do you give us to return upon you all your Declamations G. B. pag. 134. We cannot really doubt but things are as they appear to us for we cannot believe it Midnight when we see clearly the Sun in our Meridian Answ We should not doubt of what God says who we are sure cannot tell a Lye. We perceive daily the Hallucinations of our Understanding I am sure sometimes my Senses are mistaken and my Reason corrects them All Man is a Lyar every knowing Faculty in him is subject to Deceit God cannot tell me it is Midnight when it is Noon-day because he cannot tell a Lye But if God should tell me it is Midnight and my Eyes should represent to me a luminous Body in the Meridian perfectly like the Sun I should suspect my Eyes or guess I saw a Meteor or that I Dreamed or Raved or were yet in a worse Condition The least and last of my thoughts would be that God told a Lye which is the first thought you suggest G. B. pag. 135. Senses unvitiated fixing on a proper Object through a due Mean are infallible Answ Are they more infallible than God Are we infallibly certain all those Conditions concur May there not be more ways to delude our Senses than are discovered May there not be some latent defect in the Organ unperceived by us Or some want in the Mean Answer to these Questions and withall tell me whether you have as great certainty of your Answer to these Queries as you have of the Veracity of God. With more colour another may say that Faith cannot be against Reason and with Socinus refuse to believe any thing contrary to Discourse and so turn Antitrinitarian I think my self as assuredly certain of that Metaphysical Principle Eadem uni tertio sunt idem inter se as of any thing I know by Senses yet knowing what Christ hath taught concerning the Blessed Trinity I believe that and explicate that Principle as I can Why should we not proceed in like manner with our Senses when they seem to contradict what Christ hath taught We are commanded to put out an Eye cut off a Hand or foot Mat. 18.8 9. if it draws us to sin What shall we do if they draw us to Infidelity Or do you think it unlawful to keep them yet lawful to follow their suggestions and deny our Faith in obedience to their Depositions Heap up then your Absurdities your Impossibilities your Incredibilities your Sophisms against Transubstantiation to as great a bulk as your little Studies and less Discretion will permit you will only multiply Proofs of the Insolency and Folly of the Reason of Man which dares enter the Lists against the Truth of God. G. B. pag. 136. It is little less unconceivable to imagin that a Man of no eximious Sanctity nor extraordinary skill in Divinity should have the Holy Ghost at his command that his Decrees must be the Dictates of the Spirit Answ I pass that disrespectful Expression Having the Holy Ghost at his command no Catholic ever spoke so Do you think the Assistance of the Holy Ghost whence flows all Jurisdiction both Spiritual and Temporal is restrained to only Saints and Learned Clerks Doth Prelate and Prince lose their Jurisdiction by every mortal Sin Was Amos the Shepherd a great Divine Were Salomon and Caiaphas great Saints Were the Scribes and Pharisees such whose words all Mat. 23.2 were commanded to obey at the same time that they were warned to avoid their Actions And that I may give you an Instance proportionable to your Objection of an irrational Creature to an unreasonable Doubt what say you to Balaam's Ass Was he either Saint or Divine He rebuked his Master for his iniquity speaking with man's voice and forbad the madness of the Prophet 2 Pet. 2.16 God grant he cure all amiss in you Know Sir that Jurisdiction Gift of Miracles Tongues Prophecy and all those Graces which are called Gratis datae and regard the sanctification of others not of the Person to whom they are given have no connection with any Personal Sanctity in their Subject S. Thom. 1.2 q. 111. a. 1. CHAP. XXXIV Mr. G. B. his Intention in his Books and his Meekness to Catholics G. B. p. 140. THVS far I have pursued my Design in the Tract whereof I have not been void of a great deal of Pain and Sorrow for what Pleasure can any find by discovering so much Wickedness God is my witness how these thoughts have entertained me with horror and regret all the while I have considered them And it is not without the greatest antipathy to my Nature imaginable that I have paid this Duty to Truth Answ Here you give a very artificial Confirmation of all you had said before That you undertook this Task with great Reluctance and carried it on with Grief and Sorrow Vouch God as Witness of the truth of this suspecting I suppose as you had reason your bare Word would scarce be received whilst so many pregnant Proofs stand for the contrary For First Your Religion doth not inspire such a Spirit of Mortification as to engage her Children in painful and sorrowful Actions for any time at all much less for so long a time as is necessary for composing a Book of so various Matter And for your Person I do not hear that you seek so much occasions of Grief Secondly Those who with sorrow and unwillingness think of others Faults avoid those usually and entertain others of their Vertues Content is the thing all Men commonly seek even in their Grief They decline contristating Objects and sometime seek a freedom from them by a cessation from all rational Operations preferring the sottish stupid sensless Condition of a Beast before the rational but irksom thoughts of displeasing Objects as is too common in England if I am not mistaken But that a Man who may divertise himself or find Employments pleasing should trouble himself with what passes in Jamaica or China or Rome which concerns him not is very unusual