Answer to De Meauxs Book, Letter · Part 2
Natural and neceſſary Conſequences of the foregoing Principles.
THE firſt Conſequence, Sir, to be drawn from what I ſaid, is, that M. de Condom hath been very unjuſt, in upbraiding us, as if we dealt with that Article of our Creed concerning the Univerſal Church, as the Arrians and Macedonians do with thoſe that relate to Jeſus Chriſt and the Holy Ghoſt; which is to confeſs them with the mouth, but in effect to reject them, by not believing them as we ought. Thoſe Hereticks evacuate the Articles concerning Jeſus Chriſt, and the Holy Ghoſt, becauſe they allow them a Divinity, which is but a ſeeming, and imaginary one only; and thus they rob Jeſus Chriſt and the Holy Ghoſt of their Real Eſſence. Can any man ſay we do thus by the Church? we make it eſſentially to conſiſt in true and ſolid Faith, and Regeneration. Is not this to make it real? what may be ſaid of ſuch as make it eſſentially to conſiſt in a bare outward Profeſſion? Is not this to make it no better than a Phantome, a Shadow? Is not this to confeſs with the mouth, but in effect to reject it? Does not this make all thoſe great and noble Ideas given of it in Scripture dwindle into nothing? Judge you, Sir, if you pleaſe, to which of theſe two Parties M. de Condom's reproach is moſt applicable.
II. By all I have ſaid concerning the Viſibility or Inviſibility of the Church, you may know what an unjuſt accuſation they load us with daily, of making the Church utterly inviſible, upon pretence that we place it in true Believers only; for if this accuſation were true, it would fall not upon us, but upon Scripture, upon the Fathers, and particularly upon St. Auguſtine, whoſe Principles we follow intirely. But as St. Paul never thought of making a Church perfectly inviſible,2 Tim. 2. 19. though he ſaid, The foundation of God ſtandeth ſure, having this ſeal, the Lord knoweth them that are his; and let every one that nameth the name of Chriſt depart from iniquity; ſo neither do we pretend to ſpoil her of her Viſibility, when we ſay the ſame thing he did. As St. Auguſtin hath not made her inviſible, though he ſaid all that was related out of him; the ſame thing muſt be ſaid for us. But what can we think of this method of diſputing, which ſuppoſing the charge upon tryal, to be a granted confeſt thing, falls ſtrongly upon proving the Church's Viſibility; and ſo Proſelytes men upon this falſe ſuppoſition, and thoſe uſeleſs Arguments? Do not you look upon this, as a very fair way of proceeding?
III. Hence likewiſe you may perceive, how unjuſtly they put that queſtion to us, Where our Church was before the Reformation? For if the Church conſiſt of true Believers alone, as we have ſhown, ours was then juſt where it is now, i. e. in the common Field, where Jeſus Chriſt hath ſown his Wheat, and the Enemy by Night his Tares. There is only a twofold difference obſervable. One, that before the Reformation, that part of the Field where the Corn was ſown, was wider, whereas now it is contracted into leſs room, becauſe in many places the Tares have driven away the Wheat, and remain alone; another, that then in the places where Wheat and Tares grew together, the Wheat was thinner, and got leſs nouriſhment, and the Tares quite contrary; whereas now the Wheat is thicker, and better cultivated.
The Field is the World (as Chriſt ſays) the good Corn are true Believers, the Tares are the Children of this World. Before the Reformation, the true Believers were mixt with the reſt in the ſame exteriour Profeſſion, as they are ſtill; but they were, if I may ſo ſay, ſtifled as it were with the great number of the other ſort, and the ſpiritual life they led had much of uneaſineſs, by reaſon of the Corruptions in the Miniſtry, which ſtinted them in their neceſſary Food, and beſides mixt many ſuch things with it, as were not only incapable of ſuſtaining life, but even prejudicial to it: Whereas, ſince the Reformation theſe ſame Believers being ſeparated from the reſt, are by this means much disburdened of that which oppreſt them; they are more at liberty, the Miniſtry allows them the Food of heavenly life in a much larger proportion, and gives it them more pure, and free from ſtrange mixtures; and though they ſtill continue among worldly men, yet now they do not find near ſo much prejudice from them.
