Historical Defense of the Reformation, Part 2 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV.
That our Fathers had a Lawful and Sufficient Call to Reform themſelves, and to Labour to Reform others.
ALthough this Queſtion about the Call of our Fathers for a Reformation, is already ſufficiently decided, by what I have before Repreſented, ſince they cannot require a more lawful Call, then that which is founded upon the indiſpenſable Obligation of our Salvation, I ſhall not fail notwithſtanding, to Treat of this matter yet a little further, to omit nothing that may ſerve for our Juſtification.
I ſay then, that the chief thing that ought to be done to make a right Judgment of a Call, in the buſineſs of Religion, is to ſearch into what nature thoſe Actions are of, about which it is engaged, whether they be juſt or unjuſt, good or ill in themſelves; for there cannot be the leaſt lawful Call for that which is ill, but there is always one naturally for what is good, which I ſhall name a Call of things, to diſtinguiſh it from that Call of perſons whereof I ſhall ſpeak in the ſequel. But now upon this Principle, which to me ſeems indiſputable, we have little elſe to do, then to demand of our Adverſaries whether they do not believe, that as it is naturally juſt to embrace and to defend the Truth, ſo alſo that 'tis as juſt to reject and oppoſe Errors, and to baniſh them not only out of that Society wherein a man is, but even out of the world it ſelf as much as it lies in his power to do: We need, I ſay, but only to demand of them, whether they believe not, That a Falſhood has not in its own nature any right to be believed, or to be taught, and that it is for that Reaſon, that ſhe makes uſe of the Colours of Truth, to make her ſelf to be received under another Name then her own, becauſe that when ſhe appears in her natural dreſs, it excites, or at leaſt it ought to excite the hatred and averſion of men. I know very well that all Falſhoods do not equally deſerve that Averſion, and that there are ſome that may appear indifferent enough in compariſon of others, but I ſay that there are alſo ſome, of which one can't tell how to paſs ſo favourable a Judgment. Errors in Religion have a far different Character from thoſe in Philoſophy, and in Religion it ſelf thoſe which always when they arrive vitiate the mind and heart, are far more odious then thoſe which do not deprave the mind; and thoſe which hinder all the ſaving Eſſicacy of the Goſpel are infinitely more ſo; how much more when they are gathered together to an exceeding great number, and mutually uphold and ſuſtain one another, not unlike thoſe black Clouds which in the moſt Stormy days of Winter joyn themſelves one to another to make up but one general one, and to deprive us of the light of the Sun. Hitherto, poſſibly they will not conteſt any thing. But if it be reaſonable enough that there ſhould be no quarrel made about thoſe general Propoſitions, they ought not further to make any in this particular Queſtion, if the Actions of our Fathers were in their own nature good and juſt, ſince we ſuppoſe, not only, that thoſe things which they rejected and cauſed others to reject, were Errors, but alſo that they were Capital Errors of that laſt ſort which I ſpoke of juſt before, which one cannot look on without dread and amazement. For it is upon that ſuppoſition that we defend our Fathers, and if they diſpute it with us they ought to quit this diſpute about Forms, and to enter upon a Diſcuſſion of the very Foundation it ſelf.
