Whence hath it Tares They did not know that is how they came there no more than we may be able now to know how Errors came into the Church But that they were there they knew and were sure as we are sure there are false Doctrines in the Church of Rome that were not of our Saviour's planting 2. Nor do the Examples whereby they illustrate this Ratiocination serve to any purpose but to shew the Falseness of it They can name they say the Authors and Beginnings of all the ancient Heresies for instance the Heresy which affirmed there were two Persons in Christ was begun by Nestorius in the Year CDXXXI Which is not true for though then it took its Name from so great a Bishop who maintained it yet the Heresy had been before from an unknown Beginning it being mentioned by St. Ambrose in the foregoing Age in his Book of the Incarnation The like may be said of the Arian Heresy whose Beginning they date in the Year CCCXXIV but it was born long before among the Gnostick Hereticks and only got Reputation by so noted a Man as Arius Nay some of the learnedst Doctors in the present Roman Church have taken a great deal of pains to make the World believe that Tertullian and a Number of other ancient Fathers were infected with it So uncertain they are in their Discourses about these matters 3. Which if they were true would uphold the greatest Impieties For what will become of the Christian Religion if the Traditional Law of the Jews be true And according to this way of Reasoning it must pass for Truth that it came from Mount Sinai by word of Mouth as the written Law did for none can shew its Original much less name the Authors of the several Tradions and who opposed them c. Nay the Worship of the Heathen Gods was supported by this Argument as is excellently observed by Clemens Alexandrinus who tells the Gentiles Admon ad Gentes p. 36 37. That Fables and Time had advanced dead Men into the Number of the Gods. For though things present being familiar to us are neglected yet those which are past and gone being out of the reach of Confutation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the obscurity and uncertainty of Times have honour invented for them By which means those that are dead long ago glorying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a long time of Error are accounted Gods by Posterity The same may be said for the lying Oracles among them the Beginnings and first Authors of which cannot be traced 4. But we have an Instance of this in the Roman Church it self where there is an acknowledged Change and yet they themselves are not able to tell who first began it because it crept in by insensible Degrees The Communion I mean in one kind was not used for above a thousand years but being begun in some Churches they themselves cannot tell which nor when grew to be a general Custom not long before the Council of Constance in these Western Parts of the World and there was established as a Law. But it did not begin by the Decree of any Bishop nor was carried on by any publick Order and if you ask them who first set it on foot they will tell you that doth not appear Therefore the Second alone of those Six things being proved that new Doctrines and Practices have been brought in of which we are very certain there needs none of the rest But we are sure there was a time and Authors of them and People that embraced them though we should not be able for want of ancient Records that are lost or because things that come in insensibly cannot in every Age be noted and recorded to tell the very time and Place and Persons when and where and by whom they were introduced All which is not said by us because we are not able to give an account of the other parts of that Ratiocination but only to shew the Frivolousness of such Discourses as these in which they of the Church of Rome place their main Retreat For we can tell nay their own Authors have told us when and by whom many things were brought into their Church which were not there in the Beginning Polydore Virgil if I had room to insert his Words would furnish us with several Instances But I shall content my self with Two which were at no great distance the one from the other The First is their grand Article of Faith about the Papal Authority We know and have often told them by what steps it grew to the height wherein now it is or would be when the Bishops of Rome began to exceed their Bounds how they were opposed and snub'd who and by whom was first declared the Universal Bishop and Head of the Church Victor began the Dance Zozimus after some others followed it Boniface continued it Celestine carried it on Who met with so sharp a Rebuke from the African Bishops for his intrusion into their Affairs upon the pretence of a forged Canon of the Nicene Council as is sufficient to shew his Ambition and Craft was greater than his Authority The Attempts of the rest are as notorious and so is the Opposition they met withall till at last Boniface the 3d procured to himself from Phocas the Title of Vniversal Bishop and to his Church the Title of Head of all Churches All this we can justify out of Authentick Records but it is not in their Power to name so much as one Man that owned the Universal Jurisdiction of the Roman Bishop over the whole Church till that time that is till above six hundred years after our Saviour's Birth For though Bellarmin alledges an Epistle of Justinians wherein he calls the Church of Rome the Head of all Churches yet is signifies nothing but that they are at a loss for want of Proofs because as it is with great Reason suspected to be spurious so it can intend no more than Head of the Churches of the West because in an undoubted Edict of his he calls the Church of Constantinople by the same Name the Head of all other Churches i.e. Chief of those in the East Which is so certain that their own Pope Gregory not much above a year before this arrogant Title was assumed most vehemently disdained it or rather thundred against it Nor can they name one Man in the whole Church for so long a time that believed their present Definition of the Catholick Church much less the Power of the Pope to depose Kings which none challenged till Gregory VII that is till above a thousand years after our blessed Saviour Insomuch that their fore-named Champion †C. Bellarm. Tract de potestate Summ. Pontif. p. 27. being to prove this deposing Power out of ancient Authors is able to say no more than this I have alledged above LXX famous Writers some of which flourish'd more than 500 Years ago A goodly Business a glorious Shew of Antiquity instead of the
things as Marks of Distinction only without any further Design of lessening their Natures and Qualities by them p. 31. 4. It does not follow that because the Name Catholick in that time when it was for the most part conjoined with the Catholick Faith was a sure Note of a true Church it must always be so even when the Name and the Thing are parted p. 32. The worst of Hereticks laid claim to it p. 33. The Rule to know the True Church by proved from Lactantius and St. Austin ibid. 5. It doth not follow that because the being called after the Names of particular Men in that Age when all so called were for the most part corrupt in the Faith was a sure Hand of Schismaticks and Hereticks that it must always be so p. 33 34. III. The Church of Rome having egregiously corrupted the Catholick Faith or Religion neither is nor deserves the Name of a Catholick Church p. 34. This justified by comparing her Doctrine in several Points with that delivered by Christ and his Apostles p. 35. For Instance that Angels and Saints are to be prayed unto and worshipped this contrary to Scripture ibid. The worshipping of Images contrary to the second Commandment which they make the same with the first p. 36. The Scripture commands all Persons indifferently to read the Scriptures the Church of Rome allows not this Liberty to the Laity but upon License ibid The Scriptures forbid Prayers in an unknown Tongue and the Church of Rome enjoins such and no other p. 37. Purgatory contrary to Scripture ibid. The denying the Cup to the Laity contrary to the express Instistitution of our Saviour p. 38. The Scripture saith that the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament even after Consecration is Bread and Wine the Church of Rome says the Bread and Wine is Transubstantiated into the natural Body and Blood of Christ. p. 39. The Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass according to the Scripture derogatory to Christ's own Priestly Oblation whereby he once offered himself a compleat Sacrifice of Expiation p. 40. In all these Particulars the Church of Rome a Corrupter of the Christian Faith and Doctrine and consequently deserves not the name of Catholick ibid The Second Note ANTIQUITY THis Mark and Character of a true Church is not proper to the Church of Rome alone nor in truth doth it belong to it To prove this three things are here offered I. That the Plea of bare Antiquity is not proper to the Church but common to it with other Societies of false Religion p. 41. The Notes of a thing must be proper to that of which they are a Note and not common to it with other things p. 42. 