Defense of the Protestant Christian Religion, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII. Of Humane Teſtimonies, for and againſt the See of Rome.
THat which remains of your Diſcourſe, is partly Quotations, without ſo much as attempting to prove your intereſt in them, of ſome parallel Texts with thoſe before anſwered; partly repetitions of thoſe impertinent Queries, Whether did the Roman Church go from any other known Church, &c? Anſwered alſo before, under the Head of Schiſm, partly Humane Teſtimonies for the See of Rome, for ſo you phraſe it, the Body of your Diſcourſe having run upon this expreſſion, the Church of Rome, the Title being the Roman Faith. To your Humane Teſtimonies, I would humbly offer three things to your ſerious conſideration, which, I ſuppoſe, may ſuffice to all you ſay, or can ſay, from the Fathers, in whom you ſeem to repoſe your greateſt confidence, for the defence of your cauſe.
Conſid. 1. That you know we do not own the Fathers, but the Scriptures onelyonly, as the Supreme Judge of Controverſies: Though we honour them, as bleſſed Inſtruments in their Generation; yet we know they were but men, and not Apoſtles infallibly, inſpired and aſſiſted by the Holy Ghoſt, Yea, we do ingenuouſly acknowledge, That the darkneſs, and inadvertency of the Fathers in ſome points, did contribute and make way for the riſe and growth of Popery. They had their hands ſo full of other work, partly from without, in all their Conflicts, both with Jews and Pagans, both by writing and ſuffering, while the Chriſtian Princes alſo in the mean time, were not idle, but had their hands full, in the Wars of Michael againſt the Dragon, againſt the perſecuting Pagan Emperors, during that fourth Century: And partly from within, by thoſe inteſtine miſchiefs, which, through the malice and craft of Sathan, were bred within the Churches own bowels, ſuch as Arrianiſm, with all the Errors and Blaſphemies accompanying and flowing from it, againſt the Perſon and Natures of Chriſt, and againſt his bleſſed Spirit. As alſo Pelagianiſm, wretchedly undermining the work of his Grace and Spirit, in the effectual application of Chriſt, and his redeeming Love, to the Souls of his Elect. Donatiſm likewiſe at the ſame time dreadfully diſturbing the peace, and order, and fellowſhip of the Goſpel, by diſchurching, and diſbaptiſing all other Chriſtians, and re-baptiſing themſelves, whil'ſt othres in the mean time wereas much too large, and looſe, as they too rigid. The faithful Servants of Chriſt were thus aſſaulted in thoſe dayes on every ſide, over and beſide the daily work of Teaching and Governing their reſpective Flocks and Churches. All which, did ſo ſeverely call upon them for their deepeſt intentions and endeavours, that as it rendred the work heavy upon the ſhoulders of the faithful Miniſtry in thoſe conflicting times, ſo, truly, to my narrow capacity, it is no wonder, if in the mean time, the deep and ſubtile workings of the myſtery of Iniquity in the Papacy, did, in a great meaſure, eſcape their obſervation. And the rather, if we conſider the diſadvantage they were under, both for want of Printing, and of well regulated and formed Univerſities and Schools of the Prophets. The Monaſtick Inſtitutions at firſt (as ſome have thought) coming neareſt, and ſeeming to have had ſome glimpſe and aim thereat; ſo that when all accounts are caſt up, aſſuredly it will be found, That we have more cauſe to acknowledge and admire the grace and power of Chriſt, in acting and enabling his ſervants to ſee ſo much, and go ſo far, in thoſe dark and difficult times, then to ſtumble at the diſpenſation of his Providence, becauſe they did not ſee every thing. Neither have you for your parts, either cauſe or colour to offend at theſe ſentiments of ours concerning the Fathers, when your own Petavius can ſay, Petav. Animadv. in Epiph. Haereſ. 69 Arriano rum. p. 285.Pleriſque veterum patrum—uſu venit ut ante Errorum atque Haereſeon— Originem, quibus Chriſtianae fidei capita ſingillatim oppugnabantur, nondum ſatis illuſtrata ac patefactâ rei veritate, quaedam ſuis ſcriptis aſperſerint, quae cum orthodoxae fidei regulâ minime conſentiant. It is a common thing (ſaith he) with moſt of the ancient Fathers, that before the riſe of Errors and Hereſies, whereby the Articles of the Chriſtian Faith were particularly oppugned (the truth of the thing being not fully enough cleared and laid open) they did intermingle ſome things in their Writings, which do not agree with the rule of the Orthodox Faith. Thus he; yea, there is nothing more common with your Writers, than to cry the Fathers either up or down, meerly as may ſerve their turn, and that ſometimes in term; courſe enough. Patres quos ſe venerari ſimulat, ſaith Beza, concerning your Church, Palam tamen imperitis illudens conculcat.Beza in 1 Tim. 3.15.
