for the Invocation of Saints and Angels and the Blessed Virgin which do now make a great part of their Religion Nay is not the Doctrine of the Scriptures and of the Ancient Fathers plainly against all these Practices With what face then can it be said That the Church of Rome hath made a constant Visible Profession of the same Faith and Practice in all Ages from the time of Christ and his Apostles Or would the primitive Church of Rome if it should now visit the Earth again own the present Church of Rome to be the same in all Matters of Faith and practice that it was when they left it And whereas they demand of Us to shew a Visible Church from the time of Christ and his Apostles that hath always opposed the Church of Rome in those points of Doctrine and Practice which we Object to them what can be more impertinent than this Demand When they know that in all these Points we charge them with Innovations in Matters of Faith and Practice and say that those things came in by degrees several Ages after the Apostles time some sooner some later as we are able to make good and have done it And would they have us shew them a Visible Church that opposed these Errors and Corruptions in their Church before ever they appeared This we do not pretend to shew And supposing they had not been at all opposed when they appeared nor a long time after not till the Reformation yet if they be Errors and Corruptions of the Christian Doctrine and contrary to the Holy Scriptures and to the Faith and Practice of the Primitive Church there is no Prescription against Truth 'T is never too late for any Church to reject those Errors and Corruptions and to reform it self from them The bottom of all this Matter is they would have us to shew them a Society of Christians that in all Ages hath preserved it self free from all such Errors and Corruptions as we charge them withall or else we deny the Perpetual Visibility of the Catholick Church No such matter We say the Church of Christ hath always been Visible in every Age since Christ's time and that the several Societies of Christians professing the Christian Doctrine and Laws of Christ have made up the Catholick Church some parts whereof have in several Ages fallen into great Errors and Corruptions and no part of the Catholick into more and greater than the Church of Rome So that it requires the utmost of our Charity to think that they are a true tho a very unsound and corrupt Part of the Catholick Church of Christ. We acknowledge likewise that We were once involved in the like Degeneracy but by the mercy of God and pious care and prudence of those that were in Authority are happily rescued out of it and tho' we were not out of the Catholick Church before yet since our Reformation from the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome we are in it upon better Terms and are a much sounder Part of it and I hope by the Mercy and Goodness of God we shall for ever continue so So that to the Perpetual Visibility of Christ's Church it is not necessary that the whole Christian Church or indeed that any Part of it should be free from all Errors and Corruptions Even the Churches planted by the Apostles in the Primitive Times were not so St. Paul reproves several Doctrines and Practices in the Church of Corinth and of Colosse and of Galatia and the Spirit of God several Things in the Seven Churches of Asia and yet all these were true Parts and Members of the Catholick Church of Christ notwithstanding these Faults and Errors because they all agreed in the Main and Essential Doctrines of Christianity And when more and greater Corruptions grew upon the Church or any part of it the greater reason and need there was of a Reformation And as every particular Person hath a right to reform any thing that he finds amiss in himself so far as concerns himself so much more every National Church hath a Power within it self to reform it self from all Errors and Corruptions and by the Sanction of the Catholick Authority to confirm that Reformation which is our Case here in England And whatever part of the Church how great and eminent soever excludes from her Communion such a National Church for reforming her self from plain Errors and Corruptions clearly condemned by the Word of God and by the Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Christian Church is undoubtedly Guilty of Schism And this is the Truth of the Case between us and the Church of Rome And no blind talk about a Perpetual Visible Church can render Us guilty of Schism for making a Real Reformation or acquit Them of it for casting us out of their Communion for that Cause 7. And Lastly to mention no more they pretend that we delude the People by laying too much stress upon Scripture and making it the only Rule of Faith and Manners whereas Scripture and Tradition together make up the entire Rule of Faith and not Scripture Interpreted by every Mans private Fancy but by Tradition carefully preserved in the Church So that it ought to be no wonder if several of their Doctrines and Practices cannot be so clearly made out by Scripture or perhaps seem contrary to it as it may be expounded by a private Spirit but not as Interpreted by the Tradition of the Church which can only give the true Sense of Scripture And therefore they are to understand that several of those Doctrines and Practices which we Object against are most clearly proved by the Tradition of their Church which is of equal Authority with Scripture In this Objection of theirs which they design for the Cover of all their Errors and Corruptions there are several things distinctly to be considered which I shall do as briefly as I can First Whereas it is