The Protestant's companion, or, An impartial survey and comparison of the Protestant religion as by law established, with the main doctrines of popery wherein is shewn that popery is contrary to scripture, primitive fathers and councils ... / by a true son of the Protestant Church of England as established by law.

SECT. IX.

AS our Church employs such persons in the Ministry of God's Worship and Sacraments, and in feeding and governing the Flock of Christ, as are 87 1.1 lawfully called to their Office and Mi∣nistry, and are Consecrated and Ordained accor∣ding to the Scriptures and Canons of the Univer∣sal Church, and of whose Bishops we can shew * 1.2 a Succession to the Apostles of our Saviour as fully as any other Church at this day can do: so do we leave all 88 1.3 Ecclesiasticks, whether Bishops, Priests, or Deacons, to Marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness; since 89 1.4 Marriage is honourable in all, and not forbid, but permited, and, in Cases so requiring, enjoyned by God's Law, and practised as well as taught by persons of the same function (i. e. Priests) in the best and purest Ages of the Church, as may be seen in the following Quotations.

The Church of Rome 90 1.5 denies Marriage to the Clergy, but permits (I suppose, by way of re∣quital to) them Concubines 91 1.6: For so doth * 1.7 Cardinal Campegius observe, and Pighius teach, which doth not only give great cause of scan∣dal to Iews and Infidels, but in 92 1.8 the Holy Apostles judgment is the Doctrine of Devils. And the Reason of Concubinage may be easily in∣ferr'd, when some 93 1.9 of their most Learned Men will scarce allow Fornication to be a Sin; however preferring it in Ecclesiasticks before law∣ful Wedlock.

The forbidding of Marriage is Contrary to Scripture,

Levit. 21. 13. 1 Tim. 3, 2. 12. Hebr. 13. 4. 1 Cor. 7. 2, 9.

That the Apostles were Married, except S. Iohn, is Confessed by these Fathers,

Ignatius ad Philadelph, Clemens Stromat. lib. 7. Euseb. Histor. Eccles. lib. 3. c. 30. who report that S. Paul was Married; and S. Ambrose in 2 Cor. c. 11. who acknowledges, that all the Apostles ex∣cept S. Iohn were Married.

Fathers that were Married themselves and yet were either Bishops or Priests, &c.

Tertullian, as appears by his Two Books to his Wife, and yet he was a Priest, as appears from S. Ierome, do Eccles. Script.

Gregory Nazianzen was the Son of a Bishop: see Greg. Nazianz. in carmine de vitâ suâ, & Elias Cre∣tensis in Orat. Greg. Nazianz.

S. Hilary, Bishop of Poictiers, was Married, as is evident from his Epistle written to his Daugh∣ter, Abrae, &c.

Fathers Voting for, or acknowledging Matrimony in the Clergy,

Salvian de providentiâ l. 5. Ambrose Offic. l. 1. c. ult. Chrysostome in Epist. ad Tit. Homil. 2. Id. in Epist. ad Hebraeos Homil. 7. Epiphanius con∣tra Origenian. Theodoret. in 1 Tim. 4. Isidore Reg. de vitâ Cleric. dist. 23. c. His igitur. Theo∣phylact. in 1 Tim. 13. Bernard in Cant. Serm. 66. Aeneas Sylvius Epistol. 308. and he lived Anno Dom. 1458.

Marriage of the Clergy was not absolutely for∣bidden by the Greeks in the last Age, as ap∣pears by the Patriarch Hieremias's Letter to the Tubing Divines, dated May 15. 1576. Pri∣mum Patriar. Resp. apud Chytrae. de statu Ec∣cles. Orient. p. 149.

