The Safe Way Leading All Christians, Section 6
Sect. 6. The common pretence of our Aduerſaries refuſing Reformation, becauſe we cannot aſsigne the preciſe time when errours came in; Refuted.
HOw farre the Church of Rome ſtands guilty of this crime, I wil not take vponupon me to cenſure; but ſure I am they are ſo far from reforming the abuſes and errors in their Church, that they will not acknowledge their points of doctrine to be errouious, vnleſſe we can aſſigne the time, and point at the perſons who firſt broached them. Now ſince we are all eye witneſſes that the errors of the Romiſh Church are at this day ſo notorious, that a very child may reprehend them; it were more fit (as I conceiue) to redeeme the time by correcting thoſe errors that crept into the Church, then to enquire after times and perſons which are not in their hands?
If a man be ſicke of a Conſumption, wil he refuſe helpe of the Phyſitian, except he can reſolue him whether his Lungs or his Liuer were firſt infected, and ſhew the time when, and the occaſion how his body grew firſt diſtempered? When an houſe is ready to fall, men doe not ſtand to enquire what poſt or principall did firſt decay, or the time when the raine did firſt begin to rot it, but they ſeeke to amend that which is moſt ruinous, and ſupport that part which is moſt ſubiect vntounto falling: If you will hauehave a more familiar example,Obſecro inquit cogita quomodò huc me liberes non quomodo hûc ceciderim quaeras. Aug. Epist. 29. S. Auſtin will giuegive you one, A man (ſaith he) fals into a pit and cals for helpe, hee that ſhould lend him his hand for preſent reliefe, fals to asking him this queſtion; Quomodo hîc cecidiſti? How didſt thou fall in here, but heare what anſwer he makes him: I pray aduiſe me how I may come out, neuer aske mee the queſtion how I came in.
Mat. 13.In the parable of the Sower, Chriſt himſelfe giues a ful anſwer to thoſe impertinent demands: he tels vsus that the Thiefe ſowed the tares in the night time when all were aſleepe,Dormientibus hominibus. and from this parable common reaſon will foorthwith conclude; If all were aſleep, how could thoſe of the houſe ſee him? if they did not ſee him, how could they produce him? Now as the Thiefe came at vnawares and in the night ſeaſon when there was none ſo much as dreamt of him:Mat. 24.43. ſo likewiſe of this be ſure (ſaith the Euangeliſt) if the good man of the houſe knew at what watch the Thiefe would come, he would ſurely hauehave watched: and then certainly he would hauehave told the time and the perſon.
The doctrine that wee complaine of is a myſterie of Iniquitie, Jniquitas ſed myſtica (i.) pietatis nomine palliata.it is a myſterie cloked with the name of pietie; and wee know myſteries are ſecret, and hauehave cloſe and priuate working; they work not openly and publiquely, but by decrees leaſurably, cunningly, and warily to auoide diſcoueries; And as Tares ſowne in good ground being but a ſmall ſeed, lye long couered and hidde in the earth before they appeare, after they appeare they grow to another ſhape, and ſo multiplie in the ſeed ſowne; ſuch is the condition of errors ſowed in the Church: firſt, it is an opinion broached by ſome priuat man, and happily with a good intention, then by addition becomes an error of ſome one, or few, which at firſt is not eaſily eſpied, or not much regarded: afterward it gathereth ſtrength, and multiplyeth it ſelfe into diuers parts and members of the body, and ſo by continuance becomes a knowne errour, and then the ſeruant makes complaint to his Maſter: Sir, didst thou not ſow good ſeed in thy field, from whence then hath it Tares? but which is moſt obſeruable, the husbandman did not eſpie the tares vntill they had almoſt choked the good corne.
