Christ gave his Apostles power over unclean Matth. 10. Luke 10. Spirits and power to tread on Serpents and Scorpions c. which power he supposes still to reside in the Church As Elisha cur'd the waters with salt as Christ cur'd blind Eyes with clay and spittle in like manner potestas exorcizandi Daemones à Christo Apostolis tradita usque in hodiernum diem in Ecclesiâ permansit The power of casting out Devils committed by Christ to his Apostles remains in the Church to this day If we will take Forgeries and cheats for real miracles the thing is proved But if we should be a little scrupulous and require better proof of matter of fact and till that be given should doubt whether the Apostles power of working Miracles be transmitted to this age we are then at a great loss to solve the Phaenomenon and to clear the use of the Cross and holy water c. from superstition Whereas it is confessed that the natural virtue of these Ceremonies can't produce such effects it is also as plain so far as the Word of God is our guide that we have no sufficient warrant to expect these preternatural and extraordinary Events because there is no divine promise annex'd to the use of these things Of the same nature is that Doctrine that the Sacraments confer Grace Ex opere Operato The Council of Trent Histor Conc. Trid. Sess 7. anathematizes them who say per Sacramenta non conferri gratiam virtute ministrationis eorum sive ex opere operato That the Sacraments do not confer grace by virtue of the very administration of them or by the deed done So Bellarmine begins his second Book De effectu Sacramentorum with this enquiry An sacramenta novae legis sint verae Causae justificationis ex opere operato Whether the Sacraments of the Gospel be true causes of Justification by virtue of the deed done That they are so and that they are thereby distinguished from the Sacraments of the old Law he offers to prove in the process of that Book In which though it be true that he speaks of Faith and Repentance as dispositions in the subject to mollify the Opinion yet there is no doubt but their Opinion is that the Sacraments confer grace however indispos'd the subject be Which appears by the absolutions that are given upon Confession even there where no Contrition shows it self According to the Jesuit's Doctrine Myst Jesuitis Letter 10. p. 145. 150. T. Bauny Ibid. they ought not to be deny'd or delay'd absolution who continue in habitual sias against the laws of God and nature and the Church though they discover not the least hope of amendment And Valentia determins that Contrition is not requisite at all in order to obtain the principal effect of the Sacrament nay on the contrary it is rather obstructive Yea Bellarmine himself Bellarm. de Imagin Sanctorum lib. 2. Cap. 30. elsewhere distinguishes between opus operatum and opus operantis When men pray for help against Diseases the effect does not infallibly follow for this reason quia tunc effectus non producitur ex opere operato more Sacramentorum sed ex opere operantis Because it is not produc'd by the deed done as in the Sacraments but supposes the disposition of the doer What they thus attribute to the Sacraments Azorius extends to sacramentals though he consesses Institut Moral Part. 1. lib. 4. Cap. 11. some Romanists are against him he affirms that the very sprinkling with Holy-Water without consideration of the act of Repentance does away venial sins How much our Church ascribes to Sacraments is plain They are sure Artic. 25. witnesses and effectual signs of Gods Grace and good will towards us by which he does work invisibly in us But in the same Article it is declar'd against the Opus Operatum for in such only as worthily receive the same they have a wholesome effect or operation The dangerous Consequences of this their Doctrine especially as their late Casuists have improv'd it I now exaggerate not All that I would conclude hence is that their worship of God in the Sacraments because it is built upon this opinion is superstitious God alone is the fountain of Grace he conveys it into the hearts of men as he pleases But no man hath reason to expect it by any other means than what God hath promised to bless The Sacraments are of excellent use But there is no promise extant that the bare receiveing the Eucharist whatever the disposition or indisposition of the Receiver be shall produce this effect and it is conferring grace in Adultis that is now to be consider'd Nay we are assur'd that he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks damnation to himself Wherefore he who promises to himself that which God hath not promis'd he who expects grace upon these terms who receives the Sacrament upon an Opinion that the deed done however it be done will bring him into a state of grace is superstitious in so thinking and so doing The Doctrine of Merit is another Sect. 21. Bellarm. de Justificat lib. 9. Cap. 17. superstitious Opinion If Bellarmine understood it this it is Opera bona Justorum meritoria sunt vitae aeternae ex condigno non solum ratione