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THE 
 
 NOVELTY OF POPERY, 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY 
 
 RELIGION OF PROTESTANTS, 
 
 PROVED BY 
 
 SCRIPTURE AND HISTORY. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: a 
 PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 
 
 WILLIAM S. MAUTIKN, PUBLISIUNG AGENT. 
 
 1840. 
 
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INTRODUCTION. 
 
 "Where was the Protestant religion before Luther?" 
 is a question that has often been asked with an air of 
 confidence and triumph, by the advocates of a church 
 which claims to be the only infallible expounder of the 
 word of God. The object of the following essay is to 
 answer this question, and to retort the charge of novel- 
 ty in religion, on those who make such arrogant claims 
 for the antiquity of their church. 
 
 The importance of the question will be evident to 
 every one who considers, that it relates not merely to 
 some unessential doctrines, or external observances, 
 but to the very foundation of a sinner's hope. If the 
 Popish system be true, Protestants are left to the " un- 
 covenanted mercies of God ;" without a ministry, with- 
 out sacraments, without hope ! If it is false, how awful 
 is the delusion, and how imminent the danger of those 
 who rest all their hopes of salvation upon it ! 
 
 That the discussion is seasonable, must be apparent 
 to all who are awake to the signs of the times. Zealous 
 emissaries, backed by foreign influence, and aided by 
 foreign gold, are coming in like a flood, to poison the 
 fountains of education, and to bring the civil and reli- 
 
/ 
 
 IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 gious liberties of this happy land into subjection to a 
 foreign ecclesiastical despotism. 
 
 The original ^vork, from which the following treatise 
 is extracted, consists of a series of discourses, on the 
 principal errors of Popery, styled the "Cripplegate Lec- 
 tures," which were delivered by eminent English di- 
 vines, in and near London, about the end of the seven- 
 teenth century. The discourses bear ample testimony 
 to the learning, judgment and piety of their authors. 
 
 In preparing the work for the press, some liberty 
 has been taken in retrenching irrelevant matter, and 
 in somewhat modernizing the style. Should it be ob- 
 jected that the quotations made from catholic authors- 
 are of ancient date, and that the Popish religion of the 
 nineteenth century is very different from that of the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth, it would not be difficult to 
 produce from catholic works, printed hy authority^ in 
 this city, within a year or two, sentiments as unscrip- 
 tural as any quoted in this work. Besides, the objec- 
 tion would come with a very ill grace from those who 
 boast that their church is always and every where the 
 same — " Nulla vestigia retrorsum,^^ 
 
THE 
 
 NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 For the better understanding of the matter in 
 hand, I shall premise the seven following propo- 
 sitions: 
 
 FIRST PROPOSITION. 
 
 That the ordinary way in which lost sinners, 
 since the fall of Adam, have been recovered and 
 restored to life and salvation, as to the essentials of 
 the covenant of grace, has, in all ages, been one and 
 the same. For though God has, " at sundry times 
 and in divers manners," revealed his will to his 
 church, yet the covenant of grace, under various ex- 
 ternal dispensations, has been the same;* under the 
 law, administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, 
 and circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types 
 
 * Ea quippe fides justos servavit anliquos, quoe et nos. i. e. Me- 
 diatoris Dei et hominis Jcsu Christi. Aug. de Natur. et Grat . 
 cap. 44. Ileb. i. 1 : TroKv/unpZi; kai TroxvrpoTrag. 
 
 A 2 
 
b THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 and ordinances, delivered to the people of the Jews,* 
 all pointing at Christ to come; under the Gospel, by 
 the preaching of the word, and administration of 
 the sacraments, Baptism, and the Lord^s Supper, 
 Avhich is observed in commemoration of the death 
 of Christ, already past. The way to heaven through 
 Christ, has been the same, successively from Adam 
 to our days, and will be the same to the end of the 
 world; which we might learn from the perfect agree- 
 ment between the doctrine of Moses and the pro- 
 phets, and Christ and his apostles; for these, de- 
 claring the whole counsel of God, Acts xviii. 27, 
 yet preached no new doctrine concerning Christ 
 and salvation by him, but what Moses and the pro- 
 phets said, and that also in reference to the Gentiles, 
 as well as to the Jews, Acts xxvi. 22, 23. To be- 
 lieve in Christ, to love God above all, to repent, and 
 mortify sin, to be sanctified and renewed after the 
 image of God, to be obedient to the will of God, 
 has been ^* the good way'^ from of old. The change 
 in outward administrations made by Christ and the 
 apostles, did not make a new way to heaven, though 
 the old dispensations then ceased, and gave place to 
 those appointed by Christ, which, with the doc- 
 trines of the apostles, are retained in the reformed 
 church, but are depraved, corrupted, and departed 
 
 * Christi veri sacrificii multiplicia variaque signa erant sacri- 
 ficia prisca sanctorum, cum hoc unum per multa figuraretur, 
 tanquam verbis multis res una diceretur, ut sine fastidio mul- 
 tum commendatur. Aug. de Civit: Dei, lib. 10: cap. 20. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 7 
 
 from by the church of Rome, as will appear by the 
 parallel of doctrines. 
 
 SECOND PROPOSITION. 
 
 Antiquity is not a mark of a true church. A 
 church of long standing and continuance, succes- 
 sively from age to age, might be a false church. 
 The church of Rome, contrary to all reason, makes 
 antiquity a mark,* whereby a true church may be 
 knov/n; and, contrary to all history, brags of her 
 own antiquity. But that which is a mark to distin- 
 guish one thing from another, must be foundt in 
 one kind, in all of that kind, only in that kind, and 
 yet always in it; as a man has two feet, but thereby 
 cannot be distinguished from some other creatures, 
 because this is common to birds as well as men. So 
 to be skilful in music, is proper only to man, but is 
 not found in every man, and therefore is no mark 
 to know a man by; for one that is no musician, is a 
 true and real man, as well as he that is. 
 
 Antiquity, alone considered, will fall short of a 
 
 * Secunda nota ecclesiae est antiquitas; nostra autem ecclesia, 
 quam adversarii papisticam vocant, est ilia ipsa quam Christus 
 instituit, et proinde vetustior omnibus sectis hajreticorum. Bell, 
 de Concil. et Eccles. 1. 4. c. 5. 
 
 t Proprium convenit soli alicui speciei, omnibnsque illius in- 
 dividuis et semper. Tres notarum conditiones ponit, Bellarm. 
 1. Debent esse propriae,non communes. 2. Debentesse notiores 
 c'dL re cujus sunt nota;, alioqui non sunt nota^, sod ignota\ 3. 
 Sunt.inseparabiles i\ vcrti ecclesiti. Dc Concil. ct Eccles. Lib. 
 4. cap. 2. 
 
8 THE NOVELTY OF POPEKY. 
 
 demonstration or evidence, that the church of Rome 
 is the only true church, upon these two grounds or 
 reasons. 
 
 1. Because antiquity is separable from a true 
 church; as the church of God in Adam^s days, was 
 a true church, and yet it was not then an ancient 
 church. And the Christian church, in the apostles^ 
 days, was a true Christian church, and yet it was 
 not then an ancient Christian church, any more than 
 an infant newly born, may be said to be an old man; 
 and yet it is a true man, though not old. 
 
 2. Because antiquity is not only separable from 
 a true church, but is also common to other things 
 now, as well as to a true church. It might even be 
 spoken of the synagogue of Satan; for Satan has had 
 his followers in the world for many thousand years; 
 and there have been many v/icked and ungodly 
 societies of men, far more ancient than the church 
 of Rome, or any pope at the head of it. So that the 
 antiquity which the church of Rome boasts of, but 
 does not possess, cannot prove it to be the true 
 church of Christ, any more than the synagogue of 
 Satan. 
 
 THIRD PROPOSITION. 
 
 Antiquity is not a mark of true doctrine; for al- 
 though all truth is more ancient than error (which 
 is a corruption of truth), yet every doctrine that is 
 old,* or of many hundred years' standing is not 
 
 * Quodcunque adversus veritalem sapit, hoc erit hasresis, 
 etiam vetus consuetude. Tertul. de Virg. Veland. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 9 
 
 therefore true; for there are old errors, and old he- 
 resies; some of them more ancient than those that 
 are properly and formally popish errors. There 
 are the old errors and heresies of Cerinthus, Ebion, 
 Arius, and many more, of an earlier original, than 
 the main doctrines of popery, that are essential to 
 that religion; and if we judge of doctrines merely 
 by antiquity, many heresies have the precedency 
 of popery. Since then w^ickedness and error can 
 plead antiquity of many ages; it is plain that anti- 
 quity is a praise or dispraise, according to the na- 
 ture of the thing of w^hich it is spoken; if it be 
 good, the older, the better; if it be bad, the older, 
 the worse; continuance in sin being an aggravation 
 of it; as an old swearer, an old drunkard or idolater 
 is worse than one that has lately taken up such wick- 
 ed practices. Antiquity of doctrine and worship 
 without truth and purity being but* grey-headed 
 error and sin, it follows that the longer the church 
 of Rome has practised such worship, and taught 
 such doctrines, she is not so venerable for her anti- 
 quity, as vile for her iniquity. 
 
 FOURTH PROPOSITION. 
 
 Some of the popish doctrines, and some parts of 
 popish worship are older, and of a longer standing 
 than others. Rome was not built in one day; and 
 the body and system of popish doctrine, as it is 
 
 * Consuetudo sine veritato, vetustas crroris est. Cypr. Epist. 
 ad Pompeium. 
 
10 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 now held, was not finished in one age. Popery- 
 came in by degrees, and antichrist rose to his pre^ 
 sent height, step by step. The question* propound- 
 ed by the papists to be resolved by the protestants, 
 who was the first pope that brought in their reli- 
 gion, and who was the first that made all the inno- 
 vations we complain of? is ridiculous and absurd, 
 supposing that to be introduced into the church by 
 one man, in one age, which was brought in gradual- 
 ly, by many men, in many ages. 
 
 FIFTH PROPOSITION. 
 
 Those things that are essential to our religion, are 
 owned by the papists themselves; for they profess to 
 own the Scripture to be the word of God, and cer- 
 tainly true; but they add their own traditions, things 
 not contained in the Scripture, as necessary to 
 salvation; which we cannot receive. They own 
 Christ to be the head of the church, and so do we; 
 but they add that the pope is the head of the uni- 
 versal church also, which we deny; they own bap- 
 tism and the Lord^s supper, and so do we; but they 
 add five sacraments more, which we reject. They 
 own that there is a heaven and a hell, as well as 
 we; but they teach that there is a place distinct 
 
 * In omni insigni mutatione religionis semper ista sex demon- 
 etrari possunt, 1. Auctor ejus. 2. Dogma aliquod novum. 3. 
 Tempus quo coepit 4. Locus ubi coBpit. 5. Quis earn oppug- 
 naverit. 6. Exiguus aliquis coetus, unde paulatim aliis acc§- 
 dentibus, cceperit. Nihil autem horum de nobis ostendere pos« 
 sunt, (HaBretici). Bellarm. de Concil. et Eccles, lil), 4. capr 5. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 11 
 
 from both, in which the souls of believers were 
 before Christ's death; and that there is a purga- 
 tory, and a place for the souls of infants, distinct 
 from heaven and hell; all which we deny. They 
 own the merits of Christ, and so do we; but they 
 add their own merits, which we deny; and so in 
 other points. So that the controversy between us 
 and them is not, whether what we hold is true and 
 old; for that is granted by the papists themselves,* 
 as to the essential parts of our religion; but about 
 what they have invented, and added to the true re- 
 ligion. All our religion is contained in the Scrip- 
 ture, and what is there, we own, and nothing else, 
 as necessary to salvation. The sum of our religion 
 is comprehended in the ten commandments, creed, 
 and Lord^s prayer, which the papists also confess 
 and own. So that our religion is past dispute, and 
 is in a manner granted to us. But whether the 
 popish doctrines as such, are true and old, is the 
 very controversy between us and them. 
 
 SIXTH PROPOSITION. 
 
 The reformation of the church does not consist 
 in bringing in new things, but in casting them out, 
 and lopping them off. It is a gross mistake that in 
 
 ^ Nota secundo ea quce sunt simpliciter necessaria, apostolos 
 consuevisse omnibus praedicare, — Dico, ilia omnia scripta esse 
 ab apostolis, quce sunt omnibus necessaria, et qucc ipsi palam 
 omnibus vulgo praedicaverunt. Bell, de Verb. Dei. Lib. 4. 
 cap. 11. 
 
12 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 the reformation, in and since Luther's time, the 
 church has brought in new doctrines, and rejected 
 the old. On the contrary she has cast away the 
 new, and retains the old. Gold and dross were 
 mixed together; the jewel of truth was hid under 
 the filth of corrupt doctrines. Our reformers kept 
 the jewel and the gold, and cast the dross and filth 
 away. The reception of the old doctrine, and the 
 rejection of the new, is that which constituted the 
 reformation. And if the church of Rome would 
 own what is in the Scripture, and no more, as ne- 
 cessary to salvation, and would cut off the new, 
 which they have added to the old, we and they 
 should be of the same religion. Our religion was 
 perfect and complete before the doctrine and the 
 w^orship of the church of Rome (as it now is) were 
 in being. 
 
 SEVENTH PROPOSITION. 
 
 To know which is the old religion and w^hich 
 the new, we must keep to the w^ord* of God, as 
 the rule and test. What is not in the word of 
 God, either expressly, or by just, immediate, ne- 
 cessary consequence, and yet is made necessary to 
 salvation, is certainly a new religion, though it has 
 been taught many hundred years. Thus all false 
 gods, though long since served and worshipped, are 
 called "new gods, that newly came up,^' Deut. 
 
 * Si ad divinsD traditionis caput, et originem revertamur, ces- 
 sat error humanus. Cypr. Epist. ad Pomp. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 13 
 
 xxxii. 17. The old religion then must be examined 
 by the old rule, the Holy Scriptures; so that to de- 
 termine this, we need not run to the canons of the 
 church, to the councils of men, to the decrees of the 
 pope, or to the writings of the fathers, which are all 
 fallible, and of later standing than the word of God. 
 When therefore the papists ask us, "Where was 
 your religion before Luther?" we may confidently 
 answer, " Where your religion never was, nor will 
 be found; and that is, in the Holy Scriptures, which 
 w^ere written long before Luther was born, or the 
 pope either." 
 
14 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 The second general head in the method pro- 
 posed^ is to give a parallel of doctrines taught by 
 the prophets, Christ, and his apostles; by the pro- 
 testants or reformed church; and by the papists or 
 the church of Rome. The first shall be laid dov^n 
 in the very words of Scripture; the second out of 
 the public confessions of faith of the reformed 
 churches; and the third out of the writings and de- 
 cretals of the popes, councils, cardinals, and other 
 doctors approved by the church of Rome. By all 
 which, these three things will be made manifest: 
 1. That the doctrine of protestants is the same that 
 was taught by Christ and his apostles. 2. That 
 therefore it was long before Luther. 3. That the 
 doctrine of the church of Rome, differing from, and 
 being contrary to the doctrine of Christ and his 
 apostles, must be a novelty. 
 
 I. Concerning the Perfection and Sufficiency of 
 the Scripture unto Salvation. 
 
 1. The doctrine of the prophets, Christ and the 
 apostles concerning this point: 
 
 Deut. xii. 32. What thing soever I command you, 
 observe to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, nor di- 
 minish from it. Psal. xix. 7. The law of the Lord 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 15 
 
 is perfect, converting the soul. John xx. 31. But 
 these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus 
 is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye 
 might have life through his name. Gal. i. 8. But 
 though we or an angel from heaven preach any 
 other gospel unto you, than that which we have 
 preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9. As I 
 said before, so say I now again, if any man preach 
 any other gospel to you, than that ye have re- 
 ceived, let him be accursed. 2 Tim. iii. 15. And 
 that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, which are able to make thee wise unto salva- 
 tion, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16. All 
 Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
 profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
 for instruction in righteousness; 17. That the man 
 of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all 
 good works. Rev. xxii. 18. For I testify unto 
 every man that heareth the words of the prophecy 
 of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, 
 God shall add unto him the plagues that are written 
 in this book. 19. And if any man shall take away 
 from the words of the book of this prophecy, God 
 shall take away his part out of the book of life, and 
 out of the holy city, and from the things which are 
 written in this book. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the reformed churches con- 
 cerning the perfection and sufficiency of the Scrip- 
 ture unto salvation. 
 
 "The Holy Scripture contains all things necessary 
 
16 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 for salvation; so that w^hatsoever is not read therein, 
 nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of 
 any man, that it should be believed as an article of 
 the faith, or be thought requisite and necessary to 
 salvation."^ 
 
 "It is not lavvrful for the church to ordain any 
 thing, that is contrary to God's word:— as it ought 
 not to decree any thing against the same, so besides 
 the same, ought it not to enforce any thing to be 
 believed for necessity of salvation/'t 
 
 " The whole counsel of God concerning all things 
 necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith 
 and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or 
 by good and necessary consequence may be deduced 
 from Scripture; unto which nothing at any time is 
 to be added, whether by new revelations of the 
 Spirit, or traditions of men/'J 
 
 " The canonical Scripture, or the word of God de- 
 livered by the Holy Ghost, and by the prophets and 
 apostles propounded to the world, is the most per- 
 fect and ancient philosophy, and doth alone perfectly 
 contain all piety, all rule of life.''§ 
 
 The reformed church in France, thus.|| "Where- 
 as the word of God is the sum of all truth, con- 
 
 * Church of England. Artie. 6. t Artie. 20. 
 
 I Assemb. Confession of Faith. 
 
 § Confessio Helvet. Sjnta. Confes. p. 67. 
 
 II Quum verbum Dei sit omnis veritatis summa, complectens 
 quicquid ad cultum Dei et salutem nostram requiritur, neque 
 horainibus, neque ipsis etiam angelis fas esse dieimus quicquam 
 
THE NOVELTY OP POPERY. 17 
 
 taining whatsoever is requisite to the worship of 
 God and our salvation; we affirm that it is not 
 lawful for men or angels either to add any thing 
 to it, or take away any thing from it, nor to change 
 any thing at all therein; from whence it follows, 
 that it is not lawful to set, either antiquity, or 
 custom, or a multitude, or human wisdom, opi- 
 nions, decrees, councils, or visions, or miracles, in 
 opposition to divine Scripture; but rather that all 
 things ought to be examined and tried according to 
 this rule, and what is prescribed therein. ^^ 
 
 The Belgic Confession thus.* " We believe that 
 the Holy Scripture doth perfectly contain the will of 
 God, and that whatsoever is necessary to be be- 
 lieved by men, for the obtaining of salvation, is suf- 
 ficiently taught therein. For when it is forbidden 
 that any should add to it, or take away from it, 
 thereby is abundantly demonstrated, that the doc- 
 trine thereof is most perfect, and every way com- 
 plete." 
 
 ei verbo adjicere, vel detrahere, vel quicquam prorsus in eo im- 
 mutare. Ex hoc autem efficitur, neque antiquitatem, neque 
 consuetudines, neque multitudinem, neque humanam sapien- 
 liam, neque judicia, neque edicta vel decreta ulla, neque con- 
 cilia, neque visiones, neque miracula, Scripturse illi divince op- 
 ponere licere : sed potius omnia ad ejus regulam et prajscriptuin 
 examinari et exigi oportere, Gallic. Confes. in Syntag. Confes 
 p. 78. 
 
 * Credimus sacrara hanc scripturam, Dei voluntatem per- 
 fectc complecti, et quodcunque ab hominibus, ut salute ni con- 
 sequantur, credi necesse est, in illii sufficienter edoceri: — Quum 
 
 B 2 
 
18 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 The Wittemberg Confession,'^ "That all doctrine 
 necessary to be known by us in order to true and 
 eternal salvation is not contained in the Scripture 
 is sooner said than proved/' 
 
 To add no more, by these it is evident that in 
 this point the reformed churches not only agree 
 among themselves, but also with the prophets and 
 apostles, teaching herein the same doctrine that 
 Christ and they did, which was the thing to be 
 proved. 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists concerning the 
 perfection and sufficiency of the Scripture. 
 
 The Council of Trent declared,! " That the doc- 
 trine of the gospel is contained in the written word^ 
 and in unwritten traditions, and that they receive 
 and honour the unwritten traditions, whether ap- 
 pertaining to faith, or manners, with the same re- 
 
 enim vetitura sit, ne quis Dei verbo quicquam addat, aut detra- 
 hatj satis eo ipso demonstratur. doctrinam illius perfectissimam, 
 omnibusque raodis consummatam esse. Belg. Eccles. Confes- 
 Sjntag. p. 131. 
 
 * In h^c Scriptura non contineri omnem doctrinam, nobis 
 ad veram et perpetuam salutem cognitu necessariamj videtur 
 facilius posse dici. quam probari. Wittemb. Confes. Syntag. p- 
 130. 
 
 t Sacrosancta, Tridentina sjnodus. perspiciens banc verita- 
 tem [evangelii] et disciplinam contineri in libris scriptis, et 
 sine scripto traditionibus, omnes libros tarn veteris quam novi 
 Testamenti, ncc non traditiones ipsas, turn ad fidem, turn ad 
 mores pertinentes, pari pietatis affectu ac reverentiri suscipit 
 et veneratur. Concil. Trident. Sess. 4. 
 
THE NOVELTY OP POPERY. 19 
 
 verence and holy affection, as they do all the books 
 of the Old and New Testament/' 
 
 The Canon law says,* '' That men do with such 
 reverence respect the apostolical seat of Rome, that 
 they rather desire to know the ancient institution 
 of the Christian religion from the pope's mouth, 
 than from the Holy Scripture, and the traditions of 
 the fathers; and they only inquire what is his 
 pleasure, and according to it, they order their life 
 and conversation/' Again,t " that the [pope's] de- 
 cretal epistles are to be numbered with canonical 
 Scripture." 
 
 Dr. Standish, in his book against English Bibles, 
 says, " Take from them the English damnable 
 translations, and let them learn to give as much 
 credit, to that which is not expressed, as to that 
 which is expressed in the Scripture." 
 
 Melchior Canus writes,J " That many things be- 
 
 * Et revera tantci reverentid apicem praefatae apostolicae sedis 
 omnes suspiciunt, ut antiquam Christiana? religionis institu- 
 tionem magis ab ore praecessoris ejus, quani a sacris paginis, 
 et paternis traditionibus expetant: illius velle, illiiis nolle tan- 
 tum explorant, ut ad ejus arbitrium suam conversationem et ipsi 
 remittant, aut intendant. Corp. Jur. Canon. Dist. 40. si Papa 
 in Annot. 
 
 t Inter canonicas Scripturas decretales epistolae connumeran- 
 tur. Corp. Juris. Canon. Dist. 19, cap. 6. 
 
 t Multa pertinere ad Christianorum fidem et doctrinam quae 
 nee aperte, nee obscure, in sacris literis continentur. — Sancto- 
 rum martyrum auxiliuin precibus implorandum, eorunique me- 
 morias celebrandas, imagines venerandas esse, in sacrificio 
 eucharistiae simul cum corpore sanguincm sacerdotibus esse et 
 
20 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 long to Christian faith and doctrinej which are 
 neither plainly nor obscurely contained in Holy 
 Scripture/^ And he gives particular instances, 
 " That the help of the holy martyrs should be craved 
 by prayer, and their memories celebrated, and their 
 images worshipped, &c., is not perhaps taught in the 
 Holy Scripture, and yet the catholic church as firm- 
 ly holds these and many other doctrines as if they 
 were written in Holy Scripture/^ Again he says, 
 " There is more efficacy for the confutation of here- 
 tics in tradition, than in Scripture/^ Again, " Al- 
 most all disputations with heretics should be re- 
 ferred to the traditions received from our fore- 
 fathers/^ 
 
 Cardinal Hosius speaks out, saying,* "The great- 
 est part of the gospel is come to us by tradition, 
 very little of it is committed to writing/^ 
 
 This plainly shows that the doctrine of the pa- 
 pists in this, is expressly contrary to the doctrine of 
 
 conficiendum, et sumendum, &c., Sacrae literas nusquam forte 
 tradiderunt. At ejusmodi atque alia pleraque id genus, ita firmi- 
 ter ecclesia catholica retinet, ut si sacris codicibus fuissent in- 
 scripta : Melch. Can. Loc. Theolog. lib. 3. cap. 3. Adde, quod 
 ad confutandos hcereticos major vis in traditione, quam in Scrip- 
 tura est. — Quorsum haec tarn longo sermone repetita.'' Nempe 
 ut intelligas, non modo adversum hsereticos plus habere tradi- 
 tionem, quam Scripturara virium, sed etiam omnem ferme cum 
 hsereticis disputationem ad traditiones a majoribus acceptas esse 
 referendam : Ibid. 
 
 * Multoque maxima pars evangelii pervenit ad nos traditione, 
 perexigua Uteris est mandata. Hosius Confes. Fid. Cathol. cap. 
 92. pag. 133. fol. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 21 
 
 the prophets, Christ, and his apostles, and that the 
 doctrine of the protestants is the very same with the 
 doctrine of Christ and the apostles. Let the reader 
 compare them together, and he will see the agree- 
 ment of the one, and the contrariety of the other, to 
 the doctrine of Scripture, and conclude that the doc- 
 trine of the reformed church is the old and true, but 
 the doctrine of the church of Rome, is both new 
 and false doctrine; and that what the Rhemists on 
 Gal. i. 8, say, " It is great pity and shame that so 
 many follow Luther and Calvin, and such other 
 lewd fellows into a new gospel;'^ is more true of, 
 and better applied to the followers of the popish 
 doctors, or of the Rhemists themselves; who on 2 
 Tim. iii. 16, say, "The heretics upon this com- 
 mendation of Holy Scriptures, pretend (very sim- 
 ply in good sooth) that therefore nothing is neces- 
 sary to justice and salvation but the Scriptures.'^ 
 And on John xxi. 25. " Few things are written of 
 Christ's acts and doctrine in comparison of that 
 which he did and spake, and yet the heretics will 
 needs have all in Scripture." Whereas the evan- 
 gelist does not say that any thing is omitted of his 
 doctrine, but of his acts. For though he spoke 
 more words than are expressed, yet all the doctrines 
 that he uttered in those words, are contained in the 
 Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. The 
 apostles preached nothing but that which was con- 
 tained in the Scriptures, Acts xvii. 11. and xxvi. 
 22. Rom. i. 2. Fulke in Loc. 
 
22 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 II. Of Reading the Scripture. 
 
 1. The doctrine of the prophets, Christ, and his 
 apostles concerning the common people's reading 
 and knowing the Scripture. 
 
 Deut. xxxi. 12. " Gather the people together, 
 men, and women, and children, and thy stranger 
 that is within th)'' gates, that they may hear, and 
 that they may learn and fear the Lord your God, 
 and observe to do all the words of this law. 13. 
 And that their children which have not known any 
 thing, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your 
 God, as long as ye live in the land.'' Josh. viii. 
 35. " There was not a word of all that Moses com- 
 manded, which Joshua read not before all the con- 
 gregation of Israel, with the women and the little 
 ones, and the strangers that were conversant among 
 them.'' Psa. i. 2. " His delight is in the law of the 
 Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and 
 night." Acts viii. 28. — " Was returning and sitting 
 in his chariot, read Isaias the prophet." John v. 
 39. " Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think 
 ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify 
 of me." Acts xvii. 11. "And these were more 
 noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they re- 
 ceived the word with all readiness of mind, and 
 searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things 
 were so." Ephes. iii. 4. " Whereby when ye read 
 ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery 
 of Christ." Col. iii. 16. "Let the word of God 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 23 
 
 dwell in you richly in all wisdom/^ 1 Thes. v. 27. 
 " I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read 
 unto all the holy brethren/' 2 Tim. iii. 15. "And 
 that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scrip- 
 tures.^' Rev. i. 3. " Blessed is he that readeth and 
 they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep 
 those things that are written therein. '^ 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants and reformed 
 churches concerning the people's reading and know- 
 ing the Scriptures. 
 
 "Because the original tongues are not known to 
 all the people of God, who have a right to, and in- 
 terest in, the Scriptures, and are commanded in the 
 fear of God to read and search them, therefore they 
 are to be translated. All sorts of people are bound 
 to read it [the word of God] apart by themselves, 
 and with their families." " It is lawful for all men 
 privately at home to read the Holy Scriptures, and 
 by instructions to edify one another in the true re- 
 ligion."* 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists concerning the 
 people's having, or reading the Scripture. 
 
 " Whereas experience teaches, that if the Bible 
 be everywhere without difference, permitted in the 
 vulgar tongue, through men's unadvisedness, more 
 hurt than good arises thereby, in this point let the 
 judgment of the bishop, or inquisitor be followed; 
 
 * Omnibus sacras literas privatim legere domi, ct instruendo 
 aedificare mutuum in vera religione liceat. Confes. Helvet. 
 cap. 22. 
 
24 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 that with the advice of the parish priest, or confes- 
 sor, they may grant the reading of the Bible, trans- 
 lated by catholic authors, in the vulgar language, to 
 such as they shall understand, can take no hurt by 
 such reading, but increase of faith and godliness. 
 Which license let them have in writing. And if 
 any presume without such license either to read or 
 have it, unless they first deliver up their Bibles to 
 the ordinary, they cannot have the pardon of their 
 sins. And the booksellers, that without such license, 
 shall sell, or any way afford Bibles in the vulgar 
 language, shall forfeit the price of the books, to be 
 converted by the bishop to pious uses, and be liable 
 to such other penalties according to the quality of 
 the offence, as the bishop shall think meet.^^* 
 
 Though it is not agreeable to the doctrine of 
 
 * Cum experiraento raanifestum sit, si sacra Biblia vulgari 
 lingud passim sine discrimine permittantur, plus inde, ob homi- 
 num temeritatem, detrimenti, quam utilitatis oriri, hac in parte 
 judicio episcopi, aut inquisitoris stetur, ut cum consilio parochi, 
 vel confessorii, Bibliorum, a catholicis auctoribus versorum, lec- 
 tionem in vulgari lingua eis concedere possint, quos intellexe- 
 rint, ex hujusmodi lectione non damnum, sed fidei atque pietatis 
 augmentum capere posse, quam facultatem in Scriptis habeant. 
 Qui autem absque tali facultate ea legere, aut habere, praesump- 
 serint, nisi prius Bibliis ordinario redditis, peccatorum absolu- 
 tionem percipere non possint. BibliopolaB vero, qui prsedictam 
 facultatem non habenti, Biblia idiomate vulgari conscripta ven- 
 diderint, vel alio quovis modo concesserint, librorum pretium, 
 in usus pios ab episcopo convertendum, amittant, aliisque poenis 
 pro delicti qualitate ejusdem episcopi arbitrio subjaceant. Index. 
 Lib. prohib. Regul. 4. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. S5 
 
 Christ and his apostles, that men must not read the 
 Scripture without a license from men, for so what is 
 strictly commanded by God, would be at the plea- 
 sure of others, whether God be obeyed or no; and 
 some liberty by pope Pius IV. seems to be granted 
 for the reading of the Bible, to w^hom they please, 
 yet it is taken away fully by pope Clement VIIL, 
 in his observation on the before alleged rule, in these 
 words: 
 
 " It is to be observed concerning this rule of Pius 
 IV.,* that by this impression and edition, no new 
 power is granted to bishops, or inquisitors, or supe- 
 riors, to license the buying, reading, or keeping the 
 Bible in the vulgar tongue, seeing, hitherto, by the 
 command and practice of the holy Roman and uni- 
 versal inquisition, the power of granting such licen- 
 ses, to read or keep Bibles in the vulgar language, 
 or any parts of the Holy Scripture, as well of the 
 New as of the Old Testament, or any sums or his- 
 
 * Animadvertendum est circa supra scriptam quartam regu- 
 1am indicis Pii papae IV. nullam per hanc impressionem et edi- 
 tionem de novo tribui facultatem episcopis, vel inquisitoribus, 
 aut regularium superioribus, concedendi licentiam emendi, le- 
 gend!, aut retinendi Biblia vulgar! lingua edita, cum hactenus 
 mandato et usu sanctaa Romanas et universalis inquisitionis sub- 
 lata eis fuerit facultas concedendi liujusmodi liccntias Icgendi, 
 vel retinendi Biblia vulgaria, aut alias Sacne Scriptura3 tani 
 novi, quam vctcris Testamcnti partes quavis vulgari lingua edi- 
 tas: ac insuper summaria et compendia etiam Iiistorica corun- 
 dem Bibliorum, seu librorum Sacrno Scripturn^ (luocunquc vul- 
 gari idiomato conscripta: quod quideni inviolate servandum est. 
 Ind. Lib. Prohib. Observat. Circa Reg. 4. 
 
26 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 torical abridgments of the same, in any vulgar lan- 
 guage, has been taken from them.; which inviolably 
 is to be observed/^ 
 
 Cardinal Bellarmln,* to the same purpose, teaches^ 
 " That the people would get not only no good, but 
 much hurt from the Scriptures; for they would 
 easily take occasion of erring, both in doctrines of 
 faith, and in precepts concerning life and manners.'^ 
 
 Peresius (quoted by Dr. White,) saith, " Shall no 
 bounds be set to popular, rude, and carnal men? 
 Shall old men, before they have put off the filth of 
 their mind, and young men that yet speak like chil- 
 dren, be admitted to read the Scripture? I suppose 
 verily, (and my opinion fails me not,) this ordi- 
 nance under the pretence of piety, w^as invented by 
 the devil.'' 
 
 The Rhemist translators, in their preface, write 
 in these words: " Which translation we do not pub- 
 lish upon erroneous opinion of necessity, that the 
 Holy Scriptures should always be in our mother 
 tongue, or that they ought, or were ordained of God 
 to be read indifferently of all; or that we generally 
 and absolutely deemed it more convenient in itself, 
 and more agreeable to God's word and honour, or 
 edification of the faith, to have them turned into 
 vulgar tongues, than to be kept and studied only in 
 
 * Populus non solum non caperet fructum ex Scripturis, sed 
 etiam caperet detrimentum : acciperet enim facillime occasionem 
 errandi, turn in doctrinsl fidei, turn in prasceptis vitas et morum. 
 Bellar. de Verb. Dei. lib. 2. cap. 15. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 27 
 
 the ecclesiastical learned languages. The wise will 
 not regard what some wilful people do mutter, that 
 the Scriptures are made for all men; and that it is 
 of envy, that the priests do keep the holy book 
 from them: which suggestion cometh of the same 
 serpent that seduced our first parents, who persuaded 
 them that God had forbidden them that tree of know- 
 ledge, lest they should be as cunning as himself, and 
 like unto the Highest. No, no, the church doth it 
 to keep them from blind ignorant presumption, and 
 from that which the Apostle calls ' knowledge, 
 falsely so called,^ and not to bar them from the 
 true knowledge of Christ. She knoweth how to 
 do it without casting the holy to dogs, or pearls to 
 hogs.'^ 
 
 Bravely said! O the excellent art of the mother 
 church, that by keeping her sons and daughters 
 ignorant of the word of God (the means of know- 
 ledge), keeps them from blindness and ignorance! 
 Who ever thought, that, to keep people in ignorance, 
 was the way to keep them from it? What a pretty 
 conceit is this, that they bar the people from know- 
 ing the Scripture, and yet do not bar them from the 
 knowledge of Christ? When Christ bids us search 
 the Scriptures, for they are they that testify of him. 
 
 III. Of Religious Worship in a known Tongue. 
 
 1. The doctrine of the Scripture concerning this 
 point: 
 
 1 Corinthians xiv. 2. " He that speaketh in an 
 
29 THE >'OVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 unknown tongae, speaketh not to men, but to God. 
 for no man understandeth him: howbeit, in the 
 spirit, he speaketh mysteries/^ Read ver. 3 — 8. 
 9. '"So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue 
 Vv'ords easy to be understood, how shall it be known 
 what is spoken? for ye shall speak unto the air.^' 
 V. 11. '"If I know not the meaning of the voice, I 
 shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that 
 speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.^^ 14. '* For 
 if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, 
 but my understanding is unfruitful.'^ 16. ''Else 
 when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he 
 that occupieth the room of the unlearned, say Amen, 
 at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not 
 what thou sayest.*' IS. '• I thank my God I speak 
 with tongues more than you all.'' 19. ''Yet in the 
 church, I had rather speak five words with my 
 understanding, that by my voice I might teach 
 others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown 
 tongue." Read also ver. 22 — 28. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the reformed churches, con- 
 cerning religious worship in a known tongue. 
 
 •• It is a thing plainly repugnant to the word of 
 God, and the custom of the primitive church, to have 
 public prayer in the church, or to minister sacra- 
 ments, in a tongue not understood by the people."^ 
 
 ^•Because the orio-inal tono;ues are not known to 
 all the people, who have right unto, and interest in 
 
 ^ Church of England, Artie. 24. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 29 
 
 the Scriptures, and are commanded in the fear of 
 God to read and search them; therefore they are to 
 be translated into the vulgar language of every na- 
 tion unto which they come, that the word of God 
 dwelling plentifully in all, they might worship him 
 in an acceptable manner/^* 
 
 " Let all things in the church be done decently 
 and in order; finally let all things be done to edifi- 
 cation; therefore let all strange tongues keep silence 
 in the holy assemblies; let all things be uttered in 
 the vulgar tongue, which is understood of all men 
 in the company/^t 
 
 " Contrary to the express command of the Holy 
 Ghost, in it, (the catholic church) all things are said 
 and sung in a language which the people do not un- 
 derstand/^J 
 
 " What hath been already said concerning the use 
 of a language known to the common people, is to be 
 understood not only in singing of psalms, but also 
 of all the parts of the ecclesiastical ministry; for as 
 sermons and prayers ought to be in a tongue known 
 unto the church, so also should the sacraments be 
 dispensed in a known language; for though it be 
 
 * Assemb. Confes. 
 
 t Omnia decenter et ordine fiant in ccclesia, omnia denique 
 fiant ad aedificationem, taceant ergo omnes peregrine linguce in 
 coetibus sacris : omnia proponantur linguA. vulgari, quoe eo in 
 loco ab hominibus in coetu intelligatur. Confes. Ilelvet. cap. 22. 
 
 X Contra expressum spiritus sancti prueccpium, in ea omnia di- 
 cuntur ot canuntur linguii, quam populus non intclligit. Con- 
 fes. Argentinens. cap. 21. 
 
 C2 
 
30 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 lawful for the sake of the learned sometimes to use 
 a strange tongue, yet the consent of the universal 
 church requires [proves this] that the necessary ser- 
 vices of the church should be done in the mother 
 tongue/^* 
 
 " Our [ministers] use all diligent endeavours that 
 they may teach in the church and preach the word 
 of the gospel, without mixture of human traditions; 
 wherefore they read the very gospels and other 
 Scriptures in the churches in the vulgar tongue, 
 and afterwards interpret them to the people. ^^t 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists concerning public 
 religious worship in a known tongue. 
 
