of Christianity against the Innovations of the Church of Rome But seeing your self have receiv'd such satisfaction from their Books and from their Priests as to become a Proselyte to Rome I pray be ingenious and free to communicate and impart your new discoveries unto your Friend Phil. The rule of Friendship and of Charity obliging I am much devoted to this good service and most willing to lead such a Friend and Neighbor in the way of Truth and Holiness Theoph. You suppose the new way wherein you have lately chose to walk to be the right and it will much concern you to make it plain and remove those stumbling-blocks and rocks of Scandal which lye therein before you can expect that I should follow you Phil. Engage Theophilus that you will not stumble at straws and I will undertake to remove all other Obstacles out of your way Theoph. I shall not design to trifle in a serious Discourse and therefore will propose only such Objections against your new way as I judg material Phil. Upon this condition I am ready to answer Theoph. I will first give you in such Exceptions which are obvious unto the meanest Understanding and wherewith your self was much dis-satisfied before your new discoveries viz. 1. With the Latin Service of the Church of Rome 2. With her half Communion 3. With her worshipping of Images Phil. I must confess these things gave great offence unto me before I was better inform'd but now I can give a reason of the Churches practice and answer your Objections against it Theoph. We will therefore take them in their order into consideration First The Church of Rome where she hath Autority requires the public Offices of Praier and of the Sacraments to be performed in the Latin Tongue altho it be unknown and nor understood by the common people and this is contrary unto the reveled will of God in Holy Scripture and to the great end of public Praier Phil. Make your Arguments and Prooss and I will answer them Theoph. S t Paul in that known passage to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 14. speaks expresly to this point that in the Church and public Assemblies of the Saints All things should be don to edification ver 12. and that he that preacheth or prophesieth should utter words easie to be understood by the hearers that it may be known what is spoken otherwise he speaketh into the air ver 9. and if I know not the meaning of the voice saith the Apostle I shall be unto him that speaketh a Barbarian and he that speaketh shall be a Barbarian unto me ver 11. Phil. We grant that Homilies and Sermons should be made to the People in a known Tongue that they may understand and receive instruction Theoph. The same reason holds for Praiers and Spiritual Hymns and Benedictions that the People who are oblig'd to be present and to hold Communion in the Praiers of the Church should understand them For S t Paul in the same Chapter saith expresly He that praieth in an unknown tongue that is unknown to himself his understanding is unfruitful ver 14. and therefore saith he I will pray and sing with the spirit and with understanding also ver 15. and he immediatly adds when thou shalt bless with the spirit that is with such a Tongue as the Holy Ghost hath by an extraordinary gift enabled thee to speak how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest For thou verily givest thanks well but the other is not edified ver 16 17. and therefore he declares That altho he had the gift of Tongues more then they all yet in the Church he had rather speak five words with his understanding that by his voice be might teach others also then ten thousand words in an unknown Tongue Phil. You are not ignorant how the Learned have sufficiently answered all these Arguments taken out of this Chapter Theoph. That they have not sufficiently answered them I know full well and that it is impossible they should I pray impart that satisfaction which they have given you Phil. Bellarmine Tom. 1. Lib. 2. De verbo Dei cap. 16. plainly shews That the Apostle in this Chapter doth not speak of the common Forms of Praier and Hymns of praise but of some particular Praiers and Benedictions which by the gift of the Spirit by immediate Inspiration some were enabled to speak in a Tongue unknown to most of the hearers and somtimes not understood by themselves Theoph. How doth he prove the first part of his Answer that the Apostle in that Chapter doth not speak of public Praiers and Benedictions and reading of the Scriptures For these are his words Vera sententia est Apostolum hoc loco non agere de divinis Offici is nec de publica Scripturarum Lectione Phil. He proves it thus Because saith he out of doubt the Corinthians had the Scriptures read in the Church in Greek and the Divine Service in the same Tongue which they understood Scripturae sine dubio legebantur Graece Divina Officiaâ—fiebant graece in Graecia Ibid de verbo Dei cap 16. Theoph. This we readily grant and make no more doubt of it then himself Corinth was an eminent City in Greece and the Greek was the vulgar Tongue with them and therefore doubtless all their public Service was in that Tongue understood by all And because the Apostle would alwaies have it so in this Chapter he forbids everyone to disturb that good edifying way of the Church That none should pray or bless in public or speak in an unknown Tongue because thereby the People who did not understand the Language could not be edified But that which Bellarmine puts out of all doubt and we easily grant That the Corinthians had their public offices of Praier and reading of the Scriptures in Greek I pray observe well how he proves it Graece in Graecia therefore they had their Service in Greek because they were Grecians And the Argument concludes alike for every Country that doubtless they had their public Service and Worship of God in their own Language Graece in Graecia and Anglice in Anglia because they were Grecians they had theirs in Greek and because we are Englishmen we have ours in English and so every Country in their own Tongue For set aside the reason of this Chapter That S t Paul requires the public Service should be in the vulgar Tongue to the end that all the People may understand and be edified and be able to say Amen and Bellarmine could never prove what he takes for granted That the Corinthians had their Divine Service in Greek by his leave the Chapter shall serve our turn as well as theirs That according to the Apostles general rule in England we should serve God in English Phil. But you will find how Bellarmine puts a vast difference between the first Age of Christianity and those which