IV. Another Inſtance of this nature is commonly given us, and how injurious it is, you may diſcern by the Principles laid down before. They bid us ſhew them theſe true Believers before the Reformation, ſingle them out, ſay they, tell us their names, were they viſible or inviſible? If even at this time, when things are not near ſo confuſed, none but God only can know diſtinctly and infallibly, what particular men are the true Believers; If their viſibility conſiſt only in ones being able to ſay with certainty, there are true Believers, and not in ſaying ſuch or ſuch are the men; is it not a very unjuſt demand to examine us of paſt Ages, when things were ſo ſtrangely in the dark? Would not any man of equity think it enough, that we can ſhew how far ſoever the Miniſtry was corrupted, that ſtill the true Believers might ſubſiſt under it? and is not this very thing a viſible indication of the Churches perpetual Viſibility, that God hath not forſaken us?
V. Another neceſſary Conſequence of the Principles now eſtabliſht, is, that in an exteriour Society carrying the name of a Church, it may ſo happen according to the Notion we frame of it, from a Judgment of Charity, that the Miniſtry, Eccleſiaſtical Dignities, and Chairs, as they are termed, may come to be filled by Hypocrites, Superſtitious, Worldly, and intereſted Perſons, and that there ſhall be a great many more ſuch as theſe in Office, than good men. For ſeeing God only can have a diſtinct and perſonal knowledge of true Believers, and ſince he does not beſtow theſe Offices immediately, and by his own hand; it may without queſtion come to paſs, that both thoſe that confer, and thoſe that take upon them theſe Offices, may be the Tares ſown in the Lord's Field. A man cannot have any abſolute certainty, that this ſhall not be ſo; becauſe there is not any promiſe to the contrary; and becauſe on the other hand, there are inſtances that it hath been ſo already. To pretend this cannot be, becauſe it would hinder the Churches ſubſiſting for ever, is no Argument at all; for if the Church conſiſt properly of true Believers, as hath been undeniably proved, the perpetual ſubſiſtence of true Believers, does not depend on the faithfulneſs of the Miniſters, nor the untainted purity of the Miniſtry; except we ſuppoſe the Principle of a blind Obedience to the Miniſters, which is a falſe Principle, and deſtructive of Religion, as hath been made appear in the defence of the Reformation.Part. 1. ch. 7, 8. Indeed this ground being laid, when once the Miniſtry is corrupted, it muſt needs follow, that the faithful are corrupted too, becauſe bound to receive implicitely whatever is delivered to them by their Miniſtry. But reject this principle, and there is no reaſon why the Faithful may not ſeparate the good from the bad, and why they may not ſubſiſt under ſuch a Miniſtry, by the help of that diſtinction which the Grace of God enables them to make. And here, Sir, allow me to wonder a little at the pleaſant double which the Doctors of the Romiſh Communion make when they diſpute. Our firſt and main queſtion is, whether we ought to acquieſce in the Council of Trent's Determinations? Yes, ſay they, you muſt yield an implicit obedience to the Decrees of the Prelates aſſembled in a Body. But why an Implicit Obedience? Becauſe (ſay they) the Church cannot ſubſiſt without it. But why cannot it ſubſiſt without it? Cannot it ſubſiſt by reſuming the Miniſtry out of ſuch hands, and putting it into better? Cannot it, without going ſo far, ſubſiſt by ſeparating between good and bad food? No; they tell you, it cannot, becauſe it is obliged to receive implicitely whatever the Prelates in a Body ſhall deliver. What way of diſputing call you this, if it be not quite to ſwerve from good ſenſe and reaſon, and to be loſt in an impertinent maze? For is not this a perfect round, firſt to prove an Implicite Obedience, becauſe the Church cannot otherwiſe ſubſiſt; and then to prove the Church cannot otherwiſe ſubſiſt without this Obedience, becauſe men ought to obey implicitely?
