Ship which carry'd the Mother of the Gods which many Mariners hawling all together could not stir Plutarch also in Coriolanus relates that the Image of Fortune spoke and often as the same Author relates in the same Life the Images and Statues were seen to Sweat Bleed and Weep St. Austin likewise tells us of many such Portents that happen'd among the Gentiles lib. 10 de civitate Dei. Tacitus also Hist lib. 4. relates of Vespasian that by his single Touch he restor'd Sight to the Blind and Strength to the Lame Bellarmin cap. 14. de Not. Eccles That both their Diseases proceeded from the Devil who having seiz'd the Eye of the one and the Leg of the other hindred the Use of their Limbs to the end he might seem to heal when he ceas'd to hurt I do not see why the Protestants may not use the same Exception against so many Miracles which the Romanists seign by the Touch either of their Images or their Reliques But I shall here furl my swelling Sails Mr. Prior being ready to explain and enlarge my self whensoever you shall be pleas'd to re-assume and examin this Matter II. Miracles do not of necessity follow Truth For tho' they were necessary in the time of Infant Christianity yet the true Religion being now establish'd and setled over all the World if not manifestly profitable they cease however to be absolutely necessary So that St. Austin lib. 2. de civitate Dei with very great reason said Whoever still enquires after Prodigies to confirm his Belief is himself a great Prodigy I forbear any more let it suffice me only to produce the Fathers of the Second Nicene Council act 4. Why do our Images at this day work no Miracles I answer with the Apostle Miracles are not for Believers but for the Vnbelievers Now then if the Protestants embrace the Doctrin of Christ and his Apostles the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles are sufficient for them Which would be necessary again were they to follow some new and never heard of Gospel before Nor does the difference whatever it is between the Reform'd Churches and the Lutherans whatever it be either in Ceremonies or some Points of Doctrin savour a jot more your precipitate Judgment concerning the Eternal Damnation of the Protestants For you Romanists your selves acknowledge that the Greek and Eastern Christians would be in the way of Salvation would they but submit to the Empire of the Pope tho' they retain'd their Ceremonies and Opinions differing in many Circumstances from the Rites and Doctrin of the Roman Church It is apparent from the Epistle of St. Austin to Januarius that all the Churches did not make use of the same Rites and Ceremonies In the Apostolic Churches also soon after the first dawn of Christianity Disputes and Contentions arose to pass by those that fell out between Cyril and Theodoret Chrysostom and Epiphanius St. Jerom and St. Austin nay between those very Men themselves that reproach the Lutherans and the Reformed with their differences which I would to God they were clos'd up There is the greatest difference among these Upbraiders not only as to Ceremonials as is apparent from so many Orders of Monks varying among themselves in Habit Rules and Public Worship but also as to Opinions as is evident from those most terrible Controversies about which your Theologists most sharply contend and quarrel one with another of the Authority of the Pope above a Council of a Council above the Pope of the Infallibility of the Bishop of Rome of his Power over Kings and Secular Princes the Conception of the Blessed Virgin of the sort of Adoration due to the Cross and Images of Predestination Grace Free-will and the like So that the Doctors of your Communion split themselves into various Sects according to which some are Thomists others Scotists others Real others Nominal others love to be call'd Jansenists and others Molinists Nay there is not any Article of the Christian Faith about which you have not rais'd Contentions and Disputes if not more sharp and eager yet of no less moment then all those which are stirring between the Reformed and the Lutherans And that diversity which you object against us is far inferior to your Dissentions nor is it concerned in the Fundamentals of Christianity in which the Reformed of both Parties are plainly agreed So that it is a kind of Miracle that there should be so little variance between so many Reformed Churches dispers'd all over Europe compos'd of various People and under several Princes tho' among them there is no Church which commands over others nor any intervening Political Tye to constrain them to such an Agreement in Matters of Faith. In the mean time there is no Schism between ours and the Lutheran Churches seeing that we neither separated from Them nor they from Us. In Poland the Brethren of the Helvetian Bohemian and Augustan Confession setting a laudable Example communicated before together by virtue of the Decree of Sendomir And in the Year 1631 in the National Synod of France a Decree was made for admitting the Lutherans as Brethren in Christ and Members of the same Mystical