suggested That We delude the People by laying too much stress upon the Scriptures which certainly we cannot well do if it be the Word of God it ought to be considered whether They do not delude and abuse them infinitely more in keeping the Scriptures from them and not suffering them to see That which they cannot deny to be at least a considerable Part of the Rule of Christian Doctrine and Practice Doth it not by this dealing of theirs appear very suspicious that they are extreamly afraid that the People should examine their Doctrine and Practice by this Rule For what other Reason can they have to conceal it from them Secondly Whereas they affirm that Scripture alone is not the Rule of Christian Faith and Practice but that Scripture and Oral Tradition preserved in the Church and delivered down from hand to hand makes up the entire Rule I would fain know whence they learn'd this new Doctrine
of the Rule of Faith I know that the Council of Trent declares it for the Rule they intend to proceed upon and make use of for the Confirmation and Proof of their following Determinations and Decrees But did any of the ancient Councils of the Christian Church lay down this Rule and proceed upon it Did not Constantine the Emperour at the opening of the First General Council lay the Bible before them as the only Rule according to which they were to proceed and this with the Approbation of all those Holy Fathers that were assembled in that Council And did not following Councils proceed upon the same Rule Do any of the ancient Fathers ever mention any Rule of Christian Faith and Practice besides the Holy Scriptures and the ancient Creed which because it is an Abridgment of the necessary Articles of Christian Faith contained in the Holy Scriptures is by them frequently called the Rule of Faith Do not the same Fathers frequently and expresly say That the Scriptures are a perfect Rule and that all things are plainly contained in them which concern Faith and Life and that whatever cannot be proved by Testimony of Scripture is to be rejected All this I am sure I can make good by innumerable express Testimonies of the ancient Fathers which are well known to those that are versed in them By what Authority then hath the Council of Trent set up this new Rule unknown to the Christian Church for 1500 Years and who gave them this Authority The plain truth is the necessity of it for the Defence of the Errors and Corruptions which they had embraced and were resolved not to part with forced them to lengthen out the Rule the old Rule of the Holy Scriptures being too short for their purpose Thirdly Whereas they pretend that Holy Scripture as expounded by a private Spirit may not seem so favourable to some of their Doctrines and Practices yet as interpreted by Tradition which can only give the true Sense of Scripture it agrees very well with them I suppose they mean that whereas a private Spirit would be apt to understand some Texts of Scripture as if People were to search and read the Scripture Tradition interprets those Texts in a quite other Sense that People are not to be permitted to read the Holy Scriptures A private Spirit would be apt to understand St. Paul's Discourse in the 14th of the 1st to the Corinthians to be against Celebrating Prayer and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue as being contrary to Edification and indeed to common Sense For he says If one should come and find them speaking and praying in an unknown Tongue will they not say Ye are mad But now Tradition which only knows how to give the true Sense can reconcile this Discourse of St. Paul very easily with the Practice of the Church of Rome in this matter And so likewise the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians with the Worship of Angels and the Epistle to the Hebrews with offering the Propitiatory Sacrifice of Christ in the Mass a Thousand times every Day And to give but one Instance more Whereas a Man by his private Spirit would be very apt to understand the Second Commandment to forbid all Worship of Images Tradition discovers the meaning of this Commandment to be that due Veneration is to be given to them So that at this rate of interpreting Scripture by Tradition it is impossible to fix any Objection from Scripture upon any Doctrine or Practice which they have a mind to maintain Fourthly Whereas they pretend the Tradition of their Church delivered from the Mouth of Christ or dictated by the Holy Spirit and brought down to them and preserved by continnal Succession in the Church to be of equal Authority with the Word of God for so the Council of Trent says That the Holy Synod doth receive and venerate these Traditions with equal pious Affection and Reverence as they do the written Word of God This we must declare against as unreasonable in it self to make Tradition conveyed by Word of Mouth from one to another through so many Ages and liable to so many Mistakes and Miscarriages to be at the distance of 1500 Years of equal Certainty and Authority with the Holy Scriptures carefully preserved and transmitted down to us because this as I said before is to make common Rumor and Report of equal Authority and Certainty with a written Record And not only so but hereby they make the Scriptures an imperfect Rule contrary to the declared Judgment of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Christian Church and so in truth they set up a new Rule of Faith whereby they change the Christian Religion For a new Rule of Faith and Religion makes a new Faith and Religion This we charge the Church of Rome with and do challenge them to shew this new Rule of Faith before the Council of Trent and consequently