same Creeds which were anciently and universally believed in it so that I am as likely to come to know the true sense of Scripture as any others Po. Not so by your favour for you are no Member of the Roman Church which I will prove to be that Catholic Church mentioned in the Creeds and then it must follow that you neither have the true sense of Scripture nor can you be saved out of this Catholic Church Prot. I shall yield your Consequences when you prove the Antecedent but then you must not take it for granted without any Proof as your Priests use to do Po. I do not think it needs much proof for it is as visible as that the Sun is in the Firmament Prot. That cannot be for no body doth or can deny this but the far greater part of Christians utterly deny the Roman Church to be the Catholic Church yea and say it is Non-sense to affirm a part to be the whole or a particular to be universal And it must be well proved from Scripture which all Christians agree to be Gods Word be fore I can be perswaded that Christ who died for his whole Church will suffer three parts of four of those which he redeemed to be damned for not believing this Opinion as you most uncharitably affirm Po. Well for your satisfaction I will undertake to prove that S. Peter was the Chief of the Apostles and that Christ gave him the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and built his Church on him as on a Rock and that the Bishop of Rome is S. Peters Successor and Head of that Church which Christ promised to lead into all truth and then you must confess the Roman Church to be that Catholic Church which is mentioned in the Creeds Prot. I hope you will give me leave to hear and examine your Proofs and on that condition pray proceed Po. Do not the Scriptures naming S. Peter in the first place shew he was the Chief of the Apostles Prot. This shews he was an Eminent Apostle but cannot imply any Superiority over the rest because Christ makes them all equal Judges sitting together upon twelve Thrones Math. xix 28. and forbids any of them to pretend any Superiority over the others and though there was one Emperor then over many lesser and inferiour Princes Christ saith It shall not be so among his Apostles Math. xx 26. Luke xxii 26. Nor would S. James have finally determined in the Council of Jerusalem in S. Peters presence Acts xv 13. or S. Paul have so openly opposed and reproved him if Christ had made him Superiour over all the Apostles Galat. ii 11 14. Po. Do you not read that Christ gave to him first and singly the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven and promised to build his Church on him as on a Rock so firm that the Gates of Hell should never prevail against it Math. xvi 18 19. Prot. I read that Christ in that place to Math. xvi 19. did not give but only promise to give him those Keys afterwards which promise he made also to all the Apostles Math. xviii 18. and when he came to perform it he gave the power of the Keys to them all alike John xx 22 23. And it was upon S. Peters Confession of Faith that Christ built his Church not upon his Person since we see the Gates of Hell immediately prevailed too far against him first in his labouring to tempt Christ not to suffer Math. xvi 22. and secondly in his denying him with many Imprecations Math. xxvi 24. But if I should grant all the Priviledges you heap on S. Peter without any good evidence from Gods Word that will not prove the Popes sole right to them all Po. Yes without doubt for the Bishop of Rome is certainly the Successor of S. Peter and consequently the Vicar of Christ and supream Head of the Catholic Church Prot. The Bishop of Antioch hath a better Title to be S. Peters Successor because the Scripture which never mentions his being at Rome says expresly he was there but if the Bishop of Rome had been S. Peters Successor that could not make him Head of the whole Catholic Church because S. Peter himself never pretended to any such Power or Title yea he was peculiarly the Apostle of the believing Jews who had been Circumcised Galat. ii 7. and to them he writes Nor doth Christ any where tell us he would leave one such Head on Earth or give any Orders to all Christians to obey any one Apostle Po. But we do believe the Bishop of Rome to be S. Peters Successor and if so how can our Lord make good his Promise to be with his Church to the end of the World if he do not make S. Peters Successor as infallible as S. Peter himself was by his presence and assistance Prot. If we grant an inspired Apostle to have been Infallible in order to setling the Faith and writing the Rule of it it doth not follow that his uninspired Successors should have this Priviledge now the Faith and Rule of it are fixed For then the Bishops of Antioch Jerusalem and Alexandria must be Infallible now And Christs Promise is not made to S. Peter or to any particular Apostle but