Tillotson - BX5037 T451 1712 v1

a 34 The Sin and Danóer°, .?rc. 'oi, I, And for the truth of this, I appeal to the Creed of Pope Pius the IVth, com- piled out of the Definitions of the Council of Trent; by which Council the Pope only is authorifed to interpret the true fenfe and meaning of the Canons and De- crees of that Council ; and confequently his Interpretations rauft be of equal force and authority with that of the Council it felt-. So that whatfoever he hath put into his new Creed for an Article of Faith, ought be received with the fame pious Affedtion and Veneration, as ifthe Creed had been compiled by the Council it felf; becaufe the Pope, it feems, and no body elfe underftands the true meaning of that Council, at leaft is thought fit to declare it. And therefore one may juftlywonder at the Prefumption of thofe, who after this Declaration of the Council, have taken upon them to Expound the Catholick Faith, and to reprefent that Religion to us, as it is defined in that Council ; becaufe if there be any Controverfie about the meaning of its Definitions (as there have been a great many even betwixt thofe who were prefent at the Council when thofe Definitions were made) none but the Pope himfel£can certainly tell the Meaning, of them. Now in this Creed of Pope Pius there are added to the Ancient Creed, of the Chriftian Church twelve or thirteen new Articles, as concerning Purgatory, Traia- fubflantiation, the Worfhip of Images, the Invocation of Saints, the Communion in ene kind, and that the Church of Rome is the Mother and M/1refsof all Churches, and that there is no Salvation to be had out of it ; and leverai other Points, all which have either no foundation in Scripture, or are plainly contrary to it, and none of them ever efteemed as Articles of Faith in the Ancient Chriftian Church for the firft five hundred years ; and yet they are now obtruded upon Chriftians, as of equal neceffity to Salvation, with the Twelve Articles of the Apoflles Creed, and this under a pretence of Infallibility, which St. Paul tells us would not have juftified an Apoflle, or an Angel from Heaven, in snaking fuch Additions to the Chriftian Religion, and the impofing of any thing as neceffary to Salvation, which is not fo declared by the Gofpel of Chrift. And all that they have to Cy for this, is, That We do not pretend to be Infallible : But there is 'a neceffity of an Infallible Judge to decide thefe Contro- verfies, and to him they are to be referred. Which is pit as if in a plain matter of Right, a contentious and confident Man fhould defire a reference, and contrive the matter fo as to have it refer'd to himfelf, upon a fleevelefs pretence, without any Proof or Evidence, that he is the only Perfon in the World that hath Au- thority and Infallible Skill to decide all fuch differences. Thus the Church of Rome would deal with us in Things which are as plain as the noon-day; as Whether God hath forbidden the Worfhip of Images in the fecond Command- ment ? Whether our Saviour did Inftitute the Sacrament in both kinds ? Whe- ther the People ought not to read the Scriptures, and to have the PublickSer- vice of God in a known Tongue ? Thefe, and the like, they would haveus refer to an Infallible Judge; and when we ask who he is, they tell us that their Church, which hath impofed thefe things upon Chriftians, andmade thefe Addi- tions to the Gofpel of Chrift, is that Infallible Judge. But if fhe were as in- fallible as the pretendsto be, even as an Apollle, or an Angelfrom Heaven, St, Paul hath denounced an Anathema againft her, forpreaching another Gofpel, and making thofe things necefliary to the Salvation of Men, which are not contained in the Gofpel of Chri/I. The Inference from all this Diifcourfe in fhort, is this ; That we fhould contend earne/fly fr the Faith once delivered to theSaints, and not fuffer our felves by the confident pretences ofSeducers, to he removedfrom him that hath calledus through the grace of Chrill unto another Gofpel. The neceifary Dodtrines of the Chriftian Religion, and the common Terms of Salvation are fo plain, that ifany Man be ignorant of them, it is his own fault ; and if any go about to inipofe upon us any thing as of neceffity to be believed and pradtifed in order to Salvation, which is not declared to be fo in the Holy Scriptures, which contain the true Dodtrine cf the Gofpel what Authority foever they pretend for it, yea, tho' they of iune to themfelves to be Infallible; the Apoftle hath plainly told us what we are to think of them ; for he bath put the Cafe as high as is pofíìble here

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