errour is charged in sacred Writ upon the Will as the original of it This doth not render Religion uncertain Fallibility and certainty are not inconsistent There may be an actual certainty where there is no absolute infallibility A Judge is not infallible and yet he may be certain that the sentence which he pronounceth is right A man may be sure of what he sees plainly demonstrated before him altho' he is not out of the power and influence of all deception When a foundation is laid and some build gold silver and precious stone upon it others wood hay stubble it is as easie for one who is not infallible to discern the difference betwixt these superstructures as to distinguish a wall of marble form that which is made of brick If there be no certainty without infallibility Scepticism must be admitted and a stop put to all proceedings of Justice No Man ought to be condemned to suffer a penalty except it be certain that he deserves it and who are there but fallible Men to give evidence and judge of his demerits If the Promises of Scripture have sâ—â—â—â— sence as is contended for how comes it to be known It is a received principle amongst those with whom we are concerned That they cannot be sure of the meaning of the Bible without the interpretation of an infallible Spirit and by consequence we must be sure that the Church is infallible before we can be sure of the Sence of Scripture and if so the promise cannot be alledged as an argument to prove infallibility for then there will be a perfect circle The sence of the promise is justified by the infallibility of the Church and the infallibility of the Church by the sence of the promise From hence it is apparent That the meaning of the promise may be known without the interpretation of an infallible Spirit and if so why not the sence of other places of Scripture If we should enter upon an examination of the particular Texts of Scripture which are pretended to favour the Infallibility which the Romanists contend for they would be found no way answerable to that purpose for which they are produced They are such as these If he neglect to hear the Church c. Lo I am with you to the end of the world He will guide you into all truth He that heareth you heareth me It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and to us The Church which is the pillar and ground of Truth He that will not hearken to the Priest shall die Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church I have prayed that thy faith fail not Feed my Sheep To all which we briefly answer in order 1. When we are commanded To hear the Church This Church may be the Greek or Protestant as well as the Roman and hearing doth not imply the infallibility of it Every Parishioner is commanded to hear the Minister which is set over him and yet no body from thence will infer that he is infallible This Church we are not to believe without making any scrutiny but lie under obligation to try all things and hold fast that which is good The command of the Church doth not free us from sin in our conformity to it The Jews contracted a deep guilt in compassing the death of our blessed Lord tho' they did it in obedience to their Governours Not only Pastors but the Sheep know the voice of their supreme Shepherd and are in a capacity to distinguish it from the voice of a stranger 2. When it is said I will be with you to the end of the world This assures us of the presence of Christ with his Ministers so long as the world endures but not that he will give the same measure of assistance which the Apostles did enjoy That which is sufficient in every Age is ascertained by this promise but not that which is efficacious to such a degree as will secure them from all errour for then every particular Pastour will be as Infallible as every Apostle was 3. When it is asserted That when the Spirit of Truth is come He will guide you into all truth it cannot be proved That this promise is made to any besides the Apostles The context plainly appropriates it to them I have many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now These words have an evident aspect upon the Disciples only If we should grant That not only the Apostles but their Successors are the objects of the promise what is intended to be proved will not follow namely Infallibility The direction of the Spirit may be opposed He gives in all ages a sufficient but not an irresistible guidance Many tho' they are put into a right way by him yet desert it and follow their own erroneous apprehensions 4. Those words He that heareth you heareth me are spoken of the Seventy Disciples not assembled in a Council but as going up and down from place to place to preach the Gospel So that if they be construed in such a fence as to favour Infallibility they will prove more than is desired namely That this priviledge of not erring belongs to every Preacher who has a lawful authority conferred upon him to publish the Gospel 5. Those words It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and to us do not argue That the blessed Spirit will infallibly assist in all future Councils They assert what was done at this present Convention but hold forth no promise of the same degree of assistance in all Ages The reason of this extraordinary aid was peculiar to those times The Apostles then were to lay the foundation to fix an unerring rule both for the converted Jews and Gentiles The rule being once setled the necessity of the continuance of the same degree of assistance did cease The Heavens did forbear to rain down Manna so soon as the Israelites were in possession of a Country furnished with all convenient provision It is no good consequence That because the Sanhedrim in Moses's time was endued with an extraordinary