 '' Although the mass contains much instruction of 
 the people, yet the fathers thought it not expedient 
 that it should be every where celebrated in the vul- 
 gar tongue.^^J 
 
 * Quod jam dictum est de usu iingusB vulgo notae, intelli- 
 gendum est non tantum de cantu psalmorum, sed etiam de om- 
 nibus partibus ecclesiastici ministerii. Sicut enim conciones 
 et precationes lingu^ ecclesise nota habendse sunt, ita et sacra- 
 menta nolo sermone dispensanda sunt. Etsi enim licebit aliquo- 
 ties peregrina lingua propter studiosos uti, tamen consensus 
 catholicsB ecclesias hoc exigit, ut necessaria ministeria ec- 
 clesiss fiant sermone vernaculo. Confes. Wittemb. de lioris 
 Canon. 
 
 t Nostri omnem operam navant, ut verbum evangelii, imper- 
 mixtum humanis traditionibus in ecclesia doceant ac praedi- 
 cent ; proinde ipsa evangelia, nee non alias Scripturas, lingud 
 vulgari in templis legunt ; ac ita demum populo interpretantur. 
 Confes. Bohemic. artic. 10. 
 
 X Etsi missa magnajn contineat populi fidelis eruditionem: 
 non tamen expedire visum est patribus, ut vulgari passim lin- 
 gua celebraretur. Concil. Trident. Ses. 22. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY, 31 
 
 " Experience teaching us, we have learned, vs^hat 
 has been the fruit of this, that divine service is per- 
 formed in many places, translated into the mother 
 tongue. So far from piety being increased, it is 
 much diminished thereby/^* 
 
 The Rhemist divines on 1 Cor. 14, say: "We 
 do not doubt but it is acceptable to God, and avail- 
 able in all necessities, and more agreeable to the use 
 of all Christian people ever since their conversion, 
 to pray in Latin, than in the vulgar, though every 
 one in particular understands not what he saith: so 
 it is plain that such pray with as great consolation 
 of spirit, with as little tediousness, with as great 
 devotion and affection, and sometimes more than 
 the other, [such of their own church as learn their 
 paternoster in their vulgar tongue,] and always 
 more than any schismatic or heretic [protestant] 
 in his own language. There is a reverence and 
 majesty in the church's tongue dedicated in our 
 Saviour's cross, which giveth more force and value 
 to them [prayers] said in the church's obedience, 
 than to others. The special use of them [prayers] 
 is to offer our hearts' desires and wants to God, and 
 to show that we hang on him in all things, and this 
 every catholic doth for his condition, whether he 
 
 * Experieritici magistrri didicimus quid fructus oa res attule- 
 rit, quod in plerisque locis officia divina, in linguani vernacu- 
 lam ad verburn translata dccantcntur. Tanturn abcst, ut ac- 
 cesserit ad pietatem aliquid pins, ut ctiani diniinutuni esse 
 vidoatur. Ilosius do Sacro vcrnaculo lo«>-cndo. 
 
32 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 understand the words of his prayer or not. It is 
 enough that they can tell this holy orison to be ap- 
 pointed to us, to call upon God in all our desires; 
 more than this is not necessary; and the translation 
 of such holy things often breedeth manifold danger 
 and irreverence in the vulgar (as to think God is 
 the author of sin, when they read, Lead us not into 
 temptation) and seldom any edification at all. To 
 conclude, for praying either publicly or privately 
 in Latin, which is the common sacred tongue of the 
 greatest part of the Christian world, this is thought 
 by the wisest and godliest to be most expedient, 
 and is certainly seen to be nothing repugnant to St. 
 Paul.^^ 
 
 Reader, view over again 1 Cor. 14, and wonder 
 at this popish insolence, to say, '• this is nothing re- 
 pugnant to St. Paul.'^ 
 
 IV. Of the Authority of the Scriptur^e. 
 
 1. The doctrine of the apostles concerning the 
 authority of the Scripture, that it does not depend 
 upon the testimony of men. 
 
 2 Pet. i. 19. ^" We have also a more sure word 
 of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take 
 heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place. ^^ 
 21. '^ Holy men of God spake as they were moved 
 by the Holy Ghost.'' 2 Tim. iii. 16. " All Scrip- 
 ture is given by inspiration of God.'' 1 John v. 
 9. " If we receive the witness of men, the witness 
 of God is greater/' 1 Thes. ii. 13. ^^Ye received 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. SB 
 
 the word of God which ye heard of us, — not as the 
 word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God.'' 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants, or reformed 
 churches concerning the authority of the Scripture. 
 
 " The authority of Holy Scripture, for which it 
 ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not 
 upon the testimony of any man or church, but whol- 
 ly upon God (who is truth itself) the author there- 
 of; and therefore it is to be received because it is 
 the word of God/'* 
 
 " We believe without wavering all things which 
 are contained in the Scriptures, not so much because 
 the church allows and receives them for canonical, 
 as because the Holy Ghost bears witness to our con- 
 sciences that they come from God, whereof they 
 have proof in themselves/'t 
 
 " We believe and confess that the canonical Scrip- 
 tures of the prophets and apostles, of the Old and 
 New Testament, are the true word of God, and have 
 sufficient authority from themselves, and not from 
 men; for God himself spake unto the fathers, pro- 
 phets and apostles, and yet speaks unto us by the 
 Holy Scriptures.'^J 
 
 ^ Assemb. Confess. 
 
 t Omnia quae canonicis libris continentur, absque omni du- 
 bitatione crediinus; idque non tarn, quod ccclesia eos pro hujus- 
 modi recipiat et approbet, quam imprimis quod spiritus sanctus 
 in cordibus nostris testetur ci Deo perfectos esse, comproba- 
 tionemque ejus in seipsis habeant. Confess. Bclg. artic. 5. 
 
 t Credimus et confitemur Scripturas canonicas sanctorum 
 prophetarum ct apostolorum utriusquc tcstamenti ipsuiu verum 
 
34 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 '"' We acknowledge these books to be canonical, 
 that is, we receive them as the rule of our faith, 
 and that not only from the common consent of the 
 church, but much rather from the testimony and in- 
 ward persuasion of the Holy Spirit/^* 
 
 "As we believe and confess that the word of God 
 sufficiently instructs, and makes the man of God 
 perfect; so we affirm and freely profess, that its au- 
 thority is from God, and does not depend upon men 
 or angels. We therefore assert, that they who say. 
 the Scripture has no other authority but what it re- 
 ceives from the church, are blasphemers against 
 God, and wrong the true church, which always 
 hears and obeys the voice of her bridegroom and 
 pastor, but never challenges to herself a power to be 
 the mistress over it.**t 
 
 esse verbum Dei: et authoritatem sufficientem ex semetipsis. 
 non ex hominibus habere. Xam deus ipse loquutus est patri- 
 bus, prophetis et apostolis, et loquitur adhuc nobis per Scrip- 
 turas sanctas. Confess. Helvet. cap. 1. 
 
 ^ Hos libros agnosciinus esse canonicos, id est. ut fidei nos- 
 trae normam et regulam habemus ; idque non tantum ex com- 
 muni ecclesiae consensu, sed etiam multo magis ex testimonio, 
 et intrinseca spiritus sancti persuasione. Confess. Gallic, art. 4. 
 
 t Sicut credimus et confitemur Scripturas Dei sufficienter in- 
 struere, et hominem Dei perfectum reddere, ita ejus authorita- 
 tem a Deo esse, et nee ab homine vel angelo pendere affirmamus 
 et profitemur. Asserimus itaque quod qui dicunt Scripturam 
 non aUam habere authoritatem, sed earn quam ab ecclesia ac- 
 cepit, sunt in Deum blasphemi, et verae ecclesise injuriam faciant, 
 quae semper audit, et voci sponsi et pastoris sui obsequitur, nun- 
 quam autem magistram agere sibi arrogat. Confess. Scotican. 
 art. 19. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 85 
 
 " Forasmuch as the Holy Scriptures were given 
 and inspired by God himself, for this cause especi- 
 ally, that they might be understood of all, they are 
 read in our churches in the vulgar tongue.'^* 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists concerning the au- 
 thority of the Scripture. 
 
 Cardinal Hosius, president in the council of Trent, 
 says, " To ask, whether more credit should be given 
 to the Scripture or the church? is to ask, whether 
 more credit should be given to the Holy Ghost, 
 speaking by the mouth of the church, or to the 
 Holy Ghost speaking in the Scripture by the writ- 
 ings of the prophets and apostles. The church is 
 to be believed without the authority of the Scrip- 
 tures. If authority be not granted to the testimony 
 of the church, the writings of the evangelists would 
 be of no authority.'^t 
 
 Hermanns speaks most contemptuously of the 
 Holy Scriptures inspired by the glorious God, say- 
 ing, " When the authority of the church leaves the 
 Scriptures, they then are of no more account than 
 iEsop's Fables." 
 
 Pighius treads in the steps of the rest, concluding, 
 
 * Quod a Deo ipso, sacrcc Scriptura? traditsG et inspirator, 
 hancque ob causam potissimum, ut ab omnibus intelligantur,eas 
 ccclesiis nostris, lingua vulgari, [nostri onines] Icgunt ot reci- 
 iant. Confess. Bohemic. art. 1. 
 
 t Creditum est ecclesiae sine omni Scrlpturarum pnvsidio. 
 Testimonio ccclesioi si non sua tribuetur autoritas, nulla crit 
 eorum, quae scripta sunt ab ovangelistis, autoritas. Ilosiua Con- 
 fess. Fid. Cath. cap. 15. 
 
36 THE XOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 "That all the authority which the Scripture has 
 with us, depends of necessity on the church/^^ 
 
 And so does Canus, asserting, " That we are not 
 bound to take the Scriptures for Scripture without 
 the authority of the church. ''"!" And so do many 
 more, whose sayings we have not room to insert. 
 
 V. Of the Judge of Controversies and Expound- 
 ing Scriptures. 
 
 1. The doctrine of Christ and his apostles con- 
 cerning the judge of controversies and expounding 
 Scriptures. 
 
 Mat. xxii. 29, 31, 32. "Jesus answered and said 
 unto them (in the controversy about the resurrec- 
 tion) ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the 
 power of God. But as touching the resurrection 
 of the dead, have ye not READ that whicli was 
 spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of 
 Abraham," &c. Acts xviii. 28. " For he mightily 
 convinced the Jews, and that publicly, showing by 
 the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ." Acts 
 xvii. 2, 3. " And Paul, as his manner w^as, went in 
 unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with 
 them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that 
 Christ must needs have suffered, and risen ao;ain 
 from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach 
 
 ^ Pigh. de Hierar. Lib. 1. cap. 2. 
 
 t Melch. Canus. Loc. Com. lib. 2. cap. S. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 37 
 
 unto you is the Christ.^' See Acts xxvi. 22, and 
 xiii. 33. 
 
 The apostle teaches that the Scripture must not 
 be expounded according to any private interpreta- 
 tion, 1 Pet. i. 20; and such is any exposition that is 
 not according to the analogy of faith, which must 
 be carefully heeded in Scripture interpretation, ac- 
 cording to the apostle's doctrine, Rom. xii. 6. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants and reformed 
 churches concerning the judge of controversies and 
 expounding Scripture. 
 
 " The Supreme Judge by which all controversies 
 of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of 
 councils, opinions of ancient w^riters, doctrines of 
 men and private spirits are to be examined, and in 
 whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but 
 the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.''* 
 
 "We hold no other judge in matters of faith than 
 God himself, declaring by the Holy Scriptures what 
 is true, and what is false; what ought to be em- 
 braced, and what to be avoided."! 
 
 "The infallible rule of interpretation of Scrip- 
 ture is the Scripture itself, and therefore when there 
 is a question about the true and full sense of any . 
 Scripture, it must be searched and known by other 
 places of Scripture that speak more clearly. "J 
 
 " We acknowledge that interpretation of Scrip- 
 
 * Asscmb. Confess. 
 
 t Confess. Helvct. cap. 2. 
 
 t Assemb. Confess. 
 
 D 
 
38 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 ture only to be orthodox and genuine, which is 
 fetched from the Scriptures themselves/^* Soother 
 churches in their confessions.! 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists concerning the 
 judge of controversies and expounding Scripture. 
 
 The council of Trent decreed, " That none should 
 interpret the Holy Scripture contrary to the mean- 
 ing which the holy mother-church (to whom it be- 
 longs to judge of the true sense and interpretation 
 of Scripture) has held and does hold.f 
 
 " Forasmuch as the holy church of Rome is set 
 up to the whole world for a glass or example, what- 
 soever she determines or ordains, ought by all per- 
 petually and invincibly to be observed.^'§ So their 
 canon law. 
 
 Others of them to the same purpose: " All power 
 to interpret Scripture, and reveal the hidden myste- 
 ries of our religion, is given from heaven to the 
 popes and their councils. We are bound to stand to 
 the judgment of the pope, rather than to the judg- 
 ment of all the world besides.'^ 
 
 " We do constantly avouch all the popes that are 
 rightly elected to be Chi'ist's vicars; and to have 
 
 * Confess. Scotican. art. 18. de notis Ecclesiae. 
 
 t Confess. Helvet. cap. 2. Confess. Wittemberg. de Sacra 
 Scriptura, et de Ecclesia. 
 
 X Nemo Sacras Scriptui-as contra eum sensum, quern tenuit, 
 et tenet sancta mater ecclesia, cujus est judicare de vero sensu 
 et interpretatione Scripturarum sanctarum— interpretari audeat. 
 Concil. Trid. Ses. 4. 
 
 § Corpus jur. Can. Dist. 19. c. enimvero. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 39 
 
 the highest power in the catholic church, and that 
 we are bound to obey him in all things pertaining 
 to faith and religion. All catholic men must neces- 
 sarily submit their judgment and opinions, either in 
 expounding the Scripture, or otherwise, to the cen- 
 sure of the apostolic seat; and God has bound his 
 church to hear the chief pastor in all points.'^ [Thus 
 Andradius, Alvarus Pelagius, Simancha.] 
 
 Bellarmin sticks so close to the judgment of the 
 pope, that he might as well say. That if the pope 
 say that black is white, or white black, that dark- 
 ness is light, or that light is darkness, we must be- 
 lieve it, because his infallible holiness says it, as say 
 what he does in these words; '^ If the pope should 
 err in commanding vices and forbidding virtues, the 
 church would be bound to believe, that vices are 
 good, and virtues evil, unless she would sin against 
 conscience.'^* 
 
 Is not this a notable saying, spoken like a cardi- 
 nal? 
 
 Stapleton, advancing the judgment of the church, 
 speaks resolvedly; "I have said, and do say, that 
 Scripture, in itself, is not so much the rule of faith, 
 as the faith of the church is the rule of Scripture. ''t 
 
 And Gregory of Valence puts in his saying for 
 
 * To prove the pope cannot err, he uses this argument. Si 
 autem papa erraret praecipiendo vitia, prohibendo virtutes, td- 
 neretur ecclesia credere vitia esse bona, et virtutes nialas, nisi 
 vellet contra conscientiam pcccare. — Boll, de Pont. lib. 4. cap. 5. 
 
 t Staplet. do Autorit. Scrip, lib. 2. cap. 11. 
 
40 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 the pope^s judgment. " In the Roman bishop resides 
 that full authority of the church, when he pleases to 
 determine matters of faith, whether he does it with 
 a council, or without.^^* 
 
 Yea, the canon law sets him up for such an un- 
 controllable judge, "that if the pope, by his negli- 
 gence or remissness in his work, be found unpro- 
 fitable to himself or others; or if he should draw 
 with him innumerable souls by heaps or troops to 
 hell, yet might no mortal man be so bold or pre- 
 sumptuous as to reprove him, because he is the 
 judge of all, to be judged by none/'t 
 
 VI. Of the Head of the Universal Church. 
 
 1. The doctrine of Christ and his apostles, con- 
 cerning the head of the universal church. 
 
 Matt, xxiii. 8. " But be not ye called rabbi, for 
 one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are 
 brethren.^' Ephesians i. 22, 23. "And hath put all 
 things under his feet, and gave him to be the head 
 over all things to the church, which is his body, the 
 fulness of him that filleth all in all.'' Ephes. v. 23. 
 " Christ is the head of the church, and he is the 
 saviour of the body.'' Col. i. 18. " And he (Christ) 
 is the head of the body, the church." 1 Cor. xii. 2^, 
 " And God hath set some in the church, first apos- 
 tles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers," &c. 
 
 * Gregor. de Valent Analys. fidei, lib. 8. c. 1. 
 t Corpus Juris Can. Distinct. 40. Si Papa, &c. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 41 
 
 Ephes. iv. 11. "And he gave some apostles, and 
 some pastors and teachers.'^ 
 
 Reader, observe, in these places where the apostle 
 gives an enumeration of church officers, there is no 
 mention of a vicar of Christ, or of any mortal man 
 being the head under Christ, of all the churches of 
 Christ in the world; and is it likely that he would 
 have omitted the ehiefest and most principal officer, 
 that is essential to the church, if there had been any 
 such? I can find several officers mentioned, but no 
 universal (though secondary) head. I do not find 
 a pope mentioned in the apostle's catalogue, either 
 expressly or reductively ; not expressly, that is plain; 
 not reductively, for to which of these should he be 
 reduced ? To the prophets ? let me hear his prophe- 
 cies, and when any of them have been fulfilled. 
 Besides, I know not that he pretends to it. To be an 
 apostle ? Apostles went up and down to preach the 
 gospel, and were not fixed to any particular state, 
 which is not the case of the bishop of Rome. To 
 the number of teachers, and pastors? This is below 
 the pope to be ranked amongst such, for he is the 
 pastor of pastors. Besides, in the catalogue, there 
 are many pastors, but I see not one to be the chief 
 and head of all the rest, and of the whole universal 
 church. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants, or reformed 
 churches, concerning the head of the universal 
 church. 
 
 " There is no other head of the church, but the 
 D 2 
 
42 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ, nor can the pope of Rome, in any 
 sense, be head thereof. All true pastors, in what 
 place soever they are placed, have the same and equal 
 authority among themselves, given to them under 
 Jesus Christ, the only head, and the chief, and alone 
 universal bishop. And therefore, it is not lawful 
 for any church to challenge to itself, dominion or 
 sovereignty over any other church. The bishop of 
 Rome has no more jurisdiction over the church of 
 God, than the rest of the patriarchs, either of Alex- 
 andria or Antioch have.^^ 
 
 To this doctrine,* subscribe the churches of Hel- 
 vetia, Scotland, Belgia, Wittemberg, Bohemia, &c. 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists, concerning the 
 head of the church. 
 
 "The canon law makes the church of Rome 
 higher than all others by the head, affirming the 
 church of Rome to be the head and prince of all 
 nations; the mother of faith; that it had this head- 
 ship not from the apostles, but from the Lord him- 
 self, and has the eminency of power over the uni- 
 versal church, and the whole flock of Christian 
 people; the hinge and head of all churches; as the 
 door turns upon the hinges, so all churches by God's 
 appointment, are governed by the authority of this 
 holy seat; the first of all other seats, without spot 
 or blemish, or any such thing. The mistress of all 
 
 ^ Confess. Helvet. cap. 17. Confess. Scoticana art. 16. de Ec- 
 clesia. Confessio Belgic. art. 29. Confess. Wittemb. de summo 
 Pontifice. Confess. Bohemic. art. 8. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 43 
 
 other churches, a glass and spectacle to all men, 
 to be followed in all things which she appoints; 
 against which church of Rome, whosoever speaks 
 any evil, or endeavours to take away her privilege, 
 is forthwith a heretic; and whoso shall refuse obe- 
 dience to the apostolic seat, is an idolater, a witch, 
 and pagan/'* 
 
 Reader, these are high and swelling words. 
 
 The Roman Catechismt propounds the question, 
 "What are we to think of the bishop of Rome?'' 
 and answers, "the account and unanimous opinion of 
 all the fathers, concerning him was, that this visible 
 head was necessary to the constituting and preserv- 
 ing of the unity of the church." 
 
 Bellarmin lays down this assertion: "The pope 
 is immediately appointed by Christ, the pastor and 
 head, not only of all particular churches, but also of 
 the whole universal church taken together.''^ 
 
 VII. OflnfalliUlity, 
 
 1. The doctrine of the apostles, concerning the 
 fallibility of churches and pastors. 
 
 1 Cor. xiii. 12. " For now we see through a glass 
 darkly. Now I know but in part." Gal ii. 11. 
 
 * Corpus Juris Can. Decret. part. 2. q. 7. cap. Beati. distinct. 
 22. c. Romana ecclesia caeterarum primatum Iiabet. et glos. dis- 
 tinct. 22. c. Non. et glos. Sacrosancta. distin. 21. c. quamvis. 
 ibid. c. denique; distinct. 19. c. enimvero. distin. 22. c. onines. 
 distin. 81. P. Greg. 7. c. si qui. 
 
 t Catechis. Trident in Expos. Syrnb. Apost. 
 
 t Bellarm. de Concil. Autorit. lib. 2. cap. 15. 
 
44 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 "But when I came to Antioch I withstood him 
 (Peter, the pope's pretended predecessor) because 
 he was to be blamed/' (and yet his successor must 
 not be blamed, though through his negligence he 
 should draw many to hell, as before is shown.) 
 Ver. 12. " For before that certain came from James, 
 he (Peter) did eat with the Gentiles; but when they 
 were come, he withdrew, and separated himself, fear- 
 ing them which were of the circumcision." V. 14. 
 " But when I saw that they walked not uprightly 
 according to the truth of the gospel, 1 said unto 
 Peter before them all," &c. Let the reader ob- 
 serve that the successor so called, claims a greater 
 privilege than his supposed predecessor had, for 
 Peter erred, but the pope (forsooth) cannot. Rom. 
 xi. 18 — 21, turn to it. Ver. 22. "Behold there- 
 for the goodness and severity of God ; on them (the 
 church of the Jews) which fell severity; but to- 
 wards thee (the gentile and church of Rome amongst 
 them) goodness, if thou continue in his goodness; 
 (as she hath not) otherwise thou shalt be cut off." 
 (Where then is her infallibility?) Revel, xviii. 2. 
 " Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become 
 the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul 
 spirit, (and yet boasts she is without spot) and a 
 cage of every unclean and hurtful bird;" (and yet 
 is the holy mother church.) Read also in the second 
 and third chapters of the Revelation, what is said of 
 the seven churches; and then look for good proof 
 that infallibility is settled by Christ upon the church 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 45 
 
 of Rome, above all other churches, before you be- 
 lieve any such privilege to be granted to it. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants and reformed 
 churches concerning the fallibility of churches. 
 
 " As the churches of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and 
 Antioch have erred; so also the church of Rome 
 hath erred; not only in their living and manner of 
 ceremonies, but also in matters of faith.* When 
 general councils are gathered together (forasmuch 
 as they are an assembly of men, whereof all are not 
 governed with the Spirit and word of God) they 
 may err, and sometime have erred, even in things 
 pertaining unto God.'^t Hereunto agree many other 
 churches in their confessions.^ 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists concerning infalli- 
 bility of the church. 
 
 They teach that " the visible church whose rec- 
 tor is the pope of Rome, never has erred, never can 
 err.^^§ 
 
 Bellarmin affirms,|| "1. That the pope, when he 
 teaches the whole church, can in no case err in 
 things appertaining to faith. ^' "2. Not only the 
 pope of Rome, but the particular church of Rome 
 
 * Church of Engl. art. 19. 
 
 t Art. 21. 
 
 t Confes. Helvet. de Ecclcsia. Confes. Saxon, de Eccles. 
 Confes. Wittemberg de Conciliis. 
 
 § Catechis. Trident, in Expos. Symb. Apost. de Eccles. q. 
 15. Test. Rhemist. Annot. on 1 Tim. i. 15, ct Ephes. v. 24. 
 
 II Bell, de Rom. Pontif. lib. 4. cap. 3. 
 
46 I THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 cannot err in faith.'^* " 3. The pope of Rome 
 cannot err, not only in decrees of faith, but also not 
 in precepts of manners, which are prescribed to the 
 whole church, and are necessary to salvation, or in 
 those things which in themselves are good or evil/^t 
 " 4. It is probably and piously to be believed, that 
 the pope not only as pope, cannot err, but as a par- 
 ticular person cannot be a heretic, by pertinacious- 
 ly believing any thing that is false, contrary to the 
 faith/^J (This is a foul mistake, for several popes 
 have been heretics in the judgments of some of 
 their popes, so that some of them must needs err; 
 either some of them in being heretics, or others of 
 them in saying they were, if they were not.) " 5. 
 Our opinion is, that the church cannot absolutely 
 err, either in things absolutely necessary, or in 
 other things, which she propounds to be believed 
 or done by us, whether they be expressly contained 
 in the Scriptures, or not.'^§ " 6. In these two 
 things, all catholics agree; 1. That the pope, with 
 his general council, cannot err in making decrees of 
 faith, or general precepts of manners. 2. That the 
 pope alone, or with his particular council determin- 
 ing any thing in a doubtful matter, whether he may 
 err or not, ought to be obeyed by all the faithful.^'|| 
 [A goodly agreement!] 
 
 * Bell, de Rom. Pontif. lib. 4 cap. 4. 
 
 t Ibid. lib. 4. cap. 5. 
 
 X Ibid. lib. 4. cap. 6. ' 
 
 § Idem, de Eccles. Milit. lib. 3. cap. 14. 
 
 II Idem, de Rom. Pont. lib. 4. cap. 2. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 47 
 
 Becanus gives the opinion of the papists, saying, 
 
 1. "That the church is the judge of controversies, 
 
 2. That the rule by which the church determines 
 controversies, or gives its definitive sentences, is 
 not the Scripture only, but the Scripture and tradi- 
 tion together. 3. That the church according to the 
 rule (of Scripture and tradition) pronounces sen- 
 tence either by the pope, the pastor of the church, 
 or by a council approved by the pope, and both 
 ways infallibly/'* 
 
 Pighius also puts in his judgment, " That the 
 pope cannot any way be a heretic, nor publicly 
 teach heresy, though he alone determine any mat- 
 ter."! 
 
 But reader, notwithstanding all this confidence of 
 infallibility whether of pope, or councils, or both, 
 they are proved to have erred, from the historical 
 narratives of their own writers. Baronius acknow- 
 ledges that pope HonoriusJ was counted a heretic, 
 joining with the Monothelites, or those that denied 
 two wills in Christ; and so do their own Genebrard,§ 
 and the Rhemists, though some of them go one 
 way, and some another to save the infallibility, yet 
 in vain; for he was condemned by|| a general 
 
 * Catholici tria docent, &c. Becan. Manual, lib. Leap. 5. 
 t Pigh. lib. 4. Hier. Eccl. cap. 8. 
 \ Spondan. Epitom. Baro. par. 2. p. 96. 
 § Genebr. Chron. lib. 3. pajr. 484. 
 
 II Concil. Constantinople, G Act. 13. Sur. Tom. 2. p. 092. 
 Caranz. Sum. Concil. p. 591, GIO, 012. 
 
48 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 council, and anathematized, with six more holding 
 the same heresy, and this when the legates of pope 
 Agatho were present; whose epistles to Sergius, 
 &c. were produced and read in the council, and 
 judged heretical, destructive to men's souls and con- 
 demned to be presently burnt, and so they were. 
 
 Their own Baronius also gives an account of the 
 barbarous actings of pope Stephen* the Seventh, 
 (called the Sixth) towards the dead body of Formosus, 
 his predecessor; for taking it out of the sepulchre, 
 he set it clothed in its pontificals in the pontifical seat, 
 and after he had derided it, took off its vestments, 
 and cut off three fingers, and cast it into the river 
 Tiber; and all whom Formosus had ordained, he de- 
 graded and ordained them again. "This pope (says 
 the author), gathering a synod, approved his inhu- 
 man act, which was condemned again by pope John 
 IX., as he had made void the decrees of Formosus.'' 
 And thus they can decree, and others rescind and 
 decree the contrary, and act worse than heathens, 
 and yet not err any of them, in faith or manners, 
 which to any man's reason seems very strange. 
 
 Besides, Marcellinust was an idolater; LiberiusJ 
 
 "* Ita furore percitus homo non quod jure liceret, sed quod 
 exaestuans rabies suaderet, implens. Spondan. Epitom. Baron, 
 par. 2. p. 247. 
 
 t Ipse Marcellinus ad sacrificium ductus est, ut sacrificaret, 
 quod et fecit. Caranz. Concil. p. 72. 
 
 t Liberium tsedio victum exilii, in haereticam pravitatem sub- 
 scripsisse, asseril Hieronimus : testantur id ipsum alii quoque 
 antiqui Scriptores ; ac denique ipse Liberius scriptis Uteris ad, 
 &c. Spondan. Epitom. Baron, in Ann. 357. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 49 
 
 an Arian; Siricius, Calixtus, Leo IX. and Paseha- 
 lis condemned ministers^ marriage. John XXII. 
 held, that the souls of the wicked should not be 
 punished till the day of judgment. John XXIII. 
 denied the souPs immortality. John XI. kept for 
 his paramour a famous strumpet called Marozia. 
 John XIII. at dice called to the devil for help, and 
 drank a health to him; lay with his own mother, 
 and his father's concubine; ordained deacons in a 
 stable; for money made boys bishops; committed 
 incest with two of his sisters; and at last being 
 found in the act of adultery, was slain by the wo- 
 man's husband. 
 
 Pope Sylvester IL* was a conjuror. Enquiring 
 of the devil how long he should live, he was an- 
 swered, till he should say mass in Jerusalem; in 
 the lent after, as he was saying mass in the chapel 
 of Saint Cross, he suddenly fell sick, and remember- 
 ing that that chapel was called Jerusalem, he per- 
 ceived how he was cozened by the devil. Before 
 he died, he bequeathed his soul to the devil, and 
 commanded his cardinals, that after his death they 
 should cut his body in pieces and so bury him. 
 Pope Hildebrandt was a conjuror, and enquiring of 
 
 * Sylvestrum secundum, Benedictum 9. Gregorium G. Gre- 
 gorium 7. fuisse magos, narrat Beno cardinalis. Sylvester 2. 
 inter ipsas mortis angustias supplicat, manus et linguam sibi 
 abscindi, per quas sacrificando demonibus, deum iiilionoravit. 
 
 t Hildebrandus, (qui Gregorius 7.) consecratam cucharis- 
 tiam in ignem projecit, consulens dajmones contra Henricum 4. 
 
50 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 the host (which they say is the body of Christ,) for 
 an answer against the emperor, because it would 
 not speak, he threw it into the fire and burnt it. 
 For many wickednesses he was deposed and ban- 
 ished. Pope Leo X. pleased with the great sums 
 of money which he had got by indulgences, said to 
 cardinal Bembas, " see what abundance of wealth we 
 have gotten by this fable of Christianity.^^ And 
 when he lay upon his death-bed, the same cardi- 
 nal rehearsing a text of Scripture to him, he re- 
 plied, "away with these fables concerning Christ.^' 
 Pope Nicolas I. forbade marriage to the clergy; 
 saying, it was more honest to have to do with 
 many women privately, than openly to take one 
 wife. John XXIV. was accused before the coun- 
 cil of Constance for heresy, simony, murder, 
 poisonings, adulteries, and sodomy; which being 
 made good against him, he was deposed and im- 
 prisoned. Pope Eugenius IV.* was deposed by 
 the general council at Basil, for being a simonist, 
 and guilty of perjury, being a schismatic, and an ob- 
 stinate heretic. It would make a large book to 
 give an account of the failings of popes in matters 
 both of life and faith; but I have but little room al- 
 lowed. Take two general expressions of their own 
 
 imp. Beno cardinalis, qui et plura de hoc et aliis Romanis pon- 
 tif. miranda narrat, quoB nullus historicorum neque Platina, nee 
 quisquam alius prodidit. Vide Illyric. Catal. pag. 219, 220, 221, 
 223, &c. 
 
 * Laurent. Suri. Concil. torn. 4. pag. 104. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 51 
 
 authors and then judge. "What then was the face 
 of the holy Roman church ? How exceeding filthy, 
 when the most potent, and yet the most sordid 
 strumpets ruled at Rome? and their lovers thrust 
 in Peter^s chair ?^'^ Another fixed enough to the 
 popish religion, acknowledged that in this one thing 
 that age was unhappy, that for near one hundred 
 and fifty years about fifty popes wholly fell away 
 from the virtue of their ancestors, being rather 
 apotactical [irregular] and apostatical than apos- 
 tolical. t 
 
 And as the church (if thereby understood the 
 pope) has failed, so also if taken for general coun- 
 cils has also failed, as is plain by this infallible ar- 
 gument, in that several general councils ratified by 
 popes have decreed things contradictory, and that 
 in matters of faith; and some of them must neces- 
 sarily err, except contradictions can be reconciled, 
 
 * Vide. Luitprand. lib. 2. c. 13. et Baron. Annal. ad an. 912. 
 vel Spondan. Ex quibus videas foedissimam hujus teinporis 
 ecclesia? Romanae faciem, ad an. 912. 
 
 t Genebrar. in seculiim decimum. Infelix dicitur hoc secu- 
 lum. exhaustum hominibus ingenio et doctrina Claris, sive etiam 
 Claris principibus et pontificibus, in quo niliil fere dignum memo- 
 ria posteritatis gestum sit. Hoc ipso infclicissirnum, quod eccle- 
 sia esset, sine ullo bono fere pontifice. Hoc vero uno infelix, 
 quod per annos fere 150, pontifices circiter 50, ci Johannc scili- 
 cet 8, qui Nicolao, et Adriano 2, Sanctis successit, ad Leonem 9, 
 usque a virtute majoruni prorsus defccerint, apotactici, apostati- 
 civc potius quam apostolici,e tanto pontificurn nunioro, quinque 
 modo, et satis tenuiter, laudantur, ^fec. Gonebrard. Chronol. 
 lib. 4. pag. 5.52, 553. 
 
52 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 and both parts be true, which is impossible. For 
 example^ the general councils of Constance and of 
 Basil have fully asserted that a general council is 
 above the pope, who is to be judged by them, and 
 by them may be deposed; in these words, " Not one 
 of the skilful ever doubted but that the pope was 
 subject to the judgment of a general council, in 
 things that concern faith; and that he cannot with- 
 out their consent dissolve or remove a general coun- 
 cil; yea and that this is an article of faith, which 
 without destruction of salvation cannot be denied, 
 and that the council is above the pope, de fide, and 
 that it cannot be removed without their own con- 
 sent, and that he is a heretic that is against these 
 things/' Thus the council of Basil owned by pope 
 Eugenius, and the council of Constance* confirmed 
 
 * Primo definitur quod generalis synodus in Spiritu Sancto 
 legitime congregata, generale concilium faciens, ecclesiam mili- 
 tantem reprffisentansj potestatem a Christo immediate habet, cui 
 quilibet cujuscunque status, etiam si papalis existat, obedire te- 
 netur in his quae pertinent ad fidem et ad extirpationem schis- 
 matum, et ad generalem reformationem ecclesiee in capite et in 
 membris. Secundo. declarat quod, quicunque cujuscunque dig- 
 nitatis, et etiam si papalis existat, qui mandatis aut prseceptis 
 hujus sanctae sjnodi, et cusjuscunque alterius concilii ofeneralis- 
 obedire contumaciter contempserit, nisi resipuerit, condignae 
 poenitentiae subjiciatur et debite puniatur. Tertio, declarat quod 
 ipsum generale concilium pro praemissis, eaque concernentibus 
 congregatum sine ipsius consensu, per nullum, quavis autoritate, 
 etiam si papali dignitate praefulgeat, dissolvi, transferri, aut ad 
 aliud tempus prorogari potest Haec tria sunt veritates fidei 
 catholicae, quibus pertinaciter repugnans est censendus hsBreti- 
 cus. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 53 
 
 by pope Martin V. being personally present in it. 
 And yet another general council* at the Lateran 
 under Julius II. and Leo X., expressly decree on the 
 contrary, that the pope is above a general council; 
 till these two can both be true, the pope is above a 
 general council, and the pope is not above a general 
 council, the infallibility of their church (and that 
 even in a fundamental point thereof) is laid in the 
 dust. 
 
 VIII. Of the Catholic Church, 
 I. The doctrine of the apostles concerning the 
 catholic or universal church. 
 
 1 Cor. i. 2. ^' Unto the church of God which is 
 at Corinth, with all that in every place call upon the 
 name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and 
 ours." 1 Cor. xii. 13. "For by one spirit, we are 
 all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or 
 gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been 
 all made to drink into one spirit.'^ Rev. vii. 9. " Af- 
 ter this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no 
 man could number, of all nations and kindreds, and 
 people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and 
 
 * Cum etiam solum Romanum pontificem, pro tempore exisl- 
 entem, tanquam authoritatem super omnia concilia habentem, 
 conciliorum indicendorum, transferendorum ac dissolvcndorum 
 plenum jus et potestatcm habere, ex conciliorum confessione 
 manifeste constet. Laurent. Surius, Concil. tom. 4. pag. G83. 
 There was but one in all the council, but gave his placet liere- 
 unto, that would not recede from the determination of the 
 council of Basil Ibid. pag. C84. 
 
 E 2 
 
54 THE NOVELTY OF TOPERY. 
 
 before the Lamb/^ See also Ephes. i. 10, 22. Acts 
 ii. 39. Ephes. ii. 19. and iii. 15. Acts ii, 47. Matt, 
 xxviii. 19. Mark xvi. 15. Acts ii. 21. Rom. i. 16. 
 Gal. iii. 28. Acts xiii. 39. Rom. x. 4. Luke xiii. 28. 
 Acts X. 35. 
 
 Reader, observe that these Scriptures speak of 
 the church, under Christ her head, making no men- 
 tion of acknowledging, or being joined to, any mor- 
 tal man, as her visible head; in which church, not 
 limited or confined to the church of Rome, there is 
 salvation. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants concerning the 
 catholic or universal church. 
 
 " The catholic or universal church, which is invi- 
 sible, consists of the whole number of the elect that 
 have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under 
 Christ the head thereof, and is the spouse, the body, 
 the fulness of him that filleth all in all." 
 
 " The visible church, which is also catholic or 
 universal, under the gospel, (not confined to one 
 nation, as before under the law) consists of all those 
 throughout the world, that profess the true religion, 
 together with their children, and is the kingdom of 
 the Lord Jesus, the house and family of God, out 
 of which there is no ordinary possibility of sal- 
 vation." 
 
 This is the confession also of the churches of Hel- 
 vetia, Bohemia, Belgia, Wittemberg, &c.* 
 
 ^ Conf. Gall. art. 27, 28 : Conf. Helvet. 2. cap. 17 : Bohem. 
 c. 8 : Belg. art, 27 : Wittemb. art. 32. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 55 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists concerning the 
 catholic or universal church. 
 
 The Trent catechism* makes that to be the only- 
 church, which is under the pope, excluding all 
 others that submit not to him as the vicar of Christ; 
 the Lateran council made it necessary to salvation, 
 to be subject to the pope of Rome: Pope Pius II. 
 approved this doctrine: "I came to the fountain of 
 truth, w^hich the holy doctors, with one voice, say, 
 that he cannot be saved that holds not the unity of 
 the holy church of Rome; and that all those virtues 
 are maimed to him that refuses to obey the pope of 
 Rome, though he lie in sackcloth and ashes, and fast 
 and pray both day and night, and seem in other 
 things to fulfil the law of God. We learned that 
 the one catholic and apostolical church (of Rome) 
 is the mother of all the faithful, out of which there 
 is no salvation. ^'t 
 
 But reader, do you think that God will damn any 
 holy, humble and believing persons, because they 
 are not subject to the pope? Has God any where 
 
 * Catechis. Rom. in Symb. page 139, 141. 
 
 t Ad fontem veri perveni. — Quem sancti doctores, quorum una 
 vox est, salvari non posse, qui sanctae RomanoB ecclesiae non 
 tenet unitatem; omnesque illas virtutes mancas esse ei, qui 
 summo pontifici obedire recusat ; quamvis in sacco et cinere 
 jacens, dies et noctes jejunet, et oret, et in coeteris videatur le- 
 gem implere, — didicimus unam ecclesiam catholicam et aposto- 
 licam esse matrem omnium fidelium, extra quam non invenitur 
 sal us. — Pius II. Bui. Retractation um apud Laurent. Surium. 
 Concil. tom. 4, pag. 50G. 
 
56 THE NOVELTY OP POPERY- 
 
 made such subjection to him a condition of salva- 
 tion? Let them show it if they can. Or are there 
 no such persons in the world that are holy and be- 
 lieving, and yet do not submit to the pope? There 
 are many thousands that know themselves better 
 than his infallible holiness can know them, who 
 know that to be a falsehood. 
 
 Nor does Bellarmin vary from them in his defi- 
 nition of the church: " That it is a company of men 
 knit together in the profession of the same Christian 
 faith, and communion of the same sacraments, un- 
 der the government of lawful pastors, especially of 
 the bishop of Rome, Christ's vicar upon earth. 
 From whence it might be. easily gathered, who be- 
 long to the church, and who do not. There are 
 three parts of this definition of the church. 1. Pro- 
 fession of the true faith. 2. Communion of the 
 sacraments. 3. Subjection to the pope of Rome, 
 the lawful pastor. By the first, all infidels, Turks, 
 pagans, heretics and apostates are excluded from the 
 church. By the second, catechumens and excom- 
 municated persons are excluded. By the third, all 
 schismatics that have the word and sacraments, but 
 do not submit to the lawful pastor (the pope); but 
 all others though they be reprobates, wicked and 
 ungodly, are included in the church.'^* 
 
 Mark this, good reader, whether this sounds like 
 the apostle's doctrine before laid down. If men be 
 
 * Bellar. de Eccles. Milit. lib. 3. cap. 2. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 57 
 
 never so good, and holy, though converted, and be- 
 lieving, if they do not submit to the pope as the 
 universal head, they are no members of Christ's 
 church, nor can be saved; and if they be vs^icked 
 and ungodly, if they own the pope they are in- 
 cluded in the church. Oh what an odious religion 
 is that, which damns all the Christians in the world 
 besides themselves! what wretched dissembling 
 is this, to call their church the most holy church, 
 without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; when 
 the worst might be and are owned as members 
 thereof, if they profess subjection to the pope! 
 
 IX. Of Justification. 
 
 1. The doctrine of the apostles concerning justi- 
 fication. 
 
 Rom. iv. 5 — 8. " Now to him that worketh not, 
 but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his 
 faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David 
 describeth the blessedness of the man unto w^hom 
 God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, 
 blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, 
 and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man 
 to whom the Lord will not impute sin.'' 2 Cor. 
 V. 19, 21. "Not imputing their trespasses unto 
 them. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who 
 knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous- 
 ness of God in him." Rom. iii. 22, 24. " Even the 
 righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus 
 Christ, unto all, and upon all thcna that believe. 
 
58 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 Being justified freely by his grace, through the re- 
 demption that is in Christ Jesus/^ See ver. 25, 28; 
 and Tit. iii. 5, 7; Rom. v. 17, 18, 19; Gal. ii. 16; 
 Phil. iii. 9; Acts xiii. 38, 39; Ephes. ii. 8, 9. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants concerning jus- 
 tification. 
 
 "We are accounted righteous before God, only for 
 the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by 
 faith, and not for our own works and deservings. 
 
 " Those whom God eflfectually calleth, he also 
 freely justifieth; not by infusing righteousness into 
 them, but by pardoning their sins, and by account- 
 ing and accepting their persons as righteous; not 
 for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, 
 but for Christ^s sake alone. Imputing the obe- 
 dience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they 
 receiving and resting on him, and his righteousness 
 by faith, which faith they have, not of themselves, 
 it is the gift of God.'' 
 
 To this doctrine consent the reformed churches 
 in Helvetia, Bohemia, France, Belgia, &c.* 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists concerning justi- 
 fication. 
 
 " Justification is not only the forgiveness of sin, 
 but also the sanctification and renovation of the in- 
 ward man by a voluntary susception of grace and 
 
 * Confes. Helvet. 1. 4. 16. et 2. cap. 15. Bohemic. cap. 6. 7. 
 Gal. art. 12. 22. August, art. 4. 6. 26. Belg. art. 22. 24. Wittem- 
 berg: art. 5. Basil art. 8. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 59 
 
 gifts, whereby a man of unjust is made just, and of 
 an enemy is made a friend, that he might be an heir 
 according to the hope of eternal life. The only for- 
 mal cause of justification is the righteousness of God, 
 not wherewith he himself is righteous, but whereby 
 he makes us righteous; namely, by which, being 
 given to us by him, we are renewed in the spirit of 
 our mind, and not only reputed, but are, and are 
 truly called righteous, receiving righteousness in 
 ourselves, every one according to his measure, which 
 the Holy Spirit imparteth to each, as he will, ac- 
 cording to every one's own disposition, and co- 
 working. If any one shall say that a man is justi- 
 fied by the sole imputation of the righteousness of 
 Christ, or in the sole remission of sin, excluding 
 grace and charity, which is shed abroad in their 
 hearts by the Holy Spirit, and is inherent in him, 
 or that the grace whereby we are justified is only 
 the favour of God, let him be accursed.'^* 
 
 Reader, by this council you may see, how the 
 papists confound justification and sanctification, and 
 
 * Justificatio non est sola peccatorum remissio, sed et sancti- 
 ficatio et renovatio interioris hominis per voluntariam suscep- 
 tionem gratiae et donorum, &c. unica formalis causa ejus est 
 justitia Dei, &c. qua videlicet, ab eo donati, renovamur spiritu 
 mentis nostrae, &c. Si quis dixerit homines justificari vel sok\ 
 imputatione justitisB Christi, vel sola peccatorum remissione, 
 exclusci gratifi, et charitate, quae in cordibus eorum per Spiritum 
 Sanctum difFundatur. atquo illis inhrnreat, aut ctiani gratiam qua 
 justificamur, esse tantum favorem Dei, anathema sit. Concil. 
 Trident. Scss. G. 
 
60 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 place it in our inherent righteousness. Though 
 these are not separated, that any should be justified 
 who is not sanctified, penitent, and believing, yet 
 they are carefully to be distinguished. 
 
 X. Of the Merit of Good Works. 
 
 1. The doctrine of prophets, Christ, and his 
 apostles. 
 
 Isaiah Ixiv. 6. '' All our righteousnesses are as 
 filthy rags.^^ Job xxii. 2, 3. " Can a man be profit- 
 able unto God? Is it any gain to him that thou 
 makest thy way perfect?'^ Job xxxv. 7. " If thou 
 be righteous, what givest thou unto him, or what 
 receiveth he of thy hand?'^ Luke xvii. 10. ^^ We 
 are unprofitable servants, we have done that which 
 was our duty to do.^^ Romans viii. 18. " For I 
 reckon that the sufferings of this present time are 
 not worthy to be compared with the glory that 
 shall be revealed in us.'^ Also Psalm cxxx. 3, and 
 cxliii. 2; Romans iv. 2, 4, 5, 6; 1 Corinthians iv. 7; 
 Ephesians ii. 9. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants. 
 
 " We cannot, by our best works, merit pardon of 
 sin, or eternal life at the hand of God, by reason of 
 the great disproportion that is between them and 
 the glory to come, and the infinite distance that 
 there is between us and God, whom, by them, we 
 can neither profit nor satisfy for the debt of our for- 
 mer sins; but, when we have done all we can, we 
 have done but our duty, and are unprofitable ser- 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 61 
 
 vants; and because, as good, they proceed from his 
 Spirit, yet as they are wrought by us, they are de- 
 filed and mixed with so much weakness and imper- 
 fection, that they cannot endure the severity of 
 God's judgment.'^ To this doctrine, the reformed 
 churches subscribe.* 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists. 
 
 " If any one shall say, that the good works of a 
 justified person are so the gifts of God, that they 
 may not also be the good merits of him that is jus- 
 tified; or that he that is justified, does not, by the 
 good works which he does, by the grace of God and 
 merit of Christ (of whom he is a living member), 
 truly merit increase of grace, eternal life, and (if he 
 depart in a state of grace), the enjoyment thereof, 
 and moreover also increase of glory, let him be ac- 
 cursed.^'t 
 
 " Men's works, proceeding from grace, deserve 
 or merit heaven. — If the joy of heaven be retribu- 
 tion, repayment, hire-wages for works, then works 
 can be no other but the value, desert, price, worth 
 and merit of the same. — The word reward in Latin 
 
 * Confess. Wittemb. de bonis operibus. Bohem. art. 7. Sax- 
 on. art. 3. et 8. August, art. 4. et 20. Helvet. 2. c. 16. Belg. 
 art. 24. Argentinens. cap. 10. 
 
 t Si quis dixerit hominis justificati bona opera ita esse dona 
 Dei, ut non sint etiarn bona ipsius justificati merita, aut ipsum 
 justificatum bonis operibus, &c. non vere mereri augmentura 
 gratiae vitam a3ternam et ipsius vita? ceterna?, &c. consecutionem, 
 atque etiam glorioe augmentum, anathema sit. Concil. Trid. 
 Sess. 6. 
 
 P 
 
62 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 or Greek is the very stipend that the hired work- 
 man or journeyman covenants to have of him whose 
 work he does, and js a thing equally and justly an- 
 swering to the time and weight of his travails and 
 works, rather than a free gift,* &c. It is most clear 
 to all not blinded in pride and contention, that good 
 works are meritorious, and the very cause of Sal- 
 vationist 
 
 " The heavenly blessedness which the Scripture 
 calls the reward of the just, is not given of God 
 gratis and freely, but is due to their works. Yea, 
 God has set forth heaven to sale for our works.J Far 
 be it from us that the righteous should look for eter- 
 nal life, as a poor man does for his alms, for it is 
 much more honour for them as victors and triumph- 
 ers to possess it, as the garland which by their la- 
 bour they have deserved. § Although the restoration 
 of mankind be ascribed to the merits of Christ, yet 
 it is not for Christ's merits that our works are re- 
 warded with eternal life; neither does God, when 
 he gives the reward, look towards Christ's death, 
 but only to the first institution of mankind, wherein 
 by the law of nature it was appointed that in the 
 just judgment of God, obedience should be re- 
 warded with life, as disobedience is with death. "|| 
 
 * Rhemists on 1 Gor. iii. 8. 
 
 t Rhem. on Heb. vi. 10. 
 
 X Andrad. Orth. Expl. 16. 
 
 § Dean of Lovan Expli. art. Lovan. Tom 2. art. 9. 
 
 11 Bayus de Merit. Operum, lib. 1. c. 9. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 63 
 
 " A supernatural work, proceeding from grace, 
 within itself, and of its own nature, has a proportion 
 and eondignity with the reward, and a sufficient 
 value to be worth the same. The reward therefore 
 is not given for Christ^s merit. It must not be de- 
 nied but our merits are true merits, so that the 
 works of the godly, proceeding from grace, have of 
 themselves an inward worthiness, and are propor- 
 tionable to the reward,'^* &c. 
 
 The papists in this point are not all of a mind, 
 but many of them swell with horrible pride, and 
 think they deserve heaven as well as a journeyman 
 does his wages, and cannot be brought to stoop so 
 low as to receive the highest happiness as the free 
 gift of God. 
 
 XI. Of Works of Supererogation. 
 
 1. The doctrine of the Scripture. 
 
 Nehem. xiii. 22. " And I commanded the Le- 
 vites that they should cleanse themselves. — Remem- 
 ber me, my God, concerning this also, and spare 
 me according to the greatness of thy mercies.'^ Luke 
 xvii. 10. Gal. v. 17. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants. 
 
 " Voluntary works, besides, over and above God's 
 commandments, which they call works of superero- 
 gation, cannot be taught without arrogance and im- 
 
 ^ Suarez. Tom. 1. in TIio. 3. d. 41. sect. 3. 5. ss. secundo, et 
 oportct : 
 
64 THE NOVELTY OF POPEEY. 
 
 piety; for by them men declare that they not only 
 render unto God as much as they are bound to do, 
 but that they do more for his sake, than of bounden 
 duty is required: whereas Christ says plainly. 
 When ye have done all things that are commanded 
 you, say. We are unprofitable servants.'^ 
 
 Against such works are the reformed churches 
 also in Helvetia, France, Saxony,* &c. 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists. 
 
 " The fastings and satisfactory deeds of one man, 
 are available to others; yea, and holy saints, and 
 other virtuous persons may in measure and propor- 
 tion of other men's necessities and deservings, allot 
 to them, as well the supererogation of their spiritual 
 works, as those that abound in worldly goods may 
 give alms of their superfluities, to them which are 
 in necessity/'t Again, they expound 1 Cor. ix. 16. 
 " But now preaching not only as enjoined me, but 
 also as of love and charity, and freely without put- 
 ting any man to cost, and that voluntarily and of 
 very desire to save my hearers, I shall have my re- 
 ward of God, yea, and a reward of supererogation, 
 which is given to them who of abundant charity do 
 more in the service of God than they are com- 
 manded.'' 
 
 But, reader, though a man might have more mo- 
 ney than he needs, yet you will not find a man that 
 has more grace than he needs; and he that cannot 
 
 * Confess. Helvet. 2. c. 16. August, art. 20. Gal. art. 24. 
 Sax. art. 3. 17. Basil, art. 10. Belg. art. 12. 
 t Rhemists on 2 Cor. 8. 14. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 65 
 
 satisfy for himself cannot impart satisfaction to an- 
 other; for none can give what they have not; and 
 if we do what is no way commanded, we might 
 hear, Who hath required this at your hands? And 
 though Paul was not burdensome to the Corinthi- 
 ans, yet he received from other churches to do them 
 service. So that all that is said falls short to prove 
 works of supererogation. Let proud papists boast 
 of doing more, but let us go to our knees to lament, 
 that when we have done our best, we have done 
 less than is commanded. 
 
 XII. Of Religious Worship. 
 
 1. The doctrine of Christ and his apostles, is that 
 religious worship is due only to God. 
 
 Mat. iv. 10. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy 
 God, and him only shalt thou serve.'^ Col. ii. 18. 
 " Let no man beguile you of your reward in a 
 voluntary humility and worshipping of angels." 
 Rev. xix. 10. " And I fell at his feet to worship him, 
 and he said unto me, See thou do it not; I am thy 
 fellow-servant, w^orship God." See also Rev. xxii. 
 8,9. Acts X. 25, 26. "As Peter was coming in, 
 Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and 
 worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, 
 Stand up, I myself also am a man." Read also 
 Acts xiv. 13—15, 18. Rom. x. 14. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants. 
 
 " Religious worship is to be given to God, the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and to him alone, and 
 
 F 2 
 
66 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 not to angels, saints, or any other creature. The 
 acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is in- 
 stituted by himself, and so limited to his own re- 
 vealed will, that he may not be worshipped accord- 
 ing to the imaginations and devices of men, or the 
 suggestions of Satan, under any visible representa- 
 tions, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy 
 Scripture/^^ In this, the reformed churches agree 
 in their public confessions. 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists concerning reli- 
 gious worship given to saints, and their relics, and 
 to images. 
 
 "The holy synod of Trent commands all bishops 
 and others, that have the office and care of teaching, 
 that according to the use of the catholic and apos- 
 tolical church, received from the primitive times of 
 the Christian religion, according to the consent of 
 the holy fathers, and decrees of sacred councils, 
 [which yet have decreed against it], they first of all 
 diligently instruct the faithful concerning the inter- 
 cession and invocation of saints, the honour of relics, 
 and the lawful use of images; teaching them that 
 the saints reigning together with Christ, offer their 
 prayers to God for men, and that it is good and pro- 
 fitable, humbly kneeling, to call upon them; and to 
 run to their prayers, help, and aid, for the benefits 
 to be obtained from God, through his son Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, who is our only Redeemer and 
 
 * Confess. Helvetc. 4,5. Gall. art. 24. Belgic. art. 26. Ar- 
 gent c. 11. August, art. 21. Saxon, de Invocatione, &c. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 67 
 
 Saviour; and that they are of a wicked opinion that 
 say, that the saints, enjoying eternal happiness in 
 heaven, are not to be called upon; or who affirm/ 
 either that they do not pray for men, or that to 
 pray to them, that they would pray for us, yea, each 
 one particularly, is idolatry, or contrary to the word 
 of God, or against the honour of Jesus, the one Me- 
 ' diator of God and men; or that it is a foolish thing 
 to make humble request in words, or in our own 
 minds, to those that are reigning in heaven. More- 
 over, that the sacred bodies of the holy martyrs and 
 others living with Christ, which were living mem- 
 bers of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Ghost, 
 which shall be raised by him to eternal life and be 
 glorified, are to be worshipped by believers, by 
 which God bestows many benefits on men. So that 
 whosoever shall say, that veneration and honour is 
 not due to the relics of the saints, or that these and 
 other sacred monuments are without profit honour- 
 ed [worshipped] by the faithful; and that for the 
 gaining of their help, the memory of saints in vain 
 is solemnized, are utterly to be condemned, even as 
 the church has long condemned them, and does now 
 condemn them. Moreover, the images of Christ, 
 the Virgin Mary, and of other saints, are especially 
 to be had and kept in churches, and due honour and 
 veneration to be given to them."* 
 
 * Mandat sancta synodus omnibus episcopis, et cteieris do- 
 cendi munus curamque siistinentibiis, lit juxta catholics? ct 
 apostolicae ccclesia? usum, ^ primaevis Christianaj religionis tern- 
 
68 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 Again: "It is beyond all doubt, that believers, 
 according to the custom always received in the 
 catholic church, should give to the holy Sacrament, 
 the worship of Latria (highest worship), ^vhich is 
 due to the true God.'^ Concil. Trident. Sess. 13. 
 cap. 5. 
 
 The popish doctors maintain of images in gene- 
 ral, that they ought to be worshipped with the same 
 
 poribus receptum, sanctorumque patrum consensionem et sa- 
 
 crorum conciliorum decreta. imprimis de sanctorum interces- 
 
 sione, invocatione, reliquiarum honore et legitime imaginum 
 
 usu, fideles diligenter instruant, docentes eos, sanctos una cum 
 
 Christo regnantes, orationes suas pro hominibus Deo offerre, 
 
 bonura atque utile esse simpliciter eos invocare et ob beneficia 
 
 impetranda a Deo per filiura ejus, &c. ad eorum orationes, opem, 
 
 auxiliumque confugere; illos vero qui negant sanctos aeterna 
 
 felicitate in coelo fruentes, invocandos esse, aut qui asserunt, 
 
 vel illos pro hominibus non orare, vel eorum, ut pro nobis etiam 
 
 singulis orent.invocationem esse idololatriam, vel pugnare cum 
 
 verbo Dei, adversarique honori unius Mediatoris Dei, et homi- 
 
 num Jesu Christi, vel stultum esse, in coelo reo^nantibus voce 
 
 .... ' 
 
 vel mente supplicare, impie sentire: sanctorum quoque mar- 
 
 tyrum. et aliorum cum Christo viventium sancta corpora quae 
 
 viva membra Christi fuerint, et templum spiritus sancti, ab ipso 
 
 ad SBternam vitam suscitanda, et glorificanda, a fidelibus vene- 
 randa esse, per quae malta beneficia a Deo hominibus praestan- 
 tur ; ita ut affirmantes sanctorum reliquiis venerationem atque 
 honorem non deberi, vel eas, aliaque sacra monumenta a fide- 
 libus inutiliter honorari, atque eorum opis impetrandae causa 
 sanctorum memorias frustra frequentari, damnandos esse, prout 
 jampridem eos damnavit, et nunc etiam damnat ecclesia. Ima- 
 gines porro Christi, deiparae virginis et aliorum sanctorum, in 
 templis praesertim habendas et retinendas, eisque debitum hono- 
 rem et venerationem impertiendam. Concil. Trident. Sess. 25. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 69 
 
 adoration as the thing represented by the image. 
 So Aquinas. The same reverence is given to the 
 image of Christ, as to Christ himself. Since there- 
 fore Christ is worshipped with the adoration of 
 Latria (highest worship due to God), it follows 
 that his image ought to be worshipped with adora- 
 tion of Latria (or highest worship due to God). 
 
 XIII. Of Transubstantiation. 
 
 1. The doctrine of Christ and his apostles is, that 
 after consecration in the Lord's Supper, there is real 
 bread and wine. 
 
 Matthew xxvi. 26,27; Luke xxii. 19, 20; 1 Cor. 
 xi. 23 — 28. "The Lord Jesus, the same night in 
 which he was betrayed, took bread; and when he 
 had given thanks — he took the cup, saying, This cup 
 is the New Testament in my blood. ^^ Mark, reader, 
 after the blessing it is called bread. "As often as ye 
 eat this bread, and drink this cup. Whosoever shall 
 eat this bread. Examine — and eat of that bread." 
 I Cor. X. 16. "The bread which we break, is it not 
 the communion of the body of Christ.^' Acts xx. 
 7 — 11. " They came together to break bread. And 
 had broken bread. '^ 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants. 
 
 " Transubstantiation (or the change of the sub- 
 stance of bread and wine), in the Supper of the 
 Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ; but is re- 
 pugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overtlirows 
 the nature of a Sacrament, and has given occasions 
 
70 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 to many superstitions and idolatries, and is repug- 
 nant to sense and reason:'' Which reasons have 
 moved all the reformed churches against the doc- 
 trine of transubstantiation.* 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists. 
 
 " If any shall deny the body and blood, together 
 with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and so whole Christ to be truly, really and substan- 
 tially contained in the most holy sacrament of the 
 eucharist, (Lord's supper) but shall say, it is there 
 only as in a sign, either figuratively or virtually, let 
 him be accursed. If any shall say, that the sub- 
 stance of bread and wine, together with the body 
 and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, remains in the 
 sacrament of the holy eucharist, and shall deny that 
 wonderful and singular conversion of the whole 
 substance of the bread into his body, and of the 
 whole substance of the wine into his blood (the 
 figures of bread and wine only remaining) which 
 conversion [change] the catholic church most fitly 
 calls transubstantiation, let him be accursed.'^t 
 
 * Conf. Helv. 1. art. 22. et 2. c. 21. Wittem. c. 19. de Euchar. 
 Basil, art. 6. Scotican. art. 21. 
 
 t Si quis negaverit, in sanctissimse eucharistisB sacramento 
 contineri, vere, realiter, et substantialiter corpus et sanguinem, 
 unk cum anim^ et divinitate Christi, &c. Si quis dixerit in 
 sacrosancto eucharistiae sacramento remanere substantiam panis 
 et vini, &c. negaveritque mirabilem illam et singularem con- 
 versionem totius substantise panis in corpus, ettotius substantise 
 vini in sanguinem, (fee. — Concil. Trident. Sess. 13. Can. 1, 2. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 71 
 
 XIV. Of receiving both Kinds. 
 
 1. The doctrine of Christ and his apostles, is 
 that those that have the bread should also have the 
 cup. 
 
 Mark xiv. 22 — 24. Luke xxii. 19,20. 1 Cor. 
 X. 16, and xi. 24 — 27, 29. " Take, eat — as oft as ye 
 drink it — eat this bread, and drink this cup — shall 
 eat this bread and drink this cup — so let him eat — 
 and drink of this cup — for he that eateth and 
 drinketh — '^ 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants. 
 
 " The cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the 
 laity, for both the parts of the Lord^s sacrament, by 
 Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be 
 ministered to all Christian men alike.'' That the 
 people are to receive the wine also, is the confession 
 of the reformed churches in Helvetia, Bohemia, 
 France, &c.* 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists. 
 
 The council of Constance decreed, " That though 
 Christ administered this sacrament, in both kinds, 
 to his disciples, and, in the primitive church, it 
 was also accordingly received by believers under 
 both kinds [bread and wine,] hoc tamen non ob- 
 stante, notwithstanding [Christ's institution, and the 
 
 * Confes. Helv. 1. art 22, et 2. c. 21. Bohem. c. 13. Gall. 30, 
 38. Wittemb. cap. 19. Belg. art. 35. Saxon, de ccrna Doniiii. 
 August, de missa, art. 1, 2. 
 
72 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 example of the primitive church] the laity shall 
 have the bread only. Others that pertinaciously 
 affirm otherwise are to be expelled as heretics. Also 
 we command, upon pain of excommunication^ that 
 no presbyter administer it to the people under both 
 kinds of bread and w^ine/^* The council of Trent 
 to the same purpose decreed the taking away the 
 cup from the people, notwithstanding Christ's insti- 
 tution, and administration of it in both kinds, 
 "having a power to alter and change, so that they 
 keep the substance of the sacrament, as they judge 
 most profitable for the receivers ;''t and though 
 they confess the primitive church received both, yet 
 the church of Rome, "for grand and just reasons 
 has approved and decreed the people's taking of it 
 in one kind only/' 
 
 XV. Of the, Sacrifice of the Mass, 
 
 1. The doctrine of the apostle Paul. 
 
 Heb. ix. 22, 25, 26, 28. " And almost all things 
 are by the law purged with blood, and without shed- 
 ding of blood there is no remission. Nor yet that 
 he should offer him.self often, as the high priest en- 
 tereth into the holy place every year with the blood 
 of others; (for then must he have often suffered since 
 the foundation of the world,) but now once in the 
 end of the world hath he appeared to put away sins 
 
 * Concil. Constant. Sess. 13. 
 
 \ Concil. Trident. Sess. 21. cap. 1, 2, 3. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY, 73 
 
 by the sacrifice of himself. So Christ was once 
 offered to bear the sins of many. Heb. x. 11^ 12^ 
 14, 18. "And every priest standeth daily minis- 
 tering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices^ 
 which can never take away sins. But this man 
 after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever 
 sat down on the right hand of God. For by one 
 offering he hath perfected for ever them that are 
 sanctified. Now where remission of these is, there 
 is no more offering for sin. Read also Heb. vii. 
 23—27. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants. 
 
 " The offering of Christ once made, is, that per- 
 fect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for all 
 the sins of the whole world, both original and ac- 
 tual, and there is no other satisfaction for sin, but 
 that alone. Wherefore the sacrifices of masses, in 
 the which it was commonly said that the priest of- 
 fered Christ for the quick and dead, to have remis- 
 sion of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and 
 dangerous deceits.'^ This is the doctrine of all re- 
 formed churches against the sacrifice of the mass.^ 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists. 
 
 " If any shall say that in the mass a true and pro- 
 per sacrifice is not offered to God, let him be ac- 
 cursed. If any shall say in those words, ' Do this 
 
 * Confes. Helvet. 1. art. 22. et 2. cap. 30, 21. Basil, art. 0. 
 Saxon, art. 14. Belg. art. 35. Wittenib. c. 19. Boliom. c. 13- 
 Augustan, de Misaa, art. 13. 
 
 G 
 
74 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 in remembrance of me/ Christ did not institute his 
 apostles to be priests, or that he did not ordain, that 
 they and other priests should offer his body and 
 blood, let him be accursed. ^^* 
 
 " If any shall say the sacrifice of mass is only of 
 praise and thanksgiving, or a bare commemoration 
 of the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross, and not a 
 propitiatory sacrifice, or that it profits him alone that 
 takes it, and ought not to be offered for quick and 
 dead, for sins, punishments and satisfactions, and 
 other necessities, let him be accursed." 
 
 So in that part of the mass called the offertory, 
 the priest says, " Holy Father, eternal and almighty 
 God) receive this immaculate host, which I, thine 
 unworthy servant, offer unto thee my true and liv- 
 ing God, for my innumerable sins, and offences and 
 neglects, and for all them that stand here about, and 
 also for all faithful Christians, both living and dead, 
 that it may profit me and them unto salvation, unto 
 eternal life. Amen." 
 
 Again, in the mass-book the priest prays: "We 
 
 * Si quis dixerit, in missa non ofFerri Deo verum et proprium 
 sacrificiunij anathema sit. Si quis dixerit, illis verbis, hoc facite 
 in meam commemorationem, Christum non instituisse apostolos 
 sacerdotes; aut non ordinasse, ut, ipsi aliique sacerdotes oiFer- 
 rent corpus et sanguinem suum, anathema sit. Si quis dixerit, 
 missee sacrificium tantum esse laudis et gratiarum actionis, &c. 
 non autem propitiatorium ; vel soli prodesse sumenti, neque 
 pro vivis et defunctis, pro peccatis, pcenis, satisfactionibus, et 
 aliis necessitatibus ofFerri debere, anathema sit. — Concil. Tri- 
 dent. Sess. 22. de Sacrific. Missse, Can. 1, 2, 3. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 75 
 
 beseech thee^ therefore most merciful Father, through 
 Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, and do ask of thee 
 that thou wilt accept, and bless these t gifts, these t 
 presents, these hotly sacrifices immaculate, espe- 
 cially those which we ofl'er unto thee for thy holy 
 catholic church, and all them that assist here, for 
 themselves and for all theirs, for the redemption of 
 their souls, and for the hope of their salvation. 
 Which oblation, thou, God, vouchsafe in all 
 things to make blessed, t ascript, t reasonable t and 
 acceptable; t that it may be made unto us the botdy 
 and bloodt of thy most beloved Son. We present 
 to thy excellent Majesty of thy gifts and things 
 given, a pure t host, a holy t host, an immaculate t 
 host, the holy bread t of eternal life, and the cup t 
 of eternal salvation. We humbly pray thee, al- 
 mighty God, command that these things be carried 
 by the hands of thy holy angels to thy altar on 
 high, into the presence of thy divine Majesty, that 
 we all who, by the particitpation of thine altar [kisses 
 here the altar,] have taken the holy botdy and blood 
 t of thy Son, may be filled with all heavenly blests- 
 ings and grace.'^ And then the priest prays for the 
 dead, " be mindful also, Lord, of thy men ser- 
 vants, and women servants, [naming their names 
 that are deceased, for whom friends or kindred 
 would have mass,] who have preceded us with 
 the sign of the faith, and who sleep in a sleep of 
 peace." 
 
 View and consider this little piece, which I have 
 
76 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 transcribed, reader^ out of the mass-book, and then 
 judge whether there is any such thing concerning 
 the Lord's supper in the Scripture; and whether 
 these are not new doctrines and devices. 
 
 XVI. Of Worshipping the Host. 
 
 1. The doctrine of the Scripture concerning the 
 Lord's supper, where it is treated of, contains no- 
 thing for the worshipping of it; as Matt. xxvi. 2Q^ 
 21. Mark xiv. 22—24. 1 Cor. xi. 24 — 29. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants. 
 
 " The worshipping the elements, the lifting them 
 up, or carrying them about for adoration, and the 
 reserving of them for any pretended religious use, 
 are all contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and 
 to the institution of Christ." So say other reformed 
 churches in their public confessions of faith.* 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists. 
 
 "It is beyond all doubt that the faithful, ac- 
 cording to the custom always received in the catho- 
 lic church, may give in veneration the worship of 
 Latria, which is due to the true God, to this holy 
 sacrament; for it is not the less to be adored, be- 
 cause it was appointed by the Lord to be received; 
 for we believe that the same God is present in it, 
 whom the eternal father, bringing into the world, 
 saith. And let all the angels of God worship him."t 
 
 " Confess. Helvet. 2. c. 21. Saxo. de coena dom. Wittemb. 
 de Eucharist. JBasil. art. 6. 
 
 t Nullus itaque dubitandi locus relinquitur, quin omnes Christi 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 77 
 
 Moreover the holy synod declares* " That with 
 very great religion and piety of the church was this 
 custom brought in, that every year upon some pe- 
 culiar holy-day, this high and venerable sacrament 
 with singular veneration and solemnity should be 
 celebrated, and that it should in processions, reve- 
 rently with honour and worship be carried about 
 through the ways and public places/^ 
 
 XVII. Of Jiuricular Confession, 
 
 1. The doctrine of Christ and his apostles con- 
 cerning confession of sin. 
 
 Luke xvii. 3, 4. — James v. 16. — 1 John i. 9. See 
 also Proverbs xxviii. 13. Psalms xxxii. 5, 6, and 
 li. 4, 5, 7, 9, 14. In all which places there is con- 
 fession of sin to God, to the party wronged by us, 
 and to one another; but not a word of secret confes- 
 sion of all our sins in the ears of the priest. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants. 
 
 " As every man is bound to make private con- 
 fession of his sins to God, praying for the pardon 
 thereof, upon which and the forsaking of them he 
 shall find mercy; so he that offends his brother, or 
 the church of God, ought to be willing by a private 
 or public confession and sorrow for his sin, to de- 
 clare his repentance to those that are offended, who 
 
 fideles pro more in catholicA. ecclcsi.^ semper reccpto,latria? ciil- 
 tum, qui vero Deo dcbetur, huic sanctissimo sacraiiicnto in vene- 
 ratione exhibeant, &c. 
 
 ^ Concil. Trident. Sess. 13. cap. 5. 
 G 2 
 
78 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 arc therefore to be reconciled, and in love to receive 
 him/^ So other reformed churches.^ 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists. 
 
 " Let every one, both men and women, truly 
 make confession of all their sins, at least once a 
 year, to their own priest, or some other, having 
 leave first from their own priest, else he can neither 
 absolve nor bind him/^t 
 
 " The universal church to the great profit of souls 
 keeps the custom of confession in that holy and 
 most acceptable time of lent, which also this holy 
 synod most highly approves and receives, as pi- 
 ously, and with good cause to be retained.^^f 
 
 " If any shall deny sacramental confession, either 
 to be instituted, or to be necessary to salvation by 
 divine right; or shall say, the manner of making 
 secret confession to the priest alone is not instituted 
 and commanded by Christ, but is a human inven- 
 tion, let him be accursed. ''§ 
 
 " If any shall say that in the sacrament of pe- 
 nance, it is not necessary to remission of sin, and 
 
 ^ Confess. Helvet. 2. c. 14. Argentinens. c. 20. August, de 
 Confess. Saxon, de PcEnitentia. Wittemb. de Confessione. 
 
 t Concil. Lateran. Can. 21. 
 
 + Unde jam in universa ecclesia, cum ingenti animarum fide- 
 lium fructu, observalur mos ille salutaris, sacro illo et maxime 
 acceptabili tempore quadragesimse, quem morum, &c. — Concil. 
 Trident. Sess. 14. cap. 5. 
 
 § Si quis negaverit confessionem sacramentalem, vel institu- 
 tam, vel ad salutem necessariam esse jure divino, &c. — Concil, 
 Trident. Sess. 14. Can. 6. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 79 
 
 that by divine right, to confess all, and every mor- 
 tal sin, that one can by all due diligent premedita- 
 tion call to remembrance, even those that are secret 
 sins, and against the last precept of the decalogue, 
 and the very circumstances v^hich alter the kinds of 
 sin, let him be accursed. ^^* 
 
 XVIII. Of Penitential Satisfaction. 
 
 1. The doctrine of the Scripture. 
 
 Ezek. xvi. 61 — 63. "Then slialt thou remember 
 thy w^ays and be ashamed. And I w^ill establish 
 my covenant with thee, that thou mayest remember 
 and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any 
 more, because of thy shame, v\^hen I am pacified 
 towards thee, for all that thou hast done, saith the 
 Lord.'^ Andxxxvi. 31, 32. " Ye shall loathe your- 
 selves in your own sight. Not for your sakes do I 
 this. Be ashamed and confounded for your own 
 ways.'^ See Hos. xiv. 2, 4. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants. 
 
 " Although repentance is not to be rested in as 
 any satisfaction for sin, or any cause of the pardon 
 thereof, which is the act of God\s free grace in 
 Christ; yet is it of such necessity to all sinners, that 
 none might expect pardon without it.^' So other 
 churches.! 
 
 ^ Si quis dixerit in sacramento pccnitentia) ad remissionem 
 peccatorum neccssarium non esse jure divino confitcri, omnia et 
 singula peccata mortalia, &c. — Concil.Trid. Scss. 14. Can. 7. 
 
 t August, de Confessionc. Saxon, in Prn^fationc, ct artic. do 
 Satisfactiono. Wittcnib. do Satisrifactionc. 
 
80 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists. 
 
 "If any shall say, that the whole punishment^ 
 together with the guilt, is always remitted by God, 
 and that the satisfaction of the penitent is no other 
 than the faith whereby he apprehends Christ to 
 have satisfied for him, let him be accursed/^* 
 
 " If any shall say, that God is not satisfied for 
 sins, as to temporal punishment, through the merits 
 of Christ, by the punishments which he inflicts, and 
 we patiently bear, or by such as are enjoined by the 
 priest, nor by those that we voluntarily put our- 
 selves unto, nor by fastings, prayers, alms deeds, 
 and other works of piety, and that therefore the best 
 repentance is only a new life, let him be accursed.'^! 
 
 " If any shall say, that the satisfactions whereby 
 penitents through Jesus Christ redeem sins, are not 
 the worship of God, but the traditions of men, 
 thwarting the doctrine of the grace and true worship 
 of God, and the benefits of the death of Christ, let 
 him be accursed. '^J 
 
 XIX. Of Venial Sins. 
 
 1. The doctrine of Christ and his apostles. 
 
 Matt xii. 36. " I say unto you that every idle 
 word that men shall speak, they shall give account 
 thereof in the day of judgment.^' Rom. vi. 23. 
 
 ^ Concil. Trident. Sess. 14. Can. 12. 
 t Concil. Trident. Sess. 14. Can. IS'. 
 ± Concil. Trident. Sess. 14. Can. 14. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 81 
 
 "For the wages of sin is death. ^^ See Rom. v. 12. 
 and Isa. Iv. 7. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants. 
 
 "As there is no sin so small but it deserves dam- 
 nation^ so there is no sin so great, that it can bring 
 damnation upon those that truly repent.^^ So other 
 churches also.* 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists. 
 
