of Faith and a new Religion or at least Phanatick-like by Enthusiasms and new marvelous Revelations make new additions to our Faith so that we may have daily a different one their Votaries like a blind Herd being driven now to one Opinion then to another yet still supposing themselves infallibly right all this is a monstruous misrepresentation without one word of truth but men who themselves follow a lawless fancy and loose liberty must thus disfigure that admirable Guide which God hath left us otherwise they would soon be without any followers this account I shall deliver here of the infallible Guide which Catholics follow the Church of God will I am sure represent her in very different because in her true proper Colours Our Guide then is the Catholic Church either diffusive in its whole extent or representative in its Head and Bishops the Pope and a General Council for as in the State here in England we have a Common Law and a Statute Law the first not compiled by any one Lawgiver but delivered by all the Judges and Sages of the Law and preserved in all Courts and the daily use of the whole Kingdom the second delivered particularly by the Kingdoms Great Representative in its Head and Members the King and lawfully convened Parliaments So in the Church there is a general Faith first received from Christ and his Apostles and preserved by all Bishops in their respective Diocesses and in the mind and actions of each faithful Believer in the whole Catholic Church and when any difficulty arises by the opposition of new Heresies then the Church Representative the Pope and a General Council or Synod of the ablest and Holiest Bishops of the Catholic Church deliver their Sentence in favour of the ancient Truth ever followed in the Church which Decisions or Canons are like our Statute Law only declaring and applying to particular instances the Common Law or Belief of the Church We hold that this general Faith received from the Apostles and preserved in all the Members of the Catholic Church explained upon occasion by the Church Representative is infallibly true and this is all the infallibility the Catholic Church pretends unto neither the whole Church nor any person or persons in it are held to possess any intrinsick infallibility which we own to be proper to God alone Nay no man in this present state or condition of life as our Divines observe can be in himself impeccable or infallible all are of themselves subject to Error Scotus in 2. diff 2 3. Q. as well as to sin and whatever God doth in favour of his Church doth no more alter her defectibility than a strong man lifting up a great weight with a Child takes away the natural weakness of the Child which remains still the same though the weight not moveable to the Child be in effect drawn or lifted up Hence Rufinus observes that we do not say in our Creed I believe in the Holy Catholic Church as we say I believe in God the Father In Jesus Christ In the Holy Ghost By that Preposition that syllable in we separate the Creator from his Creatures Divine help from In Symb. art Eccless S. Cat. Hac prepositionis syllaba Creator a Creaturis secernitur divina humanis separantur Humane means but we say of these humane means appointed by Almighty God that although they be fallible and exposed to error in their own nature yet by Gods appointment and Grace they will prove infallible as to us and certainly lead to the knowledge of truth We do not say that they cannot of themselves deceive us but that God according to his promise directing them by his infallible Spirit it cannot possibly happen that they should deceive us If then says S. Thomas our Creed as many understand it teaches us to believe in the Catholic Church this is the sence of it That is to say our Faith leans on the Holy Ghost and the meaning of these words are I believe in the Holy Ghost who sanctifies the Hoc est intelligendum secundum quod fides nostra refertur in Spiritum sanctum Sanctificantem Ecclesiam holy Church and Guides her When God revealed to St. Paul that he should come to Rome and die there or to St. Peter that being grown old he should be Crucified were either of them immortal the one till he came to Rome the other till he became old not the least they were as srail as before as exposed to Diseases within as capable of being wounded and that mortally yet in a true sense they were immortal for that time because that by reason of the Revelation and protection of God it was impossible they should die before they came the one to Rome the other to old Age according to the Revelation Thus should God reveal to a Traveller in a wild Wilderness full of wild Beasts and beset by Thieves that he should pass certainly unhurt and not fall he nor those who follow him into the Hands of these or Claws of those this man would remain as weak as ignorant of the ways as exposed to danger as before yet would prove an infallible Guide to those who would follow him So supposing which I shall presently prove that God hath promised to the Catholic Church that his holy Spirit should guide her in all truth that she shall follow that true Guide and ever avoid falling into Error though each Member of the Church remain as fallible as weak as subject to Error as before yet it evidently follows that this Church will infallibly avoid all Errors never lead any of her followers into it and this is all we mean by the Churches infallibility A thing when thus rightly understood as clear as evident as certain as that God's Revelation cannot prove false as that the Holy Ghost and Christ himself who remains with the Teachers of this Church be in themselves infallible We do not expect any new Revelations or Lights we do not admit any new Article of Faith though where a doubt arises the Church hath infallibly power to declare what hath been revealed by Christ to the Apostles and Preached by them which perchance some part of the Church might have had a less clear understanding thereof and though when the sense of Scripture appears doubtful to some this Church can explain infallibly what the true sense and meaning is and deliver more explicitly what is implyed in the Word of Scripture for example if some doubts whether in the Mystery of our Lords Supper there be a true Change of the substance of Bread into that of the Body of our Lord. This Holy Church can declare that these plain words This is my Body do declare it and to avoid further mistake may give a new clearer Name to the old Mystery so revealed by Christ and Preached by the Apostles calling it Transubstantiation as She calls the Mystery of God one in Nature and three in Persons Holy Trinity a
