Historical Defense of the Reformation, Part 4 · Chapter 2

Historical Defense of the Reformation · Part 4 · Chapter 2

p. 28CHAP. II.

That the Society of the Proteſtants, is not a New Church.

ONe of the moſt Ordinary and powerful means that they make uſe of to render us odious to the People, and to drive them from our Communion, is to repreſent us to them as Innovators, and full of Confuſions, who have overthrown all, and made a new Religion, and a new Church; and it is very true that the greateſt part of the World Judges of things no otherwiſe then by what they tell them, and by ſome light appearances, without informing themſelves any further. Nevertheleſs it is certain that there never was a more unjuſt Accuſation then that, nor whoſe injuſtice could be more eaſily ſeen, if they would but open their Eyes a little. For as to that which reſpects that pretended Novelty of Religion which they ſay that we have introduced, I would fain have them mark out ſome poſitive Articles of our Faith, that were not always believed in the Chriſtian Church, and which they▪ themſelves to this day do not believe in the Church of Rome, without any ways ſcrupling them. I confeſs that they may have among them ſome Queſtions of the School about which our poſitive Doctrine is different from that of the Church of Rome, as the Queſtion of the Nature of Concupiſcence, that of the dolors of the Soul of Jeſus Chriſt, and that of the Definition of the Faith.

But beſides that thoſe Queſtions are very few in Number, and that they are ſcarce known by the People, we have the Holy Scriptures ſo clearly on our ſide upon all thoſe points, that they cannot lay any Novelty to our Charge, and for the reſt all our great Differences conſiſt in reſpect of us, in Negative Articles, that is to ſay, in thoſe points which the Church of Rome believes, and which we do not believe, as the Sacrifice of the Maſs, Tranſubſtantiation, Oral Manducation, Adoration of the Hoſt, Purgatory, Invocation of Saints and Angels, Religious Worſhip of Images, that of Relicks, the Divine Service in an unknown Tongue, the Neceſſity of the Caelibacy of the Clergy, the merit p. 29of good works, the Authority of Traditions, the Monarchy of the Pope, the Infallibility of the Church of Rome, her Soveraign power over mens Conſciences, and other ſuch like Doctrines. It is True that we have rejected thoſe Doctrines, but ſince it is alſo true that we have rejected them only becauſe they are Novelties that men have added to God's Revelation, beyond which there can be nothing in Religion that ſhould not be new, what ground have any of them to accuſe us as Innovators? They would have far more ground to ſay that we are too rigid Followers of Antiquity, and that we urge our Scruples and our Averſions for theſe Novelties further then we ought, or at leaſt that we deceive our ſelves, and take that for new, which indeed is not ſo, If they ſaid no more but that, we ſhould labour to juſtify our ſelves; but to charge us under that pretence with a Spirit of Novelty, is the moſt unreaſonable and groundleſs thing in the World. That which makes the Fallacy is, That the people, whoſe ſight is extream ſhort, and who Judge of the Novelty and Antiquity of things only by that which appears open to them, imagine that all that which they received from their Fathers, and which they found ſetled when they came into the World, is Antient throughout; ſo that a falſe Antiquity which ſhall be only of two or three Ages paſt, paſſes in their Judgments for as good and true a one as if it had been always ſo. Notwithſtanding which, it is certain, that in matters of Religion, nothing can be truly Antient but that which was from the beginning, and nothing can be Divine but that which is from Jeſus Chriſt and his Apoſtles; for it is a thing very evident and acknowledged on both ſides, that from the Time of Jeſus Chriſt and his Apoſtles, There has been no immediate Revelation; whence it follows, That all that which is ſprung up ſince, is humane, and by conſequence New. This is the True Idea that we ought to form of Old and New, and not that popular Idea, which cannot but be falſe and deceitful, and yet notwithſtanding it is upon this latter that they ground themſelves when they accuſe us to have been Innovators, and to have made a new Religion: as if Jeſus Chriſt had been an Innovator then, when he would correct the abuſes that the Jews committed in their Divorces, by telling them, In the beginning it was not ſo.

It is after the ſame manner that they charge us with having made a new Church, for they play upon the Equivocalneſs of the word, New. The People who imagine that all that which appears p. 30to them in another form then that which they have been wont to ſee, is new, believe that our Society is new, becauſe they ſee that we do not Aſſemble our ſelves any more with them as we did before, that we have other places then the uſual, that we do not any more ſay Maſs in our Aſſemblies, that we hold another Order, and that we have other Miniſters.

But there needs here only a Diſtinction: For a thing is called New either with reſpect to its being and its Eſſence, in reſpect of its External State, and its changeable Accidents. When an Infant comes into the World, they ſay a new man is born, when a new Houſe or Town is built where there none before, they ſay it is a new Town, or a new Houſe; and the ſame may be ſaid when one thing is eſſentially changed into another thing, as when God changed Moſes's Rod into a Serpent, or when Jeſus Chriſt changed the water of Cana into Wine, it might be ſaid that it was a new thing, becauſe in effect it was not eſſentially the ſame thing that it was before. But when it is only changed in its State or External Form, as when a Man changes his countenance, his Stature or his Inclination, manner of acting, or Cloaths, or when he repairs a Houſe or a Town, if then any ſhould ſay this were a new thing, without doubt he would ſpeak improperly. It is not leſs manifeſt, that it is no more then a ſigurative Expreſſion, which ought not to be taken litterally, nor in a rigorous ſence. So when Saint Paul calls a converted man a new Man, a new Creature, and the Church a new Heaven, a new Earth, a new World, every one ſees that theſe are ways of ſpeaking that ought not to be taken literally, but figuratively; for a Believer is eſſentially the ſame man, and the ſame Creature of God that he was before his Converſion, and Heaven, Earth, and the World are not changed in their Eſſence by the manifeſtation of the Goſpel. Beſides a thing that is changed in its external Form may be called new, either with reſpect to the State wherein it was immediately before its change, or with reſpect to the Juſt and lawful State wherein it ſhould be according to its firſt Eſtabliſhment; ſo when one repairs a ruined Houſe, if it keeps its firſt proportion, We may ſay that it is made new in reſpect of what it was before its Reparation, but if its firſt and natural Faſhion ſhould be changed, it would be new, even in reſpect of what it ſhould have been according to the Model by which it was made at firſt.

