THE CORRUPTIONS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME,

IN RELATION TO ECCLESIASTICAL GOVERNMENT, THE RULE OF FAITH, AND FORM OF DIVINE WORSHIP; IN ANSWER TO THE BISHOP OF MEAUX's QUERIES. BY DR. BULL,

LORD BISHOP OF ST. DAVID'S.

TO WHICH IS ADDED,

A LETTER OF BISHOP BULL.
From a MS. in Lambeth Library.

A Letter from the Bishop of MEAUX to ROBERT NELSON, Esq.; upon his having read Dr. BULL'S Book [entituled Judicium Ecclesiæ Catholicæ Trium Primorum Seculorum de necessitate credendi, quod Dominus noster Jesus Christus, sit verus Deus] presented to him by that worthy Gentleman.

To Mr. NELSON, at Blackheath.

St. Germaine en Laye, 24 July 1700. I RECEIVED, Sir, about a fortnight ago, the honour of your letter from Blackheath near London, dated the 18th of July of the last year, when, at the

your

same time you sent me Dr. Bull's book entituled Judicium Ecclesiæ Catholicæ, &c. I must first, Sir, acquaint you that the sight of hand and name gave me a great deal of joy, and that I was extremely pleased with this testimony of your remembrance. As to Dr. Bull's performance, I was willing to read it all over before I acknowledged the receipt of it, that I might be able to give you my sense of it. It is admirable, and the matter he treats could not be explained with greater learning and greater judgment. This is what I desire you would be pleased to acquaint him with, and, at the same time, with the unfeigned congratulations of all the clergy of France, assembled in this place, for the service he does the Catholick church in so well defending her determination of the necessity of believing the divinity of the Son of God. Give me leave to acquaint him, there is one thing I wonder at, which is, that so great a man, who speaks so advantageously of the church, of salvation which is obtained only in unity with her, and of the infallible assistance of the Holy Ghost in the Council of Nice; which infers the same assistance for all others assembled in the same church, can continue a moment without acknowledging her. Or either, Sir, let him vouchsafe to tell me, who am a zealous defender of the doctrine he teaches, what it is he means by the term Catholick church? Is it the church of Rome, and those that adhere to her? Is it the church of England? Is it a confused heap of societies, separated the one from the other? And how can they be

that kingdom of Christ not divided against itself, and which never shall perish? It would be a great satisfaction to me to receive some answer upon this subject, that might explain the opinion of so weighty and solid an author. I very much rejoice at the good news you send me of your lady's welfare, whom I heartily pray for, with you and your family. You have been rightly informed in the account you have received of the admirable qualifications of the Archbishop of Paris, now Cardinal de Noailles. The see of St. Denis has not, for a long time, been so worthily filled. If Mr. Collier, whom you mention, has written any thing in Latin concerning the modern mystical divinity, you will oblige me in conveying it to me. But, above all, remember that I am, with a great deal of sincerity,

Sir,

Your most humble, and

most obedient servant,

J. BENIGNE, Bishop of Meaux.

Dr. BULL'S Answer.

Sect. I. The approbation of my writings by so learned and illustrious a prelate as Monsieur de Meaux, especially when joined with the congratulations of the learned clergy of France in general, is so high an honour done me, that if I did not set a great value on it, I were altogether unworthy of it.

But as to the wonder of Monsieur de Meaux, I cannot but very much wonder at it, especially at the reasons on which it is grounded. He wonders how I that speak so advantageously of the Church, &c. can continue a moment without acknowledging her. Her! What her doth the Bishop mean? Doubtless, the present church of Rome, in the communion whereof he himself lives, and to which his design seems to be to invite me. But where do I speak so advantageously of the present church of Rome ? No where, I am sure. My thoughts concerning her, I have plainly (perhaps too plainly and bluntly in the opinion of Monsieur de Meaux) delivered in the book which he so commends, Jud. Eccl. Cathol. cap. 5. §. 3. where having spoken of that singular purity of the faith which was in the church of Rome in the first ages, and taken notice of, and extolled by some of the primitive fathers, I thus conclude: "Oh, that so great a happiness, such purity of faith, "had always continued in that church! But, alas!

we may now cry out in the holy prophet's words, "How is the faithful city become an harlot? Isai. "1. 21."

But Monsieur de Meaux seems to think the Roman and the Catholick church to be convertible terms, which is strange in so learned a man, especially at this time of the day. Cannot the Catholick church be mentioned, but presently the Roman church must be understood? The book which the Bishop refers to, bears this title, Judicium Ecclesia Catholicæ trium primorum seculorum, &c. Of the Ca

tholick Church of the three first centuries, I do indeed speak with great deference. To her judgment (next to the Holy Scriptures) I appeal against the oppugners of our Lord's divinity at this day, whether Arians or Socinians. The rule of faith, the symbols or creeds, the profession whereof was, in those ages, the condition of communion with the Catholick church (mentioned by Irenæus, Tertullian, and others), I heartily and firmly believe. This primitive Catholick church, as to her government and discipline, her doctrines of faith, and her worship of God, I think ought to be the standard by which we are to judge of the orthodoxy and purity of all other succeeding churches, according to that excellent rule of Tertullian,* de Præscript. adv. Hæres. cap. xx. xxi. "Every descent must "necessarily deduce itself from its first original. "If these things are true, it is plain that every doc"trine which these apostolical, these original and "mother-churches held as analogous to the rule of "faith, is to be owned as true, and as containing, "without doubt, what the churches received from "the Apostles, the Apostles from Christ, Christ " from God; but that all other doctrine is to be "looked upon as false, and no ways savouring of "those truths which have been delivered by the "churches, and the Apostles, and Christ, and "God." And to the same purpose he discourseth, cap. 31. ejusdem libris.

According to this rule, the church of England

* Vide Apos. 34. et Conc. Ephies can. 8.