Books That God commands it That each one is to judge finally for himself I offer the following Observations on these Texts to your second thoughts With reason St. Paul commands each Christian to try all Omnia probate quod bonum est tenete 1 Thes 5. Nolite omni Spiritui credere sed probate Spiritus si ex Deo sunt 1 Joan. 4. Quoniam multi Pseudo-Prophetae exierunt in Mundum things and to retain what is good And St. John in plainer terms Not to credit every Spirit but to try the Spirits if they be of God for as St. John observes in that very place many false Prophets have appeared in the World And since ' t is necessary that Heresies arise there will ever be many such the Ministers of Satan as St. Paul minds us 2 Cor. 11. 15. transfiguring themselves like unto the Ministers of Justice We ought not then to believe each Man that pretends to the pure Word of the Lord to the Spirit of the Lord. The Question is How we ought to try these different Spirits Each Man says Dr. Sherlock is to read all Heretical as well as Orthodox Books to hear all False Prophets as well as the Teachers of Truth Each ignorant Tradesman Husbandman Day-Laborer having read the Bible heard and read what the Dissenting Divines can say is to Decide as Sovereign Judge without Appeal Alii Prophetia alii discretio Spirituum 1 Cor. 12. 20. All are to choose thus their Religion Not so says St. Paul On some only is bestowed the Gift of Interpreting on some only the Gift of discerning Spirits A necessary Caution for as St. Cyprian observes Hence arise all Heresies that People Hinc Haereses ortae quod unus in Ecclesia Dei ad tempus Sacerdos ad tempus Judex vice Christi non cogitatur l. 1. c. 3. cont Haer. De Ecclesia in Academiae porticum descendunt sensui communi sed suo non Ecclesiae se sistunt Contr. Hermog Nil laborant nisi non invenire quod credunt l. 2. c. 2. de Gen. con Man. Semper discunt numquam ad scientiam veritatis perveniunt 2 Tim. 3. Visum est Spiritui Sancto nobis Act. 15. do not consider that there is one Priest in the Church of God for the time one Judge in lieu of Christ but challenge each of them the Prerogative of Judging for themselves Heretics says Tertullian abandon the Church repair to Schools of Philosophy or Natural Discourse and the Judgment of their Reason appeal to Common Sense but to their own not to that of the Church They profess in their Creed to believe the Catholic Church but as St. Augustin said of the Manicheans All they endeavor is not to sind what they believe and having left the School of Christ and those Teachers he had appointed them they make good by their continual Debates about Religion without any fixure on a certain and unwavering Faith without any secure Principles to build on that Character which S. Paul gives of all Heretics They are ever seeking ever learning and never attain the science of truth What is their Duty then but to seek out those to whom the infallible Direction of the Holy Ghost is promised by Christ our Lord and accordingly given so that they have Authority to resolve all Doubts with a The Holy Ghost declares this and we declare it That no other Method can bring us to a steddy and unwavering Faith. St. Paul did acknowledge to the Ephesians when having warned them To be careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace he Ephes 4. 3 11. declares that God gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and other Pastors and Doctors to the consummation of the Saints unto the work of the Ministry unto the edifying of the Body of Christ and that not for some Age or Ages only but until we meet all unto the unity of Faith and Knowledge of the Son of God into a perfect Man into the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ that is to the last day of the General Resurrection this Method of standing to the Decisions of such lawful Pastors being necessary That we be not children wavering and carried about with every wind of Doctrin in the wickedness of Men in craftiness to the circumvention of Error That this is the Sense of the two Texts cited in opposition to it is most evident from the very places whence they are taken for St. John having advised Christians to try the Spirits gives this standing Rule and Method for all Ages He that knows God by a true Faith hears Vs he that is not of Qui novit Deum audit nos qui non est ex Deo non audit nos in hoc cognoscimus Spiritum veritatis spiritum erroris 1 Jo. 4. 6. God hears us not By this Mark you shall discern the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error Behold St. John condemning Dr. Sherlock who will have each Man Judge for himself of the Doctrin whereas St. John declares we must try the Spirits only by this Mark That they have the Spirit of God who hear with Submission their lawful Pastors whereas those who Judge for themselves without that Deference are certainly possessed with the Spirit of Error 'T is also evident that by VS he means all lawful Pastors and not the Apostles only for they were all dead when he writ that Epistle Could any Text be a fuller and more pressing Evidence for me or assure us more positively that an unerring Spirit guides the Pastors and Teachers in the Church of God and that whoever will not fall into Error must submit by an Implicit Faith to that Churches Authority and embrace the Doctrins which she teaches by her Prelates The other Text so unhappy these Men are in their choice is as full and plain to the same effect for St. Paul having first warned the Thessalonians in the foregoing Verse not to despise the Gift of Prophecy or Interpretation given to the Teachers of the Church for the Instruction of others he bids them by this Text not to receive all sorts of Interpreters but such only as had received from the Holy Ghost the Gift of Prophesying and were Commissioned by a lawful Authority to Preach But so far he was from advising them to converse with or read the Books of those that were Aliens and out of the Church that he had warned before the Ephesians with caution to converse with such But let us In sapientia ambulate cum iis qui foris sunt Eph. 4. 5. Si quis Evangelizaverit praeterquam id quod accepistis anathema Gal. 1. Irreformabilis fides observe the several Marks given by the Apostles and by Christ whereby to distinguish those who are to be admitted of from those who ought to be rejected St. Paul gives the Galatians this Rule Whoever Preaches beside what you have received be he accursed that