They may alleadge, that they had a long continued poſſeſſion, in favour of thoſe things which our Reformers oppoſed; ſince they were found eſtabliſht in the Church many Ages ago; and that, as in a Civil Society, the Laws forbid thoſe to be moleſted, who are in a long and Antient poſſeſſion, and to be bound to produce their firſt Title, though at the ſame time it ſhould be maintained, that they are Uſurpers. So alſo our Fathers ought not to be heard any further, againſt the Sentiments and Cuſtomes which the Times had in ſome ſort conſecrated and made venerable. But this Anſwer will be of no Uſe to them; for not to alleadge here, That the greateſt part of thoſe Opinions and Practiſes were new, enough as has been ſufficiently Juſtified; not to ſay, that they had been publickly diſputed, and by conſequence, That that poſſeſſion whereof they ſpeak was not peaceable: Who knows not, that there can be nothing preſcribed in matters of Faith and Worſhip againſt the True Religion, ſince that Religion is of God in all its parts, and that there is neither any Time, nor Cuſtom, nor poſſeſſion that can make a true thing of a falſe, or a Divine inſtitution of a humane Tradition, or any Vertue of a Vice? In a Civil Society, Laws Eſtabliſh Preſcriptions with very good Reaſon, becauſe without them, the peace of the Community, which is the only end that thoſe Laws propound to themſelves, cannot be well preſerved. But in a Religious Society, the principal end is the Glory of God and Salvation of the Faithful, which are two things that are eſtabliſhed on certain Perpetual, and Invariable Foundations, and by conſequence have no reſpect to any long prepoſſeſſions on the contrary ſide how Antient ſoever they may have been. If Religion were capable of any ſuch Preſcriptions; Chriſtianity would be bound to let Paganiſm alone, for how long time paſt has Paganiſm been ſeated in the Poſſeſſion of the Faith of men? Saint Paul himſelf acknowledges it in thoſe very places wherein he exhorts ſuch to be Converted. Turn you, ſays he, from theſe Vanities unto the living God who made Heaven Acts. 14.and Earth, who in Times paſt ſuffered all Nations to walk in their own ways, and elſewhere, God having winked at the Times of Ignorance commands now all men every where to Repent. They cannot Acts. 17.therefore bring any thing of Preſcription againſt us, and it will always remain certain, that, if that which our Fathers have ſaid concerning the Corruption of the Latin Church in their days be true, as we ſuppoſe it to be, the Reformation was an Action good and juſt in it ſelf, and by Conſequence in that reſpect, they can have nothing to ſay againſt their Call to it.
But as it is not enough to eſtabliſh a Lawful Call, to ſuppoſe that what is done is good in it ſelf, and as it is further neceſſary that the perſon that does it ſhould have right to do it, it remains yet to be further inquired into, whether our Fathers had power to do what they did. For how many Actions are there that are juſt in themſelves which it does not belong to all the World to do, and which then become unjuſt and ill, when every one thruſts himſelf in of his own Authority without being lawfully called? It is not permitted, for Example, to all the World, to puniſh the wicked, although that puniſhment might be juſt, it is not permitted to all men to change publick Cuſtoms, although thoſe changes ſhould be good and advantageous to the Society. We ought then to ſee what Call our Fathers had to Reform themſelves, and others. But this Queſtion would be eaſily decided, if it be conſidered, that in all Societies there are two ſorts of Common Actions, the one fort of thoſe that are ſo Common, as to belong to all the Body taken Collective as they ſpeak in the School, and not to each particular perſon. So in a Parliament, to pronounce a Sentance, to abſolve a man, or to condemn him, they are the Actions of the whole Body, and not of each of thoſe who compoſe it, ſo, to declare War and to make peace, are the Acts of him or thoſe who hold all the Rights of the State in their hands. But there are other Actions which are ſo Common in a Society, as to belong to each particular perſon, or as they ſay to all Diſtributive, and not to all Collective. So, to give ones advice in an Aſſembly, is the Act, not of the whole Body, but of each particular perſon who compoſes it; and to live in a Kingdom, to contract Alliances, to poſſeſs one's goods, to labour, to defend one's ſelf againſt the incommodities of Life, are Actions ſo Common, as to belong to all particular Perſons. And ſo the Civilians have very well diſtinguiſhed, in ſaying, that there are ſome Acts which reſpect, Omnes ut ſingulos, and that there are others, which belong ad Omnes ut univerſos.
