The Novelty of Popery Opposed to the Antiquity of True Christianity, Book 7 · Controversy 1 · Chapter 7
CHAP. 7. What was the opinion of the Fathers of the three firſt ages, and till the midſt of the fourth, about the invocation of Saints and Angels.
THis queſtion among equitable and pious men is ſuperfluous. For after the will of God is known, in vain ſhould one enquire of the opioion of men. Beſides, the Cardinal did acknowledge before, that even in Auſtins time, that is 420. years after the Lords birth, the Church had decided nothing yet about that point, whether the Saints behold the face of God before the reſurrection; which by conſequent draweth with it a doubt about the invocation of Saints.
Nevertheleſs, we owe to the Doctors of the firſt ages, a juſt defence againſt thoſe that attribute unto them things contrary to the purity of the faith, and their own intention.
We muſt know then, that in the three firſt ages, and above the half of the fourth, the invocation of Saints was a thing unknown in the Chriſtian Church, and God alone was invocated. All the teſtimonies that the Cardinal could gather from thoſe ages, ſpeak of the interceſſion of Saints, nothing of the invocation.
In the fourth Book of the Hiſtory of Euſebius, chap. 15. we have the hiſtory of the Martyrdom of Polycarpus Biſhop of Smyrna, a Diſciple of Saint John, near the time of the Apoſtles: There it is related, that this holy Martyr being dead, ſome by the ſuggeſtion of the Jews, deſired the Governour of Smyrna that the body of Polycarpus ſhould not be given to the Chriſtians for fear (ſaid they) that they ſhould come to worſhip him. But the Church of Smyrna which ſet down this hiſtory in writing ſaid upon that.(a)foreign. They know not that we can never leave Chriſt, who ſuffered for the ſalvation of all them that are ſaved in all the world, nor ſerve any other but him. For as for Jeſus Chriſt who is the Son of God, we worſhip him. But as for the Martyrs, we love them deſervedly, as the Diſciples and followers of the Lord. This is an excellent teſtimony, and of the firſt Chriſtian antiquity.
Ignatius who lived in the 140. year of the Lord, in the Epiſtle to the Philadelphians ſpeaks thus,(b)foreign. You Virgins have none but Jeſus Chriſt alone before your eyes in your prayers, and the Father of Jeſus Chriſt.
Clemens Alexandrinus in the ſeventh book Stromaton, (c)foreign.Therefore with reaſon there being but one only truly good, which is God, both we and the Angels pray to him alone, that of good things he would give us ſome, and that ſome may remain with us.
Irenaeus who writ about the year of the Lord 220. in the ſecond book,(d)Eccleſia nec inrocationibus Angelicis facit aliquid, nec incantationibus, nec aliqua prava curioſitate, ſed mundè & purè & manifeſtè, orationes dirigens ad Dominum, qui omnia fecit, & nomen Domini noſtri Jeſu Chriſti invocans, &c. The Church doth nothing neither by invocation of Angels, nor by inchantments, nor by any ill curioſity; but purely, ſimply and openly ſhe addreſſeth her prayers unto God who made all things, and calling upon the name of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, who hath made Vertues according to mens utility, not to ſeduce them.
Tertullian that lived in the ſame time, in chap. 30. of his Apologeticus,(e)Haec ab alio orare non poſſum, quàm à quo me ſcio conſecuturum, quoniam & ipſe ſolus eſt qui praeſtat, et ego ſum cui impetrare debetur, famulus ejus qui eum ſolum obſervo. I cannot (ſaith he) ask theſe things of any but of him, of whom I know that I ſhall obtain them, becauſe he is the only that performs them, and I am he for whom they muſt be obtained, even his ſervant that reverence him alone. The ſame in the thirty third chapter of the book of Preſcriptions calls the ſervice of Angels idolatry.
Novatianus, whoſe book of the Trinity is added to the works of Tertullian, chap. 14. proveth the Godhead of Chriſt by the invocation, which is deferred unto him.(f)Si homo tantummodo Chriſtus, cur homo in orationibus Mediator invocatur, cum invocatio hominis ad praeſtandam ſalutem inefficax judicetur? If Chriſt (ſaith he) is but a man, why is a man invocated as a Mediatour, ſeeing that the invocation of a man is judged of no efficacy for ſalvation?
