a high Tree indeed and sees thence the Place he would go to but then ranges blindly in the thick Wood whilst the other walks securely in a Way leading right thither without fear or danger of going astray a large Royal Way made and kept by the Providence of the King of Heaven Then observing how all pious humble Catholics tho' never so plain and illiterate Men enjoyed as a Birthright that Happiness the Search whereof had been so dangerous the Purchase so painful to him What Lib. 8. cap. 1. Conf. want O Lord said he what want did your Little-ones feel of a deep and quick Wit How much did this Dullness of theirs injure them Whilst they were carried in your Catholica deliciâ—tur Ecclesia dicat ego doâ—mio cor meum vigilat Quid est nisi ita quiâ—sco â—â— audiam Tract 25. in Jo. Arms and rested in the Nest of the Catholic Church enlarging the Wings of their Charity and strengthning them by the Food of a sound Faith chosen for and brought to them without their labor Happy Men who enjoy a perfect Rest while their whole Duty is to hearken Behold the final Victory of Grace over the Pride of Human Wit captivated to Faith our Self sufficiency humbled under the Tutoring Discipline and Direction of the Church No wonder if this Saint afterwards us'd no other Method in reconciling misled Heretics to Truth but that by which Gods Grace had retrieved him from his Errors the infallible Authority of a Guiding Church He advised Unlearned Men in general to relie altogether and lean on the Authority Epist 56 of the Church He minded the most Learned who feared to be deceived where Truth seemed to them Fo. 7. liâ— contra cresco c. 33. but obscurely revealed to consult the Church which the holy Scriptures point out without ambiguity assuring them that even in Fundamental Articles of as immediate necessity as Baptism is where Scripture mentions nothing thereof the very Truth of Scriptures is followed whilst that is done which the Catholic Church declares for and with reason since we receive said he the Books of the Old and New Testament in the same number that the Authority of Fo. 10. Serm. 191. de tempore the Catholic Church hath Sealed and Delivered up to us since I would not give any credit to the Gospel if the Authority Fo. 6. l. contra Epist â—und c. 5. of the Catholic Church moved me not to it whatever Doubts there arise not to yield to the Church 't is the utmost Ad honor de util Cred. c. 17. Fo. 6. Impiety the most loose Arrogancy For whether in her most general necessary and first Principles or in remotest Truths leading to solid Devotion whether in Contra Faust l 15. c. 3. in Fo. 6. her Milk or in her Bread the Church alone possesses Truth Those then who have their Belief yet to choose who begin a serious Search into Religion desiring to De util Cred. c. 7. 8. know to which they are to commit their Souls for Instruction they must without any Doubt begin with the Catholic Church If they have been wavering in their Mind and desire to put an end to their toil in seeking let them follow the Way of Catholic Discipline which as it is derived from Jesus Christ to us Christus miraculis concâ—liavit auctoritatem auctoritate meruit sidem De util cred c. 14. by the Apostles so must it be transmitted to our Posterity in succeeding Ages We must receive our Faith from that Church as the first converted to Christianity received it from the Apostles and they from Christ Her Authority being once established by the same Proofs which Domino cooperante sermonem confirmante sequent bâ—s signis Marc. ult the Apostles offered for theirs our whole Work is to embrace what God teaches by her Voice tho' it be above the level and reach of Human Reason For before our Minds be cleared from that Dullness which Sin hath left De agone Chron. c. 13. in it that especially of Insidelity we must believe what we cannot yet understand the Prophet having most truly said Without you believe you shall not understand for Faith is delivered in the Church in very few words in which Eternal Mysteries are comprehended which carnal man cannot yet conceive The first Heresie arose In Psalm amongst Christ's Disciples from the refusal of yielding to his words which seemed hard they unhappily made a Schism from him If Peter stuck stedfast to Christ was it by understanding the high Mysteries of that Speech of Christ No but he piously believed what he understood In Psalm 130. not Learn little ones of Christ learn from hence due Piety for those who will dispute of Mysteries they do not understand do but heighten their Pride whil'st that curse falls on them which the Royal Prophet speaks of in the 130 Psalm If I was not humble of heart but have swelled up my mind with Pride as the Child weaned from the breast is towards his Mother so be my Soul punished The Church of God is that Mother from which they are severed they should have been nurs'd and fed by her and so might have grown and become capable of digesting the Word and Mysteries of Faith. Ponder then well the sense of those two words of your Creed Catholic Church observe what a certain death Psalm in part Donati seizes the Vine-branch how it withers when lopt off from the Body of the Vine come and seek Life from the Root number the Priests in St. Peter's Chair observe how they have succeeded to one another that 's the Rock which the proud Gates of Hell never conquer This was his method of reducing those better-disposed Souls which erred by mistake rather than by malice but if he found any obdurate before he shaked against them the dust of his feet according to Christ's Command before he avoided them as already condemned following the Apostles Counsel he with a true Charity weeping Ad Tit. 3. 