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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41614	A papist mis-represented and represented, or, A twofold character of popery the one containing a sum of the superstitions, idolatries, cruelties, treacheries, and wicked principles of the popery which hath disturb'd this nation above an hundred and fifty years, fill'd it with fears and jealousies, and deserves the hatred of all good Christians : the other laying open that popery which the papists own and profess, with the chief articles of their faith, and some of the principle grounds and reasons, which hold them in that religion / by J.L. one of the Church of Rome ; to which is added, a book entituled, The doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome, truly represented, in answer to the aforesaid book by a Prote	Gother, John, d. 1704.; Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699.	1686 (1686)	Wing G1336; ESTC R21204	180,124	215

Merits and P●ssion of Christ he c●n Merit Salvation by his own good Works or make condign satisfaction for the guilt of his sins or the pains Eternal due to them R. Amen VIII Cursed is he that contemns the Word of God or hides it from the People on design to keep them from the knowledge of their Duty and to preserve them in Ignorance and Error R. Amen IX Cursed is he that undervalues the Word of God or that forsaking Scripture chuses rather to follow Humane Traditions than it R. Amen X. Cursed is he that leaves the Commandments of God to observe the constitutions of Men. R. Amen XI Cursed is he that omits any of the Ten Commandments or keeps the people from the knowledge of any one of them to the end they may not have occasion of discovering the Truth R. Amen XII Cursed is he that Preaches to the People in unknown Tongues such as they understand not or uses any other means to keep them in Ignorance R. Amen XIII Cursed is he that believes that the Pope can give to any upon any account whatsoever Dispensation to lie or swear falsly or that 't is lawful for any at the last hour to protest himself Innocent in case he be Guilty R. Amen XIV Cursed is he that encourages sins or teaches Men to defer the amendment of their Lives or presumption of their Death-bed-Repentance R. Amen XV. Cursed is he that teaches Men that they may be lawfully drunk on a Friday or any other Fasting-day tho they must not taste the least bit of Flesh. R. Amen XVI Cursed is he who places Religion in nothing but a pompous shew consisting only in Ceremonies and which teaches not the People to serve God in Spirit and Truth R. Amen XVII Cursed is he who loves or promotes Cruelty that teaches People to be bloody-minded and to lay aside the meekness of Iesus Christ. R. Amen XVIII Cursed is he who teaches it lawful to do any wicked thing tho it be for the Interest and Good of Mother-Church or that any Evil Action may be done that Good may come on it R. Amen XIX Cursed are we if amongst all those wicked Principles and damnable Doctrines commonly laid at our doors any one of them be the Faith of our Church And cursed are we if we do not as heartily detest all those hellish Pract●ces as they that so vehemently urge them against us R. Amen XX. Cursed are we if in an answering and saying Amen to any of these Curses we use any Equivocations Mental Reservations or do not ass●nt to them in the common and obvious Sense of the Words R. Amen And can the Papists then thus seriously and without check of Conscience say Amen to all these Curses Yes they can and are ready to it whensoever and and as often as it shall be requir'd of them And what then is to be said of those who either by Word or Writing charge these Doctrines upon the Faith of the Church of Rome Is a lying Spirit in the mouth of all the Prophets Are they all gone aside Do they b●ck b●te with their Tongue do Evil to their Neighbour and take up Reproach against th●ir Neighbour I 'll say no such thing but leave the impartial Considerer to judge One thing I can safely affirm That the Papists are foully Mis represented and shew in publick as much unlike what they are as the Christians were of old by the Gentiles that they lie under a great Calumny and severely smart in good Name Persons and Estates for such things which they as much and as heartily detest as those who accuse them But the Comfort is Christ has said to his Followers Ye shall be hated of all men Matth. 10.22 and Saint Paul We are made a Spectacle unto the World and we don't doubt that who bears this with Patience shall for every loss here and content receive a hundred fold in Heaven For base things of the World and things which are despi●ed hath God chosen ● Corinth 1.28 An Answer to the Conclusion HAving thus gone through the several Heads which our Author complains have been so much Mirsrepresented it is now fit to consider what he saith in his Conclusion which he makes to answer his Introduction by renewing therein his doleful Complaints of their being Misrepresented just as Christ and his Apostles and the Primitive Christians were I hope the former Discourse hath shewed their Doctrines and Practices are not so very like those of Christ and his Apostles and the Primitive Christians that their Cases should be made so parallel but as in his Conclusion he hath summed up the substance of his Representations so I shall therein follow his Method only with this difference that I shall in one Column set down his own Representations of Popery and in the other the Reasons in short why we cannot embrace them Wherein Popery consists as represented by this Author 1. IN using all external Acts of Adoration before Images as Kneeling Praying lifting up the Eyes burning Candles Incense c. Not merely to worship the Objects before them but to worship the Images themselves on the account of the Objects represented by them or in his own Words Because the Honour that is exhibited to them is referred to the