Historical Defense of the Reformation, Part 1 · Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
That the External State of that Religion it ſelf had in the times of our Fathers, ſigns of its Corruption ſufficient to afford them juſt motives to Examine it.
ALthough theſe Reflections that I have already ſet down, drawn from the Government of the Church, were very weighty, and by themſelves capable of making the moſt juſt impreſſions on the Minds and Conſciences of thoſe who would ſet themſelves to work out their own Salvation, according to the Exhortation of the Apoſtle with fear and trembling, yet we ought not to imagine that our Fathers were determined by thoſe conſiderations alone. They yet made others which they had, that we may yet be more ſenſibly touched by them, ſince they had for their object not the outward Form or State of the Miniſtry, nor the perſons who poſſeſſed the Offices and Dignities of the Church, but their Religion it ſelf, in that State in which it was in their days. For it is moſt true, that it was ſcarce poſſible for thoſe who did the leaſt in the World fix their Eyes on that Religion, to conſider its Draught and its External Form, without diſcovering, or at leaſt without diſcerning infinite Characters of its Corruption. And this is that which I deſign to treat of in this Chapter.
1. One of the chief Objects that preſented it ſelf to our Fathers, was that of the great Number of Ceremonies, with which they beheld that Religion either ſhrowded or overwhelmed: It matters little which of the two we affirm, for which way ſoever we take it, it was always a true Pourtrait of the old Oeconomy of Moſes, which ſeem'd to be reviv'd in the World. They took ſpecial notice of their external ſacrifices, their ſolemn Feaſts, diſtinction of Meats, of their Altars, of their Tapers, of their ſacred Veſſels, of their Cenſings, of their ſet Faſts throughout the Year, of their myſtical Figures, and a multitude of particular things altogether reſembling thoſe that were enjoin'd under the Law, and in general, a great Conformity to that Antient-Worſhip conſiſting in ſuch a Love and Exceſſive uſage of Ceremonies. This was without doubt a Character very oppoſite to that of the Goſpel of Jeſus Chriſt, where the Spirit Rules, and not the Letter, and which is made free from all that great cumbrance of External Obſervations. St. Paul calls theſe Obſervances, weak and beggerly Elements, a Yoak of bondage, the Galat. 4. Coloſ. 2. Act. 15. John 4. 23.rudiments of the World, the ſhadow of things to come, whereof the body is Jeſus Chriſt. and St. Peter, a Yoak which neither the Jews in his days nor their Fathers were able to bear. Jeſus Chriſt himſelf told the woman of Samaria, That the time was come, when the true worſhippers of his Father, ſhould worſhip him in Spirit and in truth. What likelyhood was there that they would have ſpoke after that manner if the Church of Chriſt her ſelf ſhould be burthened with as many or more Ceremonies then the Synagogue; And, if as Tertulian ſpeaks, God had not removed the difficulties of the Law, to ſubſtitute in their places the eaſy Rules of the Goſpel? They would have Preached to us the Spirit and Liberty, only to have us ſubjected again to the Letter, and to have placed us under a ſervitude far more inſupportable then the Former.
2. Moreover, as our Fathers ſaw one part of thoſe Ceremonies taken from the Jews, ſo they preceiv'd a multitude of others that were drawn from, or imitated, the Heathens, by their approving of the ſame which they either Authoriſed, or practiſed. For we might put into this rank the uſe of holy water, or water Conſecrated for ſprinkling, in the entrance into Churches as well as private Houſes, and the Funerals of the dead, the bleſſings and the ſprinklings, the uſing of Spittle in the Baptiſm of little Children, the Invocation of Saints, their Canonization, their Patronages, and ordering of their Charges and Imployments; Their Images and Pictures, their Agnus Dei's, their Feaſts for all the Saints, for the deaths of St. John, and many others, their uſage of Proceſſions, of Rogations, their viſiting the Shrines or Reliques of Saints, of ſetting up the ſign of the Croſs where four ways met, of Anniverſaries for the dead, of ſwearing by their Reliques, and I know not how many others, that were evidently either the Remnants, or Imitations of Antient Paganiſm. Who would think it ſtrange that an Idea of a Religion that plainly appear'd to be ſo little advantagious to it, or to ſay better, which was ſo contrary to the Spirit and the true deſign of Chriſtianity, ſhould have touched our Fathers, and inſpir'd into them a deſire of knowing thoſe things a little more particularly then they had as yet done?
