The Novelty of Popery Opposed to the Antiquity of True Christianity, Book 7 · Controversy 1 · Chapter 6
CHAP. 6. Whether Saints and Angels ought to be worſhipped?
THE Saints whoſe doctrine hath given inſtruction, and whoſe life hath given edification to Gods Church, and the Martyrs who have ſubſcribed the doctrine of the Goſpel with their blood, muſt be honoured by the godly, and their memory muſt be bleſſed. The ancient Church had that laudable cuſtom to renew their memory in the publike ſervice. But that honour muſt not exceed the limits, or our affection to them degenerate into ſuperſtition or idolatry; which is then more pernicious, when it is inſinuated under pretence of piety, and when the beloved of God are imployed to move God to jealouſie.
Acts 14. Paul and Barnabas are angry with the inhabitants of Lyſtra, becauſe they would transform them into Idols, and defer unto them the ſervice which they yeilded unto their Gods. And no doubt, but that if from the heavenly glory which they enjoy, they ſaw, how Temples and Altars are conſecrated unto them, and that they are held to be ſearchers of hearts, and that ſalvation is asked of God by their merits, they would be moved with a great indignation againſt their worſhippers.
The true honour due unto Saints is, that which the word of God approveth; and that is to imitate their good actions, to obey their holy doctrine, to ſet them before us as examples, and never to ſpeak of them but with reverence. But to make them ſearchers of the hearts, to yield unto them a religious ſervice, to bring offerings unto them, to hope for ſalvation by their merits, and to believe that their labours and ſufferings may be accepted as a ſatisfaction for our ſins, they are doctrines and practiſes which the word of God approveth not. We cannot be juſtly taxed, if we follow the example of the Saints; honouring St. Peter and St. Paul, as the ſame Peter and Paul honoured Abraham, Moſes, and David: Since then Peter, and Paul did not invocate David, and David did not invocate Abraham; they that now invocate Peter, reſiſt Peter, pretending to honour him, and turn away from his example. None of them hath required that ſervice at our hands; and God did not command it.
We have many advantages in this cauſe: For we maintain Gods cauſe, aſſerting, that the religious invocation, and the knowledge of the hearts, belongs unto God alone. And ſure we are that God is truly Saint, but that all that are called ſo, are Saints indeed, it may very well be called in queſtion. We are ſure alſo, that God hath power and goodneſs enough to do us good without the help of any creature; and that the Saints are not envious of the honour done unto God: And that in Gods word there is neither commandment nor example of the invocation of Saints, as our very Adverſaries acknowledge.
1. Here then, if we ſtand to the judgement of God alone, this queſtion ſhall be ſoon decided. For M. du Perron doth freely acknowledge that there is neither precept nor formal example of the invocation of Saints in holy Scripture: Now the Holy Scripture is the only book which may be called the word of God. Neither do our Adverſaries propound us any other. Can they ſhew us any other book which is truly the Word of God?
2. If we take the hiſtory of the Church, from the beginning of the world unto Chriſt, in all that time, which is four thouſand years, our adverſaries confeſs that there was no invocation of Saints. For how could they be capable to receive invocation, if all that while their ſouls were ſhut up in the Limbus, which is an under-ground dark priſon, as the Roman Church believeth, and did not enjoy the ſight of God? Hence it follows, that in vain M. du Perron labours to bring Texts of the Old Teſtament, by him falſified and corrupted, to make them ſerve his ends: As when in the ſecond Chapter of the Treatiſe of the Invocation of Saints, he alleadgeth Gen. 20.7. where he makes God to ſpeak thus to Abimelech, Make thine addreſs unto Abraham, and he ſhall pray for thee, for he is a Prophet. This Text is falſified. The true Text runs thus, Reſtore the man his wife, for he is a Prophet, and he ſhall pray for thee. Theſe words, Make thine addreſs unto Abraham, are of the Cardinals addition. Beſides, that text ſpeaks of the requeſt of a living man to another living man: But ſpeaks neither of the Interceſſion nor of the Invocation of deceaſed Saints.
3. All that is done without faith is ſin, ſaith the Apoſtle, Rom. 14.23. Eſpecially prayer ought to be made in faith, as the Apoſtle James teacheth us, Jam. 1.6. Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. Now the prayer addreſt unto the Saints, cannot be made in faith, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, Rom. 10.17. Not being then grounded in the Word of God, it cannot be made in faith. Wherefore we have no promiſe in Scripture, that God will hear prayers made to any other but God.
