an ordinance of the lords and commons assembled in parliament for the utter demolishing, removing, and taking away of all monvments of superstition and idolatry out of all the churches england and wales. parliament. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a38015 of text r26121 in the english short title catalog (wing e2069a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 7 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a38015 wing e2069a estc r26121 09362419 ocm 09362419 42843 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a38015) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 42843) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1308:22) an ordinance of the lords and commons assembled in parliament for the utter demolishing, removing, and taking away of all monvments of superstition and idolatry out of all the churches england and wales. parliament. 8 p. printed for edward husbands, [london] : 1643. dated on p.3: die lunae, 28 augusti, 1643. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. eng church of england -customs and practices. idols and images -law and legislation -england. great britain -history -civil war, 1642-1649 -sources. a38015 r26121 (wing e2069a). civilwar no an ordinance of the lords and commons assembled in parliament, for the utter demolishing, removing and taking away of all monvments of super england and wales. parliament 1643 1278 5 0 0 0 0 0 39 d the rate of 39 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2008-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-02 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-03 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-03 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an ordinance of the lords and commons assembled in parliament , for the utter demolishing , removing and taking away of all monvments of superstition or jdolatry , out of all the churches and chappels within this kingdom of england , and dominion of wales , before the first day of november , 1643. ordered by the commons in parliament , that this ordinance be forthwith printed & published : h : el●ynge , cler. parl. d. com. printed for edward husbands , october 11. 1643. die lunae , 28. , augusti , 1643. the lords and commons in parliament taking into their serious considerations , how well pleasing it is to god , and conduceable to the blessed reformation in his worship , so much desired by both houses of parliament , that all monuments of superstition or idolatry , should , be removed and demollished ; do ordain , that in all and every the churches and chappels , as well cathedrall and collegiate , as other churches and chappels , and other usuall places of publick prayer , authorised by law within this realm of england and dominion of wales , all altars and tables of stone , shall before the first day of november , in the yeer of our lord god 1643. be utterly taken away and demollished ; and also all communion tables removed from the east end of every such church , chappell , or place of publick prayer , and chancell of the same , and shall be placed in some other fit & convenient place or places of the body of the said church , chappell , or other such place of publick prayer , or of the body of the chancel of every such church , chappell , or other such place of publick prayer ; and that all rails whatsoever , which have been erected neer to before , or about any altar , or communion table , in any of the said churches or chappells , or other such place of publick prayer at aforesaid , shall before the said day be likewise taken away ; and the chancell ground of every such church or chappell , or other place o● publick prayer , which hath been within twenty yeers last past , raised for any altar or communion table to stand upon , shall before the said day be laid down , and levelled as the same was before the said twenty yeers last past ; and that all tapers , candlestickes and basons , shall before the said day be removed and taken away from the communion table in every such church , chappell , or other place of publick prayer , and neither the same , nor any such like shall be used about the same at any time after the said day ; and that all crucifixes , crosses , and all images and pictures of any one or more persons of the trinity , or of the virgin mary , and all other images and pictures of saints , or superstitious inscriptions in , or upon all and every the said churches or chappells or other places of publick prayer , church-yards , or other places to any the said churches and chappels ; or other place of publick prayer , belonging , or in any other open place , shall before the said first day of november be taken away and defaced , and none of the like hereafter permitted in any such church or chappell , or other places as aforesaid . and be it further ordain'd that all and every such removall of the said altars , tables of stone , communion table tapers candlesticks and basons , crucifixes and crosses , images , and pictures as aforesaid , taking away of the said rayles , levelling of the said grouds , shal be done and performed , and the walls , windowes , grounds , and other places which shall be broken , impaired or altered by any the meanes aforesaid , shall be made up and repaired in good and sufficient manner , in all and every of the said parish-churches on chappels , or usuall places of publick prayer belonging to any parish , by the churchwarden , or church-wardens of every such parish for the time being respectively ; and in any cathedrall or collegiate church or chappell , by the dean or sub-dean , or other chiefe officer of every such church or chappell for the time being ; and in the universities , by the severall heads and governours of every colledge or hall respectively ; and in the severall innes of court , by the benchers and readers of every of the same respectively , at the cost and charges of all and every such person or persons , body politick or corporate , or parishioners of every parish respectively to whom the charge of the repaire of any such church , chappell , chancel , or place of publick prayer , or other , part of such church or chappell , or place of publick prayer doth , or shall belong : and in case default , be made in any of the premisses by any of the person or persons thereunto appointed by this ordinance from , and after the said first day of november , which shall be in the yeer of our lord god 1643. that then every such person or persons so making default , shall for every such neglect or default , by the space of twenty dayes , forfeit and lose forty shillings to the use of the poore of the said parish wherein such default shall be made , or if it be out of any parish , then to the use of the poore of such parish whose church is or shall be neerest to the church or chappell , or other place of publick prayer where such default shal be made ; and if default shal be made after the first day of december , which shall be in the said yeer 1643. then any one justice of the peace of the county , city or town where such default shall be made , upon information thereof to him to be given , shall cause or procure the promisses to be performed according to the tenor of this ordinance at the cost and charges of such person or persons , bodies politick or corporate , or inhabitants in every parish who are appointed by this ordinance to bear the same . provided , that this ordinance , or any thing therein contained , shall not extend to any image , picture , or coate of armes in glasse , stone , or otherwise ; in any church , chappell , church-yard or place of publick prayer as aforesaid , set up or graven only fo● 〈…〉 〈…〉 ment of any king , prince , or nobleman , or other dead person which hath not been commonly reputed or taken for a saint : but that all such images , pictures , and coates of armes may stand and continue in like manner and forme , as if this ordinance had never been made . finis . ordered by the commons assembled in parliament , that this ordinance be forthwith printed ; and divulged and dispersed through the severall and respective counties , cities and towns , by the severall and respective knights and burgesses : h : elsynge , cler. parl. d. com. the papist represented, and not misrepresented being in answer to the first sheet of the second part of the papist misrepresented and represented : and for a further vindication of the catechism truly representing the doctrine and practices of the church of rome. williams, john, 1636?-1709. 1687 approx. 22 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 9 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a66405 wing w2713 estc r2047 12498092 ocm 12498092 62580 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a66405) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 62580) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 951:82) the papist represented, and not misrepresented being in answer to the first sheet of the second part of the papist misrepresented and represented : and for a further vindication of the catechism truly representing the doctrine and practices of the church of rome. williams, john, 1636?-1709. [2], 14 p. printed for ric. chiswell ..., london : 1687. reproduction of original in huntington library. attributed to john williams. cf. bm. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng gother, john, d. 1704. -papist misrepresented and represented. catholic church -doctrines. catholic church -liturgy. idols and images -worship. 2005-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-04 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the papist represented , and not misrepresented ; being in answer to the first sheet of the second part of the papist misrepresented and represented . and for a further vindication of the catechism truly representing the doctrine and practices of the church of rome . licensed , december 18. 1686. london : printed for ric. chiswell , at the rose and crown in st. paul's church-yard , mdclxxxvii . the papist represented , and not misrepresented , &c. after a cause hath been managed to so plain a disadvantage , that there hath been no place left , and no reasonable care taken for its defence , he must have a good measure of assurance in himself , and presume too much upon the weakness or good nature , the ignorance or drowsiness of the age he lives in , that before the controversie is cold , shall venture the same again into the world , without offering at any shew of a new argument , to support and vindicate the old. and yet this is the case of the author of the second part of the papist misreprented and represented ; who in the single chapter newly published , of the veneration shown to images , hath in substance and contrivance transcribed what was wrote upon the same subject in the first part , and that with as much liberty and confidence , as if there had never been such books in the world , as the doctrines and practices of the church of rome , &c. and an answer to papists protesting against protestant popery ; that had taken this argument to task , and shew'd the weakness and the falshood of it . when i first cast my eye upon this sheet , and observed how formally he had drawn up the argument in the beginning , i thought now , if ever , he would state the case , and argue closely upon it ; and that he that complains so much of the mists and confusion raised from the disagreeing opinions of divines amongst themselves , and the infamy cast upon the doctrine and practice about images in their church , by letting loose the school-debates amongst the multitude ; would have been so kind to the world , as to shew us what we are to trust to , and what those once famous directors of controversie and conscience ( the school-men ) but now it seems dangerous enemies to the peace and propagation of their religion , do hold to the detriment and disadvantage of it . but instead of that , we have a character of an image-worshipper of his own making , setforth with a various mixture of similitudes and resemblances , which after he hath trimm'd up in somewhat a new fashion , he hopes may pass with better authority , and be received with greater respect than whatsoever these abovesaid wrangling disputants , attended with all their speculative scruples ( to use his words ) can propose . but tho' he thinks fit thus to desert the schools ; yet having some reverence for them , and more for truth , i shall gently take him by the hand , and from the mists and confusion of a declamatory discourse , turn him back to the old way of argument , and see if we can better understand one another , and the cause we are at present concern'd in . in order to which , i shall shew , 1. what is meant by an image . 2. what worship is given , and to be given to an image in the church of rome . 3. that the catechism he opposeth , hath given no other account of their doctrine and practice in this matter , than is conformable to it . an image ( in the ecclesiastical sense ) is an external and visible representation of some divine or glorified being and object , ( such as god , the blessed trinity , christ , angels and saints ) set up for the receiving religious honour and worship . so that whatever things do not represent , or are not intended to represent a divine or glorified object ; or that are not set up to receive religious worship , or have not religious worship given to them , are not concerned in the dispute . and of this kind thus excluded , are , 1. all visible signs and marks of distinction ; such ( to use his instances ) are a lion and vnicorn when set up in a place to intimate that there the king is owned as supreme . and such may a cross be ( where there is occasion ) when set up , suppose in or upon a christian church , to distinguish it from a turkish mosque . but why crosses or the like should therefore be so necessary , that those that allow them not ( as well where this reason is not , as where it is ) should be deemed to allow of nothing to shew they are christians , is an inference of our authors , but what i confess is past my understanding . 2. hereby are excluded all those effigies and pictures that are for ornament , or that serve to testify the honour and respect we bear to the persons to whom they have a resemblance . and of this kind are the pictures of moses and aaron , queen elizabeth , and king charles the first of blessed memory , which are in some of our churches ; and those of christ and the apostles , which are retained in others . 3. hereby are also excluded all historical signs , that are intended for the preservation of the memory of good and holy persons ; or that occasionally may either excite in us devout thoughts and affections , or that may serve for instruction ( if that can be ) : for how such do instruct like the bible , when the bible can instruct those that are before ignorant of the mysteries of our religion ; but a picture or image cannot instruct without somewhat else to instruct before or with it ; or how an image or cross is upon this consideration a part of gods holy word , without any difference from that chapter of the bible which treats of the same , except the different fashion of the strokes , and manner of laying on the ink ; are doctrines that become a member of that church , which for the better edification of the people , whilst it exposes images to them , keeps the bible from them . 4. of this sort are those things which have an eminent relation to god and his service , to which for that reason a certain reverence and suitable respect is more or less due . and so its lawful and decent to be uncovered at reading the bible , and the hearing it expounded ; and to kiss it in taking an oath , as a token of the reverence and the regard we have for it . and this we do , not because in the bible the strokes of the ink are so ordered and joyn'd in the paper , that they signifie and represent the doctrine and passion of christ , ( a description that rather becomes a book of emblems and hieroglyphicks , than of divine doctrine ) not because i say it represents ( as he mistakes ) but as it contains the great articles of our faith , &c. these are things which the controversie is not at all concerned in ( being either no visible representations of divine or glorified beings , or not set up for receiving religious honour and worship ) . and yet to these are all the resemblances used by our author , to be refer'd ; and who with these , shuts up the whole controversie , as if there was no other use of images in the church of rome , than what the pictures of queen elizabeth , or moses and aaron serve for in ours ; and that the honour and reverence they give to them , is no more than the reverence we give to the bible : for thus he concludes , let divines wrangle [ meaning their own ] to the worlds end , and dispute whether this honour , this reverence and respect shewn to the bible , to a preachers sermon , to pictures or images , be the same , or distinct from what is given to the things represented ; whether it terminates on them absolutely after an inferior manner , or only relatively , and so forth . this they may go on with , &c. but for his part , he is little concerned . where he supposeth two things , ( 1 ) that it 's a controversie amongst them , whether the honour and reverence they give to consecrated images and pictures , be other than what is shewn to the bible , or a preachers sermon : and ( 2 ) that the controversie among their divines about the worship given to them , whether absolute or negative , is of little concernment ; whereas the former ( as shall presently be shew'd ) neither is nor can be a controversie among them upon their principles . and the latter is a controversie of that importance , that each side charges the other with no worse a consequence of their principle , than idolatry . as to the former part of the description i have given of an image ( viz. that it 's a visible representation of a divine or glorified being ) there is no dispute ; but the dispute will be , about the latter part [ viz. that it 's set up for the receiving of religious honour and worship . ] for as our author has avoided the word worship all along , even to the omission of a clause in what he quotes from the council of trent [ propter quam sint colendoe ] so he seems resolved not to admit of it , or even so much as the external actions belonging to it . for so he goes on . this then is what he [ the papist represented ] do's as to sacred images ; and though his adversaries , by calling this worshipping , adoring , and falling down to images , raise a notion of idolatry , &c. so that it seems it is only a fiction of their adversaries , what they call so , but which they neither do in fact , nor so much as in word , call by those names of worshipping , adoring , and falling down to images . but if i prove that they use the words by which those things are understood , that they use such actions and postures as are conformable to those words , and that they apply those actions and postures to the images , and that the images are to be had and retained in churches for that end ; i think i shall have by that time done whatever is necessary to make good the abovesaid description of an image , and of what is infer'd from it . as to the words , there are three used by themselves in this matter , viz. honor , veneratio , cultus . which last i know not how otherwise to render , as distinct from the two former , than by worship ; and so i find it rendred by one of themselves . and that it 's so to be understood , is evident from the 2d council of nice , ( which that of trent in the same place appeals and approves to ) where we find an anathema against those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that do not worship the holy and venerable images : and so pope adrian , in his epistle to that synod , saith of his own practice , i adore the images , &c. and that this is the doctrine of both the one and the other council , i appeal to many of their own authors , ( which i shall produce if there be occasion ) who say , that images are to be adored : and suarez for all saith , that it's de fide imagines esse adorandas , that it 's a matter of faith that images are to be adored . but as the words , so the postures shew it , it being an unhappy oversight of our author's , who saith , that falling down to images , is a fiction of their adversaries ; when the council of trent is so express in it , that by the images which we kiss , and before which we uncover our heads , and fall down , we do adore christ , &c. but here our author it 's like hath a reserve : for will he say , the thing that our adversaries charge us with , is falling down to images ? but that i deny , for we only fall down before the images , as the council saith , but do not fall down to them . indeed if this be his refuge , it 's fairly argued : but if this be his sense , then what becomes of that other part of the decree of the same council , which requires , that due honour and veneration be given to them , [ eis impertiendam ] ? and which ought to be kept in churches , and are there set up that they may be worshipped , as saith their catechism . ad paroc . but this will be further confirm'd , when , 3. i have shewed , that the catechism he now opposeth , hath given no other account of the doctrine and practice of the church of rome about images , than is conformable to it . against this , for the present , our author objects nothing but the phrase therein used of praying to images . and here he runs again to his resemblances , to the monument , the statues upon the exchange , and the giants at guild-hall ; to rhetorical exclamations , and expostulations , with much piquantry against the poor six-peny catechism : but what is the haste to coast thus up and down the town , to westminster , to the exchange , to wapping and spittle-fields , and where not ? i perceive it will be too great a task to follow him who sets no bounds to himself ; and therefore to shorten the way , i shall ' ene lay my self open to him , and confess the charge i exhibited against them of praying to images . to prove which before , our author saith i made use of this argument , viz. prayer is to the object to which the veneration is to be given ; but the veneration is to be given to the image , as representing , and so is the prayer . and here he crys out sophistry , and triumphs over it for near half a page together . but is this argument mine , or was it produced to prove the papists pray to images ? indeed i had argued that if they do not pray to images , why are the prayers used at the consecration of them ? to what end are the pilgrimages to them ? why do they direct their prayers to them ? but to this there is not a word of answer , when in reason it ought to be expected , whereas he takes much pains to confute that which never was asserted . had the argument been ( as he supposeth ) to prove , that if they give veneration to images , they therefore pray to them ; he ought to have been so ingenuous , as to remember , that the catechism supposeth that the terms veneration and worship , are in this case much one and the same ; and that the church of rome doth worship as well as venerate images ( which now i have shewed my reasons for ) : and this the line immediately before would have instructed him in . and if so , the argument has so much truth in it , that it will cost him some more time and thoughts to disprove . but to what shall i impute it , whether to oversight , or sophistry , when he places the argument upon a wrong foot , and from a proof , that praying to images in the catechism , was to images as representing , doth translate it to a proof of praying to images because they venerate them . i am confident the controvertists of spittle-fields and wapping , as little as i know them ( the reader will pardon the phrase for it 's his own ) would not have argued more inconsequently , and those that have but stepp'd over the vniversity-threshold , ( to use his words ) would have call'd it an arguing à baculo ad angulum : when what i say respects the object , and he transfers it to the act. but this it is to run impetuously , with much fancy , and little consideration , into the field of disputation . for take the argument as it lies , and i think it 's fair and plain . for , if the proposition is true , that the worship ( not honour alone , that 's his insertion ) given to images , is to the persons represented ; then so is all depending upon it . for what is the image , but the image of the person represented ? what do they honour , venerate , and kiss ? before what do they fall down ? to what do they offer incense , but the image of the person represented ? and then , to what do they pray , but to the image of the person represented ? for where the veneration , the salutation , the prostration , and the oblation are , there is also the prayer . i must confess this way of arguing may prove too much for him ; but that i cannot help , be it to them that lay down the premises from whence the conclusion is inferr'd . but because he doth not like consequences and inferences ( unless they are of his own making ) i shall first of all put him in mind , that it has been proved by one , whom he should in reason be acquainted with , that to , before , and in presence of a representative object , as representing , are the very same . and to the solid proof which that learned author has given of it , i shall add , that not only do the latins use those phrases alike in that case , and so what in pliny is , imagini supplicare , is in arnobius , ad imaginem ; but that these words are thus promiscuously used also in the church of rome it self : so in the decree of the council of trent , before cited , what in one line is , iis impertiendam , to the images , is in another , coram iis , before them . and that i may not be without some sufficient proof , we have our author himself thus speaking to and fro ; for sometimes it 's a veneration before images , page 4. sometimes a veneration to them , pag. 3 , & 5. and why i may not be allowed to use these words indifferently , that are indifferently used by them : or , why to in praying to images , should be worse than to in a veneration given to them , i know not ; unless what 's right in them is wrong in me ? but this praying to images is a thing not to be born , it 's to leave the papists , their credit , and their doctrine to the favour and mercy of — but who is to be blamed for this ? why do they then in terms pray to the cross and the veronica , & c ? why do they tell us of a divine presence , that is , if not in them , yet with them , as tursellinus affirms of that at lorreto ? why do they write whole books of the miracles wrought by the virgin mary , and others saints by their images ? why do they suffer persons to go long and tedious pilgrimages to them ? &c. certainly it is as innocent for us to say , they give worship and pray to images , as for them to say , and to do it . but because i am willing to conclude , i shall , in confirmation of what i have said , transcribe an old form of abjuration impos'd upon the lollards , which is this ; i do swear to god , and to all his seynts , upon this holy gospel ; and fro this day forward i shall worship images with praying and offering to them , in the worschop of the seynts that they be made after . so that if i have erred , i have err'd with a council , with their breviaries , with the decrees and practice of their church , and with approved authors of their own . and if they stand right and justified in it , i hope i may be acquitted . considering especially that after all that this gentleman , ( who has bore thus hard upon me , and used such a sort of wit , and such phrases and modes of speech , as are more fit for a stage , than a scholar and divine ) has transgress'd in the same way , and call'd our kneeling at the lord's supper , a kneeling to the elements , or ( as he calls it ) to the sacramental figure , pag. 5. whereas he very well knows , or ought to have known , for the sake of a passage , in the preface to the first part of the papist represented and misrepresented , ( if the author be the same ) that the same church which hath required we should receive the sacrament kneeling , hath also declared , that no adoration is intended , or ought to be done , to the sacramental bread and wine there bodily received . the kneeling to , supposeth an object of adoration before us , and is an act of worship ; but the kneeling when , is no more than a devout posture of receiving it ; and which our church saith , is a signification of an humble and grateful acknowledgment of the benefits of christ therein given to all worthy receivers . so that with as much truth and reason might he have affirmed , we kneel to the minister from whose hands we receive the elements , as to the elements we receive from him . now if in conclusion i should return upon him the same lavish rhetorick ( not to call it worse ) for his misrepresentation of our church , which he has treated me with , for what he can never be able to prove , is a misrepresentation of theirs , i am sensible i should offend against the laws of good manners , and of the best religion in the world. and here i should take my leave of him , but that this day he sends me a second challenge , which as little as i love disputes , i shall yet accept of ; and do not question ( but through god's assistance ) i shall give him such satisfaction as becomes a christian , a lover of truth , peace , and charity . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a66405-e120 concil . trid. sess. 25. & catechis . ad paroc . s.c. answ. to dr. pierce , c. 14. actio . 1. suar. in 3. p. q. 25. disp. 54. §. 1. an answer to the papists protesting , &c. pag. 81 , &c. lauret . hist. praef. mirac . 120. consrat . 7. dolor . duad 1619. spelman concil . to. 2. p. 655. the papist represented, and not misrepresented being in answer to the second sheet of the second part of the papist misrepresented and represented : and for a further vindication of the catechism truly representing the doctrines and practices of the church of rome, in the point of their praying to the cross. williams, john, 1636?-1709. 1687 approx. 33 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 9 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a66406) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 62581) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 951:83) the papist represented, and not misrepresented being in answer to the second sheet of the second part of the papist misrepresented and represented : and for a further vindication of the catechism truly representing the doctrines and practices of the church of rome, in the point of their praying to the cross. williams, john, 1636?-1709. [2], 14 p. printed for ric. chiswell ..., london : 1687. reproduction of original in huntington library. attributed to john williams. cf. nuc pre-1956. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng gother, john, d. 1704. -papist misrepresented and represented. catholic church -doctrines. catholic church -liturgy. idols and images -worship. 2005-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-05 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the papist represented , and not misrepresented ; being in answer to the second sheet of the second part of the papist misrepresented and represented . and for a further vindication of the catechism truly representing the doctrines and practices of the church of rome , in the point of their praying to the cross . licensed , december 24. 1686. london : printed for ric. chiswell , at the rose and crown in st. paul's church-yard , mdclxxxvii . the papist represented , and not misrepresented , &c. when i observe the late proceedings of some of the controvertists in the church of rome , and the design they have in hand of setting forth their doctrines and practices in a way less offensive to others , and more defensible to themselves , than in former ages ; i cannot better resemble it , than to a carver , that being employed to form an image of the virgin mary or other saint , concerns not himself to make it like to the person thereby to be represented , but so as shall best serve to allure and excite the people to a devout adoration of it . if the image was strictly to be examined , and we had an original to compare it with , it 's likely there might not be one true line in the whole composure , and that it might as well suit any other person in the world , as him or her whom it pretends to resemble . and thus it will fare in many points now introduced upon the stage by veron and the bishop of meaux abroad , and a late flourishing pen and others amongst us , which carry in them so little conformity to the ancient doctrine and practice of the church of rome , that face can hardly be more unlike to face , than one would be unlike to the other , if impartially compared ; and which , if in another age they had appeared as they do in this , would have been suspected of heresy , if not condemned for it . for did they in former times formally pray to the saints , and frequently beg those things of them , which are only in the power of god to grant ? the papist after the new mode of representation , is said to believe all good , whether spiritual or temporal , comes immediately from god through the merits of christ ; and that they no otherwise desire the just in heaven to pray for them , than they do the just on earth , to be joint-petitioners with themselves to the seat of the divine majesty . did they heretofore use , without scruple , to worship and to pray to images , as if the persons thereby represented were before them ? we are now told , they give no other respect , honour and veneration to them , than we do to the bible ; and that they can as well pray to the monument , &c. as to the image of the greatest saint in heaven . did they formerly adore the cross , and direct their prayers to it in the solemn offices of the church ? it 's now only a rapture , an innocent wish , a rhetorical flight . by which palliations and glosses it may well be supposed , they are ashamed or grow weary of their religion as formely practised and defended ; and were they as sincere as liberal in their concessions , that they are hastning apace to a reformation of it . but now as we are not to judg of the virgin mary and other saints by the images and pictures of them extant in the world ( in which the carvers and painters do indulge their fancy ) for then they would be black and fair , little and great , and what not ? so we must not judg of the doctrine and practice of the church of rome , by the design of these late officious artists ; for then we should find contradictions in their infallible church , building and pulling down , saying and unsaying , age against age , principles and practices against principles and practices ; but we must have recourse to the originals , and see what their authentick authors and offices do teach , and what is yet practised in those places where their religion has no enemy near , to contend with , or to make too curious observations upon it . which course , as i have already observed in discoursing upon the worship given by them to images , so i shall proceed in this present argument of the cross ; and shew what reason there was for that charge in the catechism that they pray directly to it . but here our author takes up the point betimes , and a strain of calumny , insincerity , defamation charged upon the catechism , &c. runs through the whole chapter . and why ? is it because it has produced any false citations against them , or such as are insufficient ? no , but the catechism takes that literally which is to be understood figuratively ; and from two words in one of their hymns which literally imply a prayer to the cross , takes the occasion of charging them with directly praying to it ; whereas the papists are never any where directed to pray to the cross , and have no prayers to it . upon the reading of this , i was for the present at a stand , how a person of that communion , and that undertakes the defence of its publick offices , should be so ignorant as to profess there are but two words in one of their hymns to this purpose , and that they have no prayers to the cross , nor direction about it ; or if he did know otherwise , how he should be as confident to assert it , as if no one had ever read their offices , but themselves . but being now a little wonted to his way , i began to think there must be some reserved meaning in these positive assertions ; and by looking back a page or two , i find that he and the catechism are not agreed about the chief term in dispute , and that is the cross. for whereas the charge in the catechism is , that they pray directly to the cross , he , with much sincerity , alters the terms , and saith , that the faithful catechist produces an argument to prove the papists so stupid , as to pray directly to a piece of wood , and a mere material cross. but if that is a meer piece of wood , which in the consecration of , the bishop prays may be made the stability of faith , and increase of good works , and the redemption of souls . if that be a meer piece of wood , which they use all expressions of outward adoration to , by kissings , prostrations , &c. if that be a meer piece of wood , to which they give latria , or the sovereign worship which is peculiar to god ; then indeed they pray also directly to a meer piece of wood , to increase grace in the godly , &c. but if the cross they thus consecrate and bless , and is thus effectual after consecration ; if the cross they adore , kiss and prostrate themselves before ; if , lastly , the cross they give divine and sovereign worship to , is not a mere piece of wood , so then neither is that a mere piece of wood , they are said in the catechism to pray directly to . for it 's the same cross that the one and the other , nay that all of the things here recited of , are in the catechism applied to . but becaufe i am willing to clear the point , and as much as i can , leave it without exception , 1. i shall shew what they mean by a cross. 2. i shall prove that they do adore and worship the cross. 3. that they do pray directly to the cross they adore . the cross we are now concerned about , is an external representation of our saviour crucified upon it : and so is as distinct from a bare material cross , a meer cross of wood , &c. as what is an object of worship , is from that which is none . for by being thus representative , it 's no longer what it was before , a mere piece of wood ; but being in the stead of him whom it represents , and sustaining his person , it hath by that means an excellency communicated to it , and which formally alters the nature of it , as gretser the jesuit , a copious writer upon this argument , doth shew . for the further explication of which , and to add some authority to the abovesaid character of the cross , i shall transcribe the sum of what he writes of this matter . it having , it seems , been objected , that if all the crosses are to be worshipped because christ hung upon the cross ; by the same reason all thorns , reeds , nails , spears , sepulchres , &c. are to have the same respect , because christ was crown'd with thorns , nail'd to the cross , had his side pierc'd , and at last was buried in a sepulchre . to this gretser answers , that all crosses are made in imitation of the cross upon which christ suffered , and of him suffering upon it , and that they may both represent that and him. wherefore we do deservedly honour all crosses , as they are images , and an image is for representation ; but we do not thus honour all sepulchres , nails , &c. because they are not images or representations of the sepulchre of christ , nor of the nails that fastened his body to the cross. but if any one doth build a sepulchre , or erect a manger , or make nails , or choose out thorns in imitation , and for a representation of the first sepulchre , manger , nails and thorns , &c. it is no doubt but they may be worshipped . for then they are indued with , and have in them the nature of an image , which is representation . so that as there is a distinction betwixt sepulchre and sepulchre , manger and manger ; and which distinction is such , that the one is an object of worship , and another is not ; so there is betwixt cross and cross , that is , betwixt a cross , either natural , accidental , and artificial when made for other uses , and a cross that is representative ( as the same author there shews . ) so that our author might safely enough declare , that if his religion did either teach or practice such stupid idolatry , as praying to a piece of wood , he could no more be any longer of her communion than he could sacrifice to molech . for as it 's a piece of wood , it 's not the cross we are here concerned in , not the cross by representation , not the cross by consecration , which alone , and under that consideration is the object of their worship . so that tho he may continue in that communion , and make this protestation against a piece of wood ; yet he cannot be of that communion and enter the like protestation against a representing and consecrated cross , and call such application to it , idolatry . for this cross we are speaking of , is not only representative , but is also consecrated for that purpose ; and there is an office accordingly , with such prayers , rites and ceremonies as make it as well a sacred , as a representing object . as for instance , in the consecration of a new cross of wood , the bishop prays in these words ; we pray thee , o holy lord , &c. that thou wouldest vouchsase to bless this wood of thy cross , that it may be a wholsom [ saving ] remedy to mankind ; a stability of faith , an increase of good works ▪ the redemption of souls , a comfort , protection and defence against the evil darts of the enemies , through our lord , &c. and as if this were not sufficient , after the consecration of the incense , the bishop sprinkles the cross with holy-water , and incenses it ; saying , let this wood be sanctified in the name of the fa ✚ ther , and of the s ✚ on , and of the holy ✚ ghost . let the blessing of that wood upon which the holy members of our saviour hung , be in this wood ; that all that pray and bow down themselves for god , before this cross , may find health both of soul and body , through the same jesus christ. but if the cross be of metal , &c. then he is to pray to christ in these words , do thou take this cross [ now consecrated ] in those hands with which thou hast embraced that [ on which he hung ] and with the holiness of that , do thou sanctisy this : and as the world by that was cleansed from guilt , so the devout souls of thy servants who offer it , may by the merit of this cross be delivered from every sin they have committed . so that it 's very evident , that as the cross by virtue of its representation ▪ is quite another thing than a meer piece of wood ; so upon its consecration , it 's indued with another nature ; for then it has merits of its own ; it 's healthful both for soul and body , and is for the stability of faith , the increase of good works , the comfort of souls to all them that bow down before it . and here it 's sit to be remembred against we come to need it , that there can be no apostrophe , no rhetorical flight , when we not only consider it 's a prayer , and not a poetical composure ; but that also the cross here spoken of , is as much distinguished from christ , as from that cross he suffered upon . by this time , i hope , it 's sufficiently prov'd , that the cross in dispute , is another thing than a meer piece of wood . but tho the right stating of a case goes a great way toward the resolving of it , yet this is not all i intend in it : to proceed therefore , 2. i shall prove that they do adore and worship the cross. it has been of late pretended by some , that the cross is only a memorative sign : but this was accounted in the last age , little better than heresy : and therefore gretser saith of the lutherans , who retain'd crosses in their churches for remembrance ▪ and not for worship , that they are enemies to the cross , and not better than those that wholly reject them ▪ for indeed , this is so embodied into the offices of the church of rome , that no one can be truly of that communion ▪ but must thus conceive as they do . thus we find after the consecration of the cross , the bishop first kneels before it , and doth devoutly adore and kiss it , as do also all that are present , if they so please . but tho it be left to the pleasure of the people in that solemnity , yet it shows what the church doth intend ; and accordingly it doth call upon them in the publick office , to joyn with her in the adoration of it ; as gretser doth acknowledg . for the missal saith , at the uncovering of the cross , behold the wood of the cross , come , let us adore ; upon which all the people fall to the ground . and when the priest hath wholly uncovered the cross , and repeated , as before he places it before the altar , and first himself draws near to adore the cross ; bowing his knees thrice before he kisses it . and then the attendants at the altars , and the clergy and laity , two and two , as he did , adore the cross ; the quire in the mean while singing , we adore thy cross , o lord. this i take to be past controversy in the church of rome , where it is not disputed , whether the cross is to be worshipped , but with what worship it is to be worshipped . and which indeed is also determined to their hands by the pontificale in the place quoted in that catechism which our author wrote this chapter against . and therefore when joh. aegidius , a canon of sevil , had maintained that god was to be worshipped with latria [ soveraign worship ] and the cross with dulia [ an inferiour sort of worship ( as they call it ) which they give to the saints ] he was injoyned a publick recantation , as denying the adoration of the cross , contrary to the practice of the church , which saith , o crux ave spes union , hail , o cross , our only hope . and in another place . crucem tuam adoramus , vve do adore thy cross , as ludovicus de param● relates it . and this puts me in mind of bringing this matter to a conclusion , which i shall do , by shewing , 3. that they do directly pray to the cross. this was asserted in the catechism , but i must not say prov'd , till i have clear'd the point . but however if it was not prov'd , there was somewhat fairly offer'd towards it ; when it produced the express words of the breviary in justification of it ; which before i proceed i shall recite . the words are these ; hail o cross , our only hope ! do thou increase grace in the godly , and blot out the sins in the guilty . in exception to what the catechism hath produc'd this for , our author hath said as much as the cause will bear , and to give him his due , with art ▪ and smartness enough : and to give what he hath said its full sense , i shall , without taking notice of the extravagant censures , and inveterate expressions scattered through the whole , sum up what he hath said : and it comes all to this ; that this hymn is of ancient composure ; that it 's an hymn and not a prayer , and so being poetical , it 's but a rhetorical flight and apostrophe , frequent in scripture , and the fathers ; that there are but two ( that is , i suppose , a few ) words in one hymn to this purpose ; that the church hath no prayer to the cross , nor are they ever directed any where to pray to it . in fine , he saith , the meaning of their church in saying that hymn , is , hail , o christ , our only hope , &c. i am apt to think that he will grant , upon the perusal of the whole , that i have done no injury to what he hath said , by this short and close account of it . but now if i shall be able to prove that this is a prayer as well as an hymn , and that there are parts of their office to corroborate the sense i have given of it ; if i prove that their church hath prayers to the cross , and directs the people to pray to it , i think there will need little more to vindicate the catechism from all that defamation he hath so plentifully cast upon it . in the first place , he tells us that this hymn is found in st. ambrose's works . so bellarmine indeed saith it was in the paris edition 1540 , which he used ; and yet there are other editions in which it is not . so that i may as well say , it is not in st. ambrose's works , as he may say that it is , and both alike true . but is this any credit to it ? then it would be so to the hymns , optatus votis omnium , & christe , qui lux es & dies , &c. which bellarmine saith are unworthy of so great a name , and not to be attributed to him . but however if st. ambrose be not the author of it , he has found out a learned bishop to father it upon , one vincentius fortunatus , who , he saith , composed it to be sung by his church on passion sunday . but tho he hath not favoured us with the see this bishop had , yet i easily apprehend whom it is that he means , and that is venantius fortunatus , which mistake i shall be so candid as not to impute to his ignorance in these matters , but to the haste , which he that intends to write a weekly packet of controversy must be more or less liable to . but yet i am not satisfied in the point ; for tho he has the learned bellarmine before him , that seems to say , or is willing to have it believed , that this bishop was the author of this hymn ; yet i find others doubting of it ; and amongst them is gretser , who tho a diligent reader , and one as willing and ready to lay hold of what might serve for his purpose , as bellarmine , or any man whatsoever , yet speaks very doubtfully of it , and saith , some do attribute it to theodulphus [ bishop of orleance ] , others to fortunatus ; the former of which lived 265 years after the latter , according to bellarmine . so that the truth is , there is no certainty at all in this matter , which our author hath yet so positively asserted . but be that as it will , it 's no great matter who is the author of it , nor indeed what the sense of that author was , for as long as we know what church doth constantly use it , and in what sense that church doth take it , we have enough for our purpose : and that is the thing to be now enquired into . i grant that the words here quoted , are part of an hymn , and that there are several things to be indulged to a poetical fancy , that are not otherwise to be indulged : and therefore if there was nothing in their church , to induce and oblige us to take it in a sense quite different from what he imposes on it , it would not be fair or ingenuous to force a proper sense upon it , when the nature and reason of the thing , as well as their own declaration , require it to be taken in an improper . but when we know that the cross is among them , a representation of our saviour's passion , and has for that reason a worship given and ordered to be given to it as a representing obiect . when we know that it 's also consecrated , and upon its consecration is supposed to have altered its nature , and to have divine vertues communicated to it , or to have a power of communicating such vertues to those that adore it . when , further , the passage quoted from this hymn is conformable to the other offices of the church , we have no reason in the world to take it in his sense , when we have thus the current sense of their own church against it . i think i have made it evident before , in what i have said of the consecration of the cross , that the cross is considered as a distinct thing from our saviour , because they pray to him to bless the cross , and to have such and such vertues communicated to it and by it . i think also it has been made evident , that the cross it self is to be considered and proposed as an object of adoration . and then , why is it more absurd to pray to the cross , than it is thus to adore it ? or , why is it absurd to pray to the cross for that , which they have pray'd before may be communicated to the cross ? but because this is but reasoning ( though such reasoning as is natural and plain ) therefore i shall appeal to the hymn it self , which i shall transcribe . vexilla regis prodeuut , fulget crucis mysterium , quo carne carnis conditor suspensus est patibulo . arbor decora & fulgida , ornata regis purpura , electa digno stipite tam sancta membra tangere , &c. o crux ave spes unica , paschale quae fers gaudium piis ad auge gratiam . reisque dele crimina . the banner of the king comes forth , the mystery of the cross doth shine . on which cross , the maker of flesh hath hung . a comely and bright tree , adorn'd with the purple of the king , chosen out of a stock worthy , &c. to touch so sacred members , hail , o cross , our only hope , increase grace in the godly . and blot out the sins of the guilty . then in one of the places quoted in the catechism immediately follows this sequence , the sign of the cross shall be in heaven , when the lord shall come to judgment . but this is not all ; for it follows further , o cross , brighter than all the stars , which alone hast been thought worthy to bear the weight of the world ! sweet wood , bearing the sweet nails and sweet burdens ; save the present company , gathered together this day for thy praise . from whence i observe , 1. that the word cross in this hymn , cannot be applied to christ , but to the cross distinct from him : for else , the cross which is the banner of the king , would be the king himself ; the cross on which the maker of flesh hung in his flesh , would be the same with the maker of flesh ; the tree which touched his sacred members , be the same with the members touched by that tree . 2. i observe that the cross which is saluted with hail , o cross , our daily hope , is the same with the cross upon which christ hung ; and therefore must be the cross this salutation is directed to . 3. that the same , or what is equivalent to it , which our author supposeth here to be said poetically , is prayed for ; sweet wood , save the present company . but because all the contradictions in the world will not open some men eyes , i shall give our author the sence of persons as considerable in his own church for learning and authority , as himself may be presumed to be . and first of all , let us hear dominicus soto , a divine ( as i remember ) in the council of trent , who , it seems had not learned our author's sence of this matter ; for he saith , we ought to worship the images themselves ; for the church doth not say , we worship thee , o christ , but thy cross , o crux ave , spes unica , &c. catharinus leads us a little further , for he saith , we direct our words and signs of adoration to the images , to which likewise we burn incense : as when we say to the cross , o crux ave spes unica , &c. and so aquinas and others tell us , that latria is to be given to images , because the church in praying to the cross , speaks to it as if it were christ himself . from which authorities , we may perceive how little heed is to be given to our author ( though he writes as if he held the sense of their whole church in the hollow of his hand ) when he affirms , that the meaning of catholicks in saying that hymn , is , hail , o christ , our only hope ! and that in the holy time of the passion , in which that hymn is sung , their whole devotion and prayers are directed to him. by which words one would at first think , our author was much of imbert's mind , a disciple ( as he himself thought ) of the bishop of meaux , who when the cross was shewn to the people on good-friday , franckly and openly declared , we adore not any thing of what we see , but jesus christ crucified ; and that he might expect the same censure for it , as that poor man met with from his diocesan . but our author has prudently provided for his own security ; for by adding a word or two , he has rendred his exposition harmless , and secured himself from the fate of imbert : for a line or two before , he saith , the catholicks do not understand the words of this hymn barely of the material cross , but of christ crucified . and indeed our author is not alone , nor the first in this exposition , for thus it 's also expounded in a french office , viz. this adoration is not terminated only on the wood , but on jesus christ who was nailed thereon : [ cette adoration ne se termine pas au seul bois , mais à j. c. qui y a esté attaché ] . so that for the future , when we meet with such expositions , that do seemingly translate the worship from the cross wholly to our saviour , we are to understand that there is some reserved qualification , to moderate it , such as merely , barely , only , that is implied , or express'd perhaps a line or two before or afterwards . and having now this key , we may pretend to understand the meaning of our author's exposition , and , if you will take his word , the meaning of all catholicks , which is this , hail , o cross , our only hope , and , hail , o christ , our only hope ; that is , christ is their only hope , but so as the cross is their hope too ; and the cross is their only hope , but so as christ is their hope also . so that whilst our author charges the catechism with pointing to a false and mistaken sense , he himself has , much to the advantage of the hymn , expounded it into non-sense . a word , i must confess , i borrow from him , and which puts me in mind of the last tire , that he discharges upon the catechism ; but though in managing of this he hath spent the greatest part of his sheet , i shall dispatch it in few words . if , saith he , for these words in this anthem , their church must be blackned with the infamy of idolatry , and praying directly to the cross ; then stand clear paul , have a care chrysostom , beware o creed , and you common-prayer book , look to your self . for if you have but a grave catechist that will faithfully represent you ; you 'l be infallibly set out for nothing better than professors of folly and non-sence , bundles of absurdities and prophaneness , &c. one would think that this author , from a certain pique he has taken against what he so often calls a grave catechism , had forgotten all gravity , and respect to the most serious matters . stand clear , have a care , beware . who and what are these addressed to ? no other than a holy st. paul , an excellent st. chrysostom , and the chief sum of the articles of our faith. for god's sake are there no more decent forms of speech to describe these things by ? and are we to discourse of them as if we were at some light and rustical pastimes ? but what can be strange in this kind , when it shall be suggested that there is as much reason to say st. paul reverenced the material cross above all things in heaven and earth , because he saith , god forbid that i should glory save in the cross of our lord jesus christ : as much reason to say , he looked upon the wood of the cross , as that which had purchased man's reconciliation to god , because he saith , man was reconciled to god in one body , by the cross ; as there is for saying the church of rome prays directly to the cross , because she salutes it with hail , o cross , our only hope : and as if there was no more reason to apply this to a material cross , than there is these and the like texts of st. paul. he doth indeed intimate , and would have it understood , that the material cross is herein concerned . for thus he saith , to do right to st. paul , st. chrysostom , &c. besides giving a bare narrative of their expressions , it ought to be explicated to the people that in these high encomiums they do not understand the meer material cross. but when he can prove there was any material cross then used , and that those encomiums do in any sense belong to it , then it will be time enough to answer further to his exceptions ; but till that time , what i have already said about the notion of a cross , the consecration , the adoration of it , and i will venture to say their prayer to it , is sufficient to shew , that though there be good reason to understand st. paul in a figurative sense , there is none to understand the phrase , before recited and used in the romish church in that sense . if our author expects an answer to his heathenish catechism , ( as he calls it ) which is a name very proper for it ; i shall , instead of that , only put a few questions , and conclude . q. whether the crosses used in the religious service of the church of rome be mere pieces of wood , & c ? q. whether they may not , and are not to adore the cross , tho they may not adore a meer piece of wood ? q. how the cross which they pray to christ to bless , is made the stability of faith , and increase of good works ? q. how the cross upon which christ hung , may be christ who hung upon the cross ? finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a66406-e140 pap. misr . par . 2. c ▪ 2. ibid c. 2. ibid. de cruce . l. 1. c. 49. chap. 51. misrepr . p. 2. c. 2. c ▪ p. 10. pontificale in benedic . nov. crucis . salutare . de cruce l. 1. c. 50. pontific . ibid. ibid. c. 49. missal . rom. in para●●ev . fer. 6. lud. de paramo de orig. s. inquis . l. 2. tit . 3. c. 8. n. 5. bellarm. de scriptor . eccles . an. 300. ibid. de venant . fortun. lib. 1. de cruce , c. 53. fest. invent. crucis ad vesper . dom. soto de instit. & jure . l. 2. q. 3. art . 2. in fin . cathar . de cultu & ador . imag. p. 133 , & 137. v. simon . majolus pro desens . sacr . imag. centur . 13. c. 14. page 12. see the defence of the exposition of the doctrine of the church of england . append . p. 121. l'office de la semaine sancte , francois & latin. 8 o à lyon , p. 1667. remarques , p. 317. page 11. page 11. page 12. an appendix unto the homily against images in churches, by edm: gurnay bachelour in divinity, and minister of gods word at harpley in norfolk gurnay, edmund, d. 1648. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a42351 of text r217436 in the english short title catalog (wing g2259a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 62 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 49 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a42351 wing g2259a estc r217436 99829102 99829102 33538 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42351) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 33538) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1988:5) an appendix unto the homily against images in churches, by edm: gurnay bachelour in divinity, and minister of gods word at harpley in norfolk gurnay, edmund, d. 1648. gurnay, edmund, d. 1648. aut [4], 94 p. printed by a.n. for j. rothwel at the sun in pauls church-yard, london : 1641. an appendix to gurnay's toward the vindication of the second commandment. reproduction of the original in the magdalene college library, cambridge. eng idols and images -early works to 1800. a42351 r217436 (wing g2259a). civilwar no an appendix unto the homily against images in churches, by edm: gurnay bachelour in divinity, and minister of gods word at harpley in norfol gurnay, edmund 1641 10565 668 0 0 0 1 0 642 f the rate of 642 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-04 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-05 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2008-05 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an appendix unto the homily against images in churches , by edm : gurnay bachelour in divinity , and minister of gods word at harpley in norfolk . august . de civit , dei , lib. 1. c. 3. vtile est ut plures libri à pluribus fiant , etiam de quaestionibus eisdem . london , printed by a.n. for j. rothwel at the sun in pauls church-yard , 1641. to the honored and judicious sir john hobart ; knight baronet , as also unto the noble and vertuous the lady frances his wife , i humbly dedicate these ensuing endevours in the lord . an appendix unto the homily against images in churches neither an idlenesse nor yet a rashnesse can it be esteemed in any under the government of the church of england to write or speak against the images ; the pronenesse of the times to advance them , making it rather an act of necessity then of idlenesse to oppose them ; and the expresnesse of our church doctrine against them making ●t rather an act of authority then of rashnesse utterly to deface them . how expresse and positive the doctrine of our church is against them , our english homily entitled against the perill of idolatry , abundantly declareth ; and that sufficiently in any of these ensuing parcels therof : as first in these words : to conclude , it appeareth evidently by all stories , and writing , and experience , that neither preaching , neither writing , nor the consent of the learned , nor the authoritie of the godly , nor the decrees of councils , nor the laws of princes , nor extreame punishment of the offenders in that behalfe , nor any other remedie or meanes can helpe against idolatry if images be suffered publikely : libro homil. tom. 2. homil. 2. part . 3. p. 60. impres . ult. secondly , left wee should think that it excepted only against heathen images , it addeth further in these words : all those names of abomination , which god● word in the holy scripture giveth unto the idols of the gentiles , the same appertain also to our images set up in our churches , and unto the makers and maintainers thereof , pag. 80. and finally , lest we should think that it did except only against the images of ordinary and inferiour persons , and not against the images of canonized saints and persons of speciall reckoning , it hath a proviso to that purpose in these words : the images of god , our saviour , the virgine , the apostles , martyrs , and others of notable holinesse , are of all others the most dangerous , and therefore of all other , greatest care ought to be had hat none of them be suffered to stand publickely in temples and churches . pag. 66. on the other side , what a pronenesse there is in the times to advance them this alone may be argument sufficient , in that , notwithstanding the so peremptory determination of our church against them , they bee neverthelesse still retained , and also , for one pretense or other more and more multiplyed and advanced . in this therefore so palpable a schisme betwixt doctrine & practice , my duty binding me , and my judgment serving mee to side with the doctrine , my desire is to exercise my pen as my title imported ; and my purpose is to confine my paines unto the making answer unto only two of those allegatiōs , which use to bee made in the behalfe of church-images , and they shall be these : 1 that images do greatly adorn & beautifie churches . 2 that they furnish the dead with tombes and monuments . for though it also use to bee pleaded in their behalfe , that they are speciall good to give instruction , and also toward the quickning of devotion : yet because wee have already ( toward the vindication of the second commandement ) made particular answers unto those allegations ; we will wholly for this time confine our selves unto those two premised . 1 to the first of them , then , which pleadeth how greatly they adorn and beautifie churches , we answer ; first , that in the prophecie of esay the lord saith thus ; a yee shall defile the covering of thy graven images of silver , and the ornament of thy molten images of gold ; thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth , thou shalt say unto them get thee hence : and in the prophecie of ezechiel wee read thus ; b as for the beautie of his ornament , hee set it in majesty : but they have made the images of their abominations , and of their detestable things therein . secondly , it is a necessary condition in an ornament that it be without scandall ; but images in churches are not without scandall : therefore images in churches are no ornaments . touching the ground of this our argument , namely that ornaments must not bee scandalous , it is no more then the generall rule of justice doth require . for life must always be preferred before beautie , as c life is more worth then meat , and the body then rayment : whereupon it fairly follows that the things which indāger life , especially the spirituall life , must rather bee forborne then the things which serve only for beautie & ornament , procured therewith : yea , the apostle esteems it a d warn of charity if a man had not rather sometime part with his food then be the cause of another mans sinne . now that images are scandalous things in churches , it is many wayes apparent . for ( first ) there being an unreasonable pronenesse in the heart of man to sinne by images , even to the bowing down unto them , and committing spirituall fornication with them ; it must needs be that the setting up such kind of sights in those kind of places where persons that are spiritually incontinent are allowed ( yea and bound ) to repaire , will prove a palpable incensment and provocation thereunto ; especially when as such kinde of pollution is apt to be committed through the meere aspect of the outward eye , and that without the privity or knowledge of the neerest slander by . surely if incontinent persons should be invited unto such kind of houses as had every corner stuffed with bagages for such purposes , and such also as were not able to say thē nay ( for such kind of things wear sure are images ) were it not a most ready way to provoke such kind of iniquity ? secondly wee reade in the prophet ezechiel that when e the people of israell did see the images of the caldeās portrayed up●● the city wals , girded with gir●les about their loynes , exceeding ● dyed attire like princes , &c. ●●ey entred into the bed of love with them : and therefore when our people shall see the images , not of infidels and profane persons , but of most holy saints , in like manner pourtrayed , and that not up●n common wals , but upon he walls and most eminent places of holy temples , is it not to be feared that spirituall dotage will insue thereupon even to the entring into the bed of love with them ? for admit that the dotage of those isralites which the prophet report of was not upon the images but upon the persons which those images did represent : yet when such persons were once dead , or so far distant as that their lover● could not enjoy them , will not the dotage in the end rather double it selfe upon the image then any way expire● or abate ? thirdly , to attribute unto images the name and title of church-ornaments , is a ready way to conferre holinesse upon them : for if the temple be holy , shal not the ornaments of the temple challenge holinesse ? scandalous therefore it must needs be , if not plainly idolatrous , to give so much as the terme of church-ornaments 〈◊〉 ●ages . fourthly , to ●mages in our english ●es must needs bee ●ous , in a speciall man●nely , for that the au●ed doctrine of our ●h is most palpably ●ned by the meanes . ●e booke of homilies , in church images are ●emptorily determined ● , not only is at this ● full force , but also a● fourescore yeeres since ●●mpiled , and ever since ● beene , both by convo●●s confirmed , by parlia● established , and by vi● from time to time in●ed , and finally by a su●●e edict ( not twenty yeeres since ) prescribe● pattern and boundary fo● preachers & minister ; ● are not they , then , culp● of capitall scandall w● will contrary those hom● within the bounds of ● government where ● have bin so long authori●● or is there any thing 〈◊〉 scandalous ( not to say 〈◊〉 pestilent and impious ) the ● contemne authoritie ? ●ly , they are in an other re● most scandalous within ● bounds of england , nam● for that they afford a pro●●ble plea for recusancy ; ● may not the recusant 〈◊〉 plead ; it is impossible t● void idolatry in those ch●●here images are suffe● the judgment of your ●ly ; but in your english ●●hes , images are suffe●●●erefore it is impossible ●id idolatry in your ●h churches , by the ●ment of your homily : ●ave wee not then good ● to refraine your chur● sixtly , the lord ex● tels us , that his ●hall bee called the house of● ; but what more of●●e unto prayer then the ●●tes of the outward eie ? ● therefore shutting ( or ●ng ) their eys when they ●e to be fervent at that ex● ▪ for the invisible god though otherwise never s● lawfull , being bound to giv● place to scandall , wherewit● nothing but necessitie ( against which there is no remedie ) i● able to dispense . indeed i● there were any kind of necessitie for the setting up image in churches wee grant tha● scandalousnesse were no suff●cient exception against them ▪ but who ever pleaded any kind of necessity for any kin● of images in churches ▪ for wee may both sing an● say , heare , preach , and pra● ( which are all the churc● duties of necessitie requirable ) not only without the helpe of images , but als● without the helpe of our ve●● but also without the help of our very eyes and though we were stark blind . secondly , ●dmit there were a necessitie ●f outward ornature in a temple , yet is there no ne●essitie of images for such a ●urpose : witnesse that so beautifull temple of solo●on which had not an image to be seene ( though in those typicall times ) in that part of the temple where the congregation assembled . wit●esse also our booke of homilies , which though it admits of no images in chur●hes , yet hath it a speciall ●omily intitled for the comly ●dorning of churches . we conclude therefore , since images are so scandalous sights in churches , and no kind of necessity does inforce the setting up of any kinde of images in churches ; therefore they must not bee set up in churches for meere ornament sake ; all ornature though never so lawful being a matter of redundance , and not of necessitie ; things being apt to be sound and substantiall , though beautifull they be not . 3 a third argument against the allegation shall be this ; all ornature is a kind of beauty ; and al beauty is h flos formae resultantis in materia , ●hat is , such a kind of flourish 〈◊〉 does result out of the fulnes and ●●perabundance of inward vigour : ●t being otherwise no true beauty indeed , but only a kind of jay-like , furtive , and ●surped weed ; or like the ●uddy tincture of a face which proceeds not from the ●ife and spirit of the face , but only from some outward fal●ification and infection upon the face . if therefore these images bee any true ornaments unto temples they must proceed from the peculiar nature and property of a temple . but doe they so ? can they grow out of no ●tones but the stones of temples ? can they hang upon no walles but the walles of temples ? yea , what walles so common , rotten , or prophane , but images can bee content to be playstered upon them , hang'd and drawne round about them ? they being indeed the very sperme and spawne of places most contrary unto temples , namely , the temples of idolaters ; quorum ( as a i father saith ) quanto sunt ornatiora templa , & pulchriora simulachra , tant● plus majestatis haebe●e creduntur : that is , whose temples the more adorned they are , and the more goodly their images , the more majesticall they are supposed . the scripture also testifying as much when it tels us , how the heathens boasted that their images did excell the images of jerusalem and samaria : as also when it ●ermeth idolatry l a wel-favord ●arlot , it gives us to understand , that meer outward and forged beauty is a robe most proper to idolatry : whereof our homily gives a faire reason when it saith , m that idolatry being of her self an old , foul , ●lihy and withered harlot , and understanding her lack of true ●aturall beauty , doth paint , and deck , and tire her self with gold , ●arle , stone , and all kind of pre●ious jewels , the better to please and intice her foolish lovers , &c. 4 fourthly , it is a necessary condition unto an ornament , that it be delightfull in the eyes of those for whom it is intended . for all ornature and beautie is a kinde of excellencie ; and excellencie does suppose and require a degree of goodnes more then meere necessitie does inforce . now there being three degrees of goodnesse , namely , lawfulnesse , profitablenesse , and delightsomnesse ; and the two first being of necessity required in every thing that is admitted into a temple ; it follows that nothing can be esteemed for an ornament in a temple , unlesse it hath that third degree of goodnesse , namely , delightsomenesse . and that the two first of these degrees namely lawfulnesse and profitablenesse are of necessitie required in every thing that is endured in a temple , it is easie to declare . for first , unlesse a thing be lawfull , it is not in any place to bee indured , whether in a temple or without the temple ; inhonestum & impossibile being esteemed all one , in morall estates . and then in the second place unlesse it bee also profitable it must not be allowed in a temple , even by that rule of scripture which appointeth that n all things in churches be done to edifying : though our homily doth not attribute unto images in churches , so much as profitablenes , when it saith , o such decking of temples hath nothing profited the wise , but greatly hurt the simple and unwise . and therefore the things which have not attained unto that third degree of goodnesse , namely delightsomnesse , cannot be reputed amongst ornaments within the compasse of churches . it is true indeed and easily granted , that images in time and place are delightfull enough ; the scripture also acknowledging so much when it upbraideth the people by their pleasing pi●tures ; they being pleasing ●ights in the eyes of flesh and ●loud , even when the beholder does not know what they mean ; — rerumque ignarus imagine gaudet , saith the poet : but the things which are delightfull at one time are not of necessitie delightfull at all times ; and in all places . for such we know ●s the force of time , place , persons , and other circum●tances , as that the things which at one time are never ●o delightfull , may at another time be most hateful by their means . yea , things that are never so lawfull , may by the power of circumstance bee found unlawfull and intolerable . surely to hire a farme , prove oxen , marry wives , &c. are no doubt in themselves lawfull enough : but when the redeemers marriage cannot be celebrated unlesse those kinde of businesses bee omitted : then doe they become culpable of impietie and high cōtempt . likewise to receive money , vineyards , olive-trees , &c. are actions in themselves lawfull enough ; but when the minding such matters might have hazarded the conversion of that syrian prince , was it then a time for gehezi to receive money , vineyards , olive-trees , & c ? before therefore that it be granted that images are delightfull sights in churches , it must first be resolved whether the circumstances doe concurre which are necessary toward the making a thing delightful , or not : and amongst those circumstances one of them is this ; seasonablenesse and sutablenesse . for though necessitie does not stand upon it , whether a thing be in season or out of season ; yet pleasure and delight are of that ticklenesse and delicacie as the unlesse the season concurres it will not take : q a tale out of season being like musique in mourning ; and candidus in nauta turpis color ; a faire face though in it self so pleasing a sight , yet in a sayler , or in a person whose profession it is to wrastle with the weather , it is thought an ill-favoured sight , and no better then a ring of gold in a swines snowt : as on the contrary , dustie faces in souldiers ( r non indecoro pulvere sordidis ) when they returne from the chace of their enemies , are sights not uncomely . say then ; are images such seasonable sights in churches ? or are they so sutable unto such kinde of places ? things which are so discrepant from the nature of god , and so apt to provoke the jealousie of god as wee have formerly noted , are such things so seasonable sights in the houses of god ? things which doe so distemper and confound prayer , are such things so seasonable in the houses of prayer ? surely when a man after a weary journey hath taken up his lodging , and is falne into a sweet sleep ; if some of his neighbors should come and awake him , only to bid him good morrow , were that a seasonable good morrow ? or while a man is waiting to put up a petition unto his prince , if some of his companions should come and call him to a may game , were that a seasonable motion ? even ●o likewise when all the powers of the minde lie couching at the doore of the heart , whereby to attaine some glance of the invisible god ; shall those be seasonable sights which doe allure those powers and spirits an other way , even to the doore of the outward eye ? but wee expect it will bee objected , that howsoever unto some kind of dispositions , such kinde of sights will not be acceptable , nor worthy to be reckoned amongst church ornaments , yet because our vulgar , and little ones , doe not stand upon such nice respects , as seasonablenesse & sutablenesse , but are apt to be taken with their delights wheresoever they find them : therefore toward the better alluring such little ones unto gods houses , it may stand with good discretion and policie to set forth those houses with such kind of sights , and consequently to esteeme those kind of sights amongst temple ornaments : whereunto wee answere that such kind of persōs as are not able to discerne betwixt the houses of prayer and the houses of pleasure , are too little to bee reckoned amongst gods little ones ; the lock and not the key being ordained for such manner of persons ; for if the guest was worthily thrust out of the wedding feast , which refused to put on the wedding garment ; how much more worthy shall they be , to be thrust out of the spirituall feast , which not only neglect to put on the spirituall garment , but also resort unto those feasts of purpose , that they may the more li●entiously wallow in their sensuall garment . yea , meer naturall men have been more divinely minded then so ; and have apprehended a far more noble beautie then that which the outward eye 〈◊〉 capable of : it having been ●n ancient proverb amongst ●hem , hesperus and vesperus , ●e . the morning and eve●●ng star are nothing so beau●●full as vertue ( yea , but one ●f the vertues justice ) was : ●nd that virtute nihil for●s●us , nihil amabilius , nihil ●chrius , &c. and concern●●g the beauty of a temple , ●●e of their poets could say ; sed nil dulcius est bene quam munita tueri edita doctrina sapientum templa serenà . another also of them af●●ming that the things which their gods most delighted in were compositumjus , fasque anim● sanct que recessus mentis , & incoctum generos● pectus honesto : in comparison whereo● ( saith hee further ) all you● golden and glorious offering are no better then veneri donatae à virgine puppae . and therefore if infidels and heathens are able to imagine a kinde of beautie which goes farre beyond all outward eye-beauty : shall it bee supposed that any of the believers ( the least whereof must be supposed far more divine●y minded then the ripest un●eliever ) are so apt to be al●red unto the temples of the only and invisible god ●y the means of gay images ? they whose wits are so su●ernaturally pointed as that ●hey can see incomparably more glory in the poore at●●re of paul ministring the gospell , then in the royall robes of aaron ministring the gospel : they that can see beauty in the very feet of those ●hat bring glad tydings ; though the feet especially of messengers have no more beautie ●n the judgement of the outward eye then the dust under our feet : they that esteeme x a holinesse for beauty b righteousnesse for clothing ▪ c good works for decking , and the d gathering of the nations unto the gospell , as the principall ornament of gods church ; is it like that such will affect the places where such kinde of beauty , clothing , decking , ornaments and tydings are freely offered , any whit the more for the gawdinesse of images ? but , admit it were a suppose not intolerable that some of gods true little-ones should so little consider the nature and intent of those kinde of places as to affect them any ●hit the more for such kinde ●f gazements sake ; yet were ● wisdome in governours to ●ndescend thereunto ? yea , ●●ere naturall governours ●ve also in that respect bin ●iser then so ; witnesse those ●lacedemonians which would ●t suffer any kinde of ima●es to stand in their senate-●ouse , only for fear lest they ●●ould grow remisse in their ● will consultations by the ●ceans ; witnesse also those ●uropians , which not only ●●●mitted no images to stand ● their temples , but also ●ould scarce indure the com●on light to shine into them : ●hereof the deviser of that common-wealth gives this honest reason ( the goodnesse of his wit making him forget the qualitie of his religion ) f quia parciore & veluti dubia luce intendi animos & riligionem putab●nt . i. e. because they thought that the more obscure and sparing the outward light should be , the more inten● would their ●●ndes and religion be . sh●llow therefore and preposterous is that policie● ( admit it were never so lawfull ) which thinks it good to glaze and play ster our churches with such kinde of eye delights toward the better winning and alluring our little-ones thereunto ; it being ●●deed no better then as if a ●rse , when shee hath taken child , to weane , should wish ●e mother of the child to ●●me and keepe with the ●●ild whereby she might the ●etter still the child : for ●ough by that meanes shee ●ay hap to still the child , ●t shee may be sure by that ●eanes never to weane the ●hild . an i so likewise when god hath appointed nurses ●kings shall be thy nursing fa●●ers , &c. ) toward the wea●ing of his children from ●ensual and transitory ( not ●nly from wicked ) delights ; ● those nurses shall fraught ●is nurseries ( his temples ) with such kind of delights as sensuall and childish minds are best pleased withal : they shall by that meanes frustrate● the intent of those places , & make them become nurseries of those fancies , which their peculiar office is to weane them from . yea such kind of policie , how much is it better then as if the husbandman should sow his field with all manner of weeds ( as red-weede bowd-weed , carleekes , cockle , darnell , &c. ) only because the red , and blew , and gay coloured blooms of those weeds were far more pleasing sights in the eyes of his little children , then the common grasse-co●ored corne use to be : but ●●e husbandman is wiser ●en so ; and does not meane ●o poyson his field and starve ●is family toward the plea●ing of his foolish children ; ●ut rather when hee sees his ●●eld so overgrown with such ●●mentable gaudinesse , doth ●esolve upon some other plot ●o bestow his seede & tillage ●pon : and so the greate ●husbandman , the lord of all ●hings , when hee shall finde ●is temples in like manner ●wer grown with ( far worse ●eedes then the weeds of the ●ield ) the entertainments of ●ensuality , and provocations ●f jelousie ; is it not to be feared that he will withdraw his presence from such kin● of places ? yea the very wildernesse is like to prove hi● chiefe repose in such case● for thither he hath promise● to allure his people and ther● to speake kindely unto them ▪ and there if hee may find either one true jacob , which could say of his casuall sleeping place , k this is none othe● but the house of god ; or one fervent elias , which in a cav● remayned jealous for the lord of hoasts ; or one honest hilarius which could say , l male ecclesiam dei in tectis aedificitsque veneramini , &c ▪ ●ive mee dungeons , give mee ●ults , caves , and desarts , ra●●er then such kinde of temples : ●ven with such will hee ra●●er settle himselfe and shew ●●em all his glory , then with ●ultitudes of fooles which ●nd glaring upon walls , and ●●ok the cleane contrary way ● his approach . 6 our next and last argu●ent against the allegation , ●●all be this ; the life , and ●orme , and property of a ●emple does consist in no●hing so much as this ; that ● be a place exempted and 〈◊〉 part from common uses ●nd common delights : but the ornature which images ●e afford , serves only for a kind of common delight , and such as the ignorant , idle , an● superstitious , the carnall , sensuall , and idolatrous are affected and pleased withall , a● well as the best ( not to say incomparably more : ) therefore the ornature which images doe afford does rathe● profane and vilifie , evacuate confound , and nullifie a temple , then any way adorn it , o● become any true beautific●tion unto it . touching the ground o● this our argument , namely that the exempting and se●ting a place a part from common uses and common delights does most properly giv● life and forme , and constitution unto a temple , it must ●sse for sound and good , un●● some other qualification ● condition ( rite , respect , or ●eremony ) be found , where● the life & form and quid●●tie of a temple shall more ●culiarly consist . it is true ●●deed the respects & rights ●hich consist in dedication , ●onsecration , sanctification , 〈◊〉 are attributed unto tem●●es ; as also the ministery of ●●e word and sacraments , ●e exercises of holinesse ●●d enjoyment of gods ●●esence are found in tem●●es ; and finally goodlinesse ●●d magnificence are conspi●ous in the fabrick and stru●●ure of temples : but if all these conditions , qualifications , and respects may be found attributed and imparted unto other things and places as well as temples then must they not bee esteemed of sufficient force t● give life and forme , and specification unto a temple . fo● first concerning dedicatio● we find how every m new bui●● house in the time of moses la●● was also allowed it ; and ● the time of nehemiah , whe● the city was repaired , the very n walls thereof are sai● to be dedicated with singings an● thanksgivings upon the tops of the wals even to the prison-gate an● dung-gate , &c. secondly , concerning consecration ( if that ●espect does differ any thing ●rom dedication ) neither is ●hat also a ceremony pecu●●ar unto temples ; for even ●easts also and fields , and ●ossessions , and the persons of ●en are in the scripture said ● bee consecrated , and the ●ing at any time so consecra●d is termed no lesse then ●actum sanctorum deo , ( in ie●●es translation ) . likewise ●oncerning sanctification , so ●●re is that respect also from ●●ing peculiar unto a tem●le ( though that of the three ●ay bee thought the princi●all ) as that our ordinary ●eat is afforded it ; for it ( saith the scripture ) is sanctified by the word and prayer . moreover ( and fourthly ) as neither dedication , consecration , nor sanctification , so also neither is the ministery of the word and sacraments of sufficient force to give peculiaritie and specification unto a temple : for we also find in the scripture , how we are allowed ( yea , appointed ) p to talke of his word , even when we walke by the way , and in on● dwelling houses , and when wee ly● downe , and when we rise up : also the sacraments in the time of that law were ordinarily administred in privat houses ; and our saviour not only ●●d partake the passeover , but 〈◊〉 ordained his last supper ●n ordinary dyning cham●●● the r law of england●o at this day allows us the ●e of prayers and psalms in 〈◊〉 private houses , and in ●●●aln cases ( in case of di●●●nce ) gives them the privi●●ge of temples : againe , ●ther are the exercises of ●●inesse , nor the enjoyment ● gods presence , peculiar ● to temples ; for in all ●●ces his presence may bee ●●joyed , ſ even though wee 〈◊〉 down to hell wee shall finde 〈◊〉 there , or if we remayne in the ●●id sea , we shal find him there : ● if we be clapt up in the dungeon wee hope to finde hi● there . so likewise innocenc● and holinesse are not peculia● unto temples , nor is the excluding wickednesse and unholinesse the proper office o● a temple ; every place ● the world being bound ● do as much , and no place ● the world being allowed ● commit ungodlynesse in . f●nally concerning outwa●● sumptuousnesse and magni●●cence of building so far is the also from giving propriet● and distinction unto templ● as that not only the palac● of pride and vanity , but al●● the houses and temples o● idolatry , have also excelled and gloried therein ●itnesse that temple of ●●esus , which cost all asia●●o hundred yeeres to build ● ; and which had above sixe ●ore pillars , whereof every ●e had a severall king to ●aintain it : witnesse also that ●emple u of belus , which is ●●ported to be duorum stadio●● amplitudine , and that it ●ed a tower in the middest ●f it , crassitudine simul & alti●dine stadii ; and so tower ●●on tower , usque adoctavam : ●itnesse also that temple of ●●zicus ( a citie swallowed up ●ith an earthquake ) the pil●●rs whereof were x singulae 〈◊〉 singulis lapidibus , and yet quinquaginta cubitorum alitudine , and quatuor ulnarum crassitudine : witnesse also that temple which , belike , was somtime in our britain ; which had it not excelled for outward structure and magnificence , the people would never have adored it as a god as y seneca reporteth : yea so farre is such outward sumptuousnesse from giving peculiarity unto a temple , as that one of the ancient fathers forbears not to say that z such kind of sumptuous temples are most likely to prove the seats of antichrist . and wherein then is the propertie , forme , and quiddity of a temple so likely to consist , as in this respect and condition which we plead for ; namely , in being a place exempted and set apart from common uses and delights ( not only from wickednesse ? ) which propertie as it was never found in any places but in temples , so also where it alone is found there is nothing esteemed to bee wanting unto the nature and substance of a temple : and so much the patriarch jacob may bee sufficient to teach us , when hee called a plaine a stone the house of god , though it had nothing belonging to such a house , but only his setting it apart from common uses , and confining it to bee a mention and remembrance of his god ; the church of england also at this day , acknowledging as much in effect when it esteemeth all those places for temples , which time out of mind have beene exempted and set apart from common uses , though whether ever they had any dedications or consecrations , or other then such as were superstitious & idolatrous it be unknowne . for as the nature of a sabbath doth not consist in this , that it affords holy exercises , for so also other dayes must do ; or in this that it debarreth wicked actions , for so also other days must doe ; or in this , that it affordeth much vacant time , for so also other dayes may do ; but only in this , that it debars all manner of work : so may we wel conceive that the nature of a temple does consist , not in this , that it is a place dedicated , consecrated , &c. for so also other places and things are apt to be ; nor in this , that it affords gods word or gods presence , for so also other places may doe ; nor in this that it excludes ungodlinesse & wickednesse , for so also every place is bound to doe ; but only in this that it is exempted from common businesse and common delights : as also our saviour did sufficiently declare , clare , when hee forbad the carrying of b vessells through the temple , and paul , when hee permitted not so much as c eating and drinking in such kinde of places ; such kind of actions being notwithstanding both lawfull and necessary , and having no exception against them but this , that gods houses might be supposed liable & applyable unto common uses and businesses by such meanes . for as those kinds of actions and businesse which doe well become the weeke dayes are said in the scripture to d defile & pro●hane the sabbath day : so ●●y those kind of actions & ●elights bee found to pro●hane and nullifie a temple , ●hich other places can take ●o exception against . upon ●hich conclusion and ground 〈◊〉 fairely follows , that the ●●tting up of images or any ●hing else in churches , only ●o please the outward eye , ●nd to afford a common kind ●f delight ( the ornature which images afford when it ●s at the best being no better ) ●s rather a prophanation , pollution , and prostitution unto those kind of places then any perfection or beautification . but very like it will bee pleaded against us , that by this rule all outward beautification whatsoever within the compasse of a templ● ( though it be not by images shall be excepted against ; yea the beauty of king solomon● temple shall bee found un●● warrantable by this rule ; for no doubt all sorts of people as well the heathens , ungodly , and sensuall , as the holy and spiritually minded were affected therewith : whereunto , christian reader , wee are desirous to answer a few words : and first concerning such outward beautification in general ; wee may shortly answer , that when the intent of it is , only to cover unsightlines and outward eye-sores , 〈◊〉 is to bee esteemed as a ●ranch of necessity , and a ●reventing of scandall , rather ●hen an ornament intended to ●elight and please the out●ard eye : even as the e co●ering of our uncomely parts ●ith the more comelinesse is not ●o please the beholders , or to ●ake our uncomely parts ex●ell those parts which are ●ore noble , but only to keep the more noble parts from disdaining the societie of those inferiour & lesse comely parts , and least otherwise there might spring up f a schisme in the body . and as we admit beautifull and rich-attired persons into our temples , not because they are so adorned and so beautifull ( for their beauties doe rather offend then edifie in those kind of places ) but only because either their beauties must bee admitted , or their persons withall excluded : so our admitting of such kinde of outward beautifications into our churches , may well be , not for the delighting and pleasing of outward eyes , but only because unlesse they be admitted , offensive and scandalous unsightlines must remayne uncovered . now in the second place concerning that speciall beautification of king solomons temple , we ●nswer , first , that not only the analogie of religion , ●ut also the body of the fathers , doe agree with our ● homily in this , that the ●umptuousnes of those times was only a figure to signifie , & not an example to follow : even as the bloomes of the spring , which though they may well signifie what kinde of fruit may be expected , yet are they no examples for the rest of the seasons to follow . secondly , the indulgence of god might thinke good to entertain that minoritie of his people with some plausible shadow of a temple g untill the true temple , ( h the almighty god and the lambe ) should bee revealed . thirdly , the waywardnesse of that minority which ( as our i homily saith ) was allured with nothing so much as with goodly gay things might somewhat be of force with the lord to yield a little more unto thē then was originally intēded : even as their like untractablenes extorted the bil of divorcement from him , which from the k beginning ( our saviour saith ) was not so : or as it moved him to yield unto their burnt offerings and sacrifices which ●ay well be thought to have ●d no better beginning ; the ●ord thus speaking of them ● the prophet jeremy , i spake 〈◊〉 unto your fathers concerning ●●nt offerings and sacrifices , 〈◊〉 only i commanded them , say●●g , obey my voice : and the ●rophet esay plainly saying , ●ho hath required these things ● your hands ? fourthly , it was ●●ly one such sumptuous ●emple and that also ( as the ●cripture saith ) built n in seven ●●res , which was allowed ●●to that whole nation , even 〈◊〉 that time of minoritie : ●heir synagogues and o●●ories being no more sumptuous to the outwar● eye ( as far as can appear o● of any writer for divers hu●dred yeeres after that la● began ) then their dwelli●● houses , and for along ti● were no other places . fifth when david first motion● the building of that templ● the lord not only thus a●swered him , thou shalt 〈◊〉 build mee an house , but al● further expostulates with hi● in these very words ; o whe●soever i walked with all isa● spake i a word unto any of a judges ( whom i commanded feed my people ) saying , why but you me not an house , & c ? it 〈◊〉 indeed , hee afterward ●e them directions about 〈◊〉 building of it ; but what ● that ? for so also he gave ●m directions how they ●●uld bee ordred under a 〈◊〉 , and yet the scripture ●●h , that hee gave them a 〈◊〉 in anger : from whence ●o ( sixtly ) wee may argue , 〈◊〉 as the lord did take ●●eir desiring of a king to be ●ind of q rejecting him from 〈◊〉 their king , and so gave 〈◊〉 a king in anger ; so it ●y be interpreted , that hee ●ewise did take their desi●g of a temple to proceed 〈◊〉 a kind of unwillingnes to have him for their temple , and so did give them ● temple in some degree o● displeasure . againe , we fin● in scripture how hee ofte● checks them by their r temple , and by their ſ dotage upo● the beauty of it ; ringing ● also as often in their eare ▪ how that t heaven was his se● and earth his foot stool ▪ what how will yee build mee ? which te● assoone as saint steven in h● apologie did but once me●tion , he presently brake for into that indignation , u y● stif-necked and of uncircumcis● hearts and eares , yee have alwa●●●sted the spirit of god , & c. ●oreover , and in the eighth ●ace , had the lord made any ●ch special reckning of that ●emple of solomon would he we suffered it to be so razed 〈◊〉 destroyed , and that for ●●ers hundred yeeres before ●●t law expired ? for wee ●de in the scripture when 〈◊〉 arke of god was taken 〈◊〉 the enemies , though it was ● thing most easie to be car●● about and rifled , yet did 〈◊〉 providence of god so ●iraculously preserve it , as ●hat they that tooke it durst ●ot so much as touch it , but ●ith all the honour and cost they could devise did send back again . and therefo●● had the lord so delighted that beautiful temple woul● hee have suffered it to be ● destroyed , and that when ● without any such miraculou● assistance ( as the ark needed it might have bin preserved ▪ it being also ordinary wit● the very heathens to preserv● temples , even when the● preserved nothing else ; an● much more , no doubt , woul● they have preserved tha● temple which in those day was the mirror of the world and was then in their own possession , had not some degree of gods indignation a●●ost it made way to their ●●d rage , toward their ma●g no difference betwixt ●nd the city , but with the ●●fused stroake of fire and ●ord to destroy them both ●●gether . moreover , had the ●●rd been so delighted with 〈◊〉 beautie of that temple , ●w is it that the second ●emple , which was built by ●ods own appointment , and ●hich was so often promi●●and called for , did not●ithstanding come so farre ●ort of it ? the scripture ●●inly saying of it , that it 〈◊〉 as nothing in comparison of it : which president alo● may be sufficient to perswa● us , that the beautie of the 〈◊〉 temple was rather offensi● then otherwise , even in t●● time of that nonage ; the pe●ple by meanes thereof bei●● brought to linger after , and ● doat upon outward things and to catch at the shadow i● stead of the substance , the shell in-stead of the kernel and the templum domini , i● stead of templum dominum , a● experience did prove . we● conclude therefore , that the beautie of solomons temple is no sufficient exception against the ground of our argument , which was this , that all outward beautification in tem●●●s , which is intended only ● please the outward eye , is ●egree of converting tem●●es unto cōmon uses , which ●e peculiar office and nature 〈◊〉 a temple excludes ; the ex●ellencie of temples being ●ore or lesse , as they are ●ore or lesse exempted from ●ommon uses , whereby ( if it ●ere possible ) nothing but god himselfe in those kinde ●f places might bee thought upon : the lord only indeed being the life and spirit of all temples ; yea , and not only so but also being ( hee hath expresly said ●t ) the very z temple it selfe ; there being no other temple that ca● contain the catholike spou● of christ but only hee . an● that only temple must ever● member of christ long afte● and delight in ; live and dwel● in day and night : and tha● they shall never doe as long as they are so wedded unto visible temples , and the beauty thereof . it is true indeed , this temporall life does need ( at least can make use of ) materiall and visible temples , we grant : but considering how prone the nature of man is to relapsing , and to lownd after the beautie of old jerusalem , when we should be ready to enter into ●●e gates of the new , and with ●ose israelites to seeke gil● , and beersheba , rather then ●e lord ; and with those car●all jews ( as b austin termeth ●hem therein ) to interpret the ●eauty of the second temple ●rophesied of by haggie ) to ●onsist in some glorious re●auration of a visible tem●le : it therefore concerns the ●eople of god when they in●end to build any materiall temples , to set them forth with such gravity and simpli●itie as may give the commers unto them to under●tand , that the beauty of a temple is not like the beauty of other places , nor to bee judged of with that kinde of eye where with wee judge of other buildings ▪ at least they must not be so indulg●nt unto weake and ( supposed ) little-ones as to set forth their temples with the common , grosse , and scandalous ( not to say idolatrous ) beauty of images , which the allegation pleads for , and against which onely wee have hitherto ( and that we hope sufficiently ) excepted . 2 the other allegation in the behalfe of these church-images which we have specified in the beginning is this ; that they furnish the dead with tombs & monuments : whereunto we answer , that the things which are especially scandalous must not be suffered in churches , but only in case necessity , as we have alreadie declared . now that such kinde of monuments are scandalous sights in churches , it cannot be denied : it being easie to observe through the course of the times that the ordinary originall of idols hath beene from sepulchres , and such kinde of monuments . and the scripture gives us a faire warrant so to think when the lord sayes , that , he will cast their carcasses upon the carcasses of their idols ; for other carcasses then such dead bodies as were interred under their idols , their idols could not have : and it was the usuall course amongst the ancient heathens first to erect altars over their dead , and then to build temples over those altars , and then finally , to make their dead the gods of those temples . moreover , the reason why the lord would not have the d burying place of moses to bee knowne , is agreed upon by all divines to be for the preventing of idolatry . and therefore if the meer burying place ●f a saint , and that in the ●ildernesse , be so apt to be●et an idoll , how much more ●ill it be fitted for such a pur●ose when it shall bee in a ●emple , and withall shall ●ave the image of the saint ●rected upon it , and that so ●loriously and sumptuously ●s that if men had a desire to ●ake a god of it , they could ●ot doe more . thirdly , there ●eing a speciall pronenesse in the hearts of men to magnifie ●heir fore-fathers ( e mortuos ●aitatur vanitas vulgi magis ●●am vivos ) and to esteem most highly of those which lived in the former times ; partly out of an envy against the presen● times ( f virtutem incolmem ● dimus , sublatam ex oculis quaer●mus invidi ) and partly becaus● the imperfections of the present times are more in sight how can it bee otherwise like but that the images of those so admired ancients , wil● draw admiration and forbidden respects ? especially after on●e the mosse of antiquity is growne upon them ; antiquitie ( as a g father saith ) being of force to make even errours acceptable ; & whereinto ( as h another saith ) men thinke it a point of impiety to ●nquire : and can wee then ●ake question but that such ●inde of monuments must ●eeds bee most scandalous ●ights in churches ? now in the second place , that there is 〈◊〉 necessitie of such kinde of monuments in those kinde of ●laces ( necessity only being of force to dispense with scandals ) it will easily bee granted . f●r first , the only ●ntent and use of those monuments is to doe an honour ●nto the dead ; whereas honour , though it bee never so sound and good , is not a matter of necessitie ; the scripture telling us that the multitude of those which shall bee admitted into the state o● blisse shall be such , as i no ma● can number ; and therefore i● not so much as their persons can bee knowne , much lesse can their names and fames bee so great upon earth as to have distinct monuments erected upon them . secondly , such kinde of monuments may bee erected in other places as well as temples , and that more obviously & conspicuously ; sepulchres & graves ( we are sure ) having beene extant before any temples were known . thirdly , there are other courses more apt to continue the remembrance of the ●●ad , then those kind of mo●●ments ; namely , inscripti●●s & epitaphs : for by such ●nd of expresssions , the truest , ●●d noblest , and most inward ●●ts of dead are apt to be 〈◊〉 more lively and properly forth ; the tooles of car●s and pensils of painters ●ing able to describe only ●●eir outsides , and so much of ●●em as fools and unworthy ●●rsons ( yea , stones or lumps ● clay ) may excell or resem●●e them in : whereas the pens ● the muses are able to flou●●●h out their most hidden ex●●●lencies , and imprint their ●●●tues with such durable ●haracters as shal make them able a thausand yeers after to say , as the poet did truly divine of himselfe when hee said , k exegi monumentum ●re perennius , regalique situ pyramidum altius . and as another of this kind could say : l certior in nostro carmin● vultus er●t : casibus his nullis , nullis delebilis annis vivet : apelleum cummorie●ur opus . fourthly , meere naturall men have made no reckoning of these kind of monuments ; witnesse that grecian prince , which would not suffer so much as his picture ( in his life time ) to be taken ; an● that for this worthy reason , because hee would be known by nothing but his acts : witnesse also hee that gave his emperour this counsel ( maecenas to augustus ) n ne●er to suffer any images or temples to be erected unto him ; because ( saith hee ) if you rule well , the whole world will be your temple , and every city a monument and basis of your glory ; but especially specially witnesse that whole common-wealth of those ancient o indies , which would never suffer any sepulchers to be erected over their dead , because they thought no man worthy to be remembred any longer , then during the remembrance of his vertues : which so sound and impartiall judgment of theirs , the providence of god ( who loves always to requite sound judgement wheresoever hee find it ) did requite with another vertue like unto it ; for so the same author does further report of that nation , that they were never knowne to tell a lie ; his nefas est ( saith ●e ) falsi quicquam pro vero dice●● ; neque indorum quisquam ●●quam , in iudicum , qoud men●tus esset , vocatus est : that so , ●●ch as scorned those kind of ●●ayses which could not bee ●nd but by falsifications and ●ounterfeit images , might be ●equited with such a speciall ●ellowship of the truth ( ne●er to be taken with a lie ) as ●ever any nation before ●hem , or after them , attained ●nto . and shall then the christians ( so incomparably ●raced of god above those ●●mes ) be so liquorous or desi●●ous of those kinde of com●on , painted , pybald , & scan●●lous monuments which heathens and meere natural nations have thought so unworthy of ? especially when as the lord hath promised them another manner of remembrance ; for thus saith the prophet malachie , p a book of remembrance was written before him , for thē that feared the lord , and that thought upon his name . finally it is the great decree● of god that the bodies of his servants ( though they be never so holy and worthy ) should be sowne in corruption , though they shall rise in incorruption ▪ &c. sown in dishonour , though they shall rise in honour : and there●ore to set forth those bodies 〈◊〉 such pompous and glori●us manner while they are ●nder the doome of corrup●●on and dissolution in the ●rave , is little lesse then a ●inde of resistance unto mor●ality , and reluctation against ●hat great decree , as also a ●inde of falsification unto the ● state of the dead , besides ●hat provocation unto the di●●ine jelousie and stumbling ●nto posterity which generall experience hath found to in●sue thereupon . and so , without further adoe , and left we goe beyond the scantling of an appendix we will here make an end . only christian reader before i dismisse you , i have a little request to make unto you , and it shall be this ; that whereas i lately in a little booke did shew the insufficiencie of divers reasons which use to be made in the behalfe of images , and in the end therof did intimate that there were yet other allegations of that kinde which deserved likewise to bee excepted against : my request is , that if i once again and the third time shall publish something to that purpose , you bee not unwilling to make some gentle construction of my so often comming about so common a point . for it was not at the first ( nor yet is it ) my in●ent to handle the point ac●ording to all the dimensi●ns of a common place , but ●nly to answere obiections : ●nd obiections having no mu●uall dependance one upon ●nother , but being apt to pro●ed from divers and distant , ●nd even contrary quarters , ●hough wee should make as ●any severall commings , and ●eturns , and books as we meet ●ith severall objections , it might be without any inter●●ption unto our matter , and ●ll one to the reader , and in ●ome respect also the better ●or both writer and reader . for the lesse is written at onc● the more easily it is read , an● the more thorowly perused ▪ whereas if much bee written at once , the readers leisur● ( perhaps also a deske and a chaire ) must be expected ▪ but for my part i plainly professe it , that it is no such politike consideration which moves me to write so little at once , but plaine and right downe necessity ; my reach and reading not serving mee to write much , and my fidelity to the truth not suffering mee to hold my peace . and though like enough i may hap to go in but the brand of a bawling curr by the means , 〈◊〉 the barking shawlt which ●ble to discover a thief , and ● not able to worrie a ●epe , may bee as fit for the ●●●pherds purpose as the best ; ● so the little fingers are ● full unto the body , as well the greater limbs ; and our ●iles manus , may ( with that ●●norian cripple ) depile the ●mish traine by a haire at ●●e , when the strongest arm one , single tugge shall never ● it . finally , it is the com●andement of god , that eve●● soul should serve him with his might ; and therefore ●●ey that have but little abili●●●s , must not bury them , or ● ashamed to pr●sent them to the view and judgement o● the master builders : wh● though perhaps they sometime find them not usefull fo● their purposes , yet may they think good to pronounce tha● blessing upon the authors ▪ thou hast bin faithful in litle ▪ also the lord himselfe shall be somewhat the more honored by the means ; the abundance of his gifts and graces the better appearing , when some of them be judged to be redundant , and to spare . and so christian reader , for the present i take my leave , and untill our next meeting i commend you to the grace of god . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a42351e-180 a esay 30.22 . b ezech. 7 20. c matth. 6. d 〈…〉 e ezech. 23.14 , 15. &c , 〈◊〉 6.7 . tim. 2 hom. 3. h plotia . en. 2.6 . i lacters . 2. ● . esay 10 10. l nah●m 3 4. m tom. 2 . ●●mil . p. 3. n 1 cor. 14. o tom. 2. homi● . 2. p. 3. esay . 2.16 . q ecclesiasticus 22. r flacc . ●re● . lib. 2. pers. sat. 2. 2 cor. 3. x esay 52 7. a psal. 96. b 13● . c 1 tim. 2.10 . d esay 49.18 . 〈◊〉 . f europ , ●● . ● . esay 49. ioh. 15. hosea , 2.14 . k gen. 28.17 . l contra an●r●t . quid in parietes insanitis , &c. m deut. 20.5 . n nehem. 12.27 . 〈◊〉 . 4.5 . p deut. 6.7 . ●uk . 14.15 . r eliz. 23.1 . ſ psal. 1 39. ●●n hist. n. 36.14 . u herod . l. 1. x dio 〈◊〉 . lib. 70. y sen. de morte claud. z hilarious contra au●ent . a gen. 28.22 . b mark . 11.16 . c 1 cor. 11. d exod. 31.14 . e 1 cor. 12 23. f verse 25. g tom. 2. hom. 2. p. 3. h revel. 21.22 . i parte prima . k mat. 19.8 . 〈◊〉 . 7.22 . esay 1.12 . n 1 king. 6.38 . o 1 chron. 17.6 . ●●ea 13.11 . q 1 sam. 8 7. r ier 7.4 ſ ezech. 24.21 . t esay 66 u acts 7 51. sam. 6.7 . 〈◊〉 . 2.3 . z revel. 21 22. amos 5.5 . b august . de civit. dei 18.45 . levit. 26 30. d deut. 34.6 . e aug. f flacc . g hieron. in prol. super iob. h lact. 2.7 . i revel. 7.9 . k horace carm. 3.30 . l valer. mart. 7.84 . plutarch de agiselao . n dio cass. lib. o arrian . lib. 8. p mal. ● . 16 . a discourse of the use of images in relation to the church of england and the church of rome in vindication of nubes testium against a pamphlet entitled the antiquity of the protestant religion concerning images, directed against some leaves of that collection. gother, john, d. 1704. 1687 approx. 70 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a41594) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 100730) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 788:33) a discourse of the use of images in relation to the church of england and the church of rome in vindication of nubes testium against a pamphlet entitled the antiquity of the protestant religion concerning images, directed against some leaves of that collection. gother, john, d. 1704. 39 p. printed by henry hills ..., london : 1687. written by john gother. cf. dnb. "publisht with allowance." reproduction of original in the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng gother, john, d. 1704. -nubes testium. pelling, edward, d. 1718. -antiquity of the protestant religion. church of england -customs and practices. catholic church -customs and practices. idols and images -england -early works to 1800. protestantism -early works to 1800. 2007-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-12 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-12 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a discourse of the use of images : in relation to the church of england and the church of rome . in vindication of nubes testium . against a pamphlet entitled , the antiquity of the protestant religion concerning images , directed against some leaves of that collection . publisht with allowance . london , printed by henry hills , printer to the king 's most excellent majesty , for his houshold and chappel . 1687. a discourse of the use of images : in relation to the church of england and the church of rome . in vindication of nubes testium . the factious and unchristian temper of our age has so unhappily spread it self thro' all ranks of men , that even those , whose business ought to be the advancement of piety , have not escap'd it 's malignant influence . and this they evidence too clearly to the world , whilst they shew themselves so industrious in multiplying the number of many needless contentions in the church , instead of endeavouring to lessen and abate them . this is the misfortune of him , who undertakes to assert the antiquity of the protestant religion concerning images , in answer to a dozen leaves of nubes testium : who because he is a profess'd and virulent enemy to catholics , seems resolv'd to contradict and ridicule , in a strain of drollery more becoming the stage than his coat , every thing they believe and teach , tho' it be the very doctrin of his own church . and like a blind combatant strikes at all before him , without distinction of friend and enemy , with a have at all . at this game plays this undertaker ; whose only care being to write an answer in full , answers , and condemns even those practices , as are allow'd and approv'd by his own church ; and in this new method of controversie spends the greatest part of his twelve-penny pamphlet : so that tho' he pretends to be a son of the church of england , yet whosoever considers , how often he strikes that church in the face , must needs question the legitimation , and necessarily conclude , that 't is uncertain what church he is of , whilst the only thing certain is , that he is no papist . this whole matter , as to his needless multiplying of controversies , and opposing the doctrin and practice of the church of england , as well as that of the church of rome , i 'll shew briefly in declaring , what the church of rome and england teach concerning , 1. the historical use of sacred images . 2. the commemorative use of images . 3. the respect and honor due to images . in all which if it be made appear that the two churches agree , there will need but little more , to prove this answerer a trisler , whilst he so laboriously sets himself against both ; and at the end of all , says nothing to the purpose . 1. as to the historical vse of images , 't is the profess'd doctrin and practice of the church of rome , to have the pictures and images of holy things and passages both in houses and churches , for the instruction of the ignorant in the knowledge of the history of both the old and new testament ; that so they may be acquainted with those sacred persons of patriarchs , prophets and apostles , and be inform'd of the wonderful works wrought by god in mans creation and redemption . this appears in the council of trent sess . 25 and in the catechism ad parochos part . 3. de invoc . sanc. par . 40. both which agree , that holy pictures and images are made , to inform the people of the history of holy writ , and that for this end they are set up in churches and other places . this same historical vse of holy images is conform likewise to the doctrin and practice of the church of england , as is evident in mr. montagu's appeal to caesar , who declaring the church of england's own , proper , true and antient tenets , ( ep. ded. to the king ) such as be without any doubt or question , legitimate and genuine , such as she will both acknowledge and maintain for her own , in this book authoris'd and publish'd by express order of king james and charles l. and approv'd as containing nothing in it , but what was agreeable to the doctrin and discipline establish'd in the church of england ( ib. ) says expresly , c. 20. that images were improv'd unto an historical vse in st. gregory 's time , and then adds ; had the church of rome gon no farther in practice or precept , than that which st. gregory recommends , our church ( says he ) i suppose ( for so our doctrin is ) would not blame them , nor have departed from them about that point . and agen chap. 23. doth the english church condemn the historical or civil use of images ? it do's not ( says he ) in practice ; all the world knows that ; nor yet in precept or doctrin , that i know . and at the end of the same chapter , he says , images may be had and made — ut ornatui sint , ut memoriae , ut historiae ; for ornament , for commemoration , and for history ; and that they may be made for such ends , no law of god forbiddeth , says our gamaliel , pa. 203. ad apol. bel. from whose words , in a book so authentic , and approv'd by two kings , heads of the church , 't is beyond question , that the historical vse of images is agreeable to the doctrin and practice of the church of england . and this do's most evidently appear to any , that will but put his head into any church of this communion , where presently moyses , and aaron shew themselves to the beholder , and let him know the concern they had in those commandements , which they there guard betwixt them . this may be seen with great advantage in the church at the savoy , where besides these two saints of the jewish law , the four evangelists have their place in full proportion between the side windows , with st. peter , and st. stephen , and the twelve apostles in twelve niches on the front of the gallery . but above all , the new church in st. james's in the fields commends this practice in a rare piece of workmanship , where the hand of the artist has set forth to the life upon the font , the history of original sin , and it's cure in the water of baptism . adam and eve stand beneath , confessing the guilt of that sin , for which infants are brought thither to be cleans'd . round the bason is seen christ under the hand of the baptist in jordan , authorising the institution of that salutary laver : and over it is an angel , as it were descending to move the waters , and to signifie that the efficacy of that sacrament is from above . then if you turn towards the altar , in one figure is represented the institution of the blessed sacrament at the last supper : the very same which is over the altar at his majesties chappel at whitehal , and for the very same intent , viz. a pellican feeding her young ones with her blood ; to signifie what christ gives to the faithful , his children , in the sacrament , that he feeds them with his blood. much more may be seen in cathedral and collegiate churches of this kind , not only in relation to the old , but new testament , even the crucifixion of our saviour , but especially in the new common-prayer-books , interleav'd with pictures . 2ly . as to the commemorative vse of images , 't is receiv'd and approv'd in the church of rome , as 't is explicated in the council of trent above cited , where 't is said ; that the use of holy images is beneficial to the people , because by them they are put in mind of the benefits and blessings receiv'd from christ ; and by seeing the wonderful miracles wrought by the power of god , and the exemplary lives of the saints , they are excited to give god thanks for such favors , to love him , and compose their lives according to the exemple of such holy men. the same is declared in the catechism ad parochos , ut sup . where the parish priest is directed to inform the people ; that holy images are plac'd in churches , to put them in mind of the divine mysteries and blessings , that so they may be more zealous and attentive in the love and service of so good a god. and that by beholding the representations of the saints , they may be admonish'd , to conform their lives to such examples . thus teaches the church of rome . the church of england likewise agrees with her in the same doctrin and practice ; allowing of images , as helps to piety , and for the affecting the minds of the beholders with pious cogitations , and encouraging them to a vertuous and exemplary life . this is most apparent in the injunctions given by king edward vi. to his clergy and ministers , wherein they are order'd to instruct the people in their circuits , that images serve for remembrance , whereby men may be admonish'd of the holy lives and conversation of them that the said images represent . which is the very doctrin now mention'd in the council of trent and catechism ad parochos . this mr. montagu explicates more at large , in his book call'd a new gag , &c. where treating of images , he says to the papists : images have these uses assign'd by your schools — the instruction of the ignorant , the refreshing of history , and exciting devotion : you and we also give unto them these . and a little after , the pictures of christ , the blessed virgin , and saints may be made , and had in houses , set up in churches . — the protestants do it , and use them for helps of piety . in his appeal to caesar likewise he thus delivers the sense of the church of england in this affair , c. 21. our strictest writers , says he , do not condemn or censure st. gregory for putting upon them ( images ) that historical use of suggesting unto , moving or affecting the mind even in pious and religious affections : for instance , in remembring more feelingly , and so being empassion'd more effectually , with the death , blood-shed and bitter passion of our saviour , when we see that story fully and lively represented unto us in colors , or work by a skilful hand . and i know not the man that is made of human mold , but when he readeth on this ( painted ) book , his tragical endurances for man , will reflect upon himself , and his own soul and conscience , with a lively apprehension of man's sin , god's love , christ's endeared charity , in undergoing these unknown sufferings for our sake . thus this eminent author most feelingly explicates the pious use of holy images , as proper for the suggesting good thoughts , and inflaming the soul with most christian affections , in order to the love and service of god. in this the reader may behold , how little difference , or rather how great an agreement there is between the legitimate and genuin doctrin of the church of england , and the church of rome , as to these two first points mention'd , viz. the historical and commemorative vse of sacred images . now when a member of the church of rome has endeavor'd to shew , that this doctrin as to the historical and commemorative vse of holy images is agreeable to the antient church , as is done in nubes testium ; who could ever expect , that any member of the church of england , much less a divine , should appear , bidding defiance to such doctrin , with endeavors to shew the practice of it to be heathenish , heretical , and but a popish invention ? could a man think , that any church of england divine would take so much pains to abuse and ridicule his own church ? certainly he must be either very ignorant of what his own church teaches ; or very blindly malicious against the church of rome , that to expose her , should not care what mischief he did his own mother church . but thus it happens sometimes , when men are guided by passion instead of truth and reason ; 't is impossible to avoid these absurdities , when such bitter spirits take pen in hand , who look no further in answering , than to contradict their adversary , right or wrong . and how far this answerer has done this , 't will be not amiss in this place to consider . 1st . then he pretends to shew , pa. 20. that the first making of pictures among christians proceeded partly from the example of some heretics . this bolt he shoots against the papists : but will not any reader presently reflect , that if pictures in churches , be not a christian institution , but the corruption of heretics ; that the church of england , for all the pictures they set up in their churches , follow not christ and his apostles , as they pretend , but the invention of heretics ? and what credit is this to his church ? 2ly . he asserts ib. that the making pictures among christians had it's origin principally from the fond inclinations of those , who being converted from heathenism to christianity , retain'd still an old relish and love of those superstitious ▪ practices , to which they had been accustom'd so long . is not this to let the person of quality , to whom he writes , know ; that the church of england , in using and allowing sacred pictures of christ , his apostles , &c. ( as is shewn above ) in houses and churches , follows not only an heretical abuse , but likewise the superstitious practices of heathens ? 3ly . he says , that there was no such thing , pa. 15. as the vse of images in the primitive ages . which is to inform his reader , that the church of england , as to this point of images , is faln from the christianity of the primitive times ; and that she stands in need of a reformation . 4ly . he shews pa. 22. that the having pictures in churches , is contrary to an express canon of the council of eliberis , held an. 305. by the fathers of the primitive church . in which he condemns his own church for contradicting the positive decrees of so antient a council . 5ly . from the example of an antient bishop renting a veil or hanging , whereon was the image of christ , he declares , pa. 25. in the words of the bishop , such pictures to be contrary to the authority of the scriptures . which is plainly to tell the world , that the use of hangings , such as have christ , or his saints represented on them , as may be seen in many houses , in cathedral and collegiate churches , are all contrary to the word of god. these are some of the severe reflections he makes upon his own church , while he 's blindly knocking down popery . who could desire a better condition'd antagonist than this , who is so good-natur'd , as never to strike at his adversary , but he gives himself a blow over the face at the same time ? has not he fairly defended his own church , while he thus exposes her under the guilt of being heathenish , heretical , going contrary to the primitive church , to councils and scriptures , which is the blackest of that dirt , he has done his best to cast upon the church of rome ? hitherto the reader has seen the doctrin of the church of rome and of england , as far as concerns the two first points , viz. the historical and commemorative use of holy images ; and how this worthy answerer , with some wrested and misapply'd passages of antiquity , strikes most rashly at both churches ; not caring , so he can but overthrow the church of rome , what other church , tho' his own , falls with her . now we will consider the third point , which is of the honor and respect due to these images of christ , &c. and as to this , the church of rome teaches , that the images of christ , &c. ought to be kept , especially in churches , and due honor and veneration given them : not for that any divinity or vertue is believ'd to be in them , for which they are to be worship'd ; or that any thing is to be asked of them , or any confidence to be placed in them , as was done by the heathens ; but because the honor shewn to them is referr'd to the prototypes , or things represented by them : so that by the images we kiss , and before which we kneel , we adore christ and reverence his saints , whom the said images represent . so the council of trent delivers this doctrin , sess . 25. the like is shewn in the catechism ad parochos , ubi sup . and the whole meaning of it is nothing more , than what was given at large by leontius bishop of cyprus , who flourish'd an. 620. that is , above a thousand and threescore years ago ; who thus makes his apology for the christians against the jews , who charg'd them with the breach of the second commandment , in giving honor to images . the pictures and images , says he , of the saints are not ador'd amongst us , like gods. for if i worship'd the wood of an image , as god , i might as well do the like to any other wood : if i honor'd the wood as god , i would never throw it into the fire , when the image is once disfigur'd . — as therefore he that has receiv'd a commission from his prince , and kisses the seal , dos not respect the wax , the paper or the lead , but gives the honor to the king ; so we christians , when we shew respect to the figure of the cross , do not honor the nature of the wood , but the sign , the pledge , the remembrance of christ ; through this beholding him , who was crucified on it , we respect and adore him . and as children , full of a dear affection to their father , who is absent from them , do kiss with tears , and with all tenderness embrace his stick , his chair , his coat , which they see at home ; and yet do not adore these things , but express their desire and honor they have for their father : just so do all we faithful honor the cross , as christs staff ; the most holy sepulcher , as his chair and couch , the manger and bethleem as his house , &c. not that we honor the place , the house , the country , the city or the stones , but him that was conversant amongst them , who appear'd in our flesh , and deliver'd us from error , christ our lord ; and for christ we honor those things , which belong to him , describing his passion in our churches , in our houses , in the streets , in images , upon our linen , in our chambers , upon our cloths , and upon every place , to the end that having these continually before our eyes , we may be put in mind , and not like thee ( o jew ) forget our lord and god. as you therefore expressing a veneration for the book of the law , do not honor the paper or ink of which 't is compos'd , but the word of god contain'd in it : so i , shewing reverence to the image of christ , do not adore ( no , god forbid ) the wood or the colors ; but having an inanimate representation of christ , by this seem to be possess'd of , and to worship christ himself . as jacob having receiv'd the party-color'd and bloody coat of his son joseph , kiss'd it , full of tears , and put it to his eyes ; not doing this for any love or honor he had for the coat ; but by this seeming to kiss joseph , and hold him in his arms : so all christians , holding or kissing any image of christ , of his apostles or martyrs , do the like to christ himself , or his martyrs , in the affection of their souls . by all which 't is evident , that all the honor and veneration paid by catholics to any picture or image of christ or his martyrs , is only to express the love and honor they have for christ and his martyrs ; and that in thus doing , they no more commit idolatry , or make gods of those pictures , than that woman is disloyal to her husband , who in affection to him , respects and kisses his picture ; than that subject is a traytor to his prince , who honors his portraiture ; or than all those , who pay a reverence to the chair of state , for the relation it has to the king , make a king of the chair , in so doing . this then is the doctrin and practice of the church of rome . the church of england seems to concur with the church of rome in all this point . this may be gather'd partly out of the ecclesiastical canons agreed to an. 1603. in the first year of king james i. where can. 30. 't is said , that the holy ghost did so honor by the mouths of the apostles , the very name of the cross , that it did not only comprehend even christ crucified under that name , but likewise the efficacy of christ's death and passion , &c. in which words this church acknowledges , the giving honor to the name of the cross to have been the practice of the apostles , as they were inspir'd by the holy ghost . and that the name of the cross , was not only to put them in mind of the person , whom they were to worship ( as a modern doctor says of the name of jesus , ) but that the holy ghost did by the apostles , honor the very name it self . spiritus s. per apostolorum ora , ipsum crucis nomen usque adeo honoravit . and in honoring that name , did honor christ crucified ; christum ipsum crucifixum sub eodem comprehenderet . which is the very practice and sense of catholics , both as to the name of the cross , of jesus , and of pictures ; names or words being pictures to the ear , as pictures are words to the eye . but it comes nearer our case , what is added in the same canone 2 o. honor ac dignitas crucis nomini acquisita , etiam & signo crucis , vel ipsa apostolorum aetate ( neque enim contrarium ostendi potest ) existimationem peperit honorificam . the honor and esteem shewn to the name of the cross , did produce even in the age of the apostles , an honorable esteem likewise for the sign of the cross ; neither can any thing contrary to this be prov'd . what can be plainer , than that according to this canon , 't is the sense of the church of england , that the primitive christians were taught by the apostles , not only to honor the name of the cross , but likewise the sign of the cross ? and certainly , if according to this church , the apostles taught their followers , to honor in their hearts and souls the sign of the cross , it can neither be contrary to the apostles , nor this church , to do so now , and to express this honor outwardly , which they are thus taught to conceive inwardly , and entertain in their hearts . 't is an absurdity sure too great , to fall upon the church of england , thus absolutely to approve the affection of honor and esteem towards the sign of the cross in christians hearts , as both a christian duty and an apostolical doctrin ; and then afterwards , to condemn the same honor and affection of the soul , as idolatry and superstition , when 't is express'd outwardly , either in words or gesture : for how is it possible , that what is apostolical in the heart , should , by being express'd outwardly , become idolatrous ? this doctrin is deliver'd more expresly by mr. montague , who in his book call'd a new gag , thus declares the express tenet of catholics and of his own church , p. 318. you say the pictures of christ , the blessed virgin and saints , must not have latria ; so we. you give them dulia ; i quarrel not the term , tho' i could . there is a respect due unto , and honor given relatively to them . if this you call dulia , we give it too . let practice and doctrin go together , we agree . nay he shews farther , 't is impossible to keep or set up the pictures of christ or his saints , without having a reverence and honor for them , in due kind . hear him in his own words , in his appeal to caesar , c. 21. but it has distasted some ( says he ) that respect and honor should be given unto them ( images of christ . ) strange it should displease any , that can approve of any , be it but a civil use of them . i cannot tell ; unless men would ins●●ntly have them pull'd down in all places , demolish'd , stamp'd to powder , whosesoever , whatsoever , wheresoever . the setting of them up , suffering them to stand , using them for ornaments , for helps of memory , of affection , of rememoration , cannot be abstracted , to my vnderstanding , from reverence and honor simply , in due kind . can a man have the true representation of his prince , parents , patrons , &c. without awe , respect , regard , love , reverence , moved by aspect , and wrought in him ? i profess my imperfection , or what they will call it , it is so with me . unco impacto in latrinas , in gemonias , in malam crucem , the pictures , statues , paintings , representations , of christ , the virgin , apostles , martyrs , holy men and women ; unless the very having and preserving of them , do in some sort imply respect , regard and honor done unto them , without offence justly given , without scandal , or inclination to impiety . then he urges the truth of this doctrin with the words of junius . junius , says he , was no papist ; not in your opinion , i hope . he in his animadversions upon bellarmin de imaginibus , says , hoc nemo nostrvm dicit , non esse colendas , nec ullo modo . suo modo coli probamus , velut imagines ; at non religioso cultu , qui aut superstitiosus est , aut impius ; nec cùm aliorum scandalo , sive cultus separatus sive conjunctus cum eorum cultu intelligatur , quorum sunt imagines . none of us say , that images are no ways to be worship'd . we prove that they are to be worship'd in a way peculiar to them , as images , but not with a religious worship , which is either superstitious or impious : neither to the scandal of others , whether the worship be understood the same , or different from that which is given to the things represented by them . thus this learned man delivers and defends the doctrin of his church in relation to the images of christ and his saints , against the arguments of some informers , which he thinks to be no other than puritans , and at best , some fvriovs ones of his own church , or singvlar illuminates , as he terms them , ib. c. 20. and now what great difference here in this point between the two churches ? the council of trent says , that images of christ , &c. ought to be set up in churches , and dve honor and veneration given them . the church of england ( by mr. montague ) says , that the images of christ , the blessed virgin mary and saints , may be set up in churches ; respect and honor may be given them in due kind ; the using them for helps of memory , of affection , of rememoration cannot be abstracted from reverence and honor simply , in dve kind . the catechism ad parochos says , these images are set up in churches , ut colantur , that they may be honor'd or worship'd ; that is , in due kind . the protestants say ( by junius ) none of us deny , but they may be honor'd or worship'd in their kind : nay more , we prove , they are to be worship'd in some manner , that is , as images . both churches then agree , that sacred images may be set up in churches ; that a respect , honor and reverence is due to them , in their kind ; and both concur in terming this honor or reverence , cultus or worship , i. e. in it's kind , suo modo . junius expressing it due , velut imagines , as they are images , the council of trent , because they represent christ , &c. which is upon the very same reason and ground . besides this , 't is agreed by both churches , that this reverence shewn to these things , is founded purely upon the relation they have to god , and is terminated finally upon him . this as to the church of rome , appears from what is already quoted out of the council of trent : and as to the church of england , from the words of montagu above mention'd . and from bishop jewel , who ( in rep. ag . hard. ) says ; we worship the sacrament , the word of god , we worship all other things in such religious wise to christ belonging . and then afterwards giving the reason : the sacraments be ador'd ( says ▪ he ) but the whole honor resteth not in them , but is passed over from them to the things signified . which is the very relative honor mention'd so often by catholic divines . and this divinity is found likewise in some modorn church-men , as dr. stillingfleet , who ( in his def. ag . t. g. pa. 600. ) says , that altho' no irrational or inanimate being be capable of that real excellency , to deserve any honor from us for it 's own sake ; yet such things may have a relation to matters of so high a nature , as to deserve a different vsage and regard from other things : and this afterwards he terms a reverence , and , if i may so call it , a religious respect to sacred places and things . in which words , tho' there 's some mincing it ; yet it delivers in some manner the whole doctrin of catholics . the two churches thus agreeing in the lawfulness of placing images in churches , and that an honor , or reverence , or even worship in it's kind , is necessarily due to them , as they serve for helps to piety ; of affection or rememoration , and have relation to god. the answerer of these leaves of nubes testium , lets fly at all this , like one of montagu's fvriovs ones , or singvlar illvminates . he runs it down , under the name of image-worship ; and is sure , with this very word alone , so far to prevail upon the ignorant and vulgar at least ( with whom , by his loose arguing , he seems chiefly concern'd ) as to gain their votes , in crying down the papists for idolaters ; and then his business is done . upon this strain he runs to the end of his pamphlet , proving that image-worship is contrary to fathers , to antiquity , to councils ; image-worship , image-worship , is all the cant : but never tells , what this image-worship is ; and never reflects , that his own church is for an image-worship too . thus unhappily in the midst of dust and noise he manages the controversie with the papists , without ever stating the question , or declaring what the papists hold , unbecoming a scholar ; and multiplying many needless contentions , unbecoming a christian . if he had examin'd the doctrin of his own church , and understood what catholics teach , he would have soon discover'd the vanity of this engagement ; and found , that after so much bustle upon this matter , there 's but little more in 't , besides fighting about names and words ; and that however tolerable this may be in a school for a logic dispute , 't is unworthy of a divine , who pretends to be a preacher of the gospel of peace . 't is already here made out to any unprejudic'd considerer , that , according to the doctrin of protestants , especially those of the church of england , 't is impossible to separate even the historical use of holy images , from a respect and reverence which necessarily follows them : much less can they serve as helps to piety , for the exciting devotion , and bringing to mind the persons represented , but they force from the beholders an interior love and honor ; so that , as 't is impossible , for a good subject to have by him the picture of his prince and of a traytor , without being differently affected in his soul towards them , even in the very same manner , as he is to the persons they represent . so neither can a faithful and good christian , behold the pictures or other representations of christ , of judas , of mahomet , but his soul will be differently mov'd towards them with love , respect , honor , veneration , on the one side ; with indignation and contempt on the other , as he finds himself affected to the persons represented by them . thus far is acknowledg'd by protestants , and may be gather'd from what is above cited out of montagu and junius . catholics say the same , and so cannot be censur'd or condemn'd for this . what then is their crime ? the charge urg'd against them is , that they shew this same honor and veneration outwardly to these holy images of christ , the apostles , &c. they kiss them , pull off their hats , they bow , they kneel , burn tapers , incense , and pray before them : this is the crime , this the image-worship and idolatry of the catholics . and here , in their behalf , and to bring this voluminous controversie into a narrower compass , i must ask of the answerer ; if it be lawful for protestants and catholics to have an interior respect , honor and reverence for holy images , as appears evidently confess'd above ; how comes it to be so vnlawful and abominable for catholics to signifie and express outwardly this same respect , honor and reverence , which is so commendable for all christians , both catholics and protestants , to have inwardly in their souls ? certainly , that honor and reverence , which in the heart is christian , cannot but be christian in the expression : and 't is very absur'd , to think a duty can become idolatry by professing it . if a christian has a greater reverence in his soul , for the book of the holy scriptures , than for any other book whatsoever , may not he lawfully express this reverence by kissing it ? if the woman in the gospel , respects and honors in her heart the hem of our saviours garment ; is the kissing that hem , any more idolatry , than was that affection and reverence she had in her soul towards it ? if a christian has a respect and reverence even for the house of god , or church , above other houses , that are not dedicated to his service ; may not he shew this respect , by vncovering his head ? if a christian honors the communion-table above other prophane tables ; may not this honor be exteriourly profess'd , by setting candles on it , and plate , and adorning it with hangings , and then bowing to it , without a crime ? if a christian reverences and honors in his heart the name of jesus , or of the cross , as the church of england says the apostles did ; can it be idolatry outwardly to profess this same honor , by bowing or bending the knee ? and if he respects the sacrament , may not he shew this exteriorly , by receiving it kneeling ? and if these exterior professions and acknowledgments of the interior respect , honor and reverence that is due to these things , may be thus commendably shewn , by kissing , vncovering the head , by tapers , ornaments , bowing and kneeling , without any abomination in the sight of god , or just scandal to our neighbor ; why may not the like interior respect and honor , acknowledg'd due to holy representations of christ or his saints , be profess'd outwardly by the same visible expressions of respect and reverence : especially since what is done to all these things , is upon no other account , than the relation they have to god , and as appertaining to him and his service ? neither let the answerer think to take sanctuary , in calling this veneration shewn to pictures and images of christ , a worship , as an image-worship : for however this may work upon the mobile and unthinking crowds , and fill their heads with a notion of idolatry ; yet every man of sense and unbiass'd judgment knows , that this word worship is equivocal , and that 't is not every thing is presently made an idol of , which is any ways said to be worship'd : as is shewn at large in the pap. misrep . 2. part. c. 5 , 6. for 't is not only the honor , which catholics shew to holy images , is call'd a worship ; but likewise that is a worship , which protestants give ; as is own'd by junius above ; so that in this sense protestants may be said and prov'd to be image-worshipers too . the reverence likewise shew'd by protestants to the sacrament , is call'd by jewel ( rep. to hard. ) a worship : the honor given to the bible he stiles a worship . in the same way of speaking , the respect to the communion-table may be term'd a worship ; bowing in reverence to the name of jesus may be styl'd a worship . and in this sense , 't will not only be laid to the church of england's charge , that she teaches and approves image-worship ; but likewise bread worship , book-worship , table-worship , and name-worship : and 't will not be very difficult , by the equivocation of this word , and the help of a little pulpit-sophistry , to paint out this church as black with idolatry and superstition , to the people , as she has done the church of rome . and it do's not at all reflect upon the church of rome , or her doctrin , that some of her divines call this respect , honor , veneration or worship paid to holy images a religious respect , or honor , &c. for this is only a dispute about a word ; and let it be call'd by what name they please , whether honorary , religious , or divine , this alters not the nature of the thing ; for 't is but the same thing , by whatsoever name it be express'd . if some will have every respect or veneration , shewn to holy things , as to the bible , the sacrament , the name of jesus , for the relation they have to god , to be call'd a religious worship , let 'em call it so in god's name . and if others will have no veneration or worship to be religious , but that which is directly and immediatly given to god ; let 'em have their way . these are fine notions , and pretty entertainments for school-debates ; but are no concern of our religion or conscience . for as long as 't is own'd , that there 's a respect and reverence due to such holy things , as in some particular manner have relalation to god and his service , and we only express this respect outwardly , which interiorly we feel in our souls ; let this be call'd an honor , a worship , an adoring ; let it be said to be honorary , religious or divine ; let it be deem'd absolute or relative , 't is equally alike to us ; since we are satisfied , the wrangling of the learned about names and words , has no influence upon the acts of our souls ; and cannot make that to be idolatrous , which in it self is not so . here then may the reader see , how stands this controversie between catholics and the church of england protestants . both churches acknowledge , that there 's an honor , and reverence that may be lawfully given to the holy images and pictures of christ . both churches express this honor outwardly : protestants , by using them in their churches and prayer-books , which ( as montagu says ) cannot be abstracted from giving them honor and reverence . while catholics go farther , and say , that 't is lawful to express this honor and reverence due to them , as they have relation to god , by kissing them , pulling off the hat , bowing , setting of tapers , &c. before them , in the same manner , and with no more just occasion of scandal , and no more breach of any commandment , than the church of england do's express the veneration she shews to the bible in kissing it ; to the church , by pulling off the hat ; to the name of jesus , by bowing ; to the communion-table , by setting candles on it . which being so many actions intended to signifie the interior sentiment and affection of the soul ; there can certainly be no more of idolatry in them , or superstition , than there is in the intention , or in the act of the soul ; the one being the same outwardly , what the other is inwardly . and , however some divines and leading men of the church of england , who are in love with wrangling , and thro' the influence of an unchristian temper , seem to be afraid of a better understanding coming amongst christians , take pains to blow up this controversie with some school and empty notions ; yet 't is not to be thought , there 's any great difference between the two churches , were they to speak their sense in a cool and moderate temper , where they might be free from the suggestions of such hot and fiery spirits , who seem to be rather men of state and policy , than of religion . for , can it be imagin'd , that the church of england , who confesses , that the holy ghost himself , the apostles , and primitive christians instructed by the apostles , honor'd the name of the cross , and had an honorable esteem for the sign of the cross , can be in good earnest against those , who express outwardly this honor , which in it self is thus acknowledg'd of divine institution , and to have been the doctrin of the apostles ? if the apostles too , as she owns above , did honor the name of the cross by their mouths and words ; can she condemn those , who do the like with their hands , their heads or knees ? if it be the doctrin of the holy ghost , to have this honor for the name and sign of the cross in our hearts ; and the apostles , by the instinct of that holy spirit , did express this by their words ; may not we do so too ? and if we may do this in words , may not we do it in any other way of expressing our sense , which nature has given us , and are answerable to words ? words are nothing more than for their signification ; and if we signifie our thoughts by any other way , as by signs , by any motion , or gesture of our body ; these actions being to express the same affection of our soul , which we other ways do by words , they are as innocent as our words ; and 't is impossible the actions should be idolatrous , whilst the words are orthodox : since being taught by the apostles , to have an honor in our hearts for the sign of the cross , 't is the same thing before god and men , whether we signifie this outwardly by our tongues , or by our lips , or by our hands , or by our heads , or by our knees ; these being only so many different kinds of speaking , to signifie one and the same sense of our hearts . and whilst they are so , there can be nothing justly charg'd upon any one of these ways of expressing , but will as certainly fall upon all the rest ; for they being all upon the same intention and design , of shewing outwardly the honor we are taught by the apostles to have in our hearts , and this honor thus severally express'd , being but one and the same , founded upon the relation the sign of the cross has to christ ; if it be a religious worship , when 't is signified by the knee , 't is religious too when signified by the tongue , and alike religious whilst 't is in the heart ; if it be idolatrous to express it by the knee in bending , 't is idolatrous too , to express it with the tongue in words ; and most of all idolatrous , as it is in the heart . upon this point turns the greatest part of this controversie , which of it self is very inconsiderable . but our answerer takes little care to see how the question stands ; he 's for exposing the church of rome , and as long as he has the knack of doing this by ridiculing , and drolling , what should he trouble himself with such impertinencies , as are stating the question , and speaking to the point ? he 's satisfied the word image-worship will do the work , without much need of longer proofs ; and therefore waving all such kind of controversial drudgery , he falls to the historical part , in which , from the different account of historians , the disagreement in time and place and other circumstances , he easily fills all with confusion and uncertainty . a tedious work he makes about the second council of nice , and sets it out in such abusive language , with so much contempt and scorn , that he seems , at his writing this character , to have come fresh from a billings-gate lecture . hear how he attacks that venerable synod : they were a pack of greeks ( says he pa. 38. ) that were neither the wisest , nor the honestest men in the world. then having undervalued the proofs of that council as senseless and ridiculous , he adds , pa. 39. now you may judge , whether these were not rare greek wits . yet we might forgive their want of brains , if they had been men of integrity ; but they were dishonest too . in this manner do's he complement this great synod with the honorable titles of fools and knaves . certainly he must be a wise man in his own conceit , who makes so bold with three hundred and fifty fathers , besides the popes legates , and the vicars of the oriental patriarchs . but i leave him in this buffoonry , wishing him only much joy of his admirable talent in this kind . the chief thing he urges against this council , is their establishing , as he pretends , superstitious errors , the worship or adoration of images , such as our author judges to be nothing else than idolatry ; in this , doing altogether like himself , who quarrels with every thing ; but how unlike the more learned and moderate divines of his own church , who vindicate this council from all such imputations ! mr. thorndike freely confessing , that he must maintain as unquestionable , that the council of nice injoyns no idolatry , epil . 3. pa. 363. and dr. field affirming , that the nicence fathers mean nothing else by adoration of images , but embracing , kissing , and reverently using of them , and like to the honor we do the books of holy scripture . ( of the church l. 3. c. 36. ) thus do these eminent men deliver their sense of this council and it's doctrin , which our author has thought fit to render so ridiculous to the world. he catches at words , and without examining or understanding them , makes idolatry and superstition of the most orthodox and christian doctrin : and this i look upon the occasion of his letting flie so furiously at this venerable synod , and of all his rallery against it . but i proceed to consider his other arguments . the principal thing he insists on , and which runs thro' his whole pamphlet , is , that we cannot make it appear , even as a thing probable , that images were so much as set up in churches in the primitive times ; and upon this practice , now so common in the church of rome , he presses her with the guilt of innovation . an excellent argument , well becoming a leader of the people ! but this is the motive of reforming . and do not some other reformers , upon the same grounds , prove the use of organs , in the divine service , to be an innovation ; since it cannot be made appear , even as probable , that there were any such things known to the primitive christians of the first three or four hundred years ? and do not others , still treading over the same steps , make the use of cathedrals and churches , of deanries and prebendaries , an innovation in christianity ; since in the primitive times there were no such things heard ●f ? after this rate some men are pleas'd to argue ; and at this pace the reformation may go on improving every day , till there 's nothing of christianity left , if such principles and reasons of some church of england reformers are but follow'd , as just and convincing . but these can have no authority , but with some weak and passionate men. others , who weigh things duely , know that the circumstances of the primitive christians , their being under severe persecution , their living and conversing in the middle of pagans and jews , &c. did make many things inconvenient and unseasonable at that time , especially such as related to the solemnity and order of the church , which otherwise were good and apostolical . this mr. montagu , a wise and learned man , throughly consider'd ; and particularly in relation to images , which , he says , in the first ages were but few or none in publick , not because they were then unlawful , or contrary to the doctrin of the apostles ; but because they were inconvenient in those times of persecution and paganism . i 'll here set down his own words to satisfie the answerer , and to let him see the difference between the spirit of peace and moderation , and that of bitterness and wrangling . thus then that worthy divine argues in his appeal to caesar , c. 23. as the ancient fathers of the primitive times had very few or no churches at all , at least of note , dignity or of receipt , because they liv'd in times of fierce persecution , and were seldom , or few of them stationary , but compell'd subinde mutare sedes ; so had they very few , i grant , or no pictures at all in public use amongst them , not so much as for ornament sake . and the reason was , because they lived continually amongst pagans , and were themselves , for the most part , such as had abandon'd and come over from paganism unto christ ; that were bred in , brought up in , inur'd to , and fast setled unto idolatry in image-worship . therefore they spoke against them with some tartness and inveighing sort , lest haply by conversing with , or neighboring upon pagans , or thro' former use of being mis-led by those pagans , the novel and tender shoots of christianity might receive hurt , and learn to worship idols , as those pagans did . in which words this author plainly declares , that tho' there was not the public use of images in the first ages ; yet the admittance of them afterwards into churches was no innovation , as our answerer pretends ; but the practising of a thing , which in all the precedent ages had been just and lawful , but not expedient , for the reasons here assign'd by him . which thing the same author has thus clearly deliver'd in the foregoing chapter , where speaking of the use of images : before st. gregory , says he , i know no such confest employment for them . he was the first that gave such public approbation unto them declaratorily , tho' it was trve doctrin in it self , before he ever profess'd it such . can any thing be more clearly express'd ? is it not evidently here acknowledg●d by a church of england divine , that the use of images , as approv'd and allow'd by pope gregory , who was for giving reverence and respect unto them , as this author confesses in the same chapter , was a true doctrin in it self ; tho' it was never professedly declar'd before this time ? and yet our answerer , unacquainted it seems with the doctrin of his own church , and with the circumstances of the primitive church , comes here with the full cry of innovation , giving the world and me a needless trouble of stating this controversie , which has been so long ago decided , as to this point , by a divine of his own church . but alas , some men , who have for a long time from their castle of priviledge , with a noisy , but empty controversie , peevishly declaim'd against all sorts of adversaries ; and there boastingly triumph'd , where they know no body dar'd contradict or question them , vainly think they may do the like in print , and that they may as easily impose upon all readers , as upon their hearers . and i desire our answerer to consider , how far he is here concern'd , who thus dares to venture abroad , with these raw and vnconnected notions . but the answerer is resolv'd however , to convince his reader of the unlawfulness of images ; and in order to this tells him , as before , that the antient heretics were friends to images . i wont ask here ; why then do's the church of england use them in her places of worship ? but , i 'll tell him in his own words , that this is a silly artifice ; and that every thing is not to be condemn'd , which was us'd by such a sort of people . he knows , i hope , that the antient heretics us'd the bible too , as likewise preaching and churches , and yet sure all these are not to be rejected upon this score . i have here shew'd him already out of his own authors , who first declaratorily establish'd the use of holy images , giving reverence and respect unto them ; and that this was a true doctrin in it self , before he ever profess'd it : and what matter then , if some heretics admitted of the same , who are wont to abuse even the best of things , as the answerer says , the gnostics did , pa. 57. who rankt christ's image with those of pythagoras , plato and aristotle . as to what he says before , pag. 53. that pope gregory i. and ii. contradict each other in this point , he would do well to explicate this fuller in his next ; for pope gregory ii. is no more for adoration of images , than gregory i. as appears in that letter of his to leo isaurus cited in nubes testium , pa. 183. where writing to the emperor : you charge us , says he , with the adoration of stones , and walls , and pictures . but 't is not so as you affirm , o emperor ! what we do is only to refresh our memory , to raise our minds to heaven , — and not , as you urge , to worship them as gods ; no , god forbid , we place no hope in them . how then do's he contradict gregory i. while he 's no more for worshiping images than he was ? but he that has forehead enough to charge me with a notion of invocating of images , as he do's , pa. 66. when i have no such word or hint , must not be call'd to an account for every thing he says . i have little more to consider in this letter of the answerer , besides his great kindness and affection to the heathens , who , with his good friend dr. stillingfleet , is so favorable to them , as in a manner to excuse them from idolatry , so the better to fix this crime upon the papists : tho' the doctrin of the papists , in this point , is so like what the church of england teaches , that ( as is shewn above ) there 's little difference betwixt them , besides about school terms and words . the world knows the good understanding there was between sultan solyman and martin luther , and how friendly the followers of this new prophet were taught to be to the turks ; but why our english reformers upon martin luther should be at this day so kind to the heathens , must be left to every one to guess . the answerer assures the person of quality , pa. 11. to whom he writes , that to charge the heathens with worshiping stocks and stones as gods , is to misrepresent them . and yet how many times has this very thing been instill'd into the peoples heads , as true of the papists , which now , as we are inform'd , is a misrepresentation , when affirm'd of the pagans ? are not the pagans here deeply indebted to these church of england men , in their owning them to be misrepresented , whilst the same abomination is so liberally charg'd upon the papists , and yet no misrepresentation there , if you 'l believe ' em ? this is to make the papists worse than heathens ; and without either respect to duty or good manners , to advance even now that plot-divinity , which was preach'd by a doctor before the house of commons , april 11. 1679. who setting out popery in such colors , as might be most effectual to excite that assembly to the drawing of blood , after several dreadful characters , at last pa. 30. thus concludes ; nay , says he , it is a religion , that will engage you in a more unnatural idolatry , than ever the pagans were guilty of . is not this a rare character of one christian from another ? nay from church of england christians too , such who pretend to so much charity and moderation above their neighbors ; and yet to cast forth so much gall and venom , that could be expected from none , but another julian , or a lucian ? but i take no advantage here , i consider this was deliver'd in a time of an epidemical madness ; and what wonder , if the pulpits did not escape the contagion ? but why at this time of the day should this lecture be read to the people ? is not the plot out of some people's heads yet ? is the infection so lasting ? but what shall we say ; the enclosure of some men's religion , is only to be against popery . they raise a monstrous notion in their own brains ; and while they expose this to the people , they make the innocent suffer for their delusion . they 'l joyn hands with the turk or the pagan , so they can but make a devil of the papist . and in this some of their furioso's are so blindly rash , that they care not how antichristian they make their own church , so they can but set out the papists for idolaters . for here i desire any serious man to consider , if the papists were thus really idolaters , as bad or worse than the heathens , as these men suggest , what advantage would this be to the church of england ? what kind of church must the church of england be , who has no ordination , succession , or authority of preaching , but what she has receiv'd from these idolaters ? what kind of church must she be , whilst she owns her self and these idolaters to be parts of the same church ? what kind of church must she be , whilst she acknowledges , that all her members for a thousand years before henry 8. were in communion with these idolaters ; and in all external rites and worship , were comprehended in the papacy ? must not she have been a very dissembling and adulterous church ; whilst believing internally the true and pure faith of christ , she did for so many years externally practise all the supposed superstitions and idolatries of the church of rome , which she judg'd to be most wicked and damnable ? is not this an admirable character of a pretended church of christ , to have play'd the hypocrit for so many ages , committing adultery with the supposed whore of babylon , and partaking in all her pretended abominations ? what greater blow could an enemy give to the church of england , than some of her divines do thus with their own hands , who , like spiritual janizaries , destroy their own mother church of which they are members ? for is it not evident , that whilst they endeavor to make the church of rome guilty of idolatry , they prove their own church for so many years to have been idolatrous , to have been a dissembling church , a church denying christ and his religion , a church for temporal respects committing many idolatries and superstitions , and consequently , no church at all ? and what more forcible argument need any dissenters to justifie their separation from the church of england ? for since the greatest part of those things upon which the dissent is founded , are such as have been instituted and commanded by the church of rome , why shou'd they receive them from the church of england , whilst these same church-guides , who press the observance , take so much pains to prove those from whom they receiv'd them , to be idolaters , and a sort of christians worse than heathens ? what reason has any man to joyn in such a form of worship and divine service , when he is assur'd , that those from whom the greatest part is borrow'd , are idolaters ? why should any be tied to such ceremonies , if those that instituted them were idolaters ? 