Wee ſay therefore that in the Primitiue Church when any hereſie did ariſe, that endangered the foundation, ſuch as was the hereſie of the Arrians, of the Pelagians, of the Donatiſts, and the like, the firſt Authors were obſerued, the times were knowne, the place was pointed at, and forthwith demiſſarie and teſtimonicall letters were written (which were then in vſe) and were ſent to all the parts and ſound members of the Catholique Church, by which publique notice, the ſteale-truth was diſcouered, and after publication of his hereſie, the partie was repreſſed and excluded from the communion of the whole Church; and in this alteration or change of doctrine: Bellarmines reaſon may take place;Bellar. lib. 4. cap. 5. that is, in eueryevery great and notorious mutation there may be obſerued the Author, the time, and the place, the beginnings, increaſings, and reſiſtance made againſt it: but the change of Romiſh doctrine was otherwiſe, it was like the cokatriſe egge along time in the ſhell, before the Cokatriſe did appeare, it was a ſecret Apoſtaſie, a falling away from the Truth which was cauſed at the firſt by an error ſtole into the Church: Senſim ſine ſenſu, vnſenſible and vnawares; and therin appeares the difference betwixt open hereſie and ſecret Apoſtaſie. The open heretique viſibly and profeſſedly in a time knowne by a perſon named, with a doctrine publiquely profeſſed, proclaimes his hereſies againſt all true Catholiques; The ſecret Apoſtata cloſely and warily in the time of darkneſſe when the husbandman is aſleepe, vnſeene and vnawares ſcattereth his ſeed, the one is eaſie to bee diſcouered and knowne both for time and perſon, becauſe he worketh openly in the day, the other ſcarcely to be diſcouered, becauſe hee worketh onelyonly in the night.
It is an vndeniable truth, that ſome opinions were condemned in the Primitiue Church for erronious and ſuperſtitious, which now are eſtabliſhed for Articles of faith in the Roman Church, to giuegive an inſtance: S. Auſtin complaines that in his time the rude ſort of people were intangled with ſuperſtition,Noui multos ſepulchrorum & picturarum adoratores ſed illud admoneo vt Catholicae Eccleſiae maledicere deſi natis vituperando mores hominum quos & ipſa condemnat & quos corrigere ſtudet. August. de Moribus Eccleſ. Cathol. lib. 1. cap. 34. euen in the true Church. I my ſelfe (ſaith he) know many that are worſhippers of Tombes and Pictures, whom the Church condemneth, and ſeekes eueryevery day by correction to amend them as vngratious children. This holy Father complaines of ſome people in his daies which became ſuperſtitious in worſhipping of Images, whom the Church did then condemne as corrupters of true Religion, the authors of this error, hee nameth not, the time when it began, hee ſheweth not, notwithſtanding we are all eye witneſſes that this corruption hath got the vpper hand, and that which was then condemned by Saint Auſtin and the Church for ſuperſtition, was confirmed foure hundred yeares after; by the ſecond Councell of Nice for Catholique doctrine, and is now decreed by the Councell of Trent for an Article of faith.
Hee that gaue firſt a Primacy of order to Saint Peter, did neuer intend a primacy of power to the Pope, and yet we ſee the Pope hath obtained it: he that made pictures of Saints for memory, for hiſtorie, for ornament, did litle dream that the works of his hands ſhould be worſhipped, and that worſhip ſhould bee decreed for an Article of faith; and yet we ſee it is ſo eſtabliſhed in the Church of Rome. He that in teſtimonie of the reſurrection, and out of humane affection, commended the memory of dead ſoules vntounto God, did neuer dreame of Purgatorie, & yet we ſee Purgatory is become a point of faith, and made a gainefull marchandize in the Papall ſea: He that ſtirred vp men to charitie and works of pietie, did neuer intend to make works copartners with faith in our Iuſtification, and yet wee ſee this doctrine is ſtoutly iuſtified by their Proſelites: He that inſtructed the Miniſter at the time of the Sacraments, religiouſly and carefully to intend that part of Gods ſeruice in the time of the miniſtration, did little dreame that the Miniſters intention ſhould make good or make voide all the ſeuen Sacraments, and yet we ſee this is the Tenet of the Romiſh doctrine. The intention no doubt of many opinions in the firſt founders was good,Ferus Annot. in Iud. C… 8. Colon. 