Chief Points in Controversy Between the Reformed Churches and Rome, Letter 1
THE FIRST EPISTLE.
MY LORD,
UPON hearing the Report that you purpoſe to change your Religion, I continued a long time doubtful whether I ſhould write to Your Grace about it. For, being hardly perſwaded that ſuch a thought could come into your mind, I was afraid to be offenſive to Your Grace by my Miſtruſt. But now, ſeeing that Report to continue and increaſe, I could hold no longer from imparting my thoughts to Your Grace upon that Subject, being inferiour to none in Fidelity and Affection to your Service.
You were inſtructed, My Lord, from your Infancy, by an Excellent Father, and a Virtuous Mother, in a Religion, of which you have learned to fear God, and ſerve him according to his Word. In that Religion, if you had met with ſome Scruple, you ought, at the leaſt, to have heard both the Parties, and not have taken counſel onelyonly of the Adverſaries. This is plain tempting of God, who being thereby juſtly provoked, blindeth the Spirit of thoſe that ſeek occaſions to turn from his Service.
Had Your Grace done me that Honour to acquaint me with your Doubts, I might have eaſily ſhewed you, that the Roman Religion is altogether contrary to the Word of God. That they celebrate every day a propitiatory Sacrifice for the Redemption of Souls, other than the Death of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt. That the Communion of the Cup, expreſly commanded in Scripture, is denied to the Laity. That the People ſay Prayers to God which they do not underſtand, and the Publick Service is performed in a Language unknown to them, contrary to the expreſs Prohibition of the Apoſtle.1 Cor. 14.16. That the Trinity is repreſented in carved Stone and Picture, and the Adoration of Images is enjoyned by many Popes and new Councels, contrary to Gods expreſs Prohibition in the Second Commandment; Which was taken away from the Law of God in the Offices and Breviaries, that the People might not ſee it. That Bones and Relicks of Saints are adored. That by the Doctrine of their Purgatory God is made to burn the Souls of his Children for Sins fully pardoned, and for which Jeſus Chriſt hath wholly ſatisfied, and that not to mend the Sinners, but to ſatisfie his Juſtice. That the Pope, without any Authority from the Word of God, taketh upon him to be Succeſſor to St. Peter in the Apoſtleſhip, and in the Primacy over the Univerſal Church. To defend which Primacy, Epiſtles and Decretals of the Antient Biſhops of Rome were forged, and many Books and ſuppoſititious Paſſages, the falſhood whereof we ſhew by invincible Proofs.
In Decrees, Councels, Canons, and Principal Authors of the Roman Church, the Pope is called God, and the Divine Majeſty, having all Power in Heaven and Earth: By which Power he fetcheth Souls out of Purgatory, puts ſuch as he pleaſeth in the Liſt of the Saints by Canonizing them, giveth Pardons of Sins of two or three thouſand years, giveth and taketh away Kingdoms, diſpenſeth with Oaths made unto God, diſſolveth Marriages lawfully contracted, boaſting that he cannot err in the Faith, and that he hath Power to add new Articles to the Creed, to be Judge above Scripture, and to alter that which God hath inſtituted in his Word. Of theſe I could bring to Your Grace a thouſand Proofs, drawn from the Decrees and Councels of Popes, and from Publick Experience.
The Pope boaſteth that he hath a Treaſure in which he layeth up all the Overplus of the Penitential Works of the Saints, and diſtributeth them unto others by his Indulgences, and makes multitudes to travel two or three hundred Leagues to get the Remiſſion of their Sins, which is offered to them at home gratis by the Doctrine of the Goſpel. If a Rich man dieth, who hath given any thing to the Church, he hath many private Maſſes, Obits, and Suffrages for his Money. But never any private Maſs is ſung for a Beggar, or one that hath given nothing.
In the Roman Church, departed Saints are prayed to, of whom Holy Scripture ſaith, that they know not the Hearts of men, and whoſe Invocation hath neither Command nor Example, nor Promiſe in the Word of God.
I am told that Your Grace hath given ear to Capucins, who have for their Patron and Author of their Order St. Francis; whoſe Life, if you had read, as our Adverſaries themſelves have publiſh'd it, you might think that it was purpoſely written to defame him. There you may find how he preach'd unto Birds; that being ſtark naked, he embraced a Woman made of Snow to repreſs his Heats; that he took up again the Lice that fell down from his Garments, and many the like Feats. Theſe Capucins, as other Monks, boaſt that they doe Works of Supererogation, that is, better and more perfect Works than God hath commanded in his Law; For which therefore they look for a degree of Glory in Paradiſe above other Saints, who had attained to no greater Perfection than to fulfil the Law of God perfectly, who thereby have not got any greater Reward than Eternal Life.
If by the Doctrine of the Roman Church you are obliged to get Eternal Life by your Merits, inſtead of putting your whole truſt in Gods Mercy, through Jeſus Chriſt, you ſhall never enjoy any Peace of Conſcience, ſeeing that the moſt righteous Perſons have great Defects, and ſtand in need of Gods Pardon. Good works indeed are neceſſary to Salvation, not from any merit in them, but as the onelyonly means preſcribed by God to attain the the Kingdom of Heaven.
