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A93670
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Questions propounded for resolution of unlearned Protestants in matter of religion, to the doctours of the prelaticall pretended reformed church of England.
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Spencer, John, 1601-1671.
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1657
(1657)
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Wing S4957; ESTC R230353
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15,605
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57
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their meaning I demand secondly a Catalogue precise number of the fundamentall errours in faith that is how many which are those errours in faith which destroy salvation for what helps it a Christian to know that there are such destructive and damnable errours unless he know whether he hold any such errour himself or no And how can he ever be certain of that so long as he is ignorant which are fundamentall errours which not If this Catalogue be refused I demand at least some evident means or marks to distinguish errours in faith destructive of salvation or damnable from others consistent with salvation or veniall which is neither to deny any of the Articles contained in the three Creeds as some Protestants have thought for one of them puts the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son the deniall of which they neither do nor can hold to be a fundamentall errour unless they affirm the Grecian Church to erre fundamentally so denie it to be a true Church of Christ which were quite against the said Protestants seeing they maintain the contrarie Nor is the Creed of the Apostles alone a sufficient rule to determine fully which are fundamentall points which not both because there are some things in it which by reason of the lightness of the matter they contain come not by far so near the radicall and primarie misteries of Christian faith as do many points controverted betwixt Protestants and those of the Roman Church and therefore cannot with any shew of truth be termed fundamentall by Protestants such as are the circumstances of time persons as that our Saviour suffered under Pontius Pilate and no other judge that hee rose the Third and no other day c. And because some points necessarie to the subsistence of Christian faith according to Protestants are not expresly defined in that Creed as that the Holy Scriptures are the divine word of God which is the precise number of the Books of Canonicall Scripture whither there is any written word of God or no or any Sacraments c. so that a Christian finds not all fundamentall points of faith set down expresly in the Apostles Creed Neither is the Scripture a sufficient rule to know which are which are not fundamentall points For there are a thousand nay a million of Truths expressed in Scriptures which touch not immediately the foundation of faith as Protestants term it and no small number of points according to them fundamentall which are not expressed in Scripture as the number of Canonicall Books the entire incorrupt puritie of the originall in any copie or copies which is come to the hands of Protestants c. which in their principles are such points of faith that true faith and consequently salvation cannot be obtained without them For if sole Scripture as they affirme be the rule of faith and all that is in Scripture is to be believed and nothing to be believed but what is in Scripture or evidently deduced from it seeing faith is necessarie to salvation the determinate belief of all that is true Scripture from which only they say the true points of faith are drawn must be necessarie to salvation and so a fundamentall point of faith Thirdly I demand how any Christian can affirm that the denyall of any point of faith whatsoever being sufficiently propounded as such is consistent with salvation seeing all such denyalls or disbeliefs include this damnable malice of attributing falsity to that which is revealed by God himself as all points of faith are how small so ever the matter be which is revealed in them which appears evidently in this example I suppose that this sentence of Scripture Tertiâ die resurget he shall rise again the third day is sufficiently propounded to any one as a point and article of Christian faith as well according to the substance resurget that our Saviour should rise again which Protestants grant to be a fundamentall point as the circumstance of time Tertia die the third day Now suppose that some Christian to whom this whole sentence of Scripture is sufficiently propounded should firmely believe the substance or mysterie of the resurrection because he esteems it to be a fundamentall point but should disbelieve the precise circumstance of time that it was only upon the third and no other day I demand seeing both the one and the other is propounded equally as expresly contained in that sentence of Holy Scripture whither he that disbelieves that the resurrection happened upon the third day and dyes in that belief can be saved Quest 16. I demand farther that seeing S. Paul Hebr. 11. v. 1. says that faith is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the substance or ground as the Protestant English Bible of Anno 1648. hath it of things hoped for and is reckoned up by the same Apostle Hebr. 6. v. 1. 2. amongst those things which are called by him basis the foundation one of them being Faith to God And the Apostle Ephes. 2. v. 20. sayes we are built {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets which now according to Protestants can be nothing else save the writings of the Prophets and Apostles in Holy Scripture I demand whither to say that some points of Faith are not fundamentall or belonging to the foundation be not as contrarie to common sense as to say that some stone in the foundation of a building belongs not to the foundation or is not fundamentall Quest 33. Further I demand that seeing S. Paul affirms in the fore cited place Hebrews the 6. vers. 2. that laying on of hands amongst many other points is the foundation how Protestants can deny that seeing the laying on of hands is disbelieved and rejected by them in the Sacrament of confirmation and by some in the Administration of Holy Orders as a Popish superstition that such Protestants differre fundamentally or in the foundation from those of the Roman Church or if the laying on of hands belong to the foundation as S. Paul here affirmed why anointing with oyle mentioned by S. Iames should not also be a fundamentall point or why laying on of hands being only as Protestants esteem it a ceremonie not Sacramentall should be here termed the foundatìon and the substance of the Eucharist which all hold to be Sacramentall and more then a meere ceremonie should not be fundamentall or lastly what reason there is to say that laying on of hands hath a nearer connexion to the radicall and prime mysteries of our faith then many other points controverted betwixt Protestants and those of the Roman Church It is yet further demanded seeing Protestants affirme that the whole visible Catholick Church may erre in the definition of points of faith not fundamentall and seeing they affirm that the points in difference betwixt us are not fundamentall and so not necessarie to salvation lastly Seeing they affirm also that the Scriptures may