followed Christians were then few and in their Assemblies they sang Hymns together and had their parts and mutual responds in the Divine Service and so it was then necessary that all the People should understand the common Service that they might readily join therein and make their answers But when the multitude of Believers encreased the Offices were divided and the Common Praiers and Bymns in the Church were left only to the Priest to be perform'd for so run his Words Divisa sunt Officia solis Clericis relictum est ut communes preces laudes in Ecclesia peragant Ib. deverbo Dei c. 16. And therefore it sufficeth that the Priest understand the public Offices who presents the public Praiers unto God as the mouth of all the Congregation Theoph. It was no fair division between them when all was left only to the Priest But have the People then no partnor share in the Divine Service and public Praier Phil. Yes the Priest as the mouth of the People praies to God for them and offereth up the Sacrifice of the Mass on their behalf Theoph. So he doth for such as are absent and for the dead and therefore why doth the Church so strictly oblige every one to be present at public Service more especially at the Mass upon every Festival under the guilt of Mortal Sin as we may read in the Casuists particularly in Martin Aspilqueta the famous Doctor of Navar in his Enchiridion or manual of Confession chap. 21. Farag 1. Phil. Because the People of God have great advantages by their presence at such public Offices therefore are they oblig'd by the Precept of the Church to afford their presence For many do understand the Praiers of the Church and such as do not may pray with the Spirit altho not with their understanding Theoph. But Saint Paul saith He will pray with the Spirit and with understanding also And I know not what you understand by your expression of praying with the Spirit and not with the understanding The heart cannot pray or sing except it understand For Intellectus est sonus cordis the voice or sound of the heart is the understanding saith S t Augustin in the 8 th Tome in his Exposition upon the 99 Psalm And he quotes a Text out of the 89. Psalm ver 15. Beatus populus qui seit jubilationem Blessed is the people that know the joiful sound or jubile O let us run after this blessedness let us understand what we sing as he proceeds in the Exhortation To what purpose is it to sing and not to understand that our voice should chant without the heart Phil. Such as frequent the public Service may soon learn by observation when to Confess when to Adore what to Answer when to Stand when to Kneel when to say Amen For the Priest pronounceth the last clause of his Praiers Per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum Thro Jesus Christ our Lord with a more audible and solemn Tone that the People may have warning given to say Amen He elevates the Host above his head when the People must fall down and worship it And the Responsals are short and easily learn'd Nay those secret Praiers in the Mass which the Priest is enjoin'd to utter with a silent murmur they conclude alwaies with this clause Per omnia saecula saeculorum throughout all Ages and Generations which words the Priest must pronounce with a loud voice that the People present may say Amen Sic finiunt omnes Orationes secretas per omnia saecula saeculorum quae quidem verba licet Orationes ipsae tacito quodam silentio fuerint recitatae altâ voce proferuntur ut populus astans respondere possit Amen Azorius Institutionum moralium lib. 10. cap. 34. Theoph. Alas these you speak of are Circumstances nor the substance of Divine Service when not what I pray tell me what benefit will it be to me if I know when the Priest makes a Praier of Confession when I cannot join with him in that Confession because I understand not what he saith And for answering Amen to Praiers which we understand not the Apostle saith we cannot do it 1 Cor. 14. 16. How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks seeing he understandeth not what thou saiest And as the People actually join in the Divine Service with the Priest in the Responsals and saying Amen so should they intentionally and cordially accompany him in every Praier and Benediction thro-out the Service And the Priest is enjoin'd often to exhort the People so to do saying Oremus Let us pray I demand therefore whether by this Exhortation Let us pray the Priest calls upon the People to join with him in the common Praiers which he then publicly makes to God or only gives warning to every one present to put up his private Petitions to the Almighty whilâ—st he himself makes public Praiers for them all Phil. Doubtless he exhorts the people to join with him in the common Praiers of the Church otherwise there would be no Communion in the Service neither could the people be all ready together to say Amen to the public Praiers if they were permitted and exhorted every one to make his private Praier unto God at the same season Theoph. You have said well and shew'd very good reason why we should conceive that the Priest saying Let us pray exhorts the people to join with him in the public Praier But when we shall read the Casuists upon this Point and observe the general practice of the Church of Rome we may alter our Judgment Navarrus the famous Casuist before mentioned determins the case in the 21. Chapter of his Euchiridion the 8 th Paragraph Potest quis eodem tempore satisfacere praecepto de Audiendet Missa de dicendis horis Canonicis aut aliis votis juratis vel in poenitentia injunctis modo non adeo uni rei intendat ut alteri necessariam intentionem adimat A Man may satisfie the Precept of the Church to hear Mass and at the same time repete his Canonical hours or other parts of private duty whereunto he hath obliged himself by Vow or hath bin enjoined by his Confessor if so be the performance of the one doth not hinder the due execution of the other Phil. But how conceive you that can be seeing his private Offices of Praier must needs interrupt his due intention unto the public Theoph. He shews you how Quia nemo levitur expraecepto audire minus intelligere verba Sacerdotis quia satis est è longinquo Missanti adesse actualiter vel intentionaliter exoptare ut Sacerdos à Deo audiatur qui pro omnibus loquitur orat sacrificat By the Precept of hearing Mass saith he no Man is oblig'd to hear much less to understand the words of the Priest for it sufficeth to be present at a great distance from him that officiates and actually or virtually