To Apply that Diſtinction only to our preſent Subject, I ſay, that in Religious Society which is the Church, Faith, Piety, Holineſs, and by Conſequence the Rejecting of Errors, of falſe Worſhip, and of Sins, are thoſe common Actions that belong to all private men. The Juſt Lives by his Faith, ſays the Scripture, and as it would be ridiculous to demand of any man in a Civil Society, what Perſonal Call he had to live, to labour to avoid that which would be hurtful to his Life, and to have a care of his own preſervation, ſo it is alſo an Abſurdity to demand of our Fathers, what call they had to believe aright in God, to worſhip him purely, and to remove far from them, all that which they believed to be contrary to a Spiritual-Life and their own Salvation: For they need not for that, any other Call, then the Obligation that lies upon every one to ſave himſelf, and the neceſſity of beating back all that which would oppoſe it ſelf to ſo juſt an Obligation, There are not in a Civil Society any certain Select Perſons, who only have a right to Live, to Act, and to labour for others, whilſt thoſe others ſhould be dead, or not able to move. So alſo there are none in a Religious Society, who ought to believe and to be good for others, whilſt thoſe others ſhould remain in ignorance or in ſin; and that Implicit Faith, which ſome have invented, by which a man is to believe in general that which the Church believes, to go no further, is in truth the moſt Commodious way of all others for thoſe men who have ſomething elſe to do then to ſerve God; but it is alſo moſt proper for the Damnation of men. Faith then is a thing ſo common as to belong to particular Perſons, ſhe is ſo one in the whole Body of the Church, as to diſtribute her ſelf to each one, and one could not be of that Body of the Church, if one were not a believer, as one could not be of the Body in a Civil Society, if one were not a man and had not Life. So, each man, has not only a perſonal Call, but lies alſo under an Obligation to believe, and to live as a good Chriſtian, whence it follows, that each man has a Call to remove far from him all that he ſhall judge to be contrary to the Truth of his uprightneſs, Faith, and Piety, as alſo that being under an Obligation to live Holily, and Juſtly, he has a Call to avoid Sins, and to repent of them when ſoever he ſhall commit them.
But is not this, ſome will ſay, to rend the Church by Diviſions, and to make ones ſelf guilty of a Schiſm, ſo to reject, out of ſelf-will, the common Sentiments and Cuſtomes, without the conſent of the whole Society? No certainly, for the true Union of the Church does not conſiſt in holding of Errors, how common ſoever they may be, nor in any falſe-worſhip, after what manner ſoever it be Eſtabliſhed. Theſe things do not only, not belong to a Chriſtian Communion, but they deſtroy it, as diſeaſes, how popular and general ſoever they may be, do bring nothing but deſolation on a Civil Society, inſtead of being the Bonds to Unite it. So the Union of the Church doth not bind any perſon in that reſpect; on the contrary, it engages us to ſhew our Brethren a good Example in beginning to Reform by our ſelves. For the greater Love any one has for the Church, the more he ought to free it from thoſe evils that preſs in upon it, and eſpecially then when thoſe evils ſhall put it into a manifeſt danger of Ruin. If it is ſo, our Adverſaries will yet further reply, Is not that ſome way to break that Communion, when thoſe things that you renounce, are Publick and common? I confeſs, that it is to break a Society, but a bad Society, which being againſt the right of Chriſtianity, gives no lawful Call to any perſon to enter into it, or to defend it, but on the contrary, ſhe gives a Call to all, and binds them at the ſame time to break and oppoſe it. A Corrupted Church has two bonds of its Communion, the one conſiſting in what is good, the other in what is ill, the one of which makes it to be a Church, the other a Corrupted Church, the one binding not only men among themſelves, but with God alſo, and the other, that in Uniting men among themſelves, tends to divide and ſeparate them from God. The former of thoſe bonds ought to be regarded, and preſerved intire, as much as lies in our power, but the Second is a mortal bond, which no perſon has a right to make, and which all men have a Call and Obligation to diſſolve. It is as certain, that the firſt of thoſe bonds gives us a right, and Call to Act againſt the other; for Truth and Piety Authoriſe us againſt Error and Superſtition, and it is the Love that we bear to the Church that opens our mouths againſt its Corruptions. There can then be nothing further conteſted about the perſonal Call of our Fathers concerning their own Reformation. But had they any Right to Labour in the Reforming of others? Who can doubt it? Charity would have bound them to procure that good for others, which they had thought it their duty to procure for themſelves. That Chriſtian Communion in which they lived among their Brethren, did not leſs oblige them to it. The Intereſt of the Glory of God which appeared to them to cry loudly for a general Reformation urged them on to it, and their own Innocence exacted it of them that they ſhould make it appear to the Eyes of the Publick, in laying open the Foundations of thoſe Errors, which they were conſtrained to forſake, which could not well have been done without exhorting others to imitate them. Being then bound to all theſe Duties, none can deny, that they had not a ſufficient Call to ſtir up their Brethren to Reform themſelves with them.