Body to our Communion of the Lord's Supper and for allowing them Brotherly Toleration in those Points wherein they differ from us And tho' they in their Anger pretend that we Err in Fundamentals which through the Mercy of God they will never be able to prove yet we judge more tenderly and better of them so disproving the Opinions which they obstinately defend that we deny them to be in themselves deadly or pernicious to Salvation or that they are such as ought not to hinder Christian Peace between us and them or prevent an Ecclesiastical Communion which might be obtain'd between Churches not agreeing in all things if the Foundation were sound Now we believe that to be a Fundamental Error wherein there is according to the ancient Phrase of the Synagogue a Denial of the Foundation which cannot comply with true Faith and Holiness For neither all Truths even those that are reveal'd are of the same necessity Neither are all Wounds which are given to Truth Mortal nor is every Disease an Epelipsie or the Falling-sickness St. Paul distinguishes between the Foundation and the Superstructure 1 Cor. 3. 11 12 13 14 15. He that meddles with Fundamentals is lyable to an Anathema Gal. 1. 8. In others there is room left for Exhortation Rom. 14. 1. Phil. 3. 15 16. Here the Gnat is not scrupulously to be strain'd at as there the Camel is not to be rashly swallowed We break Friendship with those that are openly Wicked but we bear with the blemishes and infirmities of Friends Nor is that presently to be thought of the necessity of Faith which yet may have a near Relation to it And therefore you canot blame us for offering our Communion to the Lutherans and rejecting the Papal For that between us and them there is not only a Harmony in the Foundation
Jesus Christ God blessed for ever Amen Reverend and most Learned Mr. Prior THere has been an idle report spread up and down that the Reverend Abbot of the Monastry of Seinen propos'd to me several things concerning the Catholic Religion if not in Writing yet by Word of Mouth which I either am or was not able to resolve From which trifle of a Report those of your Party have thought to gain a Petty Lawrel Wreath and those of our side have been in a deep Suspence not knowing what was done or what was to be done for that Fame is as well an obstinate Retainer of what is feign'd and bad as a Divulger of Truth I am not willing to believe that the Prelate aforesaid is the Father of this Abortive Birth in regard that since a Non-Entity can have no Accidents He could never in the Truth of the Matter divulge that he propounded any thing to me to be resolv'd when assuredly I remember it no more then I do an Act that never was done This indeed is true that about three years since returning from the Visitation of the Church of Grentzhausen and going into the Monastery in my road at what time my Fellow-Brethren Mr. William Simonis and Mr. Arnold Schnabel the one Pastor of the Church of Alsbach the other of Ruchroeten both most vigilant and learned Persons were with me he read to us many and various Manuscripts taken out of our Doctors and Arguments against those Authors and highly vaunted them to be invincible but we Three so well at that time defended the Truth that your Party had no reason to boast of Advantage But now that the Reverend Prior not only extends his Prayers for my Health but also heartily wishes and desires That after I had adjur'd and forsaken my Religion I should consult the good of my Soul by returning to Peter 's Nett which is the Roman and only Soul-saving Church lest after I had finished this life I should not only be deprived of Eternal Felicity but with the rest of my Doctors burn in the Everlasting Fire of Hell truly as upon the sight of the first I return him many Thanks so in respect of the latter I cannot forbear but that out of Duty and Conscience and for the love of Truth I must Answer as follows that I may not be again reproach'd to have thrown away my Buckler when the Duel was offered me which was infamous among the Romans or to have sought for Safety by ignominious Flight And I sincerely and constantly adjure you Reverend Prior together with your Companions that with impartial Minds and laying aside all fore-conceived Opinions you would vouchsafe to read and weigh what shall be here written Therefore that I may hasten to the thing it self the whole Hinge of your Epistle turns upon this to persuade me that the Romanists give me leave to call you so throughout this Writing are only worthy and fit to obtain Salvation On the other side that all the Protestants are damn'd nay irrevocably consign'd to a sad Eternity Is not this your Thesis Nay most certainly it is It will be my part therefore to Prove and Assert the Salvation of the Protestants and to Examin and Correct your rash Judgment by the Rule of Charity with regard however to the Civil Friendship of both more especially of that which is between me and your most reverend and famous Master Charles Wertzius whom I here name with Honor. I wish he had bin at home for then you would not have presum'd to have dealt so disingeniously by me But the Proverb says When the Cat is gone abroad the Mice play But to the purpose There is nothing which the sacred Scriptures more frequently recommend to us then Charity This is that sacred and perpetual Fire which it behoves us more religiously to keep burning then that which formerly was intrusted with the Vestals in Rome or with the Priests in the Temple of God. For Charity saith St. Paul is the bond of perfection Col. 3. 