upon the Saints in Heaven Theoph. Make that good and I shall undoubtedly become your convert Phil. Remember this when we draw towards a conclusion mean while I will not spare to give the premises and proofs Bellarmine undertakes to prove expressly b Quod Sancti sive Angeli sive homines piè ac utiliter à viventibus invocantur That the Saints in Heaven whether Angels or men are piously and profitably call'd upon by us who are Living Theoph. Can you tell the reason why he puts his proposition in such unusual terms the common distinction is of the Angels and Saints in Heaven but he calls them Angels and men and both by the name of Saints Phil. You cannot deny but that Angels are Holy Persons and by consequence that they are Saints Theoph. It is not material what they are by consequence but you know the Angels are not commonly call'd Saints when you propose to speak of the Saints in Heaven none will understand you of the Angels and then for the other member of the distinction c Sive Angeli sive homines Men the Souls of just Men departed are not men The man is dead his immortal Spirit lives and upon this Account when you call upon Peter and Paul to pray for you alas Peter is dead and Paul is dead their blessed Spirits are with God but not their Persons before the general Resurrection Phil. These are but frivolous exceptions do not betray your fears by diverting me from the Cardinals proofs First he alledgeth that plain Text for the Invocation of Angels Gen. 48. 16. The Angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the Lads You see the Holy Patriarch Jacob invocates the Angels blessing upon Josephs two Sons Ephraim and Manasseh Theoph. It is Jacobs Option not a formal Invocation his desire not his praier we may suppose rather that Jacob sends up his hearts desire to God that the Angel which did alwaies deliver him might be a Guardian to these Lads when Isaac blessing Jacob said Gen. 27. vers 29. Let the people serve Thee and Nations bow down to Thee doth he therefore invocate Nations and People or rather pray to God that he would bring it to pass This answer sufficeth if Jacob by the Angel understood a created Spirit but the context makes it evident That the Angel stands for Christ the second person of the Sacred Trinity because he is join'd in this Benedicton with the God of Abraham God before whom my Fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk the God that fed me all my life long until this day the Angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the Lads Observe I pray what great d Oratione quarta contra Arrianos Athanasius saith to this place having prov'd the unity of the Father and the Son because they are join'd in the same prayer 1 Thess 3. 11. Now God himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you He proceeds to declare That no man can pray to receive any thing from the Father and from an Angel or any other creature no man will say let God and the Angels give Thee and then directly answers this Benediction of the Patriarch That he did not joine a created Angel with God that made him in the blessing neither forsaking him that nurisht him doth he seek for an Angels blessing upon the children but stiling him the Angel that deliver'd him out of all his troubles he manifests that he did not understand any created spirit but Christ the word whom he joines with God the Father in the blessing knowing that he is called The Angel of his great Councel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Septuagint Herunto agrees a Thes l. 30. cap. 10. Cyrill of Alexandria The Patriarch of God means the Father and by the Angel the word of the Father whose name is the Angel of his councel b Hemil. 66. in Gen. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrysostom makes God and the Angel to be the same whose benediction Jacob implores A graceful Soul to God saith He how doth he retain the memory of his favors fixt in his heart He that nurisht me from my youth hitherto he that deliver'd me out of all evil bless these Lads 'T is much the Learned Cardinalshould take no notice of these signal Autorities but bring a Text in two regards impertinent to his purpose as you have heard to prove the Invocation of Angels which would not however infer the Invocation of Saints departed Because Angels are Gods ministring Spirits and more constant in the affaires here below then are the Saints in Heaven of whose Ministerie upon earth we have no account given in the Holy Scripture only that they sing and Bless God and worship him incessantly in Heaven Phil. Give me leave to proceed and shew how our Doctors prove the Invocation of Angels and then I will manifest likewise how it confirms the Invocation of Saints Bellarmine brings three Texts out of the book of Job to shew the early usage of praying to the Angels Job 5. 1. Call now if there be any to answer thee and to which of the Saints wilt thou turn Job 19. 21. Have pity upon me have pity upon me O my freinds for the Hand of the Lord hath touched me Job 33. 23. If there be a Messenger with him an Interpreter one of a thousand to shew unto man his uprightness Then he is gratious unto him and saith Deliver him from going down to the pit for I have found a ransom Theoph. If these be proofs nothing can miss the mark if calling be invocating and Saints be Angels then the first Text may stand the Cardinal in some stead and Eliphaz his Autority must uphold it But the context shews the meaning of the words Eliphaz would have Job enquire and call any one that fears God to witness whether any perished being Innocent Chap. 4. vers 7. or whether a man can be more pure then his Maker Vers 17. Job had complain'd sadly of his affliction and his friends design'd to put him upon the search whether these severe Judgments did not fall upon him for some secret sins The second proof is as wide from the mark as Heaven from the earth his three friends did persecute his Innocency with their grand error and mistake That God never afflicts but for sin and Job intreateth them to spare and pity him For why do ye persecute me as God and are not satisfied with my flesh as it follows in the next vers 22. Phil. Bellarmine shews how S t Augustin in his Commentary upon Job refers both these Texts unto the Angels Theoph. Read S t Augustin in his second book of Retract c. 13. and you will find him doubtful whether he should call it his book Liber cui titulus Annotationes in Job utrum meus habendus est haud facile dixerim Or rather his who collected his imperfect notes he tells us his