10. for the certain danger they ran minded them of it thus To be fond of ones proper Opinion or to be averse L. 2. con Don. c. 5. from better to that degree as to be guilty by breaking Communion of the Sacrilege of Schism or Heresie is a Presumption beyond all others but the Devils since it is to refuse a Submission to the Spirit of Truth guiding that Church it is promised unto and which God commands all to hearken unto and to obey 'T is the Crime of Corah erecting an Altar against an Altar which involves the weak and ignorant Followers as much as the Leaders when equally stubborn in standing to their Separation it seeming even a higher Crime in unlearned men who pretend not to extraordinary Parts and yet presume to be Judges of and to condemn the Universal Church preferring to her Decisions the opposite Errors of a few L. de Bapt. con
to that Church which alone gives you an Infallible Guide Think well of God's infinite mercy and true desire that you should be saved and never despair to find an Authority established by God Non est desperandum ab codem ipso Deo auctoritatem aliquam constitutam qua vâ—lut certo gradu innitentes atâ—ollamur ad Deum Epist 56. Immobili authoritati himself from which as from a secure step we may take our rise to God. Heretics offer Reasons and Arguments for proof of their Belief and pretend by them to be preferr'd to the unmovable Authority of the Church which is so firmly established therein lies the rashness common to all Heretics But the most meek Lord of our Faith hath been pleased to strengthen his Church with an Authority far weightier than that of all others into this Castle of the Faith all the weaker ought to withdraw Vere illa rectiffima disciplina est in aciem fidei quam maxime recipi infirmos ut pro illis jam fictissime positis firmissima ratione pugnetur themselves whil'st for them thus secure others fight with invincible Reasons and Proofs You are willing to be guided by so weak an Authority as that of your Father and Mother and will you refuse to be guided by the pious Examples of all their Ancestors and of the whole Church for fourteen hundred years As for your Baptism in it you were christened a Catholic whoever baptized you and by declaring your self a Catholic you restore your self to the Religion you were christened in For the Catholic Church is like unto Paradise the Waters of whose Fountain could be drunk out of it in the Rivers that streamed out but that Baptism being given and belonging only to the Catholic Church as in Paradise only could be enjoyed temporal happiness Salutem beatitudinis extra cam neminem vel percipere vel tenere De bapt cont Don. l. 4. c. 2. so no one purchases or maintains a Right to eternal happiness out of that Church Thus did this holy Saint endeavor to draw back to the true Church's Communion those more stubborn Heretics creating in them that holy Fear of God which is the beginning of Wisdom Christian Brethren you who are so happy as to have been born in or early called to the Bosom of this holy Catholic Church and thereby to enjoy that Blessing with less toil and labor than it cost S. Augustin Be ever thankful for so great a Mercy wonder not when you see knowing Men sober Enquirers who even after a studious search have so thick a Veil yet over their eyes as not to see those glorious evident Marks God hath distinguished this Church by nor their Obligation of rendring themselves Members of it For twenty years Augustin a man of far greater Parts and a more diligent Searcher was thus blind Pity those 〈…〉 who pin their Faith on the Sleeve bottom it on the Authority of some such particular men whil'st they refuse to give ear to the whole Catholic Church which assures them that they go astray Pray for both obtain a Ray of Grace for them and they will see as you do judge as you do and equally bless God for it If any here present enjoy not yet that happiness may the Example and Motives of this Saint's Conversion prevail with him Let him weigh whether he be not unhappily under the same prejudices this Saint was so long prepossess'd with 'T is in vain to consult many Books or Persons on each point of Belief Alas says the Saint taught by twenty years De Doctrina Ch. c. 16. experience the helps of all sorts of Instructions received from Man avail little if God work not in us that very effect which we expect from them Seek then Knowledge from God by a devout and humble Prayer but expect not that he should give you a new Revelation or lead you to Truth but by those Guides his admirable Providence hath provided for you Resolve your Faith finally into God's Word but that you may not be deceived hear it from the Mouth receive it by the Authority of that Church you are commanded to hearken unto Thus did this holy Doctor offering to those Heretics who questioned the Grounds of his Faith these evident Marks by which God hath character'd his Church that Pillar of Truth on which all the Faithful are to lean If any stubbornly refuse to observe them they will allow me however to offer them to the Catholic part of my Auditory for their comfort This is then the account he gives of his own and our Faith Many things do most justly detain In Epist Fund cap. 4 5. me in the Bosom of the Catholic Church First the Vnion in Faith and consent of many Nations 'T is the common misery of all Heretics not to see what of all things Fo. 2. l. 7. contra Parmen c. 3. in the world is most patent and seated in the very eyes of all Nations to wit the Church out of the Unity whereof whatever they do can no more cover their Souls from the anger of God than a Cobweb could preserve their