to the whole Catholic Church so that as long as the true Faith is held in any one or more Churches Christs Promise is made good though other particular Churches fall away Po. But the Catholic Church in the Creed is an Apostolical Church and it was promised to the Apostles that he would lead them into all truth John xvi 13. which Priviledge belongs to Rome as being now the only free Apostolical Church in the World Prot. All Churches in the World at first were planted immediately or mediately by the Apostles and Christ did certainly make this Promise good to his Apostles who were led into all Truth and so long as any particular Church keeps close to this Truth which the Apostles taught the Promise is still made good to that Church and there were many particular Apostolical Churches under Pagan Emperors and may be now under the Turks it being not temporal Freedom but adhering to the Apostles Doctrine which makes a particular Church Apostolical and made the whole Catholic Church to be called so at first when the Creed was made Po. However you must grant it is most prudent to take the best way to come to the knowledge of the Truth Now it is both the easiest and certainest way for the People to come to this knowledge by believing as the Church believes Prot. It is neither so easie nor so certain a way as to Search the Scriptures Po. This is a strange Assertion Is it not easier to let your Pastors who are fitted for it by their Profession judge of matters of Faith than for you to take pains to find them out in Scripture Prot. My Assertion is not so strange as true For it is much more difficult for
THE PLAUSIBLE ARGUMENTS OF A Romish Priest ANSWERED BY AN English Protestant Seasonable and Useful for all Protestant Families Licensed May 24. 1686. LONDON Printed for R. Clavell at the Sign of the Peacock in S. Pauls Church-yard 1686. TO THE READER IN the following Dialogue though not All yet the most Material Points wherein the Roman Church differs from the Church of England are briefly and plainly discoursed So that while by their little Tracts and short Catechisms daily Printed and sent abroad the Romish Emissaries do labour to Seduce the Weaker sort of Protestants They may be provided with short and satisfactory Answers to their most usual Fallacies Their Assaults are generally in the Dark and because it is impossible always to stand by those particular Persons whom they labour to Draw-in it is thought fit to publish this little Manual to enable those that are Attacked readily to defend themselves To which end the Holy Scripture is here recommended as the best Touch-Stone to justifie our Doctrines and discover their Corruptions And the more their Guilt makes them fly from it the more our Sincerity should make us cleave to it For this is in every Protestants Hand and there are so many and so plain Places of it which condemn the Opinions and Practices of the Roman Church that it requires no great Skill nor Art to discern how different they are from Gods Word And all the Learning and Artisice of their greatest Doctors will not be able to hide it from a plain and honest Enquirer that will take but the Pains to read this Divine Vnalterable Vniversally received and Infallible Book of God I know they pretend especially to the Vnlearned That all Antiquity is clearly for them but it is best for those who are not Read in Ancient Authors to leave that Province to the Clergy of the Church of England who have hitherto always worsted them at that Weapon also And since we can prove both by Scripture and Antiquity That all their Additional Articles of Faith are False and Erroneous and yet they do acknowledge all those Articles of Faith which we hold as necessary to Salvation to be True Doubtless Ours must be the safer Religion in which both Sides do agree Again The plain Words of Holy Scripture prove Our Religion but all those Points wherein they differ from us cannot be proved but by pretended Traditions some of which are expresly contrary to Gods Written Word The Scripture was not made by us but by the GOD of Truth and it is owned not by us alone but by them and all Christians to be the Word and Will of God and this is clearly on Our Side But those Traditions which they fly to for their Evidence are of their own Making and in their own Keeping No other Christians do allow them and We have nothing but their own Word in their own Cause to prove them to be Genuine Which being the Case I hope none will ever be perswaded to leave a certain plain and evident Religion of Gods own prescribing for an uncertain obscure and Ill-proved Religion which is no more but a meer Human Invention as the ensuing Pages will more fully declare THE CONTENTS THe Religion of the Church of England Taught by Christ and his Apostles Page 1 Concerning the Scriptures in an Vnknown Tongue p. 2 Concerning the Pretended Roman Catholick Church p. 3 Concerning St. Peter's Superiority and Jurisdiction over the rest of the Apostles p. 4 Concerning the Popes Supremacy p. 6 Concerning the Popes Infallibility p. 7 Concerning Implicit Faith or Believing as the Church Believes p. 8 Concerning Oral Tradition or the Faith delivered down by Word of Mouth from Age to Age p. 9 The Church of Rome full of gross Errors p. 13 Concerning Image-Worship p. 14 Concerning Invocation of Saints and Angels p. 17 Concerning the Worship of the Blessed Virgin p. 22 Concerning the Adoration of Relicks p. 23 Concerning Divine Service in an Unknown Tongue p. 24 Concerning Transubstantiation p. 27 Concerning Half-Communion or denying the Cup to the Laity p. 35 Concerning the Doctrine of Concomitancy or the Blood always accompanying the Body p. 36 Concerning Auricular Confession or that which is privately whispered into the Ear of the Priest p. 37 Concerning Priestly Absolution p 38 Concerning Satisfaction or Penances p. 39 Concerning Indulgences p. 42 Concerning Purgatory p. 44 Concerning the Sanctity of Religious Orders p. 50 Cencerning Exorcisms or Casting-out Evil Spirits p. 52 The Conclusion p. 53 A DIALOGUE BETWEEN A Popish Priest AND A PROTESTANT OF THE Church of England Popish Priest WHat Religion are you of Protestant Of the same that Christ and his Apostles taught which is professed by the Church of England whereof I am a Member Po. How do you know that the Religion you profess is the same that was taught by Christ and his Apostles Prot. By the Scriptures wich they left behind them Po. How can you tell whether they writ and left that Book behind them or no Prot. The Book is worthy of such Authors and all Christians though they differ in other things agree in this nor dare you deny it Po. We do not deny it only we say you ought to confess you received this Book from the Roman Church and must learn the meaning of it from her Prot. This Book hath been preserved in all Christian Churches but we received it from those good Protestants who translated it into English whereas your Priests as I am informed kept it in Latin and withheld it from such plain Men as my self while they had power here Po. Though they did â—o it was only for fear you should wrest the Scripture to your own destruction 2 Pet. iii. 16. Prot. That danger is only in some places hard to be understood and which I may safely be ignorant of But in all things necessary to Salvation it is so plain as to give understanding to the Simple Psal cxix 130. Wherefore I rather think they concealed it all from us to keep us from seeing their Errors because the more I read it the less I like your Religion Po. Is it not a strange presumption in you that are but a Lay-man to read that which you cannot rightly understand Prot. It is no presumption to obey the Command of Christ who bids us Search the Scriptures John v. 39. and declaring the not knowing them to be the cause of Error Math. xxii 29. And the Beraeans are commended for examining the Apostles Doctrine by Scripture Acts xvii 11. Now surely if we have Commands and Examples of Reading the Scripture it must be supposed we can in some measure understand it Po. Well you read that Christ will be with his Church to the end of the World Math. xxviii 20. and therefore you ought to believe the Catholic Church can only give you the true sense of Scripture Prot. I do believe this and am a Member of this Catholic Church being rightly baptized into it and holding the
your mistake and embrace these very things which you so rashly censure therefore let us discourse the particulars Prot. I can never be perswaded to kneel down and pray before an Image to offer up Incense and Gifts to it Since I read in Scripture we must not bow down to them nor worship them Exod. xx 4 5. and find Idolatry so grievously condemned there Po. I confess the Scripture condemns Idolatry but sure you cannot be so weak to think we take the Image for our God as Heathens did Prot. We cannot see your Thoughts but you do all those acts before your Images which Heathens did before theirs and I am told they excused themselves as you do by saying they did not take the Image for their God yet all Christians count them flat Idolaters Po. They were so because they worshiped Images of false Gods but you must not say we are so because ours are Images of the true God and his Saints Prot. They broke the First Commandment in having other Gods and you break the Second which forbids the making any Image to worship it not excepting the Image of the true God or of things in Heaven so that this only proves your Idolatry is of another kind not that it is no Idolatry at all The Jews were as real Idolaters for worshiping the Golden Calf though they took it for a representation of the true God Exod. xxxii 4 5. as when they worshiped Baal-Peor Numb xxv 2. Po. Well but we do not terminate any of our worship on the Image