Spirit therefore the same favour must be indulged to all their Successours even to the Council which put the Lord of Life to death 6. In those words The Church of the living God the pillar and ground of Truth The word Church must import That in which Timothy is directed how to demean himself and that undoubtedly was the Church of Ephesus of which he had the Ecclesiastical inspection That Church did hold forth the True Doctrin of the Gospel in its publick Profession even as pillars upon which the Edicts of Princes are fastned expose them to the view of all that pass by The expression alludes to the Temple of Diana much celebrated for its magnificent Pillars upon which the rules of the Religion of that Goddess were inscribed The Apostle intimates That those Columns were the Pillars of falshood but the Church of Christ in the City the Pillar of Truth holding forth the True Doctrin of
Heaven The words do not speak the indefectibility of that Church but the present state only This Pillar began to decay in Domitián's time Rev. 2.5 and is at this day utterly demolished If it be granted That the words under consideration have an aspect upon the Universal Church no advantage will from thence accrue to the plea for Infallibility She is not represented as the ground and pillar of all Truth but of Truth in general which may be limited to that which is fundamental Tho' she cannot fail in this particular for then she will lose her essence and cease to be yet she may in other points very useful to be known If by Truth we understand all Truth the words may set forth the duty of the Church what she ought to do and not the actual performance what she always does When the Disciples are stiled the salt of the earth this doth not argue an invincible quality in them whereby they are secured against the danger of losing their savour but a constant obligation upon them to retain it and season others with it 7. When it is said Dent. 17.12 That man that will not hearken to the Priest shall die no advantage will from thence redound to the Bishop of Rome except he can make it appear That He is Successour to the High Priest under the Law and vested in the same priviledges which he will never be able to do If this was so it would not amount to prove him infallible The high Priest with the whole Sanhedrim was liable to mistake as appears by the Sacrifice appointed for the expiation of their errour Lev 4.13 He that would not hearken was to die not because he was of a different opinion from the Priest but by reason of his Pride and contempt of the Supreme Authority which is plainly intimated in those words That Man which will do presumptuously c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is a common case in all Communities In superbia where there is no such thing pretended to as Infallibility When a cause is under debate and the Law requires the last appeal to be made to the Supreme Authority and the person concerned so to do turns his back upon it arrogantly refuses a submission and by consequence evidently endangers the Peace and Security of the whole Community this is a fault of the first magnitude and justly deserves the most severe animadversion If it could be proved That the Bishop of Rome with a Council called by him has as good Authority over All the Churches of the World as the high Priest with the Sanhedrim had over the National Church of the Jews Tho' from thence it would not follow That he is exempt from errour yet none would doubt to assert That his power is not to be treated with contempt 8. That Text Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it is no more propitious to the Infallibility contended for than those which have been already considered It is not agreed Whether by the Rock is to be understood Peter himself or Jesus Christ who is stiled a Rock or the confession which Peter made The ancient Fathers incline to the two last If they be preferred the Church of Rome can from thence reap no advantage If we should grant That S. Peter is the Rock spoken of it will not argue any Infallibility promised to him but the declaration of a Divine purpose to make him a firm and successful instrument in the propagation of the Gospel as the rest of the Apostles were and many of their Successours Here is nothing peculiar to S. Peter The other Apostles are represented to be as intimately concerned in the foundation of the Church as he Eph. 2.20 Rev. 21.14 The following words the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it rather prove That the Church shall never cease to be than any universal indefectibility It is certain That there shall be a Church upon the Earth teaching all truth of peremptory necessity to Salvation until the coming of our blessed Lord But that it shall be exempt from errour in all matters of Faith is contrary to experience It was once received as a truth That Infants ought to have the Eucharist administred to them and now it as unanimously exploded for a grand mistake 9. The Prayer of Christ That the faith of Peter might not fail argues rather his not finally falling away than a total exemption from errour He was under great misapprehensions after these words had been spoken to him He believed That Christ would continue upon the Earth and in those dayes restore the Kingdom to Israel That the Gentiles were not to be called in and made partakers of the like priviledges with the Jews If it should be granted That the Petition of our Lord did secure an Infallibility to Peter this would be of no advantage to our adversaries in the present controversie It cannot be made to appear That the Bishop of Rome is concerned in all the Prayers which were made for S. Peter There is in them no mention of any Successour If there had