Names of the twelve Apofiles of the Lamb. To St. Peter indeed it was promifed, that the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven fhould be given him, and that whatever he bound or loofed on Earth, fhould be bound or loofed in Heaven. But this very fame, and other as great Things, are faid to all the Apoftles equally. St. Peter was appointed by Chrift to feed his Sheep: but fo furely was every one of them. The firft. Rank therefore he might have among the Apoftles; but Authority over them not the leaft. On the contrary, St. Paul tells us, that be withftood St. Peter to the Face, because he was to be blamed, and fays of himself, in two different Places, that he was in nothing behind, not a whit behind, the very chiefest Apostles'. But had' St. Peter poffeffed ever so much Authority, what is that to the Church of Rome? Why; St. Peter was Bishop of Rome. But even this is what they can never prove, nor is it probable. if he was, perhaps it was only of the Jewish Chriftians at Rome. For St. Paul tells us, the Gofpel of the Uncircumcifion was committed to him, and that of the Circumcifion to Peter";

Rev. xxi. 14.

John xx. 23.

i

2 Cor. xi. 5. xii. 11.

Matt. xvi. 19.
John xxi. 15, 16, 17.

Gal. ii. 7.

Or

h Matt. xviii. 18. Gal. ii. 11.

and the Jewish Church there is extinct. Or
if Bishop of all Rome, he was Bishop, they say,
alfo of Antioch; and why muft their Church
inherit his Authority more than that Church?
But why indeed muft it be inherited at all? It
was given perfonally to St. Peter as an Apoftle:
what had others to do with it who were no
Apostles, though they did fucceed him as Bi-
fhops? All Pre-eminence of one Church above
another was nothing originally, but an Institu-
tion of Men for Convenience and Order. Rome
being the chief City in the World, it was na-
tural to look on the Bishop of Rome as the chief
Bishop. And Precedence being thus allowed
them; by Time and Opportunity, and Arts that
were often
very wicked ones, they improved it
into a Claim of Authority: to which, though
not near the whole Church ever fubmitted, yet
at Length a great Part did. Then to the Pre-
rogative, of which they had thus by Degrees
got Poffeffion, they begun to pretend Chrift
himself had originally given them a Right. And
having managed fo well, that Part of the World
believed them, and Part durft not contradict
them; they took on them the Title of univer-
fal Bishops, which one of themselves not long
before had declared, whoever fhould take, was

the

the Forerunner of Antichrift.

And then under

this they claimed all Power over the Souls, Bodies, and Fortunes of Men, and exercised it with all poffible Infolence, Rapaciousness, Cruelty and Impiety.

Now what could there be done when fuch a Power was thus acquired, and thus exercised, but to throw it off, and affert that Liberty to which we had an undoubted Right? For as to any Scheme of coming to Terms, never did the Church of Rome recede from any one Pretenfion fhe ever made. The Exercife of Authority she hath omitted indeed, whenever she durft not exercise it: but all her Claims he hath constantly kept up, and excommunicates yearly to this Day, every Prince in Christendom that shall refufe Obedience to any Conftitution of the Pope's whatever. 'Tis true, even the Popish Princes at prefent regard not this Excommunication, and fhe knows not how to make them regard it. But were once the Proteftants reunited to that Church on the Terms of allowing her any Superiority: who knows how foon a Power, that had once rifen from nothing to that formidable Height which it had attained, may rife again to be as formidable as ever? Another

Dd 3

Another of their Pleas is this: That which was the ancient Religion and Church must be the true one. Now where was your Church, fay they, before Henry the VIIIth? Where was your Religion before Luther? We answer, our Church was before that Time juft where it is now. Only then it was corrupted with many finful Errors, from which it is now reformed. Still 'tis the fame Church it was before: juft as a Man formerly addicted to many Vices, and afflicted with many Distempers, continues the fame Man, after he hath forfaken the one, and recovered from the other; and it would be very ftrange to make his Alteration for the better an Objection against him. And for our Religion : where was that before Luther? Why, whereever Chriftianity was. Did Luther invent the Creed, the Ten Commandments, the two Sacraments? Thefe are the Things in which our Religion confifts: and theirs confifts in the fame. Only they have added by Degrees, a Number of needlefs, falfe, and wicked Things to them, which we have caft off again. Our Religion therefore is the ancient Chriftianity, profeffed from the Days of the Apostles. But where was their Religion in thofe Days, I mean the Doctrines in which they differ from us?

All

All of them, hundreds of Years later; many of them a thousand; fome of them established no longer ago than the Council of Trent, which is fince the Time of Luther. For then, and not before, was it, that they filled up the Meafure of their Iniquities, which had long been growing; equalled their own Traditions to the Word of God, and added a new Creed to the old one. Our rejecting their additional Doctrines, we own, is new; and no Wonder: for the Doctrines themselves are new. Some of them indeed reigned much too long: had they been rejected fooner, it had been the better: but better late than never. Still, our denying thefe, is no more Part of our Religion, properly fpeaking, than our denying Mahometanifm, or the Idolatry of the Chinefe, is Part of our Religion. Were it not for their preffing them upon us, our People fhould never hear them mentioned. We take no Pleasure in exposing their Absurdities, but are heartily grieved at them and have much better Employment for our Hearers than these Controverfies, did not their restless Endeavours to pervert Men, make it fometimes necessary.

But this Plea of their Church being the most ancient, they fometimes put in a different Form: Dd 4

and