't is but rational for every man to think , that if the papists are so stupid , so sottish , so ridiculous , such idolaters , so worse than heathens , as every little church-divine is pleas'd to render them , that the church of england , who retains so much of their service and ceremonies , must of necessity be so far like them in sottishness , ridiculosity , idolatry and heathenism ; and the only way to become a pure christian , must be to shake off , even that which she has retain'd . this is a very obvious reasoning ; and i don't question , has so powerfully wrought upon the minds of infinite numbers , and widen'd the separation to that degree , that the very crime of the church of england in her bitter and vnjust invectives against the papists , has by a just hand of god prov'd her punishment ; whilst her endeavors to alienate the peoples minds from popery , has embitter'd them even against her self , and been so fatal to her , that by the same means she has made people no papists , she has made them dissenters from her own communion , and rais'd to her self almost as many enemies , as she inteded against the church of rome . our answerer , has lent a helping hand in this point ; i do not mean here by his peevish , scandalous pulpit invectives ; but in this his pretended answer to this part of nubes testium ; whilst he has scarce any one argument , but what is levell'd as much against his own church ( if that be really his , which he pretends ) as against the papists : tho' in reality , to any intelligent reader , there is but very little against either : the whole being made up of vulgar sophisms , wordy disputes , and arguing at rovers : but the author is to be excus'd ; the whole is nothing more than a letter : and every body knows , that a letter , however proper it may be to the person , to whom 't is directed , is many times very absurd , when 't is divulg'd and made common ; wee 'l excuse therefore the writer , but really he is to blame that publish'd it . finis . great is diana of the ephesians, or, the original of idolatry together with the politick institution of the gentiles sacrifices. blount, charles, 1654-1693. 1680 approx. 69 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 28 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a28435 wing b3303 estc r11068 12331057 ocm 12331057 59675 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a28435) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 59675) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 168:8) great is diana of the ephesians, or, the original of idolatry together with the politick institution of the gentiles sacrifices. blount, charles, 1654-1693. [9], 46 p. [s.n.], london : 1680. written by charles blount. cf. nuc pre-1956. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng idols and images -worship. 2003-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2004-11 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion great is diana of the ephesians : or , the original of idolatry , together with the politick institution of the gentiles sacrifices . cum sis ipse nocens moritur cur victima pro te ? stultitia est morte alterius sperare salutem . london , printed in the year 1680. the preface . self-love , which like fire covets to resolve all things into it self , makes men they care not what villany or what impiety they act , so it may but conduce to their own advantage . and from hence it was , that the heathens turned religion into a trade , wherein the most gainful was their sacrifices : mendicantes vicatim deos ducunt ; a god was then as fit an object for charity , as now a broken arm , or a wooden leg : nor did they consider their gods any otherwise , than for their own interest . now as musick hath that sympathetick power , to heighten that passion which is most predominant in mens natures , whether of mirth or melancholy ; so likewise religion if it meets with good nature , it makes it better , but if with bad nature , it makes it worse : not that true religion is here to be blamed , but only those ill constitutions , wherein the most sacred instructions turn sower . obdurate hearts are ever most subject to atheism , whereas softer natures are ever more inclined to superstition ; in which latter , devotion is ever more prevalent than judgment : for as philosophy applies it self to reason , so doth religion to ` passion ; and therefore none are so successful , as those fanatical sellers of words , who are most quarrelsom with their pulpits : whereby they have a double advantage ; first , they appear more zealous to the world ; and secondly , the nonsense they deliver is not so easily discerned by the credulous multitude , who are ever ravished with the tone and noise , and praise not the lord but through the nose . the immortal god is of too sublime a nature , to be comprehended by us mortals ; wherefore no men are so great atheists , as those who make a livelihood by telling lyes of his most sacred majesty : converso in precium deo. how many religions are there in the world , which ( though of contrary principles to one another ) yet all pretend themselves derived from one and the same infinite being ! therefore he who would be of the most excellent faith , must try all , and then ( as st. paul advises ) hold fast that which is best . he should do by the several religions , as potamon of alexandria did by the many sects of philosophy , elect what was good out of each , and relinquish the bad . now most religions ( excepting ours ) being tainted with the interest of the clergy , he must examine and consider them accordingly : for if a porter should come and tell me , he had brought me such a letter from my father , and the first part of the letter should teach obedience to parents , but the latter part of it should command me to give the said porter half my estate ; in this case i should ( notwithstanding the testimony of his brother porters ) without some further demonstration , believe the letter a counterfeit ; as also that the first part of it , which taught obedience , was only to make way for the second and principal clause , viz. the giving the porter money . now most of the heathen priests were such proters , and their arcana divinitatis but ridiculous nothings , wherewith they deluded the vulgar . as i have heard of a country-alehouse-keeper , who being a crafty knave , devised this trick to get a ready vent for his liquor : he gave out a report at several market-towns that he had taken a monstrous beast in such a wood ; whereupon many country-people flock'd into see this wonderful beast , which out of policy he kept in the dark corner of a room , withall advising the people not to approach too near him , for fear of danger : but this not satisfying the curiosity of one of the clowns , who had drank higher than the rest , he runs into this monster , unties him , and brings him out into the light ; where this creature ( which had occasion'd so many lyes , quarrels and disputes about the nature of him , whilst he remain'd in the dark ) proved after all , to be nothing but a little cur-dog in a doublet : partusiunt montes , nascetur ridiculus mus . however , the man had his design in selling off his liquor . such were the mysteries of the ancient heathenish religions , and what i have here written concerns them only : for when christ came into the world , he deliver'd a doctrine so pious , just , and necessary , that ( even in its infancy ) its own merits supported it , without the assistance of princes or grandees . what is more reasonable than to forbear those lusts which will ruine us both here and hereafter ? or who but a mad-man would condemn that law for unjust , which prohibits him from murdering himself ? and christ doth no more . now if the law be good , what must the law-giver be ? for such as the fruit is , such must the tree be also . some have even among the he athens been reported to have wrought miracles , as apollonius tyanaeus ; others have deliver'd good doctrines , as plato , seneca , epictetus , &c. but what one man ever did both to that persection , as christ did ? many in all religions have dyed to justifie their opinions ; but who like the primitive christians , ever dyed to justifie the truth of miracles , which they beheld with their own eyes ? but this is unnecessary , for that i write not to heathens , but christians . the general decay of piety , hath in most religions what soever proceeded from the exemplary viciousness of their clergy ; ( though perhaps less in ours , than in others ; for i am unwilling to raise an unjust outery against a good air , because some few debauch'd persons dye in it . ) should a physician prohibit all mankind from wine , as poysonous , and presently he himself should drink some , i had reason to question the truth of his former opinion , and should have cause to believe , that he coveted to monopolize the best wines for himself . what heathen priests could with any confidence prohibit murther , when they themselves did safrequently sacrifice poor innocent men in their temples ? with what justice could that priest who assisted at the rape of paulina in the temple of apis , proscribe adulteries or rapes ? if shepherds go themselves astray , how should their sheep ere find the way ? if he that teaches , is to learn , how should the scholar truth discern ? vale. the original of idolatry , together with the politick institution of the gentiles sacrifices . the proem . a discourse concerning heathen religions in general , were certainly a vast undertaking , and vain ; it being too immense a labour for any one man , either by reading , sufficiently to comprehend the ancient idolatry , or by travel through both the indies to discern that of this age. nor would it be less vain , if possible to be attain'd : for all superstitions are to the people but like several sports to children , which varying in their several seasons , yield them pretty entertainment for the time , and when grown out of request , deserve no further consideration , but are still supplanted by new ones to the same purpose . therefore to abbreviate my undertaking , after having touched a little upon the original of idolatry , i do in the rest of this discourse confine my self to one part of their superstition , viz. their sacrifices , and more especially their sanguinary ones , as being the most horrid and bruitish of all others : also in them i observe only their seeming rational and politick fundamentals , without mentioning the sacerdotal particulars in the celebration of their fantastical ceremonies ; which are innumerable , though in effect but like the ribbons on a hobby-horse . now if any hypocrite to glorifie his own zeal , should pretend that a discourse of this nature does through the heathen sacrifices , reproach those of moses , which resembled them but in outward appearance , he must receive himself from that error , if he rightly apprehends the difference : for the one justifies his institutions as directed to the true god , and ordain'd as typical by his appointment ; whereas the other ( viz. those of the heathen ) had neither of these qualifications , and therefore no more ought to be spared for their resemblance to those of the jews , than a criminal ought to be pardoned for wearing the same coloured garments with the judge . moreover , for the further justification of this treatise , i have the holy scriptures for my president , wherein we may often find recorded the idolatry of the ancient heathens , viz. of such as sacrificed to baal , and offer'd up cakes to the queen of heaven : therefore all further apologies i shall decline , as unnecessary in so brief a narrative . sect. i. before religion , that is to say , sacrifices , rites , ceremonies , pretended revelations , and the like , were invented amongst the heathens , there was no worship of god but in a rational way , whereof the philosophers pretending to be masters , did to this end , not only teach virtue and piety , but were also themselves great examples of it in their lives and conversations ; whom the people chiefly follow'd , till they were seduced by their crafty and covetous sacerdotal order ; who , instead of the said virtue and piety , introduced fables and fictions of their own coining ; perswading the vulgar , that as men could not by any natural abilities of their own , know the best manner of serving god , so it was necessary that he should reveal the same to his priests in some extraordinary manner , for the better instruction of the people . whereupon pretermitting the doctrines of piety and goodness for the most part , they introduced a religious worship of their own moulding , which amused and suspended mens minds in great part , and at last made the people relie so much upon them , that they neglected their proper duties , consisting chiefly in the sacrifices , expiations , and lustrations of their priests ; who finding they got more by the sins and ignorance of the common people , than by their virtue and knowledge , made divers things sins which otherwise were but indifferent , especially those things which mens natures could with the most difficulty resist : which observation produced this ingenious copy of verses from a modern author , no less eminent for his wit , than for his quality . oh wearisom condition of humanity ! born under one law , to another bound : vainly begot , and yet forbidden vanity , created sick , commanded to be sound . what meaneth nature by these divers laws ? passion and reason self-division cause . is it the mark or majesty of power to make offences that it may forgive ? nature her self , doth her own self deslower , to hate those errors she her self doth give : for how should man think that he may not do , if nature did not fail and punish too ? tyrant to others , to her self unjust , only commands things difficult and hard : forbids us all things which it knows is lust , makes easie pains , unpossible reward . if nature did not take delight in blood , she would have made more easie way to good . we that are bound by vows and by promotion , with pomp of holy sacrifice and rites , to teach belief in good and still devotion , to preach of heavens wonders , and delights ; yet when each of us in his own heart looks , he finds the god there unlike his books . they forbad some meats as unclean , which yet were wholsom ; commanding others to be used , which yet must be offer'd or sacrificed , that so they might have their parts ; allotting some days to labour , and others to idleness : of all which , and many more conspicuous in pomp and ceremony , they constituted themselves the patrons and procurers . to whom no men were so odious as your incredulous honest men ; for if a man were incredulous and vicious , that was the greater honour to the credulous party ; or if a man were credulous and vicious , that did not any more reflect upon their religion , than one man's being hang'd for dishonesty , scandalizes a government ; besides they might pretend his faith was never sincere . but he that led an honest virtuous life , without any faith for their supersticions , he was the only person odious unto them , as a person that demonstrated unto the world how unnecessary the priests and their doctrines were to the propagation of virtue . the philosophers had their extravagancies in natural , but they all agreed in moral philosophy ; nor was virtue any where better delineated , than by those ancient philosophers , plato , aristotle , seneca , plutarch , epictetus , &c. in so much that hyerophantae , or teachers of holy doctrine , was a name anciently and primitively given to philosophers . sit pura mente colendus : a pure undefiled spirit is the only sacrifice which philosophy commands them to offer unto god. but as that taught the knowledge of god in his works , and a rational way to serve him , so the doctrines of their priests introduced not only impertinent , but also absurd and impious tenents concerning god and religion , withdrawing them as well from the use of their reason , as from the study of truth : not allowing them any knowledge of god , or religious worship , but what themselves taught . nay they betray'd the people into the adoration of many gods , because thereby they acquired to themselves much greater advantages by adoring many deities , and introducing several worships of them , than they could have expected from the single worship of one supreme god. all which serves but to confirm the verity of that epigram , vt melius possis fallere , sume togam ; this sacerdotal villany was well known to diogenes , as we may learn from the answer he made to the priest who came to convert him to be of his order , in hopes of elizium : wilt thou ( saith diogenes ) have me to believe that these famous men agesilaus and epimanondas shall be miserable , and that thou who art but an ass , and doest nothing of any worth , shalt be happy only because thou art a priest ? so contemptible was their profession in that wise man's opinion . but of this more hereafter . ii. the primitive institution of idolatry receiv'd its birth from princes , at whose charge it was afterwards educated by ecclesiasticks ; the one made the idol , and the other ordain'd the worship of it . and this we may learn from the book of the wisdom of solomon , wherein it is said , that the father made the image of the deceased son , and the son of the dead father . thus ninus after the death of his father nimrod , worshipp'd him by the name of bel , or belus , which in the punick tongue signifies god : ( from whence i conceive that errour of many historians does proceed , who hearing of a nimrod that after his death was adored by the name of belus , presently misapprehended them to be two several persons , who were really but one under two several names : and therefore we see africanus begins his chronicle with belus . ) now the use of this adoration was to breed a veneration in the common people , not only for the prince deceased , but likewise for all his posterity , as men of the jupitrean race . this idol being therefore at first worshipp'd only in commemoration of some hero , or gallant person , as his effigies , grew in time to be by posterity revered as a god ; and as his courage or prudence in his life-time , was conducive to the grandeur and glory of his subjects , so they thought being dead , he was no less able to assist them : with which expectation they paid frequent vows , prayers and sacrifices unto him , such as were ordain'd by their priests . iii. now idolatry being thus instituted by the civil power , the ecclesiastick was left to build upon that foundation , which presented them with a fit opportunity to introduce those rites and ceremonies , as might render them necessary in the performance of the same . for as men who drink healths , do it more for love of the liquor , than for love of the party whose health they drink ; so did the heathen clergy , under pretence of wishing well to others , enrich and advantage themselves : they not being like the pastors of the christian church , who ( according to christ's rule ) ought to be like sheep amongst wolves ; whereas the others were rather like wolves among sheep . therefore we see with how great malice and violence they persecuted all such as opposed their impious doctrines , when poor socrates could not escape with his life , only because he preach'd up the belief of one supreme god : from whence we may observe , that as pity is less culpable than malice , so in superstition is incredulity less mischievous than credulity ; the incredulous only pitying the credulous , whereas the credulous always envy the incredulous . iv. now whenever these priests wanted wit to delude the vulgar , with ambiguous answers of their own inventions , they repair'd to the temples of their gods , and there lay all that night ; telling the people at their return , how being half asleep and half awake , their god spake and reveal'd such and such things , which they were commanded again to deliver unto the people for their satisfaction , when any business of importance occurr'd in the commonwealth ; speaking therein many times not so much their own sense , as the sense of the magistrate , where there was occasion to abuse the people into any belief , that might relate to some publick good : in all which cases the magistrate seem'd first to believe them . also they had certain books , which with much solemnity were consulted upon emergent occasions ; such were the apollinis libri , as also the sybillina oracula , which tarquinius bought at so high a rate , and afterwards depositing them in the temple of jupiter capitolinus , might perhaps be there burnt together with the said temple in scylla's time . the hetrusci had likewise their books of natural predictions call'd hauruspicini , fulgurales , & rituales ; as also the romans had theirs call'd augurales libri , wherein was contain'd most of their religious worship . v. the first idolatry is thought to have come from aegypt , and that the aegyptians in all probability began their religious worship from the sun , or at least from the whole machine of heaven . the next to the aegyptians were the hetrusci , who proved their doctrine by antiquity and universality , as also by predictious . but the most ancient religion next to the aegyptian and hetruscan , was that of the druyds , who were heretofore the priests of france , germany , and some parts of england . the school of these druyds flourish'd within less than one hundred years after the phoenicians ; and were destroyed , together with their religious worship , by the emperor tiberius . these druyds ( besides some opinions they held in common with the other gentiles , concerning worship due to the heavens , planets , and stars ) took certain observations from oaks , galls , and misletow , for their prognostication of the ensuing year . the bardi were a distinct colledge in england from the druyds ; they had little of the philosopher or vaticinator in them . the brachmans were ancient philosophers and priests in the indies , and continue so to this day ; they hold the transmigration of souls with pythagoras , which opinion ( as both apian and clemens affirm ) he took from the jews , and was therefore ( say they ) circumcised after their manner . the gymnosophists were an ancient sect of philosophy and divinity amongst the aethiopians . the persians following zoroaster , acknowledged duplex principium as the aegyptians did ; worshipping the sun above , and the fire beneath : they had anciently their wise men , or magi . the thracians communicated many of their rites and ceremonies to the grecians . the scythians and getes had certain priests and philosophers instituted according to the manner of zamolxis ; who travelling into aegypt , brought home with him some of their doctrines and ceremonies . the ancient roman priests took many of their laws and ceremonies from the hetrosci . the germans and celtes had their priests which were called semnothei . the goths had their priests call'd parabuscei . and the africans their philosophers and priests call'd athantrei , lybici , & hispani . now in all these several sects there were not any two that agreed exactly in their doctrines , although the fundamental design of all was the same , viz. the sharing of the sheep ; about which they did frequently quarrel with one another , in so much that one of the ancients said , he would avoid all controverted points , until the priests were agreed amongst themselves . vi. there is nothing does more endanger religion , than oblivion : therefore so long as jupiter was preach'd up at all , they did not much concern themselves under what several names , or several kinds of adoration they worshipp'd him ; such kind of disputes being but like a quarrel between little children , who having got one joynted-baby amongst them , fall together by the ears about the naming and dressing of it . for heresies in religion , are but like ivy-trees , which though at first they rend and cleave the walls whereunto they grow , yet afterwards serve to uphold and support the same . also the magistrates did frequently connive at such heresies , because they found the authority of religion so prevalent in mens minds , that their clergy when well united among themselves , did oftentimes contest with the secular power ; which grew so dangerous , that they were contented to wink at the many divisions and absurdities amongst them : ne sacra plus possent , quam leges . the chief and most eminent office amongst the romans , was that of the augurs : the veneration and honour given unto them was so great , that they were look'd upon not only as the gods interpreters , but also as messengers and agents betwixt them and mankind . besides , they were ever advanced to the senate , and the rather , as is conceiv'd , because from the first foundation of rome , until the change of the government , kings were augurs , as not thinking it safe to disjoyn from the regal power a discipline so full of authority , as was that of an augur : who were so highly esteem'd among the ancients , that no magistrate was chosen , nor business of importance done , till they were first consulted : those who to empire by dark paths aspire , still plead a call to what they most desire . thus romulus and numa could receive their scepters only from the augurs hands , as titus livy informs us . vii . the heathen priests thinking it dangerous to teach any way to god which men might go by themselves , without further guiding and directing , ( like musicians who are unwilling to learn their scholars to play by notes , lest they might grow able to improve themselves without a master ) did not as our christian pastors do , furnish the people with a record of their gods commands , whereby they might walk themselves without any other assistance ; but on the contrary they instituted lustrations , expiations , and the like , which none but themselves could execute , and all was only to render the clergy absolutely necessary to the people . the original of sacrifices seems to be as ancient as religion it self : for no sooner had men found out that there was a god , but priests stept up and said , that this god had taught them in what manner he would be worshipp'd . as religion therefore seems to have began most anciently in the eastern parts , or as some will have it in aegypt ; so did sacrifices , which from thence were propagated to greece , italy , and other remoter parts . the number of sacrifices ( says a learned author ) were among the aegyptians reckon'd to be 666 , which without all question were multiplied by the priests of several countries , where the said aegyptian sacrifices were receiv'd . but what a madness was this , to think to flatter the divinity with inhumanity ? to content the divine goodness with the affliction of his creatures , and to satisfie the justice of god with cruelty ? a superstitious man serveth god out of fear , whereas the truly religious serves him out of love . superstition suffereth neither god nor man to live at rest , as evidently appears by these heathen sacrifices . what could be more sottish or irrational , than to think that the slaughter of a poor innocent creature , ( who follow'd the simplicity of his own nature , without ever offending god ) should be so grateful to the deity , as thereby we might expiate our sins , and render a sufficient attonement for the most execrable villanies of mankind ? as if the almighty justice could be no otherwise appeas'd for the errors of the wicked , but by the sufferings of the innocent . now as sacrifices were the most ancient and universal , so the greatest and most mysterious fourbs that ever were invented or imposed upon mankind . what have sacrifices to do with sins ? could none but their unenlightned priests make peace between god and man , when sins were committed ? was there no address to be made to the divine majesty , but by their intercession ? were they the courtiers of heaven , and must they be first bribed before men could receive a pardon for their sins ? an inward and hearty repentance avail'd nothing amongst them . neither can the heathens be excused by saying , that at the same time when sacrifices were offer'd , they might repent ; for it doth so little appear that they commanded repentance , as we can hardly find any mention thereof in their religious worship ; however we may hope that god did work it in some of their hearts : for we find in plato and other philosophers , sorrow for sin often enjoyn'd ; and we may read among the septem sapientes this holy precept , quod tibi fieri non vis , alteri ne feceris , which gives a brave entrance into the christian philosophy , as it stands recorded in holy writ . but this they ow'd to their philosophy , and not theology . viii . the stupidity of these heathen sacrifices are sufficiently already exploded by lucian , arnobius , and others : the first condemning them as ridiculous , the latter as impious ; for god will be serv'd in spirit , and that which is outwardly done , is rather to glorifie our selves , than god. yet however , as monstrous as their doctrines and sacrifices appear , they have been the chief support of the gentiles devotion for many thousand years , and in some nations continue to this day . perhaps melancholly men might at first light upon this frenzy , by observing how nature had inevitably framed all creatures to live by devouring and destroying one another ; a man eats not one morsel , but he destroys an animal or vegetable life , or at least prevents them from attaining that life , which otherwise they would have enjoy'd . nay , we cannot walk one step , but probably we crush many insects creeping under our feet ; and the same happens to other creatures : the life of each being by nature made predatory upon others . torva leoena lupum sequitur lupus ipse capellam ; florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella ▪ virg. ecclog . upon this consideration aesop's woolf ( being touch'd in conscience for the many murders he had committed ) vow'd never more to eat flesh , till being almost famish'd , and espying a hog in a puddle , he was forced by an interpretation wiser than his vow , to suppose the hog a fish , and so by devouring it , to save himself from starving . it was also found by experience , how many millions of violent accidents were ever ready at hand to destroy all things that had life in them , whereas preservatives were rarely to be met with : nor could the very best nourishment or physick reprieve life any considerable time , and that also ever atended with some mischievous quality enclining towards death ; wherefore but like a small parenthesis , intervening a long discourse : nor was the longest estate of life above a moment , compared with that of death , which is for ever irrecoverable . also the sickness of one man does often infect others , and extends to the destruction of many thousands : whereas the health of the soundest body upon earth , does not diffuse it self to the good of any but it self . ix . so that by these , and such like sinister observations , the destruction of things in being appear'd to them to be more grateful to heaven , than their preservation : whereupon men raised unjust out-cries against the miserable condition of humane life , laying that fault upon the deity , which did proceed only from themselves ; and by this means fell to an unworthy opinion of cruelty in god : and therefore we see the heathens for three or four eminent joves , had many more vejoves , or mischievous supposed deities . nay , they erected altars to most diseases and vices , in hopes thereby to divert their infection from the people : as at this day many of the indians do much more worship and consult the devil , for fear of mischief , than they do the good spirit which governs the world. but if it were possible for wise and virtuous men to believe , that the divine power delights in the slaughter and destruction of harmless creatures which it self hath made , they might perhaps suppose it to proceed , not out of cruelty , but rather as pleas'd to have them by a quick passage withdrawn from the sufferings and lingring decays of long life , to be suddenly establish'd in an everlasting undisturb'd peace and indolency ; or rather , if from our state of ignorance it were possible to interpret heaven , we might imagine , that it has made all creatures unavoidably to destroy one another ; in as much as that power which governs the universe , does perhaps contrive the preservation and flourishing estate thereof in a proportion as far exceeding its regard of particulars , as the whole globe of the earth exceeds the smallest sand upon the sea-shore . and as for particular individuals , corruptio unius est generatio alterius ; whereby it comes to pass , that not only their life , but even their death , helps to renew the world , and so tends to its continuation and prosperity . from hence now peradventure men of airy fancies might conceit , some reason why in mankind and all other sublunarie things , when any one lasts longer than is ordinary for others of its kind to do , it is usually punish'd with deformity and other decays , for retarding ( as much as in it lies ) that measure of the worlds renovation which would by its more early change have accru'd thereunto . these thoughts unrectify'd , have even among christians caused some hereticks to think , that god has from the first creation , infus'd into all perishable things two internal principles , the one of life and preservation , the other of death and destruction ; also that according as either of these are more or less agreeably entertain'd , so is the creature more or less vigorous and durable . or peradventure they might more appositely have observed the rise and fall of things represented in the rotation of wheels in a chariot , whose several spoaks are rais'd up , and cast down by one and the same mover , at one and the same time , without any separate assistant : for so they thought that infinite power , wisdom , and goodness which is all in all , moves things by his immediate presence and inoperation , without any need of aristotle's intelligences , plato's daemons , or other imaginary powers subservient : nor that it merits a bad censure for destroying particulars , it being for an universal good . x. now because the generality of men are not thus speculative or philosophical in their actions , but rather crafty and politick , as designing to themselves power amongst men , and by consequence riches and honour , the most nervous and effectual consideration of the gentiles sacrifices must be taken that way . thus when princes who in the governing of mankind , found it to be an unruly creature , mischievous , and not capable to be guided by solid reason or truth , but totally subjected to the passions of hope and fear ; how false and vain soever it matter'd not , provided that things were well fitted and suitable to their capacities : wherefore they to encourage obedience and good works , held forth gain and preferment ; as on the other side , to deterr from disobedience and mischief , they ordain'd forfeitures and disgrace : — et ponere leges , ne quis fur esset , neu latro , neu quis adulter , horat. serm. yet in as much as abundans cautela non nocet , and seeing there were many clandestine villanies so secret and undiscoverable , as could hardly be brought to an open conviction , for such the magistrate rais'd within them animo tortore flagellum , viz. in their consciences the fear of some future punishment ; whereof for want of that true knowledge which we enjoy , they feign'd some of their own inventions , such as the stygian lake , and the like ; which in as much as the goodness of god , and their present invisibility rendred the less credible , therefore the declaring them to be with material fire , as also eternal , did in good measure over-awe that incredulity . from whence we may observe , how necessary and how natural is the belief of a reward and punishment hereafter : that even the unenlightned heathens , as well for conveniency , as from the impulses of their own natures , were forced to acknowledge it so rational and so natural is that article of our christian faith. xi . now for the erecting of this tribunal in the minds of men , they ( not being enlightned from above ) made use of superstition , ( the off-spring of too much honour , and too much fear ) which being to be managed cunningly , and well fitting to vulgar capacities , they did little or not at all regard the satisfaction of clear rational men . for first , the number of them is so small , as they are of no power ; and then they are too wise to hazard their own ruine for the instruction of foolish men , casting pearl before swine ; knowing withall , that if any man should be so vain as to oppose the common belief , the mobile would ( as they did by socrates ) oppress and decry him for an atheist . therefore the wisest among the heathens follow'd this rule in their converse , loquendum cum vulgo , sentiendum cum sapientibus ▪ & si mundus vult decipi , decipiatur . our saviour himself found how improper it was to unfold his sacred mysteries to the ignorant multitude , and therefore explain'd not his parable of the sower , till he was alone amongst the twelve , saying , vnto you it is given to know the mysterie of god : but unto them that are without , all these things are done in parables ; that seeing they may see , and not perceive , and hearing they may hear , and not understand : lest at any time they may be converted , and their sins should be forgiven them . he that hath ears to hear let him hear , saith christ ; that is , not every one that can hear , but only such as are well able to digest and understand what they do hear . now this kind of reservedness and secresie being likewise observ'd by the most prudent of the heathens , it made their priests altogether neglect such thoughts , though never so wise , as being well assured that their prudence would hinder them from discovering or interesting themselves in the vulgar superstitions , how sottish soever . but nevertheless , to fortifie themselves the better against any such discovery , they ever decry'd humane wisdom , and magnify'd ignorance , well knowing that the seeds of their foolish doctrine , would prosper no where but in barren ground . reason teaches that there is but one only supreme god ; but they taught the belief of many gods. reason teaches that the law of god , viz. that law which is absolutely necessary to our future happiness , ought to be generally made known to all men ; which theirs was not . reason makes no difference betwixt their enthusiasticks , and our mad-men . reason expects some more convincing argument to prove the infallible divinity of their laws , inspirations , and miracles , than an ipse dixit : and upon that maxim of contra principia non est disputandum , reason would reply , vno dato absurdo mille sequunter . reason would suspect the power of their jupiter , who had no way to reduce the trojans to himself , but was forc'd to suffer his own son sarpedon to be knock'd on the head by them . reason would tell us that romulus and rhemus were bastards , and that their mother rhea's pretence of being layn with by god mars , was only a sham upon the credulous multitude , hoping thereby to save both her credit and her life . again , when they desire me to give but the same credit to the history of their gods , as i do to other history , i will ; but as well in their religious , as in livy or other prophane history , when i hear of on ox's speaking , or a god's descending in a cloud and shower of gold to lye with a woman , in all such miraculous narrations , my reason desires to be further satisfy'd in the truth of them , than only by the report of the author . proculus tells us of romulus's appearing after his death , and that he saw him all array'd in white , &c. but my reason bids me quaere , whether he had not some hand in his murther , and thought by pretending romulus to be taken up to heaven , to clear himself to the people of that suspicion . apollonius tyanaeus is reported by philostratus to have rais'd a maid from the dead , but reason questions whether the maid was not only asleep ; for sleep is the image of death . philostratus also further telleth , that apollonius vanish'd away out of the emperor's presence , before a great number of people : but here reason bids me observe , that although it is reported to have been done in the presence of a great number of people , yet i have but the testimony of one man for the truth of it , viz. philostratus , and not the testimony of all those people . the darkness of the sun at julius caesar's death , appears to reason to be but an accident , proceeding from some natural cause , and that it was no greater complement to caesar , than to any other person in the world that dyed at the same moment . there is nothing how impossible soever to be done , that is impossible to be believed ; for two men conspiring , one to seem lame , and the other to cure him with a charm , will deceive many ; but many conspiring , one to seem lame , the other to cure him , and all the rest to bear witness , will deceive more . thus when vespasian is said to cure the lame and the blind , reason reports the story of it thus : that vespasian observing how kingdoms are preserv'd and augmented by religion , pretended himself to have an immediate power from heaven , and for that end corrupted two of his subjects with money , to feign themselves the one blind , and the other lame ; whom he afterwards cured with much solemnity before the people . in the same manner the french kings cure men of the evil ; for the physician first examines the patient's wound , and if he finds it incurable , then declares it is not the evil ; but if he finds it a sore that is easie and likely to cure , then the physician calls it the evil , that so the king may have the credit of curing that , which would have done well of it self . these and many more such impostures were put in practice by the heathens , which for as much as humane reason detects , their priests had great occasion to exclaim against it , as they did . let us christians from hence learn to esteem our religion the more , which stands the test of reason , bidding us give a reason for our hope . furthermore , these grand heathenish impostures ( the sacris initiati , as they call'd themselves ) the better to prepare for the planting of their idolatry in the minds of men , did ( under the pretence of speaking after the manner of men ) pre-suppose their gods to be originally of flesh and bloud , attributing to them such passions and designs as are only incident to mortals : they made them of both sexes , gods and goddesses ; jupiter had his wife juno , and either for variety , or when weary of her curtain-lecture , he went to his misses ; but for a fuller entertainment in his cups , they procured him a ganymede : his grave was also to be seen in crete , as well as the grave of any other person ; and yet so sottishly impious were they , as to believe this dead man to be the ever-living god. nay they made their deities subject to those vices which were acted but by the worst of men : in so much that nothing is more celebrated in jupiter , than his adultery ; no in mercury , than his fraud and thefts , of whose praises in a hymn of homer's , the greatest is this : that being born in the morning , he had invented musick by noon , and before night stoln away the cattle of apollo from his herdsmen . therefore in minucius you may hear octavius telling caelicius , that the heathens entertain'd such fabulous notions of their gods , as they usually ascribed such horrid things to them , as would be accounted scandalous and dishonourable to any good man : immortalia mortali sermone notantes , lucr. the heathens ( says arnobius ) did by their gods , as an ass would do by cato , whom if he were to commend to his fellow asses , he would say he had delicate long ears , could bray very loud , and carry great burthens ; which being the most eminent qualities in asses , they would attribute them to cato when they meant to praise him : and just so did they impiously judge of their gods ; which an ingenious physician observing , he would never give one of their priests physick , till he was inform'd what opinion his patient had of divine vengeance ; because if he magnify'd gods mercy , then he gave him something to purge flegm ; whereas if he extoll'd gods judgements , then he gave him something to purge choller . cardan was so uncharitable as to think this superstition ( which did really sink under the ruines of paganism ) was like the river arethusa , risen up again even among the christians , saying , nos nebulones loquimur de deo , tanquam de uno è nobis . but this impiety is so far from being practised amongst us christians of the reformed church , that atheism it self would be as soon tolerated . plutarch desired rather to be forgotten in the world , than remembred by the name of the man that used to devour his own children , as saturn is reported to have done : and it is better to have no opinion of god at all , than such an one as is dishonourable to him , as the lord bacon well observes . yet this was the heathen faith ; for although they did not own themselves to be made after the image of god , yet did they in their fond imaginations make their gods after the image of men : which must needs occasion the same mutual likeness . xii . having thus therefore manured the ground of popular understandings , wherein to sow the seed of vulgar religions , they sow'd thereupon such kind of doctrines , as they judged best capable of reception , and most proper to each particular genius of the time and people , according as they found them more or less rude or subtle , debauch'd or austere . hence grew their oblations , and altars , whereon they were offer'd : these did always accompany their prayers ; for they supposing their gods to be like the eastern princes , before whom no man might come empty handed , and perhaps because a great part of their offerings fell to the priests share ; therefore they soon left off numn pompilius's institution , who according to the poverty of those times , ordain'd a little cake and salt with a few fruits : and so pythagoras appointed honey , frankincense , fruits , flowers , and other things , but always incruenta ; till in process of time their gods ( or at least their priests ) grew so covetous , that they could not be satiated without the bloud of beasts ; whereupon men began to offer up sheep , oxen , and almost all manner of beasts , to one god or other ; who at length , like corrupt judges , were not to be bribed but at high rates , especially where either the petitioner was a rich man , or the boon sued for very considerable , or the god one of the better sort : in such a case sheep were despised , and nothing less than an ox would be accepted . thus by degrees they grew to such excess , that at length in case of a publick pestilence , or upon some great warlike undertaking , it was not unusual to offer hecatombs , that is , an hundred oxen , an hundred sheep , and as many swine , all at once upon a hundred several altars . but to exceed all this , some grew to sacrifice men and women : the ancient galli used to feed a man sumptuously for the space of one year , and then upon a festival day , they carried him out of the city and stoned him to death , as an expiation for the sins of the people . also apollonius tyanaeus thought to stop the plague at ephesus , by sacrificing a poor old beggar . nay some went further than this , and sacrificed their own children : thus agamemnon upon his undertaking that renowned war of troy , offer'd up his only daughter iphigenia ; and if he could have procured one of the gods themselves , it is very probable he would have sacrificed him to jupiter or mars , for the better success in his enterprize . we read in ancient history of many heathens , who sacrificed their own lives to propitiate the gods to their countries ▪ as codrus , for the athenians ; menaeceus , for the thebans ; anchorus , for the sydonians ; as also curtius and the two decii , for the romans , whereof you may read at large in livy's 8th book . thus humane sacrifices grew every where so common , that in mexico 20000 men in a year were frequently slain upon their altars ; for the more brutish and unnatural cruelties they used , the more prevalent they thought them with heaven ; and indeed they have usually been crown'd with the most success ; perhaps supposing the intentional piety , to prevail above the unnatural act ; or rather , that the general confidence of the gods assistance to be thereby procured , might raise a more than ordinary vigour in the souldiers minds , which is the chief cause of victory . therefore when they were ready to joyn battle with the enemy , it was usual to make some vow to the gods for their assistance ; which when the other party understood , they always out-vow'd the former , in hopes thereby to win the gods from them , or at least to make the souldiers believe they had : thus the crotoniatae in their war against the locrenses , vow'd to apollo the tenth of the spoil , if he would give them victory : whereupon the locrenses to outvie them , vow'd to the same god the ninth part if he would be on their side , and that re-vie carried it . also the french under the conduct of aristonicus against flaminius , vow'd to mars a great gold chain ; but flaminius to out-bid them , vow'd to erect a magnificent trophy , and so prevail'd . much like the story of a corrupt judge , who being bribed with a jar of oyl , the other party came the next day and presented him with a fat ox , whereupon he gave sentence for the ox ; and when the oyl-man murmur'd , the judge to excuse the business told him , that in the place where the jar of oyl stood , an unruly ox brake in and overturn'd it , so as it was quite forgotten . and many times their prayers were in themselves so wicked and execrable , as could never hope for a reception , unless usher'd in with a very tempting oblation : da mihi fallere , da justum , sanctumque videri , noctem peccat is , & fraudibus objice nubem . horat. this prayer one would think needed an hecatomb at least to render it passable ; but their gods unwilling to let their altars grow cold , would sometimes like country-attornies , rather take small fees than none at all , to assist them in their frauds . xiii . now as there were sacrifices to obtain things of the gods , and peace-offerings to appease their supposed wrath and fury ; so also were there others of thanksgiving , for benefits receiv'd : thus the thurii made a solemn sacrifice to the north-wind , for having dispers'd and sunk the great fleet which dyonisius had sent to invade their country . but these kinds of sacrifices were most practised in private families , and therefore may rather be call'd gentilitia than sacra popularia : of this sort were the sacra clodiae , aemiliae , julianae , corneliae gentis , &c. mention'd in tully and others ; which private sacra were made perpetual by the laws , and so recommended to posterity . now because they were not only chargable but to be continued from age to age as long as the said family or inheritance lasted , therefore purchasers were glad adire haereditatem , or to get such a living as was not clogg'd with these entail'd sacrifices ; concerning which , you may find a merry passage in plautus , where a parasite brags that he had gotten an inheritance sine sacris , sine sumptu , &c. but however , there were not so many of these thanksgiving sacrifices , as of the other ; for as much as all men are naturally inclin'd to covet and wish well to themselves , but few are so generous as when their turns are serv'd , to give thanks , especially if it put them to charge : for thus we see many many men will be mighty charitable in giving their blessing , good advice , or ghostly counsel , who nevertheless will not part with a farthing of money . the base ingratitude of mankind , is in a just proportion represented in the ten lepers ; where although the reward expected for their cure , was only an honest acknowledgement in a few words , yet when they had all they desir'd , and needed no more , there was but one in ten would trouble himself so much as to come and say , sir , i thank you . xiv . men may wonder why the heathen clergy did so highly extoll sacrifices , to appease divine wrath against sinners , and so little mention or make use of repentance : but the reasons of most obvious conjecture were two : first , they could not but observe how fickle a creature man is , he seldom holds long in a humour or resolution , especially if it goes against the grain of his natural inclinations : so as in effect , most men do but like little children , who having committed a fault , will ( to avoid whipping ) say they will do so no more , but do it again the next hour : this made repentance seem to them but formal , if not hypocritical ; and although the intention of amendment of life were for the time in some earnest , for stultus semper incipit vivere , and so they may , like dying men in a dangerous fit of sickness , vow to become new men : yet considering how frequent and certain their relapses were , it seem'd almost a mockery , or at the best , such carelesness as is hardly to be extenuate by the term of humane frailty , but rather a downright effect of incredulity ; and if so , it were then a very improper oblation to be recommended from their clergy , who lived by the credulity of men . for certainly if men did really and seriously believe what they pretend , or what by fits they make themselves think they do believe they could never live as they do ; so that want of believing is the only thing which destroys all religion , both true and false . the other and principal motive which induced the crafty heathen priests rather to promote sacrifices , than repentance , was for that they were to be managed by none but themselves ▪ and so besides the great profit they brought them , they also rendred them of absolute and perpetual use to the people ; for they could never be laid aside , as being the only men who by their oblations could meditate with heaven for them : whereas in repentance they were altogether unconcern'd , a broken and contrite heart was a peace-offering which every man could bring for himself , without the priests assistance , or any gain accruing to them thereby . xv. unless it were in japan , i do not remember to have read of any place where they assumed the office of confessors , with power to absolve sinners ; which peradventure if they had presumed to claim , and could have obtain'd , might have brought them in as great a reverence as any kind of oblation whatever ; but they eithr thought not of it , or it may be these great officers the censores morum would not admit thereof : for that it was ever found true , facile itur ad peccatum ubi venalis est gratia ; especially rich men would not care how vicious they were , knowing they had wherewithal to procure absolution when they pleased : so that the poor seem'd in a manner predestinate to damnation , or gods enemies , as the turks call them ; who for that reason will very seldom relieve them . he that would ask , what the ancient religion of the heathens was ? it may be answered him , that it was their sacrifices ; which varied according to the several manners of each country . now however all sacrifices seem to be the invention of priests , yet the cruenta especially ; many philosophers condemning them , but above all pythagoras , who said , that men ought to permit no sacrifice made with slaughter ; and that innocent were not to be slain for the gods , such cruelty being rather likely to aggravate , than extenuate mens other sins ; also that altars were not to be imbrued with bloud . porphiry likewise saith , that in ancient times it was thought a great crime to kill any harmless innocent beasts , they being intercommoners with men on earth : and many besides him were of that opinion ; as thinking it enough to take from the sheep her fleece , from the cow her milk , and from the ox his labour , without robbing them of their lives . the killing of animals in sacrifice , was however thought to be very proper for feasting ; they might also not without some good intention be offer'd to their gods , as to whom they ow'd their food . the matter of sacrifices in general , was flesh , fish , and fowl , as also whatsoever did afford savoury and wholsom sustenance . but amongst all the cruenta sacrificia , the most ancient seems to be that of swine , who for the trespass they made upon agriculture , were offer'd to ceres the goddess thereof , as we may learn from this line of ovid : prima ceres avidae gavisa est sanguine porcae now these cruenta sacrificia were used not only for thanksgiving , but also for expiation of their sins ; as likewise for assembling of the people together to make good chear , and bring in roast-meat for the priests : nor were feasts uneffectual for the upholding of the worship of their gods in the minds of men ; since at all entertainments , the company are naturally apt to drink the founders health . sacrifices , especially the cruonia ▪ seem to have been first used among the aegyptians , and from them derived to the hebrews , as theodoret confesses ; observing only , that whereas the aegyptians sacrificed either to daemons or idols , the israelites through the divine permission were allow'd to offer them to god. st. jerom also upon the words of jeremiah ( chap 7. ver . 21. ) saith , that god at last did allow the use of sacrifices to himself , lest otherwise they should be made to false gods : whereupon also he notes , that moses never commanded the use of sacrifices , but by the way of tolerating them after the israelites were come out of aegypt , where the sweetness of sacrifices seems first to have been found out ; for not only their bellies , but also their backs profited by them ; tunicae pelliceae , or coats of skins being their usual garments : for which reason the cruenta sacrificia were most esteem'd of all others . xvi . there are many general things observable in all or most of their offerings , and of mystical signification ; as this : that although their gods were notoriously guilty of fraud , rapine , and violence , yet above all other oblations they delighted most in creatures meek and harmless , as doves , sheep , and oxen ; which were not only better meat for their priests , than lyons and tygers , or the like , but also served for an emblem ; to shew that soft and innocent natures were ordain'd for a prey to the fraudulent , rapacious and violent : in the observation whereof , the wise spectators instructed themselves to their own advantage and safety . much to this purpose was that saying of an ancient father , omnes nos sumus aut corvi qui lacerant , aut cadavera quae lacer antur ; according to our english proverb , he who makes himself a sheep , becomes a prey to the woolf. therefore mahomet to make his disciples all wolves , delivers this impious doctrine , that he who forgives an injury does well , but he who revenges it does better : supposing that a constant revenge for injuries , would in time make men more wary of committing them , and by consequence advance morality . also machiavil's design being to render his disciples so rapacious , that they might be able to encounter the worst of men , he is by the ingenious bocaline in his parnassus , resembled to a man that driving a flock of sheep into a corner , did there take out their own teeth , and in their stead , gave each of them a set of wolves teeth ; so that whereas before one shepherd was able to drive a whole flock , now each sheep hath need of particular shepherd , and all little enough too . much to our purpose is it noted by plutarch , that great princes in their shields do ever give creatures of force and rapine , as eagles , lyons , dragons , and the like , to teach them how to maintain their grandeur : in resemblance whereof , henry the 4th of france had ever engraven upon his ordnance this motto , ratio ultima regum ; but however for petty princes , a fox may be the better emblem . xvii . these sacrifices upon extraordinary occasions , were ever presented with wonderful solemnity and magnificence ; for according to st. paul's observation , they holding we were the off-spring of the gods , might probably conjecture that our great delight which we take in solemn shows and musick , might be originally derived into our natures , from the like spirit in the divine original of nature , of whom we proceed : and if so , then these kind of solemnities seem proper sacrifices to the genius of mankind , and by consequence , would at least take with men , if not with god. however , they were found to work two great effects upon peoples minds : the one , of concern to religion ; the other , to the state. the concern as to religion was , in raising a kind of veneration and awful terrour in the spectators ; which is a frame of spirit most susceptible of devotion , excluding all wandring , light and vain thoughts . therefore in the most ancient times , the chief part of their divine worship was celebrated in thick groves ; and afterwards when they erected temples , many of them were of magnificent structure , but ever so gloomy and dark , as they were in the day time fain to make use of lamps upon their altars ; for such a light represents any show much more splendidly than open day-light : as we plainly see in our theatres , who but for that advantage , would never be at the charge of lamps and candles in the summer time . these stately representations of their offerings , with the priests fantastical vestments and profound gravity , was a kind of acting their religion as it were upon a stage ; and it fared also with that as with opera's , which ever take better acted , than read : segnius irritant animos demissa per aures , quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus . the whole history of most of their gods , was at the time of their several festivals very splendidly acted after the manner of publick plays , and generally in dumb-shows , without any words at all ; as supposing every one from his childhood acquainted with the story by his religious education . these shows upheld their fabulous divinity many thousand years , perhaps much longer than if they had grounded it upon argumentative discourses and syllogisms , which are knacks that either take not the multitude at all , or never hold them long : for either the cares of the world stifle them , or at best after a time they grow as tedious as a fiddler that can play but one tune . besides , these frequent representations were no less effectual to strengthen the peoples faith , than if they heard the articles of their faith daily rehears'd unto them ; which is the most prevalent way of naturalizing a religion to the people , how false soever : since nothing is more frequent , than to have men tell lyes ( though of their own inventions ) so often , till in time they themselves grow to believe them true . xviii . the other concern , viz. of the state in those great sanguinary sacrifices , was by innuring the people to such horrid and bloudy sights , which though but of beasts , yet doubtless tended much to the hardning of their hearts against all apprehensions of bloud and death , either in themselves or others ; rendring them fitter for the wars , and thereby more capable either of defending or enlarging their empire . upon this consideration it is , that our laws will not admit a butcher to serve upon the jury of life and death : also at the battel of edgehill it was generally observ'd , that one foot-regiment of butchers , behaved themselves more stoutly than any other regiment of either side ; and yet they had never before that time been flesh'd in any bloud but that of beasts . to this purpose therefore the ancient romans did much harden the hearts of their men , by using them to various other inhumane bloudy sights : as gladiators slaughtering one another in their amphitheatres ; and condemning malefactors to be there torn in pieces by wilde beasts , for the diversion of the people : which occasion'd the primitive church to prohibit the christians all such bloudy sights , as not intending or approving of such hardness of heart , but rather choosing to govern in the spirit of meekness and innocence , hoping thereby to gain a greater submission : whereas the heathen princes ( especially the romans ) when they arrived to that grandeur as encouraged them into an ambition of conquering the universe , desired in pursuance of that wicked design , to educate their people in such fierceness and inhumanity as might fit them for that purpose and the heathen priests ( who were certainly the wickedest and craftiest of men ) knowing how serviceable they might be to the prince , as well as the prince to them , in a despotick government , soon discover'd their own interest , in being contributers to that design . xix . now considering these things , and where all regard of god and nature was said aside , the use of their sacrifices could not but be very pertinent ; and apprehended that way , were not so absurd as by lucian and other ingenious persons they are represented to have been . the common people were so weak , as to be deluded into the belief of these trumperies , by that fallacious argument which all superstitions have ever made use of , and indeed lyes as well for one as another , ( viz. ) that the vulgar faith was the safest . but however , the great and prudent men among them were not so sottish and blind , as not to discern the intrinsick worthlessness of their superstitions , however they upheld them for worldly advantage ; and therefore when a roman general deferr'd to give the signal of a battel , because the soothsayers chickens forbore to eat ; a young nobleman standing by , told him , he wondred he would omit so great an opportunity for so small a thing : to whom the general reply'd , these things seem small , but our fore-fathers by regarding these little things , have made this commonwealth great . and to shew that when they were not under these politick corruptions , but free to declare their own judgments , their inward devotion was more excellent than their outward profession , observe what one of their own poets delivers concerning sacrifices : non bove mastato coelestia numina gaudent , sed quae praest and a est vet sine teste fides . ov. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a28435-e340 chorus sacerldotum , ●d brook's mustapha . mr. d. mark 4. 11 , 12. toward the vindication of the second commandment by edm. gurnay ... gurnay, edmund, d. 1648. 1661 approx. 83 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 42 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a42355 wing g2260b estc r40533 19348388 ocm 19348388 108755 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42355) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 108755) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1672:1 or 2478:7c) toward the vindication of the second commandment by edm. gurnay ... gurnay, edmund, d. 1648. [2], 80 p. printed by e.m. for j. rothwell ..., london : 1661. "june 18, 1639. imprimatur cantabrigiæ per ra. brownrigg ..." item at reel 2478:7c bound and filmed following wing c6981a and g2260a. reproductions of originals in the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library and folger shakespeare library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng ten commandments -criticism, interpretation, etc. idols and images -worship -early works to 1800. 2007-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-02 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2008-02 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion toward the vindication of the second commandment : by edm. gurnay , batchelour in divinity , and minister of gods word at harpley in norfolk . exod. 34.14 . for the lord whose name is jealous , is a jealous god. june 18. 1639. imprimatur cantabrigiae per ra. brownrigg , procan . samuel ward , thomas bainbrigg , thomas bacheroft . london , printed by e. m. for j rothwell at the bear and fountain in cheap-side . 1661 toward the vindication of the second commandment . the man that esteemed the commandments of god above thousands of gold and silver , is called in scripture , the man after gods own hearts ; and our saviour telleth us , that whosoever observeth his commandments , and teacheth men so , the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven : great cause therefore is there for the sons of men to be infinitely in love with the commandments of god ; and to think no time so well spent as that which is bestowed about doing some service or other about those commandments : sometime in opening and clearing their passages ; sometime in filling up their pits and valleys ; sometime in making plain their roughness and stumbling-plots ; sometime in delving through their cliffs and altitudes ; sometime in making bridges and passe-overs upon their bottomlesse gulfs ; sometime by one means and sometime another , preparing the wayes of the lord , and making his paths straight : that so their prospect becoming clear and thorough , and their grounds made firm and direct , the children of men may from all quarters be allured unto them ; and leaving their own by-wayes , walk together in them , to the glory and praise of god , through jesus christ our lord. the commandment which i for my part have especially observed , and done my diligence to see what comers and goers are likely to do any violence unto , is that which is accounted the second . and because none are more likely to make bold with that commandment , then they that are addicted unto images , i thought it a good course for me toward my doing the better service in the businesse , to examine all kind of arguments which may any way be made in favour of images ; and such of them as i should find not sufficiently to conclude ( though they concluded never so little ) to give notice of them unto the world. those of them which in these my ensuing pains i purpose ( more or lesse ) to except against , shall be these : arguments in favour of images . 1. that there is little hope for us in these times to prevail against images , when as the learned writers in former times have so little prevailed against them . 2. that every child being able to perceive by them , that they have mouthes and speak not , eyes and see not , &c. it can be but a frivolous ( fantastical , iconoclastical , &c. ) piece of work to make any businesse about such poor things . 3. that now in the time of the gospel , the church of god is at more liberty for the use of images than it was in the time of the law. 4. that the present people of england , are of better strength and judgement than to worship images , or to take any harm by them . 5. that if any amongst us do sometime a glance of honour unto images , so it be but a civil honour and not the divine , ( dulia and not latria ) no just exception can be taken thereat . 6. that images are profitable for many good and holy uses . 7. that they be special good to give instruction . 8. that they be no lesse effectual toward the quickning of devotion . where unto we answer in order . the 1. argument answered . to the first , which pleadeth how little hope there is for us in these times to prevail against the strong holds of images ; we answer , first , that not onely a hope to prevail , but also an apprehension of duty is a fair ( if not the better ) motive unto the attempting of businesse : it being no dispensation unto the dog to give over his barking because the thief will not be gone , but rather it lying upon him to double his barking , so much the more ; and the lord appointing his prophets to speak his words unto the people , whether they will hear them or not . secondly , considering how the light fallings of weak water ( gutta cavat lapidem , &c. ) do in time make hollow the hardest flint ; it is not a thing to be despaired of , but that our weak distillations , if we can rightly level them upon the faces of these images , which the over-flowings of others have already so well washed upon , may pit and fret into them a greater defacement than hitherto hath befallen them ; the latter droppings alwaies making the first dint in the flint , though never a whit more piercing than those that fell before . thirdly , one good effect we are sure shall follow upon our pains , whether it be by writing or speaking ( yea , though it be but babling or scribling ) and that is this ; that in the mean time falshood shall not be able to prescribe any peaceable possession against the truth , as long as any amongst us shall , though with never so stammering a tongue but babble , or never so ragged a quill but scribble against the same . yea , the perverse world it self shall reap some benefit by our such babbling and scribbling ; there being good hope for them , that the lord will not come himself in person to vindicate the truth ( which when he doth , fire and brimstone must follow ) as long as he shall observe any of the sons of men fighting for it , and that we have not utterly forsaken the field . and as for us the pusillus grex , and sorry company of these babblers and scribblers ( for so the industrious contenders for the truth use to be termed ; ) beside the reward which the god of truth hath laid up for those that sell all they have toward the purchasing of this pearl , we shall also in this vale of misery reap many a sweet contentment ; and while we are muddling in the mines of this hidden truth , and working for it through the hardest rocks , we shall meet with many a living spring wherewith to refresh our thirsty souls , and many a clear fountain wherein we may bath and revive our tired spirits ; and all the way along as we go by the silver streamings , pleasant passages , delicate windings , turnings and returnings of this crystal and celestial truth , we shall every foot be entertained with most admirable varieties of sparkling & spangling and most unsatiating contemplations . the 2. argument answered . the second allegation toward the favouring and bearing with images , is this , that every child being able to discern how such kind of things have mouthes and speak not , eyes and see not , &c. it can be but a frivolous piece of work to make any businesse about such poor things . whereunto we answer : if the lord our god be a jealous god , and withall especially jealous against images ; what mortal man shall once dare to term it a frivolous piece of work to be never so cautelous against images ? for can we be too cautelous or too timerous , how we provoke the jealousie of the most terrible god ? now , that the lord so is , namely , both a jealous god , and also especially jealous against images ; many considerations have offered themselves to make it good : and we fear we shall offend the lord , unlesse we admonish the sonnes of men thereof . touching therefore the first of them , namely , that the lord is a jealous god ; it is no more than the scripture every where supposeth : and the prophet esay , when he saith that he putteth on jealousie like a cloak , giveth us fairly to think , not only that the lord is a jealous god , but also that he will be known and plainly professe himself to be : the cloak of a man being his most outward garment , and which doth , livery-wife , best make a man known from other men . yea , moses goeth further , and maketh it no lesse than one of the names of god , to be a jealous god : for thus he saith , the lord whose name is jealous , is a jealous god. whereof also , finally , good reason may be given : for what more fit to make the name of a thing than that which is sufficient to distinguish the thing from all other things of the same kind ? and doth not the name of the jeal●●s god , sufficiently distinguish the true god from all other gods whatsoever ? for as for other gods , so far were they alwayes from being jealous gods , as that though their lovers went to never so many beside themselves , yet to them it was all one ; whensoever they returned unto them , and brought their gifts with them , like common whores they received them without more ado : whereas the true god was alwayes so far frō admitting any partners with him in his love , as that when at any time his people went unto any other god beside himself , he did most severely punish them ; and ( as joshua at first gave them warning ) after he had done them never so much good , he would do them as much harm . true indeed , strange it may seem , that he in whose eyes all the nations of the earth are as nothing , should once vouchsafe to look upon the sonnes of men ; much more , that he should love them , and that with the highest degree of love , the love of jealousie : notwithstanding , whatsoever the cause be ; whether it be because he would amaze the sonnes of men with the immensitie of his love , or whether it be to make them the more watchfull over every thing that offereth to get into their love ; whatsoever the cause be , so it is his pleasure , and so he hath determined , even with no lesse love than the love of jealousie to embrace the sonnes of men . but now concerning our second suppose , namely , that the lord is so especially jealous against images : that we grant may well seem somthing strange , especially considering what a world of creatures there are which both have images as well as these ( whatsoever the eye seeth being an image ) and all such kind of images as may far better ravish the beholders than these counterfeits possibly can . notwithstanding , first , thus much we are sure of , that none of the commandments are grounded upon his jealousie but onely that which is against images ; thou shalt not make any kind of images , &c. — for i the lord thy god am a jealous god. secondly , all the false gods that ever were , what were they else ( ordinarily ) but images ? thirdly , not onely the images of honourable creatures ( as of saints , princes , parents , &c. ) and of profitable creatures ( as kine , oxen , sheep , horses , fowles , &c. ) but also of terrible and hatefull creatures ( as lions , dragons , serpents , &c. ) and even of noysome , common , and vile creatures ( as mice , rats , cats , dogges , worms , &c. ) have been made gods of : which may the more plainly convince , that not onely the thing signified by the image , but also the image it self was the thing so deified and regarded . for though it be never so manifest that such kinde of things have mouths and speak not , eyes and see not , &c. yet such ( who knoweth not ? ) is the perverseness of man , as that if he once setteth on it , he will maintain , that not onely the thing that hath eyes and seeth not , &c. but also the thing which neither seeth , nor hath eyes , nor any similitude of eyes , is notwithstanding a god : witness not only those old heathens , which made a plain stone their god , and which also they called matrem deûm , the mother-god ; but also the disciples of trent at this very day , which maintain that to be the very true god , which hath the perfect similitude ( at least the similitude ) of a cake of bread. for though all their wits and senses do never so strongly reclaim against such monstrous positions ; yet if they once set on it , they will be so far from relenting thereupon , as that they will rather double their resistance so much the more , and make that a principal argument that it must be so , because their common sense saith it cannot be so : even just as they which austine speaketh of , qui in illo figmento numen in esse credebant , quia vitalem in eo motum non videbant ; which kind of argument none but such as had resolved to be wilfully mad would ever make . fourthly , we find , the scripture farre more frequent in forbidding the making gods of images and worshipping them , than in making gods of any other kind of things and worshipping them : and yet the making gods of other things is as much forbidden as the making gods of images ; even in the first commandment , thou shalt have none other gods but me . a fifth reason why the jealousie of god may so especially set it self against images , may be this , because no kind of false gods be so fit for the purposes of false-priesthoods as image-gods be ; namely , because such kind of gods may both be most easily contained in their temples , under their locks and keye , and shall put them to little or no charge , either to guard them ( for they are not worth the stealing away ) or to find them daily meat & drink ( for there is no life in them ; ) they having also many concavities & cells fit for wire-drawings , jugglings , and such miraculous feats ; and finally , being apt to be continued in their full glitterings and beauties , and to make as fair a shew when they are rotten as when they were first made . sixthly , there is no kind of false god which doth beget the mind of man with a more grosse opinion of god and religion than an image-god : and that may be a special cause why the true god doth take such indignation against images . for when such kind of things are esteemed for gods as have eyes and see not , mouths & speak not , &c. the beholders are given to think , that either there is not any true god at all ; or if there be any , that he is some poor , brute , senselesse thing , and such as can do little good or harm : and thus much also a mere natural man , varro , could observe , when he said , that the first setters forth of gods by images , did not onely increase errour , but also take away all fear of religion : whereof austine giveth this fair reason , quia facilè dii possunt in stoliditate similacrorum contemni , i.e. because the stolidity of images made men think accordingly of their gods. moreover , there is no kind of false god so hard to be dispossessed and cast out of the heart of man as these image-gods . for whereas all men are at the first in the state of childhood and ignorance , and children and ignorant persons are most easily taken up with these image-gods : it so commeth to passe , that they take up the first and deepest rooms in the hearts of men ; and so must needs be most hard to remove and cast up again . again , there is no kind of false god that doth more strongly resist the entertainment of the true god than these image-gods : which may well be another special cause of the true gods indignation against them . for the true god being altogether invisible , and taking up his mansion onely in the heart ; and these image-gods being nothing but visible , and having no abidance but in the outward eye ; it must needs be , that such as have once been taken up with them , will very hardly be brought to brook and put confidence in the invisible god. and though at length they be brought to acknowledge , that the true god is altogether invisible ; yet will it be a hard matter for them to put up a prayer to that invisible god , but these old wonted images will obstruct and infect the same : it being a good reason which austine giveth , why the heathens did rather direct their prayers unto the images of the sunne or sea , than unto the real sunne or sea it self ; because ( saith he ) they might think it more likely that the things which carry the similitudes of men ( as those images of the sun and sea , called phoebus and neptunus , did ) should hear their prayers , than such kind of things as had no similitude , but either of an orb , as the sun hath ; or of a wavie and undeterminate nature , as the sea hath . finally , when men will not stick to give incredible summes of mony for images , as sometime twenty talents of gold , sometime thirtie , fortie , fiftie , sixty , eightie , and an hundred for an image ; hath not the lord great reason to be jealous of images ? for what more likely to become an idol , than that which men esteem at an unreasonable rate ; and that also notwithstanding the lord hath pronounced of it , that it is profitable for nothing ? but to conclude , ( for it would be an endlesse piece of work to heap up all the probabilities that offer themselves for this purpose : ) that which one of the fathers affirmed of his times , when he saith , tanta homines imaginum cupiditas tenet , ut jam viliora ducantur illa quae vera sunt , i. e. so greatly are men enamoured upon images , as that now-a-dayes the more true and real things are , the more vile and base they are esteemed : what age hath not found it true in their particular times ? as if the sonnes of men had a desire to compare with their maker , and to finde more excellencie in their own works than in his . surely ( may we not say ? ) the true and real servants and saints of god were not more esteemed and respected when they lived , than their images have been : and no doubt it will easily be granted , that when poor lazarus himself would not be suffered to peep in at the doors , the picture of lazarus shall be advanced in the parlour . last of all , not only the heathens in their times , but also the very people of god in their times , have they not continually doted upon , and run a whoring after images ? yea , and that also as well in the time of the gospel as in the time of the law ? for what else meant those tumults , wars , and bloodsheds in the time of the eastern empire , about the setting up and pulling down of images ? as our homily at large declareth . and even in these last times ( at least as far as the bounds of rome extend ) hath extremity of zeal been wanting unto the cause of images ? for , we must adore , saith one of their doctours , not onely before an image , but also the image it self . and another of them thus , * the same honour which is due to the trinity , do i attribute unto an image , and who so doth not likewise , him i accurse . and their most classical doctour thus , ‖ the images of christ and the saints are to be reverenced , not onely as they are samples , but also per se propriè , properly and by themselves ; even so far as that the veneration may settle and determine it self upon the image , & non solum ut vicem gerat exemplaris . and whoever among the heathen did more thoroughly rivet and imp the soul of man into an image , toward the making it most perfect in idolatry ? but enough no doubt hath been said to make it probable ( and more than probable we are loath to make it ) that the jealousie of god is more strongly set against images than against any inveiglement which the soul of man is apt to be beguiled withall whatsoever . and therefore to judge us frivolous ( idle , precise , fantastical , iconoclastical , &c. ) for being cautelous against images , or for our resolving to admit of no reasons in their behalf but such only as shall be substantial and demonstrative , is a judgement ( we are perswaded ) that pleaseth not god : and therefore we wi●● proceed and persist in our intentions , and not give over till we have acquainted the world with our exceptions against the rest of the allegations . the 3. argument answered . the next whereof is this ; that now in the time of the gospel the church of god is at more liberty for the use of images than it was in the time of the law. whereunto we answer , first , that the time of the law being the special time for types , shadowes , figures , and similitudes , which all were a kind of images ; the argument should rather follow on the contrary , and conclude , that images do rather lose than gain any liberty by vertue of that laws exspiration . for it being the determination of god to divide his church into a state of minority , and a state of maturity , and the state of minority being that which was under the discipline of moses law ; the lord di● think it good to set forth that state of minority in such kind of attires and liabiliments as might best agree and suit with the fansie of minority ; which when the time of gravity and maturity should come , should thereupon be put off and laid aside ; even no otherwise than as the blooms of our trees fall away upon the putting forth of the fruit . secondly , when the time of the old law began first to exspire , we do not find that the primitive church did take any more liberty for the use of images than it did before ; or that idolatry was esteemed a lesse sin than it was before , but rather a greater ; s. john pronouncing a more terrible punishment against it ( even the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone ) than the old law in so expresse terms ever did ; and calling even upon babes to beware of idols ; and terming it a doctrine of balaam , to teach liberty of eating meat that was ( though but ) sacrificed unto idols : which also the apostle charged the gentiles ( for their first lesson ) to abstain from . thirdly for many generations together immediately following the apostles times , the church of god ( as our homilie at large declareth ) would not endure so much as the sight of images in places where gods name used to be called upon . fourthly , the founder part of the catholick church have alwayes esteemed the decalogue to be of eternal force , and to be rooted in the law of creation , before any positive or mosaical legislation was : as also gods punishing idolatry in the old canaanites which lived before the time of moses law , and his promise to a thousand generations ( the tenth part of which time the law of moses was not in force ) may import . finally , the church of england at this day continually publisheth a law against the worshipping of images ; and in her commination pronounceth the first and last curse against them that so do . we will therefore without more ado esteem them at too weak a pass , and not worthy any further to be contested against , which for the succouring of images find themselves driven to plead the abrogation of moses law. the 4. argument answered . the fourth allegation is this , that the present people of england are of better strength and judgement than to worship images , or to take any harm from such kind of things . whereunto we answer , first , that so also ignorance and dulness of conceit are far enough off from worshipping images , or taking any harm by them ; witnesse the brute beasts : it requiring oftentimes a good degree of understanding , to be so much as capable of some kind of deceit . yea , profaneness and irreligion will also neglect , deride , and spoyle images as much as this strength and judgement ; witness dionysius , rabshakeh , nero , and those like atheists . for as when profane persons hear one another swear by the blood and wounds of god , and are not moved thereat ; the cause why they are not moved , is not any strength of religion , but only their sympathizing with one another in profanenesse and irreligion . so likewise if any proceed not so far as to do reverence unto such kind of images as represent the wounds and passions of god , there is no necessity to think them so specially strong in religion ; it being no more than incredulity also and irreligion may withhold them from . secondly , as ignorance , profanenesse and irreligion , so also carnal policy and affectation will make a shew of this kind of strength ; witnesse those manichees in the time of augustine , which out of this carnal policy , to win the pagans unto their side against the sound christians , simulabant se favere simulacris , and made a shew as if they could well enough endure images . as also witness those corinthians in the time of paul , which out of an affectation to be thought strong men , would needs make nothing of it to be present at those idol-festivals . thirdly , admit it were out of some degree of sound strength indeed , that our people at this day are so far from worshipping images ; yet must this strength needs be general ? shall we suppose that there are not any weak ones or little ones amongst us ? or shall the weakest of our times be supposed wiser and stronger than the wisest or strongest in former times ? those antient chaldeans , egyptians , persians , grecians , and romans , from whom we have received our principal arts and sciences ; yea , the very people of god , unto their wisest solomon ; yea , at this present day , the papists ( whose abilities in all kind of faculties , arts and sciences , languages , antiquities , subtilties and policies , who doth not acknowledge ? ) have not all these fallen by images ? and must all these , for strength of brain and ripenesse of judgement , needs come short of our little ones and very vulgar ? for what though the truth be never so abundantly preached amongst us ? is every child as ready to hear a preacher as to gape and gaze at a picture ? admit also that preachers should at all times so abound , and withall find so little to do , as to never leave calling upon men to beware of those blocks which they wittingly cast in their own way . fourthly the scripture ( we know ) judgeth covetousnesse to be a worshipping of images ; and the mere coveting of images is a kind of covetousnesse no doubt : and are there none amongst us which are culpable of that kind of covetousness ? fifthly , admit that none of our people be observed to do any perceivable worship unto images ; no more doth the covetous man do any perceivable worship unto his money , but useth it as familiarly as any thing in his house ; and yet the scripture maketh him an idolater . finally , if none of our people may be supposed to be so foolish or so weak as to worship images , why do our laws so peremptorily and continually forbid them so to do ? thou shalt not bowe down to them , nor worship them , saith our law ; and , lord , incline our hearts to keep this law , answereth the people ; and yet none of our people must be supposed so foolish as to break such a law ! surely , superfluous must the law needs be , and most frivolous the suffrage of the people ; or most presumptuous the suppose . we conclude therefore , that as the suppose is not easie to be granted , that our people are so far from worshipping images ; so also were it granted , it would not thereupon follow , that therefore our people are of such special strength and judgement ; it being no more than ignorance , profanenesse and irreligion , carnal policy and affectation have brought men unto . the 5. argument answered . the next allegation is this ; that admit sometime some of our people do let fall some glance of honour unto an image ; yet if it be but a civil kinde of honour and not the divine ( dulia and not latria ) no just exception can be taken thereat . against which position we thus demonstrate ; that which is properly due to the creatour may not be given to any kinde of creature ( much less unto the image of any creature ) but only by vertue of the creatours express appointment ; but all kinde of honour , glory and praise , of what degree or kinde soever , is due only to the creatour . therefore no kind of honour , glory or praise , of what degree or kind soever , may be given unto any kind of creature ( much less unto the image of any kinde of creature ) but only by vertue of the creatours express appointment : but never did the creatour appoint any jote , or scrat , or scruple of honour to be done unto images ; therefore must not any the least jote , or scrat , or scruple of honour be done unto them . touching the first ground of this our demonstration , namely , that the lords proper due must not be disposed of but by vertue of his own express appointment : it is no more then the law of the whole world doth acknowledge ; no man upon earth esteeming himself an owner of that which any besides himself hath power to dispose of : and therefore we shall not need to make any more words toward the establishing of this ground , which the free-hold of the whole world is grounded upon . likewise also our second ground , namely , that all honour , glory and praise is due only unto the lord ; is as clear a principal , and needeth no more words to establish it : the scripture every where ringing it in our ears , that unto him all honour , glory and praise is only due ; and the condition of his honour of necessity inforcing as much : for the honour of god cannot be infinite ( as of necessity it must be ) if any jote or scrat or scruple of any kinde of honour could be found not to belong unto him . notwithstanding , because we finde in the scripture how the lord appointeth us to give honour unto men ; as namely , unto parents , masters , kings , governours , &c. whereby it may be imagined , that perhaps the lord hath dispossessed himself of some kinds and portions of honour : as also , for that it may be thought that some kindes of honour are too little , or common , or base to be presented unto the lord ; and that therefore the sonnes of men are at liberty to dispose of those kindes of honour as themselves think good , and so ( finally ) to their images as they list : we therefore purpose to stay a little longer upon this point ; namely , untill we have declared , that neither gods appointing us to give any kinds of honour unto men , is of force to dispossesse himself thereof ; nor again , that the littlenesse or smallnesse or commonnesse of any kind of honour may be of force to exempt the same from belonging unto the lord. touching then the first of these , namely , that the lords appointing us to do any kinds of honour unto men , is not of force to dispossesse himself thereof , we prove ; because the rest of his gifts which he daily giveth unto men , as wisdom , riches , power , authority , &c. do not thereupon cease to belong unto the lord , but do still remain in his dominion and property neverthelesse ; even as the seed which the husbandman sprinkleth in his field , doth neverthelesse belong unto the husbandman . for as those gifts of wisdom , strength , riches , &c. so also the gifts and portions of honour which god bestoweth upon men , both may be , and also must be improved unto the lords final honour and advantage : that being ( no doubt ) the reason why our saviour appointeth us to give unto cesar the things that are cesars ; because unlesse our cesars and governours be stocked and furnished with such portions of honour , authority , &c. they shall not be able to bring up whole kingdoms , cities , towns , and families unto the lords final honour , as their office is to do . secondly , if it had been the intent of the lord , to part finally with those kinds of honour which he appointeth us to give unto men ; it had been necessary that those kinds of honour should have been specified and laid out and severed from those kinds which were to be reserved only unto the lord : for else the sonnes of men might hap in their mutual honouring one of another , to go beyond their bounds , and make bold with the lords peculiar honour : but as we no-where find any such specification or partition ; so also we may every-where find , how those kinds of honour which are most likely to be proper unto god , as might , majesty and dominion , fear and trembling , singleness of heart , &c. are notwithstanding allowed to be given unto men : as on the other side , those kinds of honour which may be thought of a more common and inferiour nature , as obedience , love , subjection , thankfulnesse , &c. are notwithstanding usually called for to be performed unto god. thirdly , if those kinds of honour which god alloweth us to perform unto men should thereupon cease to belong unto the lord , by that means neither the honour of the eye , the tongue , the knee , yea nor of the heart , nor of the singlenesse of the heart should belong unto the lord ; because with all these we honour men . we conclude therefore , that the lords appointing us to give any kinds or portions of honour unto men ( whether kings , parents , masters , &c. ) must not be of force to make us think that those kinds of honour do thereupon cease to belong unto the lord. and that the commonnesse of any kind of honour is not of force to abase it , or dismisse it from being presentable unto the lord , even no more then the commonnesse of coin doth make the coin lesse presentable unto the king , it will easily be granted . for as our receiving the sacrament with that mouth wherewith we receive common meat , is no dishonour unto the sacrament ; we having gods ordinance so to do : so likewise our honouring god with those kindes of honour wherewith we honour men , needeth not to be feared as any dishonour unto god ; we having the ordinance of god to warrant us so to do . but rather , as the money which we pay unto our creditours assignees both may be and also must be as good money ( for the quantity of it ) as that which we pay unto the creditour himself . so likewise the honour which we perform unto gods assignees ( as parents , princes , masters , &c. are ) both may be and also must be ( for the quantity of it ) as good and sound as that which we perform unto god himself . finally , that neither the littlenesse ( no more than the commonnesse ) of any kind of honour may be of force to dismiss it from presenting it self unto the lord , it is as easie ( and no less material ) to declare . for , first , if the littlenesse of any kind of honour might be of force to put it by from being presented unto the lord ; it would thereupon follow , that no honour at all should be presented unto the lord from the sonnes of men . for all the nations of men ( the scripture saith ) are not onely mean and little , but also as nothing , yea , less than nothing in his eyes . secondly , the lord every-where professeth himself the maker and creatour of all things ; and so strictly standeth upon his prerogative therein , as that ( when time was ) he would not suffer the poorest kinde of creatures that are ( even lice ) to own their production from any singer but his own . thirdly , the least degree of humane honour ( whereof only our question is ) doth it not of necessity contein the honour of the heart ? it being scarce worthy the name of an honest action , much lesse of an honourable action , which proceedeth not from the motion of the heart . but the heart we know , though it goeth alone , and is not accompanied with either knee , or tongue , or eye , or any bodily parts ( for these are oftentimes fast bound by sicknesse , imprisonments , or necessary callings ) yet is it allowed to have accesse unto the lord , and to present him with such sighs , and grones , and ejaculations , and thanks , as it thinketh good . fourthly , ( that no sacrilegious disposition may take up this trick of robbing the lord , by excusing the neglect of it , by the littlenesse or poornesse of it ) the lord himself hath said it and sworn it , that unto him every knee should bow : which also he apostle extending to the knees of things in heaven , and things on earth , and things creeping under the earth ; he giveth us fairly and plainly to know , that the least ability in the nature of man , not onely may , but also must find a knee to bend unto him ; our least muscles and knuckles , inclinations and dispositions , having more composition than the nature of angels , and more understanding than the nature of worms and creeping things have . yea the very hairs of your head are numbred , saith our saviour : and therefore if the lord keepeth a reckoning of our hairs , shall we think he will neglect the excellencies and honours of our substantial abilities ? the least lifting up of the eye , or the least motion of the lip , being able to do god more honour then multitudes of our hairs , who knoweth not ? it is true indeed , the lord sometime rejecteth some kinds of honour , as the honour of the lips , the tongue , the eyes , &c. but it is not because they be small and little , but because they that offer them are false and double , and think with their lip-labour to be quit of the lord , and so to keep their hearts and substantial parts to themselves : even like unto deceitfull debtours , which with the tendring a small sum of money , intend to defeat their creditours of the main . for else , as the penny being as good silver as the pound , and having the kings stamp as well as the pound , may not be rejected from bearing a part in the kings tribute no more than the pound : so the tongue and the lips , and never so outward abilities , being the workmanship of god , no lesse than the parts most inward and supreme , may not be debarred from tendering their offices and services unto the lord , no more then the parts never so able and supreme : the withholding the least of them being of force to make our greatest honours imperfect ( as the want of a farthing may hinder the clearing of the debt ; ) and their accesse being of force to make the greatest honours the greate ; as the least digit is of force to give an augmentation to the greatest number . we conclude therefore , that as the lords appointing us to perform divers kinds of honour unto sundry sorts of men , is not of force to dispossesse himself of those honours ; so also , neither is the commonnesse or littlenesse of any kind of honour , of any force to exempt or dismisse the same from belonging unto the lord and so the first ground of our demonstration is most certain and manifest , namely , that all kind of honour , glory and praise , of what degree or kind soever , is wholly and perpetually due only unto the lord ; and consequently , that no degree or kind of honour whatsoever , may be given to any kind of creature ( much lesse to the image of any kind of creature ) but only by vertue of the lords expresse and special appointment ; even no more than a creditours money may be payed unto any but such as the creditour hath assigned to receive it . now , that the lord never assigned nor appointed any kind of honour to be done unto images , we must take it for granted , and assuredly believe it , until we find his expresse word under his own hand-writing for it . and lest any should busie themselves unprofitably , and mispend precious time about seeking for some texts and parcels of scripture to prove such a matter , we shall give them a sufficient item to save them that labour , and that is this : that unlesse the scriptures which they bring for the honouring of images , be far more plain , peremptory , and abundant than any that can be brought for the honouring of men ( as parents , princes , masters , &c. ) they must not be admitted . and the reason of this our item and caveat is this ; because men being reasonable and understanding creatures , and such as are able to improve the honours that are done unto them , unto the honour and glory of the lord ; it is a thing not incredible unto flesh and blood , that some degrees and kindes of honour should be done to them : and therefore a few words from the mouth of god , or under his hand-writing , might be sufficient for such a purpose . but now for images , which are most palpably void of all understanding , and utterly unable to improve the honour that is done unto them unto the lords final advantage ; it must needs be a thing most incredible unto flesh and bloud , and contrary to all the rules of reason , that any honour should be done unto them ; and therefore , unless we have most peremptory charge from god so to do , and that far more abundantly than ever we had for the honouring of men , it must not be done . but so far is the scripture from such super-abundance of charge for the honouring of images , as that whereas it every-where ( and most expresly in the commandments ) teacheth the honouring of men ( as parents , masters , kings , &c. ) it scarce once affordeth any shadow of appointment for the honouring of images : and therefore we may securely conclude , that the lord did never appoint any jote or scrat of scruple of honour to be done unto them . and so our demonstration against the doing of civil honour unto images , is abundant and compleat ; the force whereof by the strings of art may thus be contrived ; that kinde of honour which the owner of all honour did never appoint us to give unto images , must not be given unto images . but the civil honour is such a kind of honour , as the owner of all honour did never appoint us to give unto images ; therefore the civil honour must not be given unto images . but because every capacity is not apt to be fastned upon by demonstrations , nor ready enough to gather negatives from the the want of affirmatives ( though in all kinde of grants and conveyances betwixt man and man , the want of an affirmative is negative sufficient ) it hath therefore seemed good unto the indulgence of god , to declare his mind in this point to be expresly negative : and that not only in general , when he forbiddeth the worshipping of any thing which he hath not commanded ; and elsewhere he saith , my glory will i not give to another , neither my praise to graven images ; but also most especially , and with his own mouth from heaven , when he saith , thou shalt not bowe down to them nor worship them ; there being no kind of honour , whether actual or intentional , real or personal , corporal or spiritual , natural or moral , domestick or civil , divine or humane , but may easily be found most palpably forbidden in that short clause . yea , what kind of honour can be imagined but may be found denyed unto images in the first half of that clause , thou shalt not bowe down unto them ? for all honour being testimonium excellentiae , and attributing some degree of excellency to the person unto whom it is given ; it must needs be , that whosoever giveth honour , doth with all perform some degree of bowing down : the attributing of excellency of necessity implying some bending , stouping and submission of the mind at least . for though some degrees of bowing down do not proceed so far as to be visible and outward , yet may they be true and real bowings down nevertheless : even as well as there be many kinds of knees which are not bodily and visible ( as the knees of spirits , hearts , and angels ) and yet are true and real knees even by the judgement of the scripture . secondly , admit there were some kindes of honour which did not imply a bowing down ( at least in the judgement of such weak ones as know not bowing down , but that which is outward and visible ) yet when the commandment addeth further , neither shalt thou worship them , what could be said more toward the barring them all possible honour whatsoever ? thirdly , in our english style , the title worshipfull is more common than the title honourable , and inferiour thereunto : and therefore the things which must not be worshipped , much lesse may be honoured . fourthly , if all honour include either a bowing down , or a doing worship , then much more must the civil honour be found so to do : it being a necessary condition in the civil honour , that it be not onely a true and real honour , but also that it be an outward and visible honour ; for else it cannot serve to distinguish one person from another , as the intent of civil honour is to do . fifthly , if by civil honour we mean those kinds of honour which passe betwixt man and man ; so we shall both bow down to images and worship them also , if we give them civil honour in that sense : for unto men we usually bow down , and term them worshipfull , honourable , excellent , majestical , &c. yea , prostration and adoration ( nam civilis est adoratio , quis nescit ? ) have been esteemed allowable unto men . sixthly , if by civil honour we mean those kinds of honour which are due to the civil body , and the heads thereof ; so the civil honour shall contain a principal kind of honour . for if parents and masters , which are but members of the civil body , must be honoured with fear and trembling , and singlenesse of heart ; then much more must the civil body it self , or such as represent the same , be so honoured . again , if by civil honour we mean only such forms of honour as by local and civil constitutions do passe for acknowledgements of honour ; such as peradventure the uncovering of the head may be esteemed : ( for the uncovering of the head is not in all nations , and from the woman-kind in no nation , esteemed as a doing of honour ) yet we must know , that when once any ceremony is admitted for a form of honour , and is habituated thereunto , it must be esteemed as a civil knee ; and the doing so much unto an image , must be judged a bowing down thereunto , and that of the nobler kind of knee . finally , they that set forth the civil honour by the term of dulia , with telling us that it is no idolatry , unlesse latria be given unto images ; they do but give us exchange of words , greek and forein terms , for familiar and modern ; tha● so the truth being obscured and puddled by the means , their idols may the better give us the slip . for the word dulia signifying service , and all service implying a bowing down ; it is plain , that the giving so much unto images , is a palpable bowing down unto them . secondly , the word latria signifying only such a kind of service as consisteth in famulation and attendance , which is the most easie and liberal kind of service ; it is plain , that if the giving so much unto images be granted to be against the commandment , then the giving so much as dulia is apt to signifie , is much more against the commandment . thirdly , it is manifest in the greek text , that dulia and latria are ordinarily used as words of one and the same signification ; and that latria as usually given unto men , and dulia as usually unto god. so as well might b. jewel compare this distinction to that of the physicians wife , who when ( belike ) she had maintained that pepper . was cold , and thereupon was opposed by some of the wives , that it was hot enough in the mouth : she salved the matter with this distinction , that though it was hot in working , yet it might be cold in operation ; and so with her learned distinction put all the women to a stamme , and with a strong hand carried the cause : and so we may well think , that when this image-worshiping ( or image-honouring ) was first commended unto the world , and withall was opposed by those that were faithfull unto the commandment ; the maintainers of it , partly being too great and too head-strong to mend their errour , and partly not being impudent enough to deny the commandment , and partly ( finally ) not being allowed to work otherwise than by argument , at length drew forth these distinctions , that it was but a civil honour , and not the divine , only dulia and not latria , which they allowed unto images : and so by the means of such new and strange terms , they put many of their opposers to a stamme ; especially such as more loved the peace of the world than the peace of conscience , or thought it an imputation to their learning , not to understand greek , and far-fetcht distinctions , though never so senseless and impertinent . but when at length it grew most manifest , that through the gap of these distinctions the commandment of god was not only notoriously incroached upon , but also in a manner trodden under foot ; it was time for the servants of god to stand in the gap , and to resist such incroachers to the face . and for this cause , we for our part have taken the more pains about the stubbing up these distinctions ; which hitherto have been the special ivy-tods where these images have a long time harboured themselves and bred their paddocks in ; and whereunto , when at any time they have been closely pursued , they have used to betake themselves , as their onely sanctuary and refuge : which after they shall be once finally put by , they shall be plainly discovered to be stark-naked stocks and blocks , and not onely unworthy of any honour , but also most worthy to be thrown into the fire . the 6. argument answered . the sixth allegation is this ; that images are profitable for many good and holy uses . whereunto we answer , that satan also may be found profitable for many good uses ; for he is able to change himself into an angel of light : and yet the children of god must have nothing to do with him . as also they that compassed sea and land to make a proselyte , no doubt were commendable for industry and many good parts : and yet their disciples were far the worse for them . and the false steward which was thrust out of his lords house for doing unjustly , was notwithstanding acknowledged able to do wittily and wisely . yea , mere natural men have been wiser than to be taken with this kind of argument : witnesse those lacedemonians , which would not suffer the poet archilochus to be read in their schools ( though they acknowledged him to excell for wit and poetry ) nè plus moribus noceret quàm ingeniis prodesset . yea , the principal advancers of images ( the church of rome ) will not admit of this kind of argument in their behalf ; for though they acknowledge the scripture to be both profitable and divine , yet will they not suffer thereupon that the scriptures should be published . and yet the profitableness of the scripture is incomparably more ( were it not impiety to make such comparisons ) than the profitableness of images ; and the danger incomparably lesse ; every childe and innocent being in danger to take harm by images , whereas none but the perversely minded are in danger to take harm by the sincere , milken , divine , and grace-ministring scriptures . secondly , there being such a profanesse in the heart of man to sin by images , even to the making gods of them , or the worshipping them ; it had need be some great weight of profit ( no lesse peradventure than the weight of necessity ) that may make the use of them be esteemed so much as profitable . for though a man may catch fish with a golden hook , yet who will judge it a profitable course to fish with a golden hook ? the losse of one golden hook being more than an hundred catchings will countervail . yea , better it were , saith our homily , that the arts of painting , plaistering , carving , graving , and founding had never been found nor used , than one of them whose souls in the sight of god are so precious , should by occasion of image or picture perish and be lost . thirdly , admit we could never so securely and without danger make profitable uses of images : yet if the lord our god be a jealous god , and so professeth himself to be , it concerneth us first to be well assured whether the jealousie of god be not likely to be offended with our conversing with such kinde of things . for the jealous husband is not content with this , that his wife is a profitable wife , and a thrifty wife , and a chaste wife , unlesse she also refraineth the companie of the man which her husband hath professed his jealousie against ; for the husband that is not jealous , will expect so much at his wives hand , that she be both profitable and chaste also ; and therefore the jealous husband ( and consequently the jealous god ) must be further gratified than so . fourthly , if it be found that the lord is not only a jealous god , but also especially jealous against images ; then the profit which may ( though lawfully ) be made of images , not onely should be of no force with us to admit of them , but should rather be of force with us to abandon them . for as a subject whose prince holdeth him in jealousie concerning his crown , the more good parts he hath , and the more popular he is , the more hasty ought the true subjects be to suppress him or abase him , rather than to make any special reckoning of him : so also these images , it once it be found by them that the lord standeth in jealousie of them concerning his honour and throne , the more profitable and plausible things they are supposed to be , the more speedy ought the servants of god be to deface them , rather than for their supposed usefullnesse to regard or indure them . the 7. argument answered . the seventh allegation is this ; that images are special good to give instruction . whereunto we answer , that there is nothing in all the world so silly or so barren , but that some kernels of instruction may be picked therefrom : i went by the field of the slothfull , saith solomon , and lo , nettles had covered the face thereof , &c. — i looked upon it , and received instruction . so that a very nettle-bush may prove a book of instruction to them that can turn such kind of books : the wit of man being as apt to sack intellectuals out of every thing it lighteth upon , as the bee is able to contrive honey out of the very weeds . and so , no doubt , these images may occasion good meditations , and serve to put us in mind of things most excellent and divine ; even as the sight of a stable or a manger may move us to think upon our saviour , and the consideration of sin or satan may incline us unto devotion and thanksgiving : but that images are special good to give instruction , ( which is the question ) that we deny . for first , all the instruction which they afford is only concerning matters of fact ; namely , that such a thing was done ( or supposed to be done ) or that such a person or creature there was : but whether the fact , person , or creature , &c. was good or bad , whether to be imitated or avoided ; and what were the causes , ends , effects , and consequents of such things ( without which kind of knowledge there can be no edifying instruction ) they cannot say . secondly , as the instruction which images afford , is only concerning matters of fact ; so also do they not declare so much with any certainty , but rather they make things more uncertain than they were : things comming within the compasse of fables and fictions after once the painters and carvers ( which think they may lye by authority ) have had a hand in them . thirdly , the instruction which they afford is only such as the outward eye is capable of : for neither the ear ( which is the principal door of instruction ) nor any of the other senses , are so much as capable of image-instruction . indeed there is some kind of knowledge ( we may grant ) which cannot so readily be had as by images : as namely , what kind of countenance peter , or paul , or the dead had ; or persons far remote have : but yet , as such kind of knowledge can have no certainty in it ( and what goodnesse in knowledge without certainty ? ) so also were it never so certain , what is the beholder the better for it ? for is he able to make his countenance according ? or if he could , what should he be the better ? for a fool may resemble a wise man in the outward countenance ; a wicked man , a saint ; a peasant , a prince ; and yet remain wicked , base , and foolish neverthelesse . fourthly , as the instruction which images afford , is common , uncertain , and such as the outward eye only is sensible of ; so also for the most part it is such as none can make any thing of , but such as knew the matter before . for as one that is dumb , may perhaps with his becknings and noddings and putting out his finger , do some common intelligence to such as have wit enough to understand him : so these images , if they meet with one that loveth to stand ridling and spelling something out of a wall or a gay , like enough they may seem to say something ; but else ( as our homily noteth out of hierom ) they do but amaze and dull the understanding of the unlearned , with their golden sentences and eloquences , and so leave them . fifthly , these images do take up a great deal more roomth and breadth in the fansie and outward sences than needeth : for such , we know , is the agility of humane capacity , as that it can upon the least sight of ordinary things ( though it be but a rush about the finger , or the least serole of letters upon a paper ) be put in mind of things never so distant and important : so far is it from needing clusters of images , or whole pourtraitures , to be put in mind of common things . sixthly , these images do fret and eat into the fansie and outward sences more deeply and indelibly than other courses and means of instruction use to do . for as our table-books , the more deeply and hardly they be written upon , the sooner they are attrited and worn away : so our fansie and outward senses , the more deeply that notions be imprinted in them , the sooner will their abrasity , voydablenesse , and receptivity ( which are the peculiar conditions of those outward senses ) be distempered and confounded . now , whereas voyces , and letters , and other means of instruction ( which do not wrap up their notions in images ) do readily passe through these common senses ; and having presented their matter to the inward senses , presently vanish away ; these images do not so : but being such kind of things as the fansie and outward senses are apt to be tickled and pleased withall , they dally and play with them , and soke into them . and as idle travellers turn their innes into dwelling-houses ; so do these turn our table-books into paper-books , and make ( in a manner ) their final repose in those faculties which are intended only for passage and conveyance . moreover , by reason of this over-deep inhesion of these images in the fansie and outward senses , not only those outward senses are attrited , distempered and perverted by the means , but also the inward senses are wronged and defrauded . for as our bodily meat , if it stick over toughly in the stomach , our inward veins and appetites must remain so much the longer empty and unserved ; so likewise the nutriment of the mind ( which is nothing but notions ) the longer it is reteined in the outward senses , the longer must our inward senses remain jejune and without their sustenance : it being a good reason which seneca giveth , why he would have us well to digest our reading , because , saith he , alioquin in memoriam ibunt , non in ingenium . i. e. otherwise they will stuff the memory , but the wit and judgement they will augment little or nothing at all . yea , finally , by such tough cleaving of the notions unto the fansie and outward senses , the inward senses shall not only be delayed and defrauded , but also vitiated and infected . for the inward senses having nothing to sustein them but that which is conveyed unto them through the passages and conduits of the outward senses , if those outward senses be so ingrained and dyed ( or rather daubed over ) with those glaring and infective notions , how shall it be avoided , but that all the notions which passe through them will also tast of the cask , and so feed the inward senses with the like kind of glaring , gross , impure , fantastical , and in the end idololatrical notions ? so as this supposed most excellent property of images , namely , for that they can so deeply imprint their notions in the memory and outward senses , may rather be esteemed as a principal exception against them , and enough to make all those that desire to be divinely ( or but intellectually ) minded , to abandon them . the 8. argument answered . the eighth allegation is this ; that they are special quickners of devotion . whereunto we answer ; if the instruction which they afford , be so grosse , common , uncertain , impure , and dangerous as we have declared ; how can the devotion be any better which ariseth therefrom ? for if we should suppose that without the means of foregoing instruction they are able to beget us with devotion , such a suppose were a right-down making gods of them ; it being the property of god only , illabi menti , to touch immediately upon the soul without the means of some foregoing instruction preparing thereunto . secondly , when at any time the saints and servants of god in their hymnes and songs did cite all the works of god to blesse and praise the lord , yet never did they say , o ye images , blesse ye the lord : though images , being apt to make as fair a shew as the best , if they had been thought such special quickners of devotion , how could they have been left out in those general musters , where not so much as nights , and darknesse , and worms are allowed to be absent ? thirdly , the life and apple of true devotion consisting in nothing so much as in the immediate fruition of god ; it must needs be , that the things which are most apt to further our devotion unto god , should have most congruity with the nature and properties of god : but so have not images ; but are rather more discrepant from the nature and properties of god than any other kinds of things whatsoever . for while the lord calleth one way , what do they but call another way ? while the lord calleth inwardly , they call outwardly : while the lord calleth to the centre , they call to the circumference : while the lord standeth knocking at the door of the heart , they stand rapping at the door of the outward eye , and playing upon the ball thereof ; whereat unlesse they enter , their very life and being is at an end : whereas the lord , on the contrary , is so far from entring at that kind of door , as that when once he spake to his people face to face , the outward eye was not vouchsafed the least glimpse of his countenance , but a perpetual memento was given to the contrary , that then they saw no similitude , but only heard a voice . the lord also usually maketh darknesse his secret place , his pavilion round about him ; whereas these images hate all darknesse no less than the gates of death . yea , finally , not only in their conditions , operations , and habitations , but also in their very natures , what more contrary than god and images ? for whereas the lord is altogether invisible ; these images are nothing else but visible : whereas the lord is incomprehensible ; these images every childes eye can comprehend : as also , whereas the lord is almighty ; these images are the most mightless things that are : the lord again is all spirit and life ; but images are worse than dead ; for the dead were once alive : finally , the lord is all truth , but images are all false and counterfeit : those being counted the most excellent images which come nearest unto the life ; and the nearer a thing commeth to the life when it is most void of life ( mendacium quò verisimilius eò nequius ) being so much the worse . but very like it will be answered against all that we have hitherto said , that though images have no congruity with the divine nature of god , yet well may they resemble his humane nature , and so in that respect become so especially operative unto devotion . whereunto we answer ; that if very living man upon earth doth incomparably more lively represent the humane nature of god than any image possibly can , then how can any image be so special good for such a purpose ? secondly , admit some picture could set forth the natural countenance of our saviour more peculiarly than the countenance of any living man ever did ( though who can be certain of any such matter ? ) yet , we know , the vertue and efficacy of our saviours incarnation did not consist in this , that he was a man of such or such a countenance ; but only in this , that he took mans nature upon him . thirdly , the scribes and pharisees did well know his natural countenance indeed ; as also they that crucified him : and yet they had no more devotion toward him than they that most mortally hated him . fourthly , st. paul telling us , that if we had known christ after the flesh , yet now must we know him so no more ; even so much might be of sufficient force to put us beside this grosse conceit , that the picture of our saviours natural countenance is so specially operative unto devotion . but ( once more ) very like it will be alledged , that the efficacy of such a picture doth not consist so much either in that it so representeth his humane nature , or in that it so lively expresseth his natural countenance , as in this , that it setteth forth his death and sufferings : and such a kind of image ( called the crucifix ) hath been found by experience to be so powerfull unto devotion , as that many beholders have not been able to withhold from tears at the sight thereof . concerning which kind of image , we desire to be endured a while , until we make some what a large answer . first therfore we demand who they are that such kind of images do so work upon , are they believers , or are they unbelievers ? as for the unbelievers , it is most like that they will rather despise him that so suffered , than be moved to regard him ( much lesse to put confidence in him ) thereupon : it being most likely in the eyes of flesh and blood , that the person which so suffered was not so much as an innocent person : or if so ; yet that he was rather some poor wretch that was not able to save himself from the fury of his enemies , then such an one as could with the least breath of his mouth have destroyed all his enemies ; there being nothing in the picture to lead him unto any better constructions . yea , if the unbelieving beholder be a malicious infidel , the picture may move him to insult over the god that so suffered , and to carry such images about in his processions and triumphs , the better to please and magnifie his own false gods . but if they must be onely believers which shall be so edified by those kind of images ; yet if there be other courses ▪ nearer hand , which may more readily and abundantly put us in mind of those sufferings , then is not thy crucifix so speciall good for such a purpose : which is the question . for that short article of our creed , he was crucified , dead , and buried , descended into hell , doth it not far more readily , plainly , certainly , abundantly , securely , and wholesomely set forth the sufferings of our saviour , then the image possibly can ? first , more readily it doth : in that every child can have the article ready at his fingers end ; whereas the image , were it never so portable , cannot alwayes be at hand . secondly , more plainly it doth : in that it expressely telleth us who it was that so suffered ; whereas the image doth onely present unto us a man fast nailed to a crosse , but who the man was , or whether he was so much as an innocent or a malefactour , it is not able to say . thirdly , more certainly it doth : in that the article is the voice of god and of the whole church of god ; whereas the image is but the device of men , and of such kind of men as challenge a liberty to deceive . fourthly , more abundantly it doth : in that it informeth us that he was both crucified , dead and buried , and withal descended into hell ; whereas the image doth onely declare his crucifying , and no more . finally , more securely and without indangering the beholder it doth : namely , for that it presenteth all these sufferings and undergoings onely to the eare ; whereas the image presenting them to the outward eye , and withall still remaining constantly in sight without vanishing away , is apt to detein the fancie of the beholder , and allure him to dwell upon it , and to imbrace , and perhaps to bemone it , and bedabble it with carnall tears , and to speak unto it , and call upon it , and , pigmalion-wise , to wish it alive , and in the end to bow down unto it , and worship it , and make a perfect idol of it : for what more apt to become an idol then such an image as is supposed to be a speciall image of our god , and from whence ( as it were from a pap ) men are appointed and wonted to suck their daily devotions ! moreover , as these kind of images can adde nothing to the knowledge of the weakest believers concerning the sufferings of our saviour ; so do they also greatly dishonour , profane and vilifie those infinite and unexpressable sufferings of our saviour : namely in this ; in that they make no more of them then may be made of the sufferings of mortall men . for all they that at any time suffered the like death of the crosse , if they had been pictured as they hung in their agonies and torments , would they not have been more dolefull spectacles then any crucifix did ever represent ! the more wicked also the person is that so suffereth , the more dismall and wofull the outward appearance of his pains being likelie to be . yea , not onely the most precious sufferings of our saviour are profaned , and infinitely vilified by such kind of vulgar and common expressions , but also his majestie and person is plainly belyed and blasphemed by the means : namely in this ; that his person is exposed to the view of the world , as hanging actually dead upon a crosse , and double gibbet , whereas he now actually is , and for ever shall be sitting at the right hand of god in the state of eternall glory . and shall then such kind of images not onely be made of him , but also be commended unto his servants as the speciall motives unto devotion ? or shall the tears which ( belike ) do flow from the beholders of such images , be esteemed such undoubted arguments of such devotions ? as if there were not false tears , as well as true tears ; blind and superstitious devotion , as well as that which is sound and good ! for if the heathen , when they were at their superstitions , could mutuum stuporem alere , stupifie and amaze one another to see linteatum senem mediâ lucernam die praeferentem ; and such like authorized and senseless lies ▪ can we make question , but that hypocrites also in the church of god will be as active to cast themselves into the like sits and pangs of devotion , and that even to the expression of tears ! or , at the best , is it not very like that such kind of tears have no better original then the tears of those women had which so lamented when they saw our saviour go to his suffering ? which , if our saviour so rejected , when be bade them not weep for him , but weep for themselves ; is it likely that he will be any better pleased with thy like kind of tears which now also most unseasonably ( he being now past all possibility of suffering ) thou bemonest him withal , and that at the motion of an image ? but if thou hast a desire , o man , to present thy god with a drink-offering of acceptable tears indeed ; follow that counsel which he gave those women , and weep not for him , but weep for thy self . and if thou hast a desire to weep for thy self , enter into thy self , and behold thy sin ; for thy sin is the onely fountain-head of acceptable tears . and within thee thou maiest most lively behold thy sin flourishing in all the quarters and regiments of thy whole man : yea , if thou dost but descend into the cellars of thine own hard heart , thou mayest see how from under the flintstone thereof thy sin bubbleth up , and fometh out , and playeth forth , and streameth along continually : so as , if thou hast a desire to weep rivers of tears for sin , there thou shalt find continual materialls for the purpose . and in comparison of this course , thy going to thine image to help thee to weep for thy sin , is a plain going about the bush , and all one as if thou shouldest go to thy physicians picture to move thee to lament thy surfeting and drunkenness , when as thou hast a burning ague gnawing upon thee , which is the natural daughter , scourge and monitour of that thy surfeting and drunkenness . we conclude therefore , that as no kind of images are specially good ( if any way good ) for instruction and devotion ; so those kind of images which intend to make expressions of god , our saviour , &c. ( which kind of images our homilie judgeth to be most dangerous ) are more like to bring us into the pits of perdition , then unto the springs of devotion ; and to plunge us in the lakes of idolls , then to further us unto the fruition of the invisible god : whose coming , we know , is not with observation , or with a lo here , and , lo there ; look this way , and look that way ; look upon this image , or look upon that : for behold , o man , thy god is within thee , and within thee he must be found : as also the devotions which he meaneth to be enterteined withal , must be kindled within thee : for within thee there is a flint-stone , even thy heart , which being often attrited upon with the steel of gods word , the tinder of christ crucified will foster the sparklings thereof , until the breath of his spirit shall have lighted thee a candle therewith ; and then thou shalt soon be able to kindle such a fire in thy inner man , as the almighty god ( whom the heavens cannot contein ) will condescend unto , sit with thee at , and sup with thee by ; and finally , prefer before all the flashes and wild-fire-works of mortal mans divising whatsoever . and now , christian reader , you have as much as we promised in the beginning ; namely , our answers unto those allegations in the behalf of images which we then specified . there be other arguments also which use to be made in their behalf , which deserve to be no lesse excepted against , and which we hope our selves to find a time to do ; our title , toward the vindication of the second commandment , keeping alwayes our door open for such additions . these answers which we have premised , we take to be both sound and safe , and agreeable with the church of england ; as also we are perswaded that the almighty god will be pleased with the publication thereof : and therefore we commend the perusal of them unto such as have authority in that kind of business . and so we finally commend them , and our selves , and every indifferent reader unto the grace of god. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a42355-e220 ps . 119.72 . 1 sam. 13.14 . matth. 5. isa . 40.6 . ezek. 2.5 , 7. matth. 13.46 . exod. 34 14. josh . 24.20 . isaiah 40.17 . liv. dec . 3. lib. 9. august . in psal 113. august . de civ . dei 4.31 . august . in psal . 113. plin. hist. nat 35.10 . isa 44 10. lact. 2.7 . tom. 2. hom . 2. part 2. naclantus , in rom. 1. cited more largely in the homily , tom. 2. hom . 2. p. 3. * constantius , in lib. carol. magn. ‖ bellarm. de imag . sanct. lib. 2. cap. 21. rev. 21.8 . 1 joh. 5.21 . rev. 2.14 . acts 15.20 , 29. tom. 2. hom 2. p. 2. contra adimant . cap. 13. 1 cor. 8. col. 3.5 . ephes . 5.5 . isa . 40.17 . exod. 8.17 , 18 , 19. isa . 45 23. phil. 2.10 . mat. 10.30 . deut 1● . 3 . isa . 42.8 . andrews , resp ad ballarm . apol. 8. repl. art . 14. 2. cor. 11.14 . matth. 23.15 . luke 16. valer max. lib. 6. cap. 3. tom. 2. hom 2. p. 3. prov. 24.30 , 31 , 32. tom. 2. hom . 2. p. 3. epist . 84. deut. 4.12 . psa . 18.11 . 2 cor. 5.16 . seneca , de vita beata , 27. luke 23.28 . tom. 2. h. 2. p. 3. luk. 17.20 , 21. a brief answer to the many calumnies of dr. henry more, in his pretended antidote against idolatry. shewing that no prudent person can, upon any rational ground, be deterr'd from returning to the communion of st. peter's chair, by any of the doctors best and strongest evidences to the contrary. walton, john, 1624-1677. 1672 approx. 127 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 55 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a97089 wing w675a estc r225655 43077748 ocm 43077748 151863 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a97089) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 151863) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2279:18) a brief answer to the many calumnies of dr. henry more, in his pretended antidote against idolatry. shewing that no prudent person can, upon any rational ground, be deterr'd from returning to the communion of st. peter's chair, by any of the doctors best and strongest evidences to the contrary. walton, john, 1624-1677. [6], 103 p. s.n.], [london : printed in the year 1672. attributed to john walton by wing. place of publication suggested by wing. errata: foot of p. 103. reproduction of original in: newberry library, chicago, illinois. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng more, henry, 1614-1687. -antidote against idolatry. catholic church -apologetic works. idols and images -worship. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-08 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-08 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a brief answer to the many calumnies of dr. henry more , in his pretended antidote against idolatry . shewing that no prudent person can , upon any rational ground , be deterr'd from returning to the communion of . st. peter's chair , by any of the doctors best and strongest evidences to the contrary . printed in the year 1672. advertisement . the reader may please to take notice , that what is here presented , was written about two years since , without any thought or intention as then , for the press ; only at the request , & for the satisfaction of some worthy friends . but now , whereas , besides dr. more , dr. stillingfleet hath thought it not below his name and abilities to descend to the like foul and injurious calumnies , in his late book concerning the idolatry practised in the church of rome ; the present juncture , and concern of the affair , may seem to render discourses of this nature , no less necessary , than seasonable , for the undeceiving of the many unfortunately-misguided souls , whose leaders ( to speak favourably ) seem not to understand , what themselves object . this i say , because i know no other more civil construction , or indeed possible vindication ( such as it is ) of their many failings . as for dr. stillingst et i shal not forestall the intentions of better and abler penns , so much as to step aside to any particular digression against him . nor indeed do i meet with any thing considerable in him , relating to this subject , which may not easily be answered out of this reply to dr. more ; both of them joyning in a like treble charge of idolatry against the adoration of the eucharist , invocation of saints , and the due honor and veneration of images . brief ●nswer to the many calumnies of dr. henry more , in his pretended antidote against idolatry . shewing that no prudent person can , upon any rational ground , be deterr'd from returning to the communion of st. peter's chair , by any of the doctors best and strongest evidences to the contrary . doctor henry more is a person , whose learning and parts have brought him into a name , amongst the professors of the refined arts and sciences . fame speaks him a great philosopher . and his publick works are said to avouch no less . nay , some have passed so far in favour of his character , as to term him , the great restorer of the platonick cabbala . and truly , if this be so , i conceive the gentleman had done himself a great deal of right , if he had still kept to his own element ; for as much as his late unlucky engaging in controversial disputes , cannot but prove a blot to his former undertakings : for the learned world must needs acknowledg that dr. more the controvertist , is much degenerated from dr. more the philosopher . he hath lately set forth an exposition of the seven epistles , to the seven churches of asia . the whole piece is of a pure romantick strain , wherein the authors fancy being broken loose from the command of reason , and leaping over all boundaries of church-authority , and the faith of his ancestors , runs on at elevenscore , as if he were upon a warm sent , giving chase to some of his platonick ideas : to this he has adjoyned , a pretended antidote against idolatry , with application to the council of trent , and for the putting a stop ( as he phrases it ) to the romish infection . his most formidable weapon is that harsh and unmanly rhetorick , called railing . his phrase is rough , and clogged with much dirt , which he throwes too bountifully upon persons , which never deserved it at his hands . his objections are bold , uncivil , irreligious ; not without a deep tincture of geneva . and therefore were it not , that the opinion of his supposed abilities , may cast a favourable reflection , upon all that issues from his brain , and gain credit to his antidote , amongst his vulgar zealots , to the irreparable dammage of their souls , his work might have lain neglected , as without a reader , so without an adversary . but in regard the doctor has prefixed his name to the book as author ; and that a great name is a great argument with some , to evince the truth of the contents ; and that no doctrine is so absurd , but may spread under the professed patronage of a fam'd divine ; therefore some things must be said by way of rejoynder to the antidote , lest some unwary readers seeing the doctor so full gorg'd against popish idolatry , and repeating his invectives almost in every page with endless tautologies , should tamely suffer themselves to be born down the stream with big words , and think all is gospel and well-grounded , that falls with so much noise and confidence from the mouth of a doctor . and indeed i am already informed , that some well-meaning protestants , who have a great kindness for the author , and no less a value for the work , have call'd for an answer to it , with a kind of insulting accent , as conceiving that no such answer could be given . they ( poor souls ) thinking , that surely the doctor would never have been so positive in his assertions , if the strength of his evidences were not such , as might bear all the stress he lays upon them . wherefore seeing the concern of souls is at stake , whom he seeks by a pernicious wile to seduce , venting poyson guilded over with the specious title of an antidote ; the design of these few pages is , to summe up briefly the doctors arguments , allowing to each a due reflexion , and to represent the nullity and inconclusiveness of all that is material in him , as to his foul and odious charge of idolatry , drawn up against his , and our common mother-church . the first section . containing an answer to his first chapter . there are two ways in general ( says the doctor ) of discovering what is , or ought to be held idolatry amongst christians ; the one , divine declaration ; the other , clear and perspicuous reason . and accordingly he spends his first chapter in explicating what idolatry is according to divine declaration : and his second pretends to declare , what idolatry is according to the determination of clear and free reason . these are the titles of the two first chapters . the first of which , ( to the end he might give us a treatise , girt up in the most close and convictive method that may be ; for so speaks his preface : ) he thought good to divide into ten several conclusions , as principles of his ensuing discourse : to each of which i shall speak singly by it self , taking them in the same order they lie . the first conclusion tells us , that as in civil governments it is the right of the supreme power to define and declare , what shall be , or be held to be treason , and punishable as such : so it is most manifestly the right of god almighty , who is also infinitely good and wise , to define and declare unto his people , what shall be , or be held to be idolatry . to this conclusion , i only return this brief remark ; that the learned simile , wherin the doctor spends very many words , might well have been dispensed with , without any offence to logick , or impeachment to the authors judgment : for the simile seems to aim at the clearing and setling the unquestionable prerogative of an increated power , upon the right of a meer humane jurisdiction . which is in effect an unskilful piece of hysteron proteron ; making a truth of the highest rank to truckle-under an inferiour principle ; which ( considering there is no power but of god , rom. 13. ) can have no truth in it , but by presupposing that very truth , which it pretends to illustrate and establish . his second conclusion would universally beg our belief , that what is declared idolatry by god to the jews , ought to be acknowledged idolatry by us christians . first , because christianity being a far more spiritual religion , than that of judaisme , there cannot be the lest relaxation to the most rancid of all superstitions , idolatry . secondly , because all kind of idolatry being forbidden in the second commandement ; and the whole decalogue being moral , christians can plead no exemption from it , any more than jews . now that the whole decalogue is moral , he makes some needless attempts to prove , chiefly for the second commandements sake . all which proofs , 't is easie to take off by this single answer . i say then , that as to the second commandement ( supposing at present the first table divided into four precepts ) if he expound that commandement so , as only to prohibit the making and worshipping of idols , or images of false gods , i shall readily grant it to be moral , and strictly binding , both as to jews and christians . but if he puts any other meaning upon the text , he begs the question : and he must excuse me , if i call for his further proof , not to evidence the morality of the decalogue in general , or of this commandement in particular , but also as taken in that particular sense , which he gives it . this i say , because i conceive , the doctor will not stick to grant that one and the same precept of the decalog , may be ( as considered under a double respect ) both moral and ceremonial . secondly , that some , both catholick and protestant divines own no more than a ceremonial precept in the second commandement , if extended to an universal prohibition of all images , and under that notion given only to the jews . and to call this a relaxation to idolatry amongst christians , ( as the doctor does ) may prove an argument of his mistake , but none to evidence the truth of his conclusion ; no more than the generally allowed use of servile works upon saturday , can be called a relaxation to the breach of the sabbath . but , because the doctor is so positive in his hitherto-unproved conclusion , i have an instance for him to pause upon , if he please to accept of it . some of the learned , grounding themselves upon the first of kings , ch . 12. and chron. 2. 26. are of opinion , that burning incense was a sacrifice in the old law , as not being permitted to the laity , but tyed only to the priestly function ; and that the hebrews did sacrifice in this sort to the brazen serpent . now , i would gladly know , by what certain topicks the doctor will evince , either that burning incense was not a sacrifice in the old law , or that it is a sacrifice and act of latria in the new ? unless he means to draw an universal consequence from deuteronomy to the gospel , and so to thrust our heads under moses his girdle , and make us stoop to all the legalities of the old testament : the doctor proceeds to his third conclusion , that whatever was idolatry in the heathen , the same is idolatry in us , if we commit it . i doubt much whether the doctor understands his own conclusion : for the assertion , taken as it lies in its ●are expressions , sounds like one of those identick positions , which surfeit of too much truth : as much as to say , we are guilty of heathenish idolatry , if we commit heathenish idolatry : but , if the doctors meaning be , that whatever external act of worship was idolatry in the heathen , is also idolatry in us , if applyed by us to any other being on this side god ; then i have a case to offer to his second and better thoughts : suppose then that some of saint paul's new converts , whom in christ jesus he had begotten by the gospel , looking upon him as their spiritual father , had paid him the duty of the knee , humbly asking his blessing : and that a heathen of lycaonia , had at the same time , upon his knees adored the apostle for the god mercury , ( as some of them were ready to do , acts 14. ) is it the doctor 's sense , that this external act of worship , which in the heathen would questionless have been idolatry , must also be so in the christian ? if so , then his conclusion is abundantly confused by the daily and uncontroulable practise of protestants themselves , kneeling to their parents , god-fathers and god-mothers . whence it evidently appears , that the same kind of external act , which in a heathen is idolatry , may prove duty in a christian . the fourth conclusion , the idolatry of the pagans , says the doctor , consisted in this , viz. in that they either took something to be the supreme god , that was not , and worshipped it for such ; or else worshipped the supreme god in an image ; or gave religious worship , that is to say , erected altars , temples and images , offered sacrifice , made vows to , and invoked such , as they themselves knew not to be the supreme god , but either the souls of men departed , or other demons , or else particular appearances or powers of nature . and concerning these demons , he adds in his eighth conclusion , that the pagans demons exquisitely answer to the christian saints and angels , in this point ; saving that this spiritual fornication is a rape upon our saints and angels , but single fornication in the heathen with thier impure demons . thus far the modest doctor . but what proof does he give us for all this ? truly he does not so much as offer at any . and in that , we must not envy him the due commendations of his discretion : for the best proof of a proofless assertion is silence . of all the doctor 's conclusions , there is none more intrinseck and fundamental to the subject now under debate ; nor any that ought to speak more , or doth speak less to the point , than this . for it is most fondly erroneous , and most disingenuously obtruded upon the easy credulity of the vulgar ; that the pagans demons exquisitely answer to the christians saints and angels . and no less proofless and false is it , that they ( the pagans ) worshipped the supreme god in an image . but on the contrary , ( instead of worshipping the supreme god in an image , ) his conclusion should have added for another branch of pagan idolatry ; that they worshipped their very images for gods : they call'd them gods ; they took them for gods ; they sacrificed to them as gods . and the same is to be said of those souls of men departed , demons or other particular appearances , or powers of nature ; all which they took and worshipped for gods : for gods i say ; which , this mincing conclusion seeks most warily to conceal . first then , that they called their images , gods , ( to omit other instances ) is clear from dan. 5. 4. they drank wine , and praised the gods of gold , and of silver , of brass , of iron , of wood , and of stone . secondly , that they took their images for gods is as clear . why else does the spirit of god labour so much in holy writ , to awake and reason the gentiles out of their folly , by proving that their images , or idols were not gods , if they did not take them for such ? did not the heathen charge s. paul , that he had perswaded and turned away much people , saying that they be no gods , which are made with hands ? therefore sure an easie logick may conclude they took them for gods . does not the learned arnobius , ( once a heathen himself ) bewailing his former blindness in the first of his seven books against the gentiles , profess to all the world , that he gave divine worship , and prayd to images , taking stocks and stones , the works of the hammer and anvil for gods ? thirdly , they sacrificed to their images , either as gods , or at lest as images of false gods . some , in their images adored devils , according to that of psal . 96. 5. omnes dii gentium daemonia : or , as your translation reads it , all the gods of the nations are idols . and , 1 cor. 10. the things which the gentiles sacrifice , they sacrifice to devils , and not to god. others , in their images worshipped the souls of men. α and it has been fully proved by s. austine , that divers of the pagans gods were men . β others there were , who in their images adored some parts of the material world ; as in the image of apollo , the sun ; in the image of neptune , the sea ; and so of others . γ lastly , there were those , who conceiving the world to be animated , worshipped the souls of those material parts ; as of sun , moon , earth , &c. is there any the lest hint here , either from divine or humane record , of the pagans worshipping the supreme god in an image , but rather the contrary ; viz. that the things , which the gentiles sacrifice , they sacrifice to devils , and not to god. 1 cor. 10. can any sober divinity brook such an inference from these premises , that the pagans demons exquisitely answer to our saints and angels ? do we worship saints and angels for gods ? do we call them gods ? do we take them for gods ? do we sacrifice to them as gods ? far be it , as from our hearts to intend it , so from an ingenuous adversary to object it . the next conclusion that comes in play is the fifth , that both divine declaration , and the common consent of christendom do avouch to us , that all the aforesaid pagan modes of idolatry practised by them , were in those pagans practises of idolatry . all the answer that truth can allow to this fifth conclusion , is nego suppositum : for the doctor here supposeth that he hath given us a true and adequate division of the pagan idolatry , in the precedent conclusion , according both to divine declaration , and the common consent of christendom ; whereas i have already shew'd his hypothesis to be false , and laid open his foul and gross mistakes ; ( 't is a favour to call them so : ) which indeed are such , as might invite a modest man to wipe his pen , and lay it aside , till he had taught it a more awful regard to ingenuity and truth . the sixth conclusion : that giving religious worship , that is to say ; erecting temples , building altars , invoking , makeing vows , and the like , to what is not the supreme god , though not as to him , but as to some inferiour helpful beeing , is manifest idolatry . this sixth conclusion looks back upon the fifth , and calls to it for help . but till the fifth has learned to stand upon its own leggs , it is not in a condition to lend any proof or ●upport to its neighbours . and so i might pass over this sixth conclusion , as proofless ; but only that the doctor calls me back to hear a confirmation of it ; saying , that idolatry was very rare amongst the nations , especially the romans , if this mode of idolatry , be not truly idolatry : and searce any thing will be found idolatry amongst them , but taking that to be the supreme god , which is not , and adoring it for such . this discourse whereby the doctor confirms his conclusion , minds me of a passage in eusebius , concerning the number of the pagan gods . triginta , inquit , deorum millia in terra esse censet hesiodus ; ego autem multo plures lapideos , atque ligneos homines creatores esse video . eusebius here adds to hesiod's thirty thousand gods , many more of his own observation ; amongst which , one only could be supreme , and the rest must needs sit down with the title of inferiour deities . now comes the doctors sixth conclusion , and tells us that giving religious worship , to what is not the supreme god , though not as to him , but as to some inferiour helpful beeing , is idolatry . why so ? because , says the doctor , unless we grant this , ( that is , unless we grant that , the worshipping of some thirty thousand inferiour deities , ( for those are his inferiour helpful beeings : ) is idolatry , ) a great and manifest inconvenience will follow , to wit , that idolatry was very rare amongst the nations ; and scarce any thing will be found idolatry amongst them , but taking that to be the supreme god , which is not , and worshipping it for such . which being so profound a truth , i conceive sew of the most severe and cynical complexions can pass it over without a smile . but if the doctor should chance to reply , that by ( an inferiour helpful beeing ) he means not an inferiour helpful deity , but something else best known to himself ; then his confirmation is most false , viz. that scarce any thing will be found idolatry amongst the heathens , but taking that for the supreme god , which is not , and worshiping it for such ; when as we find , they worshipped so many thousand deities : so that , whether he understand by ( inferiour helpful being ) an inferiour deity , or no , his confirmation is either false , or ridiculous . before i proceed to the seventh conclusion , let me entreat the reader 's patience for a brief parenthesis : catholicks usually distinguish two sorts of worship : for example , to sacrifice , say they , to erect temples and altars , are acts of latria , that is , of the highest religious worship possible , only due to the one almighty and everlasting god , the first principle and end of all created beeings . though none of these acts , neither sacrifice it self , nor dedication of temple or altar , excludes a secondary remembrance , or titular honour of the saints . there are other acts of an inferiour respect , which the doctor may at his pleasure , without offending catholick divinity , chuse whether he will call a religious worship , or no : as the honour we give to saints and their images , burning incense or candles , bowing the body , and the like . these acts are of themselves indifferent , and variously determinable , by the particular tendency of the inward affection , either to a divine , or only a civil worship . as for instance sake , abraham with the same kind of incurvation of body , did adore god , gen. 17. worship angels , gen. 18. and men , gen. 23. where we evidently find that the same posture of bowing the body , only as intentionally directed by a different application of the heart , is a divine worship , in respect of god ; an inferior kind of worship , in respect of angels , and a civil worship as referr'd to men. wherefore he who will speak distinctly to the catholick tenet , must distinguish these several modes of worship one from another ; or else shew cause why , he ranks them all , under one and the same species of religious worship . otherwise he will make it appear , that he loves darkness more than light , and seeks not to cope with his adversary like a scholar . haveing premised this observation . — the doctor 's seventh conclusion , which speaks thus ; ( that to sacrifice , or burn incense , or make any religious obeysance , or incurvation to an image in any wise , as to an object of this worship , is idolatry by divine declaration . ) this conclusion , i say , will appear to have as much pertinent sense in it , as if a junto of civilians being requested to declare by a common vote , what murther is ; should give-in their learned answer , with a resolved upon the question , that to take away a man's life wilfully , and without cause ; or to cut off a limb , or draw blood , is murther . just such a wild medley of truth and falshood , is the doctor 's conclusion . sacrificing to an image , and bowing to an image , suit not well together . the first is idolatry , and the very crime which the catholick church condemns in carpocrates , and his adherents . but , that bowing to an image of christ , or his saints , should be idolatry ; rather then bowing to the ark of the covenant ; or that honouring the picture of jesus , rather than the name of jesus , should be liable to the like exception ; this , i say , should have been more strongly proved than by meerly alledging a broken text of scripture , thou shalt not bow to them , nor worship them ; which yet is all the doctor does , save only an old thred-bare gloss upon it , which shall presently be answered . only first i observe , that when protestants read this their second commandment , thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image , or any likeness , that is in heaven above , or that is in the water , under the earth ; thou shalt not bow down thy self to them , nor serve them ▪ ) and withall are informed that papists make pictures and images of christ , place them in their churches , put off their hats , and bow the knee before them , presently they endite the practise within their brests as guilty of idolatry ; most inconsiderately , no less than uncharitably , charging idolatry upon the practice of the church , for doing those self-same things , which god himself commanded the jews to do , to whom he gave this very precept . did not god command moses to make two cherubims of gold in the two ends of the mercy-seat ? were there not graven cherubims on the walls of the temple ? were not the two cherubims in the most holy place , of image-work ? were not the people to pray in the temple , and commanded to worship at the foot-stool of our lord , that is , the ark of the covenant ; over which were the cherubims of image-work ! and could this possibly be done , without bowing before images ? behold now what an irrefragable consequence is drawn from hence . god himself commanded the making of images , even after he had given the second commandment of the decalogue : ergo , papists can make no images , but they are idolaters . images were placed in god's own temple ; ergo , papists are idolaters in placing images in their churches . god's people were commanded to bow down and prostrate themselves where it could not be done , without bowing before images : ergo , papists , who kneel before an image are idolaters . if protestants did but reflect how much this mistake of theirs is against scripture , as well as against charity , they would be more sparing of their censures . now to the objection , thou shalt not bow down to them , nor worship them : of which undoubtedly the sense is , ( says the doctor ) they shall not be in any wise the object of that worship , which thou performest in a religious way — for the second commandement certainly is a declaration of the mind of god touching religious worship . let us understand one another ▪ that we may not have any cavil about words . the catholick church no where commands us to call the honour exhibited to saints and their images , a religious honour or worship . but , with the doctor 's good leave , why may there not be some intermediate kinds of worship , between a divine , and a meer civil worship ? why may we not say , that such was the worship , which was given to the ark ? which abraham gave to the angels ? and which we are all commanded to give to the name of jesus ▪ nay , why may we not add , that the honour and respect of the knee , which is given to god-fathers , and god-mothers is such , as being not founded upon any bare relation of blood , or any meer natural , or civil excellency , but given wholly upon a spiritual account ? and how is it proved , that such an intermediate honour as this , may not securely be given to saints , and their images ? let the doctor find out a suitable name for it , besides that of religious , and we shall not stand upon terms with him , but freely speak his language . but if nothing will serve his turn , but that religious and divine worship must be all one . then we utterly deny that we are in any wise concerned in his objection : for we give no such religious worship to the saints themselves , much less to their images . and i shall show in my ▪ answer to his eighth chapter , how weakly and disingenuously he makes use of the second council of nice to make out his charge against us . the eighth conclusion , scorning to be behind the seventh in point of scholarship , loudly proclaims , that to erect temples , altars , images , or to burn incense to saints and angels , to invoke them , or make vows to them , and the like is plain idolatry . this conclusion for its proof appeals to the testimony of four false witnesses , to wit , the third , fourth , fifth , and sixth conclusions ; and as such , i justly except against them . the ninth ; religious incurvation towards a crucifix or the host , or any image , as to an object , and not a meer unconsidered accidental circumstance , is idolatry . this conclusion having thus coldly drawn up an enditement against us , pleads its evidence out of the seventh and eighth conclusions ; and so leaning upon two broken reeds , falls to the ground , where i am sure , neither reason or authority wil ever stoop to take it up . we are now arrived at the tenth conclusion , where we are told , that to use on set purpose , in religious worship , any figure or image only circumstantially , not objectively , but so as to bow towards it , or to be upon a man's knees before it , with eyes and hands devoutly lifted up towards it . — yet this even taken in its most favourable circumstances , is a most wicked and impious mocking of god ; says the doctor . and he adds , that if the image be the object of these postures and incurvations , ( as it seems to him plain , and beyond all questioning that it will be so ) then he says it will be idolatry . to this i return , that i hope the ethicks cannot be offended with me , no more than divinity can be able to reprove me , if i say , this conclusion gives god the lie , and makes him the approver , commander and rewarder of sin , even idolatry it self . for god promised a reward to prayer made in the temple , 2 chron. 7. 