Prototypes which they represent 2. In joining the Saints in Heaven together with Christ in Intercession for us and making Prayers on Earth to them on that Account 3. In allowing more Supplications to be used to the Blessed Virgin than to Christ For he denies it to be an idle Superstition to repeat Ten Ave Maria's for one Pater-Noster 4. In giving religious Honour and Respect to Relicks Such as placing them upon Altars burning Wax Candles before them carrying them in Processions to be seen touched or humbly kissed by the People which are the known allowed Practices in the Church of Rome 5. In adoring Christ as present in the Eucharist on the account of the Substance of Bread and Wine being changed into that Body of Christ which suffered on the Cróss 6. In believing the Substance of Bread and Wine by the Words of Consecration to be changed into his own Body and Blood the Species only or Accidents of Bread and Wine remaining as before 7. In making good Works to be truly meritorious of Eternal Life 8. In making Confession of our Sins to a Priest in order to Absolution 9. In the use of Indulgences for taking away the Temporal Punishments of sin remaining due after the Guilt is remitted 10. In supposing the Penitent Sinner may in some measure satisfie by Prayer Fasting Alms c. for the Temporal Pain which by order of God's Iustice sometimes remains due after the Guilt and the Eternal Pain are remitted 11. In thinking the Scripture not fit to be read generally by all without Licence or in the Vulgar Tongue 12. In allowing the Books of Tobit Judith Ecclesiasticus Wisdom Maccabees to be Canonical 13. In preferring the Vulgar Latin Edition

of the Bible before any other and not allowing any Translations into a Mother-Tongue to be ordinarily read 14. In believing that the Scripture alone can be no Rule of Faith to any private or particular Person 15. In relying upon the Authority of the present Church for the sense of Scripture 16. In receiving and believing the Churches Traditions as the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles and assenting to them with Divine Faith just as he doth to the B●ble 17. In believing that the present Guides of the Church being assembled in Councils for preserving the Unity of the Church have an Infallible Assistance in their Decrees 18. In believing the Pope to be the Supreme Head of the Church under Christ being Successor to S. Peter to whom he committed the care of his Flock 19. In believing that Communion in both Kinds is an indifferent thing and was so held for the first four hundred years after Christ and that the first Precept for Receiving under both Kinds was given to the Faithful by Pope Leo I. and confirmed by Pope Gelasius 20. In believing that the Doctrine of Purgatory is founded on Scripture Authority and Reason 21. In believing that to the saying of Prayers well and devoutly it is not necessary to have attention on the Words or on the Sense of Prayers 22. In believing that none out of the Communion of the Church of Rome can be saved and that it is no Uncharitableness to think so 23. In believing that the Church of Rome in all the new Articles defined at Trent hath made no Innovation in mat ters of Faith Our Reasons against it in the several Particulars 1. THou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image or any likeness of any thing in Heaven or Earth c. Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them Which being the plain clear and express Words of the Divine Law we dare not worship any Images or Representations lest we be found Transgressors of this Law Especially since God herein hath declared himself a Iealous God and annexed so severe a Sanction to it And since he that made the Law is only to interpret it all the Dictinctions in the World can never satisfy a Mans Conscience unless it appear that God himself did either make or approve them And if God allow the Worship of the thing Represented by the Representation he would never have forbidden that Worship absolutely which is unlawful only in a certain respect 2. We have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous 1 John 2.1 And one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Iesus 1 Tim. 2.5 For Christ is entered into Heaven it self now to appear in the Presence of God for us Heb. 9 24. And therefore we dare not make other Intercessors in Heaven besides him and the distance between Heaven and us breaks off all Communication between the Saints there and us upon Earth so that all Addresses to them now for their Prayers are in a way very different from desiring others on Earth to pray for us and if such Addresses are made in the solemn Offices of Divine Worship they joyn the Creatures with the Creator in the Acts and Signs of Worship which are due to God alone 3. Call upon me in the day of Trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Ps●l 50.15 When we pray to Our Father in Heaven as our Saviour commanded us we do b●t what both Natural and Christian Religion require us to do But when men pray to the Blessed Virgin for Help and Protection now and at the hour of Death they attribute that to her which belongs only to God who is our Helper and Defender And altho Christ knew the Dignity of his Mother above all others he never gives the least Encouragement to make such Address●s to her And to suppose her to have a share now in the Kingdom of Christ in Heaven as a Copartner with him is to advance a Creature to Divine Honour and to overthrow the true Ground of Christs Exaltation to his Kingdom in Heaven which was His suffering on the Cross for us 4. And no man knoweth of the Sepulchre of Moses unto this day Deut. 34.6 Why should God hide the Body of Moses from the People if h● allowed giving religious Honour and Respect to Relicks Why should Hezekiah break in pieces the Brazen Serpent because the Children of Israel did burn Incense to it 2 Kings 18.4 especially when it was a Type or