where their Religion was before that Council to shew a Religion consisting of all those Articles which are defined by the Council of Trent as necessary to Salvation and established upon this new Rule professed by any Christian Church in the World before that time And as they have pitch'd upon a new Rule of Faith so it is easie to see to what End For take Pope Pius IV. his Creed and we may see where the Old and New Religion parts even at the end of the Twelve Articles of the Aplostles Creed which was the ancient Christian Faith to which are added in Pope Pius his Creed Twelve Articles more defined in the Council of Trent and supported only by Tradition So that as the Scripture answers for the Twelve old Articles which are plainly contained there so Tradition is to answer for the Twelve new ones And therefore the matter was calculated very exactly when they make Tradition just of equal Authority with the Scriptures because as many Articles of Their Faith were to be made good by it and rely upon it as those which are proved by the Authority of Scripture But that Tradition is of equal Authority with the Scriptures we have nothing in the whole World for it but the bare Assertion of the Council of Trent I should now have added some other Considerations tending to confirm and establish us in our Religion against the Pretences and Insinuations of Seducing Spirits But I shall proceed no farther at present The Tenth Sermon as number'd follows THere is a mistake in Numbering of these Sermons The Tenth should be called the Ninth and so on to the end For there are but Fifteen Sermons in this Volume and should be no more A SERMON HEB. X. 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that hath promised THESE words contain an Exhortation to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering and an Argument or Encouragement thereto because he is faithful that hath promised By the Exhortation to hold fast the
could to the Rich Man who was in Hell concerning his Brethren that were upon Earth how they might prevent their coming into that place of Torment And he directs them to the Scriptures as the best and most effectual Means to that purpose They have says he Moses and the Prophets Let them hear them Now if in the Church of God among the Jews the same Course had been taken that is now in the Church of Rome the Rich Man might and in all Reason ought to have replyed Nay Father Abraham But they have not Moses and the Prophets nor are they permitted to Read them in a Language that they can understand And therefore this Advice is of no Vse to them And then he might with Reason have press'd him as he did that one might be sent to them from the Dead to Testifie unto them But it appears that Abraham was very positive and peremptory in this Advice and that he prefers the Knowledge of the Scriptures to any other Way and Means that could be thought of and that if this had not its Effect to perswade Men to Repentance and to preserve them from Hell he did not know any thing else that was so likely to do it For he concludes If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded the One rose from the Dead And this is the Conclusion of the Parable Which plainly shews what was the main Scope and Design of our Saviour in it namely to recommend to us the Use of the Holy Scriptures as the best and most effectual Means which the Wisdom of God hath provided for the Salvation of Mankind And now any Man would be apt to think that the declared Judgment of our Saviour in the case should go a great way even with the most Infallible Church in the World However this we must say that it is in truth a very hard case to which the Church of Rome hath reduced Men that it will neither allow them Salvation out of their Church nor the best and most effectual Means of Salvation when they are in it I might say much more upon this Head but this I hope may be sufficient The next Instance shall be in the Doctrine of Transubstantiation which is contrary to the Scriptures which after Consecration so frequently call the Elements Bread and Wine and which without Reason or Necessity puts an absurd and impossible Sense upon those words of our Saviour This is my Body which do no more prove Transubstantiation than those words This Cup is the New Testament do prove that the material Cup which was used in the Sacrament was substantially changed into the New Testament And no more than those Texts which affirm God to have Eyes and Ears and Hands do prove that he really hath so But besides the Contrariety of this Doctrine to Scripture nothing can be more repugnant to Reason It is so big with Contradictions and so surfeited of Impossibilities that it would be Endless to reckon them up And besides all this it plainly contradicts the clear and constant Evidence of Four of our Five Senses which whoever contradicts undermines the Foundation of all Certainty And then the Communion in one kind is plainly contrary to our Saviour's Institution of the Sacrament in both kinds as they themselves acknowledge And therefore the Council of Constance being sensible of this was forced to Decree it with an express Non obstante to the Institution of Christ and the Practice of the Apostles and the Primitive Church And their Doctrine of Concomitancy as if the Blood were in the Flesh and together with it will not help the matter Because in the Sacrament Christ's Body is represented as broken and pierced and exhausted and drain'd of its Blood and his Blood is represented as shed and poured out so that one Kind can by no means contain and exhibit both The next Instance is the Repetition of Christ's Propitiatory Sacrifice in the Mass so often as That is celebrated Against all Reason because the Sacrifice of Christ once offered upon the Cross was a full and perfect Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World and therefore ought not because it needs not to be again repeated for that End in any manner whatsoever And it is directly contrary to the main Scope of a great part of this Epistle to the Hebrews which shews the Excellency of the Gospel above the Law in this respect That the Expiatory Sacrifice of the Gospel was offered once for all whereas the Sacrifices of the Law were perpetually repeated Chap. 7. 