Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A34077
|
The plausible arguments of a Romish priest answered by an English Protestant seasonable and useful for all Protestant families.
|
Comber, Thomas, 1645-1699.
|
1686
(1686)
|
Wing C5481; ESTC R16555
|
28,548
|
65
|
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
1. 'T is evident it hugely derogates from Gods Mercy and Christs Merits to teach Men That after all Gods Promises to justify us freely by his Grace Rom. iii. 24. And after Christs blotting out the Hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us Coloss ii 14. they must still smart so long and so severely and are left to pay so great a part of it themselves Po. You are mistaken again for we hold that because of the Communion of Saints one man may satisfy for another and that the Alms and Prayers of the Living and especially of Holy Fryers and Nuns will avail for the delivering the Dead out of Purgatory Prot. You may hold what you please but Scripture tells us Every one shall bear his own burden Galat. vi 5. and that no Man can redeem his Brother nor make agreement to God for him because it cost more to redeem their Souls so that he must let that alone for ever Psal xlix 7 8. And that all the good Works of the best Men are little enough for themselves Math. xxv 9. So that we wonder the wiser Lay-men will be deluded by a Doctrin which is so ill proved and tends so Apparently to make the People put off their Repentance till their Death and to give the Monks an opportunity to draw Legacies from the dying and large Gifts from their living Friends that is to make the Laity Wicked and the Clergy Rich and to hazard the Salvation of both Po. We do not think the Money ill bestowed which we give to our Priests and Fryers whose Prayers are more pure and prevalent than those of your Clergy because they are under those three Holy Vows of Chastity Poverty and Obedience Prot. Vows without observing them are but a snare and an aggravation of the Sin when they are broken as two of these most notoriously are by your Priests and Religious Orders who are infamous in all Countries for those Artifices they use to get Wealth and for their unnatural and scandalous Lust and your Church is justly taxed with all the infamous Consequences of the Vow of Chastity because she imposes it on young Persons before they know their own strength and connives at Fornication in them rather than she will allow them to Marry that the Church may be their Heir and that they may have less dependance on Kings and States as being single Persons Po. You would fain make this a piece of Policy whereas it is Religion for S. Paul declares single persons are fittest to wait upon the Lord without distraction 1 Cor. vii 35. and on that account it is most proper for the Religious and Priests Prot. The Apostle advises all Christians and not Priests only to continue single if they were so as best for those Times of Persecution and provided they found they could live Chastly Unmarried otherwise to avoid Fornication he Commands them even then to Marry 1 Cor. vii 2. Whereas you forbid it to all your Religious in all Times and all Cases Besides he laid no Vow upon them Ver. 35. Nor was he himself under any Vow but was free to Marry if he had pleased 1 Cor. ix 5. And he allows a Bishop to be the Husband of one Wife 1. Tim. iii. 2. and supposes Deacons then had Wives Ver. 11. Nor doth he count Marriage impurity in any but affirms It is honourable in all and the Bed Undefiled Hebr. xiii 4. he excepts not the Clergy so that we doubt not our Married Clergy's Prayers who live soberly according to Gods Ordinance are more pure and prevalent than yours most of which live in Perjury burning Desires and Fornication Po. But your Priests have not power by their Prayers to cast out Evil Spirits as ours have which shews that Ours not Yours are the true Successors of the Apostles to whom Christ gave power over Unclean Spirits Mark xvi 17. Prot. Christ gave his Apostles power then to drink Poyson and take up Serpents without harm as also afterwards to Speak with Tongues Heal the Sick by a Touch and Raise the Dead yet your Priests dare not pretend to any of these Miracles which are all ceased long since 1 Cor. xii 8. Only they keep up the Pretence to Cast out Evil Spirits because that is more easily counterfeited than any of the rest And if this alone would serve 't is likely Conjurers might prove themselves the Apostles Successors as well as your Priests for they can Cast out Evil Spirits better than the Romish Priests who as may be noted do Cast out the Devil as often out of the same Party in divers places as there is occasion to make a Proselyte or work upon the Superstitious Now this must be done either by Compact with the Devil or the Party pretended to be Possessed and either way it is little to their Honour Besides I have known a good Physician by Natural Means Cure those whom these Priests pretended were Possessed which shews they often cast the Devil out when he was never in Po. Well I cannot but pity your Obstinacy and pray for you who wilfully shut your Eyes against the plainest Arguments for Catholic Truth Prot. There is more Reason for me to pity and pray for you who in all these Points do contradict Holy Scripture which cannot deceive us and believe false and feigned Traditions invented by designing Men for Evil ends and for my part I count it a wise Resolution and no Obstinacy to give credit to God rather than Men. Po. You flatter your self with Scripture taken in your own sense but you did own the Catholic Church was the best Interpreter of Scripture and I assure you the Holy Fathers who in all Ages have delivered down to us the Sense of the Catholic Church agree exactly with us in all these Opinions and Practices which you Protestants reject and can you think all these holy Ancient Doctors were deceived and that a few obscure Modern Reformers are in the right Prot. Truly I have but little skill in these Writings of the Fathers but I have heard our Clergy who are as well read in them as any of you declare That all these Fathers condemn your Opinions as much as Holy Scripture doth and that these Opinions and Practices were late Inventions of your Church and were set up in Times of Ignorance and Superstition meerly to gain Power and Wealth by them And though I am not able to make this out I promise you whenever you please to bring one of our Churchmen that shall prove what I say In the mean time because the Scripture was before the Fathers I am well satisfied that mine is the oldest and the best Religion and am resolved therefore by Gods Grace never to forsake it and if you lov'd your own Soul above your Worldly Interest you would embrace it also which I heartily pray you may and so bid you Farewell Books newly Published Printed for Robert Clavell at the Peacock in St. Pauls Church-Yard 1686. THE