A Learned Treatise of Traditions, Treatise · Chapter 10
CHAP. X. That in this queſtion, by the word Church, our Aduerſaries vnderſtand not the Church whereof is ſpoken in the Creed, but the Pope alone.
FOraſmuch as our Aduerſaries doe maintaine, that the Church whereof mention is made in the Creed, is the whole body of the faithfull people, and that to this people it belongeth not to bee iudge of doubts and controuerſies, it is evident that by this Church (which is ſaid to bee ſoueraigne iudge and infallible) another Church is vnderſtood, beſides that whereof mention is made in the Creed; but as by the Church they vnderſtand onelyonly the Church of Rome, ſo by the Church of Rome, is vnderſtood the Pope, who attributeth this ſoueraigne and infallible authority to himſelfe. Thus doSalm. To. 13. parte 3. diſp. 10. ſect. quarto …um. Cum Scriptura obſcuta ſit & perdiffic…lis nec …adex eſſe queat: quia pro…i…en…ia Dei tolleretur, cum per eam ſ…la lite… … ſedar… non poſsi…t; ſupereſt ergo vt certū aliqu… iudi…em nobis d…ſignat…m re…que…t. At h…c al…us non eſt habitus quā qui ſ…mper fuit, hoc eſt, Rom. Epiſcopus: alias e…im perijſſ…t providentia Dei per tot ſecula. Caietan. in 2. …a. …. 1. art. 10. Veriſsimū eſt authoritatem Eccleſi… vniverſalis et Cō …lij princ…paliter et totaliterr… ſid…r… in Papa, in … terminād▪ ea qua ſunt d… … the Doctours accord, and in this manner doe apprehend it.
Salmeron the Ieſuite: ſeeing that▪ the Scripture is very obſcure and difficult, and cannot bee judge (for ſo the prouidence of God ſhould bee annihilated, becauſe by it alone the controuerſies moued can…ot bee appeaſed and determined) it remaineth therefore, that ſome certaine Iudge deſigned was left vntounto vsus. And hee is thought to bee no other then the ſame that ever was, to weet, the Biſhop of Rome; for otherwiſe the Prouidence of God in ſo many ages had periſhed.
Cardinall Cajetan: It is moſt true that the authority of the vniuerſall Church and of Councell, reſideth principally and totally in the Pope, to determine the points of Faith. And there againe he ſaith, that the Church adoreth the Pope.
Paſchal the Pope avoucheth, that the Church of Rome is not ſubject to Councels, and that in whatſoeuer they ordaine, the Pope is alwayes excepted. SpeakingEx…r. de Electione. cap. Significaſti. Tit. 6. Aiunt hoc in Concilijs ſtatutum non inven…ri. Reſp. Quaſi Romana Eccleſi… Concili… vlla leg… prae fixerint. Cum omnia Concilia per Roman… Eccleſiae authoritatem facta ſint, & robu… acceperint, et in eorum ſtatutis Rom. Pontificis patenter excipiatur auctoritas. thus: They ſay that this is not found to bee decreed in the Councells. To the which hee maketh this anſwere: as if any Councells had preſcribed any Law to the Church of Rome, when as all the Councells hauehave beene made, and hauehave taken their force by the authority of the Church of Rome; and in their ſtatutes the authority of the Pope is cleerly excepted. Who doth not perceiue that in theſe words, by the Church of Rome the Pope alone is vnderſtood? for our Aduerſaries deny not, but that the people, and Clergie of the Church of Rome, are ſubject to the Councells.
The Ieſuite Gregory of Valence inPontifexi… Roma… e…t in qu… auth… ritas illa r… det: qu… in Eccleſia extat ad iudg…andū de omnibus omnino controverſis fidei. the title of the ſeuenth booke of his Analyſis: The Pope of Rome is he in whom reſideth all authority of the Church, to iudge entirely of all doubts of the Faith.
Andradius in his firſt booke of the defence of the Tridentine faith:Fide Papae noſtra continetur, & ex eius vnjus authoritate ſalus omnium pendet. Our faith conſiſteth in the faith of the Pope, and vponupon his authority alone dependeth all mens ſaluation. Iudge whether mans ſaluation bee not well deriued. Whereupon heeNon minor eſt Papae ad controverſias dirimendas, quā Eccleſiae totius authoritas. ſpeaks there againe that the authority of the Pope to decide all controuerſies, is not leſſe then the authority of the whole Church. And wee hauehave formerly heard the Ieſuite Vaſques affirming, that the authority of the Pope is not leſſe then that of the Apoſtles, and that hee can abrogate and cancell the Apoſtles commandements. In the ſecond Seſſion of the laſt Lateran Councell, theſe words are expreſſe: Behold Ecce adeſt Divi Petri ſucceſſor I… lius nō minor authoritate.Iulius the Succeſſour of Saint Peter, no leſſe in authority then him. It is true that when the Pope will, hee ioyneth ſome Prelates with him, to aſſiſt him in his decreeing. But whereas hee cals and chooſeth whom hee will, theſe Prelates hauehave not authority but by him, and the Pope an enact all without them. This is that which Cardinall Bellarmine hath, in his third booke ofIſte iudex non poteſt eſſe ſcripturae &c. Igitur Princeps Ecc eſiaſticus, vel ſolus vel cum conſilto et cō ſenſu coepiſcop orum. the word of God, Chap. 9. That iudge cannot bee the Scripture; therefore is it the Eccleſiaſticall Prince, either alone, or with the aduice & approbation of the brother Biſhops.