27. Speaking of Christ who needs not daily as those High-priests to offer up Sacrifices first for his own Sins and then for the Peoples for this he did once when he offered up himself Chap. 9. 26. But once in the End of the World hath he appeared to take away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself And as it is appointed for all Men once to dye so Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many And Chap. 10. 10. By the which Will we are sanctified through the Offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all And Verse the 12. But this Man after he had offered one Sacrifice for Sins for ever sat down on the right hand of God And Verse the 14. For by one Offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified There cannot be plainer Texts for any thing in the Bible than that this Propitiatory Sacrifice was never to be repeated And whereas they say that the Sacrifice of the Mass is an unbloody Sacrifice This instead of bringing them off doth but intangle the Matter more For if Blood be offered in the Sacrifice of the Mass how is it an unbloody Sacrifice What can be more bloody than Blood And if Blood be not offered how is it Propitiatory Since the Apostle lays it down for a Certain Rule That without shedding of Blood there is no Remission of Sins i. e. There can be no Propitiation for the Sins of the Living or the Dead which the Church of Rome affirms there is I might have added one or two Instances more and then should have proceeded to shew in the Third place That we are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering against all the Temtations and Terrors of the World which is more especially and principally here intended by the Apostle in this Exhortation But I shall proceed no farther at present A SERMON ON HEB. X. 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised IN these words I have told you are contained I. An Exhortation to hold fast the profession of our faith or hope without wavering II. An Argument or Encouragement thereto because he is faithful that promised I am yet upon the first of these the Exhortation to Christians to be Constant and Steady in the Profession of their Religion Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering And that we
this case of Renouncing our Religion unless it be very sudden and surprizing out of which a Man recovers himself when he comes to himself as St. Peter did or the Suffering be so extream as to put a Man besides himself for the time so as to make him say or do any thing I say in this case of Renouncing God and his Truth God will not admit Fear for a just excuse of our Apostacy which if it be unrepented of and the Scripture speaks of Repentance in that case as very difficult will be our Ruin And the Reason is because God has given us such fair Warning of it that we may be prepared for it in the Resolution of our Minds And we enter into Religion upon these Terms with a professed Expectation of Suffering and a firm Purpose to lay down our Lives for the Truth if God shall call us to it If any Man will be my Disciple says our Lord let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me And again He that loveth Life it self more than me is not worthy of me And if any Man be ashamed of me and of my Words in this unfaithful Generation of him will I be ashamed before my Father and the Holy Angels And therefore to master and subdue this Fear our Saviour hath propounded great Objects of Terror to us and a Danger infinitely more to be dreaded which every Man runs himself wilfully upon who shall quit the Profession of his Religion to avoid Temporal Sufferings Luke 12. 4 5. Fear not them that can kill the Body but after that have nothing that they can do But I will tell you whom you shall fear Fear him who after he hath killed can destroy both Body and Soul in Hell Yea I say unto you Fear him And to this dreadful Hazard every Man exposeth himself who for the Fear of Men ventures thus to offend God These are the Fearful and Vnbelievers spoken of by St. John Who shall have their Portion in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the second Death Thus you see how we are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering against all Temptations and Terrors of this World I should now have proceeded to the next Particular namely that we are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith against all vain Promises of being put into a safer Condition and groundless Hopes of getting to Heaven upon easier Terms in some other Church and Religion But this I shall not now enter upon A SERMON ON HEB. X. 23. Let us hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised IN these Words I have told you are contained these Two Parts I. An Exhortation To hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering II. An Argument or Encouragement thereto Because he is faithful that hath promised I am yet upon the First of these the Exhortation to Christians to be Constant and Steady in the Profession of their Religion Let us hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering And that we