p. 31Theſe Diſtinctions clear this whole Diſpute, and it is not difficult to apply them to the ſubject we are upon. For if they mean, That the Society or Church of the Proteſtants is new in reſpect of the State wherein it was, or of that external form which it had, immediately before the Reformation; we ſhall voluntarily agree that it is made new in that ſence, after the ſame manner that the Scripture calls the Regenerate a new Man, or as God promiſes to give us a new heart, or as they call a Houſe repaired, and put into its natural State, a new Houſe. That would ſpeak the Favour God ſhew'd to our Fathers, in re-eſtabliſhing the Chriſtian Society in that Juſt and lawful State, wherein it ought to be according to its firſt Eſtabliſhment, and that that State is very much different from that wherein it was immediately before the Reformation: This is that which we do not deny, and are ſo far from it, that on the contrary we praiſe and glorify God for it. But if they mean that we have made a new Church, that is to ſay, one eſſentially differing from that which Jeſus Chriſt and his Apoſtles would eſtabliſh in the World, and which has always ſubſiſted even to our days, or that, in all that, which depends on us, we have not re-eſtabliſhed it in its firſt and lawful State, this is what we deny; and in this ſence, which is the only one that can render the Accuſations of our Adverſaries juſt, we maintain, that we have not in the leaſt made a new Church. In a word, we ſay, that the Church of Jeſus Chriſt has ſubſiſted down from the Apoſtles to us incluſively, in all that which it has Eſſentially, and that ſhe yet ſubſiſts at this day among us, but that having changed her State or External Form in the Ages that preceeded the Reformation, ſhe was re-eſtabliſhed in her juſt and lawful State by the Reformation of our Fathers, which no ways hinders but that ſhe was, and might always be the ſame Church.

To make this Truth to be the better underſtood, we need only to clear on the one ſide what that Eſſence of the Church is, that ought always to remain immovable, to ſhew that it may be but one and the ſame Church by deſcent and uninturrepted Succeſſion, and on the other ſide what State it is that ſhe has ſuffered change in, and how it could be altered and repaired. The Eſſence of the Church conſiſts in this, That it is a Body of divers perſons united together in the Commnion of one only True God, under one only Jeſus Chriſt their Head and Mediatour; and it is Jeſus Chriſt himſelf that has given us this Idea of it, when he ſays that, This is life Eternal to know the only True God and Jeſus Chriſt whom p. 32John 17.John 17he has ſent, That Definition which we give of the Church ſuppoſes, 1. The ſubject, or matter whereof the Church is compoſed, which are divers men, divers perſons united among themſelves, and with God. 2. It ſuppoſes the Neceſſary means, without which that Communion cannot be, which are the word of the Goſpel and the Holy Spirit. 3. It contains not only the True Faith, Charity, Hope, which are the natural bonds of that Communion, but all the other Chriſtian Vertues alſo, as Worſhip, Adoration, Truth, Obedience, Thanksgiving, Juſtice, Temperance, &c. which are the the duties to which that Communion engages us. 4. It comprehends in it further, all the fruits that we gather from that Communion, as Remiſſion of Sins, Peace and Tranquillity of Soul, Conſolation in Afflictions, Succours in Temptations, &c. 5. In fine, it includes all the Rights that neceſſarily follow that Communion, as that of being joyned together in an External Society, that of Publick Aſſemblies, that of the Miniſtry, that of the Sacraments, and that of External Government and Diſcipline. See here that which is Eſſential to the Church, for I call that Eſſential, without which the Church cannot ſubſiſt, and which yet is ſufficient to make it ſubſiſt; that which cannot ſubſiſt if that Church fail to ſubſiſt, and that which cannot be wanting if there be a Church.

As to the State in reſpect of which it ſuffers changes, it conſiſts in all that that depends on the different diſpoſition of Times, Places, and Perſons. For Example, To have the Bodily preſence of Jeſus Chriſt, to have Apoſtles and Evangeliſts for its Paſtors, to have the Miraculous gifts of healing, that of Tongues, that of the Deſcent of the Holy Ghoſt upon the Faithful by Viſible Symbols, that of Prophecy, and that of an external and infallible direction and inſtruction, is a State wherein the Church was in the Time of its Birth, but which was changed in the other Times that followed. To have Paſtors illuſtrious for Zeal, Learning and Piety, as a Saint Auguſtine, a Saint Baſil, a Saint Chryſoſtom, is a State wherein it was not always, nor every where, but in ſome Times and Places only. To be flouriſhing and in Peace, without Perſecution, without Schiſm, without Error, is a State wherein it has neither been always, nor in all Places, nor in reſpect of all thoſe perſons who have compoſed it, but which it has been in, in ſome Times and Places only, and with reſpect to ſome Perſons. We ought then to ſet down in their proper Order thoſe things which belong to the State of the p. 33Church, and to its Eſſence, and which by Conſequence are liable to change, as to be extended every where, or in the greateſt part of the World, to have a multitude, or the greateſt number, Temporal Splendor or outward Glory, Peace, whether in regard of thoſe without, or in reſpect of thoſe within, Liberty in External Profeſſion, Viſibility of Aſſemblies, Purity of the Miniſtry, Holineſs of External Worſhip, Form of Government, that of Diſcipline, and that of Liturgies, an Actual Bond of the Parts of the Church in one Body of External Communion, and the Actual Exerciſe of the Miniſtry, or if you will, the Actual Preſence of the Paſtors. All thoſe are things that do not abſolutely belong to the Eſſence of the Church, but only to its State or Condition, and of which it may be ſometimes ſpoyled either wholly or in Part, without being abſolutely deſtroyed. It may be reſtrained to a few places, and a few perſons, and therefore it is called in ſome places of Scripture a little Flock, ſhe may be ſo, in her low State. We are, ſays Saint Paul, not many wiſe, not many mighty, not many noble, but God has choſen the weak things of this World to confound the ſtrong. She may be in Trouble and in Affliction through the Perſecution of Infidels, as ſhe was under the Heathen Emperours, or in Fighting againſt Hereticks, as ſhe has been almoſt always; ſhe may loſe the Viſibility of her Aſſemblies, as ſhe did in moſt places in the Time of Decius, and Diocleſian; ſhe may find her Miniſtry corrupted, as it hapned in the Time of the Arrians; ſhe may ſee her external Worſhip ſullied by Actions of ſuperſtition and Idolatry, as it fell out in Judah and Iſrael in the days of the Prophets. As to the Form of her Government, we cannot deny that in that reſpect ſhe has not under-went divers changes; I do not mention the Introduction of the Epiſcopal Order, for that is a Queſtion, but I ſpeak of thoſe changes that have befel her, through the Uſurpations and Conteſts of the firſt See's, and chiefly by the Uſurpations of that of Rome, which the greateſt part of the World will own to have been very conſiderable.