One of the great Diſeaſes of the Roman Church is, that a Sinner, after he hath confeſs'd his Sins to a Prieſt, receiveth from him the Pardon of them: A Sinner forgiveth another Sinner Offences committed againſt God; as if a Felon did forgive another Felon Crimes committed againſt the King. Thereby a man makes himſelf a Judge in Gods Cauſe. A Prieſt takes upon him to be Judge of Sins which he knoweth not, for he knoweth not the Thoughts and the Affections of the Heart, in which Sin doth chiefly conſiſt. Neither doth he know the truth of the Sinners Repentance, without which there is no Pardon. Indeed faithful Paſtors have received of Chriſt the Power to remit Sins, as touching the Eccleſiaſtical Penalty and Cenſure of the Church, and to reconcile the Sinner excluded from the Communion, to the Church: But you would be much diſappointed if you thought that the Pardon given you by a Prieſt doth exempt you from anſwering for your Actions before Gods Judgment Seat. For when the King forgives a Felon, he doth not exempt him from being judged by that great Judge.
Can a man that feareth God, and to whom God hath left ſome liberty of Judgement, read without horrour the Cauteles and Rubricks of the Maſs in the beginning of the Miſſal which the Prieſt hath upon the Altar? Whereby Proviſion is made againſt the inconveniencies that may happen to the Conſecrated Hoſt, when it happens that Mice have gnawn the Maſs-God, or when a Beaſt hath devoured it, or when the Wind hath carried it away, or when the Prieſt or a ſick perſon hath vomited it. Can ye find in your heart to worſhip a God that may be ſtollen, or eaten by Beaſts, or blown away by the Wind, and that being fallen cannot raiſe himſelf? How many times doth Scripture ſay, That Jeſus Chriſt gave Bread to his Diſciples, and that we break and eat Bread in the Lords Supper?Luke 22.19, 20. That Bread is called the Body of Chriſt, as it is in remembrance of him. In the ſame manner, as in the next line the Cup is called the New Teſtament, becauſe it is the Sign and the Memorial of it; Therefore the Apoſtles did not worſhip it. The Roman Church holds that Jeſus Chriſt did communicate in the Holy Euchariſt with his Diſciples. All Parties agree that it follows from the Doctrine of that Church that Jeſus Chriſt did eat himſelf, and had his Head and his Feet in his Mouth. The Goſpel tells us, that in that Holy Action the Devil entred into Judas: Can ye believe that Jeſus Chriſt and the Devil entred together into him?
To ſtrengthen theſe Errours, the ſixth Chapter of St. Johns Goſpel is impertinently alleged, in which the Lord Jeſus ſpeaks of giving his Fleſh to eat; for Pope Innocent the III, and after him a multitude of Doctors have determined, that in that Chapter the Euchariſt is not meant at all, and that theſe words of giving his Fleſh to eat, muſt be underſtood of a Spiritual eating by Faith. There Jeſus Chriſt ſpeaks to the Capernaïtes, to whom he promiſeth to give his Fleſh for their meat, but he never gave them the Euchariſt. He ſpeaks to them of a manner of Eating neceſſary to Salvation, and without which none can be ſaved, ſaying,John 6.53. Except ye eat the Fleſh of the Son of man there is no Life in you. Now many are ſaved without receiving the Euchariſt, as the converted Thief, crucified with Chriſt, and John the Baptiſt, and many Martyrs. And Jeſus Chriſt declareth, that by Eating and Drinking he underſtands Believing, when he ſaith,v. 35. He that cometh to me ſhall never hunger, and he that believeth on me ſhall never thirſt. Wherefore he warneth them,v. 63. that the words which he ſaid unto them, were Spirit and Life.
It is acknowledged by all, that many Prieſts of the Roman Church are ill-Livers; yet it is the Doctrine of that Church, that a Prieſt, who hath been wallowing all Night in a Debauch, hath the power in the Morning to make a God with five words, and hath him in his power. I muſt alſo humbly beſeech your Grace to conſider, that the Councel of Trent declareth it to be the Tenet of the Roman Church, generally believed, that Sacraments are Null if the Prieſt hath no Intention to Conſecrate; which Intention is preſumed but by Conjecture, and none can be certain of it, ſo that the People adore an Hoſt not knowing whether it be conſecrated, which is an Adoration at a venture. Neither can any in the Roman Church be certain whether he be baptized, for none knoweth the Intention of him that baptizeth, nor that of him that gave him Orders.
Theſe things, my Lord, I touch ſummarily, of which the Proofs are eaſie, but too long for a Letter. To diſguiſe theſe Truths unto Your Grace; I am told, that you have been perſwaded to read the Invectives of Barklay, in which Scripture is hardly alledged; and Gualtiers Chronicle, which is but a web of falſe paſſages of ſome ſuppoſititious Books (which are not received by the Learned of the Roman Church) or Calumnies imputed unto us, and ſuch things as we never thought on.
