Chapter 20: The Saints
Saints. SECT. 27.
From the Communion, we come to Saints; and these take up the longest discourse of any one subject in the book. Our Author found it not an easy task to set this practice of his Church, in the worship and invocating of Saints, right and straight in the minds of sober men. Several ways he turns himself in his attempt, all, as far as I can perceive, to very little purpose. In all of them, it is evident, that he is ashamed of their practice and principles in this matter; which makes his undertaking as to Protestants so much the worse, in that he invited them to feed upon that, which he himself is unwilling to taste, lest he should be poisoned. At first, he would persuade us, that they had only a respectful memory and reverence for the Saints departed, such as ingenuous persons will have for any worthy personages that have formerly ennobled their families: to this, he adds the consideration of their example, and the patterns they have set us in the ways of holiness, to persuade, and prevail with us to imitate and follow them. And with sundry arguments, does he dispute for his honorable esteem and imitation of the Saints departed. Herein then, it may be, lies the difference between them and Protestants; that they contend, that the true Saints are to be thus honored and followed; Protestants are of the mind, that neither of them is to be done: true; for, Luther, Wickliff, and especially Calvin, have intemperately opened their mouths against all the Saints; Calvin in special, against the persons renowned in the Old and New Testament, Noah, Abraham, Rebecca, Jacob, Rachel, Moses, &c. with a great number of others. Naughty man, what has he said of them? It is certain in general, that he has said, that they were all in their days sinners. Is this to be endured, that Calvin, that holy-faced man should say of such holy persons, that they had need to be redeemed and saved by Jesus Christ? Who can bear such intemperate Theiomachy? No, but he has gone further, and charged them every one with sins and miscarriages: if he has spoken any thing, of their sins and failings, but what God has left upon record on set purpose in his Word, that they might be examples of human frailty, and testimonies of his grace and mercy in Christ towards them, for the encouragement of others that shall be overtaken in the like temptation, as some of them were, let him bear his own burden. If he have said no more, but what the Holy Ghost has recorded, for him and others to make use of, I envy not their cheer, who triumph in falsely accusing of him. But is this indeed the difference between Papists and Protestants about the Saints? Is this the doctrine of the Papists concerning them? Is their practice confined within the limits of these principles? Are these the things, which in their principles and practice, are blamed by Protestants? The truth is, this is the very doctrine, the very practice of Protestants. They all jointly bear a due respect to the memorial of all the Saints of God, concerning whom they have assurance that they were so indeed. They praise God for them, admire his grace in them, rejoice in the fruits of their labors and sufferings for Christ, and endeavor to be followers of them in all things wherein they were followers of Christ; and hope to come to be made partakers with them of that glory and joy which they are entered into. Is this the doctrine of the Council of Trent, or of the Harmony of Confessions? Does this represent the practice of Papists, or Protestants? It is very seldom, you shall hear a sermon of a Protestant, wherein the example of one Saint or other, is not in one thing or other, insisted on, and proposed to imitation. If this venerable esteem, and sedulous imitation of Saints, with praising God, for his graces in them, his mercy towards them, and an endeavor to obtain the crown they have received, be the doctrine, and the whole doctrine of the Church of Rome about the Saints departed, why should we contend any longer? All parties are agreed. Let us contend no more about that which is not; but if it be otherwise, and that neither are these things, all the things that the Papists assert and maintain in this matter, nor are these things at all opposed by the Protestants, a man may easily understand, to what end our Author makes a flourish with three or four leaves of his book; as though they were in difference between us. Such artifices will neither advantage his cause, nor his person with sober knowing men. As to his whole discourse then, I shall only let him know, that Protestants are unconcerned in it. They bear all due reverence to the Saints departed this life, and strive to follow them in their course; although I must add also, that their example is very remote from being the chiefest incentive, or rule to, and in, the practice of universal obedience. The example of Christ himself, and the revealed will of God, in his Word, are their rule and guide; in attendance whereunto thousands among them (be it spoken to the praise of his glorious grace) do instantly serve God in all good conscience day and night, and holding the Head, grow up into him, who is the fulness of him that fills all in all.