Her Diſcipline and her Liturgies have alſo undergone many Changes, and they cannot in that regard aſcribe any Uniformity to the Church, either in reſpect of Times or Places. In fine, ſhe has ſometimes beheld the Body of her Ordinary Paſtors turned againſt her ſelf, ſhe has ſeen a great part of her true Children ſcattered, and diſperſed here and there, without being able to perform any Acts of an External Society; and ſhe has ſeen ſome p. 34of her Flocks deprived of their Paſtors, and forced to ſet up ſome among themſelves in the room of thoſe who had abandoned them. For all that fell out in the days of the Arrians, the Councils determined Hereſy; the greateſt part of the Orthodox, who oppoſed themſelves to their Impiety, were either baniſhed or forced to fly into the Deſarts, and according to the Teſtimony of St. Epiphanius, Epiphan. Haer. 73. comm. 28.divers People who ſaw that their Biſhops were turned Arrians in the Council of Seleucia, looked on them as the miſerable Deſertors of their Miniſtry, and ſet up themſelves other Biſhops.

The greateſt part of thoſe Changes that fall out in the Church come from two ſources; the one, That ſhe is mixed with the Worldly and Profane in the band of the ſame External Profeſſion; and the other, That the Truly Faithful themſelves, who only are the Church of Jeſus Chriſt, as truly Faithful as they are, fail not to have a great many other imperfections, their knowledge is obſcure, their Righteouſneſs is accompanied with its faults, their Inclinations are not all right, and even their moſt juſt Inclinations do not fail to have ſome farther irregularity. Theſe two Fountains produce an heap of evils and diſorders, the Worldly on their part bring thither Covetouſneſs, Ambition, Pride, Opinionativeneſs, contempt of God, his Myſteries, and Worſhip, Politick Deſigns, Worldly Intereſts, a Spirit of Grandeur, Luxury, Superſtitions, Hereſies, Love of Dominion, Preſumption, Opinion of Infallibility, Forgeries, and all other Perverſities of the heart of Man. The Faithful they bring thither on their ſide, their Ignorance, their Negligence, their Fearfulneſs, their Simplicity, and ſometimes their Paſſions, their Perſonal Intereſts and Vices. From all which a Chaos is made up of darkneſs and Confuſion, a Myſtery of Iniquity, a Spiritual Babylon, that perpetually makes war againſt the Church, which reduces her ſometimes into very ſtrange Extreamities, and which would without doubt deſtroy her, if her Eternal Head did not keep her up above all. I acknowledge that the Spirit of God fights againſt that Babylon on the Churches ſide, and that he preſides over that Chaos, to expel thoſe Confuſions, and to hinder the Churches Periſhing. But it muſt not be imagined under a pretence of that preſence of the Spirit of God, that there never happens any diſorder in it. He indeed always preſerves the Eſſence of the Church, but he frequently permits her State to be altered. This is the Effect that that heap of Crimes, Vices, and Imperfections p. 35may produce which I have mentioned as well on the ſide of the Truly Faithful, as on that of the Worldly. They never go ſo far as to deſtroy her intirely, but they go ſo far ſometimes as to ſpoil her of her Ornaments, of her External Advantages, and even of her very Health, if I may ſo ſpeak; and therefore Jeſus Chriſt told his Diſciples, In the World you ſhall have Tribulation, John 16.John 16but be of good cheer I have overcome the World. God has always preſerved, and he will preſerve to the end of all Ages, a Body of many perſons united together in the Communion of his Son Jeſus Chriſt. This Body can never periſh, it can never ceaſe to be, nor loſe any thing that is abſolutely neceſſary to its ſubſiſtence; but it may be deprived of its large Extent, Temporal Splendor, Worldly Glory, Peace, Reſt, and Viſibility. It may ſee its Miniſtry Corrupted, in as much as it is in the hands of men, it may ſee its External Worſhip diſhonoured, and Error and Superſtition fill its Pulpits, Poſſeſs its Schooles, and diffuſe it ſelf over its Councils; its true Members may be hindred from making external Aſſemblies, and a Body of a Viſible Communion, and it may be abandoned by its Paſtors, and reduced to a Neceſſity of Creating others. See here what the State of the Church is.

