The True Catholic, Title page – Errata
THE TRVE CATHOLIQVE, FORMED ACCORDING TO THE TRVTH OF THE SCRIPTVRES, and the ſhape of the ancient Fathers, and beſt ſort of the latter Catholiques, which ſeeme to fauour the Church of Rome. The Contents vvhereof are to be ſeene in the Page following.
Exod. 12.35.36.
And the children of Iſrael did according to the ſaying of Moſes, and they asked of the Egyptians iewels of ſiluer, and iewels of gold, and rayment.
And the Lord gaue the people fauour in the ſight of the Egyptians, and they graunted their requeſts: ſo they ſpoyled the Egyptians.
Cyprian. lib. 2. Epiſt. 3.
And becauſe now his ſecond comming drawes neere, his bountifulneſſe and the great account that he makes of vsus, doth lighten our hearts vvith the light of truth eueryevery day more and more.
Ambroſ. de Abrah. pat. lib 2. cap. 9.
We reade of a fire kindled at the ſunne-ſetting, which ſhould lighten the euening of the world, and ſhould ſhine in the darknes, and ſhould reueale things which were hidden.
AT LONDON. Printed by PETER SHORT, dwelling at the ſigne of the Starre on Bredſtreet hill. 1602.
THE CONTENTS OF this Booke.
1 A Preface to the Reader.
2 The true Catholikes Alphabet, or A, B, C.
3 His Pater-noſter or Lords prayer.
4 His Catechiſme, or briefe ſumme of Religion, wherein the Papiſts opinion concerning Antichriſt is refuted: and the true meanes of the calling of the Iewes is declared.
5 His houſe: or the notes and marks of the true Church, drawne out of the Scriptures.
6 Certaine godly Prayers which dayly he may vſe.
7 The liues & maners of the ancient Chriſtians, drawne out of the Scriptures and Fathers.
To the Chriſtian Reader.
I Offer vntounto thee (good Chriſtian Reader) in this Treatiſe, the ſumme of our Religion. And if forraine things delight thee (as now adayes they do all men moſt commonly) I do offer vntounto thee, I ſay, our Religion, proceeding out of the mouthes of the verie enemies thereof. For as the people cried and ſaid in Darius his dayes;1. Eſd. 4.41. Truth is the greateſt and ſtrongeſt thing of all others: Euen ſo this ſentence ſhall ſtand true for euer. And here thou ſhalt ſee that performed in deed, which Dauid did but prefigurate; that Goliah his head is ſtricken off with his owne ſword. 1. Sam. 17.51.And ſurely if the bodie and the ſhadow bee relatiues (as the Philoſophers teach) and that euerie ſhadow hath a bodie; then truly Dan in the law may be alſo a figure of Antichriſt in the Goſpel;Gen. 49.17. 2. The. 2.2. and the Madianites of the Papiſts. Dan, as his name imports in Hebrew, is a Iudge: He will vſurpe the office of a Iudge amongſt his brethren. And euen ſo doth the Pope, this ſpirituall Dan: Leuit. 13.3. Matt. 8.4.He will be a Iudge alſo by vſurpation: he will not iudge only betweene leproſie and leproſie, that is, betwixt notorious ſinnes, as the law commanded, but he will iudge euerie light diſeaſe which the law commands not. Hee will not bee iudge onelyonly of thoſe knowne ſins which goe before to iudgement, 1. Tim. 5.22.24.which Saint Paul bids Timothie that he ſhould take heede of; but alſo of thoſe which follow after: He will know the ſecrets of mens hearts, of which Saint Paul ſaith: Iudge nothing before the time, 1. Cor. 4.5.vntill the Lord come, who will lighten things that are hid in darkeneſſe, and make the counſels of the hearts manifeſt: and then ſhall euerie one hauehave praiſe of God. And is not this to be Dan? Is not this to be a Iudge?Madian ſignifies iudging. And as hee is Dan: ſo alſo his armie and ſouldiers are Madianites, they come of Dan; that is their name. For they take their name of him, as the Papiſts do of the Pope: and they ſhal periſh alſo as did the Madianites. Of whoſe ouerthrow thus we reade:Iudg. 7.22. When the three hundreth blewe with trumpets, the Lord ſet eueryevery mans ſword vponupon his neighbour, and vponupon all the hoſt which fled to Beth-haſhittah Tſererah, to the borders of Abel-Meholah vntounto Tabbah. Here firſt is the ſmall number of the Lords armie, the ſmall number of the profeſſours of the Goſpell, in compariſon of the Madianites, of Papiſts & Friers. Here are alſo the Lords weapons, the trumpets of the Goſpell againſt Madian, and their deſtruction, by one of them drawing ſwords againſt another. Here is (to make perfect this victorie, and to conquer alſo Sathan, the father of Dan) the breaking of pitchers: that is, the mortification of the fleſh, Rom. 6.19. Col. 3.5. Matth. 16.24.and of the luſts thereof, which Saint Paul ſo often teacheth; and the denying of our ſelues, and the following of him, with our croſſe on our backes, which our Sauiour alſo commands.
