The By-Way, Treatise · Section 23
SECT. XXIII. Eminent and perpetuall Viſibilitie is no certaine Note of the true Church, but the contrary rather, as is prooued by Inſtances from Adam to Christ.
THe Materials which hitherto hauehave beene brought, hauehave beene imployed onelyonly to the laying the foundation of the Church, wherin I muſt confeſſe I hauehave been ſomewhat long, and yet not without reaſon: for wee all know, that a good foundation being once layd, the whole frame ſtands the more ſure. Now as Foundations are not verie conſpicuous till the building be reared higher: ſo likewiſe in ſucceeding Ages, when the whole building was coupled together, and became a glorious Temple in the Lord: yet, eminent and perpetuall Viſibilitie was no ſure Note of the true Church, as ſhall appeare both by particular inſtances, from the time of Adam to the comming of Chriſt, as alſo by the teſtimonies of learned Romaniſts, who in part were witneſſes of a latencie and obſcuritie in their owne Church.
I ſpeake not this to decline the Viſibilitie of the Church; for their own Ioachim Abbot above (400) yeeres ſince tells vsus,Ann. 1195. Ioach. Abbot in Reu. p. 2. that The whole Congregation of Saints ſhall bee hidden, for ſo ſhall the Elect of God being wiſe, be wiſe vntounto themſelues: ſo that they ſhall not preſume, to practiſe openly, becauſe that darkeneſſe ſhall prevaile: not that they ſhall leaue to animate and exhort the faithfull in ſecret, but becauſe they dare not aduenture to preach Publique by: And Bonauenture another Schooleman, who liued in the Age following,Ann. 1260. giues the reaſon how ſuch obſcuritie may befall the true Church, inſomuch as it can hardly bee diſcerned by the true members amongſt themſelues.Bonauent lib. 1. Diſt. 1 The Church (ſaith hee) may bee hindred from our ſight, three manner of wayes; Firſt, Propter defectum organi, for want of a fit organ, if the eyes of our bodie, or minde, be wanting: Secondly, Propter defectum voluntatis, for want of will; when our affections are ſo depriued, that we will not ſee it, though it bee viſible: Thirdly, Propter defectū luminis, for want of light: So in the time of Perſecution, and Arrianiſme it did not then viſibly appeare. Now if our Aduerſaries would reflect upon themſelues, and examine their owne thoughts, they ſhould find that either their affections are wandring, or their will wanting, or their opinions foreſtalled, or elſe it would proue no ſuch hard matter for them to diſcouer an ouerſpreading Schiſme in their owne Church, with a long and grieuous Perſecution in ours, which cauſed this obſcuritie. This did Gregorie de Valentia well perceiue, and thereupon he aduiſed his Proſelytes to bee wary and quick ſighted,Diligenter animaduerti debet, non ſic accipiendū eſſe quod dicimꝰ, Eccleſiam eſſe ſemper conſpicuā, quaſi velimus eā omni tempore dignoſci poſse aequè facilè. Nouimus enim &c. Greg. de Val Annot fid. lib. 6. cap 4. in diſcouering and finding out the true Church: For (ſaith hee) when we ſay the Church is alwaies conſpicuous, this muſt not bee taken, as though wee thought this might at every ſeaſon be alike eaſily diſcerned, for wee knowe that ſometimes it is toſſed with the waues of Errors, Schiſmes, and Perſecutions; that to ſuch as are vnskilfull, and doe not diſcreetly weigh the circumſtances of things & times, it ſhall bee very hard to bee knowne. That this doctrine may the better appeare, let vsus looke backe to the firſt Ages, and wee ſhall ſee in what ſtate the Church began, and how it continued in changes and alterations, and became more and leſſe viſible in all Ages, till the dayes of Chriſt and his Apoſtles.