Upon all theſe Illuſtrations, it will be no difficult matter to decide the Queſtion concerning the Novelty and Antiquity of our Church. For if we have made a Society eſſentially different from that which Jeſus Chriſt and his Apoſtles formed at the firſt, and which has all a long ſubſiſted down from his Birth to this preſent, if we cannot juſtly ſay, That we are a Body of many Perſons united together in the Communion of one only true God, under one only Jeſus Chriſt our Head and Mediatour, if they can with any ground conteſt with us the Unity of the True Chriſtian Faith, Piety and Holineſs; in one word, if we want any thing that is neceſſary to the Conſtitution of the Church and its ſubſiſtence, or if there be any thing in us that hinders that that good which we have does not produce its effect, to give us the Form and Nature of a True Church, it is certain, that we have made a new Church, and by a Conſequence a falſe and an Adulterous Church. But if we can truly and juſtly glorify God for all that which makes up the Eſſence of a True Church, if our Faith is ſound, if our Piety is pure, if our Charity is ſincere, if we can upon good grounds maintain that God preſerves and upholds in the External Communion of that Body which we compoſe, the Truly Faithful p. 36and Juſt perſons, who only, as I have ſaid often, are the Church, it is certain alſo that there is nothing more unjuſt then that Accuſation of a New Church which they charge us with. There never was in the World any other Church of God then that of his truly juſt and Faithful Ones, that Body only is in the Communion of the Father and of his Son Jeſus Chriſt, that alone is intruſted with the Truth, that alone is animated by the Holy Spirit, that alone is God's Inheritance, his People, his Vine, his encloſed Garden, his Houſe and Myſtical Family, as the Scripture calls it, that alone in fine has all the Rights of the Eccleſiaſtical Society, the Right of External Aſſemblies, that of the Miniſtry, Sacraments, Government, and Diſcipline. Let the Author of the Prejudices and his Brethren ſtir themſelves as much as they pleaſe, let them animate one another, let them cry out, write Prejudices and invectives never ſo much againſt us, let them do all that they pleaſe, we are firm and fixed upon two Principles againſt which we are ſure they cannot do any thing. The one, That if our Communion Teaches the True Doctrine, if it has the True Worſhip, and the True Rules of Chriſtian Sanctity, to a degree ſufficient for Salvation, and if the Cauſes for which we ſeparated our ſelves from the Church of Rome were Juſt, God nouriſhes and preſerves his True Faithful Ones in our Communion, whatſoever mixture there may be of Worldly, Wicked, and Hypocrites in it. The other, That if God nouriſhes and preſerves his truly Faithful in our Communion, we are the True Church of God, that which has a Right to be in a Society, and to which all the other Rights that follow that of a Society belong, of Aſſemblies, Miniſtry, Sacraments, Government, Diſcipline, and by Conſequence we are the Church which ſucceeds not only de Jure, but de Facto, the Church of the Apoſtles, that of the Ages following, and even that which was immediately before the Reformation.

Theſe two Propoſitions are framed in clear and diſtinct Terms, they have neither Ambiguity, nor Equivocation, but I hold alſo that they are of a certain and indiſputable Truth. For there neither is, nor ever was there any other True Church then that of the Truly Faithful, and there never will be any other. The Holy Scripture ſets down no other, Reaſon will not ſuffer us to acknowledge any other. The Fathers never owned any other. This is the conſtant and evident Principle of Saint Auguſtine, as may be ſeen in the Fourth Chapter of the Third Part, and it is p. 37alſo the Principle of the other Fathers, as may be Juſtified by almoſt an infinite Number of paſſages. The Antient Catholick Church, ſays Clemens of Alexandria, is but one only Church, which Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. 7.aſſembles in the Ʋnity of one only Faith, by the will▪ of one only God, and the Miniſtry of one only Lord, all thoſe who are before Ordained, that is to ſay, whom God has predeſtinated to be Juſt, having known them before the Foundation of the World. Where is the place where Jeſus Chriſt ſhould dwell? ſays Origen; It is the Mountain of Origen. in Joſ. Hom. 26.Ephraim, which ſignifies a fruitful Mountain; but where are thoſe fruitful Mountains among us where Jeſus Chriſt dwels? They are thoſe on whom the fruits of the Spirit, Joy, Peace, Patience, Charity, and other vertues may be found. They are thoſe fruitful Mountains which bring forth fruit to Jeſus Chriſt, and which are eminent for knowledge and hope. And a little after, The Grace of the Holy Spirit has gone over to the People of the Gentile:, and their Antient Solemnities are come to us, becauſe we have with us the True High-Prieſt after the Order of Melchizedec, True Sacrifices are offered up amongſt us, that is to ſay, the Spiritual Sacrifices; and it is among us that he builds with living Stones the Temple of God, which is the Church of the living God. And elſewhere, The Church deſires to be Orig. in Cant. Hom. 1.united to Jeſus Chriſt, but note, that the Church is a Society of the Saints.