Conſid. 2. You may do well to conſider yet further, That the Fathers did bear their Teſtimony ſo far as their Light ſerved againſt the corruptions they ſaw coming in; though in ſome things, which it pleaſed God in his unſearchable wiſdom to hide from them, they did run with the Cry, and ſay, as others ſaid; yet, in other things, they bear witneſs againſt you. And therefore it were eaſie to retaliate, and requite you with as many Teſtimonies of the Ancients on the other hand, againſt the See of Rome, as you have brought for it: You may ſee a little handful of them in Calvins Preface to his Inſtitutions.
As to thoſe ſpeeches you quote, as ſounding for you out of Epiphanius, Auſtin, and Ambroſe, you ſeem to underſtand their words in a deeper ſenſe, than ever they intended them; for what though the Ancients ſometimes called Peter the Chief, the Firſt, the Head, the Prince of the Apoſtles, yet theſe, and ſuch like Metaphors, may be underſtood in ſuch a modified ſenſe, as to import no more but only a precedency of order, and not a ſupremaof power; the former whereof, is granted by our Divines to Peter, but will ſtand you in no ſtead; and the latter you cannot prove, though if you could, yet this alſo would not do your buſineſs; for, ſuppoſe Peter had been as great a King as Solomon, yet what is this to the Pope, any more than to the Turk, or to the King of Spain? But it will be difficult for you to evince, with cogency of demonſtration, That the preference the Fathers give him, doth amount to any further or higher power, than that of the Foreman of a Jury, or the Speaker of the Houſe of Parliament, or the Moderator of a Synod, who hath a preheminence of Order, but not of Power and Juriſdiction, above the reſt of his Colleagues. What ſay you to that of Jerom? Ut Plato Princeps Philoſophorum, Hieron. 2. lib. adverſ. Pelag.ita Petrus Apoſtolorum fuit; As Plato was Prince of the Philoſophers, ſo was Peter of the Apoſtles: But Plato had no power of Government or Juriſdiction over other Philoſophers, but onelyonly an eminency of eſteem and reſpect. I might here alſo tell you, as to Epiphanius (but that I haſten to a cloſe) that the Teſtimony you alledge, is not in his Anchoratus, but in his Panarium contra Haereſes. As alſo, what a Teſtimony he hath born againſt you, concerning your Idolatry; Vide infta Cap 8. Append.and how ſlightly your own Writers, ſuch as Canus, Baronius, Petavius, are pleaſed to ſpeak of him.
As to Auſtin, the firſt ſentence you quote from him, as it doth not occur in the place you quote, where I have ſearched for it, ſo neither indeed do I remember any ſuch expreſſion of his in any other place. The next, wherein he ſpeaks of Peter as the Rock, I wonder you would quote, when I preſume you are not ignorant, that he hath put it among his Retractations, and given a ſounder expoſition of the Rock concerning Chriſt himſelf. Retract. lib. 1. cap. 21.Dixi de Apoſtolo Petro quod in illo tanquam in Petra fundata ſit Eccleſia. Sed ſcio me poſtea ſic expoſuiſſe, ut ſuper hunc, intelligeretur quem confeſſus eſt Petrus—Non enim dictum eſt illi tu es Petra, ſed tues Petrus. Petra autem erat Chriſtus. And again, Serm. 13. in Matth. p. 22. Edit. Lovan.— Aedificabo Eccleſiam meam, id eſt ſuper meipſum filium Dei vivi aedificabo Eccleſium meam. Nam volentes homines aedificari ſuper bomines, dicebant, ego quidem ſum Pauli, ego autem Apollo, ego vero Cephae. And that his Principatus Apoſtolici Sacerdotis, Epiſ. 162.and whatever other expreſſion of his, may ſeem to carry a benign aſpect towards the Church of Rome, muſt be underſtood with ſome temper and allay, is undeniably evident by the famous Teſtimonies, conſtantly born by him, and by the reſt of the African Biſhops and Councils, againſt the Incroachments and Uſurpations, of that aſpiring, and devouring See of Rome. Can. 22:The Milevitan Council decreed, Ad Tranſmarina qui putaverit appellandum, à nullo intra Africam in communionem ſuſcipiatur. If any man ſhall appeal beyond the Seas, let none in Africk receive him to communion. And in Cyprian's time, upon occaſion of Stephanus Biſhop of Rome, his interpoſing on the behalf of Baſilides, and Martialis, who had been depoſed for ſacrificing to Idols, Cyprian, and other Biſhops in Council with him, decreed, Cypr. Epiſt. 55. Pamel.Ut unius cujuſque cauſa illic audiatur ubi eſt crimen admiſſum, & illic agere cauſam ſuam, ubi & accuſatores habere & teſtes ſui criminis poſſit. That every ones cauſe ſhould be heard in the place of the Fact committed, and there manage his cauſe—where the Defendant may have both accuſers and witneſſes face to face. So little underſtood they of the Popes Supremacy.