might the better comprehend the true and full meaning of this Exhortation I shewed I. Negatively what is not meant and intended by it And I mentioned these Two Particulars 1. The Apostle doth not hereby intend that those who are capable of enquiring into and examining the Grounds and Reasons of their Religion should not have the liberty to do it Nor 2. That when upon due Enquiry and Examination Men are settled as they think and verily believe in the True Faith and Religion they should obstinately refuse to hear any Reason that can be offered against their present Persuasion for Reason when it is fairly offered is always to be heard I proceeded in the Second Place Positively to explain the Meaning of this Exhortation And to this purpose I proposed to consider 1. What it is that we are to hold fast viz. the Confession or Profession of our Faith The Ancient Christian Faith which every Christian makes Profession of in his Baptism Not the Doubtful and Uncertain Traditions of Men nor the Imperious Dictates and Doctrines of any Church which are not contained in the Holy Scriptures imposed upon the Christian World though with never so confident a Pretence of the Antiquity of the Doctrines or of the Infallibility of the Proposers of them And then I proceded in the Second Place to shew how we are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering And I mentioned these following Particulars as probably implied and comprehended in the Apostles Exhortation 1. That we should hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support that Confidence 2. And much more against the Confidence of Men contrary to plain Scripture and Reason and the common Sense of Mankind under both which Heads I gave several Instances of Doctrines and Practices imposed with great Confidence upon the World some without and others plainly against Scripture and Reason and the common Sense of Mankind 3. Against all the Temptations and and Terrours of the World the Temptations of Fashion and Example and of worldly Interest and Advantage and against the Terrours of Persecution and Suffering for the Truth Thus far I have gone I shall now proceed to the Two other Particulars which remain to be spoken to 4. We are to hold fast the profession of our Faith against all vain Promises of being put into a safer Condition and groundless Hopes of getting to Heaven upon easier Terms in some other Church and Religion God hath plainly declared to us in the holy Scriptures upon what Terms and Conditions we may obtain Eternal Life and Happiness and what will certainly exclude us from it That except we repent i. e. without true Contrition for our Sins and forsaking of them we shall perish That without Holiness no man shall see the Lord That no Fornicator or Adulterer or Idolater or Covetous Person nor any one that lives in the practice of such sins shall have any Inheritance in the Kingdom of God or Christ. There is as great and unpassable a Gulf fixt between Heaven and a wicked Man as there is betwixt Heaven and Hell And when Men have done all they can to debauch and corrupt the Christian Doctrine it is impossible to reconcile a wicked Life with any reasonable and well-grounded Hopes of Happiness in another World No Church hath that Priviledge to save a Man upon any other Terms than those which our Blessed Saviour hath declared in his holy Gospel All Religions are equal in this That a bad Man can be Saved in none of them The Church of Rome pretends their Church and Religion to be the only safe and sure way to Salvation and yet if their Doctrine be true concerning the Intention of the Priest and if it be not they are much to blame in making it an Article of their Faith I say if it be true that the Intention
only upon the sincere Resolution of the Penitent And surely nothing can be more absurd and contrary to Reason than that when Men have performed all the Conditions which the Gospel requires yet they should notwithstanding this be deprived of all the Blessings and Benefits which God hath promised and intends to confer upon them because the Priest hath not the same Intention So that when a Man hath done all he can to work out his own Salvation he shall be never the nearer only for want of That which is wholly out of his Power the right Intention of the Priest Besides that after all their Boasts of the safe Condition of Men in Their Church and the most certain and infallible means of Salvation to be had in it this one Principle that the Intention of the Priest is necessary to the Validity and Virtue of the Sacraments puts the Salvation of Men upon the greatest Hazard and Uncertainty and such as it is impossible for any Man either to discover or prevent unless he had some certain way to know the Heart and Intention of the Priest For upon these terms who can know whether any Man be a Priest and really ordained or not Nay whether he be a Christian and have been truly baptized or not and consequently whether any of his Admistrations be valid and we have any Benefit and Advantage by them Because all this depends upon the knowledge of that which we neither do nor can know So that when a Man hath conscientiously done all that God requires of any Man to make him capable of Salvation yet without any Fault of his the want of Intention in an idle-minded Man may frustrate all And though the Man have been baptized and do truly believe the Gospel and hath sincerely repented of his sins and lived a most Holy Life yet all this may signifie nothing and after all he may be no Christian because his Baptism was invalid And all the Promises of God to the means of Salvation which his Goodness and Wisdom hath prescribed may be of no Efficacy if the