habere seu Matrimonia contrahere penitus interdicimus contracta quoque Matrimonia ab hujusmodi personis disjungi Grat. dist 27. â— 8. Pope Innocent III. pronounced such marriages null and the Council of Trent anathematizes those who say they are valid (d) Sess 24. Can. 9. But one would think that God had sufficiently declared his approbation of such Marriages in that the whole World hath by his appointment been twice peopled by two married Priests first by Adam secondly by Noah And we are sure the Holy Scripture tells us That Marriage is honourable in all f Heb. 13. 4. And places it among the Qualifications of a Bishop That he be the Husband of one Wife having faithful Children (g) Tit. 1. 6. which saith S. Chrysostom The Apostle prescribed to this end That he might stop the Mouths of Hereticks who reproached Marriage declaring thereby That Marriage is no unclean thing but so honourable that a married Man may be exalted to the sacred Throne of a Bishop (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Hom. 2. in c. 1. ad Tit. And well might he think it not unbecoming a Bishop when our Lord thought it not unbecoming an Apostle no not the Prince of the Apostles as the Romanists will have him for it is without doubt that S. Peter was married in that the Scripture makes mention of his Wife's Mother (i) Matt. 8. 14. And Clemens of Alexandria tells us That it was certainly reported that when he saw his Wife led to death he rejoiced and having exhorted and comforted her he called her by her name and bid her remember the Lord (k) Clemens Alex Stromat l. 7 p. 736. Lut. 1629. and that he was not only married but begat Children the same Clemens in another place affirms (l) Stromat l. 3 p. 448. Yea that S. Philip and S. Jude were also married and had Children Eusebius is witness (m) Euseb Eccles Hist l. 3. c. 20 31. In like manner we find That many of the primitive Bishops were married so were Chaeremon Bishop of Nilus S. Spiridion S. Gregory Nazianzen S. Gregory Nyssen S. Hilary and many more Nor can it be said that they took Wives while they were Laymen and after they took upon them the sacred Ministry were separated from them since the Canons commonly called the Apostles did prohibit either Bishop Priest or Deacon to put away his Wife upon pretence of Religion (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 5. and if any such shall abstain from Marriage as in it self abominable command that he be corrected or deposed and cast out of the Church (o) Canon 50. which Canons though not made by them whose name they bear yet they are of greater Antiquity than the first Nicene Council And when in that Council it was moved That Bishops and Priests Deacons and Subdeacons might not cohabit with their Wives which they had taken before Ordination the Motion was presently dashed by the famous Paphnutius who was himself a single person (a) Socrat. Ecclesiast Hist l. 1 c. 11. Yea a long time after this Council we meet with many Popes who were Sons of Bishops and Priests Pope Theodorus Silverius and Gelasius I. were the Sons of Bishops Pope Boniface I. Felix II. and Agapetus I. were the Sons of Priests (b) Grat. dist 56. c. 2. Platina in vitis eorum And that we may not think this strange Gratian himself informs us That the Marriage of Priests was in those days lawful in the Latin Church as it was at that time when he writ in the Eastern Church (c) Dist 56. c. 13. Nor is this Doctrine to be rejected only as contrary to Scripture and to Primitive and Apostolical Practice but because of the abominable Fruits produced in the Church of Rome by it For when their Clergy might not have Wives which God allowed instead of them they took Whores which wickedness so far prevailed in that Church that no less a Man than the Cardinal of Cambray informs us That many Clergymen were not ashamed publickly and in the face of the World to keep Concubines (d) De reform Eccles And the Gloss upon Gratian says That it is commonly said That a Priest may not be deposed for simple Fornication because there are few Priests to be found without that fault (e) Communiter autem dicitur quod pro simplici fornicatione quis deponi non debet cum pauci sine illo vitio inveniantur Dist 81. c. 6. in Gloss And therefore Pope Pius II. had great reason to say That though Priests were by the Western Church forbid to marry for good reason yet there was stronger reason to restore Marriage to them again (f) Father Paâ—â—s History of the Council of Tâ—ent l. 7. p. 680. This many in the Council of Trent were sensible of Who alledged the great Scandal given by incontinent Priests and that there was want of continent persons fit to exercise the Ministry (g) P. 679 680. And therefore the Emperor and the Duke of Bavaria required That the marriage of the Priests might be granted (h) P. 514 526. And the Archbishop of Prague and the Bishop of five Churches desired that married persons might be promoted to holy Orders But this request would not be granted because if the Clergy once come to be married they will no longer depend on the Pope but on their Prince (i) P. 680 747. 