1. Because what is proper to a thing is inseparable from it and did ever belong to it since it had a being and can at no time be absent from it ibid. 2. Other Societies have laid claim to this Note and it could not be denied them and therefore no proper Note of a Church ibid. This shews that bare Antiquity cannot be a Note of Truth p. 44. Antiquity and Priority widely different p. 45. A twofold Antiquity one in respect of us the other absolute and in it self ibid. The Church of Rome will not be tried only by the Scriptures which is the true Antiquity p. 46. Error almost as ancient as Truth for which reason several wicked Doctrines running down to Posterity have made use of the plea of Antiquity to give them countenance and support p. 47. II. The present Church of Rome vainly pretends to true Antiquity i.e. to ancient Truth p. 48. Wherein true Antiquity doth consist ibid. The present Church of Rome not ancient by reason of that alteration they have made in the ancient Creed p. 49. Cardinal Bellarmin's Ratiocination against this charge consisting of 6 things to be observed in all Changes of Religion none of which he says can be shewn in the Church of Rome since the Apostles time ibid. His reasoning built upon very false grounds this considered and largely answered in four Particulars p. 50. 1. As being contrary to all History and Experience there having been great Changes in Religion the Authors and the beginnings c. of which cannot be known p. 50. 2. Neither do the Examples they alledg for this their reasoning serve to no other purpose but to shew the falseness of it as in the case of the Nestorian and Arrian Heresies p. 51. 3. Supposing them true they would uphold the greatest Impieties ibid. The Heathen Gods and their Oracles supported by this Argument p. 52. 4. The Roman Church it self an instance of this there being an acknowledg'd change in it and yet they cannot tell who first began it viz. Communion in one kind ibid. Two instances out of Polydore Virgil when and by whom they were brought into the Church of Rome p. 53. 1. Their grand Article of Faith the Papal Authority brought in by Victor and carried on by the following Bishops ibid. The present Definitions of the Catholick Church and the Power of the Pope to depose Kings not challenged till Gregory VII i.e. 1000 Years after Christ ibid. 2. It is known when Images crept into the Church p. 55. A little more than 100 Years since unwritten Traditions were decreed to be a part of the Rule of Faith i. e. of the Word of God. ibid. III. That the Religion of the Church of England by Law established is the true Primitive Christianity p. 56. The Third Note DURATION THree things are here considered I. What is to be understood by the term Duration p. 58. Duration includes 3 things 1. A Being of a Church from the beginning p. 58 2. The continuance of that Church to the end p. 58 3. The continuance of that Church from the beginning to the end without interruption p. 58 Bellarmine's Application of the first of these to the Church of Rome yet deficient in the latter Branches p. 59. II. How far Duration is a Note of the true Church p. 59. This is no Note by which a true Church is to be found out or distinguished from the false ib. For four Reasons 1. The nature of the thing will not permit that it should be a Note p. 60. 2. That cannot be a Note of the true Church which doth not inseparably belong to the Church in all seasons and cases p. 61. 3. That which is a Note must be proper to the thing which it is the Note of and not common to other things as well as that p. 61 62. Common to false Churches as well as true ibid. 4. If it be a Note of a true Church then those could not be true Churches which have not not had that Duration ib. This unchurches the 7 Churches of Asia p. 62 63. III. The Church of Rome hath no just and sufficient title to this Character p. 63. This proved as to 1. Place 2. Persons 3. Order 4. Doctrine these being the things by which a Church doth exist and is made
172. The Eighth Note Sanctity of Doctrine THat this Note as well as the others is far from performing what is promised for it by the Cardinal is sufficiently made evident by four Particulars p. 173. I. What is here meant by Sanctity of Doctrine p. 174. Tho' that is the best and purest Church which hath the least of Error and Corruption in its Doctrine and Discipline yet that which is the best is not the only true Church p. 157. II. That Sanctity of Doctrine i.e. a pure profession of true Religion without any mixture of Error is no true Note or Character whereby a man may distinguish the true Church from all false Churches p. 176. That this can be no true Note of the true Church made evidently appear from the consideration of those necessary Properties of all true Notes by which Things are to be known and distinguished p. 177. These are Four. 1. Every true Note ought to be common to all of the same kind with the thing which it notifies p. 177 to 180. 2. Every true Note ought to be proper and peculiar to that kind of things of which it is a Note and not common to Things of another kind p. 181. 3. Every true Note ought to be more known than the Thing which it notifies p. 182 183. 4. Every true Note ought to be inseparable to the Thing which it notifies p. 184 to 188. III. In what sense this may be a Note of the true Church p. 189. That is a true Church which professes all the Essential Articles of Christian Faith and receives all the Essential parts of Christian Worship and Discipline p. 190. The Church of England willing to be tried by this p. 192. IV. According to the Principles of the Church of Rome the true Church is not to be found by this Note in which soever of the two Senses we understand it ibid. This clearly made out in Four Particulars 1. The Church of Rome decryes mens private judgment of Discretion as utterly insufficient to make any certain distinction of Truth from Falshood in matters of Religion p. 194. 2. Shee allows no sufficient Rule without the true Church to guide and direct our private Judgment of Discretion p. 195. Which is the true Church not to be resolved by Principles of Nature but those of Revelation p. 196. No other Rule while we are out of the Church to direct us in this Enquiry but only that of Scripture ibid. This the Church of Rome tells us is insufficient and that for two Reasons 1. Because the Scripture is not full enough as to all Doctrines of Faith and Manners And therefore there are certain unwritten Traditions in the Church of equal Authority with it by which its defects are supplied p. 197. 2. Because it is not clear enough the Sense of it being so obscurely expressed that we can never be certain what it is without the interpretation of the true Church p. 198. These considered and answered 3. The Church of Rome resolves all certainty as to matters of Faith into the Authority of the true Church which indeed is the Fundamental Principle of Popery p. 199. A short Dialogue upon this Argument between a Papist and Protestant p. 200 to 202. 4. The Church of Rome gives Authority to the true Church to impose upon us a necessity of believing such Things as before they were not obliged to believe p. 203. to the End. The Ninth Note Efficacy of Doctrine BY Efficacy of Doctrine Two Things understood Either 1. The power which the Word of God hath in the hearts of particular men to dispose them to believe aright and to live well Or 2 That Success which it hath in drawing Multitudes outwardly to profess and embrace it p. 209. The first too inward and the second which is that which the Cardinal understands by it too uncertain a thing to be a Note of a True Church ibid. Many other things besides Efficacy of Doctrine which have and may convert whole Nations to the Christian Religion such as hopes and fears outward force necessity p. 210. An Instance hereof in the Conversions wrought by Charles the Great p. 211. The difference between such Conversions and those which were made in the first Ages of the Church p. 212. In answer to the Cardinal upon this Note Three things laid down I. That the prevalency of any Doctrine can be no Note of a True Church p. 213. This appears 1. From what our Saviour hath said in this matter ibid. 214. 2. From the Consideration of the Temper and Constitution of Mankind p. 215. to 217. 3. From plain matter of Fact. p. 218 219. Error hath such an influence often up n mens minds that they have rejected Truth and preferred the most gross and impious Opinions before it ibid. This apparent from the Histories of all Ages ibid. More particularly in the Case of Arianism p. 219. And in that of Mahomitanism p. 220. The Conversions wrought by those if the Greek Church whom the Church of Rome accounts Hereti ks p. 221. The Efficacy of the Reformed Doctrine ibid. II. That the Prevalency of the Doctrine professed in the Church of Rome is no Note of its being a True Church p. 222. And that for these reasons 1. Because of that great mixture of Errors which there is with the Truth which it professes p. 223. 2. Because the Doctrine of the Church of Rome is so much altered from what it formerly was ibid. 3. Because it hinders those who embrace it from throughly examining it p. 224. 4. Because Art and Force have sometimes been made use of to make it prevail p. 225. III. The Arguments the Cardinal makes use of to prove this to be a Note of the True Church proved to be Insufficient p. 226. 1. His Arguments from the Scriptures considered ibid. 2. His Arguments from the prevalency of the Christian Doctrine in the beginning of the Church examined p. 227. 3. His Arguments from the particular Instances which he gives of Conversions wrought by those of the Church of Rome reflected on p. 227. I. The Conversion of the English by Austin the Monk considered p. 228. Four Things alledged in answer to it ibid. 2. The Conversion of the People of Franconia by Kilianus replied to p. 228 229. 3. The Conversion of a great part of Germany by Vinofrid otherwise called Boniface considered ibid. The Conversion of the Vandals of the Danes of the Bulgarians Slavonians c. Ascribed to other Causes than the naked Efficacy of the Christian Doctrine ibid. The Barbarous Cruelties that were used by the Spaniards in the Conversion of the Indians p. 230. The Instance of Heraclius the Emperors Letter to Dagobert King of France concerning the method he made use of for the Conversion of the Jews p. 231. The Conclusion The Tenth Note Holiness of LIFE IN this Argument it is shewn I. What the Notion of Holiness is p. 233. Holiness is of Two kinds 1. Holiness of Calling and Dedication What
omitting Personal Contests but inserting whatsoever concerns the common Cause of Protestants or defends the Church of England with an exact Table of Contents and an Addition of some genuine Pieces of Mr. Chillingworth's never before Printed viz. against the Infallibility of the Roman Church Transubstantiation Tradition c. And an Account of what moved the Author to turn Papist with his Confutation of the said Motives An Historical Treatise written by an AUTHOR of the Communion of the CHVRCH of ROME touching TRANSVBSTANTIATION Wherein is made appear That according to the Principles of THAT CHVRCH This Doctrine cannot be an Article of Faith. 40. The Protestant's Companion Or an Impartial Survey and Comparison of the Protestant Religion as by Law established with the main Doctrines of Popery Wherein is shewed that Popery is contrary to Scripture Primitive Fathers and Councils and that proved from Holy Writ the Writings of the Ancient Fathers for several hundred Years and the Confession of the most Learned Papists themselves 40. The Pillar and Ground of Truth A Treatise shewing that the Roman Church falsly claims to be That Church and the Pillar of That Truth mentioned by S. Paul in his first Epistle to Timothy Chap. 3. Vers 15. 4o. The Peoples Right to read the Holy Scripture Asserted 4o. A Short Summary of the principal Controversies between the Church of England and the Church of Rome being a Vindication of several Protestant Doctrines in Answer to a Late Pamphlet Intituled Protestancy destitute of Scripture Proofs 4o. An Answer to a Late Pamphlet Intituled The Judgment and Doctrine of the Clergy of the Church of England concerning one Special Branch of the King's Prerogative viz. In dispensing with the Penal Laws 4o. A Discourse of the Holy Eucharist in the two great Points of the Real Presence and the Adoration of the Host in Answer to the Two Discourses lately Printed at Oxford on this Subject To which is perfixed a Large Historical Preface relating to the same Argument Two Discourses Of Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead The Fifteen Notes of the Church as laid down by Cardinal Bellarmin examined and confuted 4o. With a Table of the Contents Preparation for Death Being a Letter sent to a young Gentlewoman in France in a dangerous Distemper of which she died By W. W. 12o. The Difference between the Church of England and the Church of Rome in opposition to a late Book Intituled An Agreement between the Church of England and Church of Rome A PRIVATE PRAYER to be used in Difficult Times A True Account of a Conference held about Religion at London Sept. 29 1687 between A. Pulton Jesuit and Tho. Tenison D. D. as also of that which led to it and followed after it 4o. The Vindication of A. Cressener Schoolmaster in Long-Acre from the Aspersions of A. Pulton Jesuit Schoolmaster in the Savoy together with some Account of his Discourse with Mr. Meredith A Discourse shewing that Protestants are on the safer Side notwithstanding the uncharitable Judgment of their Adversaries and that Their Religion is the surest Way to Heaven 4o. Six Conferences concerning the Eucharist wherein is shewed that the Doctrine of Transubstantiation overthrows the Proofs of Christian Religion A Discourse concerning the pretended Sacrament of Extreme Vnction with an account of the Occasions and Beginnings of it in the Western Church In Three Parts With a Letter to the Vindicator of the Bishop of Condom The Pamphlet entituled Speculum Ecclesiasticum or an Ecclesiastical Prospective-Glass considered in its False Reasonings and Quotations There are added by way of Preface two further Answers the First to the Defender of the Speculum the Second to the Half-sheet against the Six Conferences A Second Defence of the Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England against the new Exceptions of Mons de Meaux late Bishop of Condom and his Vindicator The FIRST PART In which the Account that has been given of the Bishop of Meaux's Exposition is fully Vindicated the Distinction of Old and New Popery Historically asserted and the Doctrine of the Church of Rome in Point of Image-worship more particularly considered 40. The Incurable Scepticism of the Church of Rome By the Author of the Six Conferences concerning the Eucharist 40. Mr. Pulton Considered in his Sincerity Reasonings Authorities Or a Just Answer to what he hath hitherto Published in his True Account his True and full Account of a Conference c. His Remarks and in them his pretended Confutation of what he calls Dr. T 's Rule of Faith. By Tho. Tenison D. D. A Full View of the Doctrines and Practices of the Antient Church relating to the Eucharist wholly different from those of the Present Roman Church and inconsistent with the belief of Transubstantiation Being a sufficient Confutation of CONSENSVS VETERVM NVBES TESTIVM and other Late Collections of the Fathers pretending to the Contrary 40. A BRIEF DISCOURSE Concerning the NOTES OF THE CHURCH With some REFLECTIONS on Cardinal BELLARMIN's Notes LICENSED April 6. 1687. JO. BATTELY LONDON Printed for Ric. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVII PAge 11. l. 15. for Character r. Charter and p. 14. l. 8. r. Charter p. 16. l. 12. after Ancient and Apostolick Church add Which is the same with his second Note concerning Antiquity which must refer to the Antiquity of its Doctrine for an Ancient Church tho founded many years since if it have innovated in Doctrine cannot plead Antiquity and a Church founded but yesterday which professes the Ancient Faith may p. 18. l. 6. f. first r. fifth p. 22. l. 14. f. now r. more A BRIEF DISCOURSE Concerning the Notes of the CHURCH c. IF Cardinal Bellarmin had not told us That this is a most profitable Controversie Controv. T. 2. L. 4 de Notis Ecclesiae I should very much have wondered at that pains which he and so many other of their great Divines have taken to find out the Notes of the Church For is not the Catholick Church visible And if we can see which is this Church what need we guess at it by marks and signs and that by such marks and signs too as are matter of dispute themselves Cannot we distinguish between the Christian Church and a Turkish Mosque or Jewish Synagogue or Pagan Temple Cannot we without all this ado distinguish a Christian from a Turk or a Jew or a Pagan And it will be as easie to find out a Christian Church as it is to find out Christians for a Christian Church is nothing else but a Society of Christians united under Christian Pastors for the Worship of Christ and where ever we find such a Society as this there is a Christian Church and all such particular or National Churches all the World over make up the whole Christian Church or the Universal Church of Christ But this will not do the Cardinal's business Though the Christian Church is visible enough yet not such a Church as he
we are all made to drink into one Spirit 4. There is also an Unity of Obedience to all the Institutions and Laws of Christ which is an Instance of Unity that ought by no means to be forgotten this being no less a common Duty than the Profession of the Faith the performance whereof uniteth us effectually to him as to our Head and maketh us living Members of his Body 5. There is the Unity of Christian Affection and brotherly Kindness of which our Lord spake when he said By this shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another Thus St. Paul 1 Cor. xii The Members should have the same care one of another c. 6. There is an Unity of Discipline and Government which is maintained chiefly by retaining for substance the same Form that was left in the Church by the Apostles by the Bishops and Pastors confederating together as much as may be for the edification of their Flocks by regarding every Regular Act of Authority in one Church as the Act of the whole and giving no occasion to breach of Christian-Communion by abusing a lawful or by claiming an undue Authority c. 7. There is likewise an Unity of Communion in the Service and Worship of God in glorifying God with one Mouth in joining in the same Religious Assemblies for Prayer and Sacraments for Acts of common Piety and Devotion according to the Rules of the Gospel I need not mention any more Instances of Christian Vnity since those that are more particular may be easily deduced from these Now to speak clearly there ought to be all these kinds and Instances of Unity in the Church but we see evidently that they are not all there I mean in every Part and Member of the Church And therefore they are not all necessary to the Being of a Church how necessary soever they may be whether to the Wellbeing of it or to the Salvation of those Persons whereof the Church consists But some of them are necessary to the Being of the Church and they are the acknowledgment of the one Lord the Profession of the one Faith and admission into the state of Christian Duties and Priviledges by one Baptism And this is all that I can find absolutely necessary to the Being of a Church inasmuch as the Apostle says That we are all baptized into one Body And therefore so far as Vnity in these things is spread and obtains in the World so far and no farther is the Body of the Church propagated because it is one by this Unity But then indeed there ought to be a farther Unity an Unity of observing all the Institutions of our Lord Jesus an Unity of Christian Charity and good Will an Unity of Government and Discipline an Unity of Communion in Religious Assemblies to which I will add also that there ought to be an Unity of Care to keep out of the Communion of Christians all dangerous Errors and unlawful Practices And when such begin to appear much more if they have taken root and are grown to a scandal to root them out again But Unity in these things does not run through the whole Church or through that Body which is one in the three former Respects and therefore it must necessarily be granted that the Church is not one Body in those later Respects tho it ought to be so But because these are proper Instances of Church-Unity tho not absolutely necessary to the Being of the Church therefore it cannot be denied that those particular Churches which keep Unity in these Respects better than others do have the Mark of Ecclesiastical Unity in a higher Degree than those others inasmuch as they have not only that Unity which is a Mark of a true Church but that also which is the Mark of a pure Church and are not only one Body in those things without which they could not be Parts of the Catholick Church but one also in those things wherein all other Parts of the Church ought to be one with them We therefore according to Truth allow the Church of Rome to be a Part of the Catholick Church because she holds that one Lord that one Faith that one Baptism which we hold without which there were no Church at all And thus far she maintains Catholick Unity But inasmuch as she hath violated the Institution of our Lord Jesus concerning the other Sacrament as in other Respects so by withholding the Cup from the People notwithstanding he said Drink ye all of this and that the Apostle said We are all made to drink into one Spirit even all that belong to the Body of Christ she has departed from Catholick Unity the Unity of Obedience Because she will not be content to be a Sister but claims to be the Mother and Mistress of all other Christian Churches and has advanced her Bishop to be Head and Monarch of the whole Church and will have Commuion with no other Christian Society but such as will be content to become her Subjects and will allow no Act of Ecclesiastical Authority to be valid but in a State of Dependence upon her she has therefore departed from the Catholick Unity of Government and Discipline Because she has brought the Sacrifice of the Mass Transubstantiation Purgatory Invocation of Saints c. into her Creed and Practices suitable to such false Doctrines into her Worship she has departed from that Purity of professing the Faith c. in which all Churches should be one And because she will have no Communion with us but upon these Terms which are impossible she has departed from the Unity of Catholick Communion Finally Because she has pursued all Christians that dare to open their Mouths against these Innovations with Anathema's c. and sacrificed the Lives of innumerable Christians to her resentments she has departed from the Unity of Catholick Charity With these things the Church of England cannot be charged nor with any such things as these not truly and justly I am sure In her Worship and Aministration of the Sacraments she transgresseth not the Institutions of the Lord in her Government she encroaches not upon the Liberty of other Churches To her Creed she hath added no Novelties To her Communion she hath annex'd no unlawful Conditions she doth not unchurch those Parts of Christendom that hold the Unity of the Faith no not that Church it self the Church of Rome which has added thereunto so many enormous Innovations She hath not embroiled the World nor wasted Countries with violence Upon such accounts as these she hath the Mark of Christian Vnity incomparably more than the other Church From such distinct notions of Vnity as I have laid down it is evident that nothing can be more idle than to seek for a Church by that Mark of Unity which the Cardinal lays down which comes to no more than this that Men be all of a mind that there be no Divisions among them c. since it is not
the true Church are such as are proper and peculiar to it it 's plain that his Memory fail'd him either when he made Sanctity of Doctrine to be one of these Notes or when he allowed this Note to be common to false Churches with the true Seeing therefore there have been Communities of Christians in the World which have not err'd in their Faith and yet were neither the true Church nor any true parts of it and seeing what hath been may be again how is it possible for any honest Enquirer after the true Church to find any one Church in the World to which this Note of not erring is proper and peculiar The Catholicks did not err in their Faith the Donatists and Luciferians did not err in theirs how then is it possible to discover by this Note of not erring in Faith which of the three were the true Church seeing that that can be no true Note of the true Church which is not peculiar to it and that not erring in Faith was common to 'em both 3. Thirdly Every true Note ought to be more known than the thing which it notifies for how can we know a thing by that which is as unknown to us as the thing it self If therefore not to err in any point whatsoever be a true Note of the true Church the truth of every Article comprized in the Profession of that which is the true Church must be more known than that it is the true Church which considering how very large and extensive the publick Professions of Churches now are cannot be supposed without making the true Church to be one of the darkest and obscurest things in the World. For besides that according to the Principle of the Cardinal and his Church it is the true Church only can fully instruct a Man in the truth of all those Points of which the unerring Profession of the true Church consists and therefore a Man must have found the true Church and been instructed by it before he can be certain that those Points are all true of which more hereafter Besides which I say it is to be considered that there are sundry Doctrines now professed by most Churches of which ordinary Capacities can make no certain Judgment I confess if the publick Professions of the Churches now in being were confined to the Fundamental Articles of Religion it were an easy matter for an ordinary Enquirer to satisfy himself concerning the truth of 'em because whatsoever is fundamental is so plainly revealed that probity of Mind together with sound Intellectuals are the only Accomplishments that are requisite to Mens attainment of the knowledg of it but seeing the generality of the publick Professions of Churches do together with such Doctrines as are fundamental comprehend such as are not yea and sometimes such as are very remote from Fundamentals and seeing many of these are not so plainly revealed but that pro and con they are involved with such difficulties as have perplexed even the most learned and judicious Enquirers to satisfy one's self fully that such