it would be difficult to prove That the Pope is the person Some doubt whether S. Peter was ever at Rome The Scripture is silent in this matter The first Asserters were but of a mean reputation Many figments were devised to support the credit of their relation The common fame which by degrees did grow out of these beginnings cannot be accounted a demonstration so long as there are Catalogues of errours which not only the Vulgar but Persons of Learning have been surprised with To erect Infallibility upon such a fluid foundation is as if an attempt should be made to build a Castle in the Air. If S. Peter was at Rome and left the Bishop of that place to succeed him this might be only in his ordinary power and not in his extraordinary qualifications as personal Infallibility a power of doing Miracles There is as much reason for the Pope to challenge to himself the last as the first and yet I cannot understand that he pretends to it The Miracles in the Church of Rome are usually attributed to some persons that cannot easily be spoken with in order to the knowing the truth If this power had been ascribed to the Pope daily experience would have given the Asserters a flat contradiction 10. Those words Feed my sheep c. do not import the conferring upon Peter any priviledge above the rest of the Apostles but only the insuring to him his interest in the general Commission given to them They were commanded to teach all nations It might lie as an objection against him That he was not included in the number of those who were thus commissioned By his denial of Christ he had in appearance forfeited his right to the Apostleship as Judas by betraying him fell really from it To give him and others assurance That he was one
personal favours of his Prince to pay the Rights which belong to the Crown yet the formal object and reason of his so doing is the Sovereignty and dominion which the Prince is invested with As the Son so likewise the Spirit is the Object of Adoration He is placed in the same rank with the Father and the Son Mat. 28. v. 19. Jo. 1.5 7. and honoured with the attribution of the peculiarities of the Deity as Eternity Immensity Omniscience The dishonour done to him by Blasphemy has as black a character in the Scripture as the dishonour of the Father or Son It is represented as a delinquency of the first magnitude and excluded the benefit of pardon He who is thus dignified and secured by the most severe commination against dishonour must necessarily of right challenge the same degree of Honour and Worship which is due to the Father and the Son The Adoration given to them all must be so directed that we may worship the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity The ground of divine Veneration is the unlimited and peerless perfection of God The motives conducing to it are the benefits which none but so transcendent a Being can conferr The same internal eminency is common to the Three Persons Every external benefit is the product of their joint concurrence They having all an equal interest in the foundation of Religion and the motives conducing to it it is very reasonable when we direct an act of Worship to one that we should not exclude the other When we name the Son only the Father and holy Spirit are to be understood or the Father only the Son and the Spirit or the Spirit only the Father and the Son Consonant to this doctrine are the words of Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Let us Worship in Three one Deity and the practice of the universal Church which is apparent by the Latin and Greek Liturgies Now I have done with the fourth Proposition This One God is to be Worshipped 5. This God is only to be Worshiped This is the express assertion of the Holy Scripture the dictate of Reason the sence of the Ancient Church 1. The assertion of Holy Scripture It is the first of the moral Laws Thou shalt have no other Gods but me and placed in the front of the Gospel Him only shalt thou serve In a sense of this appropriate allegiance to Jehovah the Angel did forbid S. John and S. Paul and Barnabas the people of Lycaonia to pay them any Divine Veneration Daniel's refusal of the portion of meat which was first consecrated to an Idol will easily induce us to believe that he had an equal disgust of the Idolatrous worship which was given to him If Abraham's deportment when the Angels appeared had more than a moral or civil respect The Son of God his being in the company will excuse him from Idolatry one of them is expresly dignified with the incommunicable name of the Deity 2. The dictate of reason Worship is either internal or external Internal includes a deep and reverential esteem as an ingredient essential to its nature This esteem must be of an elevation agreeable to the excellency of the Object it is terminated upon There being no object that can be a Rival with the Supreme Being in point of perfection it is not possible that the same esteem which his transcendent dignity challengeth from us should with justice be given to any other External imports a declaration of inward esteem by some outward acts As the Veneration terminated upon God is peculiar and appropriate So must the Acts be which are designed for the signification of it Betwixt the sign and the thing signified there ought to be such a similitude that the one may be known by the other This cannot be done in the present case except there be such an appropriation as we speak of The nature of Divine Supremacy requires in outward as well as inward Worship a discrimination from that which is given to the Creature Earthly Monarchs expect an agnition of their Sovereignty to be made by the payment of an appropriate homage They have some Jewels in their Crown which they will