3. They were yet further carri'd out with that deſire, when they conſidered the ill Effects that thoſe Ceremonies borrow'd from the Pagans had produc'd, and ſome others that were annexed to them, as Roſaries, Chaplets, holy Salt, their Pilgrimages, and and Monaſtick Vows, and ſuch like things. For they manifeſtly fill'd the minds of men with ſuperſtition, they cauſed a thouſand abuſes among the people, they ordinarily made way for lying Forgeries, and, which rendred them yet far more odious, they fomented a too natural negligence which every one has, for works of true and ſolid Piety, whether, by buſying the minds of Chriſtians too much, or perſwading them, that they had very well acquitted themſelves of their duty by doing theſe External things, or laſtly, whether it was by infuſing into them a falſe Idea of Divinity, as if all its worſhip did conſiſt in ſuch Trumpery. Who is it that ſees not what a great prejudice this was againſt a Religion that taught ſuch things, and ſo ſolemnly enjoyned them to be practiſed?
4. It had been yet very hard, if our Fathers had not been offended by that worldly Pomp, wherewith they ſaw Religion ſo exceſſively cloathed. For they very well knew, that true Chriſtianity was contented to gain the Hearts and Souls of men by the Majeſty of its Doctrines and Holineſs of its Precepts. And that for the reſt, it profeſſed to retain its ſimplicity, notwithſtanding which they obſerved a clean contrary Character in the Magnificence of their Tenples, in the Gold of their Tabernacles, in the Pride of their Sacrifices, in the Riches of their Ornaments, and in general in all that external ſplendour, which ſeem'd deſtin'd only to ſtrike extraordinarily the ſences, and by this means to raiſe an ill grounded Admiration, that which is proper to only corrupt Religions, which as Tertullian takes notice, labour to gain their Authority, and to obtain the belief of the People, by their Tertul. de Baptiſmo.Pomp, and their profuſeneſs.
5. The Natural Effect of the Doctrines of Chriſtianity, when they are receiv'd with Faith, and when its worſhip is practiſed with Devotion, is to comfort the Conſcience, and to give it a certain ſatisfaction and calm, which is better felt, then it can be expreſt. But our Fathers were ſo far from receiving that Effect from the Doctrines and worſhip wherein they made in their days almoſt the Fundamentals of Religion to conſiſt, as in the Invocation of Saints, the abſolute Obedience to the Pope or to his Councils, the conceit of Mens ſatisfactions, the Adoration of Reliques, the Pilgrimages and other things of the like nature; they were I ſay, ſo far from receiving it from theſe Doctrines, that on the contrary they could not but feel ſecret remorſes after having practiſed them. For the Conſciences of Chriſtians are naturally carried out to none but God alone, and cannot endure that that which is due to him, ſhould be divided between him and the Creatures. They have naturally a reluctance, to call upon any other Being then the firſt Cauſe of all, to pay a Religious ſervice to lifeleſs Images, to ſubject themſelves to any other Oracle, then that of God, to attribute any part of their Redemption to any others beſides Jeſus Chriſt, who has acquired for them a fullneſs of Salvation; And in a word, to lay hold on any Creature as the object of their Confidence or Piety; ſo our Fathers knowing from their own Experience, that theſe Tenets and Devotions were, not only barren of all that quiet, but at the ſame time contrary to the peace of their Souls, they could not but receive a great prejudice againſt thoſe Tenets, and againſt thoſe Devotions themſelves, and againſt that Religion that propoſed them.