15. where notwithstanding there were graved angels or cherubims upon the wals . and he commanded his people to adore the ark , over which were cherubims or angels of image-work ; where the worshipper could not possibly make his addresses , but he must needs bow at lest circumstantially , though not objectively towards an image . and yet pray'r , even thus circumstanced , was approved , commanded , and declared by god himself rewardable . now this is the very posture , both for act and object , which cannot down with the doctor , but he must needs have it to be idolatry ; and his most charitable gloss upon the action , can afford it no name , under an impious and wicked mocking of god. whence if reason may be allowed to make the inference , the doctor 's tenth conclusion must needs be found guilty of giving god the lie , and making him the approver , commander , and rewarder of sin , even the sin of idolatry . having thus made our way through all the doctor 's ten conclusions , the reader may please to observe , how far he forgets himself , and over-runs the title of his chapter , insomuch that he scarce ever faces about to it from the beginning to the end : for whereas the title promised to deliver , what idolatry is according to divine declaration ; and that he himself makes his boast in the end of this chapter ; to have abundantly convinced the church of rome of multifarious idolatries ; if they will stand , says he , to divine definitions , or the declarations of holy scripture in this point ; yet on the contrary 't is evident , there are not even so many scripture-quotations , in this point , as may make up so much as a duall number . the only way then for the doctor to make out the title of his chapter , and his vapouring rodomontado against god's church , is to deify his own conceptions ; that is , to make his own word pass for the word of god , and his authority for divine . and then truly we have no reason to be offended at him , for taking upon himself so kindly that very imputation , which he seeks no less weakly than injuriously to pin upon the doctrine and practice of the church . the second section . in answer to the doctor 's second chapter . this chapter , compared with the former , is but a second part to the same tune : longer in words , but as weak in performances to the full , as its predecessor . the title promises to declare , what idolatry is according to the determination of clear and free reason ; and this in 25. several conclusions . his first , second , and third conclusions quite digress from the charge in hand , showing what a grievous sin idolatry is : which is much more largely and learnedly declared by our own authors , and readily granted by us , with this further allowance , that if he can fix the crime upon us , with any shew of reason , we shall freely acknowledg our guilt to be of a double dye , to what it was in the jew or gentile . the fourth and fifth , tell us that idolatry necessarily involves in it , ignorance , or mistake , in the act of worship , or the object . the fifth advances a step further , and concludes very abruptly , that because all idolatry involves in it some ignorance or mistake ; therefore no ignorance or mistake can excuse from idolatry : very learnedly : from the fourth and fifth , the doctor makes a long stride to his one and twentieth conclusion , where he peremptorily concludes , that because mistake does not excuse him from idolatry , by conclusion the fourth and fifth , therefore the adoration of any object , which we out of mistake , conceive to be the true god , made visible by hypostatical union therewith , is manifest idolatry . thus he . but let us put the case , that some christian , contemporary to christ our lord , whilst he so journed upon earth , had through meer mistake , adored some other person , for christ : here the query arises , whether this man's error would have pleaded his excuse , i , or no ? the reformed churches of france , in their apology by daille ' declare for the affirmative . and truly reason seems clearly to be on their side . for what reason or equity will condemn a loyal subject , who intending an address to his prince , should take hephestion , for alexander , a peer for his soveraign , and so make tender of his allegiance to another person , whom he innocently mistakes for his prince ? let us parallel the two cases . as this loyal subject's address is intended only to his prince ; so the christians address in the instance above-said , is directed only to jesus christ . in both these cases there intervenes an error of fact : both the religious and civil worship being misplaced as to the circumstance , though not as to the object . and why this error should be imputable , either to treason in the one case , or to idolatry in the other ? or , why more to idolatry in the one case , then to treason in the other ? is that , which it will concern the doctor to speak to , if he means to maintain his conclusion . and till he hath done this , he shall never be able to prove , what he aims at in his 22. conclusion , that any idolatry is committed though it should so fall out , through inadvertence , or any other accident , that an unconsecrated , or untransubstantiated host , were exposed to the veneration of the people : for as no adoration is here due , so none is intended , but only to jesus christ , adorable where-ever he is . the 6th . 7th . 8th . 10th . 11th . 12th . 13th . 14th . 15th . 18th . and 24th . conclusions talk big against invocation of saints . but the best speaks amongst them are the 8th . 10th . and 12th . the eighth leads the van in these terms : any actions , gestures , or words , directed to any creature as to an object , which naturally imply or signify either the incommunicable or incommunicated eminencies of god , is the giving that worship , that is the right and due of god alone ; to that creature , and that injury against the divine majesty , which is termed idolatry . then follows the tenth , and in a high and mighty language speaks thus : an omnipercipient omnipresence , which does hear , and see whatever is said or transacted in the world , whether considered in the whole , or as distributed into terrestrial , celestial , and supercelestial ; not only all these omnipercipiences , but any one of them is a certain excellency in god , and for ought we know , incommunicated to any creature . the twelfth brings up the rear with an ergo ; if omnipresence or omnipercipience , at lest terrestrial ( if not celestial ) be not communicated to saints and angels by god , the invocation of either is palpable idolatry . behold then the doctor 's argument . invocation implies an incommunicated excellency in the saints ; viz. an omnipercipient omnipresence , at lest terrestrial , if not celestial ; and so communicates that right to them , that appertains only to god. ergo invocation of saints and angels is palpable idolatry . now if we can but acquit our selves handsomely in a fair return to this argument , all the rest that is to be found in the abovesaid 11. conclusions , will amount to no more than meer empty and insignificant nothings . we may consider then the state of the church , with reference to different circumstances of time . the one wherein it was a question amongst the orthodox , whether the saints entred into heaven before the day of judgment , or were confined to some other place of rest , excluded from the beatifick vision ? and this was not fully determined till the council of florence , which council cleared the point , defineing that the souls of the dead , as soon as cleansed from all sin , are received into heaven , and see god clearly , as he is in himself . now as for those elder centuries before the council of florence , they held invocation of saints , for an undoubted truth , though some of them doubted , whether they heard our prayers or no ; because no church-definition had as then ascertained them of their full beatitude . let venerable antiquity speak for it self by the mouth of a saint austine , who in his book de cura pro mortuis , c. 16. speaks thus . this question exceeds the reach of my judgment , how the martyrs relieve those , who are certainly assisted by them ? whether they are pre●ent by themselves , at the same time , in so many several places where the benefit of their succour is received ? or being retired from the conversation of men , in some place proportioned to their merits ▪ and there interceding for the relief of those that call upon them , as we pray for the dead , who are not really present with them ; and know not how they are , nor what they do : god omnipotent and ever present , hearing the prayers of the martyrs , grants to men by the ministery of angels , those helps where he will , when he will , and how he pleaseth . thus b. s. austine . here we have it from an undoubted work of this great saint and doctor , ( owned by himself in his retractations ) first , that invocation of saints was the constant , avowed practise of those elder and purer days . secondly , ( contrary to the doctor 's 15th . conclusion , and all his pharisaical scruples . ) here is a sure and certain ground of this invocation ; to wit , unquestionable , ancient , and immemorial possession , and the often experienced benefit of it by those , who addressing themselves to the holy martyrs mediation , were ( says s. austine ) certainly assisted by them . thirdly , that the saints presence , at the same time in so many several places , ( which is equivalent to the doctor 's terrestrial omnipercipient omnipresence ) does not at all in saint austine's opinion , either imply an impossibility , or entrench upon any of the divine excellencies ; for then he would certainly have rejected it , which yet he does not . fourthly , waving this omnipercipient omnipresence , s. austine renders it easily intelligible , how the saints might ( even without that , and without their hearing our prayers ) relieve those that called upon them : viz. god omnipotent and ever present hearing the prayers of the martyrs , and granting to men , by the ministery of angels those helps — when he will , where he will , and how he pleaseth . out of all which , i deduce this inference , which is home to the point , that , if s. austine be to be credited before dr. more , it is good and profitable to invocate the saints , though we knew not whether they heard us or no. and till the doctor can prove the contrary , his main hypothesis upon which he builds , ( to wit , that an omnipercipient omnipresence is the only ground of invocation of saints ) is fundamentally subverted , and all his vapouring pretences of idolatry , end in smoke and fancy . this which i have already said , renders invocation of saints maintainable , though it were not certain they heard us ; which yet is most certain from their blissful vision of god , not gain-said even by protestants : for if devils appear , and assist witches and sorcerers upon their invocation , shall we deny this to the saints in glory ? the saints are as the angels of god in heaven , mat. 22. 30. and of the angels 't is written : see you despise not one of these little ones , for i say unto you , their angels in heaven always see the face of my father which is in heaven : mat. 18. 10. and again , there shall be joy in , heaven upon one sinner that doth pennance , luc. 15. 7. why therefore cannot the saints hear our prayers , as the angels see the contempt of one of those little ones , and as those in heaven see the repentance of a sinner ? the schools indeed may freely dispute how this is done , and every one may freely abound in his own sense , and offer their several modes and ways ; and learned dr. more , may ( as he does , p. 23. ) in calling them all extremely ridiculous , render himself no less ridiculous in his weak censure ; and when all this is done , the uncertainty of the manner does not argue against the certainty of the thing it self : for it is a fixed uncontroulable maxime in the principles of christianity , that , potest constare de re , quando non constat de modo rei ; and he who denies this , may with equal ground except against the mystery of the incarnation , together with the incomprehensibility of the unity and trinity of god. in the next place follows the ninth conclusion , which was left behind , as a stragler from the rest of the flock , being owned by none of its next neighbours as any thing akin to them , and speaks thus ; that the using any of those actions or gestures , or doing any of those things , that the true and supreme god did chuse and challenge in the setting out the mode of his own worship , towards or in reference to any creature , as to an object , is idolatry . because such a mode of worship does thus manifestly appear to be the peculiar right of god , which none can transfer to another , but god himself . thus the doctor . let us then state the question , whether any of those exterior actions or gestures , which god did chuse in the setting out the mode of his own worship , for example , incurvation or bowing down the body may be exhibited to a creature without idolatry ? no , replys the doctor . let us now take this conclusion for granted , and see what will be the sequel . the using any of those actions , or gestures , says he , that the true and supreme god did chuse and challenge , in the setting out the mode of his own worship , towards , or in reference to any creature , as to an object , is idolatry . but according to his sixteenth conclusion , incurvation of the body is one of the actions , or gestures , which god did chuse , in setting out the mode of his own worship : ergo , incurvation towards or in reference to any creature , as to an object , is idolatry . now i subsume : but abraham used this incurvation towards men , and angels , gen. 18. and 23. and the beloved disciple of jesus reiterated the like incurvation towards an angel , apoc. 22. 9. i shall leave the ( ergo ) to the doctor : for the premises being his , i shall not envy him the glory of the conclusion , which makes abraham , and saint john idolaters . the 16th . 17th . 19th . and 20th . talk much of a symbolical presence , and incurvation towards it . whereof the 16th . refers to the ninth , and has its answer there . the 17th . that the pagans worshipping their demons , though not as the supreme god , by symbolical presences , &c. become ipso facto idolaters . to this i have already answered , shewing that the pagans gave the worship and title of deities to their demons , and therefore became ipso facto idolaters . the 19th . defines magisterially ; that incurvation in way of religion towards an open or bare symbolical presence , be it whatever figure or image , as to an object , is flat idolatry . here i would gladly know of the doctor , why he calls a figure , or image a symbolical presence , but only because the image is a sign or token , signifying or representing the person , whose image it is ? then i enquire further , whether ( for the same reason ) the name of a person , be not a symbolical presence in its kind , as well as the image ? forasmuch as both of them are signs or tokens representing the same thing , with this only difference , that the image represents it to the eye , the name to the ear ? and why then , may we not bow to the image of jesus , as well as to the name of jesus ? or how can the one be condemned of idolatry , but the other must incur the like brand ? the 20th . harping still upon the same string of a symbolical presence , will needs maintain , that religious incurvation towards a bare symbolical presence , wittingly and conscientiously directed thither , though with a mental reserve , that they intend to use it meerly as a circumstance of worship , is notwithstanding real idolatry . to me this conclusion seems big with a spirit of contradiction , as being manifestly against scripture , against the practice of the church of england , and lastly against dr. more himself . that it is clearly against scripture , ( besides what i have said in my answer to the last conclusion of the first chapter ) is sufficiently evidenced from the incurvation the scripture commands to the name of jesus ; which is as much a religious incurvation , as any we give to those symbolical presences , called images . that it is against the practise of the church of england , and proves that all protestants , who kneel at the eucharist are idolaters , i conceive to be no less manifest : for protestants in their communion acknowledge [ see the protestant rubrick after communion . ] no corporal and real , but a bare figurative and symbolical presence of christs natural flesh and blood . and religious incurvation towards a symbolical presence , being real idolatry , according to the doctor : what follows by a clear sequel , but that all protestants , who bow the knee at the eucharist , are idolaters ? and if the protestant-communicant , in his vindication , chance to fly to a mental reserve , and allege for his excuse , that he uses it meerly as a circumstance of worship ; and that his intention terminates not in the symbolical presence , but looks up to the person of jesus christ ; the doctor will smilingly tell him , ( for they are his own words in the like case ▪ concl. 19. ) that direction of our intention here is but a jesuitical juggle , and that the using it meerly as a circumstance of worship , is idolatry ; and so he cuts him off from that plea , and leaves him without all excuse . thirdly , that it is against the doctor , i appeal to the doctor himself , by bringing his 16th . and his 20th . conclusions face to face . the 16th . openly avoucheth , that the erecting of a symbolical presence with incurvation thither ward , was declared by the supreme god , the god of israel , one of the manners of worship due to him . the 20th . runs counter , and stifly presseth , that religious incurvation towards a symbolical presence ( without exception of any ) wittingly and conscientiously directed thither , is real idolatry . these two conclusions , as i conceive , do thwart each other no less , than if he had said in direct terms : all religious incurvation towards a symbolical presence , is idolatry : not all religious incurvation towards a symbolical presence , is idolatry : for the 20th . is a universal affirmative , and maintains the first ; the 16th . implies no less , than what is asserted in the second . the 22th . and 23th . conclusions weakly cavil at the adoration of the host , as idolatrous either in catholiques or protestants . but these petty niblers at the most blessed and ever adorable sacrament shall have their answer in the next chapter , where the doctor treats this subject ex professo : only here i add , that for protestants indeed to adore the sacrament , who believe no corporal presence of christ there ; but that the sacramental bread and wine remain still in their natural substances ( so speaks their abovesaid rubrick : ) would be the like crime , as for an unconverted jew to adore jesus christ , in whom he believes not . but what is this to the doctor 's purpose ? both the jew and the protestant lie under the prejudice of an erroneous perswasion , which upon application to rational and sound motives , may and ought to be deposed . in the 25th . and last conclusion , the doctor starts a pretended objection against his charge of idolatry in the adoration of the eucharist , and overflows whole pages in answer to it . but the catholique church makes no such reply , nor stands in need of any such vindication of her doctrine and practise . and therefore i leave the doctor to the pleasure of his own thoughts , raising his aery castle with one hand , and beating it down with the other . and so i pass on to the third section . the third section . which answers to the doctors third chapter . the title of this chapter delivers it self in these terms ; that the romanists worship the host with the highest kind of worship , even that of latria , according to the injunction of the council of trent , and that it is most gross idolatry so to do . it had been ingenuous in the doctor , whilst he states catholique doctrine , to speak catholique language . the council of trent ( even as quoted by himself ) mentions not the host , but only the adoration of the blessed sacrament , or ( which is the same ) of jesus christ in the sacrament . which is a quite different thing from that uncatholique expression of worshipping the host : for catholick principles own nothing of the host to remain after consecration , but the species or symbols . nor does the council enjoyn the worship of latria to the symbols , but to jesus christ veiled with the symbols . in this chapter , the doctor pretends to undeniable demonstration ; which , if we take it summ'd up briefly , and girt up in his close and convictive method , gives us this brisk assault . transubstantiation is a meer figment and enormous falshood ( so he speaks , p. 49. ) ergo the adoration of the eucharist is palpable idolatry . the greatest part of the chapter is spent in proof of his antecedent . the consequence he conceives no less then evident : because if the doctrine of transubstantiation be false , then the cultus latriae is exhibited to a meer creature : and costerus the jesuit sticks not to grant the sequel ; viz. that if our church be mistaken in the doctrin of transubstantiation , we ipso facto stand guilty of such a piece of idolatry , as never was before seen or known in this world. i answer : first , as to costerus , the doctor deals not fair●y with him ; for costerus does not so much as name transubstantiation in that place . secondly , the doctor , both here and elsewhere boasts much of costerus his concession , but wholly mistakes the ground of it . costerus argues thus ; if in the sacrament of the eucharist the true body of christ be not contained , christ has dealt unworthily with his church , as having abandoned , and permitted her to fall , and continue for fifteen hundred years together , in such error and idolatry , the like to which was never seen nor heard of , and all this , by occasion of his own words . here is the ground of costerus his concession : if the true body of christ be not in the sacrament of the eucharist , christ had dealt unworthily with his church ; and by consequence would not be the true christ ; and therefore the adoration of the eucharist , would be , not only a mistake , as to the circumstance , but also as to the , object ; there being no such adorable object in the world , as a true christ , according to this supposition , and so the cultus latria would be exhibited to a meer creature . wherefore , to gratify the doctor , if he can but prove his antecedent , that transubstantiation is a meer figment , and enormous falshood , i shall not at all dispute his consequence with him , but willingly grant as much as costerus to the full . he begins then , and undertakes to evince by undeniable demonstration , that the doctrin of transubstantiation is false . for , says he , thus the body of christ will be in god knows how many thousand places at once , and how many thousand miles distant one from another . whereas amphitruo ( says the doctor ) expostulates with his servant sosia , and rates him for a mad-man or impostor , that he would make him believe , that he could be in two places at once . this indeed is a fair demonstration that dr. more is acquainted with plautus his comedies , and can ( when he pleases ) descend from the divinity chair to a piece of unseasonable mirth and stage-drollery . but let this pass , as a pleasant skirmish before the main charge . in the next place he musters up all the arts and sciences , logick , physicks , metaphysicks , and mathematicks , against us , to prove that one body cannot be in two places at once . his first evidence is drawn from the physicks . it is a principle , says he , of physicks , that that internal space , that a body occupies at one time , is equal to the body that occupies it . now let us suppose one and the same body occupy two such internal places or spaces at once . this body is therefore equal to those two spaces , which are double to one single space ; wherefore the body is double to that body in one single space ; and therefore one and the same body double to it self ; which is an enormous contradiction . to this objection , i answer : respicientes ad pauca facile definiunt . the doctor reckons here without his host . you say , mr. doctor , 't is a principle in physicks , that the space which a body occupies , must be equal to the body that occupies it . but what physicks tell you , that a body in one place , occupying a space equal to it self , cannot possibly at the same time be elsewhere , without occupying there any place at all ; ( that is ) be present there , without a local presence ? and if this can possibly be , your physicks are quite struck dumb , and your demonstration blown up from its very foundation . now that this supposition is more than meerly possible , is clear from the common opinion of the learned , who maintain that actually the supreme heaven occupies no place . secondly , allowing the doctor his own supposition ; that one and the same body , at the same time occupies two different places , equal to it self . what follows ? therefore first , ( replies the doctor ) this body is equal to those two spaces , which are double to one single space . therefore 2dly , the body is double to that body in one single space . and therefore 3dly , one and the same body is double to it self . i deny all these three therefores ; which are no more than meer empty paralogismes . let us examine the first inference ( of which the two others depend ) concluding from the bodies being in two places at once , that the said body is equal to those two spaces . what needs that , mr. doctor ? it is enough that in each of those two spaces , it be only equal or commensurate to that determinate place it there occupies ( suppose of six cubits ; ) and in neither of them , equal or commensurate to a space of 12. cubits . but yet further , admit the body were made equal to those two spaces , which are double to one single space . how does it follow from hence , that the body is double to it self ? let us suppose a body of one cubit , rarified to its double dimension of two cubits . will philosophy allow this inference for current ? viz. this body is now equal to two places , which are double to a place of one single cubit . therefore the body is double to that body , in the place of one single cubit ; therefore double to it self . what answer you give to this instance , will serve for an answer to your own argument . again , let us take a rational soul , informing a body a span in length : then let us suppose the same body grown up to two spans , and still informed by the same soul . behold now another parallel of the doctor 's argument . this soul is co-extended and commensurate to two spans , which are double to one single span ; therefore the soul is double to that soul , which was under one span ; therfore double to it self . is not this rare divinity ? let the doctor show a material disparity in these two cases , or else acknowledg the inconclusiveness of his own objection . but he may please to remember , that the places being continued , or discontinued , in one or the other case , will nothing avail him , unless he can demonstrate , that which the schools will not easily subscribe unto ; to wit , that each subject ows its unity , to the unity of place ; and not to its own intrinsick essence . thus much in answer to his physicks . in his second objection , the metaphisicks are up in armes against us , in defence of their great maxime ; that the notion of unum , is to be indivisum a se , as well as divisum a quolibet alio . the first part of which maxime seems to be manifestly infringed by us , putting a possibility of one bodies being in more places at once : for in this case , the body will be divisum a se , and both unum and multa . thus the doctor . and i shall crave the favour to return my answer in the same language the objection speaks . to the first then , i reply thus : it will be divisum a se secundum substantiam ; i deny it . it will be divisum a se quoad locum ; transeat . then secondly , i deny , that it will be unum & multa ; but only unum in multis : one and the same in many places . secondly , i answer to the objection , that the doctor here rowles the same stone , and relapses into the same error , which was reproved in the former objection , as building upon a false and ruinous bottom ; for he supposes that essential unity is derived from the unity of local presence , and not from the intrinsick principles of the subject : for unless we grant this supposition , it will not follow , that the same body being in divers places at once is divided from it self , any more than it is divided from its intrinsick principles , which it can never be by plurality of local presence , they being wholly extrinsecal to the subject . thirdly , i answer , that both this , and the precedent objection are of pernicious consequence , as putting armes into the hands of infidels , to attempt against the mistery of the ever adorable trinity . for , as the doctor argues , that if one body can be in two places at once , it will follow that the said body is double to it self : so it may be concluded with ' greater plausibility by the antitrinitarian , that if one and the same divine nature , can be in three distinct persons at once , it will follow that the same nature will be treble to it self . and as he objects that from the hypothesis of one bodies being in divers places at once , the sequel will be , that the same body will be divisum a se , contrary to one piece of a metaphysical principle ; of the notion of unum , being indivisum a se : so may the antitrinitarian object with a more close logick , that from the hypothesis of one nature being in three distinct persons , the sequel will be , that the same nature will be divisa a se , and also not divisa ab aliis ( because really identified with three distinct persons ) which is contrary to the whole metaphysical principle of the notion of unum , being indivisum a se , & divisum a quolibet alio . and if there be any disparity in the case , it is wholly on the antitrinitarians side , and to his advantage . the doctor 's third objection is from the mathematicks . i shall give it verbatim from his own pen. the council of trent saying , that in the separation of the parts of the species ( that which bears the outward show of bread and wine ) that from this division , there is a parting of the whole , divided into so many entire bodies of christ , the body of christ being always at the same time equal to it self , it follows that a part of the division is equal to the whole , against that common notion in euclid , that the whole is bigger than the part . the reader may please to take notice that the doctor here gives us his own paraphrase for the words of the council . now to the objection . surely the mathematicks , which lent the doctor this notion , never gave him commission to abuse his borrowed principle by so unskilful a misapplication : for his argument is this : it follows from the council's doctrine , that a part of the division is equal to the whole , contrary to the generally established notion of the mathematicks , that the whole is bigger than the part. i answer : the argument is meer cobweb stuff ; half an eye is enough to look through it : for these words of the doctors ( that a part of the division is equal to the whole ) either refer to the species ( and then it is false that a part of the division is equal to the whole ) or they point at the body of christ ( and then the words are de subjecto non supponente : ) for there is no division of any part of christ's body from the whole . his fourth objection is from logick . in logick ( says the doctor ) it is a maxime , that the parts agree indeed with the whole , but disagree one with another . but in the abovesaid division of the host or sacrament , the parts do so well agree , that they are entirely the very same individual thing . and whereas any division , whether logical or physical , is the division of some one into many , this is but the division of one into one , and it self . my answer to this is , that i may with much more reason say , that this and the precedent objection is but the division of one into one and it self . for this is the same in effect with the former , and requires no new answer . because these his trifling expressions , if applied to the separated species , are false ; if to christs body , then they proceed upon a false supposition ; as hath been declared in my answer to the third objection . and therefore logick hath great reason to take it ill at the doctor 's hands , for making her instrumental to such an illogical discourse . but the doctor distrusting the strength of his logick , calls in his metaphysicks again to her relief , and gives us a fifth and mixed objection from logick and metaphysicks . transubstantiation , says he , implies that the same thing is , and is not at the same time . for that individual thing , that can be , and is to be made of any thing , is not . now the individual body of christ is to be made of the wafer consecrated , for it is turned into his individual body . but his individual body was before the consecration . wherefore it was , and it was not at the same time . which is against that fundamental principle in logick and metaphysicks , that both parts of a contradiction cannot be true : or that the same thing cannot both be , and not be at once . thus far the doctor in his own expressions . now before i answer his objection ; there are two or three particulars deserve a cursory reflection . and first a knowing reader cannot chuse but smile to see , ( can be ) or a capacity of being brought in for a piece of an argument to prove that a thing is not : that individual thing that can be ( says the doctor ) and is to be made of any thing , is not . secondly , it is here observable , how fondly the doctor plays the confident dogmatizer , asserting as evident ( for in this chapter he professedly pretends to evidence an undeniable demonstration . ) that that individual thing that can be and is to be made of any thing , is not . as if forsooth it were evidently demonstrable , that that individual thing , which is to day actually in being , could not possibly be destroy'd , and made anew again to morrow by a second generation . for if this be absolutely possible , it will be false to day to utter this proposition : ( that individual thing that can be , and is to be made of any thing , is not . ) and is not this rashly to fetter god's omnipotency , and to go about to wrest a power out of his almighty hand , which he may have , for any thing the doctor knows to the contrary . thirdly , it is pitty to observe his words in the next proposition . the individual body of christ , says he , is to be made of the wafer consecrated . which implies as much as if the water were the material cause of christ's body . what philosopher ever spoke thus unphilosophically ? yet to make amends , he immediately contradicts himself , and adds , that the wafer is turned ( or converted ) into his individual body . which is a much different thing from being made of the wafer . but the particle ( for ) goes beyond wonder . the individual body of christ is made of the wafer consecrated ( mark the word ) for it is turned into his individual body . which is a piece of as learned non-sense , as if he said in open terms , because the wafer is turned into christ's body , by a total conversion , which excludes a material cause ; therefore his body is made of the wafer by generation , which requires a material cause . thus unfortunate are the acts and sciences , when they engage against god's church . i come now to his argument . transubstantiation , says he , implies that the same thing is , and is not , at the same time . this i deny . first , because physicks have rendred it probable , that a thing which actually is , may be reproduced , without losing its actual existence . and if we should say , that christs body is thus reproduced in the sacrament , it will not follow , that the body of christ is , and is not at once : to wit , before the consecration : but only that it is by a first production , and is not by a second production , till after the consecration . secondly , i will assign the doctor another way , whereby to evade his contradiction : for as in nutrition and augmentation , when new matter is added to the body , ( by conversion of our food and sustenance into flesh ) the soul presently begins to inform this new matter . and there is no need of producing a new soul , which was not before ; but only the soul begins to be , where it was not before : so when the host is converted into the body of christ , no necessity enforces us to grant the production of a new body , which was not before , but only that the body begins to be , where it was not before . let the impartial reader now judge what great cause the doctor had to cry victory before his time , and so manfully to word us down , and conclude hector-like , as he does ; that nothing could be more fully and entirely contradictious , and repugnant to all sense and reason , to all indubitable principles of all art and science , then this figment of transubstantiation : so that any one ( says he ) that is not a meer bigot , may be as assured that transubstantiation is a meer figment , or enormous falshood , as of any thing else in the whole world. i wonder whether they be not as meer bigots , with the doctor , whoever believe the mistery of the holy trinity . for let him but compare the mysteries of transubstantiation and trinity together , and then he shall be to me more than a great apollo , if he can shew that there is any thing more fully and entirely contradictious , and repugnant to all sense and reason , to all indubitable principles of all art and science , in the first mistery , then in the later . and that any one who is not a meer bigot may be more assured , that transubstantiation is a meer figment or enormous falshood , then trinity . and i desire him to instance in particular by what argument he has attempted to conclude the impossibility of one bodies being in divers places at once , which is not emboldened from hence to lift up its head much more plausibly against the unity and trinity of god , to evince the impossibility of one divine nature in three distinct persons , really identified with each person , and yet most strictly one in essence , undistinguish'd and undivided from it self . if dr. more would proceed as every good and well-grounded christian ought to do , he should rather make the seeming impossibility of these two mysteries an argument of their being true and divinely inspired doctrines : for so we may rightly say in respect of both ; the more incredible , the more credible . that is , by how much the more incredible these mysteries are , if we only consult our senses , and the bare sentiments of the natural man ; by so much the more credible it is , that there lies a divine revelation at the bottome ; and that no art , perswasion , force , or any thing else in the whole world , but a divine authority , could ever have wrought so firm and general a belief in the hearts of men of such high and transcendent objects . the fourth section . containing an answer to the fourth fifth and sixth chapters . in the entrance of the fourth chapter the doctor falls foul upon the council of trent , for teaching , that the saints raigning with christ offer up their prayers for men ; and that it is good and profitable humbly to invocate them , and to fly to their mediation , aid and succour , for the obtaining of god's blessings , through jesus christ his son. this the doctor terms making the saints the more exactly like the pagans dii medioxumi , and the demons that negotiated the affairs of men with the highest deities . now to prove that this kind of invocation of saints is down right idolatry , and by consequence that we are worshippers of false gods , he conjures up a spirit , which for its many names , and bad qualities , may well be termed legion : viz. the 3d. 4th . 5th . 6th . and 8th . conclusions of the first chapter . as also the 5th . 7th . 8th . 10th . 11th . 12th . 13th . 14th . 15th . and 24th . conclusions of the second chapter . but i hope my answer to these conclusions , in the first and second section of this discourse , will prove exorcism enough to lay this foul unclean spirit of calumny , and silence its impertinencies . in the rest of this fourth , and the two ensuing chapters , the doctor acts a new person : for laying aside his former conclusions and demonstrations , he trades now wholly in quotations , languishing about questions and strife of words . i shall not be so discourteous as to give him the apostles text after the protestant translation . amongst these quotations we are to meet with a great dearth of reason : three entire chapters having much ado to furnish out matter for one argument , and that a poor one too , god knows . his business is to lay down , and amuse his reader with a number of set formes of invocation of saints , which he pretends to be egregiously idolatrous . yet scarce ever mentioning the churches publique prayers , as her liturgys , litany , canonical hours , pontifical or ritual ; he plays at small game and serves in the gleanings of his own observation , picked up here and there , out of several books of devotion ; as the rosary of our lady , the mary psalter , and others : importing ( as he glosseth upon his text ) that the romanists in their prayers to saints ( especially to the blessed virgin ) ask of them such things as are only in the power of our great saviour and redeemer christ to grant : such as are , to protect us from all evil , and from all the frauds of the devil ; to grant us strength , courage , and patience ; spiritual illumination of the soul , and purgation thereof from the filth of sin ; to comfort and support us in the agony of death , and to conduct us hence into eternal life . lastly , he recounts some particular addresses to the blessed virgin mary , under the title of saluatrix , as begging salvation of her , with a domina salvum me fac : o blessed lady , save me . from whence he deduceth these consequences , as the bounteous overflowings of his pen. that we ask such thing ; of her , as are in the power of none but of jesus christ as he is god , to grant : that we make the eternal god-head as hypostatically united with the virgin , as with christ himself : that we make her a she christ , and the daughter of god , in as high a sense , as christ is his son. as to the fidelity of his quotations ( having not the books at hand to examine them ) i can neither accuse nor acquit him . but i shall allow him all the fair play in the world , by supposing , his allegations to be true , and freely taking them upon trust ; though his carriage hitherto gives us no great cause to suspect him guilty of too much candor in that kind . let us then single out one of the most harsh-sounding forms of invocation , that is to be found throughout all the three chapters : and if that , which is seemingly the unsoundest ( nay virtually includes all the rest ) and grates upon a christian eare with the greatest show of offence of all others , may yet admit of an orthodox sense , and this by clear warrant from holy scripture ; then i hope the rest , which are not so seemingly injustifiable as this , may in all reason be excused from that odious epithite of idolatrous , and i from the labour of all further apology in their behalf . and there is no form of invocation produced by the doctor of a higher or harsher strain than this , wherby salvation seems to be begged of our lady , saying , domina salvum me fac . blessed lady save me . but , why must this form needs be idolatrous ? must the flower which yields a wholesome juyce to the industrious bee , needs be bad , because the venomous spider turns it into poison ? hony soit qui mal y pense , is an useful piece of morality in things of ambiguous construction : for in this case , the evil is only to him , that evil thinks . and it is very possible that he who makes this form of invocation a piece of his litany ; domina salvum me fac . blessed lady save me . may think no more evil in it , nor be in any more danger of committing idolatry thereby , than saint paul was , when writing to the romans ( rom. 11. 14. ) he uttered these words : if by any means i may provoke to emulation , them which are my flesh , and might save some of them . or , when he speaks to the corinthians in this sort ( 1 cor. 9. 22. ) i am made all things to all men , that i might save all : or , as you read , that by all means i might save some : which is all one , as to our present purpose . conceive now that some humble and well meaning suppliant had made his applications to the apostle in this very form of prayer ; holy apostle save me . what idolatry had it been to petition saint paul for a favour , which he professed himself both ready and able to grant ? for here the apostle cleerly supposeth in himself not only the will , but the power of saving souls . but in what sense ? not in the quality of a god , but as instrumental to their salvation by his prayers and preaching . so that ( holy apostle save me : ) had signified no more , then , holy apostle teach me the way of salvation : or , holy apostle pray for my salvation . say now the same in our case ; that as saint paul had upon earth , so the virgin hath in heaven the like , or a greater power of saving souls , by her patronage , prayers , and mediation : her dignity and place ( as mother of god ) affording her a neerer access to the throne of grace , and if the words of the abovesaid invocation be expounded in this manner ( as taking our measures from the apostles own words and meaning ) it will be one and the same kind of address , to say ; blessed lady save me : or , blessed lady pray for my salvation . and so all the forms of prayer assigned by the doctor taken in the sense of the apostle , will amount to no more than a meer ora pro nobis . now whereas the doctor was pleased to discharge his vollies of calumnies against us , upon the account of this , and the like formes of invocation ; let him turn his paper-pellets against the apostle , and discharge the overflowing of his gall upon him , as assuming to himself a soul-saving power in the texts abovesaid ; and he may please to tell him ; that hereby he takes upon him to do such a thing , as is in the power of none but jesus christ , as he is god , to do ; that he makes the eternal god head as hypostatically united to himself , as with christ ; and so makes himself a second christ , and the son of god , in as high a sense , as christ is his son. the inference is equally concluding , either in both cases or neither : and therefore it shall be at the doctor 's choice , either to clear us , or condemn the apostle , with whom we shall not fear to stand , or fall . the fifth section . which is , in answer to the three next chapters . in the beginning of the seventh chapter the doctor lays down the doctrin of the council of trent in these termes . that the images of christ , of the blessed virgin , and other saints are to be had and retained in churches , and that due honor and reverence is to be done to them . here the doctor gives us a learned antithesis , between the commandement of god , and the decree of this council . thus much , says he , as the council of trent has declared touching images is plain and open idolatry by the seventh conclusien of the first chapter , and expresly against the commandment of god , who forbids us to make a●● graven image to bow down to , or worship . but the council of trent says , yes , ye may make graven images of the saints , and set them up in their temples , and give them their due honour and worship ; nay , ye ought to do so ; and instances in the very act of bowing , or kneeling and prostrating our selves before them . the like rhetorical flourish he uses against the second council of nice in the next chapter . but how weak , frivolous , and pharisaical this antithesis is , i have sufficiently declared in my answer to the second , and seventh conclusions of the first chapter . he goes on , saying , that this definition of the council is so palpably against the commandment of god , that they are fain to leave the second commandement out of the decalogue , that the people may not discern how grosly they go against the express precepts of god , in their so frequent practises of idolatry . this charge from the pen of a divine looks something more than strange ; having been so often answered , and yet no notice taken of the answer , nor any reply made to it . that the commandements are ten , we have scripture for it , exod. 34. 28. deut. 4. 13. but that any part of the decalogue , which our catechismes leave out , is one of the ten , the scripture is not yet in beeing , by which it can be made out . the scripture indeed delivers the decalogue unto us in the twentieth chapter of exodus , ( which we own to a tittle ) but doth not divide and parcel it out so punctually unto us , but that orthodox divines ( even saint austine and saint hierome ) have been divided amongst themselves about the division of it . as for these words ; thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image , or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above , or that is in the earth beneath , or that is in the water under the earth : thou shalt not bow down thy self to them ; nor serve them . these words i say according to our school-men ( following herein the opinion of saint austine ) do make but one with the first of not worshipping other gods . hereupon divers of our catechismes , as being abbreviations of christian doctrin , fitted to the weaker memories of the vulgar , leave out the abovesaid words , together with divers others which follow in the fffth and sixth verse ; as also others belonging to the commandement of keeping the sabboth , in the ninth , tenth , and eleventh verse . now as our catechismes leaving out these last words , through meer condescendence to the capacities of the ignorant , are not , nor cannot justly be censured by protestants , as omitting any one commandement of the decalogue : so , before the doctor could rightly charge us with leaving out the second commandement , he ought at lest to have gone about to prove , that that which he calls the second , is really a distinct commandement from the first : and that the understanding is not the same , whether we divide the precepts of the first table into three , or into four commandements . this he absolutely omitting to do , his charge proves a meer calumny , and bearing false witness against his neighbour . and so whilst he pleads for his second , he very uncharitably breaks his ninth commandement . thus far the doctor having discharged his passion against the council's doctrin , his next exception is against the ground , or reason of the said doctrine : for wheras the council declares , that due honour and reverence is to be done to images , because the honour done to the image is referr'd to the prototype , or thing represented . against this , the doctor argues in this sort . this reference , says he , is either in vertue of that similitude the images have with those persons they represent : or else this reference ( without any regard to personal similitude ) is from the direction of the intention of the devotionist . then he supposing that neither of these ways are maintainable , he infers that by no means , can the honour done to the image be referr'd to the prototype , or thing represented . now that this reference is not in vertue of the similitude the images have with those persons they represent , he proves , first , because it is oftentimes uncertain , whether there be any such similitude of figure betwixt the image and the prototype . secondly , it may so happen , that the image may be more like something else , then it is to the prototype : for example , the image of a saint , may possibly be like some sinner , in which case this wicked person will intercept the honour due to the same . thirdly , no images can be like the saints , who are now separated souls . fourthly , what terrestrial image ( says the doctor ) can possibly represent him , that is truly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , god-man , and is not the object of our adoration , but as he is this divine complexum , as well of the divinity , as of the humanity . to the argument i answer , that this reference is in vertue of that similitude , which the image hath with the prototype , as including the direction of the intention of the devotionist , ipso facto , that he is supposed to be a rational agent . and therefore the doctor 's disjunctive dilemma is very vain and defective . to the first of the four proofs , my answer is , that the honour done to the image may be referr'd to the prototype , though there be no personal similitude of figure betwixt the image and the person it represents . for besides the similitude of figure , there is another similitude , which the doctor , if he please may call a similitude of signification ; the image signifying the dignity , quality , or other perfections of the prototype : thus , though there be no personal similitude of figure , betwixt god and man , yet man was made after the image and likeness of god , gen. 1. 26. and he who honours man , as he is the image of god , honours god in his image . and therefore , if where there is no similitude of figure , surely much more where there is a specifical similitude of figure , the honour done to the image , may be referr'd to the prototype ; as it happens in the case of the images of christ , and his saints . to the second i answer , that the case the doctor puts is more than possible : for it did actually so fall out in the images of the angels or cherubims over the ark , which ( if we regard personal similitude of figure and feature ) were more like some material and terrestrial beeings , then those incorporeal intelligences ; and yet the honour done to them was referred to the prototypes . whence it appears that it is the similitude of signification , more than the similitude of figure and feature , which draws the honour after it . my answer to the third is , that our images pretend not to represent the saints , as devested of their bodies , but only according to their former state under the church militant , with some additional marks of a crown , or lawrel , or some such significative representatives of their triumphant state in glory . yet , under favour , why may not an image be like a separated soul , as well as like an angel or cherubim ? if any one reply , that according to the principles of the late revived platonick philosophy , angels have their bodies , and why may not those bodies have their images ? such a replyer may please to reflect , that ( besides that no one ever yet got a sight of those angelical bodies ) α the same principles allow unto souls separated and discharged from these gross terrestrial elements , the like aerial or aetherial vehicles with angels ; and therefore under this notion , either both , or neither of them , are capable of an imagery representation . to the fourth , i answer , that the doctor 's question , either comes to nothing , or to something worse than nothing , which is at lest indirect blasphemy : for , if a terrestrial image can possibly represent that person , who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 god-man , then the doctor 's query falls to nothing . but if a terrestrial image cannot , then neither can a terrestrial eye represent that person , who is truly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 god-man ; and so the apostles , whilst living , did never see that person , who was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , god-man ; which is no less than blasphemy , and so worse than nothing : implying that that person , called jesus christ , whom the apostles daily beheld with their eyes , was not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 god-man . having done with the council of trent , the doctor begins to pick quarrels with the second council of nice , pretending the doctrine of this council touching the worship of images to be grosly idolatrous ; and to this purpose he produceth divers objections , which it were a sin against logick to call proofs ; so little there is of manly reason in them . but because he gives us not the councils own words , but contents himself with instancing in one or two weak arguments of his own molding , which he would gladly father upon the council , we shall not wrong him so much , as to rob him of the child of his own brain , till he pleases to take the pains to prove it to be none of his own . nor doth he end here , but whereas the council relates some miracles in favour of the due honour given to the images of christ and his saints , these he most profoundly confutes by an unanswerable laughter : from laughing , he immediately falls a louring ; and the reason is , because this council declares that it is lawful to burn candles , incense , and perfumes in honour of the saints before their images , which he in an angry mood concludes to smell rankly of idolatry , even ( says he ) by the authority of grotius himself upon the decalogue . good doctor , deceive not your self . grotius was no papist , as you seem to imagine . and if you will not believe me , take it upon trust from your good friend doctor pierce against baxter . as for us , we have nothing to do with such amphibious heads , such self-divided humorists , halting on both sides , as grotius ; as if grotius his single word were of weight to counterballance the authority of a general council . after this he produceth the collections of photius in justellus , and adds that according to these ; one would think that they meant ( the fathers of this second council of nice ) the cultus latriae to the image of christ ; they using the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as if that worship , which was done to the image passed through to christ himself , which would not be suitable to him , if it were not divine worship . here is a discourse indeed , wherein all conformable sons of the church of england are concerned : for if an intelligent protestant be asked , whether , when they bow the knee at the eucharist , ( which to them is a bare figure , or symbolical presence ) the church of england intends this act of worship to terminate in the figure , or to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and pass on to christ ? if it be answered , that this worship is absolute , and rests in the bare figure , then doctor more 's twentieth conclusion of his second chapter concludes them absolute idolaters . but if they profess their worship in this case not to be absolute , in respect of the sacramental bread and wine , but relative , and to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and pass on to christ , then the doctor may please to address his abovesaid argument to them , in his own terms , and say ; one would think that they ( that is , all conformable protestants kneeling at the eucharist ) meant the cultus latriae to the figure , or symbolical presence , they using the word ( or at lest the sense of ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as if that worship which is done to the figure or symbolical presence passed through to christ himself , which could not be suitable to him , unless it were divine worship . let him , i say , turn this argument against his own brethren ; and i leave it to him and them to debate the point . his next pretence is to prove positively by the testimony of photius , that this council gives the worship of latria , to the image of christ ; and such a kind of worship to the images of the virgin mary , and the rest of the saints , as that while we adhere to their images or statues , we are declared to be made fit for , and to be vouchsafed a tactual union with god himself . this done , he insultingly tapers up , and tours himself over us , with a double interrogatory . can any thing , says he , more inflame the souls of men with that mystical lust after idols , then the doctrine of this nicene synod ? what philtrum more effectual to raise up that idolomania , that being mad and love-sick after images and idols , then this ? thus the high-flown doctor walks in wonders above himself . but why all this lavish of a passionate rhetorique ? the doctor had plaid his master-prize if he had given us all this rable in the councils own words . but instead of that , he feeds upon reversions at second hand , takes his quotations from photius ( a person of as much credit , as himself ) and makes photius the paraphrast and interpreter of the councils meaning . but what if the council say no such thing ? nay , what if the council deliver the quite contrary doctrine ? how blank then will the doctor 's charge look , upon the discovery of such disingenuity ? and truly had the doctor but taken so much as a cursory survey of catholique authors on this subject , he might have found them frequently and truly quoting this very council , act . 7. to prove that the image of christ is not to be honoured with the worship of latria : but that such honour and reverence is due to images in general , as is to the books of the gospel , and the holy utensils of the altar . now therefore whereas the doctor was pleased to ask ; what philtrum more effectual to raise up that idolomania , that being mad and love-sick after images , then this ? we shall give him leave to take to himself this idolomania and love-sick humor after the images of his own fond conceptions , and the idol of his own fancy : for therein , and in nothing else consists the main of his charge against us . next follows the ninth chapter , the title whereof looks big , and speaks thus . the meaning of the doctrine of the council of trent , touching the worshipping of images more determinately illustrated , from the general practise of the roman church , and suffrage of their popes , whereby it is deprehended to be stil more coursely and paganically idolatrous . it cannot be denied , but here is a fair flourish of words . but the question is ; quid dignum tanto tulit hic promissor hiatii ? mark the words ; ( from the general practise of the roman church . ) and yet instead of the said general practise of the roman church , he begins with the particular and generally rejected speculation of saint thomas and saint bonaventure , both of them declaring ( as the doctor words it ) that the image of christ is to be worshipped with the worship of latria . good doctor , there is a great difference between is , and may be . the one implies an obligation , the other a bare permission : and you produce no proof of any such obligation asserted by these holy doctors ; each of which was too much a divine to be ignorant what idolatry is , and too much a christian to commit it . now indeed that the image of christ may be worshipped with the worship of latria ( though expresly contrary to the doctrine of the second council of nice ) is the commonly supposed opinion of saint thomas , and saint bonaventure . who , as they never mention , so in all likelihood they never saw the said council , nor the eighth general synod , both of which lay concealed from the world a long time , and we owe the publishing of them , only to the later and more inquisitive discoveries of the precedent age. it is hard to say what was the meaning of these two doctors : for when they come to unfold their assertion , they wind about , and enter into such nice distinctions , as requires a long acquaintance with , and deep insight into the schools , only to understand , much more to foil , and confute them . wherein dr. more might very much oblige the world , if he pleased to engage upon such a task , as a noble essay of his speculative faculty . after saint thomas , and saint bonaventure , comes in azorius the jesuit , he also affirming ( as the doctor pretends ) that it is the constant opinion of the theologers , ( so the doctor calls them ) that the image is to be honoured and worshipped with the same honour and worship , that he is , whose image it is . which ( says the doctor ) is not unlike that of the council of nice , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in the foregoing citation . here is a proofless accusation , which the learned call a calumny , whereby azorius is made the author of a great untruth , without any the least allegation to evidence the charge . as to the tenet , which the doctor speaks of , it is far from being the constant opinion of our theologers ; whereas 't is now generally rejected by them , unless limited by that restriction and qualifying distinction of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which the doctor either forgot , or purposely omitted , in his long translation out of photius , in the last chapter , though it was the only material word in the whole citation : for divers indeed ( taking this restriction along with them ) teach that the image may be honoured and worshipped with the same honour and worship with the prototype ; not univocally but analogically , as the schools speak ; which comes to a meer verbal contest , and in reality imports a much inferiour kind of honour done to the image , than what is due to him in his own person , whose image it is . i shall briefly open the distiction . as a man and a lion differ specifically : so a painted man , and a painted lion differ no less . whence it is , that the painted man is reduced analogically to the species of man , and not to that of a lion : no more than the painted lion , to the species of man , so that a man , and a painted man are ( though not univocally ) yet analogically the same . now , says our doctors , look what proportion the painted man holds with the man himself ; the like comparison is to be made between the honour exhibited to the painted man , and the man himself , or to the picture , and the prototype . and therefore as the man , and the painted man , are analogically the same : so the honour done to the painted man , and the man himself , or to the picture and the prototype , are ( not univocally but ) analogically the same . thus do gabriel , and some others interpret saint thomas , and saint bonaventure . if the doctor understand the distinction , and like it not , he hath his christian liberty to impugne it . if he understand it not , he may do well to lay down the cudgels , and leave these great divines to themselves and their speculations , and not to obtrude their school-niceties upon us , as part of our churches faith , or practise ; whereas he himself acknowledgeth in the beginning of this chapter , that the council of trent never mentions any such worship of latria due to the image of christ . and two general councils , the seventh and eighth , declare definitively for the contrary to what the doctor pretends : for , speaking of the veneration which is to be given to images , they compare it only with that reverence which is due to the books of the gospel , and the utensils of the altar . which are both of them to be honoured with due veneration ; the one , as signifying holy things ; the other , as consecrated to holy uses ; both which considerations joyntly concur in the images of christ and his saints . secondly , the doctor pretends , that the consecration and worship of images makes them perfectly as the idol-gods of the heathen , as octavius jearingly speaks of the heathen-gods , in minucius felix : ecce funditur , fabricatur , scalpitur , nondum est deus . — ecce ornatur , consecratur , oratur , tunc postremo deus est . behold it is clothed , or adorned , it is consecrated and prayed unto , then at length it becomes a god . and if this will do it , the church of rome's images will prove as good idol gods , as any of them all . here is a calumny indeed of the first magnitude , most uncharitably implying that the roman church prays to images , as the heathens did to their idol-gods . the best excuse for so foul a charge is the palpable grossness of it , whereby it may possibly be hoped , that no person , that is but one remove from a fool , can either believe the doctor , or think that he believes himself . thirdly , he inveighs against two particular forms of consecrating pictures , which he does not profess to have seen himself . but , says he , chemnitius recites them out of the pontifical he had read . here is a third proofless accusation , called a calumny : for chemnitius his word is no proof with us , who is a known sinon , a person of that tried integrity , as that he who never trusts him , shall be sure never to be deceived by him . fourthly , he brings a form of consecration of images , out of the roman rituall : grant , o god , that whosoever before this image shall diligently and humbly upon his knees worship , and honour thy only begotten son , or the blessed virgin , or this glorious apostle or martyr , confessor , or virgin , &c. that he may obtain , by his , or her merits and intercession , grace in this present life , and eternal glory hereafter . upon this prayer , the doctor descants after this manner . so that , says he , the virgin and other saints are fellow-distributers of grace and glory with christ himself to their supplicants before their images ; and that upon their own merits ; and for the service done to them in kneeling and pouring out their prayers before their statues or symbolical presence . thus far is the doctor 's charge who might have done well to have lent us his opticks , or else to have set down in capital letters that sentence , word , or single syllable in the aforesaid prayer ( which yet differs from that in the roman rituall ) whereby he pretends to infer his triple consequence . for , there is no such expression in the whole prayer , as grant o virgin ; or grant o saint : but , grant o god. how then do we here make the virgin and other saints fellow-distributers of grace and glory with christ himself ? much less do we make them fellow-distributers of grace and glory with christ , upon their own merits , who have no merits of their own , but such as flow from , and have their absolute dependance of the merits of christ . and lest of all are they here made fellow-distributers of grace , for the service done to them in kneeling and praying before their statues ; there being no such causall as that ( for ) specified at all in the prayer . fifthly , his weak eye-sight cannot endure the light of wax-candles , no more than his head the smoke of incense burning before the images of saints ; both which he pretends to be idolatrous . this he confidently affirms , but never offers to prove , and thereby proves himself guilty of a fifth calumny . as for temples and altars , i have already told him we erect temples and altars to god alone , reserving only a secondary honour or remembrance for the saints . i shall not foul my paper with taking notice of such unseemly brothel-language , as fills up his next page . it is enough to say , it is more than becomes a modest doctor . sixthly , he touches at some more gross extravagancies , which , says he , though they have connived at , yet they would be loth to own upon publick authority : such as the making images to sweat , their eyes to move , the making them to smile , to loure , look sad , to feel heavy or light , and the like . the doctor 's book would give me the lie , if i should term this any thing less than a calumny , for he brings not so much as any one single instance to back his accusation , charging our church with connivance at such unchristian impostures which have ever been the object of her sharpest censures , and most exemplar severities when-ever detected . lastly , he quotes a rhyme to the face of christ , called the veronica . but because this was no part of any ecclesiastical office , for which the church might be justly thought responsible , he teares a piece of a hymn out of the breviary , which he presents under the title of a blind devotion . o crux , ave spes unica , hoc passionis tempore ; auge piis justitiam , reisque dona veniam . then he runs division upon this text , in this sort . this , says he , must sound very wildly and extravagantly to any sensible ear. and yet the invoking any saint before his image , for aid and succour ( the image bearing the name and representation of the saint ) with eyes and hands lift up to it , is as arrant talking with a sensless stock , or a stone , as this , and as gross a piece of idolatry . if you had but added one clause more mr. doctor , which is every whit as well grounded as your own , you had done your deed , and changed your calumny against us into blasphemy against god : for , as you say , the invoking any saint before his image for aid and succour , ( the image bearing the name and representation of the saint ) with eyes and hands lift up to it , is as arrant talking with a sensless stock or stone , as this : so might you have added with no less colour of truth ; that invoking almighty god before the ark of the covenant , ( the ark being but a figure or symbolical presence , and of wood , and had in it the rod of aaron , and the tables of the covenant ) with eyes and hands lift up to it , was as arrant talking with a sensless stock or stone , as this which you object against the worship of images . as for the churches hymn , o crux ave spes unica ; i recommend to the doctor this following text of the apostle , 1 cor. 1. 18. for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish , foolishness , but unto us which are saved , it is the power of god. where the cross is figuratively taken for the person crucified , which is christ the power of god , expresly so called , v. 24. of the same chapter . wherefore as those , who preach the cross , may by an easy trope be said to preach christ crucified : so , allow but charity for interpreter , and those who speak to the cross , may without scruple be supposed to speak figuratively to christ crucified . so that the same interpretation which clears the apostle , will absolve the church ; and her apostrophe to christ crucified ( under the title of the cross ) shall pass for canonical , as long as this , and such like texts , shall continue in being , to pattern and patronize the expression . and therefore i end with this parallel of the apostle's text ; that as the preaching of the cross , ( so an address to the cross ) is to them that perish , foolishness ; but to us it is the power of god , and wisdome of god. the last section . concluding with an answer to the doctor 's last chapter . the doctor concludes his treatise with a hearty and vehement exhortation to all men , that have any serious regard to their salvation , to beware how they be drawn into the communion of the church of rome . so that this chapter may be fitly entitled , doctor taylour revived ; or a second dissuasive from popery . but after a different method : for doctor taylour is a person of a more refined and plausible insinuation : a smooth tongue and oyly expression , cloaking his many and great disingenuities , with fair glozing words , and an affectate strain of scripture-phrase , pretending to the power of godliness . but dr. more is a polemical man of a quite different temper . his fiery zeal wears no mask : his disputing is open railing ; and his arguments blustring words ; not always too much concerned whether true or false . witness the contents of this chapter ; whereof i shall give my reader a brief extract , drawn up in form of a homily , yet in the doctor 's own words , and charitable dialect . thus then begins the dissuasive . dearly beloved ; it is demonstrated as clear as noon-light in this present discourse , that the church of rome are idolaters . and therefore come out of her my people , that ye be not partakers of her sins , and receive not of her plagues . be not deceived , says the apostle , 1 cor. 6. 9. neither fornicators , nor idolaters shall inherit the kingdom of god. and those of the church of rome are bound to continue idolaters , as long as they live , or else to renounce their church ; and therefore they are bound to be damned , by adhearing to the roman church , unless they could live in it for ever . but because some protestants have declared for the possibility of salvation in the romish church , this piece of charity , in some of our party , they turn to the fencing off all imputation of idolatry from themselves , arguing thus : that no idolaters can be saved : but those in the romish church may be saved , according to those protestants opinion● ; therefore those in the romish church are no idolaters . but most assuredly in that some of our church do say they may be saved , upon a sincere and hearty implicit repentance of all their sins , ( wherein they include the idolatries and all other miscarriages , which they knew not themselves guilty of , by reason of the blind misinstructions of their church ) no more is given them by this , then thus ; viz. that they are saved by disowning of , and dismembring themselves from the roman church , as much as it is in their power so to do , and by bitterly repenting them that they were ever of that church , as such ; and by being so minded , that if they did know what a corrupt church it is , they would forthwith separate from it . — in which position , if there were any truth , it will reach the honest-minded pagans as well . i conclude therefore with the spirit of truth in the divine oracles , declaring the see of rome the seat * of satan , & their church a his synagogue ; the pope and his clergy b to be balaam the son of bozor , who loved the wages of unrighteousness , and who was the murtherer of christ's faithful martyr antipas ; to be c that woman jezabel , who calls her self a prophetess , but was indeed a sorceress , and a murtherer of the true prophets of the lord. to be also that false prophet d that is to be taken alive , and cast into the lake of fire and brimstone . to be that great city , that spiritually is call'd sodom and aegypt , e where our lord was crucified . to be the beast that has the horns of a lamb f but the voice of a dragon , decreeing idolatries and cruel persecutions against god's people . to be that babylon the great g the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth . this is mellifluous dr. more 's sweet harangue , with a long-winded , &c. too tedious to be inserted here . now i would gladly know what there is in all this discourse , which an ingenuous son of the church of england will not be heartily ashamed of , and even blush for the doctor 's sake . here is , i confess , stout railing , disingenuity more than is necessary for a doctor , and an ill-grounded and schismatical discourse , even admitting a protestant doctor for umpire in the case . as for our doctor 's dexterity in the learned science of railing , i envy it not ; nor hath the church of england any great reason to glory in it : for she may remember but too well , that in the black days of the late apostacy , when loyalty lay a gasping , and religious rebellion first took possession of the pulpit , she felt the smart of this language her self , whilst he was looked upon as the best man , and the greatest servant of the lord , who knew how to curse meroz the loudest ; and there are not wanting in this nation , those who can find a rome in england , to make meroz of it when they please . but his great disingenuity , in averring so peremptorily that no protestants allow us a possibility of salvation , but only in case of such a repentance , as implies an absolute renunciation of our religion , and its idolatrous doctrines and practises , by disowning of , and dismembring our selves from the roman church ; this i say , will scarce appear pardonable in the eyes of his fellow-doctors : for , first , arch-bishop lawd in his fam'd relation , § 35. expresly grants us this possibility of salvation ; and to clear himself , and shew that he is not alone , he cites bishop abbot , hall , hooker , field , and others , as concurring with him in the same opinion ; and this without any such renunciation of our religion , as the doctor pretends ; or disowning and dismembring our selves from the roman church . i cannot pass by mr. hooker's remarkable expression upon this subject , in his discourse of justification , § 17. for my part , says he , i dare not deny the possibility of their salvation , who have been the chiefest instruments of ours . secondly , besides the arch-bishop , and the above mentioned doctors , dr. potter . dr. hammond , and others glory much of the charitable principles of the church of england , and object want of charity to us , for maintaining , that protestancy unrepented destroys salvation . now if the objectors should retaliate , and say that popery unrepented destroys salvation , i would willingly be instructed by dr. more wherein lies the charity ▪ and moderation they boast of . thirdly , nothing is more current amongst them , when they are pressed with the crime of schism , then to return the charge upon us , from other grounds : saying , that as the donatists and luciferians were , so we are schismatiques , in cutting off from the body of christ , and the hope of salvation , other churches from which we are divided in communion . whence is evidently inferred , that those who make this objection , cannot cut us off from the hope of salvation , unless they mean to evacuate the force of their own proof , and fall into the pit , which they had digged for their neighbours . lastly , whereas dr. more makes the pretended idolatries of the church of rome the ground of his dissuasive from popery : that this method of arguing is absolutely schismatical ( even allowing the case to be ballanced in dr. thorndike's just weights , and ruled according to his measures ) dr. more may find abundant satisfaction in the first chapter of the abovesaid treatise . but , in regard i have mentioned so eminent a person , and member of the church of england , as dr. thorndike , i shall make bold to turn him into the l●sts , against dr. more . the antithesis of their doctrines is very remarkable ; for they run diametrically opposite one to another . dr. more affirms the worship of the host in the papacy to be idolatry . dr. thorndike ( ch . 19. ) denies the worship of the host in the papacy to be idolatry . dr. more holds that the placing and reverencing images i● churches , is idolatry . dr. thorndike ( ch . 19. ) holds that the placing and reverencing images in churches , is not idolatry . dr. more will have invocation of saints to be inexcusable idolatry . dr. thorndike ( ch . 16. ) excuses invocation of saints from idolatry . lastly , dr. more exhorts all men to separate from the church of rome , as idolaters . but dr. thorndike ( chap. 1. ) avows to all the world , that those who separate from the church of rome , as idolaters , are thereby schismatiques before god. when the two doctors are fully agreed upon these points , dr. more shall hear more from me , if he desires it . in the mean time ▪ i shall entre●t him to respit my pen for some other imployment . finis . errata . page 7. line 10. for where read there . pag. 9. l. ult . for tare r. bare . p. 14. l. 5. f genu . r. gent. p. 17. l. 1. f. scarce , r. scarce . p. 32. l. 9. f. speaks , r. speakers . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a97089-e180 isa . 46. psal . 115. habac. 2. acts 19. 26. venerabar , inquit , ô caecitas , nuper simulacra-in incudibus deos , & ex malleis fabricatos . — tanquam inesset vis praesens adulabar , & beneficia poscebam — deos esse credebam ligna , lapides ossa , &c. arnob. li. 1. contrae genv. α see lactantius l. 1. c. 14 , and 15. s. austine , l. 8. c. 26. de civit. dei. β euseb l. 3. praepar . c 2. s. austine in psal . 113. and lib. 4. de civit . dei , c. 10 and lib. 7. de civit. dei , c. 5. γ euseb . lib. 3. c. 3. praepar . and s. austine ubi supra . euseb . l. 5. praepar . c. 15 exod. 25. 18. 2 chron. c. 3. v. 7. ibid. v. 10. psal . 99. 5. 1 chron. 28. 2. costerus in enchirid. c. 8 de sanct. mo . sacram to . n. 10 protestants translate it , doting about questions . α see the ingenuous author of lux orientalis , or the pre-existence of souls , ( a happy pen , and worthy of a better subject ) and a great honourer of dr. more . council . 7 m. actio . 7. conc. 8 m. actio . ult . can . 3. * apoc. 2. 13. a apoc. 3. 9. b apoc. 2. 13 , 14. c apoc. 2. 20. d apoc. 9. 20. e apoc. 11. 8 f apoc. 13. 11. g apoc. 17. mr. thorndike in his just weights , and measures . of idolatry hammond, henry, 1605-1660. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a45420 of text r40543 in the english short title catalog (wing h555a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 129 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a45420 wing h555a estc r40543 19350281 ocm 19350281 108765 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45420) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 108765) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1672:13) of idolatry hammond, henry, 1605-1660. [2], 36 p. printed by henry hall ..., oxford [i.e. london] : 1646. attributed to hammond by wing and nuc pre-1956 imprints. "a london counterfeit"--madan, 1875. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. eng idols and images -worship -early works to 1800. a45420 r40543 (wing h555a). civilwar no of idolatry. hammond, henry 1646 21970 11 1440 0 0 0 0 660 f the rate of 660 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2005-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-03 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2006-03 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion of idolatry . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} oxford , printed by henry hall , printer to the universitie . 1646. of idolatry . § 1 as the judgements of other men have perswaded me to think it pertinent and seasonable to adde this one unto foure former disquisitions , with which it holds some analogie and cognation ; so the nature of the enquiry hath prompted and directed me to take rise ( as those former have done ) from the examination of the word , and that by observing the origination first , and then criticall peculiar importance of it among ancient writers , those especially of the scripture . § 2 to that end the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , idol , of which it is compounded , must first be viewed . and of that there is no question , but that in the literall notation of it , it signifies an image or representation of any kind , and accordingly in the old testament is set to expresse both {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} an image , or similitude , any kind of figure in generall ; and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a carved or graven image in specie , a statue of wood or stone , any kind of sculpture ; though the truth is , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is not the most ordinary rendring of either of these , but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} imago of the former , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} but twice , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} sculptile of the latter , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} but thrice . § 3 three words there are to which it is most ordinarily applied , 1. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a nothing that hath no being , ( to which saint paul referres when he saith an idol is nothing ) or if you please a no god , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} that hath no divinity , no power to help the client or worshiper ; parallel to that passage , deut. 32. they have provoked me {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} with that which is no god . § 4 secondly , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} gods , the many false gods of the heathens , by the greek seven times rendred {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} idols , unlesse perhaps it may be conjectured , that they which so rendred it in those places , mistook , or misread {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} gods ( which in other places they constantly render {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , at least two hundred times ) for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} nothings , vanities , which is very near in writing and sound unto it , and such mistakes are no great news in those translatours . § 5 thirdly , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} pollution , filth by which any man is contaminated ; this is rendred sometimes {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} abomination , but more frequently {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( idol ) then any thing else , which certainly referres not onely to the pollution of the soul by the commission of that sinne ( for by every other sinne some such pollution is contracted ) nor onely to that other notion of spirituall fornication , but principally to the abominable sinnes of uncleannesse , and filthinesse , which those idol worships were ordinarily guilty of , and from thence received a great aggravation and heightning of their guilt , and punishment . and to the same purpose the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} abomination , or filthinesse , ( and so most commonly rendred {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ) is sometimes {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} idol also . § 6 other words there are , that sometimes ( but more rarely ) are thus rendred also , as 1 {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( from whence the greek {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ) high places , the altars or temples of their false gods peculiarly , ( as may appear 1 macc. 1. 62. where {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the heathen altar was by antiochus set upon the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} or altar of the jews ) and these would be more properly rendred {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , idol temples , or altars , then {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} idols , and therefore perhaps in that one place ezek. 16. 16. where it is rendred {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , it may be a false print , for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , i am sure our english most properly renders it high places , and those are called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} not onely by the authour of that book 1 macc. 1. 50. but by saint paul himself , 1 cor. 8. 1. speaking of him that eateth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in a temple or other place where those false deities were worshiped . § 7 secondly , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} vanitie , from whence it is that the gentile-idol worshipers under the title of [ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ] all men , the generalitie of mankind ( or all the world but the jews ) are said to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , wisd. 13. 1. vain or idolatrous by nature , that is , either by birth born in that idolatrous age among those heathens ; or else by long , popular , nationall , oecumenicall custome , which is , saith galen , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} an acquired nature ; thus hath suidas interpreted the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} nature , that it is sometimes {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a chronicall evil custome , and instances in that place where saint paul tells the ephesians chap. 2. 3. that they had been by nature the children of wrath , ( as {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} children of wrath , signifies peculiarly gentiles , so ) the prime if not onely intent of that adjunct {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is ( as many circumstances in the context will convince ) that they were such idolatrous gentiles , either {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} by birth , ( born such gentile worshipers , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as the rest also of the heathen world was ) or else {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , by custome , by long popular habit of education , or ( which will unite both those senses , and more fully expresse the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ) by a long habit deduced from their very first being or birth , and so continuing till the time of their conversion ; customary idolaters , walking {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , according to the age or vicious custome of the heathen world , vers. 2. and the practices of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , infidels or unbelievers . and so will the word be best rendred , when the same apostle expostulates with the corinthians , 1 cor. 11. and demands whether {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( we render nature ) did not tell them , that it was a shame for a man {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which we render to wear long hair , but i conceive , would more properly ( according to the use of the word in the greek authours ) be translated to let the hair grow at length . if either of the interpretations be accepted , then sure {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} must onely signifie the custome and fashion of the place , or of the generality of men , or else birth , as that containeth in it the distinction of sexes , or in the mixt sense , an universall continued custome from their birth till then ; and not nature in the ordinary acception , or as it signifies the law of nature written in our hearts . for then not onely absaloms hair must be against nature , ( which yet the scripture charges not with that crime ) but even the vow and practise of samson and the nazarites , had been an unnaturall sinne . a later critick would have {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} be taken for braiding of hair , or making a dressing of it ( which i confesse the apostles argument in that place , and the mention of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a covering , would perswade ) but then still {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} must signifie ( though not onely a locall , yet ) an universall custome , such as hath designed and fitted distinction of attires to distinction of sexes , which it would be hard to impute to the dictate of nature in every mans heart , so that that should be thought to define what attire is naturall to a man , what to a woman , but is an act either of locall custome , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , ( which in this matter the apostle appeals to , vers. 16. against all disputers ) or else of universall custome of all nations , which he seems to plead in this place . but i conceive it without example in authours sacred , or heathen , that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} should signifie a dressing , ( whatsoever {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and other words of some affinity may be thought to do . ) the notion which at first i gave you will satisfie all pretensions both of the grammarian and the textuary , that it signifie to let the hair grow at length without cutting or poling it , that will satisfie the critick , for that is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} comam promittere , and to do so , there can be little reason assigned , unlesse it be in order to braiding it , or making a covering of it , on occasion of which it is that the apostle here saith , that it is an honourable or decent thing for a woman to do so , vers. 15. ( and the contrary for a man ) and not to do so is all one for her , as to be shorn or shaven , verse 5. and 6. and so that satisfies the textuary also . but this by the way , from this acception of the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} vanity , for idols , it is that rom. 1. 21. saint paul saith of the heathen , that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} they became vain , that is , fell to those impious idol-worships . § 8 thirdly , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} lords or husbands ( or as we retain the hebrew word in english , baalim ) 2 chron. 17. 3. jer. 9. 15. is rendred in the greek again {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , idols , and so clearly signifies those other heathen deities taken into a rivalry with the god of heaven . § 9 fourthly , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; we render it the sun-images in the margin , es. 17. 8. but whosoever considers the place , and ezek. 6. 4. will acknowledge that it signifies ( not the images , but ) the places of worship of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} that is , the sun , called by the greeks {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} & {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the places where the sacred fires were made in honour to the sunne , and the word is therefore by the targum rendred , isai. 17. 8. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} delubra , temples , ( a description of which is given us by benjamin in his itinerary , and by some of the rabbins , affirmed to have been first of a religious institution to god in thanksgiving for that glorious creature ) these i say are once rendred {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , idols , isai. 27. 9. but in other places {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , temples , &c. § 10 fifthly , the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( farre enough naturally from any such signification ) is rendred ezek. 36. 18. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , idols , and our english from thence have continued that rendring [ our idols ] where yet i conceive the hebrew should be translated [ their actions or inventions ] ( the word properly denoting any good or evil work or enterprize ) and the greek rendring may possibly have been a mistake of the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( from which before we had {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} for idols ) and then it will be the same in our english also . § 11 sixthly , the word , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} that signifies any cause of grief , of toyl , of frightfull passion , is often rendred {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , noting again their heathen gods , which used their clients exceeding ill , the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , daemons , the fear and dread of whom produced the greek word which we render superstition , and near of kin unto that , is a seventh {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which once is rendred {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} also , and from the origination of the word is justly rendred [ horrours ] in our margin , 2 chron. 15 , 16. § 12 once more the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} teraphim , those which rachel stole from laban , are rendred {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , idols , also , and seem to have been some images ( {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith josephus , images of his gods ) but as others guesse , images set to a certain position of the starres , with the figures of the planets upon them according to the custome of the syrians then , by which they were wont to divine ; not any thing like the cup , whereby say the egyptians of joseph , he divineth , for that i conceive was but a drinking cup , wherein he used to drink in those sacrifices by which he prepared to receive presages from god , ( and therefore i should render those words gen. 44. 5. [ with which he receiveth presages ] but astrologicall instruments , with pictures of starres upon them , which some conceive to have been so made , that they were able to speak sometimes , and then they will differ but little from the sun-idols even now mentioned , for those they say , by the operation of the fire , became vocall . § 13 this so particular wearisome trouble have i given the reader at the entrance , to give him occasion of observing that the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , idol , though it signifie an image , or sculpture , or representation sometimes , yet it signifies somewhat else besides that , particularly these two things , 1. the heathen gods under the notion of false ( together with the temples wherein they were worshiped ) 2. the same again , and their worships under the notions of filthy , unclean , and abominable . which two notions of the word ( that we may proceed a step further ) we shall now look on , as they were in order to worship , and that will open to us some entrance to a view of idolatry , or the worship of idols what it is . § 14 for the former , the worshiping of false gods , and images , i shall give you a brief narration of it out of the soberest of the jewish writers , maimonides l. 1. de idololatria . the first rise of idolatry is , saith he , to be referred to the dayes of enosh , when men ( taking notice how god had created the starres and sphears for the government of the world , and by placing them in so eminent a state seemed to mak them partakers of his honour , and used them as his ministers and officers ) resolved it their duty to laud , and extoll , and honour them , and taught others that this was the will of god , that we should magnifie and worship those whom he had preferred and dignified ( as a king would have his ministers honoured ) and that that is the honouring of god . vpon this foundation saith he , they began to build temples to the starres , to sacrifice to them , bow themselves before them , that by so doing they might obtain gods favour , and this was the ground of idolatry , not that they thought there was no god but the starres , but that they thought this worship performed to them to be the will of god . in processe of time false prophets arose , pretending messages from god , and directions for the worshiping of such or such a starre , nay for the sacrificing to all the host of them , building them temples , making pictures of them that might be adored by women , children , and all others ; and to that purpose they invented certain figures , affirming them to be revealed to them by prophesie , to be the images of such starres . thereupon men began to make images in temples , under trees , on the top of hills , and all men to meet and worship them , resolving and proclaiming that from those images all good and evil did proceed , and therefore in all reason they were to be feared and worshiped ; the priests promising all increase and prosperity as the reward of this worship , and prescribing of rules for the performance of it . after these , other impostours rose , that affirmed such a starre , or sphear , or angel , to have spoken to them , and prescribed their way and manner of worship ; in summe , it was generally spread over the world , that images were to be worshiped , each by a peculiar manner of sacrifice , and adoration , and the name of god was quite lost out of the mouth and minds of all men ; so farre as not to be acknowledged by them , but all sorts of people worshiped nothing but images of wood and stone , built temples on purpose for them , adored and sware by their name , and even the priests and wise men among them thought that there was no other god but those starres , &c. for whose sakes these images were made . as for the great god of this world no mortall knew him , save onely henoch , methusalah , noah , sem and heber , and so it continued till abraham was born , the pillar of the world . thus much maimon . and much more by way of story and observation . and what is thus by him observed of the heathens , is by others deduced as clearly for the idolizing of kings and great persons , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , men admired by their flatterers saith chrysostome : which besides the testimony of wisd. 14. 17. and aristotle met. 1. ( where he shews how admiration of great men and benefactours hath been the great principle of idolatry or men-worship ) is every where observable in the story of the romane cesars , no man dying without an {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or being made a god ; and then constantly the setting up of their statues in their temples , following as an attendant of it . § 15 many stages you see in this accursed progresse of idol-worship , before they came to images , and that last so prodigious a pitch , such a dishonouring of the deity , that the psalmist could not say any thing more reprochfull of the makers of them , and trusters in them , then that they were {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , like or equall to their gods . § 16 to this purpose there are three notable passages which i shall but mention , and leave to be viewd at large ; the one isai. 44. 13. to the twentieth verse ; and the other , wisd. 13. 11. and so to the end of that chapter ; the third , in the epistle of jeremy , shewing the ridiculous progresse of a knotty piece of wood into a solemne deity , and the irrationall senselessenesse of that worship , even in the judgement of heathens themselves , witnesse heraclitus , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , praying to inanimate things is like talking to houses ; and yet this madnesse the constant disease of those that had set up any other deitie but that of the onely true god of heaven , that ever adored any creature , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} rom. 1. ( not onely more , as we render it , but ) besides or except the creatour ; there being no stay for those ( that became thus vain to worship any thing but god ) no stop in their tumbling ( as maimon . phrases it ) to that deep gulf of impietie , the worship of the most inanimate mean creatures in the world . § 17 the truth is , maximus tyrius gives a more favourable ingenious account of this matter , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . that as letters were invented for the expressing of words , ( that so by the help of writing , the weaknesse of mens memories might be repaired ) so the images of the gods were provided to help the infirmities of men , in which they may lay up the names of their gods , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and the famous things that are worth remembring of them , and in brief to help them to celebrate their gods as they ought , as so many {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , help and manuductions for remembrance , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , signes and tokens of their honouring them , trophees as it were of their noble acts to perpetuate the memory of them . so that although , as he acknowledges , god be invisible to eyes , yet in respect of our infirmity , and again of the nature of lovers to love , to behold their pictures whom they love , it will not be amisse to use any thing that may thus bring us in mind of god , and all this with a caution , that nothing be terminated in the picture , but the love , and remembrance , and everything bestowed upon god onely . this is a piece of heathen divinity very handsomly managed , being indeed no pretence of plea for the worshiping of images , but onely the using them as helps to perform our duty to god ; but it is no news to see the actions of the many , and the writings of the few very unlike one the other . ( it being very easie to write virtuously , and hard to live so . ) and certainly the heathen practice was quite another thing then this platonick speculation ; and so much of the first and second notion of an idol . § 18 now for the other notion of an idol , as it signifies filthy or abominable , it will be worth observing , what the author of the book of wisdome saith of it in universum , wisd. 14. where after an enumeration of many other wickednesses in their {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , vers. 23. in their inhumane sacrifices and mysteries , he concludes with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} pollution , inversion of nature , disorder of mariage , adultery , and shamelesse uncleannesse , vers. 26. and at length concludes that the worship of the namelesse idols , or those not to be named , is the beginning , and cause , and end of evil ; all the villanies in the world the designe and speciall parts of those worships . § 19 to that purpose that i may not lead my reader into the heathen stories , or the relations made by the fathers in those tracts which they wrote against the gentiles , ( that excellent * set of bookes , which may serve any student for the isthmus , or {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or passage between the study of humane and divine learning ) i shall onely point to some passages in the sacred writ that look this way . 1. kings 14. 24. after the mention of the idols and groves follows that there were sodomites in the land , doing according to the abominations of the heathen , which the lord had cast out before the children of israel , which gives you moreover a view of the particularity of the sinne of the amorites and other nations , which provoked god to that fatall slaughter , and eradication of them , which is more fully set down , levit. 18. 24 , 25 , 27 , 28. and an expresse threat added from heaven , vers. 29. that whosoever shall commit any of these abominations shall be cut off from among their people . § 20 and perhaps it will not be unworthy a digression here to mark , that at the routing out of those nations , and the planting in of the jews in their stead , by way of covenant , the condition of that covenant being that they should fear the lord , and not walk in the wayes of those nations ) the signe or seal of that covenant was designed to be such as had a particular reference to these sinnes of the flesh , and denoted the amputation of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} superfluity of naughtinesse , which had been practised among those gentiles , and which would infallibly bring as certain excision upon them , ( if they reformed it not ) as was threatned by god to every male israelite that should continue uncircumcised . to the same purpose were all those laws and writes concerning legall pollutions , to bring them to the greatest alienation of mind , and detestation of this piece of heathenisme ; yea and one main part of the promise of god upon their obedience , viz. the multiplying of their seed ( which was so remarkable in that nation , that josephus mentions {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as the craft as it were , and speciall peculiar excellency of that people ) was a most naturall proper effect of the abstaining from those sinnes , and it is as clear that in our christian sacrament of initiation , the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the washing away the sordes of the flesh , had a propriety also to that , ( which is accordingly mentioned in the vow of baptisme , the forsaking of all the sinfull lusts thereof . ) but this by the way . § 21 so again , chap. 15. 12. the idols and the sodomites are mentioned together , and 2. kings 23. 7. the houses of the sodomites are cast down ; where there is also mention of the groves for those dark purposes , by which under that name of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} astarta seems to be designed . so when the babylonians made succoth benoth , what is meant thereby but the tents of venus , in which all the virgins were solemnly prostituted to the honour of that false deity venus , under the title of mylitta ? and so the prostitution of their daughters for the honour of their gods , which is mentioned not onely by herod . l. 1. and strabo l. 16 , but in the epistle of jeremy vers. 43. where the cords mentioned are undoubtedly the signes of their vows ( and obligation from thence ) to pay that sacrifice before they went . so isa. 57. 5. inflaming , or you that inflame your selves with idols under every green tree , noting that prostitution of men and women in the groves about their idol-temples , in honour of their false gods . and to instance in no more , it seems not improbable upon these grounds that the frequent expressions of the idolatrous practises of the jews by fornication , whoring , and the like , may be somewhat more then a trope or figure of rhetorick , having thus much of reality in it also : it being clear that this falling off to the heathen idols brought them oft to these heathen sinnes also ; as in the matter of baal-peor it is most evident . so rom. 1. 26. it is affirmed of the gentiles that as a punishment of those idol-heathen-worships god gave them up {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to dishonourable infamous affections , and a particular account of them is set down , vers. 26. women changing the naturall use , &c. and likewise men also {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} vers. 27. and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} vers. 28. guilty of those most reprochfull shames , and contumelies of nature . of which there was aboundant store in the eleusinia sacra , cybeles mysteries , venus , and flora's feasts , from which it will not be tolerable to repeat them . § 22 by this ungratefull unsavoury observation it will be possible to contribute some what to the illustrating of many places in the new testament , and particularly of the notion of idolatry there , ( for which advantage it is that this discourse hath thus enlarged it self . ) as first , eph. 4. 29. where speaking of the gentiles , he saith {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( that is , in hesychius's glossary ) who * giving over all labour , ( as idlenesse is the mother-sinne of the sodomites ) gave themselves up to lasciviousnesse , to work all uncleannesse {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , we render it , [ with greedinesse ] the word is interpreted covetousnesse in other places , but signifies not onely that , but all immoderate , and peculiarly inordinate unnaturall desire , not onely coveting of wealth , i say , but in aristotle any thing that is opposed {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} to equality , when any man will have ( {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ) above his portion . so in hesychius {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to denote the [ more then is due or ought to be ] whatsoever the subject matter be . so in lucian de calumn : pag. 844. the calumniator is described to be one that will have all his auditours to himself , will let no man else be heard , and for this he calls him {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and so democrates in his {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . defines {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} to be a speaking all , and not endureing to hear any body else : and the notion that i now speak of , applyed to inordinate lust , though it differ in the object , is the same in effect with this , a desiring and usurping , that which is not agreeable to his condition , sex , nature , &c. and of that we have a grammaticall ground in the hebrew word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifies covetousnesse and lust , and being oft rendred {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is once rendred {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} pollution , ezekiel 33. 31. where though our english reade covetousnesse , yet the sense directs otherwise , even to that which vers . 29. is exprest by abominations . of this i should not thus define , were not many places of the new testament eminently applyable to this sense , nor thus farre extravagate on this word , did it not much tend to the explaining and asserting the new testament notion of idolatry ▪ that now we are upon . § 23 in that rom. 1. 29. you have together in this matter {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , fornication , villany , ( not covetousnesse again , but ) inordinate desire and naughtinesse , and yet more evidently , coloss. 3. 5. where speaking of the gentile unbelievers , among their deeds that a christian is so carefully to avoid , the apostle mentions fornication , uncleannesse , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( i conceive , in salvians phrase ) passivity , evil concupiscence and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , sure inordinate desire again which is idolatry ( and this seems to me to have been acknowledged by saint cyprian , who ep. 52. will have [ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which ] referre to each of those foregoing names ) the interpretation of that heathen worship of theirs , for which the wrath of god cometh on the children of disobedience ( it seems again this was the sinne that brought that fatall destruction upon them ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , in which sinnes the colossians had sometimes walked when they lived {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , among the gentiles . so eph. 5. 3. let neither fornication , nor uncleannesse , or {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , inordinate desire be named among you , ( those nefanda , sinnes not to be named ) as becomes saints , as they are opposed to gentiles again . and so verse 5. every fornicatour , and unclean person , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , ( not covetous , but inordinate luster ) who is an idolatour . § 24 this may possibly be the notation of idolaters also , when the apostle saith , 1 cor. 10. 6. be not ye idolaters , as were some of them , as it is written , they sate down to eat and drink and rose up to play . for the greek {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which we render to play , may possibly referre in that place to those sinnes of uncleannesse . it is clear that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} doth gen. 39. 14 , and 17. which we there render [ mock ] and though {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} be not the word there used , yet the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} signifies both , and is the word used both in that place of genesis , and exod. 32. 6. from whence our apostle cites it ; and if comparing the story acts 7. 41. ( where it is said in this matter , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , they rejoyced in the works of their hands ) be apt to perswade any , that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} to play , is all one with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} to rejoyce , and so that both denote their dancing before their idol , it will be as obvious to replie that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} there used , signifies most properly the rejoycing at a feast luke 12. 19. and 15. 23. 24. 29. 32. and 16. 19. and so following , the offering of sacrifice to their idol , shall denote a sacrificall feast , and be all one with the eating and drinking here , but not with the playing that attends it : and so still the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} may probably be thus interpreted ; especially when in this place it follows immediately after {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} lusters after evil things , and is attended with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , neither let us commit fornication . &c. and from thence perhaps it is that verse 14. to his exhortation of flying from idolatry , he subjoyns verse 15. i speak to wise men , judge what i say ; not willing to adde more words on that subject . this is but a conjecture of which i am not confident . but no question , this is the meaning of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the abominable nefarious idolatries , 1 pet. 4. 3. of the fruitlesse works of darknesse , whereof christianitie made them ashamed of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , those things that were done in secret , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which it was a shame to name or speak out ; ( all one perhaps with the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the hidden idolatry in the councel of laodicea ) to which you may adde , 1 thess. 4. 3. this is the will of god , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , your purification , consisting as it follows in abstaining from fornication , &c. and after {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , in purification and honour ( as that is opposed to {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , dishonourablenesse , vilenesse , rom. 1. 26. ) not in the lust of concupiscence , as the gentiles &c. to which purpose it is the conceit of some learned men , that that which follows must be applied {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , verse 6. ( though our english reading look quite another way ) for so the context will enforce , verse 7. for god hath not called us , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , for uncleannesse , but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to or in purification . and so every of those words will bear , if it were now seasonable to insist upon it . and it is observable that isai. 57. 8. where the prophet speaks to the * adulterous apostate israel [ thou hast discovered thy self to others beside me , and art gone up , &c. ] the greek translatours have used these words , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , [ departing from me ] expressing [ the discovering her self to others beside me ] and by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} [ desiring more ] rendring [ the going up ] which may therefore seem to be set in that place ( according to the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} conscendit , ascendit , transcendit ) for [ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ] in the notion that we now speak of ; and then you see the sympathy betwixt {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , according to the dialect and idiom of those writers . so 1 cor. 5. 11. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , either fornicatour , or inordinate luster , or idolater . which cannot be applied to the worship of images , because he there speaks of christians in the profession at least , who sure did not then worship images , but might be guilty more probably of those carnall heathen uncleannesses , those impurities so solemnly used in the idol-worships . in which place , and the precedent verse under the generall word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , fornicatours , are specified {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the fornicatours of this world , that is , the gentiles , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; the inordinate lusters and idolaters again belong to that matter ; and so it is more then possible may the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} too , which we render extortioners , but may rather seem to signifie the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the rape or stealing of women or virgins , the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , 2 pet. 2. 12. preying on them ( the literall notation of the word from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , rapio , by which as by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is rendred ) and so i have observed the word to be used in constant . * harmenopulus , and may perhaps also in saint matth. chap. 23. 25. where {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is joyned with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , incontinence , and opposed to {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , cleansing and clean , verse 26. § 25 to this nothing can more clearly belong , then that mention of idolaters , 1 cor. 6. 9. being so joyned on both sides with fornicatours , adulterers , soft or effeminate defilers of themselves with mankind . and what if the phrase {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , rom. 2. 22. do so also , [ thou that abhorrest idols ] the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} seems to referre to those ( so frequently called ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , abominations ; whether ( those of the sydonians , and the like , that is , whether ) abominable sacrifies , killing , and offering their sonnes and daughters unto devils , or abominable sorceries , deut. 18. or abominable senselesse stupidity , in worshiping inanimate creatures , or abominable lusts in their idol-feasts , i shall not now define , but onely observe , that if we should applie it peculiarly to the last of these ( yet not excluding the rest ) the rationall importance of the place will bear it very well . thou that dost so detest and abominate those heathen villanies in their idol-worships , if upon that ground of zeal thou robbe and rifle their temples , wilt never be able to clear thy self . § 26 having gone through so many , there are but few more mentions of these words [ idolater or idolatry ] in the new testament , i shall briefly give you a view of them , gal. 5. 20. where of the works of the flesh , carnall sinnes there are in the front , adultery , fornication , uncleannesse , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( that foul sinne , which our translation renders here lasciviousnesse , but elsewhere shamelesse uncleannesse , wisd. 14. 26. idolatry , &c. all clearly of a making , if this notion of idolatry be accepted . so apoc. 21. 8. where among the eight severalls , to which the fire and brimstone old sodoms lot , is apportioned , you will find these five unbelievers ( a generall word for gentiles ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( we render it abominable , it is most probably in that place , and in that conjunction those that have been guilty of those {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , abominations , or bestiall sinnes , as apoc. 17. 4. you have {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the abomination and uncleannesse of her fornication , and so verse 7. fornicatours , and idolaters , and all liars , ( that is , i conceive all that are guilty of those false idolatrous worships ) and so again , chap. 22. 15. fornicatours , idolaters , and every one that loveth and worketh a lie , ( all those that delight in , and practise those false worships , which are called a lie , rom. 1. 25. ) and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} sorcerers in the front , either because that sinne was so ordinarily joyned to those other heathen impieties , ( as may appear by one eminent place , deut. 18. from the ninth to the thirteenth verse ) or upon a ground , which i shall have occasion to mention anon , of conjuring their gods by magicall ceremonies , ( {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ) to adjoyn themselves to the consecrated images . and all this under the title of the dogs that are without , that is , the gentile world of idolatours . § 27 thus in some latine fragments of polycarpus's epistle speaking of valens a presbyter of philippi , and his having committed somewhat utterly unworthy of that calling ( which is not there named , and perhaps by that may be rather guessed at what it was ) by his example he admonisheth others to abstain [ ab avaritia ] ( that sure was in greek , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ) from inordinate desires , [ & sint casti ] and be chast . adding , that whosoever did not thus abstain [ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ] ab idololatria coinquinabitur , & tanquam inter gentes judicabitur , will be contaminated by idolatry , and shall be judged as among the gentiles . § 28 i have now sufficiently importuned and tempted my readers patience with these observations , which might be thought very extrinsecall to the matter in hand ( especially as farre as concerns the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ) but that they tend immediately ( to which i designed them ) to that third and main importance of the word [ idol ] in the old testament ; and more then so , to the explication of the word idolatry ( and by the way , of many difficult passages ) in the new , so as to signifie those heathen basenesses , that christians were too apt to learn from the gentiles , when their image-worship was lesse tempting to them , and may therefore possibly be the vice , from which the apostle so dehorts his little children , that is , his new born babes in christ or gentile converts , that they abstain or keep themselves from idols , 1 john 5. 21. for there was ( as farre as we reade in scripture ) little of any other kind of idolatry in fashion among christians at that time ( unlesse perhaps the eating the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} may come under that title which yet saint paul prohibits onely in order to scandall . ) and that this was , not onely slyly and secretly ( but even avowedly and profestly ) you may see 2 pet. 2. which chapter being read and weighed in the originall , will appear to be almost wholly spent on this matter . i will give the reader a little light to it . § 29 there was it seems a villanous sect of false teachers ready to creep in among those christians , verse 1. bringing in {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} doctrines of destruction ; you will guesse what that means , if you mark what some ancient copies set in stead of that word which we render [ destruction , ] when it returns again vers. 2. for there the old manuscripts have {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} want onnesses , in stead of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} destructions . our english reades damnable heresies in the first place , and pernicious wayes in the second , but those are onely generally paraphrases which come not home particularly to the notation of the word , and therefore the margin of our books confessing that other reading , renders it verse 2. lascivious wayes , in the sense that now we contend for . this is further explained ( which convinces the discourse to belong to this matter ) by the sinnes of the old world , verse 5. and of sodom peculiarly , verse 6. by the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . verse 7. the conversation of those that observed no laws in their lasciviousnesse , such as did so grieve righteous lot in sodom , by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} lust of pollution or abominable desire , verse 10. by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . verse 12. we render it [ born to be taken and destroyed ] but it signifies rather in the active sense , that are made ad praedandum to prey , ( or catch and tear , so job 24. 5. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} by the greek rendred {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} to catch , is in the chaldee paraphrase rising up early to their prey ) and to corrupt , that is , good for nothing but to assault and debauch ( as ravenous beasts do use to prey upon ) all they meet with promiscuously ; and it is observable that the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which properly signifies those things which are taken and torn with wild beasts , ( because such were not to be eaten * lev. 17. 15. ) is by use enlarged to all forbidden meats among the robbins ( if the lungs of any thing have a hole in them , they call it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} &c. saith * elias levita ) and so by analogy is here made use of to denote those unclean prohibited acts , which are so to be accounted of among christians , as the cibus vetitus among the jews , and therefore it follows , that those that take pleasure in that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , such riotous actions as these verse 13. are called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} from the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} macula , spots and blemishes , ( such as among the jews made the sacrifice unclean ) defilers and polluters of those , with whom they do {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} feast or revell , in the end of that verse . so it is again expressed verse 14. by having eyes full of the adulteresse , and that cease not from sinne , intangling , unstable or unconfirmed souls , that is , new converted christians , having a heart {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( in the sense which before we gave of the word , and which belongs to it also verse 3. ) exercised with those inordinate lusts , that is , wholly employed on them ; which denominates them {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} children of a curse , that is , worthy to have a curse fall on them ( as the sonne of perdition worthy to be destroyed ) and ver. 15. by the way of balaam ( who we know brought the israelites to that sinne of uncleannesse with the moabitish women , and to the curse by that means ) by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} verse 18. that high pitch of vanity , or false idolatrous worship , as a snare to bring men to the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} &c. lusts of the flesh , lasciviousnesse , &c. ( with reference to the vicious heathen * conversation ) by a villanous licentiousnesse , verse 19. ( stolen in under pretence of christian liberty , but being indeed the basest * submission ) and by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the pollutions of the heathen world , that is , of the nations , or gentiles , verse 20. ( which the knowledge of christ was designed to turn out , but complying and mixing with it , was the vilest and most damning condition that could befall any , vers. 21 , 22. ) and at last by a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the most swinish wallowing in the mire of all uncleannesse . and if you would know who these unclean hereticks were , ( which christianized all the villanies of the old idol-worships ) referred to in this and other places of the epistles , i shall not positively define , but leave it indifferently between the gnosticks and the nicolaitans , the gnosticks covertly * named 1. tim. 6. 20. ( it seems they were then a creeping in at ephesus ) and profestly declaimed at tit. 1. under the title of the cretian evil beasts , and slow bellies , vers. 12. and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , polluted persons , vers. 15. and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} abominable , and such as by their works deny the faith , vers. 16. § 30 for , that these ( being called to {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} purification , and not to uncleannesse , that is , being by their conversion to christianity obliged to forsake those carnall lusts ) did abuse the grace of god ( that is , the light and mercies of the gospel ) to wantonnesse , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . jude vers. 4. ( which that it belongs to this matter in hand will appear by the parallel assigned them , vers. 7. ) that is , used it as an occasion to commit , or protection to continue in such sinnes , that they were guilty of strange prodigies of filthinesse , and retained in their sacraments some symbola of them , i had rather should be learnt from epiphanius , then from this paper . of them this is sufficiently known , that perswading themselves , that they were the children of god , they thought they might wallow in all filthinesse , and be no more polluted by it then the sunne beams by the dunghill on which they fall ; and against that doctrine of theirs it is that some interpret that of saint john [ that he which is born of god cannot sin , because he is born of god ] that is , cannot sinne upon that head or score , to signifie that their being born of god can be no patent or security for their sinning . § 31 as for the nicolaitans which had their names from nicholas the deacon in the acts , and their sensuall practices from his example ( as might appear by the vile passages that saint jerome and others relate of him ) i shall not need to say more then what we find mentioned of them , apoc. 2. as first , that their works were odious to god , vers. 6. then secondly , that it was a sect of doctrine among christians ( as odious as it was ) vers. 15. and it will not be unseasonable to pray , that god will keep all sectaries from the like . thirdly , that it was the same doctrine that balaam taught balaac to bring the israelites to a curse , when nothing else could do it . vers. 14. and that fourthly , not onely specified in the story to be whoredome with the daughters of moab , numb. 25. but in this place particularly mentioned {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , eating things offered to idols , and fornication ; it seems the former of those , the idol-feasts , was wont to be previous and preparatory to the latter , ( and saint hieromes relation of nicholas witnesseth the truth of the parallel ) and therefore of the seven precepts of the sonnes of noah , mentioned in the apostles councell in the acts ( required of all proselytes that came in to judaisme , and so by way of complyance at that time , prescribed to all the gentiles that became christians ) the two first were those of abstinence from meats offered to idols , and from fornication , acts 15. 29. and the former of them , vers. 20. called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the pollutions or abominable villanies in those idol-worships , as in hesychius {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is exprest by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , participation of their abominable ( or as he renders {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ) unclean sacrifices , and the second {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} fornication , being all one with the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} de retectione nuditatum , all uncleannesse in generall contains adultery , incest , and all unlawfull lusts . and that will give an account why those {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} should be so forbidden in the acts ( it seems for that danger of unclean sinnes so commonly annext to the idol . feasts , as will appear , psal. 106. 28. and numb. 25. 1. 3. ) and yet be counted of as perfectly indifferent things by saint paul 1 , cor. 8. viz. being separated from all danger of that unclean appendage . fifthly , of these nicolaitans works it is there added , that unlesse they be straight reformed , god will come quickly upon that church of pergamus , vers. 16. and that coming signifies a fatall blow , which was not onely observable to have fallen upon the seven nations , on sodom , ou most of the great monarchies of the world , for the revenge of this provoking sinne , ( idolatry thus heightned with this addition of villany ) but even more then one of those seven christian churches may be thought to have been involved in that guilt , and ruine ; even this of pergamus , and the next of thyatira , vers. 20. which sinne being described by jezabel making her self a prophetesse , and teaching and seducing christians , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to commit uncleannesse , and to eat things offered to idols , ( in the sence before mentioned ) and by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} depths of satan , vers. 24. she is said to have time given her for the reformation of this villany , vers. 21. and not making use of it , to have been delivered up to destruction , vers. 22. § 32 all this i have said , and might adde much more , to clear this truth , that there were such idols for new converts to take heed of , in those dayes , such carnall gospellers , that retained that part of the heathen idolatries , which flesh and bloud was most apt to be taken with , when the worshiping of images was cast out . and if that villainous piece of heathenisme which ( by gods desertion , and that thick long darknesse , ( wherein they lived ) lay before the coming of christ , as an hideous sinne at once and judgement on those barbarous times , cannot yet ( by sixteen hundred years of full light , and by all christs precepts for all kind of purity of the very heart ) be exorcized , or mortified amongst us , and if still our ears are open to every sect of hypoctiticall professours , though never so wild and ignorant , that brings any liberty , or proffer of carnality along with it , then sure is the title of christian but ill bestowed on us , we are still the grossest idolatours in the world ; and so are in all reason to expect the most exemplary punishments , which fell on them , be it the portion of sodom , a judgement rained down immediately , a kind of fire and brimstone from heaven , ( such are our strange , groundlesse , irrationall destructions wrought upon one another at this time , which no man living can tell from whence they came ; which is a sure argument that there is somewhat of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in it , either as that signifies the divine hand of god , visible in the judgement , or as {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} signifies also that * brimstony fire that comes with thunder ) or be it the judgement that fell upon the nations for those villanies , a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or finall destruction of a profane polluted people . § 33 having gone thus farre in our inquest on occasion of the origination and use of the word idolatry , especially in the old and new testament , and found somewhat meant by it in the new , which is not so vulgarly taken notice of , i shall desire to prevent a mistake , and do therefore professe not to have designed these observations to that end , that the sinne of idolatry so declaimed at in the scripture , should be thought to signifie nothing else , but those acts of villany in the heathen mysteries ; or because the worshiping of images is not so frequently spoken of in the new testament , that therefore it should be no sinne now under the gospell . that it is a grosse and provoking sinne in them that are guilty of it , there is no question , and the affirmation of text is clear , that there is no communication or reconcileablenesse betwixt the temple of god and idols , 2. corinth . 6. 16. and that the guilt of that sinne among the nations worshiping those sencelesse deities , was so great , that it provoked god by way of just punishment to deliver them up to those infamous vile affections . rom. 1. § 34 i shall now therefore proceed from the more criticall to the reall materiall part of the discourse , and inquire into the nature of that sinne , merely as it is a worship of idols , or images . in which matter you may first observe some considerable difference between the two sorts of resemblances , which have been usuall among men . some extantes , corporeall figures standing out , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , statues , graven images ; others onely representations , or pictures , painted on windows , tables , chalices , &c. the former of these were most used by ( because fittest for the turns of ) the heathens , being by them ( through the commodiousnesse and advantage of their bodily shapes ) conceived to be more capable of animation by those gods of which they were the resemblances . thus is it the known divinity of * trismegistus ( or some body in his disguise ) that statues or simulachra were the bodies of their gods , who by some magicall ceremonies of consecration ( whence it seems to be that , galath. 5. apoc , 1. 22. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} sorceries , are joyned with idolatries ) were forced to * joyn themselves to them , to animate them , to assume , and inhabit those earthen bodies as it were . to which fancie perhaps the apostle may relate , when he tels the christians that their bodies are the temples of the holy ghost , that god is powerfully in them , though not in those dumbe images . and * proclus relates it as their opinion generally , that the gods were by their favour and help present in their images , and thereon is grounded the old relation of the tyrians , who on a fear that apollo would forsake them , bound his image fast with golden chains , and that other of the athenians who clipt the wings of the image of victory , that she might not fly away from them . and so the sicilians in * cicero complaining that they had no gods in their isle , give this reason for it , that verres had taken away all their statues . and so the idol thus raised above its naturall pitch by bringing down some aethereall spirit into it , ( viz. the god whose image it was ) became a god in their opinion , and was thought able to hear , see , speak , help , do any thing that belonged to a deity . thus doth nero in suetonius pretend to know things to come by the instruction of such an icuncula or little image . so trismegistus tels us of speaking images , and historians the like of memnons statues , and so labans teraphim , being supposed to have had a spirit included in them , went for labans gods . and it is not improbable by the text that the israelites calf was by them thus counted of , as an image which upon aarons consecration was thus animated by god , and so fit to go before them , to be their conductour in moses absence , whom they knew to be moved and directed by god . § 35 it is clear , this calf , these gods as they call them , were by them desired to supply moses place , and though the conjecture be not improbable , that the figure of it was the same with the figure of a cherub ( which god after appointed to be in the tabernacle , exod. 25. 18. and of which it is possible aaron might then have some intimation ) as may appear by comparing ezek , 1. 10. with chap. 10. 14. where that which is the face of an oxe , or calf in one place , is the face of a cherub in the other , and the ground of this resemblance in reference to josephs providing for the egyptians , and also for his father and brethren in the famine ( whereupon his scutchion is said to be an oxe , agreeable to that prophecy of him , deut. 33. 7. his glory is like the firstling of a bullock , as minutius for his care of feeding the souldiers in a dearth was honoured by the romanes with a golden oxe , liv. l. 4. and as suidas relates of king apis that he fed the alexandrians in a famine , and therefore was honoured after death with a temple and an ox in it ) yet was this image worshipt by them ( as appears by their sacrificall feast and celebration ) and so used just as the egyptian idols , which were accounted as so many gods . and therefore the question which is ordinarily made , [ whether the israelites worship this calf , or onely god in this calf ] may well enough be superseded , and the resolution be sufficiently clear , that they worship not god onely , but the idol-calf also , ( and so i am sure their successors have conceived , which talk so much of a grain of the calf in every judgement they have suffered ever since ) and so doted upon the specious idol . and were transported with their sensuall way of worshiping it , that god was quickly almost lost , and forgotten amongst them , their heart going back into egypt , where such like images had been in fashion and were wont to be worshiped . § 36 what is now said of this will belong also to the erection of jeroboams calves ; of which though it may not be improbable , that they also were the imitation of the images of the cherubim in the temple , and so the same of setting them up in dan and bethel an act of schisme , designed on purpose by jeroboam to keep open the great division in the state , 1. kings 12. 26. yet was it not the guilt of schisme alone , to which it was lyable , ( as * moncaeus hath laboured to perswade ) but having an addition of sacrificing to those calves also , vers. 32. and the proclamation of [ behold thy gods , o israel , which brought thee out of the land of egypt ] vers. 28. ( which intimates them to be set out by him to the people for so many animated inspirited images ) no question but the guilt of idolatry belonged to it , and that the divine censure and character of jeroboams sinne ( that stuck so close to his posterity ) importeth also . § 37 the other pictures which are called dimissae , depressae , a plain painting on a table , &c. without any protuberancy , or bunching , were not by the gentiles thought so capable of receiving that animation . the distinction is maimons ; the first he calleth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the protuberant image , the other {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the depresse , either drawn on a table in colours , saith he , or weaved in hangings . the former of these and not the latter , was it which was so strictly forbidden the jews ( and accounted as a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} of polytheisme , a token of the worshiping of many gods , ( a discriminative note between the worshipers of the one true , and the many false deities ) because of that heathen opinion , that such statues , or protuberant pictures were by magick made capable of these ethereall spirits ; an abuse , of which the depresse pictures were not so capable . and hence it is ( not without reason ) that learned men that conceive the second commandment to prohibit none but the former ( peculiarly the graven image ) and to that purpose reade that which follows , by way of explication , not of disjunction , [ graven image , the likenesse ] &c. ( as it is deut. 5. 8. in the hebrew , not , [ or the likenesse ] do extend it even to the making , or having any such , and not onely to the worshiping of them . § 38 thus , saith * maimon . it is forbidden to make images though it be onely {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} for ornament ; but then that , saith he , is to be understood of the images , that bunch out , or are embossed ; but for the painted or woven {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} they are not unlawfull : and he specifics very nicely that a ring that hath for a seal the figure of a man , if it be gibbous , or swelling out , is not it self lawfull to be worne , but yet it is lawfull to seal with it , because the impression , in that case , is hollow , not swelling out , and on the otherside if the seal be depresse , or hollow , it is lawfull to weare , but not to seal with it . chap. 3. § . 13. it is true this he restrains again , that none ( in this matter onely for ornament ) is forbidden , but the figure of a man ; but others in obedience to the words of the second command , extend it to the prohibition of all living creatures also , ( onely the inanimate , such was the golden vine in the temple , were excepted , ) and truly it seemeth very probable , that to the jews it was ( whether by the force of the second commandment , or by some precept elsewhere , or by the tradition of the elders , i say not ) conceived utterly unlawfull to have any such images , especially in their temples or places of worship ( unlesse in case of gods particular command , as the cherubim , and the brazen serpent ) yea and to bow in their presence in any place ; for this will maimons stating the severall cases convince to have been his opinion , and , as he conceived , the constant doctrine of the jews . i am sure they are appointed to be broken down , exod. 34. 13 : and examples there are of the peoples practice that way , both in the story of herods trophies , and the eagle set up by him over the gate of the temple , and in many other particulars ; and the greek church at this day , though it hath pictures good store , yet i think it hath none of these embossed statues allowed in it ( which yet the lutherans use promiscuously , yea and clothe and adorn them too , and conceive not themselves to sin against any commandment of the law , because they do not worship them . ) § 39 the reason of this prohibition to the jews , is by maimonides again cleared to be , not for any naturall primitive sinfulnesse in an image of a man &c. but onely for caution , ( and therefore within the vail whither the eyes of the people were not permitted to enter , god himself appoints the cherubims to be set up , and solomon graved cherubims upon the walls of the greater house , 2. chron. 3. 7. that is , in the body of the temple i conceive , because none but the priests did come in thither , luke 1. 8 , 9. ) to hedge and keep them from all danger of falling into the heathen worships , and upon the obligation of the words of that text , exod. 34. 12. beware &c. lest it be a snare unto thee . § 40 and therefore it is further resolved , that all those images were unlawfull to them , ( and perhaps none but these . ) wch idolatours used in their worship ; and so the specifying of the three sorts in the commandment may argue , [ the things in heaven , in earth , in the waters ] , from each of which the severall follies of men had fetched their deities . to instance onely in the last and lowest of them , that the crocodiles in the river were so accounted of among the egyptians is clear ( among many other ) by one notable relation in max. tyr. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . there was a woman , saith he , in egypt that nursed up a young crocodile , and was counted a mighty happy person {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as one that had brought her god to hand , and kept it tame by her ; this woman , saith he , had a sonne {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , of the age of the god , and when they grew up to some bignesse , the crocodile killed and devoured the child , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , she in her mourning for her sonne pronounced him blest in this death , that he was thus offered up a present to her domestick god . and they which could worship such wild vulture gods , could not much be blamed , if they deified every onion in the garden , much more every starre in the skie , which sure deserved their acknowledgement much better then the vulture of the sea the crocodile , had done . § 41 agreeable to this interdict of caution among the jews ( extended onely to those images which were so abused by the heathens ) is the designe of those homilies in our book , concerning the peril of idolatry , which though they acknowledge that * images be of themselves things indifferent , and that * men are not so ready to worship a picture on a wall , or in a window , as an embossed and gilt image set with pearl and stone , and professe ( in the beginning of the third part of the homily ) that all which is said , is thus meant , [ in that we be stirred and provoked by images to worship them , and not as though they were simply forbidden by the new testament , without such occasion and danger ] and count it a piece of superstition , and scrupulosity to abhorre all pictures , as images of princes , &c. which , saith that homily , christ saw on the romane coyns and reprehended them not , nor condemned the art of painting and image-making as wicked of themselves , p. 44. yet , in respect of the frequency of that sinne in those times of the so eminent danger that images in churches would be worshiped , and all possible means would not be probable to secure the use of them against that danger , they do with great earnestnesse exhort the not setting them up , especially in countrey churches , where the number of the ignorant may much enhaunce that danger ; and it may be observed that in the articles of our church we make acknowledgement of that whole book of homilies , that they were usefull and profitable for those times , wherein ( being so lately gotten out of popery where image-worship was so ordinary ) the danger was so great of falling back , upon every temptation , to that sinne . and though the homilies be wary and carefull to prevent another contrary danger , lest any private persons under colour of destroying images should make any stirre or disturbance in the common-wealth , and therefore addeth * that it must alwayes be remembred that the redresse of such publick enormities pertaineth to the magistrate , and such as be in authority onely , and not to private persons , yet to those whose duty it is to take care for the people that they be godly as well as quietly governed , the exhortation is very instantly pressed , that ( after the pattern of hezekiah , &c. ) they perform this part of their duty , viz. that as hezekiah did in the case of the brazen serpent , so the magistrate whensoever he sees images to be abused , or the people apt to worship them , think himself obliged in conscience to appoint them to be removed in care of the honour of god , and the peoples good . and this is certainly very good and wholesome doctrine , and nothing more reasonable , then that he which is defendour of the faith , should take care to defend the impotent seducible weakling ( i mean not the railer at images , who sure is of all others the safest from that danger of worshiping them , and consequently disclaims any want of that fatherly caution , ) from such imminent peril ( when any such there is ) of this image-worship . and that this is the supreme magistrates charge , and belongs not to any inferiour , further then to execuse what he commands , might be evidenced from the doctrine and censures of the church , in the case of the iconoclastae , if it were now pertinent . to this i shall onely adde ( that which i conceive other mens experience of themselves will incline them to believe ) that the worship of images or any thing but god , is not a thing to which english protestants for these late years ( especially the catechized and knowing ) have generally had any strong temptations , at least not such in any comparison , as immediately after the reformation , the minds of men ( before used to such ignorant vanities ) were subject to . and i doubt not but many men that have frequented churches , and places where pictures have been , can sincerely upon examination of their memories , say with me , that they are not conscious to themselves , that they ever found themselves under any inclination or danger of falling into any act of image-worship . which consideration , if it be true , ( as i cannot but perswade my self it is ) will take off much from the necessity of continuing those strict cautions ( of not permitting any kind of image in any church , and the like ) which some other times or inclinations of men might make more necessary , and consequently take off much from the odium which the way of adorning some churches with imagery hath lately laine under . § 48 what was said of having embossed images among the jews may be enlarged also to bodily gestures , whether religious to god , or civil to our superiours , in any place where images are ; for both these seem to have been interdicted the jews , at least by them to have been accounted unlawfull ( as will at large appear by maimonides in the book forecited ) though the heart were never so farre from worshiping the images . but then though the jews were under that strict restraint , yet aliens , proselytes , of other nations , were not bound to that strictnesse ; but naaman is permitted by the prophet to go with his heathen master into the house of rimmon , and ( when the master worships there , and leans upon his hand ) to now himself in the house of rimmon , 2 kings 5. 18. upon this ground , first , that he never went into the idol-temple , but to wait upon his master in the office which he had . secondly , that he professed himself to all , ( even to that heathen master , and those that were in his court ) to be a worshiper of none but of the true god , and to that end carried two mule-loads of earth out of palestine with him , v. 17. in honour of him whose name was great there , and to build an altar , according to the prescript , exod. 20. 24. by which it was sufficiently clear to the beholders , ( as by an interpretative protestation ) that , when his master worshiped , he onely bowed , and then his bowing was onely civil to his master the king , not religious to rimmon or saturn , or his image there ; and therefore to his question whether god will be offended with him in that matter , the prophet answers him with a [ go in peace . ] i cannot think so irreverently of the prophet , as that he should make that answer ironically to his new convert ( any more then i can believe naamans scruple belonged onely to the former part of his life ( reading it in the praeter sense ) for sure that had been guilty of the worshiping the idol , and not onely bowing in the house of rimmon ) but that he meant in earnest , what alone the words import , that in thus doing , and no more , he need not fear that he should be a breaker of that law , which in this particular was not given to him , or any but those of that nation , or people of the jews ; for it is an ordinary observation , that gentiles or aliens were received in among the jews under a double capacity , either as proselytes of justices , to submit to the whole judaicall law , to every rite and positive precept of it ; or else onely as proselytes of the gates ( and such was naaman ) to submit to the seven precepts of the sonnes of adam and noah ( and no more ) among which the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} of the strange worship , or idolatry was one , and so a necessity imposed on them of casting off the idol . worship , but not of not bowing to the king in the presence of an idol , unlesse the case were of such a gesture that in that nation were performed to none but the deity in worship ( the reason that the grecians refused once to bow to the persian king , because that reverence was there performed to none but god ) which was not the manner then in syria , but veneration and even prostration paid to the king as well as to god . thus much i have said on occasion of the first sort of images , the embossed and protuberant among the jews ; and shall not need to descend to a more particular survey of the second sort , it being already manifest that the reason that prevailed to prohibit the very having the former among the jews , did not even in their opinion extend unto the latter . and for worshiping , though the latter were not among them so likely to occasion that sinne , yet if any jew should have been so mad to worship any such image , the sinne it is acknowledged , would have been as great , as that which was committed with the grosser corporeous object , and so will it hold infallibly among all others . § 43 thus farre have i gone on the ancient old testament notion of an idol , and the idolatry forbidden there . it may now be fit to proceed one step further , and to enquire whether there may not possibly be in the christian church , such a sinne as idolatry , that is , whether he that acknowledges the christians god , and worships no heathen deity , much lesse image of such , may not yet possibly fall into that sinne of idolatry , as that signifies worshiping somewhat else beside the invisible god , be it an image of god , or else a saint , or angel , or somewhat else clothed in some respect or relation to god . § 44 and here will be no necessitie or use of drawing a formall charge ( in this matter ) against any particular man or church , or possibility of defining ( from books especially ) which ( or whether any whole ) church or sort of christians at this day ) are guilty of this sinne , because it is to be expected that the writings of prudent men will be so cautious , as not to accuse themselves in this matter ; as even now i gave you an example from maximus tyrius a platonick heathen in the description of it among the gentiles . yet because * some number of sober men which have lived in the romane communion hath given me occasion , i shall interpose my wish , that the care which by their writers is taken for excuse of the doctrine of the learned , were used for the directing and examining of the practices of the ignorant also . i shall therefore set down in thesi what may , according to the grounds laid in the former part of this discourse , conclude a christian guilty of idolatry , and leave every mans own conscience ( and among all others the romanists ) to examine , and as occasion shall be , to accuse himself , and every christian to advise and exhort ( but withall to abstain as much as is possible from judging ) other men . § 46 and first , i conceive that he that ( by doctrine , and action ) attributes to any creature , particularly to an angel , those things which belong peculiarly to god , though he acknowledge the true god , is yet guilty of that sinne , as truly as those heathens that worshiped the creature {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} beside the creatour , rom. 1. that is , worshiped god , but not god onely . ( thus the arrians were condemned of idolatry , that affirming christ to be a creature and not god incarnate , they did yet bestow divine honour on him , and so nestorius in like manner , and his followers styled {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} man-worshipers , and both these sentences confirmed by the second councel of nice , which is thought so favourable to images . ) as for example . § 47 to attribute to the angels omniscience , omnipotence , &c. that is , that the angels can freely understand all mens prayers , and as freely grant them their wants , is , i conceive , a piece of idolatry , [ freely ] i say , and i mean by the word [ freely ] their doing it by their own originall power , and not onely by gods revealing the one to them , or by giving them power to do the other . as for him , that supposes the angels to know all things which god pleases to reveal to them , by looking upon god as on a voluntary glasse ( as biel sets it ) and withall believes , that god reveals all things to them so , and that thereupon they know by that means whatsoever any man saith to them at any distance ; or again , for him that conceives them to see all things in the world by seeing gods face , and looking on it as in a naturall glasse , that reveals all that god knows without any choice , or act of his will ( as some others set it ) , these may be very erroneous , yea and ( if they teach them for doctrines ) be guilty of sinne , in that ( but speculative ) mistaking , namely the sinne of dogmatizing , of affirming for matter of faith that for which they have no ground of scripture or evidence ( which i conceive to be the fault charged on such , col. 2. in the phrase {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , undertaking to penetrate , or know what men know nothing of , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , vainly puffed up with the thoughts of their own flesh , their own reason , or fancie , fictions of men , ( gnosticks , &c. ) without any revelation from god ) yet can i not say , that these are idolatours by so conceiving , or thinking , or affirming , by imagining these vain or false things , if they go no further : ( as they that came into the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , into the presence of images , but worshiped them not . ) but then if they adde practice to conceit , worshiping those whom they have elevated to that pitch ; build altars , make offices , pray to them , especially in the house ( or in the time of the service ) of god , they do by this action , adde a greater aggravation to the speculative sinne , and for ought i know , fall into a kind of idol-worship , fancying angels to be what they are not , and then paying them that adoration which is due onely to god , at least they fall inro a prohibited act , by neglecting the onely christian course of making our addresses onely by christ to god , which i conceive is the meaning of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , col. 2. 18. let no man deprive you of that christian bravium or prize , ] the peculiarity of priviledge of coming unto god by christ onely . the same will be said of offering sacrifice , incense , or the like unto them ( acts of worship and so peculiar to god ( making vows or swearing by them , asking grace , pardon of sinnes , or salvation of them . § 48 as for the * angelici in the primitive church , who conceived that nothing was to be asked of god but what was by the petitioner committed first to one angel , then from him to another , and so by those many degrees brought to god , this may be thought a first rise of the sinne of angel-worship , somewhat parallel to that , which we gave you from maimonides of the heathen idolatry . what hath now been said , must be taken with some caution , and it is this , that to bow to an angel appearing to any man , ( which civility we pay to any superiour ) would not come under this censure . a consideration which hath made some wise men think that the angels refusing of worship at saint johns hands in the revelation , chap. 19. 10. was not the rejecting it as an act of idolatry ( or any kind of sinne if it had been accepted ) but as an evidence of the angels acknowledging himself johns fellow servant ( the reason which is there rendred in the text ) and so not superiour to him in that office . but to this it may be said , that the angels admonition [ worship god ] that follows , may possibly argue that john took the angel for god appearing ▪ and accordingly worshiped him , and therefore i shall not define . but then still for any other reverence or bowing , but that of divine adoration , there is no question but it may be performed to a man , when we meet him , and then much more unto an angel ; and that any gesture of reverence shall passe for divine adoration , will , i conceive , be onely in the power of god , and each mans own soul to define , the same outward act being ( without any danger ) performable both to man and god , and nothing but the intention of the person making the difference . much lesse will the worshiping of god , when an angel appears to us , ( as supposing god to be peculiarly present where those his satellites or courtiers appear ) come under that charge , nor consequently doing it in the church ( peculiarly at the first * entrance into that holy place ) where the angels are supposed to be present ( the angels singing with us , saith chrysostome , and angelus orationis , saith tertullian , and the presence of whom in the church is used by saint paul , as an argument for the decent behaviour of women in that place ) as jacob at the appearing of the angels both put off his shoes from his feet , and resolved that god was in that place , and that it was no other but the house of god , or gate of heaven . § 50 nor will it be the sinne of idolatry to beseech that angel , ( in case he appear to me ) to joyne with me , or help me , or to commend my wants to god in his prayers , any more then it will be , to request the like favour of any fellow-christian upon earth . the idolatry is either in the heart , the giving him a free unlimited power , or in the actions praying to him , as supposing he had such power , and not the bare observing , ( and reverencing accordingly ) his created power or dignity , held from god by way of dignation , or desiring him , ( when he comes within my reach ) to discharge any office of charity to me . § 51 the same may be said again of the saints in heaven , that the beseeching them to bestow mercies upon me , the putting up those petitions to the blessed virgin , &c. which are terminated in her self ( as many forms , if not her whole office may appear to be ) are , over and above the errour of thinking her able to relieve them , acts parrallel to that old idolatry also ; and the thinking them to come to the knowledge of our prayers in speculo again , is a presumption in a matter of which scripture hath told us nothing , and so may fall under the fore-mentioned accusation . yet so again , that if it were sure to any , chat any saint doth hear his demands , it were certainly no fault to begge that favour of him , which were in his free power to bestow , and which we ordinarily demand of one another , that is , the joyning with , or for us , assisting and reinforcing our prayers to god . and supposing that they do not hear or understand what he saith , yet what guilt shall lie on him that thinks they do , and speaks accordingly to them , i omit now to define , because it is not to my present purpose , which was onely to enquire what is idolatry , not folly , what worshiping or praying for help , to that which is not god , not speaking to them to pray for us which cannot hear . § 52 next for images either of god , christ , or angels , or saints , many particulars may be resolved and avowed from the principles of discourse already laid , 1. that to conceive them able to hear and help by virtue of him , whose image they are , is a spice of that heathen doctrine of [ images being the bodies of the gods ] ( of their being animated by those whose images they were ) which had among them its foundation in sorcery , and then was the ground of idol-worship ; and it were happy if some * ignorant christians in some places , were not either willingly betrayed to , or uncharitably kept in this barbarous rudenesse . so again will it be , 2. to pray to , or to bestow any act of divine worship on any such image in any respect ; for that supposes , and is built on the former conceit , and so a worshiping of that which is not god ; and what is that but idolatry ? i say , in any respect , and i mean with any distinction of mediante imagine , or relativè , &c. for first it is an unreasonable thing for them , to whom the law is given , to make a distinction by which it may in some sence be lawfull not to keep it , such distinctions must be made by the law-giver , or else they are not safe . 