not permit any of their Subjects to wear Tho' Moral and Civil regards may be tendred to a Creature yet if they rise so high as to have any mixtures of those peculiarities which are devoted by nature or institution to signifie Divine Veneration they are as distasteful to God as it would be to a Prince to stand by and see the Allegiance which is due only to himself given to another This Truth is warranted with so much clear reason that those who have had no other advantage but the light of Nature have taken notice of it Among those instructions which Orpheus left with Musaeus Lib. de Monarch Det p. 104 108. This is one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Adore him alone who is the King of the World It was the advice of Menander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to honour him alone who is Lord of all Ad Antolycum p. 122. The Verses of the Sibyl in Theophilus Antiochenus are of the same importance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Laâ—t de â—â—lsa Relig. p. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Ruler of the World alone adore Who ever was and shall be ever more 3. The Sence of the Ancient Church Among those Truths which are owned by the most early Writers this is of the first magnitude that God only is to be Worshipped They never mention the worshipping any thing else as the Sacrament the Cross the Relicks of Saints When they delineate the rites appertaining to the Eucharist there is not the least intimation of that Veneration which the Romanist say is due to the Sacrament They were far from asserting that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae debetur vero Deo is to be given to it Circumstances purely accidental as the time when the Institution was made the place where the mingling Water with Wine are recorded Those who had leisure to preserve the memory of these circumstances would not have omitted a point so material in case any such thing had been known to be agreeable to the mind of God As for the individual Cross upon which our blessed Lord suffered there could be no Adoration directed to it for the first three hundred years It is confessed that it lay concealed under ground till the time of Helena mother to Constantine the Great Neither is there the least signification of any religious addresses made to artificial imitations of it When the Veneration of the Cross is objected by the Heathens against the Christians Mirâ—â— Fâ—l it is answered by them Cruces etiam nec colimus nec optamus We neither Worship Crosses nor wish for them Bellarmine indeed infers that the objection implies that some such practice was then in use but he may by the same reason perswade us that the Christians Worshipped the Head of an Ass because their
Titulars and Pensioners sent from that Court with many other devices P. 18 19 20. insomuch that a Romish Priest in his Letter to the Bishop of Ferns saies That the Council was neither Oecumenical nor Occidental nor free He who considers all this will be under no inclination to believe That the Council of Trent was inspired with any thing besides the infallible Spirit of Worldly Policy As for the People They can make no just plea to infallibility If the Head cannot justifie his plea much less the feet which are guided by and take their measures from him If the Head and Members together are the recipients of it for it is not agreed whether the Decrees of the Pope without a Council or the Decrees of a Council without the Pope or the Decrees of the Pope and Council without the acceptance of the whole body of the People be authentick Some say one thing some another Their Language is confounded that they may be hindred from building the aspiring tower of Infallibility it ought to be examined how this comes to be known Two things are alledged 1. There is a peremptory necessity for such a guide 2. The Church of Rome has all the evidence that can be reasonably desired that she is such a one 1. The necessity is not apparent It was necessary that the doctrin concerning Religion should be revealed by God the first Proponents of it infallibly guided by the influence of the Divine Spirit but there is no just reason why such persons should be continued in the Church to the end of the World The certainty of Religion may be secured without them We have an infallible rule to steer our course by The Books in which it is contained are conveyed to our hand with all the desirable assurance That they are not forged but really such as they pretend to be We have as much evidence for this as the nature of the thing is capable of The Tradition whereby they are delivered to us is so universal That could the like be produced for those points which are in controversie betwixt us and the Church of Rome we should not be backward in the entertainment of them We have far less evidence for many Writings as Plato's Tully's Caesar's which without any hesitancy we believe to be genuine These are conveyed unto us but by a very few hands in comparison but the Books of the Scripture being of general concernment were perused by all sorts and by this means have gain'd the most universal attestation Porphyry and Julian with other implacable enemies to the Christian Faith did acknowledge those books to be composed by those whose names they bear The Books being thus delivered when we come to consult the doctrine contained in them we find ingraven upon it peculiar characters of Divinity agreeable to the impressions of the Deity made upon the Souls of all men together with the broad Seal of Heaven annexed unto it many Miracles which God never gives to any a power to do for the confirming an errour In order to the gaining the true Sence and meaning of this doctrine we have great