6. The Doctrines of the number of the Sacraments of the Character impressed by them and of the necessity of the Priests intention defined by the Roman Church as necessary Points of Faith are such as cannot be derived from Scripture or from the Tradition of the Church as is freely acknowledged by many learned Men of their own Communion As the Word Sacrament is ambiguous so it is sufficiently known That the Fathers as they took it in a more strict or large sense so they either encreased or lessened the number of them And Cassander hath observed That we scarce meet with any Man before Peter Lombard who reduced them to a certain number (k) Consâ—lt Cassand Art 13. And that the number Seven hath no colour either from Scripture or the antient Church we may be assured by those goodly Reasons upon which it was established by the Council of Trent viz. There are seven Vertues seven capital Vices seven Defects which came by original Sin seven Planets and I know not how many sevens more (l) History of the Council of Trent l. 2. p. 234 235. and therefore there are seven Sacraments neither more nor less Risum teneatis As to the Character impressed by three of them viz. Baptism Confirmation and Order 't was so little understood by the Trent Fathers that they could not agree what it meant or where to place it One would have it to be a Quality another to be a Relation and of those who made it a Quality some said
of the Law and the Gospel let him be accursed (c) Proinde sive de Christo â—ive de ejus Ecclesâ—s â—ive de â—uacunque alia re quae pertinet ad fidem vitaâ—que nostram c. Aug. contra liâ—eras Petil. l. 3. c. 6. 'T is true the Fathers in their Contests with Hereticks do frequently press them with the Tradition of the Catholick Church But then it must be remembered that the Hereticks against whom they disputed were either such as denied the Authority of the whole or a great part of the Scripture or such as insisted upon Tradition and pleaded that in defence of their Errors that therefore they might beat them at their own Weapons the Fathers confuted them by Tradition too But they never set up Tradition as another word of God or sought thereby to establish any thing as an Article of Faith or a piece of necessary Worship that they thought was not to be found in the Scripture As the Church of Rome does which under pretence of Apostolical Tradition obtrudes upon the Christian World as Matters of necessary Belief and Practice such things as are but of yesterday such things as are doubtful and uncertain such as are childish and triâ—â—ing yea such as are false and impious plainly contrary to Scripture and to Primitive Doctrine and Practice That I may not be over tedious I forbear to mention many other Errors in Doctrine and proceed to the next general Head of Corruptions 2. The Church of Rome hath not only err'd in Doctrines of Faith but hath also grosly â—werv'd from that Rule of Worship which Christ hath given us and from the Practice of the Primitive Church and set up a Worship of their own invention in direct opposition thereunto I shall instance in some Particulars First In having their publick Worship in an unknown Tongue This is expresly condemn'd by our Church as a Practice plainly repugnant to the Word of God and to the Custom of the Primitive Church (d) It is a thing plainly repugnant to the â—ord of God and the Custom of the Primitive Church to have publick Prayers in the Church or to administer the Sacraments in a Tongue not understood of the People Aâ—tâ—cles of Religion Anno 1562. Art 24. That it is plainly repugnant to the Word of God no man can be ignorant who knows what is written in the fourteenth Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians in which the Apostle so directly and with such variety of Arguments confutes this unreasonable Service that 't is as easie to make midnight and noâ—nday meet as to reconcile them one to the other Nor is it less contrary to the Custom of the Primitive Church That in the first Ages of Christianity every Christian Church had the publick Prayers and Administration of the Sacraments in their own Tongue I need not prove by citing the Testimonies of those Persons who liv'd in those Ages because the learned men