Priest do not intend in the Administration of the Sacraments to do that which God and the Church intend Now if this be true there is certainly no Church in the World in which the Salvation of Men runs so many hazards and yet all this hazard and uncertainty has its rise from a Scholastical Point which is directly contrary to all the Notions of Mankind concerning the Goodness of God and to the clear Reason of the thing and to the constant Tenor of the Gospel and which was never asserted by any of the ancient Fathers much less defined by any Council before that of Trent So that it is a Doctrine new and needless and in the necessary consequences of it unreasonable and absurd to the utmost degree The last Instance I shall mention is their Rule of Faith The Rule of Faith universally received and acknowledged by the Christian Church in all Ages before the Council of Trent was the Word of God contained in the Canonical Books of Holy Scripture which were therefore by the Church called Canonical because they were the Rule of Faith and Manners of the Doctrines to be believed and the Duties to be practised by all Christians But when the Errours and Corruptions of the Romish Church were grown to the highth and the Pope and his Council at Trent were resolved not to Retrench and Reform them they saw it necessary to enlarge and lengthen out their Rule because the ancient Rule of the Holy Scriptures would by no means reach several of the Doctrines and Practices of that Church which they were resolved to maintain and make good by one means or other As namely the Doctrine of Transubstantiation of Purgatory and of the Seven Sacracraments and the practice of the Worship of Saints and Images of the Scriptures and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue of Indulgences and the Communion in one kind and several other superstitious Practices in use among them Now to enlarge their Rule to the best advantage for the Justification of these Doctrines and Practices they took these two ways 1. They have added to the Canonical Books of the Old Testament which were received by the Jewish Church to whom were committed the Oracles of God I say to these they have added several Apocryphal Books not warranted by Divine Inspiration because they were written after Prophecy and Divine Inspiration was ceased in the Jewish Church Malachi being the last of their Prophets according to the general Tradition of that Church But because the addition of these Books did not make a Rule of Faith and Practice large enough for their purpose in imitation of the Jews in the time of the greatest Confusion and Degeneracy of that Church they added in the Second Place to their Books of Scripture which they call the written Word an unwritten Word which they call Oral Tradition from Christ and his Apostles which they declare to be of equal Authority with the Holy Scriptures themselves and that it ought to be received with the same Pious Veneration and Affection Of which Traditions They being the Keepers and Judges they may extend them to what they please and having them in their own Breasts they may declare whatever they have a mind to to have been a constant and universal Tradition of their Church tho it is evident to common Sense that nothing can be more uncertain and more liable to Alteration and Mistake than Tradition at the distance of so many Ages brought down by word of mouth without writing and passing through so many hands He that can think these to be of equal Certainty and Authority with what is delivered by Writing and brought down by Books undertakes the defence of a strange Paradox viz. That general Rumour and Report of Things said and done 1500 Years ago is of equal Authority and Credit with a Record and a written History By which proceeding of the Council of Trent concerning the Rule of Faith and Practice it is very evident that they had no mind to bring their Faith to the Ancient Rule the Holy Scriptures That they knew could not be done and therefore they were resolved to fit their Rule to their Faith And this Foundation being laid in their first Decree all the rest would afterwards go on very smoothly For do but give Men the making of their Rule and they can make good any thing by it And accordingly the Council of Trent having thus fixt and fitted a Rule to their own purpose in the Conclusion of that Decree they give the World fair warning upon what Grounds and in what Ways they intend to proceed in their following Decrees of Practice and Definitions of Faith Omnes itaque intelligant quo ordine via ipsa Synodus post jactum fidei confessionis fundamentum sit progressura c. Be it known therefore to all men in what Order and Way the Synod after having laid this
was discovered 3. The Decretal Epistles of the Ancient Popes a large Volume of Forgeries compiled by Isidore Mercator to countenance the Usurpations of the Bishop of Rome and of which the Church of Rome made great use for several Ages and pertinaciously defended the Authority of them till the Learned Men of their own Church have at last been forced for very shame to disclaim them and to confess the Imposture of them A like instance whereto is not I hope to be shewn in any Christian Church This is that which St. Paul calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the slight of Men such as Gamesters use at Dice for to alledge false and forged Authors in this case is to play with false Dice when the Salvation of Mens Souls lie at stake 11. Our Religion hath this mighty advantage that it doth not decline Tryal and Examination which to any Man of ingenuity must needs appear a very good Sign of an honest Cause but if any Church be shy of having her