Origen that writ about the year 250. Tom. 8. againſt Celſus, (g)foreign.We muſt pray to him alone, who is God above all things. To him alſo we muſt pray, who is the Word, the only Son of God, the firſt born of all creatures.
And in the fifth Tome diſputing againſt the invocation of Angels. The knowledge [of Angels] repreſenting unto us their nature, and the condition in which they are eſtabliſhed, (h)foreign.will not permit us to be ſo bold as to call upon any other but him who is God above all things, all-ſufficient, by our Lord Jeſus Chriſt the Son of God. And in the ſame book, We hold that they that pray, muſt not be prayed to: As alſo themſelves like it better, that we addreſs our prayers to him whom they pray to.
Neither doth he only impugne the invocation of Saints, but in ſome places he doubteth of their interceſſion, as in his ſecond book and chap. 2. upon the Epiſtle to the Romans, (i)Jam vero ſi etiam extra corpus poſiti vel ſancti qui cum Chriſto ſunt agunt aliquid & laborant pro nobis ad ſimilitudinem Angelorum, &c. habeatur & hoc quoque inter occulta Dei, nec chartulae committenda myſteria.If the Saints that have put off their bodies and are with Chriſt, do any thing, and labour for us like the Angels that exerciſe the myſteries of their ſalvation, &c. Let that alſo be put among the ſecret myſteries of God, which muſt not be committed to paper. Note theſe words, If they labour for us; that M. du Perron may not ſay, that Origen doubts, whether the deceaſed Saints do yet meritorious works. For he ſpeaks not of the labour of the Saints for themſelves, but for us. What the Cardinal anſwereth Origen, will be ſeen in the following chapter.
Athanaſius eſpecially inſiſteth upon this point, and thereby fights againſt the Arrians, who prayed to Chriſt, and yet ſaid that he was a creature. And he maintaineth, that if he be created, he muſt not be invocated.(k)foreign In the third Oration againſt the Arrians he ſpeaks thus; That we may not fall into the folly of the Arrians and Grecians who ſerve the creature inſtead of God the Creator of all things. There is in the Greek foreign, that yield dulia unto the creature, rejecting thoſe expreſly that yield the cult of dulia unto the creature, and condemning thoſe who taking Chriſt for a creature, yet yielded dulia unto him.
In the ſame Oration,(l)foreign, &c. To God alone it belongeth to be worſhipped: and the Angels themſelves know ſo much. For although they excell in glory, ſome of them being above the others, yet they are all creatures, and are none of thoſe that are worſhipped, but of thoſe that worſhip the Lord. And in the fourth Oration, It is manifeſt, that the Patriarch Jacob in his prayer joyned none with God, but him only who is the Word, whom for this cauſe he called Angel, becauſe it is he alone who manifeſteth the Father unto us.
By that chiefly he proveth the Godhead of Chriſt, becauſe he muſt be invocated and adored.(m)foreign, &c. foreign. Though the Arrians (ſaith he) ſhould burſt Jeſus Chriſt ought not to be worſhipped, if in any reſpect he had been a creature. But now becauſe he is not a creature, but is engendred of the very ſubſtance of the Father who is worſhipped, and by nature is Son of God, therefore is he worſhipped. the Arrians had a broad gate open to eſcape by anſwering, We do not worſhip Chriſt with any ſoveraign adoration, nor with a cult of latria, but with an inferiour kind of worſhip. But that diſtinction was not yet invented, becauſe it was a conſtant opinion among all Chriſtians, that none muſt be invocated but God.
Among the works of that Father by a notorious falſification a book was inſerted of the Virgin Mother of God, where ſhe is invocated and called our Lady and Queen. It is a book much of the ſtyle of Dionyſius the Author of the celeſtial Hierarchy, from whom it borroweth the terms of Thearchia and Hierarchia, and the nine orders of Angels, and he makes ridiculous clinches between foreign and foreign. The Author falſly ſaith that Salathiel and his ſon Joſedec have been High Prieſts ſince the captivity of Babylon. The ſame ſaith, that in God there are three hypoſtaſes, which is contrary to the opinion of Athanaſius, who acknowledgeth but one hypoſtaſis in God, becauſe he holds that hypoſtaſis ſignifieth eſſence, not perſon.(n)Editionis Commelianae p. 450. & 719. foreign. That may be ſeen in the Epiſtle to the Antiochians, and in the Epiſtle to the Africans, where he ſaith, hypoſtaſis is eſſence, and ſignifies nothing elſe. In effect, that book is full of abſurdities, and hath nothing of Athanaſius. Bellarmin himſelf in the book of Eccleſiaſtical writers, and Baronius, an. 48. acknowledgeth that falſification.
