OF THE Incurable Scepticism OF THE CHURCH OF ROME IMPRIMATUR Hic Liber Cui Titulus Of the Incurable Scepticism of the Church of ROME Octob. 20. 1687. GVIL. NEEDHAM LONDON Printed for Ric. Chiswel at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church yard MDLXXXVIII PREFACE AMong the manifold accusations with which the Papists are wont to defame our most holy Religion there is none which they oftner alledge or more seriously endeavour to evince or confirm with more plausible arguments than that whereby they pretend that we utterly overthrow all certainty in divine matters and consequently Faith it self This is the constant subject of their Writings and Discourses this is of late their only argument To obviate therefore these importunate clamours I resolved throughly to examin the whole Argument and inquire whether there be any truth in those things which many obtrude for most certain Having then with some diligence considered the matter I soon found first that those things are false and and frivolous which are commonly opposed to us and then that our Adversaries themselves are manifestly guilty of that crime wherewith they asperse us and can by no Arts be purged from it For both that celebrated infallibility of the Church and of her Governours upon which the whole System of Popish Faith relies is easily proved to be null and feigned and that even if it were true it could yet produce no assurance of Faith no certainty of belief To evidence and evince all this I thought not unfit and therefore have undertaken to demonstrate these three things I. That it is most false what is pretended with so much confidence that the Church at least in the sence by them understood cannot erre II. That granting the Church cannot erre this her Infallibility is of that nature that both it self labours with inextricable difficulties and can confer certainty upon nothing else III. That our Faith relieth upon far more firm foundations and that nothing is believed by us which is not both certain in it self and such as the certainty of it cannot be unknown by us Of these three Propositions which may in time God willing be demonstrated I have now undertaken the Second because that may be comprehended in a much shorter Discourse than the rest I will shew therefore in this Treatise that the least assurance of those things which are believed is wanting to the Popish Religion and that all things are there doubtful all things uncertain and nothing firm This altho it be most true in the Agenda also of their Religion yet to avoid prolixity I confined my self to the Credenda only and even in these omitted many things which might perhaps seem not inconsiderable to many For not one or two ways only doth the Roman Religion overthrow the firmness of Faith It doth it upon many accounts principally by their Doctrine of the Eucharist which introduces an universal Scepticism into the whole System of Christian Religion Not to say that their Divines in teaching that the very Existence of God is not so much known as believed manifestly betray to Atheists the Cause of Religion But I omit these things as not properly belonging to the matter by us undertaken What I offer in this Discourse may perhaps seem to some too much embarassed with Schâ—lastick Terms and Disputes Nor indeed do I wholly deny it But I desire those Persons to consider whether this could possibly be avoided For only to propose our Arguments and not vindicate them by examining what is opposed to them by our Adversaries seemeth to me the least part of an accurate Disputation Which whosoever shall peruse even with the greatest diligence and attention cannot nor ought not to give sentence because they have not yet heard the other party whose defence cannot be without injustice neglected Those defences indeed are become nauseous in this Age and not undeservedly But however they could not be justly passed by and dissembled by us Yet in these I have endeavoured to propose them as clearly and perspicuously as I could and accommodate them to the capacity of all persons Whether I have gained my intent experience must declare OF THE INCURABLE SCEPTICISM OF THE CHVRCH of ROME CHAP. I. Wherein is laid down the Design of this Treatise and some things are premised for the better understanding of the whole IT is acknowledged by all that the perfection of that Faith which the Schoolmen call Inform we Historical consists in three things that it be plenary pure and firm that is that it believeth all which God hath revealed and that without any mixture of errour or admittance of doubt That the Faith of Papists is neither plenary nor pure many have demonstrated That it is not firm or unshaken I here undertake to prove and to shew that admitting their Hypotheses a Papist cannot with a certain and firm Faith be perswaded of the truth of any thing not only not of those Articles which Rome hath added to the Divine Revelation but not even of those which were truly revealed by God. For since Objects of Faith are inevident of themselves and deserve assent no otherwise then as it shall appear that they have been revealed by God and Revelation it self not a whit more evident there is necessarily required one or more Rules whereby things Revealed may be distinguished from not Revealed We have only one such Rule the Holy Scriptures The Papists many that so what they want in goodness they may make up in number For to Scripture they have added Tradition Decrees of Popes Constitutions of Councils and consent of Pastors not only those who have successively ruled the Church from the first foundation of it but of those also who govern at any determinate time and lastly the belief of the whole Church Now that by the means of any Rule our Faith may become firm two things are necessary First that the Rule it self be true containing nothing false or not revealed And then Secondly that what we believe manifestly agree with this Rule If either of these conditions fail our Faith must be uncertain Nor is it only requisite that a Papist be ascertained both of the truth of the Rules of his Faith and the conformity of what be believe unto them But also that he be as firmly perswaded of the truth of these things as he is of the truth of any Article of his Faith. For since the Faith of Papists depends wholly upon these Rules and is sustained only by them How can it be that the perswasion of the truth of those things which they believe meerly for the sake of these Rules should be more firm than the perswasion of the truth of the Rules themselves or of the conformity of what they believe unto those Rules It being impossible that an Effect should have more in it than the Cause can give it A Conclusion stronger than the Premises or a House firmer than the Foundations Nor do our Adversaries deny this Holden 1 Quamcunque enim