That which I have ſaid will appear more evident, if we paſs on to the Conſideration of the Circumſtances of the Reformation, for we have already ſeen after a long and vain Expectation, there could be nothing more hoped for on the ſide of Rome or its Prelats. We have ſeen alſo that the evils whereof our Fathers made ſuch Complaints, and which they would have cured, did not lye in things indifferent, that were trivial or tolerable, but in the very Eſſentials of Religion; and theſe two Circumſtances added to what I have juſt before repreſented, let us ſee that our Fathers were not only in the right, and not only under an Obligation, but under a neceſſary and indiſpenſable Obligation to do that which they have done. I confeſs that if the Court of Rome and its Clergy would have laboured in good earneſt for a Reformation, it had been the Duty of our Fathers to have received it from their hands; for how rude and corrupt ſoever their Call had been, that Action had rectified it. I confeſs alſo that if the Diſpute had been only about things of ſmall imporſtance, our Fathers had done better to have kept themſelves quiet, as I have acknowledged in the foregoing Chapter. But they can alleadge neither the one nor the other; for Rome and its Biſhops were obſtinate in the deſign to Reform nothing, and matters were reduced to the very utmoſt extremity, ſo that the Call of our Fathers appears yet more indiſputable, being grounded on theſe three Foundations, of Right, of Obligation, and Neceſſity, and that ſame Neceſſity was ſo much the greater, as the evil was more inveterate, and had ſpread it ſelf almoſt over all the parts of the Body of the Church to which thoſe words of Iſaiah might be generally applied. From the Crown of the head to the ſole of the foot there was no ſoundneſs in her.
But if any would have us yet further Examine the other Circumſtances, they will find that they all concur to eſtabliſh that Call whereof we Treat: I rank in this place all thoſe extraordinary Qualities wherewith it pleaſed God to inrich thoſe among our Fathers who contributed moſt of all to the work of the Reformation. Who may not perceive in them a lively and penetrating underſtanding, a ſolid Judgment, an exquiſite and profound knowledge, an indefatigable propenſion to Labour, a wonderful readineſs to compoſe and to deliver, an exceeding exact ſtudy of the Scripture, and the Principles of the Chriſtian Religion, a great and reſolute Soul, an unſhaken courage, an upright Conſcience, a ſincere love of the Truth, an ardent zeal for the Glory of God, a ſolid Piety, without Hypocriſie, and without Pride, a plain and open Carriage, an intire diſengagement from the things of the World, an admirable confidence in God, and in his Providence, a Cordial Friendſhip to all good men, and the greateſt averſion to the Vices, Prophanation, and Sophiſtry of others? Theſe were the Gifts and Talents wherewith the Divine Favour Honoured the greateſt part of them, there yet remains the livelieſt Characters of them in their Writings, and they were as the Seal wherewith God would confirm their Call. For when his Wiſdom deſigns perſons to any great work, it is wont to beſtow on them thoſe neceſſary qualifications to acquit themſelves in it, and we may ſay without fear of being charged with derogating from the Truth by thoſe who know Hiſtory, that from the Sixth Age until that of our Fathers, that is to ſay, for the ſpace of more then nine hundred Years, there could not be found any ſpace of Time ſo fertile in great men, as that of the Reformation was which ſhews that God had a deſign to make uſe of them for that Work, as the event has juſtified.