Bodies from cold That Church which every-where 1. de Symbolâ— cap. 5. opposing different Heresies can never be conquered by them They all went out of Her like unto so many withered Branches cut off from and cast out of the Vine whil'st She remains in her own Vine adhering to her own Root enjoying her Charity or perfect Tract 3. in Ep. Joann Union In her alone we hold the Inheritance of Christ all Nations They have it not whose Communion unites not the whole Circle of the Earth who is not in Communion with that Inheritance is gone out of it Such may challenge Christ but to as little purpose as he who in the Gospel made this address to him Say O Serm. de temp 169. Lord to my Brother that he divide the Inheritance with me Christ refused to divide it amongst them Paul was as great an Enemy to Division when he said I beg of you Brethren that you say all of you the same thing and that there be no Schisms amongst you He wept for those who tho' on his account divided Christ See then how wicked those men are who will be divided They Brevic. contra Donatistas Acutum aliquid sibi dicere videntur cum Catholicae nomen non ex totius Orbis communione interpretantur sed observatione Praeceptorum omnâ—um L. contra Parm. multa Frusta de Uno Frnsto think themselves witty when seeing their Congregation restrained within the bounds of some Province or Kingdom they pretend that they be a part of the Catholic Church that hath all things commanded and necessary for Salvation as if to be a Catholic did not import a Communion or Unity in Faith and Sacraments in a Church diffused the whole World over They cut off a part and that again falls into many pieces tho' no necessity can warrant
Donat. c. 16. L. 2. contra c. 23. of her revolted Children I do not despair of the Salvation of any one in particular whether he be a great Sinner in the Church or a Schismatic out of it Judgment is reserved to God alone he only who hath in his hands the Iron Rod can break the Earthen Vessels but I equally declare of both with the Apostle That neither those who in the true Church die in sin nor those who through a stiff stubbornness die out of her Communion shall be saved De symb ad Catechum c 10. For whoever shall be found out of it will be an Alien not reckoned amongst the Children of God whom he shall not have for Father having refused to have the Church for his Mother That Catholic Church which only is the Body of Christ of which He is the Tract 32. sup Joan. Salvator corpoâ—is sui L. de verâ fals poen c. 12. Head whereof He alone is the Savior out of that Body no one receives Life from God's Holy Spirit nor consequently can pretend to an Eternal one Out of this Churches Vnity no one can attain to true Penance no one can obtain remission of sins her Children alone being the sole Dispensers of the Mysteries of God. In Her House only the Lamb is eaten that is on Her Altars only is sacrificed the true Victim of our Redeemer Ser. 18â— de tempore which alone so applies to us the saving Sacrifice of the Cross that who eats not of that Flesh hath no Life in him As then no one escaped the Deluge who was not Q. Q. 75. ad â—â—aâ— Q 52. Contra Petili ut supra in Noah 's Ark so no one shall be saved who is not a Member of the Church out of which an Heretic may have all things but Salvation He may have the Sacraments he may keep the Gospel he may have the Faith and preach it only Salvation he cannot have Tho' he be a Paul converted by God's Voice instructed from Heaven he must first be sent to those who can administer to him the Sacraments and enter him a Member into the Church's Body Tho' he be a pious Cornelius an Alms-giver a man of Prayer a sober Liver tho' he have an Angel to instruct him Peter must teach him and admit him into the Kingdom of God upon Earth of which he hath the Keys the Church before he Ad Bonifacium cont 2. Ep. Pelag. can be saved otherwise let him observe all the Commandments live a chast life to the purity of an entire Virginity be profuse in Alms-giving most patient in bearing with all Injuries let him sell all and give to the Poor reserving nothing for himself after all those De fide ad Pet. c. 39. seemingly laudable actions yet if he be not of the true and Catholic Faith when he departs this life he will meet a certain Damnation altho' he should shed his Blood for the Name of Christ Say not that Cyprian and his Church because they condemned no man and separated none from their Communion were not Heretics and that it may suffice you that you copy this Example That was enough when the Church had not yet decided the Dispute to whose Decision Cyprian had certainly submitted himself and with her condemned all her Opposers which you do not Say not that you err in no Fundamentals that you conceive it a thing indifferent unto what Party you joyn your selves supposing they be Epistola 45. de Donatistis Christians and therefore remain fixed to that Party in which you were born for whatsoever in particular the Opinions of Heretics and Schismatics be since they profess otherwise than the Church does and requires of Serm. 14. de verbis Dom. them to do they are in a state of Damnation because they renounce thereby one fundamental Article of Faith the In Psal 17. In ventre Ecclesiae veritas manet quisquis ab hoc separaâ—us fuerit necesse est ut falsa loquatur Authority and Vnity of the Catholic Church in whose bosom Truth dwells So that whosoever is removed from it 't is necessary that he be in Error Say not I am satisfied my conscience doth not reproach me that I am in an Error I am charitably persuaded others may also serve God well but many Mysteries in the Catholic Church appearing