A Learned Treatise of Traditions, Treatise · Chapter 19
CHAP. XIX. That the Church of the old Teſtament, after the Law given by Moſes untill Ieſus Chriſt, hath had no unwritten Traditions.
To the maintenance and increaſe of their Traditions, our Adverſaries doe joyne ſome examples of them, which they ſay have been received in the Church of the old Teſtament, without forme of Scripture, ſince the Law written by Moſes.
Cardinall Perron putteth forwardDu Perron cōtre le Roy de la Grand' Bretagne, Pag. 776. ſome hiſtories, and certaine commandements made to particularmen: as the commandement to carry the Arke of the Covenant in proceſſion; the transferring of the Arke of God, from Shilo to another place; the charge made to Salomon, to build a Temple; and yet neuertheleſſe the firſt of them is found in the 3. chap. of Ioſhuae, verſe the 3. and 6. the ſecond at the 78. Pſalme verſe the 60. the thrid in the 2. of Sam. chap. the 7. verſe the 13. and 1. of Kings 5. 5. So little was this Cardinall verſed in Gods booke. A and though theſe paſſages were not found in the Scripture, yet could it not bee preiudiciall to vsus; for they are Hiſtories and commaundements, made to particular men, not rules and doctrines of Religion.
Alſo he octiecteth vntounto vsus (and others after him) the immortality of the ſoule, which they ſay appeareth not in the fiue bookes of Moſes; theſe men without doubt ſcaree turne ouer the Sacred Pages of the Scripture. At the 23. chap. of Numbers, Balaam ſpeaketh. Let mee die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like vntounto theirs. He that calleth death a diſſolution, acknowledgeth that the ſoule ſuruiueth the body; & he that accompteth the death of the Righteous to bee bliſſe-full, doeth not beleeue that their ſoules periſh, as they do of Beaſts. At the 59. chapter of Gen. verſe the 18. Iacob dying, ſpeaketh, O eternall, I hauehave vnderſtood thy ſalnation. And at the 35. of Gen. 18. it is ſayd of Rachel dying, and as her ſoule was in departing. Which perpetuity cannot be ſayd of ſoules in Beaſtes, for they periſh with the body. At the 31. of Deut. 16. God ſpeaking to Moſes, Behold, thou ſhall keepe with thy Fathers. Which doth fully make good, that the ſoules hauehave their repoſe after death. Neuer did man in his right wits call the eſtate of ſome horſe after death, a ſleepe. At the 47 of Genef. Iacob calleth his life in this world; and that of his fathers a pilgrimage, and acknowledgeth himſelfe a ſtranger in the world. The Apoſtle to the Hebrews, chap. 11 14. declareth, that they which ſay ſuch things, declare plainly that they ſeeke a countrey, that is to ſay, a cel estiall one, as it appeareth by the 16 verſe. Icſus Chriſt at the 22 of S. Matthew to the ſame purpoſe (and to prooue the Reſurrection) alleageth the words of God himſelfe, at the 30 of Exodus; I am the God of Abraham, the God of Iſaac, the God of lacob: for (ſaith hee) God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. But what moveth theſe men to perſwade, that the immortalitie of the ſoule is not fovnd at all in the bookes of of the Law of God, except it bee becauſe they themſelues doubt of it? or becauſe they endeavour to make the Sacred bookes contemptible, as failing in a point, without the which, the ſame that is called Religion, is a meere fallacy and impoſture, and all the ſeruice of God, is a ſuperſluous toyle and care.
To the ſame purpoſe they adde,Iohn I… bert chap. 26. p. 324. that the reſurrection of bodies, the finall Iudgement, Paradice and Hell, are not contained evidently in all the old Teſtament, whereby it appeareth, that the whole ſtudy of theſe men, is to reade onelyonly the writings of their doctors, in coppying forth their reaſons, without the paines of comming to the fource, which is, to finger ouer the leaues of the Scriptures, for when ſhould wee have done collecting together the paſſages of the old Teſtament, which ſpeakes of theſe things? the very Pſalmes alone might ſuffice; and conſider with me ſome paſſages among the reſt. Pſal. 16. 12. Thou ſhalt ſhew me the path of life, in thy preſence is the futneſſe of toy, and at thy right hand there is pleaſure for euermore. And at the 17. Pſal. 16. I will behold thy preſence in righteouſneſſe, and when I awake vp after thy likeneſſe, I ſhall bee ſatisfied with it. Gods face is not to bee ſeene with ſatiety but after the laſt alarme of the reſurrection And in the 49. Pſal. 16. God ſhall redeeme my ſoule from the Tyranny of Hell, (meaning of death) When hee ſhall take me vntounto him. And at the 73. Pſal. 23. Thou ſhalt guide me with thy counſell and after that receiue me with glory. At the 31. Pſal. 6. Into thy hands I commend my ſpirit, for thou haſt redeemed me, O Lord thou God of truth. At the 50 Pſal. 3. 4. 5. Our God ſhall …me, having a conſuming fire before him, and a mighty tempeſt ſhall bee ſtirred vp round about him; hee ſhall call the heauen from aboue, and the earth, that hee may judge his people, ſaying, Gather my Saints together vntounto me, &c. At the 102. Pſal. 26. The heauens ſhall periſh, but thou ſhalt enaure. The Prophet Daniel at the 12. 2 Many of them that ſleepe in the duſt of the earth ſhall awake, ſome to euerlaſting life, ſome to ſhame and euerlaſting contempt. At the 26. of Eſay 19. Thy dead men ſhall liue, together with my dead body ſhall they ariſe; awake and fing yee that dwell in the dust. At the 65. chap. verſe 17. Behold, I create new heauens, and new earth; and the former ſhall not be remembred, nor come into minde. Iob a… the 19. the 25. 26. 27. Speaketh amply of the comming of his redeemer vponupon the earth, and of his reſurrection, after his body ſhall b… deuoured with wormes, and of th… aſſurance hee hath to ſee God one day with his eyes. The Prophet Eſay, at the 66. pronounceth this of reprobates: Their worme neuer dieth, and their fire ſhall neuer bee extinguiſhed, Baalam deſiring to dye the death of the iuſt, At the 23 of Num. 10. Accompreth the death of the wicked to bee wretched and wofull. Theſe paſſages as I conceiue are expreſſe and punctuall concerning Paradiſe, the reſurrection, the torment of the damned, and the eternall judgement.