's all the regard St. Paul bids us have for all such Innovators as pretend to a reformation of Faith which as Tertullian teaches is not liable to any because 't is not exposed to the least danger of failing the Gates of Hell Errors not being permitted ever to prevail against the Church which mov'd St. Augustin to declare thus his Sense We are certain Certi sumus neminem a communione genium se separare potuisse nam non quisque nostrum in suâ justitiâ sed in scripturis sacris quaerit Ecclesiam ut promissa est reddi conspicit Epist 48. Dic Ecclesiae si Ecclesiam non audierit sit tibi velut Ethnicus Publicanus Mat. 18. that no one can divide himself from the Communion of all Nations for not any one amongst us must seek the Church in his own Justice such as his own private Judgment frames but in the Holy Scriptures and he will find the Church such as she is there promised What Mark did our Blessed Lord set In whatever Offence received from a Brother whatever Scandal and there is not any greater than Heresie and Schism in case he hearken not unto obey not the Church let him be to thee as a Heathen or a Publican that is have no Converse with him separate thy self from him Certainly this Advice of Christ is perfectly opposite to that Obligation Dr. Sherlock would impose on all St. Irenaeus who received the true meaning of Christ's Doctrin from St. Polycarp St. John's Disciple understood it in a very different meaning when in his Fourth Book against Heresies he thus expressed himself ' T is necessary Qui in Ecclesiâ sunt Presbyteris obaudire oportet qui successionem habent ab Apostolis qui cum Episcopali successione charisma veritatis certum secundum placitum patris acceperunt reliquos vero qui absistunt à Principali successione quocunque loco colliguntur suspectos habere vel quasi Haereticos malae sententiae vel quasi scindentes eiatos sibi placentes aut rursus ut Hypocritas quaestus gratiâ vanae gloriae hoc operantes qui omnes decidunt à veritate l. 4. c. 42. to obey the Priests of the Church who have their Succession from the Apostles who with Episcopal Succession have received a certain Grace or Gift of Truth according to the Will of the Father all others who Separate themselves from the Principal Succession in whatever Place they may Combine together we must suspect as Heretics and of a wrong Opinion or as Schismatics proud Men full of the love of themselves or again as Hypocrites thus dividing themselves for Interests sake and Vain-glory who all of them are fallen from the Truth Is this to send us to read their Books St. Augustin also must be own'd of a very different Principle who having stated the Case as it is at present in this Nation gives this opposite Advice in his Third Sermon on the 30th Psalm Many Tongues contradict divers Heresies divers Contradicunt multae linguae diversae Haereses diversa Schismata personant linguae multae contradicunt veritati tu curre ad tabernaculum Dei Ecclesiam Catholicam tene à regulâ veritatis noli discedere protegeris in tabernaculo Domini à contradictione linguarum CC. 3. in Ps 20. Schisms and Divisions speak loud what Method is to be followed in this Case Run you to the Tabernacle of God the Catholic Church of which no Heresies contradicting one another can be Parts Do not depart from that Rule of Truth behold what Dr. Sherlock blames and calls Implicit Faith you shall be protected in the Tabernacle of God from these contradicting Tongues This is the true way taught and followed from the beginning of Interpreting Scripture of adhering to the genuin word of God when the Letter bearing several Constructions cannot reconcile different Opinions as the same holy Doctor observes We follow in this also the Authority of Canonical Scriptures when we follow what is Decreed Sequimnr sane in hâc re etiam Canonicarum Authoritatem Scripturarum cum hoc facimus quod universae Jam placuit Ecclesiae quam ipsarum Scripturarum commendat Authoritas c. L. 1. Cont. Cresc c. 31 32 c. by the Vniversal present Church which the Authority of the Scriptures themselves recommends unto us and because the holy Scriptures cannot deceive us whoever fears to be misled by the obscurity of this or any other Question let him consult about it that Church which we are without the least obscurity directed unto by the holy Scriptures This he had learn'd from St. John who assures the Members of that Church That they are not to seek any other Masters to teach them having that Holy Spirit Non necesse habetis ut aliquis vos doceat unctio enim ejus docet vos de omnibus 1 Joa 2. promised unto and guiding that Church which teaches them all truth St. Paul was of a very different mind as well as Religion from Dr. Sherlock when he orders even the Learned Bishop Titus to avoid an Heretic after one or two endeavors Haereticum hominem post unam secundam Correptionem devita sciens quia subversus est qui ejusmodi est delinquit cum sit proprio Judicio condemnatus Tit. 3. 10 11. to reclaim him knowing that such an one is cast off and is in sin being condemned by his own judgment which he opposes to that of the Church The first General Councils and the first Christian Emperors were of a different Religion and mind from this Doctor who Commanded all the Books written by Heretics to be burnt I will conclude this Point with St. Augustins Advice perfectly opposite to these unreasonable Principles a seasonable advice given to all Heretics wearied out with seeking in vain the truth by their own judgment without the direction of this unerring Guide Return and lie at Revertere sede in portu Catholicae fidei ubi nulla te possit fluctuosae curiositatis tempestas turbare Aug. in Hypognost Anchor in the Haven of Catholic Faith where no storm of a wavering curiosity can disturb you Dr. Sherlock in his Preservative f. 4. gives his Protestant this advice Ask them whether they will allow you to judge for your self in matters of Religion If they do not why will they trouble you with disputing You cannot be convinced unless you judge too and thereby resolve Faith into a private Spirit Here let our Protestant fix his Foot and not stir an Inch till they disown Infallibility I observed that this was to say 't is impossible to convince a man that in reason he ought to submit his judgment to that of another though infallible That such a Principle makes void all the right use of reason when it should lead us to submit to a just Authority that St. Paul pretended to Infallibility through the assistance of the Spirit of God who directed him and consequently that if