pacti acceptationis sed etiam ratione operis The good works of just men do merit life eternal of condignity not only because of the Covenant of grace but also from the nature of the works themselves Moreover beyond the bare merit of good works he affirms that as a man may merit a reward to himself so he may make satisfaction for the release and discharge of another And this is the foundation of their doctrine of Indulgences Extat Thesaurus aliquis in Ecclesiâ qui sit Indulgentiarum Fundamentum For the making good of which he thus argues and proceeds Prima Propositio In bonis actionibus Bellarm. de Indulgent lib. 1. Cap. 2. hominum Justorum duplex valor sive pretium assignari potest meriti viz. satisfactionis Secunda Propos Opus bonum quâ parte meritorium est non potest alii applicari potest tamen quâ satisfactorium Tertia Propos Extat in Ecclesiâ Thesaurus satisfactionum ex Christi passionibus infinitus qui nunquam exhauriri poterit Quarta Propos Ad hunc Thesaurum superfluentium satisfactionum pertinent etiam passiones B. Mariae Virginis omnium aliorum sanctorum qui plus passi sunt quam eorum peccata requirerent That is in short Together with the infinite value of the satisfactory sufferings of our Saviour The sufferings of the B. Virgin Mary and all other Saints who have suffer'd more than their sins requir'd are to be join'd by which as they have merited to themselves so have they satisfied for others How much this dishonours the Undertakings of our B. Saviour and for what other reasons we explode the Doctrine of Merit and the
appendage of satisfaction and Indulgences I have not now to say The superstition of these Opinions is now to be consider'd Bellarmin's Controversies would not have deserv'd the Character given them by Albertus Hungerus in his approbation prefix'd to the First Tome viz. Integerrimum pulcherrimum absolutissimumque Controversiarum omnium corpus A most Entire and Compleat body of Controversies if he had balk't any of the Doctrines currant at Rome So he must write when he pleads for a party but I think it no very difficult task to find some acknowledgments even in those same Books of Controversies which would greatly weaken most of the things in difference between us Bellarm. de Justificat lib. 5. Cap. 7. which he would establish In this of Merit who hath not heard of that famous resolution of his Propter incertitudinem propriae Justitiae periculum inanis gloriae Tutissimum est fiduciam totam in solâ Dei misericordiâ benignitate reponere Because of the Uncertainty of our own righteousness and the danger of vain glory It is most safe to put our whole confidence only in the mercy and goodness of God Sisic Omnia dixisset How well does this agree with what we say in our Office of the H. Communion We do not presume to come to this thy Table O Merciful Lord trusting in our own righteousness but in thy manifold and great Mercies c. And with our 12 Article Good works which are the fruits of Faith and follow after Justification cannot put away our sins and endure the severity of Gods Judgment We will join against the Antinomians and with great zeal assert the necessity of good works if the merit of them may be excluded but that we can't but charge with superstition He who gives Alms c. does a good work acceptable to God by Jesus Christ but he who opines he thereby merits the favour of God any otherwise than because God has promis'd to accept such services He who apprehends such a worthiness in what he does as that for its own sake he may expect to receive some reward because there is some proportion and equality in it ad praemium vitae aeternae as Bellarmine speaks He who designs to oblige Almighty God by his good works hath a proud conceit of himself who when he hath done all he can is but an Unprofitable servant and he has a false and undue Opinion of God to think a man may be profitable to God as men may be one to another Therefore are these services superstitious because they are perform'd upon false and undue Opinions and he who thus worships God does that which is not requir'd at his hands If these things wanted evidence I might add their works of supererogation their Austerities and penances so far as they apprehend a Merit in Opere Operato Also other things might have a place in this Argument and might range by themselves if they be not reducible to any of Bishop Mortons general heads Such as are Their publick Prayers in the Church in a Tongue not understood of the people Their requiring and using such a vast number of Ceremonies which by their great excess and multitude become a burden intolerable as the Preface to our Liturgy acknowledges These and such like things can't be excus'd from superstition Together with these I might add a number of observations which are neither proper to Popery nor indeed to the Christian Religion but are scatter'd all over the World Such as St. Austin means when he complains of Millia inanissimarum observationum c. and such as Aquinas comprehends when he makes divers kinds of superstition Divinationes