If, upon thoſe falſe Paſſages and Calumnies Your Grace had been pleaſed to conſult with ſome of our Side, expert in ſuch Matters, they would have made you ſee evidently the falſhood of them. The like I ſay of ſome paſſages of Fathers ſhewed unto Your Grace, moſt of them taken out of forged Writings, whoſe falſhood is acknowledged by our Adverſaries. We have Fathers only as they were copied out of Manuſcripts that were found in Monaſteries, written by Monks, who have falſified them, and whoſe falſe dealing is diſcovered by the diverſity of the Copies, of which I could ſhew you many Inſtances, if I had the Honour to converſe with Your Grace about that Subject. But God hath not permitted our Adverſaries to bring to an end that Enterprize of corrupting all the Fathers; for numberleſs Paſſages are found in them which bear witneſs unto the Truth: For which the Doctors of the Roman Church blame them very often, and give them many ill words.
But, becauſe that Diſcourſe might grow too to great a length, I do only refer Your Grace to a Paper by it ſelf a*Which die Reader ſhall find in the ſecond Chapter of this Authors Anatomy of the Maſs. Compariſon of the Lords Supper with the Maſs, that you may know what horrible alteration was made in the Lords Inſtitution, and that you may know that by going to Maſs you cannot be ſaved. You (I ſay) My Lord, who have been favoured with ſo many Bleſſings of God, who have had an Holy and Vertuous Education, and have a thouſand Obligations to your Illuſtrious Lady Mother, whoſe days are likely now to be ſhortned with anguiſh and ſorrow.
God hath given to Your Grace in this City*Sedan. a Faithful People, heartily devoted to your Service, which have built your Town, and fortified it with their hard Labour, and have not been ſparing of their Lives and means to defend this State when it was in danger. They are a People whom God hath gathered from many places and ſheltered under your ſhadow, committing them to your keeping. The Subſiſtence of this little State of yours, compaſſed about with Mighty States, depends, next to God, upon the Fidelity of the Inhabitants, and their Love to their Sovereign. Think you what Heart-breaking Sorrow it will be to that poor People, when they ſee Your Grace going to Maſs. What Diſſipation, what Deſolation ſhall you ſee ere long in your City, when the Holy Scripture ſhall be baniſh'd from your Houſe? when, inſtead of the pure Service of God, the Service of Images ſhall be eſtabliſhed, Beads, Agnus Dei's, and ſprinklings of Holy Water? When, inſtead of a Few Paſtors, you ſhall have Herds of Fryars ſowing Diſcord continually among your Subjects? When Eccleſiaſtical Goods ſhall be no more in your diſpoſing, and the Roman Clergy muſt have again that which your Predeceſſors had juſtly taken from them, whereby your Revenues ſhall ſuffer a great Diminution? When all the Eccleſiaſtical and Matrimonial Cauſes ſhall be no more under the Juriſdiction of your Officers, but muſt be tried at Chalons or Rheims, ſo that you ſhall be no more Maſter at home? When inſtead of Subjects, altogether depending upon your Authority, you ſhall have Jeſuits and Capucins about you, having a ſtrict Intelligence with thoſe of Bruxels, whence Jealouſies and Fears will ariſe greatly noiſome to your State.
I could repreſent to Your Grace many Conſiderations to make you apprehend that by this Action you will ruin your Affairs, even in this World, and loſe the Love of thoſe that have been your principal Honour and Support, that hereby you will pull up the roots of your Reputation, Honour and Greatneſs, fill with Grief and Confuſion your deareſt Relations, and draw upon you the Contempt of Perſons of both Religions. For even the greateſt men of the Roman Church in France, that govern themſelves by Humane Prudence, ſay, that you take your Meaſures amiſs, and cannot believe that ever you will take that Reſolution.
But the worſt conſequence of it is, that thereby you will loſe your Soul. For you have a great Account to give unto God, who knoweth the Hearts, who is juſt and terrible, and will not dally with thoſe that dally with him. I have poured forth, and pour ſtill for your Grace Prayers before God, & Sighs without number; neither am I without hope that God will be merciful unto you. One thing at leaſt, My Lord, let me crave at your hands, that if you have any Scruples & Doubts about your Religion, you will be pleaſed to defer your final Reſolution, till being come to this Town, you may hear the two Parties, and till we may ſpeak to ſome Doctors of the Roman Church in your Preſence. And I may be bold to promiſe to Your Grace to make you acknowledge that you have been poſſeſs'd with Calumnies againſt us, that both the Tenets of the Roman Church, and Ours, have been miſ-repreſented to Your Grace, and that Gaultiers Paſſages are falſe and forged. This, if I cannot obtain of Your Grace by my moſt humble Requeſt, yet ſo much comfort at leaſt I ſhall have, that I …ave diſcharged my Conſcience. But if I be ſo unfortunate as to loſe your Grace's Favour for ſpeaking the truth to you; it will be well for me that I have but few days to live in this World, which I will paſs away in ſorrow, tho' in hope to have them ended by Death, when it ſhall pleaſe God to receive me into his reſt. And what Sorrow ſoever may exerciſe me in my Life, I will never leave praying for your Proſperity and Salvation, as reſolved to be as long as I live,
My Lord, Your Grace's moſt humble, &c.