A Scripture Catechism, Preface
A Preface to thoſe of the Church of Rome.
IT is the ſaying of a very learned & ingenious Perſon,D. Cudw. Truth and Love are two the moſt powerfull things in the world; and that the golden beames of Truth, and the ſilken cords of Love twiſted together, will draw men on with a ſweet violence, whether they will or no. I deſire for my part I may both in word & deed, conference & converſation, in preaching, printing & practiſing, experiment the truth of this Teſtimony; and in all to be ſo happy my ſelfe, as to make others happy alſo: in all undertakings to follow the practiſe and paterne of the bleſſed Apoſtle Paul, viz. foreign, to truth it in love, ſo to inlighten men, who ſit in the region of darknes, as not to inflame them; ſo to convince thē of error, that they may not ſay I am become their enemy; when I tell them the truth, that they may ſee that I aime at and endeavour their converſion, and not their confuſion. I know the Apoſtles themſelves had a zeale, but not according to knowledge, when they were ſo earneſt to have called for fire from heaven to conſume the Samaritans: the Sons of Thunder would have been Sons of Lightning too, but they had not ſo learned of Chriſt: ye know not, ſaith he of what ſpirit ye are of. And afterwards, when the Spirit of Chriſt came down upon the Apoſtles in the dayes of Pentecoſt, though with a ruſhing mighty wind, and ſate upon each of them in the likeneſſe of fiery cloven tongues, yet neither did that wind ſmite the corners of any houſe, that it fell; nor thoſe fiery tongues ſinge a haire of their own or others heads. Inſtead of calling for fire from heaven to conſume you, I pray, and endeavour that I may ſhew you a light from heaven ſhining round about you, above the light of the Sun at noon-day: I mean cleare and evident Scriptures to inlighten, convince and convert you.
If I deſire to be ſometimes a Boanerges indeed, yet 'tis in order to be a Barnabas: If I heap coales of fire on your heads, I ſeek to melt you, not to burne you: when I thunder againſt error, I deſire my ſpeeches and actions may be like that lightning, which breaks or melts the ſword, and doth not hurt the ſcabbard; I deſire to melt your ſoules, but not doe the leaſt hurt to your bodies, the ſheath of your ſoules.
That there is a God, and this God is to be worſhipped, is, I hope, written in your hearts, as with a pen of iron, or point of a Diamond, that is, with a laſting or indelible, and as with a Sun-beam, that is, with a legible character.
And if you ſay, wherewithal ſhall I come before God, and bow my ſelfe unto the moſt high? ſhall I make an Image or likenes of him, or ſhall I come to him by the Mediation of Saints and Angels? I anſwer, He hath ſhewed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, and what thou ſhouldeſt believe and doe. Thou needeſt not ſay, who ſhall aſcend up into heaven, to bring Chriſt down from above? But the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: and this is the word which in this Treatiſe is made known unto you.
Since men therefore erre, becauſe they know not the Scriptures, the manifeſtation of the Scriptures thus to every man's conſcience may poſſibly prove a good way and meanes to reclaime them from errour. God hath magnified his word above all his name, and therefore 'tis but reaſon that men ſhould advance it above all humane Teſtimony; and if you will plead the Teſtimony of men, ſurely the Teſtimony of God is greater.
Yea if you would be but Reaſonable, if you would ſhew your ſelves men, and act as Religious men, and good Scholars, men of the pureſt and higheſt Reaſon, I might boldly plead with you thus, and ſhew you what I have to ſay on God's behalfe: I might deſire you to heare God ſpeak in the Scriptures, and ſay, whether it be fit to believe and obey God or man, Judge ye.
If you plead Scripture, pretending that your Church of Rome was once true; I may juſtly alleadge Scriptures to ſhew from whence you are fallen, and to prove that you have greatly erred.
Is the Scripture of force to prove that ſhe was once a true Church, and a chaſt Spouſe of Chriſt; and is it not to be pleaded in evidence that now ſhe is become a Mother of Fornications, and hath committed Adultery with ſtocks and ſtones?
For our parts, we are willing to ſtand and fall by Scripture, to be weighed in the ſame ballance of the Sanctuary with you, to have our Gold tryed by the ſame touchſtone of the word, and to be meaſured by the ſame buſhel or Epha, by which we meaſure you or others.
