1$n Advertifernent. y. It is not every one that pretendeth to and ufurpeth a fort of power that God never giveth, for fo do many Impofers of molt Parties. 8. It is not everyone that joyneth Civil and Ecclefiaßical power in one perfon; for fo did Mdehifideck, and fo did (3)11, and other .Alexandrian Bifhops, and thole ofConffantinoples and what Epifcopál Countries have not fuch ? Ifyou fay, that this is a-kin to AnrchriRiani- tqq; or preparatory, I fay, our Queßion is not what la a-kin, or preparatory, but wh..t is it that formally conllituteth it ? 9. It is not every one that is a Perfecutor, for fo, alas, have beentoo many in mofe times and places, nor is it all that promoteHernIe or Blafphemy by Perfecutìon ; for fo did. Va- lens, and many.Arrian Kings, (and Councils) Genfericns, Hannerieus, Tieodoricus, Odoá- cer, &c, to. It is not all that were Idolaters in any degree, for Co is now four frxth parts of the World: much lefs all inward Heart-idolaters; as are all that are covetous, and love the Worldbetter than GOD, and obeyMan againft him. Nor is it all that give Saints or .An- gels undue or flail Veneration ; for fo Thu. twice offer'd proftration to the At gel t at leaft fo did the Councilof Nice, to the Imager of Saints, and efpecially the VirginINarry : And fo did many ofthe Eaßern Empereurs, and Ti;arafius drew in almcft all the Eakin Bilhops ; yea, many were faulty long before Popery came in. I. It is not the being ofany of thefe at Rome, that conbituteth the Beall or .Antichrifl, Which would not do it elfewhere ; for Teeodorick, Odaacer, and other ferions, Blafphe- mers of Chrilt, and Perfecutors in Rome, were not the Beall or ff. It muli therefore ( fay thefe Men) be fomewhat differing from all thefe, which we can find in Pagan Rome, but not in Papal. If the fame thing will; make the Pope ( and all Paiifla) to be the Beall, that would not make another filch, there' mob be fáme fpecial Reafon for it. Ia. Lably, fay they, it muf be remember d that it is confcfs'd to be Civil Power, and not EcclrfioJlical, that conftituteth the firlf Beall, and Rome is his Seat. Now, 1, The Em,. pire was not fettl'd at Rome, but at Conßantinaple, when Chrifiianity came in power. 2. The Popes were mofe Martyrs andSsoßérers till Conffantine's time, and long after pro, fefs'd Subje&ion to Empereurs; yea, even to .Arrians, and to Ufurpers: And .Alexandria and Conftantinople ufed as much force as they. -It was Six hundred and Six years before Pharao call'dBoldface theThird the Vniverfal Bithop ; by which he never meant, .the Une- verjal Emperour, or Civil Governour, (no, nor Univerfal Eec/efiaßical, any further than the Empire.) It was long after this, that the Claimofdepofing Kings as excommunicate was let on foot by Gregory the Seventh ; and long after that before it was decermiñ d in the Lateran Council. Moft Chriftian Kingdoms oppofed it all along : William the Conquerour andWilliamRufus, and others, in England: Philip, and others, in France, where it is de- tied to this day, and much in Spain. The German Emperours, Henry the Fourth and Fifth, and Frederick andOtho long fought againft it, and Come of them took Rome, made and unmade Popes, an,d ufed them as their Subjects. ThePrinces ofItaly themfelves were from Age to Agealmoß always inWar againft the Popes. The Eaftern Emperours before mafter'd them, till Pipin and the two Charles's ufed the Papacy to ufurp the Empire, and after wereMatters of the Pope themfelves. The very Citizens and Laity of Rime, from Age to Age, trove with them for the chiefpower in Rome it fell, and oft overcopt them, till they got Foreign Princes to help them. To this day they claim not Imperial power ever other Princes, fave indiredtly, as nullifying the Title ofthe Excommunicate, billy pretending that they may excommunicate them, and that Chriftians may then rejeft them asno Kings. Is all this an Univerfal Empire, and was Rome the Whore for . Sevenhundred Vears or not ? It is fuppos'd that Idolatry and Perfecurion make her the Whore, and her Civil Power, the Beall. Tranfubßantiation is the groffeftpart of the firft, and that is a Novelty : A few odd Men wrote fpr it a little Conner, but their Church own'd it one, by Law, till the fourth Lateran Council under Innocentthe Third, almoß Twelve hundred Years after Chriß. And excels ofVeneration to Saints and Angels, molt Churches onEarth own'd, and bill own, (the Greek .Armenian, ,Abane, &c.) Our Divines have prowd Purgatory, and alined all their , of that tendency, to be Novelties, ( fee Moulin, de introit. Papifin. Blondel de Ecclef. Rivet's Defence ofdu Pled+,&c.) Now here we are divided. 1. Some by Rome was the Whore ever lince Threehundred : And fo all, or near all, the Church of Chriß in the Empire was. the Beaft, or Whore, or both, ( except the few poor men is Piedmont and Languedoc, for I am of the Opinion, that they kept their Simplicity and Integrity ever fence Pieclefiaris Pertuution) and thenthe i
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=