And they fled to Beth-haſhittah Tſererah, and to the border of Abel Meholah vntounto Tabbah. Here is that verified which our Sauiour ſaith of the eternitie of the Scriptures: That heauen and earth ſhall periſh, Mat. 5.18. 2. Tim. 3.16 Rom. 15.4.but not one io…te or tittle of the word of God ſhall periſh. And that Saint Paul writes of the excellencie of them: That all the whole Scriptures are giuen by inſpiration from God. And againe, That whatſoeuer is written, is written for our learning. And againe, Nowe all theſe things came vntounto them for examples, 1. Cor. 10.11.and were written to admoniſh vsus, vponupon whom the ends of the world are come. Euerie verſe and word in them, doe edifie, and are of force; nay they edifie and teach vsus: And in this one point, they ſurpaſſe almoſt all other writings. The lawes of Iuſtinian manie of them are not conuenient for our age; nor Galens preſcriptions of medicines for our bodies:1. Pet. 1.25. but the word of the Lord is the ſame for euer. The Madianites fled to Beth-haſhittah Tſererah, as to their caſtle of refuge; and that is in our language, to the afflicted houſe now readie to fall on their heads. And do not euen now the Papiſts ſo?Ierem. 7.4, Do they not crie, as the Iewes did, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord? So now they, The Church of Rome, the Church of Rome. Is not the continuance thereof ſo manie yeares, and the great glorie of it, their Refuge? Is not this one of their chiefeſt arguments? But what is Rome? Is it not Beth-haſhittah Tſerarah? that is,2. Theſ. 2.8. that afflicted houſe, now readie to fall on their heads? It conſumes daily by the Spirit of God: as Saint Paul propheſieth that it ſhould do, and euerie day is it in declining. And ere it belong, in one day, Reu. 18.8.that is, ſodainly, as Saint Iohn propheſieth, ſhall her plagues come vponupon her, death and ſorrow, and famine, and ſhe ſhall be burnt with fire. For it is the mightie Lord euen God himſelf that iudgeth her. And ſhe ſhall fall into that miſerable ſorow and deſtruction, which here alſo followeth: euen to the very border or lippe (as it is in the Hebrew) of Abel Meholah that is, of the ſorrowes of a woman trauelling with child, euē to Tabbaath, to the laſt monethmonth in the yeare, which anſwereth to our December, which for the abundance of waters,Pſal. 137.8. 1. Pet. 5.3. which commonly are …herein, is called in Hebrue Tabbah: which ſignifieth to be drowned. Surely ſuch flouds of ſorowes and calamities remaine for Rome the daughter of Babylon, Reue. 17.2.which Saint Peter calleth Babylon: as the propheſies of the holie Scriptures do teach. Nay, Saint Iohn deſcribeth her moſt manifeſtly: That great citie which is built vponupon ſeuen hilles, and raignes ouer the kings of the earth, Pſal. 73.27 Ier. 3 1.& made them drinke the wine of her fornication. What citie in the world is thus built, and hath had this authoritie ouer Kings;Reuel. 17.17. and hath made them drinke wine of fornication, that is, Idolatrie, which is ſo called in the Scripture, but Rome? The day ſhall come, that theſe her louers (thoſe kings which with one conſent hauehave giuen their kingdome to the beaſt) ſhall hate her, and ſhall eate her fleſh, and ſhall burne her with fire. Wee ſee now the former of theſe fulfilled: ſo no doubt wee ſhall ſee the latter alſo, When God ſhall put it into their hearts, and when his wordes are fulfilled, and that euen in one day. If Rome be in this caſe, may ſhee not fitly be called the afflicted tottering houſe? And therefore as the father and prince of the Madianites Dan, may reſemble the Pope, and the Madianites his ſouldiers, which ſhall one of them kill another: ſo Beth-haſhittah may reſemble Rome, their caſtle of refuge.
