presumption thou hast cut off thy self from the body of Christ which is his Church In those days he had no such power How he since came by it is laid open to your and every bodies eyes by Archbishop Lawd § 25. n. 12. 27. But why for the last 1100 years Is it because ye dare not trust to the former ages Wherein we finde (n) Lira in S. Mat. 16. Zepherinus to be a Montanist Marcellinus an Idolater Liberius an Arian and Vigilius an Eutychian All Bishops of Rome but no Catholicks Needs therefore in their times must the Catholick Church be distinct from the Church of Rome Or is it because for tryall of the truth of Religion I appealed to the 500. years next after our Saviour I professe I did and doe so because it is common in these dayes even with those that conscientiously pretend to truth (o) Tanta est quorundam errandi libido ut contenti non sint traditâ semel acceptâ antiquitus credendi regulâ sâ—d nova ac nova in diem quaerant semperque aliquid gestiant religioni addere mutare detrahere Vinc. Lirin c. 26. not to be content with the rule of faith which was once delivered to the Saints and received from them by the Primitive Church and so transmitted to posterity But we have an itching after new inventions and our glory it is either to adde or alter or pare off something from Religion These courses I abhorre with a perfect hatred and am taught to doe so by Tertullian and Vincent Lirinensis Yea some of your owne Bishops have resolved that (p) Ib. c. 9. Religion admits of no other course but this ut omnia qua fide a Patribus suscepta forent eadem fide filiis consignarentur that all things be preserved for the children with the same faith wherewith they were received from the primitive Fathers And (q) Nosque Religionem non quâ vellemus ducere sed potius quâ illa duceret sequi oportere Ib. we must not lead Religion whither we please but rather we must follow whither that leads This was the resolution of Stephen Bishop of Rome an holy and prudent man as Vincentius termes him (r) Ib. c. 43. Xistus likewise and Celestinus are of the same minde they will endure no innovations no additions to Antiquity Oh that Rome had always kept close to this rule then should we have had no such ruptures in the Church as we now complain of and bewaile 28. And reason good we have to appeal to Antiquity which is not partiall towards you or us but indifferent to both (s) Ib. c. 8. She never held it meet to maintain the faction or conspiracy of any one Province but (t) Apud ipsam Ecclesiae vetustatem non partis alicujus sed universitatis ab iis suscepta est defensio Ib. she stood up in defence of the whole Church and not for any part thereof And he can be no good Christian that does otherwise St. Cyprian is altogether for this course (u) Cypr. Pomp. if any thing be amisse he sends us to the spring head to finde out the fault The like counsell is given by Ireneus (x) Iren. l. 5. c. 4. If difference arise about any small question nonne oporteret in antiquissimus recurrere Ecclesias in quibus Apostoli conversati sunt ab iis de praesenti quaestione sumere quod certum quod liquidum est ought we not to have recourse to the most ancient Churches not to that in being wherein the Apostles themselves conversed and from those to take that which is certain and clear about the present question Observe from thence we shall have that which is certain Why then shall we content our selves with uncertainties That therefore the third Generall Councell might deal clearly and upon sure grounds with Nestorius (y) Vincent Ligrin c. 42. it took this very course holding it to be Catholicissimum foelicissimum atque optimum factu most Catholick most happy and meetest to be done to take into consideration the sentences of those holy Fathers that were before them Those they took to be their Masters their Counsellors Witnesses and Judges Their doctrine they held close to their counsel they followed to their testimony they gave credit to their judgment they submitted and answerably thereto passed sentence upon the difference then in agitation Blame not us then if we appeal to the Fathers and (z) Vt rite atque solenniter ex eorum consensu atque docreto antiqui dogmatis Religio confirmaretur prophanae novitatis blasphemia condemnaretur Ib. by their unanimous writings judge of Religion that so we may keep to the old Rules and avoyd the blasphemies of profane novelty This was the proper the onely way then known and is now readily to discern without prejudice presumption or partiality whether ye or we be in the right what is Orthodox and what not At this tribunall let us stand or fall 29. All this will hardly prevail with you For say you if this cannot be shewn it will necessarily follow those were the Catholick Church or else the Catholick Church was not alway visible Sir if you can distinguish between man in specie and Socrâ—â—â—s you may quickly distinguish between the Catholick Church and Church of Rome For as man is substantially predicated of many differing in number so is the Church Though St. Peter be a man yet is he not the onely man Judas is a man as much as he they both communicate in the same essence in the same definition the one is as much a reasonable creature as the other And it will not excuse the Church of Rome from being erronious because it is called a Church and hath the same definition with other Churches Good and bad Orthodox and Erronious come not into the definition The onely definition or description of the Catholick Church that I find in Scripture is this (a) 1 Tim. 3.15 The Church is the pillar and ground of truth From whence I argue thus That Church which hath erred is not the pillar and ground of truth But the Church of Rome hath erred Ergo The Church of Rome is not the pillar and ground of truth The Major is undenyable the Minor I prove thus That Church which hath professed Montanisme Arianisme Eutychianisme hath erred But the Church of Rome hath professed all these Ergo The Church of Rome hath erred The Major is clear and the Minor is sufficiently proved § 18.27 It follows therefore necessarily that the Church of Rome neither was nor is the Catholick Church And yet the Catholick Church was then visible when the Church of Rome fell from the Catholick faith and ceased to be a Church (b) Euseb hist l. 5. c. 15. Montanus and his Enthusiasmes were censured and condemned by the Bishops of Asia in divers Synods In those dayes when Arianisme prevailed at Rome the Catholick Church was visible (c) Theodoret
