Defense of the Protestant Christian Religion, Chapter 5
CHAP. V. Of the Nature of Schiſm, and of the Schiſms of the Church of Rome, both within her ſelf, and from other Churches.
DISCOURSE.
SChiſm is a departure or diviſion from the Ʋnity of the Church, whereby the band and communion held with ſome former Church, is broken and diſſolved. If ever the Church of Rome divided Her ſelf by Schiſm, from any other body of faithful Chriſtians, or broke communion, or went forth from the ſociety of any elder Church, I pray ſatisfie your ſelf and me in theſe particulars. Firſt, Whoſe company did ſhe leave? Secondly, From what body did ſhe go forth? Where was the true Church which ſhe forſook? And the ſame thing is repeated again, a ſecond and a third time in your Paper.
ANSWER.
You do here again, as before, in your deſcription of Apoſtaſie and Hereſie, deſcribe the thing amiſs, that you may the better ward off the blow, and de… your Church; Not that we deſire to ſtrive with you about words, but as they do involve erroneous, and undue apprehenſions of things: Be it granted, That Schiſm is a rent, or a breach of that Unity that Chriſt hath appointed in his Church; and ſo as Hereſie denies the Faith, Schiſm deſtroyes … of the Goſpel; but your deſcription of it fails in ….
I. There may be Schiſm in a Church within it ſelf: The Apoſtle ſeveral times uſeth this word, in this Epiſtle to the Corinthians, as 1 Cor. 1.10. and cap. 11.18. and cap. 12.25. I hear, ſaith he, that, when you come together in the Church, there be foreign, diviſions, or ſchiſms among you: Though that any of them did break off from the communion of the Church, doth not appear; but there were carnal contendings and ſtrivings within, and among themſelves, rending and tearing one another, which the Apoſtle there calls Rents or Schiſms.
II. There may be Schiſm from another Church, contemporary and coexiſtent, as well as from a Church praeexiſtent. There is no neceſſity, that it muſt be only from a former Elder Church; yea, an Elder Church may be guilty of Schiſm from a younger, and from thoſe that were her own Members, if ſhe break the bond of love and order with them, by her own corruptions, and perſecutions. It is the apoſtatizing, perſecuting Church, that makes the rent, and is guilty of the Schiſm, and not the Reforming party, who are driven out by them.
Now to apply theſe things a little to the Church of Rome ſhe may be charged with Schiſm upon all theſe Accounts: The plain truth is, ſhe is the moſt Schiſmatical Church in the World, both within her ſelf, and in reference to other Churches alſo a the evidence whereof is ſo notorious, that if I were a Roman Catholick, I would tell you, That it was very unhappily, and unadviſedly done of you, to mention this buſineſs of Schiſm, in a Paper of Diſpute offered by you to the Hereticks.
For firſt, within her ſelf. Her inteſtine Schiſms and Diviſions have been ſo many, that it would make this Paper ſwell into a Volume, Bell: Praef. in Libr. de Pontif.to number them all up unto you. It is Bellarmines own conceſſion, though he labours alſo to cover this nakedneſs with a Fig leaf, That there were Schiſmata graviſſima & plurima ipſorum interaſe Romanorum Pontificum. Very grievous, and very many Schiſms, Voet. Diſp. Vol. 2. Diſ. 43. p.even of the Popes of Rome amongſt themſelves. Voetius refers you to Mayer's Book, of the Six and twenty Schiſms of the Church and See of Rome; 689. Onuphr. Roman. Pontif. & Cardinal. ad Annum Chriſti 1378.but your own Onuphrius reckons up no leſs than Twenty nine Schiſms in the Church of Rome: And of the Twenty eighth in the time of Clement the ſeventh, he ſaith, it was Peſſimum & diuturnum Schiſma, omniſque Res-publica Chriſtiana diviſa. A moſt wicked and long laſting Schiſm; for it laſted, as he ſaith, no leſs than One and fifty years together, and the whole Chriſtian world was divided by it; the French, Spaniards, and others, following Clement the ſeventh; but Germany, Hungary, England, and part of Italy, followed Urban the ſixth. Moreover, Anno Chriſti circiter 897. &c.to mention another inſtance among ſo many, the Schiſms were ſo violent between Pope Stephanus, and Pope Formoſus, and their Succeſſors, That they did nothing but do, and undo; Ratifie, and Reſcind the Acts and Decrees of one another. Stephanus, for his part, he Reſcinds the Decrees of Formoſus, and like a quiet, and peaceable man, digs him up out of his Grave, cuts off his Fingers, &c. But Pope Romanus, and Theodorus, and John the Tenth, diſannulled the Acts of Stephen, and approved Formoſus: Yet after theſe, comes Sergius the third, who digs up Formoſus his dead body once more, cuts off his Head, caſts it into Tyber, Reſcinds his Decrees. Now the Queſtion is, Which of them ſhall we believe? for, Bell. de Pontif. lib 4. cap. 12.they were all infallible. Bellarmine determines, That Stephanus and Sergius were in the Error, and ſo like an Heretick he takes upon him to judge the Pope: And as you have Popes and Antipopes, ſo you have Councils againſt Councils; for inſtance, V. Calviſ. Chr… nol. ad annum: 1437.your Councils of Conſtanoe and Baſil have defined, That the Council is above the Pope. Quod niſi eſt, quis unquam Romano Pontifici quamvis improbiſſimo contradicerei? Which if it be not ſo, Who would ever gainſay the Pope, though never ſo wicked, ſay they of Baſil in their Bull, Jan. 17. 