but on that which it represents the Image only helps to raise up our minds to the thing which is signified by it and our worship passes through the Image to that thing which cannot be Idolatry Prot. If it be an Image of the Saints which are Creatures it is Idolatry to ask any thing of them which is in Gods power to give and so your worship in that case ends in flat Idolatry And if it be an Image of God or Jesus Christ that worship which you give their Images and intend shall terminate on God must be Divine worship For otherwise you cannot worship God or Christ by worshiping your Images Po. But suppose our Church finds this way of worship helps devotion may she not command any mode of worship for so good an end Prot. No she cannot command any mode of worship forbidden in Scripture upon no pretence whatever And surely Christ and his Apostles knew what would help devotion as well as your Church but there is not in their Writings one word for this way of worshiping God and there is a plain Commandment against it and if you would confess truth the Carving Painting and Gilding of the Image takes off your Thoughts from attending the matter of your Prayers and so they hinder rather than help devotion Po. Is it any more Idolatry in our Church to command this than in yours to enjoyn you to bow at the Name of Iesus and to bow to the Altar Prot. There is some sort of pretence from the Scripture in Phil. ii 10. for Bowing at the Name of JESUS but you cannot shew any thing for Bowing to his Image whilst we shew a Command against it And we do not bow to the Altar but toward it that is we only look that way when we worship the true God but have no visible representation of him before us when we do this And besides this Ceremony is left at liberty so that none are bound to observe it Po. But do we not respect the Image of our Prince or our Friend for the sake of those they represent and ought not all Christians to respect the Images of Christ and his Saints for their sakes Prot. We do not talk to these Pictures of our Prince or Friend not make Petitions to them this would look like madness We do respect the Image of Christ but that will not serve you unless we fall down and worship it but we must answer you We are to worship the Lord our God and him only must we serve Math. iv 10. Po. I confess we cannot expect you should pray before the Images of Saints and Angels till we have convinced you of your Error in not praying to Angels and Saints so that I shall now go on to prove that it is lawful to call upon Angels to help us for did not Jacob do so Gen. xlviii 16. Prot. Pray read the place and you will find he prays only to the Angel that redeemed him That is to Christ who appeared as an Angel often to the Patriarchs before his Incarnation and is called the Angel of Gods presence Isai lxiii 9. But the created Angels would not suffer St. John so much as to bow down to them Revel xix 10. and Chap. xxii 8. saying that was a piece of worship due to God Yea the pretended humility of going not directly to God but by the Mediation of Angels is called a deceit and plainly forbid by the Apostle Coloss ii 18. And Christ hath Taught us to pray to his Father if we want the assistance of his Angels Math. xxvi 53. Po. Doth not your Bible tell you the Souls of the Martyrs under the Altar pray for us Revel vi 9 10. And may we not then desire them to pray to God for us Prot. Those Spirits only pray in general for the speedy coming of the Day of Judgment and are bid to rest in quiet till then Ver. 11. But this is no ground for particular Men in distant places to ask particular things of them as Health Wealth Peace Protection Yea Pardon Grace and Glory which none but God can give Nor doth the Scripture any where declare we should ask these things of any other but God Po. How dare you that are a Sinner whom God will not hear John ix 31. presume to ask these things directly of God himself without desiring his Friends to pray for you Prot. Though I am unworthy yet I am commanded to pray and to ask all that I need in Christs Name and am promised if I do so I shall be heard John xiv 13 14. And Chap. xvi 23 24. Yea I am told he is my Advocate 1 John ii 2. And that there is but one Mediator between God and Man 1 Tim. ii 5. Now after all this I think it is a greater presumption without any command direction or promise to make use of the Saints as our Advocates and Mediators for it is to leave the way prescribed by God and invent a new one of our own it is to take that Honour which belongs to the Son of God and give it to his Servants so that we may well believe it will disoblige him we pray to Po. You do not consider that we hold the Saints joyn their intercession to that of Christ and therefore to desire them to pray for us can be no injury to Christ whom we deny not to be our Mediator Prot. It must suppose Christs Intercession not