Professions as these are in all points true without the least intermixture of Error requires great Sagacity as well as Probity of Mind For there is scarce any one Church now extant in the World but what professes some Doctrines which in some other Churches are hotly controverted and opposed and seeing there are sundry Churches in the World which in sundry Points profess contrary to one another and there are scarce any two Churches which in all Points are agreed it is certain that a great part of 'em must in one Point or other be erroneous and seeing the Church of Rome doth in several Articles differ from all other Churches in the World either she by this Note must be a false Church or there is no true Church in the World but her self Now in the midst of such a vast multiplicity of Professions how is it possible for an ordinary Enquirer to conclude with any certainty which of 'em is true and which false especially considering that as to some of the Points in which they differ there are such fair probabilities pro and con as are sufficient to suspend any modest Judgment from determining it self one way or other And that others of 'em depend upon such Scholastical Niceties and are defended and opposed by such subtile and metaphysical Reasonings such critical Senses of Texts and ambiguous Accounts of Ecclesiastical Antiquity as that scarce one Man in a thousand is capable of making any certain judgment concerning them If therefore before I can conclude that this or that is a true Church it must be more known and evident to me that it doth not err in any Point whatsoever than that it is a true Church doubtless to determine which is the true Church is one of the most obscure and difficult Points in the World and I must be a very learned and judicious Divine before I can modestly pretend to have found it To what a miserable uncertainty then are Mankind abandoned when 't is as much as their Souls are worth to be in the true Church and yet are left to seek it by such an intricate Note as this whereby scarce one Man in a thousand is capable of finding it 4. And Lastly Every true Note ought to be inseparable to the Thing which it notifies for there is nothing can notify or make known a Thing without which the Thing may be what it is and if that which is the Note of it may be separated from it it may be the very same Thing which it is tho it hath not that Note If therefore this Note of an unerring Profession be not inseparable from the true Church it may be the true Church tho it be not unerring in its Profession Wherefore before I can be certain that any Church which pretends to be the true Church is the true Church I must be certain that this Note of not erring is inseparable to it But before I can be certain that this Note is inseparable to any one Church now extant I must be certain not only that it doth not err now which as I have shewed above the generality of Men can never be but also that it never hath erred nor ever will for as the Cardinal hath stated the matter the thing of which we are to enquire is not which of the Churches now extant are true Churches or parts of the Catholick Church but which of 'em are the true Catholick Church If we were only to enquire which of 'em are true parts of the Catholick Church all that we had to do was to satisfy our selves which of 'em at present have the true Notes of a true part of the Catholick Church but as for particular Churches it is agreed of all hands that they may be true parts of the Catholick Church at one time and yet not be so at another so that as to particular Churches all that I need to enquire is only this Whether at
Church it is agreed of all sides that it is only to the true Church And therefore I must be certain which is the true Church before I can be ascertained which Church is infallible Seeing therefore that every true Note is inseparable to the Thing which it notifies before I can be certain that I have found the true Church which Christ hath promised to continue to the end of the World by this Note of not erring I must have very good assurance not only that my Church doth not err at present but also that not to err is always inseparable to it both for the time past and the time to come Seeing therefore there is no one Church now in being of which we can be rationally assured as to this matter the necessary Consequence is that by this Note no Man can certainly discover which is the true Church And now having proved that according to the true Properties of the Notes of the true Church this of Sanctity of Doctrine as Bellarmin explains it is no true Note for an honest Enquirer to seek the true Church by I proceed III. To enquire in what Sense this is a true Note of the true Church In short if by Sanctity of Doctrine we understand professing all the necessary and essential Articles of Christian Faith and admitting all the essential parts of Christian Worship and Discipline this wherever it is is a certain Note of a true Church for nothing can be a certain Note of a true Church but what is essential to it as a true Church for whatsoever is accidental to it is separable from it and whatsoever is separable from it it may have or not have and yet be a true Church notwithstanding that therefore which doth not appertain to it as it is a true Church may appertain to a false Church as well as a true But to say that that is not a true Church which hath all the essentials of a true Church is a downright Contradiction If therefore we would have such Notes of a true Church as we may certainly depend upon we must fetch 'em from the Essence of a true Church and consequently we must first state what a true Church is before we can be certain what are the true Notes of it Now what it is that is necessary to constitute a true Christian Church may be easily collected by considering what is necessary to make a true Christian for a true Christian Church is nothing but a Society of true Christians And seeing that Christianity consists of Doctrines of Faith and Laws of Worship and Discipline he only is a true Christian that owns and receives Christianity in all these parts of it that is who acknowledges all the Essentials of true Christian Faith Worship and Discipline And consequently that must be a true Christian Church or Society of true Christians which professes all the Essential Articles of Christian Faith and receives all the Essential parts of Christian Worship and Discipline whereever therefore I find a Religious Society of Men professing all the necessary Doctrines of true Christian Faith worshiping the one God through the one Mediator communicating in the true Christian Sacraments and submitting to the true Christian Discipline duly administred by true Christian Pastors and Governours there I am certain I have found a true Church if that be a true Church which hath all the Essentials that constitute a true Church Wherefore before we can know whether this or that be a true Church we must be rightly imformed what a true Church is and before we can state what a true Church is we must learn what the true Faith and Worship and Discipline is because these are the Essential Ingredients of which a true Church is composed And when we have learn'd what these are by them we may certainly discover whether this or that be a true Church or no. If therefore by Sanctity of Doctrine we understand the publick profession and admission of all the Essentials of Christian Faith Worship and Discipline it is not only a certain Note of a true Church but the only certain Note of it because there can be no certain Note of a true Church but what is Essential to it and there is nothing Essential to it but what this Note comprehends Where-ever this is there is the entire Essence of a true Church and if there were but one Church upon Earth that had it that would be the only true Church in the World and if there were ten thousand Churches agreeing in it there would be ten thousand true Churches So that whereas all other Notes are separable from a true Church and consequently may direct us to a false Church instead of a true this is no more separable from it than a true Man is from the Human Nature And if I had found a Church that hath in it all the other Notes of Bellarmin excepting this I should still be to seek for a true Church as on the contrary if I had found a Church that wants all the rest but this I should nevertheless sit down fully satisfied of its Truth and seek no further And thus I have given a brief Account in what Sense Sanctity of Doctrine is a certain Note of the true Church and by this our Church is willing to be tryed by any honest and ingenuous Enquirer whose Business it is to seek for Truth and not for Gain and Preferment and if upon Examination he cannot find in it as I am sure he may if he examine fairly all the Essentials of that Faith and Worship and Discipline which the Scripture teaches and the Primitive Ages profess'd and embraced in God's Name let him seek farther abroad but if after he hath missed of it in the Church of England he should happen to find it in the Church of Rome imports him as much as his Soul is worth to enquire into one Point more viz. whether he sought it by his Reason or by his Interest And now I proceed IV. And Lastly To shew That according to the Principles of the Church of Rome the true Church is not to be found by this Note in which-soever of the two Senses we understand it for if by Sanctity of Doctrine we mean with Bellarmin an unerring profession of the Truth without any the least intermixture of Error before we can be certain we have found thē true Church by it we must be very well assured concerning the profession of that Church which we take to be the true Church that it is in all particulars true without any the least Ingredient of Error Or if by Sanctity of Doctrine we only mean the profession of all the Essentials of Christian Faith Worship and Discipline before we can be certain that we have found the true Church by it we must be very well assured not only that there are such Essential Principles and what they are but also that they are true for unless we certainly know that there are such Principles and what