And God deales euen now as mercifully with his Church,2. Chro. 20.22 as he did in the dayes of good king Iehoſhaphat; againſt whom when manie nations had conspired and came to make warre, it is thus written: When they began to ſhout and praiſe the Lord, the Lord (himſelfe) laid ambuſhmēts againſt the children of Ammon, Moab & mount Seir, which were come againſt Iudah, & they ſlew one another: 1. King. 18.13. Ioh. 3.1. Luke. 25 50. Matth. 27.19euen ſo the enemies of the Church of God at this day, by Gods ſpeciall grace and mercy, one of them kill another. And euen as in the law Obadiah, Ahabs ſteward, nouriſhed the Prophets of the Lord; and Nichodemus and Ioſeph of Arimathea, princes amongſt the Iewes,Phil. 4.22. Ierem. 38.7. and euen Pilates wife fauoured Ieſus Chriſt: euen ſo now alſo in the Goſpell, the Popes darlings and Friers ſome of them fauour the truth. And as Saint Paul alſo had ſome friends in Caeſars houſe; and Ieremie in the kings court: ſo now hath the Goſpell ſome friends among the Popes traine, and that in no ſmal matters. There is no one thing I am perſwaded at this day doth ſo dazell the eyes of a great nūber, that they cannot behold the cleare light of the Goſpel, & keeps thē ſtil in the obedience of the Church of Rome: as the reading of Granatenſis, Stella, Ferus, Philippus de diez, & ſuch like. But all ſhall clearly ſee in this book, how that in the principall points of religion they ioyne hands with vsus. And that we may ſay of them,1 King. 22.43 as we reade in the booke of the Kings of Iehoſhaphat, that he walked in all the wayes of Aſa his father, and declined not therefrom; but did that was right in the eyes of the Lord: neuertheleſſe the high places were not taken away, and the people offered ſtill, and burnt incenſe in the high places. Good men hauehave their imperfections. So theſe follow the way of the Fathers in preaching and ſetting forth zealouſly the word of God, in maintaining the authoritie thereof; as alſo the knowledge, reading, and meditation thereof: they teach alſo the true vſe of prayer with faith, deuotion, & vnderſtanding: our perfect redemption by Chriſt, and the aſſured faith that we ought to hauehave in him; and how that we ought to truſt in his merits, and not in our owne works; his exceeding great louelove towards vsus, and the great corruption of our nature without his grace. In theſe points they worſhip God aright, with good king Iehoſhaphat, and they followe the wayes of their fathers. But yet the high places are not taken away; they burne incenſe there ſtill: They maintaine the Popes ſupremacie their patron,Col. 2.18, 2. King. 9.20. & 10.28. they make prayers to Saints and Angels, through their ouermuch humilitie, as Saint Paul teacheth vsus. Their great and good zeale is like to that wee reade of Iehu. And the marching is like the marching of Iehu the ſonne of Nimſhie, for he marcheth furiouſly. And againe, So Iehu deſtroyed Baal out of Iſrael; but from the ſinnes of Ieroboam the ſonne of Nebat, which made Iſrael to ſinne, he departed not. He was the founder of his kingdome. The policie which he deuiſed to maintaine his eſtate and kingdome, hee alſo (although it were againſt the word of God) embraced: So theſe are zealous,Mark. 12.34. but they alſo maintaine their founder the Pope and his authoritie. We may ſay of theſe truly, as our Sauiour Chriſt in the Goſpel ſayd of that Scribe, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God: no more ſurely are theſe. So that heere good gentle Reader, thou maiſt ſee Popery pulled vp euen by the roots, by the hands of Papiſts themſelues.
