OfConflancy in the Profe/fion of the TrueReligion. Vol; L Sixthly, That Chrift hath always a Vifible Church upon Earth ; and that they can thews a Church, which from the time of Chrift and his Apoftles, bath always made a Vifible Profeffion of the fame Doctrines and Practices which are now believed and pradifed in the Church of Rome: But that We can thew no Vifible Church, that from the time of Chrift and his Apoftles, bath always op- pofed the Church of Rome, in thofe Doftrines and Pra&ices which we now re- vile and find fault with in their Church. That Chrift hath always had, and ever ihaIl have to the end of the World, a Vifible Church, Profeffing and Pradifrng his True Faith and Religion, is agreed on both fides : But We fay that he bath no where promifed, that this (hall be free from all Errorsand Corruptions in Faith and Practice. This the Churches planted by the Apoftles themfelves were not, even in Their times, and during their abode amongft them ; and yet they were true Parts of the Chriftian Ca- 'tholick Church. In the following Ages, Errors and Corruptions and Superfti- tions did by degrees creep in and grow up, in feveral Parts of the Church; as St. Aufin, and other of the'Fathers complain of in their Times. Since that, feve- ral Famous Parts of the Chriftian Church, both in Afia and Africa, have not only been greatly corrupted, but have apoftatiz'd from the Faith ; fo that in many places there are hardlyany Footfteps of Chriflianity among them. But yet ftill Chrift bath had in all thefe Ages a Vifible Church upon Earth ; tho' perhaps no part of it at all times free from fotne Error's and Corruptions; and in feveral Parts of it, greatCorruptions both in Faith and Pradice ; and in none I think more and longer, than in the Church ofRome, for all theboafts her felf, like Old Babylon, Ifa. 47. 7, 8. That fhe is a Lady for ever ; andfays in her heart, £ am, arid none elfe befidea me ; And like the Church of Laodicea, Revel. 3. 17. which faid, I am rich, and increafed with Goods, and have need of nothing; when the Spirit of God faith, that fhe was wretched, andmiferable, andpoor; and blind, andnaked ; and knew it not. Thus the Church of Rome boafts, that fhe hath in all Ages been the True Vifible Church of Chrift (and none betides, her) free from all Errors in Doctrine, and Corruptions in Practice ; and that from the Age of Chrift and his Apoftles, the bath always profeffed the fame Doctrines and Practices which the does at this day. Can any thing be more íhamelefs than this ? Did they always believeTran- fabffantiation ? Let their Pope Gelafaus fpeak for them ; who exprefy denies, that in the Sacrament there is any Subftantial change of the Bread and Wine in- to the Body and Blood of Chrift. Was this always an Article of their Faith, and neceffary to be believed by all Chriftians ? Let Scotus,, and feveral other of their Schoolmen and Learned Writers fpeak for them. Was Purgatory always believed in the Roman Church, as it is now defined in the Council ofTrent ? Let feveral oftheir Learned Men fpeak. In what Father; in what Councilbefore that of Trent, do they find Chrift to have Inftituted juft Seven Sacraments, neither more nor lefs ? And for Practices in their Religion, they themfelves will not fay, that in the Ancient Chriftian Church the Scriptures- were with-held from the People, and lockt up in an Unknown Tongue ; and that the Publiek Serviceof God, 'the Prayers and Leffons were Read, and the Sacraments Celebrated, in an Unknown Tongue; and that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was given to the People only in one Kind. Where do they find in HolyScripture, or in theDoctrine and Practice of the Ancient Chriftian Church, anyCommand or Example for the Worthipof Images ; for the Invocationof Saints and Angels and the BleffedVirgin ; which do nowmake a great part of their Religion ? Nay, is not the Doctrine of the Scriptures, and of the Ancient Fathers plainly agatnf all thefe Practices ? with, what Face then can it be faid, That the Church of Rome hath made a conftant Vifible Profeffion ofthe faine Faith and Practice in all Ages, from the time of Chrift and his Apoftles? Or would The primitive Church of Rome, if it thould now vifit the Earth again, own the prefent Church of Rome to be the faine in all Matters of Faith and Practice, that it was when they left it? And whereas they demand of Us, to thew a Vifible Church from the time of Chrift and his Apoftles, that hath always oppofed the Church of Rome, in thofe
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