VI. But let us proceed in drawing our Conſequences. And being we hit upon the point of the Implicit Obedience they exact to the deciſions of Biſhops, and that Sovereign and Abſolute Authority wherewith they would inveſt them, let us try, if this can agree with the Principles we have eſtabliſh'd. I meddle not now with thoſe other reaſons that might be made uſe of; you will find them in part in the Book I quoted juſt now. All I ſhall ſay is, that ſince no man can have a diſtinct knowledg of the True Believers, and that the True Church conſiſts of ſuch alone; no man conſequently can be ſecure, that this Body of Prelates, whether conſidered ſingle, or whether as convened in a Council, are the true Church. Yes, but ſays one, they repreſent the true Church. I agree with you; ſo far as the True Believers are ſtill under their Miniſtry: But repreſenting the True Church does not preſently endue them with its Opinions and Affections. The true Church in conferring her Miniſtry upon men, does not confer upon them withal, either true Faith, or true Regeneration, much leſs perfect Infallibility. Hence, whatever determinations they give, are ſtill ſubject to an examination. If theſe prove confermable to God's Word, it is our duty, not only to embrace them, but further to reſpect …he Body of Miniſters, as the true Church Repreſentative; becauſe they have expreſt her ſenſe; and Charity will carry us ſtill further, and incline us to eſteem them true Believers, becauſe they have acted as ſuch. But when their diviſions are found to diſagree with God's Word, we are to look upon them as men that have abuſed their miniſtry. If this happen in things not plainly intereſting the Conſcience, their miniſtry muſt be born with, and the liberty of ſeparating the clean from the unclean, natural to every Believer, made uſe of: If they do intereſt the Conſcience, we groan under their miniſtry, we pray to God, we implore ſuccors from above, ſtill uſing the Liberty of Conſcience to refuſe the Evil, and retain the Good. But if this Body of Prelates-proceed to violent taking away this neceſſary and indiſpenſable Liberty of Conſcience, and reduce the faithful to this hard ſtreight, either to be damned for falſe Doctrine, in ſlaviſhly following their Miniſters errors, or damn'd for diſſimulation in pretending to follow them; Then the true Believers ought to look upon them as men that have ſtript themſelves of the right of the Miniſtry, to oppoſe them, to take it from them, and repoſe the truſt in other hands. It is evident then, the ſupreme Authority we contend about, cannot take place, becauſe it is continually in danger of being inveſted in worldly men, to whom it cannot in any caſe belong. And ſo we ſhould be continually in danger of miſtaking That for the Church Repreſentative, which neither is really, nor can poſſibly be ſo.
VII. The ſeventh Uſe to be made of what we have advanced, is the right apprehending of ſome expreſſions uſed by us, viz. That the Church is corrupted, that the ſtate of the Church hath been interrupted, and the like, ſo as to reconcile theſe with Jeſus Chriſt's Promiſes: which import not only the perpetual exiſtence, but alſo the perpetual holineſs and incorruption of the Church. Now for that corruption attributed by us to the Church, I ſay, that whereas the Promiſes of Chriſt concern the true Church, that is, True Believers only; our expreſſion on the contrary reſpects the Church, according to that Idea of Charity we form of it, including all external Profeſſors, which are ordinarily call'd the Viſible Church. 'Tis of the Church taken in this laſt notion, that we ſay, ſhe is corrupted; for the whole Body being made up, as we have ſeen, of good and bad man, it hath come to paſs, that the wicked are mightily increaſed, and the ſpirit of the World, which is a ſpirit of error and ſuperſtition, ſhewed it ſelf in an eminent manner. But we do not underſtand true Believers to be corrupted, only ſo far forth as they may poſſibly have contracted ſome tincture of infirmity, by converſing with the others. And for that interruption of the ſtate of the Church, mentioned in our Confeſſion of Faith, where we ſay,*Art 31. In the 31. Article of the Gallican confeſſion, ſpeaking of an extraordinary vocation to the Miniſtry in times of neceſſity, theſe words are inſerted. Quoniam interdum, ut noſtris etiam temporibus, interrupto Eccleſiae ſtatu, neceſſe ſuit, nonnullos eſſe qui Eccleſiae collapſae ruinas inſtaurarent. That the ſtate of the Church being interrupted, it was neceſſary it ſhould be raiſed up again out of its ruines and deſolation: The meaning of thoſe expreſſions is, not what M. de Condom pretends, that the true Church ceaſes to exiſt, or that its Miniſtry was quite extinct in thoſe times which we call times of deſolation and ruine, for we make a diſtinction between the Church, and the ſtate of the Church. The Church is the true Believers making profeſſion of Truth, and Chriſtian Piety, and a real Holineſs, under a Miniſtry, which diſpenſes all nouriſhment neceſſary for ſpiritual life, without keeping back any; Its natural and proper ſtate is to be freed, as much as its militant condition can admit, from the impure mixture of prophane worldly men; not to be covered over, and as it were ſwallowed up with this Chaff and Tares; to have a pure Miniſtry, not incumbred with errors, with falſe worſhip, ſuperſtitious cuſtoms; a Miniſtry in the hands of good men, who are in poſſeſſion of it by honeſt methods, and ſet a good example to others. This State is what we think hath been interrupted, having ſeen ſtrange opinions brought into Religion, Superſtitious propagated, the Miniſtry invaded by men neither deſerving, nor capable of it, and that were advanced by ſcandalous and unlawful methods; having ſeen vices openly predominant among Churchmen, the Pulpits more zealous for Tales and Legends, than the Word of God; The Schools buſying themſelves with ridiculous Queſtions and Curioſities, the Sacraments burdened with ſtrange Ceremonies, the inſtruction and edification of mens Souls wretchedly neglected; and in a word, the Goſpel liberty changed into a temporal ſlavery. This is what we mean by the ſtate of the Church being interrupted; this the ruine and deſolation we bewail. The Church hath not ceaſed to exiſt, nor did ſhe perfectly loſe her viſibility, or her Miniſtry, God forbid: But both ſhe and her Miniſtry have ſeen the natural ſtate they ought to continue in, changed and interrupted.