The true Catholike faith, out of the Scriptures, out of ye Fathers, & out of the mouthes of them, who ſeeme to be the verie enemies therof; this ſmall Treatiſe teacheth: EueryEvery one therefore that tendereth his own ſaluation, let him mark wel that faith which herein is taught. In the time of ignorance, God might, and no doubt did ſhew mercy; but now at midday, in the moſt cleare ſunſhine of the Goſpell, now I ſay, to ſhut the eyes, is wilful murther.Reu. 14.8. For in the Reuelation our daies are moſt liuely expreſſed: Then I ſaw (ſaith S. Iohn) another Angel fly in the midſt of heauen, hauing an euerlasting Gospell to preach vntounto them that dwel on the earth, and to eueryevery nation, and kinred, & tongue, and people, ſaying with a loud voice: Feare God, giuegive glorie to him: for the houre of his iudgement is come, and worſhip him that made heauen and earth, the ſea, and the fountaines of waters. Are not here our daies moſt euidently declared? The preaching of the euerlaſting Goſpell: the worſhipping of God alone, that made all things, and not of any creature: nay, the verie time. For the houre of his iudgement is come. This preaching of theſe doctrines, and this preaching of the Goſpell, ſhall be immediately before the iudgement: Hee that is not ſtarke blind cannot chooſe but ſee this. Now followes the Church of Antichriſt. And there followed another Angell, ſaying: It is fallen, it is fallen, Babylon the great citie: for ſhe made all nations to drinke of the wine of her fornication. Here is likewiſe the Church of Antichriſt moſt euidently deſcribed: She ſhall make all nations drinke of the wine of her fornication. She is contrarie to the true Church, which teacheth to worſhip God alone the Creator: but this Synagogue hath cauſ…d men to drinke of the wine of her fornication; that is, to worſhip others beſides God, and to worſhip the creatures: and this is ſpirituall fornication. And hath not the Church of Rome done ſo? Who ſeeth it not? Hee is onelyonly to bee worſhipped according to the truth of the Goſpell that made heauen and earth: but what Saint or Angell had any fellowſhip with God in that worke? And therefore the Church of Rome in teaching the worſhip of theſe, is Babylon: and therefore ſhe diſſenteth moſt manifeſtly from the truth of the Goſpell: And therefore ſhe is that whoore; whoſe fornication is rather in doctrine then in maners. Now ſhe being thus manifeſtly deſcried, the third Angell followed them, ſaying with a loud voyce, If any man worſhip the Beaſt, and his image, and receiue his marke in his forhead or on his hand, the ſame ſhall drinke of the wine of the wrath of God, yea of the pure wine that is poured out of the cup of his wrath: and he ſhal be tormented in fire and brimſtone before the holy Angels, and before the Lambe, &c. O terrible ſentence for all obſtinate Papiſts! which as yet the Goſpell being ſo long, and ſo manifeſtly preached, will worſhip the image of the beaſt, that is, which will acknowledge the Popes ſupremacie: or put their truſt in his characters and conſecrated creatures. For as S. Iohn hath taught before, He ſhall make an image of the Beaſt: Reu. 13.14.that is, as the Roman Emperor was Monarch ouer the world, ſo he ſhall challenge a Monarchy ouer the Church. And hath not the Pope done th…s? God giuegive all men eyes to ſee this.