to me very strange how can I believe what I understand not or how shall I an unlearned person ever satisfie my self of the Truth 'T is then better for me to live of that Religion my Father and Mother were of and die in that Church which I was Christned in Such weak reasons which yet retain in Heresie the greatest part of those who are unhappily engaged in it betray equally the weakness of their Judgment and headstrong stubbornness of their Will. The whole Catholic Church of all Ages of all Nations in her General Councils rests satisfied of the Truth of each Article of Catholic Belief so as to Curse and Excommunicate all those who believed as you do in opposition to her Now Sunt ibi quaedaâ—â— qâ—ae suboffendunt animoâ—â—â—naros negligentes sui quâ— maxima turba est populariter accusarl possunt defendi autem populariter propter mysteâ—â—a quae his continentur non à multis a â—modum possunt c. 2. de util Cred. there is an ease and satisfaction which proceeds from Ignorance such as is in him who in a dark night walks without fear on the brim of a Precipice he knows nothing of another from Knowledge and can you think without the highest Presumption that Ignorance lay on the whole Church's side and Science in your private Gift Is it charity to think all those General Councils were most uncharitable which all said Anathema to the Errors which they condemned and you now approve True Faith involves Mysteries which usually scandalize ignorant Souls and careless in seeking Instruction that is the greatest part of the World because they can be plausibly argued against but not so easily made clear they would not otherwise be Mysteries of Faith. 'T is then not only most to be counsell'd to believe what you see not Credere ante ratione cum percipiendae rationi non sis idoneus ipsa â—iâ—e excolere animum excipiendiâ— seminibus ventatis non solum saluberrimum judico sed tale sine quo aegris animâ—â—â—alus redire non potest yet the reason of since you acknowledge your self unlearned ignorant not able to judge in such Debates and by Faith to manure your Soul and to fit it to receive and improve the Seed of Truth but 't is so absolutely necessary that by no other method health can be restored to a sick mind Are you ignorant not able by your own Judgment to determin on what side the Truth lies Why then 't is evident that you are bound to leave all those Congregations which leave you to your own final Decision and to repair
a rent from the Vnity tho' Christ's Garment was seamless and fell to the Lot of one because all that belong to it are gathered into a perfect Unity No the Catholic Church is but one it cannot be divided nor Ecclesia Catholica est una non potest esse divisa nec scissa in diversas partes Epist 47. Dicendum est quae veâ— ubi sit una Ecclesia quia praeter unam altera non est L. 1. cont Don. cut into different parts And Where is that Church ought to be our sole Quaere for besides that One there is not another It is in those good faithful and true Servants of God where-ever diffused joyned not only by a Spiritual Union but in the same Communion of Sacraments whereas all the Congregations or rather Divisions which call themselves Churches of Jesus Christ and which are divided from and opposite to one another and Enemies to the Congregation of Vnity which Spirituall Unitate devinctis in cadem Communione Sacramenâ—orum de Bapt. contra Don. l. 7. c 51. Si nostra Communio est Ecclesia Christi vestra Communio non est Ecclesia Christi c. Serm. 11. de verbis Dom. cap. 23. Qui ad Religionum sâ—iss â—â—s tradâ—cunt cont Câ—esâ— l 3. is the true Church belong not to Her tho' they bear her Name they might belong to her if the Holy Ghost were divided against himself We may then say to each If those of Our Communion be the Church of Christ those of Yours be not the Church of Christ For which-ever be the Church of Christ 't is but ONE of which 't is said One is my Dove I will then never hear those who lead to a Division of Religions or Churches saying Here is Christ and There is Christ Secondly I am kept in that Church by her Authority grounded on Miracles led by Hope that Hope which moves the Members of that Church to purchase Eternal Glory promised as a Reward by our just Judge to meritorious Actions increased by Charity Thirdly because that Authority of Hers is back'd by her continuation and Antiquity all other Congregations having had their decay long since or their beginning so lately that their precise Age the place of their Birth the very names of their Fathers are known whil'st She founded on the Prince of the Apostles with an infallible promise That Matt. 16. the Gates of Hell shall never prevail against Her That Christ will ever dwell in Her hath continued these seventeen Ages defended from Error by him whose Sanctity and Mercy could not otherwise have absolutely commanded us to submit to her Direction under the pain of belonging as little to him as the very Heathens Fourthly by the Succession of Priests in the Seat of Peter to this present Bishop Behold the Title Roman importing a continued Succession of 244 Teachers legally sent from God an Union with the Pastor of the one only Flock the Vicar of Christ whose Roma responsa veneâ—unt causa â—iâ—ita est atinam error finiatur Authority is so Sacred that in differences about Religion when he has past Sentence the case is out of question tho' the Error continue so unerring at least when that Voice of the Church is owned by her representative Body that if an Angel from Fo. 7. in Psal cont part Don. To. 2. Ep. 164. Heaven should require from us to abandon the Church in which that Succession is found we ought to