1438. But Pope Leo, and the Council of Lateran, have determined the contrary. And here again, Bell. de Conciliorum authoritate. lib. 2. cap. 19. & de Eceleſ. militante. lib. 3. cap. 16.Bellarmine takes upon him to determine between the diſſenting Popes and Councils, and plonounceth that of Baſil, as ſoon as Antichriſt was angry with them, to be but Conciliabulum, &c. But, in the mean time, your boaſtings of a Supreme, Infallible, Viſible Judge amongſt you, to end your Controverſies, are to much purpoſe, unleſs Bellarmine be he; but he is dead, and who ſucceeds him in the Office, I cannot tell. And, I wonder, What became of your uninterrupted Succeſſion all this while, during all theſe Broyles and Schiſms? And where is your P…c… and Unity among your ſelves? When Bellarmine almoſt upon every Controverſie, reports the contrary Opinions of your own Doctors, ſome of which he condemns very ſeverely. Voet. Diſp. part. 2 inventar. Eccleſ. Roman. p. 689.I have not told them how many they be, but Voetius ſaith, He mentions no leſs than Two hundred contrary Opinions amongſt your own Writers, which your Infallible Judge (as it ſeemeth) hath not determined to this day. I might here mention, as ſignal Inſtances thereof, The ſharp Conteſts, and Digladiations between your Dominicans and Franciſcans, and Jeſuites, about the power and intereſts of Free-will, and Free-grace, and the influence thereof into mans Converſion and Predeſtination; and about the immaculate Conception of the bleſſed Virgin Mary, about which your Trent Council durſt not give a clear definitive ſentence, but ſpeaks ambiguouſly, like the Delphick Oracles of old: As alſo the Conteſts between your French Sorboniſts, and your Hildebrandine Paraſites of the Court of Rome, about the pragmatick Sanction of the Council of Baſil, the Liberties of the Gallican Church, the power of Popes, in reference to Councils and Magiſtrates, &c. Nor, indeed, do I know any one point, wherein you differ from the Proteſtants, wherein you are agreed amongſt your ſelves: Your very Council of Trent, though approved by the Pope, yet is rejected by the French Papiſts unto this day. This is your peace and unity amongſt your ſelves, whereof you uſe to boaſt ſo much; Nothing, forſooth, but Mufick and Harmony, made up of Diſcords.
Secondly, As to other Churches. There be Churches both elder and younger, and contemporary with the Roman, and ſome of her own ſounder Members, with all which ſhe hath broke communion; And they are not fugitivi, but fugati; it is not they, but ſhe that hath made the breach, becauſe ſhe doth impoſe ſuch conditions of communion upon them, as they cannot lawfully ſubmit unto; viz. To receive all her Errors, and ſubmit their Conſciences to her, and her Head as Infallible and Supreme.
If we look back to the firſt times of your Apoſtaſie, there were firſt, all the Churches and Chriſtians, without the bounds of the Roman Empire, as in India, Perfia, &c. Secondly, the Grecian Churches, which were one half of that Empire, one Leg of Daniels Image, Dan. 2. which took the Alarum very early, and refuſed the primacy of Rome, and ſtood upon their guard againſt her. Thirdly, the African Churches did the ſame. Fourthly, All thoſe ſuffering Churches and Chriſtians, that were oppreſſed under, and by the Papacy, as living within the reach of the Popes power.
Or, if we conſider the preſent ſtate of things, at this day, and in this Age, wherein we live, there be very many, with whom the Church of Rome, hath broke communion: As for inſtance, All the Chriſtians in Aſia, and Africa, except ſome late Colonies of Papiſts: All the Grecian Churches in Europe: All thoſe that are under the Patriarchs of Conſtantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, Jeruſalem, Ruſſia, and Muſcovia. Alſo the Proteſant Churches and Kingdoms, and many that lie hid under the Dominions of Popiſh Princes, who ſigh, and mourn, and groan under the Abominations of the Papacy. Sir Edwin Sands, Sir E S. Europae Speculum, or view of the ſtate of Religion in Weſtern parts, pag. 76. & 187.who was a great Traveller, and a very intelligent perſon, his computation in Q. Elizabeths time, was, That about one half of the Popes Dominions, were fallen from him, and become Proteſtants, five of the Ten horns have begun to hate the Whore; And you know how that ſince thoſe dayes, you have not been gaining, but rather loſing ground; inſomuch, that when all Accompts are caſt up, both of thoſe who were never ſubject to the Pope, and thoſe who have ſhaken off his yoke, it will be found, That the Church of Rome is not a third part of the Chriſtian world. All theſe Companies ſhe hath left, and gone out from all theſe Bodies, and Societies of Chriſtians; hence therefore:
1. It is a ſtrange Queſtion for you to ask, Whoſe Company ſhe hath left? For you cannot but know, if you know any thing at all of theſe matters, that there is a far greater number of Chriſtians out of her Communion and Juriſdiction, than are within it.
2. This renders her aſſuming and monopolizing to her ſelf, the name and title of the Catholick Church, in oppoſition to all other Churches out of her Communion, not only falſe, but extreamly vain, and (in plain terms) ridiculous: For is ſhe the whole Catholick Church, who is not a third part of it? Or rather, is not this a piece of Schiſmatical pride and arrogance in her? the very ſame with the Donatiſts of old, who did unchurch all others but themſelves, and ſo do you, which is not the Spirit of the Goſpel, but rather an evidence againſt you, that you have neither part nor lot in this matter, and that your hearts are not right in the fight of God, which are ſo full of the gall of bitterneſs, and ſharp cenſoriouſneſs. Ravn. 6. Concluſo Concl, 5. pa. 687.It further confirms that which hath been long ago demonſtrated unto you, by that Learned Raynolds, That the Church of Rome is not the Catholick Church, nor yet a ſound Member of the Catholick Church.
And ſo much for the Apoſtaſies, Hereſies, and Schiſms of your Church; The next thing in your paper is this: