Historical Defense of the Reformation, Part 1 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV.
That ſuch a Corruption of the Latin Church as our Fathers had conceived, was no ways an impoſſible thing.
THeſe things, were well nigh, the chief Objects that ſtroke the minds of our Fathers, and cain'd them to a more ſtrict examination of the matters of that Religion. Whether thoſe motives were weak or ſtrong, juſt or unjuſt, I leave to the judgment of every rational man to determine.
But, ſome may ſay, what, did your Fathers never call to mind that ſo ordinary Maxim, and ſo generally receiv'd in their days, That the Church could not err, at leaſt in matters relating to Faith, and the general Rules of manners? and if they had ſo call'd it to mind, could they not by that very thing eaſily have repell'd all thoſe importunate prejudices of corruption which you have ſet before us?
It cannot be doubted but our Fathers did often think of it, but it cannot likewiſe be imagined, that they would not have endeavoured to ſearch a little more narrowly upon what that Maxim was founded, what conſtruction they ought to make of it, if in a word that Corruption, whereof they ſaw ſuch great ſigns had been a thing abſolutely impoſſible.
1. I ſay then, in the firſt place, that one of the thoughts that moſt naturally fell into their minds, upon this matter▪ was this, That the ſame thing which has happened almoſt in all human affairs, might very well befall the Chriſtian Religion in the ſpace of about five hundred Years, wherein it had been in the hands of the †Latins.Romans. Every one might obſerve it to be chang'd by the ſucceeding Age, to be rendred ſo as it could not be known, and to become quite another thing, than it was at firſt, according as they degenerated from their Original. That inclination that men had to alter the firſt inſtitutions of things, to add to them, or diminiſh from them, to give to them new Forms and new Cuſtoms, Reigned at leaſt as much in our Weſtern Parts, as among other Nations. It Reigned alſo ſo univerſally, that there was nothing reſerved from its Dominion, either in their Languages, or their Diſcipline, or their Profeſſions, or in the Governments of the People, or in their Laws, or in the Diſtribution of Juſtice, or in one word in any of thoſe things that depend in any manner whatſoever, on the management of men. It had been then a kind of Miracle, if Religion had been ſpared, and its Truth, its Worſhip and Cuſtoms regarded and kept with ſo great care, that nothing ſhould be altered in that, either by additions or diminutions. And we cannot ſay that Religion being ſo Heavenly and Divine a thing, is alſo above all thoſe accidents. For it is moſt true that it is Divine in it ſelf, and conſequently inviolable de jure, and of right; but there is none that ſees it not in effect too often violated through the raſhneſs of men; and our Fathers were not ignorant, that as perfectly holy as it was, yet it was found to be as much or more expoſed to the paſſions and diſorders of the Soul of man, in all other things.
2. But beſides that general Inclination which never fails to change things from their natural ſtate, our Fathers could not but know alſo, that all men did very much lean towards ſuperſtitions and errours in the matters of Religion; They ſaw the proofs of this in thoſe Chimaera's wherewith the falſe Religions had filled the World. Chimaera's that were yet ſo much the more ſtrange, as thoſe people who believed and authoriſed them, as the Greeks and Romans did appear, as to every thing elſe to have minds exceedingly inlightened [and refin'd] which made our Fathers clearly ſee that blinde love that men always had for errours in the matters of Religion. And without doubt that very thing carri'd them out to ſuſpect that that pretention to Infallibility was null and vain, and that there might very well be Corruptions in the State of the Church of thoſe times; for what likelihood was there, that that ill inclination ſhould have had no place among thoſe of the Latin Church, that it was wholly extinguiſh't beyond a poſſibility of returning, or that the Enemy of our Salvation would not make uſe of it for our deſtruction, or that having made uſe of it, it ſhould remain ſo long without any effect during the courſe of ſo many Ages?
3. The example of the Church of Iſrael, whereof the Bible teacheth us the Hiſtory, confirm'd our Fathers in thoſe thoughts. That was the very Church of God, as well as that of the Chriſtians; That Church was purchaſed by the Blood of Jeſus Chriſt, as well as ours, altho' that Blood had not yet been ſhed. God not only kept his Choſen and his truly Faithful under that Miniſtration, but he had not any other Church, nor any other Miniſtry in all the World, for the Salvation of his Children. Whence it follows not only that God had the ſame concern in the preſervation of the purity of that Church, as of that of the Latin Church, but that he had yet a far greater. For above this, that Church had external help for the Converſation of its purity, far greater than the Latin Church ever had. For it was ſhut up in one only people, and in one Country only. It had one Language only, one only Tabernacle, one only Temple, but one civil Government, but one only Political Law, and but one King; where the Weſtern Church had all thoſe apart in many places. And yet notwithſtanding all that, it could not be kept from Corruptions, not only at one, but divers times: not only in matters of ſmall Conſequence, but after a ſtrange manner, by a heap of depraved Traditions, by falſe gloſſes on the Law, by open Idolatries, and by a multitude of other things, wherewith their Prophets reproached them. Had they not then very great reaſon to think that the Latin Church, which had no peculiar promiſes that it ſhould be kept from Corruption, in being diſtinguiſht from that of Iſrael, was not more happy then that in the Conſervation of its Purity?