6. But that was not all, they ſaw yet many things in that Religion moſt formally oppoſite to many plain and expreſs paſſages of Scripture; As the point of Images, to the ſecond Commandment, Thou ſhalt not make to thy ſelf any graven Image, &c. That of Communion only in one kind, to that Command of Jeſus Chriſt, Drink ye all of this, That of Praying in an unknown Tongue, to the Prohibition of St. Paul in the fourteenth of the firſt Epiſtle to the Corinthians: Elſe, if thou ſhalt bleſs with the Spirit, how ſhall he that occupieth the Room of the unlearned, ſay Amen at thy giving of thanks, ſeeing he uuderſtandeth not what thou ſayeſt? For thou verily giveſt thanks well, but the other is not Edified. And the buſineſs of blind Subjection to the Miniſters of the Church, to that ſtrict Declaration of the Apoſtle, We have not Dominion over your Faith. That of the Papal Monarchy, to theſe words of our Saviour, The Kings of the Gentiles exerciſe Lordſhip, &c. but it ſhall not be ſo with you, That of humane ſatisfactions, to the words of St. John, The blood of Jeſus Chriſt cleanſeth us from all Sin. And that of the Sacrifice of the Maſs, to that Doctrine of St. Paul to the Hebrews, That Jeſus Chriſt has once offered up himſelf for us. I do not at all enquire, whether the force of theſe paſſages may be eluded, and diſtorted to a ſence that may agree with thoſe points which I have mentioned, I do not enter upon that. It is enough if any ſee that oppoſition of which I ſpeak to appear at 1 ſight, that it likewiſe ſtrikes the Soul, and ſeems at leaſt ſtrong enough to Create great ſcruples, and to form a prejudice that carri'd our Fathers on to examine thoſe things a little more narrowly.
7. To which they were yet further urg'd by the Conſideration that they made of ſome Maxims and Diſtinctions which they ordinarily made uſe of to uphold the worſhipping of Creatures, for they diſcovered in them ſomething that was extremly Scandalous. For Example, where they maintained the Worſhipping of Angels, and that of the Saints, by ſaying, that they did not adore them, but by a lower ſort of Adoration, proportioned to the excellency they acknowledged to be in them, not, that they gave them that ſupream Adoration which is due to none but God alone. I do not here put it in Queſtion, whether this diſtinction be good or bad, it is ſufficient that it had the ill luck to fall in with that which the Antient Heathens made uſe of for the defence of thoſe Adorations which they paid to their Genius's, to their Heroes, to their Demy, and inferiour Gods, &c. For the Pagans ſaid the ſame, that men did them great wrong in laying it to their charge, that they worſhipped their Genius's and inferiour Gods with that Soveraign Worſhip, which they gave to none but the chief and greateſt of the Gods. And that that worſhip about which the Queſtion was, was only an inferiour and lower kind of Worſhip. So they defended their worſhipping of Images by that Diſtinction of Abſolute and Relative Worſhip; but that was the very ſame diſtinction which the Pagans ſerv'd themſelves of, to excuſe the Worſhip they rendred to the Statues of their Gods, alledging, that any one very much wrong'd them, in imagining that they ſerv'd Stocks of Wood, or Stones, but their Devotion was carried out only to thoſe objects that thoſe Statues repreſented. They defended the Invocation of Saints by that diſtinction, That they did not pray to them, as the Authors of thoſe graces which they deſired, but only as they were meer Interceſſours before God. But yet the very Heathens ſaid the ſame as to thoſe Prayers which they offered up to their Inferiour Gods, whom they acknowledg'd to be but as the Friends and Favourites of the great God, whom they made uſe of towards him to obtain bleſſings for themſelves. They defended a Company of Opinions and Cuſtoms in their Religion, by ſaying, that they were the Traditions which they had received from the hands of their Fathers; but that defence had yet this unhappineſs; that it favoured the Jews againſt thoſe cenſures of Jeſus Chriſt, and that which Jeſus Chriſt had wholly beaten down by thoſe words, in vain do they worſhip me, teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men.Mar. 15. 9.