might be numbred perhaps if the Church were included in one Province But now that it is diffused throughout the whole World no mean is left of knowing what is the Opinion either of all or most Our Adversaries I suppose will say that when the Governours of the Church dissent about any matter of Faith the Faithful must suspend their assent while the Controversie endureth and content themselves by an implicit Faith to believe in it what the Church believeth not enquiring in the mean while what the Church believeth but leaving that to be enquired by the Church her self To this I answer First that this grants us all we desire For we dispute here only of explicite Faith maintaining that our Adversaries have no certain Foundation for that If they flee to implicite they thereby forsake explicite Faith. Secondly almost all our Adversaries confess that there are some Articles which even the most ignorant Christians are bound to believe with explicite Faith and Connink 6 De actib sup disp 4. dub 9. asserts the contrary Opinion of some Canonists to be held erroneous and even heretical by the other Doctors Further all consent there are some points of Faith necessary to be believed by all with explicite Faith not only because commanded to be so but because the explicite belief of them is also the means without which Salvation cannot be obtained Wherefore Hosius 7 Hâ—s contra Prol. Brent lib. 3. in relating the known story of the Collier saith he did not make that Answer of believing as the Church believeth before he had entirely repeated the Apostles Creed and professed his adherence to it Now suppose the Bishops differ about some Article necessary to be believed with explicite Faith as happened in the times of Arianism Certainly the Faithful cannot at that time sulpend their assent if they do not together suspend their hopes of Salvation But not to insist upon that Example suppose a Controversie raised about doing somewhat which God in the Scripture expresly commands to be done such as we contend to be Communion under both kinds reading of the Scripture c. What is then to be done Must all action be suspended This were to deny obedience to God. We must therefore chuse one part and so reject the pretence of implicite Faith. Again implicite Faith is thus expressed I believe what the Church believeth It therefore supposeth the Faith of the Church Of what kind not implicite surely For that would be absurd in the highest degree Certainly then the Church could not justly be accounted the Keeper of Tradition which is nothing else in our Adversaries sence but that Doctrine which Christ delivered to his Apostles they to their Successors until it was derived down to us If this be true the Church of every Age must of necessity distinctly and explicitly know that Doctrine Otherwise it cannot faithfully and accurately deliver it to the succeeding Church Then how shall this Faith of the Church her self be expressed It can be by no other Form than this I believe what I believe than which nothing can be more absurd But I need not refute a Folly which our Adversaries do not espouse as appears from the words of Duvall 8 Quamvis aliqua successu temporis suerint in Ecclesiâ desinita de quibus antea eitra haeresin dubitabatur certum tamen est illa fuisse semper à nonnullis praedicata declarata Quòd autem ab aliis non crederentur istud tantùm vel ex oblivione vel ex ignorantiâ Scripturae aut traditionis proveniebat Duval in 2.2 p. 111. Although some things were in process of time defined by the Church which were before doubted of without the Crime of Heresie yet it is certain they were always preached and declared by some But that they were not believed by others arose either from the forgetfulness or from the ignorance of Scripture or Tradition Is it therefore this explicite Faith of the Church which serveth as a Foundation to implicite Faith So it ought to be and so I doubt not but our Adversaries will say it is But in this case wherein the Governours of the Church dissent about an Article of Faith it cannot be For that which the Church explicitly believes is no desinite Opinion but a meer Contradiction repugnant to it self and destroying it self For one part of the Church believeth the Opinion whereof the Controversie is raised to be true wholsom and revealed by God the other part believes it false pernicious and suggested by Men. Now to have the belief of the whole Church you must joyn both parts of the Contradiction together and so the Church believeth that Opinion to be true and false wholsom and pernicious revealed by God and suggested by Men. But this is not Faith but a deformed Monster consisting of contrary and repugnant parts CHAP. XXI That the consent of Doctors even when it can be had is more difficult to be known than that we can by the help of it attain to the knowledge of the Truth TO what we observed in the precedent Chapter our Adversaries may perhaps answer That when the Governours of the Church differ about a matter to be believed then indeed the Faith of private Christians cannot rely upon their Authority but that this dissent is not perpetual that they oftentimes consent in delivering the Doctrine of the Church and then at least may be securely believed in what they teach To this I reply First that hereby they must grant they have no certain and sixed Rule of Faith for many great and weighty points of Religion contrary to their continual boasts of the abundance of Rules whereby God hath provided for all the necessities of his Church Secondly the Governours of the Church have now for many Ages differed about some matters upon which according to our Adversaries depend the hopes of eternal Salvation For Example whether the true Church is to be found among the Greeks or among the Latins For of the five Patriarchates of the Church four are divided from the Church of Rome and accuse her of Heresie and Schism both which Accusations she retorts upon them Now this is a matter of great moment which may be justly doubted of and can never be determined by the consent of Doctors But to omit that this consent if it could be had is not so manifest and obvious as a Rule of Faith ought necessarily to be which by the confession of all must be clear evident and easie to be applied This Duvall 1 Secunda conditio eaque pariter essentialis est perspicuitas Nam si hee regula obseurè sidei mysteria proponeret regula fidei non foret Duvall in 2.2 p. 207. assigns for an essential condition of a Rule of Faith and acknowledgeth that if a Rule obscurely proposeth the Mysteries of Faith it would thereby become no Rule And for this reason our Adversaries so much exaggerate the obscurity of Scripture that they may thereby
1 Ecclesia autem Latinorum non est Ecclesia Vniversalis sed quaedam pars ejus Ideo etiamsi tota ipsa errâsset non errabat Eccl. universalis quia manet Eccl. universalis in partibus istis quae non errant five illa fint plures numero quà m errantes sine non Tost in 2. Prol. Hier. in Matth. qu. 4. the Latin Church is not the Vniversal Church but only a part of it Therefore although that had wholly erred the Vniversal Church would not have erred because it remains in those parts which do not err whether they be more or fewer in number than the parts which do err So Canus 2 At nihil obstat cur major Ecclesiae pars non erret Can. loc Theol. lib. 5. cap. 5. Nothing hinders but that the greater part of the Church may err Bannes 3 Sententia majoris partis Ecclesiae potest esse falsa in materia fidei Bann in 2.2 qu. 1. art 10. dub 4. The Opinion of the greater part of the Church may be false in a matter of Faith. Valentia considering those words of Christ When the Son of Man comes shall he find Faith upon the Earth saith 4 Significat paucissimos certè fore postremo illo tempore fideles non autem nullos Val tom 3. disp 1. qu. 1. punct 7. §. 