die so 19. But I know what you drive at You were pleased to ask where our Church was before the Reformation It was answer'd in the Catholick Next you inquired whether the Catholick were alwayes visible The reply was affirmative both here and in other places But before the Reformation we communicated with Rome and since we have not That 's no fault of ours yee will no suffer us to communicate with you unlesse we communicate with your errors And yet we shall maugre Satan communicate with the Catholick Church while (u) Ro. 15.6 with one mind and one mouth we glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to this the Nicene and the Apostles Creed While we pray for the Church Universall and for all Bishops Pastors and Curates thereof While we pray for all Gods people for all that have erred and are deceived even for our enemies persecutors and slanderers While we continue the Apostolick government and while we not onely receive but administer the Sacraments according to Christs holy Ordinance we shall be in the communion of the Catholick Church 20. Truth it is as that judicious Bishop told Mr. Fisher (x) Archbishop Lawd § 21. n. 1. the cause of the Schisme is yours for yee thrust us from you because we called for Truth and redresse of abuses What was then to be done must we swallow untruths and wink at abuses that we may collogue and communicate with you It had not wont to be so every Province had wont to reform it selfe And so she did not transgresse the Faith or Canons of the Church Catholick the reformation was both legall and commendable We did so with our Provinces following therein the ancient Canons of the Church which assure us that (y) Concil Constantinop can 2. every Provinciall Synod is to order all things within the Province And for full satisfaction those Fathers of Constantinople justifie this Canon by the Decrees of the Nicene Councel Indeed sometimes (z) Ib. can 6. it may happen that the businesse will prove to be of such consequence and circumspection that a Provinciall Synod is not fit to determine it What is then to be done That very Canon says (a) Ib. in such a case we must not make our addresse to a Generall Councel but to a greater Synod of the Bishops of that Diocese called together for that purpose But we must observe that in the ancient both Civil and Ecclesiastical acceptation (b) Dixcesis multas sub se habet provincias Balsam in conc Chalced. Can. 9. a Diocese contains in it many Provinces This Councel we ought not to decline by molesting the Emperour or any secular Magistrates with complaints as our late Ministers have done This is not canonicall and the complaint is not to be admitted We are therefore to take notice that (c) Notit Imp. l. 2. c. 48. the three Britains were a Diocese of themselves and had a Praefectus Praetorio for Civil and a Primate for Ecclesiastical affaires (d) Cantuariae prima sedes Archiepiscopi habetur qui est totius Angliae Primas Patriarcha Guil. Malmesbur in Prologo l. 1. de Gest Pontif. Angl. p. 195. The Primate or Patriarch is the Archbishop of Canterbury So then our Reformation is not after any new or lately invented model it is according to the ancient course and canons of the Church and therefore justifiable If we had taken any other course in our Reformation we had done amisse For according to the Councel of Constantinople (e) Concil Constantinop can 6. we had run into an high contempt 1. by slighting all the Bishops of this Diocese 2. by injuring the Canons and 3. by subverting the Ecclesiasticall order and government 21. In submission to these Canons the Church did usually reform both in manners and faith by Diocesan or Provinciall Councels as is to be seen in the Code of the Vniversal Church in the African-Code in Balsamon and Zonaras in the Councels of Spain and in the Councels of England set forth by that pious and worthy Knight Sir Henry Spelman Much in this kind is readily presented to every eye by our learned Archbishop § 24. n. 4. Where you may see this course approved by your own learned men (f) Alb. Mag. in 1. Dist 11. A. 9. Albertus Magnus and that (g) Gerson de Gen. Concil Vnius obedien part 1. p. 222. famous Chancellour of Paris to be not onely lawfull but sometimes necessary Indeed to what purpose is it to justifie that to be (h) Perfecta Synodus illa est cui interest Metropolitanus Episcopus Cod. Eccles univers Can. 95. a full a perfect Synod wherein a Metropolitan is present if it may not upon just occasion amend what is amisse within her own precincts What is it then a perfect Synod for Otherwise Israel must not have reformed without Judah nor Judah without Israel Neither must Laodicea have cast off her wicked courses unlesse the rest of the Churches in Asia would have joyned in the Reformation They that dare say this are wiser then God Almighty For he calls to every one of these in particular to repent and amend with in themselves what is faulty And though Timothy had failed of his duty at Ephesus it had been no excuse for Titus to wink at abuses and disorders in Crete (i) Hos 4.15 Though Israel transgresse yet let not Judah sinne 22. Hitherto my Propositions as you terme them from whence you inferre as a necessary consequence thus Then by your own saying The Inference the Catholick Church must be distinct from the Church of Rome and those in her communion It must be so just as a reasonable creature is distinct from Socrates the species from the individuum or particular person Socrates is a reasonable creature but not all not the onely reasonable creature every individual person is as much man as much a reasonable creature and hath as much of man in him as Socrates This will be the more easily discerned if we look upon St. Paul's comparison (k) 1 Cor. 12. who likens the Church to a body consisting of many members One member is not the body nor the body one member but many The body receives not life from the members but every member from the body The body can live without the hand or foot or eye indeed without all these but none of these can live when sever'd from the body The Catholick Church hath subsisted without the Church of Rome but the Church of Rome cannot subsist without the Catholick The Church did stand without Rome before Rome was a Church And the Church was visible in the time of Marcellinus Liberius and John 22. when Rome was no member thereof (l) Cypr. de unit Eccles Adulterari non potest Sponsa Christi though Rome defile her selfe the Spouse of Christ is not cannot be made an Harlot The tree is sound though the leaves fall and