8. We might here very well joyn to what has been ſaid, the ſcandal our Fathers muſt needs have taken at that School-Divinity, which for a long time had fill'd the World with Queſtions not only vain and frivolous, but pernicious alſo, and leading men to wickedneſs; we could make a long Catalogue of thoſe Queſtions, if the common intereſt of Chriſtianity did not oblige us to conceal them from the Publick, but becauſe we fear the ignorant or the malicious will lay it to our charge that we would impoſe on the World under a pretence of an affected modeſty, we will ſend our Readers to that Collection which Cardinal Perron himſelf has made in his Treatiſe of the Euchariſt. Page 920. where I aſſure my ſelf they will find on one only Article, which is that of the Incarnation of the Word, more then enough to juſtify that which I have ſaid. What can any one think of ſuch a manner of treating of the Myſteries of Religion, and of that Art they had joyn'd with it, to defend all things by, and that even the moſt remote from ſence, and by diſtinctions crude and ſenceleſs, if it were not, that all that was very likely to raiſe an abundance of Errors, and excellently contrived for the maintaining of all ſuch, as Ignorance, Paſſion, Engagements or Intereſts would yet have produced? I know that the wiſer ſort among our Adverſaries, are themſelves aſhamed of it, but they cannot deny that it was almoſt the only way of Teaching the Divinity of Rome for a long time before the Reformation, and that it was but a very juſt prejudice againſt the State of Religion, that depended ſo abſolutely on that of the Schools.
9. One of the Effects of that diſorder of the Schools, was the depraving of Chriſtian Morality, by the introduction of divers deſtructive Maxims, which tended only to corrupt men's minds and hearts, as well in reſpect of Piety towards God, as of Juſtice and common Charity toward men, and of that Temperance that every man ought to maintain in his Actions. It would be too long to relate in this place all the proofs that make good this Charge, I ſhall content my ſelf to alleadge only ſome Pieces that have made too much noiſe in the World to be unknown, They are on one ſide the Provincial Letters aſcribed to Mr. Paſchal, and ſome other Treatiſes which we have ſeen Publiſh'd againſt the Moral Divinity of the Jeſuits; And on the other ſide, The Apology for the Caſuiſts, and the Book of Amedeus Guimenius. Thoſe former pieces accuſe the Jeſuits of Teaching and eſtabliſhing Maxims, Raſh, Erroneous, Scandalous, and altogether contrary to good manners, and the others let us ſee, that the Doctrine of the Jeſuits in that reſpect, is wholly like to that of the Antient School-men, and that one cannot condemn the Jeſuits without condemning at the ſame time the whole Antient School of the Roman Church. For Example, The one ſort accuſes the Jeſuits of Teaching, That it is lawful for one man to rejoyce within himſelf at the death of another, and to deſire it, not only when it is an evil to him who ſuffers it, but alſo when it is advantageous to him who deſires it. But Guimenius ſhews us, that, that is exactly the Doctrine of Thomas Aquinas, of Cajetan and divers others, who all maintain the ſame. The one accuſes the Jeſuits for Teaching, That it is but a Venial ſin, to be diſobedient to Divine Inſpirations. But Guimenius ſhews, that that is alſo the Doctrine of Aquinas and Cajetan. They accuſe the Jeſuits of Teaching, That it is lawful to adviſe and at the ſame time to draw in a man to commit a leſſer Sin, to avoid a greater Evil; As to perſwade a Laſcivious man to meer Fornication, that he may avoid committing Adultery. But Guimenius proves this to be the Doctrine of Cajetan, Sotus, and Sylveſter Prierias. They accuſe the Jeſuits of maintaining, that a man may, not only not remove an occaſion or ground of ſin from another whom they know will abuſe it to that end, but that they may at the ſame time preſent it to him, and by that means lay a ſnare for him to make him fall into Sin, provided, they do it with a good intention, either to correct his Viciouſneſs, or to make him ſhun ſome other inconvenience; ſo that a Husband who is jealous of his Wives committing Adultery, may preſent her with an opportunity or occaſion to commit it, and a Father may lay an occaſion in his Childrens way to ſteal from him. But Guimenius lets us ſee that this is the very opinion of Aquinas, Sotus, Navarr, and of Cajetan. I omit an abundance of other beaſtly caſes, which no one can propoſe without wounding his modeſty. They will ſay to this, it may be, that the Sorbonne has cenſured that Book of Guimenius: but this Anſwer ſignifies nothing, for we are not concerned to know what the Sorbonne holds in theſe days, nor what it approves or condemns, but to know, whether thoſe Authors that Guimenius has alledged, are well or ill quoted, whether it were not true, That thoſe Scandalous and Pernicious Maxims were taught in the School in the days of our Fathers, and whether our Fathers ought not to have looked on them as evident and certain proofs of a great corruption?