They offer yet more; that in the Booke of the old Teſtament, no mention is made of the Creation, nor of degrees of Angels, nor of the Creation and eſſence or being of deuils; which neuertheleſſe are points clearely found to bee therein, as in Iob the 2. the 1. And at the 38. 7. The Angels are called the ſonnes of God, whereupon it followeth, that God is their Father, & that he hath formed them, and when the Scripture ſaith. Let the Angels doe worſhip to him, Pſalme the 97. 7. And let them execute his commandement. and obey his word Pſa. the 103. 20. It preſuppoſeth that God created them, for if God had not created them: injuſtice would have beene layd to his charge, for vſurping an Imperiall Dominion ouer the workemanſhip of another power: Yea this alone, where in the Scripture affirmeth, that there are Angels, is ſufficient to proue, that God created them, for it is impoſſible that they ſhould create themſelues.
As for the degrees of Angels, it is a meere vanity for any man to diſtill and conſume the braine therein. It concerneth neither faith nor morallitie.
And for the eſſence of deuils, the olde Teſtament ſufficiently doth determine it in ſaying, that there are deuils. (Hee that confeſſeth there is a Sunne, preſuppoſeth that the Sunne hath a beeing) and there is no neceſſiity that wee ſhould bee skilled in the knowledge of their nature. As for their fall, ſeeing God hath made nothing but what is very good, the 1. of Geneſ. 31. It followeth that theſe evill ſpirits in the beginning were good, and conſequently that they are lapſed from their integrity, how, and by what occaſions, or by what degrees they are fallen, are matters which God hath not reuealed, for they are not reputed neceſſary to ſaluation.Du Perron an livre cótre le Roy de la grand' Bretagne pag. 776. 2. Tim. 3. 8.
They alſo report many Hiſtories, which they ſay are not found written in the old teſtament. As for that The Magicians which withſtood Moſes were called Iannes and Iam. Hebr. 12. 21bres: That Moſes being at the foot of the mountaine, ſpake, I exceedingly feare and tremble. The placingHebr 9. 4. of the Cenſer in the Arke of the Covenant, and the combat of Michael the Archangell with Satan, forIude 9. the body of Moſes. Which are not rules either of good beliefe or good life: but only hiſtories of things happened, wherein conſi…teth not the ſubſtance of our ſalvation.
As much may be ſayd of ſome Ceremonies practiſed in Iſrael once or oftner, but not ordinary, or indifferent cuſtomes in their nature, as waſhing of the feete before they went to eate of the Paſchal-Lambe: which was a cuſtome that the Iewes ordinarily obſerved before the repaſt. And the mixture of water with blood, for the purification of the People, (as the Apoſtle) intimateth to the Hebrews, at the 10. chap.) which was not a law in the ancient Church, but a Ceremony practiſed once by Moſes.
They alſo object unto us ſome depraved and lewd cuſtomes: as the pardon of a capitall malefactour at the feaſt of Eaſter, though he be a murtherer, a cuſtome contrary to the law of God, Nu. 35 31. and ſome other ſcrupulous and vaine obſervations, as was that cuſtome of not journeying above two miles on the Sabboth; groundedIoſh. 3. 4. upon an act of Ioſhua paſſing over Iordane, when hee kept the people at diſtance from the Arke of the Covenant, being remooved from thence about two thouſand cubits by meaſure. Wee are well contented that our adverſaries uphold their Traditions, with ſuch poore and vnworthy examples.
Some of them thinking to bee more ſub…ile, object unto us that in the bookes of the old Teſtament, three things are wanting which are neceſſary to ſalvation.