they are we can never be certain whether any one Church in the World doth profess 'em or no for how can we know whether or no a Church professes we know not what And unless we certainly know that these Principles are true we can never be certain whether that be a true Church which professes 'em for seeing it is the profession of the true Principles of Religion that makes a true Church it is impossible for us to know whether any Church be a true Church till we know whether the Principles it professes are true So that before a Man can be secure that he hath found the true Church by this Note he must be certain either that every thing it professes is true or at least that the main and fundamental Principles of its Profession are true Neither of which he can be certain of according to the Principles of the Church of Rome For First She decries Mens private Judgment of Discretion as utterly insufficient to make any certain distinction of Truth from Falshood in matters of Religion Secondly She allows no sufficient Rule without the true Church to guide and direct our private Judgment of Discretion Thirdly She resolves all Certainty as to matters of Faith into the Authority of the true Church Fourthly She authorizes the true Church to impose upon us an absolute necessity of believing such Things as before were not necessary to be believed First The Church of Rome decries Men's private Judgment of Discretion as utterly insufficient to make any certain distinction of Truth from Falshood in matters of Religion Seeing we are to seek the true Church by Notes our certainty that we have found it must wholly depend upon our certainty that we have found in it the Notes of the true Church but tho there is no one thing in the World of which we are more concerned to be certain than that we have found the true Church and are in Communion with it because no less than our Eternal Salvation depends upon it yet it is only our own private Judgment of Discretion that by applying the Notes of the true Church can ascertain us in this Point For while we are in quest of the true Church we have no other way to find it but by carrying the Notes of it along with us and by examining and judging by our own private Discretion which Church these Notes do belong to either our private Discretion is sufficient to assertain us in this Matter or it is not if it be not we can never be certain which is the true Church if it be it must be sufficient to assertain us in all other necessary Points of Religion because one of the Notes by which we are to seek the true Church and that a principal one too is Sanctity of Doctrine or an unerring profession of the true Religion at least in all necessary points But before we can be certain which Church this Note belongs to we must be throughly satisfied in our own private Discretion what this unerring Profession is which we can never be till we are certain of the Truth of all the Particulars of it and when we are certain of this we are certain at least as to all necessary points of true Religion which must all be included in every unerring Profession of it So that before we can be certain of any Church that it is the true Church we must be certain that it doth not err in its profession and before we can be certain of this we must be certain of the Truth of all those particular Doctrines whereof its Profession is composed and of this we have as yet no other way to be certain but only by our own private Judgment of Discretion because till we have found the true Church its impossible we should conduct our selves by its Authority and in the absence of the true Churches Authority we have nothing to conduct us but our own private Discretion either this our private Discretion therefore is sufficient to assertain us of the Truth of all the particular Doctrines whereof an unerring Profession of Religion is composed or it is not if it be it must be sufficient to assertain us as to all necessary points of Religion if it be not as the Church of Rome affirms it is not it is impossible we should ever be certain that we have found the true Church again either therefore the Church of Rome must allow that certainty in all at least in all necessary Points of Religion is attainable by the free and honest use of our own private Judgment of Discretion which as I shall shew by and by she can never allow without undermining her own Foundations or she must leave Men hovering in eternal Uncertainty as to one of the most necessary Points of Religion viz. which is the true Church Secondly The Church of Rome allows no sufficient Rule without the true Church to guide and direct our private Judgment of Discretion Seeing the Constitution of the true Church is not natural but entirely founded upon Divine Institution this Question Which is the true Church is not to be resolved by Principles of Nature but by Principles of Revelation and therefore without some revealed Rule which is every way sufficient to guide and direct our private Discretion we shall never be able to find out which is the true Church because without such a Rule we have nothing but the Principles of Nature to go by which in this Enquiry are utterly insufficient to direct us But while we are out of the Church we have no other revealed Rule to direct us in our Enquiry after it but only that of Scripture for as for Tradition the Church of Rome teaches that the true Church is the sole Conservator of it and that tho it be a part of Divine Revelation yet no Man is obliged any farther to believe it than the true Church hath defined and declared it And seeing I can have ho certainty what is a true Tradition till such time as I am got into the true Church How can Tradition be a Rule of Faith to me while I am out of it Or How can that be the Rule of my Faith whilst I am in quest of the true Church which I have no other Obligation to believe but only the true Churches Authority Whilst therefore I am out of the true Church the only Rule I have to go by in my Enquiries after it is Scripture And this the Church of Rome tells me is insufficient both because it is not full enough and because it is not clear enough Which if true I can never be certain I have found the true Church by this Note of an unerring Profession 1st She teaches that the Scripture is not full enough as not containing in it all necessary Doctrines of Faith and Manners but that there are certain unwritten Traditions in the Church of equal Authority with it by which its defects are supplied And if so How is it possible I
an unerring Profession But till I am certain one way or t'other whether she be the true Church or no I can never be certain whether her Profession be true or false till I am certain that she is the true Church there are some Articles in her Profession of which as her own Doctors confess I cannot be certain that they are true and till I am certain that she is not the true Church I can never be certain that any one Article in her Profession is false and if I cannot be certain whether she errs in her Profession or no till I am certain whether she be the true Church or no to what purpose should I enquire whether or no she be the true Church by this Note of an unerring Profession If supposing her to be the true Church she hath Authority from God to oblige me upon pain of Damnation to believe to Day that which I was not obliged to believe Yesterday to what end do I enquire whether those things which she commands me to believe are true or false If she be the true Church as for all I yet know she may be I am sure what ever she commands me to believe must be true and therefore till I am certain that she is not the true Church I can never be certain that any thing she commands me to believe is false For how can I be certain that any one thing she imposes is false when for all I yet know she is the true Church which the God of Truth who can neither impose himself nor authorize any other to impose on me that which is false hath authorized to impose it and if till I am certain that she is not the true Church I can never be certain that any thing she imposes is false How can I ever be cartain by this Note of an unerring Profession whether she be the true Church or no For if any thing she professes or imposes be false by this Note she cannot be the true Church but whether any thing she professes be false or no I can never be certain till I am first certain whether she is or is not the true Church THE END ERRATA IN the Seventh Note Pag. 137. the first cum Capite in the Title is to be blotted out P. 147. line 17. for Arian r. Asian P. 148. l. 6. f. Complaint r. Complement LONDON Printed by J. D. for Richard Chiswel at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1687. The Ninth Note of the CHURCH EXAMINED VIZ The Efficacy of the Doctrine Nona Nota est Efficacia Doctrinae Bellarm. L. iv c. 12. de Notis Ecclesiae IMPRIMATUR June 8. 