10. I know not whether we might not here make a particular Reflexion on the procedure of the Council of Conſtance, which notwithſtanding the ſafe conduct granted by the Emperor Sigiſmund to John Huſs, and Jerome of Prague, made no ſcruple to condemn them to be burnt alive, and to Cauſe that Sentence of their Condemnation to be executed. For ſo that Council violated the publick Faith, by a moſt Solemn and reſplendent Action. Concil. Conſtant. Seſſ. 19.But it was not contented with that, unleſs it did at the ſame time add a Decree that it expreſly made on that Subject, bearing this with it, that all Letters of ſafe Conduct granted to Hereticks by any Emperors, Kings or Princes, ought not to hinder the Judges [to whom it ſhould appertain to take Cogniſance of their Crimes, whether they were Lay-men or Church-men,] from proceeding againſt them, and puniſhing them with the greateſt ſeverity. Aeneas Sylvius relates that that ſentence, through the force of which they were expoſed to the Fire, was given in Full Council, Lata eſt, ſays he, in conceſſu Patrum adverſus contumaces ſententia, CREMANDOS eſſe qui Doctrinam Eccleſiae reſpuerent, Aeneas Sylv. Hiſt. Bohem. cap. 36.prior igitur Joannes combuſtus eſt, Hieronimus diu poſtea in vinculis habitus, cum reſipiſcere nollet, pari ſupplicio affectus. He adds, that thoſe two men ſuffered that Torment, with and admirable Fortitude, ſinging of Hymns in the midſt of the Flames. This was in that time very aſtoniſhing, to ſee a Council gathered in a Body, wholly intent upon the cauſing the death of two Chriſtians; ſince it is certain amongſt Chriſtians, that the Church has no power over the Temporal Lives of men. But that Scandal was yet made greater by the way they carried it on, for to come to that, they made no difficulty of violating all that was the moſt ſacred and inviolable in humane Society, I would ſay, the publick Faith given by the Authentick Authority of the Soveraign Magiſtrate, and given, with all the appearances of their own conſents, as one may collect from the Words of Aeneas Sylvius. For he ſays as that Council was labouring in the affairs of Bohemia, Placuit tandem, Sigiſmundo Imperatore ſuadente, Joannem & Hieronymuus ad Synodum vocari. They thought good through the Entreaties of the Emperor Sigiſmond, that John and Jerome ſhould be called to the Council. They then made no ſcruple of violating that Faith, to which they had conſented, and not only to break it by that Action, and in that Practiſe, but framed at the ſame time a Decree to authoriſe that breach of Faith, and made it a lawful Rule for Poſterity to go by. Who can deny that our Fathers had not here a juſt cauſe to be ſhaken at that management of affairs which had violently born down all that wiſe and moderate men ſince have conceived, and that they had not reaſon to joyn that to all thoſe other things I have mentioned, as a moſt powerful prejudice againſt a Religion that maintain'd it ſelf, by ſuch ſtrange proceedings?