This Heretical Doctrine of forced Celibate in Ecclesiasticks, was first established at Rome by Pope Gregory the 7th. aliàs Hildebrand, termed An∣tichrist by 94 1.10 Ancient Historians about A. D. 1074. and was first put in practice to purpose by Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury 95 1.11 here in England, about A. D. 1105. 96 1.12 though some will have his Predecessor Lanfranc to have impo∣sed it upon the Prebendaries and Clergy that li∣ved in Towns, but not without great reluctan∣cy. For what complaints, what Tragedies, what lascivious pranks this Devillish Doctrine occa∣sioned, the Historians declare at large; particular∣ly that Comical Story of the Italian Cardinal Iohn de Crema, Recorded by Ancient 97 1.13 Popish Hi∣storians, who, after he had entertained the En∣glish Clergy with a fine Discourse against Marri∣age,

was the same night caught in Bed with a Harlot in London; as if he would only com∣mend Virginity to others, and practise the contrary himself.

That the Reader may know, what an Age this was, wherein the Celibate of the Clergy was established, let him hear Cardinal Bellarmin de∣scribing and characterizing it in his Chronology. In these times (saith he) wherein the Roman Bi∣shops did degenerate from the Piety of the Ancients (mark that!) the secular Princes flourished in Ho∣liness. You therefore see, that Priests Marriage was forbidden by impious Popes.

And about the beginning of this contention, (viz. about An. Dom. 860.) the Pope got a round check from Udalricus or Ulric. 98 1.14 a Bishop of that time, who told him, That in the judgment of all wise Men, it was to be accounted violence, when, any Man against Evangelical Institution (mind that!) and the charge of the Holy Ghost, is constrained to the execution of private Decrees. The Lord in the old Law appointed Marriage to his Priest, which he is never read afterwards to have forbidden.

But not to insist upon this clear testimony for the Doctrine and Practice of our Church, nor to mention the many other ill consequences of a Celi∣bate in the Clergy (which occasion in other Coun∣tries, where Popish Religion is publickly professed, that Satyrical Proverb to be Fils de Prestre) by some of the most eminent Men in the Roman Church, and those too of a late date.

It is Confessed, That Priesthood doth not dissolve Marriage; so Cardinal Cajetan, Tom. 1. Tract. 27.

Nor That it is of the essence (or being) of a Priest to keep single; so Dominicus Soto l. 7. de Iure Qu. 4.

Moreover that upstart practice in the Roman Church of Auricular Confession, wherein 99 1.15 eve∣ry Christian is bound under pain of Damnation, to confess to a Priest all his mortal Sins, which af∣ter a diligent examination he can possibly remem∣ber; yea, even his most secret sins, his very thoughts, yea, and all the circumstances of them which are of any moment, is a slavery as great as groundless. Then not to mention its ill aspect upon Government, as being made an engine of State, and a Picklock of the Cabinets of Princes, sealing up all things from the notice of the Ma∣gistrate, but in requital of that, making a liberal discovery of what is against him to others. A pregnant instance of which horrid consequence was that damnable Treason designed by Gun∣powder against the Person of King Iames the First (of blessed Memory) and the two Houses of Parliament, to which the Pope himself, as we 100 1.16 are credibly informed, was not only pri∣vy, but its director too. Pursuant thereof, that Pope (Clement VIII.) a little before that time gave order, that no Priest should discover any

thing that came to his Knowledge in Confession, to the benefit of the Secular Government.

I think there needs no better evidence of the Pope's good intentions towards the Secular Go∣vernment, nor what ill effects the practice of this sort of Confession can and may produce than this. And, that it still may be used as an Instru∣ment in procuring the ruine of Princes, and sub∣version of Kingdoms, Let us hear their (i. e. the Popish) Doctors opinion of its virtue and use.

One of them (then) tell us, That the Seal of Auricular Confession (which they hold to be of Divine institution) is so Sacred, that it may not be broken open to save 101 1.17 the Lives of Princes, or of the whole Commonwealth. Another 102 1.18 goes further, and saith, That the Seal of Con∣fession is not to be broken; no, not to save all the World.

Here the Reader may see, (for this is not on∣ly the opinion of one or two private Men, but runs with the stream of their 103 1.19 Writers) what may be expected from the Charity of their Popish Priests; what an unlucky tool Auricular Confession is in 104 1.20 their hands. Besides, to

how great an awe of, and respect for their Con∣fessor; (to whom they are bound, as I have al∣ready said, to discover all their Sins under pain of Eternal Damnation) To what Pride and Inso∣lence, to what Lust and Revenge, to what Ava∣rice and Rapine are not only the meanest Men, but even Persons that make the greatest figure, exposed unto, by Auricular Confession in Popish Churches! It is a slavery so great and intollera∣ble, that the Israelitish Tasks in Egypt were a pleasure, or (at least) a divertisement in compa∣rison of it.