Representation of Christ himself and God had wrought many Miracles by it 5. Whom the Heaven must receive until the times of the Restitution of all things Acts 3.21 And therefore in the Eucharist we adore him as sitting on the right hand of God but we dare not direct our Adoration to the Consecrated Host which we believe to be the Substance of Bread and Wine tho consecrated to a Divine Mystery and therefore not a fit Object for our Adoration 6. The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ 1 Cor. 10.16 This is spoken of the Bread after Consecration and yet the Apostle supposes it to be Bread still and the Communion of his Body is interpreted by the next Words For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all Partakers of that one Bread v. 17. Which is very different from the Bread being changed into the very Body of Christ which is an Opinion that hath no Foundation in Scripture and is repugnant to the common Principles of Reason which God hath given us and exposes Christian Religion to the Reproach and Contempt of Iews Turks and Infidels 7. When you shall have done all those things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable Servants we have done that which was our Duty to do St. Luke 17.10 And therefore in no sense can our best Works be truly meritorious of Eternal Life Which consisting in the enjoyment of God it is impossible there should be any just Proportion or due Commensuration between our best Actions and such a Reward 8. And the Son said to him Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight S. Luke 15.21 Where Confession to God is required because the Offence is against him but it is impossible for any Man upon Earth to forgive those whom God doth not forgive And he alone can appoint the necess●ry conditions of Pardon among which true Contrition and Repentance is fully declared but Confession to a Priest thô it may be useful for the ease of the Penitent is no where in Scripture made necessary for the Forgiveness of Sin 9. I said I will confess my Transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin Psal. 32.5 If God doth fully forgive the Guilt of sin there remains no Obligation to Punishment for where-ever that is the guilt remains It is true God may not sometimes fully pardon but he may reserve some temporal Punishment here for his own

but even the Wollenbergii lately confess that the abuses therein have not only been offensive to us but to themselves too But what saith our Representer to them He believes it damnable to think there 's any Divinity in the Reliques of Saints or to adore them with Divine Honour But what is this adoring them with Divine Honour A true Representer ought to have told us what he meant by it when the whole Controversie depends upon it Is it only saying Mass to Reliques or believing them to be Gods Is there no giving Divine Honour by Prostration burning of Incense c. Nothing in expecting help from them Yes If it be from any hidden Power of their own But here is a very hard Question If a Man doth not believe it to be an intrinsick Power in the Reliques may a Man safely go to them Opis impetrandae causâ as the Council of Trent saith in hopes of Relief from them Is it not possible for the Devil to appear with Samuel's true Body and make use of the Relique of a Saint to a very bad end Then say I no Reliques can secure Men against the Imposture of Evil Spirits who by God's Permission may do strange things with the very Reliques of Saints But God hath visibly worked by them saith our Author by making them Instruments of many Miracles and it is as easie for him to do it now This is the force of all he saith To which I answer 1. It is a very bold thing to call in God's Omnipotency where God himself hath never declared he will use his Power for it is under his own Command and not ours But there is no Reason to deduce the Consequence of using it now because he hath done it formerly And that they may not think this is cavilling in us I desire them to read Pere Anna●'s Answer to the Jansenists pretended Miracle at Port Poyal viz. of the Cure wrought by one of our Saviour's Thorns There he gives another account of such Miracles than would be taken from us But where he saith It is as much for the Honour of God's Name to work such Miracles now their own Authors will tell him the contrary and that there is no such Reason now as in former times when Religion was to be confirmed by them and when Martyrs suffered upon the sole account of the Truth of it and therefore their Reputation had a greater Influence upon converting the unbelieving World 2. Suppose it be granted yet it proves not any Religious Worship to be given to them For I shall seriously ask an important Question Whether they do really believe any greater Miracles have ever been done by Reliques than were done by the Brazen Serpent And yet although that was set up by God's own Appointment when it began to be worshorshipped after an undue manner it was thought fit by Hezekiah to be broken in pieces What now was the undue Worship they gave to it Did they believe the Serpent which could neither move nor understand was it self a God But they did burn Incense to it And did that make a God of it Suppose Men burn Incense to Reliques What then are they made Gods presently Suppose they do not but place them upon Altars carry them in Procession fall down before them with intention to shew the Honour they do them are not these as much as burning a little Incense which could not signify so much Honour as the other do and it is hard then to make the one unlawful and not the other V. Of the EUCHARIST HE believes it lawful to commit Idolatry and makes it his daily practice to Worship and adore a Breaden God giving Divine Honour to those poor empty Elements of Bread and Wine Of these he asks Pardon for his sins of these he desires Grace and Salvation these he acknowledges to have been his Redeemer and Saviour and