For ſo our Aduerſaries doe joyntly hold, that when the Pope iudgeth in the Apoſtolicke chaire, and as Pope, his ſole opinion and decree is as firme and certaine, as if a Councell had voted vponupon it.
And to remoue all doubt, our adverſaries bluſh not openly to affirme, that by this word Church, Grego. de Valent. Tom 3. in Thom. diſput. 1. q. 1. pusto. 5. ſect. ….the Pope is to bee vnderſtood. Gregory of Valence the Ieſuite after hauing ſaid, that the full authority ofHane authoritatem pleue in Romano Pontifice, &c reſ…dere qui ſcilicet de ſides et morum controverſtis ad vniverſalē Eccleſiā pertinetibus, vel per ſe vel cū generali Concilio ſufficienter cōſtituat. Iam igitur quū dicimus propoſitionem Eccleſiae eſſe conditionem neceſſariam ad aſſanſu … fidei, nomine Eccleſia intelligimus eius caput, id eſt, Romanū Pontificē per ſe…vel vna cū Concilio. iudging controuerſies of the faith and manners, which concerne the vniuerſall Church, doth plenarily reſide in the Pope of Rome Chriſts Vicar, hee addeth: Now therefore when wee ſay, that the Propoſition of the Church is a condition neceſſary, to oblige the Faith to one agreement, by this word Church wee vnderſtand her head, which is to ſay, the Pope of Rome, either alone, or with the Councell. For hee is not of opinion that the Councell bee neceſſarily required.
Bellarmine expoundeth it thus, in his ſecond booke of the Councels, Chap. 19. The Pope (ſaith hee) ought to ſpeake it to the Church, that is to ſay, to himſelfe. And Pope Innocent the third, in his Chapter Novit extra de iudicijs, attributeth to himſelfe the taking notice of a difference betweene Philip the ſecond ſurnamed Auguſtus King of France, and Iobn King of England, for it is written, tell it to the Church. Now S. Peter was one of thoſe to whom Ieſus Chriſt ſpake, Tell it to the Church: was this Apoſtle able to divine that Ieſus Chriſt vnderſtood, Tell it to thy ſelfe? and that Ieſus Chriſt would hauehave the party complainant to be iudge? ſee then the Church (which is a word that ſignifieth an aſſembly) reduced to one man. And the ſenſe of this Article of the Creed, I beleeue the Church ſhall bee, I beleeue the Pope, who ſometimes cals himſelfe god, ſometimes Ieſus Chriſt, and ſometimes the Church; ſo he ſhall bee Bridegroome and Spouſe; and one man ſhal cal himſelfe an aſſembly.
And tell me to what purpoſe are Councels aſſembled, ſo long and ſo painfull, ſeeing nothing is to bee done, but to conſult the Papall Oracle, with in one inſtant can decide al controverſies without poſſibilitie of erring, ſeeing (I ſay) that in one man wee hauehave the vniverſall Church, that the Councell can doe nothing without the Pope, and that the Pope can doe all, and judge of all without the Councell? Whereupon Bellarmine affirmethBellar. lib. 4. de Roman. Pontifice, ca. 2. Sect. videntur. Ipſā inſallibilttatem non eſſe in coetu conſiliariorum, vel in concilio E. piſcoporum, ſed in ſolo Pentiſice. with all the Doctors, that the Infallibilitie of a Councell is not in the aſſembly of the Counſellers, nor in the Councell of Biſhops, but in the Pope alone; and yet in the meane time the Popes themſelues never appeare not in the Councels.
This Advertiſment was very neceſſary, to the end that the Reader might know, that as by the authoritie of the Church, is underſtood the authoritie of the Pope; ſo by Traditions of the Church, nothing is underſtood but the Ordinances made or approoved by the Pope: for they ſubſiſt not but by his authoritie and though they hauehave paſſed through a Councell, yet the Pope can change & aboliſh them, and inſtitute new in their ſtead, without wayting for a Councell. For ſhould he hauehave leſſe authoritie over Traditions then over the holy Scripture, wherein he can alter the Ordinances, and Inſtitutions of our Lord? He can diſpenſe againſt the Apoſtle, ſhould not he be able to diſpenſe againſt a Councell, or againſt the cuſtome which hath authoriſed a Tradition? It is the ſame that Andradius expreſly teacheth, in the ſecond Booke of his Defence of the Tridentine Faith:Liquet minime eos …rraſſe qui dicunt Romanos Pontifices poſſe nonnunquam in legibus diſpenſare a Paulo et a primis quaetuor Concilys Greg. 1. lib. 1. Epiſt. 24. Thoſe (ſaith hee) erre not who affirme that ſometimes the Popes in their lawes can diſpence contrary to that of S. Paul, and the foure firſt Councels, which are the univerſall Councels moſt ancient, of greateſt authority, and which Pope Gregory the firſt equalleth to the foure Evangelists. Pope Gelaſius ſpeakes the ſame: for in his Tome of the Bond of an Anathema, diſputing againſt one of the foure firſt Councells, to wit, againſt that of Chalcedon, where there were ſixe hundred and thirty Biſhops, he urgeth thus, The Apoſtolicall Seat alone diſſanulleth that which a Synodall Aſſembly Quod refutauit ſedes Apoſtolica habere non potuit firmitatem, & ſola reſcind… qd prater ordinē congregatio Synodica pis… taverit vſurpandum.though to hauehave vſurped againſt order. The ſubject of his choler againſt this ſo famous and honourable aſſembly was, for that in this Councell is framed a Canon, ordaining that the Biſhop of Conſtantinople ſhould be equall to the Biſhop of Rome in all things and that hee ſhould hauehave the ſame preheminences.