Man and his redemtion by Christ and other Mysteries which were made known unto them saith the Apostle in the Churches by the Ministery of the Gospel See Estius in 4. Sent. dist 46. Paragr 19. p. 294. And so while your Doctors without any warrant of Scripture generally lay this for a Foundation That the Saints in Heaven do know our state and bear our Praiers when they come to the proof and confirmation every one abounds in his own sense and they easily confute one anothers Reasons and Opinions and manifest unto their Readers upon due consideration that they are full of uncertainties in the Point which they take for granted and can urge only fallible Arguments to confirm that which they would have receiv'd by all Men as a mesur'd Truth but we have not learn'd to subscribe to Mens Dictates And you acknowledg your Doctor makes not proof of his Assertion which is a great defect this being the main Hinge whereupon the Controversie turns We conclude therefore there is no reason we should call upon the Saints when they do not hear us as a Child doth not ask his Fathers Blessing when he is out of hearing Now you assert with Bellarmin That the Saints in Heaven out of doubt do hear us but you know not how It is probable say you that in the Face of God they see and know all things that concern them but give no reason of that probability and is it fit that a Doctrine of your Church which takes up in that part the Devotion of all Gods People should be grounded only upon such a probability whereof you can give no reason How can I call upon the Saints with Faith and Comfort when I have no assurance that they can hear me I may with as much reason daily beg the Praiers of pious Friends who live far from me and say It is probable God will revele to them that I desire the assistance of their Praiers Phil. Your Instance runs not parallel Our condition here is a state of ignorance their 's a state of comprehension They can see the Face of God and live for ever they certainly know all things which tend to their consummation in Bliss for they are arriv'd at the state of Perfection and perfect Knowledge is the foundation of their Happiness Theoph. The perfect knowledg of God is so Here we know in part saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 13. ver 12. but there we shall know as we are known i. e. fully perfectly and this knowledg and Vision of God is Beatifical But how doth this prove their knowledg of the necessities and Praiers of us poor Mortals here on Earth whom they have leâ—t behind them in the vale of Misery we may rather suppose the wisdom of God hath excluded them from the knowledg of their Friends and Relations and of miserable Man here beneath least it should prove a diminution of their Joy and Bliss Your Angelical Doctor holds o Aqu. part 1. qu. 12. Art 8. ad 4. Cognoscere singularia cogitata aut facta c. non est de perfect It belongs not unto the perfection of a created Intellect to know particulars the thoughts or actions of Men. If God only be seen it sufficeth to make men happy As S t Augustin â— He is happy who knoweth Thee altho he have nothing else In a word Cardinals Cajetane was a Learned Advocate of your Church and had studied the Point in hand much and he concludes at last That we have no assurance that the Saints know when we pray to them altho we piously believe it Phil. I well perceive you have a Spirit of contradiction and please your self much in eluding such Arguments which our Doctors urge from Scripture and reason to prove the Doctrine of our Church touching the Invocation of Saints I will therefore take a more convincing way unto such refractory persons and plainly shew by matter of Fact and express Testimony of the Antients That this Doctrine hath bin receiv'd in the Church Catholic from the beginning Theoph. I presume you mean not from the beginning of Christianity you have heard how the attemt of your Doctors to prove it out of Gods Word hath been altogether unsuccessful and some of your Doctors have confes'd that it is delivered in Holy Scripture very obscurely and others have shew'd the reason even the humility and modesty of the Apostles which with-held them from publishing this Doctrine least they should appear to make themselves as Gods after their decease by requiring the People of God to make their Praiers and Supplications to them Seeing therefore your Doctrine is not sounded in the Holy Scripture I could give a short Answer unto your pretended usage of the Church and Testimony of the Ancient That which S t Augustin gave to Cresconius urging the Autority of Cyprian r I am not bound to the Autority of this Epistle for I do not hold the Writings of Cyprian as Canonical but judg of them by the Canonical Scripture and whatsoever is consonant to the Holy Scripture I receive with praise what agrees not with his leave 〈…〉 eject If you could prove what you have urg'd out of the Canonical Books of the Apostles and Prophets I would not contradict but seeing what you haue is not Canonical with that liberty whereunto God hath called us I do not receive his Testimony whose due Praise I can never equal with whose Writings I dare not compare mine own whose Learning I embrace whose 〈…〉 y I admire whose Martyrdom is venerable Again S t Augustin to the same effect elsewhere It is not sufficient unto the Autority of Faith and of the Dostrines of the Church to say Thus Esay or thou faist or he saith 〈◊〉 Thus saith the Lord. So the Blessed Martyr Gyprian himself We must not been what any one hath done before us but what He who is before all Ages hath taught or communded to be don Once more I could answer you out of Gratian t A Custom without the Word of God to back it is not â— B 〈…〉 quâ— T 〈…〉 scit etiamsi alia n 〈…〉 t. 〈…〉 sec 〈…〉 secundie â—hem qn 88. Art 5. Certaratione nescimus an Sancti vota 〈…〉 se 〈…〉 2. contr Cresconium c. 32. Ego hujus Epistolae c. 〈…〉 do sine verbo Lei non esse veritatem sed vetustatem erroris Truth but the Antiquity of Error The Council of Cartbage resolved thus â— The Lord said in the Gospel I am Truth He said not I am Castom Phil. Can you so easily trample upon the Autority of the Fathers You have formerly pretended much honor to the venerable Testimony of Antiquity where you conceiv'd it consonant unto your Principles and now you would decline that Touch-stone because you know full well it is against you in this Point of the Invocation of Saints Theoph. These Sentences I have produc'd are of the Fathers and seeing the Word of God doth not establish your Doctrine