sought the foot or hand are not blamed but the man because in time they were not looked to The reason is because not the hand or foot but the man hath both discretion and power to provide a remedy for every member that is amisse Thus is it with the Church This is enough to give any rationall Christian satisfaction that Rome is not the Catholick Church More I should not have written but that you charge me with certain Propositions which you presume may stand you in much stead to prove the contrary I shall shall therefore descend to the Propositions and your Inferences drawn from thence The first whereof is this as you are pleased to pen them You grant the Catholick Church to be always viz. from the Apostles time to this time The first Proposition visible 5. I doe so both in and from the Apostles time to this present day But I doe not say that it was always visible in one and the same place no not at Rome it selfe you think so well of It hath been more then once even in that very City under a bushel The Sun it self is so often under a cloud that it is not seen in these parts and yet visible it is in other places (n) Quomodo solis multi radii sedlumen unum Cypr. de Unit. Eccles The Church is likened to the Sun which hath many rayes and yet but one light That light is not always in the same place it removes with the Sun the beams may decay but the Sun it selfe and the light thereof cannot perish The Church hath fruitfully encreased far and wide into a multitude but how many of these have crumbled into nothing It is much like the Sea which loseth in one place and gains in another and yet continues the same Sea (o) Iâ— Adulterari non potest Sponsa Christi incorrupta est pudica the Spouse of Christ cannot be corrupted Corrupt our selves we may and depart from her integrity but we cannot rob her of her essence or integrity 6. The Church of God I say is always visible and yet not to every eye sometimes it is invisible not onely to ordinary eyes but even to the best of men (p) 3. Reg. 19.10 14. Elijah himself complained to the Lord that he even he onely was left alone to serve the Lord whereas all other in his esteem were become Idolaters no face of a Church left in all Israel But the Prophet was mistaken the Lord assures him that (q) Ib. v. 18. there were 7000 in Israel whose knees had never bowed to Baal And yet God tells him not where nor what their names A visible Church there was at that time though not visible to Elijah (r) 3. Reg. 18.13 Visible it was to Obadiah and to them that met in private Congregations as in times of persecution and with us at this day these knew one another And if that great Prophet could not discern the Church in his own days and countrey would you have me who am no such Prophet to point out where the Church was when the Western parts were over-run with Popish errors Though I be not able to shew where yet it is more then probable that there were in this very Island 7000 souls that were not tainted with those errors It is enough for us to prove them to be errors to be against Scripture and the received sense of the Ancient Church and to cleanse our selves from them 7. Certainly under the Law God was not without a Church in Judah Yet shew me he that can where the visible Church was when (s) 2 Chron. 12.1 Rehoboam forsook the Law of the Lord and all Israel with him When the Prophet complained that (t) 2 Chr. 15 3. for a long season Israel had been without the true God without a teaching Priest and without the Law When (u) Ib. c. 28.23 c. 29.6 7. Ahaz shut up the dores of the Temple and made Altars for false Gods in every corner of Jerusalem and in the Cities of Judah When (x) 4. Reg. 21.4 5. in the Courts of the Lords house Manasseh built Altars for all the host of heaven Had God at that time no visible Church think you or were those ignorant faithlesse idolatrous wretches the visible Church Neither of these can be needs therefore must God in those days have a visible Church though the Scripture expresseth not where nor who they were And can we expect that mans writings should be more exact then Gods records 8. But God made a promise to the Apostles that (y) S. Mat. 28.20 he would be with them alwayes and with their successors to the end of the world He did so and without question he made good this promise although he were neither with Liberius Honorius nor John 22. I have learned of Gregory Naz. to (z) Qui candem fidei doctrinam profitentur ejusdem quoque throni socius est Qui autem contrariam sententiam tuetur adversarius quoque in throno censeri debet Greg. Naz. Orat. 21. n. 7. distinguish between successors in place and successors in faith He will be with those that succeed in faith and function not with those that succeed in function onely and not in faith Let him sit in what throne he will he is an adversary to Christ if he be not a successor in the Orthodox faith He that succeeds St. Peter or any good Bishop and is of a contrary Religion (a) Ibid. he succeeds them just as a disease follows health as darknesse follows light and frenzie steps into the chair of wisdome 9. Boast not too much of this promise the like was made to the former Priesthood (b) Num. 25.13 To Phineas the Lord bequeathed the Covenant of an everlasting Priesthood that is to him and his seed as long as that law was to endure And yet we see that (c) 2 Chr. 15.3 for a long season Israel was without the true God without a teaching Priest and without the Law Where then was the Church where the Promise (d) 4. Reg. 16.10 c. Vrijah the High-Priest built that Altare Damascenum that abominable Altar according to the pattern of that at Damascus On that he offered and did many other things contrary to Gods law (e) 3. Reg. 1.7.25 Abiathar was a Traitour (f) 2 Mac. 4.8 Jason a Simoniack and a prophane wretch and (g) Ib. v. 25. c. Menelaus one of the veryest beasts that ever lived Where was then the Priesthood where the true Religion And yet we dare not say that God failed of his promise or wanted a visible true Church in those dayes But if it be inquired in whom and where it will be an hard matter for either or both of us to manifest Truth it is God will continue a Church though bad people and Priests abuse it He and onely he can discern and distinguish the wheat from the chaffe and (h) Apoc.