14. The end of the Commandment 1 Tim. 1. 5. Nay The fulfilling of the whole Law Rom. 13. 10. And if a Comparison should be made between the three Theological Vertues there is no question but the Palm would be given to Charity as the Principal 1 Cor. 13. 13. Faith represents the Porch of the Temple in regard it holds forth to us the Propitiation of our Sins upon the Altar of the Cross Hope represents the Holy Place as being that which shines out to us with the sevenfold Lamp of Evangelical Promises in certain Expectation of Eternal Beatitude But Charity representing the Holy of Holies and glittering on every side with pure Gold is only worthy to be the Seat of the Deity for as God is Love 1 Job 4. 16. so the Empyrean Seat and the fiery Throne of Charity in our Minds have a mutual Resemblance Now there may be numbred several Duties of this Christian Charity the Queenof all Vertues as well toward God as toward our Neighbor Toward God there are two sorts of Duties incumbent upon every Man by the Command of Charity of which some are Positive others Negative By the one a Christian is oblig'd to Exercise Benevolence and Bounty toward his Neighbor as much as in him lyes affectionately and effectually in Word and Deed. By the other he is deterr'd from all manner of Ill-will and doing Injury to his Brother not only directly by hurting him but also indirectly by throwing Scandals upon him not only openly and outwardly with Hand or Tongue but also covertly and inwardly by bearing Malice Envy Hatred or by unjust Suspicions and rash Censures as St. Paul witnesses 1 Cor. 13. 5. For Charity thinks no evil suffers all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things More particularly the Scripture in more places then one condemns rash Judgments by which Men for the most part violating the Laws either of Divine Truth or Christian Charity judge evilly of the Actions or Persons of their Brethren To which purpose that Sentence of our Savior is express and positive Mat. 7. 1. Judge not lest ye be judged Such were the Judgments of the Pharisees formerly concerning others so that they lookt upon all others beside themselves as Ideots prophane and polluted Sinners And at this day there is nothing more frequent among Men then these unjust Censures who are often wont to receive with the Left-hand what is reach'd forth with the Right and to interpret all things in the worst sense according to the variety of their Passions For Example if any Man grows Rich through the blessing of God he is adjudg'd to have acquir'd those Riches by evil means If he fall suddenly into extreme Calamity this is presently deem'd to befal him by the secret Judgment of God revenging his secret Transgressions If any one be averse to Superstition he is accounted Profane If he professes Piety he is said to be an Hypocrite If Liberal he is taxed for a
of our Faith and all the most solid and necessary Points of Christian Religion but also in common Protestancy against the Idolatry Tyranny and foul Errors of the Church of Rome both Sides impugning the Adoration of the Bread Transubstantiation Sacrifice of the Mass Communion under One Kind Justification by Works Traditions not written Purgatory Worship of Images Infallibility of the Pope c. So that it would be much better for us to arm our selves with mutual and brotherly forbearance against the continual Conspiracies of Antichrist then to lay our Sides open to them through our unhappy Discords and Wars by which neither side can hope for Triumph Far more absurd it would be to upbraid the Protestants with their small Number or to infer their Damnation from that For much more numerous is the Number of Christians under the four Patriarchs in the East and the Great Duke of Muscovy and Russia then of those who in the West adhere to the See of Rome Without question the Number of the Orthodox was very small at what time as St. Jerom testifies The whole World groan'd and admir'd to see it self all Arian Scarcity makes things valuable we are not to adhere to a multitude in Evil nor is the broad Way to be trod but the narrow Path which leads to Life not pervious to many If we must be excluded from Salvation for the smallness of our Number By the same reason the Pharisees of old might have damn'd the Apostles and the Heathens the Christians In the mean time they who reproach us with our small Number and glory in their own Multitude when they come to view the face of Europe are compell'd to talk after another rate Bellarmin praefat in Tom. 1. Controver cannot restrain his fury Who is ignorant saith he of that same Lutheran Pest