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A53946
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The antiquity of the Protestant religion with an answer to Mr. Sclater's reasons, and the collections made by the author of the pamphlet entitled Nubes Testium : in a letter to a person of quality : the first part.
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Pelling, Edward, d. 1718.
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1687
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Wing P1072; ESTC R1036
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27,540
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74
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Julius it is evident by the whole story and honestly confest by Petrus de Marca that De Concord Lib. 7. C. 3. 7. their Restitution was decreed by the Sardican Council and was actually procured and effected by the Emperors command 'T is true Pope Julius receiv'd those Bishops into his Communion because he believ'd they were unjustly depos'd by the Arian Faction 'T is true too that he wrote into the East for the restitution of those Bishops but 't is as true that he pretended not to any power of doing this himself but that those great men ought not to be ejected without the knowledge and consent of himself and other Bishops of the East and West This Petrus de Marca proves undeniably and Ibid. Cap. 4. quarrels with Baronius Bellarmine and Perron for wresting the sense of Julius his Epistle to their own Opinion just as our Author hath done And as touching Sozomen's words which our Author quotes that Learned Writer shews in the same place how they are abused and that they are to be understood not as if the restitution of those Bishops was effected directly or by vertue of Julius his supream Jurisdiction but by Consequence onely that is Julius his Example and Intercession had such an Influence upon other Bishops and the Emperors that it become the means and occasion of the Restitution of Athanasius and his injured Brethren And now what is all this to prove the sole supream Authority of the Bishop of Rome Especially since Athanasius himself acknowledg'd that he was restored by the suffrage of no less than Three hundred forty and four Bishops Sir if you think I have been too prolix upon this Theme I must intreat you to consider that it is one of the most Principal of those points which are in Controversie between Us and the present Roman Church and a point of great consequence I hope that by what has been Written you will be able rightly to understand those passages which the Author of the Nubes Testium hath collected upon this Head and before I pass on to the the next point I shall take notice but of Four passages more 1. He saith the General Council of Chalcedon own'd the supream Authority of the Pag. 44. Pope inasmuch as the chief accusation against Dioscorus was that contrary to the Tradition and Practice of the Church he had presumed to call a Council without the consent of the Bishop of Rome as appears from the words of Lucentius Legate from the See Apostolick Act. 1. But this he falsisies wretchedly For the Crimes alledged against Dioscorus Bishop of Alexandria were that he was a Favourer of the Heretick Eutyches and was guilty of Outrages and bloodshed This made the great Outcry in the Council that he should be turned out of it Indeed Lucentius the Popes Legate pleaded that Dioscorus had called a Synod without the Popes Authority But this allegation was not admitted nor taken notice of by the Council they required Lucentius to shew wherein Dioscorus had offended And when Lucentius persisted in his allegation the Fathers reprehended him for accusing him and so Dioscorus was commanded to keep his place which he did till he was cast out for other reasons If you consult the first action of the Chalcedon-Council you will find what I say to be True and by that you may judge whether they lookt upon Lucentius his allegation to have been any Crime in Dioscorus as this Author would make you believe 2. He tells us that the Monks of Syria called Hormisda the Pope the Head of all And can we believe that those men who were then persecuted by the Eutychians neglected by the Emperor would apply themselves to Hormisda without complementing him with an Honourable Title Yet that Title imports no more but that he was one of the principal Bishops of the Catholick Church and such Titles were usually given to any very Eminent Bishope specially if he was a Patriarch For so St. Basil himself said of Athanasius the Patriarch Basil Ep. 52. of Alexandria that he had the care of all the Churches and that he thought it most convenient for them to fly to him as the Head of them all and to make use of him as their Counsellor as their Captain and Prince in the government of their affairs What a noise should we have about our ears had St. Basil said so much of the Patriarch of Rome And yet