this Principle of Dr. Sherlock be reasonable the Jews ought when he disputed in their Synagouge not to have stirr'd an inch not to have hearkened to him till he had disowned infallibility In the Defence the Honest Footman is ashamed of so unchristian a Principle and would disown it saying That it appears plain and natural to him that he may submit his judgment to an Infallible Judge and yet the Church of Rome may not be that Judge true but this is contrary to Dr. Sherlock's Principle For how long is the Protestant not to stir an inch till the Catholic hath proved his Churches infallibility There would have been some common sense and reason in that Advice but not so says Dr. Sherlock but till he disowns infallibility 'T is as evident then as Noon-day-light that Dr. Sherlock lookt upon infallibility pretended unto as inconsistent with disputing and pretending by reason to convince an other of the truth and that consequently he takes the Jews's part against St. Paul. The Footman Mistook here his Masters Errant Preservative fol. 6. Dr. Sherlock asks this Question What difference is there betwixt mens using their private judgment to turn Papists or to turn Protestants I answered the same as betwixt two sick men the one whereof chooses to put himself in an able Doctors hands whom he knows to have an infallible Remedy whilst the other chooses his own Simples and makes his own Medicin As between two at Law the one whereof is guided by his Reason to take Advice from a wise Counsellor the other to be his own Council c. The Doctor 's second Answers by this Question And is not here private Judgment used all this while A shrewd Question indeed Dr. Sherlock had asked what difference there was in these two uses of private Judgment I produce the difference then as if the Question had been forgot still says the Footman there is use made of private Judgment it were as nice a Reply had one asked what difference is there betwixt an Ounce of Gold and an Ounce of Silver if when the different value is express'd he should wisely return this answer why there is still an Ounce in both cases Is there no difference then betwixt one who follows his fancy in choosing his way and him who chooses a good Guide and follows him because both choose do both equally rely on their fancy What Position can more abuse common sense Certainly the Ingenious and Learned Gentlemen of the Temple cannot but smile at this strange way of Reasoning in their Master so different from theirs Preservative fol. 9. They cannot with any sense dispute with us about the particular Articles of Faith because the sense given of Scripture and Fathers takes its Authority from the Church understanding it so I Replyed that the sense takes its Authority from God who spake the Word though we are certain that we have the true sense of that Word because we receive it from the Church which is guided in delivering to us both the Letter and Sense by the infallible Spirit of God that is to abide with Her for ever according to Christs promise Joh. 14. 16. I added that if John and William dispute which is the right way to a place John is not disabled of convincing William of his mistake because he receives the Reasons he uses from an infallible Guide This was plain and full what answers the Doctor 's second He cites some Catholic Divines how truly it belongs not to my present purpose saying that the words of Scripture brought in proof of Transubstantiation might be taken in a different sense from that which the Catholic Church hath ever received and delivered and that had not the Church ever taught that sense one might believe otherwise for all the Letter of Scripture Let it be so but what follows here But the necessity of an unerring Interpreter So that Text 1 Joh. 5. 7 8. There be three which give Testimony in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three be one and there be three which give testimony on Earth the Spirit Water and Blood and these three be one in the sense the Church hath ever received it in proves the strict Unity of God in the Trinity of Persons The Arians gave it a contrary and as natural a sense doth this prove that we follow not Scripture and this very Text in our belief of the Holy Trinity Once more I appeal to the Learned Gentlemen of the Temple hoping they will join with me maintaining against their Master that all the Judges of the Land may very reasonably convince by Law an impertinent Party though he should oppose that they may not do it because their Interpretation of the Law is to deliver the true sense of it The Preservative fol. 11. moves this Question Must the belief of an infallible Judge be resolved into every mans private judgment Must it not be believed with a Divine Faith and can there be a Divine Faith without an infallible Judge I gave this answer There can be no Divine Faith without a Divine Revelation nor a prudent one without a Moral evidence in the Motives of Credibility on which may be grounded the evident obligation to accept it The judgment being possess'd with that Moral infallibility rests not there but observing that goodness and mercy of God which cannot permit that falshood should be propounded in his Name with all the apparent marks of his Hand and Seal and without any like appearance on the Contrary inclined by a pious motion of the Will called by the famous Council of Orange affectio credibilitatis and strengthen'd by that Grace of God which bestows the Gift of Faith fastens on Gods Veracity and with a submission not capable of any doubt embraces the revealed truth If the infallibility of the Church were more than Morally evident it were impossible that any Heresy should be To this the Second of Dr. Sherlock hath nothing to oppose and is willing to submit if I can shew a Revelation that there is an infallible visible Church I will comply with so reasonable a demand and since not one in a thousand of those who oppose our Doctrin in this fundamental Point which once being cleared bears away all disputes understands what that infallibility means on which we ground the admirable certainty of each Point of our Belief give me leave Sir to be somwhat more prolix on this Subject than the narrow compass of a Letter would otherwise allow What is and whence proceeds this infallibility Many do suppose and object unto us that we hold a Man or many to be infallible in themselves a Title to which God alone can lay a Claim who only as he is truth so he is alone infallible They wilfully suppose that we place this infallibility in the sense and judgment of men so that whatever by their own Light they resolve and order must infallibly be true and just that such may frame new Articles