As to Ambroſe, the Books you quote, De Vocatione Gentium, are generally concluded, by all Learned men, both Papiſts and Proteſtants, to be none of his; but ſome aſcribe them to Eucherius Lugdunenſis. Bellarmine to Proſper; yet Voſſius thinks they are none of Proſpers, as differing from his principles, and ſo thinks J. Latius of them, as differing from his ſtile. Libros de Vocatione Gentium (ſaith Rivet) ſentiunt fere omnes non eſſe Ambroſii. Riv. Crit. Sacr. lib. 3. cap. 17. & lib. 4. cap. 18. Lat. lib. 2. de Semi Pelag. cap. 3.Eraſmo ſtilus videtur non abhorrere à phraſi Eucherii Lugdunenſis. Bellarminus & alii fere omnes eos aſſerunt Proſpero, Obſtare tamen, ſcribit clariſſimus Veſſius, quod illius Authoris ſententia non videtur quadrare cum doctrina Proſperi. A Proſperi etiam ſtilo abludere judicavit vir eruditus Joh. Latius. Moreover, ſeeing you mention Ambroſe, you may remember his judgment was, That Rome is Babylon, Apoc. 17. So much for this ſecond Conſideration, That the Fathers did teſtifie in part againſt you, and not ſo much for you, as you pretend.
Conſiderat. 3. I pray conſider in the third place, That there be many, even of your own Writers, that teſtifie againſt you in ſeveral things; for which, you have put their Names, and their Books, into your honeſt Indices Expurgatorii, and into your Index librorum prohibitorum, ſuch as Stella, Maſius Eſpencaeus, Ferus, &c. But there be others left, who have eſcaped your Interpolations, Expurgations, and Prohibitions, who teſtifie againſt you to your faces. Let me add but two or three ſignal Inſtances to what you have had already.
Firſt, Greg. lib. 6. Epiſt. 30. Lib. 4. Epiſt. 38. Bellarm. de Pontif. lib. 2. cap. 2. & lib. 2. cap. 13. Ribera in Apoc. 14.8. Tertoll. cont. Judae. cap. 9. Aug. de Civ. Dei. lib. 18. cap. 22. Hieron. de Spiritu ſanct. Prolog. & Ep. 151, in Algaſ Qu. 11. Ambroſ. in Apoc. 17.You know how ſharply Pope Gregory the firſt, inveighs againſt that proud, ſwelling, ſmoky title of Univerſal Paſtor, uſed and claimed by all his Succeſſors to this day. Ego autem fidenter dico, quia quiſquis ſe univerſalem vocat vel vocari deſiderat, in elatione ſua Antichriſtum praecurrit, quia ſuperbiendo caeteris ſe praeponit. I ſpeak it confidently (ſaith he, and the Pope, you ſay, cannot erre) that whoſoever calls himſelf, or deſireth to be called by others, univerſal Biſhop, or Paſtor, is the Fore-runner of Antichriſt, in his elation of mind, becauſe he lifts up himſelf in pride above others. And he ſaith, That it is a prophane Title, and that the King of pride is at the door, and an Army of Prieſts ready to fight his Battels, with many other ſuch like expreſſions.