Before the Law we finde in Adam with whom the Church began, that being in Paradiſe full of the bleſſings of God, and hauing a Freewill to all good, loſt at once both himſelfe and it: And as the power of his will, and the faculties of his Vnderſtanding, were ecclipſed by his fall,Aliquando in ſolo Abel Eccleſia erat et expugnatꝰ eſt … fratrema lo et perdito Cain, …li quando in ſolo Henoch Eccleſia erat, et trāſlatus eſt ab iniquis: aliquando in ſola domo Noē eccleſia erat, et pertulit omnes qui diluuio perierunt, et ſola arca natauit in ſtuctibus & euaſit ad ficcumi aliquādo in ſolo Abrahā eccleſia erat es quanto pertulit ab iniquis, nouimꝰ in ſolo filio fratris eius Loth et in domo eius in Sodomis Eccleſia erat, et per tulit Sodomorum in… quitates. Auguſt. in Pſal. 128. in not regarding the voice of God, So did his fall foretell, that the beſt Churces in their moſt flouriſhing State, had a poſſibilitie of falling into darkeneſſe and obſcuritie, if they neglected the Word of GOD. Now we muſt knowe, as this number was ſmall at the beginning, ſo it was ſubiect to Perſecution: The Church (ſaith Austen) was ſometimes onelyonly in Abel, and he was ſlaine by his wicked brother Kayne; ſometimes it was ſolely in Henoch, and hee was tranſlated from the vngodly; ſometimes it was in the ſole houſe of Noah, and hee ſwomme in the waues; ſometimes in Abraham, and his family, and he ſuffered of the wicked; ſometimes it remained in ſole Lot and his houſe, and he was vexed by the Sodomites.
Againe, the Church was vnderunder a cloud when Tobias went alone to Hieruſalem and ſerued God, and all the reſt worſhipped the Calfe in Nepthali. The Church doubtles was vnderunder a cloud in the time of Achas & Manaſſes, 2 Chron. 34 31.when thoſe Kings made the Temple to bee ſhut vp, when Vrias the High Prieſt placed a a Pagan Altar in the Temple. The Church doubtles was vnderunder a cloud when the good King Ioſias called for a Reformation, 2 Chron. 29 6, 7.and made a couenant to performe the words which were found in the Houſe of the Lord, ſo that there was many times a cloud of errors that darkned the true Church, when there wanted a cloud of witneſſes to teſtifie her truth.
In the kingdome of Iſrael vnderunder Ahab, 1. Kings 21.the greateſt number were Idolaters. In Ieremies time the Prieſts and Prophets,Ierem. 7.4. which were the chiefe in authoritie, were falſe teachers, & yet (like the Romaniſts in theſe dayes) they cryed out, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord. 1 Kings 19.14.In the time of Elias, there was a generall Apoſtacie in the Church of Iſrael, inſomuch that hee being a Prophet could not diſcerne it: ſo that a viſible and illuſtrious Church may appeare to bee the true Church, when ſhee beareth but the viſor, and title of a true Church, & the Church of God may ſo lie hid, that the principall members, yea and eminent Paſtors themſelues may bee ignorant where to finde it: for God hath not tied his Church to a viſible company, that are known to all to be true profeſſors at all times, neither hath hee commanded a Regiſter to bee kept of their names, that hee might call the Church after their names: for if any ſhould call for the names of profeſſors in all ages; nay, if any one ſhould demand but the name of any one of thoſe ſeuen thouſand which neuer bowed to Baal, and were vnknowne to the Prophet himſelfe, it would ſeeme a myſterie vnſearchable, and a man paſt finding out.
Neither was this backeſliding, or falling away in the Church cauſed for want of Gods promiſes, for they were gracious & far exceeding thoſe promiſes to the Church of Rome. The Prophet tells vsus, that the glorie of God did ſit between the Cherubins in the Sanctuarie, and God had promiſed that there ſhould be his ſeat, and yet the Prieſts did corrupt it with ſuperſtition, & God left the place without any Holineſſe. Hee extends his promiſes further: I will walke (ſaith he) in the midſt of you, I will hauehave my Tabernacle amongſt you for euer; my name ſhall bee in Hieruſalem, I hauehave ſanctified it that my name may be there for euer: yet of this Church, to which ſo many promiſes were annexed, the Prophet complaines:Eſay 56.10, 11. The watchmen are become blinde, they do no good, they are dumbe dogs, they are ſhopheards that cannot vnderſtand. Now as you ſee the Extent and promiſes of his Church were large, ſo you muſt know, they were all alwayes annexed to a condition: If you be my people, if you ſerue mee, if you walk in my commandements, if you aske counſell at my mouth; agreeable to the anſwer of the Prophet Oſea: Oſea 4.6.Becauſe thou haſt reiected knowledge, I will reiect thee, that thou ſhalt be no Prieſt to mee; ſeeing thou haſt forgotten the Law of thy God, I will alſo forget thy children.