Auricular Confession to a Priest under point of Salvation and Damnation, and that Peo∣ple cannot be saved without it, is Contrary to Scripture,

Isai. 55. 7. Acts 2. 38. & c. 3. 19. & c. 16. 30, 31. Rom. 10. 3.

Contrary to the Fathers, (who when they did speak of the necessity of Confession, generally meant Confession before God only, or a publick acknowledgment of some pub∣lick crimes incurring the censure of Excommuni∣cation, and that in an Ecclesiastical Assembly.)

Origen in Psal. 37. Hom. 2. Cyprian de lapsis Serm. 5. Chrysostom Hom. 4. de Lazaro. Id. Hom. 2. in Psal. 50. Homil. 31. in Epist. ad Hebraeos.

Hom. 5. de incomprehensibili nat. Dei. Hom. 8. de poen. Hom. de poenit. & Confessione. Augustin. Con∣fession. l. 10. c. 3.

Auricular Confession acknowledged not to have been Instituted by our Saviour, and that it is not of Divine Institution by these Learned Papists.

Cardinal Cajetan in Ioh. 20. Scotus in sent. 4. dist. 17. Q. 1. Maldon. in summa Qu. 18. Art. 4. Bell. de poenit. l. 1. c. 4.

Acknowledged by others,

That it is better to say, that it was Instituted rather by the Tradition of the Universal Church, than by the Authority of the Old and New Testa∣ment;

And yet it is denyed,

That this Tradition is Universal, and that it is not necessary amongst the Greeks, because this Custom (i. e. of private Confession) sprung not up among them,

de poenit. dist. 5. in principio Gloss.

Again it is Confessed,

That the Fathers scarce speak of it as a thing commanded, by

Rhenanus in admonitione de Tertullian. Dogmat.

Lastly, It is Confessed,

That we may obtain Pardon though our Mouths be silent, (then we do not confess.) And our Lord doth shew, that a Sinner is not cleansed by the Judgment of the Priest; but by the Bounty of Divine Grace.

Gratian▪ dist. 1. cap. Convertimini.

What clashing and enterfering is here? Is this the pretended solid Union of the Popish Church in matters of Salvation, and which she enjoyns under pain of Damnation? Have they no bet∣ter Grounds for their Articles of Faith than these? Can Auricular Confession be of Divine In∣stitution, and yet neither be Instituted by our Blessed Saviour, nor mentioned by the Fathers as a Divine Precept, nor imposed by an Uni∣versal Tradition of the Church? And lastly, can it be necessary to Salvation, and yet we can obtain pardon of Sins without the use of it? Let any Papist reconcile me these, & erit mihi magnus Apollo.

Consult herein Bishop Taylor's Disswasive, Part 1. Ch. 2. Sect. 2. F. White against Jesuite Fisher, p. 189.

Concerning the Marriage of the Clergy, see Bi∣shop Iewel's Defence of the Apology of the Church of England, Part 2. p. 180. and Part 5. p. 456. Bishop Hall's Honour of the married Clergy.

Notes

• 87 1.1

  Article 36. Book of Ordination. Mason of the Consecration of Bishops in the Church of England. Archbishop Bramhall's works Tom. 1. Discourse 5. and Tom. 4. Discourse 6.
• * 1.2

  Which the Roman Church, not∣withstanding its big pre∣tences to con∣stant successi∣on, cannot justly chal∣lenge: and that both from its five vacancies, making up almost Nine years, when Rome had no Bishop at all, and the many Schisms, by some Chronologers reckoned up to be Twen∣ty nine (a fair number indeed!) by Onuphrius to be Thirty, and by Bellarmin him∣self to be Twenty six: Whereof the Twentieth Schism lasted Twenty years, and the 21st. lasted 36 years; during which time the Church of Rome had two Popes, which excommunicated each other; the 26th continued, saith Genebrard (Chron. l. 4.) An. Dom. 1378. from Urban VI. till the Council of Constance, which was at least Thirty five years. Baronius (ad Annum 1044. Sect. 5. Tom. 11.) calls the three Popes who then contended for the Papal Chair, a Beast with Three heads ascending out of the bottomless Pit. Add to these the Seventy years stay of the Popes at Avignion, which quite joints their boasted Succession. For during these times, where was the true Successor of S. Peter? Or was the Church (in their sense) so long without an Head?
• 88 1.3