Name not found in Scripture which so displeased the Arians heretofore and Calvin of late not by making any new Article of Faith but more clearly delivering what was ever believed by the Apostles and all Catholics from their time to this so that still we own Sanctae Scripturae sufficienter Continent omnem scientiam Necessariam Scotus Q. 2. prologi Viatori That Holy Scripture contain all that is necessary to a Christian to know in this life and with Bellarmin Non est de fide nisi quod Deus per Apostolos aut Prophetas revelavit aut quod evidenter inde deducitur That nothing is of Faith but what Christ revealed by the Prophets or Apostles or what is Evidently deduced from it The Church being only our Guide to the understanding of the true and full sense of Scripture This Pope Celestin owned to the General Council of Ephesus Agendum nunc est ut Labore Ep. 7. Communi Credita per Apostolorum successione detenta servemus That the whole work of the Church representative is only to Conserve by a clear Exposition of it what the Church diffusive retained in a continual Succession as first taught by the holy Apostles and so continually by their Successors This is all the Council of Trent pretended unto For Councils says an Eminent Member of it have the assisting presence of the Holy Ghost only to declare those Articles infallibly true which Christ from the beginning revealed And Secondly When Errors and Abuses arise to a growth to gather infallibly from what hath been revealed those Truths which all Christians are bound to believe and to follow in Faith and Manners Ad Extirpandos errores abusus infallibiliter etiam ex revelatis Colligere populo Christiano credenda Vega. usurpanda in fide moribus Then continues the same They are gathered in the Name of Christ when they declare only such things as were revealed by Christ and brought down to us in the Holy Scripture or certain Apostolical Traditions The Apostles themselves used no other Method and St. Paul as Infallible as he was owned That he presumed Rom. 15. to teach only what he had from Christ to which witness was born by Miracles Non Audio aliquid loqui eorum quae Per me non efficit Christus in veritate signorum And this infallible Certainty we allow to the Church only in such things as She declares necessary to be known and believed in order to our Salvation not in impertinent or indifferent things For we say still with Tertullian Nobis curiositate non opus est post Christum inquisitione post Evangelium We seek not curiously into any thing but what is clearly revealed but what was taught when the Gospel was first preached Our Church then hath not power to make new Articles of Faith nor ever pretended to it but is a mere yet infallible Witness to the anciently revealed ones In Her Name Tertullian declares Ibidem Nobis nihil licet ex nostro arbitrio inducere Apostolos Domini habemus Authores qui nec ipsi quidquam de suo arbitrio elegerunt quod inducerent We can bring in nothing of our choice the Apostles are the Authors of what we teach who themselves taught nothing of themselves Christ promised to be with them and their Successors Mat. 28. till the end of the World only in order to the declaring of these things which he himself revealed and taught especially in those forty days betwixt his Resurrection and Omnia quaecunque mandavi vobis Et loquens de regno dei Ascension when he taught them all that concerned the Kingdom of God on Earth his Church The infallibility of the Church being thus Expounded and such is that which Catholics believe and are guided by I cannot conceive how any Christian can object any thing against it who believes that what God revealed must necessarily be true and that Christ and the Holy Ghost be infallible I proceed then to prove that God hath revealed the Catholic Church should ever be guided by his holy Spirit and ever follow that Guide and never fall into any Error in Faith and to do it most convincingly against all Sectaries I will prove it by the Texts of Holy Scripture such as their very Bible offers and this not by two or three which would suffice but by a number and that I may not seem to give my own sense to those Texts I will join to them the Exposition of the Holy Fathers given in all Ages according to the sense of the Catholic Church By the Catholic Church I mean not only the Church of all Ages but the whole Church of any Ages and consequently the Catholic Church of this Age for it is the same Church there being but One as all our Creed teaches us I say as the Jews did yield a full belief to God and his Servant Moyses to God as the author of their Faith and to Moyses as the Exod. 14. Crediderunt domino Moysi servo ejus Propounder and Witness of it so each Catholic in any Age believes God and the Church of his Age that Church being Causa Exemplaris the Pattern and Exposition of his Faith. That this Church is an infallible Witness to all that Christ did teach is evident from the Commands laid upon us by the Prophets by Christ our Lord by the Apostles to receive with an entire submission all that it delivers for it is inconsistent with Gods infinite Veracity that he should oblige us to believe an Error Almighty God by Isay teaches us that all Nations shall resort unto Her as a Judge Adding Every Isay 2. 3. 54. 7. 60. 12. Ezech. 44. tongue resisting thee in judgment thou shalt condemn and the Nation and Kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish The plain reason for it is given by Ezekiel where God promises that when Controversies arise he will decide by his Churches Verdict They shall stand in judgment and shall judge according to my Judgment Hence St. Augustin looking upon the judgment of the Church as certainly that of God declares the only reason why St. Cyprian though in an Error yet was no Heretic to be because his Error was not yet Condemned Nondum plenario Concilio decisus l. 1. c. 18. de Bapt. Certissimam fidem ibid. c. 9. c. 4. Nolle primasdare vel sumae impietatis est vel praecipitis arrogantiae De util Gred. c. 17. Donec plenario rotiqs orbis Concilio quod saluberrime sentiebatur etiam remotis dubitationibus firmaretur Habere Jam non potest Deus Patrem qui Ecclesiam non habet Matrem c. Neque enim vivere foris possunt cum Domus Dei una sit Et nemini salus esse nisi in Ecclesiä possit Cypr. de Unit. by the Churches Representative a General Council That a most firm belief is to be yielded to such Decisions and that Not to submit to the Church is the