Religion Examined and her Doctrines and Practices brought into the open light this gives just ground of Suspicion that she hath some distrust of them for Truth doth not seek corners nor shun the light Our Saviour hath told us who they are that love darkness rather than light viz. they whose deeds are Evil for every one saith he that doth Evil hateth the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be reproved and made manifest There needs no more to render a Religion suspected to a wise Man than to see those who profess it and make such proud boasts of the Truth and Goodness of it so fearful that it should be examin'd and lookt into and that their People should take the liberty to hear and read what can be said against it 12. We perswade Men to our Reliligion by Human and Christian ways such as our Saviour and his Apostles used by urging Men with the Authority of God and with Arguments fetcht from another World The promise of Eternal Life and Happiness and the threatning of Eternal death and Misery which are the proper Arguments of Religion and which alone are fitted to work upon the Minds and Consciences of Men the terror and torture of death may make Men Hypocrites and awe them to profess with their Mouths what they do not believe in their Hearts but this is no proper means of converting the Soul and convincing the Minds and Consciences of Men and these violent and cruel ways cannot be denyed to have been Practised in the Church of Rome and set on foot by the Authority of Councils and greatly countenanced and encouraged by Popes themselves Witness the many Croisades for the extirpation of Hereticks the standing Cruelties of their Inquisition their occasional Massacres and Persecutions of which we have fresh Instances in every Age. But these Methods of Conversion are a certain Sign that they either disturst the Truth and Goodness of their Cause or else that they think Truth and the Arguments for it are of no force when Dragoons are their Ratio ultima the last Reason which their Cause relies upon and the best and most effectual it can afford Again we hold no Doctrines in defiance of the Senses of all Mankind such as is that of Transubstantiation which is now declared in the Church of Rome to be a Necessary Article of Faith so that a Man cannot be of that Religion unless he will renounce his Senses and believe against the clear Verdict of them in a plain sensible matter but after this I do not understand how a Man can believe any thing because by this very thing he destroys and takes away the Foundation of all Certainty if any Man forbid me to believe what I see I forbid him to believe any thing upon better and surer Evidence St. Paul saith that Faith cometh by hearing but if I cannot rely upon the certainty of Sense then the means whereby Faith is conveyed is uncertain and we may say as St. Paul doth in another case Then is our Preaching vain and your Faith also is vain Lastly To mention no more particulars as to several things used and Practised in the Church of Rome we are on the much safer side if we should happen to be mistaken about them than they are if they should be mistaken for it is certainly Lawful to read the Scriptures and Lawful to permit to the People the use of the Scriptures in a known Tongue Otherwise we must condemn the Apostles and the Primitive Church for allowing this Liberty It is certainly Lawful to have the publick Prayers and Service of God celebrated in a Language which all that joyn in it can understand It is certainly Lawful to administer the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to the People in both kinds otherwise the Christian Church would not have done it for a Thousand Years It is certainly Lawful not to Worship Images not to pray to Angels or Saints or the Blessed Virgin otherwise the Primitive Church would not have forborn these Practices for Three Hundred Years as is acknowledged by those of the Church of Rome Suppose a Man should pray to God only and offer up all his Prayers to him only by Jesus Christ without making mention of any other Mediator or Intercessor with God for us relying herein upon what the Apostle says concerning our High Priest Jesus the Son of God Heb. 7 25. That he is able to save them to the utmost who come unto God by him i. e. by his Mediation and Intercession since he ever liveth to make Intercession for them might not a Man reasonably hope to obtain of God all the Blessings he stands in need of by Addressing himself only to him in the Name and by the Intercession of that one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus Nay why may not a Man reasonably think that this is both a shorter and more effectual way to obtain our requests than by turning our selves to the Angels and Saints and importuning them to solicite God for us especially if we should order the matter so as to make ten times more frequent Addresses to these than we do to God and our Blessed Saviour and in comparison of the other to neglect these we cannot certainly think any more able to help us and do us good than the great God of Heaven and Earth the God as St. Paul styles him that heareth Prayers and therefore unto him should all flesh come We cannot certainly think any Intercessor so powerful and prevalent with God as his only and dearly beloved Son offering up our Prayers to God in Heaven by vertue of that most acceptable and invaluable Sacrifice which he offered to him on Earth we cannot surely think that there is so much Goodness any where as in God that in any of the Angels or Saints or even in the Blessed Mother of our Lord there is more Mercy and Compassion for Sinners and a tenderer sense of our Infirmities