2. although it be to god also , mediante imagine , that is , first fastning my act of worship upon the image , as the next or immediate object , and then mediately on god , this is clearly to worship the image , though not the image alone , and that must be image-worship , or 2. though it be onely relativè to the image in relation to god , whose image it is , this is again worshiping that image , though not that image onely , and that will not rescue the worshiping of an image from the censure of image-worship , any more then the affirming faith to justifie instrumentaliter relativè , is not the affirming it to justifie . § 54 as for the difference betwixt image-worship and idolatry , or idol-worship , if any such be pretended from the difference between image and idolum , it will not be worth our pains to examine it , because the worshiping of any thing which is not god , be it image or idol , christian or heathen similitude , or any thing else , will fall under the guilt which now we speak of . § 55 but then 3. on the other side to worship god ( and none but god ) in a church where images are ( without so much as fixing the eye on them in the act of adoration ) to use an image onely for ornament ( in a kingdome were image-work , hangings , and pictures , do passe for the noblest way of adorning those places which we most prize ) to pray or to bow down to god ( and to him onely ) in a church where such representations are set up ( for beauty , or as an indifferent thing ) without any the most inferiour degree of worship to them , ( nay with a protestation of renouncing and detesting it ) cannot be affirmed idolatry , without either affirming god to be an idol , or else [ not worshiping ] to be [ worshiping ] nor indeed be liable to any guilt unlesse it be in order to scandall , which how farre it is to prevail , as we have already given an intimation , so the grounds of defining have sufficiently been laid down in another discourse . § 56 and so for the reverent usage of an image , if it signifie no more then the using it civily for his sake , or in remembrance of him whose superscription it bears , especially if that be but a privative reverence , ( a not using it vilely and contumeliously ) or whatever may not come under the stile of a positive act of adoration , this is no part of religious worship , any more then the laying of a bible on the table , and not on the ground , &c. but if it be the actuall bestowing of worship on that inanimate thing , as on the next ( though not last ) object , i mean bestowing that adoration on the image ( though in a lower degree ) in one act , which in another is given to god , worshiping the image for gods sake ( the relative worship ) or god mediante imagine , so that the image be either the object , or part of the object of any one act of worship , it will fall under the censure of image-worship . § 57 thus doth the capitular of charles the great charge it on the bishop of cyprus in the second councell of nice , that he allows the image the same worship which belongs unto the trinity ; ( and some learned papists , aquinas , bellarmine , &c , have done little lesse ) but he that will survey the greek acts of that councell , will find the capitular mistaken . for when the greek reades , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , i perform that adoration of worship to none but the trinity , ( and faith of the images , onely {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. i receive and embrace them reverently ) the capitular reades it in a quite contrary sense , for having said , servitium adorationis quod trinitati debetur , ei se redditurum garrierit ( which though it hath no great hurt in it , because the word [ ei ] that follows , may apply it to trinitati , and cannot referre to imagines , yet by [ gorrierit ] it apears the capitular did not take it so ) it is added , servitium soli debitum creatori , exhibere se fatetur creaturis , &c. which is a plain calumny to that bishop , and even contrary to the former part of the relation , ( the latine words cited from the councell ) if the [ ei ] be taken notice of . § 58 as for the very making of an image of god the father . who never was clothed in flesh , or visible form . if it be on designe so to represent him , or if ( being made ) it be received as a resemblance , or . image of him , this is a most irrationall folly or mistake , for which there is no excuse ; and though it be not idolatry , unlesse being thus made it be worshipt also , yet is it a direct contradiction to one great end of gods prohibiting images , viz. that all men be admonished that he is invisible ; and it is worth observing , that the ancienter of the heathens themselves have resolved god to be so farre from any visible shape , that they would not allow the making any image or picture of him . thus empedocles , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. no mans head , or feet , or knees , or other limmes to be conceived in god . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. but a sacred in-effable mind ; so saith plutarch in numa ; that pythagoras {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , conceived god ( under the title of the first ▪ ) to be invisible , &c. and that on those grounds numa forbad the romanes , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to conceive god to have the shape of any creature , or to have {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , any formed image of god . which saith he , continued for one hundred and seventy years after the building of rome , no {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , image of any form to be seen in their temples . so faith gerson , i remember , of the temple of peace in rome , which it seems was of that first erection , sine simulachro , sine imaginibus , it had no resemblance or image in it . so antiphanes of god ; that he is not known by an image , nor likened to any thing , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and therefore no man can learn him by the help of an image . and philoponus in his preface to aristotle de anima , conceives it very necessary to a pious man that would conceive , or pray to god as he ought , to study the mathematicks , by the help of which he may be able to abstract and separate {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , from matter , and so have a right notion of the deitie . so agreeable to the generall notion of wise heathens ( till a custome of sin had besotted them ) was that of god himself to moses , thou hast not seen any similitude at any time , deut. 4. 8. on which the making any image of him is prohibited . all which notwithstanding , if in the representation of a sacred story , there be set down any form , particularly an eye , a ray , a glory &c. not to expresse the person of god the father , but to stand for him , not to signifie any supposed likenesse of him ( which is impossible ) but onely to present him to the mind of the beholder , a doing some action of his ( which is in effect to do the very same thing in a table , which the word jehovah or god would do in a book ) i conceive not what charge could be laid on it , at least what degree or spice of idolatry , unlesse i must be thought to worship the name of god , because i write or reade it . § 59 as for the resemblance of the man christ jesus , the bare expressing and not worshiping that form , that was so long visible on this earth , as this pretends no more to the painting of divinity , then the lines of a body can be thought to undertake to expresse the soul , ( and so cannot be accused of that imposture ) so will it not be lyable to any other charge with any that hath not resolved all pictures even of his own parents unlawfull . ( unlesse it be perhaps in order to the danger of being worshipt by others , which consequently ought very prudently to be weighed and considered , before any such be set up in any place , as before was touched . ) § 60 and the same may be said of the pictures of holy men , the discourse wholly abstracting from worship , or designe , or thought of worship , as here it doth in our present consideration ; to which purpose it is observable , that calvin himself is by doctor reinolds produced , and avouched ( against bellarmines contrary slander ) to affirm the images of christ and the saints , non esse prohibitas simpliciter not to be simply prohibited ; and so in like manner , luther , the zuinglians , melancthon , and the madgeburgians , all detesting the worship of images , but not the images themselves . and so illyricus and peter martyr also , who thinks the worship of images to be a prime part of popish antichristianisme , doth yet resolve , christi & sanctorum imagines haberi rectè posse , modò ne colantur atque adorentur , that the images of christ and the saints may lawfully be had , so they be not worshiped . § 61 : once more to worship the bread in the sacrament , must ( wheresoever it is to be met with ) certainly be idolatry too , in the literall notation of the word , that is , the worshiping that which is not god . and for those that do this on any the subtlest ground , that by any errour or mistake ( be it never so piously taken up ) do actually worship this bread , that first conceive it to be turned into the very body of christ , and the elements after consecration to be no longer bread and wine , but very christ incarnate , and thereupon do worship it . these i say , in case they be mistaken , and those elements be not so turned and transubstantiated into christ , though they are not guilty of the sinne of idolatry in all the aggravations that belonged to it among the heathen ; being not guilty of their {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the acknowledgement of the many gods , of which their image worship was an appendage , yet can i not free them from the charge of worshiping an idol , that is , somewhat which is not god , viz. a piece of consecrated bread , &c. § 62 he that conceives this too sudden or severe a censure , may know that the papist-doctours are very ready to make confession of it themselves . if the elements be not so changed , saith costerus of transubstantiation , we papists are the meanest vilest kind of idolaters in the world , worse ( as i remember he addes ) then the laplanders that worshiped a red cloth , and there is no denying it upon that supposition , because it is part of the supposition , that what is so worshipt for god , is not god , and that is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} an idol in the scripture-sense , which is all that i have now said . § 63 and if it be replyed that they worship nothing but what they conceive to be christ , and consequently that the ignorance and contrary perswasions which may be pretended for such acts in some men , particularly the romanists , may plead much for them in gods court , ( as we reade that the times of ignorance god winked at in some heathens , though that was an idolatrous ignorance , so farre at least as not to deprive them and their posterity of all means of recalling them ) i shall then answer , that so i shall hope ( and pray ) that it may do in this matter also , move gods mercy so farre at least , as ( if not to pardon the sinnes without repentance , yet ) to give grace to work a sight and a change in such seduced ignorants . § 64 and then putting the case anew , whether , if the bread in the eucharist be not transubstantiate ( as , according to some other principles of the papists , i conceive it near demonstrable that it is not , that i mention not the direct contradictions which are affirmed or implyed in that doctrine ) and yet costerus and his friends think it is , supposing them to come honestly and blamelessely to these errours , if , i say , it be demanded , whether in this case [ that their ignorance or errour be grounded on misunderstanding of scripture ] this so simple and not grosse ignorance may serve for a sufficient antidote to allay the poyson of such a sinne ( of materiall though perhaps in them not formall idolatry , because if they were not verily perswaded , that it were god they professe , they would never think of worshiping it ) i shall then answer , that of this matter i had onely temptation to make , and set the question ( as before i had of prayer to saints , supposing the petitioner to believe that they could hear him ) but have now no necessity to define and satisfie it , being onely to consider what idolatry is , not how excusable ignorance or mistake can make it . yet something it will not be amisse to adde to direct our charity . § 65 that this ignorance , or false opinion will not make the worshiping of bread ( remaining bread ) to be the worshiping of none but god , i conceive it is plain , or if it would , it would make the heathens worshiping of an image , to be the worshiping of none but that god whose image it was , for they sure believed as much that that image was by consecration become the body of god , and animated by it , as any papist believes transubstantiation . but whether this their errour was as capable of apology or pardon , being infused into them by their false teachers ( which yet they thought to be true ones , ) and pretended to revelation for it ( saith maimonides ) as this which is taken up upon the words of scripture , ( though in a mistaken and ( as i conceive ) impossible because contradictory , sence ) i shall now define no further , then by saying these two things . § 66 first , that the heathen idolatry was the worshiping of the many false gods first , and then of the images of them , ( the former of which these men are not said , or thought to be guilty of ) secondly , that the more the conscience believes this errour to be a truth of gods , and the more innocently it comes to that beliefe , the easier in all probability will the sentence be another day ; that ignorance or mistake which sincerely and honestly ( without mixture of carnall principle , or designe , prejudice , or passion , &c. ) founds it self in the word of god mistaken , ( and would be laid aside , if sufficient instruction were offered ) being very justly the object of our pity and our prayers , and neither of our censure , nor scorn ; and if it were merely a speculative errour , and had not the happinesse of some impious practice attending it , i should make the lesse doubt of its obtaining pardon at gods hands ; and howsoever i will hope , it may still ( at that gracious tribunall ) be farre from being irremissible to him , who hath reformed his other known sinnes , and for all known and unknown is truly humbled . § 66 this manner of stating of this difficulty , may in reason perswade them that are concerned in it , to be willing to see and reform their errour , if it be possible , or if prepossession have made it otherwise to them , yet in all justice not to expect of us , ( who professe to believe that the elements are not transubstantiate , and that the humane nature of christ is received and contained in , and confined to heaven , till the day of restitution of all things ; and this withall upon the same grounds , ( i mean of literall affirmation of scripture ) on which they professe to believe that this is christs body , and this neither contradicted by any other scripture , nor implying any thing like a contradiction in reason , nor a savagenesse or a sinne , as saint augustine saith eating of christs flesh doth , and that therefore it must not be literally interpreted ) to worship that which we think a creature , or somewhat which is not god , or anathematize us and separate from our communion for not doing so . § 67 as for our church , which onely adores christ in the sacrament ( as that signifies the action , in which certainly christ is ) and not the elements themselves , nor christs body locally present under the shape of those elements , ( as certainly it cannot be , without either being no longer in heaven or being in more places then one at once ) which hath set the doctrine of that sacrament in a most exquisite temper to satisfie all rationall christian pretenders , in that most excellent catechisme in the liturgie , and in her practice allows the elements , no more then a reverent usage proportionable to such instruments of gods worship , ( which is both justified by * amesius , who assignes them a singular reverence in time of the use of them , and a privative kind of reverence after it ) there can be no shew of charge against it for so doing , nor consequently for kneeling at the time of receiving the sacrament which is onely a kneeling to god in prayer ( which might be now further enlarged on , but that it hath had its place in another * discourse ) unlesse it be a fault to worship christ , or to choose that time or place to do it in the lowlyest manner , when , and where he is eminently represented by the priest , and offered by god to us . § 68 as for the east , or altar , or syllables of the name of jesus , he that must think them worshiped , by those who professe and protest to worship god , and none but god , ( that way or on that occasion ) must either be of a very short discourse , ( like them in athenaeus , that hearing men crie {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} god help , when the neighbour sneezed , thought the very thing which we call sneezing , or else the brain from which it came , to be a god so worshiped by men ) or else of a very pettish spleen , that can condemne the most blamelesse authorized practices , not onely of this present particular , but of the ancient universall church ( for the worshiping god toward the east was most eminently such ) upon any the most irrationall jealousie , or dislike . § 70 and so lastly for the signe of the crosse , used by our church in baptisme , which hath been by some cryed down under the title of idolatry , two things it will not be amisse briefly to have observed , 1. that the same ground of zeal or passion that hath incited some men lately to charge it of a breach of the second commandment , hath long since moved * one of the same spirit to accuse it as a sinne against the other nine , and to intitle his severall chapters of the swearing , sabbath-breaking , murder , adultery , stealing , false witnesse , &c. and at last of the concupiscence of the crosse , as well as the idolatry of it , the reasons being much alike for the whole charge . 2. that the signing with the signe of the crosse in that sacrament , is somewhat distant from that which the papists use , and an act of departure from them , in king edwards second liturgie , more then had been in the first reformation . the former custome was to crosse the child at the church-doore , when it was brought to baptisme , but this of ours as a mark of initiation or reception into christs flock , immediately following baptisme , and a kind of tessera , or military signe that the person thus consigned into christs militia , shall for ever after think himself obliged manfully to fight , &c. a change made merely out of compliance with them who were jealous of too great an inclination to popery , and yet now charged with the guilt of that which it was on purpose designed to decline . § 71 i should not i conceive be thought in earnest , if i should go about to vindicate the use of the liturgy , and of all set forms of prayer from this charge of idolatry ; it is true it hath been printed , that words in a book are images , and consequently that to pray before a book , or use a book in prayer , is idolatry , or image-worship . but till this argument be extended to all words spoken , as well as written , and so all vocall ( though it be extemporary ) prayer , condemned for idolatry also , i shall not conceive that disputer to have believed himself , nor consequently give him or my reader the trouble of an answer . in stead of extending this enquiry to the survey and vindication of those many other particulars , to which the fancies or furies of this last yeare have affixed this charge ; all that i have now to adde is onely this , that i shall beseech god to give such mistakers understanding first , and then charity , to make use of it to edification , and not to destruction , to the reforming their own sinnes and not condemning or reproching other mens laudable , at the least innocent actions . judge not , that ye be not judged of the lord . some few testimonies , which may tend to the clearing of the precedent observations , but could not conveniently be put in either , in the text or the margin of the book , i have here thought fit to affix by way of postscript . add. p. 11. ad lin. 32. in marg. thus among the romanes in their lustrations , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , sybil . orac . l. 3. p. 231. and speaking of the christians giving over idolatry , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. ] it is added immediately , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} &c. naming all the severall nations of the heathen world that were guilty of it , p. 264. and exhorting against idolatry , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} &c. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , p. 279. and that true pietie , as it is opposed to idol-worship , so to {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , & {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , l. 4. p. 287. & p. 296. and of the romanes again , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , p. 315. and so again , p. 332. add. p. 12. ad lin. 24. in marg. in this sense i conceive plato used the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . l. 9. where speaking of sensuall men , and comparing them to beasts , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , full fed and lascivious , he addes , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. or if you will needs have the notion of covetousnesse continued , yet i conceive the company that the word is so oft found in the new testament , will have such an influence on it , that it shall belong to that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , getting wealth by these unclean prostitutions , which sure is expressed by the authour of the sybylin oracles , l. 3. p. 231. where immediately after the mention of those impurities is subjoyned , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . add. p. 14. ad l. 4. in marg. to the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . so in the sybil . or : is this sinne expressed by {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . l. 3. p. 231. and the men guilty of it called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , pag. 232. ( the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , noting all immoderate desires or attempts , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith phavorinus ) and as it is immediately specified , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} so in phocylides , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , & {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , doth seem to import also . add. ad p. 15. l. 10. in marg. so in the sibyll oracles , l. 2. p. 172. with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , those that had put off all shame , ] are joyned {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , ravishers , and pag. 216. with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( which sure belongs to the fury of inordinate lusts ) there is joyned {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , rapes and shamelesse lusts , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , secret loves ; and a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the judgements of brimstone ( the portion of sodom for such sinnes ) follows in the end of that book . all which passages , though they cannot be thought to have that antiquity or authour , to which they pretend , are yet by our countrey man joannes opsopaeus , or cook , with great reasons supposed to be as ancient as the emperour commodus , and so will be worthy our heed , for a matter of no greater weight then is now laid on them . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a45420e-110 1 cor. 8. 4. 1 cor. 10. 19. * orig. con . cels . just . mar. apol. clem. al. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . athenagoras . theop. ad autol. tatianus . theod. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . euseh . praep. eu. cyril . alexan. cont. iulian . tertul. a. pol. minut. felix . arnobius . lactantius . aug. de civit . dei . firmicus . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . * that that whole verse belongs to that matter will appear , if you view it in the originall . thus . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} thou hast been dissolute ( laxata 〈◊〉 dilatata ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} by thy lying with them ( so it is rendred num. 31. 17. ) thou hast cut them or made them eunuchs for thy self ( so {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which perhaps we mistake for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} covenant , doth signifie , and so the targum renders it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} succidisti , detruneasti ) thou lovedst to lie with them , &c. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} raptoris bona publicanda , &c. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , hesych . * codex antiq. in coll. magd. ox. * vid. excerpta gemarae tr . sanhedr . c. 1. §. 7. * in thisbi . p. 139. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . * vide rom. 6. 10. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . irenaeus . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . hesyc . * aug. de civ. dei . l. 8. c , 23. * neque aera neque auri argentique materia quibus signa conhe●●nt , esse deos decernimus , sed eos ipsos in his colimus , quos dedicatio infert sacra , & fabrilibus efficit inhabitare simulach . is . a●nol . cont. genti . l. 6. * desacrif . & mag. * divin●● . in q. cacil . * aaron purgatus . * c. 3. 12. p. 20. lin. 1. p. 27. near the end . * p. 18. l. 2. * divos , divàsque non aliter venerantur quam deum ipsum , &c. lud. in aug. de civ l. 8. c. ult. vid. cassand. consult . de imag. polyd. virg. de rerum invent . l. 6. c. 13. § 45. * athanas cont. a●● . or●● . * eph. concil. cap. 67. * via con. cil . laod. can. 35. p. 352. & zo . nar . in can . ●tum , & judill in cod eccl univers. p. 262. § 49. * vid. view of the new directory , p. 21. & p. 82. * non video in multis quod discrimen sit inter ecrum opinionem de sanctis & id quod gentiles putabant de d●●s suis . lud vives ●n aug. de civ. l. 8. c. ult. of scandall . * case of consc. c. 31. * view of the new direct . p. 27. * parker on the crosse . an exposition of the seven epistles to the seven churches together with a brief discourse of idolatry, with application to the church of rome / by henry more ... more, henry, 1614-1687. 1669 approx. 415 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 206 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a51303) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 94112) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 362:11) an exposition of the seven epistles to the seven churches together with a brief discourse of idolatry, with application to the church of rome / by henry more ... more, henry, 1614-1687. [65], 184, [16], 140 p. printed by james flesher, london : 1669. each part has special t.p.: the first with title, "a propheticall exposition of the seven epistles," and the second, "an antidote against idolatry." errata: p. 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period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as 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xml conversion imprimatur . sam. parker . errata . in the pref. to the exposit. pag. 4. l. 2. interims , read , in terms . in the exposit. p. 11. l. 1. r. the church in thyatira . p. 53. l. 21. r. in thyatira . p. 107. l. 26. r. event . in the antidote . p. 11. l. ult . for at , r. all . p. 27. l. 17. r. impossible , or . p. 91. l. 24. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . an exposition of the seven epistles to the seven churches ; together with a brief discourse of idolatry ; with application to the church of rome . by henry more d. d. prov . 12. 19. the lying tongue is but for a moment : but the lip of truth shall be established for ever . london , printed by james flesher . 1669. to the right honourable , john lord robarts , baron of truro , lord privy seal , lord lieutenant of ireland , and one of his majestie 's most honourable privy council . my lord , what things single are usually thought sufficient to determine ones choice of a patron to any publick writing , whether it be private obligation from particular favours , or the desire of leaving to posterity a just and honourable testimony to the parts and vertues of some excellent person , or the design of obtaining the patronage and countenance of such a person , to what we adventure to make publick , as is able by his learning , judgement and publick repute to protect it from injury ; all these do so happily conspire in your lordship , that i should have thought it an omission unpardonable if i had not taken this opportunity of paying your lordship this due respect , and of doing that right to the truth i here professe as to put it under the wings of so fit and able a patron . which still ought to be done with the greater alacrity , there being that providentiall coincidence of things , that i should have a book ready in the presse at that very time that our gracious sovereign did think good to conferre upon your lordship that great honour and trust of being lord lieutenant of ireland . which conjuncture of circumstances could not but excite me with greater readinesse to make your lordship this congratulatory present upon your new honour . which all good christians that know the inflexible uprightnesse of your spirit , and cordiall adherence to the apostolick faith and just interest of reformed christendome , cannot but congratulate . for this it is indeed , my lord , that has begot in me a more special esteem of your lordship , that in this instable and uncertain age you have with that steadinesse of minde and clearnesse of judgement stuck to the truth and purity of the protestant religion , as discerning the vast difference betwixt it and popery , which yet too many now-adays , either because they are removed too great a distance from all religion , or else because their sight is extremely dim in matters of this nature , can not , or will not , discern . but this is spoke with a more particular regard to the second part of this small volume i present your lordship withall . but the first also has its speciall sutablenesse to the circumstances your lordship is placed in . for by how much more power any one is intrusted with by any protestant prince , by so much the more he is concerned to understand how sacred a province he undertakes , and how expresly that religion and profession is owned in the holy prophecies christ has delivered to his church , above and against the barbarous and idolatrous tyrannie of the church of rome . which things are set out with that plainnesse , evidence and easiness in this exposition of the epistles to the seven churches that i hope no impartial reader can fail of being made exceeding sensible of the sacrednesse of the protestant religion and interest by the perusall thereof . besides , that there are some notable hints in these oracles for the more happy and secure management of the affairs of reformed christendome . i shall onely name that passage to the sardian church , remember how thou hast received , and heard , and hold fast , &c. the verse runs out into a dreadfull commination of heavy judgements to the angel of the church of sardis for his loosenesse and slipperinesse in those points of apostolick doctrine which the reformers had recovered into the knowledge of so great a part of the world . and amongst the things that they had heard , that voice of the angel , apoc. 18. come out of her , my people , that ye be not partakers of her sins , &c. was not the least articulate . whereby the church of rome was openly declared to be that babylong the great , the mother of fornications and the abominations of the earth ; as also the pope with his clergie to be that notorious antichrist . this the sardian church had received from their evangelicall predecessours . and it had been their everlasting establishment never to have for got it , never to have let it die , or smothered it . but what mischief the halting betwixt two opinions is apt to doe , and the not taking notice how sacred a thing the protestant religion is in the sight of god , and how rejectaneous that of the church of rome , i believe neither your lordship nor any one else that has his eyes opened either into history or the affairs of the world can be ignorant of , or , if he be a good christian , make the observation without regrett and sorrow . but the prospect of what is to come is more pleasing and comfortable ; which is the state of the church of philadelphia , into which the sardian church , that is to say , reformed christendome or the protestant churches , are to passe , as being the next successive intervall . which therefore cannot but be a note of main importance for all reformed states and kingdomes to stear their affairs by , namely , to bend their course thitherward whither they are pointed to by the finger of god himself in his holy oracles . for they sail as it were with winde and tide whose carriage of affairs approaches the nearest to the purpose of divine fate . which is lively pourtray'd all along in this stupendious book of prophecies written by s. john. the most pleasing and enravishing part whereof is that which is typify'd or prefigured by the church of philadelphia , the church of brotherly love . which is the next scene divine providence has designed to introduce . and which all those do most grosly oppose who for difference in matters not revealed in holy scripture , nor necessary to salvation , think they have pretense enough with all unchristian keennesse and bitternesse of spirit to reproach and inveigh one against another , to nourish the highest animosities , and to watch all opportunities of persecuting , ruining , and trampling one another into the dirt. as this is extremely unchristian in it self , so is it also diametrically opposite to that dispensation that god intends to introduce into his church as the chiefest blessing he has in store for her , and is as it were knocking at the door to enter , if the lovd noise of hot and quarrelsome brawls about matters of smaller moment ( as indeed all things are exceeding small , unlesse of apostolicall institution , if they stand in competition with that royal law of love , ) did not drown the voice thereof , that it cannot so easily be heard . but assuredly , my lord , the letting this philadelphian dispensation in , or the approaching as near unto it as we can , will prove the most effectuall healing and consolidating the interest of reformed christendome , as well in the whole as in the parts thereof , as we can desire or expect . which therefore i humbly conceive , that all persons the more power they are intrusted with in any of the protestant dominions , are the more obliged to consider by how much more they are obliged to endeavour to promote the interest of their prince and countrey whose affairs they administer . and therefore the right understanding of the vision of the seven churches so manifestly giving this aim for the prosperous steering of affairs , i thought this my exposition of the said churches no unsutable present in these circumstances to be made unto your lordship . of the usefulnesse whereof i having spoken more particularly in my preface , i leave the whole to your lordship's judicious and favourable perusall , and wishing you all good successe in the great charge his majesty has intrusted you with , i cease to give you any farther trouble then in subscribing my self , my lord , your lordship 's most humble and affectionate servant , henry more . the preface to the reader , declaring the occasion , solidity and usefulnesse of the ensuing exposition . reader , how unexpected this of mine may prove to thee i know not , but sure i am , it cannot be more then to my self , who , as i have never yet affected to bestow my pains on these kind of subjects , so i thought my self secure , since the edition of the late dialogues touching the kingdome of god , from ever being engaged in them any more . for i made account that what was contained in mr. mede's writings , and in synopsis prophetica , and the above-said dialogues , might afford all usefull satisfaction to any sober enquirer into these mysteries ▪ and i find neither my will nor my abilities to reach to the service of men in needlesse curiosities . and therefore thou maist be sure i did not deem the propheticall exposition of these seven epistles to the seven churches in asia to be such , but rather that there was no such exposition that belonged unto them , and therefore rested in the literal sense , and an usefull moral application of them as they might sute any particular church in any age of the world placed in like circumstances with any of these seven churches . and these things methought were so obvious , that it would have been a needlesse labour to have attempted any thing in so facil a matter , where others have done sufficiently well before . 2. but having sent the above-said dialogues to a gentleman in the countrey , to whom they were not unacceptable , as being curious of subjects of this nature ; after his civil acknowledgements for my sending him the book , and some pertinent reflexions on the main matter , at last he falls upon this business of the seven churches in these words : i find not , saith he , any late writer apply the seven churches mystically , revel . 2. and 3. chapters ; mr. brightman having failed in his application . but i suppose the farther enquiry into that point may be worth your pains . i shall now onely hint , that the seven churches may represent the state of the whole visible church from christ's time to the day of judgement : viz. ephesus , till anno christi 110 ; smyrna , till 306 ; pergamus , declining towards popery , till the waldensian separation , about anno 1160 ; thyatira , emerging from popery , till the pacification at passaw in germany 1552. and king edward the sixth's reformation in england ; sardis , the state of reformed christendome , ( the kingdome of god , ) since whole nations fell from rome , and untill rome shall be totally subdued ; philadelphia , when truth , peace and holinesse shall universally prevail , and the name of the new jerusalem shall be written upon the church , as is expresly promised chap. 3. 12. interims too august for such a poor church as that was literally taken . and this may be a key for all the rest . and lastly , laodicea , when towards the end of the thousand years satan shall be again let loose a little space , and gog and magog shall trouble the church , then luke-warm as in the days of noah . this was the whole ( verbatim ) of what that gentleman writ touching this matter . and this , reader , was the occasion of my undertaking , and the advantage i had for the more easily performing this task of expounding these seven epistles to the seven churches . for the intervalls here suggested , though they are most-what different from what upon due deliberation with my self i thought fittest to pitch upon , yet it is manifest that they could not but give aim toward a more speedy hitting the intended mark , and a more quick dispatch of this exposition which i present thee with . indeed , upon my endeavouring to frame out the same , and my searching into commentatours , i found that p. galatinus interprets these seven churches of seven intervalls of the church from the beginning to the end thereof . this cornelius à lapide notes , but not a word of the limits of these intervalls . and since my compleating this exposition , a learned friend of mine shew'd me a passage in mr. mede , lib. 5. c. 10. where he argues for a mysticall sense of these seven churches , and seems to insinuate that they should prophetically sample unto us a seven-fold successive temper and condition of the whole visible church , according to the severall ages thereof , answering to the pattern of the seven churches here , and that à principio ad finem , and takes notice of the fitly placing of philadelphia partly about the time the beast is falling , and partly after his destruction , accordingly as we had already set down in our exposition . but the bounds of these successive intervalls he has not attempted to define . that advantage therefore i had onely from the party i above mentioned , as well as the first invitation to undertake this present design . 3. but now as to the solidity of the performance , although i must confess the clearnesse of the matter appeared so great to me at last , as that it infinitely exceeded my first expectations of it , and proved satisfactory to my self beyond what i thought possible ; yet i will not here pre-ingage thy judgement or belief , but freely remit thee to the exposition it self , the preparations to it in the first and second chapters , and the brief recapitulation of the strength of it in the last . onely , that thou maist have nothing to stumble at , i will endeavour to prevent thee in some exceptions , the greatest i am aware of , and yet in my own judgement not considerable . 4. as first , i would not have thee , according to the manner of some , let thy minde dwell upon any thing that may seem less strong alone . as that chap. 2. sect. 11. where i intimate , that because , in the * interpreting the seven golden candlesticks , they are not apply'd nominatim to the seven particular churches in asia that are said to be writ to , it is an invitation to the thinking of a more released sense , and that some other seven churches in another kinde of meaning ( as well as they , if not rather then they , ) may be aimed at ; this ought to be no prejudice to the other arguments in the same chapter that are so cogent , but rather those other to afford strength to this , which is added as an easy probability , not a convictive demonstration , and therefore is not considerable but in conjunction with the rest , as is intimated in the very place . and i will onely adde here , that if there were no other sense then the literal to be look'd after , that in all likelihood , for sureness to keep men from errour , and from doing wrong to any church by a false interpretation , the spirit of god would have expresly said , that the seven candlesticks were the seven churches of asia that were there writ to , and that the seven stars were the seven bishops of those very churches . i must confess , in my own judgement , i think there is some such thing hinted at as i have declared , which made me not omit it . but i am also as sensible that it can signifie little to those that are averse , and are given to cavill , who are prone to dwell on what seems weak , that they may ease their minds of what is more strong and stringent . which is a fault that is punishment enough to him that commits it , he usually losing truth by thus indulging to his own ill humour . 5. i know not whether thou mayst mistake me also in the allusion i memtion of ephesus to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as if it sounded like aphesus , which i would warrant from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( one of the matres lectionis before the use of points ) standing for both a and e ; whence i would argue the affinity of those two sounds : when as thou maist object , that martinius expresly speaking of these three matres lectionis , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith , that the first stands for a , the second for e and i , and the third for o and u. but in hebrew writings without points there is nothing more familiar then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 standing for e , as in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and the like . and in the greek tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are frequently changed into one another , according to diversity of dialect : so that there can be no difficulty touching this thing . 6. thirdly , it may haply be objected against our interpreting the ten days of affliction predicted to the church in smyrna , of the ten famous persecutions , that some reckon more then ten , adding an eleventh under constantius the arian , a twelfth under julian the apostate , and a thirteenth under the arian emperour valens . but prophecy being an anticipatorie history , it is sufficient that it speak according to the usual language of historians , whose reports run up on these ten so famously and distinctly taken notice of . and there are no more then ten in the intervall we set for the church of smyrna . after which conspicuously comes in the scene of pergamus , christianity having got the conquest over the old persecuting paganism . and julian reigned not two years , and his attempts were most-what of another kinde , and none considerable so as to break this number . besides that it happened in an intervall notoriously of another nature and denomination , and therefore is not to be taken notice of , it bearing no proportion at all to the contrary affairs of that period . indeed the arrian persecutions are very considerable , but they are of another nature from these ten. the church being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 became proud , as well as exalted out of the dust , and contentious , as well as proud , according to that of the wise man , prov. 13. 10. onely by pride cometh contention , but with the well-advised is wisedome . christ was therefore faithfull in his promise to the church in smyrna , and procured them the crown of life , and safety from the pagan cruelty and persecution . but that the church afterwards in pergamus fell out amongst themselves , was their own fault , none of his , that taught them expresly , that by this shall all men know ye are my disciples , if ye love one another . 7. fourthly , it may perhaps seem hard to thee , that i interpret the eating of things offered to idols of communicating with the church of rome in their idolatrous masse . for how can that consecrated bread be said to be offered to an idol ? it is true , he that they pretend to offer it to is no idol , but the true god. but by their idolatrous practices , communicating divine worship to what is not god , they debase the nature of the true god so far , as that they seem to lose the true notion of him , and in stead of him to worship an idol of their own brain . for the true god is not so mean a being that any others can partake in his worship . and therefore , according to the cutting and searching strain of the prophetick style , those that mingle idolatry with the worship of the true god are represented as having no true knowledge of him ; and therefore whatever religious worship they doe , they being devoid of the knowledge of the true god , they must necessarily be conceived to doe it to some idol . according to which sense is that of amos , o ye house of israel , have ye offered to me victimes and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wildernesse ? yea , ye took up the tabernacle of moloch , &c. where the true god , by reason of their idolatry in worshipping other objects , denies they at any time worshipped him , though questionless they thought they did offer victimes and sacrifices unto him . this is express and direct to the scruple propounded . but in our exposition it is onely insinuated , that there is a propheticall diorism , or a synecdoche , whereby idolatry in the general is signify'd by that particular species thereof , the eating things offered unto idols . which is used here with the greater fitness and elegancy , because that the idolatry is committed in that part of their religion that is performed in the eating of what is consecrated . and if we do but consider that the lord's supper is a feast upon a sacrifice , according to that of s. paul , christ our passeover is sacrificed for us ; therefore let us keep the feast , ( which notion is made out with abundant evidence by a late learned and judicious writer on that subject , ) we once supposing the eating of this sacrifice contaminated with idolatry , what can be a more natural and apposite reproach to it , then to parallel it to the feasts upon the pagan idolothyta , the eating of things offered unto idols ? wherefore there is not the least harshnesse imaginable in this interpretation . 8. fifthly , that it may be no prejudice to thy judgement touching the interpretation of antipas , and its signifying as much as one against the pope , because that learned and reverend expositour dr. hammond has styled it a wanton and vain phancy in mr. brightman , who presumed so to interpret it , thou art to consider , that this censure of that passage was not so much built upon any weakness in the passage it self , as that it was found in a farrago of conceits that were not so well managed as to support and countenance one another . and therefore for the general mr. brightman's exposition of these seven epistles being not so convictive , that judicious doctour was the more bold to speak so slightly of this passage thereof . which if it had been accompanied with other parts of his exposition of these epistles that had had the like unexceptionablenesse , it would never have been found fault with by so judicious a writer , as indeed there is no reason it should . for no name can be so fit and significant for this purpose as this of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , signifie one and the same thing , as eustathius and others from him usually do affirm . and it is most certainly true that they are both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as hesychius speaks . and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , have exquisitely the same signification . but to have found 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this supposed prophecy had been quite against the laws of the apocalyptick style , that is as regardfull of due concealment as of certainty of revealment . so that so plain a passage would have stood out very coursly and harshly above the rest of that smooth and delicate contexture of these visions , and occasioned a too-early intelligence of the meaning of these prophecies . besides that antipapas is no proper name of any man , and that the very literal story requires it should be antipas . wherefore the indication both for sense and for sound in this word antipas is as exquisite as , considering the nature of the apocalyptick style , it either could or ought to have been . so that he that would cavill at this interpretation must of necessity deny the hypothesis , and say there is no propheticall sense at all of these seven epistles . 9. nor needest thou scruple at my applying that passage of the martyr antipas to the albigenses and waldenses , that were slain in the field , as if they were not rightly termed martyrs . for he that can save his life by renouncing the truth , and yet parts with it , ( though it be in the field , ) is rightly deemed a martyr . which was the case of these men . and that is remarkable for this purpose which mr. mede takes notice of , that when simon , earl of monfort , had routed them , and made a great slaughter of them , and that the bishop of tolouse there present took thereupon the opportunity of exhorting them to return to the roman church , they seeing so plainly that the wrath of god was kindled against them for their separation from the church ; they answered in plain terms , that they were the people of god overcome by the beast , ( apoc. 13. 7. ) and knowing this to be their fate , yet would not flinch from the truth : and therefore the army returning upon them , they had all their throats cut in the field . whence it is manifest that they were martyrs properly so called , according to our definition thereof : as there were also severall antipas's in this intervall that suffered martyrdome in that way that thou canst not except against , that is to say , such as were merely passive , and made no resistence . some of them are named by mr. brightman , who if he had done as well on the other five churches as he has on this of pergamus and that of thyatira , his exposition of the seven churches had been considerable . 10. and lastly , to arm thee against the authority of the above-named venerable person touching the reason of the name of thyatira , as if it were as much as thygatira , a young daughter ; for which he perstringes mr. brightman , condemning the conceit for a mere groundless phancy ; i say , it is not evident that he so much reprehends him for the notation of the word , as for the application of it to such a sense as he there expresses : which is much different from that sense we have proposed , and far more dilute . but as for my self , i must confesse i could not but conceit that the notation of the word thyatira was alluded to , after i had read that passage in cornelius à lapide on the text : which , for thy fuller satisfaction , i shall transcribe . verùm strabo , lib. 13. plinius , lib. 5. cap. 9. & alii , passim tradunt eam ( that is , the city thyatira ) primitùs nuncupatam à seleuco , filio nicanoris , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ob laetum nuncium natae sibi filiae , unde nomen thyatirae . thyatira ergò graecè significat filiam ; quod aptè competit jezebeli illici , quae hîc arguitur . this of cornelius made me secure of the authentickness of this notation , he so precisely qùoting strabo and pliny for the same . and therefore i could not but persuade my self that the church of rome was here called thyatira with some allusion to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . had it not been for this , i should have contented my self with the allusion to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely . but these authorities made me search into the state of the church of rome in this intervall : and i found many things abundantly answerable to the title in the sense of this notation . amongst which if thou chance to think my reflexion upon the multitude of monks or friers in those days to bear the least strength with it , consider but what polydore virgil writes of that one order of franciscans , who , as some others , were the peculiarly-devoted to the blessed virgin : totum terrarum orbem , saith he , una haec implevit familia , ut vulgus jam tum stupefactum suspicaretur non tam pietatem , quàm otium & ignaviam interdum multis cordi esse . and to have such swarms of men that had renounced their virility , and led an idle life , and went gadding and gossipping up and down , telling odd stories to the people , as old wives and nurses do to children , having most of them chins as smooth as womens , and their faces mob'd in hoods , and long coats like petticoats , as if they had a greater ambition to appear the pedissequae or handmaids of the virgin mary , ( whom the doctours of that church love to call the daughter of god , ) then the men-servants and souldiers of jesus christ , who in this epistle to the church in thyatira , on purpose , one would think to reproach the roman church for this idolatrous corrivalry , or rather prelation , of the virgin in religious worship before christ , expresly calls himself the son of god ; this , i say , must assuredly be a consider able accession to the womanishnesse or daughterlinesse , if i may so speak , of the church of rome , which is here perstringed in this period by an allusion to thygatira , which signifies a daughter . 11. and although upon search after those places cited out of strabo and pliny i could not find what i sought for , yet i found no reason to recede from this part of my interpretation . first , because this passage cornelius cites may haply be found in some other place in those authours , though it be not in these . secondly , because there need be no such account of the notation of the word , sith paronomasticall allusion is sufficient , and thyatira of it self sounds near enough to thygatira , as must be generally allowed by all those that give their suffrage for the derivation therefrom . and it is not hard to prove it from the easie elision is made of the letter g out of sundry words . those in the english tongue are obvious . it is more pertinent to instance in the greek , where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 amongst the poets is srequently for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and also in the middle of words , the boeotians pronouncing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . andfrom the latine magis is the french word mais , and from magister maister . and caninius in general pronounces , alia sunt innumerabilia quae deperdunt g : which implies it to be but a weak melting consonant , and such as easily degenerates into y , and , as it may be placed , is easily quite lost . which argues that the sound of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are near enough for paronomasticall allusion in any indifferent man's judgement whatsoever . and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , besides that common analogie of making nomina parasyllaba ( as they are called ) from the fifth declension , as from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , there is an example exquisitely answering this of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , namely , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . so that the word is unexceptionable . and lastly , though we should give it for granted that neither pliny nor strabo has any such passage as cornelius pretends , yet stephanus byzantius expresly has in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , whose very words i will transcribe for thy better satisfaction . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say , thyatira , a city of lydia , was first called pelopea and semiramis ; but seleucus the son of nicanor waging war with lysimachus , and hearing that he had a daughter born to him , called the city thygatira . and it ought to be spoken in the feminine gender , though now they make it of the neuter . all this surely will abundantly warrant and secure a paronomasticall allusion in thygatira , which signifies a daughter . 12. and this may suffice for the making good the solidity of our exposition . and i say solidity , rather then perfection , affirming onely all to be right so far as we have gone , but not denying but that others better versed in history may more fully verifie what we have attempted . nor did all things occurr that my self had read , and should have noted if they had come to my minde . as those notorious ten years of the most bloudy persecution of all under diocletian , which , i think , may in special be alluded to by the ten days mentioned in the church of smyrna , as well as the ten persecutions in general , by a propheticall henopoeia . the notation also of the names of balaam and balac are very accommodate to pergamus ; pergamus signifying what is high , and balaam the lord of the people . which balaam being also the false prophet , and set here for the pope and his clergy , agrees excellently well with the lordlinesse of him in this pergamenian period , wherein he trode upon the necks of emperours , and kicked their crowns off with his feet . and balac , which is here the secular sovereignty , whether it signifie destruction or emptinesse , sutes very well with the state of that time , when the power of the pope had so overmastered all , that the secular magistrate was either but the bloudy executioner of his edicts , or else stood for a mere cypher , the temporal power being quite in a manner evacuated by the rampancy of the spiritual . and seeing all the names in this prophecy are so significant , i leave to the enquiry of the learned whether there may not be some proper significancy in the name of jezebel also ; for it seems not uncapable of a fitting etymologie , and that according to the pattern of a severe critick in the hebrew tongue ; who in his account of the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( which is just such another composition as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ) says , that it may be compounded of either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ubi , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vae , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gloria . so therefore say i may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be compounded of either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifies habitaculum ; or else of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which in the chaldee ( which is but a dialect of the hebrew ) signifies stercus ; or of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 insula , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stercus . which last is lesse accommodate to our purpose , unlesse insula here signifie symbolically , as mr. mede sometimes interprets it of a church as a place separate , as islands are by the sea , and holy , in that it is separate . and then the reproach will be upon the holy church of rome in this thyatirian intervall , as if it had become an island of filth and dung. which was too true of them , for all their outward gildings and paintings . but the other notations methinks are more simple and easie , and fitly accord with both the history of jezebel and the fate of the roman church at the end of the thyatirian intervall . for if we derive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ubi , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 habitaculum , it will plainly glance at jezebel's being slung out at the window from her habitation ; but most fitly prefigure the dispossession of the roman priests and friers at the beginning of the reformation , that they would be cast out of their habitations , and that their places should know them no more . so that the very name of jezebel bears in it the fate of that church at the close of that time . but if we derive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vae or heu , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stercus , both the fault and the punishment of the roman church will be found written in this name ; her filth and corruptions being compared to dung , and her punishment intimated not unlike that of jezebel's , as it is written , and the carcasse of jezebel shall be as the dung on the face of the earth . so that the notation of the name denotes with what foul reproach the papal power and superstition would be put down in those places out of which it was to be exterminated ; that it should be troden down into the very dirt. so that upon him that was in the pergamenian intervall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the lord of the people , ( the papal hierarchy domineering over all , ) at the close of this thyatirian intervall this insulting lamentation might be taken up with a paronomasticall allusion , not much unlike the foregoing etymologie in the sense thereof , and near enough to the sound of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , namely , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , alas the dung or dirt of the papal lordlinesse ! how is it troden down as the mire in the streets ! which was notoriously performed in the actings of martin luther against the pope and roman clergy . but whether this or what else may be alluded to by the sound of the name , i am not very solicitous , the story of the person being sufficient to warrant the meaning i have given of the text , as any one may see by perusing the expolition . and our performance ; i hope , will appear solid enough without descending to such curious niceties . we will therefore now onely adde something briefly touching the usesulnesse thereof , and so conclude . 13. and certainly our exposition of these seven epistles to the seven churches has an equal usefulnesse with any other exposition of the apocalyptick visions , and the more considerable , in that it is a more compendious comprehension of the main drift of them all . first then , it serves for the confirmation of our faith in the particular providence and watchfulnesse of christ over his church , it being so manifest from this exposition with what care and steddiness he hath carried on things hitherto in the first five intervalls , and that they have been no otherwise then he himself has predicted in these propheticall epistles . but then again , in the second place , here is an ample and timely testimony in the behalf of the protestants , i mean such as have declared against and forsaken the communion of the church of rome , from the time of the waldenses to the first reformers usually so called ; the waldenses being acknowledged the faithfull martyrs of christ , and those other that lived within the intervall of the church in thyatira carrying away no lesse encomium , as being thus described in the epistle to that church ; i know thy works , and charity , and service , and faith , and thy patience , and thy works , and the last to be more then the first . so that they approved themselves more and more , even till they broke out at last into a national reformation . and shall not our first reformers then be thought worthy of having the vision of the rising of the witnesses applied to them , who have so ample a testimony from christ himself , whom the father has constituted the judge of the whole world ? and shall not they rightly be said to have ascended into heaven in a politicall sense , to whom was made good that promise to the church in thyatira , to him that overcomes will i give power over the nations , & c ? this therefore of the church in thyatira does farther ratifie what we have * elsewhere delivered touching the rising of the witnesses , that the completion of that prophecy was in that wonderfull reformation god unexpectedly brought about by luther and others . whence it will follow , that the sound of the sixth trumpet is over , and that the forty two months , the one thousand two hundred and sixty days , or the time and times and half a time , are expired as to the fulfilling of prophecy ; and consequently , that it is in vain for any to compute any futurities upon the supposall of their expiration to come ; and that those that doe so will finde themselves confuted by the unsutablenesse of events , and thereby expose the endeavour of interpreting prophecies to reproach and scorn , and weaken mens belief even of those expositions that are true , and give great advantage to the common adversary . but as it is most true in it self , so it is most for the interest of reformed christendome , to take notice , that the protestant reformation is the fulfilling of the vision of the rising of the witnesses , and of their ascending into heaven ; that men may have that value for the reformation that is due thereto , ( it having thereby so plain a ratification from divine testimony of the rightfulnesse thereof against the tyrannies and idolatries of the church of rome , ) and that both magistrate and people may every-where be the better sodered together upon this consideration , and that all sects that keep the foundation may have the better esteem for one another , and not vilifie and hate one another in such sort as usually they do , but be in a readinesse for christian unity and love. for it is this dispensation of spirit that must give antichrist that most deadly blow that is to come , and not a flaming sword out of the mouth of the rider of the white horse literally understood , or large streams of fire spouted out of heaven upon him , or any such miraculous assistence , as some ignorantly expect at the finishing of the 1260 days . which groundlesse supposition is fit for nothing but to engender vain heats and presumptuous conceits , to which no answer will be given but shame and frustration . but the plain truth understood as it is , naturally tends to the begetting in all reformed christendome a mutuall esteem of one another , and the suppressing that vain presumption in parties , as if they were the sole people that the vision of the witnesses belonged to , and so ought to expect marvellous things for themselves conjoined with the destruction or suppression of all the rest that are not of their own party . which fond , or rather unchristian , conceits are quite expunged by the true and faithfull interpretation i have published to the world of the rising of the witnesses ; which puts them in a way rather of duly prizing one another , and of jointly endeavouring in the spirit of sobriety to advance the common interest of whole reformed christendome , then for any one party so vainly to presume of themselves above all the rest . and finally , this groundlesse expectation of any such wonderfull events upon the expiration of the 1260 days being thus wiped away , that time as to any fulfilling of prophecies being already expired , and no set time being defined for the future , but onely the order of things in the vision of the vials , it is left for the protestants to compute the approach of the final ruine of antichrist and the blessed millennium according to their own progresse in the mysterie of real regeneration and indispensable duties of christianity . by how much more holy , by how much more harmlesse , by how much more humble , by how much more heavenly-affected they finde one another , by how much more discreet , by how much more faithfull and obedient to the publick magistrate , by how much more kinde and loving to one another , and by how much more seriously affected for the advancing the publick good and the endeavouring the common welfare of all mankind , ( which will introduce the philadelphian intervall , ) by so much more near they may reckon the approach of the downfall of antichrist , and the glorious reign of christ in his saints at the happy millennium . but what other indications there be besides these in the visions of the prophets , whereby we may compute the nearnesse of those times , i must ingenuously confesse i know not . but this was a sudden excursion . we will return again into the way . 14. but thirdly , in that it is said , notwithstanding , i have a few things against thee , because thou sufferest that woman jezebel , which calleth her self a prophetesse , to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication , and to eat things sacrificed unto idols , &c. this is a perfect clearing of the protestant reformers from that hainous crime of schism that the church of rome so magisterially lays to their charge , it plainly implying that their separation from the church of rome was not onely no fault , but a vertue , and an indispensable point of obedience to the command of christ , and that it had been disobedience and rebellion against christ not to have separated , and therefore was impossible to be any schism . which is a thing worthy of our notice and consideration . as is also this , ( contrary to the opinion of some , otherwise learned , ) that to depart from the church of rome upon the very account of idolatry is not schism before god , but onely in the sight of men , and those , it is to be feared , of none of the purest minds , but rather such as have a greater sense of the carnal interest of the church then of the glory of god , and the purity of his worship . for christ , who is god blessed for ever , does here blame the church in thyatira , that she suffers the woman jezebel any longer , and does not cast her off , ( as the eunuchs cast her out of the window in the type , ) and that for this very cause , because she is a teacher of idolatry , and an abettour and countenancer of spiritual fornication ; as is manifest in the text. so that before god , or in the sight of god , both the church of rome stands guilty of idolatry , and also the protestants leaving her communion upon that account are acquitted from any the least taint or suspicion of schism . and that the spirit of god does but witnesse with our spirits in the truth of this matter , if thou hast not lost the free use of thy reason , that brief treatise of idolatry added to this present exposition will , i hope , abundantly satisfie thee : which therefore i have adjoined as a sutable appendage thereunto . 15. fourthly , in that reformed christendom ( especially after their remissnesse in life and manners , and contentionsnesse about trifles , ) is represented ( under the type of the church in sardis ) to be in such an imperfect condition , though emerged out of the grossnesse of the popish idolatry , ( for there is no farther complaint of either the doctrine of balaam or of jezebel here , ) this should teach us to be humble , and not over-fierce and confident in our opinions and doctrines , but meekly to bear one with another , and be ready to be instructed by one another for the clearing up the truth . but in the mean time things being no better then they are , sith they are no worse then they were predicted , we are hence to learn , that it is our duty never to suffer our mindes to relapse towards the flesh-pots of aegypt , or think we had as good goe back again to rome , as to be no better then we are . for this sardian state is like the wandring in the wildernesse betwixt aegypt and the promised land , which is the philadelphian state , into which there is no entrance till after the seven vials , that is , till the last of them be poured out , or at least a-pouring . as it is said in the fifteenth of the apocalypse ; and the temple was filled with smoak from the glory of god , and from his power ; and no man was able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled . where no man , according to the apocalyptick style , signifies , that that company of men that were to enter into , and make up , that state of the church which is here styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the living temple of god , would not appear in that eminent condition till after the vials , the last either current or complete . which agrees admirably with that passage in the epistle to philadelphia , him that overcometh will i make a pillar in the temple of my god. so that these philadelphians shall not onely enter into the temple after the smoak of the vials , but never goe out of it again , according to the sense we have explained it in . wherefore because we are in a kinde of wildernesse-condition , we ought with faith and meeknesse and patience to abide till god shall bring us into that good land , and not to murmur against him , and reproach his providence , who hath thought fit to carry on things with such leisurely steps , nor peevishly and falsly to say that we had as good return to rome again , and that it is a question whether the reformation has done more good or hurt . for such thoughts or speeches are false , injudicious , and ingratefull reproaches against the sacred providence of god , whose ways these bitter , shallow and unsanctify'd spirits understand not , because the spirit of the world has blinded their eyes . and forasmuch as there is no complaint of idolatry in the epistle to this sardian church , nor the least hint to make any separation , as before , all the churches of reformed christendom , and all the particular sects and members thereof , ought to have a tender regard how they divide from one another or break communion for difference of ceremony or opinion ; but holding all the indispensable foundation , and bearing joint testimony against the grosse idolatries and wilde enormities of the church of rome , to study peace and mutuall compliance , that the body of reformed christendome may be more strong and compact to stand against the common enemie . but above all , we are with might and main to endeavour to perfect holinesse in the fear of god , and to purge our selves from all pollution of flesh and spirit , that we may prevent the extremity of that judgement which is threatned as suddenly and unexpectedly to come upon the church of sardis . and these , i think , are main usefulnesses discoverable in the interpretation of the epistle to the sardian church . 16. and fifthly , as for the exposition of the church of philadelphia , it is of main importance for the making of the world good . for it is the ordinary excuse for the reigning of impiety and immorality in the world , that men will be men as long as the world lasts , and that things are more likely ever to grow worse and worse then better : and therefore very few there are that will either attempt the amending of their own lives , or the encouraging others so to doe . when notwithstanding it is plain , according to the propheticall sense of the epistle to the church of philadelphia , that there will be a time when righteousnesse and true holinesse will have a most glorious reign upon earth . but those that are averse from this belief are usually averse also from believing any certitude in the expositions of prophecies . they will not , forsooth , be so presumptuous as to pretend they can understand them , especially such as either chastise the abominable wickednesses of the roman church , or such as promise times transcendently better . which is a piece of hypocrisie much like that of ahaz , when the prophet bid him ask a sign of the lord his god ; but he , good modest hypocrite , would not ask a sign , neither would he tempt the lord. the meaning whereof was , that he would not amuze nor distract his thoughts , nor render himself more obnoxious by taking notice of a supernatural evidence against the natural sentiments and persuasions of his own carnal minde , under whose government he was resolved to be , and not be dissettled by the inlets of any higher light. the application is very easie and obvious . 17. and lastly , admitting the propheticall meaning of the epistle to the church of laodicea , it is of great use for the establishing our faith in that grand point , that this terrestriall scene will have an end , and that at the close of all christ will visibly come in judgement to reward all men according to their works ; that he will judge both the quick and the dead according to the orthodox sense of the apostolick doctrine . to all which we may adde , that as the expositions of these seven epistles to the seven churches in asia are in a manner as convincing as any other visions in the whole apocalypse , so they are far more easie , and reach the main design in a lesse compasse of words , and have not that operosenesse of synchronisms necessarily hanging on them as the other have for the clearing of the sense ; but are onely seven intervalls manifestly succeeding one another , whose bounds so far as things are past are easily determinable . and we know that the intervall of sardis ends where that of philadelphia begins , and laodicea is the close of all . which facility and comprehensiblenesse must needs improve the usefulnesse of these expositions very considerably . and there wanting nothing but the significations of the names to be added for the easie applicability of the events to each intervall , i will , for the satisfaction of the reader , briefly furnish them that have no skill in the original languages with the sense and meaning of the names of all the seven churches aforehand . 18. ephesus therefore , with an allusion to the greek word ephesis , signifies desire , the first moving principle that drives on an activity for the attaining the main scope we aim at . but with an allusion to aphesis , it signisies remissnesse , for which this church of ephesus is blamed : or else , alluding again to aphesis , it signifies the starting or letting loose the racers at the beginning of the race . which agrees very fitly with this ephesine intervall , which is the beginning of the church , and of the whole course of providence concerning the same to the end of the world . smyrna signifies myrrh , intimating the bitter affliction of the primitive church under the ten pagan persecutions . pergamus signifies sublimity or exaltation , intimating the raising of the church out of her former dejected and afflicted condition under the aforesaid persecutions into a glorious triumph over paganism ; as it fell out upon the conquest of constantine the great . it signifies also , or prefigures , the enormous haughtinesse of the church of rome in that intervall . thyatira , in allusion to thygatira a daughter , intimates the more-then-ordinary womanishness of the church of rome in that intervall : but in allusion to thyateria , altars of incense or sweet odours , it signifies the more-then-ordinary frequentness of burning the blessed protestant martyrs with fire and faggot in this period . which cruelty though it was abominable in respect of that bloudy and barbarous church that committed it ; yet the suffering of those holy martyrs in this manner out of fidelity to christ and his truth was a sacrifice of sweet odours to him , and very gratefully accepted of him . sardis , in allusion to sarda or lapis sardius , ( the same that carnalina , ) signifies the imperfect and carnal condition of that intervall of the reformed church that is called sardian . philadelphia , which signifies charity in general , and particularly a more special love to them of the true houshold of faith , intimates the reign of the spirit , which is the spirit of love. for god is love , and he that abideth in love abideth in god , and god in him . this is that illustrious reign of christ in his millenniall empire of love , when the christian life shall take place , and opinions and persecutions shall be done away . and lastly , laodicea signifies a popular politicall or externally-legal righteousnesse , the outward form of the former philadelphian state , but , as in old age , the spirit much decay'd , though the outward figure of the body much-what the same . it signifies also the arraigning and judgeing of the people , that is , the nations of the world , when christ shall come to judge both the quick and the dead ; because this is to be performed at the close of this laodicean intervall . 19. the significancy of the names of these seven churches reckoned always in such an order , as that seven intervalls of the church , from the beginning to the end of all , answer exactly in the affairs of the church both to these names in this order they are reckoned , and to the conditions of the seven churches as they are orderly described in the seven epistles to them , is a plain demonstration to them that are not extremely refractory , ( especially if you adde the certainty that there must be a propheticall meaning of these epistles , as is made good in the first and second chapters of the ensuing book , ) i say , it is a plain demonstration , that our exposition is true , as well as so easie and comprehensible , and therefore of an universal usefulnesse as well to the illiterate as the learned . which i hope , reader , will be a sufficient excuse for the authour , that he has either invited thee to the pains of reading , or given himself the trouble of compiling , this present treatise . farewell . a propheticall exposition of the seven epistles sent to the seven churches in asia , from him that is , and was , and is to come . siracides . ch. 59. he that giveth his minde to the law of the most high , and is occupied in the meditation thereof , will seek out the wisedome of all the ancient , and be occupied in prophecies . a propheticall exposition of the seven epistles sent to the seven churches in asia . chap. i. a preparation toward the mysticall or propheticall interpretation of the seven epistles to the seven churches of asia . 1. we shall first premise , that as those two following prophecies of the seven seals , and of the opened book , reach from the beginning to the end of the church ; so this of the seven churches reaches also from the beginning of the church to the end of all . which seems congruous both from the nature of the vision it self , and from the following examples of the prophecies of the seven seals and the opened book . we shall premise in the second place , that as it is conspicuous that four of the names of these seven churches are directly significant of some state and condition they are in , viz. smyrna , pergamus , philadelphia and laodicea ; so it is exceeding credible that the other three names may allude to some thing that may set out their nature and condition also , viz. ephesus , thyatira and sardis ; as we shall take more express notice in the process of our exposition . lastly , which might as well ( if not better ) have been noted at first , this more mysticall sense , which we are now a-rendring of the seven churches , doth not at all clash with the literal sense of the same , nor exclude that usefull applicability of them for the reproof or praise of any churches particular in any time or age of the christian world , that are for the like things obnoxious or commendable . but the distinct providence of god , and his watchfulness and foresight of the affairs of his church , may haply be more illustrated and display'd by this mystical way of exposition then by that literal or moral . 2. we will therefore distinguish the whole duration of the church of christ , ( especially so far forth as it is within the limits of the roman empire , which also the other prophecies in the apocalyps seem chiefly to regard ) into seven intervalls , and will suppose the first intervall to end where the second begins , viz. in the tenth year of nero , or anno christi 63. 3. which period therefore of the ephesine church ending so early , even about thirty years before st. john's writing the apocalypse , agrees excellently well with that passage ch. 1. v. 18 , 19. where , after christ's declaring himself the first and the last ; ( as before in the same chapter he is called he that was , and is , and is to come ) and his mentioning his own death and resurrection , and how that he will be alive to the end of the world to carry on the affairs of his church ; he presently inferrs , write therefore what things thou hast seen , what things are , and what things shall be hereafter , ( which he expresly and immediately calls the mystery of the seven stars and the seven golden candlesticks , ver . 20. which is worth the noting . ) what things thou hast seen already , in the times of thy life past , namely , the state of the ephesine church : what things are now present , viz. the smyrnian state of the church in which thou art , and tastest of the bitterness of it in this thy exile here in patmos ( for the ten persecutions were then already begun , and john was in the second of them : ) and what things shall be hereafter , namely , to the end of the world , in the residue of the period of the smyrnian church , and in the periods of the remainder of the seven churches succeeding . and questionless the vision of the rider of the * white horse respects what was then past , namely , christ's first warfare upon his conquest of death , and his being mounted into his glorify'd body ; who after from on high sent down succours to his apostles and disciples , and assisted and and managed that illustrious battel in the beginning of the apostolick times so successfully and gloriously , that infinite numbers of men were brought under the obedience of the gospel , even within the space of the ephesine period . 4. so that there can be no scruple of the church of ephesus representing a state of the church past ; but onely that it seems improper to direct an epistle to a church then out of being . but this can be no argument with them that hold the seven churches to be seven successive conditions of the church to the worlds end . for make the exitus of the ephesine church reach beyond s. john's time , suppose to anno christi 100 , or thereabout ; the rest of the epistles will be writ to churches not yet in being , and some many hundreds , nay thousands of years ere they shall be : which yet they must not count absurd . 5. the briefest account therefore of this matter is this , that the spirit of god seems to drive on two main designs in the vision of these seven churches at once . the one , most effectually to animate and encourage the church to doe well , to stick to truth and holiness through all the trials and calamities of this present life ; as also to deterre them from all kind of sin and wickedness of what nature soever , whether apostasie from the faith , idolatry , sensuality , or what-ever remissness in manners : for which design this epistolar way is exceeding accommodate , it bearing the form of personally speaking to people , and so the more forcibly makes them take notice , in a manner whether they will or no , of what is said unto them . the other design , and that so laid as not to foregoe the former advantage , is to instruct the church in the providence of god and his foresight , to shew how all things lie bare before his eyes in such order and succession as they are in time to come to pass . in the literal sense of these epistles to the seven churches , that former design is plainly pursued and attained , understanding them directed to these seven churches in asia then in being ; and in a very great measure in the moral sense . these epistles , i say , being so applicable to any part of the catholick church in any age thereof , placed in the same or like circumstances of condition with these asiatick churches , this epistolar way will have a considerable efficacy and influence upon them , for either animation or reproof . 6. but now the great question is , why the prophetical design discoverable in the mystical interpretation should have been couched in this epistolar way , especially the epistle to ephesus , being writ after the ephesine period was expired . to which i answer , that this propheticall design was not intended for the ephesine church in this mysticall sense , but for future ages ; and therefore , it is taken in onely to make up the entireness of the whole succession of the church in its several distinct states from the beginning to the end of all . but this epistolar way is still retained in this mysticall sense , for the same usefulnesse it had in the literal to the seven churches in asia then really in being . for so soon as any of these letters by this mysticall sense is understood to be directed to any successive part of the church , as now , for example , ( as will appear anon ) the epistle to the church of sardis is directed to the protestant church or reformed christendome , this succession of the church ought to be as much concerned , as that particular church of sardis was in asia minor . and this intention of the holy ghost being once understood , it will be of the like usefulness to the philadelphian church especially , and also to the laodicean . wherefore the objections were but small , considering the usefulness of this epistolar way , though there were no other sense of these seven epistles and the seven churches but the mysticall . for as in an entire vision , where the beginning is touching something past or present , all goes under the title of propheticall , though that part that respects things past is but historicall representation : so in this entire epistolar vision , though the first part be epistolar , yet it is but historicall representation , exhibiting times and persons past ( as if they were present to be writ to ) and that for uniformity sake in the form of an epistle , as what is past in history under the form of propheticall vision , as the rider of the white horse , which is the first in the vision of the seals ; though the representation was of what was partly past , and partly present . but what is to come is the proper object of all vision propheticall . but now besides all this , in the literal sense there being then a church in ephesus when that epistle was wrote to it , and in a moral sense it being applicable to any church that does ephesize in any part of christendome and at any time ; the objection , in my judgment has melted into less then nothing . and therefore , notwithstanding this exception , we will not stick to place the end of the interval of the ephesine succession in the tenth of nero's reign , and in the year of christ 63. till then let the church of christ be represented under the title of ephesus ; from that time , till about three hundred and odd years after christ , under the name of smyrna : from thence , to the latter end of the persecution of the albigenses and waldenses , let her be the church dwelling in pergamus : from that time , till whole nations fell off from the pope , let the same church bear the name of thyatira : from that time protestantisme became the religion of nations , till the last vial , let this church bear the title of the church in sardis : from that time till the fourth thunder , let it wear the name of philadelphia : * from the fourth thunder till christ come visibly to judgement in the clouds , let the church bear the name of laodicea . these are the seven intervals , which how well they will fit with the titles of these distinct successive states of the church and the things spoken of them in the vision , i will anon endeavour to unfold . chap. ii. a farther preparation out of the first chapter of the apocalypse , whereby this propheticall meaning of the vision of the seven churches is more clearly assured . but in the mean time , for the greater assurance of this propheticall or mysticall sense , we will first make some farther remarks upon the first chapter of the apocalypso . where we will make onely this one modest supposition ; that the spirit of god sets down nothing immethodically nor in vain , or at least nothing vainly immethodicall . wherefore upon the very first verse , which bears the title of the whole book ; the revelation of jesus christ , which god gave unto him , to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass , that is , things to come to pass ; some shortly , and other some in succession of time , as all interpreters agree ; i cannot but note this , that if the spirit of god do but respicere titulum , ( as most certainly he will ) he will set down no entire visions , as this of the seven churches is , but they must in the main be of things to come to pass , not of things present merely , and not hid , but obvious to the eyes of men , as the state of the churches here mentioned was to the world at that time . and therefore something farther must be meant by them then can be contained in the literal sense ; which is not of things to come , as the title requires , but onely of things present , or some promises or threatnings that do not properly amount to the nature of prophetical prediction , no more then the law of moses to which they are annexed . 2. blessed is he that readeth , and they that hear the word of this prophecy , for the time is at hand . this again plainly shews that this book is all of it , i mean all the entire visions thereof , a book of prophecies ; which , as i intimated before , mere promises and threatnings cannot make it no more then they do those laws of moses to which they are adjoyned . and though the several states of the seven churches may be applicable to several states of particular churches of after-ages in christendome l yet it cannot properly be in this literal sense by way of prediction , but of example of vertue or vice , of pious or impious actions , which repeatedly happen in all history . whence if there be no more in it then thus , these epistles to the seven churches cannot be deemed any prophecy , and therefore are heterogeneous to the scope and title of the book . 3. but upon the so expresly calling this a book of prophecies for john to salute the seven churches in asia with this salutation , grace be unto you , and peace , from him which is , and which was , and which is to come ; methinks it does even forcibly drive a man to conceive that the vision of the seven churches which he so immediately falls upon , is a prophecy , according to the title immediately mentioned in the foregoing verse . besides that the description of the party in whose name he salutes them , which is , and which was , and which is to come , does very naturally insinuate that he is treating of what reaches from the beginning of the church to the latest ages thereof . which he insists more upon in the seventh verse ; ( after he has spoken of the person of christ ) behold , he cometh with the clouds , ( this reaches the last period of laodicea , when god will judge all people , ) and every eye shall see him , and they also which pierced him ; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him , ( for the earth shall then be burnt up with the works thereof : ) even so , amen . this will certainly come to pass about the seventh thunder , ( in that dark hollow dungeon , where there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth , ) let the sons of infidelity or unbelief conceit what they will to the contrary . wherefore the minde and scope of the spirit of prophecy seems here to be carried out even to the utmost ages of the world . 4. according as he declares in the next verse , i am alpha and omega , the beginning and the ending , saith the lord , which is , and which was , and which is to come , the almighty . that wisedome and power that reaches from one end to another mightily and sweetly orders all things . this methinks strongly insinuates that the vision of the seven churches ( as well as the vision of the seven seals and of the opened book ) reaches from the beginning of the church to the end of all things . which consideration is so repeated to us , that certainly it must not stand for nought , but is to give infallible aim at a higher meaning of the seven churches then we are at first aware of . for the summary of the vision , before he descends to the particular churches , begins and ends with this , v. 11. and 18. i am the first and the last , and have the keyes of hell and of death . which undoubtedly respects the execution of the final sentence under the seventh thunder . 5. but there is first this not able to be observed in the tenth verse : i was in the spirit on the lord's day , and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet . this pompous entrance with the sound of the trumpet into this vision of the seven churches , and the glorious appearance of the son of man walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks with seven stars in his right hand , comes up so near to that splendid preamble to the vision of the seven seals , that any sagacious man cannot but suspect that both the visions be of like extent and importance , and not of such private concern as merely to respect those seven churches in asia . for at the beginning of both these visions there is the glorious appearance of christ in the midst of the church : in the first , standing or walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ; in the latter , sitting in the midst of the four beasts and four and twenty elders : and both these preambles to the future visions ushered in with the sound of the trumpet . wherefore the pomp being equal , the concern of each vision in all likelihood is equal . nor can it be pretended that the pomp before the vision of the seven churches was designed as a fair frontispice to the whole book of prophecies , because at least as splendid a frontispice is again erected before the vision of the seven seals . wherefore that former was entirely intended for the visions of the seven churches , and therefore portends some mighty concerning mysterie therein , and such as the present affairs of those seven particular churches in asia could not reach nor exhaust . but we proceed . 6. saying , i am alpha and omega , the first and the last : and what thou seest write in a book , and send it unto the seven churches which be in asia . here again , immediately before his sending to the seven churches of asia , he displays those titles of himself that least of all suit with the small continuance of those particular churches . but the holy catholick church endures from the beginning to the end of all . upon which therefore i cannot doubt but the spirit of prophecy had his eye at this time , and in the mystery understood by the seven churches in asia the holy catholick church divided into seven successive intervalls , according to the opinion of petrus galatinus . for indeed in all reason , ( if there was not some grand mysterie underneath , ) why should onely seven churches in asia be writ to , when there were others , many others , either there , or at least in other parts of the empire , in all likelihood as notorious for either the faults , the vertues , or the sufferings that are noted in these ? 7. you 'll say haply , that asia minor was the special diocese as it were of s. john. but they that answer thus forget that john was merely passive in these visions , and wrote no otherwise then he was moved by the holy ghost , which is no respecter of persons . besides that there were certainly other churches in asia besides these seven . why therefore just seven ? and why these ? but that seven signifies universality , is obvious in the prophetick style . therefore to the seven churches in asia is as much as to all the churches in asia . but it 's much that all the churches in asia minor should be thus carefully saluted by the holy ghost , and the rest of the churches in the christian world be taken no notice of : as if it were according to the proverb , that kissing goes by favour ; whenas yet it is expresly said in the scripture , that god is no respecter of persons , as i intimated before . 8. but you will farther urge , that we cannot possibly make it any more then all the churches in asia , unlesse asia were turned into an appellative . which consideration will put a bar to all attempts for any mysticall interpretation , so that we must necessarily rest in the literal . but hugo grotius , who interpreteth all the churches also mystically from the reason of their names , yet takes no notice of any allusive signification in the word asia . so that in this learned man's judgement that sequel is not so firm . but besides , though i do not love to play with words more then needs must , i think it not hard to finde out an allusive signification apposite enough in the name of asia to the mysticall sense intended . for both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( the former signifying fundamentum , the latter actio or effectio ) as to their paronomasticall sound are as near asia as the nicest criticall ear can require in these cases . and for the sense of them both , it is extremely accommodate to the present purpose . for then will this superscription , to the seven churches in asia , either signifie , to all the churches in the foundation , that is , that keep to the apostolick foundation in matter of doctrine and profession ; or else , to all the churches in action , that is to say , these epistles are writ to them with an intended censure of their actions . and it is said expresly by the logician touching the topick of effects and actions , hujus loci sunt laudes & vituperationes : upon which all these epistles altogether run . and , i know thy works , begins every epistle . besides that they are directed to none but such as profess the fundamentals of the christian faith , and nothing repugnant thereunto ; as will appear in our interpretation of them . nor is it strange that s. john , though writing in greek , should ( himself being a jew ) make an allusion to hebrew words ; nor is it without example . for the son of sirach does plainly in that passage in the greek text , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , allude to the hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to hide , as if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 9. these verbal allusions are so frequent in the prophetick style , that there is no need farther to take notice thereof : nor any doubt , i think , but the spirit of god would not in this book of prophecies , where all things are so comprehensive and majestick , salute onely seven particular churches of all the churches of the world , and that with such pompous circumstances ; nor when he had begun so magnificently a book of prophecies , and so expresly intitled it so , that he would immediately afterwards , as if he had forgot what he was about , bring in a large vision consisting of seven parts , wherein there is nothing at all propheticall , but onely the reproof or praises , the comminations or promises to a few particular churches . this is not according to the steddy order and method of divine wisedome , especially in this book , then which there never was nor ever will be any thing more accurately written . 10. and he had in his right hand seven stars . methinks it is extremely harsh to conceit that these seven stars are merely the seven bishops of any seven particular churches of asia , as if the rest were not supported nor guided by the hand of christ , or as if there were but seven in his right hand , but all the rest in his left . such high representations cannot be appropriated to any seven particular churches whatsoever . but seven must signifie all in both coexistence and in succession to the end of the world . which is a sense worthy so sublime a book as this of the apocalypse , and correspondent to the meaning of the rest of the septenaries that occur in this book of prophecy , they signifying an entire succession of some seven things or other which they are brought in to represent . 11. the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches , and the seven candlesticks which thou samest are the seven churches . though according to the literal sense these seven churches and the seven angels are easily applicable to those particular seven churches of asia above specify'd ; yet i cannot but conceive , that he not calling them here the seven churches of asia , but seven churches in general , it is an invitation to the searching out some more large propheticall sense , such as we drive at ; as also , in that he says the angels of the seven churches at large , and not of asia , nor names the churches by name ; but especially in that he calls them angels , in stead of bishops or pastours . for he continuing so in the propheticall style proper to this book , that ascribes all to the ministry of angels , it is a sign that the letters to the seven angels of the churches have also a propheticall sense as well as a literal , or rather that that is the sense that is most chiefly of all intended . 12. all these intimations put togegether out of this first chapter toward the assurance of a propheticall meaning of the seven churches of asia have that force with me , that though i could not my self produce such a continued mysticall or propheticall sense which would be all along easie and natural , yet i could not but vehemently suspect that there is some such sense , though it were not in my power to reach it . but if i have through the divine assistence light on such a sense as is both continually coherent , important , and according to the analogie of the propheticall style , i hope this preparation will even extort the belief thereof from the reader . but such as it is i shall now present to his view . chap. iii. the interpretation of the epistle to the ephesine church . 1. it was intimated out of the last verse of the foregoing chapter , that the omission of the appropriating the seven churches to asia by name was a fair invitation to us to suspect a more large and released sense of this vision of the seven churches . and indeed this releasement is more free in the greek copy then in our english translation . for the original runs thus ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are seven churches : not the seven churches which in the literal sense one might be prone to imagine to be none other then those situate in asia minor ; but this division of the churches into seven in the mysticall sense is rather distributio ex adjunctis then è subjectis , the whole catholick church in its succession from the beginning to the end being cast into seven intervalls , according to seven notorious qualifications or conditions thereof . for so we say , the primitive church , the apostatized church , the reformed church , &c. denoting not their place , but rather their time and quality ; which the genius of the prophetick style , if it were to express them , would exhibite as so many churches distinctly situate . 2. but besides this , it is farther to be noted , that the omission of the appropriating these seven churches to asia does also fairly quit the mysticall interpreter of giving any account of the signification of that name , it being omitted in the interpretation of the seven golden candlesticks . which i thought worth the noting , t●●● all pretense of cavill might be taken from them that may haply prove lesse satisfy'd with our giving an account of that greek name from an hebrew allusion , though their cavill to the more judicious i hope will seem altogether groundless . 3. nor , lastly , does the returning of the spirit of prophecy to the seven churches by name , in these epistles written to them , determine the vision solely and adequately to those seven churches of asia topically understood ; forasmuch as the names of all those churches at least by an easie allusion have an appellative signification , and manifestly denote their quality and condition ; as we shall see in the process of our exposition . 4. first therefore of the church of ephesus , which christ salutes after this manner : unto the angel of the church of ephesus write ; these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand , and who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks . that by angels , according to the apocalyptick style , all the agents under their presidency are represented or insinuated , i have already noted : and it is so frequent and obvious in the apocalypse , that none that is versed therein can any ways doubt of it . wherefore christ his writing to the angel of the church of ephesus in this mysticall sense , is his writing to all bishops , pastours and christians in this first apostolicall intervall of the church . and that particularly in this epistle to this church ( i mean , in the mysticall sense thereof ) he recommends himself to them under the character of him that holds the seven stars in his right hand , and who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks , the sense , stripp'd of this propheticall pomp , is , that i am he that supports all my bishops and pastours , and all that labour for the interest of my kingdome , from this time for ever : i am present with them , and uphold them . as he said at the first founding of the church , goe ye therefore and teach all nations , baptizing them in the name of the father , and of the son , and of the holy ghost ; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you . and , lo , i am with you alway , even unto the end of the world . he is in the midst of his church where-ever two or three are gathered together in his name : he walks through , in the midst of the successions of the seven intervalls of the church , the seven golden candlesticks , till the end of all . this is to encourage the beginning of his church , and is methodically put in the first place , as being general , and running through all the intervalls thereof till the end of the world . but that the frontispice , as i before called it , to this vision of the seven churches , which was the glorious character of our blessed saviour , is made use of by piece-meal for an entrance into the parts of this vision , as it is in them all ; i cannot but take notice how fitly it answers to the vision of the seals , where the parts of the frontispice are also made use of to usher in four of the seals ; for the four beasts one after another ( and that with apposite significancy , as here , ) at the opening of the four first seals are introduced uttering this voice , come and see . wherefore there being the like contrivance in both visions , it is a shrewd intimation that they are visions of like importance , that is , very reachingly and comprehensively propheticall ; as i endeavoured to evince out of the first chapter . 5. and how accommodate that part of the character of our blessed saviour is to this part of the vision that concerns the ephesine church , is already declared . we shall now confider the fitnesse of the paronomasticall allusion in the name . for that the propheticall style does affect such allusions , both grotius and mr. mede , and all interpreters that i know , are agreed upon . and grotius does particularly give the reason of the names of all these churches in his commentary on the apocalypse . so that there is nothing of levity or indiscretion in the attempting of the same . in ephesus therefore , for ought i know , there may be a double allusion , both to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . for that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , being one of the three matres lectionis , as they are called , contained in it both e and a , it does plainly intimate , that the sound of e and a are not so extremely different one from another . but as for the sense of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it is hugely well and peculiarly accommodate to this church , it being the first intervall of the seven , as it were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ( and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the same , ) the careeres or lists from whence the race begins of the succession of all the seven churches , which ends in the end of the world . and s. paul compares the calling of christians to a race . 6. but as for the other word , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which grotius also expresly takes notice of , and pitches upon , the allusion thereto is unexceptionable both as to sound and signification . for it denotes that great servour and zealous desire the church in those first primitive and apostolick times had to the affairs of christ , and to the interest of his kingdome ; that they did sincerely and earnestly , under the conduct of that heros on the white horse , with his bow and arrow in his right hand , aim at and press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of god in christ jesus ; they were inflamed with the desire of enlarging the kingdome of christ here , and of obtaining that immarcescible crown hereafter , and of eating the fruit of eternall life in the celestiall paradise of god. this was the first love of this church , this was their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , their vehement and sincere desire , and onely scope of their actions , that they might serve christ here , and enjoy him afterwards in his heavenly kingdome . and therefore out of this fervent love to christ , and sense of their own happinesse , they did at first easily devour all difficulties . 7. as it is noted in the two following verses : i know thy works , and thy labour , and thy patience , and how thou canst not bear with such as are evil . for those that are sincerely and fervently good , it cannot but make them have an antipathy against what is evil , and discern them that bear themselves never so apostolically , and yet are not right at the bottome , to be but hypocrites and liers . and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles , and are not . that there were false apostles , deceitfull workers , transforming themselves into the apostles of christ , in the apostles time , ( within which the period of this church is , ) the apostle paul takes notice 2 cor. 11. 13. which therefore is very agreeable to the intervall of this first church . for when should any pretend to be apostles sent from god , but in that age there were apostles sent into the world by him ? and hast born , and hast patience , and for my name 's sake hast laboured , and hast not fainted . what is here is much-what the same sense and words as were in the foregoing verse : but it is not repeated in vain . for these words i suppose , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , have a special correspondence to the reward promised in the 7. verse . he that will not labour shall not eat : but he that labours very much , and breaks not off by reason of any lazy fainting or culpable lassitude , is worthy to be fed with the bread of life . but besides , this labour and patience in the highest circumstances is here repeated , the better to set off the present remissness of some in this ephesine church , as it is in the next verse . 8. neverthelesse , i have something against thee , because thou hast left thy first love , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . grotius and dr. hammond expound it , because thou hast remitted of thy first love , and so allow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie relaxation and remission in a contrary sense to intension of degrees : whence there may be another ground of allusion in ephesus to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and in counter distinction to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that this ephesine church may have its name from its first intense love and its after remission thereof , by this double allusion . but as the allusion to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is more perfect then that to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , so questionless this first intervall of the church was more famous for their sincere and real love to christ , then for their remissnesse therein . which serves something for the countenancing of the term of this intervall . because thou hast left thy first love : that is to say , because thou hast ceased to be so fervent in spirit as at the first . which first love , being according to the measure of christ's own prescript , was certainly such as made the ephesine church love christ more then father , or mother , or wife , or children , or any worldly interest whatsoever , accordingly as he requires . but towards the end of the intervall of this first succession of the church this love and courage it seems began to abate , and too many began to gnosticize , as it is called , in that point , and think it a small thing to deny the faith in the time of persecution , even those that yet professed themselves of the church , and were believers . that this was within the intervall of the ephesine church ( in our sense ) several reproofs and exhortations in the epistles of the apostles do plainly evince . see dr. hammond's notes on this church , which fully reach our design . and the epistles of paul , and the first of peter , and that to the hebrews , were all writ within that intervall we have set for the ephesine church , and their faults committed before . which defaults this vision rebukes and threatens them for , by way of instruction for future ages , as it is in the following verse . 9. remember therefore from whence thou art fallen , and repent , and doe the first works . he bids them return to their first love , which was more strong then death . and it was fit to give this command and encouragement to the church , because of greater trials to come in her smyrnian condition . for before the ten persecutions martyrdome was more rare . or else i will come unto thee quickly , and will remove thy candlestick out of his place , except thou repent . that is , by an hypallage , i will remove thee from thy candlestick : which therefore is directed more especially to the bishops or pastours of the church at that time , as threatning them for falling into such a remiss degree of love themselves , or suffering their charges so to fall . for the seven candlesticks are the seven churches , ch. 1. v. 20. and the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches , that is to say , the bishops and pastours of the church . wherefore this commination to them may by an hypallage signifie their being removed from the church by some judgement or other , that is , as many of them as were thus carelesse and remisse . but to any members of the church the removing of the candlestick from them may be their amission of their church-membership ; as eripere alicui , or adimere alicui civitatem , is to make him cease to be a citizen any longer . which sense is also competible to the bishops or pastours ; christ may cut them off in foro divino from being any longer members of his church , and consequently from salvation . but there is yet another sense which pleaseth me best of all , in which victorinus , andreas , lyranus and alcazar do all agree , who interpret the removing of the candlestick out of its place , of the commination of some commotion or storm that should overtake this church ; not that this church should be carried quite away , but moved or agitated as in a storm or earthquake . this they understand of the ephesine church in asia literally : which is an argument that the interpretation seemed very easie and genuine unto them . and it is as easily applicable to our mysticall sense . but i would raise the storm a little higher , and make it signifie the storm of that dreadfull persecution that was to befall the church in the smyrnian intervall thereof . for it is look'd upon still as the apostolick church from the beginning to the end , though distinguished into these several intervalls . and it is observable , that there is in every epistle to the respective church some prediction to be fulfilled in the intervall of the following church . which i thought fit here to note at once , and shall particularly , as we proceed , take notice thereof in their proper places . the sense therefore seems to be this ; that unless the church in this ephesine intervall would be raised to an higher pitch of zeal , and love , and activity for the propagating of his kingdome , christ would excite their courage , and exercise it with such hot persecutions ( sanguis martyrum semen ecclesiae ) as would be more effectual for the bringing to pass his design . and it sell out accordingly in the ten persecutions within the smyrnian period of the church . 10. but this thou hast , that thou hatest the deeds of the nicolaitans , which i also hate . the church by this time had grown so soft and remisse , that there was not that zealous painfulnesse as heretofore in several of them , nor that resolved courage in suffering all things for christ's sake : yet they were not grown so corrupt and beastly as to be given up to the impurity of the nicolaitans , which in after-times some exercised from a mistake of an indiscreet act of one nicolas a deacon in these very times of the apostles . and from him were these beastly fellows called nicolaitans . but little or nothing of this impurity appeared within the period of this ephesine church , which yet the spirit of god foresaw would become detestably frequent and notorious in such wretches as , though they called themselves christians , the apostolick church would not own . this is allowed the ephesine church for their comfort and credit , that they are free from nicolaitism : and that they may adde to their purity invincible patience and fortitude , he adds , to him that overcometh will i give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of god. for their works and labour and pains-taking here is eating and refreshing promised them ; for their patience and hardship , a paradise of pleasure ; for their laying down their lives for the gospel , the enjoyment of eternal life in the kingdome of christ. lord , remember me when thou comest into thy kingdome . verily i say unto thee , this day shalt thou be with me in paradise . but we had almost forgot the former part of the seventh verse : he that hath an ear , let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches . which being a common epiphonema to all these seven epistles , repeated in them from the first to the last , certainly must bear no small importance with it . two things therefore i conceive driven at by the affixing this epiphonema to each epistle . the one , to give us notice , that though there be a literal sense of these epistles , yet that they are every one of them also a parable ; which is intimated from this repeated form of speech which christ in his life-time usually added at the end of parables , he that has ears to hear , let him hear . besides that the very sense of the epiphonema implies so much ; which is , he that has an understanding to reach the depth of the meaning of these epistles , let him reach it . for it is not within the reach of every man's wit to find out the drift of them . the other thing driven at is , to intimate to us that there is a meaning lodged under these seven parabolicall epistles of exceeding great moment and concernment to the church . from whence i would inferre , that that interpretation of them that is of the greatest consequence is the most likely to prove true . and such i conceive this will approve it self to the judicious which we are now a-framing . and thus much of the first succession of the church , under the title of ephesus . chap. iv. the interpretation of the epistle to the church in smyrna . 1. and unto the angel of the church in smyrna write . we come now to the second succession of the state of the church , whose title is , the church in smyrna , and whose intervall is from the tenth of nero , or anno christi 63. till anno christi 324. when constantine the great , a zealous professour of christianity , had subdued the most potent enemies of it and himself . for then the church was raised out of the dust , or rather out of the mire and bloud that she was troden down into by the ten cruel persecutions , and began to be the church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the church in sublimity and exaltation , according to the signification of that word . but in this intervall of their afflictions and martyrdome she was the church in smyrna . now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are all one , and signifie myrrh ; which whether you respect the plant it self , which grows in sandy , dry and uncultivated places , and is it self rough and thorny with sharp pricking leaves , or else the gumme of the tree , which is biting and bitter to the taste , and has its very name from thence in the syriack , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quia amara , as martinius notes , it is very significative of this intervall of the church that succeeds , wherein those horrible pagan persecutions raised against the christians are comprehended . so that smyrna signifies the bitter affliction and persecution of the church , as that lamp named wormwood does the sad calamity of the western caesareate . 2. to which you may add that smyrna , that is to say , myrrh , was a main ingredient in the embalming of the bodies of the dead : which again reflects upon the many funerals , or rather deaths and martyrdoms , of the members of the church which would be caused by the persecutions of those times . besides that , as myrrh keeps the body from corruption , it may be a symbol of the eternizing of the memory of the martyrs to all posterities . not to take notice of their conserving of their very bodies themselves , which they call reliques ; though this allusion can be no countenance to the abuses in those things . and lastly , this allusion to myrrh is still the more emphaticall , in that the body of our saviour , that faithfull witness , as he styles himself , after his martyrdome on the cross is said to be embalmed with myrrh , john 19. 3. these things saith the first and the last , who was dead , and is alive . the titles that christ adorns himself with when he speaks to the church of ephesus are , he that holds the seven stars in his right hand , and who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks , namely , through all the successions of them ; like that promise , behold , i am with you to the end of the world ; intimating thereby the presence of his spirit , through which he would in all difficulties sustain the bishops and pastours of his church . which general signification seems well enough proportioned or fitted to the condition of the church of ephesus , he expresly requiring of them no more then zeal and courage in the general : but now he speaks to the church in smyrna , and there enters a more bloudy scene and terrible , he seems to encourage them with higher and more palpable and particular animations in the very entrance of his discourse ; these things saith the first and the last , the same that began the war for this kingdome we strive for , and will be the last in the field to assist my friends and discomfit mine enemies , as well as i was the first . and be not afraid of dying for the truth ; for though i was crucify'd my self , yet , behold , i am now alive . and i tell you it for a pledge unto you of the same happinesse , if you lay down your lives ( as the times will shortly require it ) for me and for my gospel . this is very particular and apposite to the condition of the church in this smyrnian intervall , wherein there were to be so many and so bloudy persecutions . 4. i know thy works and tribulation and poverty : that is to say , i know the great affliction and misery thou art oppressed withall , being destitute of all the comforts of this present life , and in danger of death every moment . which is a right smyrnian condition indeed , according to the title of the church in smyrna . but thou art rich : namely , with those spiritual graces of meeknesse , of patience , of christian courage and fortitude , and of sincere and invincible love of the lord jesus even to the death it self . and i know the blasphemy of them that say they are jews , and are not , but are the synagogue of satan . that is , i take notice of the reproach that those men cast upon christianity , who call themselves christians , and yet make nothing of dissembling and denying the faith upon the arising of any persecutions for my name 's sake ; as if a christian could be such a vile , false and abject hypocrite . this is to blaspheme them that are called by my name . the right christian is the true jew , whose heart is circumcised , and therefore he will not lie with his tongue ; and whose faith is so strong in me , and hopes so firm of a better life , that he can , if the cause of my gospel so require , willingly part with this for the love of me and for the interest of my kingdome . these are the true members of my church who are for suffering , the other the synagogue of satan ; as i told peter , when he would have disswaded me from undergoing the death of the cross , get thee behind me , satan , for thou savourest not the things of god. that the jews signifie the christian church , there is nothing more frequent in the apocalyptick style then that . and this mention of these false christians in opposition to these smyrnian sufferers does plainly insinuate that sense which i have given . 5. fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer . do not imitate the base cowardise of this synagogue of satan , these hypocrites and dissemblers . after that sharp reprehension of flinchers from the faith , he returns to encourage and corroborate the church in smyrna : behold , the devil shall cast some of you into prison , that ye may be tried , and ye shall have tribulation ten days . the red dragon , that old serpent , in his fight with michael , ( for the things of that vision are co-incident with this smyrnian intervall of the church , ) i say , the pagans incensed by the old serpent , will cast several of you into prison , that your faith may be tried , and god may receive the glory of your fortitude and constancy . this you shall have for ten days , that is , till the time of consummation that victory and redemption be wrought for you , or that you die . or rather thus , you shall have tribulation for ten days : there will be ten seasons of bloudy persecutions which you must run through ; those ten persecutions so famous in church-history , and so frequent in the mouths of all men . which consideration , among others , does not a little ratifie this our exposition of the church of smyrna , and consequently gives strength to the whole hypothesis of the seven successive intervalls . be ye faithfull unto death , and i will give you the crown of life . that is to say , stand out till the consummation of the ten persecutions wherewith ye will be tried , and ye shall have the crown of life : i will crown you with the imperial crown , which shall prove a crown of life unto you . christianity shall become at length the religion of the empire , which will save you for the future from the deadly persecutions of the red dragon . you shall be no longer subject to the cruelty of roman paganism for the profession of your religion . this therefore will be a crown of life unto you . this is according to that apoc. 21. 4. and there shall be no more death ; that is , there shall be no more persecution and killing for conscience sake : which was the sad case of this smyrnian church under the pagan cruelty in an eminent manner . wherefore when they had wone their freedome , it was a crown of life to them , by the law of contraries . that this is the genuine sense will farther appear from what follows . 6. he that hath an ear to hear , let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches . this being an usual epiphonema to parables plainly intimates , that what hitherto has been said is a parabolicall prophecy . and the nature of a prophecy is , to foretell such things as are to be transacted here on earth . and therefore where the promise is not divine , or concerning the state after this life , the epiphonema follows : as is very conspicuous in the promise to the church of thyatira , which is the first example of the epiphonema coming last of all ; which is a sign that the whole epistle there is propheticall : verse 26. and he that overcometh and keepeth my words unto the end , to him will i give power over the nations , &c. which therefore concerns the stage of this earth . and therefore this promise here of the crown of life before the epiphonema , i would interpret of a reward in this life on this earth , according as i have expounded the passage . but now that which follows this epiphonema is a promise of another sort , viz. he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death : for it is the securing of a blessed immortality after this life ; and seems farther to correspond with that passage in the apocalypse , ch. 20. v. 6. blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection : on such the second death hath no power . wherefore though not according to the inference of rigid syllogism , yet according to those nice and delicate hints in propheticall intimations , i would conclude that the promise of their portion in the first resurrection is here proposed to those afflicted smyrnians , which was the proper portion of martyrs and confessours , according to the opinion of the primitive church , as mr. mede has learnedly and judiciously observed . which granted does hugely corroborate this application of the epistle to the church in smyrna to this intervall which contains the times of all the sufferings in a manner of the primitive martyrs . the promise of a blessed immortality had been very proper and accommodate to this smyrnian state of the church , that were so frequently to lose their lives for profession of the gospel : but for it to be intimated to them that these shall have their portion in the first resurrection , which is proper to martyrs , as appears by the place above quoted , is so characteristicall of this intervall , wherein all the primitive martyrs suffered , viz. in those ten persecutions , that it does marvellously confirm the truth of the exposition of this present epistle in this mysticall way we have gone . and thus much of the church in smyrna , that is in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in the bitternesse of oppression and affliction , as the allusion to that syriack word imports . we proceed to the church in pergamus . chap. v. the interpretation of the epistle to the church in pergamus . 1. and to the angel of the church in pergamus write . the intervall of this church is from the year of christ 324 , when constantine utterly defeated the army of licinius , not above thirty thousand of one hundred and thirty thousand escaping , and so with his own victories made the church also triumphant out of her long and unsupportable miseries , raising her aloft from her sad oppressions and persecutions . from this year , i say , to the year 1242 , when the pope's legate amelin made an end of the albigensian war with trancavel bastard of the earl of beziers , let this be the intervall of the church in pergamus . 2. of the beginning of this intervall there can be no doubt . and for the termination of it , there are these two considerations to countenance it . the first , in that the latter of those numbers in the last of daniel , viz. the number 1335 , does point to the beginning of the affairs of the waldenses and albigenses , who are both one sect and from one authour , waldo of lyons , an holy and good man , whose preaching , and his own and his followers sufferings , were about the term of that number whose epoche is the prophanation of the temple by antiochus epiphanes . so considerable a passage of providence is the appearing of the waldenses in those times betwixt the year of christ 1160 and 1170. for they were condemned for hereticks by pope alexander in the laterane council in the year 1162 , upon which you may be sure persecutions would immediately follow . and mr. mede with great judgement will have this latter number in daniel to point at these times . nor does that expression of daniel at all weaken his opinion , in that he saith , blessed is he that waiteth , and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days , because it is said in the apocalypse also , blessed are the dead that die in the lord , that is , that die for the cause of our lord jesus . and of the church of smyrna it is said , i know thy tribulation and poverty , but thou art rich . the judgement of the spirit of god and the judgement of carnal men are quite opposite in these things . what they call poverty , the spirit calls riches ; what they misery , the spirit blessednesse . wherefore the affairs of the waldenses or albigenses is a notable , distinct and conspicuous joint of time , even according to the judgement of the spirit of prophecy . but then , in the second place , i terminate the intervall of this church in pergamus , not in the beginning , but the conclusion , of these waldensian or albigensian affairs , because they being all in a manner one , and so plainly concluded in the year i have mentioned , their sufferings may the more punctually answer to the sufferings of that one martyr antipas , who is here said to be slain in pergamus . but the concinnity of these things we shall better understand after we have descanted upon the name pergamus . 3. that by pergamus is intimated a state of exaltation or sublimity , i intimated before . sublimia omnia dicta asiaticis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 notat hesychius , suidas , & servius , saith grotius upon apoc. 1. 11. whence he would have the church in pergamus to re-mind us of high and heavenly things . but this is a moral , not a propheticall sense . but with him howsoever i acknowledge that the signification of sublimity is alluded to in the general , but here most elegantly and seasonably in reference to the precedent state of the church in smyrna , which was a state of humiliation and bitter affliction . but at the very beginning of this present intervall she so conspicuously emerging out of this low , sad , affictive state into the state of glory , peace and prosperity , what can be more significant then to salute her with the title of the church in pergamus , accordingly as she is here saluted ; which is a kind of congratulation to her fresh emergency out of her late miseries . and this sense will hold good for a time in this intervall , namely , till tho days of her apostasy : but then the apostolick church will be the church in pergamus still , but in another kind of meaning . 4. according therefore to the richnesse of the prophetick style , pergamus has also another sense , such as the city babylon and the city tyrus , which are put for the city of rome . but then not in such a sense as to mean the walls or stones of the roman city , but the roman church , and her power and jurisdiction . and in such a sense is pergamus also here put for rome . so that this epistle written to the church of christ in pergamus , the truly catholick and apostolick church , is directed to this church dwelling under the roman church , or within the roman churche's jurisdiction , understanding old rome especially ; as all such apocalyptick visions perstringe her most . now that rome in this sense is perstringed by this pergamus , is very evident , first , in the easie allusion of pergamus to rome from the signification of the words . for as pergamus signifies sublimity , so ( as martinius notes ) rome is from the hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exaltari . besides that her situation is high , and buildings lofty , according to that of the poet , collibus è septem totum circumspicit orbem . and the highest of all is the bishop of rome himself , who exalts himself above all that is called god , or is worshipped . is not this therefore a fit bishop of pergamus , that perks thus above all kings and emperours and princes of the earth ? and our intervall of the church of pergamus reaches the highest times of her exaltation , it taking in both gregory the seventh , who first excommunicated the emperour , and took upon him the power of making emperours himself , and alexander the third , who trode upon the neck of the emperour frederick ; as also caelestine the third , that crowned henry the sixth and his empress with his feet , and in scorn kick'd the emperour's crown off with his foot when he had crowned him . certainly the popes of rome were then the bishops of pergamus with a witnesse . nor after this intervall could they ever hold their crests so high . boniface the eighth indeed was a blusterer , and excommunicated philip the fair of france ; but he called him fool for his pains , and handled him in such sort , that , surprized at anagnia , he was disgracefully mounted on a poor jade , and so carried prisoner to rome , where pride and regret broke his heart , and so he there dy'd ingloriously . but secondly , it is said of this pergamus , that it was the most given to idolatry of all the cities of asia , ( so andreas cesariensis reports of it ; ) which is the notorious character of rome above all cities , and therefore elsewhere in the apocalypse she is called the whore of babylon for her insatiable spiritual fornications . thirdly , these pergamenians were very fierce and diligent accusers of the apostolick christians , to bring them to martyrdome , as dr. hammond upon the place notes out of ancient history . for which also rome is taxed elsewhere in the apocalypse , who is said to be drunk with the bloud of the saints , and with the bloud of the martyrs of jesus . fourthly , it is recorded of the prefect of this city pergamus , that he would persuade the christians to forsake the apostolick faith , and return to heathenism , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , because the elder religion was the more precious and to be preferred : as antiquity is the great pretense of the papal church . that prefect said of christianity , that it was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that it began but the other day : and so you may be sure the church of rome said of the religion of the waldenses and albigenses . see dr. hammond upon the place . and lastly , that it should be the martyr antipas that was slain in pergamus , can any name more directly and assuredly point at the church of rome or the papal church then this ? for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is father , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is papa , ●● but a reduplication of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as eustathius has noted : and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies as much as against . and therefore who can be so blind as not to discern how fit a type this antipas is of them that within this intervall of the church should suffer for being against that holy father the pope , as he is called . nothing can sound more congruously or harmoniously , whatever any man by way of cavill can say against it . the main interpretation therefore of this present epistle to the church in pergamus will respect the pure apostolick church abiding within the jurisdiction of the roman , as this sense plainly implies ; the woman in the wildernesse , as the holy ghost elsewhere expresses it . these things saith he that hath the sharp sword with two edges . christ is set out thus in this epistle to the church in pergamns , because this sword of the spirit , which is the word of god , understood and rellished by the divine spirit in us , was the main weapon whereby the church in pergamus defended her self from the pergamenian corruptions , and so kept her self pure from the false glosses and unsound traditions of either superstitious men or crafty deceivers . 5. i know thy works , and where thou dwellest , even where satan's seat is ; and thou holdest fast my name , and hast not denied my faith , even in those days wherein antipas was my faithfull martyr , who was slain among you , where satan dwelleth . that is to say , i know thou doest well for the main , and to thy greater commendation i consider where thou dwellest , even where the first-born of lucifer has his throne , he that exalts himself above all that is called god or that is worshipped . ( so christ compares satan to lucifer or the king of babylon , ( of whom the prophet says , how art thou fallen , lucifer , thou son of the morning ! ) luke 10. 18. i beheld satan as lightning fall from heaven . ) and yet neither the awe nor glory of that church could cause thee to forsake my name , and , in stead of being a true christian , to become a member of antichrist , and so relinquish the pure apostolick faith , no not in those days that my faithfull martyr antipas , that is , those plain-hearted and openly-professed enemies of the pope and his adulterate and idolatrous religion , the waldenses and albigenses , were so cruelly persecuted and murthered , who were slain among you who stood out and yet escaped , though in the very synagogue of satan , that is to say , in that church which is a treacherous adversary to all my true members , and a very bitter censurer and accuser of them for their not complying with the laws of wickednesse which she hath established , and a worse adversary then the pagan dragon before , whom therefore my church overcame in a few ages . this satan , i say , is a more mischievous enemy then that red dragon , by reason of his cunning and hypocrisie , and his pretenses that he is for me , when indeed he is against me , and by reason of the abuse of my authority in pretense , against the members of my true church . wherefore i cannot but take notice where thou dwellest , and how in that regard thou art in a worse condition then the smyrnian church her self , who were onely to grapple with a professed enemy , but thou with both a malicious enemy , and a false and hypocritical friend . it is therefore well done of thee that thou holdest out in such hard and difficult circumstances . 6. this for the sense of that verse in general . but now particularly , why the waldenses and albigenses , that were persecuted in this intervall of the church , should be called antipas , why martyr , why faithfull , and why slain , rather then burnt , we shall briefly give this account . and that a company or successive body of men is represented in the prophetick style under one single person , is so trivial that i need not note it . alcazar makes jezebel , mentioned in the next epistle , to be the church of the jewes ; aretas , the sect of the nicolaitans ; dr. hammond , the gnosticks . but now that this one person should be called antipas , there is nothing more congruous to the doctrine of the waldenses and albigenses , who boldly preached that the pope was antichrist , the mass an abomination , the host an idol , and purgatory a fable . and waldo , the chief beginner of this sect , was of the same mind , denying the pope to be the head of the church , or that he had any authority over the kings and princes of the earth , who depend immediately upon god alone . was not this an antipas indeed then , and exactly opposing the sovereign paternity of his holiness of rome ? but they were faithfull , because they did so plainly declare to the world such concerning truths ; and martyrs , because they suffered death for so doing , it being for the cause of god , and for the interest of the kingdome of christ. and they are said to be slain , ( suppose with the sword or any weapon of war , ) not burnt , because burning was more rare within this intervall of the church ; but they were slain in the field many hundred thousands of them . a great number of the waldenses that took arms in germany were cut in pieces in the year 1220 , ( as matthew paris writes ; ) they being in such a disadvantageous place , betwixt marish ground and the sea , that they could make no escape . and mr. mede , out of petrus perionius in his book of this albigensian war , intimates that near ten hundred thousand of them were slain in battel at times , and that in france alone . wherefore slaying with the sword is very characteristically spoken here in this epistle of the faithfull martyr antipas ; burning as yet being in it self not so frequent , and bearing no proportion at all to this vast number slain in the field . whence this is a considerable note of distinction betwixt this present intervall of the church in pergamus from that of her abode in thyatira , as we shall see in its due place . 7. but i have a few things against thee , because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of balaam , who taught balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of israel , to eat things sacrificed unto idols , and to commit fornication . this is spoken to the whole body of those that in their judgements did condemn both the doctrine and practices of the church of rome . but these may be cast into three sorts : such as notwithstanding this judgement still held communion with her , and pretended they did well in so doing ; those that separated from her communion ; and those that not onely separated , but suffered death for so doing . these last were the martyr antipas above named ; the first the balaamites here reproved , that were of a more gnostick-like temper , too much leaning towards the flesh , thinking themselves wiser then the other in not exposing themselves for their judgement in religion . ye do well indeed , saith he , in declaring against the enormities of the papal church , and in condemning them in your own thoughts and consciences : but this i take ill of you , that ye permit ( some of you ) the doctrine of balaam to take effect , that is , by communicating with this church of rome in her idolatrous eucharist , and by eating her deus panaceus , ye commit spiritual fornication , and become guilty of idolatry . ( to eat things sacrificed to idols is one mode of idolatry , but by a propheticall diorism it signifies idolatry in general . ) that ye indulge this liberty to your selves or others , is to cast a stumbling-block before the children of israel , and to occasion and encourage many to adhere to the roman communion , when they ought to separate from her , that there be no prejudice done to my true church , nor dis-interest to my kingdome . 8. so hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the nicolaitans , which thing i hate . that also is a fault amongst some of you , that you do not possesse your vessels in that holinesse and sanctity ye ought to doe : and though you can discover the spiritual fornications of pergamus and their luciferian pride , yet ye are not so pure and clean as ye ought to be , and free from the lusts of the flesh , ( which vice is here noted by nicolaitism dioristically , as idolatry in general before by eating things sacrificed to idols . ) flesh and bloud is over-prone to think little ill of such things , because they are so natural and pleasing : but i declare a pertly unto you , that it is a thing that i hate . be ye holy even as i am holy . repent , or else i will come unto thee quickly , and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth . amend these faults , left i come to you suddenly in judgement . haply by the more sedulous activity of the lords of the inquisition , whose reign was most chiefly in the following intervall , as also of other judicatures ; the pragmaticalnesse of whose agents will be more then ordinarily ready to discover every one that dissembles his religion ; and the frequent terrour of being burnt alive at the stake will more effectually suppresse the flames of all wantonnesse and lust. and as i will come to you thus in judgement unlesse ye repent ; so i am resolved also farther to fight against your adversaries , the pergamenians or romanists , with the sword of my mouth , till i cut off great branches from the body of that far-spreading tree , and dismember whole nations from the community of that idolatrous church by the power of the word and the preaching of the gospel . this is that which is predictory of some events to happen in the following intervall , according to the genius of these epistles . 9. to him that overcometh will i give to eat of the hidden manna . the promise here following the epiphonema , ( he that hath an ear to hear , let him hear , ) must , according to the rule , signifie theologically or spiritually , not physically or politically . wherefore the sense is , those of pergamus indeed pretend , that when they give that white and sweet consecrated wafer into the mouths of their communicants , they give them the true manna , my very body and bloud which was shed on the crosse , and my very flesh that was there crucified and broken for them ; whenas notwithstanding they order their eucharist so , that they turn my supper into a feast of idolothyta , and make the partakers thereof guilty of idolatry or spiritual fornication , forasmuch as they give divine worship to that which is not god. so that as , in the case of balaam , the israelites were to eat things sacrificed to idols in order to carnal fornication , so they that partake of this perverted eucharist are necessarily ipso facto ( especially since the fourth laterane council ) drawn into spiritual fornication or idolatry . but he that is courageous and abstains from this illicit communion , and through faith overcomes all difficulties , for the quitting that outward white visible wafer , i will give him to eat of the hidden manna , of that true spiritual manna mentioned john 6. for my flesh is meat indeed , and my bloud is drink indeed . but the words i there speak they are spirit , and they are life . or if he die in the cause , i will give him the hidden manna , even the invisible food of angels , and his soul shall passe into the society of the blessed genii and holy souls of saints departed this life . 10. and i will give him a white stone , and in the stone a new name written , which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it . that is to say , though he be accused and reproached for an heretick and schismatick in the church of pergamus , where satan the accuser dwells , yet i will give him a white stone , and quit him in judgement , and establish the joy and peace of a good conscience unto him . or thus ; i will give him a white stone , in which there is a new name written ; that is , his old man shall be throughly crucified , and he shall attain to the state of the new man in the purity thereof , and enjoy that inestimable jewel of the divine nature pure and permanent , which no man knows the excellency of till he be made partaker thereof . i will consummate regeneration to him either in this life , or upon his passage into the other state , if he be snatched away by a sudden martyrdome . and this will more then countervail all the injuries the lofty church of pergamus can doe to him in life , goods , or good name . chap. vi. the interpretation of the epistle to the church in thyatira . 1. and to the angel of the church in thyatira write . the true church of christ is still in the power and within the jurisdiction of the church of rome : and therefore as rome has been set out by the city of babylon , tyre , and pergamus , so is it here in this intervall necessarily to be understood by the city of thyatira , i mean in such a sense as it was by the city of pergamus . that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( from whence both strabo and pliny , and others that are criticks , fetch the reason of the name thyatira ) is alluded to , i am inclinable to think from those authorities ; and that the womanishnesse of the church of rome in this period is perstringed . that her softnesse and luxury was more then ordinarily increased in this intervall is not to be doubted , as certainly her covetousnesse , as also her prankings and adornings in the splendour of their altars , and churches , and copes , and the like . which could not be so continuedly and so high in the former intervall . but here all along she may well be looked upon as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , filia delicatula , a delicate damosel indeed , sitting like a queen , and knowing no sorrow , when a little before she was like to be over-run by the waldenses and albigenses , and was fain to enter the field , and fight manfully for her own safety . a little after the beginning of this intervall did innocent the fourth appoint in the council at lyons , that the cardinals should go in their rosie-coloured hats and robes , and ride upon horses with furniture and trappings sutable to the greatnesse of their order , and delicacy of their condition . and the mitre of paul the second is taken speciall notice of for the exceeding preciousnesse of the jewels therein . and no doubt there was the like encrease of the ecclesiastick bravery every-where . a little before the beginning of this intervall did honorius the third appoint the carmelites to goe in white , that they might look more maiden-like , and decreed that they should be called the family of the virgin. and the franciscans and dominicans are notorious all along this intervall , who had the virgin mary for their peculiar patronesse . and indeed within this intervall the roman church ran so much in the seminine strain , that they generally professed themselves more under the government and providence of our lady then of our lord jesus christ. gregory the ninth , a little before the beginning of this present intervall , ordained that salve regina , an hymn to the blessed virgin , should be sung in all churches . boniface the eighth , in the year 1293 , composed that oraison , ave , virgo gloriosa : and in the year 1470 , the mary psalter and her rosarie were composed by * alanus de rupe . 2. and how feminine this church was in this intervall , the observations of that excellent person sr. edwyn sandys ( though after the expiration thereof , when one would think they should in policy have been more castigate in their religion ) will give us fully to understand . the honour , faith he , which they doe to the virgin mary is double for the most part unto that which they doe unto our saviour . where one professes himself a devoto or peculiar servant of our lord , whole towns are the devoti of our lady . the stateliest churches are hers lightly , and in churches hers the fairest altars . where one prayeth before the crucifix , two before her image : where one voweth to christ , ten vow to her : and for one miracle reported to be wrought by the crucifix , not so sew perhaps as an hundred are voiced upon the images of the virgin . their devils in exorcism are also taught to endure the name of god or the trinity without trouble ; but at the naming of our lady , to tosse and seem much tormented . where one fasts on friday upon the account of the passion of our lord , many fast on saturday upon the account of his mother . and to their beads they string up ten salutations of our lady to one of our lord's prayers . the * bell also which is rung at sun-rise , at noon and sun-set , is called the ave-mary bell , whereby all men every-where at those set times might be engaged to doe their devotions to the virgin mary . and , lastly , their chief preachers do teach in pulpit , whatsoever is found in scripture spoken of christ the son of god , to apply it to our lady also , as being the daughter of god. is not therefore the church of rome rightly called thyatira , as alluding to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which both strabo and pliny would have to be the reason of the name of that city ? 3. i will onely adde one thing more . alsledius calls this intervall of time which we attribute to the church of thyatira regnum locustarum , because of the variety of the orders of monks that started up within this time . therefore when the church of rome swarmed so with monks and friers , that had abjured their virility by an irrevocable vow of caelibate , and went in sculking hoods and long coats like women , and so became petticoat-men at the best , was it not very congruous for the spirit of prophecy , by way of just reproach to this womanishness , so to characterize the church of rome at this time , by calling her thyatira , as if they had become rather the daughters of men then the sons of men by this so general effeminacy in more then those monkish garbs which i now mention ? besides that these petticoat-men , the dominicans especially , managed their opposition against the true church in a right feminine manner , not manly , as before , by meeting their enemy in the field , but sneakingly , by perfidiousness and treachery , to bring them into the inquisition , and then cruelly and insultingly in the upshot ; as it is easie to understand by reading the history of the holy inquisition , as they call it . therefore there being all these symptoms of feminity in the church of rome in this intervall , it is not unreasonable to conceive that this corruption of hers is perstringed by calling her the city of thyatira , alluding to thygatira , which signifies not a son of adam , but a daughter . 4. but were it not for the authority of strabo and pliny , there is another paronomastical allusion which i should prefer before this . wherefore , according to the richnesse of the prophetick style , i should also conceive thyatira to allude to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is , to break or bruise aromatick spices , which makes them give the sweeter savour : or else to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , altars for the burning of sweet odours . any of which methinks is lesse forced then either grotius his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or strabo's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and as to the sense , the paronomasia is very expressive of the persecutions of the true members of christ within this intervall , and agrees exactly with history , wherein there is little talk of flaying with the sword , as is intimated in that expression in the foregoing intervall , where the martyr antipas is said to be slain ; ( which agrees admirably well with that great slaughter of the waldenses and the albigenses , which were martyred in the field by the pontifician forces , as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies properly to slay , suppose with the sword or any such weapon of war ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ) but the persecutions in the thyatirian intervall were usually burnings , or rackings , and wasting away their lives in miserable imprisonments . but that which was most frequent and most famous in this period was the burning of men alive with fire and faggot . this filled thyatira with so many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . where though the cruelty of the persecutors was most execrable ; yet the faith , constancy and devout sincerity of our blessed protestant martyrs went up with the flames and globes of smoak , sweeter then any odours or incense , from the altar , into the presence of heaven , and were there accepted for his sake who gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to god for a sweet-smelling favour . 5. the frequency of these burnt-offerings in those times is noted by sanderus a papist ; infinitos lolhardos & sacramentarios in tota europa nuper ignibus traditos fuisse . but nothing can be so significative of the change of the scene of the persecution of the church in pergamus , where antipas was slain , to this in thyatira , whereby these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are alluded to , as that passage in the history of the albigenses , lib. 2. c. 9. which gave me occasion to terminate the pergamenian intervall in that year , viz. 1242. here you see , saith he , the last attempt which we finde the albigenses to have made , and the last expedition of pilgrims levied against them . all the pursuit against them afterwards was by the monks the inquisitours , ( the dominicans he means , of whose father , dominicus , his mother when she went with child with him dream'd she was big of a dog that vomited fire out of his throat , ) which monks , saith he , now kindled their fires more then ever . and taking these poor people disarmed , and singling them out by retail , it was impossible for them any longer to subsist . and so this suffering church of christ passed out of that state where antipas was slain with the sword , to that of thyatira , where the holy martyrs of our reformed religion were burnt at the stake . and this , i think , will suffice to make us understand why the power and jurisdiction of the roman church in this intervall bears the title of thyatira . 6. these things saith the son of god , who hath his eys like to a flame of fire , and his feet are like fine brasse . the son of god is here christ , either personally , or mystically understood for his body the church . understanding it personally of christ , his flaming eyes denote his piercing and discerning foresight and providence ; it portends also his wrath and vengeance against the persecutors of his church with fire and faggot : but his feet like fine brasse , the peremptory constancy amd purity of his ways . but if we understand these feet like fine brasse of christ's mysticall body , we are to make a supply of the description out of the former chapter , ver . 15. and his feet like fine brass , as if they burned in a furnace ; whereby is insinuated the fiery trial of his church in this intervall of thyatira even in the grossest sense , so many of his servants standing at the stake with their leggs in the midst of flaming fire , kindled by their barbarous persecutors . that the son of god described in the foregoing chapter is also representative of his body mysticall , the description of his voice seems plainly to intimate . his voice being compared to the sound of many waters , that insinuates that this description respects also his body mysticall , which are a multitude . 7. i know thy works , and charity , and service , and faith . the true church then in thyatira being in oppression and affliction stood close to one another , and encouraged and comforted one another , and supported one another as well as they could , and endeavoured after an exemplarity of godlinesse and due proficiency in the power of religion , as being candidates for that deliverance which they by faith saw was not far off . and thy patience , and thy works , and the last to be more then the first . that is , i see the works of thy patience in suffering imprisonment , tortures and death , and particularly in giving up your selves , as an oblation of incense , to the fire and faggot in such numbers for the testimony of my truth . which being toward the latter end of this intervall , it is fitly said , and the last to be more then the first . this is according to what is found in history . 8. notwithstanding i have a few things against thee , because thou sufferest that woman jezebel , which calleth her self a prophetess , &c. viz. the papal hierarchy , that pretends to be infallible , and under colour of this brings in idolatry , which is spiritual fornication , and detains men in the communion of their idolatrous mass , which the spirit of god here parallels to the eating of things sacrificed unto idols . the prophetesse jezebel here therefore answers to the false prophet after mentioned in the revelations ; and this exprobration to the church in thyatira , of permitting jezebel thus to practice her deceits , to that voice of the angel , come out of her , my people , lest ye be partakers of her sins and of her plagues . it is a kind of solicitation of the princes and people in christendome , such as discerned the frauds and idolatries of the roman church , to make a defection from her , and suffer her trumperies no longer . for the time of that defection now drew near , and things were ripe for it , and it was in the power of them that disliked the condition of affairs to amend it : and therefore he saith , because thou sufferest that woman jezebel . for it is no fault in us to suffer those things which it is not in our power to help or redresse . 9. this jezebel is very expressive of the roman hierarchy , if we recurr to the story of the book of the kings : not onely for her painting of her self , ( which is notorious in the roman church , ( and especially in this intervall , ) and such as the homilies of our church in england take especial notice of , comparing all those rich and gorgeous adornings of the church of rome to the painting of the wrinkled face of an harlot , ) but also for her whoredomes and witchcraft , as it is noted 1 kings 9. 22. what peace , so long as the whoredomes of thy mother jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many ? which is exactly parallel to the description of the whore of babylon , who is said to be the mother of fornications and abominations of the earth ; described also by that cup of sorcery in her hand , whereby she intoxicates the kings of the earth , and makes them drunk with the wine of her fornication . and whereas she is said to be drunk with the bloud of the saints , and with the bloud of the martyrs of jesus , jezebel also in her history is famous for murthering the prophets of god. 10. and those grosse wickednesses committed by ahab , who did very abominably in following idols , and in persecuting the servants of the true god , who is said to have sold himself to work wickednesse , are imputed to this subtil murtherous whore and witch , as the text plainly declares . but there was none like unto ahab , who did sell himself to work wickednesse in the sight of the lord , whom jezebel his wife stirred up . that is to say , the roman hierarchy ( according as both the vision of the whore of babylon and of the two-horned beast do plainly signifie , ) was the authour , contriver and instigatour unto all those murtherous and idolatrous practices that the secular magistrate has been guilty of , during their force and tyranny over the true servants of christ. the beast with two horns exercised all this power before the beast with ten horns , or rather made use of the secular power to effect all their devillish designs against the children of god ; as jezebel wrote letters in ahab's name , and sealed them with his seal . the church got the stamp of the imperial authority upon all the wicked dogmata of their religion and idolatrous practices , which they contrived for their own carnal advantages : and then if any naboth would not part with the inheritance of his fathers , the possession of an holy , righteous and rational conscience , nor profess nor act against the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , against those native truths and notions which god of his infinite mercy and faithfulnesse has implanted in the minds of all men that have not done violence to that innate light , the candle of the lord searching all the parts of the belly , he was through the murtherous contrivances of this strumpet jezebel falsely accused as a blasphemer of god and the king , as an enemy to both the catholick faith and secular magistrate , and so was sentenced to death . and death came by these wicked accusations in this intervall , as in the former intervall , wherein antipas was slain , by openly fighting in the field . thus apposite is the allusion to the history of jezebel , for the setting out the state of this intervall of the church under the tyranny of the church of rome . 11. nor is it all harsh , thus to interpret a vineyard to so spiritual a sense as to make it something within us , whenas both philo and other ancient interpreters have interpreted paradise to that sense , or the garden of eden . and others also cannot but acknowledge that that law of moses ; deut. 22. 9. thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds , has also a moral or mysticall meaning , and is a precept of simplicity or sincerity of heart . wherefore the vineyard of naboth may very well signifie the humane will and understanding that is sown onely or planted with such notions or notices of things as are from god , whether they be those innate idea's of the soul , or what is communicated farther by the spirit of god in the holy writings of inspired men , or are more immediately inspired into us by the abode of that spirit in us . all these plants are of our heavenly father 's own planting , and no other seed is to be sown among them repugnant thereunto . and this vineyard is the inheritance of all true christians , descending upon them from the apostles times to this very day . but the roman empire being perverted by the doctrines of the whore or two-horned beast , or by the eorruptions also of their own nature , had a mind to invade this ancient right as ahab had to get into his possession naboth's vineyard , under pretence that men giving up their will and understanding to the supreme power , government might be the more secure . and all that wondred after the beast gave up their vineyards into the hand of the secular power , and professed no otherwise then according to the faith of the empire , and so had their vineyards sown with divers seeds , nay indeed with what was repugnant to the apostolick plantation . their minds were filled with gross lies , foul-idolatries of all sorts , and murderous enmities against the true children of god. 12. but as for the vineyard of naboth , that is the vineyard of the true prophets or prophetesses , as the word naboth seems to intimate ; they were not given up , that is , those that were not christians for fashion-sake , and believed new invented lies and apostolick truth alike , but with a true and living faith acknowledged jesus to be the christ , these would rather lose their lives then quit their vineyards that yielded them that noble wine , that perpetual feast of a good conscience , and of peace and joy in the holy ghost . whence it was that this whore and sorceresse jezebel contrived their death , or persecution and oppression , as the two prophets are said to both mourn in sackcloath , and also to be slain . the vineyard therefore of naboth is that sense , and knowledge , and conscience and life of the spirit in the new birth , whereby a man discerning plainly & livingly betwixt the wayes of christ and of antichrist , does as necessarily loath the one , as adhere to the other . 