16. He signifies that there will be very few Faithful in that last time not that there will be none And Bellarmin 5 Non tamen nullos nec tam paucos ut non faciant Ecclesiam Bel. de Eccles lib. 3. cap. 16. treating of the same words saith with Theophylact That our Lord meaneth there will be few Faithful in the times of Antichrist not yet that there will be none nor so few as not to constitute a Church Many Divines and those of great name whose words we before produced have gone farther and maintained That the true Faith and true Church may be reduced to one only Woman Nor doth John Viguerius a Dominican Professor of Divinity in the University of Tholouse differ much from them teaching that Faith at least explicit may be preserved in one person all the rest retaining only implicit Faith. It may be said of the Church saith he 6 Sic potest dici de Ecclesiâ quòd potest servari in uno prout dicitur de Mariâ Virg. quòd in eâ solâ in triduo sepulturae mansit fides explicita de divinitate Christi quamvis multi alii per Judaeam existentes habere possent fidem catholicam actualem implicitam non tamen explicitam de divinitate Christi Vig. Instit Theol. c. 10. that it may be preserved in one person as it is said of the V. Mary that in her only during the three days of burial remained explicit Faith touching the Divinity of Christ although many others in Judea might have actual and implicit Catholick Faith but not explicit of the Divinity of Christ If either of these two Opinions be allowed we must despair of ever knowing the Faith of the Universal Church For where can be sought for by what Notes can be found that Phoenix that Deucalion of the Christian World who alone retains explicit Faith when all the rest have either erred or preserved only implicit Faith But be these Opinions true or false the opposite of neither of them can be of Faith as I before proved of the former and of the latter may be hence proved That this Book of Viguerius is approved by the Faculty of Divinity of Paris which would never have been done if it had been found to contain Heresie However let both be exploded the other cannot be denied That the greater part of the Church may err Nay further None ever yet dared to define how great that part of the Church must necessarily be which cannot be infected with Error without the ruin of the Infallibility of the whole Unless therefore it appears that the whole Church consenteth the belief of it cannot be a sure Foundation for our Faith. But first the whole Church seldom or never consenteth Certainly never in all things All things therefore can never be learned from her Whence then shall they be learned Besides where she doth consent it is so obscure that it can be known by no Man. This is proved and much more manifestly by all those Arguments which we brought against the certainty of knowing what all the Pastors teach For if it cannot be known what all the Pastors teach much less can it be known what all the Faithful believe since there are far more Believers than Pastors and these teach more distinctly than the others believe Beside it is not sufficient to know what seemeth true to all the Faithful unless it be also known what they all embrace as revealed by God. For our Adversaries acknowledge there are many false Opinions of the whole Church Maldonat 7 A pud Richer Hist Concil lib. 3. cap. 3. proveth this at large and giveth some Examples of it As that the Church for many Ages used a Preface upon the Festival of St. Hierom wherein she extolled his pure Virginity although St. Hierom in several places confesseth the contrary for which reason the Preface was at last expunged That for 600 years she administred the Eucharist to Infants That she worshippeth particular Reliques of Saints and prayeth for the Souls of particular Men in Purgatory although it be not of Faith that those Reliques are true or these Souls in Purgatory and the like which proveth the necessity of knowing not only what is held by the Universal Church but whether it is held by her as of Faith and revealed by God. But who shall ascertain this For the common sort of Believers are not wont accurately to distinguish these things so that if any one should ask whomsoever he meets What they admit as true what as revealed what they receive with Divine Faith what with Catholick Opinion he would find very few who could comprehend the Sence of his Question much fewer who could answer him distinctly So far shall we be therefore from knowing by this method what is believed in the Universal Church that it can scarce be known what is believed in any single Diocess CHAP. XXVII That it may justly be doubted whether all those things be true which the Vniversal Church believeth THere remains the third Reason of the impossibility of founding the Faith of all single Christians upon the belief of the Universal Church the uncertainty of the truth of this Belief For suppose the Church of Rome to be the true Church and that it is sufficiently known what she believeth It is not yet manifest whether she believeth rightly For a True Church is one thing an Infallible Church another Yet Infallible must that necessarily be which is to us a certain Rule of Faith. Before all things therefore it is required to be known that the Church is Infallible But how shall this be known Our Adversaries commonly say It
any of our Adversaries have assigned a Conjectural Certainty to the perswasion which they have of the Truth of the Rules of their Faith. And surely such Certainty would be too mean and inconsiderable for this place Belonging to Opinion rather than Faith as Bellarmine well notes and not excluding distrust which is absolutely destructive of Divine Faith. A Moral Certainty is rarely made use of by our Adversaries in this case being such as take place only in matters of fact and not all those neither but only such as are perceived by the senses of other men and those so many and so clearly as take away all suspicion either of fraud or errour Whereas those parts of a Papists belief which have most need of being backed by certainty and are subject to the greatest difficulties are matters of right or at least such as fall not under the senses either of himself or others There are some things indeed which they would have to be manifest by this kind of certainty such as the knowledg of a lawful Pope or a Canonical Council what the present Church teacheth or to which Society belong the notes of a true Church c. We must consider therefore whether in these cases this certainty be sufficient It would suffice indeed if the opinions of Bagotius or Huetius were admitted Of whom the first equals the second prefers Moral Certainty to Metaphysical and even that which is acquired by demonstration But few approve these excesses Many on the contrary depress this certainty too low However all agree that it is inferior to that of Divine Faith. For which reason alone I might reject it but shall notwithstanding be content only then to do it when it is falsly pretended As for an evident certainty our Adversaries neither do nor can glory in it For if the foundations of Faith had that No previous motion of the will by the Divine influence no supernatural assistance of grace would be necessary which yet all require and none but fools and stupid persons could be disbelievers Besides that those things which are of positive right and depend upon the free Will of God cannot be taught by nature but must be known only by Divine Revelation But herein our Adversaries consent to us as we shall see hereafter and presume not to boast of evidence in the Objects of their Belief There remains therefore only the certainty of Divine Faith which they can pretend to Wherefore I shall chiefly consider that not neglecting yet the rest whensoever it can be imagined that they may be made use of by our Adversaries omitting only the certainty of Theological Conclusions and that for the reasons beforementioned I shall now examine all the Foundations of Faith which our Adversaries are wont to produce beginning at the Holy Scriptures CHAP. II. That the Faith of Papists is not founded on Holy Scripture THAT the Scripture is most certain in it self and most fit to ground our Faith upon is our constant belief and profession But this cannot suffice our Adversaries unless they recede from their known Principles The Scripture may be considered and used for the establishing of our Faith two ways First as it is in it self and its own nature and Secondly as it is confirmed illustrated and assisted by the help of Tradition and the authority of the Church That Scripture the first way considered is not a fit foundation of our Faith our Adversaries not only freely confess but sharply contend maintaining that laying aside