and so from the true, if there were any true, were damnable schismatics.

1.3. "Because, if any credit may be given to as creditable records as any are extant, the doctrine of catholics hath been frequently confirmed; and the opposite doctrine of protestants confounded with supernatural and Divine miracles.

4. "Because many points of protestant doctrine, are the damned opinions of heretics, condemned by the primitive church.

5. Because the prophecies of the Old Testa ment, touching the conversion of kings and na tions to the true religion of Christ, have been ac complished in and by the catholic Roman religion, and the professors of it; and not by protestant re ligion, and the professors of it.

6. "Because the doctrine of the church of Rome is conformable, and the doctrine of protestants contrary, to the doctrine of the fathers of the primitive church, even by the confession of protestants themselves; I mean, those fathers who lived within the compass of the first six hundred years; to whom protestants themselves do very fre quently, and very confidently, appeal,

7. "Because the first pretended reformers had neither extraordinary commission from God, nor ordinary mission from the church, to preach protestant doctrine.

8. "Because Luther, to preach against the mass (which contains the most material points now in controversy) was persuaded by reasons suggested to him by the devil himself, disputing with him. So himself professeth, in his book de Missa privatas That all men might take heed of following him who professeth himself to follow the devil.

9.

Because the protestant cause is now, and hath been from the beginning, maintained with gross falsifications and calumnies; whereof their prime controversy writers are notoriously and in high degree guilty.

10. Because by denying all human authority, either of pope or council, or church, to determine controversies of faith, they have abolished all possible means of suppressing heresy, or restoring the unity to the church.”

These are the motives. Now my answers to them follow briefly and in order.

44. To the first. God hath neither decreed nor foretold, that his true doctrine should de facto be always visibly professed, without any mixture of falsehood.

To the second. God hath neither decreed nor foretold, that there shall be always a visible company of men free from all error in itself damnable. Neither is it always of necessity schismatical to separate from the external communion of a church though wanting nothing necessary: for if this church, supposed to want nothing necessary, require me to profess against my conscience, that I believe some error, though never so small and innocent, which I do not believe, and will not allow me her communion but upon this condition; in this case the church for requiring this condition is schismatical, and not I for separating from the church.

To the third. If any credit may be given to records, far more creditable than these, the doctrine of protestants, that is, the Bible, hath been confirmed, and the doctrine of papists, which is in many points plainly opposite to it, confounded,

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with supernatural and Divine miracles, which, for number and glory outshine popish pretended mi racles, as much as the sun doth an ignis fatuus; those, I mean, which were brought by our Saviour Christ and his apostles. Now this book, by the confession of all sides, confirmed by innumerable miracles, foretels me plainly, that in after ages great signs and wonders shall be wrought in confirmation of false doctrine; and that I am not to believe any doctrine which seems to my understanding repugnant to the first, though an angel from heaven should teach it; which was certainly as great a miracle as any that was ever wrought in attestation of any part of the doctrine of the church of Rome. But, that true doctrine should in all ages have the testimony of miracles, that I am no where taught; so that I have more reason to suspect, and be afraid of, pretended miracles, as signs of false doctrine, than much to regard them "as certain arguments of the truth. Besides, setting aside the Bible, and the tradition of it, there is as good story for miracles wrought by those who lived and died in opposition to the doctrine of the Roman church (as by S. Cyprian, Colmannus, Columbanus, Aidanus, and others) as there is for those that are pretended to be wrought by the members of that church. Lastly, it seems to me no strange thing, that God in his justice should permit some true miracles to be wrought to delude them, who have forged so many, as apparently the professors of the Roman church have, to abuse the world.

To the fourth. All those were not heretics,

See this acknowledged by Bellar. de Script. Eccles. in

which, by Philastrius, Epiphanius, or St. Austin, were put into the catalogue of heretics. orig To the fifth. Kings and nations have been and may be converted by men of contrary religions.

To the sixth. The doctrine of papists is confessed by papists, contrary to the fathers in many points.

To the seventh. The pastors of a church cannot but have authority from it, to preach against the abuses of it, whether in doctrine or practice, if there be any in it: neither can any Christian want an ordinary commission from God to do a necessary work of charity after a peaceable manner, when there is nobody else that can or will do it. In extraordinary cases, extraordinary courses are not to be disallowed. If some Christian layman should come into a country of infidels, and had ability to persuade them to Christianity, who would say, he might not use it for want of commission?

To the eighth. Luther's conference with the devil might be, for aught I know, nothing but a melancholy dream. If it were real, the devil might persuade Luther from the mass, hoping, by doing so, to keep him to it: or that others would make his dissuasion from it an argument from it (as we see papists do) and be afraid of following Luther, as confessing himself to have been persuaded by the devil.

To the ninth. Iliacos intra muros peccatur et extra. Papists are more guilty of this fault than protestants. Even this very author in this very pamph

Philastrio. By Petavius Animad. in Epiph. de inscript. operis By St. Austin Lib. de Hær. 80.

let hath not so many leaves as falsifications and calumnies.

!

baTo the tenth. Let all men believe the Scripture, and that only, and endeavour to believe it in the true sense, and require no more of others, and they shall find this not only a better, but the only means to suppress heresy, and restore unity. For he that believes the Scripture sincerely, and endeavours to believe it in the true sense, cannot possibly be an heretic. And if no more than this were required of any man to make him capable of the church's communion, then all men so qualified, though they were different in opinion, yet, notwithstanding any such difference, must be of necessity one in communion.