in these words h Oratione in Athanasium Do thou graciously look down upon us out of Heaven and direct this Holy People and feed and cherish us in peace and in our conflicts guide and supportus and bring us unto the same state of Glory with thy Self and such Blessed Spirits as are like Thee Theoph. Nazianzen was a great Orator and makes such Apostrophe's severally to the Saints upon whom he made his Panegyrics and yet this will not infer That he did believe they heard him or that he made this Application to them by way of Invocation no more then he did to Julian the Apostate after his decease unto whom he directs his Speech for a whole Leaf together in the close of his second Invective Nay you shall find this Orator somtimes to correct himself by an Epanor thosis in the midst of his Rhetorical Apostrophes in his first Invective against Julian in the words of the Prophet Isaiah he calls upon the Heaven and Earth to hear him a Ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Hear O Heaven and give ear O Earth And then it follows Hear O Soul of Constantius the Great if there be any sense in thee of these inferior things In his Fathers Funeral Oration he saith Now he advantages the Church of God more by his Praiers then before by his Doctrine and Preaching if it be not presumtion to say so And in the Funeral Oration of his Sister Gorgonia he is more expresly doubtful Whether this honor is given to the Saints departed as to be sensible of those things that are spoken of them Phil. b Illudsi non est dubitantis sed affirmant Bellarmin takes notice of such Passages and saith Those ifs are not of one doubting but asserting as when S t Paul said to Philemon If thou count me a Partner receive him as my self ver 17. he did not doubt of Philemons affection Theoph. The Circumstances shew the contrary and Bellarmin offers no proof of his consident Assertion but only because It may be so taken in one place it must be in these If your Doctors groundless Shifts and Answers must go for Oracles you may carry all before you For instance in the first If of Nazianzen in his Apostrophe to Constantius after his decease Hear O thou Blessed Soul of great Constantius If thou hast any knowledg of these things I speak c. Dares Bellarmin suppose that Constantius did hear Nazianzen Or that he was a Blessed Soul in Heaven who was so great a Persecuter of the Orthodox Christians in his life time and Protector of the Arrians and upon this account I much wonder how this Holy Father could make such honorable mention of an Arrian Emperor as to stile him c The most famous of Princes that ever were encreasing the heritage of Christ to his power For his zeal of the Orthodox Faith he is generally stiled Gregory the Divine But here we must reckon him to be a vehement Orator and many of his Sentences must be made good only by some Figures of Rhetoric Hyperbolies Apostrophes and the like Phil. Is this your way to answer the Fathers You formerly severely censur'd this way in Bellarmin when he said Chrysostom in many places spoke like an Orator and do you now fall under the same condemnations Theoph. I have given an answer unto Bellarmins Arguments out of Nazianzen and now I make this necessary Observation to the Reader for greater caution Phil. S t Hilary liv'd in this fourth Century an eminent Bishop in France who in his Commentary upon the 129 Psalm tells us That the Angels are Presidents of Churches Theoph. He brings a strange proof of the Assertion Rev. 2. 3. from the Angels of the Churches of Asia which are generally taken by Interpretors for the Bishops of those Churches and they cannot possibly stand for the Heavenly Powers and Spirits because some Infirmities are imputed to them Rev. 2 ver 4. That the Angel of the Church of Ephesus had left his first love that he should repent and do his first works That the Angel of the Church of Laodicea was luke-warm cap. 3. 16. Phil. I pray give me leave to urge the whole Testimony of this Father he saith We may in a probable sense call the Angels The Eyes of the Lord and his Ears his Hands and his Feet for they are his Ministring Spirits And altho the Divine Nature who knoweth all things need not their information yet our infirmity in Praing to God and deserving his savor needs their Spiritual Intercession Theoph. I pray How doth the Ministery and Intercession of Angels prove the Invocation of Saints Such impertinent Quotations are only brought to fill up the number and weary the Reader Phil. Bellarmin shews how the same Holy Father in Psal 124. speaks alike of the Intercession of the Holy Apostles and Prophets Theoph. True he doth Allegorize the Mountains which stand round about Jerusalem a Nec leve praesidium in Apostolis vel Patriarchis Prophetis vel potius in Ang. to be The guard of Saints or rather saith he of Angels about Gods People But leaving S t Hilaries Allegories I pray observe what the Prophet David adds immediatly As the Mountains stand about Jerusalem so the Lord is round about his People from hence-forth even for ever And Hilary thereupon declares b Benum quidem praesidium Angeli sed melius Dei The safe-guard of the Angels is good but of God much better Mean while here is not one syllable of our Invocation of Saints or Angels but only of their Intercession and Protection And by the way you may take this note along with you That Hilary was as bitter in his Invectives and had as great an Indignation against the Emperor Constantius as you but now heard Gregory Nazianzen did extol him Phil. It is not my work to commit the Fathers I proceed in Bellarmins proofs his next out of S t Ambrose is full and without Exception We must pray unto the Angels who are our Guards and to the Saints and Martyrs whose Patronage we may challenge as being of our own Substance they can intreat for our sins who have washt away their own if any they had with their Blood These are Gods Martyrs and our Bishops Over-seers of our Life and Actions let us not c Lib. de Viduis ultra medium Obsecrandi sunt Ang. c. Obs sunt Martyres Corporis pignora blush to admit these as Intercessors for our infirmities because They when they did overcome were yet sensible of the infirmity of the body Theoph. Saint Ambrose was but a young Divine a novice and Cathechumen when he was chosen Bishop of Millam he was train'd up in Civill affairs pleading Causes as a Deputy of the Country administring justice therfore we have no teason to ground our Faith upon his dictates He speaks often piously but not alwaies Orthodoxly do you allow that passage of his in this very proof