Tradition and the Church we cannot be assured either that Scripture is the Word of God or consists of such Books and Chapters or that they are delivered incorrupted to us or faithfully translated or that this or that is the sense of such a place Of these opinions and arguments their Authors are agreed their Books are full that should I recite but the names much more the testimonies of the maintainers of them I should become voluminous To this may be opposed that this is only the opinion of the School Divines and Controversial Writers that there are many in the Church of Rome who believe the authority of the Scripture independent from the judgment of the Church and dextrously use that method of arguing against Atheists as Hâ—etius in his Books of Evangelical Demonstration and the Anonymous Author of the Dissertation concerning the arguments wherewith the truth of Moses his Writings may be demonstrated that such as these may have a true and firm belief of those things which Scripture plainly teacheth which are all that are necessary to be believed Whilest I congratulate to the Church of Rome these more sober Prosylites and wish that by a general concurrence therein they would refute my Dissertation I observe first that there are very few among them of this opinion Secondly that it doth not appear that even these few are perswaded that their arguments suffice to found a Divine Faith upon the Scriptures demonstrated by them The Licensers and Approvers of the aforementioned Dissertation seemed to be afraid of this while they manifestly distinguish a perswasion arising from those arguments from true Faith. Lastly that it doth not appear whether they think that they can without the authority of the Church be obliged to believe either which are Canonical Books or what is the sense of those Books So that until they declare their mind herein they are not by us to be disjoined from much less opposed to the rest I may therefore take it for granted that according to our Adversaries the Faith of private men cannot relie upon the Scripture destitute of the assistance of Tradition since it is what themselves most of all contend for Now for what concerneth Scripture considered the latter way as it is fortified by the accedaneous help of Church and Tradition I might perhaps omit the handling of it here forasmuch as neither Church nor Tradition can confer a greater degree of firmness upon Scripture which that they have not themselves I shall in the proceeding of this Discourse more opportunely shew hereafter However because some few things occur not improper for this place I shall very briefly speak of them First then how little help there is for Scripture in Tradition appeareth hence that it can no otherwise teach what is the true sense of Scripture but by the unanimous consent of the Fathers which whether it be to be had in any one text of Scripture may be much doubted It was a hard condition therefore 1 Nec eam unquam nisi juata unanimem consensum patrum accipiam interpretabor which Pope Pius IV. prescribed in his Profession of Faith to all which desired admission into the Church of Rome and which may for ever silence all the Roman Commentators that they will never receive nor interpret Scripture any otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers Now I would fain know how this Law can be observed since I may confidently affirm that there is no one
approved or condemned That request being stisly denied by the Roman Consistory who were resolved to condemn them in the gross The Jansenists distinguished Three Senses of each Proposition and placing the different senses in Three Columns offered them to the Examiners desiring they would admonish which of all those senses the Censure aimed at But neither so could they obtain their End. Only afterwards when the Controversie grew hot Pope Alexander VII declared the Propositions were condemned in the sense intended by the Author The Author had been now dead before his Book was published much less condemned And so while the Popes pretended to condemn the Authors sense they said nothing else but that they condemned a sense which neither they would nor any body else could tell what it was And to this day it is disputed among them what is that Heretical sense intended by the Author and condemned by the Popes Thus much of the Third Exception I might add another which not a few of our Adversaries produce For they require that the Church proceed maturely diligently and Canonically in her judgment Which certainly few or none can know But because the consideration of this would take up too much time I shall omit it Having already sufficiently evinced that nothing is more uncertain than to know what are those Decrees of the Church which may be securely believed and consequently that Faith cannot be founded on them CHAP. VI. That it is uncertain what is that part of the Vniversal Church to which active Infallibility belongs And First that it doth not appear whether it be in the Pope IF we should after all this grant the knowledg of the Churches Infallibility and of her Infallible Decrees not to be impossible this would contribute nothing to the establishing our Faith unless it were likewise known what is that Supream Tribunal whose Decrees are to be obey'd For if this were uncertain saith Arriaga 1 Si enim incertum hoc esset quicquid de judice controversiarum in Ecclesiâ ut certum de fidecreditur esset planè ridiculum Arr. de Fide Disp 7. Sect. 8. whatsoever is believed as of Faith concerning a Judge of Controversies in the Church would be ridiculous Now this thing is really uncertain as I shall prove There are three opinions concerning it among our Adversaries For this Supream and Infallible power is by most assigned to the Pope alone by almost all the French and some few more to a Council alone and lastly to Pope and Council together by some very few so few that I could never find one that expresly asserted this opinion and but two or three that obscurely insinuate it I begin with the Pope and affirm that unless his Infallibility be of Faith his Decrees cannot be the foundation of Faith. No other certainty will here suffice for as for Moral and Self evident here is not the least shadow of them and that of Theological Conclusions I before excluded So that certainty of Faith is necessary This our Adversaries confess at least those of the first opinion Caspensis 2 Nisi fide divinâ credamns ejusmodi Pontifices esse successores Petri nihil est quod possumus fide divina credere Casp de fide disp 2. Sect. 6. writeth that unless we believe by Divine Faith such Popes to be the Successors of Peter there is nothing we can believe with Divine Faith. Martinonus 3 Pontifex non posset nos obligare ad credendum de jide id quod definit ut dictum a Deo nisi de fide esset ipsum habere potestatem definiendi infalibilem assistentiam Sp. S. Mart. de fide disp 9. Sect. 6. that the Pope could not oblige us to believe as of Faith what he defineth to be revealed by God unless it were of Faith that he hath the power of defining and infallible assistance of the Holy Ghost Rhodius 4 Si non esset de fide quòd Papa sit infallibilis ergo non est de fide quôd non fallatur Rhod. de fide quaest 3. Sect. 1. §. 