  Article 32.
• 89 1.4

  Heb. 13. 4.
• 90 1.5

  Bellar∣min. lib. 1. de Cleric. c. 20. Sect. Respon∣deo. Id. de ma∣trim. l. 1. c. 21.
• 91 1.6

  Hence did Aeneas Sylvius (after∣wards Pope, by the name of Pius 11.) mention how Ulric bishop of Ausburg reprov'd the Pope concern∣ing Concu∣bines, Aeneas Sylvius de morib. Germaniae.
• * 1.7

  Dist. 82. Can. Presbyter in Glossa.
• 92 1.8

  1 Tim. 4. 1. 3.
• 93 1.9

  Coster. Enchiridion de coelibat. prop. 9. Durandus sent. l. 4. dist. 33. Martinus de Magistris lib. de temp. qu. 2. de luxuria. 3. Qu. 7. Lata Extravag. de bigamis Quia circa. Communiter dicitur, Quod Clericus pro simplici fornicatione deponi non debet. dist. 81. Maximianus glossa in Gratian.
• 94 1.10

  Aventinus Anual Boiorum, l. 5. who tells us, That Hil∣debrand con∣fessed, when he was dying, that it was by the instigation of the Devil that he made so great a di∣sturbance in the Christian World. A fit Man then was he (whom the Papists still cry up so much) to introduce unchaste Celibate, and banish Holy Matrimony! See also Cardinal Benno (who knew him) in vita & gesta Hildebrandi. Matth. Westmonast. Anno Dom. 1074. who saith, That Hildebrand expell'd Married Priests (Mark what follows) contra Sanctorum Patrum sententias, against the opinions of the Holy Fathers. See also Sigebert ad Annum 1074. & Matth. Paris ad Annum 1074.
• 95 1.11

  Henry Hunting∣ton p. 378. and by Ioranal. Histor. The Constitutions of this Synod may be seen in Archbishop Parker's Antiq. Britan. Ed. 2. p. 118, 119.
• 96 1.12

  Dr. Burnet's Abridgment of the History of the Reformation l. 2. p. 70, &c.
• 97 1.13

  Roger Hovedon, Henry Huntington.
• 98 1.14

  Udalri∣cus (mention∣ed by Aeneas Sylvius de mo∣ribus Germa∣niae) de Coeli∣batu Clerici. Nunquid enim merito communi omnium sapien∣tum judicio haec est violen∣tia, &c.
• 99 1.15

  Concil. Trident. Sess. 14. de poeni∣tenti▪ i.
• 100 1.16

  Delrio disq. Magic. l. 6. c. 1.
• 101 1.17

  Tolet. Instruct. Sa∣cerd. l. 3. c. 16.
• 102 1.18

  Henri∣quez. de poenit. l. 2. c. 19. n. 5.
• 103 1.19

  See Eudaemon▪ Io∣annes in his Apology for Garnet, Binet, Suarez, &c.
• 104 1.20

  And yet they can say, that it is of Divine Right, see Biel l. 4. dist. 17. Q. 1. & Scotus ibid. & Bonaventure ibid. n. 72. which if it had been, the Fathers would never have writ against it, nor would it have been disannull'd: For private Confession of crimes was abrogated about Anno Dom. 396. upon the Discovery of a Whoredom committed be∣twixt a Deacon and a Noble Woman, Histor. Tripartit. l. 9. c. 35. And, though it was practised several years before, yet was it not enjoyn'd as a necessary act of Salvation before the Council of Lateran, An. Dom. 1215. under Pope Innocent III. and therefore ar from true Antiquity!