4. 2 King. 2.9. the Prophet Elijah being upon the point of being taken up to heaven, ſaid to Eliſha, Ask what I ſhall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee; which was as much as ſaying, After I am taken up to heaven, there is no more petitioning to me.
5. If ever any had reaſon to call upon the bleſſed Virgin Mary, it was the Apoſtles that were of her near kindred, and St. John more then any, who after the Lords death, received her into his houſe. For they might ſay after Mary's death, We have a good Advocate in heaven, which is Queen of heaven, and is near akin to us. Yet they never bethought themſelves to pray to her, neither did they recommend to us to pray to her.
6. Obſerve that the holy Virgin, Luke 1.48. ſaith, All generations ſhall call me bleſſed; but ſaith not, All generations ſhall worſhip me. Jeſus Chriſt ſaith, Come unto me, Matth. 11. But the Virgin Mary ſaith, Whatſoever he ſaith unto you, do it, John 2.
7. Cornelius the Centurion, to whom Scripture beareth witneſs, that he was a devout man, and one that feared God, Act. 10.2. knew well enough that Peter was no God, and therefore was not to be worſhipped as God, yet when he fell down at his feet and worſhipped him, the Apoſtle rebuked him, ſaying, Stand up, I my ſelf alſo am a man.
8. Rev. 22.9. The Angel chideth St. John, becauſe he fell down to worſhip him, ſaying, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-ſervant, worſhip God. Now he knew that this Angel was not God, for the ſame Angel had given him that warning a little before, Rev. 19.10. but being full of amazement, he would defer ſome inferiour adoration unto him. Note that the Angel uſeth a word, whereby he rejecteth the adoration of dulia, ſaying, foreign. I am thy fellow in dulia, Worſhip God; for it is not convenient to defer the cult of dulia, to him that oweth it unto God.
9. As in the Old Teſtament, all the Pſalms of David, and all the prayers of the Prophets, are addreſſed unto God alone, likewiſe in the New Teſtament, no prayers are found, but prayers unto God. Whereupon Bellarmines ingenuity is notable, in his third Book of the ſervice of the Saints, chap. 9. When the holy Scriptures were written (ſaith he) it was not yet in faſhion to make vows unto the Saints. That is, the Prophets and Apoſtles had not yet bethought themſelves of that.
10. It is very conſiderable, that very often the holy Scripture expreſſeth the duty of praying to God, by the word of praying only, as acknowledging no other prayer,Luke 12.1. but that which is addreſſed to God. The Apoſtles ſay to Chriſt, Teach us to pray; and Chriſt anſwereth, When you pray, ſay, Our Father which art in heaven. He knew that he that deſires to be taught how to pray, ought not and cannot ask but to be taught how to pray to God. And in the ſixth of Matthew, v. 6. When thou prayeſt, enter into thy cloſet, and when thou haſt ſhut thy door, pray to thy Father which ſeeth thee in ſecret. There he declareth, that this word of praying, in matter of Religion, cannot ſignifie any thing but praying to God. See alſo Eph. 6.18. and 1 Theſ. 5.17.
11. The Apoſtle, Rom. 10.14. teacheth us, that we cannot pray to any but him, in whom we believe. How ſhall they call on him in whom they have not believed? Now the Symbol obligeth us to believe in God, Father, Son and Holy-Ghoſt, not in the creature. And Chriſt ſaith, John 14.1. You believe in God, believe alſo in me. And Auſtin accordingly, Book 18. of the City of God, chap. 54.(h)Non in Petrum credimus, ſed in eum in quem credidit Petrus. We believe not in Peter, but in him in whom Peter believed. Upon which the Cardinal ſaith, pag. 1047. that he will not anſwer that objection, becauſe he intends to ſpeak only of the queſtion of the fact, not of the right. He ſaith alſo, that Saint Paul ſpeaks of the abſolute invocation. Alſo that we believe in the Saints, in ſome degree and proportion; which faith in the Saints, he calls a relative, and not abſolute faith, becauſe that we believe in them as Miniſters of Chriſt. Now we thought, that the Goſpel did fully teach us what the faith of the Chriſtian is: But here is one, who beſides the faith in God, would oblige us to a relative faith, of which the Goſpel ſpeaks not. So the godly ſhall have two kinds of faith, although the Apoſtle ſpeaking of the true faith of the godly, ſaith, that there is but one God and one faith, Epheſ. 4.5, 6. Beſides the impiety, there is abuſurdity in that diſtinction; for every faith is relative to the thing that one believeth, or to the perſon in whom he believeth: As the ſight is relative to the thing viſible, ſo the faith in God, is relative unto God.
