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VI.

CHAP. chime with their errors," that "they are forced to appeal to a tribunal, at which it is not possible that any sectary should ever be condemned.-Such a tribunal is the scripture, interpreted, not by church guides, but by every one's own private judgment; for this is in effect making every one's private judg'ment the supreme judge, both of the scriptures, and all controversies in religion, and authorizing him 'to prefer his own whimsies before the judgment of 'the whole church."

Eccl. His

tory, vol. ii. p. 90. Note [k.] P. 111 &

P. 475.

15. Here then, stands the controversy between the Papists and Protestants; the latter, upon the authority of the word of God, as they say, anathematize the whole popish hierarchy, and their God the pope, as Antichrist, and the mother of harlots, and every thing abominable and reprobate; while on the other hand, the living God of the Papists, with his old Rhemish and Doway translations of the scripture in his hand, rejects the reformers, and their translation, and condemns them and their whole posterity, as an endless spawn of heretics. And who is to be the infallible judge between them?.

16. The Protestants sneer at the infallibility of the pope, when they find two of these earthly Gods consecrated at once, by two jarring factions, or when papal decrees stand in direct opposition to each other. And with no less propriety do the Papists sneer at the pretended infallibility of the Protestant translation of the scriptures, when they see this infallible judge formed and re-formed into a thousand shapes, with as many supplies, mistranslations, notes, references, comments, paraphrases, and other appendages, as the doctors, with their natural sagacity, think proper to put into it.

17. But more especially is their mirth excited to sce the Protestants divided into a thousand parties, no two of them perfectly agreed, ever at war; and yet each goes into the combat with his infallible judge, his eternal word of God, in his hand, or in his pocket.

18. It will be proper here to notice some of the first exploits of this infallible judge, or what they are Scotch pleased to call," The voice of our only God,"*—and Art. XX. see how he arose to so high a degree of credit among the kings and priests of the reforming party.

Confes.

VI.

19. King HENRY VIII. had taken to wife, CATH- CHAP ARINE of Arragon, his brother's widow, the mother of Mary, afterwards queen; but growing weary of so aged a consort, he applied to the pope for a divorce, which the reverend father refused to grant. HENRY was much perplexed, and hearing of the great wisdom of bishop Cranmer, he sent for him to help him out of the difficulty.

20. Cranmer had luckily become acquainted with Luther's word of God, and by its power, in the hands of the dexterous bishop, HENRY was released from CATHARINE, and launched into a sea of licentious pleasure; Cranmer had him also created supreme head of the church of England, and himself lordbishop of Canterbury. Cranmer, after his second marriage, had the honour of martyrdom conferred on him by the Protestants, having been put to death in the reign of queen MARY, by the Papists, for what they accounted the most impious acts of wickedness.

21. Cranmer, on his trial, being accused of perjury, retorted the same charge upon his judge, the bishop of Gloucester. "And you, for your part, my Lord, are perjured, for you sit judge for the pope, and yet you did receive your bishopric from the king, you have taken an oath to be adversary to the realm.” To which his lord and his judge replied: "You are the cause that I did forsake the pope, and did swear that he ought not to be supreme head, and gave to 'king HENRY VIII. that he ought to be, and this 'you made me do.”

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ii. p. 192.

22. Cranmer retorted: "You report me ill, and Wright's say not the truth, and I will prove it here before you Martyn 'all. The truth is, that my predecessor, arch-bish-log, vel. op Warham gave the supremacy to king HENRY the " eighth, and said that he ought to have it before the bishop of Rome, and that God's word would agree therewith. And upon the same was there sent to both the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, to know what the word of God would do touching the supremacy, and it was reasoned upon, and argued at length. So at the last both the universities agreed, and set to their seals, and sent to king HENFf

CHAP.
VI.

"RY the eighth, to the court, that he ought to be su'preme head, and not the pope."

23. Thus the protestant word of God introduced the Reformation into England. But could there have been a more presumptuous abuse of the name of God and of his Word, than to be used by such licentious and deceitful workers, as a pretext for carrying on their political intrigues? How glaringly do they expose their deceitful and false foundation, when they acknowledge that they had to send to their universi ties, to know what the word of God would do!

24. And after they had "reasoned upon it, and argued at length," and found which side of the argument had the most votes, then they could impiously set to their seal what the word of God would do! This is an exact picture of the whole Protestant government, from first to last, and upon this plan their reformations have come down, with an uninterrupted career, to the present day: their word of God still allowing them to do just what they please.