return him no other Answer but an Anathema In fine the very name of Catholic detains me in her Communion c. A Name She only hath ever owned Such was the Blessed Saint's Profession of Faith a Record of Truth thirteen Ages old and so plain and convincing that he doubted not to address himself thus to the dissenting Sectaries of his time Can we be unwilling Fo. 6. de Util. Cred. c. 17. and slow to repair to the Bosom of that Church which hath ever been maintained in the height of an absolute Authority even by the general acknowledgment and consent of all Mankind by the continual Succession of Bishops in the See Apostolic against the opposition raised by so great a number of Heresies which have bark'd in vain against her and which have been condemned by the unanimous voice of Nations by the Grace and Judicious Censure of Councils by the Glory and Majesty of Miracles so that not to yield to her Prerogative is an infallible Mark of an extreme Impiety or a prodigious Arrogancy Let us return to Augustin Grace hath gained a half Victory the Battel is renewed hotter and more stubborn than before he is convinced but not converted his Understanding yields but his Heart revolts that poor Heart was driven by contrary Winds known Truth press'd him to profess it his affection to some darling Sins and to a fancied Reputation held him back He deferred 1. 7. Conf. c. 11. as he owns from day to day to live to God whil'st without delay he died to himself My Savior says he 1. 8. Conf. c. 11. cap. 5. again that is the true way pleased me but it was narrow and I had not strength enough to break into it I sighed after Liberty but my Chains fell not off those Iron Chains which my own will had made and shackl'd me in by which my Enemy held me fast My sinful Affections weak in their beginnings had been heightned into Passion Passion yielded unto was grown a Custom Custom unresisted was become an unconquerable Necessity Two Wills a newly-created one the Off-spring of Grace and my old sensual sinful one strove the one against the other and rent cruelly my martyr'd Soul. I now suffered with pain what I had wrought in my self with delight and my sinful Will uncontrouled had led me further than I would before I coloured my backwardness in sacrificing my Vanities and Human concerns to those of Religion with this excuse that I waited but for a fair unquestionable discovery of the Truth and now that I had it in my sight I found my self chained up and even afraid that my Chains and Excuses should fall off together My half-resolutions of rising and following you my Lord were like those of one half asleep No one would be content to sleep always all judge 't is better to be awake and up yet a drowzy head is loth to shake off a pleasant fit of sleep Verba â—enta somnolenta modo ecce modo sine paululum sed modo modo non habebat modum illud paululum ibat in longum when the hour of rising calls So it was with me I was convinced it was fit and just that I should yield to your Grace my Judgment press'd me to it but soft Pleasures to be renounced my Reputation to be blasted by my Enemies my Sincerity to be questioned by my Friends enslaved my Will. You clearly laid open before me that Truth which you invited me to avouch it was too
Heresie and Vice. The haughty Perverseness of his Understanding swell'd up with the proud Conceit of his own Parts opposed it self to Gods Grace offering the Light of a true Faith Worldly Interest and the Corruption of his Heart swayed by vicious Inclinations withstood the same Grace offering the true Comforts of Vertue and Piety Grace conquered at last joyned with his Free-will and so possest the whole Soul of Augustin that he continued an even Course of Vertue the rest of his Life by being Faithful to the conquering Grace he had yielded himself unto These two Victories of Gods Grace bringing Augustin's Understanding and Heart to a due Submission and constant Fidelity whereby he hath a just Claim to my Text are the two Points of this Discourse and of Your Royal Majesties most gracious Attention That true Religion or the Worship which God requires at our Hand is sufficiently Joâ—â— 1. revealed to all Mankind by him who is the Light that enlightens each Man that comes into this World that the true Churches Voice which all are bound to hearken Matt. 16 18. unto and obey may easily be heard and distinguished that the House of God in which alone those Sacraments are dispensed which convey to us a plentiful Redemption and work together with us our Salvation is like a City seated on a Hill exposed to the View of all that the Way which God hath markt us out to walk in towards Heaven is easily found out and followed so that Fools shall not go astray in it Psaâ— 35. and consequently is discernible by its Infallible Security are Truths which Faith teaches us and even Reason evinces to any who shall acknowledg in God a Providence and a merciful Goodness How then befalls it that so many wander in Darkness though surrounded by that Light fail to hear this Churches Voice miss to see this City err in finding this way But how could this happen to an Augustin so that for Twenty Years he should persevere in an Heresie the most wicked and senseless that ever infected Mankind Some you will say are strangely dull especially in the Concerns of Piety True but as the learned Scientiam Augustino coelum dedit super omnes homines c. Avicen Fecisse naturam extremum effectum sine potentiae dum Augustinianum creavit ingenium Alb. mag Confess l. 4. c. 16. World hath ever owned he had so soaring and searching an Understanding that Heaven never gave so sublime a Wit to any Mortal before seeming