3. that unless the infallibility of the Pope were of Faith it would not be of Faith that he is not actually mistaken Is it therefore of Faith that the Pope is infallible So indeed some of them maintain as Suarez Castrus Palaus Lud. Abelly Ja. Vernautius Fr. Macedo Theoph. Raynaudus Amicus Caspensis Martinonus Rhodius and others Yea Abelly 5 Veritatem religionis fundamentalem articulum fidei ex praecipuis unum cui innitantur caeteri omnes Abelly apud Estrix Diat ass 47. affirms that it is a fundamental truth of Religion a Prime Article of Faith upon which the rest depend and the contrary opipinion a capital heresie Vernautius 6 Neminem posse sine crimine hereseos doctrinam tenere contrariam Pontificis fidei omnibus fidelibus propositae Vern apud eundem concludeth that none without the crime of heresie can hold an opinion contrary to the belief of the Pope proposed to all the faithful Macedo 7 Censeo qui absolutè negat insallibilem esse Papam errare haud dubiè in fide si in errore obstinatus perseveret haereticum fore Mac. ibidem thinks the denial of it to be an undoubted error in Faith and if obstinately persisted in heresie Lastly Raynaudus 8 Qui Pontifici eam infallibilitatem abrogant a plerisque sin minus ab omnibus trans Alpes Pyrenaeos habentur haeretici saltem materialiter Rayn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 punct 5. tells us the deniers are by many if not by all beyond the Alpes and Pyrenaeans accounted hereticks at least materially When he saith materially he meaneth in the Language of the Schoolmen that the opinion of these Deniers is accounted in it self heretical and wants only obstinacy in the defenders to make it downright and formal Heresie Now this obstinacy is judged of partly by the external Proposition of the Truth opposed to Heresie partly by the internal disposition of mind Now because the latter is known to God alone and all truths are not sufficiently proposed to all therefore those of whom Raynaudus speaks do wisely in laying down that limitation of material Heresie But this Salvo will not serve the Learned disbelievers of the Papal infallibility For since it is as clearly revealed to them as it is to the believers of it Either those are rank Hereticks whom a sufficient Proposition will not convince or these fools who assent to an opinion insufficiently proposed Thus indeed these Writers But others are of a contrary opinion as Bellarmine Vasquez Tannerus Duval the Valemburgii Gab. Boyvin and others who strenuously maintain the Infallibility of the Pope and yet deny it to be of Faith. Duval 9 Duval de potest Pont. part 2. quaest 1. produceth three weighty reasons 1. For that it hath been no where defined 2. That the opposite Doctors as Alliacensis Gerson c. Were never condemned 3. In that the Scripture
differently as we shall see hereafter Secondly In that whether these Conditions be present they would have judged from the subsequent confirmation of the Pope which the Sorbonists will by no means allow but require the knowledge of it to be had some other way Hence many Councils which the Pope hath pronounced to be both lawful and Oecumenical the Sorbonists will not acknowledge either for lawful or Oecumenical as that of Lyons under Innocent IV. that of Florence and the Lateran under Leo X. others which the Sorbonists admit and the Monarchists reject as those of Pisa Constance at least as to the first Sessions and Basil So Bellarmin rejecting some antient Councils as those of Sirmium Ariminum Milan and the second of Ephesus on pretence that they were not approved by the Pope is said by Richerius c Richer apol pro Gers axiom 22. to trisle in assigning for the cause that which is not such Since as he affirms these Councils were not rejected because not approved by the Pope but because wanting the requisite Liberty Not to say that the Sorbonists reject some Councils meerly because the Pope was present oppressing and over-awing their Liberty It is manifest therefore that the consent of our Adversaries about the Infallibility of Councils confirmed by the Pope consists only in words and is not real and that by a General Council the Sorbonists understand one thing the Monarchists another The thing it self therefore cannot be of Faith since by the received Doctrine of that Church nothing can be so but what is unanimously acknowledged and taught by Catholick Divines But to make the whole matter more evident I will demonstrate two things First That this appears not to be of Faith from other Arguments beside the dissent of the Sorbonists and Monarchists Secondly That although it were certain in general there are some Infallible Councils yet it can never be known that any particular Council is so This was demonstrated above although under other terms when we proved that the active Infallibility of the Church is not of Faith and what I just now produced confirms it not a little To which may be added That the Infallibility of Pope and Council together cannot be of Faith because the Infallibility of neither separately is so For I would ask why that alone should be of Faith whether because that only is true or that alone revealed or that only known to be revealed Not the first for then the whole Latin Church would have erred For there is not at least not known to be any who do not attribute Infallibility either to the Pope alone or a Council alone Not the second For then the same inconvenience would follow since there are none but what hold the Infallibility of one of the two to have been revealed Not the third For who can ever imagine that God would give Infallibility to Pope or Council and yet not reveal it so clearly as that it might be believed with Divine Faith. For he can have given it for no other end than that it might be to Christians the Rule of Believing which it cannot be as we before proved unless it be it self of Faith. To this may perhaps be opposed that the Infallibility of Pope or Council separately wants not Divine Revelation but only the Definition of the Church proposing it But if so then the so much boasted of Wisdom and Assistance of the Holy Ghost must be wanting in the Church which would not make this Revelation by her Definition to be of Faith and thereby have left to the faithful no other living Rule of Faith than the Pope and Counsel consenting together which for the known difficulties of calling General Councils cannot be perhaps had and applied once in an Age whereas the Infallibility of the Pope if defined to be of Faith would be an apt and easie Rule ready to be consulted upon all occasions But in truth this Infallibility of Pope and Council united is no where expresly revealed by God or openly defined by the Church For many places of Scripture and Decrees of Councils are indeed alledged for the Infallibility of each separately but not one for that of both conjunctly None certainly will deny this if the Opinion of Albertus Pighius and Fr. à Victoria be true Of whom the first by the confession of Bellarmin d Bell. de concil lib. 1 cap. 3. thought the institution of Councils plainly human and found out by Natural reason the second e Nihil aliud posset totum Concilium quod non possent Patres per se singuli secundum suam potestatem unde haec potestas non est in Concilio immediatè jure divino sed ex voluntate Praelatorum Vict. Relect. 2. de potest Eccl. Sect. 1. hath these words A whole Council can do nothing which each Bishop might not by his own power do of himself whence this power is not in the Council immediately by Divine Right but by the will of the Bishops That this opinion is at least probable must be confessed For no mention of General Councils is to be found in Scripture none in the Ecclesiastical Writers of the three first Ages to whom they were wholly unknown If this opinion should be true that so much Infallibility would vanish into smoak For who could assure us that God had annexed so great a priviledge to an humane Institution at least it could never be of Faith because wanting Divine revelation I know this opinion is rejected by Bellarmine but so softly that he doth not explode it as absurd and intolerable nor say the contrary is of Faith but only more probable From whence I argue That if the Divine institution of Councils be only more probable then their humane institution is probable at least neither opinion exceedeth probability and so neither can be of Faith. CHAP. XII That there was never any Councils Oecumenical THus have we proved the existence of infallible Councils to be uncertain But grant it certain and undoubted This will be yet to be inquired what those Councils are without the knowledge of which the certainty of the former will be wholly vain Yet is this thing impossible to be known For let us survey the conditions which our Adversaries require The first is that the Council be truly Oecumenical This indeed is not much insisted upon by the Monarchists who maintain any Council great or small confirmed by the Pope to be infallible and so make no difference between particular and general Councils For according to their opinion without the approbation of the Pope both are alike fallible with it both alike infallible Whence Gr. à Valentia a Nullum Concilium infallibilem authoritatem definiendi per se habet seclusa Romani Pontisicis authoritate II. Accedente Rom. Pont. confirmatione Concilium quodvis est infallibile Val. com 3. disp 1. quaest 1. punct 7. §. 45. proposeth his judgment in these two assertions I. No Council hath of it self infallible authority