hopes for no good but what is to come to him by means of these household Goods And then for his Apology he alledges such gross contradictions contrary to all sense and reason that whosoever will be a Papist must be no Man Fondly believing that what he adores is no Bread or Wine but Christ really present under those appearances and thus makes as many Christs as many Redeemers as there are Churches Altars or Priests When according to Gods Infallible Word there is but one Christ and He not on Earth but at the right hand of his Father in Heaven HE believes it unlawful to commit Idolatry and most damnable to Worship or Adore any Breaden God or to give Divine Honour to any Elements of Bread and Wine He worships only one God who made Heaven and Earth and his only Son Jesus Christ our Redeemer who being in all things equal to his Father in Truth and Omnipotency he believes made his words good pronounc'd at his last Supper really giving his Body and Blood to his Apostles the Substance of Bread and Wine being by his powerful Words chang'd into his own Body and Blood the Species or Accidents of the Bread and Wine remaining as before The same he believes of the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist consecrated now by Priests That it really contains the Body of Christ which was deliver'd for us and his Blood which was shed for the remission of sins Which being there united with the Divinity he confesses Whole Christ to be present And him he adores and acknowledges his Redeemer and not any Bread or Wine And for the believing of this Mystery he does not at all think it meet for any Christian to appeal from Christ's Words to his own Senses or Reason for the examining the truth of what he has said but rather to submit his Senses and Reason to Christ's Words in the obsequiousness of Faith And that being a Son of Abraham 't is more becoming him to believe as Abraham did promptly with a Faith superiour to all Sense or Reason and whither these could never lead him With this Faith it is he believes every Mystery of his Religion the Trinity Incarnation c. With this Faith he believes that what descended upon our Saviour at his Baptism in Iordan was really the Holy Ghost though Senses or Reason could discover it to be nothing but a Dove With this Faith he believes That the Man that Ioshua saw standing over against him with his Sword drawn Iosh. 5.13 and the three Men that Abraham entertain'd in the Plains of Mambre Gen. 18. were really and substantially no Men and that notwithstanding all the information and evidence of Sense from their Colour Features Proportion Talking Eating and many others of their being Men yet without any discredit to his Senses he really believes they were no such thing because God's Word has assured him of the contrary And with this Faith he believes Christ's Body and Blood to be really present in the Blessed Sacrament though to all appearance there 's nothing more than Bread and Wine Thus not at all

hearkning to his Senses in a matter where God speaks he unfeignedly confesses That he that made the World of nothing by his sole word That cured Diseases by his Word That raised the Dead by his Word That expell'd Devils That commanded the Winds and Seas That multiplied Bread That changed Water into Wine by his Word and Sinners into Just Men cannot want Power to change Bread and Wine into his own Body and Blood by his sole Word And this without danger of multiplying his Body of making as many Christs as Altars or leaving the right hand of his Father But only by giving to his Body a supernatural manner of Existence by which being left without extension of parts and rendred independent of place it may be one and the same in many places at once and whole in every part of the Symbols and not obnoxious to any corporeal Contingencies And this kind of Existence is no more than what in a manner he bestows upon every Glorified Body Than what his own Body had when born without the least violation of his Mothers Virginal Integrity When he arose from the Dead out of the Sepulchre without removing the Stone When he entred amongst his Disciples the Doors being shot And though he cannot understand how this is done yet he undoubtedly believes That God is able to do more than He is able to understand V. Of the Eucharist THere are two material Points under this Head which are to be examined because he endeavours to set them off with all the advantage he can viz. Adoration of the Host and Transubstan●iation I. Of the Adoration of the Host. 1. The Question is far enough from being Whether it be lawful to commit Idolatry as our Representer puts it For the Misrepresenter saith That a Papist believes it lawful to commit Idolatry and to clear this our Author gravely saith He believes it unlawful to commit Idolatry pag. 9. As though any Men ever owned it to be lawful Which is as if the Question were Whether such a Man committed Adultery and he should think to clear himself by saying he believed it unlawful to commit Adultery 2. The Question is not Whether Christ may be lawfully adored by us in the Celebration of the Eucharist which we are so far from denying that our Church requires our receiving it in the posture of Adoration 3. The true Question is Whether the Body of Christ being supposed to be present in the Host by Transubstantiation be a sufficient ground to give the same Adoration to the Host which they would do to the Person of Christ. And that this is the true state of the Question will appear by these things 1. The Council of Trent first defined Transubstantiation and from thence inferrred Adoration of the Host as is most evident to any one that will read the fourth and fifth Decrees of the Thirteenth Session Nullus itaque dub●tandi locus c. i.e. If Transubstantiation be true then Adoration follows It 's true the sixth Canon only speaks of Christ being there worshipped but that ought to be compared with the first second and