The practical divinity of the papists discovered to be destructive of Christianity and mens…

Secondly, as this faith may be without the knowledge and belief of any of the particular Articles, which are necessary to be believed by Christians; so (which is yet more strange) it may be with the belief of what is opposite, and repugnant to the Christian faith. This they acknowledge and clear it to us by instances. A man may be disposed to believe what the Church holds, and yet may believe that God the Father, and God the Son are not equal, but one greater, and elder than the other, or that the persons in the Trinity are locally distant. Such is the virtue of implicit faith faith ^(c)Altenstaig, that, if he who hath it believes these errors, or any like them, he would be no Heretic he would not sin; provided he doth not maintain his error pertinaciously, and that he believes, because he thinks the Church believes it. Or such ⟨p. 111⟩a Catholic may believe ^(d)that the three persons in the God-head are one Woman, it would be but a small fault with Angelus to believe this, thinking the Church believes the same. ^(e)Or he may believe, that Christ is not true God and Man; and yet not be condemned for it, if the Pope believed it too. ^(g)If trusting a Priest (who tells him the Church holds it) he believes any thing against the Articles of faith, he is excused saith Sancta Clara after Scotus and Gabriel and others ^(h)Though he expressly disbelieve any Article of faith, yet he may be said to believe it implicitly. So that he may believe that the Creed or the Gospel is not to be believed, he may count it a Fable (as Pope Leo called it) and yet be a Christian, as to his belief, if this be the Christian faith. He may be expressly an Heretic or a monstrous mis-believer, and yet implicitly be a faithful Roman-Catholic.

Secondly, as this faith may be without the knowledge and belief of any of the particular Articles, which are necessary to be believed by Christians; so (which is yet more strange) it may be with the belief of what is opposite, and repugnant to the Christian faith. This they acknowledge and clear it to us by instances. A man may be disposed to believe what the Church holds, and yet may believe that God the Father, and God the Son are not equal, but one greater, and elder than the other, or that the persons in the Trinity are locally distant. Such is the vertue of implicite faith faith