And further elſewhere explaining thoſe words, Thou art Peter, Idem. in Mat. 16.Matt 16and upon this Rock I will build my Church; The Church, ſays he, that God builds, conſiſts in all thoſe who are perfect, and are full of thoſe words, thoughts, and actions that lead to bleſſedneſs; and a little lower, How ought we to underſtand thoſe words, The Gates of Hell ſhall not prevail againſt it? For that expreſſion is ambiguous, is it the Rock that he ſpeaks of, or if it be of the Church, is it that the Rock and the Church are but one and the ſame thing? This latter I believe to be True, for the Gates of Hell prevail neither againſt the Rock upon which Jeſus Chriſt has built his Church, nor againſt the Church, according to that which is ſaid in the Proverbs, That the way of the Serpent is not found upon the Rock. If the Gates of Hell do prevail againſt any, there is neither that Rock upon which Jeſus Chriſt builds the Church, nor the Church that Jeſus Chriſt builds upon the Rock. For that Rock is inacceſſible to the Serpent, and ſtronger then the Gates of Hell. And as to the Church as it is the Building of Jeſus Chriſt, ſhe can never let in the Gates of Hell againſt her, thoſe Gates may very well prevail againſt every man that is without the Church, and ſeparated from that Rock, but never againſt the Church. Jeſus p. 38Chriſt, ſays Saint Ambroſe, knows thoſe that are his, and as to thoſe Ambros de Abrab. patr. lib. 1. cap. 3.who do not belong to him, he does not vouſchafe even to know them. And elſewhere, God called his Tabernacle Bethlehem, becauſe the Church of the Righteous is his Tabernacle, and there is a Myſtery in it, for Bethlehem is Situate upon the Sea of Galilee on the Eaſt ſide, which ſignifies to us that every Soul that is worthy to be called the Temple of God, or the Church, may be built upon the waves of this World, but can never be drowned, it may be encountred, but can never be overthrown, becauſe it repreſſes and calms the wild impetuouſneſs of ſufferings. It looks upon the Shipwraecks of others while it ſelf is Ibid. 1. 2. cap. 3.ſafe from danger, always ready to receive the illumination of Jeſus Chriſt, and to rejoyce under his Rays. And further elſewhere, he ſays Expreſly, That as the Saints are the Members of Jeſus Chriſt, In Pſal. 35.Ps 35ſo the wicked are the Members of the Devil. Saint Hierome Teaches the ſame thing. The Church, ſays he, which is the Aſſembly of all Hieron. in Job. cap. 26.Job 26the Saints, is called in the Scripture, the Pillar and ground of Truth, becauſe ſhe has in Jeſus Chriſt an eternal firmneſs.

And in the Expoſition of the Song of Songs, he lays down this Maxim, That the Church is the Aſſembly of all the Saints, and that Idem. Cant. Hom. 1.ſhe is brought in ſpeaking in the Canticles, as if all the Saints were but one perſon. And even the Author of the Commentary on the Pſalms, aſcribed to Saint Hierome, Explaining theſe words of the Prophet, I will drive away from the City of the Lord all the workers of Iniquity; The City of the Lord, ſays he, is the Church of the In Pſal. 101.Ps 101Saints, the Congregation of the Juſt. I do not deny, that the Fathers ſometimes give a very large extent to the Church, when they conſider it as mingled with almoſt an infinite number of the wicked, and the Worldly, as we have frequently explained it already, and it is to this Idea that they refer their compariſons of a Field, of the Air, and the reſt, which we have often mentioned. But it is certain, That when the Queſtion is to be decided, which of the two Parties that make up that mixed Body, is the Church, that they unanimouſly agree to give that Title to the truly Faithful, and to the Righteous only, and that they deprive the wicked and the worldly of it; and it is for this Reaſon that Saint Auguſtine Aug. de Bapt. cont. Don. l. 7. cap. 51.always diſtinguiſhes in that extent of the mixt Church, two People, or two Nations, Jeruſalem and Babylon, which although they be mixed together, do not fail to be really ſeparated; and he would have the Head of the one to be Jeſus Chriſt, but the Devil the head of the other. It is for the ſame Reaſon that he diſtinguiſhes between being in the Church, and being of the p. 39Church, for he would, that although the wicked might be in the Church yet that nevertheleſs they were not of the Church; that they doe not belong to its Body, but that they are in its Body as ill humours that oppreſſed and diſturbed it; and it is to the Faithful alone, Excluſively to all others, that he aſcribes all the Rights of the Church, although the wicked may ſometimes have the diſpenſing them in quality of Miniſters and Paſtors; for he would in that Caſe, that thoſe might be inhabitants of Babylon, who diſtributed that good which did not belong to them, Aug. in Pſal. 61.Ps 61but to the Truly Faithful only, the only Inhabitants of Jeruſalem.

It is then a certain and manifeſt Truth, That the Truly Faithful only are the Church, and that to them alone belong all the Rights of the Church; but if we would here add another to it, which is not leſs certain, ſince it is founded upon the promiſes of Jeſus Chriſt, to wit, That there always has been a Church in the World; it would evidently follow, That if our Communion has the advantage of the True Faith and Worſhip over the Roman Communion, in a word, if we have Reaſon at the Foundation, we are not only the True Church, but that we are ſo by a Juſt Succeſſion de jure and de facto to that Church which preceded us, and which even preceded us immediately before the Reformation. It is no more to be inquired after where it was, or which it was, for the promiſe of Jeſus Chriſt aſſures us, that he had one; his Scripture, Reaſon, the Fathers declare to us that it conſiſted wholly in the Truly Faithful. Put then theſe truly Faithful where you pleaſe, in France, in Spain, in Italy, in the Weſt, in the Eaſt, or in the Indies if you will, it is nothing to our Queſtion. If we are truly Faithful as they, we are their lawful Succeſſours in all the Rights of the Chriſtian Society. Whether we received the Faith from their hands, or whether we received it elſewhere, it matters not, we do not fail to be their true Heirs; for God, as Saint John Baptiſt ſaid, may even of theſe Stones raiſe up Children unto Abraham. They are our Fathers by the Right of Age, but they are our Brethren alſo by the Unity of the ſame Faith, and one and the ſame Spirit that animates us, and makes us to be one Body with them: When they were in the World, in what condition ſoever they were, the Miniſtry was theirs, the Sacraments were theirs, the Right of Aſſemblies belonged to them, ſince thoſe things can only belong to the Faithful, and when God has ſent them to their reſt, that Myſtical Heritage could be raiſed by none but other true p. 40Believers, for ſuch is the Law of the Family of God, that it is neither fleſh, nor blood, nor Tranſmiſſion of Pulpits and Benefices, that make a Succeſſion, but the Spirit of Jeſus Chriſt; or as Tertallian ſpeaks, the Conſanguinity of the Faith and Doctrine: Tertul. de praeſcript. adverſ. Haeret. cap. 32.If then we have that Spiritual Conſanguinity, we are their true Succeſſours, and we make but one only body, one Church with them.