11. They might have added alſo to the reſt, methinks, the eſtabliſhment of Inquiſitions, and uſage of Croiſado's againſt thoſe who were pretended to be Hereticks. For it is moſt true that ſuch a way of maintaining Religion by Torments and Armies raiſed by the Clergy, as the Popes had uſed ſome ages ſince againſt the Waldenſes, the Albigenſes, the Wicklifiſts, and the Huſſites, was not at all proper to make it be beloved, or to inſtil into mens minds an extream good opinion of it. There where they would introduce the Faith by force, they ſhut up peoples hearts inſtead of gaining them. That courſe is good no farther then for Temporal Monarchies, or Mundane Religions, where men are not much concerned whether they reign over the Spirits of men, provided they reign over their Bodies. But that is not at all the way that Jeſus Chriſt uſes, who ſets up his throne in their Conſciences, and who knows no other conqueſts but thoſe, which the ſword that comes from his mouth, gains.
12. But beſides thoſe cruel ways which they made uſe of for the upholding their Religion, they employed yet others, as well as thoſe, which tho' they were not ſo ſevere, did not fail of being as odious, and of raiſing as ſtrong ſuſpitions againſt that Religion it ſelf. I might rank in this place, thoſe falſe Miracles which they invented every day to gain credit to ſome Doctrines and Devotions, which of themſelves had no foundation at all in the word of God. For every own knows how much theſe ſort of Fables were in uſe in the days of our Fathers, and ſome Ages before, with what care they ſpread them among the people, in Preaching them up with Zeal, and defending them with heat, and in ſtuffing their Legends with them, and other Books of that nature. But every own knows likewiſe that the greateſt part of them were ſo groſly invented, that a very mean underſtanding could eaſily detect their falſneſs. We might joyn with thoſe falſe Miracles, thoſe ſtories of Viſions, or Apparitions of the Bleſſed Virgin, or ſome other Saint, to the Religious men or women, which were ſo frequent that one can find nothing elſe in the Books of the Monks of thoſe Ages. We might Place here alſo thoſe ſo often deviſed Tales of the returns of Souls out of Purgatory, of their Apparitions, their Complaints, and pitiful Groans, of their requeſts to be eaſed of their pains by their Maſſes, and Foundations, and of the outcries and terrible din that they▪ made upon Mens leaſt neglect to perform what they beg'd of them. I do not now examine whether thoſe Doctrines which gave ground to thoſe pretended Miracles, to thoſe Viſions, and Apparitions, were Evangelical or not; it is enough for me to note that, that falſeneſs that appear'd in the greateſt part of thoſe groſs, Inventions, which were ſo often publickly detected, rendred that Religion juſtly ſuſpected, not only in reſpect of thoſe Opinions and Devotions which they pretended to authoriſe by thoſe frauds, but alſo in general, as to all that which came under the name of Traditions.
13. Might we not ſay the ſame thing of ſo many forged and ſuppoſititious Books, the making and uſe of which had been ſo frequent in the Ages that preceeded the Reformation; not to meddle with what is reported of the Monks, that they did not ſcruple to ſerve themſelves by forged Deeds, to enrich their Convents, and gain Priviledges to them. Without touching upon that, there are few Perſons that are ignorant of what Character the Decretal Epiſtles of the Antient Popes are, collected under the name of one Iſidore Mercator, whereof the Court of Rome has made ſo advantagious a uſe for the eſtabliſhing of its Authority, and of the pretended donation of Conſtantine, by which that Emperour is ſaid to have given away the Roman Empire, and all its rights to the Pope. Every own knows alſo how they had forg'd whole Books and Treatiſes under the moſt Antient and Venerable names, as the Epiſtle of the Bleſſed Virgin to Saint Ignatius, the Works of Dionyſius the Areopagite, the Epiſtles of Saint Martial, the Acts of the Paſſion of Saint Andrew, by the Prieſts of Achaia, the Liturgies of Saint James, Saint Peter, and of Saint Mark, and divers others of the ſame nature: None are ignorant how they had mingled ſome falſe pieces into the true Works of the Fathers, as in thoſe of Juſtin Martyr, of Origen, of Saint Cyprian, of Saint Athanaſius, of Saint Hilary, of Saint Ambroſe, of Saint Chryſoſtome, of Saint Jerome, of Saint Auguſtin, and almoſt generally of all the Fathers, whoſe names they have made uſe of to authoriſe their forgeries. None are ignorant what alterations they had made in the true writings of the Fathers, whether by changing their words, or adding to them, or ſometimes in cutting off conſiderable clauſes and whole paſſages entire. Who ſees not that theſe ill practiſes, which of themſelves are ſo odious in all ſorts of matters, and eſpecially in thoſe of Religion, could not but encreaſe the juſt ſuſpitions that our Fathers had of all that which they named Tradition?