 "Some sins are venial, neither offering injury to 
 God, nor deserving hell, nor binding us to be sorry 
 for them, but may be forgiven by knocking of the 
 breast, going into a church, receiving holy water, 
 or the bishop's blessing, or crossing oneself, or by 
 any work of charity, though we never think ac- 
 tually of them.t Those sins which in their own 
 nature are not contrary to the love of God and our 
 neighbour as idle words, immoderate laughing, those 
 sins that are not perfectly voluntary, as sudden mo- 
 tions of anger, &c., and are in trivial things, as steal- 
 ing of a halfpenny, &c., are venial sins; that is, do 
 not turn us from God, and are easily expiated, like 
 a slight hurt, which does not endanger life, and is 
 easily cured. '^J 
 
 XX. Of the State of Me7i after Death, 
 1. The doctrine of the Scripture concerning the 
 state of men after death. 
 
 * Confes. Boliemic. art. 4. Saxon, do discriiniiic pcccatorum. 
 
 t Aquin. par. 3. Quest. 87. art. 3. 
 
 X Bellarm. torn. 3. de amissione frratio). lib. 1. c. 2. 3. 
 
82 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 Luke xxiii. 43. " Verily I say unto thee, this day 
 shalt thou be with me in paradise/^ Heb. xii. 23. 
 "And to the spirits of just men made perfect.'' 2 
 Cor. V. I5 8. " For we know that if our earthly house 
 of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a build- 
 ing of God. Willing rather to be absent from the 
 body and to be present with the Lord." Phil. i. 23. 
 " Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ." 
 See also Matt. vii. 13, 14. John iii. 18. Luke xvi. 
 23,24; w^here, and in other places, the Scriptures 
 speak of two ways; one leading to destruction, the 
 other to life; and two sorts of men; some that do 
 not believe, and they are damned; some that do, and 
 they are saved; but no third way, or third class is 
 mentioned. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the protestants. 
 
 " The bodies of men after death return to dust, 
 and see corruption, but their souls (which neither 
 die nor sleep), having an immortal subsistence, im- 
 mediately return to God, who gave them. The 
 souls of the righteous being then made perfect in 
 holiness, are received into the highest heavens, 
 where they behold the face of God in light and 
 glory, w^aiting for the full redemption of their 
 bodies; and the souls of the wicked are cast into 
 hell, where they remain in torments and utter dark- 
 ness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. 
 Besides these two places for souls separated from 
 their bodies, the Scripture acknowledges none.'^ 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POrERY. 83 
 
 So the reformed churches also in Helvetia, France, 
 Saxony,* &c. 
 
 3. The doctrine of the papists. 
 
 " If any shall say that after the grace of justifica- 
 tion received, the oflfence is so forgiven to every 
 penitent sinner, and guilt of eternal punishment so 
 removed, that there remains no guilt of temporal 
 punishment to be suffered, either in this life, or the 
 life to come in purgatory, let him be accursed/^t 
 
 By this parallel of doctrines, you may easily 
 judge that ours is the old religion; and the religion 
 of the papists (wherein they differ from us), is a 
 new religion. For they that own, profess and hold 
 to the same doctrines and worship that were taught 
 by Christ himself and his apostles, and no other (as 
 to essentials at least), are of the old religion; and 
 those that, forsaking and corrupting the doctrine and 
 Avorship taught by Christ and his apostles, maintain 
 and hold doctrines not contained in the Scripture, 
 but risen up since and contrary to it, are of a new 
 religion. But the protestants do the first, and the 
 papists do the last, as appears by the parallel of doc- 
 trines. Therefore the protestants are of the old 
 religion, and the papists of a new one. For that 
 religion which agrees with the oldest and the only 
 rule, is the oldest and only religion; and if the 
 
 * Confess. Helv. 2. cap. 2C. Gall. art. 24. Saxon, art. M. 
 August. 11. Wiitcmbcrg. cap. 25. 
 
 t Concil. Trident. Sess. G. Can. 30. ct Decret. dc Purgat. 
 Sess. 25. 
 
84 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 papists will keep to the first and ancient rule, the 
 word of God^ they must be of our religion; if they 
 will not, but add or diminish, they will never 
 answer to the charge of novelty laid upon them. 
 
 So that their insulting and ridiculous question 
 so often used, " Where w^as your religion before 
 Luther?'^ is plainly and fully answered: "It was 
 where the Romish religion never was, in the Scrip- 
 tures, and in the primitive churches/^ And me- 
 thinks, learned papists, who can read the writings 
 of the fathers, and determinations of ancient coun- 
 cils, should be ashamed to propound such a ques- 
 tion; but they do it to amuse the common people 
 that cannot read Greek and Latin authors, and are 
 not acquainted with the history of the church; whilst 
 I am persuaded they themselves know better, and 
 could resolve this question themselves, if they would 
 read and judge impartially. But the people that 
 cannot read the fathers, councils, &c. might be abun- 
 dantly satisfied, that our religion is the old religion, 
 because found in, and founded upon the word of 
 God; for all the books in the world must give place 
 to the holy, sure, infallible word of the most true 
 and faithful God. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 85 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE RELIGION OF PROTESTANTS, HELD AND PRO- 
 FESSED BEFORE LUTHER. 
 
 But though we show our doctrines to be found 
 in the Scripture, our adversaries call for a catalogue 
 of such as have taught them, from the apostles^ times 
 successively to the time of Luther, as they pretend 
 they can do for theirs; and would persuade the 
 people, that the church as now reformed, and the 
 doctrines now received by them, are new and upstart 
 things, and have not been since the apostles' times, 
 or before Luther. On the contrary, we assert that 
 there have been such doctrines, and a church own- 
 ing them in all ages, since they were preached by 
 the apostles; which we will prove by two heads of 
 arguments; the one taken a priori^ that such a 
 church cannot, shall not cease, but always be in 
 some part or other of the world; the other a poste- 
 riorij that it has not ceased, but has always actually 
 been, and therefore before Luther. 
 
 The first, — that it cannot, shall not cease to be, 
 taken « ^r^(9r^, stands firm upon these two grounds:* 
 First, upon the promise of Christ, that is of infal- 
 lible verity. Christ has promised that the true 
 church, which is built upon the doctrine of the 
 Scripture, and is conformed thereto, shall continue 
 
 H 
 
86 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 always, and not fail. That the reformed churches 
 are built upon the doctrine of the Scriptures, and are 
 conformed thereto, appears from the parallel of doc- 
 trines before laid down. So that there is evidence 
 from the promise of Christ, that the church holding 
 such doctrines as the reformed churches do, did 
 continue, and could not fail; and therefore our 
 church and religion were before Luther. 
 
 Secondly, upon the relation between Christ and 
 his church. Christ is the only head of the church, 
 and the church is the body of Christ. Christ is the 
 king of his church, and the church subject to Christ. 
 Christ is the husband and bridegroom of the church, 
 and the church the wife and spouse of Christ. Such 
 a church, then, could not cease to be, else there would 
 have been some time in which Christ would have 
 been a head without any body upon earth; a king 
 without subjects, a husband and bridegroom, with- 
 out a wife or spouse; all which are absurd. But the 
 controversy does not lie between us on this point, 
 but which church is this body, subjects, and spouse 
 of Christ, which, by virtue of Christ's promise and 
 its relation to him, could not fail or cease to be — 
 theirs, or such as the reformed churches are. There 
 is this ground (among others) on our side. That 
 church which owns Christ to be her only head, 
 husband, and king, and no other; which owns and 
 professes subjection to the laws of Christ, and no 
 other, as necessary to salvation; and worships the 
 true God according to the Scripture, and no other, 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 87 
 
 is the body, spouse, and subjects of Christ, that 
 could not cease to be in any age. But such churches 
 as the reformed are, own Christ to be their only 
 head, husband, and king, and no other; and profess 
 subjection to the laws of Christ, and no other, as 
 necessary to salvation; and worship God according 
 to the rules contained in the Scripture, and no other. 
 All which the Roman church, as papal, does not 
 do; for they own another head besides Christ, as 
 necessary to salvation, and profess subjection to the 
 laws of another, besides the laws of Christ, and that 
 equally with them, yea, before them, though dis- 
 tinct from, and contrary thereto, and give religious 
 worship to others besides the true God, and so play 
 the harlot. Hence, we conclude, that such churches 
 as the reformed are, and not such as the papal, are 
 the body, subjects, and spouse of Christ, which 
 could not cease in any age to be, since the apos- 
 tles' times; and therefore our religion was before 
 Luther. 
 
 The second evidence, that there have been the 
 same doctrines, necessary to salvation, taught all 
 along since the apostles successively, to Luther's 
 times, is di posteriori^ from the writings of men, and 
 histories of the church, abundantly satisfactory to 
 us, and undeniable by our adversaries. It would be 
 no real prejudice to the truth of our doctrines, if we 
 could not give a catalogue of names that held and 
 professed them in all ages, so long as we find them 
 in the Scripture; nor could they for want thereof be 
 
b!? THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 justly charged, either with falsity or novelty; for 
 what is in the word of God is true and old, and 
 what is not contained therein and made necessary 
 to salvation, is false and new, though of many hun- 
 dred vears' standins;. That this is unreasonablv re- 
 quired by the papists, and is no hurt to our religion, 
 as to the truth and antiquity of it, and no cause of 
 stumbling to any. will appear by these things fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 1. It is not necessary in order to prove ourselves 
 men, to give the names of all the men that have 
 lived before us, no, nor of any of them. It is suffi- 
 cient that we can prove we have the same essential 
 constituent parts of men as our predecessors had. 
 That we have such bodies and such souls as they 
 had, is a proof we are real men as they were, though 
 we know not the names of all the intermediate per- 
 sons successively by whom we have received our 
 beings from them. So here: so long as we can tell 
 and are sure we own and believe the same doctrines 
 that the apostles did, we are sure we are of the same 
 religion as they were, though we could not give the 
 names of the persons that have from time to time 
 professed the same. 
 
 2. It is not necessary in order to know the false- 
 ness of any doctrine that we should know the names 
 of the heretics that have handed them down from 
 one age to another: but we know them to be false, 
 by their being contrary to the Scripture. 
 
 3. We know that the dictates of the law oi na- 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 89 
 
 ture are good and true, and that we have such a 
 law, though we cannot give an account of the 
 name of our ancestors from whom we have re- 
 ceived them. 
 
 4. A man might be an exact artificer, though he 
 be not able to mentioii the names of those who in 
 all ages have professed the same occupation, from 
 the times of those that first invented them. So a 
 man might be a good Christian, and of the true 
 religion, and be ignorant of the many thousands 
 of Christians that have been before him. 
 
 5. Without this knowledge a man might love 
 God, repent, believe and be saved; therefore it is 
 not necessary to true doctrine, religion or salvation; 
 else every unlearned believer must be acquainted 
 with all the histories of the church, and fathers, and 
 professors before him, which is impossible. 
 
 6. If a man did know this, yet he might be 
 damned. If a man could tell all the writers, preach- 
 ers, doctors and councils that have lived since the 
 apostles' days, he might go to hell at last. God will 
 condemn men for being ignorant of the essential 
 points of Christianity, contained in the Scripture, 
 and for want of faith and repentance, but not for 
 being unacquainted with the histories of the church, 
 and names of those that professed the true religion 
 in the ages before them. 
 
 7. The Scripture never sends us to histories, 
 councils and fathers as judges of true doctrine and 
 religion, but to the word of God. Where in Scrip- 
 
 H 2 
 
90 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 ture are professors or ministers commanded to 
 study and be so conversant with all histories, coun- 
 cils and antiquities as to be able to give a catalogue, 
 who have taught or owned the true doctrine in ages 
 before them? 
 
 8. What deceitful dealing is this? to deny the 
 people the reading of the Scriptures and acquaintance 
 with them, and in such things commend ignorance 
 as the mother of devotion, and yet call upon them^ 
 to say, who taught their doctrines before Luther? 
 As if it were more material to know who taught 
 them, than to know them; or to be more skilled in 
 the writings of men than in the word of God. 
 
 9. They call for that from us which they cannot 
 give for themselves. You ask, Who taught your 
 doctrines from the apostles' times? and we retort 
 your question. Who taught all your doctrines from 
 the apostles' times? We know you can never show 
 them. I know you pretend a large catalogue of 
 popes; but yet you are greatly puzzled to give their 
 succession, when there have been several popes to- 
 gether, and they that then lived could not know 
 which was the right. But if you could give a suc- 
 cession of persons, it profits nothing without a suc- 
 cession of true doctrine. If you could show a 
 succession de facto^ you can show none de jure. 
 That may be actual, that may not be lawful. A 
 thief may actually succeed a true possessor, and a 
 tyrant and usurper a lawful prince, but not lawfully. 
 This is usurpation, not legitimate succession. We 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 91 
 
 might say, therefore, to your people as you do to 
 ours, Is it safe for you to continue in that religion, 
 of which you can give no account who have taught 
 your doctrines from the apostles^ times? For you 
 cannot do it, nor your doctors either, though they 
 call a council and search all records and writings of 
 men, as shall be shown in the next chapter. 
 
 Yet this is not said as if we doubted of our cause, 
 if it were to be tried by the writings of the ancient 
 fathers; or as if we could not mention multitudes 
 before Luther that have taught and owned our doc- 
 trines; for there are many great volumes in which 
 our doctrines are to be found. To give a large re- 
 hearsal of their words on our side would be an end- 
 less work; yet a few shall be picked out of many, 
 sufficient to show that our doctrines, in which we 
 oppose the doctrines of the church of Rome, have 
 been taught of old. 
 
 What was the doctrine in the first hundred years 
 from the birth of Christ is best understood from the 
 Holy Scripture; and this is that age, and the wri- 
 tings of the apostles are those writings, by which 
 the writings of all other ages must be examined, as 
 their surest rule. That our doctrines are there con- 
 tained, and not the doctrines of the papists as such, 
 we have proved in Chap. I. 
 
 In the writings of the fathers that lived in the 
 second century, we have many testimonies. 
 
 In this age the bishops of Rome had not that 
 power they now challenge, as appears from a letter 
 
92 THE NOVELTY OF POPEEY. 
 
 of Eleutherius, bishop of Rome, to Lucius, king of 
 England,^ who had sent to the bishop for the Ro- 
 man laws, as they were founded on Christianity; to 
 whom Eleutherius sent this answer: " You require 
 of us the Roman laws, and the emperor^s, to be sent 
 over to you. — The Roman laws, and the emperor^s 
 we may ever reprove, but the law of God we may 
 not You have received of late, through God's 
 mercy, in the realm of Brittany, the law and faith 
 of Christ. You have with you, within the realm, 
 both the parts of the Scripture. Out of them, by 
 God's grace, with the council of your realm, take 
 a law, and by that law (through God's sufferance) 
 rule your kingdom of Britain; for you are God's 
 vicar in your kingdom." — From whence it is clear, 
 that this bishop of Rome (1) challenged not the 
 supremacy over England, but acknowledged the 
 king to be supreme governor in his own kingdom. 
 
 (2) That he acknowledged the perfection of Scrip- 
 ture for life and manners, when laws should be taken 
 from thence for the government of a kingdom. 
 
 (3) That England received the gospel early, and not 
 so late from the church of Rome as some of them 
 boast, nor at all first from them, but from the Gre- 
 cians of the eastern church,t as some think. 
 
 After the apostles, many taught our doctrines 
 long before Luther. For the sake of brevity, I 
 must take up with fewer heads of doctrine, and 
 
 * Fox. Acts and Mon. vol. 1. p. 139. 
 t Id. ibid. p. 138. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 93 
 
 fewer testimonies under each doctrine. I had be- 
 gun to give a catalogue in every century since 
 Christ, but that being too large for this place, I laid 
 it by, and give instances in these few following. 
 
 I. The Ferfection and Sufficiency of the Scrip- 
 tiire to Salvation taught long before Luther. 
 
 Justin Martyr,* who lived in the second century 
 after Christ, writes, " That the true religion is con- 
 tained in the writings of the prophets and apostles, 
 who have taught all things necessary for us to know. 
 We are not commanded to give credit to the tradi- 
 tions and doctrines of men, but those doctrines 
 which were published by the prophets, and w^hich 
 Christ himself delivered. All things are to be 
 brought to the Scripture, and from thence are argu- 
 ments and proofs to be fetched; for if a man be 
 never so often asked, how many do twice two 
 make? he will still say four; so a Christian dis- 
 coursing with others will always allege the Scrip- 
 ture.^^ And Irenaeus says, " The Scriptures are 
 perfect as spoken and dictated from the word of 
 God and his Spirit."! 
 
 So Tertullian,t A. D. 200, &c., writes, '' I adore 
 
 * Just. Mar. in Tryph. et Paren. 
 
 t Scripturae perfecttB sunt, quippe k verbo Dei et Spiritu ejus 
 dicta3, Iren. adver. hoer. lib. 2. cap. 47. 
 
 X Adoro Scripturo) plenitudinem. — Scriptum esse, doceat Her- 
 mogenis olncina; si non est scriptum, timeat vtu illud adjicien- 
 tibus, aut detrahentibus destinatum. Tertul. advor. Hermog. 
 
94 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 the fulness of the Scriptures. Let Hermogenes 
 show that it is written; if it be not written, let him 
 fear that wo appointed for those that add, or dimi- 
 nish.^^ In another place, thus,* "We have the 
 apostles of the Lord for our authors; who never 
 brought in any thing at their own will, but what 
 - doctrine they had from Christ, they faithfully de- 
 livered to the nations; wherefore if an angel from 
 heaven should preach otherwise to us, we would 
 pronounce him accursed.^' To this objection [the 
 apostles did not know all or if they did, they did 
 not deliver all] he replies, " That both ways, such 
 reproach Christ, as if he had sent apostles either 
 unskilful, or unfaithful/^t Again, "In matters of 
 faith, men must argue no other way than from the 
 Scriptures/^ In short, he lays down the doctrines 
 of this age in a confession of faith, agreeable to 
 that which is called the apostles' creed, and says, 
 " They are not doubted of by any amongst us, but 
 heretics/' In the like manner speaks Origen,J who 
 lived also in this age, of the perfection of the Scrip- 
 
 * Apostolos Domini habemus authores, qui nee ipsi quicquam 
 ex suo arbitrio, quod inducerent, elegerunt; sed acceptam a 
 Christo disciplinam fideliter nationibus assignaverunt. Itaque 
 etiam si angelus de coelis aliter evangelizaret, anathema dicere- 
 tur a nobis. Idem de Prsesc. Hseret. 
 
 t Solent dicere, non omnia apostolos scisse, — omnia quidem 
 apostolos scisse, sed non omnia omnibus tradidisse; in utroque 
 Christum reprehensioni subjicientes, qui aut minus instructos, 
 aut parum simplices apostolos miserit. Ibid. Aliunde suadere 
 non possent de rebus fidei nisi ex Uteris fidei. Ibid. 
 
 X Id. ibid. Origen. in Levit. Horn. 5. torn. 1. 
 
THE NOVELTY OP POPERY. 95 
 
 ture: "In the two Testaments every word that ap- 
 pertains to God may be required and discussed, and 
 all knowledge of things out of them may be under- 
 stood; but if any thing remains, which the Holy 
 Scripture does not determine, no other third Scrip- 
 ture ought to be received to authorize any know- 
 ledge.'^ And more in other places.^ See also a 
 large confession of faith by him, and Gregory Neo- 
 cesar, containing the doctrines that we hold.t 
 
 JeromeJ who died A. D. 420, says thus, " What- 
 soever we affirm, we ought to prove out of the Holy 
 Scriptures. The speakers' words have not so much 
 authority as the Lord's command." 
 
 Ambrose§ also, who was born about the year 
 333, is of the same judgment. " We ought to add 
 nothing, no, not for caution, to God's command; for 
 if thou dost add, or diminish, it is a prevaricating 
 of the command; the pure and simple form of the 
 command is to be kept. Nothing therefore, seem 
 it never so good, ought to be added to it. There- 
 fore we ought not to add to or take away from the 
 
 * Horn. 2. in Hieremiam. 
 
 t Madgeburg. Cent. 3. p. 34, 35. 
 
 t Hieron. in Psal. 98. 
 
 § Nihil, vel cautionis gratici jungere nos debemus mandate. 
 Si quid enim vel addas, vel detrahas, prosvaricatio quoedam vi- 
 detur esse mandati, pura enim et simplex mandati forma ser- 
 vanda. Nihil vel quod bonum videtur, addendum est. Docet 
 igitur nos pra^sentis lectionis series ncquo detrahere aliquid di- 
 vinis dcbore mandatis, ncque addere. Ambr. torn. 4. do Pa- 
 radis. cap. 12. 
 
96 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 commands of God/' Again, he saith, " Who shall 
 speak where the Scripture is silent?''^ Augustine 
 (born A. D. 355) subscribes the same doctrine. 
 " In those things which are laid down plainly in 
 the Scripture, all those things are found which be- 
 long to faith, or direction of life.t " Let us not 
 hear, this I say, this you say, but let us hear, thus 
 says the Lord;± there is God's book, to whose au- 
 
 * Sanctis Scripturis non loquentibuSj quis loquetur? Idem, 
 de Voc. Gent. 1. 2. c. 3. 
 
 t In iis quae aperte in Scriptura posita sunt, inveniuntur ilia 
 omniaj quEe continent fidem moresque vivendi. Aug. de Doct. 
 Christ, torn. 3. 1. 2. c. 9. 
 
 t Non audiamus, haec dico, haec dicis, sed audiamus, hsBC 
 dicit Dominus. Sunt certe libri Dominici, quorum autoritati, 
 utrique consentimus, utrique credimusj ibi quaeramus eccle- 
 siam, ibi discutiamus causam nostram ; auferantur ilia de medio, 
 quae adversus nos invicem, non ex divinis canonicis libris, sed 
 aliunde recitamus ; quia nolo humanis documentis, sed divinis 
 oraculis sanctam ecclesiam demonstrari. Idem de Unitat. 
 Eccles. cap. 3. Legite nobis haec de lege, de prophetis, de 
 Psalmis, de ipso evangelio, de apostolicis Uteris ; legite et credi- 
 mus. Idem. ibid. cap. 6. Ipse Dominus Jesus discipulos testi- 
 moniis legis et prophetarum confirmandos esse magis judicavit. 
 Haec sunt causae nostrae documenta, haec fundamenta, h^c fir- 
 mamenta. Idem. ibid. cap. 16. Nemo ex me quaerat senten- 
 tiam meam, sed potius audiamus oracula, nostrasque ratiunculas 
 divinis summittamus afFatibus. August, de Mor. Eccl. Cath. 
 cap. 7. torn. 1. Per Scripturas divinas multo tutius ambulatur. 
 Controversia ex eadem Scriptura terminetur. Id. de Doct. 
 Christ cap. 8. Sententias Ambrosi, Hieronymi, &c. non ob 
 hoc interponere volui, ut cujusquam hominis sensum tanquam 
 Scripturae canonicae auctoritatem sequendum arbitreris. Id. 
 Epist. 112. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 97 
 
 thority we both consent, both believe. There let 
 us seek the church, there let us discuss our cause. 
 Let those things be taken from amongst us which 
 we quote one against another, from any source 
 but the divine canonical books; for I will not, 
 that the holy church be demonstrated from the 
 documents of men, but from the oracles of God.^^ 
 Again, " Read us these things out of the law, out of 
 the prophets, or psalms, or gospel, or the apostles' 
 epistles; read ye, and we believe.'^ Again, ^^ Our 
 Lord Jesus himself did rather judge that his disci- 
 ples should be confirmed by the testimony of the 
 law and prophets. These are the proofs, founda- 
 tion, and strength of our cause.'' Again, "Let no 
 man ask me my opinion, but let us hearken to the 
 Scripture, and submit our petty reasonings to the 
 word of God. We walk much safer according to 
 the Scripture; controversies are to be determined 
 by the Scripture." Again, " I insert the opinion 
 of Ambrose, Jerome, &c., not that thou shouldst 
 think that the sense of any man is to be followed 
 as the authority of canonical Scripture." Augus- 
 tine has abundance more in many places of such 
 doctrine, and he was above a thousand years before 
 Luther. 
 
 Chrysostom also, who lived in the same age, and 
 died about the year 407, taught the same doctrine, 
 in this point, as the reformed churches now do. 
 Thus he writes: "Would it not be an absurd and 
 preposterous thing, that when we have to do with 
 
 I 
 
98 THE NOVELTY OF POPEKY. 
 
 men in matters of money, we believe them not, but 
 count it after them; but when we are to judge of 
 things, we are simply drawn into their opinions; and 
 that, when we have the law of God for an exact rule, 
 balance, and square of all things. Wherefore I be- 
 seech and entreat you all, that you matter not, what 
 one or another thinks of these things; but that 
 you would consult the Holy Scriptures concerning 
 them.'^* In another place, thus: "These things 
 which are in the Holy Scripture, are clear and 
 right; whatsoever is necessary, is manifest there- 
 in/^t Many more testimonies we might have from 
 this author, and others quoted in the note,t but 
 brevity forbids the transcribing of their words. To 
 conclude this particular, take the testimony of a 
 
 dpi^fxoo Kctt ^f/«(pa) TcuTO zTTTTgiTruv, bTTip cTs TT^xy/ualocv '^h'pt^ofJt.ivcv; ATr'ACiog 
 7*? Kiti yyat/iAQVit KUt kavqva, TfiDV d'itm vofAcev Tm a.7rQ<^dL<jrtv'^ ^lo ttcl- 
 
 gdiKAXU) iCdLt ^iOfJLcLl TTdLV^OOV VfJLm fit?iSv7sC Ti Ttt SilVl KOt Ta <^ilVt ^OkU 
 TTSpl TTQvlooVi TTcLgdi Tm ygAipCDV TCtvjcL CtTTcivlcl 7ruV^etVi(T^i. ChiyS. Hom. 
 
 13. in 2 Cor. 
 
 t Tetvra. crctcpn Kctl rj^-ict tcl (arcig'X tai? -8-g/at/c ygA<pa.tg. Udvlct fret 
 avctynAiA S'uKct, Idem Homil. 3. in 2 Thess. cap. 2. 
 
 t Cyprian, lib. 2. Epist. 3. et ad Quintinum, et ad Pompeium; 
 et ad Jubajanum. Aula^KUg ua-iv ad ayiAt kai ^ioTrviutrTot ygct<pcti 
 ^go? T>jv TH? ctha^-UAc i'TTctyyiXictv. Athanas. torn. 1. pag. 1. *H /ubv 
 eLKn^nc }cAi gyjrg/Sw? u; tov ku^iov Trta-Ttg ipctvi^et tto-qi Koi^io-rnKiv sx, Tm 
 ^iiocv y^ct<^m yivacTKOfAivn t6 Kut av a.ytva)(7H.o/uivii. Idem. torn. i. 398. 
 *H ^iiet yga.<p» TTAvlm ari-tv iKtivafJigA. Idem. pag. 114. vide etiam 
 pag. 217. 428. Tot /Jtiv ff-v/upma. thi; y^^ipctt; J'i^iT^cti^ Tat cTs ctworgut 
 aTTo^AKhiiv. Basil. Mag. in Moral, lib. Sum. 72. cap. 1. vide etiam 
 eundem. Sum. 80. cap. 22. et Homil. de Confes. fidei. et passim. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 99 
 
 council, wherein are many witnessing together, that 
 the Scripture is so perfect that nothing is to be add- 
 ed to it.* Ambrose said, " Anathema to him, that 
 adds anything to the Scripture, or takes from it; 
 and all the bishops said, let him be accursed.'^ And 
 their own canon law,t reciting the words of Cyprian, 
 " That the Scripture must be followed, and not cus- 
 tom or traditions,^^ says, " If Christ only is to be 
 heard, we ought not to regard what any one before 
 us thought was to be done; but what Christ, who 
 was before all, did; neither ought we to follow the 
 custom of men, but the truth of God; since the 
 Lord has said by the prophet Isaias, " In vain do 
 they worship me, teaching the commands and doc- 
 trine of men.'' And again,J " It is not lawful for 
 the emperor, or any other person piously disposed, 
 to presume any thing against the divine precepts, 
 nor to do any thing that is contrary to the rules of 
 the evangelists, prophets, or apostles." Then their 
 writings must be perfect, or we shall often be at a 
 loss for want of a rule to direct us. All these, and 
 multitudes more, taught this long before Luther. 
 
 ^ Concil. Aquileien. Surius. torn. 1. de Concil. p. 477. 
 t Corp. Jur. Can. Distinct. 8, c. si Solus. 
 % Ibid. Distinct. 10. c. non licet. 
 
100 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 II. That the People ought to read the Scripture^ 
 and therefore it ought to he translated into 
 Vulgar Tongues^ was a Doctrine taught long 
 before Luther. 
 
 By Chrysostom,* '' ' Let the word of God dwell 
 in you richly^ — he doth not say only ' let it dwell in 
 in you/ but ' in great abundance.' Hear this, ye 
 worldly men, that have wives and children, how he 
 commands you to read the Scriptures, and that not 
 slightly, but with all diligence. Hear this, I pray 
 you, all ye that are careful about the things of this 
 life, and get you Bibles, which are the medicines of 
 your souls. Ignorance of the Scriptures is the cause 
 of all evils. We go to war without our weapons, 
 how then can we be safe V^ &c. In another place, 
 he instructed the people, "That when they went 
 from the congregation to their houses, they should 
 take their Bibles, and call their wives and children 
 to participate of the discourse of the things that were 
 said.'' And in another place, he exhorts them dili- 
 gently to attend the reading of the Holy Scripture, 
 ''Not only when they came to the assembly, but 
 
 * 'Aicovtrctjs o<rot is-Ti Kocr/Aticot jcai yvv£it}tog kai TTAtSm 7r^oi(rrcta-^i^ 
 7em iccti Cjuiv iTriTgiTTii fxdLKt(7i-dL TdLC ygcKpug dLVdUvoo^icm. Kat/ ovK aTTKoo; 
 ovh a; irv^iv, cikka /u{}a ttokkhq rug (TTrovSuc. — ^aKova-ctli, TrctgctKA^^co 
 9rityjig oi j^tcoltKOt nAl Klaa-^i /^i/^xtct (pct^/udLKA t«? 4'^X^^' Touto TTAvlm 
 airtciv rm xit^av, to /ulu itJ^ivm Tctc ygcKpag. Xcc^tc ottkoiv ug ttoM/uov 
 /ictSi^o/uiv Ka.1 Tra; gcTs/ <ra^nvstt, &c, Chrysost. in Coloss. Homil. 9. 
 Item in Mat. Homil. 2. in Mat. Hom. 5. to this purpose also, de 
 Lazar. Hom, 3. in Genes. Homil, 29. In Johan. Homil. 1. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 101 
 
 at home to take the Sacred Scriptures into their 
 hands;'^ and this he does by an argument drawn 
 from the great profit that they may receive thereby. 
 Elsewhere, he also mentions, that the Syrians, Egyp- 
 tians, Indians, Persians, Ethiopians, and multitudes 
 more, had the doctrines of the Scripture translated 
 into their own tongues. 
 
 The like also by Saint Augustine,* " It is come 
 to pass that the Scripture, wherewith so many dis- 
 eases of men^s wills are healed, proceeding from 
 one tongue, which fitly might be dispersed through 
 the world, being spread far and wide by means of 
 the divers languages whereinto it is translated, is 
 thus made known to nations for their salvation; 
 which, when they read, they desire nothing else but 
 to attain to the mind of him that wrote it, and so to 
 the will of God, according to which we believe such 
 men spake/^ 
 
 To the new doctrine of Hosius, president at the 
 council of Trent,! " That a distaff was fitter for 
 women than a Bible,^^ we will oppose the testimony 
 of Theodoret,J of the old practice in the church on 
 this point: "^ You shall every where see these points 
 of our faith to be known and understood, not only 
 by such as are teachers in the church, but even of 
 cobblers, and smiths, and weavers, and all kinds of 
 artificers; yea all our women, not they only who 
 
 * Aug. de Doct. Christ, lib. 2. cap. 5. 
 t Hos. de Expres. Dei Verb. 
 t Tlieodorot. de Curand : Grceco. aftect. lib. 5. 
 I2 
 
102 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 are book-learned, but they also that get their living 
 with their needle, yea maid servants, and waiting 
 women; and not citizens only, but husbandmen of 
 the country, are very skilful in these things; yea, 
 you may hear our ditchers, and neat-herds, and 
 wood-setters, discoursing of the Trinity and crea- 
 tion,'' &c. 
 
 III. That Religious Worship was not to be given 
 
 to Images^ or Reliques of Saints^ was taught 
 
 long before Luther, 
 
 When Polycarp suffered, the envious persecutors 
 not willing that his body should be honourably 
 buried, as the Christians were desirous to do, moved 
 the proconsul not to deliver to the Christians the 
 body of Polycarp, lest they, leaving Christ, should 
 fall to worship him; concerning which the Church 
 of Smyrna, in their epistle to the church at'Philo- 
 milium, &c., said, " This they said, being ignorant 
 of this, that we can never forsake Christ, and that 
 we can worship no other; for we worship Christ as 
 the Son of God, the martyrs we love as disciples 
 and followers of the Lord.''"^ 
 
 About the time of Sylvester I., who lived A. D. 
 314, a council was so far from worshipping images, 
 that "they would not have any pictures in the 
 churches, lest that which is worshipped or adored 
 
 * Euseb. Eccles. Histor. lib. 4. cap. 15, 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 103 
 
 should be painted on walls/'* Also, about the year 
 700, a synod at Constantinople (which the Greeks 
 call the seventh,) not only condemned the worship 
 of images, but also images themselves, and that they 
 should be cast out of churches. Gregory, bishop 
 of Neocsesarea (not the ancient of that title, but 
 another since him), wrote a book against images, 
 which was read and approved by this council, and 
 inserted into the synodical acts as a common de- 
 cree; in which book there are testimonies of Scrip- 
 ture and fathers against the idolatry of images; and 
 that they would not allow any image or picture of 
 Christ, but anathematized them that should draw 
 his effigies in material colours, (Can. 8 — 13), and 
 determined that there was one only image appointed 
 by Christ, to wit, the blessed bread and wine in 
 the eucharist [Lord's supper] which represent to 
 us the body and blood of Christ. The second 
 Nicene synod was against this, and for images, and 
 a synod at Francfort against the second council and 
 their images.t 
 
 Pezelius gives us this account, that Leo III., em- 
 peror, called a synod about the year 730, in which 
 it was controverted, whether images were to be 
 worshipped, &c. the issue whereof was that the 
 fathers then present, (except only Germanus, who 
 
 * Placuit, picturas in ecclesia esse non debcre ; ne quod coli- 
 tur, aut adoratur, in parietibus depingatur. ConciI.Eliber. Can. 
 36. 
 
 t Illiric. Calal. Test. Verit. pag. 73, 74. 
 
104 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 therefore resigned, and one Anastasius was chosen 
 in his room) condemned and subscribed, that the 
 worshipping of images and relics was mere idola- 
 try, contrary to the Scripture; and the intercession 
 of saints a fable. The emperor put the decrees of 
 the synod into execution, commanded the images 
 to be brought into the midst of the city and burned; 
 and the pictures on walls to be whited over, and so 
 defaced; and wrote to pope Gregory III. (according 
 to some, Gregory II.) and commanded him, as he 
 would keep in his favour, to do the like. After him 
 his son Constantinus, called Copronymus, out of his 
 zeal, called a synod at Byzantium, A. D. 754, which 
 is called the seventh general council, where were 
 present 338 fathers, where the question was dis- 
 cussed, whether it was lawful that images should so 
 much as be in churches; they receiving the decrees 
 of the first and second councils of Constantinople, 
 Ephesus, Nice, and Chalcedon, determined with 
 one consent, that all images should, as abominations, 
 be cast away. Pezel. and Lampad. Mellific. Histor. 
 par. 3. pag. 37,41. 
 
 IV. That Invocation of Angels and Saints is 
 unlaivfulj was taught long before Luther. 
 By the council of Laodicea which was about the 
 year 364, according to Caranza, who, relating the 
 canon I am to produce, for Angelos reads twice 
 Jiiigulos, to evade the force of the counciFs canon, 
 which he could not stand before; for which tricks 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 105 
 
 of legerdemain their translations are little to be 
 trusted to. See the Greek text. 
 
 " Christians ought not to forsake the church of 
 God, and go and call upon angels, and gather assem- 
 blies, which are forbidden; if therefore any shall be 
 found giving himself to this secret idolatry, let him 
 be accursed, because he hath forsaken our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and hath approached 
 to idolatry.^'"^ 
 
 The papists are so humble that they will not go 
 to God, but have recourse to saints, to intercede for 
 them. Who taught the contrary before Luther? 
 Multitudes. One of which, because it is so much to 
 the point, I will transcribe. Ambrose, who died 
 A. D. 397, condemned those " who used such a mi- 
 serable excuse, in that they think to go to God by 
 these, as men go to a king by his nobles. Go to, 
 is any man so mad or so unmindful of his salvation 
 as to give the king's honour to a courtier? which if 
 any do, are they not righteously condemned as guihy 
 of treason ? And yet these do not think themselves 
 to be guilty, who give the honour of the name of 
 God to a creature, and forsaking the Lord, adore their 
 fellow servants. For men go to the king by tri- 
 
 el^iiVAt KAt ctyyiKoug ovo/ua^uv nut a-vvu^uc nxroimf ATTi^ ATrnyo^tutlAi, 
 
 "El T/? OVV gJpg3'« TOLulnTH KiKpuJU/UiVH ilSa>KOXA'T^UA O-^OKA^CdV iff'TOi AVCt' 
 
 ^ifAct. 'Oli iytLctJtKtTTiv rov Kv^tov »iu.a>v 'luaovv Xgt<rTov^ tov t/ior tow 
 3-«oy, }cctt itSocKoxAT^uct TTgoo-nK^iv. Consil. Laodic. Can. 35. Co- 
 dice Canonum Eccles. Univers. Can. 131). 
 
106 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 bunes or officers, because the king is but a man, and 
 knows not to whom to commit the state of the com- 
 monwealth; but to procure the favour of God, (from 
 whom nothing is hid, for he knows the works of all 
 men) we need no spokesman, but a devout mind; 
 for wheresoever such a one shall speak unto him, 
 he will answer him/^* 
 
 V. That there are hut two Places for the Souls 
 of Men after Death, and consequently no Pur- 
 gatory , was taught long before Luther. 
 