If you appeale from a higher to a lower court, from God to Man, from Scriptures to Fathers; beſides that 'tis againſt the mind of God, againſt right reaſon, and the Methods of wiſe men; ſo 'tis againſt the Deſire and Doctrines of the Fathers. I dare ſay, if they ſhould ariſe againe from the dead, they would rather ſay, we be Judges of no ſuch matters, or who made us a judge over the Scriptures? yea being dead, they yet ſpeak in their writings againſt ſuch poſitions and practiſes; they make the Scriptures their Judges, and make not themſelves judges of the Scripture: yea if the Fathers might be heard out, teſtifying fully to the perfection and ſufficiency of the Holy Scriptures, that one ſentence of theirs will prove a condemnation of Popery, of the body and ſoule of it, the Fathers themſelves being Judges.
Poſſibly it may be ſaid by ſome of you, that the Proteſtant Religion is but of yeſterday, and knows nothing of the Fathers, nor the Fathers of it; & that ſuch a novel faith, as it may be pretēded to be, dares not appeare at the Tribunall of the Fathers. The truth is, if there were no Scripture, the Proteſtants durſt adventure the Ordeal, or tryall by Fathers and Councels: & ſaving alwaies the Honour of the Holy Scriptures, and our juſt Liberty of appeale unto them, the Proteſtants golden Faith doth not feare the ſilver haires of the Antient Fathers. The truth is, we would not be cheated or gulled with mouldy bread, and old ſhooes, & a mere pretence of Religion, that came to us from far, from many ages agoe: when as indeed, & in truth, aske the Primitive Fathers, and they will tell you another Story, that we are the children of the Primitive and moſt antient Church. If you will heare the Proteſtants judgment, plea, and evidence in this matter, let me produce three or four to ſpeak for the reſt.
Mr Perkins reckoning up divers points of Popery, as that the Pope or Biſhop of Rome is the Vicar of Chriſt, and the head of the Catholique Church, that there is a fire of Purgatory after this life, that Images of God and Saints are to be placed in Churches and worſhiped, that prayers are to be made to Saints departed, and their interceſſion to be required, that there is a propitiatory ſacrifice daily offered in the maſſe for the ſinnes of the quick and the dead, obſerves, that the Apoſtles creed hath not any of theſe points, nor the expoſitions made thereof by the Antient Fathers; nor any other creed or confeſsion of faith, made by any Council or Church for the ſpace of many hundred yeers. Mr Perkin's Advertiſement to all favourers of the Romiſh Religion.
Yea the ſame Author undertakes to prove, that for 1200 yeers no Father or Council held all the points of Doctrine of the Trent Faith. Demon: of the Probleme.
Sometimes, ſaith Dr Ferne, we meet with phraſes in the Fathers favouring ſome Romiſh Doctrine; but then we ſhew by Argument and Reaſon that thoſe doe not ſpeak indeed the Romiſh ſenſe: & againe, the Romaniſts have the ſhadow, the ſhell, the name, the phraſe many times, but we carry the ſubſtance, ſhew, the thing, the ſenſe, the judgment, the Deeds of Antiquity. Againſt ſome high expreſſions magnifying the Church of Rome we bring deeds, and thoſe upon conteſtation, as the ſtanding out of Polycrates, and all the Aſian Biſhops againſt the ſentence of Pope Victor: Alſo in the conteſtation betwixt Cyprian and Pope Stephen: Alſo in the conteſtation between the Romane See and the African Biſhops (amongſt whom Auſtin was one) in the buſineſſe of Appeales, ſee Dr Ferne, p. 229. 230.
The infallibility of the Pope, or the Roman Church, was never acknowledged by the Antient Churches, or Fathers, for 600 yeers after Chriſt, therefore it is not now to be received. Baxter againſt Pop. p. 277. There are as it were three principall parts in Religion; namely, points of Belief, of Ceremony and of Diſcipline: we ſhall run them over lightly all three: that ſo we may let the world ſee that in every one of theſe three parts they have both aboliſhed and eſtabliſhed many things expreſly againſt the Authority of the Antients. Monſ. Daillè of the Fathers. lib. 2. pag. 143: when he hath inſtanced in particulars, he addes pag. 177. Certainely ſhould we but ſpeak the truth, it is the plaineſt mocking of the world that can be, to cry out as theſe men doe continually, The Fathers, the Fathers, and to write ſo many whole volumes, as they have done upon this ſubject, after they have ſo dealt with them as you have ſeen, And pag. 141. nd 142. Doe but read their Commentaries, their Diſputations, and their other diſcourſes, and you will find them almoſt in every page, either rejecting or correcting the Fathers. And further he addes as followeth.