fourth Canons where the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is fully set down as the Foundation of that Adoration 2. The Adoration is not fixed on the Person of Christ as separate from the Host but as making one Object of Worship together with it And so the Council of Trent declares in the sixth Decree when it saith The Sacrament is nevertheless to be adored because it was instituted to be received This cannot be otherwise understood than as relating to the Sacrament and so that whatever it be must be granted to be the Object of Adoration By the Sacrament saith Cardinal Pallavicini is understood the Object made up of the Body of Christ and the Accidents The Worship then being confessed to be Adoration which is due to God alone and that Adoration directed to the Sacrament as its proper Object the Question now is Whether such a Supposition in the Sacrament doth justifie that Adoration Our Author saith He accounteth it most damnable to worship or adore any Breaden God or to give Divine Honour to any Elements of Bread and Wine Then I say by his own confession if it be only Bread he commits Idolatry for the Adoration he cannot deny But our Representer loves ambiguous Expressions which to the People sound very well but have no sincere meaning for what is it he understands by his Breaden God If it be that he worships a God which himself supposes to be nothing but Bread we do not charge him with it but if it be what we believe it to be the Substance of Bread but himself believes to be turned into the Body of Christ then he cannot deny his Adoration to be given to it All that can excuse them is the Supposition and whether that will or not is now to be consider'd 1. If it be not true themselves grant it to be Idolatry The Testimonies of Bishop Fisher and Costerus are so well known to this purpose that I shall not repeat them And Catharinus a Divine of Note in the Council of Trent confesses it is Idolatry to worship an unconsecrated Host although the Person through a Mistake believes it consecrated And he quotes Saint Thomas and Paludanus for his Opinion and gives this Reason for it Because Christ is not worshipped simply in the Sacrament but as he is under the Species and therefore if he be not so present a Creature hath Divine Worship given it As those were guilty of Idolatry who worshipped any Creatures of old supposing God to be there as that he was the Soul of the World They were not excused saith he that they thought they worshipped but one God because they worshipped him as present in such a manner as he was not And this Book of hi● he saith in the Review of it was seen and approved by the Pope's Order by their Divines at Paris 2. If the Bread were taken to be God our Author doth not deny it would be Idolatry for that were to worship a Breaden God Yet here would be a Mistake and a gross one yet this Mistake would not excuse the Persons committing it from most damnable Idolatry as he confesses Why then should the other Mistake excuse them when they suppose the Substance of the Bread not to be there but the Body of Christ to be under the Species Yes say they then no Creature is supposed to be the Object of Worship But when the Bread is supposed to be God it must be supposed not to be a Creature There is no Answer to be given in this Case but that the Bread really is a Creature whatsoever they imagined and if this Mistake did not excuse neither can the other II. Of Transubstantiation Three things our Author goes upon with respect to this 1. He supposes Christ's words to be clear for it 2. He shews the possibility of it from Gods Omnipotency 3. He argues against

the Testimony or Evidence of Sense or Reason in this Case from some parallel Instances as he thinks 1. He believes Iesus Christ made his Words good pronounced at his last Supper really giving his Body and Blood to his Apostles the Substance of Bread and Wine being by his powerful Words changed into his own Body and Blood the Species only or Accidents of the Bread and Wine remaining as before The same he believes of the Eucharist consecrated now by Priests This is a very easie way of taking it for granted that the words are clear for Transubstantiation And from no better Ground to fly to God's Omnipotency to make it good is as if one should suppose Christ really to be turned into a Rock a Vine a Door because the words are every jot as clear and then call in Gods Omnipotency which is as effectual to make them good I confess these words are so far from being clear to me for Transubstantiation that if I had never heard of it I should never have thought of it from these or any other words of Scripture i.e. not barely considering the sound of words but the Eastern Idioms of speaking the Circumstances of our Saviour's real Body at that time when he spake them the uncouth way of feeding on Christ's real Body without any Objection made against it by his Disciples the Key our Saviour elsewhere gives for understanding the manner of eating his Flesh and withal if these words be literally and strictly understood they must make the Substance of Bread to be Christ's Body for that is unavoidably the literal sense of the words For can any Men take This to be any thing but this Bread who attend to the common sense and meaning of Words and the strict Rules of Interpretation Yet this sense will by no means be allow'd for then all that can be infer'd from these words is that when Christ spake these words The Bread was his Body But either Christ meant the Bread by This or he did not if he did the former Proposition is unavoidable in the literal sense if he did not then by vertue of these words the Bread could never be turned into the Body of Christ. For that only could be made the Body of Christ which was meant when Christ said This is my Body This seems to me to be as plain and convincing as any Demonstration in Euclid Which hath often made me wonder at those who talk so confidently