 Augustin, born above a thousand years before 
 Luther, taught, '^ That there is no middle place for 
 any. He must needs be with the devil that is not 
 with Christ.'^t Again, ^^The catholic faith, rest- 
 ing upon divine authority, believes the first place, 
 the kingdom of heaven; and the second, hell; a 
 
 * Solent tamen pudorem passi, neglecti Dei raiser^ uti excusa- 
 tione, dicentes per istos posse ire ad deum, sicuti per comites 
 pervenitur ad regem. Age, nunquid tarn demens est aliquis, 
 aut salutis suae immemor, ut honorificentiam regis vendicet 
 comiti, cum de hac re si qui etiam tractare fuerint inventi, jure 
 ut rei damnentur majestatis? et isti se non putant reos, qui 
 honorem nominis Dei deferunt creaturse, et relicto domino con- 
 servos adorant. Nam ideo ad regem per tribunos aut comites 
 itur, quia homo utique est rex, et nescit quibus debeat rempubli- 
 cam credere. Ad Deum autem (quem utique nihil latet, 
 omnium enim merita novit) promerendum suffragatore non 
 opus est, sed mente devota. Ubicunque enim talis loquutus 
 fuerit ei, respondebit illi. Ambros. in Roman, c. 1. 
 
 t August, de Pec. Merit, et Remis. 1. 1. c, 28* 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 107 
 
 third we are wholly ignorant of/^* Again, " What 
 Abraham says to the rich man in Luke, ' That the 
 righteous, though they would, cannot go to the place 
 where the wicked are tormented;' what does it 
 mean, but that the godly can afford no help of mer- 
 cy, though they would, to those that are shut up in 
 prison after this life, that they should come out 
 from thence, and that through the unchangeableness 
 of God's judgmentP'^t Again, "There is no place 
 for the amending of our ways but in this life; for 
 after this life every one shall receive according to 
 what he seeks after in this; therefore the love of 
 mankind constrains us to intercede for sinners, lest 
 by punishment they so end this life, that their life 
 being ended, their punishment never ends/' Ano- 
 ther, "Whatsoever state or condition, whether 
 good or bad, a man is taken in when he dies, so 
 must he abide for ever; for he shall either rest in 
 eternal happiness with the saints and the Lord 
 Christ, or shall be tormented in darkness with the 
 wicked and the devil. "J This cannot be purgatory, 
 for the papists do not say that the wicked, or the 
 devils are in purgatory, but in hell. 
 
 VI. That the Marriage of Ministers was law- 
 ful, was taught long before Luther, 
 Long before indeed; for the sixth of the (sup- 
 
 * Idem. Quest. Evang. lib. 2. cap. 38. 
 
 t Idem, ad Maced. Epist. 54. 
 
 I Olympiodor. in 11. cap. Ecclesias. 
 
108 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 posed) apostolical canons, owned by the church of 
 Rome, is in these words, " Let not a bishop or a 
 presbyter, upon pretence of religion, put away his 
 wife; but if he do, let him be excommunicated; if 
 he shall persist therein, let him be deposed/'* 
 
 The council at Ancyra also decreed, '^ That such 
 as in their ordination declared their purpose to mar- 
 ry, if they did so, should continue in their minis- 
 try."! Another council, about the year 300, de- 
 creed, " That if any should judge, that he ought not 
 to partake of the oblation from a married presbyter, 
 let him be accursed/' J And the first general coun- 
 cil at Nice, that had this under debate after Paphnu- 
 tius had delivered his judgment about it, left it at 
 every minister's liberty to marrj^, or not marry, as 
 they should see cause ;§ which the Romanists' canon 
 law also sets down. Likewise this is fully stated in 
 the sixth general council, " That the lawful mar- 
 riages of holy men should be valid, but whosoever 
 is found diligent should no way be hindered from 
 that oflSce, because of living with his lawful wife. 
 Therefore if any shall presume, contrary to the 
 apostle's rules, to deprive any presbyters or deacons, 
 of communion with their lawful waives, let him be 
 
 * Caranz. Sum. Concil. p. 14. 
 
 t Concil. Ancyran. Can. 10. Codice vero Can. Eccles. Uni- 
 vers. Can. 30. 
 
 X Codex Can. Eccles. Univers. Can. 63. Concil. Gangrens, 
 Can. 4. 
 
 § Corp. Jur. Canon. Distin. 31. c. Nicsena Synodus. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 109 
 
 deposed." Well said! and if this could have been 
 put into execution, the pope would have been down 
 long before now, or mended his tyrannical dealings; 
 and yet this stands in their canon law,* and they act 
 quite contrary to it. There being so many councils, 
 and so many ancient fathers in all these councils, I 
 need not look for more, to tell you who taught this 
 doctrine before Luther. 
 
 VII. Comniunion in both kinds was taught long 
 before Luther, 
 By Ignatius; "One bread is broken to all, and 
 one cup distributed to all.'^t And by Justin Mar- 
 tyr; " They give to every one that is present, of 
 the consecrated bread and wine, as Christ com- 
 manded them. '^ J And by Cyprian; " How do we 
 invite them to shed their blood for Christ in the 
 confession of his name, if when they set forth to 
 fight for him, we deny them his blood? How shall 
 we fit them for the cup of martyrdom, if before, 
 we admit them not by right of communion, to drink 
 of the Lord's cup in his church?''§ In another 
 place thus; " Because some men out of ignorance, 
 
 * Jus Canon, pars prim, distinct. 31. c. quoniam in Roman. 
 t Ei'c Kctt d^og rote 7ra.<7iv i^^v(p^ii^ Kcti h 7ro]n^tcv to/? okoi; Snvif^yi- 
 3-H. Ignat. ad Philad. 
 
 Aprov Kdti oivov Kctt v^dLTog KA^ctg TTetpiJ'cDKUv ivrrtTAK^ai uuTGiQ \na-ouv. 
 Just. Apol. 2. in fine. 
 § Cyprian. Epist. 54. 
 
110 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 or simplicity, in sanctifying the cup of the Lord, and 
 ministering it to the people, do not that which Christ 
 the institutor thereof did and taught, I thought it 
 both matter of religion and necessity, to acquaint 
 you herewith by letters, that if any one is held in 
 that error, the light of truth being now discovered to 
 him, he might return to the root and beginning of 
 our Lord's institution,'^* &c. Fully and plainly by 
 Chrysostom, " That the people have as good a title 
 to the cup as the minister. Sometimes, and in some 
 things, there is no difference between the people and 
 the priest, as in the participation of the dreadful 
 mysteries; for all are equally admitted to them. In 
 the time of the old law, it was not lawful for the 
 people to eat of those things of which the priests 
 ate; but it is not so now, for one body is offered to 
 all, and one cup.''* 
 
 I must quote here the doctrine of Leo the Great, 
 who was a bishop of Rome, A. D. 440, and yet 
 counted it sacrilege not to have the cup received by 
 the people. He says thus, speaking of the Mani- 
 chees; " And when, to cover their infidelity, they 
 dare be present at our mysteries, they so carry 
 themselves at the communion of the sacrament, that 
 they may the more safely lie hid; they take the 
 body of Christ with their unworthy mouths, but 
 
 ^ Cyprian. Epist. 63. 
 
 uKKct TTcta-tv h <ra)fA.± ^poKiflat^ Kctt TTolijgtoy iv. Chrysost. in 2, Cor. 
 Horn. 18. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. Ill 
 
 they altogether decline the drinking of the blood of 
 our redemption; which I would have you to know, 
 that these men, by this mark, may be made mani- 
 fest, and their sacrilegious simulation be discover- 
 ed; and that, being marked, they may, by priest- 
 ly authority, be driven from the society of the 
 saints.'^* &c. 
 
 Because in councils there are many witnesses at 
 once, let us hear them. The council at Ancyra, 
 held, A. D. 308, (which, though but provincial, yet as 
 Caranza says, was confirmed by the general council 
 at Nice), decreed, Can. 2: "that deacons that had 
 sacrificed to idols, should not deliver the bread nor 
 the cup in the sacrament.'' Whence it appears that 
 in that age the cup was given as well as the bread. 
 And the council at Neocesarea, confirmed also by 
 the Nicene council. Can. 13. decreed, "That the 
 country priests, in the presence of the bishop, or 
 presbyters of the city, should not give the bread, 
 nor reach the cup; but if they were absent, they 
 alone should do it." At the general council at 
 Chalcedon, consisting of 630 fathers, the seventh ac- 
 
 * Cumque ad tegendum infidelitatem suam nostris audeant 
 interesse mysteriis, ita in sacramentorum communione se tem- 
 perant, ut interdum tutius lateant; ore indigno Christi corpus 
 accipiunt; sanguincm autem redemtionis nostrce haurire omnino 
 declinant. Quod ideo vestram volumus scire sanctitatem, ut 
 vobis hujuscemodi homines, et his rnanifestentur indiciis, et 
 quorum deprehensa fuerit sacrilega simulalio, notati et proditi, 
 a sanctorum societate, sacerdotali autoritate pellantur, &c. — 
 Leo 1. de Quadrages. Serm. 4. 
 
112 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 cusation brought against Iba, bishop of Edessa, was^ 
 " That there was not sufficient quantity of wine pro- 
 vided, SO that those who administered, were con- 
 strained to go to the taverns for more.'^* But why 
 this complaint, if the people were not to drink as well 
 as to eat? This being a general council, it seems, 
 that through the whole church the cup was given 
 to the laity. This was about the year 451, in the 
 time of Leo I. In the third Toletan council it was 
 decreed, that through all the churches of Spain and 
 Gallicia, " the creed should be repeated with a loud 
 voice, and the people make profession of their faith, 
 before they receive the body and blood of Christ/^ 
 At the council of Ilerda, it was decreed, " That the 
 clergy that deliver Christ^s body and blood, should 
 abstain from all men^s blood, even of their enemies.^'! 
 I will add one more testimony of one of their bi- 
 shops of Rome, full and good protestant doctrine, 
 which I find in their decretals. Gelasius, who was 
 bishop of Rome, (for as yet there were no popes 
 properly, as they now use the w^ord,) in the year 
 492, says thus, " We have found that certain hav- 
 ing received a portion of the sacred body, abstain 
 from the cup of his sacred blood, being entangled 
 with I know not what superstition. Let them either 
 receive the whole sacrament, or else let them be 
 wholly excluded from receiving, because the divi- 
 sion of one and the self-same mystery cannot be 
 
 * Concil. Chalced. apud Surium, torn. 2. act. 10. 
 
 t Concil. Herd. Can. I. apud Magdeburg. Cent. 6. p. 467. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 113 
 
 without grievous sacrilege/'* Well said, Gela- 
 sius! Hear it, ye papists, who ask, who preached 
 our doctrine before Luther? Gelasius, bishop of 
 Rome, taught of old that the not partaking in both 
 kinds, is 1, superstition; 2, a maiming or halving of 
 the sacrament; 3, that it is grand sacrilege. Was 
 your bishop in his chair when he thus determined? 
 and yet will you neither believe that he erred, nor 
 yet give the cup to the people, though he infallibly 
 dictated this to be a duty? Surely he erred in say- 
 ing so, or you err in not doing so. 
 
 VIII. That in the LorcTs Supper after consecra- 
 tion^ there is true and real Bread, and true and 
 real Wine, was a Doctrine taught by many 
 long before Luther. 
 
 By Tertullian; " Christ taking the bread and dis- 
 tributing it to his disciples, made it his body, say- 
 ing, ^This is my body,' that is [mark this] a figure 
 of my body.^t By Augustine, who brings in our 
 Saviour speaking after this manner, " Ye shall not 
 eat this body which ye see, nor drink that blood 
 which they shall shed that will crucify me: I have 
 
 * Comperimus autem, quod quidam sumpta tantummodo cor- 
 poris sacri portione a calice sacri cruoris abstineant. Qui pro- 
 cul dubio (quoniam nescio qua superstitione docentur obstringi) 
 aut integra sacrainenta percipiant, aut ab integris arceantur, 
 quia divisio unius ejusdemque mysterii sine grandi sacrilegio 
 non potest provenire. Corpus jur. Can. Decret. pars 3. Distinct. 3. 
 
 1 Hoc est corpus meum, i. e. figura corporis niei. Tert. adv. 
 Marc. 1. 4. 
 
 k2 
 
114 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 commended a certain sacrament to you, which being 
 spiritually understood will quicken you.^^^ By 
 Gelasius, saying, '' The sacraments which we re- 
 ceive of the body and blood of Christ, are a divine 
 thing, by means whereof we are made partakers of 
 the divine nature, and yet the substance or nature 
 of bread and wine does not cease to be, and indeed 
 the^image and the similitude of the body and blood 
 of Christy are celebrated in the action of the mys- 
 teries/^t 
 
 By Ambrose; "How can that w^hich is bread, 
 by consecration, be the body of Christ? By the 
 words of Christ. What words of Christ? By which 
 all things were made. The Lord commanded, and 
 the heaven was made; the Lord commanded, and 
 the earth and the sea were made. Seest thou then 
 how powerful is the word of Christ ? If therefore 
 there be such virtue in the words of our Lord to 
 make those things that were not, to begin to be, 
 how much more powerful is his word, that they 
 remain the same they were, and yet be changed 
 into another thing ?''^ J 
 
 ^ Non hoc corpus quod videtis manducaturi estis, et bibituri 
 ilium sanguinem, quern fusuri sunt, qui me crucifigent ; sacra- 
 mentum aliquod vobis commendavi : spiritualiter intellectum, 
 vivificabit vos. August, in Psal. 98. 
 
 t Certa saeramenta quae sumimus corporis et sanguinis Christi 
 divina res est. et tamen esse non desinit substantia vel natura 
 panis et vini. Gelasi. de Duab. Natur. in Christ, contra Eu- 
 tychen. 
 
 t Si ergo tanta vis est in sermone Domini Jesu, ut inciperent 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 115 
 
 This author acknowledges a change, but not a 
 transubstantiating change, for he expressly says, 
 "They are what they were.'^ It was bread and 
 wine before, and therefore though set apart for holy 
 use, yet not changed into another nature, so as, for 
 substance, to cease to be what they were. And he 
 instances the change which takes place in conver- 
 sion. We are made new creatures, but not by being 
 changed into a new substance, but our souls are set 
 upon right objects, &c. And when the objection is 
 made, " But I do not see blood in kind,^' he replies, 
 "But it has the likeness or similitude of it; and 
 thou drinkest that which has the resemblance of the 
 precious blood of Christ." This was taught then 
 above a thousand years before Luther by this father. 
 And so it was by Chrysostom also, who says, " If 
 it be perilous to put these hallowed vessels to pri- 
 vate use, in which is not the true body of Christ, 
 ,but the mystery of his body is contained therein, 
 how much more,''^ &c. 
 
 esse quaB non erant; quanto magis operatorius est, ut SINT 
 QU^ ERANT et in aliud commutentur ? Tu ipse eras, sed 
 eras vetus creatura ; posteaquam consecratus es, nova creatura 
 esse coepisti. Sed forte dicis, speciem sanguinis non video. 
 Sed habet similitudinem. Similitudinem preciosi sanguinis bibis. 
 Ambros. de Sacram. lib. 4. cap. 4. edit, (mihi) Paris, 15^29. 
 * Chrysost. in Mat. torn, postr. 2. Horn. 11. 
 
116 THE KOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 IX. That the Bishop of Rome was not the Uni- 
 versal Head of the Catholic Churchy nor the 
 Judge in whose definitive sentence all were 
 bound to acquiesce^ was taught long before 
 
 Luther. 
 
 In the second century after Christ, there were 
 six councils, provincial only, the cause of which 
 was the difference about the feast of Easter. Ire- 
 naeus,* president of the synod in France, wrote to 
 Victor, then bishop of Rome, and sharply repre- 
 hended him for going about to sever from the unity 
 in communion all the churches of Asia; which did 
 not please all the bishops. So Eusebius. In the 
 year 418 was the sixth council of Carthage, which 
 resisted three popes one after another. z\bout the 
 year 450 the council of Chalcedon withstood Leo, 
 then bishop of Rome, in the question of supremacy. 
 
 Illyricus, upon his word, affirms, that he saw an 
 epistle of the bishops of France and Germany (writ- 
 ten by Avenlinus^ to An:^.:s:us. bishop of Rome, 
 and others of his accomplices, the sum whereof 
 was, to admonish the pope and those bishops of 
 Italy that sided with him, to let them alone, and 
 not proceed to exercise their tyranny over them. 
 The whole epistle is to be found in Illyricus, Catal. 
 Test. Verit. pag. 41. 
 
 The bishops also of Belgia, about the year 560, 
 
 * Euseb. Histor. Eccles. lib. 5, cap. '23. Qti. et lib. 7. cap. 5. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 117 
 
 contested with the pope. Their epistle to pope 
 Nicolas I. is taken by Illyricus out of Aventinus; 
 in the close of which epistle they declare that for 
 the causes beforementioned: "They would not 
 stand to his decrees, nor hear his voice, nor fear his 
 thundering bulls. Thou condemnest them that obey 
 not the decrees of the senate. We assault thee with 
 thine own weapon, that despisest the decree of our 
 Lord God. The Holy Spirit is the author of all 
 the churches which are spread both far and near; 
 the city of our God, whose free denizens we are, is 
 greater than that city which by the holy prophets 
 is called Babylon, which exalts herself to heaven, 
 and falsely glories that she never has erred, nor can 
 err."* 
 
 Ludovicus, the emperor, son of Charles the Great, 
 and the nobles and clergy in his time, did not own 
 the bishop of Rome to have that headship and power 
 which they now claim and usurp ; when by his own 
 authority, without any mention of the pope, he as- 
 
 * Hisce de causis, cum fratribus nostris et collegis, neque 
 edictis tuis stamus, neque vocem tuam agnoscimus, neque tuas 
 buUas tonitruaque tua timemus; tu eos qui senates consultis 
 non parent, impietalis condemnas. Nos tuo te ense jugulamus, 
 qui edictum Domini Dei nostri conspuis, — Spiritus Sanctus autor 
 est omnium ecclesiarum, quk longissime et latissime terrarum 
 orbis porrigitur. Civitas Dei nostri, cujus municipes sumus, 
 major est urbe, quaB Babylonia a sacris vatibus appellatur, quoe 
 — coelo se acquat, neque unquam se errasse, aut erraro posse 
 mendaciter gloriatur. lllyric. Catal. Test. Verit. (ex Aventin.) 
 pag. 80. 
 
118 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 sembled several councils. Besides others, he called 
 four several synods for the reformation of the 
 church of France, viz. at Mentz, at Paris, at Lyons, 
 and at Toulouse, to inquire what was held answera- 
 ble or contrary to the revealed will of God, and 
 wherein they departed from the Holy Scripture. 
 He was so famous for the church's good procured 
 by him, that Platina, bewailing the most horrible 
 wickedness of the popes and their clergy in his 
 days, cries out, ^^0 Ludovice, utinam nunc viveres.^' 
 Ludovicus, I wish thou wert now alive.* 
 
 Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, openly pub- 
 lished, " That it was not lawful for the inferior 
 bishops, upon any public or general occasion, to 
 consult the pope, unless they had first advised there- 
 of with their own archbishops; that it was needless 
 for archbishops to expect resolutions from the see of 
 Rome concerning such things as are already sen- 
 tenced in Holy Scripture, in the councils, canons 
 and decrees of the church.'' He expounded those 
 w^ords, Tu es Petrus, thou art Peter, thus, "Upon 
 this sure and solid confession of faith which thou 
 hast made, will I build my church." And as touch- 
 ing the power of binding and loosing, he wrote to 
 the pope himself, Leo IV., " That that power was 
 passed and derived from St. Peter, and from th^ 
 rest of the apostles, to all the chief heads of the 
 church; and that St. Peter's privilege took place 
 
 * Illyric. Catal. p. 86. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY, 119 
 
 only where men judge according to the equity of 
 St. Peter, and is of force wheresoever that equity is 
 used.'^* If Luther had now been born, (as he was 
 not for many hundred years after) this would have 
 been called Luther's doctrine. 
 
 Likewise when Leo IV. encroached upon the 
 church of Germany, Luithpert, archbishop of Mentz, 
 writing to Lewis, king of Germany, speaks much 
 against the pope, saying, " That the church's head 
 ached, and if speedy remedy were not taken, it 
 would quickly distil upon the members.'' 
 
 Arnulphus, in a synod held at Rheims, noted the 
 pope to be antichrist;! saying, " What, reverend 
 fathers, what I say think you him to be, who sitteth 
 thus on a lofty throne, in purple robes, and glitter- 
 ing gold ? Certainly, if he be void of charity, lifted 
 and puffed up only with knowledge, he is anti- 
 christ, sitting in the temple of God ; but if he want 
 both charity and knowledge, then he is an idol; 
 
 * Magdeb. Centur. 9. pag. 338. Proceres regni affirmare, 
 inquit, ilia nova et inaudita esse, quod papa velit sibi dc jure 
 regnorum judicia sumere ; non posse eum simul episcopum et 
 regem esse, &c. llincmar. Apud Magd. Cent. 9. p. 356. Monet 
 pontificem ne tarn temere excommunicationes prfficipiat. Sed 
 patiatur causas diligentius in suis provinciis cognosci, et juxta 
 canones dijudicari. Hincmar. Magd. Cen. 9. p. 524. Luitlipert, 
 Otgarius, Guntherus, Colonicnsis, Thetgondus, Treverensis, et 
 alii Episcopi {3elgici graviter tyrannidem Rom. Pont, redargu- 
 unt. Magd. Cent. 9. p. 338. item Ecclcsia; Grweorum, et Im- 
 peratores contra Papam, vide Mag. Centur. 9. 340, 341. 
 
 * See Magdeb. Cent. IG. p. 48G— 489. 
 
120 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 and to seek to him for answer is to inquire of mar- 
 ble stones.'^ 
 
 Theophylact, archbishop of the Bulgarians, ex- 
 pounding these words, [Upon this rock will I build 
 my church,] made no mention of the pope of Rome, 
 saying, " That confession that Peter made, should 
 become the foundation of the faithful, in such sort 
 that every man that would build the house, must 
 necessarily put this confession for his foundation." 
 Of the power of the keys he said, " Though it were 
 only said to Peter, To thee will I give, &c., yet 
 that power was once given to all the apostles, w^hen 
 he said. Whose sins ye remit, they shall be remit- 
 ted."* 
 
 Famous is the history of Otho,t who assembled a 
 great synod in the church of St. Peter at Rome, of 
 archbishops, and bishops in Rome, from Milan, 
 Ravenna, Germany and France; to which pope 
 John XIII. would not come; to whom a letter was 
 sent by the emperor, that he would make his ap- 
 pearance to answer to the things of which he was 
 accused (and they were very many and very hei- 
 nous)t to which letter he returned this answer; " I 
 
 * Theoph. in Mar. c. 16. et Joh. 20. 
 
 t Magd. Centur. 10. de Synod, pag. 433, &c. 
 
 t Johannes 13. venationibus magis quam orationibus vacabat, 
 et multa alia auditu indigna de eo dicuntur. Caranz. Sum. 
 Concil. pag. 787. In hoc Concilio, objectis in Johannem crimi- 
 nibus, homicidii, perjurii, sacrilegii, incestus, aliorumque ne- 
 fandorum scelerum, &c. — Luitprand, apud Baron, in Spond. 
 Epitom. in annum, 963. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 121 
 
 hear say you mean to create another pope, which if 
 you doj I excommunicate you by the Omnipotent 
 God, that you have no power to ordain any, nor to 
 celebrate the mass/' When this letter was reading, 
 the archbishop of Trevers, and other bishops of 
 Lorrain, Liguria, and Emilia came in, by whose 
 advice the emperor and synod sent this answer: 
 " That they made light of his excommunication, 
 and they would return it upon himself; for when 
 Judas had become a murderer, he could tie none but 
 himself, strangling himself with a halter/' — Otho 
 deposed pope John, and took into his hands the no- 
 minating and making of popes afterwards. As yet 
 emperors were not come to wait barefoot at the 
 pope's palace, nor to hold his stirrups. 
 
 When the pope, A. D. 996, sent a cardinal into 
 France to consecrate a church there, the prelates of 
 France hearing of it, "judged it to be sacrilegious 
 presumption, proceeding from blind ambition, that 
 he vshould transgress apostolical and canonical or- 
 ders, especially being confirmed by many autho- 
 rities."* 
 
 Gregory VII., strictly forbidding priests to mar- 
 ry, writes to the princes of Germany, " That they 
 should not frequent the masses of married priests:"! 
 
 * Glaber. Historiarum, lib. 2. cap. 4. Baron. Annales, Ann. 
 906. 
 
 \ Adversus Hildebrandi Decretum (quo magmi severitate 
 sacerdotum conjugium damnabat per universum Chrislianuni 
 orbem) infremuit tota factio cloricorum ; homincni plane lia^- 
 
 L 
 
122 THE XOVELTT OF POPERY. 
 
 but yet the bishops in Germany refused to yield to 
 this decree, or to depose those priests that were mar- 
 ried, defending themselves by the authority of the 
 Scripture, ancient councils, and the primitive church ; 
 adding thereto, '' That the commandment of God, 
 and human necessity directly oppugned the pope's 
 decree/^ They long continued to defend their li- 
 berty, insomuch that, seeing neither reason, nor 
 prayer, nor disputation would serve the turn, the 
 clergy consulting together what to do; some ad- 
 vised, not to return again to the synod, others to 
 return and thrust out the archbishop from his seat, 
 and give him due punishment of death for his de- 
 servings, that by the example of him, others might 
 be warned hereafter, never to attempt that thing any 
 more to the prejudice of the church, and the right- 
 ful liberty of ministers. The archbishop spake 
 them fair, and bade them be of good hope; he 
 would send again to Hildebrand (the pope) and they 
 should have what would content their minds; will- 
 ing them, in the mean time, to continue as they 
 had done, in their cure and ministry. The next year 
 
 reticum, et vesani dogmatis esse clamitans. — Nauclerus, vol. 2. 
 General. 36. apud >Iagd. cent. 11. p. 359. Quod sacerdotibus 
 connubiis interdixit Hildeb. Pontifex, plerisque episcopis no- 
 vum dogma, omnium maxime pestifera haeresis, quae unquam 
 Christianum pertarbassel regnum. visa est. Quamobrem Ita- 
 liae, Germaniae, Gallias pontifices, Hildeb. contra pietatem 
 Christianara, verbis, faclis agere, facere decernunt; eundem am- 
 bitus, haereseos, impiet^tis, sacrilegii condemnant. Avent. lib, 
 5. Annal. Illyric. Catal. et Mag. cent. 11. pag. 3S9. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 123 
 
 the pope sent bishop Curiensis as legate to the arch- 
 bishop of Mentz, and assembled again a council, 
 where the clergy were commanded, under pain of 
 the pope^s curse, to renounce their wives or their 
 livings. The clergy still defended their cause with 
 great constancy. In the end it broke forth into 
 such a tumult, that the legate and archbishop hardly 
 escaped with their lives. After this, the churches 
 would choose their ministers themselves, and not 
 send them to the bishops (the enemies of ministers' 
 marriage) to be confirmed and inducted; but put 
 them to their office without knowledge or leave of 
 the bishop. 
 
 The pope wrote also about this matter to Otho, 
 bishop of Constance; but this bishop would neither 
 separate those that were married, from their wives, 
 nor yet forbid them to marry that were unmarried. 
 
 The clergy of France stoutly opposed the pope's 
 bull for the excommunicating of married priests 
 that would not divorce their wives, declaring their 
 reasons from the word of God, from councils, and 
 from the necessity of nature; and resolved to lose 
 their benefices, rather than put away their wives; 
 saying, moreover, " If married priests would not 
 please the pope, he must call to angels from heaven 
 to serve the churches.''* But if these clergymen 
 would not be at the pope's beck, neither would the 
 angels in heaven; whatever other angels might do. 
 
 * Fox, Acts and Mon. vol. 1. pair. !227. 
 
124 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 In the pope's proceeding against Henry, the ena- 
 peror, he was opposed by the council at Worms, in 
 which were the bishops, not only of Saxony, but of 
 the whole empire of the Germans, who agreed and 
 concluded upon the deposing of Hildebrand; and 
 Roulandus* was sent to Rome, who, in the name of 
 the council, commanded the pope to yield up his 
 seat. 
 
 This same pope was again judged and condemned 
 by another council held at Brixia, where were di- 
 vers bishops of Italy, Lombardy and Germany, 
 in which condemnation is recited amongst other 
 things, " his usurping authority over the emperor, 
 and taking away and forbidding the marriage of 
 priests/^ 
 
 Towards the end of the year 1000, (when there 
 were again two popes at once, Urban and Clement 
 III.) William Rufus,t king of England, w^ould suf- 
 fer no appeal from England to the pope of Rome, 
 as it was not lawful to do from the time of William 
 the Conqueror. And when Anselm, archbishop of 
 Canterbury, appealed to Rome, the king charged 
 him with treason for so doing. All the bishops of 
 
 " Ronlandus sacerdos, literas imperatoris deferens, absque 
 omni salutationis honore, tibi (Hildebrandum compellans) in- 
 quit, imperator, et ItaliaB, Galliae, Germaniseque episcopi, prae- 
 cipiunt, ut te, munere quod astu, pecunia, gratia occupasti, ab- 
 dices. Non enim verus pastor, neque pater, neque pontifex 
 es, sed fur, lupus, latro et tyrannus. — Aventin. lib. 5. An. Magd. 
 Cent. 11. p. 425. 
 
 t Fox, Acts and Mon. vol. 1, p. 242. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 125 
 
 the realm stood on the king's side against Anselm: 
 though Anselm pleaded hard, saying, " Should I 
 forswear Saint Peter, I should deny Christ/' But 
 all the rest of the bishops disowned any appeal from 
 England to Rome. 
 
 About the year 1105, two famous bishops of 
 Mentz, named Henry and Christian, recorded to be 
 very virtuous and well-disposed, were cruelly and 
 tyrannically dealt with b)^ the pope. Henry would 
 make no appeal to the pope, but said, "- I appeal to 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, as to the most high and just 
 judge, and cite you (the two cardinals that had done 
 him wrong) before his judgment, there to answer me 
 before the high judge."* Upon which, they scoffing- 
 ly said, " Go you before first, and we will follow 
 after.'^ Not long after the same Henry died, where- 
 of the two persecuting cardinals having intelligence, 
 said one to another jestingly, " Behold, he is gone 
 before, and we must follow after according to our 
 promise." A little after they both died in one day. 
 
 About this time the bishop of Florence taught 
 and preached that antichrist was now manifest; for 
 which pope Paschalis burned his books.t 
 
 At this time also historians mention two more 
 famous preachers, Gerhardus and Dulcinus Navar- 
 ensis, who earnestly laboured and preached against 
 the church of Rome, defending and maintaining 
 
 * Acts and Mon. vol. 1, p. 2.">4. 
 t Acts and Mon. 254. 
 T 2 
 
126 THE XOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 ■^^ that praver was not more holy in one place than 
 in another: that the pope was antichrist; that the 
 clergv and prelates of Rome were reprobates, and 
 she the very whore of Babylon spoken of in the 
 Revelations." These two brought thirty more with 
 them into England, who by the king and prelates 
 were all burnt in the forehead, and so driven out of 
 the realm, and after that were slain by the pope. 
 
 At this time also in the city of Toulouse, tliere 
 was a great multitude of men and women whom the 
 pope's commissioners persecuted and condemned 
 for heretics: of whom some were scourged naked, 
 some chased away. One of the articles they main- 
 tained was. that the bread in the sacrament, after 
 consecration, was not the very body of the Lord.* 
 
 In Germany also, Robert Abbot, of Duits, preached 
 against the pope's jurisdiction as to temporal do- 
 minion, and interpreted that place. •'Thou art Peter, 
 and upon this rock will I build my church/* to be 
 understood concerning Christ. &c. 
 
 Besides these, Peter Bruis, A. D. 1126. and at\er 
 him his disciple Henry. A. D. 1147, in France, drew 
 many provinces from the church of Rome, preached 
 against transubstantiation, the sacrifice of the mass, 
 suflrages and oblations for the dead, purgatory, 
 worshipping of images, invocation of saints, single 
 life of priests, pilgrimages, superfluous holy days, 
 consecration of water,oil,frankincense, Sec. The pope 
 
 * Fox. Acts and Mon. vol. ] . p. 299. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 127 
 
 and his prelates they called "princes of Sodom ;'^ 
 the church of Rome they termed "Babylon, the 
 mother of fornication and confusion/^ This Peter 
 Bruis preached the word of God among the people 
 of Toulouse for the space of twenty years, with 
 great commendation, and at last was burned.* 
 
 I must but name Honorius, bishop of Augusta, 
 who set out the iniquity and wickedness of the 
 church of Rome to the life; recited largely by Du- 
 plessis, Myst. of Iniq. p. 294. And Nordbertus, A. 
 D. 1125, who protested to Bernard, that antichrist 
 he knew certainly would be revealed in this pre- 
 sent generation. And John of Sarisbury,t who, 
 visiting the pope, was asked by him, "What men 
 thought of the pope, and of the Roman church," 
 and told him to his face, " They say the pope is a 
 burden to all, and almost intolerable.'^ And much 
 more. 
 
 Did the papists never hear of the Waldenses, or 
 have they not been vexed with their doctrine before 
 Luther was born, that they ask where was our doc- 
 trine and religion before Luther? 
 
 Did the council of Constance condemn the doc- 
 trines of Wickliffe and Huss as erroneous, and was 
 there such a noise about them, and yet did not the 
 church of Rome hear of our doctrines (then owned 
 by them) before Luther? They can never make us 
 believe it. 
 
 * Petr. Cluniacens. lib. 1. Epist. 1 et 2. 
 
 t Job. Sarisbur. in Policr. lib. (3. cap. 24. Dupless. 319. 
 
128 THE >'OVELTy OF POPERY. 
 
 Let Rainerius, a friar, writing of the Waldenses, 
 or Pauperes de Lugduno, satisfy them, who says, 
 " Among all the sects that are or ever will be, none 
 can be more pernicious to the church of God [he 
 means the church of Rome] than that of Lyons.'^ 
 And he gives these three reasons, 1. " Because it 
 has continued a longer time than any. Some say 
 that it has been ever since the time of Sylvester; 
 others say from the times of the apostles. 2. Be- 
 cause it is more general, for there is almost no coun- 
 try into which this sect has not crept. 3. Because 
 all others procure horror by their blasphemies 
 against God; this of the Lyonists has a great ap- 
 pearance of piety, inasmuch as they live uprightly 
 before men, and put their trust in God in all things, 
 and observe all the articles of the creed; only they 
 blaspheme the church of Rome, and hold it in con- 
 tempt, and therein they are easily believed by the 
 people. ^'^ A fair confession for a papist! So that 
 
 * Inter omnes has sectas quae adhuc sunt, vel fuerunt, nou est 
 perniciosior ecclesise quam Leonistarum ;. et hoc tribus de causis; 
 prima est, quia est diuturnior, ahqui enim dicunt, quod duravit 
 a tempore Sylvestri : aliqui a tempore apostolorum. Secunda, 
 quia est generalior, fere enim nulla est terra, in qua haec secta 
 non sit. Tertia, quia cum aliae omnes sectae immanitate blas- 
 phemiarum in Deum, audientibus horrorem inducunt, haec mag- 
 nam habet speciem pietatis, eo quod coram hominibus juste 
 vivant. et bene omnia de Deo credant, et omnes articulos qui in 
 syrabolo continentur, solum mode Romanam ecclesiani blasphe- 
 mant et clerum, cui multitude laicoruni facilis est ad creden- 
 dum. Rainer. Cont. haer. cap. 4. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY, 129 
 
 you see, they can tell if they will, where and when, 
 and by whom, our doctrines were taught before 
 Luther; but they use this question to beguile the 
 ignorant people, "Where was your religion before 
 Luther?'^ 
 
 And Jacobus, of Riberia, acknowledges that the 
 Waldenses had continued a long time. " The first 
 place,^^ says he, "they lived in was in Narbonne, 
 in France, and in the diocese of Albie, Rhodes, 
 Cahors, &c.; and at that time, there was little or no 
 estimation of such as were called priests, bishops, 
 and ministers of the church; for being very simple, 
 and ignorant almost of all things, it was very easy 
 for them, through the excellency of their learning 
 and doctrine, to get to themselves the greatest credit 
 among the people; and inasmuch as the Waldenses 
 disputed more subtilely than all others, they were 
 often admitted by the priests to teach openly, not 
 that they approved their opinions, but because they 
 were not comparable to them in wit. In so great 
 honour was the sect of these men, that they were 
 both exempted from all charges and impositions, 
 and obtained more benefits by the wills and testa- 
 ments of the dead, than the priests.'^ 
 
 Rainerius says of them, " that they had translated 
 the Old and New Testament into the vulgar tongue. 
 They teach and learn it so well, that I have seen 
 and heard a country clown recite Job word for word, 
 and divers others that could perfectly repeat all the 
 New Testament.'^ 
 
130 THE ^'OVELTy OF POPERY. 
 
 The doctrines that these Waldenses taught before 
 Luther, are the same that the reformed churches 
 now hold. 1. That only the Holy Scripture is to 
 be believed in matters of salvation. 2. That all 
 things are contained in Holy Scripture, necessary to 
 salvation, and nothing to be admitted in religion, but 
 what is commanded in the word of God. 3. That 
 there is one only Mediator; other saints in no wise 
 to be made mediators, or to be invoked. 4. That 
 there is no purgatory. 5. That masses sung for the 
 dead are wicked. -6. All traditions to be rejected, 
 at least as necessary to salvation. 7. That differ- 
 ences of meats, variety of degrees and orders of 
 priests, friars, monks, and nuns, superfluous holy 
 days, and pilgrimages, with all the rabblement of 
 rites and ceremonies brought in by man, are to be 
 abolished. 8. That the supremacy of the pope over 
 all churches, and kings and emperors, is to be de- 
 nied. 9. That the communion in both kinds is 
 necessary to all people. 10. That the church of 
 Rome is very Babylon, and the pope antichrist. 
 11. That the pope's pardons and indulgences are to 
 be rejected. 12. That the marriage of ministers is 
 lawful, &c. Their doctrines are related by ^neas 
 Sylvius, afterwards pope, not their best friend. But 
 the English reader might find them in the Book of 
 Martyrs.^ Luther began the reformation in the 
 year 1517; these preached this doctrine before the 
 
 " -^neas Sylvius, Bohemica Historia de Waldensium Dog- 
 matibus. Fox, Acts and Mon. vol. 1. pag. 299, 300. 
 
THE NOVELTY OP POPERY. 131 
 
 year 1200; consequently our doctrine was before 
 Luther. 
 
 It would be endless to give an account of particu- 
 lar doctors, who opposed the doctrine of the church 
 of Rome, and maintained the doctrines we receive. 
 I might mention Almaricus, a doctor of Paris, who 
 suffered martyrdom for withstanding altars, images, 
 invocation of saints, and transubstantiation. Also 
 Everard,* an archbishop in Germany, in an assem- 
 bly of bishops at Regensburg, gave his judgment 
 of the bishop of Rome. "Hildebrand,^^ said he, 
 " under colour of religion, laid the foundation of the 
 kingdom of antichrist. These priests of Babylon 
 will reign alone; they can bear no equal; they will 
 never rest, till they have trampled all things under 
 their feet, and sit in the temple of God, and be 
 exalted above all that is worshipped. ' He who is 
 the servant of servants/ covets to be Lord of lords, 
 as if he were God; his brethren's counsels, yea, and 
 the counsel of his Master, he despises. He speaks 
 great things, as if he were God; in his breast he 
 casts new devices, whereby to raise a kingdom to 
 himself; he changes laws, and confirms his own; 
 he defiles, plucks down, spoils, deceives, murders. 
 Thus that child of perdition (whom they use to call 
 antichrist), in whose forehead is written the name 
 of blasphemy, I AM GOD, I cannot err, sits in the 
 temple of God, and bears rule far and near." Was 
 
 * Avcnt. lib. 7. p. 54G. 
 