But I muſt not paſſe by the Teſtimony of Cornelius Muſſus Biſhop of Bitonto, viz. for my own part (that I may ſpeak my mind freely) in things that belong to the teſtimony of Faith, I had rather believe one ſingle Pope, than a thouſand Auguſtines, Hieromes, or Gregories.
If you will appeale from the holy Scriptures, and from the Authority of the Catholick Church to the Roman, or Church of one denomination, from the Primitive to the Preſent, or from the antient to the moderne, and dare not, or will not be judged by any body but by your ſelves, beſides that you are guilty of high preſumption thus to advance your ſelves into the chaire above all, ſo is it a ſtrong preſumption of guilt in you, that you dare not abide the tryall of the moſt impartiall and unbyaſſed Judges; and hereby you declare, that the Authority of the Fathers is not ſupream in your account, and why then ſhould you expect it ſhould be authoritative with us; and if you appeale from the Fathers here to the preſent Church, why may we not rather to the Scriptures? I ſhall adde alſo, that when you appeale to Churches, or Fathers, or Councels, from Scripture, you doe ſhew your ſelves more ſubtle than the Phariſees, who to all Chriſt's allegations of Scripture never put in ſuch an anſwer, that there is but one true Church; we are the true Church, we are the Interpreters of Scripture. Yea I ſhall go a ſtep farther with you, and tell you, that if you appeale from Scripture teſtimony to your preſent Church, or to ſome viſible and infallible judge of all controverſies, you doe therein out-goe that old Sophiſter the Devill, who when he diſputed with our Saviour, and Scripture was urged againſt him, had not the Jewiſh Churches Authority, the Interpretations of Scribes and Phariſees, no, never a ſuch reſerve, or caſtle to fly unto.
There are two great Errors, mother-errors of you the children of the Church of Rome, concerning the holy Scriptures: the one is, that you will not goe to it as to your laſt judge on earth: and the other, that you endeavour to bring this to you, to ſpeak for you what it never thought.
And here in two things you greatly erre.
The promiſes in Scripture made to the Church in generall, you apply to a particular Church, or to a part of the Catholique Church, namely, to the Romane: Not ſufficiently conſidering what became of Jeruſalem, where our Lord preached, and where the Apoſtle Peter preached, and founded a Chriſtian Church (before ever, if ever, he ſaw Rome) notwithſtanding all the promiſes made either to the Church in generall, to the Jewiſh Church, or to the Apoſtle Peter, or to the Church founded by him in particular.
The promiſes made to Peter (and, that 'tis ſaid, before he was Pope) you apply, in part at leaſt, to the Biſhops of Rome; yea will have them reach the Apoſtle Peter's Succeſſors, and ſtand them in ſteed, and in ſome things too wherein they did not ſecure Peter himſelfe (to keep him from falling) namely, for their making alwaies an outward confeſſion of the Faith: for ye know Peter did in word deny his maſter.
The truth is, diverſe Popiſh Doctrines, ſuch as the Communion in one kind, prayers and ſervice in an unknown tongue, making Images of the Trinity, worſhipping of them, &c. are ſo plainly contrary to the Scriptures, that 'tis your carnall intereſt if you will maintaine thoſe Doctrins, to deny, or at leaſt to undervalue the Authority of theſe in compariſon of the preſent Church.
As for us, as we highly and above all extoll the teſtimony of Scripture, ſo neither doe we think our ſelves obliged to ſuppreſſe or ſilence the Fathers of the 1ſt three or four hundred yeers; only we would not admit ſuppoſititious writings, or teſtimonies, the baſe brats of latter times, for the true children of the antient Fathers; nor would we have the preſent Church of Rome, by her expurgatory Index's & corrupt gloſſes, &c. to teach the Fathers to ſpeak now, and that what they never meant. And as you diſhonour the Fathers in laying baſtard-works at their doores, ſo have you wronged the Canon of the Scriptures, by advancing the Apocrypha books into the ſame chaire and throne with them: and in this how you have forſaken the Ancient Fathers and Councels,D.C. a late Author hath ſhewed very well.