own men § 3. Thus that Church hath grievously erred and in more then one fundamentall And yet the Catholick hath been alwayes visible though oft-times invisible at Rome unlesse errors and heresies prove Catholick because professed at Rome 5. All this your Tutors reply not to nor hardly take notice of but have directed you to fall from your former desires upon new questions tempting me as the Pharisees did our Saviour but resolving to receive no answer Thus you put me to more trouble not with a mind to be satisfied but meerly to cavill and to slide over those arguments and testimonies which they are not able to answer or disprove Is not this to speak nothing lest you should seem to be silent Are these things which I have delivered true or false If true (k) A quâ—cunque verum dicitur illo inspirante dicitur qui ipse veritas est Aug. ep 28. let truth prevaile If false disprove them if impertinent manifest it Otherwise if you thus seek evasions you will enforce me to acquaint the world with your shifts and shufflings by publishing these papers that every eye may discern what is the weaknesse of your cause and what your obstinacy 6. Your intent being to decline what you cannot answer you divert me from the former businesse thus (l) n. 2. My originall doubt was say you that sith the Catholick Church must be alway visible and that I could not by my best inquiry finde that a succession of men professing the doctrine of the Church of England had been alway visible that that Church was not the nor any part of the Catholick Church What have I to doe with your originall doubt Your Letter and the expression of your desire I looked upon I endeavoured to satisfie your request and I presume a satisfactory answer was given to your demands that so I might win a soul not so much to our Church as to the Communion of Saints and to lead you out of error into the way of truth That the Catholick Church is hath been and must be alway visible is agreed on both hands But by your best enquiry you could not finde that a succession of men professing the doctrine of the Church of England had been alway visible No more could the Pharisees see the Prophesies that concerned our Saviour though never so visible Alas poore Gentleman little Learning are you troubled with you are not able to search the Scriptures Councels and Fathers as you ought and your enquiry hath been of such as are either ignorant or wilfully blinde and bent to misguide you 7. The doctrine of the Church of England is cleare in our Book of Common-prayer that is the rule for the Laity and such as the true Catholick Church hath alwayes imbraced and continued All therein is positive The Book of Articles is a rule for the Clergy to preserve them from error and much therein is negative He that means sincerely to instruct you so in the right way that you may be a guide to others must give you directions to avoyd the by-paths The positive doctrine of this Church was ever professed and is visible in all Catholick writers But you insist upon no particulars and guile lurks under generalls But I beseech you before you turned over to the Church of Rome why did not you make the like enquiry to finde out a succession of men professing the doctrine of the Church of Rome in those particulars wherein we dissent from them of that Communion If thus you had done you might easily have discerned that that Church is not the nor any part of the Catholick Church if wee goe by your line For the most skilfull of your party are not able to shew such a succession of men in the first 700 years of Christianity 8. But you are pleased to adde that (m) n. 2. to this doubt at our conference I endeavoured your satisfaction by attempting to prove that though the Church of England had not been alway visible at least not seen yet seeing she is but a member of the Catholick Church of which the Church of Rome is another it was sufficient that the Catholick Church had been alway visible in the Church of Rome and other particular Churches though not in the Church of England Good God what foreheads have men Is this could this possibly be my answer Who alwayes justifie that this Church hath been visible since the first or second Conversion though not alwayes under Reformation And for Rome I have demonstrated that the Catholick Church was not alway visible in that City or Diocese § 22 23 29. As also what kind of Church yee had for 450 yeers together § 33. when hardly the form either of Religion or a Church was there to be seen Yet visible it was here when invisible at Rome For you can never shew that this Church was overrun with Montanism Arianism or Eutychianism Yea this was a learned and pious Church when yours was miserably possest with ignorance and impiety Look upon your owne Mr. Pits his Catalogue of our Writers and this will manifestly appeare 9. However then (n) n. 3. that discourse which I sent unto you gave you no satisfaction yet it abundantly clears the questions proposed in your Letter Neither can I possibly expect to withdraw you from that faction who are resolved to receive no satisfaction unlesse we grant that the Church of Rome and those in communion with her are the onely Catholick Church And yet I never reade in Fathers or Councels that to communicate with Rome is either a sure or any token of a good Catholick St. Austine assures us that (o) Aug. quaest Evangel secund Mat. c. 12. they are good Catholicks qui fidem integram sequuntur bonos more 's who hold the undefiled Faith full and whole and observe good manners and those that endevour not to doe this are much to blame While then thus we doe we are good Catholicks But that Faith which we have received from the Apostles and Councels and Fathers we keep whole and undefiled without alteration addition or diminution While they are right we are so If they be out of the way we are content to erre with them Catholicks we are true right Catholicks by Lirinensis rule (p) Vincent Lirin c. 25. Gods truth the Church the body of Christ we love We prefer no mans no Churches authority no affection no wit no eloquence no philosophie nothing whatsoever before Divine Religion and the Catholick Faith These things we set light by and being fixed firme in faith we have determined by Gods grace to hold and beleeve that and that onely which we know to have been held by the Catholick Church universally of old from the beginning of Christianity And whatever new or unheard of doctrine we shall perceive to have been induced by any particular man or Church besides or against all the holy men of God this we understand to proceed from