VIII. Apply theſe principles now to our Reformation, and then, Sir, you will diſcern, that granting this ſuppoſition to be true, that the Body of the Prelates inveſted in the miniſtry of the Church in our Fathers days, and aſſembled in the Trent Council, ſuppoſing, I ſay, that they delivered ſuch determinations in points of Faith, as are incompatible with Salvation; Granting it to be true, that they took away Chriſtian Liberty by Anathematizing all who ſhould refuſe to believe, and ſubmit to thoſe determinations as they did; and by adding to all this violence and compulſion, our Fathers had reaſon to look upon them as Miniſters that had juſtly deprived themſelves of all right to exerciſe their Miniſtry over them by ſuch ill conduct, and to give that power of the Miniſtry to others. They had reaſon to look upon the party that adhered to theſe Prelates with ſuch obſtinate ſtiffneſs as a Body or Society of which a man could not poſitively ſay, That is the particular Body wherein God nouriſhes and cheriſhes his Faithful and Elect.
IX. Hence likewiſe it follows, that our Fathers are wrongfully charged with making a Schiſm, and ſeparating from the Church. For it being ſure, that the Church conſiſts of the Faithful only; and beſides, that we are of opinion, the Trent Biſhops themſelves broke the band of external Communion with ſound Believers, and brought things to ſuch a paſs, that our Anceſtors could not poſſibly joyn with them in the ſame Aſſemblies; it is evident, They were the Beginners of the Schiſm, the Authors and makers of this lamentable diviſion.
X. It ſignifies nothing to alledg, that they were poſſeſt of the Miniſtry by an exterior and ordinary ſucceſſion; for the Miniſtry is not ſuch a thing, as men when once poſſeſt of, can never forfeit their right to, tho they abuſe it never ſo much. They enjoyed it by an external ſucceſſion, 'tis confeſt; but this ſucceſſion with reſpect to mens perſons continues no longer than we can ſay, The faithful are under their Miniſtry. When we cannot be ſure of that any more, from thenceforth the Prelates have loſt their right; and ſuch a ſucceſſion afterwards, would be but as the ſucceſſion of death to a diſeaſe, or of night to twilight. I do not ſay the Miniſtry it ſelf is extinct, God forbid; but I ſay in ſuch a caſe it devolves of right to that other part of the Society where the Faithful are. The reaſon of which Truth is this: That the Miniſters are naturally the Church Repreſentative; And all their Authority is derived from the Body of the Faithful; When therefore it happens that they break the band of external communion which joyns them to thoſe Faithful, it is plain they repreſent them no longer; and the holding their Authority over them afterwards, is a force and uſurpation.
XI. Laſtly, From the Principles we have eſtabliſhed, it appears, how vain and ungrounded a ſcandal it is, which the Controvertiſts of the Romiſh Communion are continually upbraiding us with, of ſetting up a new Church. For being the Church, according to Scripture, ſound ſenſe, and the opinions of the Fathers, is nothing elſe but the Society of true Believers: To have ſet up a new Church, we muſt have brought in a new Faith, different from what Jeſus Chriſt delivered to the World. If they can convict us of being guilty in this point, we are heartily content they ſhould not only ſay we have formed a new Church, but that we have formed a falſe, perverſe, naughty Society, and draw all the conſequences againſt us, that can be naturally drawn from that Conceſſion. But if we on the contrary have only rejected new Doctrines, a worſhip that Chriſtian Religion never was acquainted with; and Errors brought into the Church ſince it was firſt eſtabliſhed; if we have only refined the Miniſtry, and reſtored the Goſpel to its natural luſtre, they ought to be juſt in acknowledgment, that God hath made uſe of us, for the preſervation of his true, Ancient, Primitive Church, and the reſcuing it from oppreſſion. If it be true, that the Trent Council have made Articles of Faith of ſuch Doctrines and Practices as were never revealed to us by Chriſt, may we not ſay that That hath ſet up a new Religion, and conſequently a new Church? Let us judge of one another by this Rule of right reaſon, and conſcientiouſly examine the truth of what hath been done on both ſides; for upon ſuch an examination the juſtice or injuſtice of taxing us with Novelty, will depend.