And yet this is remarkable, that the pretended Councel of Trent have made a rod for their own backs: I mean, they have added the book of Baruch, and the Epiſtle of Jeremiah in the 6th of Baruch, to the Canon: and there, as in a glaſſe, they may ſee what a whores fore-head the Church of Rome hath, to commit Idolatry with ſtocks & ſtones, doing diverſe the ſame things to their Images, that the Heathens, the old Babylonians, did to their Idols or Images.
Heare Dr Weſtfield; The Gentiles were wont to bow down to their Images, ſo doe the Papiſts: the Gentiles were wont to pray to them, ſo doe the Papiſts: the Gentiles were wont to render thanks to them, ſo doe the Papiſts: the Gentiles were wont to dedicate themſelves, and all that they had, to their Idols, ſo doe the Papiſts: the Gentiles nuncupated vowes to them, ſo do the Papiſts: the Gentiles were wont to ſweare by them, ſo doe the Papiſts: the Gentiles were wont to ſet up candles to them, ſo doe the Papiſts: The Gentiles were wont to burne incenſe to them, ſo doe the Papiſts. So he; and I doe not know that there is any one, who hath anſwered this charge ſince extant. See Dr Weſtfields Serm: p. 64. 65. Such like 'tis not improbable, is the moderne practiſe of the common people under the Papacy. I have heard to this effect, that when the late King was in Spain, reaſoning againſt worſhipping of Images with a Prieſt, who denying the charg, it was agreed betwixt them, to take the next Perſon they found at devotions in their Churches for an experiment: The Prieſt beſpake the Perſon, a woman, to this purpoſe, Good Woman, you doe not pray to this Image or Saint, but to God in it: I but I doe, ſaith the woman, and will doe, till you ſhew me a better.
Till the yeer 788. Images were never appointed publickly to be worſhipped in the Churches, and this was done in the ſecond Council of Nice Charles the Great ſent this Act of the Counciil to the Biſhops of England, to know how they liked it: they ſaid, Alas for woe! we find in thoſe acts many things againſt Chriſtian Religion, eſpecially this, that the worſhipping of Images is decreed, which the Church of God curſeth, Dr Weſtfeild pag. 60. 61.
If you ſay then, where was our Church, or Religion before Luther? and call us to give a catalogue in all ages of men profeſſing our Faith and way of worſhip, and that the Fathers and all Antiquity were yours; Heare I pray you, the ſaying of Mr Du Moulin; This reproach of novelty ill becomes the mouthes of thoſe perſons, which hide the true Antiquity from the people, which is the word of God; and which maintain, that yet at this day, the Church may, and can make new ordinances touching Faith; and which by the Church underſtand no other than the Romiſh Church; that in the firſt ages after the Apoſtles, cannot produce one man that was of their Religion; and which know that in all Antiquity there is no mention made of excluding the people from the cup, of prohibiting them the reading of the Holy Scriptures, of reading the Scriptures to the people in a language they underſtand not, of painting the Trinity, of worſhipping Images, of adoring the hoaſt with the worſhip of Latria, of private Maſſes, of the Biſhop of Romes Court, &c.
If you will have us tell more particularly who were of our Religion before Luther, know that Chriſt and the holy Apoſtles were; and as for other names of particular perſons, who held with us in the Doctrines above named, or diverſe other materiall Doctrines, the Proteſtants referre you to Dr Field of the Church, Birckbeck's Proteſtant's Evidence; and let me ſend you alſo to the Martyrologies in England and France, &c. and I ſhall adde one more, and that is a teſtimony of your own, which I find cited formerly and lately.
And that is of Raynerus the Monke concerning the Waldenſes, c. 4. where he ſaith, that they have continued (ſay ſome) from the time of Sylveſter; others from the time of the Apoſtles, that theres ſcarce any land where they are not; that they live righteouſly before all men, bene omnia de Deo credunt, & omnes Articulos qui in Symbolo continentur, ſolummodo Romanam Eccleſiam blaſphemant, & clerum i.e. they believe althings well concerning God, & all the Articles that are contained in the Creed, only they blaſpheme the Romane Church and the Clergy.