But they will ſay, How can it be that you ſhould make but one only Body with the Church which was before the Reformation, ſince that Church lived then in Communion with thoſe from whom you are now Separated? She had an Exterual Worſhip quite differing from yours, ſhe was under quite another Miniſtry then yours, for ſhe was under a Miniſtry that profeſſed to invocate Saints, religiouſly to Worſhip their Images and their Reliques, to Sacrifice really the Body of Jeſus Chriſt, to believe Tranſubſtantiation, the Real Preſence and all the other Articles that you at this day profeſs to reject. How can you be the ſame Church? How can your Miniſters be Succeſſours to thoſe who were at that time Biſhops, Arch-Biſhops, Cardinals, Patriarchs, and Popes? Your Liturgies are different, your Diſcipline is not leſs, you have neither Feaſts, nor Proceſſions, nor any of the Solemnities practiſed openly among us; how can it be otherwiſe then that you ſhould be a new Church?

I anſwer, Firſt, That if that Reaſoning were Juſt, it would conclude that the Church before the Reformation, was not the ſame Church with that which the Apoſtles eſtabliſhed at firſt, for according to the Idea that the Holy Scripture gives us of the Apoſtolick Church, we cannot ſee there any thing like to that which was done immediately before the Reformation. We find there neither the ſame Tenets, nor the ſame Worſhip, nor the ſame Solemnities, nor the ſame form of Miniſtry, nor the ſame Government, nor the ſame Diſcipline, nor the ſame Sacraments, nor the ſame Liturgies, nor in fine any thing of that which our Fathers reformed: Let them tell us then after what manner they mean that the Church before the Reformation was not the one and the ſame Church with that of the Apoſtles. For if they were in effect two different Churches, and that we were obliged to chuſe one to have Communion with, or an Identity with, as they ſpeak, we ſhould not heſitate upon the choice. We ſhould have a thouſand times more Conſolation and Aſſurance to find our ſelves conformed to the Apoſtolick Church, then to be in nothing different from that which immediately preceded the Reformation; p. 41ſince the Apoſtolick ought to be lookt on as the Mother Church the Original, Exemplar, or Pattern to all the Ages following, from which it is not allowable to recede. Let the Author of the Prejudices then if he pleaſes do one of theſe two things, either ſhew us in the Church of the Apoſtles all thoſe things which we have not in Conformity with the Church that was immediately before the Reformation, and upon which ground he would have us be a new Church, let him ſhew us that there was Tranſubſtantiation there, the Real preſence, the Sacrifice of the Maſs, the Adoration of the Euchariſt, the Worſhipping of Images, the Invocation of Saints, the Worſhipping of Reliques, the Orders and vows of their Religious, the Caelibacy of Church-men, Worſhip in an unknown Tongue, Their Feaſts, Proceſſions, and in general all that, that according to him made us a new Church, differing from that which preceded the Reformation, or if he will not engage himſelf ſo far, let him at leaſt tell us after what manner he underſtands that the Church before the Reformation was not it ſelf a new Church differing from that which the Apoſtles eſtabliſhed. He cannot tell how to do the firſt of thoſe things becauſe it is abſolutely impoſſible, and he can never do the ſecond, becauſe his principles wholly oppoſe it, and in effect it is true, that thoſe who believed and practiſed all that which I have noted were not one and the ſame Church with that of the Apoſtles. If then he can do neither the one nor the other, he ought to look to it, how he means that his Church ſhould be the True Church of Jeſus Chriſt, for it is enough as to us, to find our ſelves conformable to the Church of the Apoſtles, ſince that being, as we are certain that it is, the ſame Body that God has Eſtabliſhed upon Earth, to which Jeſus Chriſt has promiſed a perpetual ſubſiſtence, and without which we ſhould very difficultly know preciſely how he has Executed his promiſe, we ſhould no ways doubt that we were the ſame Church which has ſubſiſted even down to the Time of the Reformation. For when we ſhould be ignorant of the manner how it has ſubſiſted, when we ſhould not be able to underſtand that, we ſhould be notwithſtanding certain, that it has ſubſiſted, ſince the word of Jeſus Chriſt is inviolable, and none can call it in queſtion without impiety, whence it follows that we are not a new Church, but the ſame which has always abode, and which was immediately before the Reformation.

p. 40That way which we hold to aſſure our ſelves of this Truth is not only good, ſolid, and certain, but it is yet further the only one that any Communion can or ought to hold, if it would be certain with a good Conſcience that it was the true Church of Jeſus Chriſt which has always ſubſiſted, and which will always ſubſiſt, I would ſay, it ought to compare it ſelf with the Church of the Apoſtles to know whether it be conformable to that, and as to what reſpects the following Ages, it ought to reſt aſſured upon the word of Jeſus Chriſt who has ſaid that he will be with his until the end of the World, for that certainty ariſes from thence, that being one with the Church of the Apoſtles, it is alſo one with that of all the Ages following. But if he will take another way, and ſay that Communion is the ſame with the Church of the fifteenth or ſixteenth Age, therefore it is the ſame with that of the Apoſtles, becauſe that Jeſus Chriſt has promiſed that his Church ſhall always ſubſiſt, it is evidently to expoſe himſelf to Error and Illuſion, and to follow a very falſe and deceitful way of Reaſoning; The Reaſon is evident, becauſe by this means one is liable to take that for the Church in the 15 or 16 Age which it may be is not ſo. For in that viſible Body which they call the Church mixed, there are two Parties, the one which is properly the Church, and the other which is not, the one which is the Wheat that the Son of God has ſown, and the other which is the Tares ſown by the hand of the Enemy, the one which is the good ſeed, and the other which is the chaff. But it may ſo fall out that the Tares ſhould exceed the Wheat, and that a heap of chaff ſhould cover the good ſeed, and by conſequence the conformity which they pretend to have with that Church, might be nothing elſe but a conformity with the Chaff and the Tares, and not with the Wheat which would be the greateſt of all Illuſions. But if they took the former way, they would be in no danger of falling into that Error, becauſe we know that in the Church of the Apoſtles the Wheat ſurmounted the Tares, the good grain the Chaff, and that that which appeared to their Eyes was of Jeſus Chriſt, and not of the wicked one, whence it follows that they could not be deceived in taking one Unity for another. This then is the way that we hold, and which by the Grace of God gives us great peace of Conſcience, thoſe who follow the other ought to take heed that they go not from it.