1687. Jo. Battely BY Efficacy of Doctrine must be meant either that power which the Word of God has in the Minds of Particular Men to dispose them to believe aright and to live well or else that success which it has in drawing Multitudes outwardly to profess and embrace it The former of these is too inward a thing to be the Note of a true Church No Man being able to know what the Word of God has done in anothers Heart but instead of that apt rather to be deceived in what it has done in his own The Second which must be that the Cardinal means can as little be a Note by reason of its Uncertainty and if we cannot be sure of the Note we shall be less so of that which we are to find out by it If indeed there were nothing which could or did move Men to relinquish Heathenism Judaism or Turcism for our Religion but the pure Efficacy of the Christian Doctrine it would be a very good Note of the excellence of the Doctrine it self but according to the Cardinal 's own Principles it could be no Note that that were the true Church which preached it since he will not allow the sincere preaching of Truth to signify any thing Lib. iv 2. And we shall have much less reason to rely on this Note if we consider how many other things there are besides the Efficacy of the Christian Doctrine which have and may convert whole Nations to it Let us therefore at present grant in general the matter of Fact to be true that such Conversions as the Cardinal speaks of were made by the Church of Rome yet how shall we know that they were made purely by the Efficacy of its Doctrine and that no other means such as Force c. were used Is it enough that he tells us so The Bishop of Meaux tells us that in the late great Conversion in France not one of the Persons converted suffered Violence either in his Person or Goods That they were so far from suffering Torments Pastoral Letter p. 3 4. that they had not so much as heard them mentioned and that he heard other Bishops affirm the same Now if those Reverend Prelats were out as most people think they were in a matter of Fact of which they might be Eye-witnesses why may not the learned Cardinal be so too in his Relation of Conversions made so many hundred years since If he be out his Note falls to the ground and if it cannot be made plainly to appear to us that he was not out his Note as far as it is founded upon those Histories which he produces wants that certainty which should give us satisfaction Historians who wrote in those obscure times and were perhaps themselves Converters being most of them Monks might vain-gloriously ascribe much to the Efficacy of their own Doctrine and the Centuriators themselves whom he so often quotes might not be very curious to search or accurate to relate the chief motives of their Conversions because they wrote before the Cardinal had made Efficacy of Doctrine a Note of the true Church and little dream't what odd use some Men would make of their History But notwithstanding these Neglects and Disadvantages I do not doubt but that if we look'd back into the Writers of those Times nay even into the Centuriators themselves we should find some other things besides Efficacy of Doctrine concurring to the Conversions which were then wrought An instance whereof to pass by at present the particular examination of those mentioned by the Cardinal we have in those Converons wrought by Charles the Great to whose victorious Arms they were more to be ascribed than to any thing else besides For not to mention that the Clergy were not then in any great capacity of doing much by the Efficacy of their Doctrine the Bishops being so ignorant that they were to be commanded to understand the Lord's Prayer and could hardly be brought to make some few exhortations to the People but instead of that turned Souldiers to shew that they were willing to do somewhat towards the propagating their Religion such was the Zeal of that Prince rather to defend and increase the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Mezeray in the Life of Charles the Great than to inlarge his own Empire that Peace could never be
us return to our Lord 's Original the Evangelical Beginning the Apostolical Tradition And hence let the Reason of our Act arise from whence Order and the Beginning arose If therefore Christ alone is to be heard we ought not to regard what another before us thought fit to be done but what Christ who is before all first did For we ought not to follow the Custom of Man but the Truth of God since God himself speaks thus by the Prophet Isaiah In vain do they worship me teaching the Commandments and Doctrines of Men. Which very Words our Lord again repeats in the Gospel Ye reject the Commandments of God that ye may establish your own Tradition Thus S. Cyprian †Epist lxiii ad Caecilium fratrem lxxiv. ad Pompeium Ed. Oxon. With whom Tertullian ‖ L. de Veland Virg. c. 1. whom he was wont to call his Master agrees in many memorable Sayings No body can prescribe against the Truth neither Space of Times nor the Patronages of Persons nor the Priviledg of Countries From which things indeed Custom having gotten a Beginning by Ignorance or Simplicity and being grown strong by Succession pleads against Truth But our Lord Christ calls himself the TRVTH not CVSTOM Nor doth Novelty so much confute Heresy as Truth Whatsoever is against Truth that will be Heresy even old Custom Truth doth not stand * L. de Anima c. xxviii in need of old Custom to make it be believed nor doth Heresy fear the Charge of Novelty That which is plainly false is made generous by Antiquity For why should I not call that false whose Proof is false Why should I believe Pythagoras who tells Lies that he may be believed I omit all the rest having said enough to shew that if Antiquity it self be to be credited we ought not to depend upon Antiquity alone but seek for ancient Truth Which leads me to the second thing I undertook to shew that the present Church of Rome vainly pretends to true Antiquity i.e. to ancient Truth II. The Antiquity of a Church doth not consist in the Antiquity of the Place where it is seated For a new Worship may come into an ancient Place of Worship as the new Altar of Ahaz was introduced into the Temple at Jerusalem where he sacrificed to the Gods of Damascus 2 King. xvi 2 Chron. xxviii 23 Nor doth it consist meerly in the Antiquity of its Founders For the Apostles founded many Churches which had all the same Title to Antiquity in this regard and yet continued not such Churches as they left them but decayed some of them so fast that what Truth and Goodness remained among them was ready to dye even before all the Apostles were dead Rev. iii. 2. But it 's true Antiquity consists in the Preservation of the ancient Truth entire and uncorrupted which it received from the Apostles and which made it at first to be a Church Those things are truly ancient which persist in the same State after a long Tract of Time wherein they were at their beginning For if they have suffered any Change in that which belongs to their Being and Constitution they have lost their Antiquity and become another thing than they were at the first Now to know this we must enquire into the Nature of the thing it self and understand for instance what it is that makes a Society to be the Church of God. And all agree it is the Christian Truth In which if it have suffered Alteration that is doth not hold the same Christian Doctrine it did at the beginning but hath introduced Errors and Lies under the pretence of ancient Truth it is not the same Church it was at first and therefore hath not that Mark of true Antiquity which will prove it to be such as it pretends Now that this is the Case of the present Church of Rome is evident by that Alteration they have made in the ancient Creed Unto which they have added as many more Articles as there were at the first and thereby made such a Change in their Church for a Change is made by adding as well as taking away as makes it not to be the same ancient Church which the Apostles founded at the beginning This Charge they have no way to avoid nor can by any other means maintain that they are such an ancient Church as Christ and his Apostles setled but by this Ratiocination as Bellarmin calls it That in all great Changes of Religion these six things may be ever shewn 1. The Author of that Change. 