Add to all that, The Ardent and almoſt Univerſal deſire among the People to ſee a good Reformation ſpring up in the Church; for even that is a yet further Seal to the Call of the Reformers, in as much as it is a Teſtimony that God had markt out that Age wherein to purge his floor, as the Scripture ſpeaks. Who knows not that that deſire was ſuch, as neither the Artifices, nor the Violences, nor the Calumnies wherewith they laboured to darken the Reformation, could wholly put a ſtop to. The Church was left in Ignorance, and in Superſtition, ſhe panted after the Light of the Goſpel, which had been for ſo long a Time hid under a dark vail, and that general Diſpoſition wherein ſhe was, may let us ſee that the Time of her Deliverance was come.
But, laſtly, is it not true, that then the greateſt part of thoſe who laboured in that Reformation, were Eccleſiaſtical perſons, whom the Duty of their place obliged more particularly then others, to root out Errors from the minds of men, to purify Religion, and to endeavour that God ſhould be worſhipped according to his Will? Every one knows that Luther, and Zuinglius who appeared the firſt in that Great Work, were not only Prieſts, but ordinary Preachers alſo, the one at Wittenburg, and the other at Zurich, and that the former was Profeſſour in Divinity. And they are not ignorant that thoſe who joyned themſelves to them to advance that deſign, were alſo in Publick Offices in the Church, as the whole Univerſity of Wittenburg, a very great Number of Prieſts, and other Church-men, with Biſhops, and Arch-Biſhops in Germany, in Swedeland, and in Denmark, and ſome even in France, and the whole Body of Biſhops in England. They will ſay, it may be, that the Pope Excommunicated them all, whence it follows that they had no more either any publick Call, or lawful Miniſtry. But that Anſwer would be fallacious; For the Pope having Excommunicated them for nothing elſe, but that buſineſs of the Reformation, his Excommunication can be conſidered no otherwiſe then as null in this Cauſe, without an Obligation to enter upon an Examination of the Validity of his Thunders in general. In effect, if they did their Duty, if they obeyed their Call in Reforming themſelves, and in reforming their Flocks, it ought not to be queſtioned, that thoſe Excommunications which they ſuffered for ſo good a Cauſe, did not fall, of right, upon thoſe who unjuſtly pronounced them, and that not only what our Reformers had done before, but alſo what they did afterward, was well and lawfully done. Who can deny that an Excommunication contrary to the Glory of God, to the good of the Church, and to the Salvation of men, ſhould not not be Null? But if the Reformation was juſt, and the Glory of God, the good of the Church and the Salvation of the People called for it, as we ſuppoſe they did in this Diſpute, they may very well ſee that the Thunders of Rome, upon this Subject are unjuſt, and by conſequence of no conſideration. They ought not then to propound things ſo to us, nor to deny the firſt Reformers to be publick perſons who had a part in the Miniſtry of the Church, and who for that Reaſon had a moſt ſtrict Obligation to Labour in the Re-eſtabliſhment of its Purity. And to declare what we think; thoſe Excommunications of the Popes were ſo far from diminiſhing the Right and Call of the firſt Reformers, that they did on the contrary confirm them the more, and that for two Reaſons. The one, in that they made them ſee more and more, that they could hope for nothing on the part of Rome, or the Biſhops of its ſide, from whence there aroſe an indiſpenſable neceſſity on our Fathers to employ themſelves in it; and the other, in that thoſe pretended Excommunications furniſht them alſo with a juſt Subject, of laying open more and more to the Eyes of the people, the groſs and fundamental Errors, whoſe Protection the Popes took up with ſo great an Ardour. To which I add, That as much as the Popes and the Prelats of their party oppoſed themſelves to the Reformation, ſo much they loſt of that Right