and almost incredible Thirdly Those who are truly sorry for their Neighbors Faults do not easily entertain false Reports of them Are unwilling without pregnant Proofs to harbor any bad Opinion of them or give credit to bad Reports concerning them In fine shew in their Actions the truth of that saying Charitas non cogitat malum 1 Cor. 13.5 Charty thinks no evil You on the contrary take all malicious Reports against us as true althô you either knew already or with a little labor might have known the wrong done us in them for as for the greatest part of your Difficulties they are such as have been Answered over and over Fourthly You feign things your self which no body ever dreamt of and are in themselves most untrue As what you say pag. 133. The Subject of our Sermons and Studies are Matters of Interest and not the Laws of God. Nay when the things themselves are not blame-worthy you calumniate our Intentions seeking into our Hearts
to assent to evident Truth Nay if we compare them with supernatural Truths as to their Perspicuity and Verity in order to us the Advantage seems greater on the side of natural Truths 1. For no Man ever doubted of the Truth of these having once understood their terms and many have and do doubt of Faith altho sufficiently propos'd And 2ly no Man ever dissented from those Principles when he had once admitted them and many have Apostatized from their Faith. So that all the Praises you give to Faith belong more to natural Sciences then to it such a stranger are you to its true Prerogatives The reason of this stupendious Blindness in searching the Scriptures is that you read them as a Master not as a Disciple you intend not to learn from them what to believe but to shape them to what you think you have the Word but reject the Sence which is to the Word what the Soul is to the Body it gives it Life and Motion The (a) 1 Cor. 2.14 natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned You see Sir that some may read or have the Word of God and yet not comprehend its meaning nay that it may seem folly unto them The words may be words of (a) John 6.61 life everlasting and yet they cry Durus est hic sermo this word is hard and who can hear him The Divine Scriptures are high and majestical in the Sense simple and without Affectation in Word they are plain yet in them are high Hills which no natural Wit can surmount They are perspicuous yet full of mysterious clouds which baffle the most piercing eye They are all true Yet St. Augustin (b) l. 2. cont Faust c. 2. Piè cogitantes tantae auctoritatis eminentiam latêre ibi aliquid crediderunt quod petentibus daretur oblatrantibus negaretur takes notice of some seeming contradictions which cannot be reconciled without recourse to God the Author of Scriptures Less is learnt by Study than by Prayer if Prayer be accompanied with Humility The (c) Psal 18. or 19. 7. testimony of God is faithfull giving wisdom to little ones or making wise the simple as the English hath it And the Author of our Faith glorifies his Father (d) Matt. 11.25 for concealing his mysteries from the learned and wise and revealing them to little ones St. Gregory furnishes us with a fit comparison (e) Greg. ep ad Leandrum c. 4. Instar fluminis alti plani in quo Agnus ambulet Elephas natet of a shallow and deep river in which a Lamb may wade and an Elephant swim That is in it the simple and humble find ground to stand upon which the Proud loose and by it are lost The words are plain and easie but the sence sublime and hard not to be reach'd by humane Industry but by Divine Inspiration which is denied to those who rely on their own abilities and given to such as recur to God. No Books of the Sybills nor Oracles of the Devils or other humane Writing can equal Divine Scripture in this point Another Character of Divine Scriptures is the force which accompanies them and works upon the heart of those who are well disposed which insinuates it self into the Will and enflames it with the Love of God breaking in pieces the stony heart of Sinners Are (a) Jerem. 23.29 not my words like fire and like a hammer that breaks a rock No Precepts of Pagan Philosophers had this Energy I will not assure you ever perceiv'd either of these two qualities in reading of Scripture in your Works there appears little signs of either or of the Disposition which they suppose CHAP. VI. Scriptures Supprest G. B. P. 13. SCriptures being the Revelation of the whole Councel of God and written by plain and simple men and as first directed to the use of the rude illiterate Vulgar for teaching them the Mystery of Godliness and the Path of Life It is a shrewd Indication that if any study to hide this light under a candlestick and to keep it in an unknown Tongue or forbid the Body of Christians the use of it that those must be conscious to themselves of great deformity to that Rule Answer Here you begin your Charge of Antichristianism against your Mother-Church and as the Charge is false so in your managing it you mingle many Errors with some few Truths A bad Cause is not capable of a better Defence I will take notice of some of your most considerable slips and leave the Reader to judg of the rest That the Scriptures were written by plain and simple men is not true was Moses such who was learned in all the Learning of the Egyptians Was David the sweet singer of Israel a plain and simple man What shall we say of Solomon to whose wonderful knowledge the Scripture it self bears witness Amos it is true was but Esaias was not nor Daniel nor Samuel And whoever was Author of the Book of Job he was certainly far from being plain and simple For in him are found in perfection Philosophy Astrology and Divinity as a Queen governing