I will proceed no farther in vain Theoph. I give you thanks for your release It hath bin no small trouble to search your Autorities and discover in most of them either Impertinency or Forgery And withal I pray observe That as your Pretensions unto the Testimony of Holy Scripture of General and Provincial Councils for 700 years after Christ of Fathers for the three first Centuries have bin altogether ineffectual to prove your Doctrine of the Invocation of Saints That as your pretensions unto the Testimony of Fathers for the three next Centuries many of them have bin impertinent others forg'd and the rest contradicted either by themselves or others in their time So you have not attemted to shew for the practice of this Doctrine That it was receiv'd by any Church in her public Offices and therefore at most it must pass for the privat Opinion of some Doctors not the consent of the Church until your Church did introduce it among other Innovations You do not shew how early because you cannot within 600 years of Christ and afterwards the Superstition crept in upon the World slowly and by insensible degrees one National Church following the example of another a Niceph. lib. 15. c. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. We read indeed in the Greek Church of one Peter Gnapheus or Fullo as the Latins interpret who in the latter end of the fifth Century was by craft Patriarch of Antioch he was an Heretic and Theopaschite maintaining That the God-head suffered upon the Cross and he added to that Trisagium Holy is the Lord Holy is the Strong Holy is the Immortal who was Crucified for us And for this cause he was condemn'd for an Hereseic in a Council at Rome Felix the third being Pope Anno Christi 483. This Peter Fullo b Eâ—n Tom. 3. p. 600. as Nicephorus likewise shews appointed a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That in their Praiers Men should call upon the Mother of God and Invoke her Divine Name Now it is observable That Baronius speaks much of this P. Fullo and of his Heresie and quotes Nicephorus and yet takes no notice of his introducing the Invocation of the Blessed Virgin but tells us another blind Story How this Fullo consecrated one Xenaias a Persian Bishop of Hierapolis before he was Baptized and said b Dixit sufficere pro Bapt. Consecrationem Anno Christi 483. That his Consecration might suffice instead of Baptism He farther observes how this Bishop Xenaias proved a great Eiconoclast and destroier of Images and so glories that the Enemies of Image worship had such a president as a barbarous Persian Unbaptized mean while never considering how it may be retorted upon him and his Church That an arch Heretic Petrus Fullo first introduc'd the Invocation of Saints into some parts of the Church Catholic in the public Office of Praiers That Simon Magus and some Jewish Christians first Invocated Angels That the Heathen Philosophy brought in the Intercession of middle Deities Will you now be pleas'd to hear some of our Arguments against this Doctrine Phil. Willingly For I expect they should be like your Answers of no great moment and so put off with the less difficulty Theoph. You may please your self with your own conceits but I am confident that upon serious consideration they will perplex even the refractory and convince the Ingenious Reader Phil. Their goodness depends not upon your Testimony Let me hear them Theoph. Our Blessed Savior taught his Disciples to Pray He gave them a Praier which should be a Form and Pattern to all succeeding Generations and therefore he said After this manner pray ye Matth. 6. And Tertullian in his Book De Oratione calls the Lords Praier Legem Orationis The Law and Rule of Praier Now in that Praier we have no Invocation of Saints but rather Direction given when we Pray to call upon God the Father which is in Heaven Phil. c Ibid. c. 20. Non de eo qui Orandus sed de rebus quae petendie sunt admonuit Discipulos Bellarmin answers this Argument saying That our Blessed Savior here taught his Disciples not to whom they should make their Praiers but what they should ask in Praier Theoph. Bellarmin saith but he doth not prove The Disciples request to Christ was concerning the matter and manner of Praier both Lord teach us to Pray Matth. 69. And our Savior answers both After this manner therefore pray ye and when ye pray say Our Father c. Luke 11. 2. Phil. Yours at best is but a Negative Argument That because our Blessed Savior did not in this place teach us to desire the Praiers of the Saints in Heaven therefore we ought not so to do Wherefore do you desire your Friends that are living to pray for you Theoph. Because we have warrant so to do from other places of Holy Scripture But neither here nor elsewhere have our Savior or the Apostles taught us to call upon the Saints in Heaven for the assistance of their Praiers Phil. By this Argument as Bellarmin shews we ought not to pray to God the Son or God the Holy Ghost because our Savior hath here taught us to say only Our Father Theoph. The Father is not in the Lords Praier taken Personally but as God The Blessed Trinity Father Son and Spirit is our Father by Creation and Redemption and Adoption Hence your Learned Jesuit Maldonate upon the place a Magis illorum probo sententiam qui totam hic Trinit c. I approve rather their Opinion who hold That the whole Trinity is here call'd Our Father And it is near unto Blasphemy to say with Bellarmin That the Exclusive or Negative Argument from this Praier holds as well against Christ and the Holy Ghost as against the Saints The Father Son and the Holy Ghost are essentially one Creator and Father of all Men. The Saints are Creatures and no comparison between them or consequence from one to the other Phil. You have used your self so much to bitterness of Speech That it is become even natural to you to impute unto our Doctors Blasphemy and Forgery and Impertinency and Follyâ— and what not I pray produce your Arguments and forbear your Censures Theoph. As the Apostle spake in another sense so I for an Apology must say You have constrained me but I forbear The next Argument against Invocation of Saints is that of S t Paul Rom. 10. 14. How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed Seeing we must believe only in God and in Christ not in the Saints therefore we must not call upon them We may believe the Saints but not believe in the Saints Now the words of the Apostle are How shall they call upon him b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in whom they have not believ'd Phil. Bellarmin answers this Argument by shewing That the Apostle speaks of calling upon God Now we must believe on him before we