To close this Discourse, and to come to that, which he seems to love as a Bear does the Stake; the practice of the Romish Church, in the invocation and adoration of Saints; he tells us, to usher it in, two pretty stories out of Antiquity: The first, of the Jews; and last, of the Pagans. 1. For the Jews; that they accused the Christians before the Roman Emperors for three things: That they had changed the Sabbath, that they worshipped images of the Saints, that they brought in a strange God named Jesus Christ. What if they did so? Was all true, that the Jews accused the Christians of? Besides, what is here about the invocation of Saints? Somewhat indeed we have about pictures and images, which, it seems, are contrary to the Judaical Law; not a word do we meet with about their invocation of Saints. But indeed this is a pretty midnight story, to be told, to bring children asleep; as though the Jews durst accuse the Christians before Pagans, for having images and pictures, when the Pagans were ready every day to destroy those Jews, because they would have none? A likely matter they would admit of their complaint against them that had them, or that the Jews had no more wit than to disadvantage themselves in their contest by such a complaint? Besides, the whole insinuation is false; neither did the Jews so accuse them; nor had the Christians admitted any religious use of Pictures or Images in those days. And this their defence to the accusation of the Pagans, that they rejected all Images, makes as evident as if it were written by the Sun-beams to this day. Being charged by the Pagans with an Image-less Religion, they every-where acknowledge it, giving their Reason why they neither did, nor could admit of a Religious use of any Image at all. I presume, our Author knows this to be so, and I know, if he does not, he is a very unfit person to talk of Antiquity.
Of the like nature is the Story which he tells us of the things the Pagans laughed at the Christians for. Among these was the Worship of an Asses-head, which shows, says he, the use and respect they had for Images. For the Jews had defamed our Lord Jesus Christ, whose head and half-portrait Christians used upon their Altars, even as they do at this day, among other things of his great simplicity and ignorance. So use men to talk, who either know not, or care not, what to say. I would gladly impute this Story of the Asses-head, and the Jews accusation, to our Author's simplicity and ignorance; because, if I do not so, I shall be compelled to do it to somewhat in him of a worse name; and yet that by-insinuation of the use of the Head and half-portrait of our Savior upon Altars by the old Christians, before Constantine's days of whom he speaks, will not allow me to lay all the misadventure of this Tale upon ignorance. Surely, he cannot but know, that what he suggests, is most notoriously false, and that he cannot produce one Authentic Testimony, no not one, of any such thing; whereas innumerable lay expressly against it, almost in all the reserved Writings of those days. For the Story of the Asses-head; seeing, it seems he knows not what I thought every puny Scholar to be acquainted with, I hope, he will give me leave to inform him, that it was an imputation laid upon the Jews, not the Christians, and that the Christians were no otherwise concerned in the Fable, but as they were at any time mistaken to be Jews. The figment was invented, long before the Name of Christians was known in the World, and divulged before and after, by as great wits as any were in the World, as Appian, Tacitus, Trogus, and others. The whole rumour arising from their Worshipping a Golden Calf in the Wilderness, and afterwards his imitation progeny at Dan and Bethel. The confutation of the Lie by Josephus, is known to all learned men; who tells Appian, That if he had not had the Head of an Ass, and the face of a Dog, he would never have given credit to, or divulged, so loud a lie. Little countenance therefore is our Author like to obtain from this loud lie, invented against the Jews, to prove the worshipping of Pictures and Images among Christians; nor is that his business in hand, if he be pleased to remember himself, but the Invocation of Saints, which now at length he is resolved (but I see unwillingly) to speak to.
Had he intended plain dealing, and to persuade men by Reason and Arguments, he should nakedly and openly have laid down the doctrine and practice of his Church in this matter, and have attempted to justify the one and the other. This had been done like a man who liked and approved what his Interest forced him to defend; and upon honest Principles sought to draw others to share with him in their worth and excellency. But he takes quite another course, and bends his design to cover his ware, and to hood-wink his Chapmen, so to strike up a blind bargain between them.
Two things he knows, that in the Doctrine of his Church about the Veneration of Saints, Protestants are offended at.
1. That we ought religiously to invocate and call upon, pray to them, flying to them for help and assistance; which are the very words of the Trent-Council, the avowed Doctrine of his Church, which whoever believes not is cursed.