them and if Caussinus the Jesuit may be believ'd as compleat Rhetorick as in any whosoever And as to the Authors of the new Testament as long as St. Paul St. Luke and St. John are amongst them you will never perswade the learned part of the World that your Speech is not rash and inconsiderate But suppose it true that they were all plain and simple men what then Doth it follow that what they writ is easie to the meanest capacity for that you intend if you intend any thing Do you not know that these Men were only the Scribes of the Holy Ghost and that in a Scribe Capacity of Understanding is not necessary but only Fidelity in writing No great Science is necessary in a Printer who only Prints what is given him by an Author the same of a Scribe who writes what is dictated unto him Now all Authors of Canonical books are the Scribes of the Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so their Doctrin is to be calculated according to the meridian of that Divine Spirit not of their Qualities Take the most plain and simple of them all (a) Amos. 1.1 the herdman of Thecue read him over and if you say you understand him quite through I will say you have cofidence to say any thing G. B. Pag. 14. The hardest parts of Scripture are the Writings of the Old Testament and yet those were communicated to all Answer Some parts of the New are as hard as any of the Old viz. The Apocalypse and some parts of St. Pauls Epistles are hard to be understood (a) 2 Pet. 3.16 Likewise is it not true that all the Writings of the Old Testament were made common to all the Israelites The King (b) Deut. 17.18 was
weakness of the Understanding incident to some who in matters of fact require Demonstrations So a Philosopher denied local Motion because he could not answer the Reasons against it and deserved no other Confutation But by this question Fool what do I now proposed by a Man who walked It is clear out of what I have said that the Pagans de facto did believe their Idols to be Gods why should we give ear to a speculative Reason against an evident historical Truth As if Man left to himself did nothing but rationally or did not many times so far darken his Understanding as to shew little use of it in his greatest Concerns It was the greatest folly imaginable I grant it yet that is incident to Man when he is abandoned of God. And this the Ingratitude of Philosophers deserved For when (a) Rom. 1.21 they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their Imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened professing themselves to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of an incorruptible God into an Image Thus S. Paul. If you reply you see who you will dispute against viz. the Fathers S. Paul Hieremy Isaias and the Holy Ghost If you still think the Paralel just betwixt the Idolatry of Pagans and the worship given in the Catholic Church to Images skew your Art in Sophistry and prove that we hold our Images to be Gods that we put our Confidence in them expect Good or fear Evil from a Stock How pitiful would your Discourse be should you dispute against us in this manner A Cross is made by a Man ergo it is not a Representation of our Saviors Death The Statue of our B. Lady cannot move without the help of Man Ergo we are not to hope for any thing from God through her Intercession In fine either what Fathers and what Scripture contains against the Idols of the Gentiles is to no purpose and all their Reasons are frivolous or our Doctrin of Images differs from theirs of Idols the First is Blasphemy therefore you must subscribe to the Second SECTION II. The Beginning and Occasions of Idolatry CAlvin lib. Instit c. 11. l. 8. says Idolatry began almost with the World omnibus ferè à mundo condito saeculis But he neither gives any Reason for this Assertion nor determins its Author nor time R. Maimonides says it began by Enos the Son of Seth and Grandson to Adam and he grounds this Assertion on ◠Gen. 4.26 Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. The Latin hath it Iste coepit invocare nomen Domini He began to call upon God. And the other Translations found rather a good than a bad Sense only the Targum Onkèlos expresses an abandoning of Gods Service yet so as he charges that Fault rather on Men living in Enos his time than on Enos himself Wherefore I cannot subscribe to that Rabby especially seeing Enos was of the vertuous Branch and surely such a heinous Sin as Idolatry could not come but from cursed Cain or his Posterity if there was any before they were destroyed I rather incline to what S. Cyril of Alex. says lib. 1. contra Julianum That there was no Idolatry before the Deluge because no Author mentions any nor after the Deluge till after building the Tower of Babel and Confusion of Tongues for the same Reason But shortly after those Seeds were sown which in process of time brought forth that bad Fruit. Suidas says that Seruch began Politheism and Idolatry Constantinus Manasses lays the Fault on his Descendants tho he gave the occasion Our Bodies do not in a moment shoot up to their full Growth but leasurely and in a manner imperceptibly and our Souls do neither on a sudden raise themselves to the height of Perfection nor fall into the Depth of hainous Sin according to the ordinary course of Grace and Nature Nemo repente fit summus S. Bernard See S. Chrysost bom 87. in Matthaeum For that one of a Persecutor should in a moment become an Apostle and a chosen Vessel another of an Apostle become a Divel is very extraordinary The First may be esteemed a Miracle in the Order of Grace which is all miraculous the Second a Monster in the Order of Sins which is all monstrous Now Idolatry being the very height of Wickedness