The Canon of Laodicea, Can. 35.(o)foreign. Chriſtians muſt not leave the Church of God, and go and call upon Angels, and make aſſemblies, which are forbidden things. And if any be found giving themſelves to that ſecret idolatry, let him be accurſed, becauſe he hath forſaken the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and hath applyed himſelf to idolatry. This Canon is manifeſtly made againſt ſome Chriſtians (for Synods make no prohibitions to Pagans or Jews) who beſides common Congregations had ſecret conventicles, in which they called upon the Angels: And this is that, which the Council calls leaving the Church of God, and leaving Chriſt. Of which Canon, and the interpretation which Theodoret gives to it, it was ſpoken in the precedent chapter.
Lactantius in the ſecond book of divine inſtitutions, chap. 17. Angels have nothing elſe to do but to obey. (p)Nec eſt in Angelis niſi parendi neceſſitas. Itaque nullum ſibi honorem tribui volunt, quorum bonor in Deo eſt. Et cap. 18. Qui ſupplicant mortuis, rationem hominum non tenent.Therefore they will not have any honour beſtowed upon them: For their honour is in God. Again, let us worſhip nothing, and let us ſerve nothing, but the only Godhead of our Maker and Father.
All theſe teſtimonies are taken from the Fathers, that lived in the three firſt Ages after Chriſt, and till half of the fourth. In all that time no trace is found of the invocation of Saints. In vain M. du Perron anſwereth that thoſe Fathers ſpeak of the abſolute adoration due to God alone, not of the relative adoration which is deferred unto Saints and Angels: For he ought to bring ſome teſtimony out of their writings, that ſpeak of that relative adoration or invocation; or of that religious ſervice which our Adverſaries call dulia. But of that not one word was ſpoken in ſo many Ages. That diſtinction was forged a long time after. We have ſhewed already that all adoration is relative, and that the invocation and adoration which is deferred unto God, is relative unto God.
The Cardinal in the fourteenth chapter of the Treatiſe of the Invocation of Saints, promiſeth to prove that even before the four firſt Councils, that is, in the three firſt ages, the invocation of Saints was in uſe. But he abuſeth the Reader, for well nigh all the texts which he brings are from Authors that have written a long time after the firſt Council. Thoſe by whom he begins, are Baſil and Gregory Nazianzen, who wrote about the year of the Lord 375. both which lived in Cappadocia, where that ſuperſtition firſt ſprung in all likelyhood, and thence ſpred abroad. This is a notorious fraud, to promiſe in the title of the Chapter, to ſhew the general practiſe of the invocation of Saints uſed in the Church before the four firſt Councils, but in that chapter to bring none but Authors that have written ſince the firſt Council. It is true, that among a multitude of teſtimonies of the poſteriour Ages he alledgeth ſome of the three firſt Ages. But thoſe texts ſpeak not of the invocation, but only of the interceſſion of Saints.
Theſe teſtimonies then the Cardinal alledgeth of the three firſt Ages.Pag. 1008. He alledgeth Gregory Nazianzen, who in the Oration upon Cyprian ſaith, that St. Juſtina ſollicited to wantonneſs by the magical arts of Cyprian, before he was converted to the Chriſtian faith, had recourſe to the interceſſion of the Virgin Mary. But as that narrative is fabulous and injurious againſt Cyprian, ſo is Gr…gories belief, that in Cyprians time the Saints were invocated. He that in one point gives fables for hiſtories, will not ſtick to do the like in another. Baronius in his Martyrology upon Sept. 26. ſpeaks of another Cyprian that was of Antioch, and was martyrized at Nicomedia. But what he ſaith of him, he draws out of Legends, which have little authority. Beſides, this doth not excuſe Gregory Nazianzen, who relates this of Cyprian of Carthage.