a separation for points not necessary I freely subscribe to what he says But withall he tells us that (x) Archbishop Lawd §. 23. In the Church of Rome there are errors in Doctrine and some of them such as most manifestly endanger salvation And I hope it is lawfull to separate from these especially since your most able friends grant that (y) A. C. p. 56. Error in the doctrine of Faith is a just cause of Separation But the same Bishop hath proved that (z) Archbishop Lawd §. 33. n. 13. the Church of Rome hath erred in the doctrine of Faith and dangerously too in severall particulars In those his words then which you mention he touches not us but you not us who are separated passively but your Church which hath actually actively separated and excommunicated us for points not necessary not to be endured in an Orthodoxe Church Thus the cause the fault rests upon you not upon us 15. Whereas then you tell us (a) n. 4. If we say we did not make the Separation but the Church of Rome then Luther Tindall c. did not goe out of the Church of Rome but the Church of Rome out of them What consequence is this or what is this to us What Tindall did I know not neither does it concern us What Luther did I know if the History of the Councel of Trent misguide me not He humbly acquainted you with your errors and enormities and desired redresse and for this ye most unchristianly thrust him forth of your communion resolving rather to persevere in error then to amend what was and is amisse For my part I am resolved not to justifie any man or act against the consent and rules of the ancient Church But our Reformation was legall and canonicall as is fully proved § 20.21 We went not out of the Church to make a Reformation but this we did in the Church according to the laudable customes and canons of the ancient Church And whoever condemnes us for this he condemnes himselfe of grosse ignorance or malice I may justly therefore say with Moses (b) Num. 16.7 Ye take too much upon you ye sons of Levi Ye men of Rome ye transgresse the 92. 165. canons of the Catholick Church by medling beyond your bounds as also by imposing upon us and other Countreys the Creed of Pius Quartus which is contrary to the 177. Canon of the same Code 16. Yet as if no satisfaction were given to your demands you proceed thus (c) n. 5. Therefore I had reason still as in my Letter to demand a Church distinct from the Church of Rome and those in her communion of which no man that reads your answer can thereby I think receive satisfaction So you think and some that have read it think otherwise and conceive that I have given full satisfaction to your demands though you be resolved to turn your eares another way For I have demonstrated that when the Church of Rome and those in her communion were no members of the Catholick Church there were at that very time severall Orthodoxe Churches in France § 23. in Asia Sardinia Aegypt and at Constantinople All which at the same instant abhorred those heresies which Rome professed and would have no communion with her or her heresies 17. But say you (d) Ib. the whole drift and scope of my Papers is either to prove First that the Church of Rome and those in her communion is not the Catholick Church Secondly that the Church of Rome and those in communion with her and the Church of England are but one that is severall members of one Church To these in their order For the first you speak truth The Church of Rome and those in her communion is not the Catholick Church this is both said and proved § 12 c. There my minde may be fully seen and till that be disproved I shall adde onely thus much If the Church of Rome be not the Catholick as I affirm and yet the Catholick alwayes visible then was there a Church distinct from the Romane Church when Rome it selfe was not Catholick But there was a time when Rome was not Catholick not Orthodoxe as is proved in my former Papers § 18 23 27 29. 18. Your reply to that which I wrote before is this (e) n. 6. For the first That the Church of Rome and those in communion with her was not the Catholick Church for that time I required you shew no proofe that I doe finde but that some of the Popes have been Hereticks or Schismaticks Proofe then is shewed for this and this I take to be proofe enough For if the head be amisse the whole body is out of tune But the Bishop is (f) Concil Nic. Diatyp 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the head or as the head of that Church whereto he is prefer'd over which he is placed For (g) Episcopus est in Ecclesia Ecclesia in Episcopo Cypr. ep 69. n. 31. as the Bishop is in the Church so is the Church in the Bishop and such as the Bishop is such is the Church presumed to be till it renounce the Bishops errors for h by the Bishop every Church communicates with other Churches Hence it is that at the ordination of a Bishop the Metropolitan or other Bishops of that Province acquaint the Primate therewith and he the other Bishops within his Diocese that so they might know with and by whom they ought to communicate with other Churches This is to be seen in St. Cyprian (i) Cyp. l. 4. ep 8. by the ordination of Cornelius as also (k) Euseb hist l. 7. c. 24. by the deposition of Paulus Samosatenus by the ordination of Domnus into the See of Antioch (l) Ib. This intelligence was given that so they might know to whom to write and from whom to receive Letters of communion 19. That some yea divers of your Popes were Hereticks or Schismaticks is throughly manifested out of your own men § 18 32 c. And while Hereticks (m) Cod. Eccl. Vnivers Can. 171. both themselves and all that side with them are secluded from Ecclesiasticall communion every way (n) Ib. All their Episcopall acts are made void and (o) Ib. Can. 172. those Bishops which adhere to them are to be degraded from their Episcopacy While therefore your Bishops were Hereticall your Church was in an ill case it could not possibly be Catholick when all Episcopall acts were void Is not this a main evidence against you (p) § 23. Some proofe there is also from St. Hilary who professeth that in these Western parts there was in his time no Christian communion but in France This touches not onely the Bishop but the whole Church of Rome and all that adhered to him or that 20. For all this as if it were doubtfull whether your Bishops were such you adjoin (q) n. 6. Which if admitted though it is not to
perchance in all parts of the habitable world at the same time (n) 1. Cor. 12.12 One it is but many members As the body is one and hath many members so is Christ (o) Chrysost in loc Pro Ecclesia posuit Christum for the Church he sets down Christ since the Church is his body (p) 1. Cor. 12.13 into which we are all baptized This body hath many members these members are diffused from sea to sea over the whole earth So the Church is in Greece Italy Spain France England Polonia and * Unus spiritus inesse omnibus infusus membris una anima meritò dicitur quia una in omnibus fides unus ab omnibus colitur Deus atque ex uno ore hymnos omnes concinunt Deo Ruffin hist l. 9. c. 10. whereever the Catholick faith and Apostolicall government are continued Thus we acknowledge Rome to be a Church as St. Paul did Corinth though an erroneous and superstitious Church You see now where you may communicate with the Catholick but it is left to your discretion to choose whether you will communicate with a reformed or a superstitious Church 24. Now to the second where I say That the Church of Rome and those in her communion and the Church of England are but severall members of the one Catholick Church You reply thus (q) n. 7. That I conceive cannot be 1. For the reasons inferred from the Articles of your Church as above 2. For that the Articles of faith of both Churches are directly contradictory as appears by many your negative Articles I look not upon your conceits but upon your reasons inferred from the Articles of our Church which are already satisfied § 12 13. And whereas you adde that the Articles of faith of both Churches are directly contradictory I hope it is not so If it be I am certaine one of these is no Church For then (r) 1. Cor. 3.11 we build not both upon the same foundation (s) Colos 2.19 we hold not the head from which all the body receives nourishment and is knit compacted together by joynts and bands Quid itaque relicto capite membris adhaeres Why then do you leave the head to cleave to the members corrupt putrified members He that builds upon the rock builds upon sure grounds (t) Aug. de verb. Domini Ser. 45. c. 7. Veni ergo mecum si vis superpetram noli mihi velle esse pro petra if then you befor the rock go along with me and seek not to be the rock to me Behold we build upon the rock we beleeve in God the Father in God the Son and God the holy Ghost I hope ye doe so too We also beleeve the Unity in Trinity and Trinity in Unity And do not ye so too Hitherto we are both upon the Rock We beleeve the * We devoutly professe and in all points follow the faith which is contained in the three Creeds that is to say of the Apostles of the Councel of Nice and of Athanasius The Protest of Bishop Scory c. Book of Mart. p. 2119. three Creeds and in the same sense the Primitive Church received them which ye doe not but give some of the Articles a new another sense Here then ye are beside the Rock 25. Thus we agree and yet not agree we agree in the foundation not in the superstruction in the letter not in the exposition And we are sorry to see you forget your selves so much as to infringe so memorable so necessary a Canon as that of the Councel of Ephesus which decrees that (u) Conc. Ephes Can. 7. It is not lawfull for any one to bring to write or compose any other Creed besides that which was agreed upon by those holy Fathers assembled in the holy Ghost at Nice He that offends in this kind against this Canon is deeply censured If a Bishop he is to be deprived of his Cure if a Clergy-man of his function but if a Lay-man he is to be turned out of the Churches communion But ye have imposed a new another Creed of Pius Quartus upon the Church which whosoever will not subscribe to he is at least no good Catholick w th you 26. Say not that these are expositions they are dangerous additions and though I cannot say ye have altered the letter yet I dare be bold to say ye have strangely alter'd the sense (x) Tertul. de Praescrip c. 38. auferendo proprietates singulorum verborum adjiciendo dispositiones non comparentium rerum by taking away the proper sense of severall words and by inserting imaginations of such things as have no footing in holy Writ Whereas we as we ought take the rule of Faith in the literall sense (y) Quae nullas habet apad nos quaesliones nisi quas haereses inferunt quae Haereticos faciunt Ib. c. 14. and that raiseth no controversies with us but such as heresies bring in and such as make Hereticks Your selves your own Church ye may charge with contradictions this Church ye cannot This is the plea we stand upon (z) Ib. c. 21. Communicamus cum Ecclestis Apostolicis