of the Church of Rome do themselves confess it which is a Proof more convincing than a thousand other Witnesses Out of many which offer themselves I shall produce a few whose Authority is beyond exception Their great Aquinas grants That it was madness in the Primitive Church to speak in a Tongue not understood because they were rude in Ecclesiastical Rites and did not know those things that were done unless they were expounded But now saith he that all are instructed tho all things are spoken in the Latin Tongue they know what is done in the Church (e) Aqâ—in Comment in 1. ad Corinth c. 14. Sect. 5. Cardinal Bellarmine grants That in the Primitive times because the Christians were few all sang together in the Church and answer'd in the divine Offices but afterward the People encreasing it was left to the Clergy alone to perform Prayers and Praises in the Church (f) Bell. de â—erbâ—â—ei â—â—â— c. 16. Mr. Harding to this Exception of the Protestants S. Paul requires that the People give assent to the Priest by answering to his Prayers made in the Congregation returns this answer Verily in the Primitive Church this was necessary when the Faith was a learning and therefore the Prayers were made then in a common Tongue known to the People for cause of their further instruction who being of late converted to the Faith and of Painims made Christians had need in all things to be taught c. And again Whereas S. Paul seemeth to disallow praying with â— strange Tongue in the common Assembly because of want of edifying and to esteem the utterance of five words or Sentences with understanding of his meaning that the rest may be instructed thereby more than ten thousand words in a strange and unknown Tongue all this is to be referned to the State of that time which is much unlike the State of the Church we be now in They needed instruction we be not ignorant of the chief Pâ—ints of Religion They were to be taught in all things we come not to Church specially and chiefly to be taught at the Service but to pray and to be taught by preaching Their Prayer was not available for lack of Faith and therefore was it to be made in the vulgar Tongue for encrease of Faith our Faith will stand us in better stead if we give our selves to devout Prayer g Artic. 3. Divis 28 30. Thus we see he grants that the publick Prayers were in the Apostolical times in the vulgar Tongue and that 't was necessary they should be but nothing can be more false and absurd than the reason he gives why 't was necessary then and not now Add to these the infallible Testimony of Pope Gregory VII who tho he would not permit the Celebration of Divine Offices in the Sclavonian Tongue yet confess'd that the Primitive Church had them in the vulgar Language h History of the Council of Trent l. 6. p. 578. So that by the Confession of the Romanists themselves the Church of England has in this Point no further departed from the Church of Rome than the Church of Rome hath from the ancient Church If they can instance in any Church in the World that for above five hundred years after Christ worship'd God in a Language that the People did not understand we will yield the Cause And may it not justly be matter of amazement that for the serving of some poor worldly ends the Church of Rome should introduce a Practice that renders the Worship of God useless and insignificant That destroys not only the end of Prayer but is inconsistent with the nature of it That is so absurd and unreasonable that S. Paul thought they deserv'd to be reckon'd Mad-men who in such sort pray to God i 1 Cor. 14. 21. So evident is this that many great men of the Church of Rome acknowledge it would be better to have the publick Offices in the vulgar Tongue So Cardinal Cajetan confesses That according to the
it was one kind of Quality others that it was another some placed it in the Essence of the Soul some in the Understanding some in Will c. (m) P. 239. And in case the intention of the Priest be necessary then as the Bishop of Minori unanswerably argued in that Council If a Priest having charge of four or five thousand Souls be an Infidel but a formal Hypocrite and in absolving the Penitent baptizing of Children and consecrating the Eucharist have no intention to do what the Church doth it must be said that the Children are damned the Penitent not absolved and that all remain without the Fruit of the Communion (n) History of the Council of Trent l. 2. p. 241. And what an horrible abuse is it to make such things as these Articles of Faith and impose them upon all Men to be believed under peril of Damnation 7. The Doctrine of Merits That the good Works of justified persons be truly meritorious deserve not only the increase of Grace but eternal Life yea an increase of Glory (a) Concil Trident. Sess 6. Can 32. Whereas the Scripture tells us That our goodness extends not to God (b) Psal 16. 