2. The new Doctrine that was brought in 3. The Time when it began 4. The Place where 5. Who opposed it 6. And who joyned themselves to it None of which can be shewn in the Church of Rome since the Apostles times and therefore there hath been no Change at all made in it but it remains the same it was at first without any Alteration Which is a reasoning built upon grounds so notoriously false that it scarce deserves the Name of a poor Piece of Sophistry 1. For first it is contrary to all History and Experience which shews us there have been great Changes the Authors and the Beginnings c. of which cannot now be known Though no Man can doubt there hath been an Alteration made For the Body Spiritual and Civil too is like the Body Natural In which as there are some Diseases which make such a violent and sudden Assault that one may say at what moment they began So there are other which grow so insensibly and by such slow Degrees that none can tell when the first Alteration was made and by what Accident from a good Habit of Body to a bad Thus we are sure a Man is in a deep Consumption when we see him worn away to Skin and Bone though no body can tell the precise time when nor by what means nor where and in what Company his Blood began to be tainted And thus we are sure there is a Gangrene as St Paul calls Heresy when we see it corrode the Body of the Church though it crept in so secretly at the first and so indiscernably that it was not suspected nor can alway be traced to its first Occasion and Original No the Tares in the Field which is another Example whereby our Lord himself illustrates this matter had taken root before they were espied for they were sown in the Night while Men slept and could take no notice of it so that all that could be known was this that his Enemy had done it That is the Tares were not from our Saviour nor were first sown but were of a later and quite different Original But by what particular Instrument the Enemy sowed them at what hour of the Night by what hand and when did not appear for the matter was carried so secretly and in the dark that the Servants who knew of the sowing of the good Seed in the Field wondred to see the bad and ask'd
no doubt to be made but that it would generally obtain But when Mens Inclinations and Circumstances are so various nothing is more manifest than that the receiving or rejecting Truth is a thing too uncertain to be made an infallible Note of it When it is argued on behalf of Christianity that so many thousands were on the suddain converted to the Faith the force of such an Argument does not lie in the bare prevalency of the Doctrine but in its prevalency when placed in such Circumstances as it at the first preaching of the Gospel was and when Men of mean birth and education as has already been observed did without force or fraud on the suddain make so many proselytes to a Religion which was so directly contrary to those Opinions to which the World had been so long accustomed a Religion which was likely to bring such great Inconveniences upon those who embraced it This indeed was very remarkable and could be ascribed to nothing but the Power of Truth which was only able to bring about so wonderful an Effect In a word Men being oftner guided by Fancy Prejudice and Interest than by Reason makes them more capable of Error than of Truth and when they have once received it not only unwilling to part with it but zealous to propagate it as much as they can The Agreeableness of any Doctrine to their wicked Lusts and Affections is most likely to win upon them The craft and cunning of those who lie in wait to deceive may 〈◊〉 easily mislead unstable Minds into gross Mistakes before they are aware 〈…〉 Force the enjoyment of present Preferment or the hopes of it may make them profess what they do not believe to be true and then seek for Reasons to defend it Since then there are so many things beside Truth which may induce Men to admit any Doctrine the bare admitting of it tho never so universally can be no Note of the Truth of that or of the Church that teaches it God has endued us with a capacity of finding out Truth but at the same time he has made us fallible Creatures and liable to be imposed upon so that it stands us in hand to be aware how we are deceived and the more care we take in a concern of this Nature the more we discover our own Sincerity and Zeal for Truth But let there be never such clear Discoveries thereof it is in our power wilfully to shut our Eyes against them nay when we have adhered to Truth for some time we may be tempted either wholly to forsake it or to intermingle gross Errors with it So that it is as improper to conclude the prevalency of any Doctrine to be an Argument of the Truth of it or of the Church that professeth it as that any Cause is just because successful Such is God's infinite Wisdom and Goodness that as he does oftentimes bless with unexpected Success an honest and just Design and they who are sagacious in tracing the Footsteps of Providence do easily discover it so does he likewise frequently exert his Power after an extraordinary manner for the propagation of Truth But on the other hand as he often permits an unjust Design to prevail and prosper so likewise does he suffer Error to multiply and increase And when he does at any time exert his Power after an extraordinary manner for the propagation of Truth he still deals with Men as with Rational Creatures so that such his Power may be resisted nay may be so far resisted as may make him punish with Infatuation such their Resistance as he served the Pharisees upon the account of their Obstinacy whose Eyes he blinded and whose Heart he hardned John 12.40 41. that they should not see with their Eyes nor understand with their Heart and be converted And as happened to those whom the Apostle makes mention of whom because they received not the love of Truth that they might be saved 2 Thess 2.10 11. God sent strong Delusions that they might believe a Lie. Since therefore such is the Temper and Constitution of Mankind as to be daily subject to Errors and to be liable by the just Judgment of God to be at last hardened in them nothing can with any certainty be determined concerning the Truth of any Church from the Prevalency of any Doctrine professed in it 3. Plain Matter of Fact shews the Insufficiency of this Note For the Histories of all Ages make it evident what an influence Error has often had upon Mens Minds and that altho Truth may have happened sometimes to have prevailed yet that it has been as often refused and gross and most impious Opinions preferr'd before it How soon were our first Parents when their Minds were in their greatest strength and vigor and not as yet biassed by any Misapprehensions of things Gen. 3.5 6. by the cunning Artifices of Satan tempted to believe a Lie After which first and grand Mistake how did their whole Stock degenerate when every Imagination of Man's Heart being evil Gen. 6.5 6. it repented the Lord that he had made Man on the Earth Afterward God chose to himself out of the rest of the World a peculiar People and to secure them against the Idolatry and Superstition of those who dwelt near them he gave them particular Statutes which by Threats and Promises and mighty Wonders which he wrought for them he obliged them to observe Yet how soon did they forget God and turned after Idols So that in the time of Ahab according to God's own account there were but 7000 who had not bowed unto Baal If the Efficacy of the Doctrine had been a Note of the true Church I do not see why the Priests of Baal had not as much reason at that time to have insisted upon it as the Romish Priests can have now At our Saviour's coming the Pharisees had infected the whole Nation with their Traditions and so obstinately did they adhere to them that notwithstanding the many Miracles which our Saviour had wrought for them notwithstanding the Holiness of his Life and Conversation few believed on him according to the Prophesy of Isaiah made mention Joh. 12.38 Lord who hath believed our Report of which our Saviour himself complains John 5.43 I am come in my Father's Name And ye receive me not if another shall come in his own Name him ye will receive And in the 11th of St. Matthew ver 20 c. he does most severely upbraid the Cities wherein most of his mighty Works were done because they repented not And does openly declare that it would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Judgment than for them If any Doctrine was likely to have been efficacious one would have thought the Doctrine of our Saviour when taught by himself had been so and yet we find that no Prophet was ever less respected than he was even among his own Country-men The same thing happened likewise to St.