12. The Apoſtle, Gal. 4.8. repreſenting to the Galatians their former condition, ſpeaks thus unto them, When ye knew not God, ye did ſervice unto them which by nature are no gods. He ſpeaks indeed of the gods of the Pagans, which cannot without impiety be compared with the Saints; but ſtill this ſtands true, that the Saints are no gods, and that the Apoſtle condemneth them, that by nature are no gods. Note that there is in the Greek foreign, you yielded dulia, the ſervice which our adverſaries affirm to be due unto Saints; which ſervice nevertheleſs, Saint Paul will not have us to yield to them that by nature are no gods. This made Bellarmine to ſay in the third Book of the ſervice of the Saints, chap. 9. that the Saints are Gods by participation. (i)Thomas 2.2ae. qu. 88. Art. 4. & 5.Thomas and(k)Cajetan ibid. Navar. Conſil. lib. 3. de Voto Conſil. 8. Num. 2. & 4. Cajetan had ſaid the ſame before him.
13. Satan tempted Chriſt to worſhip him, Mat. 4. Who doubts but that Satan would have been contented that Chriſt would have worſhipped him with an inferiour adoration, or with a relative invocation, as M. du Perron ſpeaks? But Chriſt cuts him ſhort, and ſends him back to the rule of the Law, Thou ſhalt worſhip the Lord thy God, and him only ſhalt thou ſerve.
14. The Apoſtle, Col. 2.18. rejects the ſervice of the Angels, in theſe words, Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worſhipping of Angels, intruding into thoſe things which he hath not ſeen, vainly puft up by his fleſhly mind. The Cardinal to elude that text, hath found a new Expoſition, which no body thought upon before. For by the ſervice or worſhipping of Angels, he underſtands not the ſervice or worſhip exhibited unto Angels, but the Jewiſh worſhip or Religion, becauſe (ſaith he) the Jews had received it from the Angels. I preſume that this Prelate was biting his nails many Moneths, before he could deviſe ſuch an extravagant Expoſition, as to underſtand by the ſervice of Angels, the Jewiſh Religion, becauſe the Angels intervened in the publiſhing of the Law. By the ſame reaſon, the Goſpel may be called the worſhip of Angels, becauſe the Angels did announce it, when the Angel Gabriel announced unto the Virgin Mary the incarnation of the Son of God; and declared to her his office. And when the Angels announced his birth unto the Shepheards, Luke 2. and ſung, Glory be to God on high, and in earth peace, towards men good will. The Angels alſo announced the reſurrection of Chriſt unto the Apoſtles, and foretold his ſecond coming, Acts 1.11.
Yet although I affirm, that by the worſhip of Angels, the worſhip yielded to Angels muſt be underſtood, yet I freely grant that Paul ſpeaks there to thoſe that adhered unto the Ceremonies of the Law, and added to them ſome humane traditions, as acknowledging themſelves unworthy to go directly to God; of which the Apoſtle ſaith, that they did it out of a voluntary humility: and that is the very colour which our adverſaries put upon their invocation of Saints and Angels. So Theodoret underſtood it, and the Council of Laodicea, as Theodoret ſaith in his Comment upon this place, They that maintained the Law, induced men to ſerve Angels, ſaying, that the Law was given by their intervention. That vice remained long in Phrygia and Piſidia. Wherefore the Synod aſſembled at Laodicea, the capital City of Phrygia, forbad them by an expreſs order to pray to Angels. And to this day, Oratories of Saint Michael are ſtill ſeen among them and their neighbours. Now they gave this counſel under colour of humility, ſaying, That the God of the Ʋniverſe is inviſible, incomprehenſible and inacceſsible; and that therefore they muſt get Gods favour by his Angels: And this is that which Saint Paul meant by voluntary humility, and worſhipping of Angels. And the ſame in the following Chapter, Becauſe they commanded adoration of Angels, he commands the contrary: and tells them that they ſhould adorn their deeds and words with the commemoration of Chriſt our Lord, and tells them, Give thanks to the Father by him, not by the Angels. Which Law the Synod of Laodicea following, and deſirous to remedy that old diſeaſe, prohibited by a decree their praying to Angels, and leaving out the Lord Jeſus Chriſt. About theſe places, the Cardinal toyls very much, maintaining that both Theodoret, and the Council of Laodicea, ſpeak to thoſe that prayed to Angels to the excluſion of Chriſt, and that did not pray to God at all, but only to the Angels, which is impoſſible: For if it were ſo, thoſe to whom that prohibition is made, ſhould be neither Jews nor Chriſtians, but meer Pagans, ſeeing that both Jews and Chriſtians, hold