2. That not only all that we do But all that we can suffer is not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed (c) Rom. 8. 18. That when we have done all those things which are commanded us we are still unprofitable Servants and have done no more than what was our duty (d) Luk. 17. 10 That we can give nothing to God but what we have first received from him that we are obliged to him for the good we do as well as for that we receive since all our good Works are entirely owing to his Grace are the free Gifts of his Holy Spirit who worketh in us both to will and to do (e) Phil. 2. 13. Yea even Reason it self teaches us That whatsoever we are and whatsoever we have it is all received from him that we can give nothing to him that it should be recompenced to us again that the best Services we can perform are no matter of favour but a Debt we owe him and in case they were wholly our own yet if put in the Ballance with that exceeding and eternal weight of glory would be infinitely too light Though therefore we readily grant That our good Works are not only Conditions but necessary Qualifications by which we are made meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light and without which we are not so much as capable of enjoying it though we do not condemn the Word Merit in that large sense in which it was used by the antient Doctors of the Church as it signifies a Work that is praise-worthy and to which God hath promised a Reward as it denotes a Means appointed by God in order to the bringing us to Heaven Yet we can in no wise grant That any Works of ours are truly and in a proper sense meritorious but whatsoever right is thereby acquired to eternal Life it is founded in the gracious Promise of God who hath declared that he will reward our poor and imperfect services with Glory Honour and Immortality 8. Though every sin be in its own nature deadly yet the distinction of sins into Mortal and Venial is in a sense admitted by Protestants viz. If by Mortal be meant such a grievous sin as actually excludes a Man from the favour of God and puts him into a state of Damnation as all those do mentioned 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. and every other wilful sin By Veniul such a lighter sin for which God in the Gospel Covenant makes allowances and which he will not impute to Condemnation to those who sincerely endeavour to do whatsoever he commands as sins of Ignorance and meer Infirmity But this distinction as it is commonly explained and applyed by the Romish Doctors is plainly destructive of a holy Life and one of the greatest encouragements to Vice For a Venial Sin in their Divinity is a Sin that in its own nature is so light and small that it cannot deprive a Man of the favour of God or render him obnoxious to eternal Death (a) Pâ—â—catum aliquod dicitur Veniale ex natura sua propria ratione est illud quod ex se sua natura est tam leve tam minutum ut non valeat aliquem privare â—ratia divina aut facere illum Dei inimicum aut reddeâ—e illum dignum moâ—te â—terna Alphons de Castro advers Haeres l. 12. fol. 210. And if you ask them What Sins in particular these Venial Sins are scarce any Sin can be named but some or other of their most approved Casuists will tell you It is no more than Venial even lying and slandering false witness and Perjury Theft and Covetousness Gluttony and Drunkenness are placed in the Catalogue of these little harmless Sins Now let these Venial Sins be never so numerous the greatest evils which according to their Doctrine they can expose a Man to are no more than the temporary pains of Purgatory and these they tell us may be bought off at so cheap a rate that there is no Man in such unhappy circumstances but he may purchase his release from them And what then remains to give check to a Mans sinful appetites 9. But for their loosness in Venials some may think they have made amends by the severity of their Doctrine concerning Mortal Sins For no Man as their Church teaches can obtain the pardon of these without confession to a Priest and performing the Penances he imposes for them And this Confession must be compleat not only of the kinds but of the particular Sins together with the circumstances which change the kind that a Penance may be enjoined proportionable to them (b) Conâ—il Trident. Sess 14. c. â— de Pâ—nitent Can. 4. 