14. We might make the ſame judgment of that viſible abuſe about Reliques which was brought into the Church. For on the one ſide, the devotion of the people was ſo hot as to that point, that it could not keep it ſelf within any meaſure, and on the other, the Cheats about them were ſo multiplied, that even thoſe of the weakeſt underſtandings could not behold them without being aſhamed of them. That prodigious quantity of the wood of the true Croſs which is ſcattered over the World, witneſſes this; as likewiſe the Slippers and Hoſe of Saint Joſeph, the Shift of the Bleſſed Virgin, her Coifs, her Fillets, her Girdles, her two Combs, her Cloaths, her Wedding-Ring, the Sword wherewith Saint Michael fought with the Devil, the twelve Combs of the Apoſtles, ſome of the Stones wherewith Saint Steven was ſtoned, the Skin of Saint Bartholomew, the Coals that broiled Saint Laurence, Aarons Rod, the Bones of Abraham, of Iſaac and Jacob; And beyond all that, the multiplication of one and the ſame Relique, which is to be found in divers places; for there is nothing more ordinary then for one to ſee two, three, or four Bodies of the ſame Saint, as of Saint Gervaſe, Saint Protais, Saint Sebaſtian, of Saint Pretonilla, Saint Anthony, and ſome others. All which being very much recommended to the People as the true objects of their Devotion, not only without any certain grounds, but very often with all the appearances of falſneſs, could not but create a vaſt prejudice of corruption in that Church and Religion.
15. Moreover, when our Fathers caſt their eyes upon the four chief means that God has eſtabliſhed in his Church for the preſerving of true Faith and Piety in it, which are, the Scriptures, the publick Worſhip, Preaching, and the Sacraments, and when they conſidered after what manner they were altered, and the uſe of all thoſe means almoſt brought to nothing, it was not poſſible they could do otherwiſe than conclude that corruption whereof we diſpute. For as to the Scripture, inſtead of making that the only Rule of Faith, they had joyn'd Traditions with them, that is to ſay, the moſt uncertain thing in the World, the moſt ſubject to Impoſtures, and the moſt mixed with humane inventions and weakneſſes. Inſtead of recommending the reading of that Divine word, to the Faithful, for their Inſtruction and their Comfort, it could ſcarce be found even in the hands of ſome Church-men. And as for the Schools, they knew far better how to quote Ariſtotle, the Maſter of the Sentences, Albertus Magnus, Saint Thomas, and Saint Bonaventure, then the Prophets and Apoſtles. As for the publick Service, they performed it ſome Ages ago in a ſtrange Tongue unknown to the people, who by this means were depriv'd of that benefit which they might juſtly expect. So that the Aſſemblies were become in that reſpect, Springs ſtopt up for any publick edification, and their little Prayers themſelves, the Lords Prayer and the Creed, were then read almoſt only in Latin, and the Women, and Children, and People, ſeemed to know God only by the Idea that was given them of that Tongue, in which notwithſtanding they underſtood nothing. As for Preaching, beſides that the Pulpit in the greateſt part of that time was abandoned, we have yet ſome Books of the Sermons which they made in thoſe days, as of Jacobus de Voragine, of a Menot, a Maillard, a Barelette, a Diſcipulus de Tempore, which did no very great honour to their Age. They treat there far oftner of the Legends of the Saints, then the truths of Religion; and that which was yet more deplorable, inſtead of the Word of God, they Preached, almoſt nothing elſe but ſcandalouſly extravagant Opinions, raw Parallels of a Saint with Jeſus Chriſt, ridiculous ſtories, pleaſant buffooneries, and ſuch like things, which to ſpeak moderatly, were exceedingly remote from the natural deſign of the Pulpit, and rendred it not only deſpiſed, but after a ſort odious.