to exhaust it's Treasury in enriching his Mind Nature at least emptied hers in perfecting him So few cultivate their Wit by Studies I allow it but whose was ever polished with such Industry improved with such Diligence as S. Augustins What did it avail me saith he of himself that I read and without the help of a Master understood all the Books that treated of Liberal Sciences whilst I remained a dull Slave to my vitious Inclinations My Back was turned to the true Light I read by it other things but never cast back my Eyes to fix them on it I had a quick and sharp Wit it was your Gift my God but I sacrificed no Share of it to you it was a part of my Misery that I like the prodigal Child had in my own Hands and proper Disposal that rich Portion of my Inheritance whilst I used not those Abilities in your Service but withdrew from you my God into a foreign Land. Possibly being born and bred up in Error he met with none that could lay it open to him On the contrary he was born of a most pious Catholic Mother he had felt in his Youth most pressing Inclinations to Piety he had since heard the ablest Divines of Gods Church in Africa and Italy Perhaps he was little concerned to find out the Truth and little regarded the Proofs of it that were offered him he assures us that for Eleven years at least he Immortalitatem sapientlae concupiscâ—bam aestu cordis incredibili â— c. conf l 3. c. 4 burnt with an incredible Desire of the Knowledg of Eternal Truth which during that Time buoyed him up and raised him toward the God he sought That he eagerly wished for Wings to quit this World and soar to that true Wisdom which dwells only in God All this perchance was only a vain Curiosity in one who felt no Sense of Piety no Spark of Devotion My Heart says he had suckt in with my Mothers Ibidem Milk a tender Devotion for the Name of my Redeemer it had sunk deeply there what ever I read of the Name of Jesus was not set in it how smooth and learned it ever were seemed insipid and relished not It may be that he refused to use Means proportioned to the finding of the Truth No he neglected but one he used all the rest If reading be useful to that End he left no Book unread if consulting private Men he dealt with the most eminent of all perswasions and was deceived by some who had always in their Mouths the Lord the Spirit the Truth Such were their Words says he but their Heart Confes l. 3. c. 5. was empty my Soul did inwardly sigh to thee my God whilst they deceived me with an Empty Sound of thy Name Unhappy me by what large Steps did I sink into the depth of Hell But sure he read not the Holy. Text of Scripture He did but to little Purpose Behold says he I saw there something covered and vailed to the Proud and not open not naked to Children Ecce video â—eâ— non compâ—rtaâ— superbis neque nudatam pueris sed incessu humilem successu excelsaâ— velatam mysteriis c. ibidem Low in appearance but that soared high and was wrapped up in Mysteries The Light it gave might have increased and grown with a little one but I disdained to be a little One That is I scorned to be taught my Book to hear any Interpreter of it Blessed God! such Parts employed such Means used so long a Search so studiously continued and discovered he not Inveniri posse viam vitae minimâ— putabam Conf. l. 6 c. 1. the true Religion So far from it that he acknowledges he came to be of no Religion and even to doubt whether God had assigned any Way to eternal Life which could be found out Were it possible to discover what blockt up his Way in the search after Truth I observe in him three Letts that perfectly obstructed it First He was prepossest with a fixed Perswasion L. 4. Conf. c. 10 13. That the Catholic Church had erred He began to suspect and even to hate the Heretics of whose Congregation he was yet they being many their Multitude retarded his Diligence in enquiring farther Because he despaired that Truth could be found in your Church O Lord of Heaven and Earth Such was the Aversion from it they had prevented him with You brought me to Ambrose
without any Knowledg in me of your Design says he which was that by true Knowledg he might bring me to you I loved and valued him but not as a Teacher of Truth for I despaired of finding any such in your Church Secondly Besides that general Prejudice he nourisht he misrepresented to himself the particular Tenets of the Church and then hated and reviled the ugly Idol of his own carving If ever saith he my Soul lifted up and moved her self towards the Catholic Faith I was soon driven back for alas Catholic Faith was not that which I took it to be Thirdly He was willing to be convinced but not to believe to see but not to submit his Understanding to Faith He sought a clear Evidence and such as should not controul his usual Apprehension or oppose his Senses as if they had been fit Judges of the Objects of Faith revealed Truths My sick Soul says he could not be cured but by Believing Valetudo animae meae quae utique nisi credendo sanari non poterat ne falsa crederet sanari recusabat c. Conf. l. 6. c. 1. and for fear of being surprized and made to believe what might be false I refused to admit of a Cure I was resolved either to see things or if I could not to conceive them as evidently as that Seven and Three make up Ten. It was on these his Three mistaken Methods that he reflected afterwards when sighing he said What am I Quid sum ego mihi sine te nisi dux in praeceps quis homo est quilibet homo cum sit homo Conf. l. 1. c. 4. to my self but a Guide leading into a Precipice What a sad Man is each Man when he is but one Man That is when he is left to his own Private Sense