132 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY, 
 
 this Luther, that speaks so like him against the 
 pope? No; one born long before him, or else the 
 papists would be ready to say. This doctor had 
 learned this from Luther. 
 
 The preachers in Sweden, publicly taught that 
 the pope and his bishops were heretics. It would 
 be too long to give account, how the pope was op- 
 posed by Frederick II., and by John, king of Eng- 
 land, a great while, though at last he delivered the 
 kingdom of England and Ireland to the pope, and 
 farmed them of him for a thousand marks per an- 
 num; and afterward was poisoned by a monk. And 
 though he made this resignation of these kingdoms 
 for himself, and his heirs forever to the pope, yet 
 his son and successor, Henry III., made great oppo- 
 sition against it, as did the lords and nobles in his 
 father's days, who have left a lamentation upon 
 record of that fact, of king John.* 
 
 But the history of the Waldenses now spread far 
 and near, stands like a beacon on a hill, that all 
 who do not shut their eyes, have clear light to see 
 
 * FoXj Acts and Mon. vol. 1. Gulielmus Parisiensis circa Ann. 
 Domini 1220, acerrime insectatur sacerdotes sui temporis, dicens, 
 in eis nihil pietatis ac eruditionis comparere, sed potius diabo- 
 licas turpitudines, omnium spurcitiarum ac vitiorum monstruosi- 
 tatem ; coram peccata non simpliciter peccata esse, sed pecca- 
 torum monstra terribilissima, eos non ecclesiam, sed Baby- 
 lonem, j^gyptum ac Sodomam esse; praelatos non aedificare 
 ecclesiam, sed destruere, ac Deo illudere; eos cum aliis sacer- 
 dotibus prophanare ac polluere corpus Christi, &c. Lib. de 
 Collatione Eeneficiorum. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 133 
 
 that our doctrines were taught, in abundance of 
 places, before Luther, in Dauphiny, Languedoc, and 
 Guienne, and in all those mountains which reach 
 from the Alps to the Pyrenees. They had spread 
 themselves into Germany, where were a great ma- 
 ny of their preachers, who at the sound of a bell 
 preached in a public place, "That the pope was a 
 heretic, and his prelates seducers; that they had no 
 power to bind and loose, or to interdict the use of sa- 
 craments; and that though they had not come, God 
 would have raised up others, even of the very 
 stones, to enlighten the church by their preaching, 
 rather than he would have suffered faith utterly to 
 have perished." 
 
 By this time they ordained preachers in Spain, 
 who preached the same doctrine with them, and in 
 Lombardy much multiplied. Yea, in one only val- 
 ley, called Camonica, they had ten schools. Another 
 says, that their little rivers streamed so far as to the 
 kingdom of Sicily; and the only reason of their 
 sufferings is said to be, because they withdrew the 
 sheep from the keeping of St. Peter, and departed 
 from the Roman church. 
 
 From the year 1300 the bloody persecutions and 
 the great sufferings of multitudes for the true doc- 
 trine, and opposition to the church of Rome, prove 
 what is sought after, unless they imprisoned and 
 burnt so many, they know not for what. For Sa- 
 tan (according to some) being bound at the end of 
 the first ten persecutions, and remaining bound a 
 
 M 
 
134 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 thousand years, was now let loose again. Do they 
 ask still, where was our doctrine before Luther? 
 Why, where persecution was raised by papists be- 
 fore Luther; for why were so many imprisoned, 
 banished and burnt, if they did not look upon them 
 as heretics ? and whom they so call is notoriously 
 known. Was not Conradus Hager imprisoned for 
 preaching against the mass? Were not Johannes 
 de Castilone, and Franciscus de Arcatura, burnt, 
 and Haybulus martyred, and Johannes de Rupe- 
 scissa imprisoned for certain prophecies against the 
 pope? Did not Militrius a Bohemian preach that 
 Antichrist was come, and was he not excommuni- 
 cated for the same ? Was not Occam excommuni- 
 cated, and his books prohibited, because they dis- 
 pleased the pope ? 
 
 Brushius relates that six and thirty citizens of 
 Maguntia were burned for following the doctrine of 
 the Waldenses,* affirming the pope to be the great 
 Antichrist. Also Massaeus records, that one hun- 
 dred and forty in the province of Narbon, were put 
 to the fire, for not receiving the decretals of Rome; 
 besides them that suffered at Paris, to the number of 
 twenty-four; and after them four hundred burned 
 for heretics.t Was not Matthias Parisiensis before 
 Luther, who wrote that the pope was x^ntichrist? 
 And was there not an ancient writing, called the 
 
 * Fox. Acts and Mon. vol. I. pag. 550. 
 t Acts and Mon. vol. I. p. 521—532. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY, 135 
 
 ^^ Prayer and Gomplaint of the Ploughman," contain- 
 ing many things against the church of Rome? and Ni- 
 colas Orem preached against them before the pope. 
 
 Was not John Wicldiffe before Luther? and did 
 not he maintain the doctrines that the reformed 
 church now holds? and was there not a great com- 
 pany of valiant defenders of the same truths? 
 Twenty-five articles of Wickliffe you may read in 
 the Book of Martyrs.* And may we not learn 
 something by thet laws then made in England, that 
 many here opposed the church of Rome; as Anno 
 5. Rich. II. In the year 1380, we read of '^a great 
 number of evil persons, going about from town to 
 town, preaching to the people divers sermons con- 
 taining heresy and notorious errors'^ (so papists 
 call our doctrines) ''' to the blemishing of the holy 
 church." 
 
 And were there not many witnesses against po- 
 pish doctrines and asserters of ours from the year 
 1400? as John Badby, Nicolas Tayler, Richard 
 Wagstaff, Michael Scrivener, William Smith, &c. 
 John Huss, Jerome of Prague. But why do I men- 
 
 * Acts and Mon. I. p. 568, 5G9. Yea 45 articles of Wicklifte 
 were condemned in the council of Constance. Surius in Con- 
 cil. torn. 3. p. 790. 
 
 t Acts and Mon. Vol. I. beginning in the protestation to the 
 church of England. Had the council of Constance so much 
 ado with the articles of Huss and Jerome, who were charged 
 with articles against the church of Rome, and condemned and 
 burnt by the council, and yet do papists know none that taught 
 our doctrine before Luther ? 
 
136 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 -tion particular names, when there were a great num- 
 ber of faithful Bohemians not to be reckoned, and 
 in many other places. The Bohemians in this age, 
 near to Tabour castle, assembled themselves to- 
 gether to the number of thirty thousand, and hav- 
 ing three hundred tables erected in the fields for 
 that purpose, they received the sacrament in both 
 kinds.* 
 
 In the statute Anno 2. Hen. IV. in the year 1402, 
 in England, theret were many preachers of true 
 doctrine, which those times called " new doctrines 
 and heretical, contrary to the faith and determina- 
 tion of the holy church,'' [Rome forsooth.] It is 
 recorded in the year 1422, that Henry Chichesly, 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote to pope Martin V. 
 that there were so many in England infected with 
 the heresy of Wickliffe and Huss, that without force 
 of an army they could not be suppressed. 
 
 Besides all these that have preached and owned 
 our doctrine long ago, we might send such papists 
 as ask, Where was your doctrine before Luther? to 
 the churches in other parts of the world, as to the 
 Greeks, the Muscovites, the Melchites or Syrians, 
 the Armenians, the Jacobites, the Copts, or Egyp- 
 tian Christians, the Abyssinians and others, who, 
 though very corrupt in many things, yet agree with 
 the reformed churches in many points, wherein they 
 
 *" Cochleus, lib. 4. ex Berkbeck. Protestant. Evid. p. 386. 
 
 t Acts and Mon. Vol. I. Protestat. to the church of England. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY, 137 
 
 with US differ from the church of Rome; as is wit- 
 nessed by David Chytrseus, who travelled amongst 
 many of them, and from his personal knowledge 
 and conversing with many that were amongst them, 
 and by letters from others, gives an account of the 
 state of several churches: and by the confession of 
 faith in the eastern churches, composed by Cryto- 
 pulus, patriarch of Constantinople, and others, as 
 also by the confession of papists themselves. 
 
 1. These churches deny the pope's supremacy, 
 that he is head of the church, and never submitted 
 to him as universal head. Their words are, "It 
 was never heard in the catholic church, that a mor- 
 tal man, subject to a thousand sins, should be called 
 the head of the church; but the head of the catholic 
 church is Jesus Christ.^'* The Greeks account the 
 pope and the Latins, as excommunicated persons, 
 as Prateolus states. Of this opinion are the Mus- 
 covites, the Armenians, &c. 
 
 2. These churches agree with us in rejecting the 
 apocryphal books from the number of canonical 
 Scriptures.! 
 
 3. They give the sacrament in both kinds. They 
 say, " Of necessity they must communicate in both 
 
 * 'Oucfg yct^ yiKOVo-^n vrstpA ytaQoKtKtj iKKXna-ictj a.v^pct).nrov ^vyflov acti 
 fAV^tditg ctjuafllctig ivo^ov KitpdiXyiv KiyiTScit t«? iKKX»(Ttct^^ &-C. Confes. 
 fidei, Eccl. Orient, per Crytopulum, cap. 23. Item Dnvid Chy- 
 troDus de statu Ecclesia3, pag. 21. Prateol. Elench. han'ct. lib. 
 7. p. 202. Idem p. 228. 
 
 t Confess, fidci Eccles. Orient, per Crytop, cap. 7. 
 M 2 
 
138 THE NOVELTY OF POPEKY. 
 
 kinds, SO that if any take it under one kind, al- 
 though a layman, he sins, because he acts against 
 Christ's command. All partake of both kinds, the 
 bread and the cup, whether ecclesiastical, or lay- 
 persons, men and women/'* 
 
 4. They do not turn the sacrament into a sacri- 
 fice, offered for the quick and dead. 
 
 5. They have no private masses.t 
 
 6. The doctrine of transubstantiation is not re- 
 ceived amongst them. They confess a true and 
 real presence in the Lord's supper, but such a one 
 as faith oflfers, not such as the devised transubstan- 
 tiation vainly teaches.J 
 
 7. They admit not the seven popisli sacraments. 
 They own properly but three, baptism, the Lord's 
 supper, and penance.§ 
 
 * Prateol. Elenc. Haeret. p. 202. MiJiX^va-t h ttavIs? Itcdli^nv 
 
 ciAo-riKQi TS jtAt XAiKoti ctvcTps? KAi yvvAtui^. Confcs. fid. Eccles. 
 Orient, cap. 9. 
 
 t Ex liturgiis GrsBcorum et narrationibus hominum fide dig- 
 norum constat, nee missas privatas absque communicantibus ab 
 eis celebrari solere, nee ullam in eorum canone, sacrificii cor- 
 poris et sanguinis Christi pro redemptione vivorum et mortuorum 
 oblati, mentionem fieri, &c. David Chytr. de Statu Eccles. p. 14. 
 
 t T«v dhii^n Kcti Cifiaictv Trti^ova-iAv tov Kv^tov vi/A.m Jyto-ov ^pi^ou 
 ouoKoyou/Uiv^Kctt TTicTTivofAiv, TTXm m » 7rt<rrtg :n^iv'7ra.pt(rrn'ri ncti Trpaa- 
 pipit, ov)c «v « ipiv^ii^u<TA iiici] SiS'ao-icu /utilova-iaxrig^ &c. Cyril Patri- 
 arch. Constant, cap. 17. p. 60. 
 
 § Confes. fidei Eccl. Orient per Crytop. cap. 5. wc uvai Tat Trg^c 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 139 
 
 8. They admit ministers^ marriage.* 
 
 9. They deny purgatory. It is true the Greek 
 church do believe that there is a place distinct from 
 heaven and hell, where some departed souls are 
 lodged for a w^hile. Their opinion is, that those 
 w^ho lived holily, and died in the Lord, go imme- 
 diately to heaven, and the wicked who die without 
 repentance go presently to hell; but such as are con- 
 verted at the end of their life are in another place, 
 in a middle condition, and for these they pray, but 
 yet they do not call this purgatory. So Chytraeus. 
 And in their confession they utterly deny popish 
 purgatory; for they affirm the punishment of such 
 departed souls as are neither in heaven nor in hell, 
 "is not material, neither by fire, nor by any other 
 matter, but only from the affliction and anguish of 
 their own consciences, remembering then what they 
 did amiss, while they were in this world. ^'t How- 
 ever far they are from the truth, yet they are far 
 also from purgatorial fire. For Alphonsus says, 
 " That it is one of the most known errors of the 
 
 * Confes. fidei Eccles. Orient, c. 11. et David Chytroeus de 
 Stat. Eccl. p. 14. 
 
 t AiyU TOIVVV « iK}CK>1(ridL ryiV iKUVCOV TTOIVHV /UM V\tX,yiV f/V3t/, f/r' OVY 
 
 ndil etvtct; rug atto <TvviiS)i7im (rvfjL^diivova-aLV rovlotgix, rov /utjuvyia-KiT^Ai 
 rav cxTA h too Kocrfji.oo /un kata hoyov jutiSi Icriai tvpA^Av. Confess, 
 eadem cap. 20. Unus ex notissimis erroribus Gra?coruin et 
 Armenorum est, quo docent nullum esse purgatoriuni locum, 
 &c. Alphons. Adver. Ha3res. lib. 12. p. 188. 
 
140 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 Greeks and Armenians, that thev teach no place of 
 purgatory/^ &c. 
 
 10. Though the Greeks dote too much upon 
 images of saints, yet they differ much from papists 
 in this point; for they are against making any 
 image of God, which the papists do in the likeness 
 of an old man; and to other images they give (r/ft^jv) 
 honour, but neither the v^orship of Latria, nor 
 Dulia. They say " God forbid, for these are only 
 to be given to God.'^* 
 
 11. They carry not the sacrament in procession 
 about the streets, as the papists do to be worshipped 
 by them that meet it, except they send it to the 
 sick; for, say they, "it was not given to be carried 
 about the streets, but religiously to be received for 
 the remission of sins, according to the w^ord of 
 God.^^t 
 
 12. They hold the perfection and sufficiency of 
 the Scripture; that it is sacrilege to add any thing 
 to it, or take away from it, and they contradict those 
 that do.J 
 
 * Ov yag Biuic rov dTTipiygdiTrl ov Biov Tnpiyga.'Trl n ilx.ovt TTdLpitKa^uv. 
 Ais ayicttgilKO^JtKAiTi/unv Tijv '^po^nitcvo'SLV dTTiVit/uojUiv: ov KctT^iVrtJChV « 
 S'ovKix.nv, ctTTdiyi, autai yag 6sa) ^ova vrpoa-iiKOva-iv. Confess, fid. Eccl. 
 Orient, per Crytop. cap. 15. 
 
 t Ou TTipi^ipo/uiv Si TOVTQ <T0 ayiov fAVO-fTupiov SidL Tm Trhetjituv^ dx\ M 
 fxovov oTijv KO/ui^ijai it; otKOV voa-ovvlog, on ov SiS^oIai y\[A.iv tovIo lyct Tnpi- 
 (piptflctt hct Tav Trxctliim^ dw' ivat ivxct^co; /uijix^l^i it; a.^iTtv, jcata ta 
 ho-TToltKdi pi^fActloi. Confess, fid. Eccl. Orient, per eundem cap. 9. 
 
 + 'Ht/c ayia. ^git<:})« hiTrtTTiud-n iKKKHT-tA Ctto ^-iov, ov^ ottod; ctCln 
 fAithv TrgOfT] toiler d^ i) d^atgovtrAiKit^iy {rovlo yap AvliKpvgligoa-vhKi) aKKo. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 141 
 
 13. Concerning the marks of the true catholic 
 and apostolical church, they greatly differ from the 
 church of Rome; the confession mentions four, and 
 the last they lay most stress upon, wherein they 
 teach the same with us, namely, " that it faithfully 
 and sincerely keep the word of God, which God 
 has given to us by his prophets and apostles.^^* 
 
 14. They do not define the catholic church as the 
 Romanists do, by making it essential to submit to 
 any one man as the head of the whole; but the 
 whole company of such as are sound in the doctrine 
 of Christ, every where dispersed, but knit together 
 by the bond of the Spirit, is the catholic church. — 
 Confess, eadem cap. 7. 
 
 By all this the reader may see the harsh and un- 
 charitable spirit of the Romanists, who unchurch all 
 those, who profess that they keep to all the doctrines 
 of the first general councils,! in which essential 
 doctrines were ratified, as appears by their creeds, 
 
 KAt Toy? rotovrov t/ Tox/umlctg, Ixry^^i H,at KdCJcKpctu^A. Confess, fid. 
 Eccl. Orient, cap. 7. 
 
 * TiTApov KdLi a-it<^B<r<Tct]ov iKKXMTtac yvuifta-fxa.^ to tt/o-tcd? kai aS'o- 
 
 KOeC TTAfAKATi^m TO Qg/OV />«^0t SgO? i^i^iTO SlA TT^O^WTaV KAt ATTOa"' 
 
 fTOKcov. Confess, fid. Eccl. Orient, cap. 7. 
 
 t 'E^Tat yAf) KAt /UOVAg OtKQU/UiVlKAg ^UVoSoVC i)[AU(; ATToSiy^Oy.l^A. 
 KAt Oa-al aI OlKOVjUi^/lKAl 'ittIa icffifatVTO Tf KAl iCij^'ilOOITA]) ConlCSSiO 
 
 eadem. cap. 15. Acta septom Synodorum Graecarum, Scripta 
 Basilii, Chrysostomi, Damasceni, eorumque traditiones tanquam 
 divina oracula aniplectuntur, ad caque do fide et roliirione ipso- 
 ruin sciscitantes rernittunt, ex Uteris Constantin. ad Dav. Chytr. 
 de statu Eccles. p. 7J. 
 
142 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 containing the articles of the Christian faith; but 
 the Muscovites condemn and curse the Romans as 
 forsaking the primitive church, and breaking the 
 seven general synods. He may also see their im- 
 pudence in asking, Where our church and doctrines 
 were before Luther? when there have been so many 
 churches, ever since the apostles' times, that have, 
 though not without many corruptions in many 
 things, yet held to the essential doctrines of the 
 Christian religion, and have not received these doc- 
 trines of the church of Rome, which is but a little 
 church in comparison of all the rest, amongst whom 
 our religion was before Luther. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 143 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Having shown that the doctrines of the reformed 
 churches are the same that were taught by Christ 
 and his apostles, and that by many after them long 
 before Luther; the next thing is to demonstrate that 
 popery is a novelty. This follows, indeed, by just 
 and good consequence from what has hitherto been 
 said. For two doctrines, which are so contrary, 
 yea, so contradictory, cannot both be true, and 
 equally old; for truth must be before error. But 
 yet, to prove that popery, as now framed, had not 
 its being till many hundred years after Christ, I 
 shall pick out some of the most material points of 
 popery, (and if these fall the others cannot stand) 
 and give an account of the time when they first 
 came in. The rest, whose rise is more uncertain, 
 though clear enough that they were not from the 
 beginning, nor long, long after, will not need such 
 large insisting on; and yet in all, I must study bre- 
 vity, which is a task that lies upon me, and pinches 
 me hard all along in so copious a subject as this 
 position is. 
 
 First, I shall begin at the head — the supremacy 
 of the pope — which is indeed the head and heart of 
 popery. Though by reason of age, gray hairs are 
 upon it, yet in comparison of true antiquity, it will 
 appear that their head is both raw and green; and 
 
144 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 if the head be young, the whole body cannot be 
 old. The witnesses to give in their testimony of 
 the minority of the pope, as head of the church, as 
 now claimed, are at hand, even six several councils, 
 which have so polled his head, and dipt his beard, 
 that he looks very young, and bears his age marvel- 
 lously well; for look upon him in the glass of true 
 history, and no man will believe that he is so old as 
 he brags to be. 
 
 My first catalogue of witnesses consists of three 
 hundred and eighteen grave ancient fathers, assem- 
 bled in the first general council, that ever was since 
 the apostles' times, at Nice, in the year of our Lord 
 325. In reading over the canons of this council, I 
 fix upon two, which are fully and directly against 
 the pope's universal sovereignty and dominion over 
 all churches; the one is against excommunicated 
 persons appealing, in any diocese, to remote church- 
 es; or being harboured or received by them, in these 
 words: — 
 
 " Concerning persons excommunicated, whether 
 they be of the clergy or the laity, let this sentence 
 be observed by the bishops of every province, ac- 
 cording to the canon, which saith, that those who 
 are cast out by some, shall not be admitted by 
 others.^^* This canon clips the power of the pope, 
 
 KAtKoo rityjuitli TintyfxivcAV ) vtnro tccv nct^* iKsia-Tnv iTraift^iitv iTTia-KOTrav 
 Kpitjiira) » yvcc/um katx tov xatvovst tov S'tctyo^ivovra.^ Tcy? v(p^ iT^pm 
 v'Tro&Kii^ivlx;, v^' itifoov (xi) Trgo^tiy^eLi. Codex Can Eccles. Uni- 
 vers. Can. 5. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 145 
 
 and takes away his jurisdiction over other churches; 
 and was plainly so understood of old, because when 
 some were excommunicated in Africa, and ran to, 
 and were entertained by the bishop of Rome, the 
 council in Africa held it irregular, and wrote to the 
 pope so too, and alleged this canon of the council 
 of Nice, that he ought not to admit those whom 
 they had excommunicated; of which more when I 
 come to that council. 
 
 The other canon in this council runs: "Let the 
 ancient customs continue in force, which are in 
 Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis, that the bishop of 
 Alexandria have the government of all these; be- 
 cause also the bishop in Rome has the same custom. 
 Likewise also in Antioch, and in other provinces, 
 let the churches preserve their privileges.^'* From 
 thus much of this canon, we easily learn: 1. That 
 the bishop of Rome had not universal jurisdiction 
 over all the churches; because the bishop of Alex- 
 andria was to have the same power, [e^avG-teev, autho- 
 rity] over those parts; and the bishop of Antioch, 
 in those parts; and others, in other provinces, as the 
 bishop of Rome had in those parts; which could 
 not be, if the bishop of Rome were universal, and 
 they provincial underlings; for there is not like 
 
 * Tat ei^^SttCl id-if KfiCtJUTO), TOt iV AiyUTTTO) KOLt AlCvH Kitl niVTOLTTOXU, 
 
 iTTilSt) KCtt TOO iV Tit VcOfAM iTnO-KOTTU) TQVTO ffVVh^t^ f CTT/V' OfXOlCCi; cTf K 3LI 
 KAra. THV' AvTtO^UCtVj KAt h TOt/? a\Aat/C ITTAp^tOitg <TA TTfljQuA O-Ot^tC^Ul 
 
 Ttfif tKKKiia-tAtg. Codex Can. Eccles. Univers. Can. G. 
 
 N 
 
146 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 power, authority, or equality in a universal and a 
 provincial bishop, according to their own doctrine. 
 2, We as easily see, that what power the pope had, 
 is not by this council bottomed upon, and derived 
 from the Holy Scriptures, or succession from Peter, 
 but grounded only upon custom. Not a word is 
 here, of any divine right to that power or place in 
 which he then was, which was far inferior to what 
 he claims and usurps now. For the first three hun- 
 dred years, then, a universal head had not risen, nor 
 was acknowledged in the church of God. 
 
 Secondly. The next catalogue of witnesses against 
 the universal sovereignty of the bishop of Rome, 
 has in it one hundred and fifty fathers, assembled at 
 Constantinople, (which Caranza* says, is one of the 
 four principal councils, and next after the council of 
 Nice, whose authority is already alleged,) about the 
 year 383. These, in their first canon, ratified and 
 confirmed what was done in the Nicene council, 
 and would have it to be observed without violation. 
 Moreover, they decreed, " That no bishop of any 
 diocese should go to any churches beyond their own 
 bounds, to meddle with them, nor confound or min- 
 gle churches; but, according to the canons, the 
 bishop of Alexandria should govern what belongs 
 to Egypt; and the bishops of the East only the East, 
 reserving the privileges by the canons of the coun- 
 cil of Nice, to the church of Antioch; and the 
 
 ^ Caranza, p. 200. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 147 
 
 bishops of the Asian diocese, should govern the 
 Asian diocese only; and the bishops of the diocese 
 of Pontus, what appertains to that diocese only; 
 and so the bishops of Thrace, should in Thrace. 
 And that no bishop of any diocese should go, except 
 he be called to ordination, or any other church dis- 
 pensations. This canon, above written, concerning 
 dioceses, being kept, it is manifest that those things 
 which appertain to each province, should be ordered 
 by the synod of that province, [if they had said, hy 
 the bishop of Rome^ the universal head^ it would 
 have made the papists' hearts to leap within them, 
 and made his holiness smile; but, alas! they carried 
 it quite another way, by the synod of the province^ 
 according to the determinations of the Nicene coun- 
 cil/'* And in the next canon they decreed, "That 
 the bishop of Constantinople, forasmuch as it is new 
 Rome, should have the badges of honour next to the 
 bishop of Rome.'^t From this general council, we 
 
 * Touc v7n^ J'totKna-tv iTriTKOTrouc "Vdm uTTi^optcttg iKJcKna-iatg //« sTr/evot/, 
 fxnh crvy^iiiv taq iKKKno-tagj dhXct Kct^ct rcvc Kctvovjg rov juiv AKi>atv- 
 Spun; iTTia-KOTTov Tdi \v hiyvTrjod /uovov oikovo/uuv ; tov; Si t«? stv^TOXxc 
 
 g^/iTiCOTrcy?, TWV OtVatTO.MV /AOVOV SlOlKitV, (^UKct'TlojUiVOCV TCDV iV TOtQ K(XMC7t 
 TOl; KCtrcL NtiCcttnV TT^iyQiim T« Kv'XlO'^^im iKtChil^i!*, KCtt TtfC T«C 
 
 Acr/stv»? SiotKna-iO); i7rta-)c07rovQ th )cctTct t«v ' A<rtAVHV /uovov Qt}covo/uiiv, 
 
 i&C. ^UKcfrJofAiVOU Si TOU 7rf)0yiypU.f/.fXiV0V TTZpl fXCOV SlOtKi1<ria)V KAVOVOC: 
 ivSuKOV UC T* Jt0t<9-' iKoLCrriV iTrap^lctV « T«C iTTctp^lOii; auVoSo; SlOlKMO-il 
 
 KctTct ret ^udLioL d^tcr/xivA. Ibid. Can. ]G5. sed Concilii lib. Can. 2. 
 
 t Tov fAiVTOt Kccva-ruvTivovTroKioe; iTnytcoTrov iX,*tv ret 7r^i<r^ii± txc 
 
 T/yUDC fXiTdi TOV T«C PoOfAMQ iTTlO-KOTTOVj Slct TO UVAl Oiul>lV Vi^V VoU/UilV . 
 
 Ibid. Can. 1G6. aliter Can. 3. 
 
149 THE >-OVELTY OF P^DPERY. 
 
 learn: 1. That they vote against any one being 
 universal head: because. 2. Every bishop was to 
 govern in his own diocese, and no otlier was to 
 meddle, except desired, with any ecclesiastical mat- 
 ters in another's province. 3. That the bishop of 
 Constantinople is made equal with the bishop of 
 Rome, save that his worship I should have said 
 lordship, but that they will not think high enough: 
 but I cannot help it. these two councils forbid me to 
 say head. s/,::.ld sit in the first place, or before the 
 other, which yet he :r.:^";.: have done, without uni- 
 versal jurisdiction. 4. We learn that the honour 
 which either of then: had. was not bottomed upon 
 divine r : g : ; z : s - : ey were bishops in the 
 
 i:::::e:::- ::::es. Bar here is not a word, "Thou art 
 Peter." "Peter's s:. ::e5?:r." "apostolical seat'' 
 All this is very g:: :: ev :r:.ce that the pope is not 
 so old as to reach to the times of this council either. 
 Thirdly. The nex*: : : : ^ r of witnesses, that as 
 yet the bishop of Rome was .. : : ^^^e--:^! head, con- 
 sists of two hundred fathers, assr t in a general 
 council ar Epnesus. in the year 4.31: or as others. 
 434. :5, This co'incil is so full, that I 
 
 wo.;:.cr :ij'.'- :- - --[—i, so n:::o^' ^^f ':hem as have 
 
 set forth so :\\: \ o-s :. :: .. _ r. could with 
 
 patience write what so much made against them, 
 and yet so on in their errc rnging headship 
 
 from the apostles' times. T/.r . jh declares the 
 occasion of its constitution, in th:- .r.:.:::er: ••' Regi- 
 nus. our fellow bishop, and beloved of God. together 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 149 
 
 with the holy bishops of the province of Cyprus, 
 Zenon and Evagrius, have declared to us a new 
 thing, contrary to ecclesiastical laws, and canons of 
 the holy fathers, and that which concerns the liberty 
 of all; wherefore, since common diseases need the 
 greater medicine, for as much as they do the more 
 harm, the ancient custom not being followed,'^ to 
 wit, this new thing was, "that the bishop of 
 Antioch had ordained some in Cyprus, as some 
 eminent for religion coming to the holy synod 
 have both by writing and by their own words in- 
 formed,^' wherefore it is decreed "that the presi- 
 dents of the holy churches in Cyprus shall have 
 this, without detriment and violation of their right, 
 according to the canons of the holy fathers, and the 
 ancient custom, themselves to ordain godly bishops; 
 and this also shall be observed in other dioceses and 
 provinces every where, that no bishop draw under 
 his subjection any other province, which was not 
 his from the beginning, or his predecessor's; and if 
 any bishop has made such invasion, and by violence 
 made it subject to him, he shall again restore it; 
 that the canons of the fathers be not transgressed; 
 lest under pretence of priesthood, the arrogance of 
 worldly power creep in unawares, and we insensi- 
 bly and by little and little lose that liberty which 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, the Redeemer of mankind, 
 has purchased for us with his own blood, and given 
 freely to us. It seems good therefore to this holy 
 and general synod, that the rights which they have 
 
 N 2 
 
- 150 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 had from the beginning be secured to every pro- 
 vince, pure and inviolable, according to the ancient 
 custom; every metropolitan having liberty to take 
 a copy of the acts for his own security. And if any 
 one shall take a copy contrary in any thing to what 
 is now determined, it pleased all the holy and uni- 
 versal synod that it should be void.'^* Thus far this 
 general council unanimously voted against one bi- 
 shop's meddling with or encroaching upon the pro- 
 vinces of others; calling it a new thing, Sac, How 
 then was one bishop owned as head over all the 
 rest? 
 
 Fourthly. Another catalogue of six hundred and 
 thirty, according to Caranza, assembled in a general 
 council at Chalcedon in the year 451. In their first 
 canon they ratify and confirm all the canons of the 
 former councils, so that by the vote of these, they, 
 to this year, are against the primacy and sovereignty 
 
 * UpAy/UCt 'TTUpdL TOVQ iKKKHO-lSLO-T'-iCCiV; ^iiT/UOV; Kill TOV; KHVOVct? TCCF 
 
 etytav KAtvorojuov/Aivov iott Tug TruvTOiv sAsySsp/st? dTrro/uavov Trgotrny' 
 yu\f, &c. 'n(7T€ TQv iTTta-KOTov Tyic 'AvT^o;^ga)V Trohiag^ to.? gy KvTrpa 
 '^oiiKT^ai ^itporcvtugj &c. *E^ova-i <ro a.viTnipisia-'Tov jcai aQiao-tov gi tuv 
 etytocv iKKKno-icev kata Ttjv KuTrpov Tr^ciTTCoTi; hata rove kavovaq Tm 
 
 OtTtaaV TTATipm tCAl T«V Ap^AtAV (TWH^il'JiV , cT/ \av'TV)V TAg ^StgOTOVlAC TOUf 
 iUXACiVTATOOV iTriff-KOTTO))/ 'TTOtOVfJLiVOl, TC (Tg UVTO K'Jtt iTTt ra>V AKhOOV SlOlKti- 
 O-gaV HAt TCDV aTTAvlA^OV iTTApy^tm 7rApA(pvKA^^)i(riTAl, Jt^TTg fXYiSiyA Tm 
 ^-iO (ptXiT-T At m iTTtO-KOTrCOV iTTAp^lAV InpAV OVK OViTAV AVOO^iV KAl i^^PX^^ 
 C^O T«V aVTOU, HyCVV rm <t*rpO dvTOV %8^/»S*; KaIaKA/xCavUVj U^k' il KAi 
 TIC KATihAdv iC'Jit U<|)' iAVTUt TTiTrOlHTAl ^lAO-AfXiVOQ T'.vJoV ATTcS^lS'oVAt, lyA 
 
 /un rm (UTctlipm ot }cAvon; TTApACAivcevTAt, /jii)Si h UpcvpyiAg Trpcarx^fxATi^ 
 l^ovo-iAc Koo-fAiKng Tv<^oc TTApu^JvuTAt, &c. Codex. Call. Eccles. 
 Univers. Can. 178. aliter Concil. Ephes. Can. 8. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY, 151 
 
 of any one bishop. In another canon they deter- 
 mined, "That if any clergyman had any difference 
 with his own, or another bishop, it should be tried 
 by the synod of the province; but if there were any 
 controversy betwixt a bishop, or clergyman, and 
 the metropolitan of the province, he or they should 
 go to the diocesan or to the seat of the royal city of 
 Constantinople, and there have it tried/^* So then 
 appeals to Rome hereby are cut off; and the same 
 is ratified again in another canon of the same coun- 
 cil. Again, they decreed, " That the church of Con- 
 stantinople should have equal privileges with Rome 
 that as the fathers before them had given the pri- 
 vilege to elder Rome, because it had the empire, 
 so being moved by the same reason they gave 
 the same privileges to Constantinople, new Rome, 
 thinking it reason that the city v/hich is honoured 
 with the empire and senate, should be alike ad- 
 vanced with old Rome, in all ecclesiastical mat- 
 ters."! From whence it plainly follows: 1. That 
 what privilege or precedency was given to Rome, 
 
 iTTlTiCOtZffOV (UrctadL T« (TVVoSoc T«5 \iWcLf>'^ldL^ S^HCA^i^rBcD '. il Si tV^O^ TOV T»? 
 
 >,st/utCctvirrD, n TOV V^^'jp^ov Tii; SioiKytTiocg, n rov Tug (^J-o-iKtvova-ng Kov- 
 (TT'Avjivcv^o}\ta>g -9-^ovov, itcti W avToc SiKct^ia^a>. Codex. Can. Eccles. 
 Univers. Can. 187. item Can. 195. 
 
 t TdL la-dL 9rpi<r/iuct uTriVit/uctv to) t«? Vfi*? Poi/uhq ayiaroiTa^ 3-pova> ivKo- 
 yceg KpivQvliC TUQ ^'X(Ti\ii^q Kctt nruv iaocv aTroxauovT^v Trpi^rCiia^v th Trpta-- 
 Qunpt ^t(xiKiSi VocfjLi)^ }coii iv TOtg iKKhnTt^ta-TtKotg ^c iKUV}iv ^iyaXvytc^xt 
 TT^diyfAcLdi^ &c. Codex can. Eccles. Univers. Can. 200. 
 
152 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 was not by reason of Peter's supposed chair, but be- 
 cause it was honoured with empire; so that in the 
 judgment of the ancients the pope had no divine 
 right. 2. That the bishop of Constantinople was 
 equal with the bishop of Rome in all things, as also 
 were the metropolitans of the Asian, and Thracian 
 dioceses, and of Pontus. Then at this time he was 
 not yet universal bishop. 
 
 Fifthly. Another evidence in this cause is the 
 council held at Antioch in the year 341, the occa- 
 sion whereof was this. In the time of Julius I.* 
 Bishop of Rome, in the Eastern church, several 
 bishops were deposed for divers causes by their 
 synods; which bishops went to Rome, and ac- 
 quainted Julius with their whole estate and trouble. 
 Julius writes to the bishops of the East, telling 
 them, ^' They had done very ill to determine and 
 conclude any thing against those bishops without 
 his privity.^' When they received this, they took 
 the correction of Julius for a contumely, or slander, 
 and summoned a council at Antioch. There as 
 soon as they had assembled together, they drew up 
 an epistle by uniform consent of them all, wherein 
 they bitterly inveigh against Julius, and signify 
 withal, " That if any were banished the church and 
 excommunicated by their decree and censure, it 
 was not his part to intermeddle, nor to sit in judg- 
 
 * Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. 7. cap. 23, &c. et 36. Socrat. lib. 
 2. cap. 11. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 153 
 
 ment upon their sentence/^ And then decreed, 
 "That if any bishop should be accused, and the 
 matter could not be determined by the bishops of 
 the province, some pronouncing the accused to be 
 innocent, others to be guilty, for the taking up of 
 the whole controversy, the metropolitan should call 
 others to judge from the neighbouring province, 
 and what should be so determined should stand 
 firm.'^* And in the next canon, they ratified, 
 "That if any bishop was accused, and condemned 
 by all the bishops of the province, and all should 
 with one consent pronounce sentence against him; 
 he should no more be tried by any other. But the 
 sentence of the bishops of the province should be 
 to all purposes valid. '^ Clearly do they take away 
 all appeals to Rome, as the matter of the canons, 
 and the occasion of making them fully demonstrate. 
 And this council was confirmed in the sixth gene- 
 
 *" 'E/ T/C iTTta-KOTrog iTTl TKTIV iyHXH JUCt(n X-plVOlTOy iTrUTct avfxCaii) enri^t 
 dvTQU S'lai<^aiVitV TOUC iV Tit iTTOLp^t^ iTriTKOTOU?^ TODV /U(V uBcDOV TOV }tptVO' 
 /ULiVOV aTTQCpatVOVTiuV', TCDV cTg iVO^OV, V^i^ ulTT AKKctyhQ TTCtO-i)^ u^<^/3-C»T«<r«a>C 
 
 i^o^i TM ayicL (TVvoSoe tov tmc /unr^oTroKioog iTrta-KoTroVfUTTo TWf TrXMcrto^eo- 
 gov iTTctp^tsig /uiritH.A7,it(r3-ctt iTipcvg Tl\dig touc iTTiKpivcvflM, }CUt T»V ci^- 
 <pt(7-Ciiri)crtv Ji'-iKvovTAC rou ^itxiaxr'Jii irvv TOtg t«c i7r:t^^tctQ to TTctpt- 
 a-TAfjLivov. Codex Can. Eccles. Univers. Can. 93. *E; t/c l-wia-ico' 
 tztroq itzsrt Ticriv lyKKM/uci^i KXTMyopn^itg, icpi^it» u^o 7rA\]a>v tcov «v t» 
 \7rcL^')^iA iTTKnconrcoVi (WAvlii Ti(Tviu(pa>vci fxtctv K'JlT avTcy i^iviyxoiiv -^yi^oyf 
 
 TOuloV /mHiCiTt TB-di^ iTtpOlg JlKX^iO-^Cll, CtXKA /UiVUV CiC^l^lV TUV (TUfXipocfOY 
 
 Toov iTTl T«? iTTctpyixg iTTivKO'aroov afWQ<psta-tv. Codcx Can. hiCcles. 
 Univers. Can. 94. apud Caranz. et Surium, Concil. Antiochen. 
 Can. 14, 15. 
 