which yet remained to them in that publick Miniſtry, which they abuſed with ſo great Injuſtice, and that very thing did but ſtrengthen the Right of the other Party, and render their Miniſtry more Publick and more Lawful. For in thoſe conteſts that divide a Body or a Society, that which one of the parties loſes by its ill Conduct, is re-aſſembled together and reunited in the other. But as it is only proper to our preſent purpoſe to Treat of the Call that our Fathers had to Reform themſelves and to Labour to Reform others, that is to ſay, meerly to reject Errors, and to excite others to do the ſame; and not to go further to talk of their Right, or Call to the publick Miniſtry; We ought not to inſiſt more upon this matter, which ſhall be Treated of in its place. In effect, there are two ſorts of Calls which we ought not to confound, That of the Reformation, and that of the perpetual Exerciſe of the Goſpel-Miniſtry. And the Author of the Prejudices himſelf ſeems to have Judiciouſly enough diſtinguiſhed them, when he lays down two ſorts of Separation, the one Negative, which conſiſts only in a rejecting of thoſe things that are ill; and the other Poſitive, which goes ſo far as to ſet up a Body apart with the Exerciſe of the Miniſtry. We ſhall therefore ſpeak elſewhere of the Right that our Fathers had to ſet up a publick Miniſtry, and it ſhall ſuffice for the preſent to have ſolidly Eſtabliſhed their Call to Reform.
To ſhut up this Chapter, it remains only that we ſpeak a Word to a Queſtion, which they here raiſe about this Call, in the ſame ſence in which we here conſider it! For they demand of us whether it was Ordinary or Extraordinary? To which I Anſwer, That it was both the one and the other, in different reſpects. It was Ordinary as to its Right, ſince all men have an Ordinary and perpetual Right to reject Errors, and Superſtitions, and to employ themſelves in making their Brethren to reject them, according to the Common Laws of Piety, and Charity. The Paſtors alſo have an Ordinary and perpetual Right to do the ſame Thing, and to make uſe of that Publick Authority which their Function gives them for the guidance of their Flocks. It was Ordinary as to the Obligation which lay as well upon the People as the Paſtors to do that which they did, becauſe it was a Law of Chriſtianity, and not a new Law or Commandment that bound them to it, their Duty was founded upon the principles of that very Goſpel, and of the ſame Chriſtian Religion which Jeſus Chriſt had Founded, and whereof they made a Profeſſion. But I affirm that it was likewiſe Extraordinary in two things.
Firſt of all, in reſpect of that extream and indiſpenſable Neceſſity which lay upon them, to do what they did. For although we have always a Right to reject thoſe Errors, and that falſe Worſhip which may creep into the Church, and although we ſhould be always bound to make uſe of it alſo, if it were ſo, yet it is not always Neceſſary to come to the practiſe, or the Exerciſe of that Right and of that Obligation, at leaſt to ſo Publick and Splendid a one as that of our Fathers was, becauſe the Church is not always in a State of Confuſion and Diſorder, as ſhe was in their Time. Things Ordinarily glide away in a more regulated courſe; the Publick Miniſtry is more pure, and the Goſpel more diſingaged from the oppreſſion of Traditions, or Humane Superſtitions.
Secondly, That Call was Extraordinary in reſpect of thoſe qualities wherewith God inveſted our firſt Reformers, and thoſe who joyned with them in ſo great a work; for it is not an Ordinary thing to ſee ſuch eminent gifts, and that in ſo great a Number, as thoſe which appeared in the Age of the Reformation, accompanied with ſuch an Heroical Spirit, as our Fathers had, and ſuch a great Love for the purity of the Goſpel, as the People had, who received their Inſtructions; All which conſtrains us to acknowlede, a particular and ſpecial Providence of God, throughout the whole Conduct of that great Divine Work, who raiſed up Labourers, fitted for the Harveſt which he had prepared.