advantage from the clearness of the stile in all points of absolute necessity to Salvation Truths of this importance are set in a very clear light What is more manifest than the following particulars There is a God a peculiar Worship is due to him in the Deity are Three Persons The Second cloathed himself with our Nature that he might be in a capacity to transact the work of our Redemption Those that would have a title to the benefits of his Redemption must Believe Repent lead a holy Life An eternal reward will be given to those that do these things and an everlasting punishment inflicted upon those who neglect them A day is appointed when all must stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ These particulars with many others of a-like nature are written with the greatest perspicuity If any complain of obscurity it is in themselves and not in the object If men will devest themselves of their prejudices dissipate those mists which are cast before them they cannot remain long unacquainted with these Truths If any controversie arise we have visible Guides to advise with who are devoted to the study of the Sacred Oracles and solemnly set apart by a Divine appointment to this purpose even as in secular concerns there is not only a Law to walk by but Men wholly devoted to the search of the meaning of it who are able in difficult cases to assist us Tho' these Persons whether alone or congregated in a Synod are not infallible yet when they are duly improved sincerely Religious free from the Bias of an irrelative interest they give us a high degree of assurance That their thoughts are agreeable to Truth and just Reason if we cannot internally assent to keep our Faith to our selves and not to disturb the Peace of the Church by an imprudent publication We attribute to the Divine Spirit speaking in the holy Scripture supreme and infallible Conduct To the Governours of the Church Subordinate and Ministerial To private Men who are under their Government we dare not deny the judgment of discretion God requires of them a reasonable Service 〈…〉 a compliance as is in brute creatures who are entirely subject to the discretion of those who use them and can give no account of the action they are directed to He expects the concurrence of the Heart He has endued us with a freedom to determine our selves and requires that our election be made upon such evidence that in case our Rulers command us to do otherwise than we apprehend to be right we may be able to give a sober account of our dissatisfaction an answer to every one that asketh us a reason of the hope which is in us with meekness and fear We are obliged to prove all things try the Spirits whether they be of God This Exhortation is not directed only to Fathers and Governours in the Church but such as are stiled young men and children who are under their conduct This liberty in point of discretion doth not lessen and impair the certainty of Religion Those who use it have a rational power conferred upon them by the Supreme Being for the searching and finding out of Truth They have visible Guides to make their application to in order to the removing their scruples They have the enjoyment of the publick Ministry which by Heaven is designed as the ordinary means to convey information to them the promise of the divine Spirit which doth accompany it and will be assistant to them if they do not resist it but expose themselves to its operations a power to suspend their assent till the matter be clear and evident When the object is so and the faculty duly prepared by the use of such means as have been specified it will be unreasonable to assert That we may in such circumstances be imposed upon He to whom veracity
Armenia Aegypt Aethiopia will be under no temptation to believe That the Romanists have any such great cause to value themselves upon the account of the amplitude of their Community I know that it will be said That all these are cut off from the Church by Heresie But the best way to try whether it be so or no will be to examine the Confessions of their Faith and compare them with the unerring rule of Scripture Upon an impartial inquiry it will be found That the worst of them has a much better consistency with the Primitive Standard than the Creed of the Romanists has The greatest fault which is found with the Protestants is their compliance with the advice of S. John Little children keep your selves from Idols with the Greeks The believing the words of our Saviour which evidently import an equality among the Apostles and their refusing to stoop to the imaginary Supremacy of S. Peter Indeed the denial of the procession from the Son is pretended which altho' it be an errour yet was never accounted fundamental The Pope has done with the Church of Christ as the Jews say Herod did with the Temple of Solomon enlarge the foundation If the errour of the Greeks be fundamental it is not because it is opposite to the foundation which a greater than Solomon laid but the additional laid by the Bishop of Rome Filióque in the Nicene Creed is believed to be inserted by Nicolaus the first about eight hundred and fifty years after Christ when the animosities betwixt him and Photius Patriarch of Constantinople were very high Sguropulus has given assurance enough That what was done in the Council of Florence was brought to pass by the collusion of the Roman party The Greeks being forced by their necessities and tempted by the most alluring promises into such concessions as their whole Church was highly dissatisfied with As for the Nestâ—rians it is evident by their Confessions that they have abandoned that errour which was condemned by the Council of Ephesus the Jacobites Breerw Iâ—quâ— p. 15.4 altho' they retain their