Secondly, I might here alſo tell you, how that Bellarmine and Ribera, both Jeſuites, and ſome others of the ſame Tribe, do confeſs and maintain, and that according to the judgement of ſundry of the Fathers, viz. Tertullian, Auſtin, Jerom, Ambroſe, That myſtical Babylon in the Revelations, is Rome, and that ſhe is reſerved and devoted to deſtruction, even to be burnt with fire. A conceſſion of more dangerous conſequence, and importance to your cauſe and intereſt, then to be evaded by Romances of an imaginary Antichriſt of the Tribe of Dan.
Thirdly, If you ask for Humane Teſtimonies againſt that Scorpion Doctrine of Juſtification by the merit of your own Works, and Penances, and Satisfactions, wherewith your Locuſts uſe to ſting and torment, and torture the Conſciences of men, worſe then Death; and upon which, as was ſaid before, that Champion of the Lord, did pitch the Field againſt you; it is worth your noting, how Bellarmine having wreſtled, with his wit, in five Books againſt the truth of God, yet, at laſt (God confounding him in his oppoſition to it) he confeſſeth, Bell. de Juſtif. lib, 5. cap. 7. prop. 3.Propter incertitudinem propriae juſtitiae, & periculum inanis gloriae, Tutiſſimum eſt totam fiduciam in ſola Dei miſericordia & benignitate reponere. Becauſe of the uncertainty of our own Righteouſneſs, and the danger of Vain-glory, it is the ſafeſt way to put our whole truſt in the meer mercy and goodneſs of God. And it is ſo indeed: But then Bellarmine, why did you diſpute againſt it? againſt the inward workings and recoylings of your own Conſcience, which did whiſper you in the ear, and told you, That this is the beſt and ſafeſt way, Ex ore tuo ſerve nequam. I cannot but often think of this paſſage of his, as one of the greateſt triumphs in this kind, that ever truth had, out of the mouth of ſuch an impetuous Adverſary; for magna eſt veritas, & praevalebit. Surely theſe words of his do as well deſerve to be blotted out by an Index Expurgatorius, as thoſe of Chryſoſtom, Index Expurg. Litera C. Chryſoſtom. Index Expurg. Cardinal. Quirega in litera B. Biblia Roberti Stephani.Meritum nullum eſſe niſi quod à Chriſto confertur, which you have ordered to be purged out of his works, and as well as thoſe paſſages out of Robert Stephens Table to his Bible, Credendo in Chriſtum remittuntur peccata; and Credens Chriſto non morietur in aeternum; fide purificantur corda; juſtificamur fide in Chriſtum. Our ſins are forgiven, by believing in Chriſt; he that believeth in Chriſt, ſhall not dye eternally; our hearts are purified by ſaith; we are juſtified by ſaith in Chriſt; of which your pious Index ſaith, Deleantur ſubjectae propoſitiones, tanquam ſuſpectae. Let theſe propoſitions be blotted out, as being ſuſpitious; for, it ſeems, you ſuſpect the very words of Scripture, and the Goſpel it ſelf, whether it be true or no; but there is nothing renders your Religion more ſuſpitious, and more odious unto my heart, then this your enmity unto the free grace of God, and againſt the Scripture, by which it is revealed, which you are ſtill venting upon all occaſions. Matth. 19.16.Coelum gratis non accipiam, ſaith Vega, I will not accept of heaven upon terms of free grace. But when death appears, and ſtares upon you, ſome of you can ſpeak at another rate; ſo did Bellarmine, when he prayed upon his Death-bed, Precor ut me Deus, Fuligatus in vita Bellar. referente. Dr. Grew of Juſtif. pag. 91.169.inter ſanctos, & electos ſuos, non eſtimator meriti, ſed veniae largitor admittat. I pray, that God would receive me among his Saints, and choſen ones; not upon the account of merit, but for the ſake of his own pardoning grace and mercy. So Stephen Gardiner, when Dr. Day, Biſhop of Chicheſter, came to ſee him on his Death-bed, and began to comfort him with the words of Gods promiſes, and with the free juſtification in the blood of Chriſt our Saviour: Fox's Acts and Mon. Vol. 3. page 527. col. 2.Gardiner hearing that, What, my Lord, (quoth he) Will you open that Gap now, then farewell altogether; To me, and ſuch other in my caſe you may ſpeak it; but open this window to the people, then farewell altogether. Here were clear convictions, but ſtrange rebellion of ſpirit againſt them: And to leave this head, Voet. Vol. 2. Diſput 47. pag. 726.Voetius hath a large and learned Diſpute with this Title, Vis veritatis in ipſo papatu crumpentis, de ſalute per ſolam Dei miſericordiam in Chriſto. Wherein he produceth a cloud of Witneſſes to this truth.