be endured in matters of Faith and eternal Salvation For suppose the Delegates vote Heresie shall the Delegators be bound to confirm their Suffrages The second way of delegating destroys the liberty of the Council For the present Bishops would by this means be no Judges of the Controversies proposed and all disputation or examination of the Question in hand would be wholly vain The first way therefore of Representation is useless Let us now consider the second I affirm that the absent Bishops cannot be said to have committed their suffrages to the present For first Although this may with some colour be said of those which have been lawfully and sufficiently summoned yet it cannot be applied to them who either are not summoned at all or not by him who hath the lawful Authority to do it Who this is is yet undetermined Besides what if the absent Bishops shall openly protest they will not be obliged by what the others shall decree as the French did at Trent Shall they be also supposed to have tacitely assented But to shew the vanity of this pretence more clearly I will prove that tacit delegation which in other cases may be allowed to have here no place First it doth not appear what is the peculiar Office to be performed by the Bishops in a Council Holden makes them only Witnesses of revealed Truths Others rather think them to be Judges But Judges they cannot be unless also Witnesses For how shall they define an Opinion to have been revealed or not unless they know it to be so and be Witnesses of the Revelation or at least Tradition Yet 't is certain that Proxies in witnessing are not wont to be allowed or if they be that a tacit delegation will not suffice I add if it were a matter of more external Discipline or what concerns only the Bishops themselves those who absent themselves might perhaps be supposed to quit their right and submit themselves to the judgment of the rest which meet in the Council But to imagine such a thing in a matter of Faith and Truth is most absurd Shall those Bishops who might have born Witness to the Truth be thought to have forfeited or deserted their right only because either voluntarily or by force they were absent from the Council If this were admitted errour would soon triumph over Truth and Faith over Heresie For our Adversaries confess and Experience hath often proved That the major part of Bishops in a Council may favour Heresie For suppose the heretical Bishops nearer to the place of the Council or supported by the favour of the secular Prince or mightily zealous in the propagation of their Errour all which advantages Arianisme formerly enjoyed in the East If to these be added the right of representing absent Bishops they may establish Heresie in the Church for ever and oblige the absent Bishops for a punishment of their negligence to subscribe to erroneous Definitions of Faith. Lastly If the absent Bishops tacitely delegate their suffrages to the present there is no number of Bishops so small which may not constitute a General Council nay although they be all of one Province provided the Summons were directed to all the Provinces as being interpretatively invested with the Authority of all the absent Bishops Which yet is not allowed by our Adversaries and Bellarmine k Vt saltem ex majori parte Christianarum Provinciarum aliqui adveniant Bell. de Concil lib. 1. cap. 17. himself requires as the fourth condition of a General Council that some Bishops come from at least the greatest part of the Provinces of Christendom Let the Reader now judge how that can stand which Richerius l Maximè propriè perfectissimè Rich. Apol. axiom 21. so positively affirms That an Oecumenical Council represents the whole Church most properly and perfectly On the contrary what I have already offered proves that the Church is not at all much less most perfectly represented thereby CHAP. XIII That although there were Oecumenical Councils it would be always uncertain which they were THAT there is no truly Oecumenical Councils I have proved in the precedent Chapter But grant there is We shall gain but little unless we undoubtedly know which they are that deserve that Name For the Papists will not have their Faith rely upon a Council indefinitely but upon such or such a Council as for Example upon that of Constance or Trent But their Faith cannot rely on these unless they were certain they were Oecumenical which that they can never be I shall prove in this Chapter I might perhaps supersede this labour as being already performed by Learned Men even of the Church of Rome Launoy a Laun. Epist part 8. ad Ames and the Author b de lib. c. lib. 5. cap. 2. of the Treatise of the Liberties of the Gallican Church although with a different intention For the first seems to have undertaken it only for the love of Truth the second that he might shew the necessity of depending wholly and absolutely upon the Pope But because both of them have omitted many things it will not be perhaps unuseful to add mine to their Observations First therefore The difficulty of knowing Oecumenical Councils appears from the discord of Authors in numbring them Bellarmine reckons 32 which distributing into 4 Classes he makes 18 of them to have been approved 7 condemned 6 partly approved and partly condemned and 1 the Pisan neither manifestly approved nor manifestly condemned Bosius c Bos de signis Eccl. lib. 5. cap. 8. numbers 18 expresly denying the rest to have been General Bannes d Ban. Catal. Concil praemisso Tom. 3. in Thom. 15 or at most 17. But all omit that of Siena although acknowledged to have been General by the Council of Basil e Concil Basil in quâdam resp datâ 3. Id. Maii 1436. Again of those numbred by Bellarmin some are by other Writers expunged out of the List Let us view them in order After the 1. Nicene Council of whose Universality none doubts comes that of Sardica which is thought to be General by Bellarmin Baronius Perron Lupus Natalis Alex. Maimbourg denied by the Africans Photius and Auxilius f Apud Lupum Diss de Concil Sardic among the Ancients by Richerius g Rich. de Concil lib. 1. cap. 3. and Peter de Marca h Marca de Concord lib. 7. cap. 3. among the Moderns The first Constantinopolitan Council Natalis i Orientalis duntaxat Ecclesiae Concilium istud fuit nec Oecumenicum nisi ex post facto quatenus c. Nat. §. 4. part 1. p. 236. affirms to have been only a Synod of the Eastern Church and Oecumenical only ex post facto inasmuch as the Western Church in the Roman Synod under Pope Damasus approved it Yet in the year after the Council the Eastern Bishops meeting at Constantinople and writing to the Roman Synod call their former Council Oecumenical which Valesius k Val.