2. That we may plead for acceptance, grace and mercy with God, for their merits and works, which our Author gilds over, but cannot deny. If he will plainly undertake the defence of either of these, and endeavor to vindicate the first from Superstition and the latter from being highly derogatory, to the mediation of Christ, both, or either, to have been known or practised in the first Churches, he shall be attended to. To tell us fine stories, and to compare their invocation of Saints, to the Psalmist's apostrophes to the works of the Creation to set forth the praise of the Lord, which they do in what they are, without doing more, and to deny direct praying to them; is but to abuse himself, his Church, his Reader, and the Truth; and to proclaim to all, that he is indeed ashamed of the doctrine which he owns, because it is not good or honest, as the Orator charged Epicurus. In the practice of his Church, very many are the things which the Protestants are offended with. Their Canonization framed perfectly after the manner of the old Heathen Apotheosis; their exalting men into the throne of religious worship, some of a dubious existence, others of a more dubious saintship; their dedication of Churches, Altars, Shrines, days to them. Their composing multitudes of prayers for their people to be repeated by them: their divulging feigned, ludicrous, ridiculous legends of their lives to the dishonor of God, the Gospel, the Saints themselves, with innumerable other things of the like nature, which our Author knows full well to be commonly practised and allowed in his Church. These are the things that he ought to defend and make good their station, if he would invite others to a fellowship and communion with him. Instead of this, he tells us, that his Catholics do not invocate Saints directly; when I shall undertake (what he knows can be performed), to give him a book bigger than this of his, of prayers allowed by his Church, and practised by his Catholics, made to Saints directly, for help, assistance, yes grace, mercy, and heaven, or desiring those things for their merit, and upon their account; which as I showed are the two main parts of their doctrine condemned by Protestants. I can quickly send him Bonaventure's Psalter, Prayers out of the course of hours of the blessed Virgin, our Lady's Antiphonies of her sorrows, her seven corporeal joys, her seven heavenly joys, out of her Rosary. Prayers to Saint Paul, Saint James, Thomas, Panoratius, George, Blase, Christopher, who not? all made directly to them, and that for mercies spiritual and temporal; and tell him how many years of indulgences, yes thousands of years, his Popes have granted to the saying of some of the like stamp; and all these not out of musty legends, and the devotion of private Monks and Friars; but the authentic instruments of his Church's worship and prayers. Let our Author try whether he can justify any of these opinions or practices, from the words of the Lord in Jeremiah, 'Though Moses and Samuel should stand before me, yet is not my Soul to this people,' declaring his determinate counsel for their destruction, not to be averted by Moses or Samuel, were they alive again, who in their days had stood in the gap and turned away his wrath, that his whole displeasure should not arise; or from the words of Moses, praying the Lord to remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob his Servants; which he immediately expounds, as they are also in a hundred other places by remembering his Covenant made with them, and the Oath he swore to them. These are pitiful poor pillars to support so vast and tottering a superstructure. And yet they are all that our Author can get to give any countenance to him in his work, which indeed is none at all.
Neither do we charge the Romanists, with the particular fancies of their Doctors, their Speculum Trinitatis, and the like; no, nor yet with the grosser part of the people's practise, in constituting their Saints in special presidentships, one over Hoggs, another over Sheep, another over Cows and Cocks, like the ruder sort of the antient Heathen, which we know our Author would soon disavow; but the known doctrine and approved practice of his whole Church, he must openly defend, or be silent in this cause hereafter. This mincing of the matter by praying Saints, not praying to them, praying to them indirectly not directly; praying them, as David calls on Sun, Moon, and Stars to praise the Lord, so praying to them, as it is to no purpose, whether they hear us or no, is inconsistent with the doctrine and practise of his own Church to which he seemeth to draw men, and not to any private opinion of his own. And a wise piece of business it is indeed, that our Author would perswade us, that we may as well pray to Saints in the Roman-Mode, as Paul desired the Saints that were then alive to pray for him. We know, it is the duty of living Saints to pray for one another; we know a certain way to excite them to the performance of that duty in reference to us; we have Rule, President, and Command in the Scripture to do so, the requests we make to them are no elicite acts of Religion; we pray to them neither directly nor indirectly; but desire them by vertue of our Communion with them, to assist us in their prayers, as we might ask an Alms, or any other good turn at their hands. I wonder wise men are not ashamed thus to dally with their own and others eternal concernments. After all this, at one breath he blows away all the Protestants as childish (just as Pyrgopolenices did the Legions of his Enemies) they are all childish; Let him shew himself a man, and take up any one of them as they are managed by any one learned man of the Church of England, and answer it if he can. If he cannot, this boasting will little avail him with considering men. I cannot close this Paragraph without marking one passage toward the close of it. Laying down three Principles of the Saints Invocation, whereof the first it self is true, but nothing to his purpose; the second is true, in the substance of it, but false in an addition of merit, to the good works of the Saints, and not one jot more to his purpose then the other; the third is, That God cannot dislike the reflexions of his divine Nature diffused in the Saints out of the fulness of his Beloved Son, when any makes use of them the easier to find mercy in his sight. These are good words; and make a very handsome sound. Will you Reader know the meaning of them, and withall discern how your pretended Teacher has colluded with you in this whole Discourse? The plain English of them is this. God cannot but approve our pleading the merits of the Saints for our obtaining mercy with him. A Proposition as destructive to the whole tenour of the Gospel and mediation of Jesus Christ, as in so few words could well be stamped and divulged.
