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A08829
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A relation of the Christians in the world
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Pagitt, Ephraim, 1574 or 5-1647.
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1639
(1639)
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STC 19113; ESTC S5143
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28,211
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97
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set forth by the most reverend Father in God the Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury his Grace my Honourable Patron in which it will appeare The Greekes to differ from us in forme of Words onely So the Greekes deny not the Holy Ghost whom they acknowledge to be the third Person in Trinity God equall with the Father Neither are they Hereticall in this poynt as some affirme them to be so Condemning and casting into Hell so many Millions of Christian soules redeemed with the precious blood of his dearest Sonne Iesus Christ and for this poynt onely Moreover Guido the Carmelite Prateolus and others impute unto the Grecians divers errors which Lucianus of Cyprus a Bishop a learned Dominican and a worthy man as Possevine the lesuite accounteth him sheweth to be falsely ascribed to them As that they teach simple Fornication to be no sinne That it is no sinne to lend upon Vsury That it is not necessary to make restitution of things uniustly taken away with other things being meere slanders Thomas a Iesu writeth that one of the principall things that maketh the Grecians so averse from the Latins is that they are wronged by them by untrue reports and slanderous imputations Of the Greeke Communion are the Muscovites the Russes in Poland the Georgians Circassians Mengrellians and Melchites all these observe the Greek Rites 2 Againe a great part of the Christians in Asia Persia Tartaria and other Provinces are Hereticks Who affirme That there were two Persons in Christ as well as two Names But this Errour they have reiected as Onuphrius writeth they hold nothing savouring of that Errour These Christians indeed make a scruple of calling the blessed Virgin the Mother of God left they should seeme to make her the Mother of the holy Trinitie and divine Essence 3 The Christians in Aegypt Aethiopia with the Iacobites in Syria are accused to be infected with the Heresie of Eutyches wheras they curse Eutyches for an Heretick for confounding the two Natures of Christ. They affirme The two Natures in Christ to be so united that there is one personated Nature arising of two Natures not personated without mixtion or confusion As Thomas a Iesu and others affirme 4 They scandall also the Abassine Christians for using Circumcision If you be circumcised you are falne from Grace and Christ profiteth you nothing whereas they circumcise not for any Religion but only it being an ancient custome of the Aethiopians They accuse them also of Anabaptisme For that they wash themselves yearly in the flouds in memoriall of Christs Baptisme As the Spaniards do yearly in memoriall of Saint Iohn Baptist And the like are the imputations laid upon other Churches To conclude this point through the mercifull goodnesse of God all these different sorts of Christians by reason of delivering certaine points of Faith mistaking one another or variety of opinion touching things not Fundamentall yet agree in one substance of Faith and are so farre forth Orthodoxe that they retain a saving Profession of all duties absolutely necessary to salvation and are members of the true Catholike Church of God As these Christians are Orthodoxe in the mayne so for their holy lives and conversations they are to be admired and may be exemplary unto others Holinesse of Lives FIrst for their Reverence in Churches no man is allowed to walke talke or sit in them especially in the time of Divine Service In Aethiopia old men are allowed to use Crutches in the Church and weak men to leane against the wals Iohannes Faber reporteth of the Rasses that he hath not seene the like of them for their frequenting Prayer and devotion in their Prayers who lying prostrate upon the ground poure out their devout Prayers unto Almighty God For their Chastitie they permit no Stews nor Brothel-houses among them They punish Adultery with death The Adulterer among the Aethiopians is accounted to dishonour the Emperour from whom all Honour is derived Adulterers among them are cast alive unto the Lions They are among other vertues great lovers of Truth Among us saith Pretegian if any man willingly tell a lye hee is accounted a man worthy of death for the first he is admonished for the second he doth penance for the third he is led by a rope about his necke out of the Towne or City and banished into some Desart where commonly he perish for hunger For their Fasts they keepe them very strictly farre unlike the Roman Catholicks in the West who allow men to drink Wine and to eate sweete Meates in their very fasts Thomas a Iesu writeth that the austere living of the Greekes causeth them to contemne the Latines but let the Greekes know saith he that Christian Righteousnesse doth not consist chiefely in macerating the Body but in Charity Faith Hope and other vertues Although these Christians are not so learned as we suppose the Christians in the VVest to be yet they got farre beyond them for godlinesse and devotion And if these Christians shall bee excluded Heaven who ioyne believing and doing Faith and VVorkes together alas where shall they appeare that come farre short of them But as you have heard of the great multitude of Christians in the VVorld of their Religion holy Lives and Conversations wee may in the next place consider what hath beene the bane of the Church viz Ambition which was the ruine of the Angels in Heaven and caused man to lose Paradise Of this our Lord gave speciall warning to his Apostles when they strove who should bee greatest And St. Paul more especially to the Romans Boast not thy selfe against the Branches Be not high minded but feare A great Controversie arose among the Bishops in the west parts of the VVorld who should bee greatest The Bishop of Rome sitting in the Imperiall City claimed superiority above his fellow Bishops precending a Canon of the Counsell of Nice As also the donation of Constantine the Emperour Likewise the Patriarch of Constantinople the Emperours Court being removed thither claimed the like preheminence by the Decree of a Councell also by Donation of Maurice the Emperour Indeed the Easterne Church may challenge to her selfe some preheminence in regard of her great priviledges and prerogatives as having all the Apostles Sees the greatest number of Patriarchs being the bigger Church and more ancient The Maiesty of the Emperour of Constantinople for above 1000 yeares which hath with stood Paganisme and Mahumatisme And of the Emperour of Moscho and Trebizond for some hundred of years The authority of seven generall Counsels held among them The Syrian Language in which the Sonne of God delivered his Holy Oracles the Hebrew and Greek Tongues in which they were Registred and which hath had not only the Holy Apostles but also Christ himself when he was in his flesh preaching among them And this Church we are forced to confesse with the Bishop of Bitonto to be our Mother Church from whom the Latine