Now as you hauehave heard the Law was periſhed from the Prieſts, and Counſell frō the Ancients, (as if there had been a ſecond deluge of People and Paſtors:) ſo now the earth ſhall bring foorth her increaſe, that is, (as Hierom expounds it) the bleſſed Virgin, which comes of the earth, ſhall bring foorth the bleſſed fruit of her ſanctified wombe, that what was loſt by the firſt Adam, might bee repaired by the ſecond: and ſurely it was high time to rectifie the ancient Doctrine; (for the leauen of the Phariſes had almoſt ſowred the whole lumpe:) neither doth Chriſt deferre the time by reaſon of his minoritie: for at 12 yeeres old hee diſputeth with the great Rabbies in their Synagogues; but obſerue what entertainment they gaue him: Hee calleth for a reformation of life and doctrine: they replyed, he would deſtroy the Temple; he vrgeth and layeth open to them the Scriptures; they plead their owne Traditions; he diſcouers & ſhewes vntounto them their falſe gloſſes; they anſwer, he had a Deuill: hee preached to them of the kingdome of heauen, they accuſe him for ſpeaking againſt the Maieſtie of Caeſar: yet this Church of Hieruſalem, if you regard Antiquitie, they were deſcended from Abraham; if Calling, they were Prieſts and Scribes; if Place, their Temple was the LORDS Houſe; if Councels, they had ſolemne Aſſemblies and meetings: but if I ſhould demand, where or in whom was the true Church before Chriſts comming, (as our aduerſaries queſtion ours before Luthers) they may anſwere, the Iewes had a viſible Church in regard of Gods promiſes;Simeon. Anna. Ioſeph and Mary. Zachary & Elizabeth. but I dare promiſe for them, they can giuegive vsus the names of a very ſmall number.
Compare then the church of Hieruſalem, & the Church of Rome together; the Church of Hieruſalem had her Prieſts, and Caiphas the High Prieſt, and Sacrifices, and Councells, and a Temple, and Traditions, and Moſes Chaire, and the Oracles of God: The Church of Rome hath her Prieſts, her Sacrifice of the Maſſe, her Caiphas, the Pope that is guided by the Spirit of prophecie; ſhee hath her Temple, Traditions, and Peters Chaire; and laſt of all, (becauſe it is leaſt with her in requeſt) ſhe hath the Goſpel of Chriſt. Now when we cal vponupon the Church for a reformation of doctrine, they anſwer, Their Church is Catholike, & cannot erre: wee lay before them the word of God for a Rule to examine their Doctrine: they anſwere, the Word is not ſufficient without the helpe of their Traditions: wee ſhew them their falſe gloſſes in Expoſition of the Scriptures, they anſwere, that it is the right of their Church to iudge of the true ſenſe of the Scriptures. But if we ſhall demand of them where, or by whom all their twelue new Articles, publiſhed within the memorie of man (by Pope Pius the 4,) were receiued and beleeued as Articles of Faith before the Councell of Trent, I am more then confident, they ſhall not find ſo many profeſſors of that Faith and doctrine at Luthers comming, as there were true beleeuers in the Church of Hieruſalem at Christs comming. And for the better manifeſtation of this Tenet, I will beginne from the time of Chriſt and his Apoſtles, and briefly relate the courſes, and changes, the Viſibilitie and obſcurity, the alteration and long wiſhed for Reformation of the Roman Faith and Doctrine in all ages, till the dayes of Luther.