1571 Duplex, &c. Exemplo ſint ſeſta, ceremoniae, Imagines Miſſa Monaſteria, &c. Nihil hominis eâ intentione inſtitutum fuit quâ nunc habētur, &c. but the application is now amiſſe; for the houſholder made good Lawes, but the enemy added a Gloſſe: There was a double ſinne in Gedeon (ſaith Ferus) both in that hee made an Ephod contrary to the word of God, and in that ſeeing the abuſe thereof hee tooke it not away; now who ſeeth not that the like happeneth to the Church? How many things did the Saints ordaine with a good intent, which we ſee at this day changed, partly by abuſe, and partly by ſuperſtition. The Feaſts, Ceremonies, Images, Maſſes, Monaſteries, and the like, none of them were inſtituted in that ſort at firſt, as now they are vſed, and yet we Gedeons hold our peace, they take not away the abuſe, they take not away the ſuperſtitions. This complainant was a Friar, and a member of the Romane Church; he tels vsus that Maſſes, and Monaſteries and Images are all different from the meaning of the firſt founders, yet neuer tels vsus of the times nor Authors that firſt changed them: Now if the Reformed Churches ſhould hauehave declined a reformation, becauſe they could not aſſigne the time and Authors of thoſe errours, who ſeeth not but they had fallen into the ſinne of Gedeon, who in ſeeing the abuſe tooke it not away? Nay more, thoſe Romaniſts which made great ſearch and inquirie to know the time and Authors of their errors, although they profeſſe they cannot preciſely ſet downe their firſt beginnings, yet ingeniouſly confeſſe an alteration of diuers Tenets in their own Church;Marius de Schiſm. & Concil. part. 3. ca. vlt. The reſtraine of Prieſts marriage, to ſay preciſely when it came in (ſaith Marius) I cannot tell, although I hauehave moſt diligently enquired after it. Concerning Prayer in an vnknowne tongue,Mirumin hac re quam Eccleſiae mutata ſit conſuetudo Eraſ. in 1. Cor. 14. It is to bee wondred how the Church is altered in this point (ſaith Eraſmus,) but the preciſe time he cannot tell: The Communion in one kinde when it got firſt footing in the Church,Greg. de Val. de legit. vſu Euchar. c. 10. Minime conſtat, it doth not appeare ſaith Gregorie de Valen.
Now if theſe men could hauehave prooued their doctrine originally from the Scriptu…es, they ſhould not hauehave needed to inquire of vsus for the firſt Authors of their doctrine; for I am confident beyond all beliefe, if forbidding of Marriage had beene the doctrine of Chriſt which S. Paul termeth the doctrine of diuels: 1. Tim. 4.1.If Prayer in an vnknowne tongue had beene taught and commended by the Apoſtle Saint Paul, as on the contrary it was forbidden and condemned in his firſt Epiſtle to the Corinthians; If the Communion in one kind had beene inſtituted by Chriſt as the contrary was, to wit, in both kinds; If theſe points, I ſay, had beene deriued from the word of God; or had they alwayes beene receiued as Apoſtolique Traditions in the Church, the beginning and the Author of their Tenets had beene eaſily knowne, and then they might hauehave beene publiſhed out of certaine knowledge both for time and perſon: and as touching this and the reſt of ſtraw and ſtubble which the Church hath added to her building, it is manifeſt by the Teſtimonies of our aduerſaries that there was a knowne time when thoſe Tenets were not certainely knowne, and generally receiued in the Romane Church.
The Marriage of Prieſts was not altogether forbidden till the time of Gregorie the ſeuenth (ſaith Polidore) and this was aboue a thouſand yeares after Chriſt: The number of ſeuen Sacraments was not expreſly defined till the dayes of Peter Lombard (ſaith Caſſander) and this was 1140. yeares after Chriſt.Bellar. de Euch. lib. 3. cap. 23. The doctrine of Tranſubſtantiation was not receiued for a point of faith till the Councell of Lateran (ſaith Scotus) and this was aboue 1200. yeares after Chriſt. The power of Indulgences extended to ſoules in Purgatorie was firſt decreed by Boniface the eighth, (ſaith Agrippa) and this was 1300. yeares after Chriſt. The Communion in one kind began to be generally receiued but a little before the Councell of Conſtance (ſaith Gregorio de Valentia) and this was almoſt 1400. yeares after Chriſt.