Synod Popes therefore as well as Councils may be drawn to decree against their Consciences No where is to be found invincible Constancy no where the desired Certainty CHAP. XVI That it cannot be known whether the Intention of the Fathers of the Council be right AS Lawfulness and Liberty are necessary to the constitution of an Infallible Council so is a right proceeding in it when constituted This consists in three things a good Intention an accurate Examination of the Question to be defined and a Canonical Conclusion Every one of these beget new scruples and perplexities of which in their Order First therefore it is required that the Bishops laying aside all Worldly Interests seek only the finding out of Truth the Glory of God and Edification of the Church For they cannot define Truth unless they know it Know it they cannot but either wholly by their own Sagacity and Industry or by the Assistance and Illumination of the Holy Ghost The first way must be and is acknowledged to be fallible by our Adversaries who therefore fly to the second and impute all the certainty of Conciliar definitions to the direction of the Holy Ghost Hence the Mass of the Holy Ghost and the Hymn Veni Creator Spiritus is wont to precede every Session of Councils and this Title presixed to their Decrees The Holy Vniversal Synod Lawfully Assembled in the Holy Ghost and oftentimes that other It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us which supposeth the Council to be directed and assisted by the Holy Ghost But can we imagine that Holy Spirit illuminates their Minds whose Hearts he doth not sanctifie and inflame with love of Truth and zeal of Divine Glory He inspireth not Souls defiled with Sin and addicted to worldly Considerations So the Author of the Book of Wisdom 1 Sap. I. 4 5. For into a malicious Sould Wisdom shall not enter nor dwell in the Body that is subject unto sin For the Holy Spirit of Discipline will flee Deceit and remove from Thoughts that are without Vnderstanding and will not abide when unrighteousness cometh in Our Saviour promiseth the knowledge of his Truth only to those who by Piety and the Love of Heavenly things have sitted their Minds for the reception of it So he tells the believing Jews 2 John VIII 31 32. If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free And in another place 3 John XIV 21. He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self to him The like saith David 4 Psal XXV The meek will he guide in judgment and the meek will he teach his way And a little after The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant And St. Paul speaking of them that received not the love of Truth that they might be saved saith 5 2 Thef II. 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lye And in another place 6 1 Tim. I. 19. asserteth that some having put away a good Conscience made shipwrack in the Faith. These places cannot be eluded by saying they speak of a Practical and not a Speculative Knowledge of the Truth For besides that this can by no means be apply'd to the two last places I cannot see with what appearance of reason God can be said to promise Knowledge of Truth to those that love him fear him and to the meek who by being such must be supposed to have had it before A Theoretical therefore or more clear and distinct knowledge of the Truth is to be understood to be here promised to Vertuous and sincerely Pious Persons Whence it cannot be supposed the same by the ordinary Law of Divine Government is granted to prophane and wicked Bishops in a Council if there be any such as none denieth such may be This St. Chrysostom asserts when upon those words Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them he saith 7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Matth. Homil. 60. What then are not two or three gathered together in his name Yes but very rarely For he doth not only mention a Meeting a Synod or require that alone but together with that requireth others Vertues and that with great exactness and in the first place Nicholas de Clemangis 8 Illos quomodo audiat aut visitet aut illustret qui sibi adversantur illumque cum in se nâ—n possint in â—liis extinguere nituntur qui pro igne charitatis ardore sunt ambitionis indammati Clem. in disp cum Schol. par proveth the same thing largely and accurately He affirms the first four Councils were for no other reason had in so great Honour than because they consisted of holy and pious Men and denieth that wicked Men are directed by the Holy Ghost For how should he hear visit or illustrate them who resist him and endeavour to extinguish him in others when they cannot in themselves who instead of the fire of Charity are enflamed with the heat of Ambition He observeth also That the Fathers of Ancient Councils used to begin their Sessions with Fastings Prayers and Tears Which would have been unnecessary saith he if they had been certain they could not err nor be deceived in their Vndertakings nor be defrauded of their desire for want of due preparation and disposition The Presidents of the Council of Trent were perswaded of the truth of this For in the beginning of the Council they penned an Admonition which they commanded frequently to be read wherein they exhorted the Fathers to be touched with a true and lively sense of the Sins that occasioned so many Evils 9 Nisi haec bene cognita perspecta fuerint frustra intramus in concilium frustra invocamus Spiritum Sanctum c. Haec sunt quae contristant repellunt quem invocaâ—imus Sp. S. sine quo nihil omnino facere poterimus quod ad bonum pacem Ecclesiae cedat that otherwise in vain was the Council celebrated in vain the Holy Ghost invocated For that he how greatly soever intreated would not be present That Repentance and Reformation of Life was absolutely necessary to obtain the assistance of that Holy Spirit who had formerly refused to give any Answer to the Jews consulting him in the Prophet Ezekiel because of their Abominations that they must necessarily abstain from those things which are wont to corrupt the love of Truth and deprave the Judgment as all Passions and perturbations of the Mind Anger Hatred Favour or the like For these are the things which grieve and drive away the Holy Ghost whom we have invoked without whom we can do nothing that may tend to the good and peace of the Church Hence may be noted the shameless folly of