13. for the true and firm belief in christ is from the new birth , as s. john also witnesses , every one that believeth that jesus is the christ is born of god. and therefore this spirit of life must needs have an antipathy against what is contrary to it self : and is also the spirit of prophecy in the most concerning sense : as john likewise intimates in his general epistle where upon his mentioning many false prophets gone out into the world , he presently adds , in this ye know the spirit of god , every spirit that confesseth that jesus is the christ come in the flesh , is of god. which agrees exactly with that in the apocalypse , where the angel says to john , i am thy fellow-servant , and of thy brethren that have the testimony of jesus , that is to say , of such as whose hearts do witnesse to them firmly and lively that jesus is the christ , and accordingly professe it ; which none can do unlesse he be born of god , and so have the spirit of god. which is implyed in the following words : for the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy : that is to say , the being able in such sort to witnesse that jesus is the christ , is from the spirit and life of god in us which inspireth all holy truth . from whence the angel argues a kind of parity betwixt john and himself , and indeed all such as have the testimony of jesus according to the sense declared , and therefore would not be worshipped by them . 14. but this is something a digression , saving that it may illustrate that passage in the apocalypse , where the two witnesses are also called the two prophets , ( not so much from predicting things to come , as from witnessing to the truth from the spirit of life in the new birth , and being so firm in this faith as to suffer for it even to the death ) and may also facilitate the belief of this mystical sense of the story of naboths vineyard , or this vineyard of prophecy : it not implying any miraculous predictions , but the being inspired with a right sentiment of things from the spirit of life , and having the confidence to speak the truth as it is in jesus . this is all that need to be understood thereby . 15. to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication , and to eat things sacrificed unto idols . this woman of thyatira , ( whether the wife of the bishop of thyatira , or some other person of quality , for interpreters of the letter vary in that ) according to the literal sense , is described from her acts , as onely guilty of pretending her self to be a prophetesse , and that thereby she seduced the servants of christ to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols , which is a chief point of that which was called gnosticisme . and the truth of the supposed history here we do in no wise deny . but we also adde , that it is hugely improbable , that the spirit of prophecy would take notice so particularly of any one woman in so majestick a writing ( which alcazar also very seriously and vehemently urges ) if there were not some greater matter aimed at . wherefore i say , the spirit of god taking the advantage of the significancy of the miscarriages of this woman in thyatira ; which would set out part of the enormities of the church of rome here perstringed , added there to the name of jezebel , that the prophetick prefiguration might be the more complete , the church of rome in this intervall being lively adumbrated by this allusion to jezebel , joyned to what is reported of this woman in thyatira , viz. that she pretends to be a prophetess as the church of rome to be infallible , that she drew the servants of christ to idolatry and uncleannesse , as the church of rome does by engaging them in the masse and other superficial modes of serving god , that leave the minde sensual , and besides necessarily intangle them in idolatrous practices . thus much from the practice of this woman . 16. now in that she has this name given her of jezebel , assuredly the spirit of god points us to her story to make up this parallel betwixt this woman & rome , viz. as she is also a murderer of the prophets and servants of god , and a contriver of false accusations against them , as if by the keeping of the inheritance of their fathers , a pure conscience according to the ancient and apostolick faith and innate notions of truth that god has implanted in the minds of all men , they were blasphemers of god and the king , and obnoxious to both the civil and spiritual magistrate . and lastly , ( which is to be taken special notice of ) the church of rome in this intervall of the succession of the church of christ is called jezebel , because for all her paintings and fine meretricious pranking her self up , she was to be thrown out at the window , and her flesh to be devoured by dogs : which the just wrath of god and the zeal of jehu , ( the noble reformers ) stirred up by the spirit of god brought to passe at the end of this intervall of the church , as it is threatned also in the following parts of this epistle . 17. and i gave her space to repent her of her fornication , and she repented not . she had a fair time to consider of her grosse apostasies from the purity of my worship since the witnesse of the waldenses and albigenses against her , and yet she remains still obdurate and impenitent , and continues her old trade of whoring still . behold , i will cast her into a bed , and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation , except they repent of their deeds . unlesse she repent i will certainly cast her into a bed of sicknesse and languishment , for that bed of adultery wherein she has entertained the kings of the earth . her strength and glory shall be much diminished , and her paramours shall bewail the calamity i shall bring upon her : for there shall be of the kings that shall hate the whore , shall make her desolate in their dominions , and naked , and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire . as it fell out in the late defection of whole nations from her . and i will kill her children with death . that is , either slay them with the sword of the spirit , and so make them dead as to her by their conversion to the truth , or else kill them with a natural death , such i mean as come against my true church , whether whole armies or seditious emissaries , as has often happened since the reformation . and all the churches shall know that i am he that searches the reins and hearts , and will give unto every one of you according to his works . that is , it will be notoriously taken notice of in all christendome how just my judgements are , and that i deal not with jezebel according to her fair pretenses and titles , who calls her self holy church , and pretends all her cruelties , and imposturous and idolatrous trumperies to be for my glory , whenas they have run into all this degeneracy for their worldly interest . but mine eyes which are a flaming fire searching into the hearts and reins , clearly see their abominable hypocrisie , and my feet like fine brasse , that never goe out of the way of purity and justice , will be sure to overtake them and doe due vengeance upon them . i will reward every one according to his works . 18. but unto you i say , and unto the rest in thyatira as many as have not this doctrine . to you pastours of my true church in thyatira , and the rest which are your charge , that hold not the idolatrous doctrine or faith of the thyatirian , that is , of the roman church . and which have not known the depths of satan , as they speak , that is , which have not approved the deep mysteries ( as they speak ) of reason of state , or of the roman religion , ( such as murdering innocent men for the interest of holy church ; infallibility , transubstantiation and the like ) but i who search the heart and reins do apertly declare to be the depths of satan , they tending to nothing but to luciferian pride , barbarous persecutions and murders , and grosse imposture and idolatry . i will put upon you no other burden , but that which ye have already , hold fast untill i come : i have already shew'd you my approbation of your wayes , ver . 19. and in that ye do not communicate with the idolatrous jezebel , keep to where you are , and stand out to the last : let no persecutions dismay you till i come in judgement against this jezebel , the same with the little horn in daniel , which in the expiring of the time , and times , and half a time , will certainly be judged . 19. and he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end , to him will i give power over the nations . that company of men , those people that keep my works to the end , to the last semi-time of the seven , they shall have power over the pagan christians , they shall get them under and be no more domineered over by them . and he shall rule them with a rod of iron : that is , with sufficient power and strictnesse to keep them in subjection . as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers . the stone shall smite the image on the feet and break them to pieces . that shall be at the long-run . even as i received of my father . i in you , and you in me ; you in me by vertue of the power of my spirit shall thus reign ; and i in you , according as it is written , i shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance , the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession ; thou shalt break them with a rod of iron , thou shalt dash them in pieces as a potters vessel . but this is something further off . 20. and i will give him the morning star . in the mean time , and which is next to succeed , i will give them the morning star ; that is , a considerable dawning towards that greater day of the illustrious reign of christ upon earth , in his saints by his spirit . the phosphorus to the glorious sun-rise of the happy millennium properly so called . this intervall will be the same with that of the vials which are accompanied with such a smoake ; as here the promise , which is to be performed in the next succession of the church , and there continued , is not expressed with that vigour as elsewhere , where christ in reference to his kingdome is said to be the bright morning star , here onely the morning star without the ornament of that epithet : the kingdome of christ therefore under the first thunder may be said to be the morning star , but under the second , the bright morning star . and it is observable , that whereas in that other place he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in this he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which may also have the signification of more early then was expected , which exquisitely answers to the evert , it falling out toward the fore-part of the last semi-time . but these things are onely by the by . he that hath an ear to hear , let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches . there is nothing new remarkable in this epiphonema , but the placing of it here after the whole epistle , which is a sign that all the epistle is a parable , and is not onely meant of the church in thyatira in the literal sense ( but that the condition and affairs of some other church , the truely catholick and apostolick church in the intervall defined , are here prefigured and described prophetically . ) and that therefore the promises are to be performed on this stage of the earth , as of their own nature they appear to be such that have a political sense . which therefore therewithall assures us , that such a tenour of interpretation belongs to the three following epistles , because the epiphonema is the close of every one of them . and therefore we shall steer the course of our interpretation accordingly . chap. vii . the interpretation of the epistle to the church in sardis . 1. and unto the angel in the church of sardis write . that sardis was a city in asia is manifest ch. 1. and considered no otherwise then so , does not at all illustrate the condition of this fifth succession of the state of the church . but acknowledging here again a paronomastical allusion to sarda the precious stone , as grotius does : or , taking notice with pliny , that that stone is so called for its first being found about sardis , it may prove very significative of the condition of reformed christendome within that intervall , beginning from the rising of the witnesses , and ending in the last viall , in part of it i mean. after which the intervall of phyladelphia comes in , and takes up also the second and third thunder . some special qualities therefore of the church of sardis are to be read in this stone sarda , and some to her praise , others to her diminution . the virtue of this stone is , that carried about one it makes a man chearfull and couragious , and drives away witchcraft and enchantment , and expells poison rightly administred , which adumbrate some peculiar privileges in this sardian church . their chearfull security in justification by faith in christ's bloud , and their being rid of the poisonous idolatrous doctrines , and bewitching enchantments of the cup of the whore. here 's nothing of jezebel in this church , nor any mention of the eating of things offered to idols , nor in the two following epistles , which is no small ratification of the truth of these successions . both they and she are well and sound touching these points . 2. but this stone sarda , which is also called carnalina , and in the hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , odem , as representing humane flesh and bloud so lively , seems also to insinuate something to the derogation of the sardian church , as if they were flesh , and not spirit ; which is the special dispensation of the church of philadelphia . and whereas christ's conquest over edom is , by letting out or squeezing out the corrupt bloud of old adam , this odem or carnalina is said to be of that virtue as to stanch bloud and stop it from running out , and therefore seems to be significative of whatever doctrines in the sardian church that hinder the due and requisite mortification of the old man , as loth to weaken him too much , and let too much of his bloud and life run out . 3. the meaning therefore is , that though the sardian church be well rid of the foul idolatries and grosse trumperies of the papal church , yet her state as yet is but carnal most-what . it is not the dispensation of the spirit of life , but the main stir is about external opinion & ceremony : they seem to know christ onely according to the flesh , not according to the power of his spirit , whereby he is able to subdue all things under him . whereas christ after he had said that his flesh was meat indeed , and his bloud was drink indeed , clearly explains himself , in declaring expresly , that the flesh profiteth nothing ; the words that i speak unto you , they are spirit , and they are life ; yet a great part of this sardian church , i mean the lutherans , rack their own wits , and disturb the rest of reformed christendome , to maintain that odd paradox of consubstantiation , that so men may eat and drink that grosse flesh and bloud of christ that was crucify'd upon the crosse in the celebration of their eucharists . what can be more carnaline-like then this ? besides that there are over-many that do as grosly and carnally erre touching the nature of the resurrection-body , they phansying it as terrestrially modify'd ( though it be called a celestial or spiritual body in the scriptures , ) as that body is that we put into the grave , or is capable of the imbraces of the nuptial bed. to say nothing of other such like grosse carnal conceits that this sardian church has not yet expunged out of her mind . but as mischievous a mark as any of her carnality is her dissension and schismaticalnesse even to mutuall persecution , as also the unnatural and unchristian wars of one part of reformed christendome against the other . these things rankly savour of the flesh , and are infinitely contrary to the due dispensation of the spirit ; which when it shall appear will bring in the church of philadelphia , the church of unfeigned love and charity , wherein , according to the prediction of the prophets , there shall not be the noise of this unchristian war any more . these touches may suffice to shew why the spirit of god has denoted this succession of his church by the title of the church in sardis . 4. these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of god. the number seven signifies universality sometimes ; whence the pythagoreans call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the sense therefore is , that hath in readinesse to bestow all the spiritual or divine graces to make the man of god perfect to every good word and work . and the seven stars . that is to say , that holds the seven stars in his right hand : so it is in the description before his speech to the ephesine church , which is repeated here for encouragement ; christ hereby declaring his power , and promising his assistence to the renewing of christendome through the reformation , as well as he did to the forming of it at first , and rooting out paganism in the first beginning of the church , which is the ephesine intervall . i know thy works , that thou hast a name that thou livest , and art dead . i discern plainly thy state and condition . thou hast indeed a semblance of life , because thou hast a great deal of heat and zeal , and dost with an externall fervour doe many performances that may raise a fame of thee of being more then ordinarily religious . and many hot disputes there may be for this or that ceremony , for this or that opinion , and against them , much and very vehement discourse about faith and justification , and the like . which heat and activity bears a semblance of life in thee . but assure thy self , unlesse thou hast that faith that worketh by love , all this stir is but the noise of tinkling brasse or of sounding cymbals . and being thus alive , thou art notwithstanding in my sight little better then dead . and although thou dost thus imitate warm flesh and bloud , yet thou art but a cold sardius stone to my touch and discernment . as she that liveth wantonly is dead while she liveth , though she thinks she is then most of all alive : so it is with him that , devoid of christian love and charity , is enlivened with an hot , bitter , ignorant and preposterous zeal : this is not the life of god , but of mere nature and carnality . 5. be watchfull , and strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die . take heed that want of love and life hazard not faith too , and remissnesse in manners bring not in atheism and infidelity over all . for i have not found thy works perfect before me . those things that have life in them goe on to perfection . wherefore if they stop before , and make no progresse , it is a sign there is some deadly distemper at the very heart or root , and such a plant must wither and die . thy works are neither perfect , nor dost thou easily admit of such doctrines as lead most effectually to perfection . remember therefore how thou hast received and heard , and hold fast , and repent . that is to say , you that are my true apostolick church , remember what ye have received from me my self , or my apostles ; stand fast to the infallible word , which will impartially instruct and excite you to all the due measures of godlinesse . and believe not the rotten and corrupt glosses ofdeceitful men , that would sew pillows under mens arm-holes , and frame opinions and precepts to favour the lusts of the flesh . to dote upon men is a piece of carnality ; but to dote on them for their carnal opinions and fleshfavouring documents , is sardian or carnaline of a double dye . repent therefore , for the kingdome of god is at hand ; and he that has the seven spirits of god stands ready to assist and succour with his divine graces all that sincerely endeavour after righteousnesse . so that the fault lies at your own doors . if therefore thou shalt not watch , i will come on thee as a thief , and thou shalt not know what hour i come upon thee . if thou wilt not return to true sobriety and sincerity of manners , i shall bring some signal mischief upon thee before thou beest aware ; i shall suddenly come in judgment against thee when thou least dreamest thereof . god of his infinite mercy avert the ill omen , and change our hearts , that we may amend our lives , and he may be reconciled to us . 6. thou hast a few names even in sardis , which have not defiled their garments . notwithstanding the dispensation of the sardian church be so generally carnal , in the very hew of that carnaline-stone that looks so like mere flesh and bloud , yet there are some few that have not defiled their garments with that colour , but are as it were the primitiae of the dispensation of the spirit , whose inward man is renewed day by day into the image of my self , and are made partakers of the divine nature , and are the children of light. and they shall walk with me in white . these shall not onely enjoy glorious converses with me , and i communicate my spiritual graces abundantly to them , but they shall be very successfull and prosperous in their affairs . for to be cloathed in white signifies so in the onirocriticks , accordingly as you may see in achmetes . for they are worthy . for i doe to every one according to his work . 7. he that overcometh , the same shall be clothed in white raiment . he that overcometh all the lusts of this terrestrial body , to him will i communicate the celestial or divine . this is a more theologicall sense . but the political is most proper , the epiphonema concluding the whole epistle . wherefore to be clothed in white raiment , it being here the promise to him that overcomes , signifies ( and that rather then in the fore-going verse ) successe and prosperity in external affairs , and exemption from grief and affliction , as the onirocriticks do expresly interpret it . see achmetes . and i will not blot his name out of the book of life . the more proper and politicall sense may be , that when the church by overcoming has emerged into the philadelphian condition , it shall never change , at least as to the externall frame , but keep up to the end ; and god will avowedly acknowledge it to be his even to the last , even then when it is passed into the laodicean state , and the state of persecution shall never overwhelm it any more . so the book of life may signifie here as the crown of life before in the epistle to the church of smyrna . but i will confess his name before my father and before his angels . that is to say , i will acknowledge his nature to have become in a manner divine and angelical , and therefore to be a meet associate for their companies in my heavenly kingdome for ever . this may be a moral or theologicall sense . but the politicall is chiefly aimed at , as is intimated by the placing of the epiphonema last of all . the confessing therefore of the names of these few in sardis that are right as they should be , and as many as make up to the measure of their sanctity , ( which therefore are the seed of the philadelphian church , ) christ his confessing of their names before his father and before his holy angels , is the mentioning of their names as of a people more peculiarly his , and extraordinarily dear unto him ; that by thus owning them in such an endearing manner before god and his holy angels , they may be in a more special manner recommended to the favour and protection of god , and to the faithfull and watchfull ministry of his holy angels : which will be the efficient causes of their being cloathed in white , and of their name never being blotted out of the book of life ; that is to say , of the permanency of their outward prosperity and security from misery and oppression ; that thus innocency and outward felicity may goe hand in hand in the blessed millennium , which is in a manner the same with the philadelphian intervall of the church . these few names in sardis will amount to this at last . for salvation is to spring out of sardis , not out of babylon . nor is it any wonder that the ministry of the holy angels will be so extraordinarily exercised about a church which will then have become so angelicall , as is more fully noted in the divine dialogues . 8. these are the rousing motives which christ useth to excite the carnal church of sardis to more hearty endeavours after the dispensation of the spirit , that they may bring on the beginning of those most happy times ; the conduct of which affair is represented by that illustrious heros on his white horse , chap. 19. where his armies follow him on white horses clothed in fine linnen , white and clean . which appertains to the last end of the intervall of this church of sardis , a great part of whom by this time it 's likely may have turned their carnaline-colour into pure white , and be ready to march with him there to that spiritual warfare , as some are said here to walk with him in white , and that with marvellous success and prosperity , as their white cloathing does intimate . he that hath an ear to hear , let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches . reformed christendome especially , she is so much concerned therein . for she , as i said at first , is this sardian church ; the beginning of whose intervall , being adorned with more true holinesse and sincerity of zeal , the better deserved the title of the rising of the witnesses : and though they be here much reproved for their faults , yet they are acknowledged to be one of the seven churches in asia , chap. 1. 11. that is to say , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in fundamento , and are the true and apostolical church still , and justly witnesse against the idolatries and grosse antichristian practices of the church of rome , such , i mean , as with them have become a law , and thereby are properly antichristian . this i thought fit to adde , to stop the preposterous pronenesse of some toward the roman church from the consideration that all things are not so perfect in the reformed churches as might be desired . for though they be not so well as they should be , yet they must needs appear to any but an humorist exceeding much better then in the church of rome . and thus much of the sardian church . chap. viii . an interpretation of the epistle to the church in philadelphia . 1. and to the angel of the church in philadelphia write . the meaning of philadelphia is plain , and is no riddle . the word signifies brotherly love : which rightly understood is the fulfilling of the law. so that i understand by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , universal love , ( for we are all brothers in adam ; ) but especially the love of those of the houshold of faith ; that is to say , of christian believers . in the sardian church , the greatest noise and stir there is about faith , but her works were not found perfect before god. but the inscription of this church is love , which is the fulfilling of the law , as i hinted before . and his banner over me was love. this is the ensign of the church of philadelphia , who elsewhere is said to be beautifull and terrible as an army with banners ; who is she that looketh forth as the morning , fair as the moon , clear as the sun , and terrible as an army with banners ? why ? who can it be but this church of philadelphia , as famous for feats of arms as for love , as we shall see in the process ? for the intervall of this church begins in the last vial , and reaches to the fourth thunder . these things saith he that is holy. and speaks to that church that loves to hear those instructions : be ye holy , for i am holy ; and , be ye perfect , as your father which is in heaven is perfect . he that is true . he that will make good all his promises and glorious predictions touching his church in this state thereof which is figured out by the church of philadelphia , and writes to those that believe it , and have a firm faith in the power and spirit of christ and of god. he that hath the key of david , he that openeth and no man shutteth , and shutteth and no man openeth . what eliakim was to hezekias , who was of the stock of david , the same is christ to god the father , whom s. john calls love , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . he is chief minister of state under god , and carries all as he pleases by the authority committed to him ; of which a key is the symbol . ( see grotius upon the place . ) there is nothing so hard and impervious but he can make way through it , and open a door to successe , and again shut it against his enemies . 2. i know thy works . and that so as to approve of them , because they are the fruits of the divine love , then which there is nothing to me more precious . thou actest not out of bitter zeal and strife , or vain ostentation , or any secular respect , but merely out of love to me and my righteousnesse , and out of love to mankinde , whose both present and future happinesse thou dost sincerely endeavour to promote . behold , i have set before thee an open door , and no man can shut it . behold ; i have brought things about so by my providence , and will so effectually second what i have begun by my special assistence , that , maugre all the machinations of men and devils , thou shalt finde opportunities of most gloriously and successfully carrying on the interest of my kingdome . this is performed in the last vial , in that great battel of god almighty , when also the beast and the false prophet are said to be taken . see the divine dialogues . for thou hast a little strength . grotius himself interprets it , a little army : and so indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will signifie , & appositely to the present scope , and answerably to the battel i named before . the sense is ; because , though ye be but a few in comparison of the rest of my church and kingdome , ( for the sardian church is his kingdome and church too , out of which the philadelphian church is emerging ) and especially in respect of the infidel and antichristian party , those under the dragon and the beast and the false prophet , yet ye have kept my word , and not denied my name , that is , have both kept to what is holy and true in your hearts , and professed it in your words and works : therefore i will be with you in this glorious manner , and make you so successfull in the promoting of the interest of my kingdome . of this church therefore of philadelphia are those armies seen in heaven , apoc . 19. following christ upon white horses clothed in fine linnen , white and clean ; which implies both the justnesse of their cause , and the certainty of their successe . as also those boanergesses in the last vial , ( synchronal to that other vision ) that thunder and lighten over the city divided into three parts , whereby the cities of the nations fell , and babylon and her daughters were utterly overthrown . 3. behold , i will make them of the synagogue of satan ( which say they are jews , but do lie . ) jews , as i noted before , according to the style of the apocalypse , are christians ; and the jews which professe themselves such , and are not , but do lie , are pseudo-christians , or the antichristian party ; but are judged here to be of the synagogue of satan , because of their abominable lies and bloudy murders . for the devil was a murderer from the beginning ; and he is also in the same place by our saviour termed a liar . besides the luciferian pride of that church , like satans , the prince of the devils . behold , i will make them come and worship before thy feet . even those that before kissed the feet of the pope , that lofty prelate . this answers very patly to that passage in the fore-named vision ; where the beast and false prophet are taken , and put alive into a lake of fire : that is to say , the bestian and pseudoprophetical power , as such , is burnt and destroyed and abolished , and the philadelphian power then appears above all , or rather the lord alone will be exalted in that day ; for to this time especially belongs that saying , not by might , nor by power , but by my spirit , saith the lord of hosts . for , indeed , the struggling of the sardian church hitherto against the city that is called sodom and aegypt , though it has been in its kind laudable , yet it has been in a manner edom against edom , a part something more refined against that which is more impure , i mean as to life and godlinesse ; and the weapons of their warfare have not been so spiritual as they ought , they have not rid upon white horses , nor have been clothed in fine linnen , white and clean ; they have not endeavoured to be that church which is without spot & wrinkle , or any such thing , but the sardian tincture has too much distained them . but as it is true in the natural sense , that flesh and bloud cannot inherit the kingdome of god ; so it is also in the political , that those glorious times of the kingdome of god cannot appear till the church emerge out of the sardian or carnaline state into the philadelphian . against which church christ exhibits no complaint at all , but loves her , and likes her entirely , even as he is cordially loved of her . and without question the state of that church is so lovely , that she will charm even her enemies to a liking of her , and unto a submission to her , all things being so irreprehensible in her . but commonly wicked men are very domineering and ferocient against good men that have any blot or infirmity on them , unless they be of their own faction . and therefore this philadelphian church , if any , must be the church that can mollifie the hearts of the papists , and bring over as many as god pleaseth to the belief of the truth . but for the cities of the nations , their conquests will be unspeakable amongst them . for these are those powerfull thunderers , by whose thundering and lightening the cities of the nations are to fall , as i intimated before . and to know that i have loved thee . the papists themselves shall discern , by the stupendious successe of the philadelphian church , what a value christ puts upon her , and how far he prefers her integrity , simplicity , brotherly-kindnesse , humility , meeknesse and purity of worship , before the roman frauds and impostures , their barbarous persecutions and cruelties , their luciferian pride , and superstitious and idolatrous practices . 4. because thou hast kept the word of my patience ; that is , because thou art both meek-hearted , and hast been faithful and not flitting in the time of trial , but endurest all things for my names sake ; i will keep thee from the hour of temptation that shall come upon all the world . namely , at what time all the world will be in an hurly-burly , and cast into manifold streights and calamities . which is in the last vial , when the three unclean spirits goe forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world , to gather them to the battel of that great day of god almighty ; and when there shall be so great an earthquake as has not been since men were upon earth , so mighty an earthquake and so great . in this mighty tempest and hurry of things will i preserve thee from danger , and thou shalt carry it safe through all . thou shalt escape better then any party of men , by reason of thy conspicuous innocency , sincerity , and exemplarity of life , and unexceptionable apostolicalnesse of doctrine , and singular love to me and all mankind . because thou art milde and courteous and benign and beneficent to all ; because thou art a lover of unity , un-self-interessed , a foe to no body , and onely an enemy to the vices and miseries of men : this , with my singular favour to thee , shall protect thee in that great confusion and high fermentation of mens spirits under the last vial. who is he that will harm you , if you be followers of that which is good ? 5. behold , i come quickly . thou art already in that period of time wherein this great judgement will come upon the earth , namely , under the first thunder . or rather , because the philadelphian church is not supposed to be in distinct being or appearance till the last vial , the last vial must be this period . and then this coming in respect of that time will be quickly indeed . hold thou fast what thou hast , that no man take thy crown . thou art a church after my own heart , o philadelphia , and i blame thee for nothing , thou walkest uprightly with me and art perfect : wherefore hold that ground which thou hast got in truth and integrity , that thou mayst not be deprived of that crown i intend thee ; for in thee will i accomplish all the glorious promises touching my kingdome upon earth . 6. him that overcometh will i make a pillar in the temple of my god , and he shall goe no more out . ' o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he that overcomes , that is , in the apocalyptick style , all , or the whole company that overcomes , which is here meant of the philadelphians . they shall be as a pillar in the temple of god ; that is , they shall be a steddy and standing holy people , a true holy catholick church that shall never fail , but shall last till i come in the clouds to judgment in the last day . all other forms and denominations shall fail , but this shall keep the sovereignty to the last . and i will write upon him the name of my god. this is in pursuance of the former metaphor of a pillar , with a farther allusion to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the ancients . these philadelphians shall have the name of god written upon them ; that is , their conversation and manners will be so holy and divine , that it will be as conspicuous to all , as if it were writ upon their foreheads that they are the holy church and chosen people of god. or more briefly and in a more political sense ; the name of my god may allude to jehovah shammah , intimating , that these philadelphians shall be that church which is represented by the city jerusalem described by ezekiel , which is called jehovah shammah . of which the following words seem to be a more expresse signification . and the name of the city of my god , which is , new jerusalem , which cometh down out of heaven from my god. the name of the city , the new jerusalem , as well as jehovah shammah , will be written upon them , the city where god dwelleth and ruleth by his spirit ; that is to say , they will be that city of jerusalem formally and actually under the second thunder . for to be called , and to be , are all one in the hebrew idiom . and his name is called the word of god , apo. 19. 3. is as much as , he is the word of god. wherefore this philadelphia under the second thunder passes into the same with the new jerusalem ; but the title of philadelphia begins sooner , and reaches farther to the fourth thunder . this inscription of the philadelphians , that they are called the new jerusalem , &c. in the very words in which it is described afterwards apoc. 21. is a notable indication that by the church of philadelphia is meant that succession of the church that is under the second and third thunder , but was emerging in the last vial. for it is the new jerusalem which cometh out of heaven from god. which therefore having this manifest political sense , would be very hardly attributed to that city of philadelphia in asia literally understood , but with an eye to this successive intervall of the church which we here speak of . and the promise was not performed to the literal church of philadelphia , which has perished ; that was no such lasting pillar . and therefore there is a necessity of a farther sense , mysticall or propheticall . 7. and i will write upon him my new name . it is expresly said , apoc. 10. 16. that christ has a name written upon his vesture and upon his thigh , king of kings , and lord of lords . this name grotius would have understood here . and there is no small reason for it , that name being so particularly and pompously set out for a special name of his . and though he has ever had a right unto it ; yet because the getting into possession of this right will be new and fresh in this philadelphian intervall after the battel of the heros on the white horse , it is rightly termed a new name , and very fittingly writ upon these philadelphians , because they are so instrumental in his atchievements . these are the boanergesses , ( thundering over the great city divided into three parts ) and also those horsemen on white horses , as i intimated before . christ therefore through these becomes king of kings and lord of lords ; or rather , he has made them the greatest kingdome upon earth . the mountain of the lord's house is exalted upon the top of the mountains , and all nations flow unto it ; as it is to come to passe under the third thunder . through which third and second thunder , and seventh vial , is drawn the intervall of the succession of the church of philadelphia , as i have hinted above . he that hath an ear to hear , let him hear , &c. we need not here urge the intimation of this political sense of things from the putting of the epiphonema last , the very nature of the expressions calling for it , though we had no such guide . but we may rather argue , that the things themselves being of so manifest political sense , not moral or spiritual , that it confirms our rule touching the position of this epiphonema . but this by the bye . we proceed to the church of laodicea . chap. ix . the interpretation of the epistle to the church of laodicea . 1. and to the angel of the church of the laodiceans write . the intervall of the succession of the church of laodicea is the fourth and fifth thunders , that is , from the loosing of satan to the appearing of christ coming to judgement under the sixth thunder . in this intervall the scene of philadelphia is past , and laodicea takes place : which is acknowledged a true church as to worship and doctrine , but is represented as a lazy , lethargical church ; in which that former philadelphian zeal is extinguished as to the generality of the church , though it 's likely this degeneracy comes on by degrees in this intervall . 2. thus therefore it is foreseen in the series of divine providence , that after that glorious estate of the church which is synchronal to the second and third thunder ( during which space and a little before the scene of philadelphia adorned the stage ) had well purged the christian world from all foolish opinions and superstitions , and of that accursed custome of persecuting one another for them , and that the truth of the gospel had clearly shined in the simplicity thereof , and so convictively against all the follies and impostures of the former ages , that the church had no great hazard of being again cheated with them ; and that they had seen all prophecies in a manner fulfilled before their eyes , so that there could be no doubt to them , but that the philadelphian church was the true church , nor be in any capacity of any change in faith or worship : after this , i say , as all things are in some sort or other variable under the sun , so it seems this philadelphian church was at last to degenerate into this laodicean state ; and that which was before the reign of the spirit and the living righteousnesse of god , would now become the church of laodicea ; which signifies a more popular or external politicall righteousnesse , or the righteousness of the people . an external profession and performance of that mode that was used by the philadelphians in a living way , and with the power of the spirit , the same will this church of laodicea hold on spiritlesly and lazily , with little life or zeal , and yet applaud themselves by reason of the abundance of knowledge she has , because of the completion of the prophecies , and by reason of the purity of the external worship she still retains , as if all was still well with her , and as if she wanted nothing . 3. this in brief is the condition of this church , as it is significantly intimated in the very name . for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies as much as the righteousnesse of the people . and the people are any multitude of mankind gathered into a body politick ; as is manifest in that notation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as if it were from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and then again in homer , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — and therefore the people , being a body politick , are ruled by such and such laws , which if they observe , it is not regarded quo animo , or out of what principle , they observe them . the new nature , regeneration and the spirit , are quite out of this rode . and a national or oecumenical religion , doctrine or worship , as they are ab extrà , are but as a political law , and the righteousnesse therein but a laodicean righteousnesse , as has been abundantly inculcated already . but besides this meaning of the name laodicea , which i doubt not but is particularly intended , there may , according to the multifarious allusivenesse of the propheticall style , another notable meaning be also intimated , and that very appropriate to this church . for the ratio nominis in laodicea may be likewise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , because in the intervall of this church god will in that most notorious and terrible manner come to judge the people . because the closure of this church brings in the last judgement properly so called , therefore this last intervall of the church is called laodicea , the judging of the people , all the nations of the world , at the last day . and there is nothing more frequent in the scripture , then the giving of names from some notable externall accident , that respects the thing or person so named . 4. these things saith the amen , the faithfull and true witnesse . paul , in his second epistle to the corinthians , says , that all the promises of god in christ are yea and amen ; that is to say , they are so sure and certain , that no man need doubt but they will be performed . wherefore this attribute of christ is seasonably brought in , as respecting both the completion of the promises already performed , in bringing his church to that admirable glorious condition in the succession of philadelphia , as also the performance of that material promise at the end of this epistle , touching eternal life or a blessed immortality in christ's heavenly kingdome ; which these laodiceans , or degenerated philadelphians , like our modern familists , that pretend to the philadelphian dispensation , may some of them , it 's likely , be prone to distrust . but christ is here also called the faithfull and true witnesse , because he does so impartially witnesse concerning the truth of the condition of the laodiceans , and so faithfully discover to them the danger thereof . and the declaration seeming so paradoxicall to them , it was the more requisite to inculcate into them his own truth and faithfulnesse , that he might gain belief of them against their own false sense and opinion of themselves . the beginning of the creation of god. this hath a more high meaning , like that in the beginning of s. john's gospel , and respects the divinity of christ , by whom all things were made , and in whom all things are . but i believe also that is more particularly insinuated here which is expresly declared of him ( according to the seventy ) by the prophet esay ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the beginner of that world or age under the messias ; wherein he having , as i intimated before , carried on all things so completely according to promise and prediction , this seems an advantageous repetition of what was intimated before in that attribute of amen : as if he should say , i was the beginner of this marvellous scene of things from the time of my living on this earth in the flesh to this very day , and you see how steddily all things have been carried on , according to predictions and prophecies : wherefore believe me in the rest ( whether comminations or promises ) which i shall now declare unto you . this seems to be the genuine sense of this preface to the epistle . 5. i know thy works , that thou art neither cold nor hot . i see thee to be in a tepid , formal , remisse dispensation : thou holdest still the outside of the philadelphian church for doctrine and worship : but thou art destitute of that spirit of life in the new birth which was the proper character of thy deceased sister of philadelphia . i would thou wert cold or hot . though it be not better in it self , yet it were better for thee thou wert not so externally good as thou art , that thou mightest the sooner be convinced of thine own wants , and get into the state of repentance , of mortification , and finally of regeneration , that so thou mightest partake of my spirit . but now thou art but an externall image of warm flesh out of which life and soul did lately depart , even then when thy sister philadelphia departed out of this world . thou art the external frame of that philadelphia , but the spirit has left thee . 6. so then , because thou art luke-warm , and neither cold nor hot , i will spew thee out of my mouth . that is , i will declare in a torrent of words against thee , how nauseous and distastfull thou art to me , and how my stomack rises against thee . which is done in the following verse , where he pours out those just reproaches against her , that she is wretched , and miserable , and poor , and blind , and naked . or , it may be , there may be a more profound , and yet not less solid , meaning in this commination , and that it may be predictive of her utter extermination ; that the continuance of the church of christ upon earth shall cease in her . for the immenseness of christ's divinity incompassing all things that are , he can vomit nothing out from him but it must therewith be cast into non-entity . and the laodicean church is the last scene of providence , and this church , and indeed the whole scene of affairs on this earth for her sake , is shortly to have an end . for in the next thunder to this laodicean intervall christ comes to judgement , and presently after is the conflagration . and satan is to be let loose but a little time ; so that the time of the laodicean church cannot be long . wherefore the commination , i will spew thee out of my mouth , may well be a prediction of the utter extermination of the church out of being , that is , as to the state of a church upon earth . for as before the coming of the floud god is said to repent him that he had made man upon the earth , and that it grieved him at his heart : so christ here expresseth how nauseous and stomack-sick he is against his church under this intervall and title of laodicea , how his choler and indignation rises against her luke-warmnesse ; and that therefore he will vomit her out in a floud of fire , and overwhelm her in a deluge of hot scalding sulphureous flames : which will come to passe at the conflagration . the state of the church now in its old age naturally growing worse , christ will think fit to put an end to the scene of things , and carry his to his celestial kingdome . 7. because thou sayest , i am rich , and increased with goods , and have need of nothing . and this is one reason of the spiritlesnesse and inactivity of the laodicean church , that she thinks she has all things desirable already , peace , plenty , power and dominion , security from enemies , profession of the truth , purity in externall worship , rid of superstition and idolatry , abundance of knowledge as well natural as theological , the understanding of all prophecies , by reason of their clear completion , and the faithfull and judicious interpretations of her predecessours ; no oppression , no persecution for conscience sake ; every man lives at quiet , and injoys himself under his own vine & under his own fig-tree : what want we therefore ? are we not still the true philadelphian church , and the new jerusalem descended from heaven , in all the riches and glories thereof ? one would think so indeed , according to the judgement of any carnal eye . but let us hear what the amen says , the true and faithfull witnesse . and knowest not that thou art wretched , and miserable , and poor , and blind , and naked . christ saith to the church in smyrna , i know thy works , and tribulation , and poverty ; but thou art rich . the primitive church , while the spirit of life was in them , though in the midst of the want of all externall comforts , and under most dreadfull persecutions , in the judgement of christ are accounted rich : but the laodiceans , in the affluence of all external blessings , because they want that spirit of life , are deemed poor , and miserable , and naked , as if they had not a rag to hang on their backs ; nay , blind also , for all their abundance of knowledge , because they are devoid of the knowledge and experience of the mysteries of the spirit of life in the new birth , and the renovation of the soul into inward living righteousnesse , but take up with the externall laodicean state or condition . 8. i counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire , that thou may est be rich . i advise thee , sincerely to endeavour ( for that is the price thou must pay for this gold ) after the recovery of thy self into the state of the new jerusalem descended from heaven ; which city was of pure gold , so purify'd in the fire , that it was as clear as transparent glasse . this is the new creature in thee , the transformation of thy nature into the image of the heavenly adam . this is solid and durable riches indeed , and such as will go along with thee into the highest heavens , when this earth and the metalls therein shall melt with fire . labour therefore after such a solid treasure as will abide those fatal flames , and will not perish with thee in the general conflagration . and the symbol of this treasure is this purify'd gold. and white rayment , that thou mayst be cloathed , and that the shame of thy nakednesse do not appear . groan then earnestly in this , o thou spiritlesse laodicea , desiring to be cloathed upon with that spiritual house which is from heaven ; that , being so cloathed , thou mayst not be found naked . for while thou art in this earthly tabernacle , thou oughtest to account it a burthen , and not to set up thy staff in the enjoyments of this life , because all things are peacefull and prosperous with thee . not that i would advise thee to shorten thy days here ; but that , being thus cloathed by this spiritual vestment , mortality might be swallowed up of life . and it is the spirit of life and the divine love that worketh in thee this one great thing that thou so greatly wantest , and yet art insensible thereof . and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve , that thou mayst see . that is , cleanse thy self with such a due measure of mortification , and purification of the inward man from all filthinesse of flesh and spirit , that thou mayst attain to the divinely-moral prudence which will enable thee to have a right judgement and discerning in all things . this therefore is the collyrion which i would advise thee to anoint thine eye-sight with , even the purgation of thy self from all the animal corruptions , that thou mayst perfect the inward righteousnesse in my fear : for the outward alone carries none to heaven . the ointment i prescribe will indeed smart ; but without it thou wilt still continue blind , and never finde the way to everlasting salvation . 9. as many as i love , i rebuke . i deal plainly , truly and faithfully with thee ; and not out of any ill will is it that i thus rebuke thee : but it is ex amore benevolentiae , though not ex amore complacentiae . for , as thou art , thou art but a nauseous and irksome spectacle to me . and therefore i thus rebuke thee and instruct thee , that thou mayst amend . and chasten , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . which signifies to chastise and scourge , as well as to instruct . which therefore may seem to be the commination of some external calamity and affliction that christ would bring upon the laodiceans , if they did not repent them of their remissness ; and in such a way as themselves may haply be the causes of , through their remissnesse and luke-warmnesse . for that former philadelphian zeal and activity ceasing , which that church exercised in the behalf of the interest of the kingdome of god , their enemies may more then ordinarily encrease upon them , especially the devil being let loose , and being very active to deceive the nations ; whom they should counter-plot , by being as active to convert them to the truth . and this may be the time wherein the prediction of gog and magog is to be fulfilled , who are said to be gathered together to battel , and to encompasse the camp of the saints and the beloved city , which in this state is termed the church of laodicea ; but in that vision , the camp of the saints , because there were not onely many saints amongst them of the old philadelphian strain , but that they were still in their externall frame an holy people and an holy city , not prophaned by the gentiles , that is to say , not polluted by heathenish superstition , and idolatry , and imposture , and cruelty ; nor brought under their power and dominion that were . which yet was once the condition of the holy city for a time and times and half a time , or forty two months , apoc . 11. 2. 10. and it is still called the beloved city also for the same reason : but not the new jerusalem descended from heaven , because so generally that new and heavenly nature was lost amongst them . but this church of laodicea is still beloved of christ , partly for her own sake , and partly for her deceased sister's sake , the lovely philadelphia , whom she so much resembles in all her externall features , that dearest spouse of christ. and therefore the title of the beloved city agrees very well with this passage in the present text , whom i love , i rebuke , yea and scourge too . for these streights that the laodiceans are to be cast into by the siege of gog and magog seems the most probable way to rowze them out of their lukewarmnesse and lazy formality . but that things may not run the hazard of growing worse and worse , nor there be an infinite repetition of the vicissitude of scenes on the stage of this earth , providence will knock off at such a time as that the wicked and prophane rabble of the world shall not again get the dominion over his true church , but he will put a period to the contest by a deluge of fire from heaven , as it is intimated in that vision . but this is more then falls to the share of this present verse . be zealous therefore , and repent . that is , amend thy dead formality and lukewarmnesse , by attaining to the spirit of life through mortification and regeneration , that so thou mayst recover the old philadelphian zeal and love : for this is the onely thing thou wantest . 11. behold , i stand at the door and knock . do not pretend difficulties : i am ready not onely to assist thee , but do also importune thee : i suggest good motions to thee ; do thou but pursue them and improve them . if any man hear my voioe , and open the door ; that is , if any man obey those dictates of conscience and overtures of light and grace that christ ever and anon offers him , and so becomes sincere in all things , and not willingly offends him in any thing , great or small , ( which will not fail to be done where the desire is sincere ; and this sincere desire is the door that lets in christ , for he passes into us through an unfeigned hunger and thirst after righteousness ; ) then , says he , i will come in to him , and sup with him , and he with me . that is , i will communicate my nature and spirit unto him , and he shall eat my flesh , which is meat indeed , and drink my bloud , which is drink indeed : that is to say , he shall partake of my body & bloud , not in symbols onely , ( which ye doe well to keep up till i come , ) but in a true and living way ; whereby that shall be accomplished , i in my father , and ye in me , and i in you . if any man love me , he will keep my words , and my father will love him ; and we will come unto him , and make our aboad with him . wherefore , being thus replenished with the god of life and the father of lights , thou canst not fail of being full of the spirit , and of all alacrity and readinesse to every good work : thy luke-warmnesse and dulnesse will goe away . 12. to him that overcometh will i grant to sit with me in my throne ; even as i also overcame , and am set down with my father in his throne . and that thou mayst be the more effectually rowzed up out of this tepidity and lethargicalnesse , thou shalt not onely enjoy me and my father on this earthly stage , but , if thou strivest so as to get the victory in the way i have instructed thee , i will translate thee to that heavenly kingdome most naturally and properly so called ; where thou shalt sit down , and drink of the fruit of the vine in the kingdome of my father . as i , after i had overcome , ascended up to heaven into those glorious mansions , and there sate down at the right hand of god : so him that overcometh the temptations and incumbrances , the pleasures and enticements of this lower world , will i cause to sit down with me in the heavenly places at the last day . which monition is the more seasonable , by how much more near the approach of that great day is . for i shall come visibly to judgement in the very next thunder to the siege of gog and magog , when i will transform your vile bodies into the similitude of my glorious body , that ye may be fit companions for me in heaven for ever . behold , i shew you a mystery : ye shall not all sleep , yet ye shall all be changed ; that mortality may be swallowed up of life . this is a great and stupendious promise ; but thou art to consider that it is spoken by him that is the amen , the true and faithfull witnesse , and the beginning of the creation of god , and therefore both will and can carry on all his design to the very end , amen . 13. he that hath an ear to hear , let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches . from the epiphonema coming here last , as in all these four last epistles , one may haply raise this objection , as if this sense of the promise immediately preceding it were not politicall or propheticall enough , but merely theologicall , the promise being to be performed in the other world , and therefore not the proper object of prophecy , which concerns the affairs of the stage of this earth : and that this therefore is against our professed rule . but i answer , that though the promise of obtaining heaven after this life upon the death of the body be merely a theogicall promise , and of a thing more spiritual and invisible , and not to be seen upon the face of this earth ; yet this promise of obtaining heaven at the resurrection and general day of judgement , it being the day of that great and visible assizes wherein the souls of the saints shall appear in glorify'd bodies , may well be ranged in the same order with the rest of the promises immediately preceding the epiphonemata of each epistle , and to be accomplished visibly in this life . for the sense of the promise in brief is this ; that as christ , after his sufferings , his death and passion , ascended visibly into heaven , ( for heaven is said to be the throne of god in the scripture , ) and so heaven became also christ's throne ; so those of laodicea , who upon the mortification of their lusts should attain to the state of life in the new birth , should ascend visibly into christ's throne , that is , into heaven , in the open view of them that should be left here on the earth and in the inferiour regions of the air , sentenced to that everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels . this is a plain and obvious sense of this promise , and such as the placing of the epiphonema requires , and is , in my judgement , no mean ratification of the true and literal sense of that article of our faith , touching the visible resurrection and glorification of our bodies , and their ascension into the heavenly regions , against such as would whiffle away all these truths by resolving them into a mere moral allegorie . thus consonant every way are the interpretations of these epistles both to themselves , and to the apostolick truth . chap. x. a recapitulation of the main evidences of the truth of this mysticall or propheticall exposition of the seven epistles to the seven churches of asia , by way of solution of difficulties touching the said epistles and their circumstances , otherwise hardly or not at all to be solved . 1. as in natural hypotheses those are accounted truest that solve the phaenomena of nature the most naturally and easily , and especially if such as are no otherwise solvible then upon the proposed hypothesis : so that meaning of scripture , i mean especially of any considerable portion thereof , ought to be esteemed truest that can solve the most difficulties that may be raised concerning the same , or the contexts precedent or subsequent thereto ; and if all , still the more certain ; and if unsolvible otherwise , there is still the more assurance of undeniable demonstration . now how near this mysticall or propheticall exposition of these epistles approches to the clearnesse of this case , i will leave to the reader to judge , after he has considered the solutions of the questions easily raised out of the epistles themselves , or the precedent chapter , and not easily answered , nor at all satisfactorily , at least most of them , but upon the hypothesis we have gone . 2. as first , if a man enquire why the spirit of prophecy , after he has so expresly given notice that this book of the apocalypse is to shew unto his servants things that are to come , and called it plainly a book of prophecies , should start so unexpectedly from the title and intended subject , as to write no lesse then seven epistles to certain churches , that have nothing considerable of prophecy in them , before he deliver any prophecies properly so called , but onely promises and comminations ; and that he should doe this with as great pomp and as high a preamble as he does when he begins so famous prophecies as those of the seven seals , and the opened book . but according to our hypothesis the answer is easie ; viz. that though these seven epistles to the seven churches of asia have a literal sense , yet they are also a parable or prophecy , and of as high concern for both matter and extent of time ( they reaching from the beginning of the church to the end of the world ) as the prophecy of the seals and opened book ; and that they are ushered in with this great pomp on purpose to give us notice thereof . secondly , a man would be prone to enquire why the spirit dictates letters unto the churches in asia , and not rather to the churches in europe , asia and africk . for certainly the church had disspred it self into all these quarters of the world by that time . as if the spirit of truth were a respecter of persons . for these are not the letters of john , but of the holy ghost . but our answer is ready at hand , that for the significancy of the word asia to comport also with the significancy of the names of the seven churches , asia alone was pitched upon . but , according to the propheticall sense , the true catholick church is writ unto under such distinct conditions as she was to vary into unto the end of the world . so that there is no partiality nor acception of persons in this . thirdly , if a man demand touching the order or precedency of these seven churches that are writ unto : what a plain and manifest account is there to him that compares the epistles in their propheticall sense with the intervalls of the church catholick lying in that order that these churches are ranged ? this is a satisfactory reason , and worthy the spirit that wrote these epistles . but whether they are ranged in this order , because that a letter-carrier going from patmos , his first journey will be to ephesus , and then to smyrna , and so in order till he come to laodicea ; whether the holy spirit of prophecy regarded that in the dictating of his letters , ( though alcazar the jesuite be for it , ) i cannot but suspend my judgement , and that not without a smile . but of this ataxie more particularly anon . 3. fourthly , if it be demanded why just seven churches in asia are writ to , neither more nor lesse , ( especially that in thyatira , according to the acknowledgement of epiphanius , being then not founded , but after the writing of these epistles , ) it is hard to give a satisfactory answer in the literal sense . for to say this book of the apocalypse affects the number seven , and that , because it runs upon the number seven altogether in the insuing part of the book , which is propheticall , it therefore , for conformity sake , chuses this number in writing to the churches though literally understood , seems but a meagre , mean and trifling account , a design unworthy the holy spirit that dictated this book . but the using this number seven all over is rather an intimation that the book is propheticall all over , and that these epistles are also a prophecy , accordingly as we have explained them . and taking them so , the answer is plain and obvious , viz. the number seven is here chosen out as symbolicall , it being the note of universality ; whence the pythagoreans , as i above noted , call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . wherefore seven ( and no more then seven ) churches are writ unto , as standing for the seven intervalls of the church from the beginning to the end of all . fifthly , if it be demanded why these seven churches rather then any others , which in all likelihood may have the same vertues and vices that these are commended and taxed for : the reason of this is writ in the very notation of their names , every name being significative of the condition of the church catholick in that successive intervall of time that this or that church so named standeth for , and in such order as they are repeated . sixthly , if one require a reason why christ is described by holding the seven stars in his right hand in the epistles to the churches of ephesus and of sardis , why the same description in both , or why in either : in the literal sense it will be hard to finde any peculiar reason ; but in the propheticall sense already declared it is obvious . for the seven stars signifie all the pastours , whether in present existence , or succession . and ephesus is the beginning-state of the church ; and therefore it is both very seasonable and methodicall to represent the first founder , sustainer and continuer thereof by this emblem ; lo , i am with you to the end of the world . and that this again is hinted at in the epistle to the church of sardis , is with evident proportion and analogy to the affairs of the church there represented . for the church of sardis is as it were the beginning again or the emerging of the true church or kingdome of christ out of the power and kingdome of antichrist . 4. seventhly , why the church of ephesus , of all other churches , should be commended for their trying false apostles . why might not other churches be attaqued by them , and also discover them , as well as the church of ephesus ? the solution of which probleme is easie in this mysticall sense of the epistles , that places the ephesine intervall within the apostles times , but the rest on this side of them . eighthly , if any one demand why it is said to the church of smyrna , more then to any other church , be thou faithfull unto death , and i will give thee the crown of life ; and again , he that overcometh shall not be hurt by the second death : in the literal sense it will be very hard to finde any peculiar reason why this might not as well be said to the church in pergamus , where there was killing for religion , it seems , by the mention of the martyr antipas . i , but there was no obtaining the crown of life there in any peculiar sense ; but the crown of life , that is , the imperial crown , was given to the sufferings of the primitive martyrs under the ten persecutions : to whom also , according to the opinion of the ancient church , the promise of the first resurrection belonged . which is here obliquely glanced at , ( according to the mode of the apocalyptick style , that loves to hint things by ellipses , ) in that promise , he that overcometh shall not be hurt by the second death ; implying thereby , that he shall be made partaker of the first resurrection . ninthly , if any one will again object more particularly against the ataxie of the churches , that they are ranged neither according to the merit nor congeneracy of their conditions , pretending that it had been far better to have joyned the two irreprehensible churches together , smyrna and philadelphia , against whom there is no complaint at all ; and then ephesus , sardis and laodicea , against whom there is no complaint of eating things offered unto idols ; and afterwards pergamus and thyatira , in which churches alone there is : if any one , i say , contend that this method had been more exact ; truly , in the literal sense it will be hard to frame an handsome and satisfactory answer ; especially if he urge that god is the authour of method , as well as the god of order . but in this mysticall or propheticall sense the answer is solid and exquisite , and much-what the same that was given to the like difficulty more generally propounded before , namely , that the churches of asia are named in that order the successive intervalls of the church catholick were to proceed in , of which these asiatick churches are but the symbols or hieroglyphicks . and therefore those two intervalls of time which take in the reign of the beast and the false prophet , viz. the intervalls of the church of pergamus and of thyatira , must come after ephesus and smyrna , because till the expiration of those two intervalls idolatry had not again re-entred the apostatizing church . and the three following intervalls of sardis , philadelphia and laodicea , are the intervalls of the true church elapsed out of the hands of domineering idolatry ; and therefore we hear no more in them of things sacrificed unto idols , nor of any jezabel . and philadelphia , which is the most holy and the most glorious intervall of the church that is to appear on the face of the earth , is not to be named according to her dignity , but according to her succession in time , toward the latter end of the world , as she is here ranged . but of this more then enough , because we had touched of it in the general before . 5. tenthly , why is christ in his description before the epistle to the church in pergamus set out by a two-edged sword , coming , suppose , out of his mouth , ( according to the ellipticalnesse of the apocalyptick style ? ) what reason in the letter can be given of that ? for ( especially if this supplement be made ) it cannot respect the slaying of antipas with the sword . what peculiar thing then in this church of pergamus is there to require this description ? truly nothing at all appears in the letter . but in the propheticall sense it is very proper , the waldenses and albigenses in this intervall assaulting the church of rome , or at least defending themselves and their pure faith , so signally by this weapon , i mean , by the sword of the spirit , which is the word of god ; though themselves died so many thousands of them in the field by the sword for the faith they thus defended . and in the eleventh place , the description of christ before the epistle to the church in thyatira , and his feet like fine brasse , ( as if they burned in a furnace ; ) ( for that supplement is to be understood out of his description in the first chapter , as before : ) but now what peculiar significancy has this description , or what congruity to any thing in the church of thyatira literally understood ? surely none . but in the propheticall sense it is very expressive of those lower members of christ's body , his church here on earth , of their invincible zeal , and patience , and sincerity of affection , such as did abide the most fiery trialls that could be put upon them , and made them stand at the stake amongst burning faggots with the flames about their ears , and never flinch for it : as has been noted in the interpretation of that epistle . this was the state of that intervall of the church . twelfthly , in a book that is so full of aenigmaticall involutions , and coverings upon coverings , where he calls the churches golden candle-sticks , and the bishops or pastours stars and angels , even then when he interprets and offers to be more plain ; that the same authour should so openly and plainly mention any one by name as he does the martyr antipas , if there were not some farther mysterie in it , would be a great difficulty , and hardly to be digested by the more sagacious and curious . i must confesse i have often wondred at this naming antipas by name , till i understood a farther sense thereof , such as we have rendred in the exposition of that epistle . 6. in the thirteenth place , one might well demand why christ expresses a greater disgust against the church of laodicea then that of sardis . for though the former is said to be luke-warm ; yet the other , making a great show of life , is notwithstanding declared to be dead . that christ should be more enraged against luke warmnesse then hypocrisy , and threaten it more deeply then the other , i will spew thee out of my mouth , ( which is quite to cast a thing away , never to be resumed again , ) must seem marvellous to the considerate . certainly , if there were not some greater matter in it , the spirit of christ would not speak so severely onely to follow a metaphor . but in the propheticall sense the solution is easie , that passage being predictive of the extermination of the church from the face of the earth at the close of the world , as i have expounded it . in the fourteenth place , it may be demanded , why so affectedly and repeatedly in every epistle that phrase is used , i know thy works , without any variation or omission . which seems a thing but of small importance in the literal sense of these epistles : but in the propheticall it seems on purpose so repeated , to intimate an allusion in asia to the hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ( as if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was intended on purpose to answer to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) that asia may also be significant as well as the names of the seven churches : which they all being , it is a shrewd presumption this repetition was for some such design as has been declared . whereas the literal sense can give no account thereof . fifteenthly , alcazar himself is much stumbled , that the spirit of god should be thought to take notice of any one particular woman in the church of thyatira , and so call her by the name of jezabel , as is ordinarily supposed . and indeed these things are too little for the majesty of this writing of the apocalypse . but how can we help it in the literal sense , if we will interpret with constancy and coherency ? but in the propheticall sense there is no such incongruity . the object is worth the spirit 's taking notice of in this kinde ; this jezabel being that painted woman of rome , intoxicating the kings of the earth with the cup of her spiritual fornications , as has been shewn upon the text. 7. sixteenthly , it seems very strange that that promise of ruling over the nations , and receiving the morning-star , ( which doubtlesse are politicall promises , ) should be made to the church in thyatira , more then to that in pergamus , or ephesus , and others . what victories or dominion did the church in thyatira in asia get over the nations more then other churches ? this is an hard knot in the literal sense . but in the propheticall it is loosned at the first sight . for the closure of the intervall of the church of thyatira brings in the time wherein whole nations revolted from the pope and his idolatrous church , and professed the reformed religion , and so in these parts got the pontifician party under them . seventeenthly , in the epistle to the church in philadelphia there is mention made of a mighty temptation that is to come upon all the world , to try them that dwell upon the earth , touching which he saith , behold , i come quickly . why should this be said to the church of philadelphia more then to any other of the churches here specified ? there are not the least footsteps of reason to be found in the literal sense . but in the propheticall sense the thing is plain . for the intervall of philadelphia beginning in the last vial , wherein that mighty and terrible earthquake is to happen , the great temptation , what it is , is plainly thence understood , and how in respect of this philadelphian church it will come quickly , she commencing but in the very same vial that this is to happen under . eighteenthly , why upon this philadelphia , a private asiatick church , should the name of the city of god , the new jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from god , ( the very same that is expressed apoc. 21. ) be said to be written ? this title were too big and turgent for any private church , were it not a type or symbol of some greater matter . but by the propheticall interpretation this difficulty is quite removed . for the intervall of the philadelphian church is co-incident with the times of the new jerusalem , ( mentioned at the end of the apocalypse , ) and of the millenniall empire of christ upon earth . 8. nineteenthly , the curious may be prone to enquire , why the church of laodicea in those times should account her self so hugely and extraordinarily rich , increased in goods , and to have no want of any thing . and truly why this should be her estate rather then any of the churches specify'd , from the literal ground we can fetch no reason . but admitting the propheticall sense , and that this is the last intervall of the church of christ , it will naturally so come to passe : for this laodicea will be left heir to all the riches of her sister philadelphia , to peace , prosperity , purity in worship , abundance of natural knowledge , universal skill in the interpretations of the prophecies , and what-ever good thing there is belonging to the church , saving the life and spirit which philadelphia carried along with her into the other world . how easily then and naturally , or rather necessarily , does this description of the church of laodicea fall upon the last intervall ? and , lastly , it is a question extremely obvious to demand , why that phrase , he that hath an ear to hear , let him hear , which our saviour so often is found to adde at the end of his parables to the people , should be used here so repeatedly in every epistle , they being no parables , but epistles sent to each of those seven churches in asia respectively : and then , why this epiphonema is sometimes the last close of the epistle , sometimes not . to which probleme there is no tolerable solution in the literal sense of these epistles . but supposing a mysticall or propheticall sense , there was a necessity of affixing this epiphonema , to shew there was a farther sense intended then that of the letter : and also , that sometimes this epiphonema should come last of all , ( as in the four last epistles , ) that the promise to the conquerour , to him that overcomes , might be more certainly understood to be of a proper propheticall or politicall sense , not merely theologicall , moral or spiritual ; as has been abundantly declared in the exposition . 9. we might have drawn many more questions and solutions from the consideration of the letter , and of this hypothesis we go upon , to shew its solidity and fitnesse , but that we hold it needlesse , having produced so many already : which jointly considered , with the perpetuall easinesse and naturalnesse of the whole exposition of all the epistles , and the exact correspondency of the names of the churches to the events of the successive intervalls of the true catholick church which they represent , one would think they should not fail fully to satisfie any unprejudiced peruser of our exposition of these epistles , touching the truth thereof . but i am abundantly taught by experience , that both the finding out , and receiving of divine truths found out by others , is a special gift of god. and therefore to him alone be the glory for ever and ever , amen . the end . an antidote against idolatry : or , a brief discourse containing sundry considerations or conclusions tending to the discovery of what is or ought to be held to be idolatry amongst christians . with application to the doctrine of the council of trent , and for the putting a stop to the romish infection . matth . 4. 10. thou shalt worship the lord thy god , and him onely shalt thou serve . to the reader . reader , 1. i suppose thou wilt expect something should be said of this ensuing discourse also , though it needs not be much . the occasion of writing it , and the fitnesse of joyning it to the foregoing exposition of the seven churches , will discover themselves to thee in the perusing of the treatise it self . i must confess i have treated of this argument elsewhere , namely , in my * mysterie of iniquity . but it is a subject of that great importance , that it deserves an entire treatise apart by it self , and that girt up in the most close and convictive method that may be : that those that are sanable or preservable from this dreadfull sin of idolatry may finde the efficacy of our antidote ; and those whose minds it cannot alter may ( however ) be found without excuse . and there is this considerable here above what i have done already on this subject , that here is such an expresse application made of the theorie to the grosse errours in this point and foul mispractices of the church of rome . 2. those of ours that speak the most favourably of that church cannot but declare them guilty of material idolatry , as they call it . and questionlesse there must be something among them very like that great sin , if there be any truth or sense in the visions of that divine volume of the apocalypse . for the order of things and demonstration of the synchronisms do necessarily cast those visions that represent the concerned as idolatrous ( chap. 13. and 17. ) upon the church of rome , ( as also ch. 2. v. 14 — 20 ; ) and they can belong to none else in the propheticall scope of the visions , time and place and the order of things having so unavoidably fixed them upon her . wherefore even according to divine suffrage they are guilty of idolatry in one sense or other , or come so nigh it , that the spirit of god in a jealousie , to exaggerate their wantonness , speaks to them as such , to deterre them from those suspected ways , and dangerous approches to so horrible a crime . and grant it were but thus , yet both in the vision of the * seven churches , and in that of the * whore of babylon , the people of god are expresly called unto and encouraged and commissioned to forsake the church of rome's communion . so that the protestants have not the least guilt of schism upon them for leaving her , no not upon this more favourable supposition . 3. but , alas ! alas ! this smooth hypothesis is but a pleasing dream arising from the softnesse and sleepinesse of the carnal minde , and the love of those things that must passe away as a dream or phantasm of the night . let god be true , and every man a liar , as the apostle speaks . and truly the spirit of god would scarce speak true , if what is spoken of idolatry so broadly and so expresly in those visions ( insomuch that they have been understood of the heathen idolatry even for this very reason by learned and able interpreters ) should , now we are necessitated to understand them of rome christian in her apostatized condition , not amount to the charge of any proper and formal idolatry at all . 4. but the desperatenesse of their case is , that if they were not represented by these visions as idolatrous , that is to say , if these visions had never been writ , or now they are writ , though they were to be understood of some others , and not of the church of rome ; yet appealing to the nature of the thing , to the true notion of idolatry properly and formally so called , and to the acknowledged doctrine of their church expressed in the council of trent , and their universal practices abetted by publick authority , this alone is sufficient to demonstrate them to be idolaters properly so called . which is the scope of this present treatise . 5. which therefore doth confirm and corroborate , and place beyond all exception , the orthodox protestant interpretations of those visions that concern the church of rome : which in this last age have been made so clear , and every way so natural and congruous , that this one thing granted of their idolatry , there cannot be the least scruple of the truth and congruity of the rest of the applications . 6. and i cannot but adore the faithfulnesse of divine providence , that has furnished his church with these oracles to be the guide of the faithfull in these latter ages , which are as it were the dregs of those times which the spirit of prophecy has set no good character upon ; wherein there is such an inundation of wickednesse and prophanenesse , that there is scarce any faith to be found upon earth . but that church which has deluded the world with so many fictions could never forge those prophecies that are so punctually true , and so cuttingly set out all her grosse miscarriages , and as expresly foretell her ruine , unlesse she will humble her self , and pluck in her horns , lay aside her bold boasts of infallibility , and be content to be taught to cast away her idols , and be cured of her dropsie and unnatural thirst after the bloud of the saints and the bloud of the martyrs of jesus . 7. nor can i on the other side sufficiently admire the stupidity of some of our own , and their grosse ingratitude to divine providence , that have so slight a regard to a book of that mighty weight and moment as the apocalypse is , and think it such a subject , as that any good wit must needs mis-place his time if he meddle with it : which is more then a pagan irreverence to so holy and so important oracles . the romans of old had another esteem for the verses of the sibylls : nihil enim ità custodiebant neque sanctum neque sacrum quemadmodum sibyllina oracula , as dionysius halicarnasseus testifies . and it was an high honour to be the keepers , much more the right expounders , of them . but that which god of his mercy offers to all , such is either the idlenesse , frivolousness or profaneness of the spirits of men , that it is scarce accepted of any . 8. the truth is , most men are loath to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to be messengers of ill news to the greatest , that is to say , to the corruptest , part of christendome ; but rather affect the glory and security of being accounted of so humane , of so sweet and ingratiating a temper , as that they can surmize well of all mens religions ; and so think to conciliate to themselves the fame of either civil and good natures , or of highly-raised and released wits , ( though it be indeed but a spice of the old abhorred gnosticism , ) that can comply with any religion , and make a fair tolerable sense of all . 9. but these are such high strains of pretense to wit or knowledge and gentility as i must confess i could never yet arrive to , nor i hope ever shall : though i am not in the mean time so stupid in my way , as to think i can write thus freely without offence . and yet on the contrary , i can deem my self no more uncivil then i do him that wrings his friend by the nose to fetch him out of a swound . 10. i am not insensible how harsh this charge of idolatry against the church of rome will sound in some ears , especially it being seconded with that other of murther , and that the most cruel and barbarous imaginable , and finally so severely rewarded with an impossibility of salvation to any now , so long as they continue in communion with that church . but , i believed , therefore i spake , and have no reason to recall my words , or to have concealed the truth , that their fishing may become lesse successfull in these parts ; and that it may be with my countrey-men according to that in salomon , surely in vain the net is spred in the sight of any bird . and therefore this is to open their eyes , that they may see what snares of destruction are laid for them ; and how those that promise others liberty are themselves the servants of corruption ; and how they that take upon them to be the onely absolvers from sin are themselves held fast in the snares of eternall death , and do as necessarily illaqueate all others therein whom they proselyte to their religion : so far are they from giving them any effectual absolution . 11. i doubt not but many will be prone to cry out , this is a very rude piece of uncharitablenesse to all romanists . but i say , it were a most perfidious kinde of civility , even to them themselves , ( to say nothing of the injury to our church and countrey , ) to declare otherwise . but if this be the main odium that sticks upon so true and usefull a conclusion , that it is so far estranged from the spirit of charity , hear but this brief parable , reader , and then i will leave it to thy self to judge , and conclude . there was a certain knight bravely mounted , as it might seem , and in goodly equippage , in bright armour , a rich scarf about his shoulders , and a large plume of feathers in his helmet , who was bound for the castle of health , seated on an high hill , not unlike to the domicilium salutis in cebes his table , which therefore he easily kept in his eye . but the way he was in being something stony and rough , and leading not so directly as he thought to the desired castle , he diverted out of the way , and descended into a green plain ; but not knowing whether it was all passable to the castle , called to some loyterers there in the field , to enquire of them ; who came right willingly to the knight , scraping many legs to him , and desiring him to tell his demands . 12. there was an old shepherd likewise not far off , who , by that time this idle people had got to the knight , had come down to him also . friends , said he , to those men he called , is the way passable and safe through this green plain to yonder castle ? pointing to the castle of health with his warder . very safe , may it please your worship , said they ; and , shrugging their shoulders , and scraping many legs , asked a largesse of the knight , pretending they had been at common work not far off . whereupon the knight put his hand into his pocket , and gave them liberally . but are there no bogs , said he , nor lakes betwixt this and the castle ? some small inconsiderable sloughs it may be , said they ; but you will meet with the holy society of the wipers every-where , who will be ready to wipe you as clean as a clock before you come at the castle . and being so excellently well mounted as we see you are , namely , upon that famous steed renowned over all the world , the infallible-footed aplanedo , so good an horse as that he never stumbles , your worship need fear no disaster at all : besides , the beast , god blesse him , has a nose like any hound , and by a miraculous sagacity , without any reason or humane literature , with an un-erring certainty he can smell out the right way , and so secure you from all danger . to say nothing how excellent he is at the swimming any water , and how he can tread the very air , he is so high-metall'd and light-footed . onely be sure to keep fast in the saddle . and then , sir knight , said the shepherd , if the wind blow fair , the plumes in your helmet may help to support you both ; but if not , some angel from heaven may take you by the crest of your helmet , as he did the prophet habakuk by the hair of his head , when he carried him through the air from judea into babylon . 13. the knight looking back , ( for he was not aware of the shepherd at this time , ) what con●e●●ed 〈◊〉 man is this , said he , that talks this phancifully ? may it please your worship , he is a shepherd , said they , and has a flock on yonder little hill hard by ; but he is one of the most self-conceited old fools that ever your worship met with in all your days : he thinks that all skill and knowledge lies within the compasse of his baldpate and wrinkled fore-head , though few or none are of the same opinions with himself . sir knight , said the shepherd , i pretend to no skill nor knowledge but what is certainly within mine own ken ; but what i know , i love to speak freely . and i tell you , sir knight , unlesse you be stark staring mad you will never follow these mens counsels , nor venture over this moor to that castle : for you will be swallowed up horse and man into a fathomlesse lake of ill-sented mire , for all the nice nostrills of aplanedo . you was in a more hopefull way before , though something rough ; but it is so streight before you come at the castle , that you could never have got through , unlesse you had left aplanedo behind you . he 's an old cholerick dotard , said those other fellows ; be but sure to keep the saddle , and we dare warrant your worship , ( our lives for yours ) that aplanedo will carry you safe through all dangers . wherefore upon the renewall of the high conceit the knight had before of his steed , and those confident animations of his mercenary counsellers , he set on in a direct line toward the castle over this moor ; the shepherd looking after him to see the event . but the knight had not rid two or three bow-shots from the place , but the shepherd saw them suddenly sink horse and man into the ground , so that they were both buried alive in the mire . 14. whereupon fetching a deep sigh after so tragicall a spectacle , he returned with a sad heart and slow pace towards his sheep on the top of the hill , drailing his sheephook behinde him , as they do their spears at the funeral of a souldier : whom his dog followed with a like soft pace , hanging down his head , and letting his tail flag , as if he had a minde to conform to both the sorrows and postures of his master . but those other false companions had somewhat before this got to a lone alehouse not far off , to spend the knight's largesse merrily with a bonny young hostesse , and in plenty of good ale and cakes to celebrate his funerall . 15. now , reader , i dare appeal to thy judgement which of these parties , the old free-spoken shepherd , or those mercenary flatterers , had the greater share of charity ; and to determine with thy self in what a sad condition those of the church of rome are , who , having the opportunity of being better instructed , as the knight had , are yet led away captive by such cunning deceivers . which is the main state of the controversie . if i had not come and spoken unto them , they had not had sin ; but now they have no excuse for their sin , saith our blessed saviour , in the gospel . the rest of the riddle , reader , i leave to thine own unravelling , and bid thee farewell . an antidote against idolatry . chap. i. what is idolatry according to divine declaration . 1. there are two ways in general of discovering what is or ought to be held to be idolatry amongst christians ; the one , divine declaration , the other , clear & perspicuous reason : which though they may haply reach the one no farther then the other , that is to say , that whatsoever may be concluded to be idolatry by divine declaration , the same may also by unprejudiced reason , and vice vers'd ; yet their joint concurrence of testimony is a greater assurance to us of the truth ; and two cords twisted together are stronger then either single . wherefore we will make use of both , and begin with divine declaration first . 2. the first conclusion therefore shall be , that as in civil governments it is the right of the supreme power to define and declare what shall be or be held to be treason , and punishable as such : so it is most manifestly the right of god almighty , who is also infinitely good and wise , to define and declare to his people what shall be or be held to be idolatry , which is a kind of treason against god , or crimen laesae majestatis divinae . and what is thus declared idolatry by god is to be held by us to be such , though the ludicrousnesse and fugitivenesse of our wanton reason might otherwise find out many starting-holes and fine pretences to excuse this thing or that action from so foul an imputation . but as in civil affairs the declaring such and such things to be treason does in a politicall sense make them so ipso facto : so god's declaring such and such things to be idolatry , they do to us ipso facto become idolatry thereby : though to an ordinary apprehension , perhaps , neither this would have seemed treason , nor that idolatry , without these antecedent declarations . but where the law-giver is infallible , there is all the reason in the world we should submit not onely to his power , but to his judgement in the definitions of things , and rest sure that that is idolatry which he has thought fit to declare so to be . 3. the second conclusion ; that what is declared idolatry by god to the jews ought to be acknowledged idolatry by us christians . the ground of this conclusion is fixed in the nature of the christian religion . for christianity being a far more spiritual religion then that of judaism , and therefore abhorring from all superstition , there cannot be the least relaxation to the most rancid of all superstitions , idolatry it self . wherefore whatsoever was accounted idolatry amongst the jews , and so defined by a divine law , must be reckoned much more such under christianity , there being not the least pretence for any relaxation . besides , there was nothing under the jews ( or can by any people be ) rightly deemed idolatry , but it is carefully enough cautioned against and plainly forbid in the first and second commandments of the decalogue . but the whole decalogue is moral , and so declared by god , in that it is said to be writ by his own finger on the tables of stone , ( which are symbols of the permanent substance of our souls , on which all the general precepts of morality are ingraven as innate notions of our duty . ) and therefore it is hereby intimated that the precepts of the decalogue are just and fitting , not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not onely by an externall law , but engraffed in our very nature and reason ; and that the root and ground of them will easily be fetch'd from thence . to which you may adde , that it were a very immethodicall and heterogeneous botch , unworthy of the wisedome of god and of his servant moses , whenas all the rest of the decalogue is moral , to phansy one or two of the commandments of another nature . this is so rash and gross a reproach to the divine wisedome as truly , in my judgement , seems unexcusable . but besides this , the morality of the decalogue is also acknowledged by the church , it making part of their liturgie every-where , and we begging an ability of obeying the second commandment as well as the rest : and christ also referrs to the decalogue for eternall life . and lastly , it seems as it were singled from all the rest of moses laws , as a lasting and permanent law to the church of god , ( whence it is entred into our very catechisms , ) never to be abolished , or rather vigorously to be kept in force , for the second commandment's sake particularly , that it might strongly bear against those invitations to idolatry that may seem to offer themselves in the nature of our religion , or reclaim the church from it when they were fallen into it , as well as it was to keep back the jews from joyning in worship with their idolatrous neighbors round about them . wherefore all manner of idolatry being cautioned against by the moral decalogue given to the jews , there are no kinds thereof that ought to be entertained or allow'd of by any christians . 4. the third conclusion ; that what-ever was idolatry in the heathen , the same is idolatry in us , if we commit it . the reason of which assertion is this , because the heathen had not so express a declaration from god against all manner of idolatry as the jews and christians have : and therefore where-ever they are guilty of idolatry , the jew and christian , if they doe the like things , are much more . the fourth conclusion ; the idolatry of the pagans consisted in this , viz. in that they either took something to be the supreme god that was not , and worshipped it for such ; or else worshipped the supreme god in an image ; or gave religious worship , that is to say , erected altars , temples and images , offered sacrifice , made vows to , and invoked , such as they themselves knew not to be the supreme god , but either the souls of men departed , or other daemons , or else particular appearances or powers of nature . the fifth ; that both divine daeclaration and the common consent of christendome do avouch to us , that all the aforesaid pagan modes of idolatry practised by them were in those pagans practices of idolatry . and therefore , by the third conclusion , they must be much more so in either the jew or christian. 5. the sixth ; that giving religious worship , that is to say , erecting temples , building altars , invoking , making vows , and the like , to what is not the supreme god , though not as to him , but as to some inferiour helpfull being , is manifest idolatry . this is plain out of the precedent conclusion ; and may be farther confirmed from this consideration , that idolatry was very rare amongst the nations , especially the romans , if this mode of idolatry be not truly idolatry . and scarce any thing will be found idolatry amongst them , but taking that to be the supreme god which is not , and worshipping it for such . but if any being on this side the supreme god may be worshipped with religious worship void of idolatry , all things may , though some more non-sensically and ridiculously then others . wherefore to use any of the abovesaid modes of worship to what is inferiour to the supreme being , though not as to the supreme being , must be idolatry ; or else the roman paganism it self is very rarely , if at all , chargeable therewith , they having a notion accurate enough of the supreme god , and distinct enough from their other deities ; so that unlesse they chance to worship him in an image , they will seldome be found idolaters , or rather never , according to the opinion of some , who say , none that have the knowledge of the one true god can be capable of idolatry . 6. the seventh ; that to sacrifice , burn incense , or make any religious obeisance or incurvation to an image in any wise , as to an object of this worship , is idolatry by divine declaration . this is manifest out of the second conclusion and the first , as may appear at first sight . for it is plainly declared in the second precept of the decalogue touching images , thou shalt not bow to them , nor worship them : of which undoubtedly the sense is , they shall not be in any wise the object of that worship which thou performest in a religious way , whether by bowing down to them , or by what other way soever . for the second commandment certainly is a declaration of the mind of god touching religious worship , let the ceremonies be what they will. the eighth ; that to erect temples , altars , images , or to burn incense , to saints or angels , to invoke them , or make vows to them , and the like , is plain idolatry . this is apparent chiefly out of the third , fourth , fifth and sixth conclusions of this chapter . for the pagans daemons exquisitely answer to the christians saints and angels in this point ; saving that this spiritual fornication is a rape upon our saints and angels , but simple fornication in the heathen with their impure daemons . the ninth ; religious incurvation towards a crucifix , or the host , or any image , as to an object , and not a mere unconsidered accidental circumstance , is idolatry . this is manifest out of the seventh and eighth conclusions . but the worship of latria exhibited to the host upon the opinion of transubstantiation is idolatry by the third and fourth . 7. conclusion the tenth ; to use on set purpose in religious worship any figure or image onely circumstantially , not objectively , but so as to bow towards it , or to be upon a man's knees before it with eyes and hands devoutly lifted up towards it , but with an intention of making it in no sense any object of this religious worship , yet if this were in a country where men usually and professedly do , it were notwithstanding for all this intention a grosse piece of idolatry . but if the whole countrey should conspire to make this more plausible sense of those incurvations and postures ; admit we might hope it were not idolatry , yet it would be certainly a most impious and wicked mocking of god , and eluding his minde in the second commandment , ( that naturally implies the forbidding any worship or incurvation toward images in a way of religion , ) and a crime as scandalous and near to idolatry as the going into bed to another man's wife , with chast pretensions , would be to grosse adultery . nay , indeed , it is very questionable , if he knowingly and deliberately put himself into these postures before an image , whether the image will not be the object of those postures and incurvations whether he will or no. or rather it seems plain , beyond all questioning , that it will be so . for there is a corporeall action significative of honour and respect corporeally ( though not mentally ) directed towards and received by the image , and this at the choice of the religionist , which intitles him to the fact . but we need not labour much touching this last conclusion , the two former abundantly convincing the church of rome of multifarious idolatries , if they will stand to divine definitions , or the declarations of holy scripture touching this point . chap. ii. what is idolatry according to the determination of clear and free reason . 1. we will now try how obnoxious the romanists are out of the plain definitions and determinations of free and clear reason . in which method let us set down for the first conclusion , that idolatry is a kinde of injustice against god. that this is true , may appear from that definition of religion in tully , who defines it justitiam adversùs deum . which is not the sense of tully onely , but the very voice of reason and nature . and therefore idolatry being one kinde of irreligion or impiety , it must needs include in it a kind of injustice against god. 2. the second conclusion ; that idolatry is a very sore and grievous disease of the soul , vilely debasing her and sinking her into sensuality and materiality , keeping her at a distance from the true sense and right knowledge of god , and leaving her more liable to bodily lusts : that the natural tendency of idolatry is this , and yet the souls of men , in this lapsed state , are naturally prone to so mischievous a disease , as both history and daily experience do abundantly witnesse . see the mischiefs of idolatry in my mystery of iniquity , part 1. lib. 1. ch. 16. nor can it infringe the truth of this conclusion , that a man , retaining still the true notion of god according to his divine attributes , may , according to a sense of his own , bow down toward a corporeall object of worship . for he must retain it by force against such a practice as would and does naturally debauch the users of it . and besides , if he had really the life of god in him as well as the notion of him , he would feel such actions grate against his heart , and perceive how they would invade and attempt the abating and extinguishing the more true and pure sense of god and of his worship , and seduce the soul to externall vanity . but suppose a man or two could keep their minds from sinking down from a right notion of the deity ; yet they are as guilty of idolatry , if they give religious worship to corporeall objects , as he is of adultery and fornication that yet uses them so cautiously as neither to impair his bodily health , nor besott his natural parts thereby . and therefore , though there may be some few such , yet the laws against fornication and adultery ought notwithstanding to be very sacred to every one , even to those discreeter transgressours of them , and ever to be obeyed by them , because the observation of them is of such infinite importance to the publick . and what we have said of the worship of god is analogically true of honouring of the saints , who are best honoured by the remembrance and imitation of their vertues , not by scraping legs to or clinging about their images , which are no more like them then an apple is to an oister . 3. the third conclusion ; that those high expressions of the jealousie of god and his severe displeasure against idolatry are very becoming the nature of the thing , and his paternal care of the souls of men . this appears from the foregoing conclusions . for both the prerogatives and rights of the divine majesty himself are concerned , and also the perfection , nobilitation and salvation of the souls of men . this we discover by reason , and our reason is again more strongly ratify'd by divine suffrage . the fourth ; that idolatry , though it be so hainous a sin , yet where it is committed most in good earnest does necessarily involve in it ignorance or mistake , in the act of worship or in the object ; they either taking the object to be god when it is not , or to have some attribute of god when it has not , or to enjoy some prerogative of god which yet it does not , or else the worship not to be divine when it is ; or , lastly , they mistake in the application of the worship , thinking they do not apply divine worship to an object when they do . the fifth ; that to be mistaken in the object of worship , or in the kind of worship , or in the application , cannot excuse any-thing from being downright idolatry ; forasmuch as none are in good earnest idolaters without some of these mistakes . the sixth ; that the peculiar honour or worship which is given to god is given to him not so much as his honour and worship , as his due and right : insomuch that he that does not give it to god , or communicates it to another , does an injury to the divine majesty . this is plain , and consonant to what was said on the first conclusion , that religion is a kinde of justice towards god. and indeed if divine honour was not given to god as his due and right , it were no honour at all , but rather a benevolence . 4. the seventh ; the right of that peculiar honour or worship we doe to god is grounded either in the nature of his incommunicable excellencies , or in his excellencies so far as we know incommunicated to any creature , or , lastly , in divine declaration or prescription of the ways or modes of thus or thus worshipping him , which himself has some-time set down . the eighth ; that any actions , gestures or words directed to any creature as to an object , which naturally imply or signifie either the incommunicable or incommunicated eminencies of god , is the giving that worship that is the right and due of god alone to that creature , and that injury against the divine majesty which is termed idolatry . the evidence of this conclusion may appear from hence , because there is no other way of application of external worship then by directing such significant actions , gestures , or words , toward such a being as to an object . the ninth ; that the using any of those actions or gestures , or doing any of those things that the true and supreme god did chuse and challenge in the setting out the mode of his own worship , towards or in reference to any creature as to an object , this also is that injury against god which we term idolatry . the reason is this , because such a mode of worship does thus manifestly appear to be the peculiar right of god , which none can transferr to another but god himself . wherefore this right having not been communicated by him to any other , when-ever such a kind of worship is used , it must be used to him , and to none else . nor can his dereliction of any such mode of being worshipped warrant the use of it to any creature afterwards , because no creature can be god in those circumstances as he thought fit to institute such a worship for himself in : for no creature can be god at all , and therefore never capable of any of those modes of divine worship which god ever at any time instituted for himself . besides , if this dereliction and disuse of any mode of worship might make it competible to a creature , then might we sacrifice beeves and sheep ( besides other services of the temple ) to any saint or daemon . 5. the tenth ; an omnipercipient omnipresence , which does hear and see what-ever is said or transacted in the world , whether considered in the whole , or as distributed into terrestriall , celestiall , and supercelestiall , not onely all these omnipercipiencies but any one of them is a certain excellency in god , and , for ought we know , incommunicated to any creature . the eleventh ; that this omnipresence or omnipercipience terrestriall is one main ground of that religious worship due to god which we call invocation . this is plain , that upon this very ground that god hears and sees ( though himself be invisible ) what-ever is said or done upon earth , he has the honour of being invoked any-where or every-where , and of having temples built to him ; because he that is omnipresent cannot be absent from his temple , but is alway there to be invoked . the twelfth ; that if omnipresence or omnipercipience , at least terrestriall , ( if not celestiall , ) be not communicated to saints and angels by god , the invocation of either is palpable idolatry . this is manifest from the eighth conclusion . for invocation implies an incommunicated excellency in the saints or angels , and so communicates that right to them that appertains onely to god , and is that injury against god that is called idolatry . so that it is a vain evasion that pretends that we honour god the more in making him so good to the saints and angels , as to bestow this excellency on them ; whenas yet his wisedome has not thought fit so to doe . for we are so far from honoring him hereby , that we injure him in giving his right to another ; and we dishonour him in presuming he had done wiselier or better in doing what he has not done . whenas indeed , if he were so lavish in imparting his proper excellencies to creatures as some would make us believe he is , to palliate their own idolatries , it were the next way to make men forget all applications to god , and to cast him out of their memory , and take up with the more particular patronages of saints and angels . 6. the thirteenth ; that our thinking such a saint or angel can hear us where-ever we invoke him , is no excuse for our invocation of him , nor saves us from idolatry , since all idolatry committed in good earnest implies some mistake , as has been noted in the fourth conclusion . the fourteenth ; that all the modes or ways of the communication of this omnipercipiency to saints or angels are either very incredible , if not impossible , or extremely ridiculous as to any excuse for their invocation . for the usual residence of saints and angels being in sede beatorum , as the roman church holds , and that place on the coelum empyreum above all the stars , that the angels and saints should upon the account of the exaltednesse of their natures see and hear from thence what is done or said from one side of the earth to the other , is extremely incredible , if not impossible ; yea , sufficiently incredible , or rather impossible , though they had their abode on this side of the moon . and that they should see all things and transactions , hear all prayers and orations , in speculo divinitatis , is alike incredible ; a thing which the humanity of christ himself , though hypostatically united to the divinity , did not pretend to . but that god should either in this speculum or any otherwise advertise them that such a one prays to them that they would pray to him for that party , is it not at first sight above all measure ridiculous ? and alike ridiculous it is to pray to saint or angel , as if they were present and heard our prayers , when indeed they are absent , and cannot tell that we did pray , unlesse by some intelligencers . this devotion is an improper and unnatural act , and shews that we doe that to an invisible creature which is onely proper to be done to the invisible god ; and that therefore it is idolatry , as giving that right of worship to others which is onely congruous to him . 7. the fifteenth ; that though there were communicated by god to saints and angels at least a terrestriall omnipercipiency , yet if he have not communicated the knowledge thereof to us , as most certainly he has not , the invocation of them is notwithstanding a very presumptuous invasion of the indubitable rights of god , and the intrenching upon his prerogatives , and therefore as to the internall act no lesse then the sin of idolatry . the reasons of this conclusion are , first , that god concealing from us the knowledge of the communication of this excellency , does naturally thereby intimate that he would not have them invoked , but reserves the honour of our invocation of an invisible power unto himself onely . secondly , that whatsoever is not of saith is sin : and therefore the ground of invocation of saints or angels being at least dubitable , their invocation is sin ; and it being about the rights of god in his worship , what can it be better esteemed then idolatry ? thirdly , this principle of feigning or groundlesly coneeiting , without any revelation from god , that any creatures are capable of such honours as are god's indubitable right and prerogative , is the forge and shop , the palliation and pretense , for infinite sorts and odly-excogitated varieties of idolatrous objects : and therefore so presumptuous and so abominable a principle , which is the mother and nurse of such infinite ways of idolatry and injustice against god , even according to humane reason ought to be declared against as idolatrous ; and , consequently , all the practices thereupon are also to be declared idolatry , because they spring from a principle taken up which is such a fundamental piece of idolatry and injustice against god , and exposes him to all manner of idolatrous injuries . fourthly , to dare to doe an act we know not whether it may be idolatry or no , and this needlesly , our conscience not at all compelling us thereto , this is to dare to commit idolatry ; and the daring to commit idolatry , and so to doe defiance to the majesty of god , what is it less then to be an idolater ? for according to his inward man and the main morality of the action he is so : as he is morally a murtherer that , doubting or not knowing but that it is his own friend , by luck killed his intended enemy : for the sense is , that rather then not be revenged of his enemy , he will not stick to kill his dearest friend . and finally , this idolatry is the more discernible and aggravable in the invocation of saints or angels , their omnipercipiency being so extremely incredible , if not impossible or ridiculous , upon any ground , as appears by the foregoing conclusion . 8. the sixteenth ; that the erecting of a symbolicall presence with incurvations thitherward , the consecrating of temples and altars , the making of oblations , the burning of incense , and the like , were declared by the supreme god , the god of israel , the manner of worship due to him , and therefore , without his concession , this mode of worship is not to be given to any else ; as appears by conclusion the ninth . the seventeenth ; that the pagans worshipping their daemons , though not as the supreme god , by symbolicall presences , temples , altars , sacrifices , and the like , become ipso facto idolaters . this is manifest from the ninth , the fifteenth , and the foregoing conclusion . the eighteenth ; though it were admitted that there is communicated to saints and angels at least a terrestriall omnipercipiency , and that we had the knowledge of this communication , and so might speak to them in a civil way , though unseen ; yet to invoke them in such circumstances as at an altar and in a temple dedicated to them , or at their symbolicall presence , this were palpable idolatry . the truth is manifest agian from the ninth and sixteenth conclusions . 9. the nineteenth ; incurvation in way of religion towards any open or bare symbolicall presence , be it what-ever figure or image , as to an object , is flat idolatry : in the worship of saints , angels and daemons , double idolatry ; in the worship of the true god , single . the reason hereof is resolved partly into the ninth and sixteenth conclusions , and partly into the nature of application of worship . for externall worship is not any otherwise to be conceived to be apply'd to a symbolicall presence , but by being directed towards it as towards an object . wherefore if religious incurvation be directed towards any figure or image as to an object , this figure or image necessarily receives this religious incurvation , and partakes with god ( if the image be to him , ) in it ; which is manifest idolatry . for the direction of our intention here is but a jesuiticall juggle . and therefore i will set down for conclusion the twentieth , that religious incurvation toward a bare symbolicall presence , wittingly and conscienciously directed thither , though with a mental reserve , that they intend to use it merely as a circumstance of worship , is notwithstanding real idolatry . the reason is , because an externall action toward such a thing as is look'd upon as receptive of such an action , ( and has frequently received it , ) if it be thus or thus directed , will naturally conciliate the notions or respects of action and object betwixt these two , whether we intend it or no. and it is as ridiculous to pretend that their motions or actions toward or about such a symbolicall presence are not directed to it or conversant about it as an object , as it were for an archer to contend that the butt he shoots at is not the scope or object , but a circumstance , of his shooting ; and he that embraces his friend , that his friend is not an object , but a circumstance , of his embracing . which are conceits quite out of the rode of all logick . see the last conclusion of the foregoing chapter . 10. the twenty-first ; that the adoration of any object which we , out of mistake , conceive to be the true god made visible by hypostatical union therewith , is manifest idolatry . the reason is , because mistake does not excuse from idolatry , by conclusion the fourth and the fifth . and in this supposition we misse of one part of the object , and the onely part that single is capable of divine honour . for god to be disunited from this adored object is in this case all one as to be absent : for god is not considered nor intended in this act of adoration but as united with this visible object . which respect of union if it fail , that consideration or intention also fails , and the worship falls upon a mere creature . in brief , if out of mistake i salute some lively statue or dead body for such or such a living man , though this man or his soul were present , and saw and heard the salutation , yet i play the fool , and make my self ridiculous , and am conceived not to have saluted him i would : so if i doe adoration to any object , suppose the sun or some magicall statue , for the true deity visible , whenas neither of them are so , i play the idolater , and make my self impious , and have missed of the due object of my adoration . 11. the twenty-second ; that the adoration of the host upon the presumption that it is transubstantiated into the living body of christ is rank idolatry . this appears from the precedent conclusion . to which you may adde , that the romanists , making transubstantiation the true ground of their adoration of the host , do themselves imply , that without it were so their adoration thereof would be idolatry . but that it is not so , and that their ground is false , any body may be as well assured of as he can of any thing in the world : and no lesse assured that they are idolaters according to their own supposition and implication , as costerus indeed does most emphatically and expresly acknowledge it , if they be mistaken in their doctrine of transubstantiation ; as we shall hear anon . the twenty-third conclusion ; that adoration given to the host by protestants or any else that hold not transubstantiation is manifest idolatry . the reason is to be fetch'd from the nineteenth and twentieth conclusions . for it is religious veneration towards a bare corporeall symbol of the divine presence , and , to make the action more aggravable , towards a symbol that has imagery upon it , and that of the person that is pretended to be worshipped thereby . what can be idolatry if this be not ? the twenty-fourth ; that the invocation of saints and angels , though attended with these considerations , that both that excellency we suppose in them , and which makes them capable of that honour , is deemed finite , and also ( be it as great as it will ) wholly derived to them from god , yet it cannot for all this be excused from grosse idolatry . this is clear from the seventh , eighth , tenth , and so on till the sixteenth conclusion . for though this excellency be supposed finite , yet if it be so great as that it is no-where to be found but in god , it is his right onely to have such honours as suppose it . and though it be deemed or conceived to be derived from god , yet if it be not , we give an uncommunicate excellency to the creature , and rob god of his right and honour . and , lastly , though this excellency were communicated , but yet the communication of it unreveal'd to us , it were a treasonable presumption against the majesty of god , thus of our own head to divulge such things as may violate the peculiar rights of his godhead , and ( for ought we know ) fill the world with infinite bold examples of the grossest idolatry : and therefore all our practices upon this principle must be idolatrous , and treasonable against the divine majesty . consider well the fifteenth conclusion . 12. the last conclusion ; that this pretended consideration , that where christ is corporeally present , divine worship is not done to his humanity , but to his divinity , and that therefore , though the bread should not prove transubstantiated , the divine worship will still be done to the same object as before , viz. to the divinity , which is every-where , and therefore in the bread ; this will not excuse the adoration of the host from palpable idolatry . for first , that part of the pretense that supposes divine worship in no sense due or to be done to christ's humanity is false . for it is no greater presumption to say , that in some sense divine worship is communicable to the humanity of christ , then , that the divinity is communicated thereto . in such sense then as the divinity is communicated to the humanity , which are one by hypostaticall union , may divine worship also be communicated to it ; namely , as an acknowledgement that the divinity with all its adorable attributes is hypostatically , vitally and transplendently residing in this humanity of christ. which is a kinde of divine worship of christ's humanity , and peculiar to him alone , and due to him , i mean , to his humanity , though it be not god essentially , but onely hypostatically united with him that is ; and does as naturally partake of religious or divine worship in our addresses to the divinity , as the body of an eminently-vertuous , holy and wise man does of that great reverence and civil honour done to him for those excellencies that are more immediately lodged in his soul. which honour indistinctly passes upon the whole man : and as the very bodily presence of this vertuous person receives the civil honour , so in an easie analogy doth the humanity of christ receive the divine ; but both as partial objects of what they do receive , and with signification of the state of the whole case , viz. that they are united , the one with the divinity , the other with so vertuous a soul. hence they both become due objects of that entire externall worship done towards them , to the one civil , to the other divine . and therefore , in the second place , it is plain , that there is not one and the same due object capable of religious worship in either supposition , as well in that which supposes the bread transubstantiated , as in that which supposes it not transubstantiated . for in the former it is the true and living corporeall presence of christ , whose whole suppositum is , as has been declared , capable of divine honour ; but in the latter there is onely , at the most , but his symbolicall presence , whose adoration is idolatry , by the nineteenth , twentieth and twenty-first conclusions . and lastly , the pretending that though the bread be not transubstantiated , yet the divinity of christ is there , and so we do not misse of the due object of our worship ; this is so laxe an excuse , that it will plead for the warrantableness of the laplanders worshipping their red cloth , or the americans the devil , let them but pretend they worship god in them . for god is also in that red cloth and in the devil in that notion that he is said to be every-where . nay , there is not any object in which the ancient pagans were mistaken , in taking the divine attributes to be lodged there , whether sun , heaven , or any other creature , but by this sophistry the worshipping thereof may be excused from idolatry . for the divine attributes , as god himself , are every-where . to direct our adoration toward a supernatural and unimitable transplendency of the divine presence , or to any visible corporeall nature that is hypostatically united with the divinity , most assuredly is not that sunk and sottish , that dull and dotardly sin of idolatry . for , as touching this latter , to what-ever the divinity is hypostatically united , or ( to avoid all cavill about terms ) so specially and mysteriously communicated as it is to christ , the right of divine worship is proportionably communicated therewith , as i have already intimated . and as for the former , that through which the divine transplendency appears is no more the object of our adoration , then the diaphanous air is through which the visible humanity of christ appears when he is worshipped . but the eucharistick bread being neither hypostatically united with the divinity , nor being the medium through which any such supernatural transplendency of the divine presence appears to us , adoration directed toward it cannot fail of being palpable idolatry . for the eucharistick bread will receive this adoration as the object thereof , by conclusion the nineteenth and twentieth . but the adoration or any divine worship of an object in which the divine attributes do not personally reside , ( in such a sense as is intimated in those words of s. john , and the word was made flesh , ) but onely locally , as i may so speak , this , according to sound reason and the sense of the christian church , must be downright idolatry . chap. iii. that the romanists worship the host with the highest kinde of worship , even that of latria , according to the injunction of the council of trent ; and that it is most grosse idolatry so to doe . 1. and having thus clearly and distinctly evinced and declared what is or ought to be held idolatry amongst christians ; let us at length take more full notice of some particulars wherein , according to these determinations , the church of rome will be manifestly found guilty of idolatry , and that according to the very definitions of their own council of trent . as first , in the point of the adoration of the host , touching which the very words of the council are , latriae cultum , qui vero deo debetur , huic sanctissimo sacramento in veneratione esse adhibendum : and again , siquis dixerit , in sancto eucharistiae sacramento christum non esse cultu latriae etiam externo adorandum , & sole●●iter circumgestandum popul●que proponendum publicè ut adoretur , anathema sit . 2. this confident injunction of grosse idolatry , as it is certainly such , is built upon their confidence of the truth of their doctrine of transubstantiation . for the chapter of the adoration of the host succeeds that of transubstantiation , as a natural , or rather necessary , inference therefrom . nullus itaque dubitandi locus relinquitur , &c. that is to say , the doctrine of transubstantiation being established , there is no scruple left touching the adoration of the host , or giving divine worship to the sacrament ( or christ , as it is there called , ) when it is carried about , and exposed publickly in prócessions to the view of the people . but the doctrine of transubstantiation being false , it must needs follow , that the giving of divine worship to the host is as grosse a piece of idolatry as ever was committed by any of the heathens . for then their divine worship , even their cultus latriae , which is onely due to the onely-true god , is exhibited to a mere creature , and that a very sorry one too ; and therefore must be gross idolatry , by the twenty-first and twenty-second conclusions of the second chapter . 3. but now , that their doctrine of transubstantiation is false , after we have proposed it in the very words of the council , we shall evince by undeniable demonstration . per consecrationem panis & vini conversionem fieri totius substantiae panis in substantiam corporis christi , & totius substantiae vini in substantiam sanguinis ejus ; quae conversio convenienter & propriè à sancta catholica ecclesia transubstantiatio est appellata . and a little before , cap. 3. si quis negaverit in venerabili sacramento eucharistiae sub unaquaque specie , & sub singulis cujusque speciei partibus , separatione factâ , totum christum contineri , anathema sit . in which passages it is plainly affirmed , that not onely the bread is turned into the whole body of christ , and the wine into his bloud , but that each of them are turned into the whole body of christ , and every part of each , as often as division or separation is made , is also turned into his whole body . which is such a contradictious figment , that there is nothing so repugnant to the faculties of the humane soul. 4. for thus the body of christ will be in god knows how many thousand places at once , and how many thousand miles distant one from another . whenas amphitruo rightly expostulates with his servant sosia , and rates him for a mad-man or impostour , that he would go about to make him believe that he was at home , though but a little way off , while yet he was with him at that distance from home . quo id ( malúm ! ) pacto potest fieri nunc utî tu hîc sis , & domi ? and a little before , in the same colloquie with his servant , nemo unquam homo vidit , saith he , nec potest fieri , tempore uno homo idem duobus locis ut simul sit . wherein amphitruo speaks but according to the common sense and apprehension of all men , even of the meanest idiots . 5. but now let us examine it according to the principles of the learned , and of all their arts and sciences , physicks , metaphysicks , mathematicks and logick . it is a principle in physicks , that that internall space that a body occupies at one time is equal to the body that occupies it . now let us suppose one and the same body occupy two such internall places or spaces at once ; this body is therefore equal to those two spaces , which are double to one single space ; wherefore the body is double to that body in one single space , and therefore one and the same body double to it self . which is an enormous contradiction . again , in metaphysicks ; the body of christ is acknowledged one , and that as much as any one body else in the world . now the metaphysicall notion of one is , to be indivisum à se , ( both quo ad partes and quo ad totum , ) as well as divisum à quolibet alio . but the body of christ being both in heaven , and , without any continuance of that body , here upon earth also , the whole body is divided from the whole body , and therefore is entirely both unum and multa : which is a perfect contradiction . 6. thirdly , in mathematicks ; the council saying that in the separation of the parts of the species , ( that which bears the outward show of bread or wine , ) that from this division there is a parting of the whole , divided into so many entire bodies of christ , the body of christ being always at the same time equal to it self , it follows , that a part of the division is equal to the whole , against that common notion in euclide , that the whole is bigger then the part. and , lastly , in logick it is a maxime , that the parts agree indeed with the whole , but disagree one with another . but in the abovesaid division of the host or sacrament the parts do so well agree , that they are entirely the very same individuall thing . and whereas any division , whether logicall or physicall , is the division of some one into many ; this is but the division of one into one and itself , like him that for brevity sake divided his text into one part. to all which you may adde , that , unlesse we will admit of two sosia's and two amphitruo's in that sense that the mirth is made with it in plautus his comedy , neither the bread nor the wine can be transubstantiated into the intire body of christ. for this implies that the same thing is , and is not , at the same time . for that individual thing that can be , and is to be made of any thing , is not . now the individual body of christ is to be made of the wafer consecrated , for it is turned into his individual body . but his individual body was before this consecration . wherefore it was , and it was not , at the same time . which is against that fundamental principle in logick and metaphysicks , that both parts of a contradiction cannot be true ; or , that the same thing cannot both be , and not be , at once . thus fully and intirely contradictious and repugnant to all sense and reason , to all indubitable principles of all art and science , is this figment of transubstantiation ; and therefore most certainly false . reade the ten first conclusions of the brief discourse of the true grounds of faith , added to the divine dialogues . 7. and from scripture it has not the least support . all is , hoc est corpus meum , when christ held the bread in his hand , and after put part into his * own mouth , ( as well as distributed it to his disciples : ) in doing whereof he swallow'd his whole body down his throat at once , according to the doctrine of this council , or at least might have done so , if he would . and so all the body of christ , flesh , bones , mouth , teeth , hair , head , heels , thighs , arms , shoulders , belly , back , and all , went through his mouth into his stomach ; and thus all were in his stomach , though all his body intirely , his stomach excepted , was still without it . which let any one judge whether it be more likely , then that this saying of christ , this is my body , is to be understood figuratively ; the using the verb substantive in this sense being not unusual in scripture ; as in , i am the vine ; the seven lean kine are the seven years of famine ; and the like : and more particularly , since our saviour , speaking elsewhere of eating his flesh and drinking his bloud , says plainly , that the words he spake , they were spirit , and they were truth , that is to say , a spiritual or aenigmaticall truth , not carnally and literally to be understood . and for the trusting of the judgement of the roman church herein that makes it self so sacrosanct & infallible , the pride , worldliness , policy & multifarious impostures of that church , so often and so shamelesly repeated and practised , must needs make their authority seem nothing in a point that is so much for their own interest , especially set against the undeniable principles of common sense and reason , and of all the arts and sciences god has illuminated the mind of man withall . consider the twelfth conclusion of the above-named treatise , together with the other ten before cited . wherefore any one that is not a mere bigott may be as assured that transubstantiation is a mere figment or enormous falsehood , as of any thing else in the whole world . 8. from whence it will unavoidably follow , and themselves cannot deny it , that they are most grosse and palpable idolaters , and consequently most barbarous murtherers , in killing the innocent servants of god for not submitting to the same idolatries with themselves . costerus the jesuite speaks expresly to this point , ( and consonantly , i think , to the suppositions of the council ; ) viz. that if their church be mistaken in the doctrine of transubstantiation , they ipso facto stand guilty of such a piece of idolatry as never was before seen or known of in the world . for the errours of those , saith he , were more tolerable who worship some golden or silver statue , or some image of any other materials , for their god , as the heathen worshipped their gods ; or a red cloth hung upon the top of a spear , as is reported of the laplanders ; or some live animal , as of old the aegyptians did ; then of these that worship a bit of bread , as hitherto the christians have done all over the world for so many hundred years , if the doctrine of transubstantiation be not true . what can be a more full and expresse acknowledgement of the gross idolatry of the church of rome then this , if transubstantiation prove an errour ? then which notwithstanding there is nothing in the world more certain to all the faculties of a man ; as is manifest out of what has been here said . and therefore the romanists must be grosse idolaters , from the second , third , fourth , seventh and ninth conclusions of the first chapter , and from the fourth , fifth , eighth , ninth , twenty-first , twenty-second and twenty-fifth of the second chapter . all these conclusions will give evidence against them , that they are very notorious idolaters . 9. and therefore this being so high and so palpable a strain of idolatry in them touching the eucharist , or the eating the body and drinking the bloud of christ , wherein christ is offered by the priest as an oblation , and the people feed upon him as in a feast upon a sacrifice , which is not done without divine adoration done to the host , according to the precept of their church ; this does hugely confirm our sense of the eating of things offered unto idols in the epistles to the churches in pergamus and in thyatira , this worshipping of the host being so expresly acknowledged by the pope and his clergy , and in that high sense of cultus latriae , which is due to god alone . and therefore it is very choicely and judiciously perstringed by the spirit of prophecy above any other modes of their idolatry , it being such a grosse and confessed specimen thereof , and such as there is no evasion for or excuse . hoc teneas vultus mutantem protea ●odo . chap. iv. the grosse idolatry of the romanists in the invocation of the saints , even according to the allowance of the council of trent , and the authorized practice of that church . 1. but we will fall also upon those modes of idolatry wherein the church of rome may seem less bold ; though indeed this one , that is so grosse , is so often and so universally repeated every-where in the roman church , that by this alone , though we should take notice of nothing farther , idolatry may seem quite to have overspred her like a noisome leprosy . but , how-ever , we shall proceed ; and first to their invocation of saints . touching which the council of trent declares this doctrine expresly : sanctos utique unà cum christo regnantes orationes suas pro hominibus offerre , bonúmque atque utile esse suppliciter eos invocare ; & ob beneficia impetranda à deo per filium ejus jesum christum , ad eorum orationes , operam auxiliúmque confugere . where invocation of saints is plainly allow'd and recommended : and besides their praying for us , or offering up our prayers to god , it is plainly imply'd that there are other aids and succours they can afford , if they be supplicated , that is , invoked with most humble and prostrate devotion . and the pretending that this is all but the way of procuring those good things we want from god , the first fountain , and that through his son christ ; that makes the saints the more exactly like the pagans dii medioxumi , and the daemons that negotiated the affairs of men with the highest deity . 2. i say then that , though they went no farther then thus , even this is down-right idolatry which the council of trent thus openly owns , ( and consequently the whole church of rome , ) as appears from the third , fourth , fifth , sixth and eighth conclusions of the first chapter ; as also by the fifth , seventh , eighth , tenth , eleventh , twelfth , thirteenth , fourteenth , fifteenth and twenty-fourth of the second . but if we examine those prayers that are put up to the saints , their invocation is still the more unexcusable . 3. wherefore looking to the publick practice of the church of rome , authorized by the popes themselves , the invocation of a saint does not consist in a mere ora pro nobis , as people are too forward to phansy that the state of the question , ( though the mere invoking of them to pray for us would be idolatry , as is already proved : ) but , which is insinuated in the council it self , there are other more particular aids and succours that they implore of them , and some such as it is proper for none but god or christ to give : such as protection from the devil , divine graces , and the joys of paradise . but as the things they ask of the saints are too big for them to be the disposers of ; so the compellations , of the virgin mary especially , are above the nature of any creature . whence this invocation of saints will appear a most grosse and palpable mode of idolatry in that church . as i shall make manifest out of the following examples , taken out of such pieces of devotion as are not mutter'd in the corners of their closets , but are publickly read or sung with stentorian voices in their very churches . i will onely give the reader a tast of this kinde of their idolatry ; for it were infinite to produce all we might . 4. and first , to begin with the smaller saints , ( as indeed they are all to be reckoned in comparison of the blessed virgin , to whom therefore they give that worship which they call hyperdulia , as they give dulia to the rest of the saints , and latria to god alone , and to christ as being god : ) that prayer to s. cosmas and s. damian is plainly a petition to them to keep us from all diseases , as well of soul as of body , that we may attain to the life of the spirit , and live in grace here , and be made partakers of heaven hereafter . o medici piissimi , qui meritis clarissimi in coelis refulgetis , a peste , clade corporum praeservetis , & operum , moribus nè langueamus : nec moriamur spiritu , sed animae ab obitu velociter surgamus ; et vivamus in gratia , sacra coeli palatia donec regrediamur . 5. such a piece of devotion as this is that to s. francis : sancte francisce , properè veni ; pater , accelera ad populum , qui premitur & teritur sub o●ere , palea , luto , latere , & sepultos aegyptio sub sabulo nos libera , carnis extincto vitio . which is plainly a prayer to this saint that he would deliver us from the bondage and drudgery of sin , which is onely in the power of our great saviour and redeemer christ for to doe . that invocation of s. andrew is also for that spiritual grace of duly bearing the crosse here , that we may obtain heaven afterwards . jam nas foveto languidos , curámque nostrî suscipe , quò per crucis victoriam coeli petamus gratiam . but that to s. nicolas is against the assaults of the devil : ergò piè nos exaudi assistentes tuae laudi , nè subdamur hostis sraudi , nobis fer auxilia . nos ab omni malo ducas , vitâ rectâ nos conducas , post hanc vitam nos inducas ad aeterna gaudia . the like devotion is done to s. martin , s. andrew , s. james , s. bartholomew , and others , though not in the same words . 6. when i have given an example or two of their prayers put up to their she-saints , i shall a little more copiously insist on those to the blessed virgin. they beg of s. agnes the greatest grace that god is able to impart to the soul of man , that is to say , to serve god in perfect love. and this gift this one poor single she-saint is solicited to bestow on all men . ave , agnes gloriosa , me in fide serves recta , dulcis virgo & dilecta , te exoro precibus : charitate da perfectâ deum , per quem es electa , colere piè omnibus . that devotion put up to s. brigitt is , that she would play the skilfull pilot , and lead us through all the tempests and hazzards of this world so safely , that at last , by her good conduct , we may attain to everlasting life . the rhyme runs thus : o bregitta , mater bona , dulcis ductrix & matrona , nobis fer suffragia ; naufragantes in hoc mari tuo ductu salutari duc ad vitae bravia . 7. but that to s. catharine is a piece of devotion something of an higher strain , or rather more copious and expresse : but so great a boon they beg of her as is in the power of none to give but god alone . ave , virgo dei digna , christo prece me consigna , audi preces , praesta votum ; cor in bono fac immotum . confer mibi cor contritum ; rege visum & auditum ; rege gustum & olfactum , virgo sancta , rege tactum . ut in cunctis te regente , vivam deo purâ mente . christum pro me interpella , salva mortis de procella . superare fac me mundum , nè demergar in profundum . nè me sinas naufragari per peccata in hoc mari. visita tu me infirmum , et in bonis fac me firmum . agonista dei fortis , praestò sis in hora mortis . decumbentem fove ▪ leva , et de morte solve saeva ; ut resurgam novus homo civis in coelesti dome . 8. now it is observable in this devotionall rhyme to s. catharine , that whereas the council of trent advises men , ad sanctorum orationes , opem auxiliumque confugere , that in these many . verses there are not passing two or three that are an entreating of the saint to pray for us , but to aid and succour us in such a way as the story of the saint and the allusion to her name most naturally leads the phancy of the devotionist to think sutable for her : as if she were the giver of courage , of patience , and of purity of minde , and was to comfort and support us in the very agonie of death by her presence , which petition is very frequent to other saints also . so plain a thing is it , that this invocation of the saints is not a mere desiring of them to pray for us . but here the devotionist commits the whole regimen of both his soul and body unto this saint , to rule all his faculties and senses , and begs so high vertues and graces , as that none but god can supply us with them ; as i intimated at first . whence the invocation upon that very account also must appear most grosly idolatrous , as grotius , who yet is no such foe to the papists , does expresly acknowledge and declare . chap. v. forms of invocation of the blessed virgin used by the church of rome egregiously idolatrous . 1. and if they can contain themselves no better in their devotions towards these lesser saints , to whom their church-men will allow onely the worship they call dulia , how wilde and extravagant will they shew themselves in their addresses to the virgin marie , the mother of god , to whom they allow the worship they call hyperdulia ? and that is the thing i will now take notice of , though not according to the copiousnesse of the subject ; for it would even fill a volume . but some instances i will produce , and those such as are publick and authentick , as i intimated at first . in the rosarie of the blessed virgin she is saluted thus : reparatrix & salvatrix desperantis animae , irroratrix & largitrix spiritualis gratiae , quod requiro , quod suspiro , mea sana vulnera , et da menti te poscenti gratiarum munera ; ut sim castus , & modestus , dulcis , fortis , sobrius , pius , rectus , circumspectus , simultatis nescius , eruditus , & munitus divinis eloquiis , constans , gravis , & süavis , benignus , amabilis , corde prudens , ore studens veritatem dicere , malum nolens , deum volens pio semper opere . a very excellent prayer , if it had been directed to a due object . but such things are asked as are in the power of none but of jesus christ himself , as he is god , to give . 2. for the virgin mary is here made no lesse then a saviour and giver of all spiritual graces ; as she is also a giver of eternall life in what follows in prose . peccatorum causolatrix , infirmorum curatrix , errantium revocatrix , justorum confirmatrix , desolatorum spes & auxiliatrix , atque mea promptissima adjutrix , tibi , domina gloriosa , commendo bodie & quotidie animam meam ; ut me in custodiam tuam commendatum ab omnibus malis & sraudibus diaboli custodias , atque in hora mortis constanter mihi assistas , ac animam ad aeterna gaudia perducas . here is the commending of the soul of the devotionist into the protection of the virgin , that he may be kept from all evil , and from the frauds of the devil , and that she would assist at the hour of death to convey his soul to the eternall joys of heaven . 3. like that at the end of the rosarie ; cor meum illumina , fulgens stella maris , et ab hostis machina semper tuearis . o gloriosa virgo maria , mater regis aeterni , libera nos ab omni malo , & à poenis inferni . which is a petition for illumination of heart , for security from the devil and from eternall death : which is onely the privilege of the son of god , the eternall wisedome of the father , to grant , who is said also to have the keys of hell and of death . 4. but the thing which is very observable , and which i mainly drive at , is this , that the roman church toward the latter end , before the reformation broke out , had run so mad after the patronage of the virgin , that they had almost forgot the son of god , and spent all their devotions on her , whom they do at least equallize to christ , and so really make her , as well as some love to call her , the daughter of god , in as high a sense as christ is his son : as will farther appear in the process of our quotations . as in that prayer to the blessed virgin that follows in chemnitius : te , mater illuminationis cordis mei , te , nutrix salutis meae mentis , te obsecrant quantum possunt cuncta praecordia mea . exaudi , domina , adesto propitia , adjuva potentissima , ut mundentur sordes mentis meae , ut illuminentur tenebrae meae . o gloriosa domina , porta vitae , janua salutis , via reconciliationis , aditus recuperationis , obsecro te per salvatricem tuam foecunditatem , fac ut peccatorum meorum venia & vivendi gratia concedatur , & usque in finem hic servus tuus sub tua protectione custodiatur . which petition and compellations , saving what belongs to the sex , are most proper and natural to be used towards christ. but the virgin is here made our saviour and mediatour in the feminine gender . 5. as she is again most expresly in that prayer to her in her feast of visitation : veni , praecelsa domina maria ; tu nos visita : aegras mentes illumina per sacrae vitae munera . veni , salvatrix seculi ; sordes aufer piaculi ; in visitando populum poenae tollas periculum . veni , regina gentium ; dele flammas reatuum ; dele quodcunque devium ; da vitam innocentium . in which invocation the virgin mary is plainly called the saviour of the world , and pray'd unto for spiritual illumination of the soul , and for the purgation thereof from the filth both of sin and guilt : whereby she is plainly equallized to the son of god , and made as it were a she-christ , or daughter of god. to this sense also are those prayers put up to her in her feast of the conception and of the annunciation : but it were infinite to produce all . reade that prayer in chemnitius sung to her by the council of constance : it is a perfect imitation of the ancient prayer of the church to the holy ghost . chap. vi. more forms of invocation of the blessed virgin out of the mary-psalter , so called , extremely idolatrous and blasphemous . 1. we will now onely note some passages in the mary-psalter , as it is called , wherein how much at that time the church of rome had thrust themselves under the protection and patronage of the virgin , and made her the daughter of god , in stead of approving themselves faithfull touching the rights and prerogatives of the son and his worship , will be most notoriously evident . i will begin with the thirtieth psalm : in te , domina , speravi ; non confundar in aeternum . in gratiam tuam suscipe me ; inclina ad me aurem tuam , & in moerore meolaetifica me . tu es fortitudo mea & refugium meum , consolatio mea & protectio mea : ad te clamavi cùm tribularetur cor meum , & exaudîsti de vertice collium aeternorum . in manus tuas , domina , commendo spiritum meum , meam totam vitam , diem ultimum . this is that whole psalm to the virgin : jusr in such a form and with such a repose of spirit as david prays in to god himself . 2. but we will content our selves with transcribing onely some select pieces . as psalm 71. resperge , domina , cor meum dulcedine tuâ . fac me oblivisci miserias hujus vitae : concupiscentias aeternas excita in anima mea , & de gaudio paradiss inebria mentem meam . and again , psalm 104. salus sempiterna in manu tua est , domina ; qui te dignè honoraverint suscipient illam . clementia tua non deficiet à seculis aeternis , & misericordia tua à generatione in generationem . and psalm 117. dispositione tuâ mundus perseverat , quem tu , domina , cum deo fundâsti ab initio . tuus totus ego sum , domina ; salvum me fac , quoniam desiderabiles sunt laudes tuae in tempore peregrinationis meae . no man can say more to , or expect more from , the eternall god himself . whence they make the eternall godhead as hypostatically united with the virgin as with christ himself , and carry themselves to her as if she were as properly the daughter of god as he the son. for else how could she be said to have everlasting salvation in her power , and to have laid the foundations of the world from the beginning with the eternall deity ? 3. there are also other passages in this psalter whereby they make the virgin mary a she-christ , the daughter of god , as he is the son of god ; and that is by the applying of the very phrases spoken of him in the scripture , unto her . as in psalm 2. venite ad eam omnes qui laboratis & tribulati estis , & refrigerium & solatium dabit animabus vestris . and psalm 81. terge foeditatem me am , domina , quae semper rutilas puritate . fons vitae , influe in os meum , ex quo viventes aquae profluunt & emanant . omnes sitientes venite ad illam , & de fonte suo gratanter vos potabit . this is the gift of the spirit , belonging onely to christ to give to them that believe on him . and he is also said to be the ease and rest of all them that are weary and heavy laden . and again , psalm 46. omnes gentes , plaudite manibus , psallite in jubilo virgini gloriosae . quoniam ipsa est porta vitae , janua salutis , & via nostrae reconciliationis , spes poenitentium , solamen lugentium , pax beata cordium atque salus . this is attributed to the virgin , whenas it is christ alone that is the way of salvation and reconciliation with god. 4. this is a foul and tedious subject , and therefore to make an end at length , let us consider the blasphemy of the 41. psalm . quemadmodum desiderat cervus ad fontes aquarum , ità ad amorem tuum anhelat anima mea , virgo sancta . quia tu es genitrix vitae meae , & altrix reparationis carnis meae : quia tu lactatrix salvationis animae meae , initium & finis totius salutis meae . here is that attributed to the virgin which is said of christ , that he is the authour and finisher of our faith and salvation . nay , the creation or generation of our life and flesh , as well as our salvation , is here ascribed to the virgin. which can have no sense or truth , unless she were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , god-woman , in that sense that christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , god-man , and , as i said , were as properly the daughter of god as he is the son of god. 5. as she is expresly called in her litanie , filia dei , the daughter of god. which , considering what high titles they give her both in that litanie and elsewhere , as , illuminatrix cordium , fons misericordiae , flumen sapientiae , mater dei , regina coeli , domina mundi , domina coeli & terrae , would be but a dwindling title , ( it belonging to all women that are believers , ) if there was not some such raised and sublime sense of it as i have intimated . and therefore their addresses to her being as if she were , as i said , a she-christ , and the daughter of god in as high a sense at least as christ is the son of god , and she being called the daughter of god in the litania mariae , in her litanie or publick supplication to her , it is plain , that in that intervall of the church wherein this most conspicuously and notoriously happened , the church of rome , by reason also of the abundance of their devotions then to the virgin , might be said to be rather the worshippers of the daughter of god then of the son of god. and that therefore the spirit of prophecy foreseeing these times , whenas for such a space he called rome pergamus , this succeeding scene coming on , he might very well change the title of pergamus into that of thyatira , with a derisorious allusion to the occasion of the name of that city , from the news of a daughter being born to nicanor . as if god almighty had the like occasion of changing the name of pergamus into thyatira , from the romanists turning the virgin mary into the daughter of god. 6. for a stop to which insolency christ seems on purpose in the epistle to the church in thyatira to resume to himself the title of the son of god , notwithstanding that he is called the son of man in the vision in the foregoing chapter , out of which he ever draws a description of himself for an entrance before each epistle to the churches . which , in my judgement , is a thing specially well worth the marking ; and that this making the virgin mary the daughter of god in this intervall , might alone be a sufficient occasion of changing the name of the church of rome from pergamus to thyatira . but other things that are apposite are also comprehended by a propheticall henopoeïa . 7. but this is an overplus to our present purpose , which was mainly to discover the grosse idolatry of the church of rome in the invocation of their saints , and especially of the virgin mary ; and how both the definition of the council of trent is idolatrous in this point , and much more the practice of the church countenanced by publick authority . 8. for this mary-psalter it self , that has the most enormous and blasphemous forms of idolatrous invocation of any , is not the private contrivance of some single , obscure , superstitious monk , but bears the title of that seraphick doctour s. bonaventure , once cardinal of rome : which is no small publick countenance thereto . and that nothing might be wanting to the grace and furtherance of so devotionall a piece of idolatry , there was instituted a peculiar society , entitled the fraternity of the many-psalter , confirmed afterward by sixtus the fourth , many indulgences being added anno 1470. and innocent the eighth added to these indulgences plenarie remission à poena & culpa once in their life , and once in articulo mortis , to as many as entred into that fraternity . 9. and in such case stands the church of rome at this very day , that is to say , she is still thyatira , notorious for her idolatrous worship of the virgin mary . but the intervall of the true church in thyatira ceased upon the reformation , when we cast off the pope , or suffered jezebel to delude the servants of god no longer , nor to debauch them with idolatrous modes of worship . but this is onely by the bye . in the mean time it is abundantly manifest , that the invocation of saints in the roman church is not onely the praying to them that they would pray to god for us , but the asking aids of them , and such frequently as are in the power of none but of god , and of christ as he is god , for to give ; and therefore is still the grosser idolatry . chap. vii . that the doctrine of the council of trent touching the worshipping of images is idolatrous , and the reason of the doctrine weak and unsound . 1. and thus much for their idolatry in the invocation of saints . let us now consider what the sense of the council of trent is touching the worshipping of images . imagines porrò christi , deiparae virginis , & aliorum sanctorum , in templis praesertim , habendas & retinendas esse , eisque debitum honorem & reverentiam impertiendam . quoniam honos qui eis exhibetur refertur ad prototypa , quae illae repraesentant ; ità ut per imagines quas osculamur , & coram quibus caput aperimus & procumbimus , christum adoremus , & sanctos , quorum illae similitudinem gerunt , veneremur . id quod conciliorum , praesertim verò secundae nicaenae synodi , decretis contra imaginum oppugnatores est sancitum . the meaning of which in brief is this , that the images of christ , of the blessed virgin and other saints , are to be had and retain'd in churches , and that due honour and reverence is to be done to them . for which are produced two reasons . the first , in that the honour that is done to the images is referred to the prototypes . the second , in that this injunction is but what the second nicene council had of old decreed . 2. to which i answer , that thus much as the council of trent has declared touching images is plain and open idolatry by the seventh conclusion of the first chapter , and expresly against the commandment of god , who forbids us to make any graven image to bow down to or worship . but the council of trent says , yes , ye may make graven images of the saints , and set them up in their temples , and give them their due honour and worship ; nay , ye ought to doe so ; and instances in the very act of bowing or kneeling and prostrating our selves before them . this definition of the council is so palpably against the commandment of god , that they are fain to leave the second commandment out of the decalogue , that the people may not discern how grosly they goe against the express precepts of god in their so frequent practices of idolatry . see the first , ninth and tenth conclusions of the first chapter ; as also the third , fourth , fifth , eighteenth , nineteenth and twentieth of the second . 3. nor can all their tricks and tergiversations and subtil elusions serve their turn . for undoubtedly the decalogue was writ to the easie capacity of the people , and therefore their hearts and consciences are the best interpreters . not the foolish evasions and subterfuges of perfidious sophisters , who , to the betraying of weak souls to idolatry and damnation , and for the opening their purses , would make them believe that the council of trent's enjoyning of images in churches , and the honouring them or worshipping them and bowing down before them , can consist with god's forbidding to make any graven image , and to bow down to it and worship it . so that i say , the council it self does appoint flat idolatry to the christian world to be practised . and it being so monstrous a thing , i pray you now let us consider the reasons why they do so . 4. the first is , because the honour done to the image is referr'd to the prototype . but i answer , that this reference is either in virtue of that similitude the images have with those persons they represent , which the words of the council seem to imply , at least touching the saints , quorum illae similitudinem gerunt ; as when we praise a picture of such or such a person , that it is a very comely and lovely picture , this praise naturally has a reference to the person whose picture it is , in virtue of the similitude betwixt the picture and the party . or else this reference , without any regard to personal similitude , is from the direction of the intention of the devotionist , that he intends upon the seeing and bowing , suppose , to the image of christ , the blessed virgin , or any saint , to take this occasion to worship christ , the blessed virgin or the saint thereby , the image being but at large a symbolicall presence of them , it being not regarded whether the symbol or image have any personal similitude with the party it represents or no. 5. but now as for the former it is evident , that it is infinitely uncertain whether any image of christ , the blessed virgin , or of this or that saint , be like the carnal figure of these persons while they were alive upon earth , or no. nay , it is in a manner certain to the contrary , none of these holy souls being given to such follies as to have their pictures drawn while they were alive . see my * mysterie of iniquity . but being it is extremely improbable but an image should be like some or other , that are either now alive , or have lived on the earth since the beginning of the world , according to this first supposition , this honour or religious worship intended to christ , the blessed virgin , or any other saint , will not onely misse them , but certainly fall on some other who , in stead of being saints , haply are or have been very vile and wicked persons . 