of the plain Letter of Scripture being for this Doctrine of Transubstantiation But several Divines of the Church of Rome understood themselves better and have confessed that this Doctrine could not be drawn out of the literal sense of these words as it were easie to shew if it had not been lately done already It is enough here to observe that Vasquez confesseth it of Scotus Durandus Paludanus Ockam Cameracensis and himself yields that they do not and cannot signifie expresly the Change of the Bread and Wine into the Body of Christ. For how can This is my Body literally signifie this is changed into my Body If that Proposition were literally true This is my Body it overthrows the Change For how can a thing be changed into that which it is already 2. He believes Christ being equal to his Father in Truth and Omnipotency can make his words good We do not in the least dispute Christ's Omnipotency but we may their familiar way of making use of it to help them out when Sense and Reason fail them And therefore Cajetan well said We ought not to dispute about Gods Absolute Power in the Doctrine of the Sacraments being things of such constant use and that it is a foolish thing to attribute to the Sacrament all that God can do But we must consider what he saith against Sense and Reason For the believing this Mystery he does not at all think it meet for any Christian to appeal from Christs Words to his own Senses or Reason for the examining the Truth of what he hath said but rather to submit his Senses and Reason to Christ's Words in the obsequiousness of Faith What! whether we know this to be the meaning of Christ's Words or not And thus we shall be bound to submit to every absurd Interpretation of Scripture because we must not use our Senses or Reason for examining the Truth of what is said there Can any thing be plainer said in Scripture than that God hath Eyes and Ears and Hands Must now every Man yield to this in the obsequiousness of Faith without examining it by Principles of common Reason And we think we are therefore bound to put another Sense upon those Expressions because they imply a Repugnancy to the Divine Perfections Why not then where something is implied which is repugnant to the Nature of Christ's Body as well as to our Senses But the Question about judging in this matter by our Senses is not as our Author is willing to suppose viz. Whether our Senses are to be believed against a clear and express Divine Revelation but whether the Judgment of our Senses and Reason is not to be made use of for finding out the true sense of this Revelation And we think there is great reason for it 1. Because we have no more certain way of judging the Substance of a Body than by our Senses We do not say our Senses go beyond the Accidents but we say our Senses by those Accidents do assure us of the bodily Substance or else it were impossible for us to know there is any such thing in the world 2. Because Christ did himself appeal to the Judgment of his Disciples Senses concerning the Truth of his own Body after the Resurrection Behold my Hands and my Feet that it is I my self handle and see for a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see me have Now we think we have reason to allow the same Criterion which Christ himself did about the very same Body Unless he had then told his Disciples that there was to be another supernatural manner of Existence of the same Body concerning which their Senses were not to be Judges 3. Some of the most important Articles of the Christian Faith do suppose the Judgment of our Senses to be true As about the Truth of Christ's Body whether he had really a Body or only the outward Accidents and Appearance of a Body if he had not he did not really suffer upon the Cross and so the Sacrifice of Propitiation there offered up to the Father for the sins of mankind is lost There was a great Controversy in St. Iohn's time and afterwards Whether Christ had any real Body Those who denied it brought Revelation for it those who asserted it proved it by their Senses as S. Iohn himself That which we have seen and heard and our hands have handled c. He doth not tell men they must submit their Sense and Reason to the pretence of Revelation but they ought to

relate to their deliverance out of a state of Punishment before the Day of Judgment For whatever state Souls were then supposed to be in before the great Day if there could be no deliverance till the Day of Judgment it signifies nothing to the present Question As to the Vision of Perpetua concerning her Brother Dinocrates who died at Seven Years old being baptized it is hardly reconcilable to their own Doctrine to suppose such a Soul in Purgatory I will not deny that Perpetua did think she saw him in a worse Condition and thought likewise that by her Prayers she brought him into a better for she saw him playing like little Children and then she awaked and concluded that she had given him ease but is it indeed come to this that such a Doctrine as Purgatory must be bu●lt on such a Foundation as this I do not call in question the Acts of Perpetua nor her sincerity in relating her Dream but must the Church build her Doctrines upon the Dreams or Visions of young Ladies tho very devout for Ubia Perpetua was then but Twenty Two as she saith her self But none are to be blamed who m●ke use of the best supports their Cause will afford It is time now to see what strength of Reason he offers for Purgatory 1. He saith When a Sinner is reconciled to God tho the Eternal Punishment due to his Sins is always remitted yet there sometimes remains a temporal Penalty to be undergone as in the case of the Israelites and David But doth it hence follow that there is a Temporal Penalty that must be undergone either here or hereafter without which there will be no need of Purgatory Who denies that God in this Life for example sake may punish those whose Sins he hath promised to remit