St. Basil did not mean that Athanasius was the supream Vniversal Pastor 3. He saith that the first Council at Constantinople desir'd their Decrees to be confirm'd by Pope Damasus especially as to the deposing of Timotheus an Apollinarist But this doth not appear for all that the Council required of him was that he being absent from the Council would concur with them in the condemnation of the Heretick Now this was no argument of Damasus his Supremacy For all Bishops were bound to do the same thing all of them were ingaged against an Heretick as in a common Cause and as against a common Enemy Thus Novatian was excommunicated by several Synods in Rome Italy and Africa nay by all the Bishops over the World as Petrus de Marca doth confess out of St. Cyprian And the reason given is this because all the De Concord Lib. 7. C. 2. Bishops were but one body an Order of men that were Vnited together so that if an Heretical Bishop arose in any Province all the Bishops were presently to lend their help and assistance against him And besides it is notorious that by the Canons of the Catholick Church no Bishop was to receive any man into his Communion that had been justly Excommunicated by another So that when the Council of Constantinople requir'd Damasus for that is the word to concur with them against Timotheus they onely requir'd him to observe the Laws and Practice of the whole Catholick Church It was no token of his Jurisdiction over them but of his fraternal Communion and Vnity with them 4. Last of all our Author produces the definition of the Florentine Council that the Holy Apostolick See and Bishop of Rome has the Primacy over the whole World c. But surely a man that entitles his book A Collection of the Primitive Fathers should have left out this Council which was not Three hundred years ago far from a Council of Primitive men And as for those Fathers if they must be called so every one knows that there were not Thirty Greek Bishops among them nor were the Latines any other than such as were packt and shuffled together to play the Popes Game for him Nor was the Popes Primacy debated at all among the Legates No the great business was about the manner of the Procession of the Holy Ghost And when some of the Greeks were perswaded at last to subscribe to that Article the poor Greek Emperor being wearied out by delayes subscribed the Doctrines of Purgatory of the Popes Primacy c. himself not so much as imparting the matter to the Greek Legates This was the fine Council of Fathers whose definition our Author reckons among the rest though perhaps with a design to make up that by Tale which was wanting in Weight I say no more of that Council because you may see enough to invalidate the Authority of it by that account which our Learned Dr. Stilling-fleet has given out of Sguropulus in his defence of the Greek Church But having said thus much concerning this Contro-sie I shall the next time endeavour to satisfie you in that point concerning Images and Image-worship about which the next great Controversie was in the Ancient Church FINIS
THE ANTIQUITY OF THE Protestant Religion WITH AN ANSWER TO Mr. Sclater's REASONS AND THE COLLECTIONS Made by the Author of the Pamphlet ENTITLED NUBES TESTIUM In a Letter to a Person of Quality The First Part. LONDON Printed for Ben. Griffin and are to be sold by Randal Taylor near Stationers-Hall 1687. IMPRIMATUR Hen. Maurice Rmo P. D. Wilhelmo Archiepiscopo Cant. à Sacris Dec. 13. 1686. ERRATA PAge 15. l. 6. for Aeneus read Aeneas in the Margint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 22. l. 14. f. Canon r. Canons p. 31. l. 20. f. where r. were p. 41. l. 7. f. moduling r. modelling p. 59. l. 11. f. Contro-sie r. Controversie THE ANTIQUITY OF THE PROTESTANT RELIGION With an Answer to Mr. Sclaters Reasons and the Collections made by the Author of the Pamphlet entitled Nubes Testium SIR VVHEN I receiv'd your Letter I did at first a little wonder that such a knowing person should desire me to give a plain and particular proof of that Point which we Protestants do stand upon that our Religion was Anciently and Generally profest in the Christian World before the Reformation For the matter seems so clear to those who converse with Books and will not suffer themselves to be govern'd by partiality of judgment that we may well be amazed at the great confidence of the Divines in the Church of Rome who would fain perswade you to believe the contrary whether out of a design or by means of their violent Passions and prejudices I will not say It is indeed taken for granted by people on that side that at the Reformation their Church was the only Catholick Church in the World and that their Faith was undoubtedly True and Primitive in all its particulars because otherwise the Church as they conceive must have failed and the Promises of God touching his preserving and assisting his Church to the Worlds end must have come to nothing Upon