Men by certain degrees descended into it First they made Statues Secondly gave them Civil Worship then Religious Worship and lastly that Cult or Worship which is due to none but God. The first Occasion of making them was for the Solace of Parents afflicted with the immature Death of their dearly beloved child (a) Sap. 14.15 A Father afflicted with untimely mourning when he had made an Image of his child taken away now honored him as a God which was then a dead Man and deliver'd to those that were under him ceremonies and sacrifices S. Cyril of Alexand. l. 1. contra Julianum delivers the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some falling into the greatest ignorance imaginable were so shamefully deceived as to make Temples and altars to Men and to adore as Gods those whom they had mourned for as dead Men. Sacra facta sunt quae fuerant assumpta solatia Minutius Felix Hieron l. 1. Commen in c. 2. Osee Omnia idola ex mortuorum errore creverunt The Second was the Homage due to Kings by their Subjects Those who were within a certain distance from the Court did it to the King in Person But those who dwelt in remote Provinces performed that Duty to the Kings in their Statues as now they do it to them in their Commissioners or Deputies which Homage was at first only a Civil Worship but soon degenerated into Divine Adoration (a) Sap. 14.17 When men could not honor their Kings in presence because they dwelt far off they took the counterfeit of his Visage from far and made an express image of a King whom they honored to the end that by this forwardness they might flatter him that was absent as if he were present Sometimes princes were not content to be adored absent or expect it till after their Death their own Ambition seconded by the flattery of their Courtiers would assist in person at their own Rites and Cult Non solùm mortuis Regibus aut absentibus sed praesentibus sacra facta Vide apud Vossium pag. 800. Nihil est quod credere de se Non possit cùm laudatur Diis aequa potestas Thus Nabuchodonosor thus the Roman Caesars thus several others came to be adored Alexander could not obtain it of his Macedonians yet of his new Persian Subjects he obtained it Likewise Saturn Janus and Quirinus or Romulus in Italy Belus in Babilon Osiris and Isis Serapis and Apis in Aegypt Jupiter Neptune Pluto Apollo in Greece and in particular places several others As in Troy Hector in Chio Aristaeus in Samos Lysander in Cicilia Niobe and in
Pagans who assuring universally that all the Pagan Deities were raised from men exclude all possibility of Jupiters being otherwise he being one of them Indeed no body ever reproached the Catholic Roman Church that it did not adore the true God altho many pretended the Adoration of the Saints to be like to that of the Pagan Idolaters adoring of their secundary Gods why then should the Pagans be absolutely said not to adore the true God if they did adore him altho they joyned others in alike degree of worship with him But seeing E. S. and G. B. pretend Jupiter to be the name of the true God blessed for evermore amongst the Pagans I will shew that Jupiter according to Fathers Poets and Protestants was a man as well as the rest and I will confirm all with E. S. his own Testimony My next Proof is taken from those who confound Jupiter with the rest of the Gods Saturn Neptune Pluto c. as well as of the other Gods. We have heard Tertullian assure that Saturn was the ancientest of their Gods and that the rest ought their being to him and thence inferred that he being a man all the rest must have been so too See also Lactan. Firm. who says l. 1. c. 15. It is evident all the Gods were men See Tertul. c. 10. p. 39. His words are cited above Sect. 3. note that Vossius l. 1 Idol c. 18. p. 139. thinks this an invincible Argument to prove that by Saturn the Pagans understood Adam Now if Saturn was the ancientest of all the Pagan Gods Jupiter who is one of them is not ab aeterno eternal and consequently not the true God. See Minutius Felix p. 23. where Jupiter is said to be cast out of a possest body as well as Saturn and Serapis as having nothing peculiar above the rest W. L. indeed put an Emphasis upon his name Jupiter himself when he translates those words which is not in the Author at least as we have him which shews only that the Pagans had a greater veneration for Jupiter then for the rest yet without taking him out of the number of those Heathen Gods who were subject to Christian Exorcisms My Third Proof is from such Fathers who relate his Country Birth and Death Minutius Felix pag. 17. The Birth Countreys and Sepulchres of the Gods are shewn Dictaei Jovis Of Jupiter on the mountain Dicte S. Cyp. l. de Idol vanit p. 204. Antrum Jovis in Creta visitur sepulchrum ejus ostenditur ab eo Saturnum fugatum esse manifestum est You may see Jupiters cave in Candy his Sepulcher is there shewn and it is undeniable that he chased thence Saturn his Father Lactantius Firmianus l. 1. div instit cap. 11. p. 39. says this Epitaph was written on his Tombe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jupiter Saturni S. Cyril of Alex. l. 10. contra Julianum p. 342. speaks of Jupiter's Tomb and says that Pythagoras visited it and writ upon it this Epitaph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here lies Jupiter And Porphyrius boggling about the Truth of this story which ruins the Divinity of his great God. S. Cyril adds That Pythagoras had written the plain truth that the greatest of the Pagan Gods was dead and that his Countrymen the Cretans had built him a Tomb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Julius Firmicus p. 4. says that Jupiter was King of Candy or Crete that Bacchus or