7. But besides that we find no such sort of Confession required by Christ or his Apostles no nor used in the Church for more than four hundred Years But on the contrary that our blessed Saviour proposes pardon of Sin how Mortal soever upon condition of sincere Repentance and new Obedience besides that the thing it self is unpracticable For how shall an ignorant Mechanick know what those circumstances are that change the kind When perhaps his Confessor is not able to tell him How shall he know which Sins are Mortal and which are Venial when their most learned Casuists are at no agreement among themselves about them but that which one says is Mortal another says is no more than Venial and their seraphical Doctor affirms That many Sins are believed to be Venial that are Mortal and it is a most difficult thing to discern the one from the other (c) Multa enim frequenter ereduntur esse Venialia quae Mortalia sunt difficiâ—limum est in talibus discernere Bonavent l. 2. dist 24. par 2. Dub.
1. Besides I say these and many other insuperable prejudices that lye against it as the matter is managed in the Church of Rome it wholly defeats its own design For what Man will be ashamed to do that which is done upon course by the best Men in their Church the Priest the Bishop yea the Pope himself not excepted And who will be afraid of the most formidable Sin when the Penance imposed for it is usually trifling and next to nothing so far from giving check that it is one of the strongest provocations to sin For what greater encouragement can a Man desire than to purchase a pardon upon such easie terms 10. I need not shew that the Doctrine of Purgatory as taught by the Church of Rome cannot derive its Pedigree either from the Scripture or the primitive Fathers because it is freely confessed by many of her own Members that it hath no foundation in either of them Yea a late learned Writer of that Church hath proved by great variety of Arguments that it is plainly repugnant to Scripture to Reason and to the judgment of the antient Church and exposed the vanity of those pretended Proofs which are commonly brought for it (d) Tho. Aug. ex Alâ—iâ—◠〈◊〉 Saxon. de media Animaâ—um statu And yet it is no wonder that the Romish Clergy so zealously contend for it that the Council of Trent hath established it and that Pope Pius IV. hath put it into the Roman Creed (e) Bull. super formam Jurament Confess Fidei because this is that by which they make spoil of the people and enrich themselves This alone hath erected and richly endowed many fair Abbies and Monasteries this hath founded many Colleges Chappels and Chantryes this hath set up and maintained the gainful Trade of Indulgences and Masses Let the people be once disabused and rightly informed in this Point Masses for the Dead will grow out of fashion and Indulgences will be despised as nothing worth For 11. The Doctrine of Indulgences is another new Article of the Roman Creed This is generally owned by the learned Romanists themselves In particular Durandus one of their famous Schoolmen acknowledges That little that is certain can be said concerning them because the Scripture speaks not expresly of them and the holy Fathers S. Ambrose S. Hilary S. Augustine and S. Jerom make no mention of them (f) De Indulgentiis pauca dici possunt per certitudinem quia nec Scriptura expresse de eis loqultur sancti etiam ut Ambrosius Hil. Aug. Hierom. minime loquuntur de Indulgentiis Durand l. 4. dist 20. q. 3. And Cardinal Cajetan grants That no sacred Scripture no Authority of the antient Doctors Greek or Latin hath brought the Original of them to our knowledge (g) De ortu Indulgentiarum si certitudo haberi posset veritati indagandae opem ferret verum quia nulla sacrae Scripturae nulla priscorum Doctorum Graecorum aut Latinorum authoritas scripta hanc ad nostram deduxit notitiam Opusc Tom. 1. Tract 15. c. 1. And no wonder because their Original bears a much later date than either the Sacred Scripture or the Authority of the antient Doctors for the learned Romanist before mentioned tells us That for ought he could find Indulgences were not thought on before the Age of the Schoolmen (h) De his Indulgentiis ante Scholasticorum aetatem quod sciam â—nspicio nulla De mâ—dio Animarum statu Demens 27. That is till twelve hundred Years after Christ and therefore no mention is made of them by Gratian or the Master of the Sentences It is true That in the Primitive Church severe and long Penances were imposed upon scandalous Offenders the rigour of which upon weighty Considerations was sometimes moderated by the Bishop and this Relaxation was called by the name of Indulgence But the Popish Indulgences are quite of another nature for they suppose a Treasure in the Church made up of