as to another World This is therefore a very slender Foundation 2. There are some sins of their own nature light and venial I will not dispute that but s●ppose there be must men go then into Purgatory for meer Venial Sins What a strange Doctrine doth this appear to any m●n's Reason That God should forgive the greater sins and req●ire so severe a Punishment for sins in their own nature venial i. e. so inconsider●ble in their own Opinion that no man is bound to confess them which do not interrupt a State of Grace which require only an implicite detestation of them which do not deserve eternal Punishment which may be remitted by Holy Water or a Bishop's Bl●ssing as their Divines agree 3. That to all Sins some penalty is due to the Iustice of God And what follows from hence but the necessity of Christ's Satisfaction But how doth it ●ppear that after the Expiation of Sin by Christ and the rem●ssion of eternal Punishment there st●ll remains a necessity of farther satisfaction for such a temporal penalty in another World 4. That generally speaking few men depart out of this Life but either with the guilt of venial sins or obnoxious to some Temporal punishment No doubt all men are obnoxious by their sins to the punishment of another World but that is not the point but whether God hath declared That altho he remits the eternal Punishment he will not the temporal and altho he will forgive thousands of pounds he will not the pence and farthings we owe to him But if Mortal sins be remitted as to the guilt and Venial do not hinder a st●te of Grace what room is there for Vindictive Justice in Purgatory Yet this is the Doctrine which so much weight is laid upon that Bellarmine saith They must go directly to Hell who do not believe purgatory If this be true why was it not put into the Representation that we might understand the danger of not believing so credible so reasonable a Doctrine as this But we believe it to be a much more dangerous thing to condemn others for not believing a Doctrine which hath so very slender a pretence either to Scripture or Reason XXIV Of Praying in an Unknown Tongue HE it counsell'd by his Church to be present at Sermons but never permitted to hear any he is able to understand they being all deliver'd in an unknown Tongue He is taught to Pray but it must be in Latin He is commanded to assist at the Church Service and to hear Mass but it must be without understanding a word it being all perform'd in a Language of which he is altogether Ignorant And thus is miserably depriv'd of all the comfortable Benefits of Christianity Hearing but without Understanding Praying but without reaping Fruit assisting at Publick Assemblies but like a Stock or a Stone without feeling or any the least sense of Devotion HE is counsell'd by his Church to be present at Sermons such as he is able to understand they b●ing always deliver'd in the Vulgar Language of every Country In France French in Spain Spanish in Italy Italian in England if permitted English they being purely intended for the good Instruction of the Congregation present He is taught to Pray and alw●ys provided of such Books of Devotion as he is capable of understanding every Nation being well furnished with such helps extant in the Language proper to the Country He is commanded to assist at the Church-Service and to hear Mass and in this he is instructed not to understand the Words but to know what is done For the Mass being a Sacrifice wherein is daily commemorated the Death and Passion of Christ by an Oblation made by the Priest of the Body and Blood of the Imm●culate Lamb under the Symbols of Bread and Wine according to his own Institution 't is not the busines of the Congregation present to imploy their Ears in attending to the Words but their Hearts in contemplation of the Divine Mysteries by raising up fervent affections of Love Thanksgiving Compassion Hope Sorrow for sins Resolutions of amendment c. That thus having their Heart and Intention united with the Priests they may be partakers of his Prayers and of the Sacrifice he is then offering than which he believes nothing is more acceptable to God or beneficial to true Believers And for the raising of these affections in his Soul and filling his Heart with the extasies of Love and Devotion he thinks in this case there 's little need of Words a true Faith without these is all-sufficient Who could but have burst forth into Tears of Love and Thanksgiving if he had been present while our Saviour was tyed to Pillar Scourg'd and Tormented though he open'd not his mouth to the By-standers nor spake a word who would have needed a Sermon to have been fill'd with Grief and Compassion if he had seen his Saviour expos'd to the scorn of the Iews when he was made a bloody spectacle by Pilate with Ecce homo Lo the Man Who could have stood cold and senseless upon Mount Calvary under the Cross when his Redeemer was hanging on it though he had heard or not

being oppos'd and contradicted by some seducing Spirits who going out from the Flock endeavour'd by making Divisions to draw numbers after them So that the new Proposal of a Tenet is but a fallacious proof of the Doctrine being lately invented but a good Argument of its being lately oppos'd 'T is certain from Scripture Acts 15. that the Apostles had never declar'd the non-necessity of Circumcision had not certain men come down from Iudea and taught the Brethren the contrary And that the Consubstantiality of the Son had never been defin'd by the Nicene Fathers had not Arius with his Followers oppos'd this Catholick Doctrine And as certain it is that the Council of Trent had been altogether silent as to Transubstantiation Praying to Saints Purgatory c. had not Luther Calvin and their Disciples once professors of this Doctrine gone out from the Flock and upon the presumption of a New Light e●deavour'd to perswade the Faithful that these Tenets then believ'd by the whole Christian