Dyonisus was his unlawful Son whom in her husband's absence Juno caused to be killed by the Guards who devoured his Body but Minerva preserved his heart and presented it to his Father at his return c. Commodianus cap. 4. Saturnus rex erat in terris in monte natus Olympo Non Divinus erat sed Deum sese dicebat Venit inops animi lapidem pro filio sorpsit sic Deus evasit dicitur modo Jupiter ille Saturn was a king who out of fear of his own children devoured them but one of them was saved a stone in lieu of him being given to the Father which he swallowed so this infant grew up to be a God and is called Jupiter My fourth Proof is from those Fathers who absolutely refuse to acknowledge the Divinity of Jupiter Origen l. 1. contra Celsum p. 19. Assoon as we hear the name of Jupiter we understand the son of Saturn and Ops Juno's husband Neptunes brother And l. 5. p. 262. We will rather endure any torments than acknowledge Jupiter to be God. Lactantius Firmianus called commonly by the Fathers The Christian Cicero whom Photius judges to be the most learned and eloquent of his Age and who for his capacity was chosen by the Emperour Constantine the great to be Tutor to his Son Crispus He I say l. 1. Instit Divin cap. 11. p. 38. says Jovem illum esse qui ex Ope Saturnoque natus sit negari non potest vana igitur est persuasio eorum qui nomen Jovis summo Deo tribuunt solent enim quidam errores suos hac excusatione defendere qui convicti de uno Deo cùm id negare non possunt ipsum se colere affirmant verum hoc sibi placere ut Jupiter nominetur Quo quid absurdius Jupiter enim sine contubernio conjugis filiaeque coli non solet unde quid sit apparet nec fas est id nomen transferri ubi nec Minerva est ulla nec Juno It cannot be denied that Jupiter was born of Ops and Saturn wherefore it is a vain or foolish persuasion of those who would give the name of Jupiter to the supreme God. Observe this Mr. E. S. For some are wont in that manner to excuse their errors when they had been convinced of one God so as they could not contradict it by saying that themselves adored him and called him Jupiter Than which what can be more absurd Seing Jupiter is not worship'd without the partnership of his wife and daughter whence it plainly appears what this Jupiter is and that the name ought not to be transferred thither where there is no Minerva nor Juno Thus this learned Man whose words are so clear that if he were now alive and intended to reject E. S. his new error he could not do it more convincingly My Fifth Proof is taken from the Confessions of the Jupiter himself as you may see in Tertul. S. Cyprian Julius Firmicus and Minutius Fclix above cited add to these Prudentius in Apotheosi Torquetur Apollo Nomine percussus Christi nec fulmina verbi Ferre potest agitant miserum tot verbera linguae Quod laudata Dei resonant miracula Christi Intonat Antistes Domini fuge callide serpens Exue te membris spiras solve latentes Mancipium Christi fur corruptissime vexas Desine Christus adest humani corporis ultor Non licet ut spolium rapias cui Christus inhaesit Pulsus abi ventose liquor Christus jubet exi Has inter voces medias Cyllenius ardens Ejulat notos suspirat Jupiter
what little solid Truth concerning the Divinity is to be found in Pagans Writings to the end we may glorifie the one great God who with his one Divine Word made Flesh confuted all the others long discourses and voluminous errors To the end we may be thankful to the Father of Lights for having given us his saving Truth and freed us from those dark Wandrings and intricate Labyrinths of humane Wits SECTION VI. Of the unknown God at Athens THe greatest difficulty against what I have said Sect. 4. about the Pagan Jupiter not being the true God but first a Man and then a Divel is taken from Act. 17.23 I found an Altar says the B. Apostle with this Inscription TO THE VNKNOWN GOD whom therefore ye ignorantly worship him I declare unto you This E. S. pretends to be meant of Jupiter and confirms it very artificially out of Aratus out of whom S. Paul cites some pieces of Verses And S. Paul saying he preach'd him it will follow that he preach'd Jupiter and so Jupiter must be a name of the true God for certainly S. Paul never preach'd any other Thus E. S. p. 7. How his learned Adversary T. G. hath managed this debated Point I cannot tell but doubtless his works if I had them would give me great light And what I say I shall willingly reform according to his in case it may be materially different I think it certain that the unknown God was not Jupiter To prove this I may bring all those Authors Pagans and Christians who speak of the occasion of dedicating this Altar Again Jupiter could not be said to be an unknown God in Athens for they knew his Country his Birth his Life and Death his Sepulcher his Gests his Parents c. Their Theaters their Tribunals their Temples did ring with his Name Thirdly they had Altars erected to his honor in their Forum their Corners-of-Streets and even in their private houses whereas there was only one Altar erected to this unknown God. Fourthly had S. Paul declared Jupiter to them he would at least en passant have rejected those absurd Fables which were told of him Of his Birth and Death of his Rebellion and filthy Lust c. which are much more unbeseeming a God as being more dangerous to mortality than the things the Apostle speaks of At which the Apostle doth not hint in the least manner Hence it followeth that S. Paul did not preach Jupiter this is evident of what I have said and the Apostles words Quem ignorantes colitis hunc ego annuncio Whom you ignorantly worship him I declare So that he speaks clearly of the unknown God who was not Jupiter What shall we then say to