It was alſo in my thoughts to have noted ſomething out of your own Writers concerning the Popiſh Circle, I mean, the maze of unbelief, wherein they run round, to prove the Scripture by the Church, and the Church back again by the Scripture: Like men drunk, and giddy with the cup of the Wine of Aſtoniſhment, and with the ſpirit of Deluſion; it being juſt with God to ſmite them with a vertiginous diſtemper of mind, that they ſhall never come to any conſiſtence, to any ſettlement in the Faith, who will not ſettle upon the true foundation, and acquieſce in the Scriptures of Truth. For as the fire devoureth the ſtubble, and the flame conſumeth the chaffe, ſo their root ſhall be as rottenneſs, and their bloſſome ſhall go up as duſt: becauſe they have caſt away the law of the Lord of Hoſts, and deſpiſed the word of the holy One of Iſrael, Iſa. 5.24.
And, finally, ſeeing you call ſo much for Humane Teſtimonies, I had thought to have offered ſome, which, I think, you will bluſh to read, out of your own Writers, concerning the Veneration you give to your Popes, your Repreſentative Chriſts, and Vice-gods; and yet withall, concerning the hideous prophaneneſs of their Lives, and their Errability, yea, their actual erring Errors, damnably, and fundamentally deſtructive of the Faith, and all this out of your own approved Authors, out of whom I have obſerved and collected a few things, but theſe few are too many to be here inſerted. The Subject is ſo copious, that it requires an intire Tractate by it ſelf, therefore muſt be deferred, till ſome other occaſion do preſent: And in the mean time, ſo long as Gregories praecurſor Antichriſti, and ſo long as Bellarmines Tuliſſimum eſt, remains upon Record among men, you may ſhut your mouths, and ceaſe your boaſtings of Humane Teſtimonies.
I Have now, according to the meaſure of Light and Grace received, returned you an Anſwer to your Paper, ſomewhat largely, I confeſs, being deſired to anſwer it to the full, but yet as briefly as I could; yea, omitting many things which might have been, both truly and pertinently ſpoken. I find, that it hath been anſwered twice before by more Learned pens, which, as it renders this Labour of mine leſs neceſſary, and, which I think might have been ſpared, had you not called with ſuch renewed importunities for an Anſwer; ſo it renders you the more without excuſe, for that now you have the Truth againſt one oppoſition confirmed to you in the mouth of Three Witneſſes. Firſt, by Mr. Baxter, in his Key for Catholicks, printed Anno 1659, who received a great part of this your paper, in a Manuſcript ſent from Wolverhampton to Sturbridge, and hath inſerted it, and confuted it in his Book before mentioned, page 244. It hath been anſwered a ſecond time by Dr. Owen, in his Animadverſions on Fiat Lux, Cap. 2. page 59, &c. and in his Vindication of his Animadverſions, Cap. 4. page 48. & deinceps. And yet now, after two Anſwers in print, you ſend the ſame words again (ſuch is the penury of your cauſe) in a Manuſcript, to a perſon of Honour in this Kingdom of Ireland, with a challenge to our Divines to anſwer it, which hath produced and drawn forth this third Anſwer to it, beſides all that hath been written in former times, as alſo of late by Dr. Stillingfleete, Mr. Poole, and others, though not to this individual paper, but upon occaſion of other oppoſitions, yet in defence of the ſame general Truth, and Cauſe of Chriſt againſt Popery.
O that He, who alone is able, would vouchſafe to bleſs both thoſe former, and theſe preſent endeavours, ſo as to undeceive and open your eyes, and convince you by his Spirit of the Vanity of Vanities, that is in theſe pretenſions of Supremacy, Inerrability, and Indefectibility in your Church and Pope. The Lord awaken you out of theſe golden Dreams, before it be too late: Yea, I do believe through grace, and am perſuaded, That he will yet do it, by one means or other, for ſuch of you as do belong to the election of his grace: The ſame free and ſovereign grace that did pity, that did undeceive, and convince, and conquer Paul, when in his full career of blind Zeal, and oppoſition, is able to convince, and over-power you. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Now the Lord in mercy do it, That your Faith may not ſtand hereafter in the wiſdom of men, but in the power of God.