World were no longer to be own'd but to be quite thrown by as Antichristian and Diabolical 'T was this oblig'd the Pastors to watch and take care of their Flock and therefore not flying away as the Hireling does when the Wolf catcheth and scattereth the Sheep they assembled together in a Body and declar'd to all under their charge that they ought not to follow strangers that howsoever they came pretending to the Shepherd's voice yet since they came not by the door into the Sheepfold but climbing up some other way they were no Shepherds but Thieves and Robbers such whose business was not to feed but to steal kill and destroy 'T was this made them encourage all under their care not to waver but to stand fast and hold the profession of their Faith and notwithstanding all pretences by no means to suffer themselves to be deluded and led away with strange Doctrine and that they might the better secure them from falling into Errors they gave them a Draught of their Christian Doctrine especially of all those points which these modern self commissionated Apostles did preach against and endeavour to undermine particularly declaring to them the Faith they had been bred up in which they had receiv'd from their Forefathers and been deriv'd even from the Apostles Securing them that whatsoever was contrary to this was Novelty and Error And now in the Pastors declaring this to the Faithful where was the Innovation The Council did nothing but propose fully and explicately what before their meeting was the Doctrine of all Christendom and had been so amongst the Primitive Fathers 'T was they made Innovation who preach'd contrary to the Doctrine thus believ'd and receiv'd which Luther was not asham'd to own himself guilty of plainly acknowledging that He seperated from the whole World But it seems that the whole World was then corrupted and the Religion then every where profess'd was overgrown with Superstitions Errors and Abominations such as had crept into the Church some five Hundred Years before some nine Hundred and some a Thousand and 't was from these Luther seperated intending to Reform Christianity and bring it to the purity of the Primitive times of the first three Hundred Years And was it not very strange now that so many gross Fooleries idle Superstitions and even down-right Idolatry should c●eep into a Church and spreading it self through all Nations infect the whole World becoming the publick profession of Christendom for so many hundred Years and be confirm'd and establish'd by the Laws of every Kingdom and that no body should take notice of any such thing either at its first Rise or in all its progress of so many Years Insomuch that had not Luther made the Discovery 't is likely we should never have come to the knowledge of these Thousand Years Errors and Corruptions No thinking Man certainly but judges it impossible that the very Fundamentals of Christianity should be shaken and the Religion planted by the Apostles turned into Idolatry and yet that no Leaned Man should any where appear to contradict these Abominations no Zealous Pastors to withstand them no pious Princes to oppose them History sufficiently satisfies any Curious Reader that from the first planting of the Church there has been in no Age any Man yet that has preach'd any Heterodox and Erroneous Tenets and by introducing Novelties has endeavour'd to infect the minds of the Faithful with Heresie and Superstition but immediately have stood up Virtuous and Learned Men in defence of the Truth in their Writings and Sermons publickly confuting and condemning the Errours and giving an Alarm to the World to beware of such Deceivers and their wicked Doctrine and withal never omitting to Record their Names to Posterity with an account of the Year when they began to Preach under what Emperours and what was the occasion of their Revolt Was not all this and even more done against Arius How many appear'd against the Manichees How many against the Donatists against the Novatians against the Macedonians the Nestorians the Eutychians the Pelagians the Berengarians c. So that never any thing has made so much noise in the World so many commotions so many disturbances nothing as been so impossible to be carryed on with secresie and silence as the broaching any new Heresie the making a Schism the alteration of Religion the starting up of some new Society and Pretenders to Reformation What Tumults did all the fore-mentioned Apostles raise disturb'd at the Doctrine of Mahomet and the crying up the Alcoran What Stirs and Commotions at the Reformation of Church and Faith pretended by Luther Zwinglius and Calvin How then can it be judg'd in the least probable that great variety of erroneous Tenets and Antichristian Doctrine should be introduc'd by the Papists contrary to the sense and belief of all Christianity either in the fourth fifth sixth or tenth Century and yet that there should not be the least d●sturbance occasion'd by it not tumults or opposition but all done with so much quietness in such a profound Peace and Silence that had it not been for the News brought some Ages after we had never suspected the Alteration And is this possib●e Is it possible that the whole C●ristian World should change their Religion both as to the Internal Belief and external Profession and exercise of it and no body be sensible of the change so as to withstand the Abomination or to transmit to Posterity even so much as the least word of its beginning or propogation Let any man upon some consideration tell me whether it be possible that this one little Kingdom of England should fall from this pure Apostolical Doctrine it now professes into down right Popery or any other way alter the whole Scheme of its Religion and have the Alteration co●firmed by several Acts of Parliament and continue in the publick Exercise of it for a thousand five hundred or even one hundred years and yet no one in this Kingdom or out