the Decree Ad eorum orationes opem auxiliumque confugere Phil. I have no reason to admit sinister constructions any farther then the words will necessarily force me Now the later terms may be Exegetical of the former and well transpos'd thus To fly to the aid and assistance of their Praiers And then tell me what have you gotten by this decree Theoph. Your practise will best interpret your Rule If the public praiers of your Church request more of the Saints in Heaven then the assistance only of their Praiers you may suppose your Church intended and understood and exprest more in her decree You shall find your Church often to supplicate That as well by the Merits as by the Intercession of the Saints God would be favourable unto them In the Hymnes above mentioned to the Virgin Mary she is call'd the Mother of Grace and mercy and Protection from our Ghostly Enemy is sought from her and reception into Glory So likewise in the hymne of the Apostles Grace and Vertue is desired of the Saints for such as languish in their Vices And that by the command of the Apostles as it is exprest and not by their Praiers And yet Bellarmin hath the confidence to interpret all these things according to the sense of the Church as he speaks That all these things are expected from their Praiers not from any other assistance You shall find several Popes in the Names of Peter and Paul promising great things unto Princes who shall engage in the defence and cause of the Church and threatning dreadfull Judgments from them upon such as are disobedient Pope Hadrian writing to the Emperor Constantine and Irene his Mother Congratulates their embracing the Faith of Peter and Paul Princes of the Apostles and promiseth a Binius Teme 5. p. 554. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. They shall protect the Empire make them Victorious and bring the Barbarous Nations under their feet On the contrary we find direful threats from these two Apostles Pope Pius the 4 th concludes his Bulls after this sort b Nulli hominum liceat bane c vid. Concil Trid. edit per Joan. Gallemaâ—t ad finem Let none presume to infringe this our Declaration If any shall attemt to do so let him know he shall incur the wrath of God Almighty and of his two blessed Apostles Peter and Paul These things are Obvious and I will not heap Quotations to prove them I will only give you an Account of one notable Letter to this effect which I mention'd in the beginning of this Conference and will now transcribe much of it for your sake and the Readers that ye may judge what your Popes opinion was of the power and Parronage of the Apostles and so by consequence of the other Saints c Bin. Tom. 5. p. 55. Pope Stephen the 3. being grievously streightened by Aystulphus King of Lombardy who with a Potent Army besieged Rome sends a Letter in the name of S t Peter unto Pipin and his two sons Charles and Carloman Kings of France It begins thus d Petrus Apost vecatus à Jesu Christo dei filio c. Peter call'd to be an Apostle by Jesus Christ the Son of God c. Grace Peace and Power c. To you most excellent men Pipin Charles and Carloman 3 Kings c. After the salutation he proceeds e Ego Petrus Apost dietus a Christo c. I Peter an Apostle being call'd by Christ and the good pleasure of the Divine Clemency and ordain'd by his power to enlighten the whole world f Quamobrem omnes c. Therefore all Men who fulfil my Preaching and command must believe That their sins by Gods precept are forgiven in this World and shall go into life Eternal without Blemish c. Therefore I Peter c Who have Adopted you for my Sons do exhort you to defend the City of Rome and my Sepulcher and Temple there against the Incursion of my Enemies g Pro certo confidite memet ipsum c. And know ye for certain that I my self will be present with you to assist you as tho I were present and visible in the Flesh for altho I am absent in the Flesh I am present in the Spirit Now our Lady the Mother of God the Thrones and Dominions and all the Host of Heaven with the Martyrs and confessors of Christ with all obligations possible do adjure you to assist my City and People of Rome with your utmost power and speed h Et ego Petrus in hac Vita c. And I Peter by way of recompence will become your Brother in this life and in the day of Gods strict Judgment prepare Mansions for you in the glorious Kingdom of God the reward of eternal recompence and the Infinite joies of Paradice Nay whatsoever Protections and assistance you will ask I will give you I therefore Conjure you by the most beloved living God that ye permit not my City to be sackt by the Lombards least your Souls and Bodies be likewise torn and tormented in everlasting Fire with the Devil and all his Pestilent Angels i Firmiss tenete quod ego c. Ye must firmly believe that heretofore when you Prai'd unto me I did help and give you Victory over your Enemies by the power of God when you were few in number in comparison of the Enemies of the Church k Ecce chariss fili c. He concludes Behold my dear sons I have warned you if you obey with speed it shall be your great reward and my suffrage shall help you in this life ye shall overcome your Enemies and live long and eat good things and afterwards ye shall inherit Eternal life But if ye make any delay know ye that by the authority of the holy and individual Trinity and by the Apostolical grace given unto me ye shall be alienated for the transgression of this my Exhortation from the Kingdom of God and from life Eternal Phil. I have had the Patience to hear you I pray let me now understand your design in these Instances Theoph. Your Popes are public Persons and you would have them thought to be guided by an infallible Spirit especially in their Buls Epistles and serious agitations not to err And you see what power they ascribe to the Saints departed not only of Interceding but Acting for us and against our enmies And partly from thence your Doctors have taken occasion to instruct the people to invoke them as Patrons and Protectors and Saviours out of trouble Now you have a rare art of Reduction if you can bring all this under the single head of Intercession that they effect these things only by their praiers to God and not by a delegacy of his power to them Phil. It comes all to one if by their praiers they obtain such power to save and to destroy Theoph. Take your suppositions for granted and the case is clear Mean while