Aratus who clearly speaks of Jupiter Answer What he said of God was true and conformable to that natural Idea which as is abovesaid we all have of God but he erroniously applied to Jupiter the Arch divel Now S. Paul takes his thoughts which were true and applies them to that self existent Being to whom alone they belong as if a Crown by Rebells set upon a Subjects Head should be taken off it and set on the Kings to whom of right it belongs Where by the by we may take notice of a gross Error of Seneca who says it is as good to have no thought at all as an erroneous one of God Quid interest Deum neges an infames God out of his goodness to Man hath given him that Idea of himself which being preserved altho defaced with Errors yet will help to correct them when we make a right use of our Reason As the statue of which I spoke in the Fifth Sect. laid in the dirt may be taken up brush'd and wash'd so as to be restored to its first Beauty Thus S. Austin convinced himself that the Manichaean Heresie could not be true Thus the Philosophers saw the Falshood of their Pagan Religion I pray God many others who at this present hold Errors in Religion may so use their Reason as to overcome them A Conclusion of this Treatise To conclude this whole Treatise we will use two or three Passages of Tertullian to confirm what we have hitherto said Imprimis c. 11. p. 40. Sicut Deus vestros homines fuisse non audetis negare ita post mortem Deos factos instituistis asseverare Seeing you dare not deny your Gods to have been men you resolve to stand to their having been made Gods after their Death And to Jupiter in particular he applies that general Assertion pag. 41. Vani erant homines nisi certi sint ipsum Jovem quae in manu ejus imponitis fulmina timuisse Men are very foolish if they doubt of Jupiters having feared the thunderbolts which you put into his hands What thinks E. S. was not Jupiter a Man in Tertullian's Opinion Again Tertul. l. de Idololatria c. 21. Scio quendam cui Dominus ignoscat cùm illi in publico per litem dictum esset Jupiter tibi sit iratus respondisse imo tibi Quid aliter fecisset Ethnicus qui Jovem Deum credidit Confirmavit Jovem Deum per quem se maledictum indigne tulisse demonstraevit remaledicens At quid enim indigneris per eum quem scis NIHIL esse I know one whom God forgive who when one wrangling with him had said The wrath or curse of Jupiter fall upon thee answered upon thee rather Would a Pagan have answered otherwise who believed Jupiter to be God He seemed to acknowledge his Divinity when he shewed himself so concern'd for the imprecation of his wrath For why should he trouble himself for his anger whom he knows to be NOTHING Moreover lib. de resurrectione carnis cap. 6. pag. 568. Phidiae manus Jovem Olympium ex ebore molitur adoratur nec jam bestiae quidem insulsissimae dens est sed summum saeculi numen non quia elephas sed quia Phidias tantus Vt honestius homo Deum quà m Deus hominem finxerit Phidias the Sculptor out of pieces of Ivory makes a Statue of Jupiter Olympius And it is presently adored and it is no more regarded as the tooth of a most silly beast but as the supream GOD. As if Man produced a more noble work than God for God only made a miserable Creature and Man makes a god In his Apology cap. 12. p. 42. Quantùm igitur de diis vestris nomina solummodo video quorundam veterum mortuorum fabulas audio sacra de fabulis recognosco Quantum autem de simulachris ipsis nihil aliud deprehendo quà m materias sorores esse vasculorum communium vel ex iisdem vasculis Quasi fatum consecratione mutantes licentiâ artis transfigurante in ipso opere sacrilegè ut revera nobis maximè qui propter deos ipsos plectimur solatium poenarum esse possit quod eadem ipsi patiantur ut fiant Crucibus stipitibus imponitis Christianos quod simulachrum non prius argilla deformat
only to do just things but to do them justly nor pious things but piously non tantum bona justa pia verum etiam benè justè piè Nay a pious modern Author says that God regards more the Adverbs than the Nouns or Verbs For Example A Judge hears attentively a Cause pleaded before him in order to give Sentence secundùm allegata probata the Action it self is good yet his Intention may mend or mar it Doth he that for his lawful allowance it is of small merit Regards he his Duty to his Prince and Country it is better If for God it is best of all But doth he intend by it to pleasure a Friend or practise Revenge on an Enemy althô his Sentence be just yet he is unjust in pronouncing it to satisfie his own Passions of Love or Hatred This is our Doctrin this we teach this we practise which you understand not and your perpetual fault is to speak evil of things which you know not Jude Ver. 10. If you desire farther information of our Doctrin in this Point see S. Fran. de Sales lib. 11. de Amore Dei cap. 13. CHAP. XXV Whether Papists allow to break the Commandments FRom ' pag. 83. Tit. 91. you charge Catholics with teaching to break the Commandments and produce several Cases for proof of it To which what I have already said may be a sufficient Return and satisfactory Answer For if the Resolutions of those Persons be not well grounded on solid Reason I renounce them so doth the Church If they be justifiable why should you or we condemn them Wo be unto them who call evil good and good evil that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Isai 5.20 So that those are to blame who call good evil as well as those who call evil good The Law-giver may make what Laws he please our Duty is to Judge according to the Law he gives us when the Case is clear when it is obscure to guess at it as near as we can And amongst the clear Laws I reckon that not to Judge other Men who