And what if there were ſome 1000… of true Worſhippers in the Church of Rome before the Reformation, as there were 7000 in Iſrael, who had not bowed their knees to Baal? or what if we be the ſame Church now, that we were before, only then Apoſtaticall, Idolatrous, Leprous as white as ſnow, but now profeſſors of the true Faith, without corrupt mixtures, and of the pure worſhip, and ſo cured of our Leproſy?
If you aske what Authority we had to reforme our ſelves, I referre you to Dr Bramhal for ſatisfaction, who ſhewes it was done in England by King and Prieſt, and that the Popiſh Princes, upon occaſion claime a right and power to doe what indeed we have done: i. e. to reforme the Churches under them, or to the like effect. See Bramhal of Schiſme.
There was a Reformation deſired before Luther, and the Princes of Germany repreſented their hundred grievances to the Emperour. But what mighty men could not, God hath brought about by mean men: nor needed Martin Luther and the reſt, any Commiſſions extraordinary ſealed with the broad ſeales of new miracles, to authorize his, or their proclaiming the laws and edicts of the great God, the King of Heaven. We judge it lawfull for men to obey the commands of God, doing the duties of their places, without a licenſe from men ſo to doe. Beſides, ſeeing that the Reformers did preach the ſame Doctrine, which Chriſt and his Apoſtles did, and ſet up the ſame way of worſhip which they did, all which was formerly confirmed by miracles, it is not reaſonable to demand, that they ſhould ſhew by new miracles that they had Authority to reforme the Church of God. And herein Luther and the reſt ſhewed themſelves to be of the truth, becauſe they went not about to deceive mē with lying wounders or miracles, to get credit to their perſons or Doctrine, ſuch as the Romiſh Legends have for the honour of their Saints, and confirmation of their new Articles of Faith. In my opinion he muſt have a monſtrous Faith, who believes but one halfe, or the moiety of their miracles, if the whole doſe be like that taſt of them Mr Baxter gives us out of Dr White, and he out of Baronius; as that Francis turned a capon into a fiſh, and water into wine; made the rock ſend forth water, and anchors to ſwim; converted a Lambe by preaching to him: that he cauſed Swallows, Graſhoppers, and a wild Falcon to joyne with him in the praiſes of God. That Bernard by bleſſing their ale, and giving it ſome lewd perſons to drinke, cauſed God's grace to enter into them; that he killed … by excommunication, &c. Baxter out of Francis Whites defence of his Brother, pag. 147, 148. And again, that their Nicolas, while he lay in his cradle, faſted Wedneſday and Friday, that Patrick cauſed a …ollen ſheep to bleat in the belly of him that had eaten him; that Fryar Andrew to correct his appetite of eating birds at the Table, by the ſigne of the Croſſe commanded them to fly away after they were roaſted. Mr Baxter pag. 167. 168. from Dr …eatly.
If you object againſt us our differences and diviſions, Proteſtants may returne, Are there not diviſions in opinion, even amongſt you alſo? and with you more intollerable, becauſe you pretend you have an infallible viſible judge of all controverſies.
How have you differed about the conception of the bleſſed Virgin, about the ſupremacy of the Pope, or a generall Councill, &c. What adoe was there 'twixt Watſon and Parſons here in the dayes of Queen Elizabeth; and of latter times 'twixt the Janſenians and Jeſuites abroad.
2ly, It may be ſaid, that for our preſent ruptures, either you have made, or elſe maintained and continued diverſe of our breaches.
3ly, That when we come to heaven, and not before, we may expect that all men ſhould be of the ſame opinion in every thing.
4ly, That the Proteſtant Churches doe agree in the maine and fundamentals of our Religion. See the Harmony of Confeſſ: and wherein we differ, I, and 1000s other Proteſtants, deſire to uſe Scripture, Prayer, and ſound reaſon, to convince thoſe who are otherwiſe minded. We deſire to uſe ſoft words and hard reaſons, to draw men with cords of love, and not to burne, and conſume them with coales of fire. Yea I dare almoſt put it to your ſelves to be Judges, whether there have not been in Queen Mary's daies in four yeers more Proteſtants put to death in England, than there have been Papiſts in fourſcore ſince.