154 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 ral Constantinopolitan synod held in Trul, and by- 
 pope Dionysius, and so has the authority of a gene- 
 ral council and pope too: therefore, with the pa- 
 pists themselves, should be authentic. Caranz. 
 Sum. Concil. p. 165. Euseb. lib. 7. cap. 24, et 25. 
 Surius Concil. tom. I. pag. 399. 
 
 Sixthly. Another full evidence that the bishop 
 of Rome was not owned as universal head, is the 
 stout opposition made against it (in his early aspi- 
 ring after it), by two hundred and seventeen fathers 
 assembled, Augustine being one, and Aurelius pre- 
 sident, in the year 419. The controversy then was 
 this: Apiarius, a priest in Africa, was, for his scan- 
 dalous life, excommunicated, in an African synod. 
 Hereupon he fled to the bishop of Rome, who ab- 
 solved him, and commanded him to be restored to 
 his place; and Zosimus, bishop of Rome, to justify 
 this, claimed a right to receive appeals from all parts 
 of the world; and for proof thereof, pretended a 
 certain canon of the Nicene council, that gave it 
 him. The council, not finding any such canon in 
 the decrees of the fathers at Nice, sent away letters 
 and messengers to the bishops of Constantinople, 
 Alexandria, and Antioch, requesting them to send 
 them the acts of the Nicene council, fast closed and 
 sealed up, because they could not find a canon which 
 was alleged by the legates of the bishop of Rome. 
 From these they received several copies, all agree- 
 ing, but in none of them was found what Zosimus 
 had affirmed to be in them; so that he was shame- 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 155 
 
 fully, by all the council, convinced of forgery ; for 
 the copies taken out of the originals by Cyril of 
 Alexandria, and by Atticus of Constantinople, &c. 
 had no such thing in them. Accordingly, the whole 
 council writing to Boniface I., his successor, (in 
 which letter they call Zosimus " a man of unhappy 
 memory,") desired him " to repel those that made 
 him [the bishop of Rome] their refuge, both be- 
 cause there is no such constitution of the fathers, 
 which so much derogated from the authority of the 
 African church, as also because the Nicene council 
 had evidently left the ordering of all inferiors to the 
 judgment of their metropolitan, and had determined 
 that all matters of controversy should receive their 
 final decision in the place where they began. For 
 how can a judgment given beyond the seas be good, 
 where witnesses necessarily required in such cases, 
 cannot be present, either on account of their sex, 
 or age, or some other impediment? Because it is 
 granted to every one to appeal to the councils of 
 their own provinces, or to a universal council. 
 Unless there should be any one that can think that 
 our God can inspire a justice of trial into any one 
 man, and deny it to innumerable priests that are 
 assembled in council.'' These letters of the council 
 to Boniface, of Cyril of Alexandria to the council, 
 and of Atticus of Constantinople to the same, and 
 the copies of the Nicene council sent to them, and 
 the epistle of the council to pope Cclestine, are in 
 the end of Codex Canon. Ecclcs. African, and in 
 
156 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 Surius, torn. 1. p. 588, &c. Thus much for their 
 letters; now for the canons of the African church 
 against the headship of the bishop of Rome. In the 
 19th Canon: " If any bishop be accused, the accuser 
 should bring his cause before the primate of the 
 province/' Can. 23. "That no bishop should go 
 beyond the sea, unless he had the consent of the 
 bishop of the first seat of every province.^' Can. 
 28. "That if presbyters,* deacons, and others, have 
 complaint against their bishops, the neighbouring 
 bishops should hear them; and if they would appeal 
 from them, it should not be to the judgments of any 
 beyond the sea, but to the primates of their own 
 provinces, or to a general council, as was decreed 
 before concerning bishops. As for those that shall 
 appeal beyond the sea, none shall receive them into 
 communion in Africa.'^ So also Canon 125. 
 
 So far, we see that the church of God curbed and 
 restrained the ambition of the bishop of Rome, and 
 stoutly stood against the endeavours of aspiring an- 
 tichrist. Yet will I add one more; and that is of a 
 
 ^anpot KKifpiKot, \v ctU i^cea-iv ctlrtcttg, sav ta SiKAo-Tupist ju6JU<pa>vlsttfTav 
 iS'iuv iTTia-KG'nruv, oi ywrovis iTrio-KOforQi d}tpoa.^mlAt dvjaf: kcU jULiret 
 awdLt^i^ico^ <rov IS'iov iTria-x.O'Zirov, ta /u{]sl^v Lvtoov Stct^ioexTiy oi tarpoo" 
 KAKcv/uivoi Si dvlm iTrto-ito^ot, Sio e/ ycdit Tnpi dvlcev iKKXtfJov ^uretgi^uv 
 vo[J(.i(TU>a-tVj /uii ikkaMtcovIai g/c Tst fttipdiv Tuc ^AKACTTitg Succta'Tupta^ dwd 
 
 lir^OC TCV? 'W^OclvjOvldL^ TO/V ISlOiV liTtTCt^^taV', wf ICAl TTipl TCDV iTtCKOiWOeV 
 
 faroKKdiKig tjptvTcti' ol (Te tt^o? Trip^fxAltx-A SuAo-rnptA (T/sxxitAoi/yuevo/, ^upA 
 ovSivo^ h Til 'A^piKu Si^^axriv it; KoiymtAy. Codex Can. Eccles. 
 African. Can. 28. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY, 157 
 
 council at Constantinople, in the time of Agatho, 
 bishop of Rome, which was about the year 673, or 
 as others, 681, who smartly snubbed the pretended 
 mother, that is to give laws to all others, by making 
 a law to extend to, and to bind the church of 
 Rome, saying: '^Forasmuch as we understand that 
 in the city of Rome, in time of Lent, they fast upon 
 the Sabbath days, contrary to the custom of the 
 church, it is decreed in this synod, that also in the 
 church of Rome, that canon shall be of force with- 
 out violation, which saith, if any of the clergy shall 
 be found fasting on the Lord^s day, or Sabbath, ex- 
 cept only one, let him be deposed; but if any one of 
 the laity, let him be excommunicated.'^* This the 
 church of Rome, in the height of her pride, would 
 hardly brook; but you see, up to this time, many 
 councils knew no such thing as a universal head, 
 but opposed the first appearance of it. 
 
 To these evidences, from councils, I shall add 
 further the expressed judgment of two of their own 
 bishops, predecessors of him, who first got the title 
 of universal head, viz: Pelagius and Gregory the 
 Great, who exceedingly inveighed against this title; 
 
 ^ Quoniam intelleximus in Romanorum civitate, in Sanctis 
 quadragesimsD jejuniis, in ejus Sabbatis jejunare prcBler ecclesi- 
 asticam consuetudinem traditam ; sanctsB synodo visum est, ut 
 in Romanorum quoque ecclesia inconcusse vires habeat canon 
 qui dicit: Si quis clericus inventus fuerit in sancto Dominico vel 
 Sabbatho jejunans propter unum et solum, deponatur, sin autcm 
 laicus, segregetur. Surius in Concil : torn. 2. p. 1048. Con- 
 cil. VI. Constant. Can. 55. refer autem ad Canon. Apostol. GCi. 
 
 O 
 
158 THE NOVELTY OF POPEKY. 
 
 God in his providence so ordering it, that the fol- 
 lowing popes might be condemned out of the 
 mouths of their predecessors. Their sharpness of 
 speech against this usurpation, was occasioned by- 
 John bishop of Constantinople, surnamed the Faster, 
 who assumed to himself the title of universal bishop 
 about the year 580; about which time Pelagius II. 
 being bishop of Rome, wrote to all the bishops as- 
 sembled at Constantinople in a synod called by John 
 the bishop of that seat, saying, " That they ought 
 not to acknowledge John as universal bishop, unless 
 they purposed to depart away from the communion 
 of all other bishops:'^ moreover, saying, "Let no 
 patriarch use such a title, for if the chief patriarch 
 should be called universal, the name of a patriarch 
 would be taken away thereby from all others; but 
 God forbid it should ever enter into the heart of a 
 Christian to assume any thing to himself, whereby 
 the honour of his brethren should be debased. For 
 this cause I, in my epistles, never call any by that 
 name, for fear that by giving him more than is 
 his due, I might seem to take away that which of 
 right belongs to him. For the devil our adversary 
 goeth about like a roaring lion, exercising his rage 
 upon the humble and meek-hearted, and seeking to 
 devour now, not the sheep-cotes, but the very prin- 
 cipal members of the church. For he [John] comes 
 near to him of whom it is written, ^This is he 
 which is king over all the children of pride:' which 
 words I speak with grief of mind, seeing our bro- 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 159 
 
 ther and fellow bishop John, in despite [mark his 
 reasons against this head,] of the commandment of 
 our Saviour, the precepts of the apostles, and canons 
 of the church, by this haughty name, makes him- 
 self his [antichrist's] forerunner, and hereby goes 
 about [mark reader,] to attribute to himself all 
 those things which belong properly to the head 
 himself, that is, Christ; and by the usurpation of 
 this pompous title, to bring under his subjection all 
 the members of Christ.'^ And he warns them to 
 beware, lest this temptation of Satan prevail over 
 them, and that they neither give nor take this title 
 of universal bishop.* 
 
 This is a large testimony against, and a full con- 
 demnation of both name and office of universal 
 bishop, and this by a bishop of Rome, before his 
 successor had usurped the same. And I might 
 infer, either that the following bishops of Rome 
 greatly err in taking to themselves this name and 
 office, or else this bishop of Rome was fallible and 
 erred in a matter of faith, made now by them ne- 
 cessary to salvation. Let them choose which alter- 
 native they will, for one they must; their principles 
 are wounded by it. 
 
 * Nullus patriarcharum universalitatis vocabulo unqiiam uta- 
 tur, quia si unus patriarcha universalis dicitur, patriarcluirum 
 nomen coeteris derogatur ; sed absit lioc, absit a fidelis ciijus- 
 quam mente, hoc sibi vel velle queinpiaiu arripcre, unde liono- 
 rem fratrurn suoruni imminuere ex quantulacunque parte vi- 
 deatur, <Slc. Jus. Can. Dist. DD. Nullus Patriarcharum, Glos. 
 
160 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 After this Pelagius (for the usurper was not im- 
 mediately after him,) succeeded Gregory, called the 
 Great, about the year 590, at which time John IV. 
 of Constantinople, still persisted in claiming and 
 maintaining his title of universal bishop; at which 
 Gregory being much grieved and offended, writes 
 to Constantia the empress against it; saying, " far be 
 it that your time should be defiled by the exaltation 
 of one man,'^ which he speaks of as " an insufferable 
 thing; and that by this arrogancy and pride is por- 
 tended that the time of antichrist is now at hand; 
 and that John imitated him, [Lucifer] who making 
 light of that happiness which he had in common 
 with the other angels, would needs aspire to a sin- 
 gularity above all the rest.'^* And writing to the 
 
 * Triste tamen valde est, ut patienter teratur, quatenus de- 
 spectis omnibus, prsedictus frater et coepiscopus meus solus 
 conetur appellari episcopus. Sed in hac ejus superbia quid 
 aliud nisi propinqua jam antichristi tempora designatur? quia 
 ilium videlicet imitatur, qui spretis in sociali gaudio angelorum 
 legionibus, ad culmen conatus est singularitatis erumpere. Undo 
 per omnipotentem dominum rogo, ne pietatis vestrse tempora 
 permittatis unius hominis elatione maculari, neque tam perverse 
 vocabulo ullum quoquo modo prsebeatis assensum, &c. Gre- 
 gor. Mag. ad. Constant, lib. 4. Epist. 34. Cunctis Evangelium 
 scientibus liquet, quod Petrus universalis apostolus non vocatur, 
 et vir sanctissimus consacerdos meus Johannes vocari univer- 
 salis episcopus conatur ; exclamare compellor, ac dicere, O tem- 
 pora ! O mores ! et tamen sacerdotes, vanitatis sibi nomina ex- 
 petunt, et novis ac prophanis vocabulis gloriantur, &c. Nullus 
 Roraanorum pontificum unquam hoc singularitatis vocabulum 
 assumsit, nee uti consensit, &c. Quis est iste, qui contra sta- 
 tuta evangelica, contra canonum decreta, novum sibi usurpare 
 nomen praesumit ? Idem. ibid, ad Mauritium. Epist. 32, 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 161 
 
 emperorj he says, " That all those who have read 
 the gospel know well, that Peter [mark reader,] is 
 not called the universal apostle, and yet behold, my 
 fellow priest John seeks to be called the universal 
 bishop. I am now forced to cry out. Oh the times! 
 and Oh the manners of men! Europe is now ex- 
 posed as a prey to the barbarian, and yet the priests 
 who should lie along in the dust upon the pave- 
 ment, weeping and rolling themselves in ashes, 
 seek after names of vanity; and boast themselves 
 of their new found [this is a novelty in the judg- 
 ment of a bishop of Rome,] and profane titles/^ 
 And in opposition to this pride of John, he was the 
 first bishop of Rome who took this title, the ser- 
 vant of servants, which title his successors in 
 feigned humility still use, though they usurp the 
 title of universal bishop, in opposition to which he 
 so styled himself, and in excessive pride have since 
 added to themselves many pompous appellations. 
 Again, says the same Roman bishop, " Now the 
 king of pride is at the gates, and what I dread to 
 speak, an army of priests and bishops stands ready 
 to receive him.'^ He calls it " a superstitious and 
 haughty name of universal bishop,'^ and adds, 
 " Never may such foolery befall us; call a universal 
 bishop, a universal enemy. '^ And again, " I speak 
 it boldly, that whosoever calls himself, or desires 
 to be called by others, the universal bishop, is in 
 his elation of mind, the forerunner of anticlirist, 
 because that in like pride he prefers himself before 
 
 o 2 
 
162 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 others; for as that wicked one would seem as God, 
 above all men, so will this man exalt himself above 
 all bishops.'^ He plainly declares, " That none of 
 the bishops of Rome ever assumed that word of 
 singularity/^ &c. And this same Gregory, writing 
 to John of Constantinople, deals roundly and plain- 
 ly with him, saying, "When thou wast called to 
 the office of a bishop, thou saidst. That thou wast 
 not worthy to be called a bishop, and now thou 
 wouldst have none a bishop but thyself. What 
 wilt thou answer unto Christ, who is the true head 
 of the universal church, in that day of judgment, 
 seeing that by this name of universal thou seekest 
 to enthral all the members of his body unto thy- 
 self? Whom dost thou imitate herein, save only 
 him, who in contempt of those legions of angels, 
 which were his fellows, sought to mount aloft to 
 the top of singularity, where he might be subject to 
 none, and all others subject to him?'^* 
 
 But did he not raise all this stir, and make all 
 this opposition, because John had anticipated him ; 
 because he had not this name and title himself?! 
 
 * Qui enim indignum te esse fatebaris, &c. — nee stulto ac su- 
 perbo vocabulo appellari consentias, — ut cuncta brevi cingulo lo- 
 cutionis astringam: sancti ante legem, sancti sub lege, sancti 
 sub gratia, omnes hi perficientes corpus Domini, in membris 
 sunt ecclesiae constituti, et nemo se unquam universalem vocare 
 voluit, &c. Idem. ibid, ad Johan. Constantinop. Epist. 38. 
 
 t Nunquid ego, hac in re, piissime domine, propriam causam 
 defendo.? nunquid specialem injuriam vindico.? et non magis 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 163 
 
 since as he is said to be the best of all the bishops 
 of Rome that came after him, so the worst of all 
 that were before him. Hear what he says, writing 
 to Eulogius, bishop of Alexandria: '^ You have been 
 careful to advertise me, that you forbear now to 
 write to any by those proud names which spring 
 merely from the root of vanity; and yet speaking 
 to me, you say ' as you commanded.^ Let me, I 
 pray you, hear no more of this word command; for 
 I know well enough what I am, and what you are. 
 In degree you are my brethren, and in manners you 
 are my fathers: wherefore I com^manded you no- 
 thing, only I advised you, what I thought fittest to 
 be done; and yet I do not find that you have per- 
 fectly observed that which I desired to leave deep- 
 est graven in your remembrance; for I told you, 
 that you should not write in any such manner either 
 to me, or to any other, and yet in the very preface 
 of your epistle, you call me by that name of pride 
 and vanity, ^universal pope;' which I would en- 
 treat you to forbear hereafter, seeing that yourselves 
 lose, whatever you give unduly to another. For 
 my part, I seek to increase in virtues, and not in 
 vanity of titles. That adds nothing to my honour, 
 which I see taken from my brethren. My honour 
 is the honour of the universal church, and the sound 
 vigour of my brethren. For if you call me univer- 
 sal pope, you deny yourselves to be that which in- 
 
 causam omnipotontis Dei et causam universalis ecclcsiic ? Idem 
 ad Maurit. Epist. 32. 
 
164 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 deed you are, in that you call me universal. But 
 God forbid, let us rather put far from us these 
 words, which puff up pride and vanity, and wound 
 charity to the death/^* 
 
 This is that Gregory, bishop of Rome^ who was 
 so vehement in his writing against the name and 
 office of universal bishop, that after his death, the 
 Romanists would have burnt his works, had not one 
 Peter, a deacon, restrained them by affirming to 
 them, " That he often saw the Holy Ghost, in the 
 form of a dove, sitting upon the head of Gregory, 
 while he was writing them/' This is that Gregory 
 who so earnestly cried down a universal bishop, 
 that pope Gregory XIII. could not answer, but by 
 giving this Gregory the flat lie. (Plessaeus.) But 
 what follows from that learned authoritative confu- 
 tation, but that the bishop of Rome is fallible, and 
 may err? For if Gregory the Great spoke truth, 
 then Gregory XIII. spoke false, in saying his doc- 
 trine was a lie. If Gregory XIII. spoke true, in 
 saying the other lied, and that in a matter of faith 
 made necessary to salvation, then Gregory the Great 
 greatly erred, in a matter that concerned the uni- 
 versal church. Let them take which horn of the 
 
 * Indicare vestra beatitude studuit, &c. Nam dixi nee mihi 
 vos, nee cuiquam alteri tale aliquid scribere debere, et ecce in 
 praefatione epistolae, quam ad meipsum qui prohibui, direxistis, 
 superbsB appellationis verbum, universale m me papam dicentes, 
 imprimere curastis. Quod peto dulcissima mihi sanctitas vestra 
 ultra non faciat, &c. Idem Epist. lib. 7. Epist. 30. See also 
 lib. 4. Epist. 36. lib. 6. Epist. 5. 24. 28. 30, and 31. 
 
. THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 165 
 
 dilemma they will, their infallibility lies in the 
 dust; for it will much puzzle his holiness to recon- 
 cile the parts of a contradiction. 
 
 I have been a little larger on this point, both from 
 councils, and in transcribing the words of these two: 
 1. Because this is the main HEAD and hinge of 
 our controversies. 2. Because these two were their 
 own, and yet against them. 3. Because it makes it 
 plain, that for six hundred years the bishop of Rome 
 was not universal head, for at that time it was dis- 
 claimed by themselves, as you see. 
 
 But when was this title first assumed? and by 
 whom was it first conferred upon the bishop of 
 Rome, to be called universal? 
 
 You have been told before, that Gregory the 
 Great wrote letters to Maurice, the emperor, in the 
 controversy between him and John of Constantino- 
 ple, about the name universal. This emperor, 
 Maurice, falling into dislike among the soldiers, 
 one Phocas, a centurion, made himself captain of 
 the mutineers, and was afterwards by them pro- 
 claimed emperor. Maurice, seeing this, fled away 
 with his wife and children. Phocas was crowned, 
 and pursued after his own master, Maurice, over- 
 took him, slew his wife and children, or some of 
 them before his eyes, and afterwards caused him to 
 be murdered also. Mark that this Phocas was a vile 
 traitor, and a murderer of such an excellent emperor 
 and virtuous man, as historians say, that Maurice was. 
 A while after Phocas became emperor, Gregory, 
 
166 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 bishop of Rome, who had opposed the title of uni- 
 versal head, departed out of this life, and Sabinian, 
 a malicious detractor of Gregory and his works, suc- 
 ceeded him, and continued bishop of Rome scarce 
 two years; after whom succeeded Boniface IIL, 
 about the year 605, who lived not (as some say^ 
 above eight months, or as others, but a year, after 
 he was bishop of Rome. But, in that time, he ob- 
 tained what he aimed at; for the murder committed 
 by Phocas upon the emperor Maurice, being not 
 approved of by the bishop of Constantinople, Pho- 
 cas sought to establish himself in the empire, gotten 
 by blood, by the friendship of the bishop of Rome. 
 Boniface, making great offers of his service to Pho- 
 cas, took this opportunity to desire of him, that he 
 and his successors after him, should be called uni- 
 versal l^ead of all the churches of Christ, and that 
 the church of Rome thenceforward should have the 
 pre-eminence, and be head of all other churches. 
 The terms were agreed upon. The murderer, Pho- 
 cas, was confirmed in his usurpation, and the aspi- 
 ring Boniface received the title of universal bishop 
 of all Christian churches. And this is acknow- 
 ledged by their own historians.* 
 
 From all which, you clearly see, that it was not 
 till after the six hundredth year from Christ, that 
 
 ^ Quo tempore intercesserunt quaedam odiorum fomenta in- 
 ter eundem Phocam imperatorem atque Cyriacum Constantino- 
 politanum. Hinc igitur in Cyriacum Phocas exacerbatus in ejus 
 odium imperiali edicto sancivit, nomen universalis decere Ro- 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 167 
 
 the bishop of Rome had this title conferred upon 
 him; and that he came not to it by divine right, not 
 made so by God, nor called and chosen to it by a 
 general council of fathers, but by a traitor and a 
 murderer. The pope giving his help to keep the 
 usurper in the saddle, by way of requital, this wicked 
 and tyrannical emperor lifts the pope up into the 
 chair. Par nobile fratrum ! 
 
 As his name and office of universal bishop is 
 new, so are those other accumulative, pompous, and 
 some of them blasphemous titles, not fit to be given 
 to any mortal man. For of old, it was not so; for 
 Peter, whose successor he pretends to be, had no 
 such names nor titles, but styled himself a fellow 
 presbyter, 1 Peter v. 1. And the canons of the 
 African church of old were, that "the bishop of the 
 first seat [that was Rome,] should not be called 
 prince of priests, or head priest, or any such like 
 name, but only the bishop of the first seat.'^* Ca- 
 ranza,t in his annotations upon this canon, says: 
 
 manam tanturn modo ecclesiam, tanquam quae caput esset om- 
 nium ecclesiarum, solique convenire Romano pontifici; non 
 autem episcopo Constantinopolitano, qui sibi illud usurpare prce- 
 sumeret. Quod quidem hunc Bonifacium papam tertium ab 
 imperatore Phoca obtinuisse, cum Anastasius Bibliothecarius, 
 tum Paulus diaconus tradunt. Spondan, Epitom. Baron. Annal. 
 in annum GOG. 
 
 T«c TT^corhi K^^iS'pdLQ. Codex Canon. Eccles. Afric. Can. 39. 
 t Caranz. Sum. Concil. Cartliag. 3. Can. 2(5. 
 
168 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 "That the African church could not give laws to 
 the universal church, and therefore by this canon 
 neither did nor could forbid the calling of the bishop 
 of Rome, prince of priests/^ &c. But they could 
 decree, that they would never call him so, nor own 
 him for such, which shows that by them he was 
 not so advanced. But their own canon law* for- 
 bids that the bishop of Rome should be called uni- 
 versal. And the sixth council at Constantinople,! 
 ratifying the decree of the 150 fathers formerly 
 assembled in that city, and of the 630 fathers assem- 
 bled at Chalcedon, also agreed with them and de- 
 creed, '' That the bishop of Constantinople should 
 have equal privilege with the bishop of Rome, and 
 have equal power in all ecclesiastical matters with 
 him, only that he be the second to the bishop of 
 Rome; and after the bishop of Constantinople, the 
 bishop of Alexandria should have the next seat; and 
 next to him, the bishop of Antioch; and next to 
 him, the bishop of Jerusalem. ^^ By all which ap- 
 pears that the bishop of Rome was not head of all 
 the rest, the prince of priests, but that all the respect 
 that he had above the rest, was to sit down in the 
 jfirst seat, which is nothing at all to his universal 
 jurisdiction; and then he had not those titles that 
 now are given to him; 1. As head over all priests, 
 
 * Nee etiam Romanus pontifex universalis est appellandus. 
 Distinct. 99. c. nee etiam. 
 
 t Surius in Coneil. torn. 2. pag. 1046. Coneil. Constantinop. 
 Can. 36. 
 
[ 
 
 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 169 
 
 as a king is over his judges; 2. The vicar of St. 
 Peter, though now they say, not the vicar of Peter 
 properly, but vicar of Christ properly, and successor 
 of Peter; 3. Most mighty priest; 4. That he has 
 all laws in his breast; 5. Chief magistrate of the 
 whole world; 6. That his sacerdotal dignity as far 
 excels kings and emperors, as gold excels lead; 
 7. That all the earth is his diocese, and he the ordi- 
 nary of all men, having the authority of the King 
 of all kings upon subjects — that he is all in all, and 
 above all; 8. " If those things that I do, be said to be 
 done not of man but of God, what can you make of 
 me but a god? and the prelates of the church being 
 accounted of Constantine for gods, I, being above all 
 prelates, by this reason am above all gods.^^* 
 
 Likewise the power of the pope over general 
 councils is a new power. It was not so of old; he 
 had not the power of calling councils, but it belonged 
 to, and was done by civil magistrates. The first 
 general council of Nice, was assembled by the autho- 
 rity of Constantine the Great; the second, at Con- 
 stantinople, was called by Theodosius the elder; the 
 third, at Ephesus, by Theodosius the younger; the 
 fourth, at Chalcedon, by Valentinian and Mar- 
 
 * Jus Canonic. 1. Dist 96. c. ego.c. Constanthius. 2. Distinct. 
 63. 3. Juris Canon, pars 2. cans. 25. quest. 1. c. null. 4. Roma- 
 nus pontifex, qui jura omnia in scrinio pectoris sui ccnsetur 
 habere— Sexti. decret. p. Bonifac. 8. c. licet. 5. Dccret. lib. 6. 
 Bonifac. 8. in prooemio. 6. Distinct. 9(). c. duo. 7. Glos. in c. 
 11. quest. 3. si mimicus. 8. Decret. de Translat. Episc. cap. 
 quinto. 
 
170 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 cian, &c. Historians tell us, that when once the 
 
 emperors began to be Christians, from that time for- 
 ward the church affairs depended upon them, and 
 the greatest councils were assembled, and so still 
 are, at their appointment. So Socrates.^ And in 
 the council of Constance, (which Caranzat says was 
 general, held A. D. 1400, and which deposed three 
 popes, Gregory XII., Alexander V., John XXIV.) 
 and again in the council of Basil, which began in 
 the year 1431, it was decreed, ^^ That a synod has 
 its power immediately from Christ, to which every 
 one, of what state soever or dignity he be, yea, even 
 the pope himself ought to be obedient, which if he 
 be not, but shall contumaciously contemn the de- 
 crees, statutes, and ordinances of the council, except 
 he repent, he shall suffer condign punishment, though 
 it be the pope himself.'^i And this council of Con- 
 stance was confirmed by pope iSIartin V., Sess. 45. 
 and the other at Basil, by pope Nicolas V. 
 
 From all this it appears, that the main essential 
 point of popery is a mere novelty, not having ori- 
 ginated till after the sixth century after Christ, and 
 not attained to its full power till several hundred 
 years after this. So that I may with Voetius, con- 
 
 ^ Eccles. Hist. lib. 5. procem. 
 
 t Caranz. Sum. Concil. p. 8*24, 825. 
 
 t Primo declarat sjnodus, quod ipsa potestatem a Christo 
 immediate habet, cui quilibet cujuscunque status vel dignitatis, 
 etiam si papalis existat, obedire tenetur, &c. Cone. Constan. 
 Sess. 4, 5. et Cone. Basil. Sess. 2. 16. IS. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 171 
 
 fidently affirm, that in the first six centuries, there 
 
 was NO CHURCH, NO ONE DOCTOR, NO ONE MARTYR, 
 NO CONFESSOR, NO ONE FAMILY, NO, NOR ONE MEM- 
 BER OF THE CHURCH, EITHER IN THE WEST, OR IN 
 ANY OTHER PART OF THE WORLD, THAT WAS PRO- 
 PERLY AND FORMALLY A PAPIST. What is then 
 become of the antiquity of popery? for there can- 
 not be so much as one formal papist, where the es- 
 sentials of popery are not; as where the essentials 
 of a man are not, there is no man actually existent. 
 But the pope, as universal head, is an essential part 
 of the popish religion, without which (according to 
 their doctrine) the church is no church, nor any 
 one a member thereof, that does not own him and 
 submit to him. Therefore the pope not being till 
 after the sixth century, so long there was not one 
 papist, formally and properly, in the whole world! 
 
 This being the main pillar of popery, I have in- 
 sisted the longer to prove the novelty of it; for this 
 falling, the whole fabric tumbles down: as therefore 
 it is not necessary that I should be so large in the 
 rest, I shall but name what follows. 
 
 Secondly. The forbidding of ministers^ marriage 
 is a mere novelty. For as their own authors say, 
 Syricius* bishop of Rome, who lived about the year 
 388, was the first that forbad it; yet it was not then 
 
 * Syricius primus sacerdotibus et diaconis circiter annum sa- 
 lutis 388, conjugio interdixit — Non ante pontificatum Grcgorii 
 VII. Anno 1074, connubium adimi sacerdotibus occidonlalibus 
 potuit. Polyd. Virg. de Invent, rer. lib. 5. cap. 4. 
 
172 THE ^-OVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 received and practised as a duty for them to abstain 
 from marriage, but liberty of marrying was never 
 denied them till Gregory VII. came to be pope in 
 1074, who yet was resisted, as one that brought in 
 a new custom, never received before; and the bi- 
 shops of Italy ,^ Germany and France met together, 
 and for this decreed that he had acted against Chris- 
 tian piety, and deposed him, because among other 
 things, he had divorced men from their wives, de- 
 nying such as had their lawful wives to be priests; 
 when yet at the same he admitted to the altars, 
 w^horemongers, adulterers and incestuous persons. 
 
 Bellarmine himself and other popisht doctors 
 grant, yea, he proves by arguments, that by the 
 law of God it is not forbidden that ministers should 
 marry, and that for many hundred years the church 
 of Rome permitted Greek priests to have and dwell 
 with their wives. 
 
 Thirdly. That religious worshipping of images 
 has not been of old in the church of God, nor re- 
 ceived and owned by councils, (for what particular 
 persons and heretics in this point have done is not 
 in this controversy so much to be minded) nor 
 practised in the church for some hundred years 
 after Christ, there is sufficient evidence. Bishop 
 Usher in his answer to the Jesuit's challenge, says: 
 
 * Magdeb. cent. 11. pag. 3S9. 
 
 t Aquin. 2 da. 2 das. Q. S^. art. 11. Cajet. Opuscul. torn. 1. 
 Tract. 27. Sotus lib. 7. de Justitia Q. 6. art. 2. in BeUar. de 
 Cleric, lib. 1. cap. 18. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 173 
 
 It might well be concluded that images were brought 
 into the church partly by lewd heretics, partly by 
 simple Christians newly converted from paganism. 
 The Gnostic heretics had images, some painted in 
 colours, others framed of gold and silver, and other 
 matter, which they said were the representations of 
 Christ, made under Pontius Pilate, when he was 
 conversant here among men; and though Eusebius* 
 makes mention of the images of Paul and Peter, and 
 of Christ, yet there he calls it " a heathenish cus- 
 tom.'^ But they were so far from worshipping 
 them in the primitive times, that a council! of an- 
 cient fathers decreed about the year 325, "That 
 pictures ought not to be in the church, lest that 
 which is worshipped or adored, should be painted 
 on walls.^^ Which law made by this council, set 
 Melchior Canus,t the papist, in such a heat, that he 
 alone would condemn them all, not only of impru- 
 dence but impiety for so doing, for the poor man 
 could not otherwise answer it. 
 
 In the first four general councils, which reached 
 to the year 451, there is nothing for the worship- 
 ping of images, and yet if they had been of that 
 opinion, they had had occasion from what was 
 done in the Elibertine council, being about the 
 
 * Euse. Eccl. Hist. 1. 7. c. 18. 
 
 t Concil. Elibertin. 
 
 t Ilia lex non imprudenter modo, verum etiam inipie, ?i con- 
 cilio Elibertino lata est de tollendis imaginibus. Canus loc. 
 theolog. lib. 5. cap. 4. conclus. 4. 
 
 P 2 
 
174 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 same lime that the Nicene council was, and before 
 the Other three. And it should seem that they 
 were not worshipped in the church of Rome itself, 
 for six hundred years after Christ, by the epistle of 
 Gregory the Great to Serenus bishop of Marseilles,^ 
 who had broken down images, and cast them out of 
 his church, when he perceived some to begin to 
 dote upon them too much. Though he reproves 
 him for breaking them, yet he commends him for 
 his zeal, and says, " that nothing made with hands 
 should be worshipped — that though the people might 
 have had them, whereby to gather the knowledge 
 of the history, yet they might not sin in worship- 
 ping the picture.'^ Judge if it were likely that at 
 that time religious worship was given to images at 
 Rome, when the bishop thereof condemned it as a 
 sinful thing, and commends others for being against 
 it. And though cardinal Bellarmine was of opinion, 
 '^ That it is lawful to picture God in the church in 
 the shape of a man, and the Holy Ghost in the form 
 of a dove,'^ yet a greater and one more ancient than 
 he, was against it, namely, pope Gregory II. whose 
 epistle is quoted by Baronius, upon the year 726, 
 
 * Indico dudum ad nos pervenisse quod fraternitas yestra quos- 
 dam imaginum adoratores aspiciens, easdem ecclesiae imagines 
 confregit atque projecit, et quidem zelura vos, ne quid manu 
 factum adorari possit, habuisse laudavimus. Tua fraternitas, 
 ab earum adoratu populum prohibere debuit; et populus in 
 picturae adoratione minime peccaret. Greg. Mag. Epis. lib. 7, 
 Ep. 109. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 176 
 
 whence it seems there was no such picture in the 
 church of Rome at that time; for, says that pope, 
 " In the church, God is not represented before men^s 
 eyes, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is not 
 drawn in colours, because God^s nature cannot be 
 painted out, or put in sight/^* 
 
 Moreover, at a council of 338 fathers, held at 
 Constantinople, in the year 754, they were solemn- 
 ly condemned; and when they were set up by the 
 second council at Nice, in the year 787, they were 
 degraded again of their honour by the council of 
 Francfort in the year 794. 
 
 Durant purposely sets himself to give us all the 
 councils that have approved the use and veneration 
 of images;! and says, the first that did so was the 
 sixth council at Constantinople, (which was in the 
 time of pope Agatho, about the year 673,) and 
 quotes the 83d, but it is the 82d canon, J where the 
 picture of Christ is commanded to be made in the 
 shape of a man; but turning to the place, I find 
 plainly that this canon does not at all command any 
 
 ^ Cur tandem Patrem Domini Jesu non oculis subjicimus ac 
 pingimus? quoniam quis sit non novimus, Deique natura spec- 
 tanti proponi non potest ac pingi. 
 
 t Durant. de ritib. p. 31. 
 
 t Christi Dei nostri instar hominis characterem etiam in 
 imaginibus deinceps pro veteri agno statui jubciniis, ut per 
 ipsum verbi Dei humiliationem mentc coniprehendontos, ad 
 memoriam quoque ejus in came conversationis, ejusquo pas- 
 sionis, et salutaris mortis deducamur, ojusque qucB ox eo facta 
 est mundo redemptionis. Cone. Constant. VI. Can. 82. 
 
176 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 worship to be given to it, but only recommends the 
 use of it, as an aid to the memory, w^hich is nothing 
 to the popish cause of worshipping images. He 
 next refers to a second Nicene council, which yet 
 was 787 years after Christ, so that this might pass 
 for a novelty. 
 
 Fourthly. The doctrine of purgatory, by the con- 
 fession of papists themselves, is ranked among the 
 novelties brought into the church; for one of them 
 says, "No true believer now doubts of purgatory, 
 whereof notwithstanding among the ancients there 
 is very little or no mention at all. The Greeks 
 also, to this day, do not believe that there is a pur- 
 gatory. Let who will read the commentaries of 
 the ancient Greeks, and so far as I see, he shall find 
 very rare mention of purgatory, or none at all. 
 And the Latins did not all of them together receive 
 the truth of this matter, but by little and little; 
 neither indeed was the faith either of purgatory or 
 pardons so needful in the primitive church, as it 
 now is.^^* Thus far a papist, and an ingenuous one 
 too, though it is rare to find one that will without par- 
 tiality speak the truth; which Bellarmine does not 
 use to do, for he says quite the contrary, "That all 
 the fathers, both Greek and Latin, have constantly 
 taught from the apostles' times that there is a pur- 
 
 * Nemo certe dubitat orthodoxus, an purgatoriura sit, de quo 
 tamen apud priscos, nulla vel qukm rarissima fiebat mentio ; sed 
 et Grsecis ad hunc usque diem, non est creditum esse, &c. 
 Johan. Ross, apud Polyd. Virg. de Invent. Rerum, lib. 8. cap. 1. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 177 
 
 gatory/^* And this cardinal is so zealous for the 
 doctrine of purgatory, that he says, "That it is a 
 doctrine of faith, so that he who does not believe it, 
 shall never come to it, [no harm if he do not, I sup- 
 pose; it is no desirable thing to be in pains, no less 
 than the pains of hell, though shorter,] but shall be 
 always tormented in the flames of hell/^ But the 
 best of it is, that it is but a cardinal, not the Scrip- 
 ture that says so. But I will set another papist 
 against Bellarmine, and standing between the two, 
 let him shift for himself, and get out as well as 
 he can. These are the words of Alphonsus, " Con- 
 cerning purgatory, there is almost no mention made 
 by the ancients, especially the Greek writers, for 
 which reason to this very day, the Greeks do not 
 believe that there is a purgatory.'^t It is true that 
 many of the fathers speak of a purgatorial fire, both 
 in this life, and after; but by the fire in this life 
 they understand afflictions. So Augustine, "We 
 confess that in this life there are purgatory pains, — 
 as loss of friends, and the calamities of this life.'^J 
 So also, by a purging fire after this life, through 
 which they make all saints to pass, they understand 
 the last day of judgment. But the popish purga- 
 tory is another thing, not invented in the days of 
 Gregory I., who wrote in the end of the sixth age, 
 
 * Bellar. de Purgat. lib. 1. cap. 15. 
 
 t Alphons. de Castro, Advcrs. Hoeres. lib. 8. titul. Indul- 
 gentia. 
 
 t August, de Civitat. Dei, lib. 22. cap. 13. 
 