the Merits of Christ and the Saints the Saints must be added to supply the defect of Christ's Merits which is wholly at the Popes disposal which therefore he dispenses to others as he thinks fit to discharge them from those Temporal Punishments to which they are obnoxious for their Venial Sins in Purgatory Nor are these Indulgences as the Practice of their Church is limited to the Souls in Purgatory and to those Punishments which are due to venial Sins only but granted to all Persons indifferently who will pay for them and for all Sins be they never so enormous To such an excess of Abomination were the Doctrine and Practice of Indulgences grown about the time of the Reformation such an intolerable Reproach were they to our Holy Religion that the more sober Romanists themselves cry'd shame on them (i) Espencaeus in cap. 1. Ep. ad Tit. Onus Ecclesiae c. 15. Eras l 30. Ep. 57. 12. Another Error and that which is indeed the main Foundation of many of those already mention'd and of many more which follow under the next Head is this That unwritten Traditions ought to be added to the Holy Scriptures to supply their defect and ought to be receiv'd as of equal Authority with them Whereas the Scriptures themselves which the Romanists acknowledge to be an infallible tho but an imperfect Rule do frequently bear witness of their own Sufficiency as to all Matters necessary to Salvation (a) Psal 19. 7. John 20. 31. 2 Tim. 3. 16. I say all Matters necessary to Salvation because we do not assert that all things belonging to Rites and Ceremonies and to the external Polity of the Church are contain'd in them except only in general Rules by which the particular Determination of them is committed to the Discretion of our Governors but we affirm that there is no Article of Faith or Rule of Life that is necessary to be believ'd or practis'd that is not either in express words contain'd in them or by evident consequence may be deduced from them so that supposing them to be the Word of God we need no other Rule in such Matters And 't is certain that the ancient Fathers were of the same Judgment I shall produce the words of S. Austin only In those Matters saith he which are plainly placed in Scripture all those things are found which contain Faith and the Manners of Holy Living viz. Hope and Charity (b) In iis quae aperte in Scriptura posita sunt inveniuntur illa omnia quae continent fidem moresque vivendi spem sc atque Charitatem De doct Christiana l. 2. c. 9. In which words he affirms not only that all things belonging to Faith and Manners are contained but that they are plainly contain'd in the Scripture And in another place the same Father says If an Angel from Heaven shall preach to you any thing concerning Christ or his Church or concerning any thing which belongs to Faith or Life besides what you have received in the Writings
Elements such an incredible Change were wrought yet no man can be sure that it is indeed wrought and by consequence that he is not guilty of foul Idolatry The reason is evident because upon the Principles of the Church of Rome the Consecration depends upon such a number of Uncertainties that no man can ever be certain that it is duly made For if he be not a true Priest that Consecrates if he do not pronounce the words of Consecration and pronounce them aright if he do not intend to consecrate but to abuse the People then no Consecration follows and consequently no substantial change is effected And if the Roman Doctrine be true is it possible for the People or for the Priest himself to know that he is a true Priest For no man can be so who is not baptiz'd by a Priest whose intention was right in baptizing him and ordained by a Bishop who intended to do what the Church does And who can tell whether the Priest that baptiz'd him or the Bishop that ordain'd him had a right Intention And can any man tell besides the Priest himself that consecrates whether he pronounces the words of Consecration or pronounces them as he ought when the words are utter'd with so low a voice that none can hear what he says And none certainly but himself and the Searcher of Hearts can tell whether the Priest when he pretends to consecrate may not intend to mock the People Now in these cases no Consecration follows but the Bread remains Bread still and a Wafer only is worship'd instead of Christ And if any say these cases are rare Let a Bishop of the Church of Rome answer (i) Bishop of Minori History of the Council of Trent l. 2. p. 241. Would to God says he they were so and that in this corrupt Age we had not cause to doubt they were many But suppose they are very few or but only one Let there be a