for Truth was a Plague to the Seat of Pestilence as Christ was the Death of Death and a Pest to Hell that sprung up not long since in Saxony and soon after over-ran almost all Germany then spreading to the North and East delug'd all Denmark Sweadland Norway Gothland Pannonia Hungary and then with equal rapidness shooting to the West and South poyson'd all England France and Scotland flourishing Kingdoms once and at last crossing the Alps extended it self even as far as Italy Nor are we to be condemn'd because we call our selves Reformed or Protestants rather then Catholics For we were first call'd Protestants in the public Dyet at Spire Anno Dom. 1529. because our Electors and Princes there protested against the Errors and Superstitions of the Romish Church plainly in the fame sense as in the old Old Version of the 2 Chron. 24. 19. they who after the Death of Jehoiada oppos'd themselves against Idolatry were mark'd out and differenc'd by the same Name but those Idolaters would by no means give ear to the Protesters So that there being no Satisfaction given to our Consciences upon that Protestation deservedly we deserted that Communion which we believ'd to be pernicious to our Salvation Nor are we therefore to be thought to have deserted the Church For as St. Chrysostom says very remarkably Hom. 46. in Mat. He does not separate from the Church who separates Corporeally but he who Spiritually relinquishes the fundamental Truths of the Church We have left them Locally They have forsaken us in Point of Faith We in departing from them have left the Foundation of the Walls They in forsaking us have forsak'n the Foundations of Scripture We are call'd Reformed not because we reform'd the Religion deliver'd us by Christ and the rest of his Apostles but because we cleans'd it from the Rust of Abuses and Corruptions which that holy Religion had contracted through length of time the Subtilty of Satan and the Vices of Men. And this Reformation the People the Princes and Magistrates and those not a few most earnestly and importunately long'd for all over Europe So that the Tridentine Fathers to satisfie the public Demands at least in outward shew were compell'd to add something of Reformation to every one of their Dogmatical Sessions However we do not renounce these Names of Catholic Protestants Reformed or Lutherans seeing that addition of Catholic belongs of right rather to Us then to you Romanists for that the Doctrin which we profess is the Sincere Orthodox and Catholic Doctrin of the Christian Church as the Apostles deliver'd it from the Beginning Reformed we are in reference to the rejecting Abuses and human Inventions but Catholics as we retain the fundamental Articles of the Christian Religion Nor can this Name suit with them from whom we have departed in any other respect then as they retain some fundamental Truths which as yet are common both to them and us but not in respect of their Additions and Traditions in which we dissent from them In vain do you glory against us of retaining this Name by Force For as Salvian of Marseilles says lib. 4. de Provid What is a holy Name without Merit but an Ornament in the Dirt All the particular Assemblies of Heretics says Lactantius lib. 4. Divin Institut cap. ult believe themselves to be the chiefest Christians and their Church to be the Catholic The very Turks would be called Musselmanni that is the Faithful or Catholic but it suffices us to be really Catholics Good leave therefore have you from us O Romanists to usurp this Name as we call the Saracens Mahumetans who nevertheless derive not their Original from Sarah as Sons of the Promise but from Agar the Egyptian Bond-woman Thus all the Prejudices and Foundations of your precipitate Judgment being repell'd and remov'd Venerable Mr. Prior you constitute at length the only Foundation of your Opinion upon this That in regard that Ours is a new Religion it is impossible we should gain Salvation by the Profession But those things which now are old were formerly new The Christian Religion is at this day New to the Chineses and Japanners nevertheless they ought not to reject it for that Reason For this very sake of Novelty the Heathens refus'd Christianity but in vain There is nothing more Ancient then Truth which beheld the true World in its Infancy But false Religion the Older it is so much is it the more Mischievous True it is the Reformation which we profess is New and newly done but the Rule of it which is comprehended in the Word of God is of great Antiquity according to which whatever was added of Human Invention is separated from the Orthodox and Catholic Doctrin to the end that true and refin'd Antiquity might be retain'd Hence the famous Peter Moulin a Frenchman in a large Treatise against Cardinal Perron has more then sufficiently demonstrated the Novelty of Popery and the Antiquity of the Reformed Religion Therefore our Religion cannot be call'd New since that alone propounds to us things to be believ'd which were believ'd by all Men and every where from the Time of the Apostles according