abandoned to his own Judgment Was it possible that Gods Grace had it been less than Omnipotent should prevail against these stubborn Ill-dispositions of his Mind Long was the Combat violent the Strife but Grace conquered at last and by this Method gained the Field First God by a particular Light convinced him That L 7. conf c. 5. Religion was not Opinion but Faith not a calling of things Divine to the Test of our weak Judgment and carnal Senses but a captivating of our Understanding and humbly sacrificing it to the Divine Truth Next he observed how numerable those things were which he believed though he had never seen them How he had ever adored God and owned his Providence though he knew not what a Kind of Substance he was nor what Way led unto or from him I thought on these Things says he and you were present to me I was carried away by restless Waves and you governed and steered my Course I sighed and you heard me Then he resolves to seek more narrowly Let Time be assigned says he let some Hours be allotted Ibidem c. 11. to the Study of that great Science How I shall save my Soul. Let all Vain and Empty Concerns perish and all my Thoughts and Endeavors be spent in the sole Pursuit of Truth this Life at best is but Toylsome and Miserable Death certain and at Hand if it surprizes whither do we go He presently applyed himself seriously to an humble Search after a Guide to Truth when favoured with a new Light from Heaven he cryes out Conceive better Hopes my Soul the Catholic Faith doth not teach what we Believe and fondly accused her of Thus disposed and weighing with a due Attention the Articles of the Catholic Belief he owns his Heart was filled with Joy and his Face covered with Shame to see how profanely he had strove so many Years not against Catholic Faith as he conceived but against his own Dreams how Rash he had been and equally Impious That whereas he should with Submission have learnt from the â—o quippe temerarius impius fueram quod ea quae debebam quaerenda discere accusando dixeram l. 6. Conf. Church that which she held he fastened on her what he pleased and accused her of it He reads next Holy Scripture with the due deference he owed to that Churches Interpretation owning there is no Text of Scripture into which a false Gloss may not Foist an Error that the Letter ever kills when severed from the Spirit Nulla scriptura est quae non apud illos qui cam non intelligunt possit reprehendi l. 1. de gen contra Manich. which ought to quicken that the very misapplying a Text otherwise truly Interpreted is the most dangerous Weapon that a tempting Devil could use to deceive even if possible Truth it self with an It is written that stubbornly to maintain our own Fancy to be the Word of God because we uphold it by a forced Text is to set up the greatest Abomination of Desolation in the House of God an Idol upon his Altar and to adore it by the worst of Idolatries Self-worship proudly challenging as our own what Christ only could bequeath and left to his Church to each Member as united to the whole the Spirit of Truth who alone must Interpret what he Dictated alone On which score Christ left as a Depositum in the same Hands of the Church the Letter and the Spirit the Book and the Sense the Word and the Truth to be delivered to all succeeding Ages by the same Authority because the separating of the one from the other would Neque enim natae sunt haereses nisi dum scripturae bonae intelliguntur non bene quod in â—is non bene Intelligitur etiam temeré audacter asseritur Tract 18. in Jo. turn the most wholsom Food of our Souls to present Poison whence Heresies have had their birth from good Scriptures ill understood and from the bold and rash asserting of such Errors So that this only is the holy Method to be followed that what we find in Scripture conformable with the Faith we have received we feed on it but when any part thereof appears not uniform with that Rule that it create in us no Doubts but only an humble Quod secundum sanam sidei regulam intelligere non poterimus dubitationem aâ—feramus intelligentiam disseramus Ibid. persuasion that we understand not yet such a Scripture He had scarce receiv'd this Light when behold all his Doubts raised before by the same Lecture disappeared all those seeming Contradictions vanished whence he was perfectly convinced that the Catholic Church was the unerring Guide to be followed by all the Disciples of Christ He expresses the difference of this present Submission from that former Search into Scripture without this Guide under the Comparison of two Travellers whereof Aliud est de silvestri cacumine videre patâ—iam pacis iter ad cam non invenire frustra conâ—ri per invia aliud viam tenere illuc ducentem cura coelestis imperatoris munitam Conf. l. 8. c. 1. of the one climbs up
plain to be disputed against yet no answer could I return but those dull and drowzy words Shortly yea presently leave me but a moment but that presently was never present that shortly lasted long that moment was eternal Behold the sad Picture of a Soul that hath not yet lost all pretence to eternal Bliss yet so dull'd by her sins so debauch'd by weak human fears as to dare to stray from the way to it against the loud and clamorous convictions of her own conscience A sad case and at that time that of Augustin Great God! that Souls created to possess an Everlasting Bliss should be baffled out of all claim to it by such poor childish weak fears He was to change forsooth to alter his first Sentiment he had so often declared to the World He that Learned Man was to lay down his old Errors to be catechiz'd to learn a little one in Christ the first