knave Priest who faineth and hath not an intention to administer the true Baptism to a Child who after being a grown man is created Bishop of a great City and liveth many years in that charge so that he hath ordained a great part of the Priests it must be said that he being not baptiz'd is not ordain'd nor they ordained who are promoted by him So that in that great City there will be neither Eucharist nor Confession because they cannot be without the Sacrament of order nor order without a true Bishop neither can he receive order who is not baptized Behold millions of Nullities of Sacraments by the malice of one Minister in one Act only So many uncertainties does Consecration depend upon in the Church of Rome that it may seem highly probable that not one Sacrament in an hundred is duly consecrated and by consequence not one Person in an hundred that worships the Host but in so doing according to their own Doctrine he gives that worship to Bread that is due to God only It will not save them harmless nor so much as excuse them to say that they verily believe it not to be Bread but the very Son of God since if they do so their mistake must be grosly wilful there being no such exact likeness between Christ and a bit of Bread that any Man can mistake the one for the other who is not resolved so to do 6. To make a Picture of God is forbidden by God himself in the Holy Scripture Take ye therefore good heed to your selves saith God to the Jews for ye saw no manner of similitude in the day the Lord spake to you in Horeb out of the midst of the Fire lest ye corrupt your selves and make you a graven Image c. (a) Dâ—ut 4. 15 16. 'T is repugnant to the very nature of God who is a Spirit and can no more be represented by a bodily shape than a Thought can It is an intolerable reproach to and infinitely derogates from his peerless perfections It was judged an absurd and a wicked thing by the antient Christians as Cassander confesses and quotes S. Augustin for the proof of it (b) Cassand Consuâ—t Art 2â— We believe saith that Father speaking of Christ that he sits at the right Hand of God the Father and yet it is not to be thought that God the Father is circumscribed by a humane shape that those that think of him should conceive that he hath either a right-side or a left or for that the Father is said to sit is it to be supposed that it is done with bended Knees lest we fall into that Sacrilege for which the Apostle abhorrs those who changed the Glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of corruptible Man For such an Image of God it is unlawful for a Christian to place in the Temple much more detestable to place it in his Heart (c) Aug. de Fide Symbolo c. 7. Which Words plainly shew what the Judgment of Christians in this matter was four hundred Years after Christ It was condemned by the wiser sort of Heathens as a thing altogether unsuitable to the Divine Nature Yea that very Council which decreed that the Image of Christ and the Saints should be worshipped thought it not only unlawful but absurd and impossible to make an Image of that Being which is Spiritual Invisible and Incomprehensible (d) Concil Nicaen 2. Actione 4 Actione 7. in Epist Synodica ad Constantinum Iren. And Durandus one of their learned Schoolmen says It is a foolish thing to make Images to represent God (e) l. 3. dist 9. q. 2. And yet the practice of the Church of Rome not only now but many Years before the Reformation was to picture God the Father and the adorable Trinity and so generally hath this practice obtained that Bellarmine makes that an Argument to prove the lawfulness of it (f) Bell. de Imagin l. 2. c. 9. For now saith he such kind of Images are almost every where received and it is not credible That the Church would universally tolerate that which is unlawful He says they are almost every where received and that the Church did universally tolerate them but in that he says they are now received he plainly grants that they were antiently rejected 7. Another gross Corruption in the Worship of Rome which rendred the Reformation necessary was the Worship of Images This also the Church of England hath condemned as Idolatrous and proved it to be so by the Authority of Gods Holy Word and by the Testimonies of the antient Fathers (a) Homily against the peril of Idolatry I shall not mention the many Scriptures in which God prohibits and expresses his abhorrency of this sort of Worship and dreadfully threatens those who practise it for that would be to transcribe a great part of the Bible Whosoever can reconcile it with the second Commandment he need not doubt but he may make Perjury and Murther and Theft and false