which false suppositions they run away at all rates with many strange notions of Vs and of the Reformation believing and giving it out that we forsook the True Church which was entitled to Gods Patronage and Guardianship and did set up a new Religion which no good Christians ever own'd and therefore that we must needs be in a miserable and lost condition Seeing then the difference between us is so wide either They or We must necessarily be under a very great mistake And therefore in compliance with your commands I shall indeavour to satisfie you that the mistake lies not on our side especially since the Author of the Nubes Testium and Mr. Sclater in his Consensus veterum have taken so much pains to possess the World with a Notion to the contrary In the prosecution of this matter I shall 1. First take as short and as particular a view as I can of the State of Christianity from the Primitive times to the Reformation and shew you how the Doctrines we profess were generally profest and own'd from Age to Age in those Churches which are nearer home 2. That at the Reformation and before the Faith of those Churches which are more Remote and distant from Us was the same with Ours in most of those material points which lie now under debate And when these Two things are cleared several inferences will easily follow which will abundantly serve to justifie Our Reformation and to discharge the Protestant Religion from those Imputations which are commonly but unjustly cast upon it 1. First let us look into the condition of Religion from the Primitive Ages to the time of the Reformation and see if those Doctrines which we Protestants profess were not profest and own'd from Age to Age before ever the Name of Protestant became a characteristical note of Distinction And for the clearing of this I think it too tedious to gather up Sentences and ends of Sayings out of the Ancients as Mr. Sclater and the Author of the Nubes Testium have endeavour'd to do For they know well that we have a Catalogus Testium to which their Nubes is but as it were of a Hands breadth And besides the latter of these doth ingenuously confess That many things in the Ancient Fathers are Obscure that their Preface pag. 3. Names have been prefixt to Books of which they were never the Authors and that additions have been made to some of their writings besides the divers mistakes of Transcribers in the publishing of their Works The most effectual way therefore will be to observe the Doctrines of the Ancients in their Disputations and Controversies with the Adversaries of the Truth and that either when they purposely wrote against some known Error and generally used the same arguments as so many Received Principles or when they met together in Councils to settle matters by publick Canons and Definitions These observations will more readily and more certainly help us to understand the sense of the Ancient Church than our having recourse to this or that passage in particular Authors So that if it be made appear that our Religion is agreeable to that which the Ancients did in their Disputations and Assemblies maintain as the Primitive Faith you need not enquire further for your satisfaction nor trouble your self with Heaps of quotations out of single Authors unless you have a mind to gratifie your Curiosity and for that you may consult Bishop Taylors Disswasive or Bishop Mortons Appeal or Bishop Vshers Answer to the Jesuites challenge which the Writers in this Age would do well to try if they can Answer But to go to our business It is notorious that the first great Controversies in the Church were about the Common Doctrines of Christianity a great many Hereticks for divers Ages from Simon Magus downward to Pope Honorius and the rest of the Monothelites violently opposing some the Reality of Christs Humane Nature some his Divinity some the Distinction between his two Natures some the Divinity of the Holy Ghost as a distinct Person from the Father and the Son and the like general Principles which the Christian Church held Against these Seducers not only Books were written by the Primitive Fathers severally but divers Councils were called the first a Local Synod at Antioch against Paulus Samosatenus who taught that our Saviour was a meer Man. After this Six general Councils met The First at Nice against Arius for asserting that Christ Jesus was a Creature The Second at Constantinople against the Eunomians and Sabellians and the rest that affirm'd the Holy Ghost to be a Creature too the Third at Ephesus against Nestorius for reviving the Arian Heresie The Fourth at Chalcedon against Eutyches who own'd the Divine and Humane Nature too yet taught that upon the Vnion of them both were mixt Absorpt and Transubstantiated into One The Fifth at Constantinople again to stifle a fresh the Nestorian Blasphemy and the Sixth there also against Pope Honorius and his Associates who own'd as but one Nature as Eutyches did so but