See here my firſt Anſwer, the ſecond is, That that which regards the Eſſence of the Church, never ought to be confounded p. 41with that which regards only its Condition. The Church as I have ſo often already ſaid conſiſts only in the truly Juſt and Faithful, and not in that confuſed heap of the worldly who Aſſemble with them under the ſame Miniſtry, and who partake of the ſame Sacraments. That therefore which makes the Eſſence of the Church, is the True Faith, Piety, and Charity, and it is moſt true that thoſe Vertues cannot be without the true Doctrine, diſintangled from all thoſe Errors which ſeparate us from the Communion of one only God, and the Mediation of one only Jeſus Chriſt. Whence it follows, That the True and pure Doctrine is the Eſſence of the Church. But it is alſo true, that while the Foundation of the True Doctrine remains in a Communion, and there is yet left there ſome liberty to the Minds and Conſciences of men, for the choice of the Objects of the Faith, and Practice of the Actions of Religion, how impure ſoever that Communion may be, whatſoever Errors may be Taught there, whatſoever falſe Worſhip they may practiſe there, how corrupted ſoever the Publick Miniſtry may be, there is always a means there to ſeparate the good from the bad, and to ſecure one's ſelf from this in holding to the other, without falling into Hypocriſy, or acting againſt the Dictates of ones Conſcience by falſe ſhews. But I affirm this to be the Condition of that Viſible Communion that we call the Latin Church immediately before the Reformation. I acknowledge that Tranſubſtantiation was believed there, the Real preſence, the Sacrifice of the Maſs, the merit of good Works, Purgatory, human Satisfactions, Indulgences, the Monarchy of the Pope, that they religiouſly Worſhipped the Images of God there, and thoſe of the Saints, that in thoſe days they gave a Religious Worſhip to Reliques, that they adored the Euchariſt there as being the very perſon of Jeſus Chriſt, that they then Invocated the Saints, and in a Word that they then believed and practiſed all that which they now believe and practiſe in the Church of Rome. But the foundation of Chriſtianity was as yet there, and we may truly ſay, that in that good which there was there, they had light enough to reject that which was bad. That Commandment alone, Thou ſhalt Worſhip one only God was enough to let a good Soul know that he ought not to adore either Saints or Angels, or to call upon them, or render any Religious Worſhip to their Images and Reliques, nor to take any Creature for the Object of this Devotion. The Doctrine of the Sacrifice of Jeſus Chriſt upon the Croſs, and that of his ſitting on the p. 44Right hand of God was ſufficient to make them reject thoſe of the Sacrifice of the Maſs, the Real preſence, Tranſubſtantiation, the Adoration of the Hoſt, Haman Satisfactions, Indulgences and Purgatory. For it is true that the Religion then was compoſed of two contradictory Parties that overthrew one another, thoſe who took things on the wrong ſide deſtroyed the good by the bad, for in adoring, for Example, the Saints and Angels they overthrew that good Doctrine, Thou ſhalt worſhip one only God: in believing the Sacrifice of the Maſs, and Tranſubſtantiation, they annihilated in effect, the Sacrifice of the Croſs, and they removed as much as in them lay Jeſus Chriſt from the Right hand of his Father. But thoſe who took things in a good ſence deſtroyed on the contrary the evil by the good: for in adoring one only God, they taught others not to pay any Religious Worſhip to Creatures; in placing their confidence in the Death of Jeſus Chriſt for their ſakes, they taught Learned to reject the Sacrifice of the Maſs, all humane Satisfactions; and in ſeriouſly believing that Jeſus Chriſt was in Heaven, they were diſ-abuſed about his corporal preſence on the Altars. In fine, they could each in particular very well do, what our Fathers did altogether when they Reformed themſelves, for their Reformation wrought nothing but what the ſame Doctrine, which they had, Taught them. One only God and one only Jeſus Chriſt made them reject all that they rejected. Beſides it is certain that the greateſt part of thoſe things which we believe contrary to the true Faith, were then Taught and received and practiſed in the Latin Church more by force of Cuſtom, then any publick Authority, that could impoſe any neceſſity on mens Conſciences even according to the principles of the Church of Rome at this day which leaves private men liberty enough to reject them. And when they ſhould come to be even publickly determined with all the neceſſary formalities, which they have not been yet, there would always remain to every private man a natural right to examine and reject them, ſince the Authority of Men, how great ſoever it be, can never bind the Conſciences of the Faithful. We do not therefore Queſtion but that God has always preſerved under that Miniſtry, a great number of perſons who have made that Separation of the good from the ill, and it is in thoſe that the Church may ſubſiſt. But beſides thoſe, how many ſimple people were there, whoſe own ſimplicity and ignorance hid them from thoſe Errors that then reigned in the Miniſtry. They knew enough to believe in one only God the Father p. 45Son and Holy Ghoſt, their Creator and Father, and in one only Jeſus Chriſt their Redeemer, Born Crucified, and raiſed again for them, and to practice without Superſtition all the Actions of Chriſtian Piety that thoſe Doctrines inſpired into them; but they did not know enough to believe the Sacrifice of the Maſs, Tranſubſtantiation, the real preſence, humane Satisfactions, the merit of good Works, and a multitude of other things that did not enter into them. Their knowledge was bounded with the Articles of the Creed, the Lords Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, which they received with all the ſubmiſſion of their hearts, and which they laboured to practiſe the beſt that they could, and we ought not to doubt that that knowledge alone, plain and diſintangled from all Error, which they had, furniſhed them with a ſufficient direction for their Salvation without their being bound to make a more expreſs rejecting of thoſe Doctrines they did not underſtand. But ſuppoſing that they had a knowledge of them, I ſay that we ought carefully to diſtinguiſh two ſorts of Times, the one in which the falſeneſs of a Doctrine or Worſhip is not ſo palpable diſcovered, and open to mens Eyes, that their ſhould be only a voluntary blindneſs or an ill Prejudice that ſhould hinder us from acknowledging and underſtanding how that Doctrine, and that Worſhip are contrary to the True Faith and Piety, and the other in which that falſeneſs and contrariety are ſo openly or publickly manifeſted, that one cannot be ignorant of them or not ſee them without ſhutting voluntarily ones Eyes. For in the ſecond of thoſe Times, every one is bound, for the integrity of his Faith and Religion and the preſervation of his Soul, earneſtly and publickly to reject thoſe Errors, to avoid them with an averſion, to withdraw from thoſe Aſſemblies where they are either taught or practiſed, and not to take part, how little ſoever, or if any do they have no excuſe for their crime, and this is the Time wherein we are at this day. But as to the former, it is enough not to be corrupted with them, without any abſolute neceſſity of teſtifying publickly that ſtrong averſion. In the ſecond Time, they ought to look on thoſe kinds of things as they are in Effect, becauſe they are fully diſcovered, and they may be ſeen in all that have them to be oppoſite to the glory of God and Salvation of men. But that Obligation can never be ſo ſtrong in the firſt Time becauſe there▪ one has neither the ſame light, nor the ſame helps, nor the ſame eaſineſs to own them to be ſuch as they are: not only meer natural Light dictates this Diſtinction, but Jeſus Chriſt himſelf has very p. 44well eſtabliſhed it in the Goſpel, If I had not come, ſays he, and John▪ 15.John 15ſpoken unto them, they had not had Sin, but now they have no Cloak for their Sin, which evidently eſtabliſhes thoſe two ſeaſons, I ſpoke of, the one wherein the Manifeſtation of good and evil is not yet ſo throughly made, that one can acknowledge them in their greateſt Latitude, and the other wherein it is ſo that one cannot without a crime know it confuſedly. But I ſay that before the Reformation they were in that firſt Time in regard of that which we call the Errors and Superſtitions of the Church of Rome, they were neither ſo well Examined, nor ſo clearly diſcovered, as they have been ſince, the Faithful then could not openly believe and practiſe them, for that could not be done according to us in any Time without deſtroying the true Faith and Piety, but they could look upon them with a greater indifference, bear them with far leſs Pain, nor ceaſe for all that from frequenting their Aſſemblies, from holding their peace, and contenting themſelves with keeping their own Righteouſneſs.