4. To this example of the Church of Iſrael, our Fathers adjoyn'd that of the Greek and other Eaſtern Churches, which God had at firſt honour'd with Chriſtianity, as well as the Latin; and that the times had nevertheleſs ſo disſigur'd them, that they did not any farther appear to be what they were heretofore. Indeed into what errours and ſuperſtitions did not thoſe Churches fall? And in how many points does not the Church of Rome find it ſelf to differ at this day from them? Some of them obſerve Circumciſion with Baptiſm, others keep up the ſacrificing of living creatures, after the manner of the Jews; ſome ſolemnly every Year Baptize their Rivers, and their Horſes; others believe that the ſmoke of Incenſe takes away their ſins; others hold, that the Prayers of the Faithful deliver from the pains of Damnation thoſe Souls that are then in Hell; others give Paſs-ports in due Form to the dying, to carry them to Paradiſe; and a thouſand other ſuch-like impertinencies that are found to be eſtabliſht among thoſe People: Why might it not be poſſible that the Latin Church ſhould have degenerated as well as thoſe Churches? Is it, that their Chriſtianity was from the beginning, different from that of the Latin's? or is it becauſe the Latin Church had ſome peculiar priviledges beyond all others? No, certainly, their Vocation was equal on one part, and on the other; and the nature of things being ſo, if thoſe Nations had corrupted themſelves, thoſe of Rome might corrupt themſelves as well as they.
5. Our Fathers who were not ignorant of thoſe Examples, could not but repreſent all to themſelves alſo in my judgment, the times paſt, wherein errours and corruption had viſibly prevail'd over the Truth, even then when thoſe very Churches of the Eaſt and Weſt were joyn'd together in one Body. They knew that that had paſt in the Council of Antioch, in favour of the Macedonians; in the Councils of Sirmium, of Milan, of Ariminum, at Selucia, and at Conſtantinople in favour of the Arrians; and in a Council at Epheſus, in favour of the Eutychians; without thinking of that which they ſaid of thoſe two Councils held at Conſtantinople in favour of the Iconoclaſtes [or aboliſhers of Images] the one under the Emperour Leo Iſaurious, the other under Conſtantine Copronimus. That very thing was an evident token to them, that the Latin Church might be very likely in their times fallen into other corruptions, and that errour had triumpht over truth. For it was not at all impoſſible, that that which had hapned frequently in reſpect of ſome errours, might not yet with greater ſucceſs and longer duration happen in reſpect of other errours.
6. Moreover, They obſerved that Councils of a great name among the Latins, as thoſe of Conſtance and Baſil, had been rejected and oppoſed by other Councils, and that in the moſt weighty points of Religion, to wit, in the Caſe of the Supreme Authority that ought to govern the Church upon Earth. For ſome rais'd the Authority of the Councils above that of the Pope, and others would have it, that the Popes ſhould have an abſolute and an independent, and perfectly Monarchical Rule over the Church; what could our Fathers conclude from ſo manifeſt a conteſt, if not, that it had a vaſt confuſion in it, and that it was exceeding neceſſary to the quiet ſetling of their Minds and Conſciences, to enter on an examination of that which thoſe men taught in the buſineſs of Religion?