all offices of government and burthening them with heavie taxes and payments he robbed the Church and spoyled Spirituall Persons of their Revenues and tooke away their mayntenance Whereas other Tyrants persecuted Presbyterors the Presbyters or Ministers Iulian persecuted Praesbyterium the whole Order of Ministers or Priesthood by which meanes none would apply themselves to the studie of Divinitie when after long painfull and costly study they should have nothing to live upon Such Reformations before-named may rather be called Persecutions than Reformations of a Church Is this a Reformation to dispoyle their Bishâ—ps of their Livings which they enioyed from the very beginning of Christianity amongst them and to root out the very name of Bishops from among them Is this a Reformation to appropriate to themselves or convert to prophane uses the Livings of their learned Pastors set apart by their fore-fathers for their maintenance and put them to poure Stipends and oft pay them as the Souldiers are paid in some places with Flemmish cheese Is this a Reformation to pilfer and pill Churches of their Plate and rich Ornaments which many a devout Saint had offered to the service of Almightie God and to convert them to profane uses which the very Goths and Vandals durst not touch no not in their Enemies Churches for feare of Gods heavy indignation upon them Is it a Reformation to pluck down Churches built to the honour of God with great labour and cost I have heard one tell me that he saw the great Church at Redding overthrowne with a Myne God be mercifull to us and deliver all them that beare the name of Christ from such Reformations But whom should I exclaime upon for this exercrable wickednesse upon the Reformers God forbid they I hope had no such intent or upon the Ministers who had delivered their Magistrates from their slavery to the Pope alas by this meanes they were brought to misery and slavery But upon some covetous persons men void of all Religion who under colour of Religion and Pietie ioyning with the Reformers made a prey of the Church and brought it to this misery How can these men expect an inheritance with Christ in Heaven who have defrauded him here in earth But what do I telling them of Heaven If Almighty God did punish Ananias and Saphyra with suddaine death who gave much to the Church and kept back only some part dedicated to God and that of their owne how shall these men stand in iudgement that never gave any thing of their owne but have seized upon those livings which not they but their Pious Forefathers with many Execrations had given and dedicated for the Service of Almightie God In this their execrable dealing they have given great offence not only to the Romanists but to them who are displeased with the Roman Superstitions and Doctrines and would willingly make a separation from them but they see in these Reformations not a secession from their enormities but rather a defection from all Antiquitie In my poore opinion to overthrow the Policie and Government instituted by Christ in his Church and continued to this our age and used in all Churches else cannot be a Reformation but rather a Deformation All this I write not that I blame that which is reformed but for the amendment of that which is deformed which Almighty God grant in his good time Queene Elizabeth of blessed memory was wont to say That it is in a manner all one to have no Clergie at all as a beggerly or base one In America THere are some Christians both Roman Catholicks and Protestants The King of Spaine is said to have in America foure Regions or at least the Maritine parts of the said Regions The Regions are New Spaine Castella Neuva Peru and Brasile The Hollanders have surprised a great part of Brasile Some write that the Indians had some knowledge of Christ before the Spaniards arriued there For the Estate of Religion in West India under the Spaniard most of the Inhabitants of the Inland Countries and wilder parts continue in their Paganisme Thomas a Iesu writeth Although saith he the Indians have long enioyed the Husbandry of Ministers so that all are baptized yet very many of them worship Idols who taking offence at the covetousnesse of their Parish Priests blaspheme the Christian Faith In America also are divers Plantations of Protestants English and Dutch not onely in the Ilands but also in the continent And thus much I have related of the Christians in the World but whereas many places of the World are unknowne to us so also are the sheepe of our great Shepheard who cannot all be counted wee being ignorant of the Pastures in which they feed The Spaniards have in West India some Bishops 2 What manner of Christians AS I have in the first place reckoned up these severall sorts of Christians before named So in the Second place my purpose is to set downe what manner of Christians these be both for soundnesse of Faith and holinesse of life For the first these Christians are all Baptized in the Name of the Father of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost They receive the Holy Eucharist in both kinds according to our Lord and Saviours institution They Believe the Creed retaine the Canonical Scriptures yea from some of these Churches both we and the Roman Catholicks have received the Sacraments and holy Scriptures Seeing then that these Christians use the same Sacraments as wee doe Seeing they believe in Iesus Christ and professe to fight under the Banner of Christ Crucified and reioyce in their suffering for his sake farre be it from us ever to thinke these Christians to bee cast away and reiected from being of the houshold of Faith Of these Christians Brocard the Monke testifieth Moreover those whom wee iudge to be damned Hereticks as the Nestorians Iacobits Maronites and Georgians and such like are found to bee for the most part honest and simple men living uprightly towards God and Man But to answer some particular obiections made by some Roman Catholicke against these Churches And first for the Greeke Christians whom some Roman Catholicks account erronious in their opinion concerning the proceeding of the Holy Ghost whom they affirme to proceed from the Father by the Sonne Now they doe acknowledge the Holy Ghost to be the Spirit of the Sonne as well as of the Father because the Apostle saith He is the Spirit of the Sonne and in the Gospell he is called the Spirit of Truth Now seeing it is no other thing to be the Spirit of the Father and the Sonne then to proceede from the Father and the Sonne They agree with us in Iudgement though they differ in Words so saith Lombard Thomas a Iesu and also Cardinall Tolet affirmeth the understanding Greeke saying That the Holy Ghost proceedeth by the Sonne signifieth thereby nothing but that which wee our selves professe But for full satisfaction in this poynt Read the Booke lately