separatur Cypr. de Unit. Eccles that consequently who ever forsakes her and adheres to an Adulteress any Heretical or Scismatical Congregation looses all right to the Promises made to the Church So certain was St. Gregory Nazianzen that this Si nunc vel ante suscepti sunt qui Apollinaris placita sectantur hoc ostendant nos aquiescemus Perspicuum enim Erit eos ut rectae Doctrinae assentientes susceptos fuisse nec enim se res aliter habere potest 〈◊〉 hoc consequuti sunt Church could never admit any Heretics into her Communion That as zealous an opposer as he was to the Apollinarists he owned he would acquiesce to them if they could prove they had ever been received into the Catholic Churches Communion which would be an undoubted proof that they were fallen into no Heresie And in that case it could not be otherwise but that they did assent to truth St. Athanasius owned this Rule so infallible that he conceived no other Arguments ought to be used against Heretics but this which alone Epist ad Cledon Tantummodo ad ea respondendum est quod ipsum per se sufficit ea Ecclesiae Orthodoxae noti esse nec Majores nostros it a sensisse Epist ad Epist Epist Corim. is sufficient that their Opinion was not the Doctrin of the Orthodex Church that our Ancestors were of another perswasion But what debate can there be of this truth amongst Christians after so plain a decision of Christs own Divine Mouth Matt. 16. 18. The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against her having first assured Peter that he was a Rock unmoveable and that on that Rock he would build his Church On Peter then and his Successors not on their Shoulders indeed as a Protestant Divine very briskly proved but on their personal unmoveable Faith this Church is ever to be built whence all holy Fathers have ever derived the Infallibility of Doctrin promised to the Church Let the great Patriarch of Alexandria S. Cyril be an Instance of it Tâ—â—s Sirname Petram opinor per agnominationem nihil aliud quam inconcussam firmissimam discipuli fidem vocavit in quâ Ecclesiâ Christi ita fundata firmata esset ut non laberetur esset inexpugnabilis inferorum portis in perpetuum manens Cyril in Dial. ad Prin. l. 4. of Rock says he is the unmoveable and most firm Faith of this Disciple on which the Church of Christ should be so founded and setled that it should prove impregnable to the Gates of Hell lasting for ever And that all might know that 't is the virtue of the Holy Ghost by whose Infallibility in Guiding the Church remains Infallible in being Guided our Saviour informs his Apostles of it and us by them Joh. 14. 16. He my Father will give you another Paraclite that may abide with you for ever and consequently with their Successors as a Land given to one for ever by force thereof belongs to his Heirs the Spirit of Truth whom the World knows not St. Ambrose who observed no such Promise made to particular Men reading Scripture had hence reason to conclude Let no Man make the Law the measure of his Faith but report it to Nemo fidem suam intra mensuram legis includat sed ad Ecclesiam conferat in quâ septiformis Spiritus gratia relucet uam Princeps ille Sacerdotum fulgore supernae divinitatis illuminat Lib. 7. c. 11. in Luc. the Church in which the Grace of the seven-fold Spirit shines whom that Prince of the Priests doth enlighten with Rays of the Divinity from above Hence Origen concuded That the Son of God as the Scriptures teach us is the Soul of the Body of Lib. 6. contra Gels Christ which is the Church of Christ That the Word of God by a wonderful Virtue moves together all the Members of his Church And can it enter into a Christians thought that a Body guided by the Holy Ghost moved by Christ shall ever go astray But Tertullian represents with a most sensible Energy the weakness of those who can harbor the least suspicion of it The Holy Ghost says he to this intent was sent by Christ to this end was asked of the Father that he should be the Teacher of Truth Did this Steward of God neglect his Office Did this Vicar of Christ permit the Church to believe to teach otherwise than Christ himself Preached by his Apostles St. Paul did not believe it possible when he called the Church not only the House of God but also the Pillar of Truth I omit here those plain Texts of Scripture to be found so frequently in it by which Christ declares this Churches Perpetuity only minding you Sir of that Saying of one of the most famous and Learned Primates of this Kingdom ' T is the same in the Church to Err and to Perish Idem est errare perire Ecclesiam Hanc sacrilegam vanitatem evertit Evangelica veritas Prophetarum atque SS Patrum non violanda authoritas Lanfranc contr Bereng Wherefore since the latter cannot happen if God in revealing cannot Err we may conclude with him that to say it can Err is a Sacrilegious Vanity which the Authority of the Prophets of the Gospels of the Fathers utterly reproves That what Promises were made to the Apostles for the Support and Continuance of the Church are made good to their Successors the lawful Pastors Reason it self evidently makes out God not withdrawing the Means whilst he designs the End. And St. Augustin expresses it fully in these words Commenting on those of the Royal Prophet For thy Fathers Children are born to thee The Apostles did beget thee they were sent they Preached they were thy Fathers but Genuerunt te Apostoli ipsi missi sunt ipsi praedicatores ipsi patres sed numquid nobiscum ipsi semper esse potuerunt Ergo eorum discessu deserta est Ecclesia Absit pro Apostolis nati sunt tibi filii constituti sunt Episcopi c. Aug. in Psal 44. could they remain for ever with us Was then the Church deserted by their departure God forbid For thy Fathers Children were born to thee Bishops were Constituted Think not thy self abandon'd because thou seest not Peter thou seest not Paul Out of thy Issue Fathers are given thee Hence in his Dispute he wonder'd at the sensless Position of Gaudentius Lib. 2. c. 8. contra Gauden the Donatist teaching that the Church had Perished and yet owning their Congregation to be the true Church since Donatus could not be a Father in the true Church had he not been a Son thereof had she Perished before he laid the Foundation of his Schismatical Body Against the same Heretics and the Schismatics of these Days he is as plain on the Psal 103. What mean some says he in the Name of the Church who abandoning me murmur against Quid est quod nescio qui recedentes a me