7. Our Fathers were confirmed in that deſign, when they ſet before their eyes, thoſe obſcure Ages through which the Latin Church had paſt. For who knows not what the ninth, tenth, and eleventh Centuries were, not to ſpeak of thoſe that followed them? As for the ninth, Baronius is forc't to conclude the Hiſtory of it with ſaying; That it was an Age of affliction to the Church in general, and chiefly to the Church of Rome; as well by reaſon of the complaints it had againſt the Princes of the Weſt and Eaſt, and Baron, ad Ann. 899.the Schiſm of Photius, as by reaſon of inteſtine and implacable Wars, which had began then to be formed within the very Boſom of that Church. That this Age was the moſt deplorable, and diſmal, above all the reſt, becauſe thoſe who ought to have been watchful in the Government of the Church, not only ſlept profoundly, but the very ſame Perſons laboured all they could intirely to drown the Apoſtolick-Ship. For the Tenth, as there are very few Perſons but will acknowledge that it was buried in darkneſs more groſs then that of Aegypt, ſo it will be needleſs here to produce the proofs. The eleventh was ſcarce happier, and Baronius begins the Hiſtory of it with a remark of ſo univerſal a Corruption of manners, cheifly among the Church-men, that it had made way, ſays he, for the common beleif of the near approach of Antichriſt, and of the end Baron. ad. Ann. 1001.of the world. How could it be poſſible, that during ſuch gloomy times, Religion, Faith and Worſhip, ſhould be preſerved without any alteration? Saint Paul has joyn'd together Faith and a good Conſcience as two things that mutually ſuſtain one another, 1 Tim. 1.and has taken notice that thoſe who caſt off a good Conſcience; make Shipwrack of the Faith. In effect, ſaith Saint Chryſoſtome; then when men lead corrupted Lives, it is impoſſible they ſhould keep Chriſoſt, in 1 Tim. 1. hom. 5.themſelves from falling into perverſe Doctrines.
8. To theſe conſiderations, we might joyn that of the two ſorts of Philoſophies which ſucceſſively had reign'd in the Church, to wit, that of Plato, and the other of Ariſtotle, to whoſe principles they had ſtrove to accomodate the Chriſtian Religion. For it is ſcarce to be conceiv'd but that mixture of Platonic and Peripatetic Opinions with the Doctrines of Jeſus Chriſt, ſhould have defaced the Faith, and quite alter'd his true Worſhip. It was for this Reaſon that Saint Paul had caution'd the Faithful, to Coloſſ. 2.take heed that no one ſeduc'd them through Philoſophy, and vain deceitful reaſonings, after the Traditions of men, after the rudiments of the Wiſdom of the World, and not after Jeſus Chriſt.
9. They will ſay, without doubt, that all theſe conſiderations; how ſtrong ſoever they appear, do yet make no more then conjectures and likelihoods, which ought to have been immediatly ſtifled by the only name of the Church, which improves ſo profound a reſpect for it ſelf in the Souls of all true Beleivers. But that very thing ſerv'd but to increaſe the juſt ſuſpitions of our Fathers; They underſtood what reſpect they ow'd to the Church; but they were not alſo ignorant how eaſie it was to be deceiv'd by ſo ſpecious a Name. That viſible ſociety of men who profeſs Chriſtianity, which we call the Church, is not wholly compoſed of true Believers, it takes into its Boſome a great number of falſe Chriſtians, of wicked, Worldly and Hypocritical men, who are mingled with the good, as chaff amongſt the Wheat, or as the mud of the Stream is, with the Water of the Fountain. And as on the one ſide, the falſe Chriſtians are not all ſo, after the ſame manner, for ſome are full of light and knowledge, others of ignorance, ſome are prophane, others ſuperſtitious, one ſort are full of contrivances and intrigues in the affairs of Religion, others take little care of its intereſts; ſome are ambitious, others covetous, others fierce and inflexible, others full of impoſtures and deceits, according as we ſee thoſe different humours ordinarily reign among the men of the world; ſo on the other ſide, the true Beleivers who are in the ſame viſible Society, have not all of them the ſame Degree either of knowledge, or ſanctification, that they have more or leſs of natural light, more or leſs of ſupernatural grace, more or leſs of zeal, of courage, or of vigour, according to the meaſure of the Spirit that is communicated to them; it is now almoſt ſcarce conceivable, that that Medley ſhould not corrupt Religion in a long Train of Ages, and that it ſhould not cauſe to enter in, Maxims, Doctrines, Services and Cuſtoms far more conformable to the Spirit of the World, then to that of Jeſus Chriſt. There needs but a little leven, ſaith Saint Paul, to 1 Cor. 5.corrupt the whole Maſs. From thence, that two Parties, whereof the one is good, the other is evil, are joyned together, experience always inſtructs us, that the ill does far more eaſily deprave the good, then the good better the bad. And we cannot ſay, that God is bound to hinder that Corruption, and that otherwiſe his Church would Periſh from the Earth: For beſides, that it no way belongs to us to order ſo boldly what God is bound to do, or not to do, for the execution of his deſigns; it is certain that he has not hindred it, as we have but juſt before ſeen in the Church of the Jews, nor in the Eaſtern Chriſtian Churches, nor in the the whole Body of the Church in the time of the Arians. He has other ways to preſerve his Elect, and his ſincerely Faithful ones, who only are, to ſpeak properly, his Church; he can preſerve them in the midſt of a corrupted Miniſtry, and when that is become impoſſible, he knows how to ſeparate them from the wicked, and to draw them away from their Communion. But we will ſpeak to that more largely at the end of this Treatiſe.