The Cardinal alledgeth alſo Euſebius, who in the twelfth book of the Evangelical preparation, chap. 1. ſaith, that Plato had got among the Hebrews his opinion, that the ſouls of the deceaſed take care of humane things, and that the Hebrews hold, that Jeremiah was ſeen praying for the people after his deceaſe. But though we ſhould receive Plato among the Prophets, and the things related of Jeremiah in the Maccabees as true, yet that place is unfit to prove, that the Saints muſt be prayed to. That example, like the other, may be uſed to prove that the Saints pray for us, not that we ought to pray to them. The ſame I ſay of the words of Origen upon the thirty ſecond chapter of Numbers, Hom. 26. where he ſaith, Who doubts but that every one of the Holy Fathers helps us by his prayers? The ſame alſo may be ſaid of all the teſtimonies of Origen and Cyprian, which M. du Perron alledgeth after, pag. 1010. who all ſpeak of the interceſſion of Saints, not of the invocation to be deferred unto them.
Wherefore in page 1009. being preſt by the truth, he pleads guilty, and ſaith, that in the Authors that lived nearer the Apoſtles times, no footſteps are found of that cuſtom of calling upon the Saints. And in vain he alledgeth, that moſt of their writings are loſt. For we have the works of Juſtin, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, Tertullian, Cyprian, Arnobius, Lactantius, Athanaſius, Euſebius and others, who both in number and bulk are more then ſufficient to ſhew us the belief of the antient Church.
Certainly if the writings of the Fathers were the ſoveraign rule of our faith, there would be no reaſon why we ſhould receive a doctrine, not received in the three firſt ages, and which began to ſpring in the end of the fourth.
We cannot paſs by the Cardinals notorious falſification in the ſame place,(q)Ch. 14. p. 1000. where he alledgeth Euſebius. He makes Euſebius to ſay, that Plato taught, that vertuous men muſt be honoured, and that their monuments muſt be venerated or adored. Thats falſe. Euſebius never attributed that doctrine to Plato, and the firſt chapter of the twelfth book of the Evangelical preparation which M. du Perron quoteth in the Margin, ſpeaks not a word of that. Indeed Euſebius chap. 3. alledgeth the book of Maccabees, ſaying that Jeremiah after his death was ſeen praying for the people, as taking care of men that are on earth; but he ſpeaks not of worſhipping the monuments of vertuous men, as the Cardinal ſaith, who not underſtanding Greek, hath tranſlated foreign, humane things. For our part we would not deny, that the Saints are praying for Gods people in general: but the queſtion is, Whether they pray for every particular man; and whether they underſtand their prayers.
The place that followeth, which he alledgeth out of Euſebius, ſpeaks no more then the other of the invocation of Martyrs, but of prayers unto God by their ſepulchres, and of the honour deferred unto their memory. In the ſame place he alledgeth Euſebius again, in the ſixth Book of his Hiſtory, chap. 5. where Saint Potamina ſpeaks thus to one of the guards that led her to execution, and defended her againſt the fury of the people,(r)foreign. That after her departure ſhe would pray to her Lord, and that he would ſhortly pay him the recompence of that he had done for her. The Cardinal having but little Greek, thus tranſlateth that place, That preſently after her death, ſhe would pray to God for him, and obtain for him grace and pardon from the Lord. He truſted (it ſeems) ſome other mans interpretation, whom he employed to underſtand Greek for him. That paſſage indeed may prove that Potamiana believed, that the Saints deceaſed, pray for the living whom they have known on earth, but proves not that the Saints muſt be invocated. And that guard, called Baſilides, being turned Chriſtian a little after, and a Martyr alſo, did not pray to Potamiana, though he believed that he had been aſſiſted by her interceſſion.
Bellarmine in the 3. Book of the ſervice of the Saints, chap. 9. alleadgeth(ſ)§. verumtamen. Euſebius, Book 13. of Evangelical preparation, chap. 7. Honouring the Champions of true piety as Gods friends, and drawing near to their monuments, we make vows unto them as to holy men, by whoſe interceſſion we profeſs that we get no little help towards God. But that place is altogether falſe. Euſebius ſaith only,(t)Euſebii verba ſunt, foreign. That the cuſtom was to ſtand by their tombs, and to pray by them, and to honour the bleſſed ſouls. Bellarmine adds theſe words of his own, We make vows unto them, and profeſs that we get no little help by their interceſſion.