without exception, that God muſt be prayed to. Now it is neceſſary, that thoſe to whom the prohibition of praying to Angels, is made by the Synod of Laodicea, ſhould be Chriſtians; for the Synods of Chriſtians, never made any prohibition to the Pagans or Jews about their Religion. They give no rules but unto Chriſtians, and to the Churches ſubject unto them. And I cannot wonder enough at this Prelate, that he could believe that Theodoret ſpoke of thoſe that pray not to God at all, ſeeing that the firſt line of that place of Theodoret expreſſeth, that thoſe whom the Apoſtle ſpeaks to, were diſputing for the obſervation of the Law. Now the Law obligeth men to pray to God, and offer ſacrifices to him. When then Saint Paul ſaith, that ſuch men retain not the head, and when the Council of Laodicea, ſaith, that they that call upon Angels have left Chriſt, they ſpeak ſo, becauſe one cannot call upon God by the mediation of another then Chriſt, without leaving Chriſt, although he profeſs that he honours him: For one cannot never ſo little tranſport the honour due unto God, unto the creature, without falling from his Covenant. Obſerve theſe words of Theodoret, that the Council of Laodicea prohibits praying to Angels; and that among thoſe Hereticks of Phrygia, yet in his dayes Oratories to Saint Michael were ſeen. Yet in our dayes ſuch Oratories are ſeen in the Roman Church: for which cauſe M. du Perron alleadging that place of Theodoret, hath fraudulently omitted that word(l)Page 1057. A fraud of the Cardinal. of Saint Michael, for fear of offending the Reader. Obſerve alſo the language of thoſe Hereticks, the ſame as that of our Adverſaries, that they go to God by the Angels and Saints, and that his favour is got by their intervention. Thus the Simonian Hereticks ſaid, that(m)foreign. by the [Angelical] principalities and powers, ſacrifices ought to be offered to the Father of the Ʋniverſe, as Epiphanius relateth in the 21. hereſie.
Cardinal Baronius deals more plainly then Cardinal du Perron, for in the 60. year of his Annals (n)§. 20.he makes no difficulty to condemn Theodoret, ſaying, By theſe things thou mayſt ſee that Theodoret (by his leave) did not well apprehend the ſenſe of Saint Pauls words.
He ſhould have condemned Tertullian alſo, who in the 33. chap. of the Book of Preſcriptions ſaith, that(o)Simonianae Magicae diſciplina Angelis ſerviens utique & ipſa inter idololatrias deputatur. Simonian Magick which ſerveth Angels, is put among idolatries. And Auſtin, who in the Book of Hereſies ad Quod vult Deum, puts among Hereticks the Angelicks, Qui in Angelorum cultum fuerunt inclinati. Who have been inclined to the ſervice of Angels.
15. Finally, ſince the Church hath been many thouſands of years without calling upon the Saints, and the godly have been ſaved, praying to none but God, why could not the godly in theſe dayes be ſaved by doing the ſame? Why ſhall the ſervice done to the dead, be neceſſary in one age, and not in another? If two perſons being afflicted, the one prayeth to God, the other to Saint Barbara, which of the two doth the better work? None can deny but that he that prayeth to God doth better, eſpecially ſeeing that the prayer made to God, hath a promiſe to be heard; but the prayer made to Saint Barbara hath none.
Let the prudent and impartial Reader, compare ſo many texts of Scripture which defer unto God alone Religious invocation, and the practiſe of the Church of the Old Teſtament, and that of the time of the Apoſtles, which by the very confeſſion of our adverſaries, pray to none but God, with the language of the Popes of the laſt times, who when they canonize a Saint, command that he be prayed to. Of which one example will ſerve, Matthew Paris, in the year of the Lord, 1173. pag. 122. ſaith, that in the Council of Weſtminſter, Letters of Pope Alexander were read in the preſence of the Biſhops and Barons, by which Letters the canonization of Thomas of Canterbury, was ſignified in theſe words, We admoniſh your Ʋniverſality, and ſtraitly command you in the authority which we exerciſe, that you ſolemnly celebrate every year, the birth day of the glorious Martyr, Thomas late Archbiſhop of Canterbury, that is, the day of his Paſsion; and that by prayers to him, you endeavour to merit the remiſsion of your ſins. Note that this Thomas is called a Martyr, for dying, not for the faith of Chriſt, nor for the doctrine of the Goſpel, but for the quarrel between the King and the Pope, about money matters, and for the collation of benefices, being killed by ſome of the Kings ſervants, who gave him no time, either to change his mind, or to perſevere in his opinion.