10. To go on with our Remarks, That which I have ſaid ſupplies us with another, which is not leſs conſiderable than the reſt. It is in conſequence of that mixture of the good and the wicked in the ſame viſible Church, that it might fall out, and it has very frequently hapened, that the far greateſt Number, the external Splendour, Force, and Authority, is found among the Party of the wicked, and that they are cheifly thoſe who fill up the higheſt places in the Church. For as thoſe higheſt places yeild them honour, and the goods of the World in a very great meaſure, ſo it is very natural, that they ſhould be more hunted after and obtain'd by the men of the World, then by the truly Faithful, who ordinarily are not ſo violently carried out to thoſe things. After that manner, one may very often ſee the Government of the viſible Church to fall into exceedingly wicked hands, and then there needs but a capricious Humour, but a Paſſion, but an Intereſt, but a Whimſey, but ſome neglect or ſome other thing of the like nature, which it is not hard to conceive to be in ſuch Perſons as we ſuppoſe, to bring into the Church falſe Doctrines, and falſe Worſhip, to which thoſe of the beſt minds ſhall no ſooner oppoſe themſelves, but they ſhall be immediatly quell'd, which often forces them to keep ſilence, and to give way for a ſeaſon, till it ſhall pleaſe God to deliver them from that oppreſſion.
11. Could it not in the leaſt happen, that thoſe errours and ſuperſtitions that were but little taken notice of at firſt, ſprung up in the Schools, or among ſome other ſort of men, ſhould be by little and little, and inſenſibly ſpread over the Body of the Church, by the means of ignorance and negligence of the Paſtours? And might not the ſame thing fall out according to the pleaſure and intereſt that the Paſtors might take to ſee them eſtabliſh't? that in the end being found to be rooted in mens minds, and as I may ſo ſay, incorporated into Religion, they might be lookt upon as Traditions, or as Cuſtoms that for the future ought to be obſerv'd as Laws. No one can deny that a multitude of things had crept after that manner into the Latin Church; as the keeping back the Cup, which the Concil of Conſtance had taken Concil. Constan. Seſſ. 13.up in expreſs terms, as a Cuſtome that had been, ſays it, rationally introduc'd, and which ought to be kept as a Law. It was after the ſame manner that the Celibacy of Prieſts, the Worſhipping of Images, the Diſtinction of Meats, and many other things, which how particular [and private] ſoever they were at firſt, came after to be made publick, and in the end, to be changed into Articles of Religion.
12. All theſe Reflexions might ſerve to let our Fathers underſtand, that it was no ways impoſſible for the ſtate of the Latin Church to be corrupted; but beſides that Reaſon, thoſe examples, and that experience, which convinc't them of it, they yet farther ſaw the plain proofs of it in the Declarations of the Holy Scripture. For after whatſoever manner they expounded that Myſtery of Iniquity, of which Saint Paul ſpeaks to the Theſſalonians, which in his days had began to work, and that Captivity of God's People, 2 Theſ. 2. Apocal. 18.whom God commanded to go out of Babylon, leſt in partaking of its ſins, it partook alſo of its plagues, no one could avoid acknowledging from thoſe two places, but that a great Corruption muſt needs fall out in the viſible Church. The Myſtery of Iniquity which had began to work, or to form it ſelf, could not be conceiv'd of but under the Idea of a ſecret Plot, whoſe loweſt Foundations were laid in the very days of the Apoſtles, and which muſt at length after a long Train of Ages have come to its utmoſt pitch, and be manifeſted. And as to that other Paſſage, it ſuppoſes in the firſt place a Captivity of the People of God; Go out, ſays it, of Babylon. Secondly, a Captivity of that People, who did not yet fail to be the People of God, Go out of her, ſays it, my People. And in the third place, a Captivity, in which, while they abode, they were in danger of partaking of the ſins of their Oppreſſours, Leaſt, it adds, in partaking of its ſins, Yee partake alſo of its plagues. All that formed an Idea of a Church that groan'd under the weight of a great Corruption, which eaſily gave way to that thought, that it might poſſibly be the Latin Church as ſoon as any other, and that it might as well fall out in the times of our Fathers, as in any other ſeaſon.