For that which reſpects the Sacraments, [not to touch on thoſe multitudes of unprofitable ceremonies wherewith they had loaded them,] we muſt confeſs, that that opinion of the neceſſity of the intention of the Prieſt which was ſo generally taught in the School, and which Eugenius the Fourth had defin'd in his Inſtruction to the Armenians in the Council of Florence, it deſtroy'd almoſt all the benefit of thoſe ſacred Myſteries, and caſt mens Conſciences into perpetual ſcruples and uncertainties. For unleſs they could eſtabliſh a revelation for every particular Chriſtian, what aſſurance could we have, that he who adminiſters the Sacrament to us, had an intention to do that which the Church enjoyns him to do, or that he had not an intention contrary to that of the Church? What aſſurance could be given, that in all that long Train of Prieſts, Biſhops, and Popes, that is to ſay the Biſhops of Rome, who had been from the beginning of Chriſtianity down to this preſent time, there had not been any in whom that intention, which they make ſo neceſſary to the operation of the Sacrament, had been defective? Yet if one only Prieſt that ſhall happen to Baptiſe a Pope, had not had an intention to Baptize him, or if he himſelf was not truly a Prieſt, by the default of the intention of him who gave him Orders, or him who Baptized him; If one only Biſhop who confers Orders on a Pope then when he is made Prieſt, had not an intention to do what the Church pretends to do, all that which would come in conſequence of that default would be ſpoiled, the Biſhops that that Pope afterwards ſhould promote, would not be lawful Biſhops, the Prieſts on whom thoſe Biſhops had conferred Orders, would be no lawful Prieſts, and the Sacraments that thoſe Prieſts ſhould adminiſter, would not be lawfully adminiſtred. What could our Fathers think of ſuch a dreadful confuſion, which they knew not how to undo, unleſs by ſuppoſing a perpetual Miracle? Which is, that God ſhould have ſo over-rul'd the intention of all thoſe men, that howſoever Wicked, Atheſtical, Hypocritical or Profane they ſhould have been, yet that not one of them nevertheleſs ſhould fail in having an intention to do that which the Church enjoyns. But what aſſurance have we of ſuch a Miracle, or what promiſe can we find of it in the Scripture? Not to inſiſt here, that it very ill agrees with the Doctrine of thoſe among them, who make the will of man ſo much Lord of all his Actions, that whatſoever Grace God ſhall manifeſt towards it, it remains always indifferent and free to follow that Grace, or to reject it. It is then very certain that hitherto our Fathers could not be very much edified in the point of the Sacraments in general; but they were yet far leſs in the matter of the Sacrament of the Euchariſt in particular. For if we look only on one ſide, they were plung'd into that perplexity about the intention, where they taught one another that the Tranſubſtantiation of the Bread into the Body of Jeſus Chriſt was the effect of that Conſecration, and that they were bound to Worſhip the Hoſt after the words of Conſecration, as being Jeſus Chriſt himſelf; What aſſurance could they have of ſo important a change? Since it alſo depended upon ſo impenetrable a ſecret, as that of the intention of the Prieſt, which could only be known by God alone, what aſſurance could they have that they were not deceived? What ground had they to give a ſupream Worſhip to an Object of which none could have any certainty of Faith, what likelihood they ſhould believe it to be, that which it was pretended to be, and that it ought to be reckoned an adorable Object▪ What likelihood that God would have given to his Church ſo doubtful an object to be the object of perpetual adoration? Which on one ſide, is ſo viſible and ſo determinate that one may always ſay, Behold it, but of which notwithſtanding no one can be aſſur'd that it is that indeed? Is it any ways agreeable to his goodneſs and his wiſdom, to leave the Church to be perpetually held in ſuſpence in that inexplicable doubt, and expoſed to the danger of taking the Bread for the true Son of God, and the Wine for his real Blood, and reduc'd to the neceſſity of putting that adoration daily to a hazard upon the credit of one man?