the rest If therefore Protestants are in the wrong we are certainly in the right as far as we are opposite to them And besides since that all the positive Proofs that can be brought for the infallible Authority of Church-Teachers express also in what Church they are by evident Marks not to be found but in our Catholic Church it follows if the Protestants be in the wrong as to that Principle we are certainly in the right as to each Point of our Religion taught us by an unerring Interpreter Preserv f. 80. This that the Protestant Faith is uncertain may signifie two things First That the Objects of our Faith are uncertain and cannot be proved by certain Reasons Secondly That our Persuasion is wavering Answ f. 7. Besides the two mention'd it fignfies a Third thing also to wit That whatever Reasons there may be for a thing he who believes it hath not for the Motive of his Belief those certain Reasons There are for Example certain Reasons whereon to ground a Faith in Jesus Christ yet he that believes in Christ meerly because his Mother or a Minister hath taught him so to do hath a very uncertain and no Divine Faith. Defence f. 18. What can be the Gentleman's meaning I cannot conceive unless it be this That because Protestants take the Reason of their Faith from Scripture and not from the Church of Rome that therefore they can have no certain or Divine Faith which if it be I pity him if it be not I must desire him to explain himself Answer The honest Footman is grown very tender-hearted But is not this very plain that altho' there be very good Reasons for the belief of an Article of Christian Religion yet one that should believe it on the account of some silly Motive only such as I cited would have no Divine Faith But how can this be applied to Protestants who take the Reasons of their Faith from Scripture This I had shewed Fol. 6. but the Footman passes it by with this Answer only I shall say nothing to that Harangue so often Answered by our Divines It seems he had forgot those Answers or was conscious of their weakness Thus I discoursed there The Catholics prove that an uncertain or wavering Faith is no Divine Faith which the Protestants can never have of any one Article of their Religion because they never can have a certain one 'T is easily proved because they cannot have an act of Faith of any one Article till their Rule of Faith proposes it i. e. till they know certainly by their private Reading and Judgment what the Scriptures teach of it not by some one Text or two but by comparing all the Texts that treat of that Subject for the Sense of a single Text for Examp. My Father is greater than I cannot be had but by expounding it by other Texts on the same Subject Till a Protestant then hath a certain knowledge First that he hath all the Books of Holy Writ Secondly that all those he owns for such were really written by inspired Pens Thirdly that he hath a true and sound Translation in case he understood not the Original Languages and in case he doth a true Copy not altered by the Error or Malice of our Forefathers Fourthly since the Letter kills that he understands the true Meaning and Sense of each Text which relates to the Object of his Act of Faith Fifthly that he remember them all so as comparing them to see which be the clearer that must expound the obscurer and what is the true result of them all for any one which he understands not or hath forgotten may possibly be that one that must expound the rest he cannot have one Act of Faith. Now Catholics say this is impossible to most if not to all Protestants who are in each of these Points to Judge for themselves and not to submit to any Authority where a Doubt arises therefore few or no Protestants can in their whole Life-time frame one Act of Divine Faith concerning any one Mystery not that Scripture is not a very certain Rule but because they have chosen an useless because impossible and uncertain way of applying it Preservat ib. We believe the Apostles Creed and whatever is contained in the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles This is all we believe and I hope they will not say these things are uncertain Answer They are very certain but not to any Protestant whose Rule of Faith considering the Method he applies it by cannot make him certain of any one Article But the pleasant Answer which Justifies Turk Jew and Gentile For this is a Rule of Faith most sufficient according to Dr. Sherlock and a good Plea We believe all that God hath revealed and nothing else is not all that he hath revealed certain Here lies the Doctor 's gross Mistake that no one is an Heretic for not believing that what God hath revealed is true 't is impossible to fall into so mad an Heresie But Heretics are such for not believing him to have revealed what in effect he hath tho' he hath given sufficient Methods to come to the knowledge of it if they would use them Defence Do Jews Turks and Gentiles believe all that is contained in the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles Answer No Sir nor you neither If they believed all that God hath revealed as they pretend they would believe all that is delivered in the Bible which you pretend but upon as little ground What they think in their Judgment God hath revealed they believe what they think he hath not revealed they disbelieve that 's their Rule of Faith and 't is yours your own private Judgments being on both hands your Guides and not any Authority Established by Almighty God. Preservat f. 81. If these things which are believed by those who take their Faith from the Bible interpreted by their own final Sense be not built upon certain Reasons their Infallible Church can have no certainty of the Christian Faith. Answer Even this is most notoriously false since she is not Infallible by any Light of her own but by the Guidance of the Spirit of Truth Were not the Apostles when they had once acknowledged Christ to be the Son of God certain of all he revealed to them before he had given them certain Reasons for it It were a blind Impiety to think so Defence f. 19. Was there in that Case of the Apostles a certain Faith without a certain Reason An infallible Man must know things as they are or else he is mistaken Answer The Footman is very dull here and cannot distinguish between a certain Reason moving me to believe him that speaks and a certain Reason in the things that are delivered moving me to believe them This Second Dr. Sherlock requires saying That if these things which are believed be not built upon certain Reasons the Infallible Church seeing not any such Reasons can have no certainty of the Christian Faith. An