denomination from Jacobus Sanzalus a defender of the Eutychian Heresie yet they renounce his doctrin Leonard Legate of Pope Gregory the Thirteenth in those parts of the World where the Jacobites live hath recorded that their Patriarch professed to him That tho' indeed they held but one personate nature in Christ resulting of the unity of the two natures not personated yet they acknowledge those two natures to be united in his person without any mixtion and confusion and that they themselves differ not in understanding but in terms from the Latin Church From all this it is evident That the Romanists have no reason to insist upon their amplitude as a character of the Truth or Infallibility of their Church the next Motive is the uninterrupted succession of Bishops by which is meant the coming of one Bishop into the place of another from S. Peter to the present Bishop of Rome without the interposition of any unduly qualified Such a Succession they are never able to demonstrate For those who are rightly qualified according to their own Principles must be no Symonists no Schisinaticks no Hereticks Men and not Women And yet it is confessed That some of them have obtained their dignities by Symoniacal contracts as Alexander the Sixth Sextus the First Others have been under the guilt of Schism The Council of Pisa deposed Benedict the Thirteenth and Gregory the Thirteenth under that notion and elected Alexander the Fifth who continued in the place without deposition the Council of Basil deposed Eugenius upon the like account And yet after the Council was ended he recovered his dignity without any Conciliary Act And from him all to the present Bishop of Rome are descended So that whether the Pope be above a Council or the Council above the Pope the Succession is interrupted Some of them have been under the imputation of Heresie Liberius was an Arrian Anastasius a Nestorian Vigilius an Eutychian and it is believed by some That one of them was a Woman For this we have the unanimous consent of all the Romanists till Luther's time They were so ingenuous as to confess the thing till the Protestants began to urge it to their prejudice To all this I may add That those Churches which have as good a Succession as they contend for are notwithstanding branded with the infamy of Heresie as our own and the Greek Church Therefore their Succession which is only personal and not doctrinal can be no motive to induce us to believe That they are a True much less an Infallible Church As for their agreement in Doctrin with the ancient Primitive Church This would be a motive indeed could they demonstrate any such harmony Till they have reconciled their Doctrin of withholding the Cup from the Disciples of Christ with the words of our Saviour drink ye all of it Concerning Prayer in an unknown Tongue with the words of the Apostle If I pray in an unknown tongue my understanding is unfruitful Concerning the Worshipping of Images with the Second Command and the Primitive Christians not allowing so much as the making of them we shall not easily believe that there is a consent in all things betwixt their doctrin and the doctrin of the ancient Apostolical Church The next Motive is the Union of the Members amongst themselves He who well considers the Schisms betwixt the Anti-Popes as Novatianus and Cornelius Foelix and Liberius Vrsinus and Damasus Eusebius and Bonifacius the second Vigilius and Sylverius c. with many others Six and Twenty in Bellarmine's account Thirty according to Onuphrius and thinks fit to enlarge his Meditations with the consideration of the divisions betwixt the Emperours and Popes the last pretending a power from Christ to devest the former of their Authority and with the differences betwixt the Popes and the Bishops about their Power Whether it be derived immediately from the Pope or from Christ the Bishops and Regulars these pleading an exemption from their jurisdiction the Regulars and the Parochial Priests with all the diversities betwixt the Jansenists and Molinists Franciscans and Dominicans the Sorbonists and the followers of the doctrin of Lombard and Anquinas together with the grand contest about the fundamental Article Infallibility some making it Canonical some absolute some saying it is in the Pope some in a Council will not find himself under any strong inclination to believe That the Concord so much boasted of is so perfect as is pretended Indeed they say Tho' they be not actually agreed yet they have the most ready way that leads to it They all acknowledge one visible Head in whose judgment all are to acquiesce So that when differences arise they have nothing to do but to speak with him But this is nothing to the purpose For the Motive is not potential but actual Union not what may be but what is It is no good consequence that they are United because they
others which represent the Lives of the Popes will see That I have done them no injustice By all this it is visible of what elevation Holiness has been at Rome and what little reason there is to make it a motive of Credibility The last is the glory of Miracles By Miracles we must understand Works which are above the power and energy of finite Nature and are plain and evident to the Sence None but God can effect them and when he doth them they are produced openly and all circumstances are so perspicuous that there cannot be any reasonable suspicion of collusion Such were the works of Jesus Christ They are confessed by all to be above the energy of finite Nature whether Angelical or Humane All the Angelical Powers had they conspired together could not by the speaking a word have raised Lazarus from the dead after he had been four days in the grave or in a moment cured Chronical diseases which