178 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 saying, ^^ Because we are redeemed by the grace of 
 our Creator, we have the heavenly gift, that when 
 we are withdrawn from the habitation of our flesh, 
 we are presently brought to the heavenly recom- 
 pense/'* And though in the writing of this pope 
 there is some mention of purgatory for smaller sins, 
 yet it is not the same that the papists now assert; 
 for in his dialogues he speaks of the purgation of 
 souls in baths, in rivers, and wind; and it was first 
 bottomed upon visions and revelations, and feigned 
 stories of departed souls appearing to others in this 
 life. 
 
 But above 200 years after these pretended visions, 
 the council of Aquisgrant show that this was not a 
 generally received doctrine, for they sum up all the 
 punishments inflicted by God for sin to this life, 
 and they mention two ways; " but the third,^^ say 
 they, " after this life, is very fearful and terrible, 
 which by the most just judgment of God shall be 
 executed, when he shall say, ' depart from me ye 
 cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil 
 and his angels.' " And yet further to discover the 
 novelty of purgatory, that it was above a thousand 
 years the opinion of some men only,and not an article 
 
 * Quia authoris nostri gratia redempti sumus, hoc jam coeles- 
 tis muneris habemus, ut cum k carnis nostrsB habitatione sub- 
 trahimur, mox ad coelestia prsemia ducamur. Gregor. 1. in 
 Job 20. 
 
 t Capit. Aquisgran. Cone, ad Papinum Miss. lib. 1. cap. 1. 
 quoted by bishop Usher, Answ. to Jes. Chall. p. 177. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 179 
 
 of faith generally received, the saying of Otto Fri- 
 gensis, w^riting in the year of our Lord 1146, gives 
 evidence. His words are these, "That there is in 
 hell a place of purgatory, wherein such as are to be 
 saved are either only troubled with darkness or 
 decocted with the fire of expiation, SOME AF- 
 FIRM.^^* Mark reader, all did not teach so, nor 
 the most, but some only. 
 
 Fifthly. That the pope's indulgences are a mere 
 novelty, of which the church of God for many hun- 
 dred years knew nothing, we need look for no 
 further evidence, than the plain confession of pa- 
 pists themselves, amongst whom I find Alphonsus 
 making plain and full confession, about these indul- 
 gences and pope's pardons, saying, " That of all the 
 matters treated of in his whole book, there is not 
 one of which the Scripture is more silent, not one 
 that the ancient writers speak less of."t Though 
 
 * Esse apud inferos locum purgatorium, in quo salvandi vel 
 tenebris tantum afficiantur, vel expiationis igne decoquantur, 
 QUIDAM afFerunt. Otto Frig. lib. 8. Chro. c. 26. apud eun- 
 dem. 
 
 t Inter omnes res de quibus in hoc opere disputamus, nulla 
 est quam minus aperte sacrae liters? prodiderint, et de qua minus 
 vetusti Scriptores dixerint, neque tamen hac occasione sunt con- 
 demnanda? [indulgentiae quod earum usus in ecclesia videatur 
 sero receptus: quoniam multa sunt posterioribus nota, qu» 
 vetusti illi Scriptores prorsus ignoraverunt. Quid ergo minim 
 si ad hunc modum contigcrit de indulgentiis, ut apud priscos 
 nulla sit de cis mentio? Etsi pro indulgontiarum approbatione 
 sacroB ScripturoB testimonium apertum desit, tamen qui contem- 
 nit, hflereticus merito ccnseatur, AlC. Alphons. de Castro. Ad- 
 ver. Plojres. lib. 8. titul. Indulgcntia. 
 
180 THE NOVELTY OF TOPERY. 
 
 he would not have them " therefore to be slighted, 
 because the use of them has been but lately received, 
 because [mark what he says,] many things are 
 known to posterity, which the ancient writers were 
 altogether ignorant of. What need we wonder 
 then, if this be so in the matter of indulgences that 
 among the ancients there is no mention of them at 
 all?^^ Really this did me good to read, for I like 
 that men should be ingenuous, and speak the plain 
 truth. Yet when I read further, and saw that, 
 though he acknowledges there is nothing for it in 
 the Scripture, nor in the ancient fathers, yet he says 
 that those who " set light by them, or despise them, 
 should be judged heretics,^' I thought his zeal had 
 carried him too far. This papist makes no attempt 
 at all to go higher than pope Gregory I., in the lat- 
 ter end of the sixth century, w^hen he says, " It is 
 said that he granted some indulgences ;'' and from 
 thence he slides as far as the Lateran council, which 
 was in the year of our Lord 1215, according to 
 Caranza, and from thence to the council of Con- 
 stance under pope John XXIV., which was after 
 the year of our Lord 1400. And this is all the an- 
 tiquity that he pretends to, from whose confession, 
 we might safely place this among the young doc- 
 trines and practices held and used in the church of 
 Rome. 
 
 But let us try another of them whose business in 
 his book is to give the first rise, and beginning of 
 things. He also does not attempt to rise higher 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 181 
 
 than the sixth century, to the former Gregory; but 
 there he finds little to fasten upon, and therefore 
 steps presently back to Boniface VIIL, who he says 
 was the first that brought in the popish jubilee, 
 when he gave pardons to those that visited the 
 apostles' temples, in the year 1300, which jubilee 
 he commanded should be observed every hundredth 
 year. But when fifty years were almost expired, 
 pope Clement VI. ordained this jubilee should be 
 every fiftieth year, forasmuch as man's age would 
 not reach the hundredth year. Lastly, pope Sixtus 
 IV. about 1471, or, as my present author, 1475, 
 brought it to every twenty-fifth year; " and then [I 
 pray the reader to mark] the use of pardons, which 
 they call indulgences, began to be famous, which 
 pardons, for what cause, or by what authority they 
 were brought in, or what they are good for, much 
 troubles our modern divines to show.''* Reader, 
 
 * Bonifacius VIII. — primus omnium jubileum retulit, anno 
 qui fuit MCCC salutis humanae, quo poenarum remissionera iis 
 prsBstabat, qui limina apostolorum visitassent. Idem autem pon- 
 tifex jubileum centesimo quoque anno servari mandavit. Quin- 
 quagesimo post instante anno Clemens VI. sanxit jubileum 
 quinquagesimo quoque anno, cum aetas hominis vix jubileum 
 ilium centum annorum attingere possit. Postremo Sixtus ejus 
 appellationis quartus jubileum ad vigesimum quemquc annum 
 reduxit, primusque celebravit, qui fuit annus MCCCCLXXV 
 salutis, ac ita veniarum quas indulgentias vocant, jam turn usus 
 Celebris esse coepit, quae qua de causa, quave ex authoritato in- 
 troduclflB fuerint, aut quantum valere videantur, nostri reccnti- 
 ores theologi ea de re egregic laborant ; ego vero originem, quod 
 
182 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 is not this a plain case? Can we desire clearer evi- 
 dence of the novelty of the pope's pardons, by 
 which he beguiles so many souls, and gets so much 
 money into his treasury? Being so much in the 
 dark himself, he consults another to seek relief; and 
 the third says, " It may be many will put no great 
 trust in these indulgences, because their use is but 
 lately come into the church, and is so found but a 
 little while ago; to whom I say, it is not certain 
 who first began them; there was, however, SOME 
 very ancient use of them;"* but of this he speaks 
 doubtingly, and gathers it only by inference. But 
 this popish author whom we cited before, confessing 
 the novelty of purgatory, concludes from thence the 
 novelty of popish pardons; for, says he, "As long 
 as there was no fear of purgatory, no man sought 
 indulgences, for all the account of indulgence de- 
 pends on purgatory. If you deny purgatory, what 
 need of indulgences? Indulgences began after men 
 were frighted with the pains of purgatory.^t Thus, 
 
 mei est muneris, quaeritans, non reperio ante fuisse, quod sciam, 
 quam divus Gregorius ad suas stationes id praemii proposuerit. 
 Polydor Virgil, de Invent. Rerum lib. 8. cap. 1. 
 
 * Multos fortasse movet indulgentiis istis non usque adeo 
 fidere, quod earum usus in ecclesia videatur recentior, et admo- 
 dum sero apud Christianos repertus, quibus ego respondeo, non 
 certo constare a quo primum tradi coeperint, fuit tamen, non- 
 nuUus earura usus, ut aiunt, apud Romanos vetustissimus, quod 
 ex stationibus intelligi potest. 
 
 t Quamdiu nulla faerat de purgatorio cura, nemo quaesivit in- 
 dulgentias, nam ex illo pendet omnis indulgentiarum existima- 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 183 
 
 out of the mouths of these three witnesses of their 
 own, we might let this pass for one of the younger 
 sort, and set it amongst its fellows. 
 
 Sixthly. I may conclude the same of prayer for 
 the dead; for if purgatory be but a late device, and 
 indulgences granted for their deliverance be but 
 late, prayer for them to be delivered out of purga- 
 tory, (which is supposed in the manner of the pa- 
 pists' prayers for departed souls) cannot be of a 
 longer standing, as their bishop before quoted right- 
 ly argued. 
 
 What might be alleged for the antiquity of pray- 
 ing for the dead, used indeed in the church former- 
 ly, is nothing to the popish prayers used now; for 
 it is most evident, that they did not pray in relation 
 to their being in purgatory, which they understood 
 not, nor do their prayers express any such thing, 
 but rather the contrary, of their being at rest, w^hich 
 they could not have in purgatory. Therefore, what- 
 soever prayers they were, or to what end, is not 
 my work at present to inquire. Until they be 
 proved to be such as popish prayers for the dead, 
 the latter will stand still among the younger prac- 
 tices of the church of Rome. 
 
 Seventhly. As for the novelty of praying to 
 saints, cardinal Du Perron (a man that would have 
 
 tio. Si tollas purgatorium, quorsum indulgentiis opus orit? 
 Coeperunt igitur indulgcntiGD, postquam ad purgatorii cruciatus 
 aliquandiu trepidaium est. Jolian. lloflen. in Luther, ibid. 
 
184 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 found it, if there had been any such practice in the 
 primitive churches) freely acknowledges, as Moli- 
 neus who traced him in his book affirms, that " as in 
 the Holy Scriptures there is neither command nor 
 example for the invocation of saints; so likewise in 
 the writings of the fathers, that have written before 
 the first four councils, [which brings us to the year 
 451] no trace is to be found of that invocation/'* 
 The distinction between the saints' intercession, 
 and the invocation of saints, should be carefully 
 heeded: for whether the saints in heaven pray^b;* 
 the church on earth, and whether the church on 
 earth might pray to the saints in heaven, are widely 
 difierent questions. That in the first ages it was 
 accounted idolatry to invocate angels, was deter- 
 mined in the thirty-fifth canon of the Laodicean 
 council before quoted. 
 
 8. To show the novelty of transubstantiation; — 
 that the bread is not turned into the flesh of Christ, 
 I need not stand long: for Scotus does it for me, 
 who says: "That this was not a doctrine of faith, 
 before the Lateran council ;''t which was in the 
 year 1215. Bellarmine takes notice of this, and is 
 oflended at, and helps the matter as well as he can, 
 by mentioning one council, (and he names no more, 
 which he would have done, doubtless, if he could,) 
 and that is a council at Rome under Gregory VII., 
 who was pope in the year 1073; so that according 
 
 ^ Molin. Novelty of Popery, pag. 3S8. 
 t Bellar. de Euchar. lib. 3. cap. 23. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 185 
 
 to Bellarmine's grave admonition of Scotus, it was 
 above a thousand years before that was made a doc- 
 trine of faith in the Roman church itself. But 
 Alphonsus, as to councils, rises no higher than the 
 Lateran, as Scotus did.^ 
 
 9. The denying of the cup to the people might 
 be reckoned with the rest, for a mere novelty, hav- 
 ing its rise in the council of Constance, which began 
 in the year 1414; and there needs no other evi- 
 dence, that this is an innovation, than the very 
 words of the canon, whereby it is denied to the 
 people, which are: "Although Christ administered 
 this sacrament in both kinds, and though in the pri- 
 mitive church the people received it in both kinds, 
 yet this custom is rationally introduced, that the 
 people shall only take the bread; and we command, 
 under pain of excommunication, that no presbyter 
 give it to the people under both kinds of bread 
 and wine.^^t Thus, though Christ appointed hoth^ 
 though the primitive times observed hoth^ yet these 
 arrogant priests say they shall have but one, any 
 thing in Christ's command, and the church's prac- 
 tice, for so many hundred years, to the contrary, 
 
 * Alphons. de Castro adver. ha3res. tit. Euchar. heres. 
 
 t Licet Christus post cocnam instituerit, et suis discipulis ad- 
 ministraverit sub utraquo specie panis et vini hoc vcncrabilo 
 sacramentum, et similiter licet in primitiva ecclesia hujusinodi 
 sacramentum reciperetur a fidelibus sub utraque specie, tamen 
 haec consuetudo ad evitandimi aliqua pcricula et scandala, est 
 rationabiliter introducta,— quod a laicis tantunimodo sub specie 
 panis suscipiatur, &c. Concil. Constan. Soss. 13. 
 
 Q 2 
 
186 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 {no7i obstante) notwithstanding; for this it was call- 
 ed deservedly by one Concilium Non-obstantiense, 
 instead of Const antiense. And yet after this, the 
 council of Basil granted the use of the cup to the 
 Bohemians; and again the council of Trent denied 
 it; so that infallible popish councils can say and 
 unsay, do and undo, and that in matters of faith. 
 
 10. The adoration of the sacrament was after 
 the doctrine of transubstantiation; for the reason of 
 their worshipping of it, is because it is changed into 
 Christ's body and blood. The first then being new^ 
 the other cannot be old. The first was brought in 
 as an article of faith, in the time of Innocent III., in 
 the year 1215; and the worshipping of it, in the 
 time of Honorius IIL, in the year 1216.* Behold 
 its antiquity! 
 
 11. The practice of the pope's canonizing of 
 saints, is a new invention, by the confession of Bel- 
 larmine himself,t who acknowledges that the first 
 pope that he ever read of, as canonizing saints, was 
 Leo III., 800 years after Christ. And the same 
 cardinal says : " That no saints might be publicly 
 invocated, who are not canonized by the pope." 
 Put both together, and it will make a clear conse- 
 quence, that invocation of saints, at least publicly, 
 
 * Decret. Greg. IX. lib. 3. tit. 41. cap. 10. 
 
 t Primus pontifex (ni forte fallor) qui sanctos legatur cano- 
 nizasse, videtur fuisse Leo papa IIL; antequam fortasse fuerunt 
 alise, sed non inihi constat. Bellar. de Sanct. Beat. lib. 1. cap. 8, 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 187 
 
 was not for 800 years after Christ, by the confes- 
 sion of the papists themselves. 
 
 But whither do I tend? To run over all parti- 
 culars controverted between us and them, would 
 sooner swell into a folio, than be contained in a 
 small duodecimo. I can therefore but name some 
 other points, and defy the papists to show, that for 
 five, six, seven hundred, yea, some for a thousand 
 years after Christ, they were generally owned or 
 received in the church of Christ. 
 
 12. The infallibility of the bishop of Rome. 
 
 13. That the church of Rome is the only church, 
 founded by God himself, or that the church of Rome 
 is the catholic church. 
 
 14. That there is no salvation out of the Roman 
 church. 
 
 15. That all that the church of Rome delivers is 
 to be believed, whether it be written in the word 
 of God, or not. 
 
 16. That the pope, or church of Rome, has power 
 and authority to make doctrines of faith, necessary 
 to salvation, that are not contained in the Scripture. 
 
 17. That the pope of Rome alone, or his council 
 alone, or pope and council together, ai*e the judge of 
 controversies, to whom appeals from all the churches 
 must be made, and in whose decisions all are bound 
 to acquiesce. 
 
 18. That the pope of Rome might judge all, but 
 be judged by none, nor be blamed, though he should 
 lead souls by troops to hell. 
 
188 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 19. That the pope of Rome has temporal juris- 
 diction over princes, kings, and emperors, to depose 
 them from their thrones, dispose of their crowns, 
 and absolve their subjects from their oaths of alle- 
 giance to their lawful princes. 
 
 20. That the pope of Rome has authority to 
 dispense with the law of God; to make that law- 
 ful which God forbids, and that evil which God 
 commands. 
 
 21. That the power of calling general councils is 
 inherent in the pope. 
 
 22. That the pope by himself, or legates, ought 
 to be president in such councils. 
 
 23. That all that general councils determine with- 
 out his authoritative ratification, is of no force, but 
 void. 
 
 24. That the Scripture is imperfect and insuffi- 
 cient, not containing in it all things necessary to 
 salvation, nor for the refuting of all heresies. 
 
 25. That it is not lawful to interpret Scripture, 
 contrary to the sense of the church of Rome. 
 
 26. That the church does not depend upon the 
 Scripture, but the authority of the Scripture, even 
 quoad nos, upon the testimony of the church of 
 Rome. 
 
 27. That the Scripture ought not to be translated 
 into the vulgar tongue. 
 
 28. That the common people are to be debarred 
 from reading the Scriptures, except they have a 
 license from the bishop. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 189 
 
 29. That the public service and prayers in the 
 church, ought to be in an unknown tongue. 
 
 30. That there are seven proper sacraments, bap- 
 tism, confirmation. Lord's supper, penance, extreme 
 unction, matrimony, ordination. Or that there are 
 eight sacraments of order, as the order of porters, 
 readers, exorcists, servitors, sub-deacons, deacons, 
 presbyters and bishops; which make indeed four- 
 teen or fifteen sacraments. 
 
 31. That the sacrament of confirmation is more 
 worthy than the sacrament of baptism, and is to be 
 had in greater reverence, and accordingly to be ad- 
 ministered only by a bishop, when baptism may be 
 administered by a presbyter, or a layman. 
 
 32. That private masses are lawful^ and in them 
 both clergy and laity are to be deprived both of the 
 bread and wine, except the priest who makes it, 
 while by the rest it may only be seen. 
 
 33* That the eucharist, when it is sent to the 
 sick, is to be adored by all that meet it, and those 
 that do not, are to be accounted heretics, and to 
 be persecuted with fire and sword. 
 
 34. That the mass is a sacrifice for the quick and 
 the dead, for obtaining not only spiritual but tem- 
 poral blessings, to be offered to God for health, for 
 success in battles, &c., &c. 
 
 35. That a justified person may truly and pro- 
 perly make satisfaction to God for the guilt of pun- 
 ishment, which remains to be expiated alter the 
 fault is remitted. 
 
190 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 36. That the satisfactory works of the saints 
 may be communicated and applied to others; ^or 
 that there are works of supererogation. 
 
 37. That absolution by a priest is so necessary 
 to salvation that persons believing in Christ are 
 damned^ if they die before they are absolved by a 
 priest. 
 
 38. That the confirmation of bishops^ and insti- 
 tution of archbishops by the pall are to be sought 
 from the pope of Rome, from all parts of the world; 
 without which they are no such officers, and none 
 can without sacrilege execute their office. 
 
 39. That in baptism there is an implicit vow of 
 obedience to the pope of Rome. 
 
 40. That the decretal epistles are to be reckoned 
 amongst canonical scripture. 
 
 41. That the bishop of Rome, if he be canonically 
 ordained, whatever his previous character, is un- 
 doubtedly made holy by the merits of St. Peter. 
 
 42. That every transgression of the law does not 
 deserve death, but that there are many sins of them- 
 selves and in their own nature venial and deserving 
 pardon; that the blood of Christ is not necessary to 
 wash them away, but they may be done away with 
 holy water, by smiting the breast, and by the bi- 
 shop's blessing. 
 
 43. That clergymen are exempted from the juris- 
 diction of temporal rulers in things civil and crimi- 
 nal, and that the civil judge cannot punish eccle- 
 siastical persons. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 191 
 
 44. That the rebellion of a clergyman against a 
 heretical king is not treason, or that it is merito- 
 rious to kill princes excommunicated by the pope. 
 
 45. That good works in themselves have a pro- 
 portion, and condignity with the reward, and are 
 meritorious from their inward worthiness, so as to 
 merit a reward, as a journeyman does his wages for 
 his labour. 
 
 Papists themselves acknowledge that the first be- 
 ginning of some of their doctrines they cannot tell, 
 and to search for the year when every novelty was 
 introduced is needless. Those enumerated above, 
 are not found in Scripture, nor in the primitive 
 church, some not for four, five, some not for six, 
 seven, eight, nine, and even twelve centuries after 
 Christ. Hence I conclude that popery is a very 
 novelty, and vainly and falsely boasts of its anti- 
 quity. 
 
192 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 APPLICATION OF THE SUBJECT. 
 
 Is popery a neiv way, and the religion of protes- 
 tants the old religion taught by Christ and his apos- 
 tles? Then this is 1. A safe way, and a safe reli- 
 gion; in it you may be justified, sanctified, and 
 surely saved. It is the old way in which Paul, and 
 Peter, and believers in the primitive times, obtained 
 an everlasting kingdom and crown. Be not alarmed 
 at the uncharitable and groundless doctrine of the 
 papists, that out of their church there is no salva- 
 tion. 2. Then it is the wisest way. The folly of 
 men shows itself in the new ways of popery, and 
 wherein they profess themselves to be wise, they 
 are become fools; but in the old way is manifest 
 the manifold wisdom of God. 3. Then it is the 
 purest way. The nearer the fountain, the purer 
 are the streams; the nearer the copy, the fairer is 
 the writing. The church of Rome vainly glories 
 in titles of holiness; ^^ the most holy pope;" "the 
 holy church;" " the multitude of holy days;" " holy 
 rites and ceremonies," &c. That one is holy and 
 pure, which is consonant to the holy and pure word 
 of God. If you are to travel, you would go the 
 cleanest way. You are travelling to an everlasting 
 state: the old way of faith in Christ, repentance for 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 193 
 
 sin, inward holiness, and new obedience, taught in 
 the reformed churches, agreeably to the doctrine of 
 Christ, and his apostles, is the way to keep a clean 
 and pure heart, a clean and pure conscience, to have 
 a clean and pure conversation. 4. It is the 7iearest 
 way. If you leave this way, the further you go, 
 the more you are out of your way. 5. It is the 
 most comfortable and most pleasant way; all the 
 ways of wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and all 
 her paths are peace. It may be strewed with out- 
 ward troubles, briers and thorns, but there is in- 
 ward peace and joy, solid, sure and lasting comfort 
 to be found in it. 6. It is the only way. The way 
 of faith in Christ, the way of regeneration and holi- 
 ness, the way of new obedience and perseverance 
 therein, is the old way to heaven, and there is no 
 other. If you will choose new ways yourselves, or 
 walk in new ways marked out by others, contrary 
 to the good old way, you will lose God and Christ, 
 and your souls for ever. 
 
 Protestant reader, endeavour to get a right un- 
 derstanding of the greatness of your mercy; that 
 you were not born in an age of popish darkness; 
 that you have ministers to teach you the good old 
 way, and magistrates to defend you therein; that 
 you are not burned at a stake for not receiving new 
 popish doctrines; that you have the Bible in your 
 own language, and none dare forbid )^ou to read it. 
 
 Pray to God for the continuance of this mercy to 
 you and to your children after you; that popery 
 
 11 
 
194 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 may never prevail in this happy land, but that the 
 generations to come may be taught the protestant 
 religion, that is, the good old way to heaven, and 
 that your children, and childrens^ children may 
 enjoy the Bible, and have the old truths of God 
 preached to them. For their sakes pray much. 
 
 Then walk in this good old way. If you see the 
 way to happiness and do not walk in it, you will 
 fall short of it. You may be protestants in opinion, 
 and yet be for ever damned. A drunken protestant, 
 an unclean protestant, a swearing, impenitent, unbe- 
 lieving protestant, shall not be saved, because in 
 opinion he is a protestant. You may refuse to com- 
 mit idolatry in bowing to images in a popish chapel, 
 and yet be condemned for making an idol of your 
 money, and for your immoderate love of the world. 
 You might renounce the pope as head, and in judg- 
 ment own Christ, as only head of his church, and 
 yet be damned for not believing on him, choosing 
 him before all, nor loving him above all. 
 
 Let all old corrupt things be done away; your 
 old ignorance, your old false hopes, your old self- 
 love, your old false peace, your old enmity against 
 God and holiness. You must be cut off from the 
 old stock. In a word, (for I can but name a few of 
 many that might be said for the practical improve- 
 ment of this subject,) crucify the old man, destroy 
 the body of sin. For to keep your old hearts and yet 
 think to go to heaven, is to look for a new way of 
 salvation. 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 195 
 
 Except you be thus made new, you may know 
 the good old way, but you cannot walk in it; which 
 if you do not, wo, wo, a thousand woes to you for 
 ever. How fearful will be the condemnation of an 
 ungodly protestant, who was told which was the 
 good old and only way, and lived under the con- 
 stant, plain and powerful preaching of the same 
 doctrines that Christ himself and his apostles de- 
 livered. I profess your case will be worse, and 
 your torments will be greater, than of the heathen 
 who might say. Lord, we never had a Bible, never 
 heard of Christ, nor of the way of salvation; no 
 ministers were sent to us, no gospel preached to us. 
 Yea, worse will be your case, and greater will be 
 your damnation, than of many amongst the papists, 
 who have not been so plainly taught, so frequently 
 instructed, so faithfully warned, so earnestly en- 
 treated, as you have been. You are not told, that 
 ^^ ignorance is the mother of devotion,'^ as they are; 
 you are not kept from reading the Scripture, as they 
 are; but are pressed, urged and exhorted to it. You 
 have not public worship in an unknown tongue, 
 but by plain language you are warned of hell, and 
 commanded, in the name of God, to forsake your 
 old wicked ways. How oft have you been per- 
 suaded to come to Christ, who is " the way, the 
 truth, and the life?" How long has God waited? 
 and will you go on in your wicked ways still ; in 
 your old course of profanencss and lying, and Sab- 
 bath-breaking ? in your old course of careless ne- 
 
196 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 gleet of God, and Christ, and your own immortal 
 souls? That is an old way indeed, but it is not the 
 good old way. If you will go on, take your course; 
 if you will not turn to the good path, take what 
 falls. But know that the way of sin leads directly 
 to hell. And can you there have rest? How can 
 you, under the heavy load of God^s wrath? How 
 can you, under the strokes of an angry, provoked 
 and revenging God? You cannot rest upon a 
 bed of down, though your conscience be seared, 
 when God afflicts you with the stone or plague, or 
 burning fever, though all your friends be round 
 about you, administering cordials and comforts. 
 And can you rest in a bed of flames, in a burning 
 fiery furnace, in a place more dreadful and more hot 
 than is a vessel full of boiling lead, and burning 
 brimstone, when your conscience shall be awakened, 
 and an angry God shall frown upon you, and not 
 one nigh to pity or relieve? For God^s sake, and 
 for your soul's sake, as ever you would avoid end- 
 less, and remediless torments hereafter, walk in the 
 good old way of faith and holiness, repentance and 
 new obedience now. 
 
 And if you will now walk in this good old way, 
 you shall be taken into a new covenant, and have 
 new employment, better, more noble, more profita- 
 ble, more pleasant than ever yet you were engaged 
 in. You shall be taken into new relations, to be 
 the sons of God, the daughters of God, the servants, 
 people and friends of God. You shall become a 
 
THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 197 
 
 new habitation for Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
 You will have ground of comfort when you come 
 to die. Death is the old way into another world; and 
 if you walk in the good old way while you live, you 
 may be comforted, if you can appeal to God, having 
 the witness of a good conscience, and say, now, 
 Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in 
 the good path, with an upright heart. And then 
 you shall enter into the new Jerusalem, where you 
 shall have universal, seavsonable, eternal, and delight- 
 ful rest. You shall rest from the reigning, and con- 
 flicting power of sin, from the guilt and indwelling 
 of sin. You shall rest from the temptations of 
 Satan. He shall never trouble nor disquiet you 
 more. Commission of sin is now a burden to you, 
 and temptation to sin is now a burden to you, but 
 the good old way will bring to rest from both. You 
 shall rest from all afflictions upon your bodies. Now 
 sickness is a burden that makes you restless, but 
 then you shall have an aching head no more, pained 
 bowels, a sick heart no more for ever. You shall 
 rest from all troubles from men; from all their per- 
 secutions, slanders and reproaches. You shall rest 
 from repentings and mournings for sin, from all the 
 pains that you are now at to mortify corruption; 
 though not from loving of God, delighting in God, 
 and admiring his love, nay this your love shall be one 
 part of your rest. You shall rest from all doubts 
 and fears, and jealousies of heart. Now you doubt, 
 "Does God love me? do I love God? is Christ 
 
 R 2 
 
198 THE NOVELTY OF POPERY. 
 
 mine, and am I his? will God pardon and save me? 
 Sometimes I hope he will, and that lightens my 
 heart; sometimes I fear he will not, and that is a 
 heavy burden to my soul, under which I cannot 
 rest/' But this good old way will bring you to a 
 rest where you shall doubt no more, and fear no 
 more. Can you doubt, whether it is day, when 
 you see the sun shine? or that fire is hot, when 
 you see it burn, and feel its warmth? No more 
 shall you doubt, when you come to the end of 
 your walk in the good old way, whether God loves 
 you, when you shall be filled with his love, and 
 feel that he loves you, and see to what a blessed 
 place of rest and peace, of life, of light and joy, his 
 love has brought you. 
 
POPISH PERVERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 Whereas the church of Rome accuses protestants 
 of perverting and corrupting the word of God, it is 
 easy to prove that the charge may be retorted with 
 triumphant success. 
 
 The insertion of an intermingled apocrypha is in 
 itself sufficient proof of the correctness of this af- 
 firmation. And it is further confirmed by the care 
 that has been manifestly taken to render the trans- 
 lation of the Scriptures a vehicle for the diffusion 
 of popish tenets. One specimen will suffice: the 
 word " repentance" is almost invariably translated 
 "penance," even in the Old Testament, where, it 
 must be confessed, it sounds oddly enough; for in- 
 stance, "Therefore I reprehend myself, and do pe- 
 nance in dust and ashes," Job. xlii. 6. " If the 
 wicked do penance for all the sins which he hath 
 committed, &c. Ezek. xviii. 21. "If they do pe- 
 nance in their heart in the place of their captivity," 
 &c. I Kings viii. 47. " Do penance^ for the king- 
 dom of heaven is at hand," Mat. iv. 17! " that they 
 should do penance^ and turn to God, doing works 
 worthy oipenance^'^ Acts xxvi. 20. The design of 
 this rendering is obvious.* 
 
 * The following note on Rom. iv. 7,8, is an affecting instance 
 of perversion of the word of God. 
 
 " Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins 
 are covered. That is, blessed are those who, by doing penance, 
 have obtained pardon and remission of their sins, and also are 
 covered; that is, newly clothed with the habit of grace, and 
 vested with the stole of charity. 
 
 " Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imjmted siri. 
 That is, blessed is the man who hath retained his baptismal in- 
 nocencc, that no grievous sin can be imputed to him. And 
 
200 PERVEESION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 The suppression of the second commandment, in 
 which the worship of images is prohibited, is usual- 
 ly considered as one article of accusation against the 
 Roman Catholic church. The fact is this: the first 
 and second precepts of the decalogue are blended 
 into one, and the tenth is divided into two. This 
 division is adopted, they say, in deference to the 
 authority of Augustine; be this as it may, it answers 
 their purpose. In catechisms, spelling-books, and 
 small works for the instruction of the young, the 
 decalogue is often given in an abridged form, by 
 which arrangement, the second commandment (that 
 is, our second commandment,) is entirely kept out 
 of sight: thus — 
 
 1. " I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no 
 strange gods before me. 
 
 2. " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord 
 thy God in vain. 
 
 3. " Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath- 
 day. 
 
 4. " Honour thy father and thy mother. 
 
 5. " Thou shalt not kill. 
 
 6. " Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
 
 7. " Thou shalt not steal. 
 
 8. ^' Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
 neighbour. 
 
 9. ^' Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife. 
 
 10. " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's 
 goods." 
 
 This is copied from Butler^ s Catechism; a work 
 extensively used in Ireland. A similar abridgment 
 of the decalogue is inserted in the spelling-book 
 
 likewise, blessed is the man, who, after falling into sin, hath 
 done penance and leads a virtuous life by frequenting the sacra- 
 ments necessary for obtaining the grace to prevent a relapse, 
 that sin is no more imputed to him." Roman Catholic Version. 
 
PERVERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 201 
 
 commonly found in Italian schools, but with this 
 difference, that th^ fourth commandment is omitted 
 as well as the second, and that instead of the injunc- 
 tion to observe the Sabbath, the young Italian reads, 
 '* Remember to keep holy the days of festivals T^^^ 
 The following fact is perhaps known only to few; 
 it deserves some imperishable record. In the year 
 
 1685, Louis XVI. revoked the Edict of Nantes, de- 
 prived the protestants of their civil and religious 
 privileges, and forced hundreds of thousands of them 
 to leave their native land, and seek an asylum 
 where they might worship God without molestation 
 and restraint. But it was soon found that protes- 
 tantism, though oppressed, was not destroyed. A 
 new line of policy was then adopted. The papists 
 saw that they could not prevent the Scriptures from 
 being read, and therefore resolved to force the 
 sacred volume itself into their service, by the most 
 audacious corruptions and interpolations. An edi- 
 tion of the New Testament was published, so trans- 
 lated^ that a Roman catholic might find in it 
 explicit statements of the peculiar dogmas of his 
 church. The book was printed at Bordeaux, in 
 
 1686. It was entitled, "The New Testament of 
 our Saviour Jesus Christ. Translated from Latin 
 into French, by the divines of Louvain:" and the 
 attestation of the archbishop of Bordeaux was pre- 
 fixed to it, assuring the reader that it was '' careful- 
 ly revised and corrected.^' Two doctors in divinity 
 of the university of the same place also recom- 
 mended it as useful to all those, who, with per inis- 
 
 * Gilly's Travels in Piedmont, p. 1()7. Grahanic's '■^ Three 
 Month's Residence in tlie Mountains east of Rome," p. 2158. It 
 is observable, that though tlie tenth commanchnent is thus split 
 into two, the two are aoain bkmdcd into one in tbo exj)lanations 
 given in Roman Cathohc Catechisms. Is not this a tacit con- 
 fession that the division is untenable P 
 
202 PERVERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 sion of their superiors, might read it. A few- 
 quotations will show the manner in which the work 
 w^as executed^ and the object which the translators 
 had in view. 
 
 In the summary of the " contents'^ of Matthew 
 xxvi. Mark xiv. and Luke xxii. it is said that those 
 chapters contain the account of the "institution of 
 the mass!^^ Acts xiii. 2. ("as they ministered to 
 the Lord and fasted^^) is thus rendered — " as they 
 offered to the Lord the sacrifice of the mass, and 
 fasted/^ &c. Li Acts xi. 30, and other places, 
 where our English version has the word " elders/' 
 this edition has ''priests.'^ 
 
 A practice that has proved very productive of 
 gain to the priesthood, is made scriptural in the fol- 
 lowing manner: " And his father and mother went 
 every year in pilgrimage to Jersusalem,'' Luke ii. 
 41. " And not only so, but also he was appointed 
 by the churches the companion of our pi Igri7nage,'^ 
 2 Cor. viii. 19. " Beloved, thou actest as a true be- 
 liever in all that thou doest towards the brethren, 
 and towards [he pi I gin vis. ^^ 3 John 5. 
 
 Tradition is thus introduced: — "Ye keep my 
 commandments, as I left them with you by tradi- 
 tion,^^ 1 Cor. xi. 2. "The faith, which has been 
 once given to the saints t)y tradition,^^ Jude 5. 
 
 That the Roman Catholic might be able to prove 
 that marriage is a sacrament, he was furnished w4th 
 these renderings: — " To those who are joined to- 
 gether in the sacr anient of marriage, I command,'' 
 &c. 1 Cor. vii. 10. "Do not join yourselves in the 
 sacrament of viarriage with unbelievers." 2 Cor. 
 vi. 14. 
 
 1 Cor. ix. 5, is so directly opposed to the con- 
 strained celibacy of the clergy, that we can scarcely 
 w^onder at finding an addition to the text: it stands 
 thus — " Have we not powder to lead about a sister, 
 
PERVERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 203 
 
 a woman to serve us in the gospel^ and to remem- 
 her us with her goods, as the other apostles, &c. 
 
 In support of human merit, the translation of 
 Heb. xiii. 16, nnay be quoted — "We obtain merit 
 towards God by such sacrifices.'^ 
 
 Purgatory could not be introduced but by a di- 
 rect interpolation: "He himself shall be saved, yet 
 in all cases as by the fire of purgatory.^'' 1 Cor. 
 iii. 15. 
 
 Many other passages might be noticed. " Him 
 only shalt thou serve with latria^^ i. e. with the 
 worship specially and solely due to God: this addi- 
 tion was evidently made to prevent the text being 
 urged against the invocation of the saints ; Luke iv. 
 8. " Many of those who believed, came to confess 
 and declare their sins, ^^ Acts xix. 18. " After a 
 procession of seven days round it.'' Heb. xi. 30. 
 "Beware, lest being led away with others, by the 
 error of the wicked heretics, ^^ &c. 2 Pet. iii. 17. 
 " There is some sin which is not mortal, but venialP 
 1 John v. 17. " And round about the throne there 
 were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones twen- 
 ty-four priests seated, all clothed with albs,^^ Rev. 
 iv. 4. The alb^ it will be recollected, is part of the 
 official attire of a Roman catholic priest. 
 
 But the most flagrant interpolation occurs in 1 
 Tim. iv. 1 — 3. " Now the Spirit speaketh ex- 
 pressly, that in the latter times some will separate 
 themselves from the Roman faith, giving them- 
 selves up to spirits of error, and to doctrines taught 
 by devils. Speaking false things through hypocrisy, 
 having also the conscience cauterised. Condemn- 
 ing the sacrament of m^arriage, the abstinence 
 from meats, which God hath created for the faith- 
 ful, and for those who have known the truth, to re- 
 ceive them with thanksgiving." 
 
 Such was the Bordeaux New Testament. Whether 
 
204 PERVERSION OF THE SCRIFl'URES* 
 
 it was actually translated by the divines of Louvain 
 is doubtful. This is certain, however, that it was 
 printed by the royal and university printer, and 
 sanctioned by dignitaries of the church. It is pro- 
 per to add, that the Roman Catholics were soon con- 
 vinced of the folly of their conduct, in thus tamper- 
 ing with the inspired volume. To avoid the just 
 odium brought on their cause by this wicked mea- 
 sure, they have endeavoured to destroy the whole 
 edition. In consequence, the book is now exces- 
 sively scarce. 
 
 " Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, nei- 
 ther cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be re- 
 proved. ^^ John iii. 20. 
 
 Cramp's Text Book op Popery. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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