6. but besides , no saints are worshipped before they be in heaven , nor indeed are properly saints till then ; and the glories in their pictures that are about their heads shew plainly that they intend to represent the saints in their present condition of glory in heaven . whence it is plain that the images are nothing like them they are made for . for how can these images of brasse or stone or wood , or any other materials , bear the image of a separate soul , which all the saints are for the present ? and what likenesse can there be betwixt the glorious body of christ heavenly and spiritual , and an image of any terrestriall matter ? no more then betwixt a piece of dirt or soot and the sun or bright morning-star . and , which is most of all to be considered , what terrestriall image can possibly represent him that is truly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , god-man , and is not the object of our adoration but as he is this divine complexum as well of the divinity as the humanity ? but what statuarie can carve out the effigies of the deity ? so that the pretense of this reference of the honour to the prototype in this first sense thereof is very weak and vain . nor , though there were this natural reference , would it follow that we are to honour them this way , it being so plainly forbid , and there being better ways then this , viz. the commemorating and imitating their vertues . 7. and for that second sense , it is indeed disinvolved of those former difficulties ; but greater here occurr . for as touching our saviour christ , forasmuch as his pretended image is but his symbolicall presence , the doing of divine worship towards it is again plain idolatry , as appears by that example of the israelites , who worshipped the golden calf in reference to jehovah , as appears plainly in the story . and for the blessed virgin and the rest of the saints , that incurvation toward their symbolicall presences is flat idolatry , is manifest from the eighth , ninth and tenth conclusions of the first chapter , and the fifth , nineteenth and twentieth of the second of this treatise . and indeed thus to make the images of the saints so called onely their symbolicall presences , and so to worship them before these images , is an attributing divine honour to them . for this naturally does declare that they have at least a terrestriall omnipresency , which no invisible power which we know has but onely god. but to make a low obeisance to an absent person god knows how many millions of miles off , is still a more forced and ridiculous thing . and therefore the saluting of the saints thus at their symbolicall presences or images , and in the mean time acknowledging them to be in sede beatorum , ( which they do , and must do , unlesse they exclude them heaven , ) is to acknowledge one soul to fill heaven and earth with its presence , which is that vast privilege of god almighty onely ; and therefore this worship to them is gross idolatry , as supposing such a perfection in them as is no-where but in god. besides what was intimated before , that let this reference be what it will , there being an incurvation or prostration before images , whether they be mere symbols or exact representations , it must be ipso facto idolatry by the seventh conclusion of the first chapter . from whence it follows , that the saints are not honoured by this worshipping of their images , but hideously reproched , it supposing them to be pleased and gratify'd with that which is an abomination to the lord , and a grofs transgression of his express commands . it implies , i say , that they are ambitious , vain-glorious and rebellious against god. and therefore they that the most vehemently oppose this way of honouring of them by images and invocation are the most true and faithfull honourers of them , they so zealously vindicating them from the great reproches these others cast upon them . so far are they from being guilty herein of any rudenesse or clownishnesse against the saints of god. chap. viii . the doctrine of the second council of nice touching the worship of images , ( to which the council of trent refers , ) that it is grosly idolatrous also . 1. but now as for the other reason of these tridentine fathers , whereby they would support their determination in this point , viz. the authority of the second council of nice held about the year 780 , ( to omit , that long before this time the church had become asymmetral , which yet is a very substantial consideration ) i shall onely return this brief answer . the god of israel , which is the father of our lord jesus christ , has given this expresse command to his church for ever , thou shalt not make to thy self any graven image , thou shalt not bow down to it , nor worship it . but the second council of nice says , thou mayst and shalt bow down to the image of christ , of the blessed virgin , and of the rest of the saints . now whether it be fit to believe and obey god , or men , judge ye : i might adde farther , men so silly and frivolous in the defense of their opinion , so false and fabulous in the allegation of their authorities and the recitall of miraculous stories , as chemnitius has proved at large in his examen of the council of trent . 2. i will give an instance or two . no man lighteth a candle , and putteth it under a bushell ; therefore the images of the saints are to be placed on the altars , and wax-candles lighted up before them , in due honour to them . again , psalm 16. but to the saints that are on the earth : but the saints are in heaven , say they , therefore their images ought to be on the earth , &c. as for the miracles done by images , as their speaking , the healing of the sick , the revenging of the wrong done to them , the distilling of rorid drops of balsame to heal the wounded , sick or lame , their recovering water into a dry well , and the like , it were too tedious to recite these figments . but that of the image of the virgin , to whom her devotionist spake when he took leave of her , and was to take a long journey , intreating her to look to her candle , which he had lighted up for her , till his return , i cannot conceal . for the story says , the same candle was burning six months after , at the return of her devoto . an example of the most miraculous prolonger that ever i met withall before in all my days . such an image of the virgin would save poor students a great deal in the expense of candles , if the thing were but lawfull and feasible . 3. from these small hints a man may easily discover of what authority this second council of nice ought to be , though they had not concluded so point-blank against the word of god. but because that clause in this paragraph of the council i have recited , id quod conciliorum , praesertim verò secundae nicaenae synodi , &c. may as well aim at the determination of what these fathers mean by that debitus honor & reverentia which they declare to be due to the images of christ and the saints , as confirm their own conclusion by the authority of that nicene council , we will take notice also what a kinde of honour and reverence to images the nicene council did declare for , and in short it is this ; that they are to be worshipped and adored and to be honoured with wax-candles , and by the smoaking of incense or perfumes , and the like . which smells rankly enough in all conscience of idolatry , as grotius himself upon the decalogue cannot but acknowledge . but this is not all . the invocation of saints , their mediation and propitiating god for us for adoring their images , healing of diseases , and other aids and helps , besides ora pro nobis , are manifestly involved in the worship of these images , according to that nicene council . 4. and truly , according to the collections of photius in justellus , one would think that they meant the cultus latriae to the image of christ , they using the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as if that worship which was done to the image passed through to christ himself , which would not be sutable to him , if it were not divine worship . and where that word is not used , yet the sense makes hugely for it . as in this paragraph touching the second council of nice according to photius ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this seventh synod , saith he , ( that is to say , the second of nice ) with joint suffrages hath established and ratify'd the worshipping of the image of christ , for the honour and reverence of him that is expressed by it ; this worship and honour being done in such manner as when we approach the holy symbols or types of our most holy and divine worship : ( for the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ) for we do not stop at them , nor restrain our worship and devotion to them , nor are we divided toward heterogeneous and different scopes or objects ; but by that service and worship of them that appears divided are we carried up devoutly and undividedly unto the one and indivisible deity . whereby it is plainly declared , that that very worship which passes to the deity is done towards the image of christ first or jointly , as being one and the same undivided worship in truth and reality ; as also that this worship is that worship which is called latria , and is due to the highest god onely . 5. but that religious worship is done to the images of all the saints seems imply'd in what comes afterwards , where it is said , that this second council of nice , ( which photius calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . that this council has not onely established and appointed that the image of christ should be honoured and worshipped , but the holy images of the virgin mary and of all the saints , according to the excellency and venerability of their prototypes . for even by these are we carried up into a certain unitive and conjunctive vision , and thereby are vouchsafed that divine and supernatural conjunction or contact with the highest of all desirables , that is , god himself . 6. can any thing more inflame the souls of men with that mysticall lust after idols then the doctrines of this nicene synod ? for as for the image of christ , the same devotion and worship is done to that which is done to god himself . and for the images of the virgin mary and the rest of the saints , though that worship is allotted them onely that is proportionable to their prototypes , yet they are worshipped such a way as that thereby , while we adhere to their images or statues , we are declared to be made fit for and to be vouchsafed a tactual union with god himself . what philtrum more effectual to raise up that idolomania , that being mad and love-sick after images and idols , then this ? what can inrage their affections more towards idolatry , then to phansie that while they worship idols , and cling about dead statues , that very individual act ( and therefore it cannot be too intense ) is that wherewith they are united to , and lie in the very embraces of , the ever-living and true god ? 7. the sense of the synod is , according to the representation of photius , that we worship and unite our selves with god as well in the worshipping the images of the virgin and of other saints , as in the worshipping of the image of christ. so that all is religious worship , and consequently grosse idolatry , it being done to stocks and stones and such like senslesse objects . for the drift of all idolatry is , when it is questioned , and craftily defended , that through the worship of daemons and images they reach at the worship of , and the joyning their devotion to , the first and highest godhead . wherefore the council of trent declaring with the second council of nice , that is to say , the blinde leading the blinde , they have both fallen into this dreadfull pit of idolatry . chap. ix . the meaning of the doctrine of the council of trent touching the worship of images more determinately illustrated from the general practice of the roman church and suffrage of their popes , whereby it is deprehended to be still more coursly and paganically idolatrous . 1. but it may be it may give more satisfaction to some , to know what is the church of rome's own sense of this honor debitus she declares ought to be done to the images of christ and the saints . putting off a man's hat , and lying prostrate before them , the council does not stick to instance in by the bye . but because the council calls this neither dulia , nor hyperdulia , nor latria , some will , it may be , be ready to shuffle it off with the interpretation of but a civil complement to these images or their prototypes . but since the council of trent has declared nothing farther , what can be a more certain interpreter of their meaning then the continued custome of their church , and the sense of such doctours as have been even sainted for their eminency , as thomas aquinas and bonaventure , who both of them have declared that the image of christ is to be worshipped with the worship of latria , the same that christ is worshipped with ? 2. and azorius the jesuite affirms that it is the constant opinion of the theologers , ( their own , he means , you may be sure , ) that the image is to be honoured and worshipped with the same honour and worship that he is whose image it is . which is not unlike that in the council of nice , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in the foregoing citation . but that they are all capable of religious worship , the council of trent it self ( as well as bellarmine and others , if not all the theologers of that church , ) does plainly acknowledge , in that it determines for their invocation , which is competible to no invisible power but the godhead it self . wherefore it is manifest that their images are worshipped with religious worship also . 3. but we shall make still the clearer judgement thereof , if we consider the consecration of these images which the council of trent declares are to be worshipped . for the consecration and worshipping of them makes them perfectly as the idol-gods of the heathen , as octavius jearingly speaks of the heathen gods , that is , their idols , in minucius felix : ecce funditur , fabricatur , scalpitur ; nondum deus est . ecce plumbatur , construitur , erigitur ; nec adhuc deus est . ecce ornatur , consecratur , oratur ; tunc postremò deus est . behold it is clothed or adorned , it is consecrated and prayed unto ; then at length it becomes a god. and if this will doe it , the church of rome's images will prove as good idol-gods as any of them all . 4. chemnitius recites some forms of consecration : i will cull out onely those of the images of the blessed virgin and of s. john. that of the virgin is this : sanctify , o god , this image of the blessed virgin , that it may aid and keep safe thy faithfull people ; that thundrings and lightnings , if they grow too terrible and dangerous , may be quickly expelled thereby ; and that the inundations of rain , the commotions of civil war , and devastations by pagans , may be suppressed by the presence thereof . which is most effectual to make all men come and hurcle under the protection of the virgin 's image in such dangers , as under the wings of the great jehovah . this is hugely like the consecrated telesms of the pagans . but let us hear the form of the consecration of the image of s. john also : grant , o god , that all those that behold this image with reverence , and pray before it , may be heard in whatsoever streights they are . let this image be the holy expulsion of devils , the conciliating the presence and assistence of angels , the protection of the faithfull ; and that the intercession of this saint may be very powerfull and effectuall in this place . what a mighty charm is this to make the souls of the feeble to hang about these images as if their presence were the divine protection it self ? 5. these chemnitius recites out of the pontificall he perused . but the rituale romanum , published first by the command of paulus quintus , and again authorized by pope urban the eighth , will doe our businesse sufficiently , they being both since the council of trent ; and therefore by the exposition of these popes we may know what that debitus honor is which the tridentine fathers mention as that which ought to be done to the images of christ , the blessed virgin , or any other saint . for the consecration of their images runs thus : grant , o god , that whosoever before this image shall diligently and humbly upon his knees worship and honour thy onely-begotten son , or the blessed virgin , ( according as the image is that is a-consecrating , or this glorious apostle , or martyr , or confessor , or virgin , that he may obtain by his or her merits and intercession grace in this present life , and eternall glory hereafter . so that the virgin and other saints are fellow-distributers of grace and glory with christ himself to their supplicants before their images , and that upon their own merits , and for this service done to them in kneeling and pouring out their prayers before their statues or symbolicall presences . what greater blasphemy and idolatry can be imagined ? ornatur , consecratur , oratur , tunc postremò fit deus : that is to say , the image is pray'd before , but the daemon pray'd unto . there is no more in paganism it self . and yet by the pope's own exposition this is the debitus honor that is owing to the images of the saints . consider the latter end of the last conclusion of the first chapter , and the forms of invocation in the fourth and fifth , as also the eighteenth conclusion of the second chapter . 6. this is all plain and expresse according to the authority of their church . and that , besides their adoration and praying before th●se images , ( which , considering the postures of the supplicant and the image , is as much praying to them as the heathens will acknowledge done to theirs , ) there are also wax-candles burning before them , and the oblation of incense or perfuming them , feasts likewise , temples and altars to the same saints , and the carrying them in procession , ( which was the guize of ancient paganism , ) is so well known , that i need not quote any authours . and that this is the practice of the roman church jointly and coherently with their worship of images , is manifest to all the world ; and that therefore it is as arrant idolatry as paganism it self , and consequently real idolatry by the third conclusion of the first chapter . and lastly , it is to be noted that the council of trent , naming the debitus honor of images , and not excepting these in known practice then amongst them , must of all reason be conceived to mean these very circumstances , as paganicall as they are , of the worshipping of them . 7. and the rather , because they do pretend to rectify some miscarriages in the business of images , as any unlawfull or dishonest gain by them , all lascivious dresses of the images , all drunkenness and disorderly riot at their feasts , and the like . which methinks is done with as grave caution against idolatry , as if they had decreed that all the whores in rome should forbear to goe in so garish apparell , that they should be sure to wear clean linen , to be favourable to poor younger brothers in the price of a night's lodging , that they keep themselves wholsome and clean from the pox , and the like ; which were not the putting down , but the establishing , of whores and whoredome in the papacy . and so are these cautions touching images . exceptio firmat regulam in non exceptis . wherefore these circumstances of idolatry being not named by the tridentine fathers in their exception , they are thereby ratify'd . which yet are so like the old pagan idolatry , that ludovicus vives , one of their own church , could not abstain from professing , non posse aliquid discrimen ostendi , nisi quòd nomina tantùm & titulos mutaverint ; that onely the names and objects were changed , not the modes , of the ancient idolatry of the heathen . 8. if the council of trent would have really and in good earnest rectify'd their church in the point of images , they should have followed the example of that skilfull and famous physician dr. butler , they should have imitated his prescript touching the safe eating of a pear , viz. that we should first pare it very carefully , and then be sure to cut out or scoup out all the coar of it , and after that fill the hollow with salt , and when this is done , cast it forthwith into the kennell . this is the safest way of dealing with those things that have any intrinsick poison or danger in them . see those most wholesome and judicious homilies of our church of england against the perill of idolatry . 9. and thus much shall serve for the setting out the idolatry of the church of rome so far as it seems to be allow'd by the church it self . but for those more grosse extravagancies , which , though they have connived at , yet they would be loath to own upon publick authority , i will neither weary my self nor my reader by meddling with them . such as the making the images to sweat , their eyes to move , the making them to smile , or lour and look sad , to feel heavy or light , or the like . which does necessarily tend to the engaging of the people to believe and have ●●fiance in the very images themselves , as those consecrations also imply which i cited out of chemnitius , and which that rhyme seems to acknowledge which they say to that face of christ which they call the veronica . which rhyme runs thus : nos perduc ad patriam , felix ô figura , ad videndam faciem quae est christi pura . nos ab omni macula purga vitiorum , et tandem consortio junge beatorum . and with such like blinde devotion do they likewise speak to the crosse : o crux , spes unica , hoc passionis tempore auge piis justitiam , reisque dona veniam . this must sound very wildly and extravagantly to any sensible ear . and yet the invoking any saint before his image for aid and succour , ( the image bearing the name and representation of the saint , ) with eyes and hands lift up to it , is as arrant talking with a senslesse stock or a stone as this , and as gross a piece of * idolatry , though approved of by the authority of the roman church . but i intended to break off before . chap. x. severall important consectaries from this clear discovery of the gross idolatry of the church of rome ; with an hearty and vehement exhortation to all men , that have any serious regard to their salvation , to beware how they be drawn into the communion of that church . 1. thus have we abundantly demonstrated that the church of rome stands guilty of gross idolatry according to the concessions and definitions of their own council of trent ; that is to say , though we charge them with no more then with what the council it self doth own , touching the adoration of the host , the invocation of saints , and the worshipping of images . but we must not forget , in the mean time , that the crime grows still more course and palpable looking upon the particular forms of their invocation of the saints , and the circumstances of their worshipping their images , and yet ratify'd by the popes , and corroborated by the uncontrolled practice of their whole church : which therefore must in all reason be the interpreter of the minde of the council . so that there is no evasion left for them , but that they are guilty of as gross and palpable idolatry as ever was committed by the sons of men , no lesse grosse then roman paganism it self . 2. from whence , in the next place , it necessarily follows , that they are the most barbarous murtherers of the servants of god that ever appeared on the face of the earth . for indeed if they had had truth on their side so far , as that the things they required at the hands of the dissenters had been lawfull , ( though not at all necessary ; ) yet considering the expresse voice of scripture , which must be so exceeding effectual to raise consciencious scruples , and indeed to fix a man in the contrary opinions , besides the irrefragable votes of common sense and reason , and the principles of all arts and sciences that can pretend any usefulnesse to religion in any of its theoreticall disquisitions ; i say , when it is so easie from hence , if not necessary , for some men to be born into a contrary consciencious persuasion , it had undoubtedly even in this case been notorious murther in the pontifician party , to have killed men for dissenting from the doctrine and practice of their church . but now the murtherers themselves being in so palpable an errour , and requiring of the dissenters to profess blasphemies and commit gross idolatries with them , which is openly to rebell against god under pretense of obeying holy church , as they love to be called , they murthering so many hundred thousands of them for this fidelity to their maker , and their indispensable obedience to the lord jesus christ , this is murther of a double dye , and not to be parallel'd by all the barbarous persecutions under the red dragon , the pagan emperours themselves . 3. from which two main considerations it follows in the third place , that , considering the fit and easie congruity of the names of the seven churches and of the events of the seven intervalls ( denoted by them ) to the prefigurations in the visions , there can be no doubt but that by balaam mentioned in the epistle to the church in pergamus , wherein antipas , that is , the opposers of the pope , are murthered , the papal hierarchy is understood ; as it is also by the prophetesse jezebel in the epistle to the church in thyatira , who was also a murtheresse of the prophets of god , and both of them expresly patrons of idolatry , as is manifest in the very text. nor is it at all wonderfull that balaam and jezebel , the one a man , the other a woman , should signifie the same thing . for the false prophet and the whore of babylon in the following visions of the apocalypse signifie both one and the same thing , viz. the hierarchy of rome , from the pope to the rest of their ecclesiastick body . 4. and what i have said of the vision of those seven churches , the same i say of all those expositions of the thirteenth and seventeenth chapters of the apocalypse , and that of the little horn in daniel ; namely , the words of the prophecies being so naturally applicable to the affairs of that church , besides the demonstration of synchronism , that the weight of those two foregoing conclusions being added thereto , there cannot be the least doubt or scruple left , but that those interpretations are true ; and that the church of rome is that body of antichrist , that mother of fornications and abominations of the earth , that is , of multifarious modes of grosse idolatries , or that scarlet whore on the seven hills , that is also drunk with the bloud of the saints , and with the bloud of the martyrs of jesus . 5. and that therefore , in the fourth place , in the church of rome the poison exceeding the antidote , there can be no reason that salvation should be hoped for there . it is a sad and lamentable truth , but being a truth , and of such huge moment , it is by no means to be concealed . what god may doe in his more hidden ways of providence , he alone knows . and therefore we cannot say that every idolatrous heathen must perish eternally : but to speak no farther then we have commission , and according to the easy tenour of the holy scriptures , we must pronounce , though with great sadnesse of heart , that we have no warrant therefrom to think or declare any of the popish religion , so long as they continue so , to be in the state of salvation ; and especially , since that voice of the angel which sounded in the intervall of thyatira , saying expresly , come out of her , my people , that ye be not partakers of her sins , and receive not of her plagues ; and the apostle in his first epistle to the corinthians , be not deceived , neither fornicatours , nor idolaters , nor adulterers , &c. shall inherit the kingdome of god. and those of the church of rome are bound to continue idolaters as long as they live , or else to renounce their church ; and therefore they are bound to be damned by adhering to the roman church , unless they could live in it for ever . for he that dies in such a capital sin as idolatry without repentance , nay , in a blinde , obstinate perseverance in it , how can he escape eternal damnation ? 6. but though we had kept our selves to the apocalypse , the thing is clear in that book alone , ch . 22. ver . 14 , 15. where all idolaters are expresly excluded from the tree of life : blessed are they that doe his commandments , ( and one of them , though expunged by rome , is , thou shalt not worship any graven image , ) that they may have right to the tree of life , &c. for without are dogs , and sorcerers , and whoremongers , and murtherers , and idolaters , and whoso loveth and maketh a lie. all these are excluded the heavenly jerusalem , and from eating the tree of life . of which who eateth not is most assuredly detain'd in eternall death . as it is written in the foregoing chapter , that murtherers , and whoremongers , and sorcerers , and idolaters , and all liars , shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone ; which is the second death . what sentence can be more expresse then this ? 7. but besides this divine sentence against them , they are also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they are self-condemned , or at least give sentence against themselves , while they so freely pronounce that no idolaters are to be saved ; which they frequently doe , to save their own church from the reproach of idolatry . for , because some protestants have declared for the possibility of salvation in the romish church , they farther improve the favour to the quitting themselves of the guilt , from others hopefull presages that by an hearty implicit repentance of all their sins ( even of those that are the proper crimes of that church , ) they may , through god's mercy in christ , be delivered from the punishment . this piece of charity in some of our party they turn to the fencing off all imputation of idolatry from themselves , arguing thus ; that no idolaters can be saved : but those in the romish church may be saved , according to those protestants opinion : therefore those in the romish church are no idolaters . but most assuredly while they thus abuse the charity of some , even by their own proposition they must bring the sentence of condemnation from all the rest upon their own heads , as they have herein given it against themselves , in saying that all idolaters are damned , or that no idolater can be saved . for it is demonstrated as clear as the noon-light , in this present discourse , that the church of rome are idolaters . 8. and in that of those of our church that say they may be saved upon a sincere and hearty implicit repentance of all their sins , ( wherein they include the idolatries and all other miscarriages which they know not themselves guilty of , by reason of the blinde mis-instructions of their church , ) no more is given them by this then thus , viz. that they are saved by disowning of and dismembring themselves from the roman church , as much as it is in their power so to doe , and by bitterly repenting them that they were ever of that church as such , and by being so minded , that if they did know what a corrupt church it is , they would forthwith separate from it . so that in effect those of the roman church that some of ours conceit may be saved , are no otherwise saved , if at all , then by an implicit renouncing communion with it , which in foro divino must goe for an actual and formal separation from it . in which position if there were any truth , it will reach the honest-minded pagans as well ; but it can shelter neither , unless in such circumstances , that they had not the opportunity to learn the truth , which since the reformation , and especially this last age , by the mercy of god , is abundantly revealed to the world . so that all men , especially those that live in protestant nations or kingdoms , are without all excuse ; and therefore become obnoxious to god's eternall wrath and damnation , if they relinquish not that false prophetesse jezebel , as she is called in the epistle to the church in thyatira , who by her corrupt doctrines deceives the people , and inveigles them into gross idolatrous practices . 9. thus little is conceded by those of our reformed churches that speak most favourably of those in the church of rome . and yet this little must be retracted , unless we can make it out , that any of that church are capable of sincere and unfeigned repentance while they are of it . for to repent as a thief , because he is afraid to be hanged , is not that saving repentance . but to repent as a true christian none can doe , unlesse he has the spirit of god , and be in the state of regeneration . for true repentance arises out of the detestation of the uglinesse of sin it self , and out of the love to the pulchritude and amiablenesse of the divine life and of true vertue , which none can be touched with but those that are regenerate or born of god. now those holy and divine sentiments of the new birth are so contrary to the frauds and impostures , to the grosse idolatries and bloudy murthers of the church of rome , which they from time to time have perpetrated upon the dear servants of christ , that it is impossible for any one that has this holy sense , but that he should incontinently fly from that church with as much horrour and affrightment as any countrey-man would from some evil spectre , or at the approach of the devil . 10. he that is born of god sinneth not , saith s. john : how then can they be so born whose very religion is a trade of sin , and that of the highest nature , they ever and anon exercising grosse acts of idolatry ? besides that they are consenting ( by giving up their belief and suffrage to the murtherous conclusions of that church ) to all the barbarous and bloudy persecutions of the saints that either have happened or may happen in their own times , or ever shall happen , by that church ; they become , i say , guilty thereof by adjoyning themselves to this bloud-thirsty body of men , with whom the murther of those that will not commit idolatry with them , and so rebell against god , is become an holy papal law and statute . and therefore , i say , how can any man conceive that those men are born of god who are thus deeply defiled with murtherous and idolatrous impurities , but rather that they are in a mere blinde carnal condition , and uncapable , while they are thus , of any true and sincere repentance , and consequently of repenting of their daily idolatries which they commit , and ordinarily ( to make all sure ) in ipso articulo mortis , and therefore are out of all capacity of salvation while they are members of that church ? as plainly appears both by this present reason fetch'd from the nature of regeneration , as also from the judgement of the romanists themselves touching the state of idolaters after this life , and chiefly from the expresse sentence of the spirit of god in scripture , as i intimated before . 11. and therefore , in the fifth and last place , it is exceeding manifest how stupid and regardless those souls are of their own salvation , that continue in the communion of the church of rome ; and how desperately wilde and extravagant they are who , never having been of it , but having had the advantage of better principles , yet can finde in their hearts to be reconciled to it . this must be a sign of some great defect in judgement , or else in their sincerity , that they ever can be allured to a religion that is so far removed from god and heaven . 12. but this church , as the woman in the proverbs , is , i must confess , both very fair of speech and subtil of heart , and knows how to tamper with the simple ones right skilfully . she knows how to overcome all their carnal senses by her luxurious enticements . she has deck'd her bed with coverings of tapestry , with carved works , with fine linens of aegypt . she has perfumed her bed with myrrh , aloes and cinnamon . she entertains her paramours with the most delicious strains of musick , and chants out the most sweet and pleasing rhymes , to lull them secure in her lap : such as those idolatrous forms of the invocation of the virgin marie , and of other saints , which i have produced , of which she has a numerous store . unto which i conceive the prophet isay to allude in that passage touching the city of tyre , representing there mystically the relapsing church of rome : take an harp , goe about the city , thou harlot that hast been forgotten , make sweet melody , sing many songs , that thou mayst be remembred . see synopsis prophetica , book 2. ch . 16. 13. she gilds her self over also with the goodly and specious titles of unity , antiquity , universality , the power of working miracles , of sanctity likewise , and of infallibility ; and boasts highly of her self , that she has the power of the keys , and can give safe conduct to heaven by sacerdotal absolution ; and , if need be , out of the treasury of the merits of holy men of their church , which she has the keeping and disposing of , can adde oyl to the lamps of the unprovided virgins , and so piece out their deficiency in the works of righteousnesse . such fair speeches and fine glozing words she has to befool the judgements of the simple . 14. but as to the first , it is plain that that unity that is by force is no fruit of the spirit , and therefore no sign of the true church : nor that which is from free agreement , if it be not to good ends. for salomon describes an agreement of thieves or robbers , heartening one another to spoil and bloudshed , and to enter so strict a society as to have but one purse . and therefore for a company of men , under the pretense of spirituality , to agree in the inventing or upholding such doctrines or fictions as are most serviceable for a worldly design , and for the more easily riding and abusing the credulous and carnal-minded , thereby to be masters of their persons and wealth , this is no holy unity , but an horrid and unrighteous conspiracy against the deluded sons of adam . 15. and for antiquity and universality , they are both plainly on the protestants side , who make no fundamentals of faith but such as are manifestly contained in the scripture ; which is much more ancient , and more universally received , then any of those things upon whose account we separate from the church of rome , which are but the fruits of that apostasie which , * after four hundred years or thereabout , the church was to fall into according to divine prediction . so that we are as ancient and universal as the apostolick church it self , nor do we desire to appear to be the members of any church that is not apostolicall . and for their boast of miracles , which are produced to ratifie their crafty figments , they are but fictions themselves framed by their priests , or delusions of the devil , according as is foretold concerning the coming of antichrist , that man of sin , ( which the pope and his clergy most assuredly is , ) namely , that his coming is after the working of satan , with all power , and signs , and lying wonders . so that they glory in their own shame , and boast themselves in the known character of antichrist , and would prove themselves to be holy church by pretending to the privileges of that man of sin , and by appealing to the palpable signs of the assistence of the devil . for from thence are all miracles that are produced in favour of practices that are plainly repugnant to the doctrines of the holy scriptures . 16. but now , as for their sanctity , what an holy church they are , any one may judge upon the reading of the lives of their popes and history of their cardinals , and other religious orders of that church of rome ; how rankly all things smell of fraud and imposture , of pride and covetousnesse , of ostentation and hypocrisy ; what monstrous examples of sensuality their holinesses themselves have ordinarily been , of fornication and adultery , of incest and sodomie ; to say nothing of simonie , and that infernall sin of necromancy . but for murther and idolatry , those horrid crimes are not onely made familiar to them , but have passed into a law with them , and are interwoven into the very essence of their religion . judge then how holy that church must be , whose religion is the establishment of idolatry and murther . of the latter of which crimes the holy inquisition is an instance with a witness . and yet that den of murtherers , whose office it is to kill men for not committing idolatry , with the church of rome must needs bear the title of holy. 17. and for their pretense of infallibility , it is expresly predicted in the apocalypse of s. john , as well as their laying claim to miracles . for as the two-horned beast is said to doe great wonders , and to bring fire from heaven , which two-horned beast is the pope and his clergy ; so jezebel , which is the same hierarchy , is called the woman that gives to her self the title of a prophetesse , whose oracles you know must be infallible . for she does not mean that she is a false prophetesse , though indeed and in truth she is so . and the pope with his clergy is judged to be so by the spirit of god , in that he is called the false prophet , as well as the two-horned beast , in those visions of s. john. and while he pretends himself to be a prophet , even without divine revelation , one may plainly demonstrate that he is a false one from this one notorious . instance of transubstantiation ; which is a doctrine repugnant to common sense and reason , and all the faculties of the mind of man , and bears a contradiction to the most plain and indubitable principles of all arts and sciences , as i have proved above . so that we may be more sure that this is false , then that we feel our own bodies , or can tell our toes and fingers on our hands and feet . judge then therefore whether is more likely , that the church of rome should be infallible , or transubstantiation a mere figment , especially it being so serviceable for their worldly advantages , and they being taken tardy in so many impostures and deceits . so that infallibility is a mere boast . 18. and now for their sacerdotal absolution , that they can so safely dismisse men to heaven or secure them from hell thereby , this power of their priest is such another vain boast as that of transubstantiation . except a man be born again , he cannot enter into the kingdome of god. and the form of words upon one's death-bed can no more regenerate any one , then their quinqueverbiall charm can transubstantiate the bread and wine into the body and bloud of christ. where the form of absolution has any effect , it must be on such persons as are already really regenerate and unfeignedly and sincerely penitent : which i have shewn to be incompetible to any one so long and so far forth as he adheres to the roman church . so that in this case one aethiopian does but wash another , which is labour spent in vain . there must be a change of nature , or no externall ceremonie nor words can doe any thing . for the form of absolution is not a charm , as i said , to change the nature of things , but onely a ticket to passe guards and scouts , and to procure safe conduct to the heavenly regions . but if by regeneration and due repentance one has not contracted an alliance and affinity with the saints and angels , but is really still involved in the impure and hellish nature , the grim officers of that dark kingdome will most certainly challenge their own , and they will be sure to carry that soul captive into a sutable place , let the flattering priest have dismissed her hence with the fairest and most hopefull circumstances he could . this is the most hideous , the most dangerous and the most perfidious cheat of that church of rome that ever she could light on for the damning of poor credulous souls , that thus superstitiously depend on the vain breath of their priest for the security of their salvation . 19. and yet they are not content with this device alone to lull men secure in wickednesse , but besides their pretense of singing them out of purgatory by mercenary masses , and pecuniarie redemptions by pardons and indulgences , and i know not what trumperies , they allure men to come into their church as having that great store and treasury of the merits of holy men and women , their works of supererogation , which they pretend to have the keeping and disposing of . so that a poor soul that is bankrupt of her self , and has no stock of good works of her own , may sufficiently be furnished for love or money by the merchants of this store-house . which , besides that it is a blasphemous derogation to the merits of christ , is the grossest falshood that ever was uttered . for these holy men , as they are called , and virgins , were , god wot , themselves most miserable sinners , and died in most horrid idolatries , as dying in the practices of that church ; and he that comes to that church does necessarily become a grosse idolater himself ; besides that he sets to his seal and makes himself accessory to all that innocent bloud , the bloud of those many hundred thousands of martyrs for the protestant truth , which that woman of bloud that sits on the seven hills has with the most execrable circumstances imaginable so frequently murthered . so that a soul otherwise passable of her self would be necessarily drown'd in this one foul deluge of guilt : so far is she from having any relief or advantage by reconciling her self to the church of rome . 20. wherefore who-ever thou art that hast any sense or solicitude for thy future state and salvation , believe not this woman of subtil lips and a deceitfull heart , and give no credit to her fictions and high pretensions ; but the more she goes about to magnifie her self , do thou humble her the more , by shewing her her ugly hue in the glasse of the holy scriptures . if she boast that she is that holy jerusalem , a city at unity within it self , whenas the rest of the world are so full of sects and factions ; tell her that she is that carnal jerusalem , wherein christ in his true members hath been so barbarously persecuted and murthered , and that the stones of her buildings are no living stones , but held together by a mere iron violence , and the cement of her walls tempered with the large effusion of innocent bloud ; forasmuch as she is that two-horned beast that gave life to the image of the beast , and caused him to decree that as many as would not obey his idolatrous edicts should be slain . this is the power of your unity , which is not from the spirit of god , but from the spirit of the devil , who was a murtherer from the beginning . but the division of us protestants is both a sign of our sincere search after the truth , and a more strong testimony against you of rome , in that we being so divided amongst our selves , yet we so unanimously give sentence against you : your miscarriages and crimes being so exceeding grosse , that no free eye but must needs discern them . 21. if she vaunts of her antiquity ; give her enough of it , and tell her she derives her pedigree from that great dragon , the old serpent , that is called the devil and satan , that murtherer of mankinde . ye are of your father the devil , saith our saviour , and the works of your father will ye doe . we grant that the visage and lineage of your church reaches even beyond the times of the apostles , the two-horned beast reviving the image of the pagan beast , the great red dragon , by bringing up again his old bloudy persecutions and idolatries . it suffices us , that our church began with the apostles . if she glories in her universality , and in her large territories ; tell her , she is that great city which spiritually is called sodom and aegypt , where our lord was crucified : and that she is babylon the great , the mother of fornications and the abominations of the earth . if she boast of the power of the keys , and of sacerdotal absolution ; tell her that he that is holy , he that is true , he that has the key of david , he that openeth and no man shutteth , and shutteth and no man openeth , that is to say , our lord jesus christ , will never part with these keys to his inveterate enemy , that notorious man of sin , or antichrist . if she spread before thee her goodly wares of mercenary masses , of pardons and indulgences , of the mutuatitious good works of their pretended holy men and women ; or the wealth and externall glories of their church , and varieties of rich preferments and dignities ; say unto her ; that she is that city of trade of whom it is written , that no man buieth her merchandise any more ; and again , alas , alas ! that great city that was cloathed in fine linnen and purple and scarlet , and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls : for in one hour so great riches are come to nought . for her merchants were the great men of the earth , and by her sorceries were all nations deceived . and in her was found the bloud of prophets , and of saints , and of all that were slain upon the earth . 22. if she would amaze thee with the stories of the wonderfull miracles done by her ; tell her that she is that two-horned beast that doth great wonders , and that deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to doe in the sight of the ten-horn'd beast ; or that false prophet working miracles , and deceiving them that receive the mark of the beast , and worship his image , who together with the beast is to be taken , and cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone ; or lastly , that man of sin and son of perdition , whose coming is after the working of satan , with all power , and signs , and lying wonders . if she would inveagle thee with her pretenses of infallibility ; tell her that she is that woman jezebel , that calleth her self a prophetesse ; or the prophet balaam , that insnared the israelites in idolatry ; and that very false prophet that together with the beast is to be cast alive into the lake of burning brimstone . 23. and lastly , if she would gull thee with that specious and much-affected title of holy church ; tell her that the spirit of truth in the divine oracles , let her commend her self as much as she pleases , gives no such character of her , but quite contrary , declaring the see of rome to be the * seat of satan , and their church a his synagogue ; the pope and his clergy to be b balaam the son of bozor , who loved the wages of unrighteousnesse , and who was the murtherer of christ's faithfull martyr antipas ; to be that c woman jezebel who calls her self a prophetesse , but was indeed a sorceresse , and a murtherer of the true prophets of the lord ; to be also that d false prophet , that is to be taken alive , and cast into the lake of fire and brimstone ; to be that e great city that spiritually is called sodom and aegypt , where our lord was crucified ; to be f the beast that has the horns of a lamb , but the voice of the dragon , decreeing idolatries and cruel persecutions against god's people ; to be that g babylon the great , the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth ; the woman on the seven hills , that is drunk with the bloud of the saints and with the bloud of the martyrs of jesus ; and , lastly , to be that h man of sin , that notorious antichrist , that opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called god or is worshipped , whose coming is with all deceivableness of unrighteousnesse in them that perish , because they receive not the love of the truth that they may be saved . for which cause god sends them strong delusion , that they believe a lie . that they all might be damned that believe not the truth , but have pleasure in unrighteousnesse . as well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as well all they that love the romish lies and impostures , as all they that invent them , are here plainly declared in the state of damnation . with this nosegay of rue and wormwood antidote thy self against the idolatrous infection of that strange woman 's breath , whose lips yet drop as an hony-comb , and her mouth is more smooth then oyl . and be assured that that cannot be the true holy church wherein salvation is to be expected , which the spirit of god has marked with such unholy and hellish characters , let her boast of her own holiness as much as she will. 24. and if she return this answer to thee , that this is not to argue , but to rail in phrases of scripture ; do thou make this short reply , that whiles she accuses thee of railing against sinfull and obnoxious men , she must take heed that she be not found guilty of blaspheming the holy spirit of god. i confesse these propheticall passages apply'd to such persons as to whom they do not belong were an high and rude strain of railing indeed , and quite out of the road of christianity and common humanity : but to call them railings when they are apply'd to that very party to whom they are really meant by that spirit that dictated them , is indeed to pretend to a sense of civility towards men , but in the mean time to become a down-right blasphemer against the holy ghost that dictated these oracles . and that they are not mis-apply'd , any impartial man of but an ordinary patience and comprehension of wit may have all assurance desirable from that demonstration of the truth compriz'd in the eight last chapters of the first book of synopsis prophetica ; to say nothing of the present exposition of the seven epistles to the seven churches in asia . 25. wherefore , o serious soul , whoever thou art , be not complemented out of the truth and an earnest pursuance of thine own salvation from a vain sense of the applauses or reproaches of men , or from any consideration what they may think of thee for attesting or standing to such verities as are so unwelcome to many ears , but of such huge importance to all to hear . for no lesse a game is at stake in our choice of what church we adhere to , that of rome or the reformed , then the possession of heaven and eternall life . wherefore stand stoutly upon thy guard , and whensoever thou art accosted by the fair words and sugar'd speeches of that cunning woman , ( who will make semblance of great solicitude for thy future happinesse , most passionately inviting thee to return into the bosome of holy church , ) be sure to remember what an holy church she is according to divine description ; and that if thou assentest to her smooth persuasions and crafty importunities , thou dost ipso facto ( pardon the vehemence of expression ) adventure thy self into the jaws of hell , and cast thy self into the arms of the devil . god of his mercy give us all grace to consider what has been spoken , that we may evermore escape these snares of death . amen . the end . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a51303-e880 * apoc. 1. 20. john 13 , 35. apoc. 2. 14 , 20. chap. 5. 25. 1 cor. 5. 7. see dr. cudworth's discourse of the lord's supper . de rerum invent. lib. 17. cap. 4. ap●c . 2. 18. greg●r . ●ranc . ●xic . ●anct . t●t . 07. 2 kings 9. 37. apoc. 2. 19. apoc. 11. 11 , 12. apoc. 2. 26. * synops. prophet . book 2. c. 22. sect . 12. apoc. 2. 20. apoc. 3. 12. apoc. 3. 3. isa. 7. 12. apoc. 2. 4. 1 john 4. 16. notes for div a51303-e6900 * apoc. 6. ●● * see divine dialogues , dialogue 5. sect . 38. apoc. 1. 1. verse 3. verse 4. verse 7. verse 8. verse 10. verse 11. pet. ram. lib. 1. c. 9. eccles. 6. 22. verse 16. verse 20. chap. 1. v. 20. apoc. 2. 1. matth. 28. 19 , 20. apoc. 6. verse 2 , 3. verse 4. verse 5. verse 6. verse 7. luke 23. 42 , 43. apoc. ch . 2. v. 8. verse 9. matt. 16. 23. verse 10. verse 11. apoc. ch . 2. v. 12. dan. 12. 12. verse 13. verse 14. verse 15. verse 16. verse 17. apoc. 2. 18. * see if there was not a marie's psalter before , antidote against idolat . chap. 6. sect . 8. * this was the institute of pope john 22. and within the fore-part of the intervall of thyatira . see polydore virgil. de rerum invent . lib. 6. c. 12. downham de antichrist . lib. 6. cap. 5. verse 19. verse 20. apoc. 19. 20. apoc. 18. 4. apoc. 17. 1 kings 18. 4. 1 king. 21. 25. apoc. 13. 1 kings 21. 8. prov. 20. 27. 1 kings 21. 10. apoc. 13. apoc. 11. 1 john 5. 1. 1 john 4. 12. apoc. 19. 10. apoc. 11. 3 , 10. 1 kings 18. 4. 1 kings 21. 10. verse 21. verse 22. verse 23. verse 24. verse 25. verse 26. verse 27. psalm 2. verse 28. apoc. 22. 10. verse 29. apoc. 3. 1. john. 6. 55. john 6. 63. verse 2. verse 3. verse 4. verse 5. verse 6. apoc 3. ver . 7. cant. 2. 4. cant. 6. 10. verse 8. apoc. 16. and 19. apoc. 16. apoc. 16. 18 , 19. verse 9. joh. 8. 44. apoc. 19. 20. verse 10. 1 pet. 3. v. 13. verse 11. verse 12. verse 13. apoc. 3. 14. isa. 9. 6. verse 15. verse 16. gen. 6. 6. verse 17. verse 18. 9. verse 20. john 14. 20. ver . 23. verse 21. matt. 26. 29. 1 cor. 15 , 51 , 54. verse 22. apoc. 1. 1 , 3. apoc. 2. 10 , 11. apoc. 20. 6. apoc. 2. 12. apoc. 2. 18. notes for div a51303-e27090 * part 1. book 1. ch. 5. to the 17. chap. * apoc. 2. 20. * apoc. 18. 4. rom. 3. 4. 2 cor. 4. 13. prov. 1. 17. 2 pet. 2. 19. john 15. 22. notes for div a51303-e27960 exod. 31. 18. mark 10. 18 , 19. joh. 1. 14. concil . trident. sess. 3. cap. 5. ca● . 6. concil . trident. sess. 3. cap. 4. cap. 3. can . 3. * see paul. fag . upon deut. 8. 10. john 15. 5. gen. 41. 27. joh. 6. 63. francise . coster . enchirid. controvers . cap. 12. concil . trident. sess. 9. apoc. 1. 18. john 7. 37 , 38. matth. 11. 28. apoc. 2. 18. apoc. 1. 13. concil . trid. sess. 9. * part 1. book 1. chap. 14. exod. 32. 4 , 5. mat. 5. 15. * see ch. 1. conclus . 10. chap. 6. 9. apoc. 21. 8. 1 john 5. 18. prov. 7. 16 , 17. isa. 23. 16. prov. 1. 14. * synops. prophet . lib. 2. c. 5. 2 thess. 2. 9. apoc. 13. 13. apoc. 2. 20. apoc. 16. 13. john 3. 3. psal. 122. 3. apoc. 13. apoc. 12. 9. john 8. 44 apoc. 11. apoc. 3. a●●c . 18. apoc. 13. 13 , 14. apoc. 19. 20. 2 thess. 2. 9. apoc. ● . 20. apoc. 2. 14. apoc. 19. 20. * apoc. 2. 13. a apoc. 3. 9. b apoc. 2. 13 , 14. c apoc. 2. 20. d apoc. 19. 20. e apoc. 11. 8. f apoc. 13. 11. g apoc. 17. h 2 thess. 2. prov. 5. 3. matth. 23. 15. an answer to several late treatises, occasioned by a book entituled a discourse concerning the idolatry practised in the church of rome, and the hazard of salvation in the communion of it. the first part by edward stillingfleet ... stillingfleet, edward, 1635-1699. 1673 approx. 510 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 189 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a71070 wing s5559 estc r564 11873436 ocm 11873436 50175 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a71070) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 50175) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 751:41 or 826:11) an answer to several late treatises, occasioned by a book entituled a discourse concerning the idolatry practised in the church of rome, and the hazard of salvation in the communion of it. the first part by edward stillingfleet ... stillingfleet, edward, 1635-1699. [86], 291 p. printed by r.w. for henry mortlock, london : 1673. errata: prelim. p. [87]. a second part with title, a second discourse in vindication of the protestant grounds of faith ... london, 1673, was published during trinity term. reproduction of original in duke university library and huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng stillingfleet, edward, 1635-1699. -discourse concerning the idolatry practised in the church of rome. catholic church -controversial literature. church of england -relations -catholic church. idols and images. 2004-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-03 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2004-03 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatur , sam. parker r. in christo patri ac d no. d no. gilberto , arch. episc. cantuar. à sac . dom. april 15. 1673. an answer to several late treatises , occasioned by a book entituled a discourse concerning the idolatry practised in the church of rome , and the hazard of salvation in the communion of it . by edward stillingfleet d. d. chaplain in ordinary to his majesty . the first part. london , printed by r. w. for henry mortlock , and are to be sold at his shop , at the sign of the phoenix in st. paul's church-yard . 1673. the general preface . it is not for any pleasure i take in controversie , nor out of a resolution to maintain what i have once written , that i expose my self again to the censures of some , and the rage of others , in defence of our church against the church of rome : but out of a just sense of the weight and goodness of the cause i have undertaken ; which ( if my affection to it hath not strangely blinded my judgement ) doth highly concern us as men , as english men , and as christians . for it is the cause of sense and reason , against the absurd doctrines they impose on both ; it is the cause of our nation against the usurpation and tyranny of a forrain power ; it is the cause of the true faith and christianity , against the errors and corruptions of the roman church . to abandon such a cause as this , were to betray the things which ought to be most dear to us : for we cannot be reconciled to that church on any easier terms , than renouncing our sense and reason , enslaving our country , and hazarding our salvation . and what can they give us in exchange for these ? it was the last of those three heads , which gave occasion to the late so much railed at , and so little confuted book : which no sooner appeared , but as if some dreadful monster had risen out of the earth , some crossed themselves and kept as far out of the sight of it , as they could ; others made hideous out-crys and grievous complaints ; and the more fearful sort were forbidden either looking on it , or entertaining any discourse about it . upon which i pleased my self that i had not added another chapter to the book ; for if that number had agreed with the ten particulars , it had passed among them for the beast with seven heads and ten horns ; and they would have been glad their city upon seven hills could have been so excused . but this unusual noise and clamour awakened the curiosity of many who love to see strange sights ; and that which otherwise might have been wholly neglected as a book , was enquired after and looked into , being represented as a monster . but when they found that this evil spirit ( as they accounted it ) which themselves had raised , was not to be laid again by hard words and ill language ; they began to consider what other course was to be taken to suppress it . and forthwith there starts up a young sophister among them , and bids them be of good heart ; for by letting flie at him some squibs and crackers he did not question , but he should put this monster into such a rage , as to make him fall upon himself ; which design being highly approved ; in a short time came forth that dapper piece , called doct. stillingfleet against doct. stillingfleet . it was a notable plot , and cunningly managed , as the reader may see by the following answer to it . after him a graver person undertakes the service ; but as hasenmullerus tells us , when ignatius loyola sent one of his brethren at rome to dispossess a person , he gave him this instruction , that he should be sure to come behind the devil , if he would drive him out ; accordingly this n. o. steals quite behind my book , and began to confute it at the wrong end , hoping by that means to drive out the evil spirit which he supposed to lodge in the body of it . which he hath performed with great dexterity and success , as the reader may be fully satisfied in the reply here following . these two i undertook , before any other appeared , and intended to have published these two answers by themselves ; but finding others that had written against me on the same argument i was willing to bring as much as i could together to prevent confusion or repetition . all which relating to the principles of faith , and the rosolution , and rule of it , i made account to have dispatched at once ; but finding the book begin to swell into too great a bulk , i have respited some parts of it to another opportunity . when those two men had done their feats , an ancient and experienced exorcist ; ( and yet for all that no conjurer ) saw plainly this spirit must be conjured down ; and thefore knowing the great efficacy of charms , he gives his book the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stillingfleeton . which words put me almost in as great a fright as the holy chair would have done ; i began to consider , whether mengus or any other of their skilful men had ever used those emphatical words before ; but i am willing to believe it was the sole invention of j. v. c. and i doubt not but they will do well hereafter in exorcisms , especially after the holy potion , when the person to be dispossessed is made sufficiently sick with rue and sallet-oyl and other excellent physick for devils . i find by some of their authors , it is a great matter to get the right name of the spirit ; this j. v. c. hath hit unluckily , in calling this monster the leviathan sporting in the waters , since they have thrown out so many empty vessels for him to play with . and his three books of charms , have been no unpleasant entertainment ; but he is gone ; and i love not to tread hard on the graves of my enemies . what there appears material in him ( if anything do so ) i shall consider it in its proper place ; chiefly for the sake of my iudicious adversary dr. t. g. who was the first and i think the only person that hath discovered his book to be a learned treatise . but my generous adversaries , finding so little success in single attempts , they next fall upon me with chain-shot ; viz. a collection of several treatises against doct. stillingfleet . to make up the number , they bring in one before published , to try an experiment what force that can have in conjunction which had none of it self . the first undertaker therein , is , the very calm and ( according to his new christian name ) serene mr. cressy , the man that hath learnt to mortifie passions by mystical divinity ; but is so far from being sublimed and rectified , by that chymical way of devotion , that he seems yet to remain in the very dregs of them : the man , that hath so accustomed him-self to legends , that he cannot write against an adversary , without making one of him . and although there be many very pleasant ones in his church-history , yet i hardly think there are many more wonderful , than ( if his insinuations had any colour of truth in them ) the first part of my life had been . for by making me so active in those times , when i was uncapable of understanding what they were , he seems to represent me as one that had so passionate a zeal for presbytery in my cradle , that i would suck of none but a scottish nurse ; that the first word i pronounced was covenant ; that i would go to school to none but lay-elders ; and was cursing meroz before the parliament at eight years old . is not this a hopeful beginning for a good legend ? will he , saith he , or they damn the execrable covenant ? as though , i had ever any thing to do with it but when i renounced it ! if i should tell him , that as great a friend as he takes me to have been to presbytery and the late times , even then i was entred into episcopal orders by a most worthy and learned prelate of our church ; that , i never subscribed any address to the usurpers , as some in the world have done , and those who would now be thought the kings most loyal subjects ; that i never drew off any one person from their allegiance to the king to submit to to the popes nuncio , ( let those who did it clear themselves ) even such an apology would give too much countenance to so pitiful a calumniator . i thank him that he hath not charged me with laying the first platform of presbytery at geneva , or having a hand in the first and second admonitions in the days of queen elizabeth ; and i might as will charge him with the gunpowder treason , as he doth me with any thing about the covenant . by this we may guess what ecclesiastical history we are to expect from him , who writes so at random about the matters of our own times . but the man is to be pitied ; he was under one of mother juliana's fits , he writ with a good mind , but he knew not what . some vent must be given to a violent fermentation , else the vessel might burst asunder ; and i hope the good man is somewhat more at ease , since he purged away so much choler . i assure him i can with pleasure read what he wrote with rage ; and laugh at the violence of such passions , which like a gun ill charged may give fire and make a great noise , but doth the greatest mischief to him that holds it . if i would pursue him through all his heats , i must undergo the ordeal-tryal , touch firebrands without hurting my self : which although i might do , yet i know my adversaries are so implacable , that even that would not convince them of my innocence . i leave him therefore to grow cooler and wiser ; but i beseech him for his own sake , that he would attempt no more the justifying the union of nothing with nothing , and for the sake of religion , that he would not call god any more an incomprehensible nothing ; a description fit only for the atheists catechism . if there were any thing in his railing book which looked like reason or argument i might perhaps at my leisure be perswaded to answer it ; though i do not love to have to do with mad men , no not in their lucid intervals . the next that follows is one that goes about to vindicate the roman churches devotions and doctrine of repentance and indulgencies , he is a meer pattern of meekness , compared with s. c. , he writes pertinently and without the others bitterness and passion . his great endeavour is to clear the honour of his church , from the absurd doctrines and practices charged upon it . and the force of all , he saith lies in this , that where the church hath defined nothing in her councils , it is to no purpose to object that such doctrines are taught by some in it ; for those who defend their separation from the communion of a church by reason of its erroneous or corrupt doctrines must make it appear that those are taught by it , and the belief of them also exacted from its subjects . to this purpose s. c. likewise speaks ( in some of his lucid intervalls ) and i perceive this is become a common topick among them , to take off the odium of such opinions and practices as they are willing enough , but ashamed to defend , which i shall in this place briefly remove . the thing i was to prove was , that persons in the communion of the roman church do run great hazard of their salvation : for which i instanced particularly in several opinions and practices which are very apt to hinder a good life which is necessary to salvation . now a twofold question here arises . 1. whether the church may justly be charged with those doctrines and practices ? 2. whether , although the church may not directly be charged to have decreed them in her councils , yet so much countenance and encouragement be not commonly given to them in that church , that particular persons do run great hazard of their salvation by reason of them ? for which we are to consider , that it hath been the method of the roman church to allow many more things in common belief and practice than it hath dared for very shame to decree in councils , especially when such things have been objected by her enemies . in this case it hath been thought the most prudent course for the councils to speak deceitfully and in general terms , so as to give as little advantage as may be to their enemies , and yet to retain ground enough to uphold their former opinions and practices : which still continuing in vogue and reputation , become so much the more dangerous to mens souls , because their councils having had opportunity to have declared effectually against them were so far from it , that by their doubtful expressions they have left ground enough for the continuance of them . now from hence the directors of conscience among them frame their opinions , and the people think it their duty blindly to follow them ; and supposing any one among them should scruple any such doctrine or practice , to whom must he resort but to his confessors , and will any such dare to condemn what is generally received although not decreed by councils ? or if he should , dare any person rely on his private judgement when it is contrary to the most received doctrine or practice ? besides , the promises of infallibility are supposed by them to be primarily made to the church , and only by way of representation to the council ; and therefore doctrines or practices generally received and allowed by the teachers of the church and the guides of conscience , must be received by them as true and good ; for otherwise those promises would fail to the church in its diffusive capacity , and consequently , supposing no general council , it were possible for the most erroneous and pernicious doctrines and practices to prevail in the church , which must utterly overthrow all pretence to infallibility . but in our present case we need not run so far , for i shall here prove that in the most material points insisted on by n. o. viz. the doctrine of the efficacy of the sacraments ex opere operato , and of indulgences , we do justly charge the church of rome even in the decrees of her councils with laying such a foundation , as doth overthrow the necessity of a good life . the way he takes to vindicate those points from this consequence is this , that the sacramenta mortuorum , viz. baptism and penance which confer justifying grace do require a subject rightly disposed ; and the sacramenta vivorum , viz. confirmation , eucharist and extreme unction , do require the receiver to be actually in a state of grace ; the same , he saith of indulgences , that the benefit of them doth suppose a man put into a state of grace by the sacrament of penance ; so that the whole matter is put upon this issue , whether their doctrine concerning the conditions by which a man may be put into a state of grace , be not such as doth overthrow the necessity of a good life ? and it being acknowledged that the sacrament of penance doth confer the grace of justification on all persons rightly disposed for it , our only business is to enquire what necessary conditions their church requires in order to it . for which we appeal to the words of the council of trent , for session 14. c. 4. that plainly determins , that imperfect contrition or attrition although it cannot bring men to justification without the sacrament of penance , yet it doth dispose men for obtaining the grace of god by the sacrament of penance . if we joyn this now with another decree of the same council , viz. * that the sacraments do conferr grace on all those who are disposed to receive it ; i leave it now to any one to judge , whether from hence it doth not necessarily follow , that all those that have but imperfect contrition , or bare attrition for their sins , are by the sacrament of penance put into a state of grace , according to the doctrine of the council of trent ? and how far this overthrows the necessity of a good life , will appear from the explication of contrition and attrition given by the same council . contrition is defined , to be , a grief of mind and detestation of sin committed , with a purpose of sinning no more ; therefore imperfect contrition or attrition must be such a grief and detestation of sin past , as implies but an imperfect purpose of sinning no more . from which it evidently follows , that by the doctrine of this council a man may be put into a state of grace without so much as a firm or perfect purpose of sinning no more . and can there be a doctrine invented by men that doth more effectually destroy the necessity of a good life than this doth ? for the state of grace puts a man actually into the favour of god ; and supposing him to fall into mortal sin afterwards , all he needs to do , is only to repeat the same kind of attrition and receive the sacrament of penance and he is perfectly sound again and recovers the favour of god. i know the council there saith , that this attrition must exclude voluntatem peccandi , as o. n. observes ; but that implies no more than a man 's not having at that time a purpose to sin again ; and the council distinguishes it from the propositum non peccandi de caetero , or the purpose not to sin again , which the council applies to contrition as the other to attrition . and cajetan himself quoted by o. n. calls it an imperfect purpose of not sinning . so that after all the evasions which have been yet , or can be produced , the roman churches doctrine of repentance and indulgences doth most dangerously obstruct devotion and a good life . i desire therefore o. n. and his brethren to be a little more sparing in their censures of us as unfaithfully representing the doctrine of their church , for we understand it much better , and represent it more truly , than they desire . but supposing the words of the council were ambiguous in this matter , what better help can we have to understand it , than the sense of their most eminent and learned instructours of conscience ? and those not of the single order of jesuits , as some would have it believed , but of all sorts among them . melchior canus who was far enough from being a friend of the jesuits , saith expresly , although a man knows he hath not contrition but bare attrition , he may come to the sacrament and receive grace by it ; for which he gives this reason , because baptism and penance , are sacramenta mortuorum ; and therefore those who are under mortal sin if they have attrition whereby the impediment is removed may not only come to them , but go away with the grace conferred , because the sacraments always conferr grace , where the impediment is removed . and he is followed herein , saith morinus , not only by lopez , pesantius , nicol. isambertus professor of divinity at paris , but by the fargreatest number of their modern divines . i shall not so much as mention the jesuitical casuists whose testimonies are produced in the jesuits morals , or provincial letters , such as filliutius , amicus , sa , escobar , bauny , &c. but i shall name some of far greater authority among them . o. n. frequently cites paul layman with expressions of esteem , and he determins that true contrition is not necessary to the sacrament of penance after the commission of mortal sin , but attrition is sufficient although a man know it to be only attrition . if they had made attrition only necessary to the sacrament of baptism , they might have pleaded , that they had not destroyed the necessity of a good life afterwards to preserve the grace conveyed in baptism ; but we see in the case of mortal sin afterwards toties quoties no more is necessary but a new act of attrition , and that not only when a man mistakes it to be contrition ; but though a man knows it to be bare attrition . i confess cardinal tolet , although he asserts the substance of the doctrine , yet he saith attrition only serves when it is mistaken for contrition ; but this morinus tells us the later divines laugh at and explode . cardinal lugo not only contends for the doctrine , but asserts it to be the doctrine of the council of trent , viz. that attrition with the sacrament of penance is sufficient for the grace of justification ; and quotes suarez , vasquez and maeratius , as sufficiently proving from the words of the council , that attrition is the next disposition to the grace of justification conveyed by the sacrament ; and this attrition he there shews against sylvius , doth not imply an imperfect love of god above all ; which is directly contrary to o. n. and in another place he proves , that a man is not bound always to contrition for his sins although they be mortal ; for saith he , if he were , then a man having attrition cannot be excused but only by invincible ignorance from a new mortal sin in coming to the sacrament of penance without contrition , because some time is commonly supposed to intervene between a mans attrition and his justification by the sacrament , in which time he would sin mortally by omitting contrition , if he were obliged to it ; but this , saith he , is against the common opinion of divines , that a man contracts any new guilt by omitting contrition . nay he afterwards determins , that a man that hath received the sacrament of penance with bare attrition is not bound , under the guilt of mortal sin , for omitting it , to an act of contrition at the point of death ; which is , he saith , the commonly received opinion among them , and he quotes diana , coninch , becanus , layman , fagundez , faber , turrianus , salas and others for it . the great argument he brings , is , because confessors do not think themselves obliged to put men in mind of an act of contrition at that time as necessary , as common experience shews . and are not such confessors excellent guides to heaven the mean while ? if they be , they have found out a much broader way and wider gate than ever christ intended . what not one single act of contrition necessary ! no , not at the point of death ! what pity it is for sinners , you have not the keeping of heaven-gates ? how do they want the sacrament of penance in hell , for no doubt there is attrition good store there ! but above all of them commend me to honest gregor . de valentiâ , who not only makes contrition unnecessary , but saith it is rather a hindrance to the effect of the sacraments . from whence morinus justly infers , that a confessor ought not to perswade the penitent to contrition ; nor the penitent to endeavour after it . nay morinus shews , that grave men and famous in their church do assert that a penitent having received the sacrament of penance , is not bound to so much as one act of contrition or the love of god in order to his reconciliation with god. yea , although a man hath hated god to the last act of his life if he receives the sacrament of penance , they deny that it is necessary for him to be contrite for his sins or to love god. nothing could go beyond this but what follows in him , that the excellency of the evangelical sacraments above the legal consists in this , that the evangelical sacraments have freed us from the most heavy yoke 〈◊〉 of contrition and the love of god. o admirable guides of conscience ! i do not at all question but jews , turks and heathens have a much better and truer notion of repentance , than these men ; the pagan philosophers were christians to them . and what injury have i done them now , in charging such things upon them which obstruct devotion and overthrow the necessity of a good life ? for i hardly think it possible to contrive a doctrine more effectual for that end , than to tell men that the sacraments of the gospel do free men from that heavy yoke contrition and the love of god. but supposing there were no such foundation for this doctrine in the council of trent , as we see there is would there be no danger to mens salvation , if their confessors generally told then these things , and they knew it to be th● current opinion among them ? is there 〈◊〉 danger of falling into the ditch whe● the blind lead the blind , unless general council expresly allow of it ? 〈◊〉 there no danger by empericks a●● mountebanks , unless the whole co●ledge of physicians approve them ? an● of all sorts of empericks , the worst a●● such casuists and confessors . is ther● no way to magnify the sacerdotal office unless they have a power to trepan soul into eternal flames for want of true repentance ; by making them believe th● priests absolution with bare attritio● will make all even with god ? or 〈◊〉 this doctrine only a decoy to draw great sinners into your nets ? and all this while is your church innocent , which at least sees and will not reform these things ? in a. d. 1665. 24. of september and 18. may , 1666. the congregation of the inquisition at rome under alexander . 7. took upon them to censure 45. several propositions of the late casuists , as scandalous and pernicious to the souls of men , but not one of them relates to this doctrine of repentance , although the jansenists in france had complained of it . whence could this arise but from looking on it as the doctrine of their church ? indeed i find that on may 5. 1667. the pope caused a decree to be published straitly forbidding all persons in their debates about attrition , to condemn each other ; but it is worth our while to understand , what this controversie was , viz. whether bare attrition doth require an act of the love of god ; and although the negative be there said to be the more common opinion , yet the pope would not have the others that affirmed it to be censured . but not the least word against the sufficiency of bare attrition . are any of the books censured which assert this doctrine ? nay , they are published with great approbations . are any of the defenders of it discountenanced ? nay , they are persons in the highest esteem , dignity , and authority among them . are any cautions given to confessors to beware of these doctrines ? nay , these very books are purposely written and approved for their instruction and use . and if their church be innocent after all this , so was the iewish church in our saviours time ; for the corruptions that were then among them had no decree of the sanhedrin , that i find , for them ; it was only their schoolmen and casuists , the scribes and pharisees which introduced them . and yet our saviour thought mens souls in danger , when he bid them beware of the leaven of the pharisees . i confess when we debate the causes of separation from their communion , we think it then reasonable to alledge no more , than what they impose on all to believe and practice ( and we have enough of all conscience in that kind without going farther ) but when we represent the hazard of salvation to particular persons , we may then justly charge them with the pernicious doctrines and practices which are received and allowed among them , although not decreed by the church in councils . for otherwise it would be just , as if one should say to a man , that asked him , whether he might safely travel through such a country ? yes , without doubt you may , for although there be abundance of thieves and high-waymen , yet the prince or the state never approved them , or gave them licence to rob travellers . do you think any man would venture his person or his purse , on no better security ? yet such security as this , if it were true is all that such moderate men as o. n. or his brethren can give as to the roman church ; for they dare not deny the bad consequence of the doctrines and practices charged upon them , but only say , the church hath not decreed them . so much i thought necessary to say to this newest and most plausible pretence , which is made use of by the best advocates for the roman church . and now farewel to moderation ; for the two next which appeared on the stage against me , were two jesuits ; the one sent over a book , which if we look only at the bulk and thickness was a very substantial one , called by an odd antiphrasis , reason and religion : i have endeavoured to draw off all the spirit i could find in it , in the following discourses , but i am forced to leave a vast quantity of phlegm and caput mortuum behind . i shall say no more of him here , having occasion to speak so much of him in the discourses about the principles of faith , which will in a little time be ready to appear . the other is the stout defender of lgnatius loyola and the whole order of jesuits ; what , one man undertake to defend the jesuits as to their principles and practices ! and that in this age , which so well understands their maxims and conduct ! and in england too , where those of other orders and the secular priests love them so dearly ! but nothing is too brave or difficult , for a jesuit to attempt , however he comes off in it . as to ignatius loyola , i will come to terms with him ; if what he confesses as to his ignorant zeal , pious simplicity , frequent visions and extasies , extravagant preaching , unmannerly contempt of superiours do not prove him a fanatick , i am content to let him go . but what if ignatius himself being grown old , did suspect such frequent extasies and visions for illusions ? i desire him to look ribadineira , in his larger life to that purpose . but this matter of fanaticism must be referred to another place . i shall now only give a tast of the jesuits excellent way of defending the principles destructive to government which i charged his order with . the first was , that government was so originally in the people , that they by their representatives may call their soveraign to an account and alter the form of government . now mark this answer . this principle ( whatsoever truth it may have in speculation ) is by no means to be preached to the people , who are apt enough of themselves to stretch cases and pick quarrels with their best governours , yet was it taught many ages before the jesuits were so much as thought of . welfare the man for his plain-dealing ; the doctrine it seems is true enough , but the people are not fit to be trusted with the management of it , no , not in their places and callings ; no , no , let the jesuits alone with these things , they know just the very nick of time , when to be iudges and executioners too . the next principle is , the popes power of deposing princes , to which he again answers roundly . you are then to know , sir , that the doctrine was long ago taught by almost all orders and professions , seculars , regulars , divines , lawyers , before the jesuits were in being . a very catholick doctrine it seems it is ! what a stirr do other people make with mincing this matter , i know not how ; give me a man that speaks out , and lets princes understand what their general doctrine is in this matter , lest they may possibly be deceived , as though it were only the bold assertion of some few persons among them . what wonder then saith he , if bellarmin and 3. or 4. more jesuits were carried away with such a torrent of doctors who went before them ? nay , in my opinion the only wonder is , how any persons among them dare think otherwise , this doctrin having as he tells us , so catholick a consent to the truth of it . but in earnest sir , is the doctrine true , or false nay , sir , i beseech you to excuse me in that : for as he saith , afterwards about the popes power 〈◊〉 absolving subjects , i beg leave to wave such curious controversie● : what , a jesuit beg leave to wave curious controversies ! what is become 〈◊〉 all their vast tomes of scholastical an● casuistical divinity ? are no curious controversies handled in them ? an● were you bred up among them and yet ha●● controversies meerly because curious ▪ no , no , we understand you better than so that is only a curious controversies with you which endangers your safety , if you speak out , for it is a needless kind of curiosity for a man to betray himself . here in these practical countries it is sometimes dangerous speaking truth in their sense ; but at such a speculative place as rome is , there those may be wholesome and catholick truths , which ●ere are but niceties and curiosities . but doth he not say , the jesuits have solemnly renounced the doctrine ? yes , but have a care how far you believe him : we poor simple islanders might understand by this , that they had declared it to be false and pernicious . there is no such matter i will assure you , but upon the stirrs in france they renounced the publishing it , they renounced it as they were in france , but thought it good doctrine at rome : they are forbidden to treat any more of it , because of the odiousness of it to princes , and that is all the renouncing they ever meant . the third principle is , the lawfulness of killing kings , as to which , he saith , he cannot name the person that ever taught it in those terms : a good reason for that , because when they would have them killed they call them tyrants . and so grants dominicus soto and marian have asserted it , he might have namse more if he had pleased . i could not des● a more pleasant task than to pursue 〈◊〉 through the remainder of his discourse wherein he undertakes to vindicate the jesuits practices , but these have been much exposed by men of their own region , that i may spare my pains in th● preface ; and we may easily guess h● hard he was put to it , when he mak● the letter of the bishop of angelopol to be forged at port-royal by the ja● senists . and thus he hath shifted 〈◊〉 fault from the indies to europe , 〈◊〉 to vindicate some papists there fre● idolatry , he charges others here with forge● ▪ and ●et to this as a full answer , the 〈◊〉 ans●erer of the seasonable discour● doth referr us . and out of his admiral learning and skill in history desires 〈◊〉 adversary , for his satisfaction that the can be no danger of resuming abby lan● of popery should return , to go into germany where there are so many papist and protestant princes , noble men and gentlemen , that have ( especially since the treaty at munster ) either bishopricks , abbeys or the like confirmed to them by the pope . how ! confirmed to them by the pope ! what will not these men dare to say ? i perceive ignorance serves them for other purposes than meerly to be the mother of devotion . if at least this worthy author could be ignorant of so notorious a thing as pope innocents bull published on purpose to null the treaty at munster , as prejudicial to the catholick religion , to the apostolical see , to churches and other holy places and persons and ecclesiastical rights . in the body of the bull he saith , that his nuncio there ( who was afterwards pope alexander the seveth ) did protest against these articles , as void , null , unjust , and agreed upon by persons that had no power , and that they were to be so looked on by all . but the pope did not think this sufficient , but declares all those articles that related to liberty of religion , church-lands , or any ecclesiastical rights , or brought any the least prejudice to them or might be thought or pretended so to do , to be null , void , invalid , unjust , damned , reprobate , vain , and without any force or power , and that they shall remain so for ever ; and that no person , though never so much sworn to observe those articles shall be bound by such oath ; no right , title , plea , prescription , shall accrue to any by vertue of them : and therefore out of the plenitude of apostolical power he doth absolutely damn , reprobate , null and cassate all those articles and protests before god of the nullity of them ; and restores all persons and places to their ancient possessions notwithstanding them , with very much more to the same purpose . this was dated at rome apud sanctam mariam majorem sub annulo piscatoris die 26 novemb. and solemnly published there the third of jan. 1651. in the eighth year of his pontificat . call you this , sir , the popes confirming them ! is it credible that he who in the beginning of his answer had charged the late protestant books , ( which he most ingeniously calls libels ) to be crammed with nothing else but what we know to be false , should within a few pages have the confidence to affirm in the face of the world so notorious an untruth ? but i leave this ingenious author , to be chastised for this and other his extravagancies , by his worthy adversary , and return to my own . after all these unsuccessful attempts at last the knight himself resolves to encounter the dragon ; and accordingly he buckles on his armour , mounts his stead , and , according to all ancient and modern pictures of the combat , directs his lance into the very mouth of it ; wisely considering , if the head were mortally wounded , the whole body would fall to the ground . after him at a convenient distance follows his squire i. s. who had a particular spight at the dragons tayl , and without fear or wit falls unmercifully upon it , and in his own opinion , hath chopt it into a thousand pieces . but such mischievous creatures whose strength lies scattered in all their parts , do often rise up when they are triumphed over as dead , and give their most deadly wounds , when they are thought to lye gasping for breath . it happened that when t. g's . answer to the first part of my book came out , i was before engaged in the defence of the protestant principles of faith against the guide in controversies and e. w. ( the author of those two learned treatises as t. g. calls them , protestancy without principles , and religion and reason ) part of which being then in the press , i was forced to go through with that , before i could take his book into consideration . and thereupon i resolved to dispatch all those which relate to the principles of faith together ; and then to proceed to the principles of worship in answer to him , which ( god willing ) i intend as soon as the former part is finished . all that i shall take notice of him here , is to represent the ingenuity of his dealing with me in his preface , wherein he charges me with dissenting from the doctrine of the church of england in accusing the church of rome of idolatry . and by this one instance i desire the reader to judge what candour and sincerity he is to expect in his book . for the sense of the church of england i appealed to the book of homilies : not to any doubtful , or general or single passage therein , but to the design of one of the largest and most elaborat● homilies in the whole book ; consisting of three several parts , the last of which i● said not to be meerly for the people but for the instruction of those who were t● teach them . the design of that last part is thus set down . 1. that popish images and the idols of the gentils are all one concerning themselves . 2. that they have been and be worshipped in our time in like form and manner as were the idols of the gentils . and for that idolatry standeth chiefly in the mind , it shall in this part first be proved that our image-maintainers , have had and have the same opinions and judgement of saints whose images they have made and worshipped as the gentils idolaters had of their gods ; and afterwards shall be declared that our image-maintainers and worshippers have used and use the same outward rites , and manner of honouring , and worshipping their images , as the gentils did use before their idols , and that therefore they commit idolatry , as well inwardly as outwardly , as did the wicked gentils idolaters ; and this that homily is intended for the proof of : which it doth very fully . but , saith t. g. , why did i not appeal for the sense of our church to the 39. articles ? as though the approbation of the book of homilies were not one of them , viz the 35. the second book of homilies the several titles whereof we have joyned under this article ( among which titles the second is this of the peril of idolatry ) doth contain a godly and wholesome doctrine and necessary for these times . which articles were not only allowed and approved by the queen , but confirmed by the subscription of the hand of the arch-bishop and bishops of the upper house , and by the subscription of the whole clergy in the nether house of convocation a. d. 1571. now i desire t. g. to resolve me whether men of any common understanding would have subscribed to this book of homilies in this manner , if they had believed the main doctrine and design of one of them had been false and pernicious ? as they must have done if they had thought the practice of the roman church to be free from idolatry . i will put th● case that any of the bishops then had thought the charge of idolatry had been unjust , and that it had subverted the foundation of ecclesiastical authority , that there could have been no church , or right ordination if the roman church had been guilty of idolatry ; would they have inserted this into the articles , when it was in their power to have left it out ? and that the homilies contained a wholesome and godly doctrine , which in their consciences they believed to be false and pernicious ? i might as well think that the council of trent would have allowed calvins institutions , as containing a wholesome and godly doctrine ; as that men so perswaded would have allowed it the homily against the peril of idolatry . and how is it possible to understand the sense of our church better , than by such publick and authentick acts of it , which all persons who are in any place of trust in the church must subscribe , and d●clare their approbation of them ? this homily hath still continued the same , the article the very same , and if so they must acknowledge this hath been , and is to this day the sense of our church . but saith t. c. the subscribing the book of homilies , as containing a godly and wholesome doctrine , doth not evince that every particular doctrine contained in it is such . be it so : but i hope it doth evince that the subscribers did not think the main doctrine of any one homily to be false ? surely there is a great deal of difference between some particular passages and expressions in these homilies , and that which is the main design and foundation of any one of them . but in this case we are to observe , that they who deny the church of rome to be guilty of idolatry , do not only look on the charge as false , but as of dangerous consequence ; and therefore although men may subscribe to a book in general as containing wholesome and godly doctrine , though they be not so certain of the truth of every passage in it , yet they can never do it with a good conscience if they believe any great and considerable part of the doctrine therein contained to be false and dangerous . such a subscription would be as apparently shuffling and dishonest as is the evasion of this testimony which t. g. makes use of for want of a better . i shall in the next place shew the current doctrine of the church ever since the reformation to have been agreeable to this homily of the peril of idolatry . in the injunctions published by k. edward vi. a. d. 1547. the extirpation of popery is called the suppression of idolatry and superstition . in the second year of edward vi. arch-bishop cranmer published his articles of visitation , whereof the 6. and the last are about the taking away images , pictures , and all other monuments of feigned miracles , pilgrimages , idolatry and superstition . in the second liturgy by edward vi. after the communion , was a rubrick annexed , in which the adoration of the host is expresly called idolatry . this is that very rubrick , of which t. g. , according to his excellent skill in the offices of our church , saith it is not yet more then a dozen years since it was inserted into the communion book ; which he might have found above a 100. years before in the book of edward vi. in the injunctions of queen elizabeth , a. d. 1559. art. 2. and 23. all shrines , tables , pictures , &c. are commanded to be taken away and destroyed and all other monuments of feigned miracles , idolatry and superstition . and that 〈◊〉 may not think it was only a sudden hea● at the first reformation which made the● charge the church of rome with idolatry , long after in a form of thanksgiving in the 37. of queen elizabeth a. d. 1594. popery is called that idolatrous religion : as it was in the beginning of her reign in the excellen● apology for the church of england and i desire him , or any one else , 〈◊〉 produce any one bishop or divine of not● in the church of england , who during all h●r reign did deny the church of rome to be guilty of idolatry . but why then was it not inserted in the 39. articles ? in which t. g. observes , the adoration of images is not rejected as idolatry , but only as a fond thing , vainly invented , nor as repugnant to the plain words of scripture , but as being rather repugnant to the word of god , which plainly gives us to understand , that they had done their endeavours to find a command but could not . a most ingenious criticism ! when himself and all others of their divines yield that adoration of images , which our church charges them with , art. 22. ( viz. not barely worshipping but adoration of images ) to be idolatry and plainly repugnant to scripture . were the composers of our articles so sensless as not to think idolatry repugnant to scripture ; or not to think adoration of images to be idolatry ; or not to think the church of rome guilty of it , when the article saith the romish doctrine concerning worshipping and adoration as well of images as of reliques , & c ? it is not meerly the practice used in the church of rome , but their very doctrine concerning adoration of images which is here charged ; and can any church teach adoration of images and not be guilty of idolatry ? and for his criticism about being rather repugnant , it had been utterly lost if he had looked into the latin articles where the words are , immo verbo dei contradicit ; whereby it appears that rather is not used as a term of diminution , but of a more vehement affirmation . i now come to the exceptions he takes to the particular testimonies i produced of the most eminent bishops and divines of our church , ever since the reformation , who have all concurred in this charge of idolatry . two parts in three he excepts against as incompetent witnesses in the case : how few of the iury would any malefactor allow if such frivolous exceptions might serve his turn ? the two first he excepts against are the two arch-bishops whitgift and abbot as puritanically inclined . but as it unhappily falls out , one of them was never mentioned by me , and the other never till now suspected for a puritan . the abbot i mentioned was not george abbot arch-bishop of canterbury , but robert abbot bishop of salisbury ; and it is the first time we ever heard that a bishop of salisbury was suspended from his metropolitical jurisdiction . but they of the church of rome have a faculty of doing greater wonders with five words , than changing a bishop into an arch-bishop . i hope he understands the church he is of , better than that he hath left , or else we are like to have a sad account of history from him . but why i beseech you , after all his zeal and indefatigable pains for the church of england , must arch-bishop whitgift be thrown away to the puritans ? if he had proved t. c. at the same time arch-bishop of canterbury , there might have been some reason to suspect whitgift to have been of the puritan side ; for all the world know they were grea● adversaries on that very account of th● puritan cause . but was not whitgi●● for the lambeth articles ? and wh● then ? are the dominicans puritans and no papists ? if your church may hav● liberty not to determin those nice points why may not ours ? and so both parties remain of our church , as long as they contradict no received articles among us . but the lambeth-articles were neve● intended for any more than as respons● prudentum to silence disputes in the university . and i believe none of the puritan party after that , took arch-bishop whitgift to be a patron of thei● cause . but if these will not serve his turn , 〈◊〉 have others ready , whom for meer sham● he will not say were puritans , or puritanically inclined . and the first of these is an arch-bishop too , and that is arch-bishop bancroft ; and if he be cast out for a puritan , surely there never was any bishop of the church of england . in his sermon preached at pauls cross on 1 john 4. 1. he hath these words speaking of the papists . the popish false prophets will suffer the people to try nothing , but do teach them wholly to depend on them ; and to that purpose they have indeed three notable sleights . first they forbid them the reading of the scriptures . and the better to be obeyed therein they will not permit the scriptures to be translated into the vulgar tongue . whereof it came to pass that the people were so easily seduced , and drawn from christ to the pope ; from his merits to the saints , and their own merits ; from his bloody sacrifice , whereby only sins are remitted , to their most dry and fruitless sacrifice ; from the spiritual food of his body and blood , unto a carnal and capernaitical transubstantiation ; from the calling upon his name to an invocation of saints : and from their sure trust and confidence in his death to a vain imagination of the vertue of their masses , pilgrimages , pardons , and i know not what intolerable superstition and idolatry . i hope arch-bishop bancroft may for once pass for no puritan with t. g. but what will he say , if the only persons he produces as most partial of his side , do give in evidence against him ? bishop mountague is the first , whose words are these in the book cited by him . our predecessors and fathers coming late out of popery , living near unto papists and popish times , conversing with them , having been nuzzled and brought up amongst them and knowing that images used to be crept unto , incensed , worshipped , and adored among them , &c. what thinks he , is not this all one as to charge them with idolatry ? and more plainly in his former book , but whatsoever you say , however you qualify the thing with gentle words , we say in your practice you far exceed ; and give them that honour which is latria a part of divine respect and worship . and afterwards saith , the people go to it with downright adoration , and your new schools defend that the same respect is due to the representer , as must be given to the representee . so that the crucifix is to be reverenced with the the self-same honour that christ jesus is . ablasphemy not heard of till thomas aquinas set it on foot . clear these enormities , and others like these , then come and we may talk and soon agree concerning honour and respect unto reliques or images of saints , or christ ; till then we cannot answer it unto our maker , to give his honour unto a creature . his next is pet. heylin ; and now i hope we have at last hit upon a man far enough from being a puritan ; yet this very person gives plain evidence against him . for i● his 4th . sermon on the tares preached a● white-hall ianuary 27. 1638. h● hath these words . so it is also in the point of images , first introduced into the church for ornament , history , and imitation . had they staid there it had been well , and no faul● found with them . — but when the schools began to state it , that the same veneration was to be afforded to the type and prototype , then came the doctrine to the growth . when and by whom , and where it was first so stated is not easie to determine , and indeed not necessary . it is enough that we behold it in the fruits . and what fruits think you could it bear , but most gross idolatry , greater than which was never known among the gentils ? witness their praying not before , but to the crucifix , and calling on the very cross , the wooden and material cross , both to increase their righteousness and remit their sins . and for the images of the saints , they that observe with what laborious pilgrimages , magnificent processions , solemn offerings , and in a word , with what affections , prayers , and humble bendings of the body , they have been and are worshipped in the church of rome , might very easily conceive that she was once again relapsed into her ancient paganism . with much more to the same purpose . his only person remaining , is mr. thorndike , a man of excellent learning and great piety , but if we should grant , that he held some thing singular in this matter ; what is that to the constant opinion of our church ? and yet even mr. thorndike himself in a paper sent by him 〈◊〉 some whom t. g. know's , not long before his death , saith , that , to pray to saints for those things which only god can give ( as all papist do is by the proper sense of the word● down-right idolatry . if they say ▪ their meaning is by a figure only to desire them to procure their requests of god : how dare any christian trust his soul with that church which teaches that which must needs be idolatry in all that understand not the figure ? so that upon the whole matter t. g. cannot produce any on● person of our church that hath clearly an● wholly acquitted the church of rome from the charge of idolatry . it seems then 〈◊〉 church hath been made up of puritans i● t. g's . sense of them . but if these do no● satisfy him what doth he think of the arch-bishop and bishops and clergy of the convocation . a. d. 1640. were 〈◊〉 these puritans too ? and yet in the sevent● canon they have these words . and albeit at the time or reforming this church from that gross superstition of popery , it was carefully provided that all means should be used to root out of the minds of the people , both the inclination thereto and memory thereof ; especially of the idolatry committed in the mass , for which cause all popish altars were demolished , &c. what can more express the sense of our church , than the concurrent opinion of arch-bishops , bishops and clergy of both provinces met in convocation ? when we see they so lately , charged the church of rome with idolatry . let us now consider what exceptions he takes against the other witnesses produced by me . jewel , bilson , davenant , all eminent bishops of our church and of great learning , are cast away at once , as incompetent persons . but why so ? why , saith t. g. they were all excepted against by our late soveraign k. charcles i. in his third paper to henderson . that is a shrewd prejudice indeed to their authority to be rejected by a prince of so excellent a judgement and so cordial a friend to the church of england . but it is good to be sure whether it be so or no. all that he saith of bishop iewel is this , and though i much reverence bishop iewel ' s memory , i never thought him infallible . so then , he must he puritanically inclined ; but whence does that follow ? not surely from the kings reverencing his memory , for that were to reflect upon the king himself ; not from his not thinking him infallible . for i dare say , the king never thought the pope infallible ; must be needs therefore think him a puritan ? surely never man was such a friend to the puritans as this t. g. who without any ground gives them away some of the greatest honours of our church , and ( if the testimony last cited be of any force to prove one a puritan , ) all mankind , and himself too : for i plainly perceive by this preface that he is not infallible . yet for all this we will not let go jewel , no nor bilson , davenant , white , usher , downam , what ever t. g. saith against them . indeed k. charles excepts against bilson for his principles of civil government , but not a word of his disaffection to the church of england : for bishop davenant , the king saith he is none of those to whom he appealed , or would submit unto , and with very good reason , for the king had appealed to the practice of the primitive church , and the universal consent of fathers ; therefore bishop davenant was a puritan . it seems they have been all puritans since the primitive times ; and i hope the church of rome then hath good store of them , for that is far enough from the fathers or the primitive church . but how comes bishop white in for a puritan , being so great a friend of arch-bishop laud ; why , forsooth , heylin reports that for licensing bishop mountagu's appello caesarem , it was said , that white was turned black. and canst thou for thy heart , good reader , expect a more pregnant proof ? it was a notable saying , and it is great pity , the historian did not preserve the memory of the author of it ; but by whom was it said ? that must be supposed by the puritans ; and could none but they be the authors of so witty a saying ? but suppose they were the puritans that said it ? it is plain then , they thought him no sound puritan , for they hold no falling from grace . all then that can be inferred from this witty saying is , that white sunk in his esteem among them by this act. and is it not possible for them to have an esteem for those who are not of their own party ? concerning arch-bishop usher , dr. heylin was known to be too much his enemy , to be allowed to give a character of him : and his name will not want a due veneration as long as learning and piety have any esteem among us . but he is most troubled what to do with six that remain , viz. king james , bishop andrews , arch-bishop laud , isaac casaubon , doct. field , and doct. jackson ; these he could not for shame fasten the name of puritans upon ( as he doth with scorn on bishop downam , reynolds , whitaker , and fulk ; whose testimonies i said to prevent cavils , i need not to produce although they are all capable of sufficient vindication . ) for king james , he saith , that in the place cited by me he saith expresly , that what he condemns is adoring of images , praying to them , and imagining a kind of sanctity in them , all which are detested by catholicks . was ever man put to such miserable shifts ? are not these king james his words . but for worshipping either them , ( reliques ) or images , i must account it damnable idolatry . and doth not king james a little after take off their distinctions and evasions in these words , and they worship ( forsooth ) the images of things in being , and the image of the true god. but scripture forbiddeth to worship the image of any thing that god created . yea the image of god himself is not only expresly forbidden to be worshipped but even to be made . let them therefore that maintain this doctrine , answer it to christ at the latter day , when he shall accuse them of idolatry ; and then i doubt if he will be paid with such nice sophistical distinctions . is all this nothing but to charge them with such practices which they detest ? doth he not mention their doctrine , and their distinctions ? did not king james understand what he said , and what they did ? it is plain he charges them with idolatry in what they did , which was that i brought his testimony for . the like answer he gives to the rest of them , viz. that they charged them , with what they thought they did , but the papists deny that they do any such thing : i. e. in plain terms , they charge them with idolatry , but the papists deny they commit it . and so they do when i charge them with it ; so that t. g. by the very same reason might have acquitted me from charging them with it , and have spared his book . is not this now an admirable way of proving , that they do not charge them with idolatry , because the papists deny they commit it ? who meddles with what they profess they do , or do not ? i was to shew what these persons charged them with . and do any of these excuse them by saying any doctrine of theirs was contrary to these particulars ? do they not expresly set themselves to disprove their distinctions upon which their doctrine is founded ? and shew the vanity of them because their open and allowed practices do plainly contradict them ; and shew that they do give divine honour to images however in words they deny it . but this way of defending them is , as if those whom st. paul charges that they professed that they knew god but in works they denied him , should reply to him , how can we deny him in our works , since we profess him in our words ? iust so saith t. g. how can they be charged with idolatry , since they profess to do no such thing ? a●though such persons , as those i mentioned , did not understand both what the papists said for themselves and what they did notwithstanding . and now i joy● with t. g. in desiring the reader may be judge between us , whether i have betrayed my trust in pretending to defend the church of england ; and whether in charging the church of rome with idolatry i have contradicted the sense of it ? since i have made it appear that her most true and genuin sons , the most remote from all suspicion of disaffection to her , or inclination to puritanism , have concurred in the same charge which i undertook to make good . but there is one blow yet remaining in his preface , which i must endeavour to ward off , otherwise it will be a terrible one to the church of england ; for by this charge of idolatry , he makes me to subvert the very foundation of ecclesiastical authority in it . this it is to charge home . for , saith he , it being a received maxime and not being denyable by any man of common sense , that no man can give to another that which he hath not himself , it lies open to the conscience of every man , that if the church of rome be guilty of heresie , much more if guilty of idolatry , it falls under the apostles excommunication . ( gal. 1. 8. ) and so remains deprived of the lawful authority to use and exercise the power of orders ; and consequently the authority of governing , preaching and administring the sacraments , which those of the church of england challenge to themselves , as deriv'd from the church of rome , can be no true and lawful jurisdiction , but usurped and anti-christian . and so farewel to the church of england , if the church of rome were not more kind in this case than t. g. is . hitherto we have seen his skill in the affairs of our church , and now we shall see just as much in the doctrine of his own . for doth not the council of trent make orders a sacrament ? and one of those which doth imprint an indelible character ? and doth not that council pronounce an anathema against those , that denyed the validity of the sacrament administred by one in mortal sin , in case he observes the essentials of it ▪ how then can t. g ▪ ●scape excommunication from his own church , that denies the validity of the sacrament of orders in case of the sin of the givers of it ? if the validity of the sacrament doth not d●pend on the worth or quality of the ministers of it but upon the essentials and the institution of christ , how can the fault of the persons hinder the conveyance of that authority , which they are only the bare instruments to convey ? doth t. g. think so in all other sacraments ? as in case of baptism ; that supposing the ministers of it have been guilty of heresie or idolatry , the sacrament loses its effect ? well fare then the donatists , whose opinion this was , and in whom it hath been condemned by the church . if it be not so in other sacraments how comes it to be thus in orders ? which he must acknowledge , to be as much a sacrament as baptism ; or else he must renounce the council of trent . and it is observable , that the very argument used by the donatists and others , was the same which t. g. here produces , viz. his common maxim of reason , and not denyable by any man of common sense that no man can give to another , that which he hath not himself ; to which this answer was given , that the instrument was not the giver , but the first institutor , and in case the minister keep to the institution , the grace of the sacrament may be conveyed by him though he hath it not himself . but , methinks , if t. g. had forgotten the doctrine of the council of trent , he might have looked into some one or other of their own authors to have informed himself better of their doctrine in this matter . vasquez hath a chapter on purpose to prove that an heretical , excommunicated , suspended bishop is a sufficient minister of ordination ; and saith that all the schoolmen and summists are agreed in it , and that there can be no doubt at all made of it . and did none of these men understand the principle that is undenyable by any man of common sense ? what a back-blow is this to those of his own church ? for vasquez saith this is determined as a matter of faith among them , that the validity of a sacrament doth not depend on the probity or faith of the minister . and he denies it to be in the power of the church to hinder the effect of ordination in an excommunicated bishop , because it cannot blot out his character , or take away his power . estius saith , that no crime how great soever , whether haeresie , schism , or apostasie , no censure how heavy soever , as excommunication , can hinder the validity of ordination by a bishop , although it be of those who are not subject to his jurisdiction , in case he observes the lawful rites of ordination as to the essence of the sacrament ; for this reason , because ordination belongs to the power of order , which being once received can never be lost ; but those things which belong to jurisdiction , as absolution and excommunication , have no effect , where that jurisdiction is taken away . and this doctrine they all ground upon st augustins discourse against the donatists ; and upon the practice of the church at that time which did receive those who were ordained among the donatists , without scrupling their orders ; as not only appears by the testimony of st. augustin but by the decree of an african council to that purpose ; and that not only at first , but when the schism was grown inveterate . and yet francis hallier a late doctor of the sorbon , tells us , that the donatists were not barely schismaticks , but they were adjudged hereticks , for asserting that the efficacy of sacraments did depend upon the quality of the persons , and not upon the merits of christ. the same author vehemently disputes against those , who assert that the power of order can be lost by the sin of the person , and shews that doctrine hath been condemned by several councils before that of trent ; as of arles , of orleans and constance : and undertakes to answer all the instances brought from antiquity to the contrary ; as either understood of such hereticks , which did not retain the essentials of the sacrament or only implying the fault committed in giving or receiving them at the hands of such persons , but not any invalidity in the sacrament it self . and afterwards he proves that hereticks are capable of ordination . but if these , and many others of their later writers will not satisfy him , i desire him to consult their more ancient authors , thom. aquinas determins that hereticks and those who are cut off from the church , may give orders as well as administer other sacraments , the reason he gives is , that a power in consecration is given to a bishop , which can never be taken from him , although he will not allow it to be called a character . for several , especially of the ancient schoolmen would not have consecration to imprint a new character ; but they were never able to give an intelligible account of what they meant by the character as distinct from that sacramental power which was conveyed by consecration and they granted to be indelible as the other was , some making it an extension of the character of priesthood , others a bare extrinsecal denomination added to it ; but however they held it such as could no more be taken away than the character of priesthood . cardinal bonaventure saith , that the validity of sacraments among hereticks , was a question much in dispute among the ancient doctors , but that it hath been determined by st. augustin , that they are valid if they preserve the essentials of them : and in the matter of ordination he saith , that the power of orders , although it be not a distinct character , yet because it is built upon , it can no more be taken away than the character it self : but whatever is founded upon jurisdiction as the power of excommunication and absolution may be taken away . but i need not mention any more particular writers , since morinus acknowledges , that for 400. years the opinion of the validity of orders conferred by hereticks , hath only obtained in the roman church . before that time , he proves at large that it was more disputable , as appears by the master of the sentences , who accounts it a perplexed and almost insoluble difficulty because of the different opinions of doctors about it ; but afterwards st. augustins opinion was generally received both among the schoolmen and canonists ; and is now become a matter of faith in the roman church at least by consequence , since the decrees of councils . and although morinus will not allow that any decree of their church hath passed in this matter , yet he saith , there hath been so long and so universal a consent of doctors in this point , that it ought to be instead of a law , which they ought not to violate . by this we may judge of the learning and skill of t. g. in the doctrine of his own church . but if he would not look into the controversal writers of their church , yet if he had but searched into the practice of the church either in ancient or modern times he would have been ashamed to have made use of such an argument to overthrow all ecclesiastical authority among us . i grant that in some tumultuous ages of the church , ordinations have been adjudged null through the defaults of the persons , but then it was meerly for breaking the canons of the church ; so it was in the case of formosus , for breaking the canons against the translations of bishops ; in the case of ebbo arch-bishop of rhemes , whose ordinations were nulled by hincmarus and the council of soissons , for not being canonically restored after deposition but upon appeal to the pope they were pronounced valid : in the case of pope constantine for precepitating orders to secure the popedom ; in the famous case of photius , whose ordination was declared null by the opposite faction on the same grounds ; but all these things were done in troublesome times , when one party sought a pretence against the other . but if we regard the more general practice of the church , we shall find when far greater objections than these were made , yet ordinations have been allowed ; although made by hereticks . i shall offer him the fairest terms he can desire , and for the practice of the church referr him to his own dear second council of nice , and the modern practice of the roman church . the question of the validity of ordination by hereticks was at large debated in the first action of the second council of nice , upon the submission of basilius , theodorus , and theodosius , hypatius and others who had been bishops of the opposite party , which john the vicar of the orient there declared to be worse than any former heresie : upon which the question was proposed , whether upon renouncing their heresie they might be received as bishops , and the orders be allowed of those who were ordained by them during their heresie ? hypatius appealed to the custom of the church ; then the canons of councils and writings of the fathers were brought into council : tarasius produced the canon of the council of nice , allowing the ordinations of the cathari , and the imposition of hands there mentioned he understands only for benediction , and not for ordination : and the council of ephesus making no distinction between those ordained by nestorians and others ; ( for therein the force of that third canon must lye which tarasius thought so plain ) from st. basil , allowing those bishops which communicated with isoes or zoius and saturninus ; from the council of ephesus allowing the orders of the messaliani or euchitae ; from the council of chalcedon allowing the bishops upon their repentance , which had joyned with dioscorus : and more particularly , for those which had been ordained by heretical bishops , it was there shewed , that anatolius the president of the fourth council was ordained by dioscorus in the presence of eutyches ; that john bishop of hierusalem after he had renounced the acephalists by whom he was ordained , was received and submitted to as bishop by the orthodox ; that many of those who sat in the sixth council were ordained by sergius , pyrrhus , paulus , and petrus , who were in that council declared to be hereticks ; and for 50. years together tarasius saith , they had no other ordinations : upon these evidences of the practice of the church , this council of nice declared likewise , that the ordination of heretical bishops was valid . for the modern practice of the church of rome , i appeal to the allowance therein given to the ordinations of the greek church , although the greek church be charged with heresie ; and that ever since the notorious schism in the time of michael cerularius a. d. 1053. in the time of innocent the third some greek clergy-men living in the dioceses of latin bishops , yet received ordination from greek bishops , which made the latin bishops suspend them from the execution of their office , the pope , hearing of it , sends to his legat , wherein he consents to the suspension in case it were done without leave from the latin bishop ; but if leave were obtained he takes off the suspension ; because this custom is allowed in the church ▪ i need not produce more particular instances in this kind , which may be seen at large in morinus ; because in all the attempts of reconciliation in the several councils held to that purpose , as at lyons , and florence , where all the matters in difference were most fully handed , there was never any objection made to the greek ordinations . but most remarkable to this purpose is the bull of clement the seventh containing in it a former bull of leo the tenth , published by leo allatius , by isaacius habertus , and by morinus , wherein their ordinations and other rites and customs are expresly allowed . and to this day saith morinus they are allowed in rome not only to perform other parts of divine service according to their customs in the church of st. athanasius , but to ordain priests after their own manner ; for which they had a bull of urban the eighth . and now i desire t. g. to consider a little his undeniable maxim , that no man can give to another that which he hath not himself , whether he doth in earnest think that his own church is so bereft of all common sense , as not to understand the force of this maxim ? and if it thought it of any weight in this matter , how it could ever approve the ordinations of hereticks , or decree that the sacraments retain their efficacy , where the essentials of them are observed , whatever the faith or manners of the instruments be ? and this was all i intended in this preface ; of the rest of his book , the reader may expect an account as god gives health and opportunity . the contents . preface to the two first answers . p. 1. a particular examination of the pamphlet entitled doct. stillingfleet against doct. stillingfleet . of the insufficiency of j. w.'s way of answering . p. 13. no contradiction about the charge of idolatry . p. 18. a distinct answer to his propositions . p. 26. in what sense the church of rome is owned by us as a true church . p. 29. his appendix about idolatry considered . p. 34. the second contradiction examined . p. 39. the charge of fanaticism defended . p. 50. no contradiction in the charge of divisions p. 65. the conclusion . p. 71. an answer to the book entitled doct. stillingfleets principles considered . the occasion of annexing those principles . p. 75. of the notion of infallibility . p. 79. n. o's concessions . p. 85. his principles laid down . p. 95. his exceptions answered . p. 98. his proofs of infallibility examined . p. 110. of the arguments from scripture for infallibility . p. 116. of the argument from tradition for it . p. 123. of the argument from parity of reason . p. 137. of the authority of the guides of the church in ten propositions . p. 142. the case of vigilius and honorius at large discussed p. 154 , 159. the different case of the separation of dissenters from our church , and our separation from the church of rome . p. 180. of the means to attain the sense of scripture without an infallible guide . p. 186. of the necessity of a iudge in controversies . p. 191. the way used in the primitive church for finding the sense of scripture through several ages of the christian church from the most authentick writers of them . p. 198. church authority not destroyed by my principles . p. 260. what authority we allow to governors of the church . p. 267. the roman churches way of suppressing sects compared with ours . p. 286. errata . page 20. line 13. read the church . p. 26. l. 14 for and r. that p. 49. l. ● for here r. wh●re p 176 ▪ l ▪ 23. r. eutychianism . p. 177. l. 8. r. followed . p. 17. l. 5. r. patriarchal . p. 182. l. 14. for by r. ●e . p. 189. l. 22. r. apocalyptic● p. 209. l. 30. for boo r. book . p. 225. marg r. vales. not . ad eusch. p. 273. 〈◊〉 r. euclid . p. 271. l. 7. for he makes this , r. this is made . p. 280. l. 5. blot ● . one the. the preface . when i published the late book , which hath so much enraged those of the church of rome against me , i thought i had reason to expect that a just answer should be made to it ; but they have taken an effectual course to undeceive me ; for by this new way i perceive , their utmost ambition is to have something abroad which among themselves may pass for an answer . which put me in mind of what i have heard a great person said , when he had undertaken to manage an ill cause before a publick audience , and one of his friends asked him what he meant by it , trouble not your self , said he , our own side will be sure to believe me . it was surely some such presumption as this , which made the learned authors of these two elaborate pamphlets to appear in such a manner in print , as if it were no great matter what they said , so their people might have this to say , and ( if they can ) believe it too , that my book is answered . if this be all their cause will afford , it deserves rather to be pittied than confuted ; if it will bear more , they are as bad managers of it as their enemies could wish . for however i was threatned before hand that such answers were coming abroad , every line of which would fetch blood ; yet , as cruel as they are when we are under their lash , i found that which they designed for my punishment to give me no small pleasure : and i never had so good an opinion of the mercifulness of their church as when i saw with what feeble hands they chastised me . i had heard so much of their rage , that i expected their greatest strength would be employ'd upon me ; and i could not tell what zamzummims they might hitherto keep in the dark , whose arms were not to be made use of , but upon some special occasion when an adversary was to be dispatch'd all at once and so perfectly subdued as never to appear more . while i was preparing my self for this kind of martyrdome , out come these mighty men of valour , who have beaten nothing that i know of , but the air and themselves ; for they have neither tyed my tongue , nor broke my heart , nor fetched one drop of blood that i can yet find ; all which were things i was told would be done , when these answers came abroad ; which threatnings made so loud a noise , that i heard the report of them not only nearer home , but from very distant persons and places . but lest i should be thought only to despise my adversaries ( which i confess they have given me no small occasion to do ) i shall bestow a particular examination upon what they have offered by way of answer to my book . only i think it reasonable in the first place to take notice of their present way and method of answering , wherein they make use of as many artifices , as they do in gaining proselytes . when we set our selves to answer their books , we endeavour to state the controversie plainly , to examine their proofs , to apply distinct answers to their arguments fairly represented in their own words , and to render the whole discourse as clear and perspicuous as may be , that all persons may be capable of judging on which side the greatest strength and evidence lyes . this is the mighty advantage which a good cause gives us ; we make use of no tricks to deceive men , nor sophistical cavils to confound and perplex things ; we dare appeal to the judgement of any impartial person , who will take the pains to examin the matters in difference between us . but in their late dealings with us , they seek to avoid the main things in dispute , and abhor any methodical proceeding ; one man picks out a sentence here and there to answer , another a page or two together , a third leaps from one thing to another , as if resolv'd to pass by the greatest difficulties ; but he is a man of courage indeed , that dares fall upon the reer , and begin to confute a book at the end of it , so that if he lives long enough , and get heart , he may in time come to the beginning : and if we observe them all , they look for nothing so much as some cleanly way of escape , and if they can but raise such a dust as to fly away without being openly discerned to do so , this they hope those of their own side will be so kind and partial as to call a victory . these are no general accusations , but such as are easie to observe in their dealings with me as to my former book , and that lately published . but to judicious men , all these little arts and shifts are either plain acknowledgements of a baffled cause , or an argument of a weak and unskilful management . if the book it self be a little too troublesome to be medled with , it is best to fall upon the author , and it is a hard case if by false and ridiculous stories , or open calumnies , or at least base and ugly insinuations , they cannot diminish his reputation ; and then they hope the book will sink with its author . but we are not ignorant whose cause is wont to be managed by such devices as these are , and from whom they have learnt this method of confuting adversaries . as for all their railing accusations against me ; i shall not so much as desire god to rebuke them , but only pray that he would pardon them ; and if i must thank them for any thing , it is for giving me the occasion for exercising so great a charity . i have learnt of him who when he was reviled , reviled not again , not only to forbear reproaching them in the same manner , but to return them good for evil , and to pray for them while they calumniate me . i have so much the less reason to wonder that my book should be charged by them with no less than blasphemy , since the author of our religion himself was so , and suffered under that accusation . but wherein i pray doth this blasphemy lye ? have i uttered any thing that tends to the reproach of god or true religion ? have i the least word which malice it self can stretch to the dishonour of iesus christ , the prophets and apostles , or the holy scriptures written by divine inspiration ? no ; i challenge the boldest of them , and most malicious , to produce any thing i ever said or writ that doth but seem to look that way . have i made the practice of true devotion ridiculous , and the real expressions of piety the subject of scorn and derision ? no , so far from it , that it was only a just zeal for the honour and practise of true religion made me willing to lay open the ridiculous fanaticisms of some pretended saints in the roman church . and must they be allowed to charge fanaticism on us , and think it far from blasphemy to represent the enthusiastick follies of the sectaries among us ; and when they are guilty of the very same , or greater , may not we shew their unjustice and partiality , without being accused of blasphemy ? but some of these are canonized saints , as s. brigitt , s. catharine , s. francis , and s. ignatius ; which is so far from making the cause of their church better , that to my understanding it makes it much worse . for although fanaticism be disowned by our church , it seems it is not barely countenanced and allowed in the church of rome , but canonized and adored . that which i insist upon , is this ; either we have no fanaticks , or theirs are so ; for by the very same rule that ours are so , theirs must be too ; for our fanaticks do pretend as high to the spirit and divine revelation as any of theirs ; only there is this remarkable difference between their fanaticks and ours , that ours are among us but not of us , but theirs are both . now if any one who pretends to inspiration and enthusiasm cannot be charged with fanaticism without blasphemy , we must be exposed to all follies and contradictions imaginable ; and to what purpose are we bid to try the spirits whether they be of god or no , i. e. whether their pretence to divine revelation be true or false ? if there may be false pretences to inspiration , we are to examine the grounds of them , and to judge accordingly ; and all false pretenders to inspiration , let them be canonized by whom they will , are the highest sort of fanaticks ; and the greater honour is given them , the greater dishonour it is to the christian religion . but these things shall be more largely discussed in their proper place : i now only take notice of the injustice of their calumny with which they have made so much noise among injudicious people : and i should not have been so much concerned about it , had i not found suggestions to the same purpose in the authors of the two pamphlets . the one of them very kindly makes no difference between lucian , porphyrius and me , but only some interest which doth byass me another way ; and verily believes , good man , that were it not for that , i could flurt with as much piquancy and railery at christian religion , as i do at the roman . in which base suggestion there is no colour of truth , but only that he very honestly distinguisheth the christian , religion and the roman from each other ; as indeed they are in many things as different from each other as truth from falshood , wisdom from folly , and true piety from gross superstition . if he had called me an atheist in plain terms , the grossness of the calumny might have abated the force of it ; but there is no such way to do a man mischief , as by fly insinuations and shrewd suggestions introduced with i verily believe , and expressed with some gravity and zeal . but you who are so good at resolving faith , what is this verily believe of yours founded upon ? have you the authority of your church for it ? have you any evidence of reason ? or rather , have you it by some vision or revelation made by some of those saints , whose fanaticism is exposed ? or do you verily believe it , as you verily believe many other things , for no reason in the world ? if i should tell you i have made it my business to assert the truth of the scriptures , and christian religion therein contained , in a large discourse several years since published ; such is your charity , that you would tell me , so did vaninus write for providence , when he denyed a deity . if i should make large apologies for my innocency , and publish a confession of my faith , with protestations that no interest in the world could remove me from it ; you might tell me , where there is no guilt what need so much ado ? in plain terms , i know but one way to satisfie such as you are , but i will keep from it as long as i can , and that is to go to rome and be burnt for my faith ; for that is the kindness there shewed to those who contend for the purity of the christian religion against the corruptions of the roman . but such calumnies as these , as they are not fit to be passed by , so are they too gross to need any further answer . i shall however declare my mind freely to you ; if i had no other notion of the christian doctrine , than what i have from the doctrines of your church as contrary to ours ; no other measures of christian piety than from your mystical theology ; no better way to worship god than what is practised among you ; no greater certainty of inspiration from god than of the visions and revelations of your late saints ; no other miracles to confirm the christian doctrine than what are wrought by your images and saints , i should sooner choose to be a philosopher , than a christian upon those terms . and i verily believe ( to answer yours with another ) that the frauds and impostures of the roman church have made more atheists in christendom , than any one cause whatsoever besides : for when men resolve all their faith into the testimony of a church whose frauds are so manifest , and confessed by your best writers , such as melchior canus , and ludov. vives ; what can they who know no better , but suspect the inspirations and miracles of former ages , who see such false pretences to them so much magnified , and the fanatick pretenders canonized on that account ? and i am so far from thinking it any disservice to the christian religion to expose these fanaticisms , that i again verily believe that christianity will never obtain as it ought to do among men , till all those hypocritical cheats be yet more laid open to the view of the world ; which if any one have but the courage and patience to undertake , it would be as great , and a much more useful labour than the cleansing of the augean stable . this is not to make sport and recreation for the atheist and debauched , nor to give occasion to such persons to turn the inspirations of holy-scripture into matter of drollery and buffonry , as the author of the second pamphlet tragically declaims ; any more than our saviours unmasking the hypocrisie of the scribes and pharisees was the destroying the law of moses ; or the discovery of cheats and impostors doth give occasion to suspect the honesty of all mankind : nay so far is it from that , that we think the separating of fanaticism from true inspiration to be one of the best services that can be done to the christian religion , which otherwise is in danger of being despised or rejected by the considerate part of mankind . but i would fain know of these men , whether they do in earnest make no difference between the writings of such as mother iuliana and the books of scripture ; between the revelations of s. brigitt , s. catharine , &c. and those of the prophets ; between the actions of s. francis and ignatius loyola and those of the apostles ? if they do not , i know who they are that expose our religion to purpose ; if they do make a difference , how can the representing their visions and practices reflect dishonour upon the other , so infinitely above them , so much more certainly conveyed down to us with the consent of the whole christian world ? thus much may here suffice to represent the arts our adversaries are driven to , to defend themselves ; i cannot blame them that they would engage religion on their side , but so have all fanaticks in the world as well as they ; and i cannot for my heart see , but this heavy charge of blasphemy and undermining religion does as justly lye on them , who deride the fanaticks among us , as on those who have discovered the fanaticism of the church of rome . an examination of the pamphlet , entituled , dr. stillingfleet against dr. stillingfleet . having thus far laid open their present way of dealing with their adversaries , i now come to a particular consideration of these two pamphlets ; and begin with that called dr. stillingfleet against dr. stillingfleet , &c. the author of which is to be commended for so noble an enterprise ( which few of the champions of former ages could accomplish ) viz. to make his adversary fall by his own sword . but the mischief of it is , these romantick knights do hurt no where but in paper and their own imagination . but i forget his grave admonition , that i would treat these matters seriously , and lay aside drollery . to be then as grave as he can desire , there are these two things which i design to prov●● against him . 1. that on supposition i di●● contradict my self , in the way he insists upo●n it , that were no sufficient answer to my book . 2. that i am far enough from contradicting my self in any one of the things which 〈◊〉 insists upon . 1. supposing what he contends for were true , yet my book remains unanswered ; the design of which was to shew that no man can joyn in the communion of the roman church without great hazard of his salvation . if i had any where said the contrary , this indeed would have made it evident that i had contradicted my self . but what then ? doth the force of all the arguments used by me in this last discourse fall to the ground , because i was formerly of another opinion ? let me ask these revolters from the church of england one question ; whether they do not now more plainly contradict themselves as to their former opinions , than they can pretend that i have ever done ? i desire to know , whether this makes all their present arguments for the roman church of no force ? if they think their present reasons ought to be answered whatever contrary opinion they had before ; why , on supposition i had contradicted in a a former book what i say in this , must this render all that i have said , or can hereafter say in this matter , invalid ? doth the strength of all lye upon my bare affirming or denying ? was it ever true because i said it ? if not , how comes it to be untrue now , because i deny it ? i do not remember i was ever so vain , to make use of my own authority to prove a thing to be true , because i believed it ; and if i had , the world is not so vain to believe a man one jot the sooner for it . if my authority in saying or denying be of no importance to the truth of the thing , then he may prove that i contradict my self , and yet all the arguments of my book be as strong as ever . i do not desire any one to follow my opinion because it is mine , but i offer reason and authority for the proof of what i say ; if those be good in themselves , they do not therefore cease to be so , because they are , or seem to he inconsistent with what i have said elsewhere . so that self-contradiction being proved , overthrows not the reason of the thing , but the authority of the person ; and where things depend meerly upon authority , it is a good argument , and no where else . if a witness in a court contradicts himself , his testimony signifies nothing ; because there is nothing else but his authority that makes his testimony valid ; but if a lawyer at the bar chance to speak inconsistently , if afterwards he speaks plain and evident reason , does that take off the force of it , because he said something before which contradicted that plain reason ? if the pope , or those who pretend to be infallible , contradict themselves , that sufficiently overthrows their pretence of infallibility ; for he that changeth his mind , must be deceived once ; but for us fallible mortals , if we once hit upon reason and truth , and manage the evidence of it clearly , that reason doth not lose its former evidence , because the same persons may afterwards oppose it . suppose i should be able to prove that bellarmine in his recognitions contradicts what he had said in his former books ; doth this presently make all his arguments useless , and him uncapable of ever appearing in controversie more ? doth this make all his authorities false and his reasons unconcluding ? doth it hence follow that he spake no where consistently , because once or twice , or perhaps as often as his neighbours , he contradicted himself ? but my grave adversary , i. w. imagines that we writers of controversies are like witnesses in chancery , and are bound to make affidavits before the masters of this court of controversie ; and that whatever we say is to be taken as upon our oath ; this indeed would be an excellent way of bringing controversies to an issue , if we were to be sworn whether such a thing as transubstantiation were true or false ; and i cannot tell whether this , or laying wagers , or the popes infallibility be the best way to end such controversies ; for any one of them would do it , if people could but agree about it . but now my adversary says , that if a man once contradict himself he is to be looked on as a perjured person , and whatever he saith , his word is not to be taken . this he not only begins with , but very triumphantly concludes with it in these words , and this alone may suffice to annul ▪ whatever he has hitherto , or shall hereafter object against us ; for a witness , who has been once palpably conuinced to have forsworn or contradicted himself in matters of moment , besides the condign punishment he is lyable unto , he does vacate all evidences produced by him , against his adversary , and deserves never more to be heard against him in any tribunal . i see now what it is they would be at , no less than perpetual silence and being set in the pillory with that pamphlet on my forehead dr. still . against dr. still . for being guilty of contradicting my self , would satisfie i. w. and his friends ; this i suppose was the meaning of stopping my mouth for ever , when this answer was to come out . but now i perceive it is so dangerous a thing , i had best stand upon my defence , and utterly deny that i have contradicted my self in any thing , in which i. w. hath charged me . 2. to make it then out that this is a groundless charge , i must go through the several particulars insisted on . the first is in the charge of idolatry ; but how do i contradict my self about this ? had i vindicated the church of rome from idolatry in my defence of arch-bishop laud , this had been indeed to contradict my self : but this is not so much as pretended ; and if it were , nothing could be more easily confuted ; for in that very book , as it falls out very happily , there is a discourse to the same purpose , proving the church of rome guilty of idolatry , in invocation of saints and the worship of images , and that the heathen , in the worship of inferiour deities and images , might be excused on the same grounds that those of the church of rome do excuse themselves . here is then no appearance of a contradiction in terms ; and it is only pretended to be by consequence , viz. from yielding that the church of rome and we do not differ in fundamental points , and that the church of rome is therefore a true church ; from whence he inferrs , that it cannot be guilty of idolatry : because to teach that , would be a fundamental errour , and inconsistent with the being of a true church : and therefore to charge the church of rome with idolatry , and to allow it to be a true church is a contradiction . this is the substance of what he saith upon this head : to which i shall answer by shewing , 1. that this way of answering is very disingenuous . 2. that it is sophistical , and proves not the thing which he intends . 1. that it is a disingenuous way ; because he barely opposes a judgement of charity concerning their church , to a judgement of reason concerning the nature of actions , without at all examining the force of those reasons which are produced in the book he pretends to answer . can i. w. imagine , that any one who enquires into the safest way for his salvation , and hears the church of rome charged with idolatry in her worship , by arguments drawn from the plain law of god , the common sense of mankind , the repugnancy of their way of worship to the conceptions we ought to have of the divine nature , the consent of the ancient christian church , the parity of the case in many respects with the heathen idolaters , should presently conclude , that all these arguments are of no force , meerly because the person who made use of them , had upon another occasion judged so charitably of that church , as to suppose it still to retain the essentials of a true church ? i will put a case paralled to this ; suppose one of the church of iudah should have call'd the church of israel in the time of ieroboam a true church , because they acknowledged the true god , and did believe an agreement in that common acknowledgement to be sufficient to preserve the essentials of a church among them ; and afterwards the same person should go about to convince the ten tribes of their idolatry in worshipping god , by the calves of dan and bethel : would this be thought a sufficient way of answering him , to say , that he contradicted himself , by granting them a true church and yet charging them with idolatry ? whereas the only true consequence would be , that he thought some kind of idolatry consistent with the being of a church . might not such a person justly say , that they made a very ill use of his charity , when he supposed only that kind of idolatry which implyes more gods than one , to unchurch a people ; but however , those persons were more concerned to vindicate themselves from idolatry of any kind , than he was to defend his charitable opinion of them ; and if they could prove to him , that this inferiour sort of idolatry does unchurch them as well as the grosser , the consequence of it would be that his charity must be so much the less , but their danger would be the same . this is just our case with the church of rome ; we acknowledge that they still retain the fundamental articles of the christian faith , that there is no dispute between them and us about the true god and his son iesus christ , as to his death , resurrection , glory , and being the proper object of divine worship ; we yield that they have true baptism among them , in the name of the father , son , and holy ghost ; and we looking upon these as the essentials of a true church , do upon that account own that church to be so : but then we charge the roman church , with gross corrupting that worship which is proper to the divine nature , by her worship of images , adoration of the host , and invocation of saints ; which being done , not in express terms against the worship of the true god , but by consequence , we do not think this doth destroy the being of a church among them ; although it makes the salvation of persons in her communion extreamly hazardous : and after we have gone about to prove this by many and weighty arguments , is it reasonable for any one to tell us that we contradict our selves , and therefore our arguments do signifie nothing ? whereas in truth , here is no appearance of a contradiction to that which is our own sense in this matter . for what shadow of a contradiction is it , to say , that the roman church is a true church , and yet is guilty of idolatry ; supposing that we believe some sort of idolatry which is very sinful , not to be yet of so high a nature as to unchurch those who practise it ; and we choose the instance of the ten tribes for the ground of this charity . if they can prove that all sorts of idolatry do necessarily destroy the essentials of a church , the consequence is , we must have less charity for them , than we had before ; and such a concession from us doth not shew their guilt to be less , but only our charity to be greater . suppose a man should exceed in his charity towards a person guilty of some grievous faults , and say , he believes he may be a pious man for all this ; but withall severely reproves him for his faults , and tells him the danger he continually runs by such actions ; would it be fair for such a man to answer him , that his reproofs were not to be regarded , because he contradicted himself , for he told him he believed him to be a pious man , and yet upbraided him with those faults which were inconsistent with piety ? what would the consequence of this be to the thing it self ? would this make those faults ever the less , because he judged so charitably of the person notwithstanding his committing them ? but when we allow the church of rome to be a true church , we are far from understanding by that a sound or a good church free from corruptions , which would be the most proper sense to found a contradiction upon , in this matter of idolatry ; but we mean no more by it , than as a man is a true man though he hath the plague upon him ; those which we account the essentials of a church we deny not to it , but withall , we contend that it is over-run with such corruptions in worship , as do mightily endanger the salvation of those who live in the communion of it . 2. having thus discovered the disingenuity of making so bad a use of our charity against us , i now come to shew how sophistical this way of answering is , by a closer examination of it . first , the starting of a new objection answers no argument , and all that this amounts to is only raising a new difficulty ; whereas he ought in the first place to have answered all the arguments i had brought to prove them guilty of idolatry ; and when he had done this fairly and plainly ( which for some good reasons he had no mind to do ) he might then have insisted on the inconsistency of it with principles owned by me ; but to do this without giving an answer , so much as to any one argument , is a clear evidence of a sophistical and cavilling humour , rather than of any intention to satisfie an inquisitive mind . 2. the force of this objection lyes in the different sense and meaning of several expressions made use of by him , which being explained , the objection will signifie nothing . for if we rightly understand the notion of idolatry , the manner of teaching it , the sense of fundamental errours and a true church , as it is owned by me , the very appearance of any contradiction vanisheth . i agree in the general , that the true notion of idolatry is , giving the honour due only to god to a meer creature ; and i desire no greater advantage against the church of rome , than from such a concession ; but then we are to understand , that this may be done several ways . 1. when the worship proper to the true god is given to a false god. 2. when the true god is acknowledged and worshipped , but the unity of the god-head is denyed , and many false gods are joyned with him in the same worship . in these two sorts of idolatry , i acknowledge that the true god is rejected , either wholly in the first way , or by consequence in the second . but withall i say , that the giving the worship to a creature which is due only to god may be consistent with the acknowledgement of one supream god , and that these ways . 1. when one supream god is acknowledged , but no difference is put between the external worship of him and creatures . this was the idolatry of the wiser heathen , who did in their consciences acknowledge that there was but one true and supream god , but yet gave the same worship to inferiour deities , that they did to him . these men might have pleaded for themselves , for all that i know , as much to their advantage , as those of the church of rome do against me . 2. when the worship proper to the true god is given to an image : or the supposing of god to be truly honoured by us , by prostrating our selves before any corporeal representation of him . this likewise the heathen were guilty of . st. paul hath long since told us of some , who profess that they know god , but in works they deny him ; so there may be some who may profess a worship due only to god , but in their actions may contradict it . as suppose a company of rebellious men , should declare over and over that they acknowledge but one soveraign power of this nation , invested in the person of the king ; but yet , should take upon themselves to raise forces , to appoint great officers of state , and require that the very same outward reverence and honour be given to them , which is given to the king himself ; would any man in his sense say , that because these men still declared the supream authority to be in the king , that there was no treason in such actions ? or that those persons contradicted themselves , who allowed that their profession was such as became good subjects , but their actions made them guilty of treason . the same we say of the church of rome ; we confess they own the supream power of the world to be in one true god , and we have no controversie with them about the essential doctrines of religion ( which is , that we mean by their being a true church ) but withal we say , they overthrow what they say in their own practice , they rob god of the honour due only to him , by giving it to angels , and saints , and images and other creatures . and what contradiction now is there in all this , and a church agreeing with us in the object of worship in general , should act contrary to its own profession , by requiring those things to be done , which take away from god that honour which is due only to him , and giving it to creatures ? and this , if i understand it , is all that this first contradiction in the charge of idolatry doth amount to . to appply this now to his own propositions , for the greater clearness and satisfaction of all indifferent persons ▪ his first proposition i agree to , viz. that 't is an article of faith , and a fundamental point of religion , that the honour which is due only to god is not to be given to a meer creature . but i desire it may be taken notice of , that this proposition is sophistically expressed ; for although it be no dispute between us , whether that honour which is due only to god , may be given to a creature , yet it is a very great one , and the foundation of the charge of idolatry , what that honour is which is due only to god : and in case we can prove that they do give to meer creatures any part of that honour which is due to god , it cannot at all excuse them to say , that they acknowledge it to be idolatry to give that honour , which they suppose to be due only to god , to a meer creature . this proposition therefore , though in it self true , is captiously set down , and with an intention only to deceive unwary readers , as will appear by the next proposition . 2. to teach idolatry is to err against the formentioned article of faith and fundamental point of religion ; i. e. to teach idolatry , is to teach that the honour which is due only to god is to be given to a meer creature . that this is to teach idolatry , no one questions ; but our question is , whether they who do not teach this proposition , may not teach men to do those things , whereby the worship due only to god will be given to a meer creature ? if he can prove , that they who do not in terms declare that they do not dishonour god cannot dishonour him ; if he can demonstrate , that those who do not teach that the honour which is due only to god is to be given to a creature , cannot possibly by any actions of theirs rob him of that honour which is due to him : this will be much more to his purpose than any thing he hath yet said . and this proposition , if he had proceeded as he ought to have done , should not have been a particular affirmative but an universal negative ; for it is not enough to say , that to teach idolatry is to teach that the honour which is due only to god is to be given to a creature , but that no church which doth not teach this can be guilty of idolatry ; for his design being to clear the roman church , his proposition ought to be so framed that all particulars may be comprehended under it . but because he may say , his immediate intention was , not to clear their church from idolatry , but to accuse me of a contradiction , i proceed to the next proposition . 3. a church that does not err against any article of faith , nor against any fundamental point of religion , does not teach idolatry . this proposition is likewise very sophistical and captious ; for by article of faith and fundamental point of religion is either understood , the main fundamental points of doctrine contained in the apostles creed , and then i affirm , that a church which doth own all the fundamentals of doctrine , may be guilty of idolatry , and teach those things , wherein it lyes ; but if by not erring against any article of faith , be meant , that a church which doth not err at all in matters of religion cannot teach idolatry , the proposition is true , but impertinent . 4. that the church of rome doth teach veneration of images , adoration of the host , and invocation of saints , is agreed on both sides . 5. that the roman church does not err against any article of faith or fundamental point of religion ; this being that concession of ours , from whence all the force of his argument is taken , must be explained according to our own sense of it , and not according to that which he puts upon it ; which that it may be better understood , i shall both shew in what sense this concession is made by us , as to the church of rome , and of what force it is in this present debate . for the clearer understanding in what sense it is made by us , we are to consider the occasion of the controversie about fundamentals between us and the church of rome : which ought to be taken from that book to which he referrs . there we find the occasion of it to be , the romanists contending that all points defined by the church are fundamental , or necessary to salvation , on the account of such a definition ; upon this the controversie about fundamentals was managed against them , with a design to prove that all things defined by the church of rome are not fundamental , or necessary to be believed by all persons in order to their salvation , because they were so defined . to this purpose i enquired . 1. what the grounds are , on which any thing doth become necessary to salvation ? 2. whether any thing whose matter is not necessary , and is not required by an absolute command in scripture , can by any means whatsoever afterwards become necessary ? 3. whether the church hath power , by any proposition or definition , to make anything become necessary to salvation , and to be believed as such , which was not so before ? for the first , i proposed two things . 1. what things are necessary to the salvation of men as such , or considered in their single or private capacities ? 2. what things are necessary to be owned in order to salvation by christian societies , or as the bonds and conditions of ecclesiastical communion ? for the resolving of this i laid down these three propositions . 1. that the very being of a church , doth suppose the necessity of what is required to be believed in order to salvation . 