say that Protestants may be saved living and dying willfully in their religion they deserve no credit at all for the quite contrary is most constantly defended by the incomparably stronger authoritie of the Roman Doctours and the like is to be affirmed in all the points of difference betwixt the two Religions So that a Protestant is not to consider the abilities authority of his Doctours absolutely or in matters out of controversie but as contradicting an authority â—comparably exceeding theirs in which contradiction they deserve neither credit nor esteem Quest 29. I demand further that if the authoritie of all the Doctours of the whole body of Protestants be so inconsiderable in comparison with that of the Roman Doctours how much less will be the authoritie of any one sect or party of them and then how minute and scarce perceptible will be the authoritie of a Lawd an Hammond a Chillingworth a Fern a Bramhall a Taylor c. which now obtain so powerfull an Ascendant upon the hearts of our modern lay Protestants seeing they are in a manner nothing in respect of the authoritie of the Roman Doctours Quest 30. All this is demanded supposing that the Roman Doctours were only equall to those of Protestants in all the forenamed qualities conducing to the perfect authoritie of a Master in Christianity But now I demand whether those who have authoritie of Teaching in the Roman Church generally speaking in so much as can be prudently deduced by experience from them are not much excelling the Protestant ministrie in all the said qualities What Councells have they worth the mentioning in comparison with the generall Councells consenting with the present Roman Church even according to their own confession as the second of Nice the great Councell of Lateran the Councell of Constance Florence Trent wherein such multitudes of learned men Holy Patriarchs Metropolitanes Archbishops Bishops Doctours Prelates both of the Eastern and Western Churches unanimously confirmed the Romane and condemned the Protestant doctrine What proofs of learning have the Protestant ministry comparable to those of the Roman Doctours whereof many have written one no small number two others three and four others six eight ten twelve and some twenty four and twenty great Tomes in Folio and those replenished in the generall repute of Christendom even amongst Protestants also with profound and high learning Who amongst their ministrie have they who have obtained the universall esteem of sanctitie as hath our Gregorie Beda Thomas Bonaventure Antonine Dominicke and diverse others Where find they amongst theirs that zeal to pass into the heart of so many barbarous and heathen Nations to plant the Gospell even with the undergoing of unheard-of torments and suffering most cruell Martyrdoms as many of the Roman Clergie have done within these late years let them name but one sole Minister who hath suffered Martyrdom for preaching Christian faith to the Pagans What means have the Protestant Ministry with their wives goods and families to apply themselves to study and devotion comparable to our single Clergie and retired religious Where is that unanimous consent in all points of faith seeing they are perpetually jarring not onely one with another but the same Ministers dissenting notoriously now from what they taught twenty years ago amongst them compared to the constancy and agreement of our Doctours What Miracles have any of their Ministry ever done in confirmation either of their doctrine against the Roman Church or of the Christian faith against heathens as unless all humane faith be infringed many of ours have done both against them and heathens I could instance in many more particulars but these may suffice for these short demands Whence appears evidently that whosoever professes to be led by the sole authority of Christian Doctours and Pastours must either deserve the esteem I say not only of an unchristian but even of an imprudent man if he adhere to so undeserving and contemptible an authority as is that of the Protestant Ministry in comparison of the Roman Doctours who so incomparably outstrip them not only in multitude but in all the motives and perfections which give credit to the authority of a Christian Teacher Quest 31. Whether hence be not evidently discovered not only the insufferable pride of Luther and the other originall beginners of any Sect in Protestancy in preferring their sole authority before that of the Prelates and Doctours of all the visible Churches in Christendom existent when they begun first to preach their doctrine but the extream madnesse of all the ignorant laity who followed them upon their sole authority and preferred one single person upon his bare word without any extraordinary signes or manifest proofs from heaven attesting his authority before all the Doctours Prelates Councells Churches within the precincts of Christendom both of that present time and for nine hundred years before and if those were infested with so deep a frenesie how can any man be judged deservedly discreet and prudent who approves of their proceedings in this particular and sides with them at least in some article or other in the opposition of the whole Christian world as all Protestants do even to this day Quest 32. Hence I farther demand that seeing on one side the true Christian religion having the divine wisdome for its authour cannot admit of any thing imprudent as properly belonging to it in the choice of it and on the other that the Protestant religion or any sect whatsoever sprung from it or existent in it cannot be prudently chosen by any unlearned person who is sufficiently informed of the nullity of that authority which propounds it compared with the authority propounding the Roman religion whether I say those particulars considered the Protestant religion in any sect of it whatsoever can be esteemed the true Christian religion Quest 33. Hence I presse farther whether the proving that Protestant religion cannot be prudently chosen or retayned by any unlearned persons who are sufficiently informed of the eminent authority propounding the Roman religion is not a sufficient argument to them that no sect amongst them in any point wherein it differs from the Roman hath either any solid ground in the holy Scriptures or true relation to Gods holy Spirit or coherence with true reason seeing a religion which cannot by them be chosen prudently cannot possibly proceed from any of these three whatsoever fair show Protestants each respectively to his severall sect make vainly of them Quest 34. And upon this I demand yet farther whether the Roman Doctours have any obligation to urge any other argument then this either from Scripture Fathers or reason against Protestants till they have cleared their religion from the impeachment of imprudence committed by their followers in the election of it or persisting in it as is afore declared Quest 35. On the contrary side I demand whether the Roman Doctours have any obligation in rigour of dispute to use any other argument for perswading unlearned persons to