that stand raise them that fall Correct our Manners Actions and Life and guide us in the way of peace In their Hymne for that day they declare Wonders All things obey and veild to Thomas Plague Diseases Death and Divels Fire Water Earth and Seas Thomas hath fil'd the World with glory The world to Thomas yields obeysance Thomas shines with new Miracles He restores the Members to the Gelt He adornes the Blind with sight Cleanseth the Lepers and their spots And free 's the dead from hands of death Thomae cedunt parent omna Pestes morbi mors daemonia Ignis Aer Tellus Maria Thomas mundum replevit gloriâ Thomae Mundus prestat Obsequia Novis sulget Thomas Miraculis Membr is donat Castratos masculis Ornat uisu privatos oculis Mundat Leprae conspersos maculis Solvis Mortis ligatos vinculis Opem nobis O Thoma poâ—rige Rege stantes c. There is a farther account how a Country Man going to visit the Martyrs Tomb was just led into the River by a Waggon on the Bridge And rising and sinking five times he was at last cast upon the Shore safe For having call'd upon the Martyr for his aid and that he would not suffer his 〈◊〉 Pilgrim to perish a grave Bishop aâ—pear'd upholding and conducting him to land This is the Legend of S t Thomas of Becket which your Church hath adopted into the Service and Office for the Feast And I have bin the more particular that you may observe well the gross Fables and Absurdities therein that your Church should impose such Stories of Miracles upon the credulous People And is it possible you should be reduc'd to such a low esteem of the pretious Blood of Christ that you must Petition our Blessed Savior to bring you to Heaven by the Blood of his Martyr Thomas And for a Conclusion I pray seriously consider this pretended Martyr He died in the defence of the Popes Usurpations among us and the Pope hath requited him with a Saintship whereas he had great success to go to Heaven so immediatly with such Qualifications of a turbulent and haughty Spirit And this usâ—ers in another grievance and just Exception we take against your Invocation of Saints because you pray to some Saints of whom you have no assurance that they are in Heaven nay of whom you cannot prove that ever they were in being what think you of the Beggars Saint S t Lazarus a Part. 3. Tom. 4. Tract 2. Salmeron assures us That he is every where esteemed a Saint and Protector of the poor Canoniz'd by the Church b Baronius Tom. 1. Anno 33. N. 44. Multis locis in memoriam Lazari c. worship'd with Altars and Images and Praiers made unto him And I have read an Argument some of your Doctors have urg'd to prove it an History of Dives and Lazarus in the Gospel and not a Parable because Lazarus is a Canoniz'd Saint and therefore doubtless such a Person there was of whom our Savior in the Gospel gives an Historical account But I have shewed above from the judgment of divers Fathers that it is a Parable Theophilact calls him fool who thinks otherwise and that by Dives and Lazarus only were represented the Rich and Poor by a Fiction of Persons suited to a Parable and so your Jesuit Maldonate affirms Now for your Church to make a real Saint of this Parabolical Representation to whom you make your Addresses in Praier somthing resembles your other kind of Devotion Praying unto or worshipping the Image instead of the Saint Your Church might as well have made the Prodigal Son returning a Saint So for S t George you cannot make any Historical Demonstration that such a Holy Person and Martyr there was George of Capâ—adox was a fierce Arrian mightily opposing Athanasius but he was slain for being a Christian b 〈…〉 an â—eathen Prince and so by his Heretical Faction esteemed a Martyr whom they represented for a great Champion and Captain under Christ fighting against the great Magician of Alexandria as they impiously stiled Holy Athanasius otherwise we rather account Saint George as he is constantly represented in his Image flaying a Dragon in rescue of a Virgin to be an Emblem of our Blessed Savior overcoming the Red Dragon our great Enemy the Devil and rescuing his Church as a chast Virgin from his temtations and force a Martyrol Rom. Apr. 23. Symboli potius quam Historiae alicujus c. Baronius acknowledgeth the Picture of S t George on Horse-back armed cap-a-pe and flaying a Dragon to be a Symbolical Image rather then a true History And that Jacobus de Voragine He that made the Golden Legend made it an History An Emblem saith b Hyperius de 〈◊〉 Stud. Theol. l. 3. c. 7. Hyperius of Christian Magistrates Who defend the Church of Christ as a pure Virgin from the snare of the Devil and his accursed Instruments interposing their power against the pernicious attemts of Heretics and so by the Blessing of God S t George shall be the Emblem of our most Noble Order of the Garter even unto the end of the World What shall I say of the Gyant S t Christopher from the Etymology of whose name you have deriv'd a Fable That being of a vast height at least 12 Cubits in length he carried our Blessed Savior over a deep and dangerous River guiding himself by a Staff like a Weavers beam c Hyperius citate Villavincent us makes him an Emblem of a Preacher of the Gospel who holding forth Christ in his word visible unto the People is encompass'd with Waves and Tempests and Waters of Affliction and Persecution but supports himself and wades thro with the staff of his Christian hope the expectation of the exceeding recompence of reward After this sort to fill up your Kalendar of Saints your Doctors might do well to go down into Egypt and bring their ancient Hieroglyphics to be Canonized and Worship'd Phil. You may do better to forbare scossing and study the Defence which our Doctors make against all the Exceptions your side have produc'd concerning these and other Saints Theoph. I have search'd and find them so impertinent that I lost my labor and shall not until I be urg'd farther to it trouble you and the Reader with the discovery Phil. I thank you for sparing your self and your Friend together for I begin to be weary of this Discourse which hath bin drawn out beyond expectation and me-thinks gives but little satisfaction Theoph. My serious endeavors to open your Eyes unto a discovery of the Errors of your Church are abundantly satisfactory unto my Conscience altho the success should fail and you still stop your Ears against the voice of the Charmer And yet I must trespass upon your patience in one more consideration touching the Canonizing of Saints If an Error should be committed therein it would be diffusive and spread all over your Church Praiers may be