quod nulla vel in nullo doctrina diversa hoc est testimonium veritatis we cannot but communicate with the Primitive the Apostolick Churches whose doctrine is in nothing different from theirs This is such a testimony of the truth that it is above all exception And resolved I am with Gods blessing to be no longer of this communion then I shall be able to make this good 27. And whereas (a) n. 7. Mr. Hooker sayes That the Children of the visible Church are signed with this mark One Lord ONE FAITH one Baptisme I presume you make no doubt of this Neither can I think but that you are resolved whoever denies the Lord of life or renounceth the Catholick faith or is baptized into any other Baptism then that one which our Saviour instituted or is a second time baptized he is no childe of the visible Church since that hath taught us to beleeve one Baptism for the remission of sins He then that forsakes this faith forsakes the Church 28. Thirdly you adde that (b) Ib. I my selfe charge the Church of Rome with errors in matters of faith no lesse then in foure points viz. Transubstantiation Communion in one kinde Invocation of Saints and Adoration of images As if I were the first or the onely man that charged you with these errors whereas (c) Art 22 28 30. this is done by our whole Church and the Inditement is made good by that learned Archbishop of B. memory The Church saith that these doctrines are (d) Art 22. fond things grounded upon no warranty of Scripture but rather repugnant to the Word of God The Archbishop hath charged it home and you know not how to shift it off It would well therefore become a Christian Church to redress these and your other
Ordination 6. The Canonicall Books of the Old Testament and some other And yet for all these they grew up together comfortably and continued in the same body Seldome or never any that offer'd to make a breach or to censure other Churches for these or the like different observations and expressions but two or three Bishops of Rome Such were the humility and charity of those glorious Saints In those purer dayes (l) Neminem judicantes aut a jure communionis aliquem si diversum sensevit amoventes Cypr. in concil Carthag one Bishop was not so forward to censure or excommunicate another Bishop for being of a diverse persuasion No no saith St. Cyprian (m) Ib. Neque quisquam nostrum Episcopum se esse Episcoporum constituit aut tyrannico terrore ad obsequendi necessitatem collegas suos adegit No man in those dayes took upon him to be Bishop of Bishops or to enforce any by tyrannicall terror to subscribe his dictates Then was it lawfull for every one to speak his minde freely when reason not power weight and not number bore the sway 41. But you object that (n) n. 8. I say Sect. 19. that since the Reformation we have not communicated with the Church of Rome Very right I doe so But withall I tell you that this is no fault of ours since ye will not suffer us to communicate with you unlesse we communicate with your errors Is not this to deal with us as the Jews did with the poor man that was born blinde (o) St. Jo. 9.34 while he was blinde the Pharisees communicated with him but when he had gained sight they cast him out they excommunicated him But (p) Ib. v. 35. our blessed Saviour took pity on him and received him into his communion Thus while we were blinde and saw not your errors we were your dear friends but when we discerned them and complained of them hell was good enough for us Yet we doubt not but (q) 1. St. Jo. 1.3 we have communion with Christ since we hold communion with the Apostles by their successors not onely in function but in faith and charity For we receive the two Testaments with the three Creeds in the same sense with the Primitive Church We pray for the whole Church for all Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks yea for our enemies persecutors and slanderers We anathematize not Churches but errors nor any persons but such as are or ought to be members of this Church and Kingdome we presse not beyond our line If this be the right way to heaven surely we are in the right and ye in the wrong 42. Well (r) n. 9. the Church of Rome and England being thus separated both in faith and communion and so not one and the Church of Rome and those in communion with her by your saying not being the Catholick Church For the separation we must thank you for our faith we blesse Christ What that is the Book of Common-prayer manifests in plain terms and I have shewed that the Pope and his Conclave have incurred Canonicall censures by imposing a new Creed upon us and others That we communicate not with you the fault is yours and Catholicks we shall be able to prove our selves when ye will not be found Orthodoxe But such is that typhus Romanus the infinite pride of Rome that none shal be Catholicks none in communion of the Church nor in the way to heaven that will not stoop to their lure that will not erre with Pius Quartus and the Councel of Trent As if the Romanes were the onely at least had been the first Christians and that St. Peter's keyes were tyed to the Popes girdle to let in and to keep out whom he listed Whereas we know (s) St. Jo. 20.22 23. the keyes were given to all the Apostles alike to St. John for Ephesus as much as to St. Peter for Rome Yea (t) Hieron St. Peter himself provided for Antioch before Rome for he was first Bishop of Antioch The same keyes to all the Apostles for all Nations alike that so all might be admitted by the same keyes into the same (u) 1. Tim. 3.15 house of God which is the Church of the living God the pillar and ground of truth And in this house by Gods grace we shall continue while (x) Col. 2.19 we hold the head and from thence receive nourishment by those joynts and bands which Christ hath ordained And * For the judgment of the whole controversie we refer unto the most holy Scriptures