are God's Servants and who by his Judgment alone must stand or fall Rom. 14.4 This general Answer might suffice considering I write not here a Treatise of Moral Divinity yet I will run over some of the particular Cases specified by you and consequently which may seem to be with you of greater force G. B. pag. 84. Against the First Commandment they worship Angels and Saints with Acts due only to God. The Second is violated by Image-Worship Answ Here are your boiled Cabbage over and over again Both parts are false as is abovesaid G. B. ibid. The Third is made void by tht Popes dispensing with Oaths Answ I have spoken to this already Ch. 20. I suppose you will not deny that when the Oath is unlawful v. c. the Covenant it may be dispensed with Item if it become impossible as of a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem on foot and the Man becomes Lame Item if the thing become dangerous or inconvenient as to lend a Sword when you hear for certain the Man designs to kill his Enemy with it Or if you promised to keep another company and after discover he would carry you to fight a Duel take a Purse or to a naughty House What think you are you or any other bound to keep dangerous inconvenient impossible unlawful Oaths If not why may there not be a Power in the Church to declare for the ease of timorous Consciences when those Oaths cease to oblige And why may not this Power be acknowledged in the Pope as well as in others But is the dispensing with Oaths a Prerogative of God Sure it is not seeing God who declared their force (a) Exod. 20. leaves to (b) Num. 30. some a Power to dispense with them as to Fathers and Husbands over those of their Children and Wives G. B. ibid. The Breach of the Fourth keeping the Sabbath is not denied it being usually amongst them a Day of Mercating Dancing and foolish Jollity Answ What you charge on us here not keeping the Sabbath was charged on our Saviour and his Apostles by the Scribes and Pharisees and is reproached to Protestants by the Puritans I do not deny but many are defective in this Observance and that as other Commands so this hath suffered yet I think I could as easily find Instances for the very things you reproach to us amongst you as you amongst us I will not excuse all that is done amongst Catholics and believe you would find it hard enough to justifie all that is done by your Yet I will tell you that unless you will condemn Christ and his Disciples and justifie the Slanders of the Scribes and Pharisees against them you must acknowledge that there is a Preciseness of Duty not intended by Almighty God. And it is very remarkable that several Accusations of the Breach of the Sabbath having been brought to our Saviour by the Scribes and Pharisees Christ always blamed their blind indiscreet Zeal and retorted the Accusations alledging several of their Customs undefensible but never seconded the Accusation quite contrary either confounded the Accusers by minding them of their own Faults or excused the Fact from Guilt Which is a sufficient Proof that the Law of God doth not require that superstitious Observance which the Scribes the Puritans and you require for want of which you blame us and are your self blamed by others Yet I will not excuse all that is done by Catholics in this matter which cannot be charged on the Church because she condemns and censures it I must take notice here of a Craft you use in this place to mingle true and false things together For Example pag. 85. That Children may lawfully intend killing their Parents is false That they may Marry without their Consent is doubted by none I think as to the validity of the Marriage unless there be some Municipal Laws providing against it Item pag. 86. They bar the Clergy the use of Marriage is true That they allow Concubinage is false By which petty Art you surprise your Reader and puzzle one who undertakes an Answer Were I minded to imitate you in giving a prospect of your Garden and that without offending Truth as you have done I could shew Matter enough for your Confusion or for your Zeal if it be real I never was within it I thank God and the greatest part of my Life I have past at a distance almost out of sight of it yet Fame hath brought enough to make a woful description of it It is not needful to pierce your walls to discover wicked abominations Ezech. 8.8 9. only looking over them with a Perspective Glass a Man may discover Weeds and Thorns and Cockle and what not They are unclean Creatures who delight to wallow in Dirt or stir about Filth which of it self yields an ungrateful smell much more when moved An ancient Heretick (a) Tertul. lib. contra Hermogenem
1 Tim. 6.16 before whom even Man 's greatest wisdom is folly 1 Cor. 3.19 It is therefore a great folly for any one to hope to give satisfaction to all or even to avoid Censure of some that is a good Fortune not granted to Saints Martyrs Apostles or even Christ himself God blessed for ever more Rom. 9.5 and with what probability can any Man hope for it Our Endeavors must be to give no ground for Detraction and so to behave our selves as nothing may be reproacht us with truth Governments are more obnoxious to Censures as including greater variety of Actions and Designs in which more Persons are concerned as acting in or suffering by them This makes a vast diversity of Judgments in several Persons according as they fancy themselves regarded or neglected advanced or kept back benefited or prejudiced by them and according as they hope or fear from them A private Man possessed with an opinion of his own Ability which no body sees but himself nor he neither but thrô self-love shall think himself as fit to sit at the Helm as those who do and finding