varia observationum genera Of which Customs Mahometanism and Gentilism are very full But having given account of these before I pass them with this general acknowledgment Whatever we do upon a Religious account where Religion properly so called ought not to be concern'd When any undue Opinion of God excites us to any action when we exercise our selves in that which may be deservedly called Indebitus Dei Cultus when we think God is pleas'd with such a manner of performance which does not please him as it does well agree with the Import of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an over-timorous and servile apprehension of the Deity so may it properly be called superstition But in as much as it is very evident that the superstitious Opinions of the Church of Rome are rejected by the Church of England in as much as it can't be prov'd that any of our service is enjoin'd upon any other Opinion equally superstitious we conclude there is wrong done us when superstition is laid to our charge Yea if peradventure some of our Church should have private Opinions of their own that might render their particular practices superstitious yet this is enough to deliver our service from the Imputation and in this we persist as our just Vindication There is no Canon nor Rubrick no Article nor Injunction that obliges any within our Communion to any superstitious Opinion 4. Proposition Sect. 22. There are superstitious Omissions of which men may be guilty and that then when they seem to have a great zeal against Burges Answer Rejoin'd Preface p. 64. superstition It was laid to the N. C ts charge in King James his time that they were guilty of negative superstition A phrase cavil'd at by those who reply upon Bishop Morton but Dr Burges has sufficiently vindicated it and commends them to their friend Ames who comprehends it in his definition of superstition For when he had defin'd it to be an excess of Religion He adds cujusmodi Medul Theolog. lib. 2. Cap. 13. excessus non tantum est in exercitiis positivis sed etiam in Abstinentiâ à quarundam rerum usu ut à cibis This excess of Religion is not only in what we positively do but may be also in what we abstain from as Meats True it is that superstition is an excess as it hath been defin'd yet the defect in the practice may be superstitious because it may proceed from excess in the Opinion For if a superstitious Opinion be the reason why men abstain from the use of a Ceremony that abstinence is as properly superstitious as the use of it upon a superstitious Opinion can be My Lord Bacon says well and wisely There is Bacon Essay of Superstition a superstition in avoiding superstition when men think to do best if they go farthest from the superstition formerly received There is a superstitious fearfulness in some men of which St. Austin complains August Januario Ep. 118. thus Sensi saepe dolens gemens multas infirmorum perturbationes fieri per quorundam fratrum contentiosam obstinationem superstitiosam timiditatem qui in rebus hujusmodi quae neque sacrae scripturae Authoritate neque Universalis Ecclesiae traditione neque vitae corrigendae utilitate ad certum possunt terminum pervenire tantum quia subest
Sacraments The Presbyterians require sitting at the Lords Supper because significant Their pretence of the Example of Christ not sufficient Because p. 93 SECT XIV First That Example does no more oblige in this than in other Circumstances of Time and place unless in the significancy of it which then is as much superstitious as our kneeling For secondly They have not Example for the same manner of sitting Thirdly Not certain whether they have Example for any manner of sitting at all p. 100 SECT XV. They use another significant Ceremony in the Covenant and consent they require of people whereby they should own their Minister Worcestershire Agreement gives account of it Distinction between Discipline and Worship will not help them p. 108 SECT XVI Upon these Grounds the Church of England not superstitious unless the number of Ceremonies be too great Which hath been complain'd of without Cause and some of them acknowledge in our favour A Digression about the number of Ceremonies Or unless our Rites be requir'd as somewhat more than Indifferent In which the Prefaces to our Liturgy vindicate us p. 112 SECT XVII Two Objections 1. Ceremonies impos'd as Indifferent are not so So they were once believ'd But now some N. C ts think not so of them Answer Where no Law no Transgression Not forbid in the second Command nor elsewhere The Surplice and Kneeling and the Cross particularly consider'd p. 123 SECT XVIII 2 Obj. Though in Nature Indifferent yet some Accidents may render it sinful to impose or practise them They are thought by Bagshaw to be laid as snares for tender Consciences If so it would be Tyranny rather than superstition But it blasphemes Dignities so to think The Accidents consider'd Because they are offensive because they come from Papists The law of not giving offence does not disoblige the subject from obedience in things in