And here gentle Reader if peraduenture in this Treatiſe I do diſſent in ſome points from the godly brethren, I muſt deſire thee to beare with me patientlie: I diſſent not with a contentious mind, but with a mind longing and ſearching for the truth; and according to my ſimple Talent deliuering it to thee and to thy iudgement. Our diſſenſions are as diuers boughes proceeding from the ſame roote of the tree: and as diuers arrowes ſhot out of the ſame quiuer, aiming at the ſame marke, ſhot againſt Babel. Thou which art endued with Gods Spirit,Ierem. 50.14, Rom. 8.9. 1. Cor. 2.15. and art Ieſus Chriſts, iudge charitably who comes neerer the marke: condemne not any. Gods ſouldiers are commanded to ſhoote not on one ſide againſt Babel, but round about her. I vrge the faſts of Wedneſdayes, Fridayes, and of Lent, which the Fathers, and the Primitiue Church ſolemnly obſerued. Who as they were not ſuperſtitious in theſe their faſts (as the Papiſts were) ſo they were not ſo curious in the numbring of the dayes of Lent as wee are, They faſted about fortie dayes, which was called of them Quadrageſima: and euerie weeke the fourth and ſixt day, not ſuperſtitiouſly, but religiouſly, to ſtudie the Scriptures, and to came the fleſh. The which faſts I vrge now againe in our dayes, to rouſe out of the ſleepe of ſecurity the men of our age: which eate and drinke as the men did in the dayes of Noe; Luke. 17.27.of whom our Sauiour giueth vsus warning to beware, leaſt we periſh with them. I wiſh that all men would watch in their priuate prayers, and that publike prayers alſo might be early in the morning: which times of praying are both agreeing with the Scripture, and to the Primitiue Church. I commend the ſigne of the Croſſe as an holy ſigne, which diuers godly learned men hauehave thought to be that ſigne of the Sonne of man, which ſhall appeare before the day of iudgement, whereof mention is made in the 24. of Saint Matthewes Goſpell. If that ſword of Goliah that killed him, were kept reuerently lapt vp in a cloath, and that in no obſcure place, but behind the Ephod in the Tabernacle: Why ſhould not that ſword which killed the true Goliah indeed (which vaunted himſelfe againſt all Iſrael (I meane the Croſſe) with which ſword the diuell had thought to hauehave killed our Sauiour Ieſus Chriſt;1. Sam. 21.9. 1. Sam. 17.10.and wherof that other Goliah was but a ſhadowe) bee had in reuerence in Chriſts Church amongſt vsus Chriſtians? And here we may note alſo, that the Ephod may ſignifie Chriſt, as the ſignification of the name it ſelfe may ſeeme to import, which ſignifies to put on aboue, or to couer ouer all. And all Chriſtians muſt put on this Ephod aboue all their other garments of their good works, be they neuer ſo perfect: And in this reſpect alſo they may bee called Kings and Prieſts. Then Goliah his ſword muſt not be placed before the Ephod, or lapt vp with the Ephod, but lapt vp in a cloath behind the Ephod: So the Croſſe is not to be made equall with Chriſt, as the Papiſts hauehave made it, but to be placed behind the Ephod lapt in a cloath, that is, as a reuerend and ſacred thing to be accounted of. So that this eſtimation of the ſigne of the Croſſe (for there is a mutuall relation betweene the ſigne and the thing ſignified) makes nothing for Popery.
As concerning the teſtimonies of the Scriptures, which concerne theſe points of doctrine, which are handled in this Treatiſe, in ſome places I alleage them not, becauſe I hauehave handled them elſe where, in the expoſition of the Epiſtle of Saint Iude. And I hauehave here alleaged the ſayings of manie of the Romiſh Writers, whom they call Catholikes: In tranſlating of whoſe ſayings, I proteſt I hauehave vſed as great faithfulneſſe as can be; and that I hauehave many times ſtucke ſo vntounto the letter, that I hauehave loſt the grace of the ſenſe. Thus fare thou well good Chriſtian Reader, and the Lord Ieſus giuegive thee a right iudgement and vnderſtanding in all things.
Thine in the Lord, FRANCIS TRIGGE.
Faults eſcaped amend thus.
Pag. 25. line 36. for ſonne, read, ſum of all Hammaſhe. p. 94. l. 8. merit. r. merciemercy. p. 96 l. 37. put out onelyonly. pag. 103 in margin. Dom. 18. poſt, &c. r. Dom. 8. pag. ibid. l. 33. works. r. worlds. p. 133. adde in margin. De orat. & med. die Lunae p. 148. l. 31. r. that they may, &c. p. 160. l. 25. now. r. not. p. 161. l. 11. adde, ſaith. p. 163. l. 20. after declared. r. often deceiued. p. 174. l. 4. meanes, r. names. p. 187. l. 30. the, r. this. p. 227. in margin. cap. 40. r. cap. 4. p. 242. lin. 5. It is not, r. Is it not. p. 247. l. 26. count. r. cannot, p. 255. in margin. adde, Ferus in Acta Apoſt. cap. 1. p. 293. lin. 33. caried. r. cured. p. 307 l. 8. dele, foure. p. 326. l. 4 dele the firſt in. p. 342. l. 13. …o. r. to. p. 370. l. 36. as, r. is. p. 441. l. 29. r. Laſh vak. 462. l. 21. r. Banah. p. 577. l. 8, r. Stater, p. 585. l. 3. r. out of their. &c. p. 586. in margin. word. r. world.