See here after what manner we believe that the Eſſence of the Church was preſerved before the Reformation. How corrupted ſoever the Miniſtry was, the Foundation of Chriſtianity remained there, and God had yet his remnant there according to the Election of Grace, that is to ſay his Truly Faithful. It was thoſe alone in all that great mixt body, who were the Church, for they only were in Communion with God and his Son, they alone enjoyed the benefits of the Goſpel Covenant; to them only, how ſmall a number ſoever they were pertained all the Rights and advantages of the Church of the External Society, of Aſſemblies, of the Miniſtry, of the Holy Scriptures, of the Sacraments, Government and Diſcipline according to the inviolable Maxim of Saint Paul, All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the World, or Life or Death, or things preſent or things to come, all are yours, and ye are Chriſts and Chriſt is Gods. All the reſt then which were without in that mixed Body which they Call the Latin Church and which had any Relation to that Religion, was not of the Eſſence of the Church, but its State, the mixture of Errors and Abuſes with the ſound Doctrine, the Corruptions of Worſhip, the Vices of the Miniſtry, the Superſtitious Ceremonies, the form of Government, the Religious as they ſpeak, that is to ſay, the divers Orders of Monks, the different degrees of the Hierarchy, Feaſts, Proceſſions, Faſts; and in a Word all that which has been noted in the Objection, and in which that Church was then different from p. 45the Proteſtant, All that I ſay belonged to the condition of the Church then, and could by conſequence be changed without making either the one or the other a new Church. That the Faithful found themſelves inſenſibly overpowred by almoſt an infinite number of the Worldly who mingled themſelves with them, as Tares with the Wheat, That thoſe worldly made themſelves Maſters of the Pulpits, the Miniſtry, the Councils, that they brought in Errors, Superſtitions, and Abuſes, that they changed the form of the Government of the Church, and that of the Publick Worſhip, all that does not reſpect the Eſſence of the Church, which conſiſts only in the True Faith, but its Condition, ſo that when our Fathers Reformed thoſe things, we may well ſay they Changed the State of the Church in their days, but not that they changed the Church, nor that they made a new one, and their Church will not ceaſe notwithſtanding that Change to be joyned by a true Succeſſion of Times and Perſons to that which was before. A Town full of Strangers who make themſelves more powerful there, left deſolate by thoſe popular diſeaſes which thoſe Strangers brought thither, and filled with thoſe diſorders which they cauſed does not ceaſe to be the ſame Town by a True Succeſſion of Times and Perſons, when thoſe Strangers ſhould quit it, and its good Citizens be eſtabliſhed in their Juſt and Lawful State, as heretofore Rome ſackt by the Goths, did not ceaſe to be the ſame Rome, when it was freed from them, and a River ſwelling with the Waters of the neighbouring Brooks, that make it overflow the Fields and break over its Banks, is yet the ſame River when thoſe Waters go back, and retire into their Ordinary Channel.