The Novelty of Popery Opposed to the Antiquity of True Christianity, Book 1 · Chapter 4
CHAP. 4. Reaſons of the Adverſaries againſt the Church of the Elect.
AGainſt this Doctrine our adverſaries beſtir themſelves: For to exalt the dignity of the Roman Church, they adorn her with thoſe titles which Scripture gives to the Church of the Elect, calling her the Spouſe, and the Body of Chriſt, that out of which there is no ſalvation, and the Virgin without either ſpot or wrinckle. But as for the Church of the Elect, they diſgrace her as an inviſible Chimera of our making, and acknowledge no other Church but that Hierarchical body of the Roman Church; deſpiſing S. Bernards authority in his 78. Sermon upon the Canticles, where he ſaith many times that the Elect are the Church, and the Spouſe mentioned in the Canticles. The title of the Sermon is this,(a)Quod ſponſa, id eſt Eccleſia electorum, praedeſtinata eſt à Deo ante ſacula. That the Spouſe, that is, the Church of the Elect, is predeſtinated by God before the ages: And which is more, they oppoſe Gregory the firſt, whom they ſirname the Great, where he ſpeaks often of the Church of the Elect, eſpecially upon the ſeventh penitential Pſalm, where he ſaith,(b)Electorum Eccleſia de gentibus congregata. That the Church of the Elect is gathered from the Nations. And ſo upon the fifth penitential Pſalm, chap. 6. he ſaith, (a)Sanctam Eccleſiam de ſanctis in aeternum permanſuris conſtructam, nullis hujus vitae perſecutionibus ſuperandam, ipſe ſuper quem aedificata eſt evidenter oſtendit, cum ait, Portae inferorum non praevalebunt adverſus eam.that the Church compoſed of the Saints, which remain for ever, ſhall never be overcome by perſecutions; which he proveth by the words of the Lord, that the gates of Hell ſhall not prevail against her. That Pope ſo famous did not believe, that in that text Chriſt ſpake of the Roman Church; for it is not compoſed with Saints that remain for ever, ſince our very adverſaries confeſs that ſome Popes are damned. Bernard in his ſixth Sermon upon the Pſalm, Qui habitat, after he hath complained of the corruptions of the Church of Rome, ſo far as to ſay, that it remains no more but that the Son of perditton ſhould be revealed, addeth,(b)Hic plane graviſſimus erit incurſus; ſed ab hoc quoque Eccleſiam electorum veritas liberabit. This will be a very grievous aſſault, but he that is the Truth, ſhall alſo deliver the Church of the Elect from it. Hincmarus in his Book of fifty five Chapters, chap. 35. ſpeaks of(c)Sanctam omnium electorum Eccleſiam conſcriptam in coelis. the Church of all the Elect which is written in Heaven.
What more? the laſt Council of Lateran, in the tenth Seſſion, by the mouth of the Archbiſhop of Patras, acknowledgeth a Church of the Elect:(d)Ʋt in illo conſtitueret unam ſanctam Eccleſiam electorum omnium matrem. That he might (ſaith he) eſtabliſh in him one holy Church, Mother of all the Elect.
But our adverſaries being of late grown more crafty, reject all that, and rejecting the Church of the Elect, acknowledge no other Church but the Roman; perceiving well enough, that if there be a Church of the Elect, the Pope cannot be the head thereof, ſince themſelves ſay, that many Popes were damned. Neither could they promiſe ſo much to themſelves, as to be able to perſwade the world that the Pope is the head of the glorified Saints, and that Noah, Moſes, and Abraham, were members of the Roman Church, although the laſt Council of Lateran, in the ninth and tenth Seſſion ſay, that the Pope hath all power in heaven and earth.
To prove then that there is no Church of the Elect, they bring many texts of Scripture, which ſhew, that in the Church there are ſome good, and ſome bad, comparing the Church unto a floor where the good grain is mingled with the ſtraw; and to a great houſe, where there be ſome veſſels to honour, and ſome to diſhonour; and to a net gathering good and bad fiſh. They bring alſo texts that ſpeak of a viſible Church, intending thereby to prove that there is no inviſible Church; with as much reaſon, as if I would prove that there is no reaſonable creature, becauſe there are ſome unreaſonable. To the ſame end they bring many paſſages of the Fathers: It is the ſubject of the ninth Chapter of Cardinal du Perrons Book.
But in vain doth he labour to prove that which we grant: For we acknowledge a viſible Church, where the good are mingled among the bad. And it is of that Church that the Scripture ſpeaks in the texts which they alledge; which hinders not, but that God hath a multitude of Elect, and that the name Church is given them in Scripture.