his Preferment not to answer the opinion he hath of his own Capacity thinks himself wronged by those who are advanced before him To revenge this imaginary Wrong he commits a real one by blaspheming higher and lower Powers calumniating their Actions censuring their Commands and judging their Judgments Erecting within himself thrô a criminal Rashness and ridiculous Ambition a Tribunal over those to whom by Publick Authority he is subject This Man by some weaker than himself shall be looked on as a wise Man a Zealot of the Publick Good and a good Patriot when in reality not Prudence but Passion governs his Tongue which only vents some indigested Choler I grant that in all Governments there are some Inconveniences which we may wish were corrected The Passions of some the Weakness of others cause Disorders which may be punished but not prevented Those who Govern are not always at their own disposal sometimes to pleasure their Friends sometimes to avoid displeasing others they are in a manner forced to some things which were they left to themselves they would not do They must sometimes give way to a lesser Evil to avoid a greater in which they deserve compassion rather than blame Moreover they are indeed greater than others yet not Gods but Men not omniscient but ignorant of many things which pass in their Government and it may be are acted in their Name and by their Authority yet contrary to their Intentions which are supposed to be always for the Publick Good. It may be they know the thing and dislike it but know not how to remedy it without some other Inconvenience the avoiding of all Faults is reserved for Heaven Amongst Men he is best who hath fewest Faults not he who hath none such an one is a Chymera and small ones may be connived at in consideration of great Vertues Thus every private Man ought to suppose that the supreme Magistrate either doth not know the Faults of those he Employs or thinks them not considerable or knows not how to remedy them without incurring others as great or greater What is the Duty then of a private Man who sees these Miscarriages 1. To pray God to mend all or at least to prevent bad Consequences 2. If he have occasion and abilities to acquaint those who may redress things with what he thinks amiss and suggest if he can a proper Remedy yet to leave the applying that Remedy to those who are charged with the Publick Concern 3. In case he be involved in common or private Sufferings he ought to bear it patiently and expect the turn of the Tide 4. He may reform his own Life and Actions according to the severest Laws of State and Canons of the Church provided he become not by that troublesom to his Neighbors over whom he hath no Authority or dangerous to Superiors whose Authority over him is established by God or disturb the publick Peace which is to be preferred before all Advantages which can be hoped from those petty Reformers or their Reformations 5. Having done that he ought to content himself and press his lawful Superiors no farther assuring himself he hath fully complied with the utmost of his Duty by acquainting his Rulers with what he thinks is for the publick Good and by correcting himself And he may suppose that if these do not follow his Advice either they see the thing not feasible or foresee other Inconveniences or expect some fitter Conjuncture whereas by farther urging he cannot but offend For to communicate his Dislikes to others to draw them first to joyn in Petitioning with a seeming Submission then by a real Violence to force Superiors to what they pretend to unsettle the present Government and to aim at setting up a new one under pretence of Reforming the old is in the State Sedition and in the Church Schism as great Crimes against both as any except Rebellion and Heresie to which they dispose So that this Reforming Humor in Particulars is the Daughter of Pride and Mother of Heresie and Rebellion which makes it be suspected by all lawful Superiors in all Established Governments till they know all the Particulars of which it consists Absalon alledged plausible Reasons for altering the Government of Israel 2 Reg. 15. and Oza for upholding the Ark with his Hand 2 Reg. 6. The first that the State was abandoned no body looking to the Administration of Justice The second that the Ark was in danger of being overturned Both grievously offended exceeding the Bounds assigned them by God notwithstanding their specious Pretences Now to the Subject of your Complaint The Roman Catholic Church holding her Faith by Tradition of all Ages from the Apostles and never admitting the least alteration in it from which she is preserved by the help of the Holy Ghost promised to her by the Author and Finisher of it Heb. 12.2 In this she knows there can be no occasion for it by any Error As to her Discipline she acknowledges some Alterations and hath no difficulty to admit of a Reformation provided things be done according to order This appears first by her Councils even that of Trent and several celebrated in France and Germany in this last Age. Secondly by the Practice of several Prelates S. Charles Borromeus in Italy S. Francis de Sales in France and others elsewhere Thirdly by those of a lower Rank as of S. Philip Nerius who established the Congregation of the Oratory in Italy Pere Berule afterwards Cardinal who established that in France Pere Vincent de Paul who founded the Priests of the Mission All Congregations of Clergy living in common under the Obedience of their several Superiors Lastly did you regard what they are not what they are said to be and as much consult the Rules and Lives of the Jesuits in themselves as you do in the Writings of their professed Enemies whose Testimony