There is not found (ſay they) a remedy in the old Teſtament, that God hath provided to purge and clenſe the feminine ſexe from originall ſinne, for none are circumciſed but the Males. I anſwere thatVide Thomam par. 3. q 70. & in eā Vaſquez & de Valentia. our adverſaries themſelves doe not beleeve, that originall ſinne was taken away by vertue of circumciſion: but by the faith of the Parents applyed to the children by forme of impetration, and by the merit of him that circumciſeth. For they hold that circumciſion did not juſtifie, nor conferre grace, but only that it was a ſigne of grace, and not neceſſary to ſalvation.
The Ieſuite Vaſques ſpeaking of Children, that under the law of Moſes dyed without being circumciſed,Vaſquez in Thom. partem 3. Diſp. 163. cap. 2. Nequ… incō modu… …liquod …rat puerū fine Sacramento dec…aer…, cu… i…ud ad …alutem non …ſſet neceſſar…um. ſaith, If a Child died without any Sacrament, there was no hurt therin, for it was not conducible and neceſſary to ſalvation. It is certaine that remiſſion of originall ſi…ne is neceſſary to ſalvation. Wherefore I ſay that origi…all ſinne was remitted and forgiven, aſwell to the Male as to the Female people of Iſrael, by vertue of the alliance which God had contracted with Abraham, ſaying, I ſhall be thy God, and to thy poſterity after thee. Ge. 17. 7. for women were alſo fo the poſterity of Abraham.
The Circumciſion of the Males was ſufficient to ſignifie that all the people were taken into confederation with God, to diſcerne Gods people from the other nations. And for this, there needed no ſuch particular ſigne or token in the Women. The Iewes writing of duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page their Traditions, ſpeake nothing of ſuch a ſigne or Sacrament, nor have our adverſaries produced any.
They ſay in the ſecond place, that the Iſraelites to be ſaved were to beleeve, that the ſacrifices were not ſufficient of themſelves to expiate the ſinnes, but that they drew their vertue from the death of Ieſus Chriſt: and that thoſe which did eate of the Paſchall-lambe, were to have reſpect to Ieſus Chriſt, and to underſtand the ſignification of this Lambe. Now (ſay theſe men) they could not learne this from the bookes of Moſes, nor from the Prophets; therefore they learnt it by the unwritten Tradition.
In ſpeaking thus they falſific the words of the Apoſtle Saint Peter, who at the 10. of the Acts 43. ſaith, that To Ieſus Christ all the Prophets give witneſſe, that through his name whoſoever beleeveth in him, ſhall receive remiſſion of ſinnes. And they contradict Saint Paul, who at the 26 of the Acts 22. Saith of himſelfe, that he ſpeaketh no other things then thoſe, which the Prophets and Moſes did foretell ſhould come to paſſe. They alſo abuſe themſelves to thinke, that it was then neceſſary to every one of the faithfull, to have a cleere inſight and vnderſtanding of the ſacrifices of the Law, and of the Paſchall Lambe: for the faithfull are not bound to beleeve of Ieſus Chriſt, more then that which God by his Word hath revealed unto them. If any one about the time of Moſes, offering ſacrifice according to the Law, were not inſtructed in the doctrine of the death of our Redeemer, but only beleeved, that God through the meanes which hee knoweth to be moſt agreeable and convenient, will forgiue vsus our treſpaſies, it were raſhneſſe to goe about to exclude ſuch a man from ſalvation, and it is certaine, that then the faithfull were not without inſtruction, as touching this point, for they were prompted by the Scriptures, to expect this ſeed of the Woman, which ſhould cruſh the head of the Serpent, and the ſeed of Abraham, wherein all Nations ſhould be bleſſed.
Cardinall Perron is aduiſed of a third Tradition, not written in the old Teſtament, which neuertheleſſe (if we could beleeue it) was neceſſary to ſaluation. He ſuppoſeth that it was neceſſary for the Iewes to beleeue, that the fire of their ſacrifices after the captiuity) was deſcended from Heaven, and that the ſame continuall fire which was vponupon the Altar, was conſerved by miracle, during the tranfmigration. Whereupon I ſay that2. Macc. I. this miraculous conſeruation of the fire being but a Iudaicall fable, the Iewes were not boundHac de rev…de Rabbi Shelomo in ea. 1 Aggai. Talmud Tractatu Tukaſin 1. fol. 21. Rabbi Moſhe Ren Me…mon tractat. de foreign to beleeue it. The charge of the Sacrificers, was to put the fire vponupon the Altar, as it is ſayd, Leuit. 1. 7. The ſonnes of Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, did ſinne, not becauſe they placed ſtrange fire vponupon the Altar, but in putting into their Cenſers, the fire which they tooke from elſe-where, and not from off the Altar. Leuit. 10. 1. Looke vponupon the 8. of the Apoc 5. Moreouer, put the caſe this fable were admitted for true, yet is it not a rule of Religion, nor a doctrine of Faith, but only a meere Hiſtory, whereof whoſoeuer had bin ignorant, had not incurred eternall damnation.
And admit that vnderunder the old Teſtament, the Church had vnwritten Traditions, it ſhould not therefore follow, that it was lawfull for the Church of Rome to forge new ones, and to equall them in authority to the writings of the Prophets and Apoſtles.