And now if you object againſt the Proteſtant Churches for want of a right miniſtry, pretending their want of ſucceſſion, or a right ordination, or a right Government and juriſdiction; to theſe it may be replyed.
1, That ſucceſſion in pure Doctrine is a better marke of a true Church, than ſucceſſion into the ſeats, and places of former Orthodox Paſtors.
2ly, That it is almoſt, if not utterly, impoſſible for you Papiſts to know, who is the true Paſtor, the Biſhop of Rome, whom you pretend you muſt follow; conſidering the many Schiſmes, and the indirect & corrupt waies whereby diverſe have advanced themſelves into the chaire.
3ly, Our firſt Reformers were ordained Miniſters by your Church, and Mr Maſon ſhewes you a ſucceſſion ſince.
To him you may adde a little piece of Sr John Harrington, as a ſupplement to Mr Maſon; and Dr Ferne hath juſtified the conſecrations of our firſt Biſhops againſt thoſe frivolous allegations made againſt them.
4ly, If you ſhould quarrell with us now, becauſe Biſhops are in a great meaſure laid aſide, as if no ordination could poſſibly be valid, except by Biſhops; and therefore that if now we have true Miniſters, yet without Reſtauration of Biſhops, we can have none, no Miniſters long: I anſwer, that although I am not yet plerophorized, that a Primitive Biſhop, or Epiſcopus praeſes, is utterly unlawfull, yet I am not fully convinced, that they are an Inſtitution of Chriſt, and eſſentiall, or abſolutely neceſſary to the very being of a Church or miniſtry. I dare not ſo eaſily unchurch thoſe of the Reformed Religion abroad, who have no Biſhops, name or thing, Biſhops or Superintendents: and in this I am not alone, the late Reverend Dr Uſher, ſometimes an Arch-Biſhop himſelfe, was of the like judgment. See his life and death by Dr Bernard. Yea in the Church of Rome, ſometimes there hath been allowed Ordination by other hands, than by Biſhops, if I miſtake not. And the Maſter of the Sentences holds but two orders jure divino, Presbyters and Deacons. See Pet: Lumb: And, if I miſremember not, I have read that the Spaniards hindred it in the Council of Trent, that it did not paſſe, that all Biſhops, except the Biſhop of Rome, were jure humano, or to that effect.
And Medina, who diſputed at the Councill of Trent touching the Superiority of a Biſhop above a Prieſt, affirms, that Jerome was in this point of Aerius his opinion: and that not only he, but alſo Ambroſe and Auſtin, Sedulius, Primaſius, Chryſoſtomus, Theodoret, Oecumenius, and Theophylact maintained all of them the ſame Hereſy. So hee.
If the Charity ſo ſome Proteſtants be a ſtumbling block, which lyes in your way to hinder you from leaving your Errors, and profeſſing the truth; I ſhall endeavour briefly to remove that out of your way.
Firſt, Were I in your caſe, and did not I reſigne up my Judgment to the Scriptures, according to that infallible rule to judge which is the true Church, I would avoid that Church moſt, where is profeſſed and practiſed the greateſt cruelty, and joyne to that ſooneſt, where is profeſſed and practiſed the greateſt charity. You profeſſe, at leaſt many of you, that 'tis impoſſible for us to be ſaved; that 'tis abſolutely neceſſary to ſalvation to be a member of the Roman Church, to believe the Articles of the Trent faith, and to live and dye in the communion of the Roman Church in ſubjection unto the Biſhop of Rome, whom you call Chriſt's Vicar and Peter's Succeſſor. Hear what a learned and religious Perſon ſaith to this point. Muſt Paul be damned becauſe he was not one of Peter's ſubjects? doe not your conſciences know (he writes to the literate Romaniſts) that ſwearing obedience to the Pope of Rome was a thing unknown for many hundred yeares, yea that it is a novelty in the world.
Againe, when I read ſo many plain promiſes in the Scriptures, that whoever believeth in Chriſt ſhall not periſh; and that if by the Spirit we mortify the deeds of the body we ſhall live; and that if we repent our ſins ſhall be forgiven; yea that Godlineſse hath the promiſe of this life and that to come: and then when I find that the Papiſts for all theſe certain promiſes doe unchurch and damne us all, becauſe we believe not in the Pope of Rome, as well as in Chriſt, this ſatisfied me as fully that you are audacious Schiſmaticks, as I am ſatisfied that you are Papiſts. So hee, Mr Baxter againſt popery.