Elements of Religion to take up a new Faith what would the World say how sinistrously would they misrepresent his Motives Weakness of men who dare act against their conscience lest the World should think they do This misery the Saint reflected on afterwards when he cried out A curse on thee swelling Confess l 1. c. 16. River of human Respects who shall bear up against thy Stream who shall ford thee what powerful Grace of God shall drain or dry thee up and open me a passage God directed Augustin to a holy Bishop Sedulius who had been a Spiritual Guide and Father to St. Ambrose by this Man's means God had designed to defeat this one great Difficulty at least which was so dreadful an Obstacle to Augustin's Conversion His Exhortations had long been ineffectual when God inspired him to relate to Augustin the late Conversion of one Victorinus You knew him at Rome said the holy Bishop you have often convers'd with Confess l. 8. him and heard him both in the School and at the Bar you know that for his eminent Parts and prodigious Rhetoric he was highly valued so far beyond all others that Rome had raised him a Statue in the most eminent place of the City as to the God of Eloquence He was the Darling of the Nobility the Glory of the Senate the Love of the People and wanted towards Happiness only alas the all indeed true Religion He was now far advanced in Age when by reading all those Books that were written by those of the Catholic Church God's Grace instructing him interiorly he came to the knowledge of the Truth But he was Head of a contrary Party or at least the most considered in it 'T was hard to quit that sweet Prae-eminence and to have a new Interest to make He would often tell me not in public but in private and familiar discourse That now he was converted and of my Religion I ever answered him That he deceived himself and that I should never rank him amongst those of it till I saw him in their Church at their Prayers at their Sacraments He would reply That God knew his heart and what said he do the Walls of a Church make one a Christian This was but a fond excuse alas he feared to offend his Friends to cast a blur upon that fair Reputation with them which he had gained to himself God pitied him at last he apply'd himself to Reading again and to fervent Prayer he inslamed his cold Desires reinforced his Resolutions and fearing not to be acknowledged by Christ before his holy Angels in case he blushed to confess him before Men He that great Master of the Literate World abandoned his old Errors which almost all the Roman Nobility and People were again infected with and tho' he knew that those tall Cedars of Libanus would fall heavy on him that his Friends would forsake him his Admirers ridicule him his best Supporters abandon him he did not blush to become a little one of Christ ashamed of his past Errors not of the Truth he was to embrace he suddenly unexpectedly declares to me that he will go to a Catholic Church With what joy did I lead him Thither come he refused to be privately admitted into our Communion he made a public Profession of his Faith calling the whole Multitude for Witnesses of the Mercy which God had shewed him This Example thus related by the holy Bishop Oh how powerful was it I burnt says Augustin interiourly with a violent desire suddenly to copy and follow it I address'd my self to God in most fervent Prayers Do O Lord said I do the same in my heart awake and pull it back to you His Prayer was heard human respects are totally laid aside by him nay he is convinced that nothing but Error or Weakness in not daring to disavow and to correct it ought to be blushed at One great point more God's Grace hath gained now we are come to the last No wonder if the Enemy intrenched in his last Fort makes the most vigorous because 't is the last resistance From the beginning of his Youth Augustin had found strange Charms as he acknowledges himself in Virtue especially in that of Temperance and Chastity but corrupted Nature found stronger and more tempting ones Da mihi contâ—nentiam â—â—stitatem sed 〈◊〉 modo Conf. â— 8. c. 7. in Vice. His Prayer was then Lord give me Temperance Continency Chastity but not too soon In this disposition had he continued till his Thirty-third year convinced of his Duty but unwilling to comply yet with it Catholic Religion he liked well of but with It the Cross of Christ was to be embraced Abstinences Penitential Works Confession Restitution and Self-denial Purity of Heart and Body a removal of all dangerous occasions of sinning Oh saith he the Beauty of thy Law was to me greatly attractive but I sunk back with grief under my own weight the violence of old sensual Customs Oh of how many is this the case when called by God to Qui intelligit Deum non acâ—edit ad Fidem ejus ne vivat Christianus sed in siâ—e vult Pidem accipere ut morâ—atur Christianus qualem sperat Deum cui cum milâ—tare â—rubuerit vult ab co stipendium accipere Q. Q. veâ— nov Q 126. the true Church or if in it already to Christian Virtues But a sad one For as Augustin himself observed afterwards Those who being sufficiently convinced when true Faith is taught yet refuse to submit to it resolved not to live yet hoping to die in it can have but one of these two Motives of their delay either a greater liberty of sinning with less restraint with a weaker remorse during Life or the confusion they apprehend to be put to by that change But alas what a God do they conceive you to be O Lord who blush to serve you yet dare expect from you a reward The force of this Example had conquer'd in Augustin the difficulty he met with from human respects God uses the