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much as once acquaint the Chriftians, whom he writes to, what Guide they were to follow after he was taken away. That all the Writers of the New Teftament fhould fo frequently forewarn Men of Hereticks, falfe Chrifts, and falfe Prophets, and not arm them once with letting them know this only lure means of avoiding them. That fo great a part of the New Teftament fhould be employed about Antichrift, and fo little or indeed none at all about the Vicar of Chrift and Guide of the Faithful. That our Saviour fhould leave this only means of ending Controverfies, and yet fpeak fo obfcurely and ambiguoufly of it, that now our Fudge or Guide is become the greatest Controverfy, and hinderance of ending them. That there should be better Evidence in Scripture to entitle the King to this Office, who disclaims, than the Pope, who pretends to it. That St. Peter fhould never exercife any one act of Jurifdiction over the Apostles, nor they ever give him one Title or Authority over them. That if the Apoftles did know, that St. Peter was made Head of them, when our Saviour faid (Thou art Peter, &c.) they fhould ftill contend, who fhould be the Firft; and that our Saviour should never tell them, that Peter was the Man.. That St. Paul fhould fay, He was in nothing inferior to the chief Apofiles. That the Catechumenifts in the primitive Church fhould never be taught this Foundation of their Faith, That the Church of Rome was the Guide of it. That the Fathers Tertullian, St. Ferom, and Optatus, when they flew highest in Commendation of the Roman Church, fhould attribute no more to Her, than to all other Apoftolical Churches. That in the Controverfy about Eafter, the Bishops and Churches of Afia fhould be fo ill catechiz'd, as not to know this Principle of Chriftian Religion, The neceffity of Conformity

in Doctrine with the Church of Rome; nor fhould ever be prefs'd with any fuch Conformity in all things, but only with the particular Tradition of the Western Churches. That Ireneus and many other Bishops (notwithstanding nd banc Ecclefiam neceffe eft omnem convenire Ecclefiam) fhould not yet think it neceflary Doctrine, or a fufficient ground of Excommunication, which the Church of Rome thought to be fo. That St. Cyprian and the Bishops of Africa fhould be fo ill inftructed in their Faith, as not to know this Foundation of it: That they likewife were never urged with any fuch Neceffity of Conformity with the Church of Rome, nor ever. charged with Herefy or Error, for denying it. That when Liberius joyn'd with the Arians in Communion, and fubfcribed to their Herefy, the Arians fhould not then be the Church and Guide of Faith. That never Hereticks, for Five Ages after Chrift, were prefs'd with this Argument of the Infallibility of the Church of Rome; or charged with the denial of it, as a diftinct Herefy; fo that Eneas Sylvi

fhould have caufe to fay, Ante tempora Concilii Niceni quifque fibi vivebat, & parvus refpectus babebatur ad Ecclefiam Romanam. That the Ecclefiaftical Story of thofe Times mentions no Acts of Authority of the Church of Rome over other Churches; as if there fhould be a Monarchy, and the King for fome Ages together exercife no Jurif diction in it. That to fupply this defect, the Decretal Epiftles fhould be fo impudently forg'd, which in a manner fpeak nothing else but Reges & Monarchas, I mean the Pope's making Laws for, and exercifing Authority over all other Churches. That Vincentius Lirinenfis feeking for a Guide of his Faith and a Prefervative from Herefy, fhould be fo ignorant of this fo ready a one, The Infallibility of the Church of Rome. Nay, that the Popes them

felves fhould be fo ignorant of the true ground of this their Authority, as to pretend to it, not upon Scripture and Univerfal Tradition, but upon a pretended imaginary hint of fuch a Canon of the Council of Nice.

All these things and many more are very strange to me, if the Infallibility of the Church of Rome be indeed, and was always acknowledg'd by Chriftians, The Foundation of our Faith. And therefore I be feech you pardon me, if I choose to build mine upon One that is much firmer and fafer, and lies open to none of these Objections, which is Scripture and Univerfal Tradition. And if one that is of this Faith may have leave to do fo, I will fubfcribe my felf

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PA P. III.

The Creed of Pope Pius IV. After having recited the Nicene Creed, the following Articles are thus continued, viz.

13.

A

Poftolicas & Ecclefiafticas Traditiones, reliqufque ejufdem Ecclefia obfervationes & conftitutiones firmiffimè admitto & amplector.

14. Item Sacram Scripturam juxta eum fenfum, quem tenuit & tenet Santa Mater Ecclefia, cujus eft judicare de vero fenfu & interpretatione Sacrarum Scripturarum, admitto; nec eam unquam, nifi juxta unanimem confenJum Patrum, accipiam & interpretabor.

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13. I

Moft firmly receive and embrace, the Apoftolical and Ecclefiaftical Traditions, and all the other Obfervances and Conftitutions of the fame Church.

to

14. I do receive the Holy Scriptures in the fane fenfe that Holy Mother Church doth, and always hath whom it belongs to judge of the true fenfe and interpretation of them; neither will I receive and interpret them otherways, than according to the unanimous confent of the Fathers.

15. I do alfo profefs, that there are feven Sacraments of the new Law truly and properly fo called, inftituted by our Lord Jefus Chrift,

and

generis, licèt non omnia fingulis, neceffaria; fcilicet, Baptifmum, Confirmationem, Euchariftiam, Pænitentiam Extremam Unitionem Ordinem & Matrimonium, illáque gratiam conferre ; & ex his Baptifmum, Confirmationem & Ordinem finè Sacrilegio reiterari non poffe. Receptos quoque & approbatos Ecclefia Catholica Ritus, in fupradictorum omnium Sacramentorum folemni Adminiftratione, recipio & admitto.

16. Omnia & fingula, qua de peccato Originali & de Fuftificatione in Sacro-Sanda Tridentina Synodo definita & declarata fuerunt, amplector & recipio.

17. Profiteor pariter in Miffa offerri Deo verum, proprium & propitiatorium Sacrificium pro vivis & definitis atque in fantiffimo Euchariftia Sacramento effe vere, realiter & fubftantialiter Corpus & San

guinem,

and neceffary to the Salvation of Mankind, though not all of them to every one, viz. Baptifm, Confirmation, the Eucharift, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Marriage, and that they do confer Grace; and that of these, Baptifm, Confirmation, and Orders, may not be repeated without Sacrilege. I do alfo receive and admit the received and approved Rites of the Catholick Church in the folemn Adminiftration of the abovefaid Sacraments.

16. I do embrace and receive all and every thing, that hath been defined and declared by the holy Council of Trent, concerning Original Sin and Juftifica

tion.

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