The Papiſts will ſometimes brag of their Charity; they give perhaps a piece of bread to ſome of our poor, and yet unchurch us poore and rich: they would not ſtick (I feare) had they power in their hands, to burne our bodies, ſaying, we are Hereticks; and they doe as much as in them lyes to damne our ſoules: and if this be their charity, Oh my ſoule come not thou into their ſecrets.
And yet doe not the Papiſts lay too great a ſtreſſe on the charity of ſome Proteſtants, conſidering the Aſſertion of Mr Perkins, which ſaith, that A Reprobate may in truth be made partaker of all that is contained in the Religion of the Church of Rome; and a Papiſt by his Religion cannot goe beyond a Reprobate. Perk. Vol. 1. p. 396. & 404.
And what Dr Uſher ſaid, namely, to this effect (being asked by a Papiſt whether a Papiſt may be ſav'd (that one that holds all the Tenets of the Council of Trent, and lives accordingly without Repentance, cannot be ſaved; he ſaid there were two plaine places for it: the places I did not heare, but ſuppoſe them to be 2 Theſ. 2.11, 12. And for this cauſe, God ſhall ſend them ſtrong deluſions, that they ſhould believe a lye, that they all might be damned, who believe not the truth, but had pleaſure in unrighteouſneſse. And Rev. 14.9, 10, 11. If any man worſhip the beaſt and his image, and receive his marke in his forehead, or in his hand, the ſame ſhall drinke of the wine of the wrath of God. And the ſmoke of their torment aſcendeth up for ever and ever; And they have no reſt day nor night, who worſhip the Beaſt and his image, &c.
Mr Baxter ſaith, if a Papiſt be ſaved, it muſt be as a Chriſtian, and not as a Papiſt: as if a lyar might be ſaved, it muſt not be by lying, but by Faith and Repentance: he thinks it not impoſſible for ſome one or more to be ſaved, as 'tis poſſible for here and there one to eſcape of a raging peſtilence: but if ſo, it is not by his diſeaſe or plague of Popery, but by the wholſome remedy of Faith and Repentance. Vid. Baxt.
Oh that God would perſwade your hearts to come to haſt out of Romiſh Babylon, that ye partake not of her ſins, and of her plagues at the laſt. Depart, depart from the tents of theſe men, come over I beſeech you unto us, and be ſafe, if you believe and obey. Be not deceived, be not blindfolded, ſearch and try whether the holy Scriptures, whether the Lord Chriſt, the Apoſtle Paul to the Romans, or the Apoſtle Peter in his Epiſtles to the Hebrewes, ever made the Church of Rome the mother and miſtreſſe of all Churches, and to whom we muſt come, and whom we muſt believe, even without the word, or we cannot poſſibly be ſaved. See whether it be expreſly laid down in Scripture, that ever Peter was at Rome; but judge in your ſelves, if he ſate Biſhop there 25 yeers, whether or no it was not very probable that Paul would in ſome of his Epiſtles, which he wrote thence, have made mention of him: and what did the Apoſtle Peter forſake Paul▪ when he was at Rome, and ſtood for the defence of the Goſpell (if Peter was there at that time) for Paul complaines ſaying, All men forſook me, 1 Tim. 4.16.
Or if Peter was Biſhop of Rome, what then could none be ſaved for 3, or 4, or 600 yeers after Chriſt, becauſe the Pope was not 'till then owned as the Univerſall Paſtor of the Church, no nor did 'till then claime the title of Oecumenicall Biſhop?
Were there not three Popes at a time, and all three depoſed by the Council of Conſtance? yea 'tis a commonly cited ſaying of Gregory the Great, Biſhop of Rome, that he that had that title was praecurſor Antichriſti, or forerunner of Antichriſt. Yea how came the Biſhop of Rome to claime a power over other Biſhops, more than Peter did over the other Apoſtles? or how come Peter's ſucceſſors (ſuppoſe the Biſhop of Rome be ſo) to ſucceed Peter in his power & priviledges, & not other Biſhops, who ſucceeded the other Apoſtles in their Churches, to have the power and priviledges, which thoſe Apoſtles had whom they ſucceeded? yea how came the Church at Jeruſalem, where Chriſt himſelfe preached in perſon, where Peter had a ſpeciall hand in laying as it were the foundation, or planting of the Chriſtian Church, after Chriſt was aſcended, Act. 2.37, 38, 41. how comes that Church to erre, to fall away, and yet the Church of Rome to be infallible?