For among Catholicks some affirm it because there is no promise found of the contrary Others deny it because the whole Church would be otherwise in great danger of error To me neither seemeth sufficiently certain Yet it is probable that it becomes the Providence of Christ not to permit it In these words two things may be observed First That Suarez speaks of the Infallibility of Bishops not in believing but in teaching For he saith this in answer to an Objection That if all the Bishops could err then the other part of the Church the Laity might also err because they ordinarily follow the Doctrine of their Pastors and are bound to do it Now the People are bound to follow their Pastors not in what they think but in what they teach This also appears from the reason why some denied the consent of all Bishops in any error to be possible because if that should happen the whole Church would be brought into great danger of error But if Bishops should teach rightly although they thought erroneously there would be thence no danger of Error to the rest of the Faithful Secondly Of this Infallibility of Bishops in what they teach unanimously he saith three things 1. That some Catholicks deny it 2. That neither part seems certain to him 3. That it is probable All which singly prove That he thought it not to be of Faith. But who can imagine so great a Doctor could be ignorant of what was of Faith Theoph. Raynaudus differed not much from the Opinion of Suarez That the visible Head saith he 3 Vt seposito capite visibili membra omnia possint infici aliquo errore materiali vix potest contingere verisimillimum est Deo semper cordi futurum ne id accidat Si tamen accideret incont aminato capite nibil decederet de perpetuitate verae fidei in Ecclesiâ Rayn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 punct 5. being laid aside all the Members should be infected with any material error could scarce happen and it is most probable God will take care it should not Yet if it should happen the Head being uninfected the perpetuity of true Faith in the Church would suffer no loss Where he determines not absolutely this cannot happen but looks upon the contrary only as most probable and denieth the Infallibility of the whole Church to depend thereon which is so much urged by the maintainers of the contrary Opinion Rhodius speaks more plainly who affirms 4 Mortuo pontifice non est in Ecclesiâ ulla infallibilis authoritas ad condenda fidei Decreta Nullam e◠tempore infallibilitatem actualem proximam habet Ecclesia Rhod. de fide qu. 2. Sect. 5. §. 5. That the Pope being dead the Church hath no Infallible Authority to make Decrees of Faith as having no actual and immediate Infallibility at that time Hence is manifest that we want little of a Confession from our Adversaries that the Infallibility of the Governours of the Church is not of Faith. And indeed it cannot be For no Foundation of such a Faith is to be found Not Scripture or Tradition For not to say that these to make any Article become of Faith ought according to our Adversaries most evidently to contain it which evidence even they will not deny to be here wanting It would be most absurd that Papists should believe this Infallibility of the Pastors of the Church for the Authority of Scripture and Tradition when they believe neither of these but for the Authority of the Pastors Take away their Testimony and they will deny it to be known whether Scripture or Tradition be the word of God or what is the sence of either The same may be said of the Decrees of the Church Representative For besides that no such express Decree of it can be produced the Infallibility of the Representative Church it self is believed by every single Papist only because they hear it taught by their Pastors As for the belief of the Universal Church that ought not be produced For that is the thing now inquired why the Universal Church believeth so Will our Adversaries therefore say they believe their Pastors cannot err in teaching unanimously what is of Faith because they so teach themselves This they must recurr to for they have no other reason left of believing so Yet nothing can be more absurd For first it is the constant Opinion of all Mankind and a received Law among all Nations that none should be Witness or Judge in his own Cause Secondly As we believe not any Man to be true and honest till we be assured of his veracity and honesty from some other Testimony than his own So it would be the highest imprudence to esteem those Infallible who challenge that privilege to themselves until their Infallibility be known to us from some other Argument than their own Testimony Certainly our Adversaries will not permit even the Scripture which is the word of God and hath so many illustrious Characters of a Divine Original to be believed for its own Testimony and Christ openly professed that if he bore Witness of himself his Witness was not credible Why then shall that be attributed to the Governours of the Church which Christ denied to himself and our Adversaries deny to the Word of God Thirdly The Question will return whence the Pastors of the Church know that they cannot err For they will not say they know it because the Faithful believe it since as Hallier 5 Non ideo vera docent Pastores quia vera credunt Auditores sed ideo vera credunt Auditores quia vera docentibus assentiuntur F. Hallier de Hierarch l. 4. c. 2. well saith The Pastors do not therefore teach truly because the Auditors believe truly but the Auditors believe truly because they assent to the Pastors teaching truly They cannot say that they know it from Scripture or Tradition For the truth of these without the Authority of the Church is no more known to learned than to unlearned persons Think not saith Bagotius 6 Cave existimes unumquenquam etiam Theologum Doctissimum posse quicquam eredere sine authoritate Ecclesiae independenter ab eâ Bagot Instit Theol. l. 4. c. 1. §. 1. that any one even the most learned Divine can believe any thing without the Authority of the Church and independently from it And Hosius 7 Hos cont Brent goeth so far that he maintains it to be the best way that even the most learned Men should recurr to implicit Faith and believe only in general as the Church believeth Shall the Pastors therefore believe that they cannot err for their own Testimony This is the natural consequence of our Adversaries Doctrine and that most absurd For first there is none of the Pastors which believeth so because he teacheth so but all teach so because all believe so Again The Question will recurr upon what Foundation do they teach so Here either nothing or only