2. whatever church owns those things , which are antecedently necessary to the being of a church , cannot so long cease to be a true church . and here i expresly distinguished between the essentials of a church , and those things which were required to the integrity or soundness of it , among which latter i reckoned the worship of god in the way prescribed by him . 3. that the union of the catholick church depended upon the agreement of it in things antecedently necessary to its being . from hence i proceeded to shew , that nothing ought to be owned as necessary to salvation by christian societies , but such things which by all those societies are acknowledged antecedently necessary to the being of the catholick church . and here i distinguished between necessary articles of faith , and particular agreements for the churches peace . i did not therefore deny , but that it was in the power of particular churches , to require a subscription to articles of religion , opposite to the errours and abuses which they reformed ; but i denyed it to be in the power of any church to make those things necessary articles of faith , which were not so before . and here it was i shewed the moderation of the church of england above that of rome ; in that our church makes no articles of faith , but such as have the testimony and approbation of the whole christian world of all ages , and are acknowledged to be such by rome it self : but the church of rome imposeth new articles of faith , to be believed as necessary to salvation ; as appears by the bull of pius 4. this is my plain meaning , which half-witted men have stretched and abused to several ill purposes : but not to wander from my present subject , what is it that i. w. can hence infer to his purpose ? viz. that from hence it follows that the church of rome does not erre against any article of faith , or any point necessary to salvation ; which if it be only meant of those essential points of faith , which i suppose antecedently necessary to the being of a church , i deny it not , but do not see of what use this concession can be to them in the present debate : since in the following discourse i made the ancient creeds of the catholick church the best measure of those things , which were believed to be necessary to salvation : so that the force of the argument comes to this , whatsoever church does embrace the ancient creeds cannot be guilty of idolatry ; but the church of rome doth embrace all the ancient creeds by my own concession , therefore it is a contradiction for me to grant that they hold the ancient creeds , and yet to charge them with idolatry . and these matters being thus made plain , there is no great difficulty to answer , by denying the major proposition , and asserting that a church which does own all the articles of faith which are contained in them , may yet teach and practise those things , which take away from that worship which is proper only to god , and give it to meer creatures ; as i have proved the church of rome doth in the worship of images , adoration of the host , and invocation of saints . but to make this yet more plain , there are two things we consider in a church , the essence , and the soundness of it ; as in a man , we consider his being a man and his health : when we discourse of his meer being , we enquire into no more than those things which make him a man , whether he be sound or not : so in a church , when we enquire into the essentials of it , we think it not necessary to go any farther than the doctrinal points of faith ; the reason is , because baptism admits men into the church upon the profession of the true faith in the father , son , and holy ghost ; and whatever is sufficient to make a member of the church , that is in it self sufficient , being embraced , to make a church ; but when we enquire farther into the moral integrity , or soundness of a church , then we think our selves bound , not barely to know what is acknowledged and received , but how far it is so ; and whether that church which owns the fundamentals of christian faith , doth not by gross and damnable errours corrupt the worship of god , and debauch those very principles which they profess to own . and in this respect none of us ever said , that the church of rome did not err ; nay we do say and have manifestly proved , that she hath erred against the christian faith , by introducing palpable errours in doctrine , and manifold superstitions and idolatries in practice . from hence it plainly appears , that the concession i. w. urges me with of the church of rome being a true church signifies nothing , in the sense by me intended , which contradicts the charge of idolatry ; unless they can prove that none who own the apostles creed , or their baptism , can so long as they so do , teach idolatry , or be guilty of giving the honour due only to god to meer creatures . these things being thus explained , i hope the sophistry of this way of arguing is made so evident , that no man of understanding , that resolves not before hand what to believe , is capable of being deceived by it . before i come to the next contradiction charged upon me , i shall for the diversion of the reader , and the suitableness of the matter , take notice of his appendix , wherein i. w. goes about so pleasantly to prove me an idolater , by a notable trick , which it seems came into his head a little too late , after he had finisht this worthy treatise . i should have suspected it had been intended only for a piece of drollery , but that the man so severely rebukes me for it , and withall talks of nothing less than demonstration in the case . what ? ( thought i ) is it come to this at last ? and am i become an idolater too , who was never apt to think my self enclined so much as to superstition ? but what can not the controverting wit of man do , upon second and serious thoughts ? all the comfort i found left was towards the conclusion , wherein he confesses that the same argument proves the prophets , evangelists and holy ghost himself to be idolaters ; nay then , i hoped there was no great harm to be feared in so good company ; and by that consideration armed my self against this terrible assault . but at last as he made nearer approaches to me , i found no mischief was like to come , but what i brought upon my self ; for he charged me with nothing but my own artillery , and the train that was laid to blow me up was fetched from my own stores ; only he had disposed it in a way fittest for this deep design . but the best of it was , his plot went no farther than my idolatry , and both lay only in imagination . for there he makes the seat of my idolatry , which he demonstratively proves must be so by my own argument . i shall therefore conside● what that was , and with what great art he imploys it against me . among other arguments to shew that the prohibition of worshipping images was not peculiar to the iews , but of an unalterable nature , i insisted upon gods declaring the unsuitableness of it to his own infinite and incomprehensible nature , which could not be represented to men , but in a way which must be an infinite disparagement to it . to whom will ye liken god ? or what likeness will ye compare to him ? it is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth , &c. and the reason given of the law it self was , because they saw no s●militude of god ; from hence i shewed , that the wisest nations and persons among the heathen looked on the worship of god by images , as unsuitable to a divine and infinite being , and that the gospel still more discovered gods spiritual nature , and the agreeableness of spiritual worship to him ; that the apostles urged this argument against the heathen idolatry ; and the fathers of the church thought the reason of this law did equally oblige us with the iews ; now by what art doth he from hence prove me necessarily to be an idolater , as well as they of the church of rome , who worship god by images against the very words and reason of this law ? the argument is briefly summed up by himself thus : whoever worships god represented in a way far inferiour to his greatness is an idolater ; but whosoever worships god represented to him without the beatifical vision , either by words or by imaginations as well as images , he worships god in a way far inferiour to his greatness ; ergo , whoever worships god represented unto him without the beatifical vision is an idolater : but dr. st. worships god without the beatifical vision ( no doubt of it ) ergo , dr. st. is an idolater : there is no help for it . nay , from hence he proves , that i cannot so much as think of god without idolatry my self , nor preach of him without provoking others to it . o the insuperable force of reason , and the dint of demonstration ! but the mischief is , all this subtilty is used against the law-maker and not against me . did i not cite the words of god himself , who therefore did forbid the making any likeness of him , because nothing could be like him ? is there no difference between having imperfect conceptions of god in our minds , and making unworthy representations of him to our senses , with a design to worship them ? why did not god as well forbid the one as he did the other ? were the israelites then in the beatifical vision ? were their conceptions of god suitable to his incomprehensible nature ? if not , why were they not forbidden as well to think of god as to make any images of him ? is god as much disparaged by the necessary weakness of our understandings , as by voluntarily false and corporeal images of him ? nay doth not god design to prevent the errour of our imaginations by such prohibitions as those are ? and thereby commands us to think worthily of him , and when we pray to him , to consider him only as an infinite being in his nature and attributes ? i do not know what imaginations others have of god ; it may be those in the church of rome measure all by themselves , and god by their images of him , and thence conclude , that no men can think of god , but as they picture him , like an old man sitting in heaven ; but i assure them , i never had such an imagination of him , and if i had , should think it very unworthy of him . i know no other conception of god , but of a being infinitely perfect ; and this is rather an intellectual apprehension , than a material imagination of him . i am assured that he is , by mighty and convincing arguments , but to bring him down to my imagination , is to contradict the evidence that i have of his being ; for the same reasons which convince me that he is , do likewise convince me that he is infinite in power , and wisdom , and goodness . if i thought otherwise of him , i should know no reason to give him the worship of my mind and soul. although my conceptions cannot reach his greatness , yet they do not confine it , nor willfully debase it ; they do not bring him down to the meanness of a corporeal image . but because we cannot think highly enough of god , must we therefore devise ways to expose him to contempt and scorn ? and we cannot but despise a deity to whom any image can be like . but such absurd and silly arguments deserve no farther confutation . they indeed may take more liberty , who write to those who are bound not to judge of what is writ , but only to cry it up . as for us , who think it not fit to have our people in such slavery , we dare not venture such idle stuff among them . i come therefore to the second contradiction he charges me with , which is , concerning the danger of salvation which they are lyable to who communicate with the roman church , when yet i acknowledge that church to be a true church , and therefore to be a true way to salvation : and withall arch b. laud , whom i defend , doth grant a possibility of salvation to those in the church of rome . the force of this contradiction depending on these concessions , i shall , 1. shew in what sense they are granted by us . 2. examin the strength of the propositions he draws from hence , towards the making this a contradiction . 1. concerning the roman church being a true church : the arch-bishops adversary having falsely charged him with granting the roman church to be a right church , he complains of his injustice in it ; and saith , that it is a church and a true church he granted , but not a right church ; for truth only imports the being ; right , perfection in conditions ; thus a thief is a true man , though not an upright man. so a corrupt church may be true , as a church is a company of men which profess the faith of christ , and are baptized into his name ; but it is not therefore a right church either in doctrine or manners ; and again saith , it is true in that sense , as ens and verum , being and true , are convertible one with another ; and every thing that hath a being is truly that being which it is in truth of subtance . the replyer to him , saith , that the notion of a church implyes integrity and perfection of conditions ; upon which i gave him this answer , that he did herein betray his weak or willful mistakes of a church morally for metaphysically true . if he could prove it impossible for a church to retain its being that hath any errours in doctrine , or corruptions in practice , he would therein do something to the purpose ; but when he had done it , all that he would get by it was , that then we should not so much as acknowledge the roman church to be metaphysically a true church ; and therefore the reader is left to judge , whether his lordships charity for , or his testimony against their church was built upon better grounds . by this it is evident in what sense it was granted , that the roman church was a true church . 2. concerning possibility of salvation in that church ; to the question that was asked my lord of canterbury , whether a person might be saved in the roman faith ? he gives this answer , that the ignorant that could not discern the errours of that church , so they held the foundation and conformed themselves to a religious life might be saved : and after explains himself more fully , that might be saved grants but a possibility , no sure or safe way of salvation ; the possibility , i think , saith he , cannot be denyed to the ignorants , especially because they hold the foundation and cannot survey the building . and the foundation can deceive no man that rests upon it : but a secure way they cannot go , that hold with such corruptions when they know them . and again , many protestants indeed confess , there is salvation possible to be attained in the roman church ; but yet they say withall , that the errours of that church are so many , ( and some so great , as weaken the foundation ) that it is very hard to go that way to heaven , especially to them that have had the truth manifested . and in another place , i do indeed for my part ( leaving other men free to their own judgement ) acknowledge a possibility of salvation in the roman church : but so as that which i grant to romanists , is not as they are romanists , but as they are christians , that is , as they believe the creed , and hold the foundation christ himself , not as they associate themselves wittingly and knowingly to the gross superstitions of the roman church . and i am willing to hope there are many among them , which keep within that church , and yet wish the superstitions abolished which they know , and which pray to god to forgive their errours in what they know not , and which hold the foundation firm and live accordingly , and would have all things amended that are amiss , were it in their power . and to such i dare not deny a possibility of salvation , for that which is christs in them , though they hazard themselves extreamly , by keeping so close to that which is superstition , and in the case of images comes too near idolatry . these are my lord of canterburies own words , and laid together in my defence of him , which i. w. ought to have represented , if he had designed any thing but sophistry and trifling . but his game had been then quite spoiled ; the fine sport of making contradictions had been lost , and his cross purposes had come to nothing . i now come to see what contradictions he wire-draws from hence by the help of his propositions . 1. whoever is in a condition , wherein he is certainly saved , is in no danger or probability of being damned . if by he is certainly saved , he speaks of the event , then he were a hard hearted man that would not grant , that he that is actually saved is in no danger or probability of being damned ; if he means it of a certain way to salvation , then it is yet capable of several meanings . for to be in a certain way may imply one of these three things . 1. that the way it self is so plain that a man cannot miss of it . 2. or that the way is in it self certain , but there are so many by-paths and turnings lying hard by it , that it is a very hard matter for any man to keep in it . 3. to be in a certain way , is , when not only the way it self is certain , but a man keeps constantly in that way . according to these several senses this proposition may be understood ; if by it be meant . 1. he that is in a certain way to salvation , is in no danger or probability of being damned , i. e. he that keeps constantly in that way which will certainly lead him to heaven , the proposition is true , but impertinent ; but if by it be meant no more but this , that he is in a way which in it self leads to heaven , but there are so many cross and by-paths near it , that though it be possible for him to hit it , yet it is extreamly hazardous , no one can imagine that such a one is in no probability of miscarrying , for we say he is in very great danger of it , notwithstanding the tendency of the way it self . 2. prop. whoever lives and dyes in a true way to salvation , having conformed to its directions , or whoever has done all that was necessary to attain unto salvation is in a condition , wherein he is certainly saved . the sophistry of this is so palpable , that the weakest eye may discern it ; for it supposes that true way to salvation wherein he lives to be a very safe and secure way , i. e. that it be not only true in it self , but free from such errours and corruptions which may endanger salvation ; and in that sense it is true , but very far from the purpose . for none of us did ever yield that the roman church is a safe way to salvation ; nay it is expresly denyed by my lord of canterbury , as well as by me . but here lyes still another piece of sophistry to be taken notice of , whoever hath done all that was necessary to attain salvation , is in a condition wherein he is certainly saved ; no doubt of it ; but the doing all that is necessary to salvation is not bare believing the necessary articles of faith , contained in the creed , but obeying the will of god ; which cannot be done by those who wilfully adhere to gross and open violations of it ; as i have charged the church of rome to do , in her solemn acts of worship . their cause certainly is at a very low ebb when such pittiful sophistry , must pass for reasoning and demonstration among them . never men had more need of a self-evidencing cause , as well as propositions , than they ; so little help do they contribute to it by their writings . 3 prop. the roman church is a true way to salvation , and teaches all that is necessary to attain unto it . this is granted , he saith , by me and other protestants , when we acknowledge the roman church to be a true church ; but in what sense , i have already explained , so far as to leave no colour of arguing from hence to any contradiction in me . for this true way to salvation in our sense is no more , but that the church of rome doth acknowledge so much of christian faith , as is sufficient to save men , on condition they live accordingly , and do not by gross corruptions in doctrine or practice render that faith ineffectual to them : but withall we assert and maintain , that to these necessary articles of christian faith , the church of rome hath added such errours and corruptions , as make the salvation of any person extreamly hazardous , who lives in the communion of it . and let them have all the comfort from hence which they can , i am sure they have not this , that they have brought me to contradict my self by such concessions as these . by this , his last proposition comes to nothing ; whoever lives and dyes in the communion of the roman church , having conformed to her doctrine , lives and dyes in a true way to salvation having conformed to its directions , and has done all that was necessary to attain to it . which evidently supposes that we yield that the doctrine of the roman church , is a safe way to salvation , which we utterly deny ; all that we assert is , that so much of the common principles of christianity , as is retained in the roman church is sufficient for the salvation of those , who do not wilfully corrupt them by bad opinions and practices , or if they have , do repent sincerely . but for those who conform themselvs to the doctrine and directions of the roman church as such , we are far from ever saying that such live and dye in a true way to salvation ; for this were to make those doctrines and directions to be as holy and innocent as we believe them to be false and pernicious . see now what a contradiction here is ; for me to assert the church of rome to be a true church , because it retains the fundamentals of christianity ; and yet to make the condition of those who live in it so hazardous in point of salvation , by reason of the gross errours , which men are bound to believe as necessary points of faith ; and horrible superstitions which they must conform to , if they follow her directions . surely he could not but know this to be our meaning , and consequently to have no shadow of contradiction in it , no more than is in this plain proposition , that a possible way to salvation may yet be very dangerous . but though iugglers know their own cheats , they would lose their trade if they made them known to the people . something must be said to amuse them , and this seemed the prettiest way , to confound them , by dazeling their eyes with such appearances of contradictions : and thereby to perswade their own party , that they need not fear the the attaque of such an enemy who falls foul upon himself . but it is nothing but the mist he casts before their eyes , can make any have such an imagination ; it is but making things clear , and then nothing but order and agreement appears . but yet he quarrels with me , for making the case of living in willful sin and in the corruptions of the roman church parallel with each other ; 1. because i will not grant that a willful sin , such as adultery , to be a true way to heaven ; and doth he think that i ever imagined idolatry and gross superstition to be so ; if i grant that in the church of rome they have a true way to heaven , it is as other debauched christians have , who own faith enough to save them , but their destruction comes from not living agreeably to it . 2. because i grant more to them than to iews or pagans , yet they may be saved if they do repent . true , but they are not in so great likelyhood of repenting , as those who own the fundamental articles of the christian faith , and have a sincere desire in general to serve god according to his will ; the grace of god being more plentiful , where the christian faith is owned , than where it is rejected ; upon which account iews and heathens are in more danger of not repenting , and consequently of salvation than those that live in the roman church . 3. because i grant a greater capacity of salvation to roman catholicks than they do to protestants ; but they do not d●ny it to protestants if they repent . but the difference lyes in the nature and acts of the rep●●tance required ; we say a 〈◊〉 repentanced and a vertuous sincere mind , which desires to know & do the will of god may be sufficient , together with a particular repentance of all known miscarriages ; but they say such a repentacne is necessary for us , as does imply a disowning our church , as such wherein no salvation is to be had , and a joyning with the communion of the church of rome : therefore the question about their charity and ours , is about the possibility of the salvation of persons living and dying in the communion of either church ; we say on the conditions before mentioned , men may be saved , though they do not in terms renounce their communion , but they say that none who do not return to their communion can be saved ; and in this we justly charge them with horrible uncharitableness , when many of their writers allow a greater possibility of salvation to meer heathens . 4. because arch-bishop laud grants a greater capacity of salvation than other protestants ; but in what sense i have already shewed . 5. that this is in effect to say , that it is a true way to heaven if they go out of it . not if they go out of it so far as it is true , but so far only as it is false and dangerous . if a man were going the right way from london to york , as far as stamford , and there went quite out of his way into the fens , here his life is in danger ; if i should tell this man that the way from london to york was a certain way , that the way he went in as far as stamford was a true way , and if he had kept in it , would have brought him to york , but the way he is now in is very dangerous , and if he does not return , his life is in perpetual hazard ; is this all one as if i should tell him , while you were in the true way , you must go out of it ? no such sense can be put upon such words , by any man that hath sense ; and for others , we give them leave to cry nonsense and contradiction . all his other petty objections run upon the same palpable mistake , and it would be but repeating the same thing to answer the other remaining cavils upon this argument . i come therefore to the sore place indeed , the touching whereof hath made them to kick and wince so much at me ; and that is the fanaticism of the roman church . which made them complain to caesar , that it was a new crime , and never heard of before . what ? they ; the sober , the judicious , the wise people of the church of rome turned fanaticks ! it's false , it 's impossible ; nay , it is absolutely and utterly impossible to be true ; and none but atheists can charge them with it . this hath been their common way of answering to this new charge ; but not one wise word hath been said in a just vindication of themselves , by giving answer to those many plain , and undenyable instances i have produced . i wished for no other tryal than to be bound to bring forth their own authors , and to make good the authorities i had cited , and my fidelity therein ; but they have fairly declined this way of tryal . but how then can they free themselves from this imputation ? we have men of art to deal with , and it is some pleasure to observe the skill they use in warding off a blow they did not look for . but if they have nothing more to say then i. w. can help them to , the charge will stick the faster , for his attempt to clear them of it . he begins with a description of fanaticism , which , he saith , doth necessarily contain a resistance of authority ; and for this , very unhappily quotes my own words . by fanaticism we understand either an enthusiastick way af religion , or resisting authority under pretence of religion ; just as if one should say the true notion of idolatry implyes the renouncing the true god , and to prove it should quote words of mine to this purpose , that idolatry is either renouncing the true god , or worshipping the true god by an image : for as in that case , it is evident , i make two sorts of idolatry ; so it is as plain in this , that i make two branches of fanaticism , whereof the one is , an enthusiastick way of religion , the other resistance of authority under the pretence of religion . but if this be the true notion of fanaticism , why doth he not speak one word in vindication of them , from that very kind of fanaticism , which i had charged them to be so deeply guilty of ? had i not proved by plain testimonies , that the most fanatick principles of rebellion were owned by the jesuitical party among them ? viz. the kings deriving his power from the people , and the peoples authority to call the king to an account , and if they see good to take away his power and change the government : and not only so but to take away his life too ? had i not proved by clear and late instances , that the party which owns these principles is to this day the most countenanced and encouraged at rome ? and any honest men among them , as to these principles , are on that account hated and persecuted , as p. w. and his brethren . but why no answer to this charge ? these are things they cannot deny , and yet dare not confess them to be true . if i. w. answer again , let him speak out like a man , and either confess and detest these principles , or we shall charge them farther with this worst and most dangerous sort of fanaticism . my duty and just zeal for his majesties interest and security , will not suffer me to let go this part of the charge against them , although they would fain have it passed over in silence , as though never a word had been said concerning it . this is one of the best arts i have met with in this pamphlet ; for unwary readers will not remember the charge , when they find no answer : but if i. w. had attempted to answer it , his shuffling and tricks might have made the deeper impression in the readers minds . remember then this charge stands good against them , without so much as their pretending to answer it . to come now to the other part of fanaticism , viz. an enthusiastick way of religion : and here to proceed clearly , i shall lay down the method of his defence , and then examine it . the strength of his defence lyes in these propositions . 1. that fanaticism does necessarily contain a resistance against authority . 2. no particular ways of religion , countenanced by a competent authority , are fanaticism . 3. those things which concern religious orders and method of devotion , which i charge them with , are countenanced by a competent authority , viz. the authority of that church . 4. that church cannot countenance fanatism which obligeth all persons to submit to her judgement . so that here are two principles by which i. w. thinks to vindicate their church from fanaticism ; viz. competent authority , and submission of judgement to the church . to shew the invalidity of this answer , i shall do these things . 1. shew the insufficiency of it . 2. the monstrous absurdities consequent upon it . 1. if this answer were sufficient , he must make it appear , that there have been none charged by me as fanaticks in their church , but such as have submitted themselves and their judgement to the authority of their church . for let us consider the occasion of this charge , and we shall presently discern the insufficiency of this way of answering it . the occasion was , that my adversary made all the sects and fanaticisms among us to be the effect of the reformation ; what answer could be more proper in this case , than to shew , that there were as wild and extravagant fanaticisms before , as have been since ? which is a plain evidence that cannot be the cause of them , to which they imputed them . to make this out , i searched into the several sorts of fanaticism , and gave instances very clear of as great fanaticks in the times before the reformation , as have been since : from the many pretenders to immediate revelations among them , who were persons allowed and approved by their church , and some of them canonized for saints ; but besides these , i gave such other instances of fanaticism among the friers , and others of their church , as were never heard of in the world before ; as the broachers and maintainers of the friers gospel , which was to put out of doors the gospel of christ ; the spiritual brethren of the order of s. francis called by several names , but especially that of fratricelli , who continued long , spread far , and more distrubed the church than any since have done , the dulcinistae in italy , the alumbrado's in spain , &c. what doth he now say concerning all these ? were these countenanced by a competent authority among them ? did they submit their judgement to the church ? if neither of these be pretended in reference to them , then this answer must be very insufficient , because it doth not reach to the matter in charge . 2. for those who were as he saith , countenanced by authority , and did submit themselves to the church , yet this doth not clear them from fanaticism ; but draws after it these monstrous absurdities . 1. that prevailing fanaticism ceases to be fanaticism ; like treason , which when it prospers none dare call it treason ; an excellent way , this , to vindicate the fanaticism of the late times , which because countenanced by an authority , supposed competent enough by some who then writ of obedience and government , it ceased to be fanaticism ; and all the wild and extravagant heats of mens brains , their enthusiasms and revelations were regular and orderly things , because countenanced by such authority as was then over them . 2. by this rule the prophets and apostles , nay our lord himself , were unavoidably fanaticks ; for what competent authority had they to countenance them ? the iewish church was not yet cast off while our saviour lived , but utterly opposed his doctrine and revelation , as coming from a private spirit of his own ; according therefore to these excellent principles , our b. saviour is made a meer fanatick , because he wanted a competent authority of the present church to countenance him ; the same was generally the case of the prophets , and of all the apostles . but what rocks and precipices will a bad cause drive men upon ? if that which makes fanaticism or not fanaticism , be the being countenanced or not countenanced by this competent authority , these horrible absurdities are unavoidable ; and all religion must be resolved into the will and pleasure of this competent authority . but i need not take such pains to prove this , for my brave answerer i. w. sets it down in his own words . moreover , otherwise all the particular manners of preaching or praying practised by the prophets , and all their extraordinary visions and revelations would be flat fanaticism ; but because they were countenanced by a competent authority , they could not deserve that character . excellent doctrine for a popish leviathan ! are you in earnest sir ? do you think the prophets had been fanaticks , in case of no competent authority to countenance them ? what competent authority had the prophet elijah to countenance him , when all the authority that then was , not only opposed him but sought his life ? what competent authority had any of the prophets who were sent to the ten tribes ? what had ieremiah , ezekiel , and the rest of them ? it seems then , all these excellent and inspired persons are cast into the common herd of fanaticks , for want of this competent authority to countenance them . and yet this is the man ( meerly because i lay open the fanaticism of some their pretended saints , such as ignatius loyola and s. francis ) who ranks me with lucian and porphyrie : hath he not himself a great zeal for religion the mean while , resolving all revelation into his competent authority ? and not only so , but paralleling the expressions and practices of s. brigitt , and mother juliana , ( than which scarce any thing was ever printed more ridiculous in the way of revelations ) with those of the holy prophets and apostles ? if a man designed to speak mischievously against the scriptures and divine revelation , he could not do it more to purpose than i. w. hath done in these words ? when he compares things whose folly is so manifest at the first view , with that divine wisdom , which inspired those holy persons , whom god sent upon particular messages to his people , and gave so great assurance that he sent them ; and who delivered matters of great weight and moment , and not such tittle tattle as those two womens books are fraught withall . but if this be the way they have to vindicate them from being fanaticks , it is absolutely the worst that could be thought of ; for it cannot discover so high an opinion of them , as it doth a very mean one of the books of scripture , and the divine revelations therein contained . i could here earnestly intreat the wiser men of that church , for the honour of god , and the christian religion , not to suffer such inconsiderate persons to vindicate their cause , who to defend the extravagant infirmities of some enthusiastical women among them , are so forward to cast dirt and reproach upon our common religion , and those revelations from whence we derive it . but i forbear ; only it is a shrewd sign , if this way be allowed , of a wretched cause , that cannot be maintained without plunging those , who rely upon their word , into the depths of atheism . but these are not things to be so slightly passed over , they deserve a fuller and severer chastisement . for the present , this is enough to shew , what monstrous absurdities this way of vindicating their church from fanaticism hath brought i. w. to . yet in one respect he deserves some pardon , for they are wont to write their answers upon the common themes out of some staunch authors , who considered a little better what they writ ; but this was a new charge , and neither bellarmin , becanus , nor any of their old beaten souldiers , could give them any assistance ; they found not the title of the fanaticism of the roman church in any of their common-place-books ; therefore plain mother-wit must help them , and so it hath bravely . but before they again attempt this matter , i desire them to consider these things , least they should in a desperate humour utterly give up the cause of religion , finding themselves unable to defend that of their church . 1. whether there can be any greater fanaticism , than a false pretence to immediate divine revelation ? for what can more expose men to all the follies and delusions imaginable , than this will do ? what actions can be so wild and extravagant but men may do , under such a pretence of immediate revelation from god ? what bounds of order and government can be preserved ? some may pretend a revelation to take up arms against their prince , or to destroy all they meet ( which is no unheard of thing ) others may not go so far , but may have revelations of the unlawfulness of kingly government ; others may pretend revelations of a new gospel , and a more spiritual dispensation than hath been yet in the world , as the mendicant friers did . 2. whether we are bound to believe all such who say , they have divine revelations ? or whether persons may not be deceived in thinking they have revelations , when they are only delusions of their own fancies or the devil ? if not ; then every one is to be believed who pretends to these things , and then all follies and contradictions must be fwallowed which men say they have by immediate revelation ; and every fanatick must be believed , to have divine revelation who believes himself , though he be only deluded by his own imagination , or become enthusiastical by the power of a disease in his head , or some great heat in his blood . 3. whether there must not be some certain rules established whereby all persons , and even competent authority it self , must proceed in judging these pretences to revelation , whether they be true or false ? for if they proceed without rule , they must either be inspired too , or else , must receive all who pretend to divine revelations : if there be any certain rules , whereby the revelation is to be judged ; then if any persons receive any revelation against those rules , whether are other persons bound to follow their judgement against those rules ? 4. whether there can be any more certain rule of judging , than that two things evidently contradictory to each other , cannot both come from divine revelation ? for then god must contradict himself , which is impossible to be supposed , and would overthrow the faith of any divine revelation . and this is the plain case of the revelations made to two famous saints in the roman church , s. brigitt and s. catharine ; to one it was revealed , that the b. virgin was conceived with original sin ; to the other , that she was not : both these have competent authority , for they were both canonized for saints by the roman church , and their revelations approved , and therefore ( according to i. w. ) neither of them were fanaticks , though it is certain that one of their revelations was false . for , either god must contradict himself , or one of these must be deceived , or go about to deceive , and what greater fanaticism can there be , than that is ? if one of these had only some fanatick enthusiasm , and the other divine revelation , then competent authority and submission to the judgement of the church , is not a rule to judge fanaticism by ; for those were equal in both of them . 5. whether there be an equal reason to look for revelations now , as in the time of the prophets , and our saviour , and his apostles ? or whether god communicates revelations to no other end , but to please and gratifie some enthusiastical tempers ? and what should be the reason he should do it more now , than in the age wherein revelations were more necessary ? in those times god revealed his mind to men , but it was for the benefit of others ; when he sent them upon particular messages , as the prophets , or made known some future events to them of great importance to the church , as the coming of the messias , &c. or inspired them to deliver weighty doctrines to the world , as he did both the prophets and apostles : why should we think , that god now , when the revelations of these holy and inspired persons are upon record , and all things necessary to his church are contained therein , should vary this method of his , and entertain some melancholy and retired women , or other enthusiastical persons with visions and revelations of no use to his church ? 6. whether god doth ever inspire persons with immediate revelations without giving sufficient evidence of such inspiration ? for if he did , it were to leave men under a temptation to infidelity without means to withstand it ; if he doth not , then we have reason to examine the evidence , before we believe the revelation . the evidence god gave of old was either the prophecy of a succession of prophets , by one whose commission was attested by great miracles , as moses , who told the israelites , they were to expect prophets , and laid down rules to judge of them by ; or else by miracles wrought by themselves as by the apostles whom our lord sent abroad to declare his will to the world . and where these are not , what reason is there to receive any new revelations as from god , especially when the main predictions of the new testament are of false prophets , and false miracles ? 7. whether the revelations of their pretended saints being countenanced by the authority of their church , be equally received among them , with the revelations contained in scripture ? if they be , then they ought to have equal reverence paid to them , and they ought to read them as scripture , to cite their authority as divine , and to believe them as infallible as christ and his apostles ; if they be not , than whatever they pretend , they are not looked on as divine revelations by them , as manifestly appears , because they are wholly rejected by some of the wisest of them , doubted of , and disputed by others , as it were easie to prove were it not too large a subject for this discourse , but by none received as writings of divine authority , and equal with the scriptures , which they must be if they came from the same spirit . and since they are not , it is evident that they are no otherwise esteemed among themselves , than as the fanatick heats of some devout persons of disturbed and deluded fancies ; whom notwithstanding they are willing to cherish , partly because they are loth to discountenance any pretence to an infallible spirit in their church , and partly that there may never be wanting matter to make saints of , when the pope thinks fit , and good consideration is offered . this may suffice to make good this charge of fanaticism against the roman church ; and to shew that i am as far from the appearance of any contradiction therein ( although their revelations are not from a real one ) as i. w's vain and sophistical talk is from any appearance of reason . the last contradiction charged upon me , is , about the divisions of the roman church . the occasion of which discourse was , that divisions were objected to me as another consequent of the reformation ; upon which i thought my self obliged to enquire into the vnity of their church , and i have at large proved from undenyable instances , attested by their own authors , that they have no reason to insult over other churches on account of their divisions , nor to boast of their own unity and peace . for i have there proved that there have never been greater disturbances in the christian world , than what they call the means of unity , viz. the popes authority , hath procured , no where greater or more lasting schisms , no where fiercer disputes about matters of order and doctrine , than among them . i considered all their salvo's and from them shew'd , that if they have no divisions among themselves neither have we ; nay the same arguments which prove they do not differ in matters of faith from each other , do likewise prove that they and we do not differ from each other in those things . and what saith i. w. to all this ? instead of healing their own divisions , he only designs to prove me to be divided against my self , that he might make up the full tale of his contradictions . but i. w. had so much forgot himself as to make good the very thing i designed ; and by that very argument he uses to prove that i contradict my self , he manifestly proves that there are no more divisions in matters of faith , between the roman church and us than there are among themselves . this i shall make very evident , but i must proceed as he doth with his propositions . 1. no divisions from the roman church are divisions of the roman church . this is a very subtle principle of unity among them , and by this rule there would be an admirable unity in the roman church , if the pope himself were left alone in it . for all others would only be divided from it , and i would allow the pope to be at a very good agreement with himself , which is more than i. w. will allow me : in this case indeed there would be vnity , but where would be their church ? suppose a shepherd should boast of the excellent government of a great flock he had under his command , and the unity and peace they lived in ; and a by-stander should tell him that he saw others pretend to the same authority over that flock that he did , and part followed one and part another , he saw some of the chief of the leaders set themselves against him disputing his authority , he saw many of the sheep continually fighting with each other , and some had wholly forsaken him ; would it not be a pleasant thing for this shepherd to say that notwithstanding all this they had great peace and unity , because as many as did not quarrel were very quiet , and those that were divided from his government were not under it ? but our question is , whether such authority be the means to preserve the whole flock under government , when we see it prevents no divisions but causes many ? he might have spoken more to the purpose if he had framed his proposition thus , there can be no divisions in the roman church , but such as divide men from it ; and in that case the roman church would have been reduced to a very small number . but if there may be such divisions which are as contrary to unity and peace as divisions in matters of faith are , to what purpose is it to shew that they have none in one kind if they have very great in all others ? but although this be not sufficient to demonstrate their vnity , yet it is enough for his purpose , if it doth shew that i contradict my self . but where lyes the contradiction ? the force of it lyes here . i charge them with divisions in matters of faith , when divisions in matters of faith make them not to be members of the roman church ; therefore there can be no divisions in the roman church in matters of faith . again ( for in these two arguments the substance of his own propositions is couched by himself ) all those who assent unto the ancient creeds are undivided in matters of faith ; but all roman catholicks assent unto the ancient creeds ; ergo , all roman catholicks are undivided in matters of faith , and consequently it is a calumny in me to say they are divided in these matters . now , what an easie matter is it to disposses me of this spirit of contradiction , which he imagines me possessed with ? i need no holy water , or sacred charms and exorcisms to do it with . there needs no more but understanding what is meant by matters of faith ; when matters of faith are spoken of by me in the place he refers to , it is evident to every one that reads it , and by his own words i speak only of the fundamental and necessary articles of faith , which are necessary to the salvation of all and to the very being of a church ; of which kind i say none ought to be esteemed , that were not admitted into the ancient creeds . but when i charge them with divisions in matters of faith , i do not mean that they reject the ancient creeds , but i take matters of faith in their own sense for things defined by the church ; and if i. w. had sought for any thing but words to raise cavils upon , he might have found it so explained in the very place where i speak of this . for that discourse is to answer an objection of theirs , that they do not differ in those things which they esteem matters of faith ; and particularly i insisted upon that , that they cannot be sure whether they differ in matters of faith or no , because they are not agreed what makes things to become matters of faith . can this be understood any other way than of their own sense of matters of faith ? and is not this fair dealing to make me contradict my self because where i argue against them i take matters of faith in their sense , and where i deliver my own opinion , i take them in another sense ? and this being the sense of matters of faith the trifling of his arguing appears ; for do all these cease to be members of their church who dispute any thing which others account matter of faith among them ? are the iesuits all out of the church of rome , because they deny the efficacy of grace which the domini●ans account a matter of faith ? are the iansenists and oral traditionists divided from the church of rome because they deny the popes infallibility which the iesuits account a matter of faith ? if not , then all divisions in matters and articles of faith , are not divisions from the true church and from all her members ; and so his second proposition comes to nothing : and so likewise the third , that all divisions in matters of faith , so esteemed by them , are divisions from the roman church . but the fourth and fifth propositions are the most healing principles that have yet been thought on . fie for shame ! why should we and they of the church of rome quarrel thus long ? we are very well agreed in all matters of faith , and i shall demonstratively prove it from the argument of i. w. drawn from his two last propositions . all who assent unto the ancient creeds are undivided in matters of faith , by prop. 4. but both papists and protestants do assent unto the ancient creeds ; ergo , they are undivided in matters of faith and hath not i. w. now done his business , and very substantially proved the thing he intended ? but i hope we may enjoy the benefit of it , as well as those of the church of rome ; and that they will not hence forward charge us with dividing from their church in any matters of faith , since we are all agreed in owning the ancient creeds ; and seeing , we cannot be divided from the church but by differing in matters of faith according to his propos. it follows that we are still members of the true church , and therefore neither guilty of heresie nor schism . but if those who do own and assent to the ancient creeds may yet be divided in matters of faith , as they charge us by rejecting the definitions of the roman church , then there is no shadow of a contradiction left in my charging them with differences in matters of faith among themselves , though i say , they own the ancient creeds . and now , reader , thou seest what all these pitiful cavils are come to ; and what ground there hath been for them to glory in this pusionello , that with a sheet and a half hath compelled me , as he saith , to be my own executioner . but these great heroes must be allowed to relate their famous adventures , with some advantage to themselves : it might have been enough to have rescued the lady , but not only to destroy the giant ( as any man must be accounted whom such knights encounter ) but to leave him grovelling in the ground and gasping for breath , and that by wounds he forced him to give himself , this is beyond measure glorious . go thy way then for the eighth champion of christendom , enjoy the benefit of thy illustrious fame , sit down at ease , and relate to thy immortal honour thy mighty exploits ; only when thou hast done , remember thou hast encountred nothing but the wind-mills of thy own imagination , and the man whom thou thought'st to have executed by his own hands , stands by and laughs at thy ridiculous attempts . but i forget , that i am so near his conclusion , wherein he doth so gravely advise me that i would be pleased for once to write controvesies , not play-books : his meaning i suppose , is , that i would return to the old beaten road where they know how to find a man , and have something to say because others have said something before them ; and not represent the ridiculous passages of their fanaticks ; for the defence of which they are furnisht with no distinctions out of their usual magazines , their present manuals of controversie . i shall be contented to wait their leisure if they have any thing material to say ; as i. w. gives me some hopes , when he saith , that other more learned pens ( i shall be glad to see them ) will give me a more particular and compleat answer . i hope not in the way of cavilling ; if they do , i shall hereafter only contemn them ; but i am afraid of their good intentions by the books he mentions as such considerable things in answer to my vindication of arch-bishop laud , viz. the guide in controversies , and protestancy without principles ; if others write as they have done , i shall take as little notice of them as i have done of those . cannot a dull book come out with my name in the title , but i must be obliged to answer it ? no , i assure them i know better how to spend my time . i say still , let a just answer come forth , that deals by me as i did by the book i answered , and then let them blame me , if i neglect it . but at last he gives one general reason why no great matter is to be expected to come abroad in print : not , but that they have men of learning among them : no doubt of it : but alas for them ! they are so persecuted in the printing houses that nothing of theirs is suffered to come abroad , only by great good fortune this complaint is in print and comes abroad openly enough . how long i pray have these days of persecution been ? for , whatever you imagine i was so far from having any hand in it , that the first time i ever heard of it , was from your complaints . have you not formerly complained thus , when books too many have been printed and published in england ? and what assurance can you give us that you do not still complain without cause ? but , not to suffer you to deceive the people any longer in this kind ( by pretending that this is the reason why you do not answer our books , because you have no liberty of the press ) i have at this time a catalogue by me of above two hundred popish books printed in our own language ( which i shall produce on a just occasion ) a considerable part whereof have been published within the compass of not many years . and yet all possible efforts are used by us ( saith i. w. ) to hinder their doctors from shewing their learning ; this of late we must needs say , they have very sparingly done ; but all the arts we have , cannot hinder some of them from shewing their weakness , as this i. w. hath very prodigally done in this pamphlet . finis . an answer to the book , entituled , dr. stillingfleet's principles considered . although i write no plays , yet i hope i may have leave to say the scene is changed ; for instead of the former sophister , one now comes forth in the habit of a grave divine , whom i shall treat with the respect due to his appearance of modesty and civility . i pass by therefore all those unhandsome reflections in his preface , which i have not already answered in mine , and come immediately to the main controversie between us , which i acknowledge to be of so great importance as to deserve a sober debate . and the controversie in short is this , whether protestants who reject the roman churches authority and infallibility , can have any sufficient foundation to build their faith upon ? this we affirm , and those of the church of rome confidently deny ; and on this account do charge us with the want of principles , i. e. sufficient grounds for our faith . but this may be understood two ways . 1. that we can have no certainty of our faith as christians without their infallibility . 2. or that we can have no certainty of our faith as protestants , i. e. in the matters in debate between their church and ours . these two ought carefully to be distinguished from each other : and although the principles i laid down , do reach to both these , yet that they were chiefly intended for the former , will appear by the occasion of adding them to the end of the answer there given . the occasion was , my adversaries calling for grounds and principles ; upon which i there say , that i would give an account of the faith of protestants in the way of principles , and of the reason of our rejecting their impositions . the first i undertook on two accounts . 1. to shew that the roman churches authority and infallibility cannot be the foundation of christian faith , and so we may be very good christians without having any thing to do with the church of rome . 2. that this might serve as a sufficient answer to a book entituled protestants without principles . which being in some part of it directed against me i had reason , not only to lay down those principles , b●t to do it in such a manner as did most directly overthrow the principles of that book . which being only intimated there , i must now to make my proceeding more clear and evident , produce those assertions of e. w. for which mine were intended . in the first chapter he designs to prove , that all men must be infallible in the assent they give to matters of faith . for , saith he , if they disown such infallible believers , they must joyntly deny all infallible faith : and a little after , an infallible verity revealed to us forcibly requires an answerable and correspondent infallible faith in us : and therefore he asserts a subjective infallibility in true believers . and from hence he proves the necessity of infallible teachers ; for infallible believers and infallible teachers , he saith , seem neer correlatives . in the second chapter he saith , he that hears an infallible teacher hath the spirit of truth , and he that hears not an infallible teacher wants this spirit of truth ; by which he does not mean an infallible revealer of the doctrine at first ; but the immediate teachers of the revealed doctrine , for , saith he , no man can be a heretick that denies the objective verities revealed in gods word , unless he be sure that his teacher reveals those verities infallibly . he proposes the objection of a simplician , as he calls him , that he builds his faith and religion , not on any preachers talk but on the objective verities revealed in scripture : to which he answers , that unless he first learn of some infallible oracle , the sense of scripture in controverted places , he can never arrive to the depth of gods true meaning , or derive infallible faith from those objective revealed verities . he yet farther asserts , that every catechist , or preacher that hath a lawful mission , and is sent by the infallible church to teach christs sacred doctrine , if he preach that doctrine which christ and his church approves of , is then under that notion of a member conjoyned with an infallible church , infallible in his teaching ▪ and thence concludes , that infallibility doth accompany both teachers and hearers : and from denying this infallibility , he saith , follows an utter ruine of christian religion yea and of scripture too . and afterwards he goes about to prove that no man can have any divine faith without infallibility in the proponent ; for , faith he , as long as the infallibility of a revelation stands remote from me for want of an undoubted application made by an infallible proponent , it can no more transfuse certainty into faith , than fire at a great distance , warm . this is the sum of the principles of that metaphysical wit ; but sure a man must have his brains well confounded by school divinity and hard words , before he can have common sense little enough to think he understands them . but because i never loved to spend time in confuting a man , who thinks himself the wiser for speaking things , which neither he nor any one else can understand ; i rather chose in as short a way as i could , to put together such propositions , as might give an account of christian faith without all this iargon about infallibility . in order to this , i first laid down the principles wherein all parties are agreed ; and then such propositions as i supposed would sufficiently give an account of our faith , without any necessity of such an infallibility as he makes necessary for the foundation of it . but for our clearer proceeding in an argument of this importance , it will be necessary to state and fix the notion of infallibility before i come to particulars . for as it is used it seems to be a rare word for iugglers in divinity to play tricks with ; for sometimes they apply it to the object that is believed , and call that infallibly true ; sometimes to the subject capable of believing , and say persons ought to be infallibly certain that what they believe is infallibly true ; and sometimes to the means of conveying that infallible truth to the faculties of men , and these they say must be infallible , or else there can be no infallible certainty of any thing as infallbly true . but the subtilty of these things lies only in their obscurity ; and the school-man is spoiled when his talk is brought down out of the clouds to common sense : i will therefore trie to bring these things out of their terms to a plain meaning ; and surely we may speak and understand each other in these matters without this doubtful term of infallibility . for if it signifies any thing , we may make use of the thing it signif●es in stead of the word , and by applying the thing signified by it , to that which it is spoken of , we shall soon discern how justly it is attributed to it . infallibile is that which cannot be deceived ; now if no one will say , that a proposition cannot be deceived , it is absurd to say that it is infallibly true ; therefore the matters revealed considered as objective verities , as our schoolman speaks , are not capable of infallibility ; which cannot belong to the truth proposed , but to him that propounds or believes it . for to be deceived or not to be deceived , are proper only to persons ; and the impossibility of being deceived does in truth belong only to an infinitely perfect understanding ; for what ever understanding is imperfect , is of it self liable to errour and mistake . and yet an understanding liable to be deceived may not be deceived , and be sure it is not . the highest assurance of not being deceived , is from gods revealing any thing to men ; for we know it impossible that god should be deceived , or go about to deceive mankind in what he obliges them to believe as true . this then is granted , that whatever any person speaks immediately from god , he cannot be deceived in it ; but men may be deceived in thinking they speak from god when they do not . there is then no difficulty in the first , that what ever persons are inspired by god are infallible in what they speak ; but the main difficulty is about the assurance which god gives to men that they are inspired . two ways it may be conceived that men cannot be deceived in this matter . 1. if god inspires every particular person with the belief of this , and gives him such evidence thereof as cannot be false . 2. or if god shall inspire some persons in every age to assure the world , that those before them were inspired : but notwithstanding this , particular persons may be deceived , in believing those inspired who are not ; and to prevent this , nothing can be sufficient but divine revelation to every particular person that he hath appointed those infallible guides in his church , to assure men that he had at first setled his church by persons that were infallible ; but then , why might not such a particular revelation assure men as well immediately that christ and his holy apostles were infallible , as that the guides of the present church are infallible ? for it is unconceivable that persons should be more infallible in judging the inspiration of the present guides , than of the first founders of the church . and supposing men not inspired , they may be deceived in believing this infallibility of the present church , and if they may be deceived , how can their faith be infallible ? so that nothing can make the faith of particular persons infallible , but private inspiration which must resolve all faith into enthusiasm and immediate revelation . and nothing can be more absurd than to say , that there are infallible believers without infallible inspiration ; or that an infallible proponent can transfuse infallibility into faith , unless the infallibility of that proponent be first made known to the believer in such a way as he cannot be deceived in . for in matters of divine revelation , the main thing we are to enquire after , is the infallibility of those who delivered this doctrine to the world. and although the reason of believing what god saith , be his own infallibility , which is natural and essential to him ; yet the reason of my assenting to this or that doctrine , as coming from god , must be an assurance that god hath secured those persons from mistake whom he hath imployed to make known the doctrine to the world. those persons then whom god inspired , are the proponents of matters of faith to us : and if they give us sufficient reason to believe that they were inspired , we are bound to believe them , otherwise not . but to suppose that we cannot believe the first infallible proponents , unless there be such in every age , is to make more difficulties , and to answer none . for then all my belief of the infallibility of the first proponents , must depend on the evidence which the present guides of the church give of their infallibility , who yet cannot pretend to the same evidence which they had : and here is no difficulty answered , for we are certainly bound as much to enquire into the reason of our believing the present guides of the church infallible , as the apostles : and if men cannot be infallible in believing the apostles , unless there be other infallible proponents in every age , to assure them that the apostles were inspired , why must not the infallibility of these present proponents be likewise so attested as well as of the apostles ? and what undoubted application can be made of the churches infallibility , unless there be some other infallible proponent still to transfuse certainty into my belief of that , by vertue of which , i must believe all other matters of faith , which is the churches infallibility ? so that the last proponent must either be believed for himself without any further evidence , and then the shorter way would be to believe the first so , or else there will be an endless infallibility ; or at last all must be resolved into the enthusiasm of every particular person , if we do not rest satisfied with the rational evidence which those persons , who were inspired by god , did give to the world that they were sent by him : and then let the world judge whether christ and his apostles did not give stronger evidence that they were sent from god , than the pope or the guides of the present church do ? and if so , whether i● be possible for men to do greater disse●vice to christianity , than to suspend our belief of the inspiration of the founders of the christian church , on a thing , at least , far less evident than the thing to be believed by it is ? but in plain english , on a thing notoriously false ; and only the arrogant pretence of an usurping faction , which thinks it easier boldly to say that it cannot be deceived , than to defend it self against the just accusations both of deceiving , and being deceived . these things being premised , i now come to consider how far n. o. hath shewed the invalidity of the principles laid down by me , for the end for which i intended them . the design of them was to shew , that we may have sufficient certainty of our faith , without the infallibility of the roman church ; the answerer hath yielded some things and denied others . i shall therefore first lay down his concessions , and see of what force they are to the issue of this controversie , and then come fairly to debate the matters in difference between us . i. for his concessions . 1. he yields , that there is no necessity at all of infallibility under natural religion : which was implied in the second and third propositions which are granted by him . for in the second proposition i assert , that man being framed a rational creature capable of reflecting upon himself , may antecedently to any external revelation certainly know the being of god , and his dependence upon him ; else there could be no such thing as a law of nature , or any principles of natutural religion : which , he saith , may be granted . all supernatural and external revelation , must suppose the truth of natural religion ; for unless we be antecedently certain that there is a god , and that we are capable of knowing him , it is impossible to be certain , that god hath revealed his will to us by any supernatural means . let this be granted , saith he . from whence it follows that we have sufficient certainty of the principles of natural religion , without any such thing as infallibility . 2. he yields , that reason is to be judge concerning divine revelation ; which appears by the next proposition . nothing ought to be admitted for divine revelation , which overthrows the certainty of those principles which must be antecedently supposed to all divine revelation : for that were to overthrow the means whereby we are to judge concerning the truth of any divine revelation . of which , he saith , let this also be granted . 3. he yields , that the will of god may be sufficiently declared to men by writing , for he grants the tenth proposition , which is this . if the will of god cannot be sufficiently declared to men by writing , it must either be , because no writing can be intelligible enough for that end , or that it can never be known to be written by men infallibly assisted ; the former is repugnant to common sense , for words are equally capable of being understood , spoken or written ; the latter overthrows the possibility of the scriptures being known to be the word of god. this , saith he , is granted . 4. he yields , that the written will of god doth contain all things simply necessary to salvation . for in his consideration of the 14. proposition , these are his words : mean while as touching the perfection of holy scriptures , catholicks now , as the holy fathers anciently , do grant that they contain all points , which are simply necessary to be of all persons believed for attaining salvation . 5. he yields , that no person is infallibly certain of or in his faith , because the proponent thereof is infallible , unless he also certainly know , or have infallible evidence that he is infallible ; only he adds , that for begetting an infallible assent to the thing proposed , it is sufficient if we have an infallible evidence either of the thing proposed , or of the proponent only . which is all i desire as to this matter . but he quarrels with me for saying , proposition 21. it is necessary therefore in order to an infallible assent , that every particular person be infallibly assisted , in judging of the matters proposed to be believed : because , saith he , it is not necessary to have an infallible evidence of the truth of the things proposed , i. e. from the internal principles that prove or demonstrate them ; but it is enough that he have an infallible or sufficiently certain evidence only of the infallibility of the external proponent ▪ where there are two things to be taken notice of . 1. that by the matters proposed to be believed , he would seem to understand me only of the things that are to be believed by vertue of any proponent supposed infallible ; whereas i meant it of all such things to which an infallible assent is required , and chiefly of that by which we are to believe the things revealed ; as for instance , that the church is infallible , is in the first place to be believed upon their principles , and either an infallible assent is required to this or not ; if not , then infallibility is not necessary to faith ; if it be , then this infallible assent must be built on an infallibility antecedent to that of the church ; and then my consequence necessarily follows , that the ground on which a necessity of some external infallible proponent is asserted , must rather make every particular person infallible , if no divine faith can be without an infallible assent , and so renders any other infallibility useless . 2. that he explains infallible evidence by that which is sufficiently certain , which is meer shuffling : for he knows well enough that we contend for sufficiently certain evidence as much as they ; our only question is about infallibility , whether that be necessary or no ? if sufficiently certain evidence will serve for the churches infallibility , why may it not for the scriptures , or any matters of faith contained therein ? if they mean no more by infallibility but sufficient certainty , why do they make so great a noise about it , as though there could be no faith and we no christians without infallibility ? when we all say that the matters of faith have sufficient certainty , nay the highest which such things are capable of . is infallible faith come to be sufficiently certain only ? for all that i know an infallible pope may by such another explication become like one of us . 6. he yields , that a right and saving faith may be without any infallible assurance concerning the churches infallibility . which , he saith , is abundantly declared by catholick writers . i only desire to know , why a like right and saving faith may not be had concerning the scriptures , without their churches infallibility ? for from hence it follows , that an infallible assent is not requisite to saving faith ; directly contrary to my former adversary e. w. for one saith , it is necessary to faith , and the other , that it is not . but above all , how will he ever answer this to mr. i. s. who hath written a whole book purposely against this principle , as impious and atheistical ? methinks this way of defending the main foundation of their faith by principles so directly contradicting one another looks a little scandalously , and brings an odd suspition upon their cause , as if it were very hard to be made good , when our adversaries cannot agree by which of two quite contrary principles it was best be maintained . 7. he yields , that the utmost assurance a man can have of the churches infallibility , is only moral ; but to make it up , he calls it a moral infallibility ; which , how strangely soever it sounds , yet his meaning is good ; for it is such an infallibility , as is not infallibility . hath the dispute been thus long among us , whether infallibility be necessary or no to faith , and now at last one comes and tells us , yes surely , a moral infallibility is necessary . i have heard of a ho● dispute between two gentlemen about transubstantiation , very earnest they were on both sides ; at last another falls into their company and asked them what it was they were about ; they told him transubstantiation : very well , said he , but i pray tell me what you mean by it ; one said it was standing at the eucharist , and the other kneeling . much such another explication is this here of infallibility , only this is somewhat worse , for it is joyning two words together which destroy each other ; for if it be only moral certainty , it is not infallible ; if it be infallible , it cannot be barely moral . i expect to hear shortly of an accidental transubstantiation , a co-ordinate supremacy , as well as a moral infallibility . but we are to suppose that by infallibility he means no more than certainty , because he explains it by the certainty of universal tradition : this were well enough , if in the precedent page he had not said , that a particular person may be infallible in the assent he gives to some matter proposed , viz. to this , that the church is infallible ; i would fain understand what this infallible assent is grounded upon , and if the evidence be only sufficiently or morally infallible , which are his own terms , how the assent which is built upon it , comes to be more than so . it is very pleasant to observe how mr. cressey , and some other late writers of their church are perplexed about this word infallibility , as if they had a wolf by the ears , they cannot tell how to hold it , and they are afraid to let it go . and very loth is is our n. o. to part with the sound of infallibility , although his own concessions perfectly overthrow it , as will yet further appear by this last , viz. 8. that moral certainty is a sufficient foundation for faith. this will appear by my 27. proposition , which is this : the nature of certainty doth receive several names either according to the nature of the proof , or the degrees of the assent . thus moral certainty may be so called , either as it is opposed to mathematical evidence , but implying a firm assent upon the highest evidence that moral things can receive : or as it is opposed to a higher degree of certainty in the same kind , so moral certainty implies only greater probabilities of one side than the other . in the former sense we assert the certainty of christian faith to be moral , but not only in the latter . to which he saith , this principle is granted , if importing only that christians have or may have a sufficiently certain and infallible evidence of the truth of their christianity . whereby it is plain that though he useth the term infallible , yet he means no more than i do , or else he ought not to have brought that as an explication of my principle which is contrary to it , as in this controversie , moral certainty is opposed to strict demonstration and infallibility . but if he by infallibility means only sufficient certainty , i shall be content for quietness sake , that he shall call it infallibility , if he pleases . and that he can mean no more by it , appears not only by what he hath said before , but by what he saith afterwards in these words . a natural or moral certainty ( though not such a one as cannot possibly be false , but which according to the laws of nature and the common manners and experience of men is not false ) is sufficient on which to ground such a faith as god requires of us ; in respect of that certainty which can be derived from humane sense or reason , and which serves for an introductive to the reliance of this our faith upon such revelation as is believed by us divine ; and which if divine , we know is not possibly fallible ; in respect of its relying on which revelation , an infallible object , and not for an infallible certainty as to the subject , it is that this our faith is denominated a divine faith. now this natural or moral certainty is thought sufficient for the first rational introductive and security of our faith , not only by the doctor in his 27. principle , but also by catholick divines in their discourses of the prudential motives . very well said , and i were a very disingenuous man , if i should not heartily thank him for so free a confession , by which , if i understand any thing , he very fairly gives up the cause of infallibility , as to the necessity of it in order to faith : as will easily appear by the managing of it , so far as i have been concerned in it . it is evident to any one that will cast an eye on the controversie of infallibility , between the arch-bishop and his adversaries , that it was raised on this account , because those of the church of rome asserted , that the infallible testimony of the church was necessary in order to the believing the scriptures to be the word of god : and so much is endeavoured to be defended by him who pretended to answer my lord of canterburies book , who goes upon this principle , that this is to be believed with a divine faith , and a divine faith must be built upon an infallible testimony ; the falsehood of which , i at large shewed in the discourse of the resolution of faith. since the publishing whereof , the metaphysical gentleman before mentioned , pretended to answer that part of it which concerns infallibility and moral certainty . some of his assertions i have laid down already , as contrary to this of n. o. as may be ; for he not only asserts the necessity of infallibility for a foundation of christian faith , but spends some chapters in rambling talk against moral certainty . the title of one of which is , faith only morally certain is no faith. i desire n. o. and e. w. to agree better before they goe abo●● to confute me ; and to what purpose should● trouble my self with answering a man who● principles the more ingenuous of their ow● party disown , as well as we ? for not on●● n. o. here makes moral certainty a sufficien● ground for divine faith , but the guide 1● controversies , another of my adversaries , a●serts the same , when he saith , and indee● from what is said formerly , that a divine faith may be had by those who have had 〈◊〉 extrinsecal even morally infallible ( i see now from whom n. o. learnt these terms ) motive thereof , it follows that divine faith doth not resolve into such motives either as the formal cause , or always as the applicative introductive , or condition of this divine faith . and a little after , that it is not necessary that such faith always should have an external rationally infallible ground or motive thereto ( whether church authority or any other ) on his part that so believes . by these concessions it appears that the cause of infallibility , as far as it concerns the necessity of it in order to faith , is clearly given up by these persons ; and if others be still of another mind among them , i leave them to dispute it among themselves . thus far then we are agreed ; i now come to consider where the controversie still remains , and why the rest of my principles may not pass as well as these . in order to this , i must , by taking a view of his several exceptions and answers , draw together a scheme of those principles which he sets up in opposition to mine ; and if i do not very much mistake , they may be reduced to these three . 1. that god hath given an infallible assistance to the guides of the church in all ages of it , for the direction of those who live in it . 2. that without this infallible assistance there can be no certainty of the sense of scripture . 3. that all the arguments which overthrow the churches infallibility ; do destroy the churches authority . these , as far as i can perceive , contain the whole force of his considerations ; and in the examination of these the remaining discourse must be spent ; in which i shall have occasion to take notice of whatever is material in his book . 1. the main controversie is , whether god hath given an infallible assistance to the guides of the church in all ages , for the conduct of those who live in it ? for if he hath not , my adversary cannot deny , but the principles laid down by me must hold . for in case there be no infallibility in the guides of the church , every one must be left to the use of his own understanding , proceeding in the best manner , to find out what the will of god is in order to salvation . we do not now dispute concerning the best helps for a person to make use of in a matter of this nature ; but the q●estion is , whether a man ought to resign his own judgement to that of the church , which pretends to be infallible as to all necessaries for salvation ? or supposing no such infallibility , whether a person using his faculties in the best manner about the sense of scriptures , with the helps of divine grace , may not have sufficient certainty thereby what things are required of him in order to happiness ? hereby i exclude nothing that may tend to the right use of a mans understanding in these things , whether it be the direction of pastors ; the decrees of councils , the sense of the primitive church , or the care , industry , and sincerity of the enquirer ; but supposing all these , whether by not believing the guides of the church to be infallible , the foundation of this persons faith can be nothing else but a trembling quicks and , as n. o. speaks in his preface ; only from the supposing an errability in the guides of gods church . and a little after he lays down that as his fundamental principle , that the only certain way not to be misled , will be the submitting our internal assent and belief to church authority ; or as he elsewhere speaks , to the infallible guideship of church gover●ors . here then two questions necessarily arise : 1. whether there can be no certainty of faith without this infallibility ? 2. what certainty there is of this infallibility ? 1. whether there can be no certainty of faith without infallibility in the guides of the church , and submitting our internal assent and belief to them ? for the clearing of this we must consider what things are agreed upon between us , that by them we may proceed to the resolution of this question . 1. it is i suppose agreed , that every man hath in him a faculty of discerning of truth and falshood . 2. that this faculty must be used at least in the choice of infallible guide ; for otherwise a man must be abused with every pretence of infallibility , and george fox may as well be followed as the pope of rome ; and to what purpose are all prudential motives and arguments for infallibility , if a man must not judge whether they be good or no , i. e. sufficient to prove the thing ? 3. that god is not wanting in necessaries to the salvation of mankind . 4. that the books of scripture received on both sides do contain in them the will of god in order to salvation . 5. that all things simply necessary to salvation are contained therein , which is a concession mentioned before . these things being supposed , the question now is , whether a person not relying on the infallibility of a church , may not be certain of those things which are contained in those books in order to salvation ? for of those ou● present enquiry is , and not about the sense of the more difficult and controverted places ; and if we can make it appear that men may be certain as to matters of salvation without infallibility , let them prove ( if they can ) the necessity of infallibility for things which are not necessary to salvation . but of the sense of scripture in those things afterwards ; i now enquire into the certainty men may attain to , of the necessaries to salvation in scripture : and concerning this , i laid down this proposition . although we cannot argue against any particular way of revelation from the necessary attributes of god , yet such a way as writing being made choice of by him , we may justly say , that it is repugnant to the nature of the design and the wisdom and goodness of god to give infallible assistance to persons in writing his will for the benefit of mankind , if those writings may not be understood by all persons who sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of them in all such things as are necessary for their salvation . this principle , he saith , is unsound ; which , if he can prove , i may have more reason to question it than i yet have . and i assure him i expect no mean proofs to shake my belief of a principle of so great importance to the christian religion . for it being granted by him , that all things simply necessary to salvation , are contained in the books of scripture , i desire to know whether things simply necessary ought not to be delivered with greater plainness than things which are not so ? whether god appointing the evangelists and apostles to write these things , did not intend that they should be so expressed as they might most easily be understood ? whether our saviours own sermons vere capable of being understood by those who heard them , without some infallible interpreter ? whether the evangelists did not faithfully deliver our saviours doctrine ? if they did , how that comes to be obscure now , which was plain then ? so that either christ himself must be charged with not speaking the will of god plainly , or the evangelists cannot be charged with not expressing it so . there are no other books in the world that i know of , that need an infallible interpreter : and we can tell certainly enough what any other religion requires , supposing it to be written in the same way that the christian is : is it not possible for a man to be certain what the law of moses required of the people of israel , by reading the books of that law , without some infallible guides ▪ do the ten commandments need an infallible comment ? or can we have now no certainty of the meaning of the levitical law , because there is no high-priest or sanhedrin to explain it ? and if it be possible to understand the necessaries of that dark dispensation in comparison with the gospel , are o●r eyes now blinded with too much light ? is not christianity therefore highly recommended to us in the new testament , because of the clearness and perspicuity wherein the doctrines and precepts thereof are delivered ? and yet after all this , cannot the most necessary parts of it , he understood by those who sincerely endeavour to understand them ? by which sincere endeavour we are so far from excluding any useful helps , that we always suppose them . the s●m then of what he is to confute , is this ▪ that although the apostles and evangelists did deliver the mind of god to the world in their writings , in order to the salvation of mankind , although they were inspired by an infinite wisdom for this end , although all things simply necessary to salvation are contained in their writings , although a person useth his sincere endeavour by all moral helps , and the divine grace assisting him to find out in these writings the things necessary to salvation , yet after all he cannot certainly understand the meaning of them . which to me appears so absurd and monstrous a doctrine , so contrary to the honour of the scriptures and the design of christianity , that if i had a mind to disparage it , i would begin with this and end with transubstantiation . for in earnest sir , did not our saviour speak intelligibly in matte●s of so great importance to the salvation of mankind ? did he not declare all that was necessary for that end , in his many admirable discourses ? did not the evangelists record his words and actions in writing , and that as one of them saith expresly , that we might believe that iesus is the christ , the son of god , and that believing we might have life through his name ? and after all this , cannot we understand so much as the common necessaries to salvation by the greatest and most sincere endeavour for that end ? but it is time now to consider his exceptions against this principle : which are these . 1. that god may reveal his mind so in scripture as that in many things it may be clear only to some persons more versed in the scriptures , and in the churches traditional sense of them , and more assisted from above according to their imployment ; which persons he hath appointed to instruct the rest . but what is all this to our purpose ? our question is not about may be 's , and possibilities of things , but it is taken for granted on both sides , that god hath revealed his mind in writing ; therefore he need not make the supposition of no writings at all , as he doth afterwards : the question is , whether these writings being allowed for divine revelations of the will of god , he hath expressed the necessaries to salvation clearly therein or not ? that god may delivers his mind obscurely in many things , is no question ; nor that he may inspire persons to unfold his mind , where it is obscure ; but our question is , whether or no these writings being acknowledged to contain the will of god , it be agreeable with the nature of the design and the wisdom and goodness of god for such writings not to be capable of being understood in all things necessary to salvation , by those who sincerely endeavour to understand them ? but when i had expresly said , things necessary for salvation , why doth he avoid that which the dispute was about , and only say many things in stead of it ? i do not doubt but there are many difficult places of scripture , as there must be in any ancient writings penned in an idiom so very different from ours . but i never yet saw one difficulty removed by the pretended infallible guides of the church ; all the help we have had , hath been from meer fallible men of excellent skill in languages , history , and chronology , and of a clear understanding ; and we should be very unthankful not to acknowledge the great helps we have had from them , for understanding the difficult places of scripture : but for the infallible guides , they have dealt by the obscurities of scripture , as the priest and the levi●e in our saviours parable , did by the wounded man , they have fairly passed them by , and taken no care of them . if these guides did believe themselves infallible , they have made the least use of their talent that ever men did ; they have laid it up in a napkin , and buried it in the earth , for nothing of it ever appeared above ground . how could they have obliged the world more , ( nay , it had been necessary to have done it for the use of their gift ) than to have given an infallible sense of all controverted places ; and then there had been but one dispute left , whether they were infallible or not ? but now , supposing we believe their infallibility , we are still as far to seek , for the meaning of many difficult places . and supposing god had once bestowed this gift of infallibility upon the guides of the church , he might most justly deprive them of it , because of the no use they have made of it ; and we might have great reason to believe so from our saviours words , to him that hath shall be given , but from him that hath not , shall be taken away even that which he hath . so that not making use of this talent of infallibility , gives us just reason to question , whether god continues it , supposing he had once given it to the guides of the church , since the apostles days : which i see no reason to believe . 2. his next exception is from a saying of dr. fields , who , he saith , seems to advance a contrary principle in his preface to his books of the church . but o the mischief of common-place-books ! which make men write what they find , and not what is to their purpose . for after all , dr. field doth but seem to advance another principle in his opinion , and doth not so much as seem to do it in mine . for that learned and judicious writer sets himself purposely to disprove the infallibility of the church in the beginning of his fourth book ; and is it probable that any man of common understanding would assert that in his preface , which he had disproved in his book ? it is a known distinction in the church of rome of the church virtual , representative and essential ; by the two first are meant popes and councils ; and of these two , dr. field saith , that they may erre in matters of greatest consequence ; yet these are n. o's . infallible guides , whose conduct he supposeth men obliged to follow , and to yield their internal assent to . concerning the essential church , he saith , that it either comprehends all the faithful that are and have been since christ appeared in the flesh ; and then , he saith , it is absolutely free from all errour and ignorance of divine things , that are to be known by revelations ; or as it comprehends only all those believers that are and have been since the apostles times ; and in this sense , he saith , the whole church may be ignorant in sundry things , which are not necessary to salvation ; but he thinks it impossible for the whole church to erre in anything of this nature . but in things that cannot be clearly deduced from the rule of faith , and word of divine and heavenly truth , we think it possible , that all that have written of such things might erre and be deceived . but if the church be taken only as it comprehends the believers that now are , and presently live in the world , he saith , it is certain and agreed upon , that in things necessary to be known and believed expresly and distinctly , it never is ignorant , much less doth erre . yea in things that are not absolutely necessary to be known and believed expresly and distinctly , we constantly believe that this church can never erre , nor doubt pertinaciously , but that there shall ever be some found ready to embrace the truth , if it be manifested to them , and such as shall not wholly neglect the search and enquiry after it , as times and means give leave . but if we mean by a church , any particular church , he determines , that particular men and churches may erre damnably , because notwithstanding others may worship god aright ; but that the whole church at one time cannot so erre , for that then the church should cease utterly for a time , and so not be catholick being not at all times ; and christ should sometimes be without a church ; yet , that errors not prejudicing the salvation of them that erre may be found in the church , that is at one time in the world , we make no doubt ; only the symbolical and catholick which is and was being wholly free from error . which several expressions amount to no more than this , that there will be always some true christians in the world ; but what is this to infallible teachers and guides , in a church that pretends to be catholick against all the sense and reason in the world ? and is it now imaginable after all this , that dr. field should make any particular church infallible ? no , all that he means in his preface , is this , that among all the societies of men , persons who have not leisure or capacity to examine particular controversies , ought diligently to search which is the true church , and having done this , to embrace her communion , follow her directions , and rest in her judgment , i.e. suppose a man by that very book of dr. fields should be convinced that the church of rome is a very corrupt and tyrannical church , and the church of england is a sound and good church ( which was the design of his writing it , ) he being thus far satisfied , ought to embrace the communion of this church , and so follow her directions , and rest in her judgment , so , as not to forsake her communion for any cavils that are raised about particular controversies of which he is not a capable judge . and doth this make the church of england infallible ? if we say that a man being first satisfied of the skill and integrity of a lawyer , ought to follow his directions , and rest in his judgment ; doth this make that lawyer infallible ? so we say here , the resting in the judgment of a church , of whose integrity we have assurance before-hand , implies only the supposition of so much honesty and skill in a church , as may over-rule the judgments of persons who either have not leisure or capacity to understand particular controversies which require skill in languages , search into the fathers and later writers on both sides . if we say , that unlearned persons ought in such things to trust the learned , whose integrity they have no ground to suspect , this doth not certainly make the more learned infallible ? but we may rest in the judgment of those whom we have no reason to suspect , though we believe them not to be infallible : and it was the former dr. field meant , and by no means any infallibility , unless he plainly contradict himself . 3. he excepts , that this brings in an inerrability of every particular christian in all points necessary , if such christians will , that is , ●f only they shall sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of them . the force of this argument will be easily discerned if we put another parallel to it , viz. that they who assert from scripture the assistance of divine grace to the sincere endeavours of men , do make all men imp●ccable if they will ; as well as those who assert , that god will not be wanting in necessaries to salvation to those who sincerely endeavour to know them , make all such men so far infallible , if they will. if any one thing be plain in scripture , the goodness of god is ; and who can believe that , and yet think that he will suffer those who sincerely endeavour to know what is necessary to their salvation , not to understand it ? but besides , how often doth the scripture promise a greater degree of knowledge to the meek and humble , to the diligent and industrious ; to those that ask and seek wisdom from him , to those that do the will of god , to whom our saviour hath expresly promised , that they shall know of his doctrine , whether it be of god or no ? and if this be the inerrability he means , he sees what grounds we have to assert it . but we understand not by it , that such persons cannot erre in their judgments about what things are necessary , and what not ; nor that they cannot erre in other things which are not so necessary to salvation ; but that gods goodness is so great , and his promises so plain , and his word so clear in necessary things , that no one who sincerely endeavours to know them , shall ever miss of salvation . and if such an infallibility will satisfie them , we do not deny it to popes themselves , or other guides of the church , on condition they do not think themselves infallible beyond these bounds ; for they are only the meek and humble whom god hath promised to teach his way , and not such who will be infallible whether god will or no. his other exceptions from this principle destroying church-authority , from the parity of reason for church governors , and the controverted places of scripture shall be considered afterwards . 2. i now come to examine what certainty there is for this infallibility ? here i shall lay down some principles of common reason , by which we may better understand the force of his arguments . 1. that the proof ought always to be more evident than the thing that is to be proved by it . for otherwise it is of no advantage to the proof of it , if it have but the same degree of evidence ; but is a great prejudice to it , if it have less : so that if the proofs of infallibility be equally obscure and difficult with those things which are to be believed by virtue of it , this infallibility is of no use ; but if they be less evident , the pretence of it is both very ridiculous and prejudicial to the christian faith. 2. the greater concernment any law is of , and the greater danger in mistaking the meaning of it , the more plain and distinct ought the terms of that law to be . as a law about the succession of the crown ought to be framed with all the clearness and distinctness imaginable , because the peace and security of a nation depends upon it . so in case christ hath appointed any successor in the government of his church , or entailed infallibility upon the guides of it : this being a matter of such infinite concernment to the whole church ; it is most unreasonable to conceive that whatever other parts of his will were obscure , those which relate to the matter of succession and infallibility , should be so ; but rather so plain , that no one can miss of understanding them , because the weight of all the rest depends upon these two ; and it is so horrible a presumption in any to pretend to them , in case they have no right to them , and the danger so great in relying upon them if there be no such thing . 3. a law of such universal concernment to the faith and peace of the christian church being supposed , the practice of the best and purest● ages of the church must be supposed agreeable thereto , i. e. that in all matters of difference they did constantly own these infallible judges , by appealing to them for a final issue of all debates , and resting satisfied with their decisions . but if on the contrary , when great differences have happened in and nearest the first times , no such authority was made use of , but other ways put in practice to make an end of them ; if when it was pretended , it was slighted and rejected ; nay , if the persons pretending it , were proceeded against and condemned , and this not by a popular faction , but by just and legal authority ; we may thence conclude that such judges have arrogated that power to themselves , which was not given them by the supreme legislator . these things being premised , i come to his particular arguments , which lie scattered●up and down ; but to give them the greater strength , i shall bring them nearer together . and they are drawn either from scripture , or tradition , or parity of reason . 1. from scripture . and in truth the only satisfactory argument in a matter of so great concernment to the christian church , ought only to be drawn from thence , unless we will suppose the scripture defective in the most important things . for this being pleaded as a thing necessary for the peace of the church by some , and for the faith of christians by others ; so much greater the necessity of it is , so much clearer ought the evidence of it to be in scripture , supposing that to be intended to reveal the will of god to us in matters of the greatest necessity . but it cannot be denied by our adversaries , that the places produced by them for a constant infallibility in the guides of the church , do not necessarily prove it ; because they are very capable of being understood , as to the infallibility only of the apostles in the first age and foundation of the christian church : is it then to be imagined that if christ had intended such an infallibility as the foundation of the faith and peace of his church , he would not have delivered his mind more plainly and clearly than he is pretended to do in this matter ? how easily might all the contentions of the christian world have been prevented , if christ had caused it to be delivered in terms so clear , as the nature of the thing doth require ? if he had said , i do promise my infallible spirit to the guides of the church in all ages , to give the true sense of scripture in all controversies which shall arise among christians , and i expect an obedience suitably to all their determinations : or , more particularly , i appoint the bishops of rome in all ages for my successors in the government of the church , who shall be the standing and infallible iudges of all controversies among christians ; this dispute might never have happened among us . for we assure them that we account the peace of the church so valuable a thing , and obedience to christs commands so necessary a duty , that we are well enough inclined to embrace the doctrine of infallibility , if we could see any ground in scripture for it . but we cannot make persons infallible by believing them to be so , but we may easily make our selves fools , as others have done , by believing it without reason . the controversie then is not , whether infallibility in the guides of the church be a desirable thing or not , for so we say impeccability is too ; but the question is , whether there be any such thing promised by christ to the guides of his church , and whether all christians on that account are bound to yield their internal assent , as well as external obedience to all their decrees ? which we deny , and desire to see it clearly proved from his words who alone could grant this infallibility . for if an infallible judge be therefore necessary , because the scripture is not sufficiently clear for ending of controversies , and that god hath actually constituted such a judge , cannot be proved but by scripture , surely we have all the reason in the world to expect that the scripture should be abundantly , and beyond all contradiction clear in this point , to make amends for its obscurity in the rest : for if this point be not clearly proved , we are never the nearer an end of controversies : because the business stops at the very head , and they may beg their hearts out , before we shall ever be so good natured as to grant it them without proof . and they who have been so bold ( shall i say ? or blasphemous ) as to charge our lord with want of discretion , in case he have not provided his church with such an infallible judge , do certainly render him much more obnoxious to this imputation , in supposing him to have constituted such a judge , if he have no where plainly declared that he hath done so . and let them , if they can , produce one clear text of scripture to this purpose , which by the unanimous consent of the fathers is so interpreted ; and which , to the common sense of mankind , is more sufficiently clear for the ending this controversie , than the scripture is said by them to be in other necessary points of faith. and till they have done this , according to their own way of arguing , we have as much reason to deny their infallibility , as they have to demand our assent to it , upon the presumed obscurity and insufficiency of scripture . when i came thus prepared to find what the considerator would produce in a matter of such consequence , i soon discerned how little mind he had to insist upon any proofs of that , which is his only engine to overthrow my principles . for after the most diligent search i could make , the only argument from scripture i found produced , was from the old testament , ( where i confess i least looked for it ) but however , this is thought so considerable as to be twice produced ; and yet is so unlucky , that if i understand any thing of the force of it , it p●oves the judges in westminster hall to be infallible , rather than the pope , or any guide of the christian church . for the force of the argument lies in gods appointing iudges under the law , according to whose sentence matters were to be determined , upon penalty of death in case of disobedience . but what then ? doth this imply infallibility ? no , that he dares not stand to , but absolute obedience , ; which we are ready to yield when we see the like absolute command for ecclesiastical judges of controversies of religion , as there was among the iews for their supreme iudges in matters of law. but of this place i have already spoken at large , and shewed how impertinently it is produced for infallibility in the book , he often referrs to , and might , if he had thought fit , have answered what is there said before he had urged it again , without any new strength added to it . but since he produces no other proof for it , i must consider how he goes about to weaken mine against it . two things i insisted upon against such a pretence of infallibility , viz. that such a pretence implying an infallible assistance of the spirit of god , there were but two ways of proving it , either , 1. by such miracles as the apostles wrought to attest their infallibility , or 2. by those scriptures from whence this infallibility is derived . concerning both these i laid down two propositions . 1. concerning the proof by miracles . the proposition was this . there can be no more intollerable usurpation on the faith of christians than for any person or society of men to pretend to an assistance as infallible in what they propose , as was in christ or his apostles , without giving an equal degree of evidence that they are so assisted as christ and his apostles did , viz. by miracles as great , publick , and convincing as theirs were ; by which i mean such as are wrought by those very persons who challenge this infallibility , and with a design for the conviction of those who do not believe it . to this he answers : 1. that i am equally obliged to produce miracles for the churches infallibility in fundamentals , which i had asserted in the defence of the archbishop . but this admits a very easie answer ; for when i speak of infallibility in fundamentals , i there declare that i mean no more by it , than that there shall be always a number of true christians in the world. and what necessity is there now of miracles for men to believe , since they receive the doctrine of the gospel upon those miracles by which it was at first attested . neither is there any need of miracles to shew that any number of men are not guilty of an actual errour in what they believe , supposing they declare to believe only on the account of that divine revelation which is owned by christians ; for in this case the trial of doctrine is to be by scripture . but in case any persons challenge an infallibility to themselves antecedently to the belief of scriptures , and by vertue of which , they say , men must believe the scriptures , then i say such persons are equally bound to prove their infallibility by miracles as the apostles were . 2. not resting in this , he proceeds to another answer , the sum of which is , that the infallibility of the church not being so large or so high as the apostles , but consisting only in the infallible delivery of the same doctrine , there is no necessity of miracles in the present church . to this i answer , that the doctrine of the gospel may be said to be new two ways ; 1. in respect of the matter contained in it , and so it was new only when it was first revealed . 2. in respect of the person who is to believe it : so it is new in every age to those who are first brought to believe it . now the apostles had their infallibility attested by miracles , not barely with a respect to the revelation of new matter , for then none would have needed miracles but christ himself , or the apostles that made the first sermons ; for afterwards the matter was not new , but the necessity of miracles was to give a sufficient motive to believe , to all those to whom the gospel was proposed ; and therefore miracles are said to be a a sign to unbelievers . for by these , unbelievers were convinced that there was sufficient ground for receiving the doctrine of the gospel on the authority of those who delivered it ; god himself bearing them witness with divers miracles and gifts of the holy ghost . suppose then , any of the apostles after their first preaching continued only to inculcate the same doctrine for the conversion of more unbelievers ; in this case the evidence of miracles was the reason of relying on the authority of those persons for the truth of the doctrine delivered by them . from whence it follows , that where the christian faith is to be received on the authority of any persons in any age , those persons ought to confirm that authority by miracles , as the apostles did . for without this , there can be no such authority whereon to rely , antecedently to the embracing the christian faith. now , this is the case of the church of rome they pretend not to deliver any doctrine wholly new , but what was one way or another delivered by christ and his apostles ; ( although we therein charge them with fraud and falshood ) but yielding this , yet they contend that no man can have sufficient ground for believing the word of god , but from their churches infallibility ; in this case it is plain that they make their churches infallibility to be as much the reason of persons believing , as the infallibility of the apostles in their time was ; and therefore i say , they ought to prove this infallibility in the same way , and by miracles , as great , publick , and convincing , as the apostles did . 3. yet he is very loath to let go the miracles of their church , done in later times as well as formerly . it would be too large a task in this place to examine the miracles of the roman church , ( that may be better done on another occasion , ) all that i have here to say is , that all the miracles pretended among them , signifie nothing to our present purpose , unless those miracles give evidence of the authority and infallibility of those by whom they were done ; and they would do well to shew , where ever in scripture god did bestow a gift of miracles upon any but for this end : and what reason there is that god should alter the method and course of his providence , in a matter of so great concernment to the faith of mankind . such miracles as were wrought by christ and his apostles we defie all other religions in the world to produce any like them to confirm their doctrine ; but such as the church of rome pretends , scarce any religion in the world but hath pretended to the same . and for his most credible histories he vouches for them , i hope he doth not mean the church history written by s. c. nor any other such legends among them ; if he doth , i assure him they have a very easie faith that think them credible . and if all miracles that are so called , by those among whom they are done , be an argument , as he saith , of the security of salvation in the communion and faith of that church wherein they are done , i hope he will be so just , to allow the same to the arrians , novatians , donatists , and others , who all pretend to miracles as well as the church of rome , as any one that is versed in church-history may easily see . but of this more at large elsewhere . 2. concerning the proof of infallibility from scripture , i said down this proposition . nothing can be more absurd , than to pretend the necessity of such an infallible commission and assistance to assure us of the truth of those writings , and to interpret them ; and at the same time to prove that commission from those writings from which we are told , nothing can be certainly deduced , such an assistance not being supposed ; or to pretend that infallibility in a body of men , is not as liable to doubts and disputes , as in those books from whence only they derive their infallibility . he grants the former part of this , if by it be intended to prove such commission only , or in the first place from these writings . but , he saith , a christians faith may begin either at the infallible authority of scriptures , or of the church : it seems then , there may be sufficient ground for a christians faith , as to the scriptures , without believing any thing of the churches infallibility ; and for this we have reason to thank him , whatever they of his own church think of it . for , by this concession we may believe the scriptures authority , without ever believing a word of the churches infallibility ; and let them afterwards prove it from scripture if they can . nay he goes yet farther , and saith , that the infallibility of scriptures as well as the church may be proved from its own testimony : but he first supposes , that the infallibility of one of these , be first learnt from tradition . and therefore in the remainder of his discourse on this subject , he shews how the infallibility of the church may be proved from tradition not shewing at all how the infallibility of the church can be proved from scripture . scripture being thus deserted , as to the proof of the churches infallibility , i must pursue him to his other hold of tradition . the method of his discourse is this ; that the infallibility of the guides of the church was antecedent to the scriptures ; that the apostles did not lose their infallibility by committing what they preached to writing ; that their successors were to have this infallibility preserved in them , if there had been no writings ; and cannot be imagined to have lost it because of them , because these give testimony to it ; that this infallibility is preserved by tradition descending from age to age , as we say the canon of scripture is delivered to us ; and lastly , that the governours of the church always held and reputed themselves infallible , appears by their anathematizing dissenters . in this discourse there are some things supposed without reason , and other things asserted without proof . the foundation of all this discourse proceeds upon the supposition that the same infallibility which was in the apostles , must be continued in their successors through all ages of the church , for which i see not the least shadow of reason produced . yes , saith he , supposing there had been no writings , and no infallibility , christian religion would have been no rational and well grounded , no stable and certain religion . two things in answer to this , i desire to be informed of : 1. what he thinks of the religion of the patriarchs , who received their religion by tradition , without any such infallibility ? 2. what he thinks of those christians who receive the scriptures or churches infallibility by vertue of common and universal tradition ( which is certainly the ground of the one , and supposed by him to be of the other ) whether the faith of such persons be rational and well-grounded , stable , and certain , or not ; if it be , then there is no such necessity of infallibility for that purpose ; if it be not , then he doth hereby declare that the faith of christians is irrational and ill-grounded . for whatsoever is received on the account of tradition antecedent to the belief of infallibility , cannot be received on the account of it ; but the belief of either scriptures or churches infallibility , must be first received by vertue of a principle antecedent to the scriptures or churches infallibility , viz. tradition . by this it appears , that his very way of proving , destroys the thing he would prove by it : for if the tradition may be a sufficient ground of faith , how comes infallibility to be necessary ? but if this infallibility be not necessary without the scriptures , much less certainly is it now , since it is acknowledged on both sides , that the apostles were infallible in their writings , and that therein the will of god is contained as to all things simply necessary to salvation . but these successors of the apostles were not deprived of their infallibility by the apostles writings ; no certainly , for none can be deprived of what they never had ; but where are the reasons all this while , to shew that there was the same necessity of infallibility in the apostles successors , as was in them ? two i find rather intimated than insisted upon . 1. that the church would otherwise have failed , if there had been neither writings nor infallibility ; but if this argument hold for any thing , it is for the necessity of the scriptures , and not of infallibility ; for we see god did furnish the church with one , and left no footsteps of the other . we do not dispute how far the church might have been preserved without the scriptures , we find it hath been hard enough to preserve it pure with them : but we always acknowledge the infinite wisdom and goodness of god , that hath not left us in matters of faith and salvation to the determinations of men liable to be corrupted by interest and ambition , but hath appointed men inspired by himself to set down whatever is necessary for us to believe and practise . and upon these writings we fix our faith , as on a firm and unmovable rock ; and on the veracity of god therein contained and expressed , we build all our hopes of a blessed eternity . and one great benefit more we have by these divine books , that by them we can so easily discover the fraud and imposture of the confident pretenders to infallibility . which is the true reason why the patrons of the church of romes infallibility have so little kindness for the scriptures , and take all occasions to disparage them , by insinuating that they are good for nothing but to breed heresies in the heads of the people ; upon pretence of which danger , they hide this candle under a bushel , lest it should give too much light to them that are in the house , and discover some things which it is more convenient to keep in the dark . 2. he saith , the infallibility of the apostles successors , receives a second evidence from the testimony thereof found also in these writings . i confess i have seen nothing like the first evidence yet , to which this should be a second ; but if by the first be meant that which i mentioned before , this is a proper second for it . neither of them , i dare say , intend any mischief to any body ; both first and second are forced into the field , where they stand only for dumb shews , and wonder what they are brought for . but whereabouts i pray doth this second testimony stand ? what are its weapons ? i hope not dic ecclesiae , nor dabo tibi claves , nor any of the old rusty armour which our modern combatants begin to be ashamed to appear with in the field . and to speak truth , n. o. seems to understand his art better than to meddle with such heavy and antique armour , which every one hath been foiled with that hath undertaken to combat with them ; only it seems a little for the credit of their cause to point to such a magazine , which in the days of ignorance and credulity , the romantick age of the church , was in great request . but we must now buckle our selves to a new manner of combat , which is from the tradition of the church , and that of the very same nature with what we have for the canon of scripture . this i confess is bright shining armour , and may do great service if it will hold ; but that must be judged upon trial , which i now set my self to . but we shall find that no weapons formed against truth can prosper : and it hath been long observed of rome that it could never endure a close siege . the question now is , whether they of the roman church have the same universal tradition for the infallibility of the guides of it , w ch we have for the canon of scripture ? w ch he asserts . it is i suppose agreed on both sides , that the tradition on w ch we receive and believe the scriptures to be the word of god was universal as to all ages and times of the church ; that from the beginning all disputes in religion among true christians , were built upon the supposition of it ; that in no age any persons were allowed to be good christians who made doubt of it ; that every age doth afford plentiful testimonies of the belief of it . this is that universal tradition we receive the scriptures upon ; and let any thing like this be produced for the infallibility of the guides of their church , and we yield up the cause to them . can any fairer terms than these be desired ? but we expect proofs , and so i perceive we may do to the worlds end . i commend the ingenuity of n. o. for endeavouring to escape out of the circle any way ; but i believe they think themselves as wise , who still dance within it , knowing the impossibility of doing any good in this other way . the only argument he insists upon is so weak , that i wonder he had not considered how often it had been answered by their own writers . for it is certain that provincial councils as well as general , have anathematized dissenters , and pronounced them hereticks , which is his only argument to prove this tradition of the churches infallibility ; and they had no way to answer it , but by saying , this doth not imply their infallibility . and if it doth not in the case of provincial councils ; why should he think it doth in the case of general ? for the anathema's of provincial councils did not relate to the acceptation of their decrees , either by the pope , or the whole church , as n. o. supposes , but did proceed upon their own assurance of the truth of what they decreed ; otherwise their anathema's would have been only conditional , and not absolute and peremptory as we see they were . but i need give no other answer to this argument than in the words of dr. field whom n. o. appealed to before , viz. that councils denounce anathema not because they think every one that disobeyeth the decree of the council to be accursed , but because they are perswaded in particular , that this is the eternal truth of god which they propose , therefore they accurse them that obstinately shall resist , as st. paul willeth every christian man to anathematize an angel coming from heaven , if he shall teach him any other doctrine than he hath already learned : yet is not every particular christian free from possibility of erring . if the argument then were good from anathematizing dissenters , and calling them hereticks , every particular person must by it be proved infallible ; who are bound to anathematize even angels from heaven in case of delivering any other doctrine from the gospel ; so that this , which is his only argument in stead of proving an universal tradition would prove an universal infallibility . let the reader now judge in his conscience , whether here be any thing offered in the way of tradition for the churches infallibility , that may bear the least proportion with the tradition on which we receive the scriptures ? and yet if this had been true , it had been almost impossible that any one age should have passed without remarkable testimonies of it . for no age of the church hath been so happy as not to have occasion for an infallible judge of controversies , if any such had been appointed by christ : and therefore it cannot be imagined , but that christians must in all controversies arising have appealed to him , and stood to his determinations ; which must have been as well known in the practice of the church , as judges trying causes in westminster hall. but i challenge him to produce any one age since the apostles times to this day , wherein the infallibility of a standing judge of controversies appointed by christ , hath been received by as universal a consent as the authority of scripture hath been in that very age. nay , i except not that age which hath been since the council of trent ; for the scriptures of the new testament have been received of all sides , but the infallibility of a standing judge is utterly denied by one side , and vehemently disputed between several parties on the other . some making only the essential church infallible , others the representative in councils , others again the virtual , viz. the pope . and supposing any infallible judge necessary ; it stands to reason it should be rather in one than in a multitude , and rather in a constant succession of bishops in one see , than in an uncertain number who cannot be convened together as often as the necessities of the church may require . but this is so far from being received as an universal tradition in that very age wherein we live , that onely one busie party in the roman church do maintain it , many others eagerly opposing it , and all the princes and states in christendom do in their actions , if not in words , deny it . and is not this now an universal tradition fit to be matched with that of the scriptures ? i had once thought to have brought testimonies o●t of every age of the christian church manifestly disproving any such tradition of infallibility ; and that not only of private persons when there were no councils , but from the most solemn acts of councils , and the confession of their own writers ; but that would swell this answer to too great a bulk , and is not needful where so very little is offered for the proof of it . and yet i shall be ready to do it , when any thing more important requires it . i now return to his exceptions against the latter part of the former proposition , viz. that infallibility in a body of men , is as liable to doubts and disputes , as in those books from whence only they derive their infallibility . the plain meaning of which is , that it is a foolish thing to make use of a medium as uncertain as the thing which is to be proved by it ; and therefore if the infallibility of the the church be as liable to doubts and disputes as that of the scriptures , it is against all just laws of reasoning to make use of the churches infallibility to prove the scriptures by . and to this no answer can be proper , but either by saying that there is no absurdity in such a way of proving ; or else that the infallibility of the church is more certain and evident than that of the scriptures . which i should be glad to see undertaken by any man who pretends to sense ; which n. o. doth too much to meddle with it ; and therefore fairly shuffles it off , and turns my words quite to another meaning , as though they had been spoken of the doubtful sense of the decrees of councils , which although elsewhere i had sufficient reason to speak of , yet that was not pertinent to this place . but this was a way to escape by saying something , though not at all to the purpose ; and yet he gives no sufficient answer to that sense he puts upon my words , by bringing a commentary upon them out of words used by me in another discourse . wherein i did at large argue against the infallibility of general councils , and after disproving it in general , i undertook to prove , that no man can have any certainty of faith as to the decrees of any council ; because men can have no certainty of faith that this was a general council , that it passed such decrees , that it proceeded lawfully in passing them , and that this is the certain meaning of them ; all which are necessary in order to the believing those decrees to be infallible with such a faith as they call divine . the words produced by him do speak of the doubtful sense and meaning of the decrees of councils , by which i shew that men can have no more certainty of the meaning of them , than of doubtful places of scripture , not as though i supposed it impossible for councils to give a clear decision in matters of controversie , so as that men might understand their meaning ; but i expresly mention such decrees as are purposely framed in general terms , and with ambiguous expressions pressions to give satisfaction to the several dissenting parties ; for which i instanced in some of the council of trent , whose ambiguity is most manifest by the disputes about their meaning raised by some who were present at the making of them . i am far enough from denying that a commentary may make a text plainer , or that a iudges sentence can be clearer than the law ; or that any council can , or hath decided any thing clearer than the thing that is in controversie ; which are his exceptions : but i say , if councils pretend to do more than the scriptures , and to decide controversies for the satisfaction of the world , and that men ought to have that certainty of faith by them , which they cannot have by the scriptures , they ought never to be liable to the same ambiguity and obscurity upon the account of which the scripture is rejected from being a certain rule of faith. for , as he saith well , infallibility alone ends not controversies , but clearness ; clearness in the point controverted : which if councils want , they are as unfit to end controversies as the scriptures can be pretended to be . but this is not the thing intended by me in this proposition and therefore it needs no farther answer ; for the only subject of that proposition , is the infallibility of the church , and not the clearness of the decrees of councils . but i cannot admire the ingenuity of this way of answering me , by putting another sense upon my words than they will bear ; and by drawing words out of another discourse , without shewing the purpose for which they are there used , and leaving out the most material passages which tended to the clearing of them . if n. o. thinks fit to oppose that whole discourse against the infallibility of general councils , and set down fairly the several arguments , i should be then too blame not to return a just answer : but i am not bound to follow him in such strange excursions , from the 17. proposition of this book to a single passage in a larger book , and from that back to another at a mighty distance in the same book ; which being dismembred from the body of the discourse , must needs lose much of their strength . yet with all the disadvantage he takes them ( which is such , that the best book in the world may be confuted in that manner ) he hath no great cause to glory in the execution he hath done upon them . in answer to my lord of canterburies adversary , who boasted of the unity of the roman church : because whatever the private opinions of men are , they are ready to submit their judgments to the censure and determination of the church , i had said , that this will hold as well or better for our unity as theirs , because all men are willing to submit their judgments to scripture , which is agreed on all sides to be infallible . against these words thus taken alone n. o. spends two or three pages ; which might have been spared , if he had but fairly expressed what immediately follows them in these words . if you say it cannot be known what scripture determines , but it may be easily what the church defines : it is easily answered , that the event shews it to be far otherwise , for how many disputes are there concerning the power of determining matters of faith ? to whom it belongs , in what way it must be managed , whether parties ought to be heard in matters of doctrine , what the meaning of the decrees are when they are made , which raise as many divisions as were before them ; as appears by the decrees of the council of trent , and the later of pope innocent relating to the five propositions ; so that upon the whole it appears setting aside force and fraud , which are excellent principles of christian unity , we are upon as fair terms of union as they are among themselves . i do not therefore say , that the church of rome hath no advantage at all in point of unity , but that all the advantage it hath , comes from force and fraud , and setting these aside , we are upon as good terms of union as they ; and we do not envy them the effects of tyranny and deceit . it is the union of christians we contend for , and not of slaves or fools ; we leave the turk and the pope to vie with each other in this kind of unity , ( although i believe the turk hath much the advantage in it ) and i freely yield to n. o. that they have a juster pretence to vnity without truth than we . which is agreeable to what he pleads for , that they are more united in opinion than we ; united in opinion , i say , true or false , saith he , here matters not ; we speak here of vnion not of truth . this and the following of tyranny , which we complain of , are the two fairest pleas for their vnion i ever met with . but this is not a place to examine the pretences to unity on both sides , that i have at large done in a whole chapter in the late book , and if n. o. had intended any thing to purpose against me on this subject , he ought much rather to have fallen on a just discourse than two such lame clauses as he makes these to be by his citation of them . and when he doth that , he may hear more of this subject ; in the mean time infallibility is our business . and therefore i proceed to the third argument made use of by n. o. for the proof of infallibility in the guides of the church , which is from parity of reason . because , i say , that it is repugnant to the nature of the design , and the wisdom and goodness of god to give infallible assurance to persons , in writing his will for the benefit of mankind , if those writings may not be understood by all persons who sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of them in all such things as are necessary to their salvation ; from hence he inferrs , that if every christian may become thus infallible in necessaries , from 1. a clear rule . 2. a due industry used ; 3. and a certainty that it is so used ; may not the church-governours still much rather be allowed infallible , and so retain still their infallible guideship ; and the people also , the more clear the rule of faith is proved to be , the more securely be referred to their direction ? and have we not all reason to presume that the chief guides of the church ( even a general council of them , or if it be but a major part of this council , 't is sufficient ) in their consults concerning a point necessary to salvation delivered in scripture , use at least so much endeavour ( for more needs not ) as a plain rustick doth , to understand the meaning of it , and also the like sincerity ? for what they define for others , they define for themselves also , and their salvation is as much concerned as any other mans is , in their mistakes . and next , why may not these governours upon such certainty of a sincere endeavour and clearness of the rule take upon them to define these points and enjoyn an assent to and belief of them to their subjects ; especially since it is affirmed that all those from whom they require such obedience , if they please to use a sincere endeavour may be certain thereof as well as they ? and are we not here again arrived at church-infallibility , if not from extraordinary divine assistance , only sincere endeavour being supposed ? and thus doe not his conditional infallibility of particular persons in necessaries , the condition being so easie , necessarily inferr a moral impossibility of the churches erring in them ; especially those necessaries being contracted to the apostles creed , as it is by some . to lay open the weakness of this discourse , which appears fair and plausible at first view , i shall give an account of these two things . 1. what infallibility i attribute to private persons . 2. how far the parity of reason will extend to the infallibility of the guides of the church . 1. as to the infallibility by me attributed to private persons ; no such thing can be inferred from my words ; and i wish n. o. would have kept to my own expressions , and not foisted in that term of infallibility , without which all his discourse would have betrayed its own weakness . for take the terms which i laid down , and apply them to the guides of the church , and see what a mighty infallibility springs from them . for if it be repugnant to the nature of the design , and to the wisdom and goodness of god to give infallible assurance to persons in writing his will for the benefit of mankind , if those writings may not be understood by all persons who sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of them in all such things as are necessary for their salvation , how doth it hence follow that the guides of the church must be infallible in teaching matters of faith ? if i had asserted that particular persons were infallible in determining what was true , and what not ; then i grant the argument would have much more held for those whose office it is to guide and direct others . but what he means by mens being infallible in necessaries , i do not well understand ; for it is capable of three several meanings : 1. that either men are infallible in judging of necessaries to salvation ; 2. or , that men are infallible in teaching others what art necessaries to salvation . or 3. that men are infallible in believing such things as are necessary to salvation , i. e. that such is the goodness of god , and the clearness of scriptures , that no man who sincerely desires to know what is necessary to salvation shall be deceived therein ; and what is this any more than to assert that god will not be wanting in necessaries to mankind ; and although i know no reason for using the term of infallibility thus applied , yet the thing it self i assert in that sense , but in neither of the other : and what now can be inferred from hence by a parity of reason , but that the guides of the church , supposing the same sincerity shall enjoy the same priviledge , which i know none ever denied them ; but what is this to their infallibility in teaching all matters of faith ? which is the only thing to be proved by him . if he can prove this as necessary for the salvation of mankind as the other is , then he would do something to his purpose , but not otherwise . so that all this discourse proceeds upon a very false way of reasoning from believing to teaching , and from necessaries to salvation , to all matters of faith , which the guides of the church shall propose to men . 2. but may we not inferr , that if god will not be wanting to particular persons in matters necessary to their salvation , much less will he be wanting to the guides of the church in all matters of faith ? no certainly , unless it be proved that their guidance is the only means whereby men can understand what is necessary to salvation ; which is utterly denied by us , god having otherwise provided for that , by giving so clear a rule in matters necessary , that no man who sincerely endeavours to know such things shall fail therein . but will not the same sincerity in the guides of the church , extend to their knowing and declaring all matters of faith ? this is a thing possible , and supposing god had entrusted them with the infallible delivery of all matters of faith , were not to be questioned ; but that is the thing still in dispute , and is not to be supposed , without proving it by plain evidence from those books which are agreed on both sides to contain the will of god. besides , that no man that is acquainted with the proceedings of the council of trent , will see reason to be over-confident of the sincerity of councils so palpably influenced by the court of rome as that was . but however is it not fit in these matters that particular persons should rather yield to the guidance of others , than to the conduct of their own reason ? which is n. o's . farther argument in this matter , viz. that a fallibility being supposed , it is more fitting to follow prudent and experienced , though fallible persons direction rather than our own . to this i answer in these following particulars . 1. that god hath entrusted every man with a faculty of discerning truth and falshood ; supposing that there were no persons in the world to direct or guide him . for without this there were no capacity in mankind to be instructed in matters of religion ; and it were to no purpose , to offer any thing to men to be believed , or to perswade them to embrace any religion . to make this plain , i will suppose a person come to years of understanding , not yet professing any particular religion to whom the several religions in the world are proposed by men perswaded of the truth of them , viz. the christian , the jewish , and the mahumetan : he hears the several arguments brought for each of them , and hath no greater opinion of the teachers of one than of another , i desire to know whether this person may not see so much of the truth and excellency of christian religion , above the rest as to choose that and reject all the rest . i hope no one will deny this ; now if a man does here upon his own judgment and reason choose the christian religion , so as firmly to believe it , then god hath given to men such a faculty of judging , that upon the proposal of truth and falshood , he may embrace the true religion and reject the false , and such a faith is acceptable and pleasing to god ; otherwise no man could embrace christianity at first upon good grounds . 2. this faculty is not taken away , nor men forbidden the exercise of it in the choice of their religion by any principle of the christian religion ; for our saviour himself appealed to the judgement of the persons he endeavored to convince ; he made use of many arguments to perswade them , he directed them in the way of finding out of truth , he reproved those who would not search into the things delivered to them . all which were to no purpose at all , if men were not to continue the exercise of their own judgements about these matters . accordingly we find the apostles appealing to the judgements of private and fallible persons concerning what they said to them , although themselves were infallible , and had the greatest authority over them ; we find them , not bidding the guides of the church p●ove all things and the people held fast that which they delivered them ; but commanding them indifferently to prove all things and hold fast that which is good , i. e. what upon examination they found to be so ; we find those commended , who searched the scriptures daily whether the things proposed to them were so or no. so that we see the christian religion d●th not forbid men the exercise of that faculty of judging , which god hath given to mankind . 3. the exercise of this faculty was not to cease as●oon as men had embraced the christian doctrine . for the precepts given by the apostles do belong to those who are already christians , and that concerning the matters proposed by their guides ; nay they are expressly commended to try and examin all pretences to infallibility and revelation upon this great reason because there should be many false pretenders to them . beloved believe not every spirit , but try the spirits whether they be of god , for many false prophets are gone out into the world . they are commanded not to believe any other gospel though apostles or an angel from heaven should preach it ; and how should they know whether it were another or the same if they were not to examin and compare them ? they are bid to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints ; it might be a new faith for any thing they could know , if they were not competent judges of what was once delivered : they are frequently charged to beware of seducers and false guides , that should come in the name of christ and his apostles ; they are told , that there should come a falling away and departing from the faith ; and that the time will come when men will not endure sound doctrine , and shall turn away their ears from 〈◊〉 truth and believe fables ; that such shall come with all deceivableness of unrighteousness ; with powers and signs and lying wonders . to what end or purpose are all these things said , if men being once christians are no longer to exercise their own judgements , but deliver them up into the hands of their guides ? what is this , but to put them under a necessity of being deluded when their guides please ? and as our saviour saith , when the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch . 4. the authority of guides in the church is not absolute and unlimited but confined within certain bounds . which if they transgress they are no longer to be followed . so st. paul saith , if we or an angel from heaven teach any other gospel let him be accursed , so that the apostles themselves though giving the greatest evidence of infallibility were no longer to be followed than they held to the gospel of christ. and they desired no more of their greatest disciples whom they had converted to the christian faith , than to be followers of them as they were of christ , they told them they had no dominion over their faith , although they were far more assisted with an infallible spirit , than any other guides of the church could pretend to be ever since . therefore no present guides , what ever names they go by , ought to usurp such an authority over the minds of men which the apostles themselves did not challenge ; although there were greater reason for men to yield up their minds wholly to their guidance . we are far from denying all reasonable and just authority to be given to the guides of the church ; but we say that their authority not being absolute is con●ined to some known rule ; and where there is a rule for them to proceed by , there is a rule for others to judge of their proceedings ; and consequently men must exercise their judgements about the matters they determin whether they be agreeable to that r●le or n●t . 5. where the rule by which the guides of the church are to proceed hath determined nothing , there we say the authority of the guides is to be submitted unto . for otherwise , there would be nothing le●t , wherein their authority could be shewn , and others pay obedience to them , on the account of it . therefore we plead for the churches authority in all matters of meer order and decency , in indifferent rites and ceremonies ; and think it an unreasonable thing to 〈◊〉 the govern●u●s of a christian society the priviledge of commanding in things which god hath n●t al● ready determined by his own law. we plead for the respect and reverence which is due to the lawful constituti●ns o● the church whereof we are members ; and 〈◊〉 the just authority of the guides it , in the exercise of that power which is committed to the governours of it ; as the successours of the apostles in their care of the christian church , although not in their infallibility . 6. we allow a very great authority to the guides of the catholick church in the best times of christianity ; and look upon the concurrent sense of antiquity as an excellent means to understand the mind of scripture in places otherwise doubtful and obscure . we prosess a great reverence to the ancient fathers of the church : but especially when assembled in free and general councils ; we reject the ancient heresies condemned in them ; which we the rather believe to be against the scripture , because so ancient , so wise and so great persons did deliver the contrary doctrine , not only to be the sense of the church in their own time but ever since the apostles . nay we reject nothing that can be proved by an universal tradition from the apostolical times downwards ; but we have so great an opinion of the wisdom and piety of those excellent guides of the church in the primitive times , that we see no reason to have those things forced upon us now , which we offer to prove to be contrary to their doctrine and practice . so that the controversy between us is not about the authority of the guides of the church , but whether the guides of the apostolical and primitive times ought not to have greater authority over us , than those of the present church in things wherein they contradict each other ? this is the true state of the controversy between us ; and all the clamours of rejecting the authority of church guides are vain and impertinent . but we profess to yield greater reverence and submission of mind to christ , and his apostles , than to any guides of the church ever since : we are sure they spake by an infallible spirit , and where they have determined matters of faith or practice , we look upon it as arrogance and presumption in any others to alter what they have declared . and for the ages since , we have a much g●eater esteem for those nea●est the apostolical times and so downwards , till ignorance , ambition , and private interests sway'd too much among those who were called the guides of the church . and that by the confession of those who were members of it at the same time ; which makes us not to wonder that such corruptions of doctrine and practice should then come in : but we do justly wonder at the sincerity of those who would not have them reformed and taken away . 7. in matters imposed upon us to believe or practise which are repugnant to plain commands of scripture , or the evidence offense , or the grounds of christian religion ; we assert that no authority of the present guides of a church , is to overrule our faith or practice . for there are some things so plain , that no man will be guided by anothers opinion in them ; if any philosopher did think his authority ought to overrule an ignorant mans opinion , in saying the snow which he saw to be white was not so ; i would fain know whether that man did better to believe his eyes or the prudent , experienc'd philosopher ? i am certain , if i destroy the evidence of sense i must overthrow the grounds of christian religion ; and i am as certain if i believe that not to be bread which my senses tell me is so , i must destroy the greatest evidence of sense ; and which is fitter for me , to reject that evidence which assures my christianity to me , or that authority which by its impositions on my faith overthrows the certainty of sense ? we do not say that we are to reject any doctrine delivered in scripture which concerns a being infinitely above our understanding , because we cannot comprehend all things contained in it ; but in matters lyable to sense and the proper objects of it , we must beg pardon if we prefer the grounds of our common christianity before a novel and monstrous figment , hatched in the times of ignorance and barbarism , foster'd by faction , and imposed by tyranny . we find no command so plain in scripture that we must believe the guides of the church in all they deliver , as there is that we must not worship images , that we must pray with understanding , that we must keep to our saviours institution of the lords supper ; but if any guides of a church pretend to an authority to evacuate the force of these laws , we do not so much reject their authority , as prefer gods above them . doth that man destroy the authority of parents , that refuses to obey them , when they command him to commit treason ? that is our case in this matter , supposing such guides of a church which otherwise we are bound to obey , if they require things contrary to a direct command of god , must we prefer their guidance before gods ? if they can prove us mistaken we yield , but till then the question is not , whether the guides of the church must be submitted to rather than our own reason ? but whether gods authority or theirs must be obeyed ? and i would gladly know whether there be not some points of faith , and some parts of our duty , so plain , that no church-authority determining the contrary ought to be obey'd ? 8. no absolute submission can be due to those guides of a church who have opposed and contradicted each other , and condemned one an●ther for errour and here●y . for then in case of absolute submission a man must yield his assent to contradictions ; and for the same reason that he is to be a catholick at one time , he must be a heretick at another . i hope the guides of the present church pretend to no more infallibility and authority than their predecessours in the same capacity with themselves have had ; and we say they have contradicted the sense of those before them in the matters in dispute between us . yet that is not the thing i now insist upon ; but that these guides of the church have declared each other to be fallible by condemning their opinions and practices ; and by that means have made it necessary for men to believe those not to be infallible , unless both parts of a contradiction may be infallibly true . suppose a man living in the times of the prevalency of arrianism , when almost all the guides of the church declared in favour of it , when several great councils opposed and contradicted that of nice , when pope liberius did subscribe the sirmian confession and communicated with the arrians , what advice would n. o. give such a one if he must not exercise his own judgement , and compare both the doctrines by the rule of scriptures ? must he follow the present guides even the pope himself ? then he must joyn with the the arrians . must he adhere to the nicene council ? but there were more numerous councils which condemned it . what remedy can be supposed in such a case , but that every person must search and examine the several doctrines , according to his best ability , and judge what is best for him to believe and practise ? no answer can be more absurd in this case than that which some give , that liberius only erred in his external profession of faith and not in the belief of it ; for we are now speaking of such as are to be guides to others , and on whose direction they are to rely , which must be something which may be known to them . supposing then , that liberius when he subscribed and joyned with the arrians , was a catholick in his heart this takes as much off from the authority of a guide , as errour would do . for who dare rely upon him who acts against his conscience and believes one way and does another ? would any in the church of rome think it fit to submit themselves to the direction of such persons , whom they were assured , did not believe one word of what they professed ; but joyned in communion with that church only for some temporal ends ? but in truth liberius went so far , that hilary denounces an anathema against him , and all that joyned with him . neither was this the only case of this nature to be supposed ; for the councils of ephesus and chalcedon proving ineffectual for the suppression of the nestorian and eutychian heresies , and rather greater disturbances arising in the church after the later of these , because the writings of theodorus of mopsuestia and theodoret against cyril , and of ibas to maris the p●rsian not being therein condemned which were suppo●ed to favour the nesto●ian heresy , the nestorians increasing their faction under the authority of those writings , and the eutychians making that their plea for rejecting that council because it seemed to favour nestorianism ; the emperour justinian by the perswasion of theodorus of caesarea resolves to have those three chapters ( as they were called ) condemned , hoping by this means to perswade the eutychian faction to accept the council of chalcedon and thereby to settle peace in the church , which was then miserably rent and divided . to this end by the consent of the four eastern patriarchs , he publishes an edict wherein he condemns the three chapters , and anathematizes those who should defend them ; to this edict the guides of the eastern church subscribed ; but vigilius then pope , ( although victor ●ununensis , a writer of that age saith , that he had given it under his hand to theodora the empress , that if he might be made pope he would condemn the three chapters ) yet now being by violent hands thrust into the chair , he changes his mind , and declares against the edict ; and threatens excommunication to those who approved it as being contrary to the catholick faith , established in the council of chalcedon ; and accordingly stephanus his legat withdrew from the communion of the patriarch of constantinople . upon this , the emperour sends for vigilius to constantinople , who being come thither excommunicates the patriarch of constantinople and all who condemned the three chapters , or joyned with those who condemned them ; and the patriarch of constantinople again excommunicates him ; but after 4. or 5. months time , these excommunications were taken off : and pope vigilius after that publishes a decree wherein the three chapters were condemned by him , with a salvo to the authority of the council of chalcedon . which made the bishops of africa , illyricum and dalmatia to fall off from him , and rusticus and seb●stianus t●o deacons of his own church ; whom the pope excommunicated for so doing . yet the emperou● himself was not satisfied with that sa●vo , and the pope not yielding without it , a general council was called at constantin●p●e to put an end to this controversy ; to which the pope being solemnly invited refused to come , the council however proceeds in the examination of the three chapters ; during their session , vigilius publishes his apostolical decree or constitution , to the whole catholick church , with the assistance of 16. bishops of italy , africa , and illyricum , and three roman deacons ; wherein the pope defends the three chapters , and defines in the conclusion of it , that it should be lawful for none to write or teach any thing about these matters , contrary to his present definition ; or to move any farther question about them . notwithstanding which definition of the popes , the council proceeds to the condemning the three chapters , and to the anathematizing those who did not condemn them . that this is the true matter of fact , i am content to appeal to the acts of the council , the edict of iustinian , the popes own decree , or the writers of that age , or the most learned persons of the roman church , such as ●aronius , petavius and petrus de marca , who have all given an account of this controversy . i now desire to know , what a person in that time should do who was bound to yield an internal assent to the guides of the church ? must he believe the pope ? he not only contradicts the council but himself too ; for it now appears by a greek epistle first published by petrus de marcâ out of the king of frances library that vigilius being banished by iustinian did afterwards retract his own decree so solemnly made , and confirmed the council . would not a man now be in a pretty condition that were bound to believe one in all he said that so often contradicted himself ? must he believe the council ? what then becomes of the popes infallibility ? when they were so far from receiving the popes definition ( though done in such a manner , in which bellarmin saith , the pope cannot err , viz. when he teaches the whole church ; ) that they reject his decree and determin the quite contrary . i know but one way of evading this , ( which is that commonly insisted on by those of the roman church , ) viz. that all this was not a controversy about 〈◊〉 but persons . so indeed some of the 〈◊〉 ours of vigilius said , when they endeavo●red to extenuate the matter as much as they could finding that the bishops of africa , and many in italy broke off from the communion of the roman church on the account of this quarrel ; but i desire any one in this matter to look to their judgement who were con●erned in this quarrel ; and if men are bo●nd to believe their guides ▪ they ought to believe them when they tell them what is a matter of faith . and from the beginning of this controversy it was accounted a matter of faith , not only by the emperour , but by the pope , by the council , and by the bishops who opposed the council ; and must we trust them in other things and not in this ? besides , the very proceedings of the council manifest it according to be●larmins own rules ; for saith he , we then know a thing to be matter of faith , when the council declares it to be so , or them to be hereticks who hold the contrary ; or , which is the most common , when they denounce anat●ema , and exclude from the church , those who hold otherwise ; all which agree to this , as will appear by the last collation of that council . and pope vigilius in the greek epistle now published in the tomes of the councils , wherein he approves the 5 th council , not only condemns the three chapters as contrary to saith , but anathematizes all those who should defend them and like an infallible judge very solemnly recants his former apostolical decree , though delivered by him upon great deliberation , an● with an intention to teach the whole church . i wonder who there could be in that age ; that believed the pope to be an infallible guide ? not the eastern bishops ; who excommunicated him , and decreed directly contrary to him ; not the western , for they likewise excommunicated him , and not only forsook his communion , but that of the roman church : but did he believe himself infallible , when he so often changed his mind , and contradicted himself in cathedra ? if he did , he was without doubt a brave man , and did as much as man can do . this controversy was scarce at an end , ( for the bishops of istria continued in their separation from the roman church for 70. years , w ch was till the time of honorius a. d. 626. ) when another was started , which gives us yet a more ample discovery of the more than fallibility of the guides of the church in that age , when a pope was condemned for a heretick by a general council ; in which case , i would fain know whether of them was infallible ? and to which of the guides of the church a man owed his internal assent , and external obedience ? this being an instance of so high a nature , that the truth of it being supposed , the pretence of absolute authority and infallibility in the guides of the roman church must fall to the ground , no wonder , that all imaginable arts have been used by those of the church of rome to take away the force of it ; among whom pighius , baronius , bellarmin , petavius , and petrus de marcâ have laboured hardest in acquitting honorius , but have proceeded in different ways ; and the two last are content the pope should be condemned for simplilicity and negligence , the better to excuse him from heresy ; but one would think these two were as contrary to the office of a trusty guide , as heresy to one that pretends to be infallible . but the better to understand the force of this instance , i shall give a brief account of the matter of fact , as it is agreed on all sides ; and the representing the divisions among the guides of the church at that time , will plainly shew how unreasonable it had been , to have required absolute submission to such who so vehemently contradicted each other . we are therefore to understand , that the late council at constantinople being found unsuccessful , for bringing the eutychians and their off-spring , to a submission to the council of chalcedon , another expedient was found out for that end , viz. that acknowledging two natures in christ they should agree in owning that there was but one will and operation in him after the union of both natures : because will and operation were supposed to flow from the person and not barely from the nature ; and the asserting two wills would imply two contrary principles in christ which were not to be supposed . this expedient was first proposed to heraclius the emperour by athanasius the patriarch of the iacobites , or paulus the s●verian and approved by sergius patriarch of constantinople , and by cyrus of alexandria , and theodorus bishop of pharan near aegypt . cyrus proceeded so far in it as by that means to reconcile the theodosiani , a sort of eutychians in alexandria , to the church , of which he gives an account to sergius of constantinople and sends him the anathema's which he published , among which the 7 th . was against those who asserted , more than one operation in christ. sergius approves what cyrus had done ; but sophronius a learned monk , coming to alexandria vehemently opposed cyrus in this business ; but cyrus persisting he makes his address to sergius at constantantinople , and tells him of the dangerous heresy that was broaching under the pretence of union ; after some heats sergius yielded , that nothing should be farther said of either side . but sophronius being made bishop of ierusalem , he publishes an encyclical epistle wherein he asserts two operations and anathematizes those who held the contrary and were for the union ; and writes to honorius then pope , giving him an account of this new heresy of the monothelites ; the same year sergius writes to him likewise of all transactions that had hitherto been in this matter , and desires to know his judgement in such an affair , wherein the peace of the church was so much concerned . honorius writes a very solemn letter to sergius , wherein he condemns the contentious humour of sophronius , and makes as good a confession of his faith as he could , in which he expresly asserts that there was but one will in christ and agrees with sergius that there should be no more disputing about one or two operations in christ. accordingly heraclius by the advice of sergius publishes his ecthesis or declaration to the same purpose , which was approved by a synod under sergius ; but opposed by iohn 4. bishop of rome , yet still maintained at constinople not only by sergius , but by pyrrhus , and paulus his successours , who were both excommunicated by theodorus succeeding iohn ; after him pope martin calls a council , wherein he condemns all the eastern bishops who favoured this new heresy , and the two edicts of silence published by heraclius and constans : but was for his pains sent for to constantinople and there dyed . these contentions daily increasing , after the death of constans , constantinus pogonatus resolves to try all ways for the peace of the church ; and therefore calls a general council at constantinople a. d. 680. wher● the heresy of the monothelites was condemned ; and the writings of sergius , cyrus , theodorus and honorius in this matter , as repugnant to the doctrine of the apostles , and decrees of councils and the judgement of the fathers ; and agreeable to the false doctrine of hereticks and destructive to souls : and not content meerly to condemn their doctrine , they further proceed to anathamatize , and expunge out of the church the names of sergius , cyrus , pyrrhus , petrus , paulus , and theodorus : and after these , honorius , as agreeing in all things with sergius and confirming his wicked doctrines . here we are now come to the main point ; we see a pope delivering his judgement in a matter of faith concerning the wh●le church condemned for a heretick by a general council for so doing : either he was rightly condemned or not ; if rightly , what becomes of the infallibility of the pope when he pretends to teach the whole church in a matter of faith ? if not rightly , what becomes of the authority and sincerity of general councils , if a council so solemnly proceeding sho●ld condemn one for heresy , that not only did not err ; but if some may be believed , could not ? surely the council never thought of that , when they make no scruple of condemning him with the rest . what ? were pope agatho's legats there present , and could not inform the council of their presumption in judging the infallible see ? but no such thing was heard of in those times ; these latter ages have been only blessed with the knowledge of this unerring priviledge ; and happy had it been if all the records of former times had been burnt , that no instances might have been brought to overthrow it . yet wit and industry have not been wanting to bring poor honorius off , if it had been possible : the sum of all may be reduced to these 3. answers . 