had been upon the distempered persons some Twelve some Eighteen some Thirty Eight Years These effects were produced in the clearest light The Sun of righteousness did not light a candle to operate by They were done not only before friends who might be byassed with inclinations to use their Microscopes and magnifie every thing beyond its just dimensions but in the presence of the most implacable enemies who were under the strongest propensities to eclipse the glory of them Now we cannot learn That such Miracles as these are done by the Romanists Many which are pretended to are discovered to be meer collusions Those that they still continue to glory in have not much evidence as is necessary to the nature of a Miracle They tell of wonders done by the remains of S. James at Compostella in Spain by the Virgin Mary at Loretto in Italy in her Santa Casa by the Sacred Vial of S. Mary Magdalen in S. Maximine's Church in France But when we come to inquire not only into the Truth of what is pretended to be done but likewise for the evidence which they have That the Vial in the Church of S. Maximine's was Mary Magdalen's and the blood boiling in it upon the Passion-day the blood of our Saviour or That the Santa Casa at Loretto is the Chamber where the Virgin Mary was born and saluted by the Angel or That the Reliques at Compostella are the real remains of S. James Their account is so defective That all Wise Men of their own party are ashamed of it The best Testimonies they have are either dreams or visions and fables devised by Men wholly devoted to the advancement of their own designs There is a Table in the Church at Loretto in no less than Thirteen Languages for the edification of all Nations in which is given an account of the Transportation of the Santa Casa by Angels The whole certainly resolves it self at last into a dream a vision and the talk of two old Men. The best Evidence for the Miracles of Xaverius are some posthumous relations framed after his death He himself in several Letters in which he makes a Narrative of his transactions amongst that People speaks no such matter Franciscus de Victoria says That he could hear of no Miracles which were done in those parts by the Emissaries of Rome Fabulous inventions serve to buoy up the devotion of the common people Their Zeal for such publick Tales is usually of the same elevation with that of Demetrius for his gainful Manufactures If it should be granted That Miracles have been done in the Church of Rome there is no assurance That the design of them is to confirm the Infallibility which that Community pretends unto Miracles in the Gospel are like Fines in the Common Law they have Deeds to lead them and declare their proper use There is no authentick declaration from Heaven concerning this matter We have more reason to think if any such Miracles have been done That God by them did intend the confirmation of the Truth in which Protestants and Papists do agree and not the corrupt Additions about which they differ When a Miscellaneous People planted in Samaria by the King of Assyria did not Worship Jehova according to his own order and God in a miraculous manner sent Lyons amongst them to destroy them it would have been very unreasonable in the Israelites to have asserted That this Miracle was done to confirm the Idolatrous Worship of Dan and Bethel Whereas God had his eye not upon the justification of the corruptions which the Israelites were stained with but so much of the Truth as was retained by them When the Papists have made the utmost of what they can of their pretended Miracles they will find every jot as good amongst those whom they will be very unwilling to grant to be infallible False Christs shew great signs Matt. 24.24 The coming of the man of sin is with all power 2 Thess 2.9 The Beast which cometh out of the earth doth great wonders Rev. Socrat. l. 7.17 13.13 When a Jew who counterfeited Christianity was brought by Paulus a Novatian Bishop to the Font to be baptised the water vanished Tac. l. 4. Vespatian restored strength to a Lame and sight to a Blind man Aust de Civ l. 10 16. One born blind received sight by touching the dead body of Adrian The Images which Aeneas brought from Troy did locally move Lact. l. 2. p. 105. A vestal Virgin took up a Sieve out of Tyber full of Water Accius Naevlus cut a whetstone in two with a Razor These Wonders deserve as much consideration as any which the Romanists pretend to This may be sufficient to evidence That the glory of Miracles can be no motive to induce us to believe That the Church of Rome is infallible in her conduct in the concerns of Religion Before I leave this particular concerning the motives of Credibility I will lay down several on the other side which may justly incline us to think That no such guide was ever intended 1. It is no where revealed by Jesus Christ If he had committed his Universal Church to the guidance of any one visible and infallible Head certainly it would have been expressed in the holy Bible It is a matter of great importance not to be setled in doubtful expressions No Prince who appoints another in his absence to govern his Subjects does it in ambiguous terms but gives him a commission in such clear words That no man can have any just reason to dispute his Authority The Texts usually pretended to countenance such a Guide as is contended for have been already examined and found insufficient There is more in that expression relating to S. Paul That which cometh upon me daily the care of all the Churches than in any thing which is spoken of S. Peter and yet no man pretends to collect from thence That S. Paul was exclusively an Oecumenical Bishop and the final decision of all points in Religion did belong only to