themselves lawful Nor does it disable the Magistrate from making laws in things Indifferent The abuse of Popery signified nothing to T. C. in his own case The second General Proposition concluded p. 132 SECT XIX Third Proposition The Opinions that are superstitious are rejected by the Church of England Divers Objections against Popery besides superstition but that now to be consider'd They are superstitious First in making their Ceremonies necessary parts of Gods worship Pius IV. Creed impos'd upon all Bishops makes all the Doctrines of Trent necessary to salvation They equal Traditions to the written word and so introduce false Doctrines They teach for Doctrines the Commands of men and so are superstitious p. 144 SECT XX. Secondly They ascribe an efficacious sanctity to their Ceremonies They worship the Cross with Latra and affirm that it scares away the Devil drives away diseases and sanctifies the things on which it is made This is superstition to expect effects as by divine Institution which we have no warrant to expect Estius endeavours to salve the matter but not to satisfaction They teach that the Sacraments confer Grace Ex opere Operato and that is superstitious Bellarmines distinction between opus operatum and operantis to their prejudice p. 154 SECT XXI Thirdly Their Doctrine of Merit is superstitious Bellarmine ascribes Merit and satisfaction to good Works His famous acknowledgment to the contrary We own a necessity of good works but exclude Merit Whatever else is any where done upon a Religious account farther than Religion ought to be concern'd is superstitious The Church of England not guilty in any of these Cases p. 163 SECT XXII The Fourth Proposition There are superstitious Omissions of which men may be guilty when they seem greatly to abhor superstition A Negative Superstition A superstitious fearfulness of which Lord Bacon and St. Austin complain Such was that of the Jews who would not defend themselves on the Sabbath day Of the Souldiers in Sfetigrade The N. C ts have reason to examine whether their Abstinence be not such To abstain from that which is lawful as believing it Unlawful this undue opinion of Religious Matters is superstitious The Conclusion p. 171 ERRATA PAge 95. line 9. for where insignificant read wherein significant p. 149. l. 13. for rest r. rests the lesser faults are left to the ingenuity of the Reader to correct or pardon THere is lately published the seventh Edition of a Body of Divinity c. By the most Reverend Father in God James Usher late Arch-Bishop of Armagh to which is added his Life containing many remarkable passages never before Extant Sold by Jonathan Robinson at the Golden-Lyon in St. Paul's Church-Yard A DISCOURSE OF Superstition With respect to the PRESENT TIMES c. THE prejudices and disaffections Sect. 1. which have alienated so many from the Communion of the Church of England owe themselves to no Original more than to an Opinion taken up that some Usages in our Church are Superstitious An Opinion strongly concluded but upon weak grounds and by a Process very illogical For when the Adversaries of our Order and Peace have amply represented how jealous God is of his Honour how severely he hath threatned the breaches of the second Commandment and how sorely he hath punished the Idolatry of the Jews in the application of these things to our Times Superstition and Idolatry are frequently join'd as equally forbidden in that Commandment and without more proof the Church of England is supposed guilty of Superstition and good people are exhorted to come out of her upon pain of partaking of those Plagues which Idolaters have reason to fear From the times of Queen Elizabeth down to our days Superstition hath been laid to our Charge Mr Hooker acknowledges and resents it Ecclesiastic Pol. Book 5. §. 4. So it is judged our Prayers our Sacraments our Fasts our times and places of publick meeting together for the Worship and Service of God our Marriages our Burials our Functions Elections and Ordinations Ecclesiastical almost whatsoever we do in the exercise of our Religion according to Laws for that purpose established all things are some way or other thought faulty all things stained with Superstition One of the Treatises that were sent abroad as it were to give new light to a new World 1660. under the name of Mr William Bradshaw is about things Indifferent where he thus speaks in the Marginal Notes Notes on the fifth Chapt. of things Indifferent The Doctors of Oxford ask what hurt can a wise Man see in a square Cap and a Surplice Indeed there is no outward hurt or evil in it but it must be considered whether there be not any inward hurt therein for if it can be proved that by them the Souls of many are poisoned with superstitious conceits then it is apparent that they have inward hurt in them This is but a supposition but it follows dogmatically The Ceremonies Ibid. Notes on Chap. 8. in Controversy have been and are the special means and occasion of the Schism of many Hundred Brownists of much Superstition in many