1. either that the acts of the council are falsifyed . or. 2. that the pope did not err in faith . or. 3. supposing he did err , it was only as a private person and not as head of the church . 1. that the acts of the council are falsifyed . this is a shrewed sign of a desperate cause , when against the consent of all ancient copies , both greek and latin , and the testimonies of several popes and councils afterwards , learned men are driven to so miserable a shift as this . the first i find , who made this answer was albertus pighius , and after him baronius and bellarmin have embraced it : but the more ingenuous men of their own church have been ashamed of it . melchior canus confesseth that not only this general council , but the seventh , and eighth under adrian , and that several other popes have confessed the truth of the thing ; and therefore he doth not see how pighius can vindicate honorius in this matter . franciscus torrensis ( afterwards better known by the name of turrianus ) a man highly applauded by baronius , hosius , lindanus , and others , writ a book of the 6. 7. and 8. synod , wherein he severely chastises pighius for his ill usage of this sixth council , and saith that in this matter he shewed more prejudice than judgement . for , whereas he suspects that the letter of honorius to sergius was not sufficiently examined and compared with the original , this betray 's saith turrianus , his great negligence in reading the acts of the council ; for in the latter end of the 12. session , it is expresly said that the authentick latin epistle of honorius was produced and compared by the bishop of porto ; besides how comes , saith he , the name of honorius to be no less than 9. times in the council ? and if all this had been by the greeks corrupting the copies , surely they would never have left that passage remaining concerning the corrupting the letters of mennas and vigilius : how comes leo 2. in his epistle to the emperour wherein he confirms the council , to anathematize honorius by name as guilty of heresy ; some indeed , saith he , may say this is counterfeit too , ( so do baronius and binius ) but they have nothing but their bare conjecture for it , no argument , or authority to confirm it . not only the greek writers , but the latin confess he was there condemned , so doth bede , saith he , so doth the pontifical book in the life of leo 2. and in the council under martin at rome the epistle of paulus to theodorus was read , wherein was mentioned the consent of honorius and sergius , and no one there opposed it . humbertus legat of leo 9. in his book against the greeks reckons honorius among the condemned monothelites . how came all the copies to be corrupted at once , as he farther urges , that there are none left sound to correct others by ? but that which he insists upon as the strongest argument of all is , from hadrian 2. who calling a council at rome for the condemning of photius , for anathematizing him , hath these remarkable words ; that no bishop of rome was anathematized before unless it were honorius who after his death was condemned for heresy , in which case alone it is lawful for inferiours to resist the●r superiours and to reject their doctrine ; although even there , they would never have done it if the bishop of the first see had not consented to it . a very considerable testimony ; not only to prove that honorius was comdemned for heresy , but that a pope may be guilty of it and be lawfully proceeded against for it , and that pope agatho did himself consent to the condemnation of honorius . notwithstanding these arguments of torrensis , baronius seeing that no other defence could be made , persists in the same accusation of forgery : and out of his own head frames an improbable story of the corrupting the copies of the council by theodorus , who being , saith he , anathematized as a monothelite , expunged his own name and put in that of honorius . a fiction so groundless and unreasonable , that nothing but meer despair could drive a man of common understanding to it . for there is not the least countenance for it in any author ; not the least colour of probability in the thing . for , that , all the copies of the council should be corrupted by one man , and neither the popes legats present at the council nor any else should take notice of it ; that , no succeeding popes should discover it , when they were concerned to vindicate honorius , but did own the thing to be true ; that theodorus then living should be condemned , before it was known whether he would submit to the council or not ; that , in the seventh and eighth councils this should not be at all suspected , but the condemning honorius expresly mentioned in both ; that , a man at that time deposed from his patriarchat of constantinople should be able to make such a razure and forgery in the copies of the councils ; that the emperour constantine who took so much care about the council should suffer such a thing to be done , do all make this figment of baronius so remote from any likelyhood , that baronius had need to have prayed as once a man upon the rack did , that he might tell probable lyes . but all the miscarriages of baronius in this matter are so fully laid open by one of their own church , that i need not insist any longer upon it ; to whom no answer hath been given but that substantial one of an index expurgatorius . bellarmin likes this way of answering the difficulty about honorius ; but the greatest strength he adds to baronius is only saying , without doubt it is so : and he grants that the seventh and eighth council did believe that pope honorius was condemned , but he saith they were deceived by the false acts of the council . but however they must believe that the pope might fall into heresy and be condemned by a council for it . yet bellarmim hath a fetch in this case beyond baronius viz. that either the acts of the council are falsified , or the council was guilty of intolerable impudence and errour in condemning honorius without reason ; for all the evidence they produce against him is from his epistles in which , saith he , nothing is contained , but what is sound and orthodox ; and this was the second way of defending honorius viz. that he did not err in faith at all ; and this way is taken by petavius , and others ; and was the way intended by petrus de marcâ , as appears by the account given of his design by baluzius ; which was first to prove by most evident arguments , that the acts of the council were never corrupted by the greeks , against the opinion before mentioned , and next that he was truly condemned by the council ; but not for heresy , but only for negligence and remissness . i think there needs nothing to shew the weakness of this , but barely reading the anathema of the council against him , which is not , for bare negligence but for confirming the wicked doctrines of sergius . and i am apt to think , that learned person saw the weakness of his design too much to go on with it : and baronius and bellarmin saw well enough , that whosoever was there anathematized it was upon the account of heresy that he was so ; and therefore baronius would make men believe the anathema belonged to theodorus and not to honorius . petavius thinks that honorius was deceived , but it was only by his simplicity and weakness , not understanding the controversy aright . so of old iohn 4. and maximus in his dispute with pyrrhus defended honorius , that he spake indeed of one will , but that , say they , was to be understood only of one will in his humane nature . which as combesis saith , is a more pious than solid defence of him ; and would as well serve , for sergius and cyrus , for heraclius his ecthesis and constans his type , as honorius his letter . for who ever will peruse them , will find they all proceed on the same argument , that there could not be two wills in christ but one must be contrary to the other . but that which i insist on is this , that it is certain the council approved by the pope did condemn him for heresy ; i desire therefore again to know whether he was rightly condemned or not ; if he was , then the pope must be guilty , and so not infallible ; if not , than the council must be , according to bellarmin , guilty of intolerable impudence and errour ; but in either case , there was no infallibility in the guides of the church which could require our internal assent to what they declared . but another defence is yet be●ind , which is , that though the pope did erre , yet it was in his private capacity , and not as head of the church . but when doth he act as head of the church if not , when he is consulted about important matters of faith , as this was then supposed to be , by two patriarchs ; and when the church was divided about them ; and there upon solemnly delivers his opinion ? this is then a meer subterfuge when men have nothing else to say ; i conclude therefore this instance of honorius with the ingenuous confession of mr. white , that things are so clear in the cause of honorius , that it is unworthy any grave divine to pawn his own honour and that of divinity too , in sowing together fig-leaves to palliate it . thus far i have shewn that those who pretend the most to be infallible guides of the church have opposed and condemned each other ; from whence it necessarily follows that no absolute submission is due to them , unless we can be obliged to believe contradictions . i might pursue this much further , and draw down the history of these contradictions to each other , through the following ages of the church ; wherein bishops have been against bishops , popes against popes , councils against councils , church against church ; especially after the breach between the eastern and greek churches , the greek and the roman , and the roman and those of the reformation ; but a man who is bound to rely only on the authority of his guides , must suppose them to be agreed ; and in case of difference among them , he must first choose his religion and by that his guide . 9. in the present divided state of the christian church , a man that would satisfy his own mind , must make use of his judgement in the choice of his church , and those guides he is to submit to . unless a man will say , that every one is bound to yield himself absolutely to the guidance of that church which he lives in whether eastern or greek , roman or protestant : which i suppose n. o. will never yield to , for a reason he knows because then no revolter from us could be justified . the true state then of the present case concerning the guides of the catholick church is this ; that it hath been now for many ages rent and torn into several distinct communions ; every one of which communions , hath particular guides over it , who pretend it to be the duty of men to live in subjection to them , because every church doth suppose it self to be in the right ; now the question proposed is , whether it be not fitter for me to submit to the guides of the catholick church , than to trust my own judgement ? i should make no scruple in all doubtful matters to resolve the affirmative , supposing that all the guides of the catholick church were agreed ; for i should think it arrogance and presumption in me to set up my own private opinion in opposition to the unanimous consent of all the guides of the catholick church , in such a case ; but that is far from ours , for we find the christian world divided into very different communions . the eastern churches are still as numerous , though not so prosperous as the roman ; the extent of the greek church alone is very great , but besides that , there are two other distinct churches in those parts who break off communion with the greek on the account of the councils of ephesus and chalcedon ; and the latter sort especially are very far spread in those parts , from armenia to the abyssine empire . in the time of iacobus de vitriaco , he saith these two churches were said to be more numerous than the greek and the latin ; and bellonius in these later times assures us , that the rites of the greek church do yet extend farther than the latin. what then makes these churches to be left out in our enquiries after the guides of the catholick church ? are these such inconsiderable parts of the body , that no regard is to be had to them ? i believe upon a strict examination , notwithstanding the reproach of heresy and schism , which those of the church of rome cast upon all but themselves , they will be sound much more sou●d parts of the catholick church , than the roman church is five great bodies or communions of christians are at this day in the world. 1. the most eastern christians , commonly called nestorians whether justly or no i shall not now examine , these are spread over the most eastern parts , and all live in subjection to the patriarch of muzal . 2. the iacobites , who are dispersed through mesopotamia , armenia , aegypt and the abyssine empire , and live under several patriarchs of their own . 3. the greek church , of which , besides the moscovites , are to be reckoned the melchites or suriani , and the georgians ; for though their language be different , they all agree in doctrine . 4. the roman church , taking under it all in the eastern parts who have submitted to the bishop of rome . 5. the protestant churches who have cast off subjection to the pope , and reformed the corruptions they charge the church of rome with . now of these 5. parts , 4. of them are all agreed , that there is no necessity of living in subjection to the guides of the roman church ; but they are all under their own proper guides , w ch they do not question will direct them in the right way to heaven . only those of the church of rome take upon themselves against all sense and reason to be the catholick church , and so exclude 4. parts of 5. out of a capacity of salvation ; and challenge infallibility as belonging to the guides of it alone . in this case , the arrogance of the pretence , the uncharitableness of rejecting so mighty a number of christians from the possibility of salvation , are sufficient to make any man not yield up his faith at the first demand ; but to consider a while , whether there be no other churches , or guides in those churches ? when he finds so many and those not inferiour to the roman church in any thing save only in pomp , pride , and uncharitableness ; and all opposing those arrogant pretences of authority and infallibility in it , what reason can he have , supposing that he is to submit to any guides , that he must submit only to those of the roman church ? why not as well to those of the eastern , greek , or protestant churches ? if any one goes about to assign a reason , by charging them with heresy , or schism , he unavoidably makes him judge of some of the greatest difficulties in religion , before he can submit to his infallible guides . he must know what nestorianism , eutychianism , monothelism mean , how they came to be heresies , whether the churches accused be justly charged with them ? he must understand all the subtilties of personalitie , subsistence , hypostatical union ; whether the union of two natures in christ be substantial , natural , or accidental ? whether it be enough to say that the divine and humane are one by inhabitation , or one by consent , or one by communion of operation , or one by communion of dignity and honour , all which the nestorians acknowledged , only denying the union of two natures to make one person ? supposing a man be come to this , he must then be satisfied that the present eastern christians do hold the doctrine of the old nesiorians , for they acknowledge christ to be perfect god and perfect man ; and that the b. virgin may be called the mother of the son of god , or the mother of the word , but they stick only at calling her the mother of god. then for the other churches which are charged with e●tychianism , he must understand , the exact difference between nature and person , for if there cannot be two natures without two persons , then either the nestorians were in the right who asserted two persons , or the eytychians who denyed two natures ; but this being granted , he must be satisfied , that , those called iacobites are eutychians , although they disown eutyches , and follow dioscorus , asserting that there were two natures before the union , and but one after ; and that dioscorus was rightly condemned in the council of chalce●on ; but supposing they are willing to leave the dispute of two natures , on condition , that the humane nature be only made the instrument of the divine in its operations , whether they are justly charged with heresy in so doing ? all these things a man must fully be satisfied in , before he can pronounce those churches guilty of heresy , and so not to be followe . but supposing those churches be rejected , why must the greek , which embraces all the councils which determined those subtle controversies ? here comes the mystery of the procession of the holy ghost to be examined , whether from the father alone or from the father and the son ? but supposing this to be yielded , why may he not joyn with those churches , which agree with the church of rome in all those points , as the protestant churches do ? here a man must examine the notes of the church , and enquire whether they be true notes , whether they agree only to the roman church ? and one of the greatest of those notes being consent with the primitive church , a man that would be well satisfied , must go through all the disputes between us and the church of rome , and by that time he is well settled in them , he will see little use , and less necessity of an infallible guide . so that a man who would satisfy himself in this divided state of the christian church , what particular communion he ought to embrace and what guides he must follow , must do all that , for the preventing of which an infallible guide is said to be necessary . i.e. he must not only exercise his own judgment in particular controversies , but must proceed according to it , and joyn with that church which upon enquiry he judges to be the best . 10. a prudent submission is due to the guides of that church , with which a person lives in communion . having shewed that absolute submission is not due , all that can be left is a submission within due bounds , which is that i call a prudent submission . and those bounds are these following . 1. not to submit to all those who challenge the authority of guides over us , though pretending to never so much power and infallibility . when n. o. would perswade me to submit my understanding to the infallible guides of the church ; he must think me a very easy man to yield , till i be satisfied first that god hath appointed such to be my guides , and in the next place that he hath promised infallibility to them . and that is the true state of the controversy between us and those of the church of rome in this matter ; they tell us we are bound to submit to the guides of the church ; we desire to know whom they mean by these guides ; and at last we understand them to be the bishop of rome and his clergy . here we demur , and own no authority the bishop of rome hath over us ; we assert that we have all the rights of a patriachal church within our selves , that we owe no account to the bishop of rome of what we believe or practise ; it is no article of our creed that god hath made him iudge either of the quick or the dead ; we have guides of our church among our selves , who have as clear a succession and as good a title as the bishops of any church in the world . to these , who are our lawful guides , we promise a due obedience , and are blame worthy if we give it not ; but for the bishop and clergy of rome , we own none to them , let them challenge it with never so much confidence , and arrogant pretences to infallibility . so that here is a contest of right in the case , antecedent to any duty of submission , which must be better proved than ever it hath yet been , before we can allow any dispute , how far we are to submit to the guides of the roman church ? 2. not to submit to those who are lawful guides in all things they may require . for our dispute is now about guides supposed to be fallible , and they being owned to be such may be supposed to require things to which we are bound not to yield . but the great difficulty now is , so to state these things , as to shew that we had reason not to submit to the guides of the roman church , and that those of the separation have no reason not to submit to the guides of our church . for that is the obvious objection in this case , that the same pretence which was used by our church against the church of rome , will serve to justify all the separations that have been or can be made from our church . so my adversary n. o. in his preface saith , that by the principles we hold , we excuse and justify all sects which have or shall separate from our church . in answer to which calumny i shall not fix upon the perswasion of conscience , for that may equally serve for all parties ; but upon a great difference in the very nature of the case , as will appear in these particulars . 1. we appeal to the doctrine and practice of the truly catholick church in the matters of difference between us and the church of rome : we are as ready as they to stand to the unanimous consent of fathers , and to vincentius lerinensis his rules , of antiquity , universality and consent ; we declare , let the things in dispute be proved to have been the practice of the christian church in all ages , we are ready to submit to them : but those who separate from the church of england make this their fundamental principle as to worship , ( wherein the difference lyes , ) that nothing is lawful in the worship of god , but what he hath expresly commanded ; we say all things are lawful which are not forbidden , and upon this single point stands the whole controversy of separation as to the constitution of our church . we challenge those that separate from us to produce one person for 1500. years together , that held forms of prayer to be unlawful ; or the ceremonies which are used in our church : we defend the government of the church by bishops to be the most ancient and apostolical government , and that no persons can have sufficient reason to cast that off , which hath been so universally received in all ages since the apostles times : if there have been disputes among us about the nature of the difference between the two orders , and the necessity of it in order to the being of a church , such there have been in the church of rome too . here then lyes a very considerable difference , we appeal and are ready to stand to the judgement of the primitive church for interpreting the letter of scripture in any difference between us and the church of rome ; but those who separate from our church will allow nothing to be lawful but what hath an express command in scripture . 2. the guides of our church never challenged any infallibility to themselves ; which those of the church of rome do , and have done ever since the controversy began . which challenge of infallibility makes the breach irreconcileable while that pretence continues ; for there can be no other way but absolute submission where men still pretend to be infallible : it is to no purpose to propose terms of accommodation between those who contend for a reformation , and such who contend that they can never be deceived ; on the one side , errours are supposed ; and on the other , that it is impossible there should by any . until therefore this pretence be quitted , to talk of accomodation is folly , and to design it madness . if the church of rome will allow nothing to be amiss , how can she reform any thing ? and how can they allow any thing to be amiss , who believe they can never be deceived ? so that while this arrogant pretence of infallibility in the roman church continues , it is impossible there should be any reconciliation : but there is no such thing in the least pretended by our church , that declares in her articles , that general councils may err , and sometimes have erred even in things partaining to god ; and that all the proof of things to be believed is to be taken from holy scripture . so that as to the ground of faith there is no difference between our church and those who dissent from her ; and none of them charge our church with any errour in doctrine ; nor plead that as the reason of their separation . 3. the church of rome not only requires the belief of her errours but makes the belief of them necessary to salvation : which is plain by the often objected creed of pius 4. wherein the same necessity is expressed of believing the additional articles , which are proper to the roman church , as of the most fundamental articles of christian faith. and no man who reads that bull can discern the least difference therein made between the necessity of believing one and the other ; but that all together make up that faith , without which no man can be saved ; which though only required of some persons to make profession of , yet that profession is to be esteemed the faith of their church . but nothing of this nature can be objected against our church by dissenters , that excludes none from a possibility of salvation meerly because not in her communion , as the church of rome expresly doth : for it was not only boniface 8. who determined as solemnly as he could , that it was necessary to salvation to be in subjection to the bishop of rome ; but the council of lateran under leo 10. decreed the same thing . 4. the guides of the roman church pretend to as immediate authority of obliging the consciences of men , as christ or his apostles had ; but ours challenge no more than teaching men to do what christ had commanded them , and in other things , not commanded or forbidden , to give rules , which on the account of the general commands of scripture , they look on the members of our church as obliged to observe . so that the authority challenged in the roman church encroaches on the prerogative of christ , being of the same nature with his ; but that which our governours plead for , is only that which belongs to them as governours over a christian society . hence in the church of rome it is accounted as much a mortal sin to disobey their guides in the most indifferent things , as to disobey god in the plain commands of scripture : but that is not all they challenge to themselves , but a power likewise to dispence with the law 's of god , as in matter of marriages , and with the institution of christ as in communion in one kind ; and promise the same spiritual effects to their own institutions as to those of christ , as in the 5. sacraments they have added to the two of christ , and to other ceremonies in use among them . 5. setting aside these considerations , we dare appeal to the judgement of any person of what perswasion soever , whether the reasons we plead for separation from the church of rome be not in themselves far more considerable than those , which are pleaded by such , who separate from our church ? i.e. whether our churches imposing of three ceremonies declared to be indifferent by those who require them , can be thought by any men of common sense so great a burden to their consciences , as all the load of superstitious fopperies in the roman church ? whether praying by a prescribed form of words be as contrary to scripture , as praying in an unknown tongue ? whether there be no difference between kneeling at the sacrament upon protestants principles and the papists adoration of the h●st ? whether transubstantiation , image worship , invocation of saints , indulgences , purgatory , the popes supremacy , be not somewhat harder things to swallow , than the churches power to appoint matters of order and decency ? which particulars make the difference so apparent between the separation of our church from the church of rome , and that of dissenters from our church ; that it seems a very strange thing to me that this should be objected by our enemies on either side . and thus much may suffice to clear this point of submission to the guides of a church , of which i have the more largely discoursed , not for any difficulty objected by n. o. but because the thing it self did deserve to be more amply considered . but some other things relating to church-authority i must handle afterwards , and therefore now return to my adversary . the next thing to be debated is , what assurance we can have of the sense of scripture in doubtful places , if we allow no infallible guides to interpret them ? for that is the second main principle of n. o. that without this infallible assistance of the guides of the church , there can be no certainty of the sense of scripture . and it is chiefely o● this account that n. o. doth assert the necessity of infallible guides of the church : for as appears by his concessions he yields that the churches infallibility is not necessary to the foundation of faith ; for men ▪ faith , he saith , may begin at the infallible authority of scriptures ; but the main groun● on which he contends for the necessity of infallible guides is for the interpretation of controverted places and giving the true sense of scripture : for which he often pleads f●● necessity of an external infallible guide ▪ because god hath referred all in the dubio● sense of scripture to the direction of his ministers their spiritual guides , whom he 〈◊〉 over them to bring them in the vnity of the faith to a perfect man ; and that they may not be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine , by the sleight of those who lye in wait to deceive . and without which guide st. peter observes , that in his time some persons ( for any thing we know diligent enough ) yet through want of learning , and the instability of adhering to their guides , being unlearned , saith he , and unstable , wrested some places of scripture , hard to be understood , to their own destruction . therefore these scriptures are also in some great and important points hard to be understood . and afterwards , he saith , that christians who have sufficient certainty of the truth of christianity , may be deficient in a right belief of several necessary articles of this christian faith , if destitute of that external infallible guide therein : without which he determines that men must fluctuate and totter , and vary one from another , whilst the scriptures are ambiguous in their sense and drawn with much art to several interests . the force of all which , comes to this , that we can arrive at no certainty of the sense of scripture in controverted places , without an external infallible guide : and therefore we are bound to submit to him . here are two things to be discussed . 1. what necessity there is for the salvation of persons , to have an infallible interpretation of controverted places of scripture ? 2. whether the denying such an infallible interpreter makes men uncapable of attaining any certain sense of doubtful places ? for if either it be not necessary that men should have an infallible interpretation ; or men may attain at a certain sense without it , then there can be no colour of an argument drawn from hence to prove the necessity of an infallible guide . 1. we are to enquire into the necessity o● such an infallible interpretation of doubtf●● places of scripture . there are but three grounds on which it can be thought necessary either that no man should mistake in the sense of scripture , or that the peace of the church cannot be preserved , or that mens souls cannot be saved without it . if i● were necessary on the first account , then every particular person must be infallible ; which being not pleaded for , we must consider the other two grounds of it . but here we are 〈◊〉 take notice , that the matter of our prese●● enquiry is concerning the clearness of scripture in order to the salvation of particul●● persons ; of which the proposition laid dow● by me expresly speaks . if therefore n. o. do any thing to overthrow this , he mu●● prove , not that there are doubtful and controverted places which no one denies , but that the sense of scripture is so doubtful and obscure in the things which are necessary to mens salvation , that persons without an infallible guide cannot know the meaning of them . if he prove not this , he doth not come near that which he ought to prove . we do not therefore deny , that there are places of great difficulty in the books of scripture ; but we assert , that the necessaries to salvation do not lye therein ; but those being plain and clear , men may be saved without knowing the other . as a seaman may safely direct his compass by the stars , although he cannot solve all the difficulties of astronomy . can any man in his senses imagine that christs coming into the world to dye for sinners , and the precepts of a holy life which he hath given , and the motives thereto from his second coming to judge the world , are not more plain than the apocalyphical visions , or the proofs for the church of romes infallibility ? if a person then by reading and considering those things which are plain , may do what christ requires for his salvation ; what necessity hath such a one to trouble himself about an infallible guide ? for either he may go to heaven without him , or not ? if he may , let them shew the necessity he is of to that end , which may be attained without him ; if not , then the things necessary to salvation cannot be known without him . let this be proved , and i will immediately yield the whole cause : and till it be proved my principles remain unshaken . but saith n. o. the scripture is obscure in some great and important points , because s. peter saith , that men unlearned and unstable , ( though it may be diligent enough ) wrested some places of scriptures hard to be understood to their own destruction . but doth s. peter say that the scriptures are so hard to be understood that sober and devout minds cannot learn therein , what is necessary to their salvation ? this had been indeed to their purpose : but it is far enough from st. peters . he only saith that in st. pauls epistles there are some difficult passages , which men that wanted judgement and constancy , and it may be diligence too , were ready to pervert to their own mischief . but if there be such difficulties , is there nothing plain and easy ? if bad men may pervert them , may no● good men make a good use of them ? if some may destroy themselves by their own weakness and folly , may not others be saved by their diligence and care ? if it were proved by n. o. that st. peter charged all this upo● them for want of adhering to their guides , that would approach nearer his business ; but if st. peter had intended any such thing as n. o. insinuates , what fairer opportunity had there been of preventing this instability in others by telling them , that god had appointed infallible guides in his church to prevent such abuses of scripture , and that , so long as they adhered to them , they were safe ; but there is not the least word in st. peter to this purpose , when it had been most necess●ry to have given such advice ; but he only bids them , have a care of imitating the inconstancy of such wicked men , and grow in the grace and knowledge of iesus christ. if on so fair and just an occasion offered , st. peter himself whom they believe to have been head of the church at that time , and at rome at the writing of this epistle , doth wholly omit referring men in the sense of obscure places to infallible guides ; what can we else infer but that st. peter knew of no such appointment of christ , or thought no such thing of necessity for his church . for if he had , such was his care and faithfulness , he would never have omitted so necessary a thing ; if the salvation of mens souls had depended upon it . if it be not then necessary to mens salvation to have an infallible interpretation of doubtful places ; for what other end can it become necessary ? is it , that without this , the churches peace cannot be preserved , because controversies arising in the church , no issue can be put to them , unless there be an infallible iudge to determine which is the true sence of scripture ? for it is impossible that scripture it self should be judge , because the controversy is about the sense of scripture . so that either there is no way left to determine controversies , or there must be an infallible judge to deliver the sense of scripture in ●oubtful places . this is the force of all that i know can be said in this matter ; to which i answer . 1. the strength of this argument depends upon the supposition of the necessity of determining controversies in religion by a living judge , who must pronounce sentence between the parties in 〈◊〉 . which supposition , how plausible soever it seems , is not built on any sufficient fo●ndation of scripture or reason . for the weakness of humane understanding , the power of interest and passion , and the ambi●●ity of words , are as apt to beget disputes in religion as in any other things ; so that we have 〈◊〉 ca●se at all to wonder that there should happen to be controversies among men about there 〈◊〉 ; when we see them daily happen about the laws of every country . the only question now is , whether as the necessities of people have made it necessary that there should not only be laws but judges , who should be as the most equal arbitrators to put an end to such differences as may happen among men about matters of right and law , it be thus in religion too ? and this question is plainly about a matter of fact i.e. whether christ hath appointed such judges in all ages , who are to determine all emergent controversies about the difficult places of his law ? and in this case we think it is all the reason in the world , that they who affirm should prove , especially , when they affirm a matter of their own right , and challenge a submission from others on the account of it . we desire them who challenge to be our infallible guides , that they would shew their commission , and produce their patent : for as we are ready to yield obedience , if they crave it , so we think it treason and tyranny in them to usurp it , if they have it not . and it is to no purpose to talk of the benefits that would come to the world by an infallible judge of controversies , unless they first prove that there is one . but we must not allow men to prove things to be , meerly because they think it fitting they should be ; for that is to make themselves wiser than christ and rather to tell him what he should have done , than prove what he hath done . what if ▪ christ having provided for the necessaries of salvation by a clear revelation should leave other things in the dark , to exercise the wits of some and the charity of others ? what if , he thought it sufficient to oblige men to the greatest honesty and integrity in knowing and doing the will of god , and hath promised to pass by the errours and failings men are subject to barely as men ? what if , he foresaw this matter of ending controversies would be an occasion of raising one of the greatest in the christian world , and become a pretence of the most intolerable tyranny over the minds of men ? and therefore what if , he thought it reasonable to leave the failings of mens understandings and lives upon the same terms , so as to give sufficient means to prevent either , but not effectually to hinder men from falling into either of them ? what if , the nature of religion will not bear such a determination of controversies as civil matters will ? because , civil matters concern the right and wrong of particular persons , in which it is not the sentence of the judge so much as the civil force whereby it is backed which puts an end to the dispute ; but in matters of religion , the ending controversies can be no effect of force and power , but of reason and conviction of conscience ; and all the pretended infallibility in the world can never satisfy my mind , unless i be first assured of that infallibility . in all civil causes , it is agreed on both sides that such judges are appointed to determine cases of law ; and on the supposition of this men proceed to tryal before them ; but in our case this is the main thing in dispute , and he that pretends to be the judge is the most accused partie , and what reason can there be , that only on the pretence of greater peace , if controversies were referred to an infallible judge , we must therefore allow every one that pretends to it to be such an infallible guide ? and we must on the same ground allow every one , if we must not first be satisfied of the grounds on which it is challenged by any one . and withal , since christ is the best judge of what is fittest for his church , we must see by his laws whether he hath made it necessary for all controversies to be ended by a standing judge , that should arise about the sense of scripture ? if he hath not done it , it is to no pu●pose to say , it is fit he should have done it ; for that is to upbraid christ with weakness and not to end differences in his church . 2. supposing it necessary that controversies should be ended , it may as well be done without an infallible judge of the sense of scripture as with one ; for all that is pretended to be done by an infallible judge is to give a certain sense of controverted places ; so that men are either bound to look on that which they give as the certain sense on the account of the infallibility of the interpreter , or that such an infallible interpretation being set aside , there is no way to know the certain sense of scripture . if the first , then no man can be more certain of the sense of any doubtful place , than he is of the infallibility of his interpreter : i desire therefore to be resolved in this case . i am told i can arrive at no certainty of the sense of doubtful places of scripture without an infallible interpreter , i say the places of scripture which are alledged for such an infallible judge are the most doubtful and controverted of any ; i would fain understand by what means i may come to be certain of the meaning of these places , and to find out the sense of them ? must i do it only by an infallible guide ? but that is the thing i am now seeking for , and i must not suppose that which i am to prove . if i may be certain without supposing such an infallible guide of the meaning of these very doubtful and controverted places , than why may i not by the same way of proceeding arrive at the certainty of any other less doubtful and obscure places ? unless there be some private way to come at the sense of those places which will hold for none else besides them , which is not so easy to understand . 2. i come the●efore to the second enquiry , which is about the means of attaining the certain sense of scripture in doubtful places , without the supposition of an infallible guide . it will not i hope be denyed , that the primitive christian church had a certain way of understanding the sense of doubtful places , as far as it was necessary to be understood , and that they wanted no means which christ had appointed for the ending of controversies . but i shall now shew , that they proceeded by no other means than what we use , so that , if they had any means to come to a certain sense of scripture , we have the same ; and it would be a ve●y hard case if by the use of the same means we cannot attain the same end . i shall therefore give an account of the proceeding of the primitive church in this weighty controversy concerning the sense of scripture in doubtful places ; and if no such thing was then heard off as an infallible judge , it is a plain demonstration , they thought there was none appointed ; because the disputes that happened then required as much the authority of such a judge as any that are at this day in the christian church . in the first ages of christianity , there were two sorts of controversies which disturbed the church ; one was concerning the authority of the books of the new testament , and the other concerning the sense of them . for , there was no one book of the new testament whose authority was not called in question , by some hereticks in those first ages . the gnosticks , ( by whom i understand the followers of simon magus menander , saturninus and basilides ) , ha● framed a new religion of their own under the name of christian , and had no regard to the writings either of the old or new testament , but had a book of their own , which they called the gospel of perfection . but as epiphanius well observes , no man that hath understanding , needs scripture to refute such a religion as theirs was ; for right reason alone was sufficient to discover the folly and filthyness of it . the followers of cerinthus and ebion acknowledged no other gospel but that of st. matthew ; and that not entire , but with diverse corruptions and interpolations according to their several fancies . cerdon and marcion allowed no gospel but that of st. luke , which they altered according to their pleasure , cutting off the genealogy and other places , and inserting many things as it served most to their purpose , as may be seen at large in epiphanius . some say , the valentinians received no other gospel but that of st. iohn , ( as the alogi in epiphanius rejected that alone , ) but i do not find that valentinus did reject any , but added more ; for irenaeus chargeth the valentinians only with adding another gospel , which they called the gospel of truth ; and tertullian expresly saith , that valentinus therein differed from marcion , that marcion cut off what he pleased with his sword , but valentinus corrupted it with his pen ; for although he allowed all the books of the new testament , yet he perverted the meaning of them . eusebius tells us that the followers of severus rejected the epistles of s. paul and the acts of the apostles ; and interpreted the law , and the prophets and the gospels after a peculiar sense of their own . so that we see those who undertook to confute these hereticks were not only to vindicate the true sense of scripture , but to dispute with such , who did not own the same books which they did ; and therefore were forced to use such ways of arguing as were proper to them : as may be seen at large by the proceedings of irenaeus , and tertullian against them . but because the valentinians and marcionites did endeavour to suit their extravagant fancies to the scriptures allowed by them , it will be necessary for us , to enquire by what means they went about to clear the true sense of scripture from their false glosses and interpretations . irenaeus in the beginning of his book , relating at large the doctrines of the val●ntinians , saith , that by the perverse interpretations and corrupt expositions of the scripture , they drew away unstable minds from the true faith ; for they pretended to find out deeper and more mysterious things in the scripture , than others were acquainted with , viz. that christ intimated the 30. aeöns by not appearing till the 30. year of his age. that the parable of men called at the first , the third , the sixth , the ninth , the eleventh hour referred to the same thing , for those hours make up the number of 30. that st. paul often mentions these aeöns and the pro●uctions of them ; that the duodecade of aeöns was implyed in our saviours ●isputing with the doctors at 12. years of age , and in the choice of the 12. apostles : and the remaining 18. by his abiding 18. months as they said with his disciples after his resurrection : and where ever in scripture they met with words suitable to the description of their aeöns , they pretended that they did refer to their notions , but were obscurely expressed on purpose : for which end they made use of parables , and the first of st. john and many passages in st. pauls epistles . what course now doth irenaeus take to clear the sense of scripture in these controverted places ? doth he till them that god had appointed infallible guides in his church , to whom appeal was to be made in all such cases ? nothing like it , through his whole book ; but he argues with very good reason that no such thing as they imagined could be intended by the scripture . 1. from the scope and design of the scripture , which ought chiefly to be regarded ; whereas they only took some particular passages which served most to their purpose , without looking to the series of the discourse wherein they were . therefore saith he , they make only a rope of sand , when they apply the parables of our saviour , or the sayings of the prophets or apostles to their opinions ; for they pass over the order and connexion of the scriptures ; and as much as in them lyes loose the members of truth from each other ; and then transform and change them from one thing to another , thereby deceiving men . as if , saith he , a man should take an excellent image of a prince , done with a great deal of art in pretious stones ; and remove those stones out of their proper places and turn them into the shape of a dog or a fox , ill put together , and should then affirm , that because the stones are the same , that this image of a dog or a fox , was the image of the prince made by such an excellent artist : after the very same way , saith he , do they use the scriptures . or as he afterwards expresseth it , they take several words and names here and there , and put them together , much after the way of those who would apply the words of homer to any argument proposed to them ; which some have done so artificially , that unskilful men have been perswaded that homer did mean that very thing when he wrote his poem . as one did the going of hercules to cerberus so exactly in the words of homer , ( put together in the greek fragments of irenaeus , ) that those who did not consider upon what different occasions those words were used by him , some being spoken of vlisses , some of priamus , some of maenelaus , and agamemnon , and some of hercules , might imagine that the poet intended to describe what the other expressed by him . but he that will examine the several places will find that the words indeed are homers , but the sense his that so applyed them . so it is in this case , the words are the scriptures , but applyed quite in another way , than they were intended ; the stones are the same , but yet the image of the fox is not to be taken for that of the prince : and when he hath taken the pains to put every thing in its proper and due place , he will then easily find out the deceit . and by the help of this rule irenaeus vindicates the places of scripture , which the valentinians made use of ; and makes it evident that could not be the sense of them which they put upon them . as he doth particularly prove that st. iohn by the beginning of his gospel could not mean the first ogdoad of the valentinians . to the very same purpose doth tertullian argue against their way of interpreting scripture ; that although it seems to have wit and easiness in it , yet it is no more than is often practised on virgil and homer as well as the scriptures . for we have seen virgil , saith he , with the same words turned quite to another sense ; as hosidius get a made the tragoedy of medea , out of virgil ( some fragments whereof are still extant ) and one had explained cebes his table in virgils words ; and many had applyed the words of homer in their cento's to different purposes , and not only some of late , but isidore ▪ saith , that prob● and pomponius before his time had mad● virgil evangelize . therefore it is n● wonder , saith tertullian , that the scripture should be so abused , it being much more fruitful , and applicable to several purposes than other writings are . nay saith he , i am not afraid to say , that the scriptures were so framed by the will of god , that they might afford matter for hereticks to work upon ; since i read that there must be heresies , which cannot be without the scripture . and surely then , he did not imagine that god had appointed an infallible judge on purpose to prevent the being of heresies , by giving an infallible sense of scripture . 2. from the repugnancy of the sence they gave to other places of scripture . irenaeus observes , that the hereticks delighted most in dark places , and left the plain ones ; whereas we ought most to rely upon the plain places and by them interpret the obscure . for such who loved god and the truth would study most those things which god put under our command and knowledge : and those are things which are plain before our eyes , and are open and without ambiguity laid down in scriptures ; and to these parables and dark places ought to be fitted , and by this means they may be interpreted without danger , and of all alike and the body of truth remains entire with a suitableness of all its parts . but without this every man interprets as he pleases , and there will be no certain rule of truth ; but every interpretation will be according to the opinion of the interpreter , and m●n will contradict each other as the philosophers did . and by this means men will be always seeking and never finding because they cast away the means of finding . seeing therefore , saith he , that all the scriptures both prophetical and evangelical are plain and clear , and may be heard alike of all : they must be very blind that will not see in so great light , but darken themselves in parables , wherein every one of them thinks he hath found a god of his own . and from hence he very much blames the hereticks , since they could not so much as pretend that any thing was plainly said for them in scripture , but only intimated in dark sayings and parables , that they would leave that which is certain and undoubted and true , for that which was uncertain and obscure . which , he saith , is not to build the house upon the firm and strong ro●k ; but upon the uncertainty of the sand ; on which it may be easily overturned . this excellent rule for interpreting scripture irenaeus makes great use of in his following discourse , and in the very next chapter urges this as the consequence of it , that having truth for our rule , and so plain testimony of god , men ought not to perplex themselves with doubtful questions concerning god , but grow in the love of him who hath done and doth so great things for us , and never fall off from that knowledge which is most clearly revealed . and we ought to be content with what is clearly made known in the scriptures , because they are perfect , as coming from the w●rd and spirit of god. and we need 〈◊〉 ●onder if there be many things in religion above our understandings , since there are so in natural things which are daily seen by us : as in the nature of birds , water , air , meteors , &c. of which we may talk much , but only god knows what the truth is . therefore why should we think much if it be so in religion too ? wherein are some things we may understand and others we must leave to god , and if we do so we shall keep our faith without danger . and all scripture being agreeable to it self , the dark places must be understood in a way most suitable to the sense of the plain . 3. the sense they gave of scripture was contrary to the doctrine of faith received by all true christians from the beginning : which he calls the unmoveable rule of faith received in baptism ; and ▪ which the church dispersed over the earth did equally receive in all places ; with a wonderful consent . for although the places and languages be never so distant or different from each other , yet the faith is the very same as there is one sun which inlightens the whole world ; which faith none did enlarge or diminish . and after having shewn the great absurdities of the doctrines of the enemies of this faith , in his first and second books , in the beginning of the third he shews that the apostles did fully understand the mind of christ , that they preached the same doctrine which the church received , and which , after their preaching it , was committed to writing by the will of god in the scriptures , to be the pillar and ground of faith. which was the true reason why the hereticks did go about to disparage the scriptures because they were condemned by them : therefore they would not allow them sufficient authority , and charged them with contradictions , and so great obscurity that the truth could not be found in them without the help of tradition , which they accounted the key to unlock all the difficulties of scripture . and was not to be sought for in writings , but was delivered down from hand to hand ; for which cause st. paul said we speak wisdom among them that are perfect . which wisdom they pretended to be among themselves . on this account the matter of tradition came first into dispute in the christian church : and irenaeus appeals to the most eminent churches and especially that of rome , because of the great resort of christians thither , whether any such tradition was ever received among them and all the churches of asia received the same faith from the apostles , and knew of no such tradition as the valentinians pretended to . and there was no reason to think , that so many churches , founded by the apostles or christ , should be ignorant of such a tradition ; and supposing no scriptures at all had been written by the apostles , we must then have followed the tradition of the most ancient and apostolical churches , and even the most barbarous nations that had embraced christianity without any writings : yet fully agreed with other churches in the doctrine of faith , for that is it he means by the rule of faith , viz. a summary comprehension of the doctrine received among christians , such as the creed is mentioned by irenaeus ; and afterwards he speaks of the rule of the valentinians in opposition to that of the sound christians . from hence irenaeus proceeds to confute the doctrine of the valentinians by scripture and reason in the third , fourth and fifth books : all which ways of finding out the sense of scripture in doubtful places , we allow of and approve ; and are always ready to appeal to them in any of the matters controverted between us and the church of rome . but irenaeus knew nothing of any infallible judge to determine the sense of scripture ; for if he had , it would have been very strange he should have gone so much the farthest way about , when he might so easily have told the valentinians that god had entrusted the guides of his church , especially at rome with the faculty of interpreting scripture , and that all men were bound to believe that to be the sense of it which they declared and no other . but men must be pardoned if they do not write that which never entred into their heads . after irenaeus , tertullian sets himself the most to dispute against those who opposed the faith of the church ; and the method he takes in his boo of praescription of hereticks is this . 1. that there must be a certain unalterable rule of faith. for he that believes , doth not only suppose sufficient grounds for his faith , but bounds that are set to it ; and therefore there is no need of further search since the gospel is revealed . this he speaks to take away the pretence of the seekers of those days , who were always crying , seek and ye shall find : to which he replys , that we are to consider not the bare words , but the reason of them ; and in the first place we are to suppose this , that there is one certain and fixed doctrine delivered by christ which all nations are bound to believe , and therefore to seek , that when they have found they may believe it . therefore all our enquiries are to be confined within that compass ; what that doctrine was , which christ delivered : for otherwise there will be no end of seeking . 2. he shews what this rule of faith is , by repeating the articles of the ancient creed , which he saith was universally , received among true christians and disputed by none but hereticks . which rule of faith being embraced , then he saith , a liberty is allowed for other enquiries in doubtful or obscure matters . for faith lyes in the rule ; but other things were matters of skill and curiosity ; and it is faith which saves men , and not their skill in expounding scriptures : and while men keep themselves within that rule , they are safe enough , for to know nothing beyond it , is to know all . 3. but they pretend scripture for what they deliver , and by that means unsettle the minds of many . to this he answers several ways . 1. that such persons as those were , ought not to be admitted to a dispute concerning the sense of scripture ; because they rather deserved to be censured than disputed , for bringing such new heresies into the church ; but chiefly because it was to no purpose to dispute with them about the sense of scripture , who received what scriptures they pleased themselves , and added and took away as they thought fit . and what can the most skilful men in the scripture , do with such men , who deny or affirm what they please ? therefore such kind of disputes tended to no good at all , where either side charged the other with forging and perverting the scriptures , and so the controversy with them , was not to be managed by the scriptures , by which either none , or an uncertain victory was to be obtained . 2. in this dispute about the sense of scripture , the true ancient faith is first to be enquired after , for among whom that was , there would appear to be the true meaning of scripture . and for finding out the true faith , we are to remember , that , christ sent abroad his apostles to plant churches in every city , from whence other churches did derive the faith , which are called apostolical from their agreement in this common faith at first delivered by the apostles ; that , the way to understand this apostolical faith is to have recourse to the apostolical churches ; for it is unreasonable to suppose that the apostles should not know the doctrine of christ , ( which he at large proves ) or that they did not deliver to the churches planted by them the things which they knew ; or that the churches misunderstood their doctrine because all the christian churches were agreed in one common faith : and therefore there is all the reason to believe that so universal consent must arise from some common cause , which can be supposed to be no other than the common delivery of it by all the apostles . but the doctrines of the hereticks were novel and upstart ; and we must say all the former christians were baptized into a false faith , as not knowing the true god or the true christ if marcion and valentinus did deliver the true doctrine , but that which is first is true and from god , that which comes after is foraign and false . if marcion and valentinus , nigidius or hermogenes broach new opinions and set up other expositions of scripture than the christian church hath received from the apostles times , that without any farther proof , discovers their imposture . 3. two senses directly contrary to each other cannot proceed from the same apostolical persons . this tertullian likewise insists upon to shew that although they might pretend antiquity , and that as far as the apostolical times , yet the contrariety of their doctrine to that of the apostles would sufficiently manifest the falshood of it . for saith he , the apostles would never contradict each other or themselves ; and if the apostolical persons had contradicted them , they had not been joyned together in the communion of the same faith ; which all the apostolical churches were . but the doctrines broached by these men , were in their seeds condemned by the apostles themselves ; so marcion , apelles , and valentinus were confuted in the sadducees , and first corrupters of christianity . but the true christians could not be charged by their adversaries with holding any thing contrary to what the church received from the apostles , the apostles from christ , and christ from god. for the succession of the churches was so evident , and the chairs of the apostles so well known , that any one might satisfy his curiosity about their doctrine , especially since their authentick epistles are still preserved therein . but where a diversity of doctrine was found from the apostles , that was sufficient evidence of a false sense that was put upon the scriptures . thus tertullian lays down the rules of finding out the sense of controverted places of scripture , without the least insinuation of any infallibility placed in the guides of the church for determining the certain sense of them . but lest by this way of prescribing against hereticks , he should seem to decline the merits of the cause out of distrust of being able to manage it against them , he tells us therefore elsewhere he would set aside the ground of prescription , or just exception against their pleading , ( for so prescription signifies in him ) as against marcion and hermogenes and praxeas and refute their opinions upon other grounds . in his books against marcion , he first lays down marcions rule , as he calls it , i.e. the sum of his opinion , which was making the creator of the world , and the father of our lord jesus christ two distinct gods , the one nothing but goodness , and the other , the author of evil : which opinion he overthrows from principles of reason , because there cannot be two infinitely great , and on the same grounds he makes two he may make many more , and because god must be known by his works , and he could not be god that did not create the world ; and so continues arguing against marcion to the end of the first book . in the second he vindicates god the creator from all the objections which marcion had mustered against his goodness . in the third he proves that christ was the son of god the creator ; first by reason and then by scripture , and lays down two rules for understanding the prophetical predictions relating to the manner of expressing future things as past , and the aenigmatical way of representing plain things : afterwards he proves in the same manner from scripture and reason , that christ did truly assume our nature and not meerly in appearance ; which he demonstrates from the death and resurrection of christ and from the evidence of sense ; and makes that sufficient evidence of the truth of a body that it is the object of three senses , of sight , and touch and hearing . which is the same way of arguing we make use of against transubstantiation , and if marcion had been so subtle to have used the evasions those do in the roman church , he might have defended the putative body of christ in the very same manner that they do the being of accidents without a substance ▪ in the fourth book he asserts against marcion the authority of the gospel received in the christian church above that which marcion allowed , by the greater antiquity and the universal reception of the true gospels ; and after refutes the supposition of a twofold christ one for the jews and another for the gentiles from the comparing of scriptures together , which he doth with great diligence and answers all the arguments from thence brought by marcion , to prove that christ was an enemy to the law of moses . in his fifth and last book he proves out of the epistles of st. paul , allowed by marcion , that he preached no other god than the creator , and that christ was the son of god the creator ; which he doth from the scope and circumstances of the places without apprehending the least necessity of calling in any infallible guides to give the certain sense and meaning of them . against hermogenes , he disputes about the eternity of matter ; the controversy between them he tells us was concerning the sense of some places of scripture , which relate to the creation of things ; tertullian proves that all things were made of nothing , because it is not mentioned out of what they were made ; hermogenes proves they were made out of matter ; because it is not said they were made of nothing . to determine therefore the sense of these places tertullian shews from reason the repugnancy of the eternity of matter to the attributes of god : he compares several places of scripture together , he reasons from the manner of the expressions and the idiom of scripture . i adore , saith he , the fulness of the scripture which shews me both the maker and the thing made ; but the gospel likewise discovers by whom all things were made . but the scripture no where saith that all things were made out of matter . let the shop of hermogenes shew where it is written ; and if it be not written let him fear the wo denounced to those who add or take from what is written . he examins the several places in dispute , and by proving that sense which hermogenes put upon them to be repugnant to reason , ( as he shews to the end of that book ) he concludes his sense of scripture to be false and erroneous . against praxeas , he disputes whether god the father took our nature upon him , and the arguments on both sides are drawn from the scriptures ; but tertullian well observes , that they insisted upon two or three places of scripture , and would make all the rest though far more , to yield to them . whereas the fewer places ought to be understood according to the sense of the greater number . but this saith he , is the property of all hereticks because they can find but few places for them , they defend the smaller number against the greater : which is against the nature of a rule , wherein the first and the most , ought to oversway the latter and the fewer . and therefore he sets himself throughout that book to produce the far greater number of places of scripture , which do assert the distinction between the father and the son ; and consequently that it could not be the father who suffered for us . hitherto we find nothing said of an infallible guide to give the certain sense of scripture , when the fairest occasion was offered , by those who disputed the most concerning the sense of scripture in the age wherein they lived viz. by irenaeus and tertullian . i now proceed to clemens of alexandria who in his learned collections , proposes that objection , against christianity , that there were many heresies among christians , and therefore men could believe nothing . to which he answers , that there were heresies among the jews and philosophers ; and that objection was not thought sufficient against iudaism or philosophy , and therefore ought not to be against christianity . besides the coming of heresies was foretold , and what ever is foretold must come to pass . the physitians saith he differ in their opinions , yet men do not neglect to make use of them , when they are sick . heresies should only make men more careful what they choose . men ought thereby to endeavour the more to find out truth from falshood ; as if two sorts of fruit be offered to a man real , and waxen ; will a man abstain from both , because one is counterfeit , or rather find out the true from the apparent ? when several ways offer themselves for a man to go in , he ought not therefore to sit down and not stir a step further ; but he uses the best means to find out the true way and then walks in it . so that they are justly condemned who do not discern the true from the false ; for they who will , saith he , may find out the truth . for either there is demonstration or not ; all grant demonstration , or evidence , who do not destroy our senses ; if there be demonstration there must be search and enquiry made ; and by the scriptures we may demonstratively learn how heresies fell of , and that the exactest knowledge was to be found in the truth and the ancient church . now the true searchers will not leave till they find evidence from the scriptures . to this end , he commends the exercise of mens reason and understanding , impartiality or laying aside opinion , a right disposition of soul , for when men are given over to their lusts they endeavour to wrest the scriptures to them . but he establishes the scripture as the only principle of certainty to christians , and more credible than any demonstration : which who so have tasted are called faithful , but those who are versed in them are the truly knowing men . the great objection now is , that hereticks make use of scripture too : i but they , saith he , reject what they please , and do not follow the body and contexture of prophecy ; but take ambiguous expressions and apply them to their own opinions : and a few scattered phrases without regarding the sense and importance of them . for in the scriptures produced by them , you may find them either making use of meer names , and changing the significations of them ; never attending to the scope and intention of them . but truth , saith he , doth not lye in the change of the signification of words ( for by that means all truth may be overthrown ) but in considering what is proper and perfectly agreeable to our lord and almighty god , and in confirming every thing which is demonstrated by the scripture out of the same scriptures . wherein clemens alexandrinus lays down such rules as he thought necessary to find out the certain sense of scripture , viz. by considering the scope and coherence of the words , the proper sense and importance of them , the comparing of scripture with scripture , and the doctrine drawn from it with the nature and properties of god , all which are excellent rules , without the least intimation of the necessity of any infallible interpreter to give the certain sense of doubtful places . after this time a great dispute arose in the church about the rebaptizing hereticks , managed by the eastern and african bishops against stephen bishop of rome . here the question was about the sense of several places of scripture , and the practice of the apostles ; as appears by the epistles of cyprian and firmilian ; both parties pleading scripture and tradition for themselves . but no such thing as an infallibility in judgement was pleaded by the pope , nor any thing like it in the least acknowledged by his adversaries , who charge him , ( without any respect to his infallible guideship , ) with pride , error , rashness , impertinency , and contradicting himself . which makes baronius very tragically exclaim : and although he makes use of this as a great argument of the prevalency of tradition , because the opinion of stephen obtained in the church ; yet there is no evidence at all that any churches did submit to the opinion of stephen when he declared himself , but as appears by dionystus of alexandria's epistles , the controversy continued after his time ; and if we look into the judgement of the church in following ages , we shall find that neither stephens opinion , nor his adversaries were followed ; ( for stephen was against rebaptizing any hereticks , and the others were for rebaptizing all , because one baptism was only in the true church : ) for in the 19. canon of the council of nice the samosatenian baptism is pronounced null ? and the persons who received it are to be new baptized ; and the first council of arles decrees , that in case of heresy men are to receive new baptism but not otherwise : the second council of arles puts a distinction between hereticks ; decreeing that the photinians and samosatenians should be baptized again ; but not the bonofiaci no● the arians , but they were to be received upon renouncing their heresy without baptism . which seems the harder to understand since the bonosiaci were no other than photinians . the most probable way of solving it is , that these two latter sorts did preserve the form of baptism entire , but the photinians and samosatenians altered it : which st. augustin saith , is a thing to be believed . so gennadius reports it that those who were baptized without invocation of the b. trinity , were to he baptized upon their reception into the church ( not rebaptized because the former was accounted null ) of these he reckons not only the paulianists and photinians , but the bon●s●●ci too and many others . but st. basil determines the case of baptism , not from the form but from the faith which they professed ; a schismatical baptism he faith , was allowed , but not heretical , by which he means such as denyed the trinity ; and therein he saith , s. cyprian and firmilian were to blame , because they would allow no baptism among persons separated from the communion of the church . the council of laodicea decreed that the novatians , photinians , and quarto-decimans were to be received without new baptism , but not the montanists , or cataphryges : but binius saith there was one copy , wherein the photinians were left out ; and then these canons may agree with the rest ; and baronius asserts that the greater number of m. s. copies leave out photinians , and withal he proves , that the church did never allow the baptism of the photinians , though it did of the arians ; by which we see that the church afterwards did not follow that which stephen pretended to be an apostolical tradition , viz. that no hereticks should be rebaptized ; and from hence we may conclude that the pope was far from being thought an infallible guide or interpreter of scripture , either by that , or succeeding ages ; when not only single persons that were eminent guides of the church ( such as the african and eastern bishops were , ) opposed his doctrine , and slighted his excommunications , but several councils called both in the east and africa , and the most eminent councils of the church afterwards ( such as the first of arles and nice ) decreed contrary to what he declared to be an apostolical tradition . in the same age we meet with another great controversy about the sense of scripture , for paulus samosatenus openly denyed the divinity of christ and asserted the doctrine of it to be repugnant to scripture , and the ancient apostolical tradition . for this paulus revived the heresie of artemon ; whose followers , as appears by the fragment of an ancient writer against them in eusebius , ( supposed to be caius ) pleaded that the apostles were of their mind , and that their doctrine continued in the church till the time of victor , and then it began to be corrupted . which saith that writer would seem probable , if the holy scriptures did not first contradict them ; and the books of several christians before victors time . so that we see the main of the controversie did depend upon the sense of scripture which was pleaded on both sides . but what course was taken in this important controversie to find out the certain sense of scripture ? do they appeal to any infallible guides ? nothing like it . but in the councils of antioch , in the writings of dionysius of alexandria and others since , they who opposed the samosatenian doctrine endeavoured with all their strength to prove that to be the true sense of scripture , which asserted the divinity of christ. it is great pity the dispute of malchion with paulus is now lost , which was extant in eusebius his time ; but in the questions and answers between paulus and dionysius ; ( which valesius without reason suspects since st. hierome mentions his epistle against paulus ) the dispute was about the true sense of scripture which both pleaded for themselves . paulus insists on those places , which speak of the humane infirmities of christ , which he saith prove that he was meer man and not god ; the other answers that these things were not inconsistent with the being of the divine nature , since expressions implying humane passions are attributed to god in scripture : but he proves from multitude of scriptures , and reasons drawn from them that the divine nature is attributed to christ , and therefore the other places which seem repugnant to it , are to be interpreted in a sense agreeable thereto . the same course is likewise taken by epiphanius against this heresie : who saith the christians way of answering difficulties was not from their own reasons , but from the scope and consequence of scripture : and particularly adds that the doctrine of the trinity was carefully delivered in the scriptures , because god foresaw the many heresies which would arise about it . but never any controve●sie about the sense of scripture disturbed the church more , than that which the arians raised ; and if ever any had reason to think of some certain and infallible way of finding out the sense of scripture the catholick christians of that age had . i shall therefore give an account of what way the best writers of the church in that time took to find out the sense of scripture in the controverted places . of all the writers against them athanasius hath justly the greatest esteem , and petavius saith that god inspired him with greater skill in this controversie , than any others before him . the principle he goes upon in all his disputes against the arians , is this , that our true faith is built upon the scriptures , so in several places of his conference with the arian and in the beginning of his epistle to iovianus and elsewhere . therefore in the entrance of his disputations against the arians , he adviseth all that would secure themselves from the impostures of hereticks , to study the scriptures ; because those who are versed therein stand firm against all their assaults ; but they who look only at the words , without understanding the meaning of them are easily seduced by them . and this counsel he gives , after the council of nice , had decreed the arian doctrine to be heresie ; and although he saith , other ways may be used to confute it , yet because the holy scripture is more sufficient than all of them , therefore those who would be better instructed in these things , i would advise them to be conversant in the divine oracles . but did not the arians plead scripture as well as they ? how then could the scripture end this controversie , which did arise about the sense of scripture ? this objection , which is now made so much of against the scriptures , was never so much as thought of in those days ; or if it were , was not thought worth answering ; for they di● not in the least desert the proofs of scripture , because their adversaries made use of it too . but they endeavou●ed to shew that their adversaries doctrine had no solid foundation in scripture , but theirs had i.e. that the arians perverted it , because they did not examine and compare places as they ought to do , but run away with a few words without considering the scope and design of them ; or comparing them with places plainer than those were which they brought . thus when the arians objected that place my father is greater than i , athanasius bids them compare that with other places , such as my father and i are one , and who being in the form of god thought it no robbery to be equ●● with god ; and by him all things were made &c. when arius objected , to us there is but one god of whom are all things , he tel●s him , he ought to consider the following words , and one lord iesus christ by whom are all things ; from whence when arius argued that christ was only gods instrument in creating things , athanasius then bids him compare this place with another , where it is said of whom the whole body , &c. not barely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . when the arians objected , christs saying , all things are delivered to me from my father , athanasius opposes that place of st. iohn to it , by him all things were made ; thus when they objected several other places , he constantly hath recourse to iohn 1. 1 , 2 , 3. to phil. 2. 7. 1 iohn 5. 20. and others which he thought the plainest places for christs eternal divinity ; and by these he proves that the other were to be interpreted , with a respect to his humane nature , and the state he was in upon earth . so that the greatest defender of the doctrine of the trinity against the arians saw no necessity at all of calling in the assistance of any infal●ible guides , to give the certain sense of scripture in these doubtful places ; but he thought the scripture plain enough to all those who would impartially examine it ; and for others who wilfully shut their eyes , no light could be great enough for them . indeed , when the arians called in the help of any of the ancient writers to justify their doctrine , then athanasius thought himself concerne● to vind●cate them ; as particularly dionysius of alexandria . but , as he saith , if they can produce scripture or reason for what they say let them do it , but if not , let them hold their peace : thereby implying that these were the only considerable things to be regarded : yet he shews at large that they abused the testimony of dionysius , who although in his letters against sabellius he spake too much the other way , yet in other of his writings he sufficiently cleared himself from being a savou●er of the arian heresie . and although athanasius doth else where say , that the faith which the catholick church then held was the faith of their fore-fathers , and descended from the apostles ; yet , he no where saith , that without the help of that tradition it had been impossible to have known the certain sense of scripture , much less without the infallible interpretation of the guides of the present church . s. hilary in his disputes against the same hereticks , professes in the beginning that his intention was to confound their rage and ignorance out of writings of the prophets and apostles : and to that end desires of his readers that they would conceive of god not according to the laws of their own beings , but according to the greatness of what he had declared of himself . for he is the best reader of scripture , who doth not bring his sense to the scripture , but takes it from it , and doth not resolve before hand to find that there , which he concluded must be the sence before he reads . in things therefore which concern god , we must allow him to know himself best , and give due reverence to his word . for he is the best witness to himself who cannot be known but by himself . in which words he plainly asserts that the foundation of our faith must be in the scriptures , and that a free and impartial mind is necessary to find out the true sense of scripture . and after he had said in the second book , that heresies arise from misunderstanding the scripture , and charged in his fourth book the arians particularly with it , he proceeds to answer all the places produced by them out of the old and new testament , by comparing several places together , and the antecedents and consequents , and by these means proving that they mistook the meaning of scripture . so in the beginning of his ninth book rehearsing the common places , which were made use of by the arians , he saith , they repeated the words alone , without enquiring into the meaning , or contexture of them ; whereas the true sense of scripture is to be taken from the antecedents and consequents : their fundamental mistake being the applying those things to his divine nature , which were spoken of his humane : which he makes good by a particular examination of the several places in controversie . the same course is taken by epiphanius , phaebadius and others of the ancient writers of the church , who asserted the eternal divinity of christ against the arians . epiphanius therefore charges them which mangling and perverting the sense of scripture ; understanding figurative expressions liter●●ly , and those which are intended in a plain sense figuratively . so that it is observable in that great controversie which disturbed the church so many years , which exercised the wits of all men in that time to find out a way to put an end to it , after the guides of the church had in the council of nice declared what was the catholick faith : yet still the controversie was managed about the sense of scripture , and no other ways made use of for finding it , than such as we plead for at this day . it is a most incredible thing , that in a time of so violent contention , so horrible confusion , so scandalous divisions in the christian church , none of the catholick bishops should once suggest this admirable expedient of infallibility . but this palladium was not then fallen down from heaven , or if it were , it was kept so secret , that not one of the writers of the christian church in that busie and disputing age discovered the least knowledge of it . unless it be said that of all times it was then least fit to talk of infallibility in the guides of the church , when they so frequently in councils contr●dicted each other . the synodical book in the new tomes of the councils , reckons up 31. several councils of bishops in the time of the arian controversie , whereof near 20. were for the arians , and the rest against them . if the sense of scripture were in this time to be taken from the guides of the church , what security could any man have against arianism ? since the councils which favoured it , were more numerous than those which opposed and condemned it . yea so mean was the opinion which some of the greatest persons of the church at that time had of the guides of the church met together in councils , that st. gregory nazianzen declares he had not seen a good issue of any of them ; but they rather increased mischief than removed any ; because of the contention and ambition which ruled in them , therefore he resolved to come no more at any of them . what ? had st. gregory so mean an esteem of the guides of the christian church to think that , ambition and contention should sway them in their councils and not the spirit of god , which certainly rules not where the other do ? yet this de declares to be his mind upon consideration and experience in that time , and if he had lived to those blessed days of the councils of latter ages , with what zeal and rhetorick would he have set them forth ? never was any answer more jejune to this testimony than that of bellarmin , viz. that forsooth there could be no lawful councils called in his time ; and why so i pray ? was there not a good authority to call them ? but if that had been the reason , he did not so little understand the way of expressing himself , to assign the cause of it to contention and ambition , if he mean quite another thing which he doth not in the least intimate . and what if he were afterwards present at the council of constantinople ? doth that shew , that his mind was in the least changed ? but in this epistle he declares , how little good was to be exspected from a council , and yet afterwards by the emperours command he might be present at one . st. augustin in dealing with maximinus the arian expresly sets aside all authority of the guides of the church , as to the sense of scripture in the places controverted between them ; for he saith , i will neither bring the authority of the council of nice , neither shall you that of ariminum ; but we will proceed by authorities of scripture that are common to both of us , and by the clearest evidence of reason . it seems then st. augustin was far from thinking that there could be no certainty of the sense of scripture if the authority of the guides of the church be set aside . but by what means doth he then think , that men may come to any certainty about the true meaning of scripture ? of that he is best able to give us an account himself having written purposely in this subject in his books of christian doctrine the substance of what he there says may be comprehended in these rules . 1. that the main scope of the scripture is to perswade men to the love of god and our neighbour , without which , he saith , no man doth truly understand it ; but whosoever interprets scripture to the advancing of that , though he may be mistaken as to the sense of the words , yet his errour is not dangerous . 2. that in order to the right understanding of scripture men must apply themselves to it with minds duly prepared for it ; by a fear of god , humility , prayer , sincerity , and purity of heart . 3. that all those things which are necessary to salvation are plainly laid down in holy scriptures ; this is in terms asserted by him , as a fundamental principle , that in those things which are plainly set down in scripture , all things are to be found which contain our faith and rule of life . i.e. all things which are necessary to the love of god and our neighbour , and consequently to the making us happy . and these things men ought especially to read the scriptures for ; and the more they find of them , the larger their understanding of scripture is . 4. that the obscure places of scripture are to be understood by the plain . for which end he requires frequent reading , and using ones self to the language of scriptures , and drawing examples from plain places to illustrate difficult , and those which are certain to clear the doubtful . for , scarce any thing , saith he , is drawn out of the most difficult places , but what is very plainly set down elsewhere . 5. that in regard of the infinite variety of latin interpreters ( which it seems were in his time ) in matters of doubt it was necessary to have recourse to the original hebrew and greek : the knowledge of which tongues might therefore be necessary to the knowledge of scripture , because several words are preserved untranslated ; but those being few the necessity is not so great on their account , as the diversity of interpreters ; for although those who had translated the hebrew into greek might be reckoned up , the latin interpreters could not . which diversity of translations doth rather help than hinder the understanding of scripture , if the readers of it be not negligent ; for some doubtful places are cleared by the difference of readings . 6. where the ambiguity lyes in proper words , the clearing of it depends on the circumstances of the place ; in so much that he determines , that it is a very rare and difficult thing to find such an ambiguity in the words of scripture , which may not be cleared from the intention of the writer , or comparing places , or searching the original language . 7. men must carefully distinguish between proper and figurative expressions ; for to understand figurative expressions literally is to subject our understanding to carnal conceptions of things ; and that is , saith he , a miserable slavery of mind , to take signs for things ; such signs he tells us under the gospel are the two sacraments of baptism and the lords supper . the great difficulty herein , lyes in the finding out the difference between proper and figurative expressions , for which he lays down this rule , if the words of scripture command what is good and forbid what is evil , it is no figurative expression ; but if it forbids what is good , or command any thing that is evil , it must be figuratively understood . for which he instances in those words of our saviour unless ye eat the flesh , and drink the blood of the son of man ye shall have no life in you . which seeming to command something evil , must be figuratively understood of communicating in the passion of christ , and calling to mind that his flesh was crucified and wounded for us . 8. there is no danger in different senses being given of the same place of scripture , if every one of those senses appear by other places to be agreeable to truth : this being supposed that the person do sincerely enquire after the sense of the author ; for , saith he , that divine spirit might easily foresee how many several senses those words are capable of , which being agreeable to other parts of scripture , though not the particular meaning of those words , the mistake cannot be dangerous therein . 9. where such a sense is given which cannot be proved by other certain testimonies of scripture , it must be made manifest to be the sense by clear evidence of reason . but he rather approves the way of proving the sense of scripture by other places of scripture , where the interpretation is doubtful . so that the way in doubtful places which he prescribes is this , either to draw such a sense from them as hath no dispute concerning its being a true proposition , or if it have , that it be confirmed by other places of scripture . besides these , he lays down the 7. rules of ticonius the donatist which are not of that consequence to be here repeated ; that which i take notice of is , that st. augustin thought the rules he gave sufficient for understanding the meaning of scripture in doubtful places ; but he doth not in the least mention the infallibility of the guides of the church as a necessary means for that end . but he doth assert in as plain terms , as i have done , that scripture is plain in all necessaries to salvation to any sober enquirer , and what ever consequences are charged upon me for making that a fundamental principle , must reflect as much upon st. augustin as me ; and i do not fear all the objections can be made against a principle so evident to reason , and so agreeable not only to st. augustin , but the doctrine of the catholick church both before and after him . the next after st. augustin who hath purposely writ of this argument about the sense of scripture is vincentius lerinensis : about 4. years after st. augustins death and 3. after the council of ephesus , who seems to attribute more to the guides of the church than st. augustin doth , yet far enough short of infallibility . he saith , that every man ought to strengthen his faith against heresie by two things , first by the authoriry of the divine law , and then by the tradition of the catholick church : which tradition he makes necessary , not by way of addition to the scripture , for he allows the perfection and sufficiency of that for all things ; but only to interpret scripture by giving a certain sense of it , there being such different opinions among men about it . for all the hereticks whom he there names had different senses of scripture , as novatianus , sabellius , donatus , arius , macedonius , photinus , &c. but then he bounds this tradition within the compass of the universal consent of antiquity as well as the present church ; or as he expresseth it , within those things which were believed every where , always , and by all persons . that we may therefore consider how far these rules of vincentius will serve for explaining the sense of scripture , we are to take notice of the restrictions he lays upon them 1. that they are to be taken together , and not one of them separate from the rest . as for instance , that of vniversality in any one age of the church , being taken without the consent of antiquity , is no sufficient rule , to interpret scripture by . for vincentius doth suppose that any one age of the church may be so overrun with heresie , that there is no way to confute it , but by recourse to antiquity . for in the case of the arian heresie , he grants that almost the whole church was overspread with it , and there was then no way left but to prefer the consent of antiquity before a prevailing novelty . in some cases the universal consent of the present church is to be relyed upon against the attempts of particular persons , as in that of the donatists ; but then we are to consider , that antiquity was still pleaded on the same side that vniversality was , and supposing that all the ancient church from the apostles times had been of the same mind with the donatists , the greater number of the same age opposing them , would have been no more cogent against them , than it was afterwards for the arians . it is unreasonable to believe that in a thing universally believed by all christians from the apostles times the christian church should be deceived ; but it is quite another thing to say , that the church in any one or more ages since the apostles times may be deceived ; especially if the church be confined to one certain communion excluding all others , and the persons in that church have not liberty to deliver their opinions , for then it is impossible to know what the judgement of the whole church is . and so universality is not thought by vincentius himself to be alone sufficient to determine the sense of scripture ; supposing that universality to be understood according to the honesty of the primitive times for a free and general consent of the christians of that age in which a man lives ; but since the great divisions of the christian world , it is both a very hard matter to know the consent of christendom in most of the controverted places of scripture , and withal the notion of vniversality is debauched and corrupted , and made only to signifie the consent of one great faction , which is called by the name of the catholick church , but truly known by the name of roman . 2. that great care and judgement must be used in the applying those rules ; for 1. the consent of antiquity is not equally evident in all matters in dispute , and therefore cannot be of equal use . 1. there are some things wherein we may be certain of such a consent , and that was in the rule of faith , as vincentius and most of the ancient writers call it i.e. the summary comprehension of a christians duty as to matters of faith , which was not so often called the symbol as the rule of faith , that i mean which was delivered to persons , who were to be baptized and received into the church , this the ancient church universally agreed in as to the substance of it . and as to this vincentius tells us his rule is especially to be understood . for saith he , this consent of antiquity is not to be sought for in all questions that may arise about the sense of scripture , but only or at least chiefly in the rule of faith : or as he elsewhere explains himself , alone or chiefly in those questions which concern the fundamentals of the catholick doctrine : which were those contained in the rule of faith , delivered to all that were to be baptized . suppose men now should stretch this rule beyond the limits assigned it by vincentius , what security can there be from him that it shall be a certain rule , who confined it within such narrow bounds ? not that i think , his rules of no use at all now ; no , i think them to be of admirable use and great importance to christianity , if truly understood and applyed . i.e. when any persons take upon them to impose any thing upon others as a necessary matter of faith to be believed by them , we can have no better rules of judgement in this case than those of vincentius are , viz. antiquity , vniversality and consent ; and whatsoever cannot be proved by these rules ought to be rejected by all christians . to make this plain , the ancient creeds we allow on both sides to have been universally received by the catholick church ; but now the church of rome adds new articles to be believed , we desire to put the whole matter upon this issue : let the popes supremacy , the roman churches infallibility , the doctrines of transubstantiation , purgatory , &c. be proved by as universal consent of antiquity as the articles of the creed are , and then let them charge us with heresie if we reject them . but we say the measure of heresie in the ancient church was the rejecting the rule of faith universally received among christians , this rule of faith , we stand to , and say no other can be made upon any pretence whatsoever , as vincentius at large proves ; but what ever things are obtruded on the belief of christians , which want that vniversal consent of antiquity , which the rule of faith had , we are bound by vincentius , from plain scripture , to shun them as prophane novelties and corruptions of the christian faith. these rules therefore are not barely allowed , but pleaded for by us , in the test of articles of faith , as to which vincentius tells us , if not the only , yet the chief use of them is . 2. but suppose the question be not , concerning the express articles of this rule of faith , but concerning the sense and meaning of them , how then are we to find out the consent of antiquity ? for they might all agree in the words and yet have a different notion of the things . as petavius at large proves , that there was an ancient tradition for the substance of the doctrine of the trinity , and yet he confesses that most of the writers of the ancient church did differ in their explication of it from that , which was only allowed by the council of nice : and he grants , that arius did follow the opinion of many of the ancients in the main of his doctrine , who were guilty of the same error that he was before the matter was throughly discussed . here now arises the greatest difficulty to me in this point of tradition ; the usefulness of it , i am told , is for explaining the sense of scripture : but there begins a great controversie in the church about the explication of the doctrine of the trinity , i desire to know whether vincentius his rules will help us here ? it is pleaded by st. hierome and others , that the writers of the church might err in this matter , or speak unwarily in it before the matter came to be throughly discussed ; if so , how comes the testimony of erroneous or unwary writers to be the certain means of giving the sense of scripture ? and in most of the controversies of the church this way hath been used to take off the testimony of persons , who writ before the controversie began , and spake differently of the matter in debate . i do not deny the truth of the allegation in behalf of those persons ; but to my understanding it plainly shews the incompetency of tradition for giving a certain sense of scripture , when that tradition is to be taken from the writers of the foregoing ages : and if this had been the only way of confuting arius , it is a great question how he could ever have been condemned , if petavius or st. hierome say true ? but since a general council hath determined the contrary to the opinion of these writers before , which council hath been received by the universal church , i will not deny that they had better opportunities of knowing what the sense of the ancient church was , when so many writings were extant which are now lost , than we can have at this distance ; and therefore we yield all submission to a council of that nature and proceeding in that manner which that of nice did ; who did not meerly determine that controversie by the number of writers on their side before them , but by comparing the opinions afterwards with the rule of scriptures ; and in this regard we acknowledge a great reverence due to the decrees of such general councils as that was . therefore next to the rule of faith we allow a great veneration to the determinations of lawful general councils universally received ; which vincentius himself pleads for : but supposing no general councils or such which are not allowed , or received for such ; we are yet to enquire into the ways of finding out catholick tradition , which may interpret scripture . for this end he proposes another means which is , the gathering together the opinions of those fathers alone ; who living holily , wisely and constantly in the faith and communion of the catholick church have died in that faith , or else for it . but still with this reserve , that what either all or many of them manifestly , frequently and constantly , as it were by a council of them , have confirmed by their receiving , holding , and delivering of it , that ought to be held for undoubted , certain and firm ; but whatsoever any one though holy and learned , though a bishop , confessour or martyr , hath held against the opinion of others that ought not to be looked on as the judgement of the church , but as his own private opinion , and therefore not to be followed . which words i shall not examine with all the severity that some have done , for then the proving these conditions to have been observed by any one person would require more pains , and be less capable of resolution than the matter it self is ; but i say , that in most of the controversies this day in the christian world , it may be much more satisfactory to examine the merits of the cause than the integrity of the witnesses , these conditions being supposed . and yet after all this , we must not misunderstand him , as though this way would serve to confute all heresies ; for he tells us yet farther . 2. this course can only hold in some new and upstart heresies i.e. in case of the pretence of some new revelation when men pretend to some special grace without humane industry to discover some divine truth , not known before ; but in case of ancient and inveterate heresies ; he saith we have no way to deal with them , but either only by scripture , or else by plain decrees of general councils , for when heresies have been of long continuance , then , saith he , we may have ground to suspect they have not dealt fairly with the testimonies of ancient times . and thus we see what vincentius hath offered towards the resolution of this great question , how we may be sure of the certain sense of scripture in controverted places ; wherein is nothing contained but what we are willing to stand to ; and very far from the least supposition of any infallibility in the present guides of the church for that end . thus far i have taken the pains to search into the opinion of the primitive church in this important controversie ; which i might carry yet farther , if it were at all needful . the substance of what is delivered by them is this , that if any controversie arise in the church concerning the sense of scripture , if the persons do not allow the scripture , then we are to proceed by the best means we can have without it , viz. the tradition of apostolical churches from the beginning ; if they do allow the scripture then we are to examine and compare places of scripture with all the care and judgement that may be . if after all this , the dispute still continues , then if it be against the ancient rule of faith universally received , that is a sufficient prescription against any opinion ; if not against the rule of faith in express words , but about the sense of it , then if ancient general councils have determined it which had greater opportunities of knowing the sense of the apostolical church than we , it is reasonable we should yield to them ; but if there have been none such , then the unanimous consent of fathers is to be taken , so it be in some late and upstart heresies , which men pretend to have by revelation or some special grace of god. now either all these means were sufficient or not to find out the sense of scripture , if not , then the ancient church was wholly defective and wanted any certain way of finding out the sense of scripture ; if these were sufficient , then there is no necessity of infallibility in the guides of the church to give us a certain sense of scripture : which was the thing to be proved . but n. o. towards the conclusion of his book produces st. augustin for the churches infallibility , in delivering the sense of scripture in obscure places ; which being contrary to what i have already said concerning him , must be examined before i conclude this discourse about the sense of scripture . the place is out of his answer to cresconius concerning the obscure point of rebaptization ; in these words , since the holy scripture cannot deceive , let whosoever is in fear of being deceived by the obscurity of this question , consult the same church about it , which church the holy scripture doth without all ambiguity demonstrate . and before , the truth of the holy scriptures is held by us in this matter , when we do that which hath pleased the vniversal church , which the authority of the scripture does commend , &c. all which is false and said to no purpose saith n. o. if the scripture be not clear in this , that this church can determine nothing in such important contests contrary to the verity of the scriptures , and that we ought to give credit to what she decides ; for then it would not be true , what he says the truth of the same scripture in this matter is held by us : and he who is in fear of being deceived by the obscurity of this question , is no way relieved in following the sentence of the churth . to which i answer , that st. augustin doth not suppose , that men cannot attain to any certainty of the the sense of scripture in this matter without the churches infallibility ; for , he saith , in the chapter preceding , that in this matter we follow the most certain authority of canonical scriptures ; but he puts the case that no certain example could be produced out of scripture , then he saith , they had the truth of the scriptures when they do that which pleased the vniversal church , &c. for the explaining st. augustins meaning , we are to consider , that there were two controversies then on foot in the church with the donatists , the one concerning rebaptization , the other concerning the church the former he looks upon as more intricate and obscure , by reason not only of the doubtfulness of scripture , but the authority of about seventy bishops of africa , who had determined for it , among whom st. cyprian was chief , which we see in all his disputes with the donatisis on this subject he is very much perplexed with ; therefore st. augustin finding that controversie very troublesome , was willing to bring it to that issue , that what the catholick church after so much discussing the point had agreed upon should be received as the truth . by this means the dispute would be brought to that other question , which he thought much more easie , viz. which was the true church , the catholick or the donatists : but by no means doth st. augustin hereby intend to make the churches authority to resolve all doubts concernig scriptures ; but he thought it much easier to prove by scripture which was the true church , than whether rebaptization were lawful or not . and accordingly his very next words are , but if you doubt whether the vniversal church be that which the scripture commends , i will load you with many and most manifest testimonies of scripture to that end . which is the design of his book of the vnity of the church : wherein he shews , that those testimonies of scripture which speak of the universality of the church , are very plain and clear : and needed no interpretation at all , that in this case we are not to regard what donatus , or parmenianus , or pontius hath said ; for neither , saith he , are we to yield to catholick bishops themselves , if they be at any time so much deceived as to hold what is contrary to canonical scriptures . by which it is evident that he supposed no infallibility in the guides of the church . and in terms he asserts , that the church is to be proved by nothing but plain scriptures , neither by the authority of optatus , or st. ambrose , or innumerable bishops , nor councils , nor miracles , nor visions and revelations , ( whatever n. o. thinks of them ) now st. augustin supposing there was much less ambiguity in scripture in the controversie of the church than in that of rebaptization , he endeavours to bring them to a resolution in the other point for the clearing of this : and so he only pursues the method laid down in the books of christian doctrine , to make use of plainer places of scripture to give light to the darker . and when they were convinced by scripture that the catholick church was the true church of christ , he doth not question but they would follow that which was the sentence of the catholick church . but here lyes the main difficulty , on what account the sentence of the church was to be followed ? in order to the resolution of it , we must take notice of these things . 1. that all the proofs which st. augustin brings for the church do relate only to the extent and vniversality of it , and not to any infallibility that is promised to it ; as will easily appear to any one that will read his discourses on that subject against the donatists . 2. that he asserts no infallibility in the highest authority of the church ; which in many places of his books of baptism against the donatists he makes to be a plenary or general council ; whose authority , he saith , was to be preferred before that of st. cyprian , or any particular councils either in his time , or before it ; which he calls the authority and decrees of the vniversal church . so that we see he resolves all the authority of the church in this matter into that of a general council : ( whether that of arles , or nice is not to my purpose to enquire ) and we shall then see what his opinion is of the churches infallibility by that which he delivers of general councils ; as well as any other church authority compared with the scriptures , in these remarkable words . who knows not that the sacred canonical scripture is contained within its certain bounds , and is so far to be preferred before all latter writings of bishops that there can be no doubt or dispute at all made , whether that be true or right which is contained therein ; but all latter writings of bishops which have been or are written , since the canon of scripture hath been confirmed , may be corrected if in any thing they err from the truth , either by the wiser discourse of any more skilful person , or the weightier authority of other bishops , or the prudence of more learned men , or by councils : and even councils themselves that are provincial yield without dispute to those which are general , and called out of all the christian world ; and of these general councils the former are often amended by the latter , when by some farther tryal of things that which was shut is laid open , and that which was hidden is made known without any swelling of sacrilegious pride , or stifness of arrogancy , or contentin of envy ; but with holy humility , catholick peace and christian charity . can any one that reads this excellent testimony of st. augustin delivered in this same matter , ever imagine he could so plainly contradict himself ; as to assert the churches infallibility in one place and destroy it in another ? would he assert that all councils how general soever may be amended by following councils , and yet bind men to believe that the decrees of the former councils do contain the unalterable will of god ? a lesser person than st. augustin would never thus directly contradict himself , and that about the very same controversie , which words of his cannot be understood of unlawful councils , of matters of fact or practice , but do refer to the great question then in debate about rebaptizing hereticks ; and hereby he takes off the great plea , the donatists made from the authority of st. cyprian and his council , which they continually urged for themselves . 3. he grants , that the arguments drawn from the churches authority are but humane , and that satisfaction is to be taken from the scriptures in this controversie . for mentioning the obscurity of this question , and the great debates that had been about it before the donatists time among great and good men , and diverse resolutions of councils and the settlement of it at last by a plenary council of the whole world ; but lest , saith he , i should seem to make use only of humane arguments , i produce certain testimonies out of the gospel , by which , god willing , i demonstrate how true and agreeable to his will the doctrine and practice of the catholick church is . and else where he appeals not to the judgement of men , but to the lords ballance , viz. to his judgement delivered in scripture , and in this same case when he was urged by the authority of cyprian , he saith , there are no writings they have not liberty to judge of , but those of scripture , and by them they are to judge of all others , and what is agreeable to them they receive , what is not they reject , though written by persons of never so great authority . and after all this is it possible to believe that st. augustin should make the churches decree in a general council infallible ? no : the utmost by a careful consideration of his mind in this matter that i can find , is ; that in a question of so doubtful and obscure a nature as that was , which had been so long bandied in the churches of africa , and from thence spread over all the churches of the christian world , it was a reasonable thing to presume that what the whole christian world did consent in was the truth , not upon the account of infallibility , but the reasonable supposition that all the churches of the christian world , would not consent in a thing repugnant to any apostolical doctrine or tradition . and so st. augustins meaning is the same with vincentius lerinensis as to the universal attestation of the christian church in a matter of tradition ; being declared by the decree of a general council , and that decree universally received but only by the litigant parties in africa . to which purpose it is observable that he so often appeals to the vniversal consent of christians in this matter ; after it had been so throughly discussed and considered , by the most wise and disinteressed persons , and that consent declared by a plenary council before himself was born . so that if authority were to be relyed upon in this obscure controversie , he saith , the authority of the universal church was to be preferred , before that of several councils in africa , of the bishops and particularly st. cyprian who met in them . and whereas st. cyprian had slighted tradition in this matter , christ having called himself truth and not custom , st. augustin replys to him ; that the custom of the church having been always so and continuing after such opposition and confirmed by a general council , and after examination of the reasons and testimonies of scripture on both sides , it may be now said , that we follow what truth hath declared . wherein we see with what modesty and upon what grounds he declares his mind , which at last comes to no more than vincentius his rules of antiquity , vniversality and consent . especially in such a matter as this was , which had nothing but tradition to be pleaded for it , the apostles , having determined nothing of either side , in their books as st augustin himself at last confesses in this matter . the most then that can be made of the testimony alledged out of st. augustin is this , that in a matter of so doubtful and obscure a nature wherein the apostles have determined nothing in their writings , we are to believe that to be the truth , which the universal church of christ agreed in those times , when the consent of the universal church was so well known by frequent discussion of the case and coming at last to a resolution in a general council . in such a case as this , i agree to what st. augustin saith , and think a man very much relieved by following so evident a consent of the universal church : not by vertue of any infallibility , but the unreasonableness of believing so many , so wise , so disinteressed persons should be deceived . let the same evidences be produced for the consent of the vniversal church from the apostolical times in the matters in dispute between our church and that of rome , and the controversie of infallibility may be laid aside ; for such an universal consent of the christian church i look upon as the most authentick interpreter of holy scripture in doubtful and obscure places . but let them never think to fob us off , with the consent of the roman faction for the vniversal church , nor of some latter ages , for a tradition from apostolical times , nor of a packed company of bishops for a truly general council . and thus much may now serve to clear that important controversie about the sense of scripture in doubtful places . the last thing to be considered is , whether the same arguments which overthrow infallibility , do likewise destroy all church-authority ? for this is by n. o. frequently objected against me ; for , he saith , thus it happens more than once in these principles laid down by me , that in 100 forward a zeal in demolishing the one , viz. church infallibility , the other is also dangerously undermined , viz. church-authority . and therefore out of his singular regard to the good of our church , he saith , it concerns my superior to look to it , whether their churches and their own authority suffers no detriment from my principles , and , again , he saith , my principles against infallibility conclude , the uselessness of any ecclesiastical authority to teach men , as of an infallible to assure men of the truth of those things , which by using only their own sincere endeavour they may know without them . and lastly , he saith , my principles afford no effectual way or means of suppressing or convicting any schism , sect or heresie , or reducing them either to submission of judgement or silence . and therefore he desires the prudent to consider ; whether the authority of the church of england is not much debilitated and brought into contempt , and daily like to wane more and more by this new taken up way of its defence . my answer is , that i have carefully examined and searched my principles and find no such gunpowder in them for blowing up authority either of church or state. for all that i can discover , they are very innocent and harmless ; and if all other mens had been so , we had never heard so much talk of this way , of undermining and blowing up . but is it not a pleasant thing to see , all of a sudden , what zeal these men discover for the preservation of our churches authority ? alas good men ! it grieves them at the very heart , to see the authority of our church weakned and that by its own members . what would not they do for the strengthening and upholding of it ? what pity it is , such a church should not stand , whose very enemies take such care for its preservation ; and are so ready to discover the pl●ts of its own children against it ? b●t to be ●ure , there is mischief intended when enemies discover it ; not by those whom they accuse , but by the honest informers ; who would be content to hold their peace , if they thought they could not sow mischief by pretending to discover it . it is a pretty plot to make those who design to defend our church to be the underminers of it , and the most professed enemies its surest friends . but such plots are too fine to hold , and too thin not to be seen through . how is it i beseech n. o. that my principles undermine all church authority ? have i any where made the church a meer shadow , and an insignificant cypher , a society depending only on the pleasure of men for its subsistence and authority ? this had been indeed to the purpose , but not the least word tending that way can be drawn out of any principles of mine . for i verily believe that the church is a society instituted by christ himself , and invested with authority necessary for its government and preservation . but though i cannot deny such an authority i may render it wholly useless . i cannot conceive any such malignant influence in any principles of mine , but if there be , it must be from one of these things . 1. either because i deny infallibility in the guides of the church . or 2. because i say that the scriptures are plain in things necessary to salvation . or 3. because i deny the authority of the church of rome . or 4. because i am not for such an effectual way of suppressing sects and heresies as is in use in the roman church . but i hope to make it appear that none of these do in the least tend to weaken , or bring into contempt the church of engl●nds authority , nor the just authority of any church in the world. 1. not the denial of infallibility . this n. o. seems to suppose to be the very faux in the gunpowder plot , the instrument of setting all on fire . but is there any thing peculiar to my principles herein ? have not all who have written against the church of rome opposed the pretence of infallibility ? how then come my principles to be of so mischievous a nature above others ? but i pray , sir , are authority and infallibility all one in your account ? we suppose that magistrates and parents , and masters have all of them an unquestionable authority but i never heard yet of any man that said they wre infallible : or that there was no ground to obey them , if they were not . why may we not then allow any authority belonging to the governours of the church , and yet think it possible for them to be deceived ? is this a sufficient reason for any man to cast off his subjection to his prince , because it 's possible he may require something unlawful ? or to disobey his parents , because they do not sit in an infallible chair ? or to slight his master , because he is not pope ? these are strange ways of arguing about matters of religion , which are ridiculous in any other case . if the possibility of being deceived destroys no other authority in the world , why should it do that of the church ? the magistrate does not lose his authority though we say we are to obey god rather than men , and consequently to examine whether the laws of men are not repugnant to the laws of god , which implys that he may require what it is our duty not to do . the authority of parents is not destroyed , because in some cases we are bound to disobey them , when they command men to destroy or rise up in arms against their soveraign . how comes it then to pass , that all church-authority is immediately gone , if we do but suppose a possibility of errour in those which have it ? but it may be said it is their office to be guides , and if we do not follow them absolutely , we renounce them from being our guides . to which i answer , there are two sorts of persons that stand in need of guides , the blind and the ignorant ; the blind must follow their guides because of an incapacity of seeing their way , the ignorant for want of instruction . yet neither of these are bound to believe their guides infallible , and to follow them at all adventures . for even the blind by their own sad experience of frequent falling into ditches or knocking their heads against posts may have reason to question , if not the skill , yet the sincerity of their guides , and though they must have some , may seek new ones . the ignorant follow their guides only upon the opinion of their skill and integrity ; and when they see reason to question these , they know of no obligation to follow their conduct over rocks and precipices ; if they are so careless of their own welfare , others are not bound to follow them therein . but we are not to presume persons so wholly ignorant , but they have some general rules by which to judge of the skill and fidelity of their guides . if a person commits himself to the care of a pilot to carry him to constantinople because of his ignorance of the sea , should this man still rely upon his authority , if he carried him to find out the north west passage ? no : though he may not know the particular coasts so well ; yet he knows the east and west , the north and south from each other . if a stranger should take a guide to conduct him from london to york , although he may not think fit to dispute with him at every doubtful turning , yet is he bound to follow him when he travels all day with the sun in his face ? for although he doth not know the direct road , yet he knows that he is to go northward . the meaning of all this is , that the supposition of guides in religion doth depend upon some common principles of religion that are or may be known to all , and some precepts so plain that every christian without any help may know them to be his duty ; within the compass of these plain and known duties , lyes the capacity of persons judging of their guides ; if they carry them out of this beaten way , they have no reason to rely upon them in other things : if they keep themselves carefully within those bounds , and shew great integrity therein , then in doubtful and obscure things they may with more safety rely upon them . but if they tell them they must put out their eyes to follow them the better , or if they kindly allow them to keep their eyes in their heads , yet they must believe them against their eye-sight , if they perswade them to break plain commands of god and to alter the institutions of christ , what reason can there be that any should commit themselves to the absolute conduct of such unfaithful guides ? and this is not to destroy all authority of faithful guides , for they may be of great use for the direction of unskilful persons in matters that are doubtful and require skill to resolve them , but it is only to suppose that their authority is not absolute nor their direction infallible . but if we take away this infallible direction from the guides of the church , what authority is there left them ? as much as ever god gave them , and if they will not be contented with that , we cannot help it ; and that it may appear how vain and frivolous these exceptions are , i shall now shew what real authority is still left in the governours of the church , though infallibility be taken away . and that lyes in three things . 1. an authority of inflicting censures upon offenders ; which is commonly called the power of the keys , or of receiving into and excluding out of the communion of the church . this the church was invested with by christ himself , and is the necessary consequence of the being and institution of a christian society , which cannot be preserved in its purity and peace without it . which authority belongs to the governours of the church , and however the church in some respects be incorporated with the common-wealth in a christian state , yet its fundamental rights remain distinct from it : of which this is one of the chief to receive into and exclude out of the church such persons which , according to the laws of a christian society , are fit to be taken in or shut out . 2. an authority of making rules and canons about matters of order and decency in the church . not meerly in the necessary circumstances of time and place , and such things the contrary to which imply a natural indecency ; but in continuing and establishing those ancient rites of the christian church , which were practised in the early times of christianity , and are in themselves of an indifferent nature . which authority of the church hath been not only asserted in the articles of our church , but strenuously defended against the trifling objections of her enemies , from scripture , antiquity and reason . and i freely grant , not only that such an authority is in it self reasonable and just ; but that in such matters required by a lawful authority ( such as that of our church is ) there is an advantage on the side of authority , against a scrupulous conscience , which ought to over-rule the practice of such who are the members of that church . 3. an authority of proposing matters of faith and directing men in religion . which is the proper authority of teachers , and guides , and instructers of others ; which may be done several ways , as by particular instruction of doubtful persons , who are bound to make use of the best helps they can , among which that of their guides is the most ready and useful , and who are obliged to take care of their souls , and therefore to give the most faithful advice and counsel to them . besides this , there is a publick way of instructing by discourses grounded upon scripture to particular congregations , assembled together for the worship of god in places set apart for that end and therefore called churches . and those who are duly appointed for this work , and ordained by those whose office is to ordain , viz. the bishops , have an authority to declare what the mind and will of god is , contained in scripture in order to the salvation and edification of the souls of men . but besides this , we may consider the bishops and representative clergy of a church as met together for reforming any abuses crept into the practice of religion or errours in doctrine ; and in this case we assert that such a synod or convocation hath the power and authority within it self ( especially having all the ancient rights of a patriarchal church ) when a more general consent cannot be obtained to publish and declare what those errours & abuses are , & to do as much as in them lyes to reform them , viz. by requiring a consent to such propositions as are agreed upon for that end , of those who are to enjoy the publick offices of teaching and instructing others . not to the end that all those propositions should be believed as articles of faith ; but because no reformation can be effected , if persons may be allowed to preach and officiate in the church in a way contrary to the design of such a reformation . and this is now that authority we attribute to the governours of our church , although we allow no infallibility to them . and herein we proceed in a due mean between the extremes of robbing the church of all authority of one side ; and advancing it to infallibility on the other . but we cannot help the weakness of those mens understanding , who cannot apprehend that any such thing as authority should be left in a church , if we deny infallibility . other diseases may be cured , but natural incapacity cannot . 2. not , the making scriptures plain to all sober enquirers in matters necessary to salvation . this is that principle which n. o. makes such horrible out-crys about , as though it were the foundation of all the heresies and sects in the world. this , he saith , makes all ecclesiastical authority useless ; for what need is there of bishops , presbyters , or any ecclesiastical pastors among protestants , as to the office of teaching or expounding these writings , if these in all necessaries are clear to all persons , who desire to know the meaning of them : but not content with this modest charge in comparison , in another treatise ; he makes this the very heighth of fanaticism , in spight of mother iuliana and their legendary saints : because , forsooth , this is to ground all our religion upon our own fancies , enquiring into the true sense of divine revelation ; and therefore , good man , seems troubled at it , that he can by no means in the world absolve me from being not only a fanatick , but a teacher of fanaticism . in earnest , it was happily found out , to return this heavy charge back upon my self with so much rage and violence ; ( for although n. o. be a modest man , yet s. c. is a meer fury ) for not meerly fanaticism , pure putid fanaticism follows from this principle , fanaticism without vizard or disguise , and all this demonstratively proved from this principle , but all our church is immediately gone with it ; men may talk of dangerous plots for undermining and blowing up of towns and forts and parliaments , but what are all those to the blowing up a whole church at once ? for since that train of my principles hath been laid , nothing like the old church of engl●nd hath been seen . it is true , there are the same bishops , the same authority , the same liturgy and ceremonies , the same ●●●achers and officers that were ; but what are all these to the church of england ? for from hence it follows ( if we believe s. c. ) that the ●overnours of our church have no authority to teach truth , or to condemn er●●urs ; and a●l the people are become prophets , and all their articles , constitutions and ordinances have been composed and enjoyned by an usurped authority . very sad consequences truly ! but like deep plots they lye very far out of sight . for to my understanding , not one of these dismal things follows any more from my principles , than from proving that s. c. and n. o. both stand for the same person . which will easily appear to any one ●●e that will but consider . 1. the intention of those principles . 2. the just consequence of them . 1. the intention of those principles ; which was plainly to lay down the foundations of a christians faith living in the communion of our church ; ( which is expressed in as perspicuous terms before them as may be ; ) and to shew that the roman churches infallibility is no necessary foundation of faith. now , this being the design of those principles , to what purpose should i have gone about therein , to have stated the nature and bounds of the authority of particular churches . i no where in the least exclude the use of all means and due helps of guides and others for the understanding the sense of scripture ; and i no where mention them ; because my business was only about the foundation of faith , and whether infallibility was necessary for that or no ? if i have proved it was not , i have gained my design ; for then those who deny the church of romes infallibility may never the less have a sure foundation , or solid principles to build their faith upon . now to what purpose in an account of the principles of faith should i mention those things , which we do not build our faith upon , i mean the authority of our guides ; for although we allow them all the usefulness of helps ; yet those are no more to be mentioned in the principles of resolving faith , than eulids master was to be mentioned in his demonstrations . for although he might learn his skill from him ; yet the force of his demonstrations did not depend upon his authority . i hope it now appears , how far i am from making church-authority useless ; but i still say our faith is not to be resolved into it , and therefore is not to be reckoned as a principle or foundation of faith. to that end it is sufficient to prove . that men in the due use of means , whom i call sober enquirers , may without any infallible church , believe the scriptures , and understand what is necessary to their salvation herein : if this may be , then i say it follows ( princ. 15. ) that there can be no necessity supposed of any infallible society of men , either to attest or explain these writings , among christians . not one word that takes away the use of authority in the church , but only of infallibility ; but it may be said that although it might not be my intention , yet it may be the just consequence of the principles themselves 2. therefore i shall now prove that no consequence drawn from them can infer this . for what if all those things which are necessary to salvation are plain in scripture , to all that sincerely endeavour to understand them , doth it hence follow that there can be no just authority in a church , no use of persons to instruct others , must all the people become prophets and no bounds be set to the liberty of prophesying ? these are bad consequences ; but the comfort is , they are not true . if i should say that the necessary rules for a mans health are so plainly laid down by hippocrates , that every one that will take the pains may understand them ; doth this make the whole profession of physick useless , or license every man to practise physick that will , or make it needless to have any professours in that faculty ? when the philosophers of old did so frequently inculcate that the necessaries for life were few and easie ; did this make all political government useless , and give every man power to do what he pleased ? men of any common understanding would distinguish between the necessaries of life and civil society ; so would any one but s. c. or n. o. of the necessaries to salvation , and to the government of the church ; for men must be considered first as christians , and then as christians united together : as in civil societies they are to be considered first as men , and then as cives ; to say , that a man hath all that is necessary to preserve his life as a man , doth not overthrow the constitution of a society , although it implys that he might live without it : so when men are considered barely as christians no more ought to be thought necessary for them as such , but what makes them capable of salvation ; but if we consider them as joyning together in a christian society , then many other things are necessary for that end : for then there must be authority in some and subjection in others , there must be orders and constitutions , whereby all must be kept within their due bounds , and there must be persons appointed to instruct the ignorant , to satisfy the doubting , to direct the unskilful , and to help the weak . it belongs to such a society not barely to provide for necessity but safety , and not meerly the safety of particular persons but of it self ; which cannot be done without prudent orders , fixing the bounds of mens imployments , and not suffering every pretender to visions and revelations to set up for a new sect , or which is all one a new order of religious men . how comes it now to pass that by saying that men , considered barely as christians , may understand all that is necessary to their salvation , i do overthrow all authority of a church and make all men prophets ? do i in the least mention mens teaching others , or being able themselves to put a difference , between what is so necessary and what not ; or doth s. c. suppose that all that understand what is necessary to salvation have no need to be ruled and governed ? if he thinks so , i assure him i am quite of another opinion , and do make no question but that government ought to be preserved in a church , though the necessaries to salvation be known to all in it ; and so i suppose doth any one else that in the least considers what he says . by this we see , that s. c ' s. recrimination of fanaticism on our church , by vertue of this principle is as feeble as the defence he hath made for his own , of which he may hear in due time . but if there be any fanaticism in this principle , we have the concurrence of the greatest and wisest persons of the christian church in it : two of them especially have in terms said as much as i have done , st. augustin in his books of christian doctrine already mentioned : and st. chrysostome in as plain words as may be . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . all things are plain and right in the holy scriptures ; all necessary things are manifest . let s. c. now charge all the dreadful consequences of this principle on st. chrysostome , and tell him that he destroyed all church-authority , and laid the foundation for the height of fanaticism ? nay s. chrys●stome goes much higher than i do , for he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. if i had made the guides of the church so useless as st. chrysostome seems to do in these words what passionate and hideous out-crys would , s. c. have made ? and by this let the skill or ingenuity of s. c. be tryed , who says , that i cannot find out one single short sentence in antiquity to support the main pillar of my religion , which he supposes this principle to be ; and for the finding out the sense of scripture without the help of infallibility , i have produced more out of antiquity in this discourse , than either he or his whole partie will be able to answer . 3. not the denying the authority of the church of rome . which i must do till i see some better proofs for it , than i have ever yet done . but how doth this , destroy all authority in a church ? can there be none , but what is derived from rome ? i do not think , i do in the least diminish the kings authority , by denying that he derives it from the cham of tartary , or the great mogol : although they may challenge the lordship of the whole earth to themselves : and may pretend very plausible reasons that it would be much more for the quiet and conveniency of mankind to be all under one universal monarch , and that none have so fair a pretence to it , as they that have challenged the right of it to themselves : and yet for all this , i do verily believe the king hath an unquestionable right to his kingdom , and a just authority over all his subjects . the time was when the first of genesis would serve to prove the popes title , and the suns ruling by day was thought a clear argument for his supremacy ; but the world is now altered and all the wit and subtility that hath been since used hath not been able to make good that crackt title of universal pastorship , which the bishops of rome have taken to themselves . but although we disown the popes authority as an unjust usurpation , we assert and plead for the authority of the church and the bishops who are placed therein , who derive their power to govern the church from christ and not from the pope . and i dare appeal to any person , whether the asserting the bishops deriving their authority from christ or from the pope , be the better way of defending their power ? we are not now disputing what authority were fit to be entrusted in the popes hands , supposing all other differences composed , and that things were in the same state wherein they were in the times of the 4. general councils ; in which case , it ought to be considered , how far it might be convenient to give way to such an authority so apt to grow extravagant , and which hath been stretched so very far beyond what the canons allowed , that it hath challenged infallibility to it self ; but the thing at present under debate , is , whether the disallowing the papal hierarchy doth overthrow all authority in the episcopal ; which is in effect to ask , whether there be any other power besides the popes in the church ? for if there be any other , the denying the popes authority over us cannot in the least diminish the just authority of bishops . the only considerable question in this case , is , whether the rejecting that hierarchy which was in being at the the time of the reformation , doth not make way for the peoples rejecting the authority of our bishops , and consequently no authority in the church can be maintained , unless we again yield to the papal authority . this i suppose to be n. o. meaning , when he tells us by church-authority he means that superior and more comprehensive body of the ecclesiastical hierarchy ; which in any dissent and division of the clergy , according to the church canons ought to be obeyed . and any particular church divided from this more universal cannot with the least pretence of reason challenge submission from her subjects , since she her self ( and particularly the church of england ) refused the same to all the authority extant in the world , when she separated her self . to this i answer , that the church of england in reforming her self did not oppose any just authority then extant in the world. it is to no purpose to make s●ch loud clamours about our churches refusing submission to all the authority then extant in the world , unless there be better evidence produced for it , than we have yet seen . for it is very well known that the dispute was then concerning the popes supremacy over our church , which we have all along asserted to have been a notorious encroachment upon the liberties of our church . and the popes usurpations were 〈◊〉 injurious both to the ecclesiastical and civil government , that those who adhered to the religion of the roman church yet agreed to the rejecting that authority which he challenged in england . which is sufficiently known to have been the beginning of the breach , between the two churches . afterwards , when it was thus agreed that the bishop of rome had no such authority as he challenged , what should hinder our church from proceeding in the best way it could for the reformation of it self ? for the popes supremacy being cast out as an usurpation , our church was thereby declared to be a free church , having the power of government within it self . and what method of proceeding could be more reasonable in this case , than by the advice of the governours of the church and by the concurrence of civil authority to publish such rules and articles , according to which religion was to be professed and the worship of god setled in england ? and this is that which n. o. calls refusing submission to all the authority then extant in the world ; was all the authority then extant , shut up in the popes breast ? was there no due power of governing left , because his unjust power was cast off , and that first by bishops , who in other things adhered to the roman church ? but they proceeded farther and altered many things in religion against the consent of the more vniversal church . it is plain since our church was declared to be free they had a liberty of enquiring and determining things fittest to be believed and practised ; this then could not be her fault . but in those things they decreed , they went contrary to the consent of the vniversal church : here we are now come to the merits of the cause ; and we have from the beginning of the reformation defended , that we rejected nothing but innovations , and reformed nothing but abuses . but the church thought otherwise of them . what church i pray ? the primitive and apostolical ? that we have always appealed to and offered to be tryed by . the truly catholick church of all ages ? that we utterly deny to have agreed in any one thing against the church of england . but the plain english of all is , the church of rome was against the church of england ; and no wonder , for the church of england was against the church of rome ; but we know of no fault we are guilty of therein ; nor any obligation of submission to the commands of that church . and n. o. doth not say , that we opposed the whole church , but the more vniversal church , i. e. i suppose the greater number of persons at that time . but doth he undertake to make this good , that the greater number of christians , then in the world , did oppose the church of england ? how doth he know that the eastern , armenian , abyssin and greek churches did agree with the church of rome against us ? no : that is not his meaning ; but by the more vniversal church , he fairly understands no more but the church of rome . and that we did oppose the doctrine and practices of the church of rome we deny not ; but we utterly deny that to be the catholick church ; or that we opposed any lawful authority in denying submission to it . but according to the canons of the church we are to obey , in any dissent or division of the clergy , the superior and more comprehensive body of the ecclesiastical hierarchy . what he means by this , i do not well understand , either it must be the authority of the pope and councils of the roman church , or a general council of all the catholick church . for the first , we owe no obedience to them , for the second , there was no such thing then in the world , and therefore could not be opposed . and for the canons of the catholick councils before the breaches of christendom , no church hath been more guilty of a violation of them , than the church of rome , since the rules of the fathers have been turned into the royalties of s. peter . we are no enemies to the ancient patriarchal government of the christian church , and are far more for preserving the dignity of it , than the roman church can be : for we should think it a happy state of the christian church , if all the patriarchs did enjoy their ancient power and priviledges , and all christendom would consent to a truly free and general council ; which we look on as the best expedient on earth , for composing the differences of the christian world , if it might be had . but we cannot endure to be abused by meer names of titular patriarchs , but real servants and pensionaries of the popes , with combinations of interested parties instead of general councils , with the pleasure of popes instead of ancient canons . let them reduce the ancient government of the church within its due bounds ; let the bishop of rome content himself with the priviledges he then en●oyed ; let debates be free and bishops assemble with an equal proportion out of all churches of christendom ; and if we then oppose so gener●l a consent of the christian church , let them charge us with not submitting to all the authority extant of the world . but since , the state of christendom hath been so much divided , that a truly general council is next to an impossible thing , the church must be reformed by its parts , and every free church , enjoying the rights of a patriarchal see , hath according to the canons of the church a sufficient power to reform all abuses within it self , when a more general consent cannot be obtained . by this we may see how very feeble this charge is of destroying all church-authority by refusing submission to the roman hierarchy : and how very pityful an advantage can from hence be made by the dissenting parties among us , who decry that patriarchal and ancient government as anti-christian which we allow as prudent and christian. but of the difference of these two case , i have spoken already . 4. but yet n. o. saith , my principles afford no effectual way or means in this church of suppressing or convicting any schism , sect or heresie , or reducing them either to submission of judgement or silence : therefore my principles are dest●●ctive to all church-authority . to which i answer , 1. that the design of my principles was to lay down the foundations of faith , and not the means of suppressing heresies . if i had laid down the foundations of peace and left all persons to their own judgements without any regard to authority , this might have been justly objected against me ; but according to this way , it might have been objected to aristotle that he was an enemy to civil government , because he doth not lay down the rules of it in his logick , or that hippocrates favoured the chymists and mountebanks , because he saith not a word of the colledge of physitians . if i had said any thing about the authority of particular churches , or the ways of suppressing sects ; then how insultingly had i been asked ; what is all this to the foundations of faith ? excellent protestant principles of faith ! they begin now to resolve faith into the authority of their own church : or else to what end is this mentioned , where nothing is pretended to but laying down the foundations on which protestants do build their faith ? but although there be no way of escaping impertinent objections , yet it is some satisfaction to ones self to have given no occasion for them . 2. i would know what he understands by his effectual means of suppressing sects or heresies . we are sure the meer authority of their church hath been no more effectual means , than that of ours hath been ; but there is another means they use which is far more effectual viz. the inquisition . this in truth is all the effectual means they have above us ; but god keep us from so barbarous and diabolical a means of suppressing schisms ; the sanbenits have not more pictures of devils upon them , than the inquisition it self hath of their spirit in it ; however that gracious pope paul 4. attributed the settling of it in spain to the inspiration of the holy ghost ; not that holy ghost certainly , that came down from heaven upon the apostles ; but that which was conveyed in a portmantue from rome to the council of trent . but if this be the effectual means he understands , i hope he doth not think it any credit to the authority of their church , that all who dispute it must endure a most miserable life or a most cruel death . all the other means they have are but probable ; but this , this is the most effectual . how admirably do fire and faggots end controversies ! no general council signifies half so much as a court of inquisition ; and the pope himself is not near so good a judge of controversies as the executioner , and dic ecclesiae is nothing to take him gaoler . these have been the kind , the tender , the primitive , the christian means of suppressing sects and heresies in the roman church ! o how compassionate a mother is that church , that takes her froward children in her hands to dash their brains against the stones ! o how pleasant a thing it is for brethren to be destroyed for lack of vnity ! how beautiful upon the 7. mountains are the feet of those who shed the blood of hereticks ! never were there two men had a more catholick spirit , than dioclesian and bishop bonner . men may talk to the worlds end of councils and fathers and authority of the church and i know not what insignificant nothings ; come , come , there is but one effectual means , which the good cardinal baronius suggested to his holiness , arise peter , kill and eat . let the hereticks talk of the kind and merciful spirit of our saviour who rebuked his disciples so sharply for calling for fire from heaven upon the samaritans , and told them they did not know what spirit they are of : let them dispute never so much against the cruelty and unreasonableness of such a way of confuting them ; let them muster up never so many sayings of fathers against it ; yet when all is done , what ever becomes of christianity , it was truly said of paul 4. that the authority of the roman see depends only upon the office of the inquisition . and that we may think , he was in good earnest when he said it , onuphrius tells us it was part of the speech he made to the cardinals before his death . was not this think we , a true vicar of christ ? a man of an apostolical spirit ? that knew the most effectual means of suppressing heresies and schisms and advancing the authority of the roman see. and that we may not think their opinion is altered in this matter , one of the late consulters of the inquisition hath determined that the practice of the roman church in the office of the inquisition is reasonable , pious , useful , and necessary ; which he proves by the testimony of their greatest doctors . and by which we may easily judge what n. o. and his brethren think to be the most effectual means of suppressing sects and heresies , with the want of which we are contented to be upbraided . but setting this aside we have as many reasonable means , and i think many more of convicting dissenters , than they can pretend to , in the roman church . 3. it is very well known that we do endeavour , as much as lyes in us , to reclaim all dissenters ; but god never wrought miracles to cure incorrigible persons , and would not have us to go out of the way of our duty to suppress sects and heresies . the greatest severities have not effected it , ( which made one of the inquisitors in italy complain that after 40. years experience , wherein they had destroyed above 100000. persons for heresie , ( as they call it ) it was so far from being suppressed or weakned that it was extremly strengthened and increased . what wonder is it then , if dissenters should yet continue among us , who do not use such barbarous ways of stopping the mouths of hereticks with burning lead , or silencing them by a rope and flames . but we recommend as much as they can do to the people the vertues of humility , obedience , due submission to their spiritual pastors and governours , and that they ought not to usurp their office , and become their own guides : which n. o. in his conclusion blames us for not doing . yet we do not exact of them a blind obedience , we allow them to understand the nature and doctrine of christianity , which the more they do , we are sure they will be so much the better christians and the more easily governed . so that we have no kind of controversie about church-authority it self but what it is , and in what manner , and by whom to be exercised ; but surely n. o. had little to say , when from laying down the principles of faith , he charges me with this most absurd consequence of destroying all church-authority . i have thus far considered the main foundations upon which n. o. proceeds in opposition to my principles , there is now very little remaining which deserves any notice : and that which seems to do it as about negative articles of faith , and the marks of the true church i shall have occasion to handle them at large in the following discourse . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a71070-e200 ha●●●mull . hist iesuit . ordin . c. 8. s. c. p. 79. s. c. p. 46. roman doctrine of repentance , &c. vindicated p. 19. p. 44. p. 47. p. ●9 . et quamvis sine sacramento poenitentiae per se ad justificationem perducere peccatorem nequeat ( attritio ) ; tamen cum ad dei gratiam in sacramento poe●ite●tiae impetrandam disponit . concil . trident. sess . 14. c. 4. * si quis dixerit sacramenta novae legis non continere gratiam quam significant , aut gratiam ipsam non ponentibus obicem non conf●rre — anathema sit . sess. 7. can. 6. si quis dix●rit non dari gratiam per hujus modi sacramenta semper & omnibus , qua●tum est ex parte dei , etiamsi ritè ea suscipiant , sed aliquando & aliquibus , a●athemae sit . can. 7. sess. 14. c. 4. p. 45. melch. cano relect. de poenit. part . 6. p. 932. morinus de poenit. sacramento l. 8. c. 4. n. 27. la morale de iesuits ●●v . 2. ch . 2. ● . 253. layman . theol. moral . l. 5. tract . 6. c. 2. sect . 2. tolet. summ cas. l. 3. c ▪ 4. morinus de poenit. l. 8. c. 4. n. 1. lugo de poenit. disp . 5. sect . 9. n. 130 135. o. n. p. 45. lugo disp . 7. sect . 11. n. 201. sect. 13. n. 263. greg. de valent. tom. 4. disp . 7. q. 8. pua● . 4. sect . secundo potest . morin . de poenit . l. 8. c. 4. n. 15. id. ib. n. 26. sacramentorum evangelicorum supra legaliaa praestantiam & praerogativam in hoc potissimum fulgere , quod evangelica gravissimo contritionis , & dilectionis dei jugo nos liberaverint . morin . de poenit. l. 8. c. 4. n. 26. index exp●rg : alex. 7. n. 87. 88. ribadin . 〈…〉 l. 5. c. ● . p. 38. p. 39. p. 50. p. 40. p. 21. p. 13. sanctissi●●● domini n. d. innocenti● divina providentia pap● . 10. declaratio nullitatis articulorum nuperae pacis germaniae religioni catholicae , sedi apostolicae , ecclesiis , aliisque l●●is piis ac personis , & iuribus ecclesiasticis quomodo libet praejudicialium . romae ex typographiâ reverend . can●●● apostolicae . a. d. 1651. p. 312. book of hom. second tome . p. 46. p. 214. p. 19● . p. 30. appeal p. 263. answer to the gagg . p. 319. p. 110. concil . trident . sess . 7. can . 9. sess . 23. can . 4. v. vasquez . in 3. p. thom. disp . 137. c. 3. n. 20. vasquez . in 3. p th. disp . 243. c. 1. est. in sente●t . l. 4. disti . 25. sect . 3. aug. ●l . 2. c. epist. pa●●ca . c. 13. 17. c. donat. l 1. c. 1. l. 3 c. 1● . aug. e●ist . 50. epist. 162. c. c●ss . l. 2. c. 11. 12. co●ex ca● . eccles. a●ic . c. 63. apud . ba●samon . et zonar . ● . 71. hallier de ordi● . sacris . p. 2. sect. 4. c. 5. ss . 1. n. 4. p. 2. sect . 3. c. 2. sect . 5. 6 7. sect. 4. c. 5. s●ct . 1. to. aquin. suppl . q. 38. art . 2. 〈…〉 . l. 4. ●●ist . 25. q. 2. mori● . d● sacris ordi●at . pa● . 3. exercit . 5. c. 1. n. 12 exer●it . 5. c. 8. n. 7. extra● . de temp . 〈◊〉 . c. quod trasl . morin . de sacris ordinat . part . 1. c. 3. 4. 5. leo allatius de aetat : et inte●st . in collat : ordin . p. 5. 14. isaaac . habert . po●tifical . graec. in praef . morin . de sacris ordin . p. 1. c. 4. notes for div a71070-e9260 §. 1● of the nature of these answers . §. 2. of their common way of answering our books . §. 3. of their ca●●mnies against me . mat. 26. 65. 1 j●h 4. 1. §. 4. expo●ing fanaticism no disservice to christianity . dr. 〈◊〉 against dr. stilling●●●t . p. 11. m●●●h . ca● . loc . t●col . l. 11. p. 534. lud. viv. a●trad . 〈◊〉 . l. 5. dr. 〈◊〉 princip . con●id . 〈◊〉 . notes for div a71070-e10940 §. 1. the insufficiency of his way of answering . p. 14. st. against st. p. 14. §. 2. no contratradiction about the charge of idolatry . rational account . p. 596 , 606. §. 2. the sophistical cavils in this argument . tit. 1. 16. §. 3. a distinct answer to his propositions . §. 4. in what sense the church of rome is owned by us as a true church . rational account . p. 47. §. 5. his appendix considered . dr. st. against dr. st. p. 21. roman idolatry . p. 55. 2. edi● . isa. 40 ▪ 19 , 22. deut. 4. 15 , 16. 〈◊〉 ▪ 20. § 6. the second contradiction examined . 〈…〉 p. 293. p. 295. arch b. la●ds conference . p. 280. p. 282. p. 285. p. 299. rational account . p. 622. st. against st. p. 7. p. 8. §. 7. the charge of fanaticism de●ended . p. 8. fanaticism of rom. church . s. 16. p. 299. 2. ●d . st. against st. p. 9. 1 king 19. 18. rom. 11. 3. §. 8. no contradiction in the charge 〈◊〉 divisions . rational 〈◊〉 . p. 56. divis. of the rom. church . s. 15. ● 397. 2. ed. §. 9. the conclusion . p. 14. p. 14. notes for div a71070-e20390 §. 1. the occasion of annexing the principles . p. 483. ● 2. ed. protestants without principles , chap. 1. p. 17. p. 18. p. 19. p. 20. p. 21. p. 22. p. 23. p. 24. p. 25. p. 42 , 43. §. 2 ▪ or the notion of infallibility . §. 3. n. o● . concessions . prop. 2. prop. 3. prop. 4. prop. 10. p. 22. s. 15. p. 52. p. 54. p. 56. p. 55. pro● . 27. p. 67. p. 94. ●rot . without princip . chap. 6. guide in controv. disc . 5. chap. 10. s. 134. sect. 135. § 4. n. o's . principles laid down . p. 1● . §. 5. n. o's . exceptions answered . prop. 13. p. 13. ioh. 20 , 31. p. 13. p. 14. luke 10. 31 , 32. mat. 25. 29. p. 14. field of the church l ▪ 4. ch 5. p. 350. ch. 2 ▪ ch. 5. p. 15. psal. 25. 9. james 1. 5. luke 11. 13. john 7. 17. §. 6. n. o's . proofs of infallibility examined . § 7. of the arguments from scripture for infallibility . 〈◊〉 . 25. 26. 〈◊〉 17. 10. 11 , 12. 〈…〉 . ration . account . p. 1. ch . 8. sect. 2. p. 239. prop. 16 , p. 27. p. 28 , 29. 1 cor. 14. 22. heb. 2. 4. p. 29. p 30. prop. 17. p. 37. §. 8. of the argument from tradition for infallibility . p. 38 , 39. b●ll de concil . l. 2. c. 10. field of the church , l. 4 c 4. rat. account . part ▪ 3. ch . 1. sect. 4. p. 510. rat. acc●unt . p. 1. ch . 4. p. 101 ▪ p 43. p. 44. § 9. of the argument for infallibility from parity of reason . prop. 13. § 10. of the authority of the guides of the church john 5. 36 , 9. 1 cor. 10. 15 1 thess. 5. 21. acts : 7 ▪ 11. 1 john 4. ● gal. 1. 8. jude v. 4. mat. 24. 4 , 5. 23 ▪ 24. acts. 20. 29 ▪ 30. 1 t●m . 4. 1 2 thess. 2. 3. 2 tim. 4. 3 , 4. 2 t●ess . 2. 9 , ●0 . matt. 15. 14. 〈◊〉 1. 8. ● cor. 11. 1. 2 cor. 1. 14. 〈…〉 . ba●o● a. d. 546. 547 55● . petav dogmat . theolog. tom. 4. l 1. c. 18 petr. de marca , dis●rt . de vigilii decr●to . bell. de rom. pon●it . l. 4. c. 3. b●lla●m . de concil . auctor . 2. c. 12. concil . constat . 3. act. 13. can. lo● . theol. l. 6. c. 8. francise . toa●●ens . de 6. 7. 8. synod . flor. a. d. 1551. p. 11. 12. p. 14. p. 24. 〈◊〉 . allocutio 3. hadriani 2. ad co●c . ro. tom 8. conc. gen. ●d lu● . par. 1671. p. 1● 91. baron . a. d. 681. n. 29. francis. combesis historia h●res . monotheli●●r . c. 2. alex 7. index expu●g●tor . p. 277. bellarm. de rom. pontifice l. 4. c. 11. petav dogmat . theol. l. 1. c. 21. s. 11 bal●zius de vi â petri marcae p. 28. 29. petav. ib. ●ect . 13. combesis . c. 2. sect . 3. tab●lae su●●rag . p. 130. iacob . de vitriaco hist. orient . cap. 77. bellonii obser . l. 1. c. 35. article 21. articl . 3. concil . lateran . a. d. 15 16. s●ct . 11. §. 11. of the s●nse of scripture . p. 37. p. 6. 14. p. 47. ephes. 4. 11 , 13 , 14. 2 pet. 3. 16. p. 67. 2 pet 3. 17 , 18. § 12. of a judge of controver●●es . §13 . the way used in the primitive church f●r finding the sense of scripture 〈…〉 . ●6 . sect . 2. 3. 〈…〉 〈…〉 c. 29. l. 3. c. 11. epipha● . hae● . 42. iren l. 3. c. 11. t●rtull . de praecip haeret . c. 38. eus. b. hist. eccl●s l. 4. c. 29. 〈◊〉 l. 1. c. 1. iren. l. 1. c. 1. tertull. de praescrip . haeret . c. 39. pet. scrive i● fragmata ●● tragicorum . p. 187. isidor : or●gin . l. r. c. 38. iren. l. 2. c. 46. iren. l. 1. c. 1. c. 2. c. 3. l. 3. c. 1. c. 2. c. 3. c. 4. l. 1. 6. 2. l. 4. praebat . l. 5. praehat . tertull. de praescript haeret . c. 8. c. 9. c. 10 c. 13. c. 14 c. 16. c. 17. c. 18. c. 19. c. 20. c. 21. 22. c. 23. c. 24. c. 25. c. 26. c. 27. c. 28. c. 29. c. 30. c. 32. c. 33. c. 36. c. 37. t●rtull . c. mar. l. 1. c. 2. c. 4. 5 , 6. c. 11. 12. l. 3. c. 5. c. 8. 9. l. 4 ▪ c. 4 c. 5. c. 7 & ●● tertull. adversus hermog . c. 19. c. 20. 21. c. 22. t●rtull . adversus prax●am . c. 20. clem. ale● and. stro● . ● . cyprian . epist . 74. firmil . inter e●pas cyprian 75. baron . annal . ad a. d. 258. n. 36. n. 52. euseb. ● . l. 7. c. 5. concil . arelat . 1. c. 8. 〈…〉 2. c. 16. 17. aug. de haer●s . cap. 44. g●●ad . de e●cl●s d●gmat . c. 52. ba●il epist. ca● . 1. ad ●●●●●loch . concil la●di●ea . c. 7 ▪ 8. baron . annal . tom. 4. in append. 〈…〉 . 65. 〈◊〉 eccles● . ●istor . l. 5. c. 28. 〈…〉 b. l. 7. c. 30. epipha● . haeres . 64. sect. 5. sect. 6. athans . co●t . 〈◊〉 orat. 1. p. 287. atha . co●● . a●a● . 〈…〉 . p. 116. &c. eph 4 16. 〈…〉 c. 〈◊〉 . p. 549. ath●● o●at . 1. c. arian . ad ad ●ph . c. paul. samosat . cp . ad s●rapi . h●ar . de t●ait . l. 1. hilar. l. 9. 〈…〉 69. ● 50. co●cil . gen●ral . tom. 2. p. 84. greg. nazia● ep. ●5 . bellar. de co●cil . author . l. 2. c. 7. august . c. maxim. l. 3. c. 14. aug. de doctri . christia● l. 1. c. 35 , 36. l. 2. ● . 7. l. 2. c 9. ib. l. 3. c. 26. l. 2. c. 6. l 2. c. 10. c. 11. l. 3. c. 4. l. 3. c. 5. c. 9. c. 15 , 16. l. 3. c. 26. l. 3. c. 28. vincent . lerin . commonitor . p. 4. commonit . 1. c. 39. ●● commonit . 2. c. 〈◊〉 . vincent . commonit . 1. a● . 26. ad 35. petav. dogm . theol tom. 2. in praefat . l. 1. c. 8. sect . 2. hier. a o● . 2. c. russi● 1. c. 39. c. 37. c. 39. §. 14. s. augustins testimo●● examined p. 85. aug. c. cresco● . l. 1. c. 33. aug. de unit . eccles. c. 4. 5 , 19. c. 10. c. 16. aug. de baptis . c. donat . l 2. c. 1. c. 9. l. 4. c. 6. l. 2. c. 4. l. 3. c. 10. l. 6. c. 2. de bapt ● do●at . l. 2 c. 3 : de bapt. l. 3. c. 4. de baptis . l. 2. c. 14. c. c●e●cor . l. 2. c. 31. 32. c. cr●s●on . io. de bapt. c. do●at . l. 1. c. 18. l. 2. c. 9. l. 3. c. 10. l. 4. c. 6 , 7 l. 5. c. 4 l. 6. c. 2. l. 4. c. 7. de bapt. ● . donat. l. 5. c. 23. §. 15. of church authority . p. 50. p. 84. p. 98. p. 99. art. 20. p. 15. fanaticism fanatically imputed to the roman church . p. 93. p. 96. p. 92. p. 89. p. 99. chrysost. in 2. 〈◊〉 thess. hom. 3. s. c. p. 117. praeface to principles considered . p. ●98 . iacob simanca enchir . judic ▪ viol . relig. tit. 68. n. 18. luke 9. 55. onuphr . vit . pauli 4. del. bere de officio inquisit . part . 1. dub . 162. petit. 5. n. 8. ger. ●usdragi epistol . ad cardinal . pisan.