25. Whoever had natural sagacity enough to propose a subject, and influence enough to engage the attention of the priests, after their ungodly reasoning upon it, and arguing at length, could presumptuously say, they had found what the word of God would do in that matter! Hence every thing sacred has been distorted into the last degree of confusion, by their reforming power. A few of the most material points, however, will be sufficient to show the absolute de ception of all the rest.

NOTH

CHAPTER VII.

The Subject continued.

́OTHING could furnish the Protestant doctors with a more popular objection against the pope, than his universal law concerning the celibacy of the clergy, and the corruption of manners which flowed from that papal establishment.

2. Though this law recognized the holy example of Christ Jesus and his apostles, and was thereby intended to check the licentiousness of the priesthood, and to serve as an example of pious restraint to the extravagant corruptions of the multitude; yet, for want of the real spirit of Christ, it became an intolerable yoke of bondage; and therefore, to get clear of the inconsistency of professing to foliow Christ, and not doing it, the reformers renounced every institution that had the least appearance of that evangelical purity.

3. And after reasoning upon it, and arguing the matter at length, in their carnal libertine sense, they set to their seal that it was more consistent to follow the carnal Corinthians openly, than to pretend to be followers of St. Paul, while living in the gratifica tion of their lusts-In short, that it was better for them to marry than to burn; and this has been their universal law and practice ever since, in opposition to the decree of Gregory and their mother church.*

VIL

See the 39 arti

cles. Art. 32.

4. In this debate, the Protestant priesthood charge their ancestors, the popish clergy, with the vilest hypocrisy, and maintain that they are the very ones who departed from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats: that they are the false Christs and false prophets, the wolves in sheep's clothing, the dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and hypocritical liars, and all the base characters spoken of in the New Seot.prot Testament: In fine, that the Papal hierarchy is the "horrible harlot, the kirk malignant."

5. On the other hand, the popish doctors, who, from a pretended apostolic succession, antiquity and universal authority, claim the pre-eminence, after very plausibly denying that they forbid to marry, and showing that marriage is held in the highest respect by the church of Rome, as one of her seven sacraments," a conjunction made and sanctified by God himself," retort back upon the Reformers, the same charge of apostacy, with all its base and licentious fruits,

Confes.
Art.avini.

CHAP.

Vil.

6. And indeed, unless the Protestants can prove that dogs and wolves can beget harmless sheep, and the true Christ spring out of a false one, and chaste daughters from a mother of harlots, they have no reason to refuse taking to themselves every base and abominable character which they have given the popish doctors, by whom they were consecrated.

7. Therefore it must be with the utmost propriety, even upon their own principles, that they are charged, by the Papists, with producing an endless spawn of heresies. Bishop Taylor himself acknowledges in favour of the church of Rome, "the piety and the austerity of their religious orders of men and women-The single-life of their priests and bishops. All which (says Challoner,) the good natured Reformation has laid aside."

8. How far the first reformers renounced both law and gospel, and every obligation professedly he'd sacred by their mother church, in relation to chastity, and how wide a door they opened for licentiousness, is sufficiently manifest from their own histories.

9. When Dr. Carlostadt broke his solemn oath of perpetual continence which he had made to God, Eccl. His what kind of a reforming spirit did Luther manifest? tory, vol. In his letter to Amsdorff he very plainly shows what Note[g] his hypocritical soul was most intent on promoting,

iv. p. 305.

as appears from the following words: "The nuptials of Carlostadt please me wonderfully: I have known the girl: The Lord strengthen him in the good example of restraining and lessening popish lust.” 10. Here this excommunicated monk, let loose from his monastic restraint, expresses his wonderful pleasure at the good example of his companion. And what was it? Surely not the good example of Jesus Christ, nor any of his apostles, for they knew neither girl nor woman after the flesh. But the religious pretext was, that his marriage had a tendency to restrain or lessen his popish lust; yet how grossly did he err even in this.

The original extract of this letter, in Luther's own words, runs thus: "Carlestadii nuptiæ mire placent: novi puellam: comfortet eum Dominus in bonum exemplum inhibenda et minuendæ papisticae libidinis." Shameful as it may appear, Luther's expression inhibende, &e, seems plainly to imply that his satisfaction arose from the consideration that his friend had obtained a decent depository for his popish lust, by which means he could dispose of it with more convenience and less remorse of conscience than formerly.

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