and the Catholick Church of Christ The Protest of Bish Scory c. Book of Mart. p. 2120 were your party contented to be ruled by antiquity we might be one as the house is one 43. That the Church of Rome and those in communion with her are not as you would fain have it the Catholick Church is fully manifested in my former answer § 2 c. 12 22 23 29. And yet there was the Catholick Church at all times since it was first constituted (y) Aug. de Gen. ad lit imperfect c. 1. Mater enim Ecclesia Catholica dicitur ex eo quia universaliter perfecta est in nullo claudicat per totum orbem diffusa est the Mother Church is hence called Catholick because she is universally perfect and halts in nothing and is diffused through the whole world She is not Catholick or sound because she communicates with Rome but Rome is Catholick if she communicate with her and so is every Church We shall therefore communicate with this our Mother that so we may continue Catholick We are sure the Mother halts not though some of the Daughters may That Rome hath halted downright in the prime Articles is too notorious as hath been shewed § 18 27 32 c. and then I am sure she was not Catholick (z) Vincent Lirin c. 14. Nemini enim licet praeter id quod Ecclesia Catholica usquequaque evangelizat accipere for it is not lawfull for her or any other to receive or broach any other doctrine then that which the Catholick Church preaches every where much lesse to enforce it as necessary to salvation Where then ye leave the Church Catholick it is our duty to leave you (a) Estnè aliquis tantae audaciae qui praeter id quod apud Ecclesiam adnunciatum est adnunciet vel tantae levitatis qui praeter id quod ab Ecclesiâ accipit accipiat Ib. This Church he speaks of is not the Romane but the Catholick Church As it is audaciousnesse in you to induce or impose any new Article so were it levity in us to embrace it 44. What we have we have received from our good Mother the Catholick Church and though by you yet not from you Christs legacies they are not yours If ye deliver us these legacies in base or counterfeit coin we shall not accept of it Gold ye received from the Testator and not
lead we know it by his Will give us that which ye received and not gilded stuffe in stead of gold If ye tender to us that which is unwarrantable we are resolved (b) Gal. 1.8 9. with the vessel of Election to denounce to you or any other an Anathema we shall not we must not endure novum dogma any new Article If new it can never be right (c) 2 Tim. 3.15 The Scripture is able to make us wise unto salvation that we set before us and are resolved by Gods grace to accept of nothing but what is deduced from thence or proved thereby according to the interpretation of the ancient Fathers and Councels While our Church does thus in spight of malice she shall be Catholick (d) Dediscam benè quod didicerunt non benè Vincent Lirin c. 25. If we chance to learn any thing contrary to this we are bound in Christianity to cast it by though it come from Rome and to (e) Ib. betake our selves into the bosome of our Catholick Mother as into the safest harbor There we are sure to find the living waters and tree of life 45. Your desire is behind but differing from the former Before your desire was to be shewn the Catholick Church distinct from the Church of Rome and those in her communion for the last 1100 years To this satisfaction is given § 29 32 c. But now (f) n. 9. your desire is to be showed the Catholick Church or the Church of England distinct from the Church of Rome and those in her communion for the last 1100 years or for so â—â—ng as I please to say the Church of Rome hath so grievously erred that we dare not communicate with her This desire of yours according to your own words is not nor by my Papers can he satisfied Is it not enough to manifest that your present errors are so grosse and grievous that we dare not communicate with the Church of Rome but we must look back to former centuries In my former Papers I have done it but you will not see it Other eyes I presume will discern this done § 32 33 34. in my former answer Of these you take little notice because you are resolved with the self-conceited Pharisee to be what you are And with (g) §. 11. that Lady I spake of you ask not this or any other question as if you meant to be satisfied with what is or can be said Surely we did not communicate with Rome in the time of Zepherinus Marcellinus Liberius Vigilius Honorius and those (h) Genebrard Chron. l. 4. Ann. 991. 50 Apostaticall Popes whom Genebrard speaks of And great reason for it since in those dayes ye separated your selves from the Church Catholick to side with Hereticks and worse if worse may be Then was this Church distinct from yours because yours was divided from that Church (i) 1. Tim. 3.15 which is the pillar and ground of truth If ye depart from the truth we shall and must depart from you (k) Hos 4.15 Though Israel transgresse yet must not Judah sin We must not be naught for company (l) Exod. 23.2 neither may we follow a multitude to doe evill Your Letters are answered and your desires I hope satisfied beyond your desire Your conclusion I like so well it shall be mine With you therefore I beseech Almighty God to look favourably into the souls deceived by devillish deceits that all hereticall impieties removed the hearts of them that erre may relent and return to the unity of his truth and become one fold under one shepheard Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with the Father and the holy Ghost be all honor and glory world without end Amen Placet vobis quaestio proposita Deus adjuvet ut placeat soluta Ecce quod dico ut liberet me vos 1. In una enim fide stamus in nomine Christi 2. in una domo 3. sub uno Domino vivimus 4. in uno corpore membra 5. sub uno capite sumus 6. uno spiritu vegetamur Aug. de Verb. Domini Ser. 63. c. 3. FINIS