In the Church of Rome men may Expiate their sins by Penances Fol. 90. but are under no necessity of forsaking them No pain due to sin can be remitted whilst the guilt remains nor this removed till they be forsaken no Exterior Penance can in the least Expiate the guilt of sin This is our Doctrin by which the Calumnies of the following Misrepresentations appear 5. They account Satisfactory works Fastings acts of Penance Fol. 45 46. Prayers Alms though done without the least sorrow for sin without any true Devotion to God without mortifying any one Lust mere External Rites and Observances being judged Satisfactions and Expiations for Sin. 6. They use External Mortifications to satisfie for sins not to Fol. 91. kill them by subduing the Flesh to the Spirit to punish themselves for sins that they may commit them more securely again 7. The Roman Church teaches that men need take no care of Fol. 79. Venial sins and that they may keep clear from mortal sin without any great attainment in virtue It teaches a voluntary Venial sin ought not to be committed to save a whole Worlds Lives that it disposes to Mortal sins as Diseases do to Death that if our Passions be not curb'd by the practice of solid Christian Virtues mortal sins will not be avoided nor Heaven attained which they only purchase who use Violence 8. In the Roman Church Mony is paid for Indulgences Fol. 45. 48. and with them Satisfactions and Merits are bought To pretend to buy or sell any such Spiritual things we account a most grievous sin And every Alms-giver might with as much Justice be accused to have bought of God his Grace and Pardon for a sum of Mony. 9. They Consecrate senseless things to pardon Venial or sometimes Fol. 44. Mortal sin by touching or kissing them 10. They attribute Divine Virtues and Powers to senseless Fol. 43. things as is evident from the honor paid to Relicts and from the Consecration of Agnus Dei ' s Wax Candles Oyls Bells Crosses Ashes Holy Water 11. With them senseless things are capable of the Sanctification Fol. 44. of Gods holy Spirit by his Graces and can convey such Sanctification by Divine and invisible effluviums of Grace All these are misrepresentations of our Faith which teaches us nothing of all this What we believe is that nothing can free us from the guilt of any sin which is external and doth not effect and change the heart That all Creatures of God are good 1 Tim. 4. and that they are Sanctified by the word of God and Prayer neither doth Faith teach us that any Material thing hath any other than Moral Connexion with Grace either obtain'd for us by the Prayers of the Church offered for us at the blessing of those things or of those blessed Saints whom we honor and call upon by that Veneration or by the Sacraments according to the Institution or Covenant of Christ but we do not believe that Gods Grace is inherent but in the Souls of the Faithful or that any sin is remitted without a due disposition in a repentent sinner Or any virtue to be now-a-days Communicated otherwise by insensible things than it was to the Woman that touched the Hem of Christs Garments or by the Handkerchiefs of St. Paul or Shadow of St. Peter Neither do we use any Blessings which we do not find in the Records of the Primitive Church to have been ordered by the Apostles as I am ready to make out when ever required 12. The Popish Ceremonies are more severe and Intollerable Fol. 39. than the Jewish Yoke it self which St. Peter tells the Jews neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear Unless he means it intollerable to Christians to Fast in Lent in imitation of our Blessed Lord and Friday and Saturday in memory of his bitter Agony on the Cross and laying in the Grave for us or their obligation of praying to God daily and particularly the Lords day and of relieving the necessities of the Poor thus calling Fasting Watching Praying and Alms-deeds so recommended by Christ our Lord Mere Ceremonies I know no Obligations imposed on the generality of Christians by any positive Law of the Church which can be called a Yoke As for the Ceremonies used in the Liturgy if they be a burden sure the Clergy or Religious must feel the weight of them yet I am sure not one ever owned it but this predominant passion of Calumniating will venture blindly at the most shameless untruths 13. Their Canonical Fast is not to abstain from Food but only Fol. 40 41. from such Meats as are forbidden This is most false but one Meal being allowed of on Fasting-days 14. There is no imaginable reason why it should be an act of Fol. 41. Religion meerly not to abstain from Flesh if Flesh have no legal uncleanness Here he would insinuate that we Judaize But when God by Hyeremy praised the Rhechabites for abstaining from Wine was it because Wine was held by them to have a legal uncleanness Is the taming of the Flesh the curbing of Sensuality no reason at all for Abstinence 15. They may Fast and say over their Beads and perform their Fol. 43. Penances and Satisfactions by another as well as if they did it by themselves This is an Impudent Sham. Each man is bound to satisfie by himself fulfilling the Penances imposed upon him 16. They hold that they have no title to Reward by doing thier Fol. 47. Duty and therefore they add Works of Supererogation A shameless untruth Nay the more pressing the Duty is the greater the Reward Alms given to a man starving for hunger we hold more meritorious than if not so great a necessity bore off the obligation of relieving him Each necessary observance of the Commandments hath a Crown laid up to be render'd by the just Judge 17. Whilst they Pray in an unknown Tongue a Parrot may as Fol. 58. much be taught to Pray in Spirit as they He would insinuate that Catholics when they assist to Prayers which they do not understand are not Commanded to pray in Spirit by devout thoughts and pious affections which is a mere Calumny 18. They take no care to instruct men in all necessary Doctrins Fol. 61. they learn their Creed as School-boys their Grammar without understanding it they receive the Impression that is made on them as Wax doth and understand no more of the Matter And with them this is the utmost perfection of Knowledge that any Christian must aim at A heavy Charge but so perfect a Slander that besides the Obligation laid on all those that have the charge and Cure of Souls hundreds of thousands of Religious men make it their daily Employ to instruct the Ignorant and each Parish hath Schools of Christian Doctrin to that end so that usually Children of ten years old can give a better account of their Faith in Catholic Countries than