Shew us if you can, either plain Scripture, or Father, or Council for 4 or 500 yeers, that interpreted Scripture ſo, that Rome was infallible, and all were for ever to receive their faith from her mouth under paine of a curſe and damnation, and that too when ſhe commands contrary to the Inſtitutions of Chriſt, and to the Doctrine contained in the Scriptures, as ſhe doth in her denying the cup to the people, in latine ſervice, where the people doe not underſtand it, in forbidding Prieſts marriage, &c.
Oh that ye would lay aſide prejudice and diſaffection, and apply your ſelves to the ſtudy of the holy Scriptures; think never the better of Mahumetaniſme, becauſe it muſt not be queſtioned, nor of Popery, becauſe 'tis death in Italy or Spaine without recantation, to read a Spaniſh or Italian Bible without a licenſe: how abſurd are theſe men to hinder children from looking into their Fathers Teſtament, or to forbid men to obey God, except they have firſt got mens leave ſo to doe. Let not your Prieſts perſwade you to lay out of your hands the holy Scripture, and to fill them with Legends and Fables, to put out the Sun in the firmament, that, you may ſee with their candles or glow-wormes.
Oh! doe not throw away the light of the Word, nor put out your own Reaſon, that candle of the Lord, to follow your blind guides in the darkneſſe of error, as ye would not fall into the ditch, and into the pit. Oh! that you would not deſpiſe the day of ſmall things, that you would pleaſe to read and conſider this plain Catechiſticall confutation of your errors (I hope) by pat and pertinent Scriptures. I have read how a plain country-man with one text of Scripture convinced an erroneous Perſon, when great Schollars, and much diſputing and reaſoning could not doe.
My deſire and prayer is, that this Treatiſe may have the like effect, that the Scriptures here cited may convince thoſe who have erred from the truth, and may turne them from darkneſſe to light, and from the power of Satan and of Error unto God. Oh! how glad ſhould I be, if I could but undeceive and ſave ſome of you by this meanes, if I could pluck you as fire-brands out of the fire.
Truly my deſire and prayer is, and ſhall be (if the will of God be ſo) that ye may be in God's way, i. e. read his word, believe and obey it, that ye may be ſaved. And one thing let me ſay, think to be ſaved by your own Faith, and not meerly by believing as the Church believes: doe not truſt in God for ſalvation by an Atturney, as ye would not be contented to be ſaved only by a Proxey. And be not amuſed with a great noiſe, and great names of Fathers, and Councils, which they that boaſt doe it (ſaith one) becauſe they know you cannot, or have not leiſure either to read or underſtand, and ſo cannot diſprove them; ſee Moulin: but to the Law and to the Teſtimony, and the word is neer thee: and of the Bible I am ſure I may ſay, Bleſſed is he that readeth, and that underſtandeth the ſayings of this Book.
I ſeek not yours but you, and oh that you could or would away with your dungie and droſſy errors, and that you might keep your gold and ſilver; and on condition you would part with two parts of your errors, I hope I ſhould not envy you your whole eſtates.
Yet ſay not that our Religion is cruel, and that you are Martyrs for yours; becauſe 'tis the cauſe, not the puniſhment, or ſuffering, makes a Martyr; and you ſuffer in your purſes for the Error of your Conſciences. I hope we Proteſtants ſhall never be put to try, yet we could have no ſuch bargaine, if the law was in your hands; although the truth is, you pay too deare for a falſe Religion: for I may ſay of Religion, as of the Prophet Jeremys figs, the good is very good, and the bad very bad: if it be true, a man cannot pay too deare for it; if falſe, he cannot buy it too cheap.
Now who would be of ſuch a Religion, which may coſt him the certaine loſſe of a temporall, and much hazard his eternall eſtate; that will ruine his eſtate; and endanger his ſoule.
Now conſider what I have ſaid in this preface, and what I ſay in the following Treatiſe, and the Lord give you underſtanding in all things,
So prayeth (really deſirous of your converſion and ſalvation) THO: HODGES.